Zhang Mengguang was not frightened by the large number of thieves in front of him, and as the leading officer in front of the battle, he bravely rushed to the enemy in front of him. Zhang Mengguang, who had entered the enemy formation, flexibly changed the way he held his gun, while the thieves on his left and right kept falling under his line gun.

A rogue soldier covered himself with a shield and slashed at the leg of Zhang Mengguang's mount, Honghua, with a sword in one hand. Zhang Mengguang pumped hard with the barrel of the gun, and the other party changed his body and fell to the ground. Although Zhang Mengguang did not stop and continued to pursue, the screams from behind him had already completed the final blow to the enemy on behalf of his subordinates.

At this time, a group of thieves' cavalry came up, ready to block Zhang Mengguang's headquarters that was going deeper. The opponent was led by a rogue cavalryman wearing Ming armor and wielding a hook and sickle. Zhang Mengcheng felt that it was a little interesting, so he changed to holding the front hand in his right hand and the back hand in his left hand, holding the line gun and rushing towards the other party.

The figures of the two sides are getting closer and closer, and the rogue cavalry with hook and sickle spears is preparing to stab their weapons. But he found that he didn't know when, Zhang Mengguang's spear had stabbed in front of him. Then he felt himself stabbed in the throat, and then he didn't know anything.

Zhang Mengguang, who had completed the stabbing attack, quickly changed the position of his hands. Changed to left hand in front and right hand in back, with a perfect left front stab, another rogue cavalry was killed. At this time, Zhang Mengguang found that his subordinates had fallen into a state of melee with the rogue cavalry. Zhang Mengguang felt a little regretful, and quickly turned around and killed back.

Because of the previous battle in the security guards, the soldiers who were carefully trained under his command suffered heavy casualties. Therefore, the troops who followed him to participate in the battle this time were mixed with a lot of men and horses under the third brother Zhang Mengcheng and Che Jibao. Although their subordinates, combat skills and the execution of discipline can be guaranteed. However, the tacit understanding of the team's coordination with each other still cannot be cultivated in such a short period of time.

Before, they were supposed to rush to Jingbian to rest, but on the way, they received an order to go to Heshui County to relieve the siege.

Originally, the eldest brother planned to move together with the horse and infantry, but the urging from above was tight, and he heard that Cao Wenzhao had already set off with 1,800 officers and cavalry.

Everyone believed in Cao Wenzhao's ability, so the eldest brother decided to pursue again with the reorganized cavalry. And the thief cavalry that had just been collected before was temporarily dispersed into the infantry team. For the unstable factors, the leaders of Jinding Mountain did not want to take risks.

Zhang Mengguang rode a red flower and jumped over the corpse of a horse that fell to the ground, and the two rogue cavalrymen who were about to flank the attack immediately lost their chance. One of the thieves riding a black horse, holding a sword, continued to chase after Zhang Mengguang. The red flower stepped on the ring step, and its owner found a suitable opportunity to attack.

The next thief who rode a black horse was stabbed in the face by the line gun in Zhang Mengguang's hand. Zhang Mengguang, who once again solved an opponent, saw some bad situations. Directly in front of him, several rogue cavalry were besieging his men, and the situation was not optimistic. So Zhang Mengguang kicked Honghua's stomach and quickly rushed forward.

On the way, a rogue cavalryman appeared on the left, and he stabbed Zhang Mengguang with a rifle to intercept him.

Zhang Mengguang took the gun from back to front, swung it to the left and slapped the opponent's gun head. Ignoring the opponent who dared to intercept him, Zhang Mengguang quickly used a right front stab to kill a rogue cavalryman. As he continued to advance, he swung his gun again, blocking the enemy's killing moves against his men.

Zhang Mengguang's subordinates, who had already fallen off his horse and closed his eyes and waited for death. found that he was still alive, and when he opened his eyes, he saw that the opponent who had almost killed him before had been killed by his own master (Zhang Mengguang). He put the head of the spear on the opponent's chest, and as soon as the master picked it up with both hands, the thief fell off his horse.

Zhang Mengguang remembered that this person seemed to be a recruit recruited in Ningsai not long ago, but he didn't think much about it. Instead, he asked this subordinate to quickly ride the thief's war horse and follow him to kill the enemy, and then Zhang Mengguang used the line gun in his hand to force back two thief cavalry, and after saving another subordinate, Zhang Mengguang began to shout loudly, asking the surrounding Jindingshan cavalry to gather around him quickly.

