Chapter 329: A Thousand Miles of Pursuit

He Xian didn't chase him to death, he just ran away. Zhang Xianzhong saw that it was not possible to go on like this, and he lost tens of thousands of people without taking it seriously. There are only a few people under his command combined, look at the food, just run away. Go to Hong'an.

Chen Xie sent four more brigades of cavalry to chase Zhang Xianzhong's ass and beat him behind. If you have a chance, you can take a thousand bites, and if you don't have a chance, you will follow from afar. Zhang Xianzhong is experienced, and he set up an ambush to ambush. Unexpectedly, the scouts of the Dengzhou battalion found out in advance, and the pursuing cavalry stopped advancing.

Zhang Xianzhong, who was damaged by Yan Zhan, now has more than sixty or seventy thousand people in his hands, and the ambush soldiers are the main force, so he had to give up the ambush plan and continue to run towards Hong'an as soon as he saw this formation. Under normal circumstances, as long as the city gate of Hong'an County is closed, Zhang Xianzhong will not be able to succeed in a short period of time, and he will definitely continue to run away. I never thought that the civil and military officials led by the Hong'an County Order ran away. The gentry in the city also ran away. Zhang Xianzhong was overjoyed when he saw Hong'an County, which opened the city gate, and went directly into the city, looting, and replenishing grain and grass.

The two thousand Dengzhou cavalry who followed behind were angry, such a good opportunity was ruined by Hong'an County. I had to stop, and the troops behind came up. Chen Xie and He Xian followed one after another, and found that this situation was also very helpless. At this time, the rocket in Chen Xie's hand had already run out, and it was much more difficult to attack at night. Fortunately, the number of crossbow arrows is still relatively sufficient, and more than half of the crossbow arrows shot out have been recovered.

What's next? Chen Xie could only continue the tactic of cutting meat with a knife. Huguang's troops were empty, and Zhang Xianzhong's food and population in Hong'an were not too much. didn't dare to stay longer, he was scared by Chen Xie. After staying in Hong'an for the night, he took the main force of more than 50,000 men and horses to run ahead early the next morning, leaving more than 10,000 old and weak women in the city.

As soon as Chen Xie's cavalry approached the county seat of Hong'an, the displaced people who stayed behind dispersed and ran away. Drilling into the mountains, drilling into the forest, basically running to the mountains. Chen Xie didn't chase either, this was already a Dabie mountainous area, and it was difficult for the cavalry's mobility to play efficiently. This is also the reason why Chen Xie fights in a large unit. Too many people may not be able to open up.

In the next battle, Chen Xie was more cautious, and he didn't collect it all at night, and Zhang Xianzhong set up an ambush continuously. Failed to catch the Dengzhou battalion. On the contrary, he was dragged out by the cavalry of the Dengzhou battalion who took turns to attack. I can't stop and walk fast. This time, Zhang Xianzhong came to his senses. found out that Chen Xie meant to drag him down. cleanly took all the main forces, left more than 10,000 old and weak women, and ran wildly towards Xiangyang.

Zhang Xianzhong's luck is good. There are continuous rivers in this area, and after crossing the river, Zhang Xianzhong burned the bridge and the boat, and Chen Xie's cavalry was not easy to chase him. Even so, Chen Xie still seized the opportunity and took advantage of Zhang Xianzhong's opportunity to cross the Dongliu River, and in the big city of Tan Town, he bit Zhang Xianzhong fiercely and ate more than 10,000 of his subordinates with impaired mobility. The so-called eating is either killing them all or dispersing them. There were only a thousand people who were killed.

Zhang Xianzhong ran all the way, crossed the city without attacking, there were bridges and bridges along the way, and there were ships burning ships. It really caused a lot of trouble for Chen Xie. On the luck of this dog day, the officers and soldiers in De'an and Suizhou all fled without a fight. Thousands of military households who could not survive took the initiative to join. Chen Xie could only follow all the way because of the lack of troops. After passing Suizhou, Zhang Xianzhong's good days came to an end.

It is true that the river can stop Chen Xie's cavalry pursuit, and it can also stop Zhang Xianzhong's team. It is very troublesome for the homeless to drag their families and families to cross the river. When crossing the White River, Chen Xie caught up. Waiting for the opportunity on the east bank of the White River, half-crossing and attacking.

Six thousand cavalry used crossbow arrows to bathe the men and horses that Zhang Xianzhong stayed in Hedong to block the attack, and took turns to fight, and the tactics of hitting and running made Zhang Xianzhong go crazy. After a day's fighting, the men and horses on the east side of the river couldn't hold on. In fact, the casualties were really not large, less than 5,000 people, but they couldn't stand this kind of tossing back and forth, and they dispersed in a hurry.

This bite bit off a large piece of Zhang Xianzhong, more than 30,000 displaced people dispersed, and more than 30,000 people were left who crossed the river in advance. Fortunately, the main force of more than 20,000 people is still there, and the rest are young and strong women, and they can walk quite fast.

Zhang Xianzhong, who was still thinking about Xiangyang, ran all the way when he crossed the river, running to Yunyang regardless of it. Chen Xie's pursuit in the back, because of the frequent influence of the river, the speed could not be improved, and he was unable to catch up with Zhang Xianzhong's main force, but under strong pressure, Zhang Xianzhong had no chance to conquer the city. There weren't that many of his troops compared to history. Those who have been lost all the way, look at those who have no money to run away, and the seventy-seven-eighty-eight add up to four or five thousand.

