At the confluence of the Yangtze River and the Jialing River (Note 1), the waters of the two rivers slammed violently into each other with white foam, bringing with them a whirlwind of dampness. The whirlwind was blocked by the steep cliffs of Chaotianmen and Hongya Cave, so it had to go up the two rivers and blow through the north and south walls of Chongqing, an important town in eastern Sichuan, and wipe the sunset in the west white.

At the entrance of the superintendent's camp, the river wind that ran into walls everywhere tore the flag embroidered with "General Yanmei" and made a loud noise.

"Jiren, has there been an echo to the transfer of troops to Yunyang?" A pale, thin official stepped out of the threshold of the main room and asked the courtyard in a hoarse voice.

Ji Ren is the word of Wan Ji of the Inspectorate of the Supervision Army.

Several officials in the courtyard who were deliberating about something heard the inquiry and immediately turned around and bowed. The middle-aged official who was called took a few steps forward and replied, "Supervisor! The yamen sent nine urgent messages to Zuo Ping's thief before and after to transfer troops, but he has not received any reply so far! Zuo Liangyu must have received it a long time ago, according to what the lower officials saw, then Zuo Liangyu was simply trying to raise his own self-respect! ”

The superintendent in Wan Yuanji's mouth is Yang Sichang, who was given by Emperor Chongzhen to "give Shang Fang Sword Supervisor, and the soldiers and horses of all provinces are self-supervised and controlled, and the deputy and subordinate are engaged in with the sword".

Yang Sichang heard Wan Yuanji's answer and did not speak. He looked at the white sky, leaned against the doorframe and turned slowly, his heavy feet lifted with difficulty, and he shivered and lowered the threshold. Wan Yuan Ji was about to step forward to help, but he heard Yang Sichang cough a few times. The coughing stopped, and Yang Sichang raised his hand with his back to Wan Yuanji, signaling that he knew. The officials looked at each other, so they had to say that there was something to do, and they were busy.

Wan Yuan Ji stood in the courtyard, with a sad and helpless face. Without the blockage of Zuo Liangyu's department, the road to Huguang will be unimpeded. Now the only hope for the Governor Yamen is the fierce Yu army and part of the Chu army that are chasing after the thieves.

"Fierce as a tiger, fierce as a tiger, I hope you are as good as your name and live up to the superintendent's reliance on you." Wan Yuan Ji was in the empty courtyard, constantly praying in his heart.

Wan Yuan Ji didn't know that while he was silently praying for the last hope, about six or seven hundred cavalry of the fierce tiger army were leading their horses, braving the winter rain, slipping step by step on the muddy and winding mountain road, panting and struggling to move eastward. After chasing the thieves for more than 40 days, they were already exhausted. Not far behind them, one or two thousand infantry from the left town, driven by the officers, followed the cavalry with great reluctance.

On the same avenue, about a few miles in front of the cavalry, the rear troops of the combined forces of Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai also advanced in the same direction as the cavalry of the official army.

Neither friend nor foe had any knowledge of the impending contact.

Huanghou City is just a local place name in Kaixian County, and there is no city. It is said that many years ago, there were two ethnic groups surnamed Huang and surnamed Hou who built a city here to avoid the rebellion, so there was the name of Huanghou City. Sandwiched between two mountains and one valley here, it is a common mountainous terrain in eastern Sichuan. On the fourth day of the first month of the 14th year of Chongzhen, the combined forces of Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai set up camp from Bazhou, which had been repaired for many days, conquered Tongjiang County along the way, passed through Dazhou, and advanced along the old road when they entered Sichuan last year, intending to go east out of Kuimen and re-enter Huguang. On the thirteenth day of the first lunar month, the peasant army arrived at Huanghou City in Kaixian County (Note 3).

