The news that the security army led by Zhang Chu appeared in the south of Shanxi did not surprise Hong Chengchou, which confirmed his previous judgment that Zhang Chu, a group of thieves, invaded Shanxi in order to plunder grain, and would inevitably turn to other directions if the attack in the direction of Taiyuan was frustrated. This time, the security army fled to the southwest of Shanxi, indicating that they were frightened by the official army and wanted to change places to grab food to survive, but they obviously chose the wrong direction, Huozhou and Linfen on the route that the thieves had to pass through were both cities with high cities and deep pools, and there were a large number of officers and soldiers stationed there.

The number of thieves this time was huge, and it was difficult to feed so many people if they only relied on the village forts of a few rural landlords, which provided an opportunity for the officers and soldiers to concentrate their forces to eliminate the thieves. As long as the official army holds the city and then sends a large army to pursue it, the thieves will collapse without supplies in the escape, which is a good time to annihilate the thieves. So Hong Chengchou ordered all the officers and soldiers under his command to chase after the security army.

At the same time, the security army is desperately hurrying, this time the southward security army not only dispatched more than 20,000 troops, but also followed by a large number of recruited people, they not only transported weapons and ammunition, but also carried a large amount of food baggage, this time Zhang Chu's plan is not only to conquer Yuncheng, but also to make a long-term plan.

After the forward troops cleaned up the way forward, the follow-up troops followed up quickly, for Huozhou, Linfen and other big cities, the security army just sent soldiers and horses to monitor, or put on a look of attacking the city to scare and scare the officers and soldiers in the city, the officers and soldiers hid in the city and trembled, I don't know what the intention of the security army was, they watched the security army on the city wall in a neat and orderly manner, and prayed in their hearts that these thieves would leave quickly, not to have the idea of attacking the city, they had also seen a large group of thieves, But it was the first time I had seen a team of thieves wearing the same black military uniform like this, and even marching and walking in a uniform manner. Fortunately, the security army was not interested in attacking the city, but just buried their heads in the road, and after being wiped out a few groups of officers and soldiers, the officers and soldiers also learned to be smart, and when they saw the ranks of the security army, they ran away from it, or hid in the city and did not come out, so that there were many fewer obstacles on the way of the security army's advance, and the speed of the march became faster.

When Hong Chengchou led a large group of officers and troops from the Taiyuan area to chase over, the security army had already arrived near Yuncheng, and Zhang Chu was also relieved that so many personnel and baggage passed through the area occupied by the enemy, and there were no major problems during the march, and they arrived at the predetermined position safely, laying a good foundation for the next action.

Zhang Chu was just relaxed for a while, a communication soldier rode over in a hurry, looking at him should have something urgent to report, Zhang Chu immediately asked the guards to bring him to him, and the communication soldier reported after a military salute: "Commander, the first regiment of the new 1st Division was frustrated in attacking the enemy on the outskirts of Yuncheng and has retreated. ”

Zhang Chu was taken aback when he heard this, before the battle to attack Yuncheng began, the security army was beaten in the head by the officers and soldiers, and the security army of a regiment was beaten back by the enemy, why did the first regiment of the new 1st Division launch an attack on the enemy alone without waiting for a large force. What about the losses of the troops, all kinds of questions could not be answered by the signal corps.

In order to find out the situation, Zhang Chu immediately jumped on his horse and rushed forward with the guards.

Came to a small village more than ten miles away from Yuncheng, where the first regiment was building fortifications, under the guidance of the sentry, Zhang Chu came to the regiment headquarters, where the commander of the first division, Chen Qiang, was loudly reprimanding the commander of the first regiment, Wu Huixian, who stood there with a face full of shame and did not dare to speak out.

Seeing Zhang Chu coming in, Chen Qiang immediately came over to salute and greet him, and he didn't know what to say for a while.

Zhang Chu found a stool in the room and sat down before asking, "What happened?" ”

Chen Qiang reported the situation to Zhang Chu with an uncomfortable face. It turned out that a company of the first regiment as the vanguard first arrived four or five miles away from Yuncheng, originally thought that the officers and soldiers guarding Yuncheng would retreat to the city to hold on, the company commander ordered the team to stop on the spot, ready to reconnoiter the enemy's situation, did not expect that the enemy had a large number of troops stationed outside the city and built fortifications, the officers and soldiers found that the security army actually organized a large number of men and horses to start the attack, the company commander made a report to the regiment while organizing the defense, the military will first receive the report and then take the whole regiment to go up to respond, but did not expect that the officers and soldiers are not only numerous, The will to fight was still very resolute, the first regiment caused great casualties to the officers and soldiers, but could not repel the enemy, the enemy continued to rush from the direction of Yuncheng to support, the number of nearly 10,000 people, and the first regiment was glued together, once the enemy rushed up with the musket as the main weapon of the first regiment will be dangerous. Fortunately, the cavalry regiment arrived at this time, and a charge temporarily pushed the enemy back, and only then did it cover the withdrawal of the first regiment. "It's a shame to rely on other people's rescue to retreat." Chen Qiang was still resentful beside him, no matter what kind of enemy the security army faced since its establishment, it was the first time that it had been beaten so badly. "How's the team's losses?" Zhang Chu is most concerned about casualties. "There weren't many casualties, our armor was very well protected, and the enemy's bows and arrows only inflicted light wounds on us. Several times the enemy rushed up and were also repulsed by the fighters with bayonets. It's just that this time the officials and soldiers are very evil, and they rush forward one by one, as if they are not afraid of death. "Wu Hui will come over and report first." As long as the casualties were not large, the officers and men of the whole regiment were immediately organized to sum up the battle, and scouts were dispatched to investigate the enemy's situation, strengthen the defense of the garrison, and prevent a sneak attack by the enemy. Zhang Chu also felt very strange, how could there be such a brave soldier in the Ming Dynasty, and he could not retreat in the face of the huge casualties caused by the muskets. Dare to go out of the city to fight in the field when there is a strong city, which requires the courage of the officer, and the soldier must also have a strong will to fight.

The soldiers of the first regiment gathered together in the squad as a unit, and discussed today's war under the organization of the squad leader, many of the new soldiers were already numb in their brains when facing the enemy, if it were not for the strict training in peacetime that their movements became instinctive, maybe they couldn't even shoot their guns, and it was even more difficult for them to tell the reason for the war, but the squad leader said that this meeting was held to let everyone develop the habit of using their brains diligently. Everyone's mood relaxed, and after discussion, the soldiers' fear of war was also alleviated. In the end, everyone unanimously concluded that this defeat was mainly caused by the light enemy, the security army went all the way, through the enemy war zone of five or six hundred miles, all the enemies avoided without fighting, hiding in the city to hold on, the security army relaxed their vigilance, thinking that the enemy of Yuncheng would also rely on the strong city walls of Yuncheng to defend, but did not expect the officers and troops to take the initiative to attack, was caught off guard, and almost caused a catastrophe.

Zhang Chu was also very strange about the abnormal performance of this official army, and in order to find out the situation, Zhang Chu decided to go to the front to approach Yuncheng to take a look. (To be continued.) )