In the golden autumn of October, the land is depressed, except for Luoyang, Jiangdu and other prosperous counties, other places are full of devastation, which makes people unbearable to look at directly.

In order to curry favor with Yang Guang, the officials of the imperial court levied and extorted violently, and did not care about the lives of the people.

Rebels are everywhere, and the people can't even gnaw the bark of trees, so where can they get the grain to pay taxes? Forced into desperation, there were more and more anti-thieves who rose up, making the court completely lose its prestige.

Wagangzhai looted Xingyang, harvested a lot, and under the heavy profits, Zhai Rang couldn't help but want to wreak havoc again. But Zhang Xutuo was already stationed there, which made Zhai Rang hesitate.

After Li Mi's lobbying, Wagangzhai is now full of talents and has a wide range of soldiers, but after all, these soldiers have not undergone formal training, and most of them are ordinary people who can't survive.

Zhai Rang is not incompetent, but his talent and knowledge are not enough to seek the world.

"Gong Zhai, why are you bothered?" Li Mi came to visit, saw Zhai Rang frowning, and said with a smile: "Now that the Wagangzhai soldiers are strong and strong, is there anything Zhai Gong is not satisfied with?" ”

"Mr. Li, I suddenly felt that the attack on Xingyang a few days ago was a bit hasty." Zhai Rang invited Li Mi to sit down and said: "Now that Zhang Xutuo has been transferred to Xingyang Tongshou, it is really difficult for us to seek some more benefits from Xingyang. ”

Li Mi's face remained unchanged, and he said unhurriedly: "What Zhai Gong said is wrong, we not only want to attack Xingyang, but also capture Gongxian. Although Zhang Xutuo is brave and good at fighting, he is only one person, why is Zhai Gong afraid of him? ”

"Zhang Xutuo is scheming, and he is good at using soldiers, my Wagang soldiers have suffered a lot in his hands, and I am really afraid of him." Zhai Rang was completely convinced of Li Mi's ability, and arched his hand and said: "Of course, now with Mr. Li's help, he may be able to defeat Zhang Xutuo, and ask Mr. to set up a clever plan." ”

"The Great Sui has long been separated, Zhang Xutuo is loyal to the imperial court, and he must want to fight a battle." Li Mi replied with a salute and said confidently: "Since Zhang Xutuo wants to fight, Zhai Gong can't weaken the prestige of Wagang, and he should boldly go to the battle." ”

Zhai Rang felt very bitter in his heart, and said in his stomach: What I said just now was in vain? If I can beat Zhang Xutuo, why should I cower in Wagang Village?

However, in order to prevent being despised by Li Mi, Zhai Rang said calmly: "Please also ask Mr. to speak clearly." ”

Li Mi said without thinking: "There are three strategies for secret, which one does Zhai Gong want to hear?" ”

"Sir, all you have to do is come up with the best idea." In order to show his courtesy corporal, Zhai Rang said: "Let me believe, Mr.'s strategy is absolutely not wrong." ”

"Thank you Zhai Gong for your trust." Li Mi smiled slightly, not surprised, and whispered his plan. Zhai Rang's face changed several times, and finally hesitated again and again, and nodded heavily

"Report!" Zhang Xutuo was studying the defense with Jia Wuben and others, when he suddenly heard the anxious shouts of soldiers outside the tent, and hurriedly sent someone to bring the person who reported it into the lobby.

"Tell the general." The soldier was disgraced, and as soon as he entered the lobby, he said: "Zhai Rang, the head of the Wagang thief, personally led an army of 30,000 and came to Xingyang again. ”

"Thirty thousand?" Zhang Xutuo was shocked when he heard this, and said, "Is the news accurate? ”

"I have seen it with my own eyes, and I am willing to vouch for it with my head." The soldier replied, "When the lowly man found them, the thief army was less than thirty miles away from Xingyang. ”

"Revisit." Zhang Xutuo felt a chill when he heard this, and gave an order to let the soldier retreat.

Zhang Xutuo had led 10,000 soldiers and horses to exterminate 100,000 rebels many times, 30,000 was not enough to make him cold, and what disturbed him was that Wagangzhai was able to gather 30,000 troops in just a few months.

Could it be that the imperial court is really so unpopular?

It happened that Jia Wuben and the others were there, and Zhang Xutuo didn't say much, and directly ordered: "Integrate the army and go with the general to kill the enemy!" ”

Zhang Xutuo is very confident in the soldiers under his command, in the face of the army led by Zhai Rang, Zhang Xutuo has no fear, although some sigh that the momentum of the rebel is becoming more and more rapid, but he still makes a decision and is ready to lead the army to meet the enemy.

