After the death of the original Great Boss God Yiyuan in battle, the leaders of the security city re-elected a successor. Under the mutual compromise of various forces, Shen Yiyuan's younger brother Shen Yikui became the new big boss. All the big leaders, including Zhang Mengjin and Cai Xiaozi, unanimously said that they would obey Shen Yikui's dispatch and work together to defeat the officials and troops outside the city.

Now the enemy outside the city has increased its strength again, and Du Wenhuan and He Huchen, two Ming army generals, have also come to Baoan with their subordinates, and their fighting spirit is quite strong. Especially with Du Wenhuan's team, their goals are quite clear. This group of teams exuding a strange murderous aura is eager to break all the bodies of Zhang Mengjin and others in the security city into pieces.

Du Wenhuan was supposed to command the invasion of the thief Wang Jiayin in Hequ, but when he heard about his hometown, he took the initiative to quit his errand and rushed to Yansui West Road with his family. On the way, because Baoan County was breached, the Shaanxi local government temporarily transferred some soldiers and horses to Du Wenhuan to let him suppress the thieves.

Although Zhang Mengguang had already handed over all the remaining members of Du Wenhuan after Du Wenhuan arrived, and also wrote a letter to explain the details of the Ningsai incident. But Du Wenhuan did not accept it, and he burned the letter directly outside the city in front of everyone. At the same time, he also viciously said that he would peel off all Zhang Mengjin and his gang to avenge his dead clansmen.

Things have come to this point, and the relationship between the two sides is completely irretrievable. Moreover, this incident also made Jin Dingshan and his gang lose face in front of the other bandit leaders in Baoan City. The thieves were disdainful of the actions of Zhang Mengjin and his gang, believing that these people's thoughts were too naïve.

However, the new boss did not say anything, he was trying to reconcile his men, and was preparing to attack the officials and troops outside the city again later.

Because people from outside the city had slipped into the city before, he told Shen Yikui that the three military forts north of Shen Yikui had contacted the Mongols and planned to come to the rescue on the eighth day of the first month. This person is Huang Youcai's confidant, and he knows God himself. Moreover, the person who came also held the letter written by Zhang Mengcheng, so Zhang Mengjin and Cai Xiaozi and others in the security city also expressed their approval.

After receiving this good news, everyone is preparing to break through. At this time, Ma Xiangbo began to check his weapons in preparation for the battle that followed. It took a lot of effort to finally sharpen the Pu knife, and Ma Xiangbo directly put the Pu knife on the stick and fastened the three girls on it.

At this time, Zhou Shaoteng came over and said: "Cai Shorty's ninth uncle still didn't survive, the big boss asked me to come over and talk to you, after dinner, let's all go and comfort Cai Shorty." ”

Although Ma Xiangbo had some doubts about Cai Xiaozi before, everyone cooperated very happily after that. And Cai Xiaozi also gave a good horse to his younger brother, so Ma Xiangbo is still relatively friendly to Cai Xiaozi. Hearing that Cai Xiaozi has lost another relative, he can only say that he will go over again in the future, and will send another elegiac couplet. As another cultural person in the Jinding Mountain family, Ma Xiangbo's condolences are the most appropriate.

Zhou Shaoteng continued: "The big boss and Shen Yikui have been talking for a while, and Shen Yikui also wants to recruit An. It's just that at the moment, Du Wenhuan is blocked outside, trying to kill all of us. The big boss is a little worried that the situation will not be good, and it will be difficult to handle this matter with Du Wenhuan. I'm also a little worried, old horse, do you think Shen Yikui will sell us all. ”

Hearing that Shen Yikui already had plans to recruit An, Ma Xiangbo was a little happy at first. Just heard that Du Wenhuan was mentioned, Ma Xiangbo also said with a bitter face: "None of us thought that Ning Sai would have this incident, but everything was done." And Shen Yikui has just been killed by the officials and soldiers outside his brother, I don't think Shen Yikui is a fool. If he wants to mess with us, we won't be easy to mess with. At this time, there will be trouble in our nest, and it will only be the officials and soldiers who will take advantage, and Shen Yikui will not move his mind at this time. ”

"What do you say if we take advantage of this opportunity to slaughter Du Wenhuan?" Now Du Wenhuan is already a thorn in the hearts of the leaders of Jinding Mountain, and Zhou Shaoteng has been trying to find an opportunity to solve him.