Not long after listening to Zhang Mengguang's shout, many Jindingshan cavalry rushed over one after another. Some of them had been separated from their captains and brethren, some had just escaped the pursuit and siege of the enemy, but many more had already cut down the enemy before them. The evidence is that around Zhang Mengguang and them, most of the corpses lying down are thieves' soldiers.

At this time, Wu Dayong rushed over and passed the order of his eldest brother Zhang Mengjin to Zhang Mengguang. The eldest brother asked him to take the team back to the formation to reorganize, and now Ma Xiangzhong and Zhou Shaoteng have already led people to the top. Zhang Mengguang looked back at the rogue cavalry scattered behind him, and still made a decision to follow the order of his eldest brother.

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"Big brother, Lao Fan's men have withdrawn, and Meng Guang is also running over here with his team, although their team is a little chaotic, but there is no big loss."

The saber in Zhao Wankui's hand was still dripping blood, but he didn't care about these things, but reported the latest battle situation to Zhang Mengjin in front of him.

"Okay, let's take someone forward and take a good position now. The team movement of the thieves no longer has the previous rules, and the few surrounded Lintao Town cavalry who have just been rescued said that Cao Wenzhao is still alive. Let's continue to rush inside, and we will definitely be able to meet Cao Wenzhao. ”

Zhang Mengjin believed that Cao Wenzhao would never die at the hands of these thieves, and there were other officers and soldiers fighting at the front of the battlefield. As long as they find the right opportunity, they can work together to defeat the tens of thousands of thieves here.

Li Dan, who had been following Zhang Mengjin's side, found that the people of Heshui County behind him had finally been killed. We have a few hundred reinforcements, which is definitely good news. So he immediately reported to Zhang Mengjin: "You see, the big boss, the officers, soldiers and horses in Heshui County have finally come out. ”

When Zhang Mengjin heard this, he turned his head and looked, and indeed saw that many people were rushing over here. However, seeing the chaotic formation of those soldiers, Zhang Mengjin did not dare to have too high expectations for them.

But he was worried that these people would mess with his arrangement, so he summoned one of the soldiers and said, "Hurry up and send a message to that group of officers and soldiers, and let them line up behind us, and then we will kill them together." ”

After the herald recorded Zhang Mengjin's orders, he quickly rushed to the troops in Heshui County. Zhang Mengjin ordered his troops to quickly enter the combat position, and at the same time did not forget to continue to observe the situation on the battlefield. And Zhao Wankui has returned to his team, and Fan Shunjiang and Zhang Mengguang have also withdrawn back with their subordinates.

The more than 300 cavalry who participated in the siege of Heshui County were divided into three echelons and lined up to fight. There were two leaders of Jinding Mountain in each formation, and each leader was equipped with at least fifty cavalry.

The three formations of men and horses took turns to fight, constantly attacking the thieves. And Ma Xiangzhong and Zhou Shaoteng, who are now fighting in the front, have already defeated the team of thieves counterattacking at this time, and successfully completed the retreat of covering Zhang Mengguang and others.

It's just that from another point of view, the thieves also prevented Zhang Mengjin from pursuing them further. The troops of Ma Xiangzhong and Zhou Shaoteng were also stopped by the thieves who had an overwhelming advantage in numbers. The thieves constantly sent cavalry and infantry to engage Ma Xiangzhong, while the thieves who had been defeated by Zhang Mengguang and others before were regrouped in the rear.

Zhang Mengjin didn't want to continue to hold on like this with the thieves, and he had already suffered a loss in the last battle in Baoan County. Sooner or later, the tactics of adding fuel will drag them down, Zhang Mengjin intends to gather all his combat forces in the future and break up the formation of the thieves in one fell swoop, and now he is just waiting for the most suitable time.

With Zhang Mengjin's patient waiting, the time he was looking forward to finally appeared.

Crossing the area where Ma Xiangzhong and the others were fighting, in the deeper battlefield ahead. A gun-wielding officer cavalry clashed, and the thieves who tried to stop him were killed. And as he continued to gallop, more and more officers and soldiers gathered behind him. Under their hard work, the formation of the thieves in the inner circle was chaotic.

