In December of the third year of Chongzhen, more than 3,000 people from the Yansui rebel army were reinforced, and the Xin'an border camp was attacked. Zhang Mengjin, a security bandit, raised troops in response, Ding Si attacked Ningsai, opened the door in the city, and killed the general Chen Sanhuai. He also attacked the Willow Stream Fort, and the hungry army and the people accepted it. Gengshen surrounded Jingbian, and the deputy envoy Li Ruozi held on for three days and saved him. On the first day of the first month of the fourth year of Chongzhen, the fifth god was trapped in security.

Zhang Mengcheng held the bird gun at the target eighty paces away and pulled the trigger. Ding Zhuang, who was in charge of inspecting the target, saw the bullet holes on the target. Holding the red flag and waving it, after confirming that he had hit the target, Zhang Mengcheng smiled with satisfaction, and then asked Guan Yuze to step forward to shoot the target.

The other musketeer, Xi Gui, had also already loaded his musket with ammunition at this time, and was ready to wait for Guan Yuze's results to come forward again to practice. Also waiting on the side to practice the bird gun, there were several other Jindingshan students.

It was more than ten days ago that Zhang Mengcheng and Xigui successfully rescued Liu Jin and Lao Liao, and Zhang Zhaoen and Che Jibao also ended the pursuit of the officers and soldiers out of the city and returned to their camp safely.

Later, Guan Zhiqing and Huang You counted the losses in the siege battle, and one hundred and fifty-seven of their more than 1,000 people were killed and 92 were wounded in this day's combat operations. Thirty-nine others are missing. The losses were almost close to 30 percent of the total number.

Among the more than 100 elite cavalry on Zhang Mengjin's side, 13 were killed and 11 were wounded. This loss of core strength made several leaders such as Guan Zhiqing and Zhang Mengcheng feel distressed. It is estimated that there should be about seventy or eighty casualties among the officers and soldiers, but no matter how it is calculated, it is their own side that has made a loss-making transaction.

In the end, Guan Zhiqing and Huang Youcai ordered the thieves to recover the weapons and corpses of their own personnel as much as possible. Guan Zhiqing and Huang Youcai originally planned to retreat directly to Ningsai after burning their own corpses. However, that night, the officers and men of the Jingbian battalion actually went out of the city to launch a night attack. Fortunately, everyone was on guard, and the officers and soldiers withdrew to the city without any success, except for leaving a dozen corpses. A group of rebels and bandits who were busy all night and held their breath reluctantly accepted the defeat.

On the third day after arriving in Jingbian, Guan Zhiqing and Huang Youcai finally retreated with their subordinates. On the way to retreat, they did not forget to prepare a trap for the officers and soldiers, but the pursuing troops of the Jingbian Battalion, which had joined the reinforcements, were very vigilant. After discovering the trap, they quickly withdrew to the city.

On the contrary, the retreating thieves were very nervous, and several leaders doubted that the officers and soldiers would learn from Cao Cao of the Three Kingdoms and play the trick of pursuing again. But fortunately, nothing happened, and everyone finally returned to Ningsai safely.

After this battle, Zhang Mengcheng fully realized how foolish it was to blindly attack a heavily guarded city without attacking the fortified city. The other thing is that we must not get carried away at any time and not let our troops lose order.

In the final stage of the previous siege battle, the officers and soldiers who originally went out of the city to chase and kill the Liukou should not have been pushed back as simply as Zhang Zhaoen and more than 30 other cavalry. At that time, the morale of the officers and soldiers was high, and they were supported by the projection force of the city.

However, they were unable to organize an effective resistance in order to fight for their heads, and were finally killed by the thieves' counterattack and suffered heavy losses. If the officers and troops who went out of the city at that time could maintain a certain order, the final result of this defensive battle commanded by Li Ruozi would be quite beautiful.

