While he was talking, He Tengjiao, the governor of Huguang, was held hostage by two soldiers of the Great Western Army and went to the city.

Li Dingguo stopped the topic just now, turned to He Tengjiao and said: "Lord He, the Ming official army has already driven outside the city, seeing that the war is imminent, this commander doesn't want anyone to cause chaos to the Great Western Army, so I hope you will do a good job of appeasing the people, and don't force us to do something we didn't want to do, okay?" ”

He Tengjiao snorted and said: "Li Dingguo, the Ming Dynasty is in sight, the Daxi rebels have no way to survive like the Dashun rebels, this governor advises you, if it is too late to change course now, if you blindly resist and go against the court, there will definitely be no good end in the end." ”

More than a dozen generals behind Li Dingguo were furious when they heard this, and two of them even drew their swords to kill He Tengjiao.

Li Dingguo Huo Ran raised his hand, stopped the two Daxi generals, and said indifferently: "Lord He, the Tao is not the same, you are willing to be the eagle dog of the imperial court, that is your business, but our Great Western Army will never be the eagle dog of the imperial court, we want to create a new Great Western Kingdom for the people of the world." ”

"A new Great Western Country?" He Tengjiao said coldly, "A country full of killings and can't even eat?" ”

"Isn't that all forced by the Ming Court?" Li Dingguo said coldly, "If it weren't for the Ming court, how could our Great Western Kingdom be as poor as it is now?" ”

"Joke!" He Tengjiao sneered, "It is a matter of course for the imperial court to suppress the rebels, how can you force each other?" However, the Governor does not want to argue with you about these today, the Governor only knows one fact, since Sichuan Province fell into the hands of your Daxi rebels, the people of the whole province have lived a miserable life of lack of food and precariousness, but if you look at Huguang Province under the rule of this Governor, Huguang Province was just hit by the Zuo Liangyu rebels last year, but it has only been less than a year, and the people have been living a good life again. ”

Li Dingguo was silent, and what He Tengjiao said was the truth.

After the Great Western Army entered Sichuan, not only did it not bring any benefits to the people of Sichuan, but brought them a profound disaster, Zhang Xianzhong's Great Western Army military discipline was much worse than Li Zicheng's Great Shun Army, the Great Shun Army only ate large households, but the Great Western Army even robbed ordinary people, Li Dingguo was quite complaining about this, but he could only restrain his subordinates.

As for the abundant food and clothing of the people of Huguang, Li Dingguo knew that the Great Western Army risked being surrounded and annihilated by the Ming army to attack Huguang, wasn't it just to rob the food in the mouths of the people of Huguang?

"Don't have anything to say?" He Tengjiao muttered, "Your Great Western Army can't even feed the people, so why are you talking about creating a new Great Western Kingdom?" Do you want all the people of the world to burn, kill, and rob with you, and then starve to death when there is no one to kill or rob? ”

"Shut up!" Li Dingguo couldn't bear it anymore, so he pulled out his knife and put it on He Tengjiao's neck, and said sharply, "If you say one more word, Ben Shuai will kill you immediately." ”

"Kill." He Tengjiao glanced contemptuously at the steel knife around his neck, and said indifferently, "From the moment I was captured by you, this governor didn't plan to live, but before he died, this governor still wants to advise you, following Zhang Xianzhong's traitor will not end well, now it's too late to know that it's too late to return, and when the road is at the end of the road in the future, it will be too late......"

Li Dingguo's eyes flashed with a cold killing intent, and then laughed loudly: "Lord He, Ben Shuai almost fell for you, haha, if Ben Shuai's knife is cut down, wouldn't it have achieved your loyalty and wisdom?" No, Ben Shuai will not kill you, you have to live well, look at it with your eyes, Ben Shuai wants to tell you with facts that the Great Western Army is by no means what you imagined, and the Great Western Kingdom for which our Great Western soldiers shed blood and fought is by no means as unbearable as you imagined, one day you will understand this truth, one day, you will willingly join our Great Western Country! ”

"Really?" He Tengjiao smiled when he heard this, "Then the governor might as well live for two more days and watch how the Ming Central Army exterminates your Great Western Army." ”

"Take it down." Li Dingguo waved his hand and instructed the two Daxi generals, "Take him along the street to appease the people." ”

"Yes."

