One day in the middle of October of the fifth year of Chongzhen, Cao Wenzhao and Zuo Liangyu, the commanders of Shanxi, raised their troops in Shanxi, totaling 23,000 people, and launched an attack on Wang Ziyong and Gao Yingxiang and others of the people's army stationed about 80 miles outside Taiyuan City at dawn.

Both sides seemed to have been waiting for a long time, and they did their best as soon as they met. The people's army from the Zijin Liang King to his own use, gathered more than a dozen people's army leaders with a total strength of nearly 80,000 troops, in the face of the strong impact of Shanxi officers and soldiers, held their positions, step by step, one wave was beaten down, and another wave of soldiers came up.

The two sides fought from dawn to dark, and the whole wasteland was killed, and when the two sides closed their troops that night, more than 20,000 corpses were left on the battlefield.

The officers and soldiers of Shanxi guarded the only road to Taiyuan for the people's army and set up camp.

In the official barracks, Cao Wenzhao, the chief soldier of Shanxi, listened to the casualties reported by his generals, and his face was not very good-looking. Although it is estimated that at least 20,000 people were killed and wounded on the part of the civilian army in the first battle during the day, the officers and troops did not have a good time, and 3,000 soldiers and horses were killed in Cao Wenzhao's camp alone. If you count the deaths in Zuo Liangyu's battalion, there are also seven or eight thousand casualties among officers and soldiers.

Although twice as many people died in the civilian army as in the ranks, there were only more than 20,000 officers and men, while the civilian army had nearly 80,000 people.

In Zuo Liangyu's battalion, General Zuo also felt scratching his head, if the situation of the battle continued during the day, the officers and men would lose their old capital sooner or later. Zuo Liangyu couldn't sleep well at night, so he walked to Cao Wenzhao's camp, and coincidentally, Cao Wenzhao also had the intention of going to Zuo Liangyu's camp, so the two met unexpectedly at the camp gate.

The two stood at the gate of the camp, looked at each other and smiled, so they stood with their hands in their hands, looking at the dark night.

"This battle can't be fought like it did during the day." Zuo Liangyu said.

Cao Wenzhao didn't speak, just nodded. Then asked Zuo Liangyu: "What are General Zuo's plans?" ”

Zuo Liangyu smiled sinisterly and said: "The king himself uses seventy or eighty thousand of them, and the people eat the horses to feed, and the grain is definitely insufficient!" Tonight, General Ben went and cut off their food routes! General Cao guarded the camp tonight. ”

Cao Wenzhao looked at Zuo Liangyu in surprise, and said with a smile: "It's really strange, General Ben was also planning to cut off their grain channel, but I didn't expect General Zuo to think of going with me." ”

Then Zuo Liangyu looked at Cao Wenzhao and smiled: "Then it's decided." See you tomorrow. ”

Cao Wenzhao looked at Zuo Liangyu with his hands behind his back and walked back leisurely.

Cao Wenzhao did not feel sleepy, so he went back to the camp tent with a few personal soldiers, to inspect the camps, about an hour, he heard the sound of heat in the people's army camp, countless torches rushed towards the back mountain, Cao Wenzhao knew that the back mountain is the grain and grass base of the people's army, it seems that Zuo Liangyu is moving.

The next day, when Cao Wenzhao led the troops again to set up a formation in front of the people's army, Gao Yingxiang, the leader of the people's army on the opposite side, scolded at the officials and soldiers with his throat: "Ge Laozi! Cao Wenzhao, you despicable villain! If you can't beat our rebels head-on, you will use knives behind your back and secretly burn the grain and grass of the rebels in the middle of the night! Such a villain's behavior is really despicable! ”

Cao Wenzhao saw that Zuo Liangyu was yawning and had no intention of replying, so he responded loudly: "Gao Yingxiang, on the battlefield, in order to win, do everything!" If we are afraid, we might as well drop our weapons and surrender on the spot, maybe the court will be magnanimous and reward you with a petty official of six or seven grades! ”

"Haha......" Behind him, all the Shanxi officers and soldiers laughed.