Since the defeat of Zuo Liangyu at Agate Mountain in February last year, Zhang Xianzhong was defeated by He Renlong and Li Guoqi at Hanxi Temple (Hanxi Temple) and Papaya Creek in March. In July last year, Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai rounded in Baiyang Mountain and decided to join forces in Sichuan. Because Zhang Xianzhong's fame was much greater than Luo Rucai's, the officers and soldiers often called this coalition unit a thief. In the following six months, they used their feet and four hooves to walk along the north-south-west-east edge of the Sichuan Basin, almost walking back and forth in two C shapes. Under the threat of starvation and the incessant pursuit of officers and men, with the desire to survive and with an extremely firm will, they set an astonishing record for the speed of the march. Taking the beginning of entering Sichuan last year as an example, on September 9, Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai soldiers came to the city of Dachang (now Dachang Ancient Town, Wushan County). Since it was found that Shao Jiechun, the governor of Sichuan at that time, was sitting here for defense, Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai wisely bypassed Dachang City and marched towards Kaixian, Xinning (now Kaijiang County), and Liangshan (now Liangping County). On the 17th and 18th, the battle with the officers and soldiers was unfavorable, and Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai returned to Dachang City. At the end of the month, Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai defeated Fang Guoan, the general army of Sichuan, at Youxikou in Daxian County and entered Bazhou. On October 3, he fought a battle with Sichuan deputy general Zhang Zuokai. On the 11th, it passed through Guangyuan County and crossed the Jialing River. On the 13th, he attacked Jianzhou (now Jiange County), and after breaking the city, he killed the official of the seal. The walking distance from Dachang to Liangshan is about 650 miles, the walking distance from Dachang Jingda County to Bazhou is 1,100 li, and the walking distance from Bazhou to Jianzhou is 400 li. In other words, the combined forces of Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai marched at least 2,150 miles in about 35 days, with an average daily march distance of more than 60 miles! And in these thirty-five days, the combined forces of Zhang and Luo also fought four battles and crossed the Jialing River, one of the eight major tributaries of the Yangtze River! According to official records, the highest march record of the combined forces of Zhang and Luo reached "three hundred miles in one day and night"!

When the combined forces of Zhang and Luo entered Sichuan, both armies suffered heavy losses. Zhang Xianzhong was defeated at Agate Mountain, Hanxi Temple (Hanxi Temple) and Papaya Creek, Luo Rucai was defeated by Qin Liangyu at Majiazhai, and many of the leaders of the rebel army who were partners also surrendered to the official army. It is certain that when the combined forces of Zhang and Luo entered Sichuan, there were not many troops, only about a few thousand, but these people were the backbone of the two who had followed them for many years. After the combined forces of Zhang and Luo went around Sichuan, they continued to absorb the poor who could not survive and the officers and soldiers who defected along the way, and the ranks gradually grew to the size of tens of thousands. Through seizures and civilian looting, the coalition forces were able to obtain much of the much-needed material, including horses, food, clothing, and medicine in addition to weapons and armor. When entering Sichuan, only the old battalion of Zhang and Luo had some cavalry, and most of them were miscellaneous horses, and there were few war horses. But now, the peasant army has more than 1,000 cavalry, and many miscellaneous horses have also been transferred out of the old camp and put into the baggage troops. In the past, soldiers were often hungry and hungry, and they were suffering from hunger and cold for a long time, but now they are able to eat and dress themselves every day, and their physical fitness has been greatly improved. The team was constantly encouraged by the victory, seduced by the prospects, the morale was high, the equipment was improved, and the team was united. They are ready to fight a real big victory to show that they have grown.

Fierce as a tiger riding on a brown and gray Mongolian warhorse, surrounded by his own soldiers, walking under the banner of the word "fierce" in the Chinese military camp. Meng Ruhu looked at his son Meng Xianjie and nephew Meng Zhong who walked beside him with satisfaction, and then looked at the team in front of him, and a sense of pride arose. He turned out to be a descendant from outside the Saiwai and lived in Yulin. In his early years, he joined the army and accumulated military exploits to become a guerrilla general. Later, he followed Cao Wenzhao and made many military exploits, and successively killed the King of the Mixed World and the Nine Dragons. In the winter of the eleventh year, Jianyu entered the Koujing Division, fierce as a tiger to lead the troops to the king, and in April of the second year, he was finally promoted to the chief military officer of the Jizhen Central Association. Who knew that in the second year, Meng Ruhu was seized of the official position because of the matter, and it was all up to Yang Sichang to intercede with the imperial court and let him follow him to Sichuan, and in November, he asked the superintendent Wan Yuan Ji to announce the promotion of him to the president and Zhang Yingyuan to the vice president in Baoning Mansion. Fierce as a tiger, he was grateful to Yang Sichang and worked hard to chase and suppress. In the past few days, Meng Ruhu felt that the old wounds on his back were getting more and more uncomfortable, and he wondered if he would have gangrene. Perhaps, when he returned to Huguang, he would report to the supervisor and let his son Meng Xianjie come to lead the team? After all, his six hundred family Ding relatives were old men brought out of Guyuan, Ningxia, and not everyone could lead them.

As the Chinese military camp turned around a mountain peak, Fierce Tiger saw a scout horse galloping from the front with a flag on his back.

"Report to the boss! Former army General Liu reported that the thief was on the run! ”

"Oh?" As fierce as a tiger, he straightened up on his horse, his eyes were round, "How far is the thief, how many soldiers are there?" ”

"There are one or two thousand thieves, and the nearest one is no more than a mile from my striker. The thieves saw our army and are speeding up their flight! ”

"Okay!" Fierce as a tiger shook his fist excitedly. After chasing for more than 40 days, I finally caught up!

"Let General Liu and Guerrilla Guo come to see Ben Shuai immediately!"