The two Onishi soldiers agreed to take the order.

Li Dingguo turned to one of the generals behind him, Onishi, and asked in a condensed voice, "Has the person who reported to the general sent out?" ”

"When I just entered the city last night, the last general had already sent someone." The general Onishi replied, "This kung fu should have arrived in front of the general's tent." ”

"Hmm." Li Dingguo nodded, and said, "Send someone to report to the general, and ask the main army to rush to Xiangyang to support, just with the three thousand elite soldiers in the city, it can only last two to three days at most, if the general's army can't arrive in time, then Xiangyang City will be gained and lost, and we will inevitably end up with the destruction of the whole army." ”

The generals said in unison: "What the general said is extremely true. ”

"Alright." Li Dingguo waved his hand and said, "Let's all go down and prepare separately, remember to closely observe the movements outside the east, west, and south gates, although only the Ming army is found outside the north gate now, but the other three directions must not relax their vigilance, if there is any disturbance, come to report immediately." ”

"Yes."

The generals agreed and went their own way.

Seeing the generals leave, Li Dingguo raised his head and breathed a long sigh of relief, the expression on his face suddenly became solemn, and he whispered to himself: "Is the Ming Central Army really as powerful as the legend?" Is it true that a spear and a big knife can't beat a musket and a cannon? I, Li Dingguo, don't believe in evil ......"

■■■

The south bank of the Han River, Sheepskin Beach.

The main force of Sun Kewang's Great Western Army was stationed here last night, and after Li Dingguo led 3,000 elite soldiers to leave, Sun Kewang slowed down his march and marched all the way to Xiangyang along the south bank of the Han River.

The sky was slightly bright, Sun Kewang woke up from his sleep, and the bone-eroding numbness came from his lower body.

That is Sun Kewang from Chengdu brought the Qinglou Kabuki, not only beautiful appearance, figure provoked, but also good at singing and dancing, especially a good flute, every time Sun Kewang wants to die, originally Sun Kewang also planned to dedicate her to Zhang Xianzhong, but after enjoying her Pinxiao skills, he dispelled this idea.

This woman's head was lying on Sun Kewang's crotch, blowing Xiao for Sun Kewang.

The light in the tent was a little dim, but Sun Kewang could still see the woman's seductive posture, the delicate body half-squatting on the woolen blanket was red, and the small waist that was unbearable was the suddenly enlarged buttocks, and the two round and fat buttocks have always been Sun Kewang's favorite.

"Turn around."

Sun Kewang patted the woman's snow buttocks, and the woman turned around obediently.

Sun Kewang stretched out his hand and stroked the woman's Chi Guoguo's snow buttocks, his eyes quickly became hot, and when he was about to rise up and swing his horse, the voice of the captain of the personal army suddenly sounded outside the tent: "General, the second general sends people to report urgently." ”

Sun Kewang snorted from his nostrils, frowned and said, "Let him wait outside first, Ben Shuai will be busy." ”

"Yes."

Outside the tent, the loud response of the captain of the pro-soldier sounded, and then the footsteps gradually faded away, Sun Kewang took a breath and flipped the woman next to him on the soft wool blanket, and then pounced on it, the woman's plump and delicate body was like a soft cotton pile, bringing Sun Kewang inexplicable comfort.