Zhang Mengcheng, who returned to Ningsai, also received two repaired bird guns, and before setting out from Ningsai to attack Jingbian, Zhang Mengcheng found a few craftsmen from the hungry army and hungry people who were attached to him, and then picked out some materials from the harvest of Liushujian Fort to repair them.

This time the repaired bird gun. It is Zhang Mengcheng specially selected two bird guns with gun butts. The two bird guns, which can be shot against the shoulder, are more convenient for actual combat than the grip-type bird guns. Everyone else had a job, so Zhang Mengcheng pulled his students and began to practice.

Li Dan took the initiative to ask to be the eldest brother's escort before, and followed the team to the security guard, so he did not participate in this musket exercise. After Guan Yuze successfully hit the target, he handed over the bird gun to another student. Standing obediently aside, he gave guidance and correction to the students who were cleaning up the bird guns and loading ammunition.

Zhang Mengcheng was very pleased with the gradually maturing Guan Yuze. Although Guan Yuze did not directly participate in the siege battle during the day, he performed very well in the night attack of the official army that night. He was in charge of the sentry, the first to discover the officers and soldiers who attacked at night, and loudly reminded the others in the battalion, and in the subsequent battle, Guan Yuze also stabbed to death an officer cavalry who rushed into the camp with a spear.

Guan Zhiqing was also very happy with his nephew's growth, and directly handed over the horse of the official cavalry to Guan Yuze for safekeeping, and now Guan Yuze has semi-officially become a soldier of the Jindingshan cavalry.

"Xiucai, look what I brought you." At this time, Liu Jin took his escort Lao Liao and came to Zhang Mengcheng and others. Since Zhang Mengcheng rescued Liu Jin, the relationship between the two sides has become very good. Now Liu Jin is also learning from Guan Zhiqing, and likes to call Zhang Mengcheng Xiucai.

When Zhang Mengcheng went to save Liu Jin, it was because Liu Jin caused a fire in the city, which effectively covered the gangsters under the city. Zhang Mengcheng respects him as a man, so he chose to step forward to support. Next, Zhang Mengcheng walked around more with Liu Jin because of official business, and he also felt that the other party's temper was very compatible with himself, so he often invited Liu Jin to visit him.

"Bird, where did you come from?" Zhang Mengcheng saw that Liu Jin actually brought him more than ten bird guns, and couldn't help but ask curiously where he came from.

"Most of our brothers don't like it, they think it's too much of a hassle. I'm still more accustomed to firearms like fast guns and three-eyed guns, so I put all the things I grabbed aside. I heard that you like this thing, so I'll send it to you to play with. Liu Jin said as he handed over the bird gun to Zhang Mengcheng, and Lao Liao, who followed him, also handed over the two bird guns on his back to Xigui. The wound on Lao Liao's hand has been stitched up with mulberry white skin, but it is not so fast to recover.

"Thanks, we've got some three-eyed guns and quick guns, and we'll send them to you later. And I have some wine, so take it back and give it to the brothers. Zhang Mengcheng did not want Liu Jin to be gossiped about by the brothers in their camp, so he sent some firearms back and some wine at the same time to show friendship. After the bumper harvest of sweet potatoes in Jinding Mountain, some wine was also made from sweet potatoes to satisfy the drunkards of Jinding Mountain. Although Zhang Mengcheng didn't like to drink much, he still brought a few gourds out.

"That's a good feeling, a group of drunkards in our camp haven't been hungry for a while, and they are so suffocated that they almost want to drink horse urine. But what is this sweet potato wine, why haven't I heard of it? After these days of exchanges, Liu Jin also learned a little bit about Zhang Mengcheng's temperament. didn't push out the matter of Zhang Mengcheng's anti-firearms, but was more concerned about what Xiucai said about sweet potato wine.

"Sweet potatoes are a kind of food grown in our village, and the wine made from them has a unique flavor, otherwise you can go to my place to taste it first." Zhang Mengcheng replied to Liu Jin's words and walked to his residence with Liu Jin, leaving his students and Xigui to continue practicing.