"If we really have the chance, we should really give it a try. Anyway, things have come to this point, and Meng Guang has nothing more to say. But for now, let's fight back the besieging officers and troops first, we won't survive if these things are not resolved. Ma Xiangbo naturally wants Du Wenhuan's head.

After that, I will definitely rush towards Du Wenhuan's Chinese army, but I also need other brothers to help distract the attention of the official army. By the way, have you ever met Du Wenhuan, do you recognize him on the battlefield? After Zhou Shaoteng expressed his thoughts, he thought of a very practical question.

"I haven't seen him, but He Zongwei has seen it, anyway, I'll stay with him." Regarding Zhou Shaoteng's worries, Ma Xiangbo felt that it didn't matter.

……

In the official and military camp outside the security city, Du Wenhuan was talking with He Huchen about the siege of the city at this time. Zhang Yingchang, the deputy commander-in-chief on the side, also expressed his opinions from time to time, and several military attachés kept pointing at the map on the desk.

Du Wenhuan and his father Du Tong were both well-known military attaches in the Ming army. They made outstanding contributions to the defense of Mongolia in the north of the Ming Dynasty, and the captives in the north of Yansui Town were in awe of the father and son. There are almost no Ming army officers in the border towns of Shaanxi who do not know the name of the Ning Saidu family.

And Du Wenhuan not only defended the Mongols in the north, but also played a part in the previous imperial court to quell the extravagant Chongming rebellion in the south. Although the final ending was not very good for Du Wenhuan, it also increased Du Wenhuan's combat experience.

After years of battlefield accumulation, Du Wenhuan honed his martial arts and exercised his own application of military strategy. At the same time, he will also do many methods that the soldiers of the border army will do, and he has done all the scenes of drinking the blood of soldiers and killing good people. Together, these events contributed to Du Wenhuan's growth, and now he is an outstanding general in the Ming army, and he is the most promising military attache in the previous battle against thieves in Hequ.

Du Wenhuan thought that with his father and his own foreshadowing, their Du family would continue to do it like him in the future. But in December of the third year of Chongzhen, when he was still fighting hard for the imperial court to exterminate the thief king Jiayin of the river meander. Suddenly, news from home came from the camp. One of the family members he once treated favorably actually followed the chaotic monkey to attack Ningsai, where his house was located.

As he anxiously searched for news of his family, news came that Du Wenhuan had lost all his people in Ninsai. Faced with this bad news, Du Wenhuan gave up his command of a large number of officers and troops in Hequ on December 25 (Jisi) and gave up this great errand to his deputy Cao Wenzhao. After he wrote a letter of worship to the imperial court, he directly led his subordinates to kill Zhang Mengjin. (Note 1)

When Du Wenhuan arrived at the city of Baoan, his original family member Zhang Mengguang handed over the remnants of Ningsai's clansmen and presented a letter at the same time. It's just that Du Wenhuan didn't plan to read it, so he directly threw the letter into the fire and burned it. He didn't want to hear any excuses, he just wanted to kill the ungrateful dog thief as soon as possible.

Therefore, after settling his remaining few clansmen, Du Wenhuan began to discuss with several other Ming generals how to break the city. Although Du Wenhuan postponed the errand of Hequ, as long as the security guard fought well, he did not have the opportunity to reinstate his official position, and he was reused by the imperial court in the west of Yan'an Mansion. (Note 2)

Du Wenhuan, who was thinking about a suggestion made by He Huchen, saw Zuo Guangxian, who had just gone out, walked back quickly, as if he had found something, Du Wenhuan asked Zuo Guangxian directly: "What's wrong?" ”

"Smoke burned in the city, and there was a faint sound of slaughtering cattle and sheep, and there were still people drinking in the city." Zuo Guangxian excitedly told the information he got to everyone in the military tent.