The person sent by Li Dingguo to report the news waited for half an hour, until the sky was bright, and Sun Kewang walked out of the tent with a tired face, yawned and asked, "Huh...... Owe, did the second general succeed there? ”

"Return to the General." The envoy replied respectfully, "The second general has already succeeded. ”

"Huh?" Sun Kewang was taken aback suddenly, the tiredness and drowsiness on his face disappeared in an instant, and he said in a condensed voice, "What, what did you say!?" ”

The envoy couldn't hide the excitement in his expression, and said: "Back to the general, the second general has captured Xiangyang!" ”

"Hiss......" Sun Kewang gasped, couldn't believe his ears, and muttered, "This, this is true?" ”

The envoy replied excitedly: "Of course it's true, and he also captured He Tengjiao, the governor of Huguang, alive." ”

At this time, several senior generals of the Great Western Army had gathered around Sun Kewang, and when they heard this, they couldn't help but be angry, and praised Li Dingguo for being able to fight well, but Sun Kewang felt unusually harsh when he heard it, and the expression on his face suddenly became unnatural.

"Exalt what? What is there to exalt? Sun Kewang suddenly became angry in his heart, frowned, and said, "Look at your little bit of talent, you are happy to be like this after only playing a small Xiangyang City?" If one day Ben Shuai led the main force of the Great Western Army to capture the whole province of Huguang, don't you all have to go crazy? ”

"That's it." One of the generals, Onishi, complimented, "General, since the second general has captured Xiangyang, let's hurry to Xiangyang to join him, right?" Speaking of which, the brothers haven't had fun for a long time, Xiangyang is a big city, there must be many big families in the city, and there are even more women, hehehe......"

"Yes, General." Another general of Onishi also said, "Although the second general succeeded in the surprise attack on Xiangyang, but after all, he only has 3,000 elite soldiers under his command, in case the imperial court mobilizes a large army to counterattack Xiangyang, I am afraid that the 3,000 army will not last too long, we have to hurry to Xiangyang to meet the second general." ”

Sun Kewang originally planned to speed up the march and rush to Xiangyang to join Li Dingguo, but after listening to the words of the general of Daxi just now, he immediately dispelled this idea, and an evil idea suddenly germinated in his heart: Li Dingguo only has 3,000 troops under his command, and the imperial court will mobilize a large army to counterattack......

"No!" Sun Kewang Huo Ran raised his hand and said categorically, "Don't forget that Xiangyang is a fortified city, when my father led an army of 100,000 to attack and failed to capture it for several months, but the second brother only defeated Xiangyang with 3,000 elite soldiers, don't you think this is very suspicious?" Who can be sure that this is not a trap? ”

The generals looked at each other and didn't dare to make a sound for a while.

Sun Kewang became even more energetic, and then said: "If this is a trap for the official army, but we break into it headlong, have you ever thought about what the consequences will be?" We will have no return, the 80,000 Great Western Army will become the fish and meat on the chopping board of the Ming official army, will become dogs and sheep to be slaughtered, and Ben Shuai will also become the sinner of the Great Western Kingdom! ”

The generals didn't dare to refute, and a few smart people had already guessed Sun Kewang's thoughts.

"Pass the order." Sun Kewang ordered loudly, "The army is temporarily stationed at Sheepskin Beach, and we will not go forward today, and in addition, we must send more scouts to increase reconnaissance on the north and south banks of the Han River, and once we find that there is a large army in ambush, we will report back immediately!" ”

■■■

Xiangyang, North Gate.

After a short period of preparation, Li Chengdong's 10th Musket Battalion took the lead in the attack.

Li Chengdong adopted the tactics of Tang Sheng's attack on Yanjing, that is, to suppress the defenders at the head of the city with muskets, and then use the Dragon King Cannon to intensively bombard the defenders at the head of the city, killing and injuring a large number of enemy troops defending the city, and then using the cluster Dragon King Cannon to blow up the city gate after the enemy army lost the ability to resist, and carried out the final battle to capture the city.

In the sound of the loud trumpet, more than 5,000 officers and soldiers of the 10th Musket Battalion all set out, set up a shooting queue in the wilderness, and slowly pressed towards the north gate of Xiangyang with neat steps.