The lieutenant generals have also become accustomed to it and bowed down to receive orders.

After everyone left, Li Xuanba, who had been standing still, suddenly spoke: "General Zhang, Wagangzhai has never dared to confront each other head-on, and now that you know that you are stationed in Xingyang, but you still come to attack, isn't the general afraid of rebellious thieves and deceit?" ”

"Zhai let this person have no force, and he is not good at using soldiers at all, how can he deceive?" Zhang Xutuo said disapprerovitically: "Presumably, there is not enough grain and grass in Wagang Village, so I will try to storm Xingyang." ”

Zhang Xutuo fought dozens of battles with Wagang thieves, and won all of them, and it was inevitable that he would despise Wagang Village in his heart.

The arrogant army will be defeated, it is easy to say, but it is difficult to do, Zhang Xutuogui is a generation of famous generals, but it is not exempt from vulgarity.

"But Xuanba is still a little worried." Li Xuanba looked worried and said: "The general might as well stick to the city, as long as Xingyang is kept, the eastern capital will be safe." ”

"If General Ben can afford it, how can the people of the world afford it?" Zhang Xutuo sighed and said: "Your Majesty inspected Jiangdu, the government decree was not passed, resulting in even more traitors, Gaoyang has been lost, and the stable people Shixiong killed the Linjing County Order and raised troops to make a rebellion. Bad news is coming one after another, how can Ben Jiang stay in this Xingyang with peace of mind? ”

"The general's thoughts, Xuanba understands very well." Li Xuanba bowed down and said, "But the status of Xingyang County, doesn't the general know?" ”

Xingyang is a strategic point in the Central Plains, with a plain to the east and Tiger Pass to the west.

Gong County, west of Tiger Pass, has Luokou Cang, a large granary of the Sui Dynasty, and as long as Gong County is captured, it can be said that it is really approaching Luoyang, the eastern capital.

Zhang Xutuo hesitated for a moment, and finally was reluctant to give up this opportunity to exterminate the Wagang thieves, and said: "This general personally led 10,000 people to meet the enemy, you and Shubao led the rest of the soldiers to defend the city, if the thief army attacked the city, you only need to hold for a few hours, and this general can lead the army to kill back!" ”

has said this, how else can Li Xuanba persuade?

"General Zhang, the time for the 1,000 war horses to be nailed to the horseshoe is not long, and they still need to be run-in, this time I am afraid that they will not be able to fight." Li Xuanba thought for a while and said, "Now there are only 1,000 cavalry under General Luo's command, which is detrimental to the combat strength of the army, and I ask the general to think about it again." ”

Li Xuanba had ordered the blacksmith to hide in Xingyang to make a horseshoe, but how could one person complete the task? After he figured it out, he ordered more than a dozen blacksmiths to gather and finally forge 8,000 horseshoes.

Four thousand horseshoes have been sent to Li Yuan, and the remaining four thousand have been nailed to the horses' hooves, because of the relationship of time, those blacksmiths are still continuing to make horseshoes for the cavalry under Luo Shixin.

In fact, after the war horse was nailed to the horseshoe, the run-in time required was extremely short, but Li Xuanba had to tell a lie in order to make Zhang Xutuo change his mind.

It's a pity that it still can't dispel Zhang Xutuo's determination to fight.

"Even if two thousand cavalry can't fight, General Ben is confident that he can defeat the Wagang thieves." Zhang Xutuo's face became gloomy, and he said coldly: "Xuanba, are you really serving the imperial court?" ”

The army is about to go out, but Li Xuanba has been persuading Zhang Xutuo not to fight, this is a crime that shakes the morale of the army, if it weren't for Luo Shixin and others have already gone out, Zhang Xutuo is only afraid that he will beat Li Xuanba.

"That Xuanba is here to congratulate the general on his victory." Li Xuanba arched his hand helplessly, and went out of the camp to find Qin Qiong.

Hearing that Zhang Xutuo was going out of the city to exterminate the Wagang rebels, Yang Qing, the Taishou of Xingyang, transferred 3,000 garrisons to Zhang Xutuo, and Zhang Xutuo naturally would not refuse.

After the sacrifice of the flag, Zhang Xutuo, Jia Wuben, and Luo Shixin led more than 13,000 people to the north.