Zhang Mengjin recognized who this figure was, so he hurriedly ordered Li Dan to send a signal.

When the signal was issued, not only Zhang Mengjin and Zhao Wankui's troops, but even the men and horses under Zhang Mengguang, who had not yet completed the reorganization, looked at Zhang Mengjin's position.

Zhang Mengjin, who had long been accustomed to being watched by everyone, raised his saber and shouted: "The men of Jinding Mountain, follow me into the center of the thief array. ”

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Cao Wenzhao defeated a group of thieves again, and there were more and more officers and cavalry behind him. When he led the team out of the encirclement, Cao Wenzhao looked back at the battlefield and found that there were still some subordinates fighting on their own. So he ordered the troops behind him to hold on to the place, and he single-handedly went into the chaos of the battlefield.

In this siege battle in Heshui County, due to his mistakes, the official army was ambushed by tens of thousands of thieves. Fortunately, the thieves are a rabble, and their men and horses are trustworthy elite soldiers. So they were not defeated by the ambush of the thieves, but gradually redeemed their defeat. However, even if the official army finally defeated the thieves, his men and horses would definitely suffer a lot of casualties. (Note 1)

After a rush, Cao Wenzhao successfully continued to enter this army. Just as he was about to lead his troops to break through again, Cao Wenzhao found that hundreds of officers and cavalry were breaking through to the battlefield in the distance. Thanks to the efforts of these friendly forces, the troops that were being reorganized outside the thieves were no longer able to respond.

Cao Wenzhao, who discovered this situation, knew that this was a good time to turn around. He then gathered all the subordinates he could contact and took advantage of the opportunity to start a counterattack against the bandit army. After that, he worked hard to find an opportunity to defeat the thieves here in one fell swoop.

"The sons and daughters rushed after me, and the reinforcements came from behind the thieves, so let's kill them together." After making up his mind, Cao Wenzhao launched a charge against the thieves while loudly encouraging the officers and soldiers present. The morale of the officers and soldiers who were inspired by him was greatly boosted, and everyone followed closely behind Cao Wenzhao to kill the enemy.

The thieves, who knew that the situation was not good, launched a counterattack under the leadership of several brave bandit leaders. They desperately resisted with swords, guns, swords, halberds, and various weapons, and formed a stalemate with the official army led by Cao Wenzhao. At this time, if there is a team of thieves and soldiers who attack behind the official army, the victory or defeat of the battlefield can be decided.

It's just that under the strength of Cao Wenzhao's side of the official army, the thieves failed to wait for reinforcements from other directions after all. Behind them, the comrades who resisted the officers and troops on the other side were defeated by the combat strength gathered by Zhang Mengjin. Under the chain reaction, all the bandit troops lost their fighting spirit to resist, and could only flee from the pursuit of the officers and soldiers in embarrassment.

By nightfall, the officers and soldiers had finally ended their pursuit. After some counting, the officer army once again killed more than 700 thieves, and at the same time, hundreds of desperate thieves surrendered.

PS: Note 1: Although many historical sources say that this battle was won by Cao Wenzhao, there is no record of the specific number of victories. In the ninety-second volume of "Guoyi", in the record of July of the fifth year of Chongzhen, there is a record of "the chief soldier Cao Wenzhao defeated the thieves in Tiejiao City". This entry is placed next to the Xin Chou entry, before the Ren Yin entry.

According to the records of volume 5 of "Huailing Liukou Always Record" and volume 1 of "Suikou Jiluo", the thieves surrounded Heshui County on the day of Gengzi (the fourth day of the first month), that is, the day before the Xinchou day. In terms of time, this battle is likely to be the siege of Heshui County by the thieves and Gengziri, and Cao Wenzhao was ambushed by the thieves when he came to relieve the siege on the next day. Therefore, the content of this record in "Guoyi" should also talk about Cao Wenzhao's relief of the siege and water.

As for the account of the defeat, it is likely that the thieves took the initiative to retreat when they saw the official army protruding from the encirclement, and Cao Wenzhao's troops suffered a lot of damage in this battle. Although the siege was successfully lifted, the casualties were too large, and the defeat of the officers and troops was in comparison.

By the way, "Chongzhen Record" puts this battle in July of the fourth year of Chongzhen, and there are many other similar errors in the book. Readers who pay more attention to the "Chongzhen Record" need to compare other historical materials.