■■■

Li Dingguo stood solemnly at the head of Xiangyang City with his hands on the battlement, and his eyes showed an inexplicable solemn look.

Obviously, the military quality shown by the Central Army of the Ming Dynasty is even better than Li Dingguo imagined, Li Dingguo never thought that an army could be trained like this!

Unified uniforms, unified weapons, and uniform long-barreled thick-soled riding boots are nothing unusual, and if the Great Western Army has enough silver, it can be done, but if the Great Western Army is trained in a neat and orderly formation like the Central Army, Li Dingguo claims that he cannot do it.

There is also the solemn aura that the Central Army exudes during the march, which is also something that the Great Western Army does not have, compared with the Ming Central Army outside the city, Li Dingguo feels that the Great Western Army under his command is more like a rabble.

In fact, the Great Western Army is not as unbearable as Li Dingguo thinks, the Great Western Army, especially the 3,000 elite soldiers under Li Dingguo, although they lack training and do not have the strict queue of the Central Army, but they also have a murderous spirit, but that can only be called a banditry spirit, and the murderous atmosphere exuded by the Central Army of the Ming Dynasty cannot be compared.

There is an essential difference between the Central Army and the Great Western Army, and this difference is that the officers and men of the Central Army have ideals in life, whether it is to be a general or to make their families live a good life, at least they know what they are serving as soldiers for, and what they are fighting for? But the soldiers of the Great Western Army have no ideals in life, and they don't know what to fight for?

Suddenly, the Central Army had entered the firing distance.

Li Chengdong, who had marched to the front of the queue, made a trombone, pulled out his waist knife and raised it high, and the queue slowly marching behind him immediately stopped, Li Chengdong gave another order, and the thousands of musketeers in the first row raised the muskets in their hands in unison, and the muzzles of a row of black holes were already aimed at the head of Xiangyang City.

At the head of Xiangyang City, Li Dingguo knew that the Central Army was about to open fire, so he quickly hid behind the battlements, and at the same time shouted hoarsely: "Squat down, squat behind the battlements, no one is allowed to rise, ...... quickly."

There were about four or five hundred soldiers in the city, and most of them shrank behind the battlements when they heard Li Dingguo's shout, but there were still dozens of soldiers of the Great Western Army who believed in their high skills and did not think so, after all, the peasant army was a peasant army, and these guys did not take Li Dingguo's military orders seriously at all.

"Boom, boom, boom......"

Dense gunshots rang out, a row of bullets whistling to hit the city, the battlements on the city head were immediately smashed into broken bricks flying, smoke and dust rolled up, the dozens of Onishi soldiers who did not hide behind the battlements immediately fell down several, and the remaining Onishi soldiers who were lucky enough not to be hit did not dare to hold on to it anymore, and quickly hid behind the battlements.

Taking advantage of the gap between the shots of the Central Army, Li Dingguo looked out of the gap between the battlements, and saw that the first row of the Central Army had already squatted down in place, reloading ammunition, but the second row of musket team had already raised the muskets in their hands, so they shouted again: "It's all hidden, don't take your head, no one is allowed to take the head without the commander's military order......

"Boom, boom, boom......"

Another row of dense bullets whistled in, and this time the Onishi soldiers all learned to be obedient, and no one was shot or injured.

But at this time, Li Dingguo suddenly found that a row of officers and soldiers of the Central Army suddenly rushed out from behind the firing queue, swarming towards the city in a messy straggler formation, the sprint speed of this group of Central Army was very fast, and Li Dingguo was stunned for a moment, and he had already rushed through dozens of paces, and was less than a hundred steps away from the city wall.