"The surname Cao, don't deceive people too much!" Gao Yingxiang was so angry that he yelled.

Cao Wenzhao raised the spear in his hand and sneered: "General Ben deceived you, what's the matter?" If you have the guts, we're doing it with real knives and guns! ”

Cao Wenzhao is quite confident in saying such things, he is an authentic military general, and he dances with a pistol, and he can't get close to a dozen people who are idle. And Gao Yingxiang, the leader of the people's army on the other side, is from a poor peasant background, it would be good to have brute strength, and if he really fought one-on-one, the ten Gao Yingxiang couldn't beat one Cao Wenzhao.

Yes, Gao Yingxiang didn't dare to answer. Listening to the ridicule of the Shanxi officers and soldiers on the other side, his face turned red, and he was very embarrassed.

Zuo Liangyu yawned, pinched the bow and arrow in his hand, and said to Cao Wenzhao: "Chief Cao Bing, it's useless to talk more, see the truth under your hands!" ”

Cao Wenzhao nodded, raised his hand slightly, stopped the ridicule of the officers and soldiers behind him, and then slowly raised his spear, pointed at the opposite people's army camp, and shouted in a deep voice: "Kill!" ”

Behind him, the Shanxi officers and soldiers shouted loudly and rushed towards the opposite camp of the people's army.

On the other side, Wang Ziyong faced the black Shanxi officers and soldiers who rushed over, his eyes were cold, and he shouted: "Kill!" ”

The armies of both sides shouted again with the sound of killing, rushed to each other, and slammed into each other fiercely!

Cao Wenzhao held an ink-colored spear in his hand, rode a war horse and rushed left and right, and none of the people's troops on the opposite side were his opponents. He led the Shanxi officers and soldiers to rush left and right for a while, only to see that there were boundless people's troops in front and behind, and they were all small soldiers, but it was rare to see a real leader of the people's army.

He was able to kill, the spear in his hand rotated like flying, and in a round of sprinting, more than a dozen soldiers of the People's Army fell under Cao Wenzhao's spear, and then looked around, only to see a leader of the People's Army while directing the soldiers of the People's Army around him to rush forward, but he himself kept shrinking back, his eyes aimed at the direction of Cao Wenzhao's rush from time to time, and retreated in a panic.

"Rats, where to escape!" Cao Wenzhao was very disdainful of the greed for life and fear of death of these people's army leaders, but despite the shamelessness of these leaders, there was a steady stream of people's army soldiers for them to drive.

When the leader saw Cao Wenzhao chasing after him, he couldn't help shouting: "That's Cao Zongbing!" Kill him and reward him with ten thousand taels! Hurry up, hurry up! ”

When the surrounding militia soldiers heard the bounty of 10,000 taels of reward, their eyes were glowing red when they looked at Cao Wenzhao, and they all turned around at once, and surrounded Cao Wenzhao!

"Ah!!h Cao Wenzhao trembled with anger, since he came to Shanxi, there have been countless opportunities to kill these shameless leaders of the people's army, but it is because these cunning leaders of the people's army instigated these ordinary soldiers of the people's army to surround them, so that these leaders of the people's army have a chance to escape!

"Rats, take your life!" Cao Wenzhao shouted, and in the direction of the leader's retreat, he rose up to catch up.

Compared with Cao Wenzhao's bravery, the attack of Zuo Liangyu, the general of the Liaodong Department, was much more elegant. Unlike other generals who use knives and spears to make hammers, Zuo Liangyu's weapon is a hard bow in his hand. General Zuo carried seven or eight quivers on his horse, and he rode on horseback, drawing arrows and shooting as he charged, and all the civilian soldiers within his range were killed one by one.