Nanyang general Liu Shijie and Zuozhen guerrilla Guo Kai arrived one after another. It seems that Liu Shijie is as excited as his handsome. He didn't wait for the battle horse to stabilize, and shouted to the fierce tiger in the interval between controlling the horse: "Commander, what are you waiting for, we will rush forward quickly, and the thieves will not be defeated?" ”

Liu Shijie was right, when Cao Wenzhao led them to fight in Shaanxi and Shanxi, they fought like a tiger, that is, they used the tactical mobility and powerful impact of the cavalry's absolute superiority over the infantry, and adopted the method of rushing when they encountered thieves, and every time they rushed several times or even dozens of times the number of thieves to pieces, and the corpses were all over the field. Fierce as a tiger shouted hello, and was about to give the order to attack, when Guo Kai, a guerrilla from Zuozhen, next to him, spoke.

"Your Excellency, our left town is all infantry, and we run with the cavalry every day, our shoes are rotten, our legs are swollen, and our people are thin. Exactly how many enemies there are in front, we don't know. The last general estimates that I am afraid that all the men and horses of the two thieves are in front of this. Besides, it was getting dark, and it was raining, and the cotton armor on the soldiers' bodies was heavy, and after fighting for a long time, the black lights blinded the fire, and even if we killed them, we would not be able to catch the thief. The idea of the last general, everyone will repair tonight and attack early tomorrow morning. Your Excellency, please think again! ”

Guo Kai clearly opposed an immediate attack, but he was as fierce as a tiger and disagreed. He shook his head at Guo Kai and smiled: "Since Luzhou was dumped by the sacrifice thief, we have been chasing for more than forty days in a row, and we haven't even caught a single ** hair of the sacrifice thief!" It's comfortable to sleep tonight, but let the thief escape, and we'll have to chase it every day in the future! General Guo, you choose: Do you want to fight a battle today, or continue to chase like this tomorrow and the day after tomorrow? ”

Guo Kai was speechless when he was asked like a tiger. Seeing this, the fierce tiger laughed and said, "Tell the sons and daughters to kill Ben Shuai." Get the head of the sacrifice thief, and there will be a reward! Liu Shijie, you lead the cavalry of your headquarters as the vanguard, just rush forward. Ben Shuai personally led the Chinese army to support you. General Guo, you lead Zuo Zhen to come immediately. Come on! Erect the banner of Ben Shuai, sons, follow Ben Shuai to kill thieves! ”。

……

The sound of killing in the valley avenue shook the sky. Two men, one tall and one short, climbed up a high slope next to the road, followed by a group of generals with different faces and expressions.

The tall man with the yellow face and tiger's jaw wore a felt hat and quietly observed the battlefield situation in the valley for a while, and then turned back to the human: "As fierce as a tiger, there are few people, and there is no backup!" Zhang Jun is really useless with this guy, he can't stand up when he is rushed! Hopefully, you go and tell him, and let his soldiers go up against him and hold him back. Kill all the retreating soldiers! Lao Tzu will take people down the mountain, and he can't let the fierce tiger run away! ”

Zhang Kewang was still a young general, and after getting the general's order, he hurriedly bowed to the tall man and ran down the mountain. The tall man patted the short man next to him on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Cao Cao, as fierce as a tiger, he was afraid that we would run away, so let the cavalry take the lead, wanting to scatter us and eat them all." If we don't run away today, we will leave him behind! The man named Cao Cao also smiled: "Mengzhen ignores the fatigue of the soldier teacher and the slippery road in the rain, and he is greedy for thousands of miles and drives straight away, so he will lose himself!" The people of Zuozhen also disagreed with Mengzhen, and refused to accept the Chinese army. Eight Kings, this is a great opportunity! ”

The Eight Kings Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai (Ji Xuan, nicknamed Cao Cao) all laughed. While the two were laughing and talking, tens of thousands of peasant troops divided into more than a dozen columns and had climbed the hillside where they stood. Zhang Xianzhong touched his nose and waved his palm down. Suddenly, these tens of thousands of peasant troops let out a deafening roar, aimed at the hundreds of paces left between the fierce cavalry and Guo Kai's infantry, and rushed down the mountain to .......

Condescending and overwhelming. Fierce as a tiger, it is impossible to escape.

Note 1: The Jialing River in the Ming Dynasty seems to be called the Fu River, and it is generally based on the Fu River as its source. In order to avoid reading difficulties for book lovers, the following names and titles of rivers are subject to modern times. Unless there are nouns with specific historical meanings, such as "Jiangzuo", "Jiangyou", etc.

Note 2: Excerpt from "The Collection of Mr. Yang Wenqiao". Yang Sichang, weak words.

Note 3: According to Mr. Gu Cheng's research, the name of this place is Huanghou City, not Huangling City.