What made Li Dingguo even more confused was that the central army was not holding muskets, but black things, Li Dingguo was stunned for a moment, and then shouted: "Dragon King Cannon!" Damn it's the Dragon King Cannon, fire the arrows to stop them, and you must not let them get near the city gates! ”

Li Dingguo didn't know that this group of central army was going to use the dragon king cannon to blow up the defenders on the head of the city, and thought that this group of central army was going to blow up the city gate, Li Dingguo was afraid that the city gate would be blown open, and then the central army would swarm in, so he quickly ordered the archers to release arrows to stop the approach of the central army, even if it would pay some casualties.

Li Dingguo gave an order, more than 200 archers stiffly stood up from behind the battlements, pulled their bows and arrows and shot arrows under the city, and in the piercing sound of breaking the air, hundreds of sharp arrows were intertwined into a dense rain of arrows, and the heads of the officers and soldiers of the Central Army who were rushing forward towards the city fell.

Although the Great Western Army is mostly a rabble, but there is no lack of real elite for the rest of the battle, Li Dingguo's three thousand elite soldiers are one in a hundred elite soldiers, almost all of them are killed from the pile of dead, not only have good psychological quality, but also have excellent killing skills, this round of shooting shows that their lethality is coming, five hundred officers and soldiers of the Central Army who rushed forward with dragon cannons fell more than ten people in response!

There are only more than 200 archers in the Great Western Army, but more than 10 people were killed and injured in a round of shooting, and the killing rate of such a cold weapon as a bow and arrow is undoubtedly quite amazing at a distance of 100 paces, which also proves the quality of the 3,000 elite soldiers under Li Dingguo from the side, and the elite soldiers who crawled out of the pile of dead people are indeed not covered!

Li Chengdong in the distance saw it clearly, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help twitching twice!

There were casualties so quickly, and there were many casualties, which is rare in the history of the Central Army, you must know that under the command of Wang Pu, the casualties of the Central Army in the entire Battle of Jining from beginning to end add up to only a few people! That was the casualty that the Central Army chose to fight with the Jiannu Iron Cavalry head-on in order to show its military might.

But now, under the command of Li Chengdong, the Central Army has already suffered more than a dozen casualties before it even approached the city wall!

It was too late, and almost at the same time as the archers of the Great Western Army at the head of the city shot the first arrow, the third team of musketeers of the Central Army also fired, and the scorching lead bullets whistled in, because the distance was too far, the hit rate of the Central Army was unsatisfactory, but there were still seventy or eighty archers of the Great Western Army who fell in a pool of blood.

Like Li Chengdong, Li Dingguo's heart was also twitching, and one round of shooting caused the Great Western Army to lose thirty or forty archers, and the price was too heavy, so heavy that Li Dingguo could hardly afford it!

However, Li Dingguo knows that now is not the time to feel distressed, Li Dingguo is quite clear, what will be the result after letting those Ming troops with dragon king cannons approach the city gate, once the city gate is blown up, with less than 3,000 elite soldiers in the city, no matter what, they can't resist the swarming Ming Central Army!

"Substitution!" Li Dingguo's face turned pale, and he roared angrily, "Keep firing arrows, never let those damn guys get close to the city gate, never ......"

Immediately, thirty or forty Onishi soldiers took their bows and arrows from their fallen or wounded comrades, stood up from behind the battlements, joined the ranks of archers, and braved the dense rain of bullets of the Central Army to draw their bows, release their arrows, pull their bows, and release their arrows, repeating the same action until they were shot and fell.

As the battle progressed, the casualties of the two armies increased rapidly!

Although in terms of the total number of casualties, the Great Western Army was several times larger than the Central Army, because the casualties were too fast, Li Dingguo even transferred the five hundred elite soldiers of the second echelon to the city, but as the Central Army got closer and closer to the city wall, the lethality of the archers of the Great Western Army was becoming stronger and stronger, and the casualties of the Central Army were increasing sharply!

At this time, Li Dingguo and Li Chengdong are like two martial arts masters who are competing, and the two sides are competing for their internal skills, and it depends on who can't hold it first.