I saw Zuo Liangyu pull the bow with one hand, pick up the arrow with the other, shoot an arrow, and then take another arrow and put it on the bowstring. Arrow after arrow, Zuo Liangyu rode alone, with several personal soldiers around him, and there were layers of civilian soldiers around him. There was a small leader of the People's Army who wanted to sneak attack Zuo Liangyu, but before he could run over, he was shot through the head by Zuo Liangyu with an arrow.

It seems that this kind of unguarded fighting style is the most terrifying for the leaders of the people's army, so after the two leaders were killed by Zuo Liangyu's arrow on the first day, the leaders of the people's army carefully dodged Zuo Liangyu, and the leaders of the people's army who were closer to him all drank and ordered the soldiers around them to hold shields to protect them tightly, and then used bows and arrows to fight back.

The two sides fought again until dark, and each withdrew its troops.

The official army still guarded the road to Taiyuan, preventing the civilian army from crossing the defense line and attacking Taiyuan. And the people's army does not seem to be retreating, and is still camped in place.

Zuo Liangyu and Cao Wenzhao fought for a day, they were very tired, and after briefly dealing with some skin injuries, the two generals gathered together again to discuss tomorrow's battle.

On this day, four or five thousand officers and soldiers were killed and wounded. The mood of the two generals was a little heavy. Today, there are only about 10,000 soldiers in the two armies. As for the civilian army, conservative estimates still have 40,000 or 50,000 people.

A pot of clear wine was placed in front of Cao Wenzhao and Zuo Liangyu, although alcohol was forbidden in the army, but the two generals were from Liaodong, and after a day of fighting, both of them had the desire to drink, so they tacitly mentioned a pot of wine, and then you drank it one by one.

Drinking and chatting, Zuo Liangyu couldn't help but sigh: "After another battle tomorrow, I don't know how many Shanxi officers and soldiers who can live don't know how many will be left!" Then with anger, he scolded: "You say that these people's soldiers seem to be unable to kill no matter how they can! There is also the governor of Shaanxi, Xu Liang, who has 30,000 soldiers and horses, but he is shrinking in Hancheng! It's impossible for him not to know that Taiyuan is at war, right? It's actually seen from a distance from the wall! ”

The more Zuo Liangyu spoke, the more angry he became, slammed the table, and shouted: "Xu Liang is so arrogant, and no one in the court comes out to take care of it?" ”

Cao Wenzhao listened, but he didn't answer, he could only smile bitterly and sigh, and drank a cup of Zuo Liangyu, Cao Wenzhao glared and said bitterly: "General Zuo, when you see Lord Xu himself, the governor of Shaanxi, you will understand why no one dares to care about Lord Xu!" ”

Zuo Liangyu was silent for a while, and shouted unconvinced: "If Inspector Sun is here, he Xu Liang would dare to be so presumptuous?!" ”

The so-called Sun Inspector is Sun Chengzong, a scholar of Wuyingdian University and the governor of Jiliao. Cao Wenzhao and Zuo Liangyu are both from the name of Sun Chengzong, and they respect Sun Ge Lao very much.

Cao Wenzhao heard that Zuo Liangyu had moved out of Sun Chengzong, so he was silent and couldn't answer. Although Cao Wenzhao also admired Sun Chengzong, Xu Liang's strength and recklessness were experienced by Cao Wenzhao himself, and whether Sun Ge Lao could deter Xu Liang, the governor of Shaanxi, Cao Wenzhao had no bottom in his heart.

"How do I feel that this time, the resistance of the people's army seems to be particularly stubborn?" Cao Wenzhao must have been in Shanxi for a long time, and he knows better than Zuo Liangyu about the morality of the people's army. He frowned, and said in a deep voice: "In the past, as long as the officers and soldiers pursued the people's army, unless the people's army had ten times the strength, they would resist a little and flee. ”

"Could it be that Wang Ziyong and Gao Yingxiang are planning to fight us to the end here?" Cao Wenzhao muttered to himself, but after asking, he smiled first. For this possibility, Cao Wenzhao himself felt ridiculous.

