Zhu Youzhen can still sleep, but Li Zicheng's life is not very easy. This night was not only the harassment of the forward battalion, but also the presence of enemy troops on the left and right flanks and in the rear. Although the opponent was only bluffing and did not make any substantive offensive moves, it also caused most of the thieves to stay awake all night, and by dawn they were exhausted.

Originally, Li Zicheng had already made up his mind to pull out the camp and continue to march westward, but his subordinates were all in this situation, and they couldn't even stand on their feet, so how could they march on horseback. Li Zicheng had to postpone the departure and let the soldiers rest for another half a day.

But the enemy army did not stop for half a day, and I don't know when, they came out to make a noise. In particular, Li Laiheng's troops were very bold to penetrate through the gap between the left flank of the camp and the rear army, and smashed directly into the old camp where their dependents were located. Although he only released a few cold arrows, while the thieves did not close the siege, he quickly broke away from the battlefield again, and Li Zicheng was still shocked into a cold sweat. You must know that the thieves are all dragging their families with them, if the old camp is not safe, who has the heart to fight well?

Therefore, Li Zicheng had to make adjustments to shrink the Fifth Army more tightly and firmly protect the old battalion. It's just that in this way, it is inevitable to remobilize the people and horses, which increases the fatigue of the soldiers.

At noon, Li Zicheng held a military meeting in the Chinese army, which was attended by all the generals. But everyone yawned and burst into tears, and even the most brave and combative Liu Zongmin and Hao Shaoqi were listless and slumped.

There was only one topic on the agenda, and that was where to go next. According to Li Zicheng's meaning, it is still necessary to overcome fatigue, continue to march to Sanyuan and Jingyang as originally planned, and then go all the way west until near Guyuan to meet Gao Yingxiang, the king of Chuang.

However, Li Guo and Tian Jianxiu, who were more serious, were opposed to this plan. They believed that the fighting of the past day or so had shown that the officers and soldiers had been prepared to break into the camp, and perhaps they had set up an ambush. If you have to march according to the original plan, you will be in danger of falling into an ambush. It's better to go back to Fuping and rest for a few days before making plans, anyway, Fuping has no officers and soldiers.

However, Liu Zongmin and Hao Shaoqi made the Qin soldiers so angry that they were about to go crazy, and advocated resolutely pursuing the enemy, where the enemy ran away, they would chase after the camp, and they didn't care about Guyuan and Gao Chuangwang.

As for the other generals, there are some more eclectic ideas. For example, Liu Fangliang proposed whether it was possible to stay in place for a few days to find out the situation of the surrounding officers and troops, and then reconsider the direction of the march.

When the generals were at a loss, God also came to have fun, and it rained in a dripping manner. At first it was just a drizzle, but then it became heavier and heavier, and by dusk it had turned into a torrential downpour, and the mountain paths were all muddy.

In this case, Li Zicheng couldn't leave if he wanted to, so he had to adopt Liu Fangliang's opinion, camp in the same place to rest, and wait for the rain to pass and the sky to clear before making plans.

Looking at the mountains that had become blurred by the heavy rain, Li Zicheng couldn't help but feel anxious. You must know that thieves have always fed war with war, and they will grab wherever they go, and the more they flow, the more they can continue to grow. But at the moment, it is difficult to move an inch, and it is empty. Although a lot of grain was snatched from Fuping, tens of thousands of people ate horses and fed them, and the daily consumption was not a small amount.

Contrary to Li Zicheng, Zhu Youzhen couldn't ask for this heavy rain. Qin Bing's strategic intention was to stop Li Zicheng, and now that God has come to help, Zhu Youzhen has saved a lot of effort. If he hadn't known that it was useless, he really wanted to go and worship the Dragon King, so that this heavy rain would have rained for another ten days and a half months.

However, the difficulties brought by the heavy rain also made Qin Bing suffer. Because in order to travel lightly, they have already discarded their armor, and they will not prepare tents. Zhu Youzhen originally thought that it was June and the weather was already relatively hot, so there was no problem even sleeping in the open. Now when the heavy rain comes, everyone has become a soup chicken.

For this reason, Qin Bing had to brave the heavy rain to wander around the mountains, and finally found a few spacious caves. But they would rather let the war horses in, and they were reluctant to go in and rest by themselves. Because horses grow up in the grasslands, the area is semi-arid and rarely rains heavily. As a result, horses are not well adapted to heavy rain, and in this environment, they are more likely to suffer from colds or gastroenteritis than humans. And war horses are equivalent to the lives of cavalry, without horses, all of Zhu Youzhen's strategies and tactics cannot be realized.

Zhu Youzhen, like everyone, was drenched in heavy rain outside the cave. The soldiers were very frightened, and Qi Meifeng was really afraid that Zhu Youzhen would fall ill in the rain, so she wanted to persuade him to return to Jingyang first. Zhu Youzhen said with a smile: "At this time, I can't walk, one is that the road is difficult, and the other is that the soldiers are suffering here, how can I leave!" ”

As soon as he said this, all the Qin soldiers were moved and cried bitterly. Fortunately, the wind and rain were strong, and the sound could not be transmitted far, otherwise the thieves would have to hear it.

In addition to having no place to rest, Qin Bing also faced another big difficulty, that is, there was no food to eat. The dry rations had been eaten, and they did not carry any rice. Even if you bring it, it will be pouring rain so hard, and you can't make a fire to cook at all.

Qi Meifeng had to order the soldiers to hunt, but in the heavy rain, the animals also hid. The soldiers braved the rain to search for a long time, but they only caught some small birds and voles, which was not enough to stuff their teeth.

Zhu Youzhen saw that the heavy rain had no intention of stopping, and the physical consumption of Qin Bing was getting bigger and bigger, so he immediately made a decision: kill the horse to satisfy hunger!

When it comes to killing horses, all the soldiers are not happy. Even Qi Meifeng persuaded hard: "Your Highness, the war horse can't be killed!" Although they are animals, they are accompanied by the soldiers day and night, and almost all of them can understand human speech, and the soldiers regard them as brothers. Now that they have just encountered some difficulties, they are going to kill the horses, and the soldiers really can't do this! Everyone can hold on any longer, as long as the heavy rain stops..."

"If you can't do it, you have to do it!" Zhu Youzhen has always been kind to Qi Meifeng, but at this time, he interrupted her with a fierce voice, "Who knows when this heavy rain will be, is it not for three days, everyone will be hungry for three days?" Without eating, how can the soldiers maintain their combat effectiveness? This is war, no matter how expensive the horse is, no one matters! If you can't do it, I'll come! ”

As he spoke, Zhu Youzhen picked up the long sword and came to his mount. He stroked the horse's neck, and the horse, thinking that his master wanted to be close to him, playfully arched his nose to Zhu Youzhen.

Zhu Youzhen's eyes were full of tears, and he just said: "Ma'er, I'm sorry!" ”

But before he could swing his sword, he heard a neighing sound from a war horse next to him, and the blood on his neck burst out like a fountain!

At the same time, one of the cavalrymen cried loudly: "Your Highness, your war horse cannot be killed!" Let's eat the villain's horse! ”