Li Dingguo undoubtedly has a psychological advantage in this regard, for the Great Western Army, the annihilation of the whole army is a common thing, the loss of 3,000 elite soldiers is not a disaster, but for the Central Army, because of the previous consistent brilliant record, the casualties of ten people are enough to make people crazy, and the casualties of more than 100 people can make people want to commit suicide in shame!

When there were still forty or fifty paces away from the throwing distance, the casualties of the Central Army had soared to more than 100 people, and Li Chengdong finally couldn't hold it anymore. Such casualties are absolutely unacceptable to Li Chengdong.

The long trumpet sounded, and the Central Army, which was rushing forward, quickly turned around and retreated.

The Central Army did not have the slightest confusion, let alone any hesitation or unwillingness, they carried and helped up their dead or wounded comrades-in-arms as quickly as possible and began to retreat rapidly, from the charge to the sudden retreat, the pause in the middle was almost imperceptible, and the outstanding military quality of the Central Army once again shocked Li Dingguo's heart.

Such an army...... It's not surprising that the invincible Jiannu Iron Rider can be defeated!

The fierce battle almost ended hastily at the beginning, from the 500 Central Army to the time when the 500 Central Army launched a charge to leave the battlefield, this fierce confrontation lasted less than five minutes, and the battlefield that had just been filled with gunfire and killing immediately fell silent, and the smoke of gunpowder that permeated the battlefield quickly dissipated.

There are almost no traces of war left outside the north gate of Xiangyang, because the Central Army rescued all the dead or killed comrades when retreating, and on the battlefield, the Central Army has never abandoned the tradition of comrades-in-arms!

From the day of the creation of the Datong Army, Wang Pu has instilled the concept of "not abandoning, not giving up" into the hearts of all soldiers, through the expedition to the desert, the bloody battle of Sanbula River, and the later Datong Defense War, Wang Pu has cast this concept into the military soul of the Datong Army! The Central Army and the Datong Army are in the same line, and of course they have also inherited the military soul of the Datong Army.

However, in the hearts of the officers and men of the Central Army and the Great Western Army, the smoke of this short five-minute fierce battle did not dissipate so easily.

For the Central Army, this was an unprecedented setback!

Not only because the offensive was frustrated, Xiangyang City was not captured as expected, but also because of the unprecedented casualties, there were nearly 200 casualties among the 500 soldiers who attacked! Although less than 30 people were killed by arrows on the spot, and the rest were only slightly or severely wounded by arrows, this was still a major setback that the Central Army had never suffered!

When Zheng Chenggong and Liu Konghe came to explore the camp together, Li Chengdong was so ashamed that he couldn't wait to find a hole to hide.

For the Great Western Army, this is also a disaster, in less than five minutes of fierce fighting, the Great Western Army defended with a strong city and actually paid the price of more than 400 casualties, of which more than 80 people were shot and killed on the spot, and more than 100 people were seriously injured and completely lost their combat effectiveness, what made Li Dingguo even more worried was that these seriously injured wounded soldiers obviously had no way to be treated, and there was only one fate waiting for them, that is, to die in endless pain, according to the previous practice of the Great Western Army, Li Dingguo must be ruthless to end their lives, that they may be saved from suffering.

The fierce battle has ended, and the smoke of gunpowder on the city has also dissipated, Li Dingguo saw the wounded soldiers lying all over the city head, and his heart suddenly overflowed with emotion: If the Central Army made a few more such charges, the 3,000 elite soldiers he brought should have suffered all the casualties!

"Someone!"

Li Dingguo Huo Ran raised his head and shouted loudly.

A personal soldier came to Li Dingguo in response and replied sharply: "Yes." ”

Li Dingguo slowly turned his head, looked at the western sky, and said in a condensed voice: "Immediately go out of the city to find the general, and ask him to lead the main force of the Great Western Army to speed up the march and rescue Xiangyang quickly!" ”

……

(To be continued)