The leaders of the people's army are all greedy for life and afraid of death, and they are very willing to die, will they have the courage to fight to the death with the officers and soldiers?

Zuo Liangyu saw that Cao Wenzhao was pondering, he himself didn't care, no matter what the people's army planned, for Zuo Liangyu, it was a result, and he led the officers and soldiers to rush over and kill them all.

"It's not too early, General Ben will go back and squint for a while, tomorrow morning, I have to go to the battlefield." Zuo Liangyu took a sip of wine, staggered to his feet, waved his hand at Cao Wenzhao, and went back to his camp.

The next day, Cao Wenzhao and Zuo Liangyu once again set up a formation and confronted the people's army.

Suddenly, Zuo Liangyu and Cao Wenzhao's eyes widened, and they shouted: "Cavalry! How could they have cavalry?! ”

On the left side of the Nationalist camp, a contingent of about 2,000 cavalry lined up on one side. Although the number is a little small, the equipment is not uniform enough, and the mounts are somewhat uneven, with donkeys and horses. However, no matter how shabby they looked, Cao Wenzhao and Zuo Liangyu had to admit that these people were indeed cavalrymen.

Cao Wenzhao and Zuo Liangyu were not shocked, in the first two battles, even if the civilian army suffered heavy casualties, they did not send cavalry! And on the third day, cavalry actually appeared in the ranks of the people's army!

What do they want to do?

Cao Wenzhao and Zuo Liangyu looked at each other, both a little uneasy. Due to the high cost of cavalry formation, although Cao Wenzhao repeatedly proposed to the governor Lu Zhigao to form a cavalry after he arrived as the chief soldier of Shanxi, Lu Zhigao did not agree.

Because, Shanxi has no money!

Zuo Liangyu whispered: "Charge up in a while, I will deal with the two thousand cavalry, and General Cao will only deal with the others." ”

Cao Wenzhao looked at the hard bow on Zuo Liangyu's back, and there was no need to say anything polite at this time, so he nodded and instructed: "General Zuo beware." ”

In front of the people's army, King Zijin Liang laughed loudly and shouted: "Listen to the officers and soldiers on the other side, today my king gathered all the troops of the righteous army for his own use and decided to fight to the death with the officers and soldiers!" No one is allowed to return! Whoever retreats is the turtle grandson! Mr. Cao on the other side, do you understand! ”

Cao Wenzhao was annoyed for a while when he heard this, and shouted loudly: "Okay! Wang for his own use, today General Ben is going to turn your purple gold beam into a dead beam! ”

"Haha! Mr. Cao is not ashamed! Don't die today! Wang Ziyong laughed wildly, not taking Cao Wenzhao's threat in his eyes at all.

Cao Wenzhao tightened the ink-colored spear in his hand and scolded coldly: "Bastard! A grass king dares to argue with General Ben! ”

The spear in his hand was slowly raised, slowly pointing at the opposite camp of the people's army.

Seeing this, the Shanxi officers and soldiers behind him clenched the weapons in their hands, staring at Cao Wenzhao's gun, and only waited for the spear to be flattened, which was the time for the army to attack.

Silence in the whole army!

Cao Wenzhao held back his anger in his heart, his eyes stared at Wang Ziyong opposite, and secretly swore to himself: Wang Ziyong, this general will not dismantle you today, I will write the word Cao upside down!

Suddenly, a hurried sound of horses' hooves sounded from behind the official army, and a horse quickly broke into the camp of the official army, and the official army saw that the knight had a small red flag on his back, and recognized it as the messenger in the army, so he quickly made way for an empty road to Cao Wenzhao.

"General Cao! Taiyuan Urgent !! The knight on the horse held the letter in his hand, and shouted loudly as he ran towards Cao Wenzhao!

Cao Wenzhao chuckled in his heart, and suddenly a bad premonition rose. (To be continued.) )