"It seems that the thieves in Bao'an City are planning to go out of the city again to fight." He Huchen said to Du Wenhuan with a smile, since Zhang Yingchang and Zuo Guangxian reported two victories on the 14th and 15th of last month. During this time, the thieves have been retreating into the city, not daring to come out to fight. So that he and Du Wenhuan have no chance to make meritorious contributions, and now they finally have the opportunity to do a big job.

"On the second day of the first month of this month, Shen Yiyuan's troops captured Raoyang Fort. The gate of Qingyang Mansion City was opened. However, the inhabitants of the fort retreated with supplies in advance, and the thieves in the Xin'an border camp did not get anything. Most of the thieves rushed to Ninse. Now the thieves of the three forts in the north are gathering, and they should be going south in the near future. There must have been hundreds of horsemen among them, many but mostly rabble. Zuo Guangxian also added the movements of the Northern Three Fort Liukou.

"The security guards have been besieged for a long time, and the food in the city must be about to run out, and the thieves in the security city should be planning to break through to Qingyang to eat. We must try to defeat the security thief once again, and we must not let it wander around. As long as the thieves of security are eliminated, except for the thief Wang Jiayin in Shaanxi, the rest of the thieves are not to be feared. Zhang Yingchang made an accurate judgment on the future situation, and it seems that it is not luck to be able to defeat the Great Thief God Yiyuan twice in a row.

Du Wenhuan also understood that the rogues would inevitably take action in the near future, but he was afraid that it would be difficult for the various departments of the official army to coordinate, so he made it clear in advance and said: "Then we will be on guard, and the thieves will definitely be killed out of the city today and tomorrow." The thieves behind Ningsai can't guarantee that they won't take the opportunity to sneak attack, and we need to leave a team of soldiers behind us in case of danger. It's just that the officers and troops here come from all over the country, and General He is still from Ningxia Town, which is quite inconvenient to coordinate. Why don't we agree on our respective defense zones today. Everyone is not allowed to compete for the first rank, how about their respective points after the war? ”

Several of the generals present were all veterans of the battlefield, and they naturally understood Du Wenhuan's concerns, but the battlefield situation was complicated and the fighters were changing rapidly. Whatever task they get will have a direct impact on their future merits and demerits. Therefore, even if several generals understood the intentions of the thieves early on, they had to get caught up in the dispute over their respective tasks.

PS: Note 1: Du Wenhuan's visit time is recorded in volume 3 of "Huailing Liukou Always Record", although there is a record of "a fall into Ansai" after this article, but this record is not seen in some other historical materials. Considering that it is recorded in "Suikou Jiluo" that Shen Yiyuan captured the security guard on the fifth day of the first lunar month, it is not too far from the time of Du Wenhuan's departure. It may be that the author of "Huailing Liukou Always Recorded" mistakenly recorded the security guard as Ansai, or it is possible that the fall of Ansai in the future was mistakenly recorded as this time. Moreover, recorded in "Suikou Jiluo", Yang He counted the ten major sins of Shen Yikui and his gang (Shen Yiyuan was dead at that time), and there was nothing in Ansai, so the author thinks that Shen Yiyuan's capture of Ansai is incorrect.

Note 2: Du Wenhuan's identity at this time in history is indeed embarrassing, but considering Du Wenhuan's previous reputation, several other Ming army generals can't help but give him face. Because in the environment of the late Ming Dynasty, it was very common for military attachés to be dismissed and re-appointed. Du Wenhuan was dismissed from office in the previous rebellion of extravagant Chongming, and then he was activated by the imperial court again. And here Du Wenhuan just pushed the errand (that is, the officers and soldiers of Shanshan exterminated the thieves of the river meander), and his military rank and rank have not changed (Zuo Dudu, Zhengyipin).

By the way, according to the record of the fourth volume of the "Huailing Liukou Records", because Wu Fu impeached Du Wenhuan for killing good and risky merits, Du Wenhuan's position as the general soldier was removed in the first month of the fourth year of Chongzhen, and this information was placed on Jihai Day (the twenty-fifth day of the first month). However, most of this matter is at the wrong time, because reading Wu Fu's "Chai An Shuji", you can know that Wu Fu only received the holy decree to preside over the relief of Qin on the 26th day of the first month of the fourth year. So "Huailu" is wrong again, and Wu Fu's impeachment in history should have been a few months later.