What's funny is that Zhang Xianzhong came up with a trick and sent someone to send a cart of jewelry to Chen Xie, so that the Dengzhou camp would not chase after him. Chen Xie's subordinates, the messenger sent directly cut off his head. Such an unruly approach made Zhang Xianzhong run faster. The speed of the main force does not mean that the foot soldiers below can run fast. Chen Xie kept catching up with the backward thieves, and a charge was scattered. Bite by bite, eat little by little. Zhang Xianzhong didn't have a way at all, he turned around and played, and he played ambushes along the way. The problem is that Chen Xie's scouts are always released for thirty to fifty miles, and it is too difficult to ambush them. Several times asked Zhang Xianzhong to send scouts to ambush the scouts of the Dengzhou battalion, but in this kind of small-scale battle, the Dengzhou battalion won all of them and was directly crushed. Zhang Xianzhong saw that he couldn't go on like this, so he simply left all the people who had no horses on the other side of the old estuary, and took more than 10,000 cavalry (with livestock) and rushed to Yunyang.

By the time he reached Yunyang, his subordinates had a total of less than 10,000 people. Luckily, at this time, Chen Xie was still chasing and killing more than 10,000 people he left behind at Laohekou. More than 10,000 people were unlucky not because they could fight, but because Zhang Xianzhong threw away all the carts. The cart was full of money and food, and these people were reluctant. After being caught up by Chen Xie, he resisted under the leadership of the elected leader. Chen Xie naturally won't be soft, he originally came to grab things. More than 10,000 people surrounded the old estuary and fought for a day to solve these people. The problem is that Zhang Xianzhong dismantled the bridge and burned the boat, so Chen Xie couldn't chase it.

Interestingly, Zhang Xianzhong made a summary of this matter, that is, when he was chased by Chen Xie, he dropped gold, silver and jewelry along the way, and Chen Xie would definitely not continue to chase him. This is a phenomenon that he has tried repeatedly on the road, otherwise he would not have let people bribe Chen Xie.

In continuous battles, although the losses of the Dengzhou cavalry were not very large, they could not withstand the large consumption of military supplies and materials of the troops. The crossbow arrows and gunpowder he brought were beaten.

When Chen Xie hesitated whether to continue the pursuit, Hong Chengchou's messenger rushed over from Ruzhou and "strictly ordered" Chen Xie to go to Ruzhou to meet. Chen Xie didn't plan to ignore this order, but considering that the material consumption of the troops was too large, the order also included a letter from Su Haochen, saying that he had arrived in Ruzhou. Hong Chengchou commanded Su Haochen without moving, and the Qin army that could fight under his command only brought more than 3,000, and he didn't have a recruit for the Dengzhou battalion at all. It's not that he didn't think about dividing the Dengzhou camp, it's not that he didn't think about taking Su Haochen under the knife, and finally gave up. The reason is very simple, Wang Dehua, the supervisor of the Dengzhou battalion, told him that the Dengzhou battalion has always been a very special army, so don't mess around. Chen Xie was with 6,000 cavalry, and there were more than 10,000 of the most elite troops in the Dengzhou and Dongjiang theaters. If you really want to attack the Dengzhou battalion, the consequences will be unimaginable.

Hong Chengchou's heart is ruthless, and Chen Xie knows it very well. But Chen Xie is not afraid of him. Let someone reply to Hong Chengchou, it will be soon. Chen Xie rested for a day, and then marched slowly to Ruzhou. Entering Nanyang Mansion through Deng County, because he carried a large amount of looted money and grain, he walked for five days before entering Baofeng in Ruzhou. Along the way, Chen Xie saw the situation in Henan at the end of the Ming Dynasty, with continuous droughts, the riverbed exposed, and the farmland cracked. Walking along the official road, I often walk for a day without seeing a living person, and the dead are rarely seen. Why? It's been eaten. There is no tree on the side of the road, the bark is not stripped naked, and not a single grass can be seen in the field. What is called Chidi Qianli, this is called Chidi Qianli.

When approaching the county seat of Baofeng, the scouts brought good news, and the Dengzhou battalion was stationed here.

Shili Pavilion, Su Haochen and a group of Dengzhou officers waited here, including Wang Dehua, the superintendent. Since the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, Chen Xie has fought in Shandong, Zhongdu, Nanzhili, Huguang, and Henan, and has defeated the thieves more than ten times, beheaded the giant Kou Lao Hui, defeated the Tianxing, and chased and killed Zhang Xianzhong for 2,000 miles. At this time, some people said that Chen Xie was a feudal town, but Wang Dehua didn't believe it. Isn't it just a little bit more domineering? Chen Xie has this qualification, a general who has won all battles, and it is nothing to be public.

"Salute!" Su Haochen led the team to stand upright, and dozens of officers lined up to salute. Wang Dehua bowed his hand in awe.

Chen Xie, who turned over and dismounted, was covered with dust, the beard on his chin grew a lot, and his face became more and more resolute. strode forward and gave Wang Dehua a bow first. Wang Dehua is a little uncomfortable, Chen Xie used him as air before.

shook hands with his subordinates one by one, and the group walked to Baofeng, listening to Su Haochen's report on the way, Chen Xie only then knew some details. After Su Haochen arrived in Ruzhou, Hong Chengchou ordered the Dengzhou battalion to be stationed outside the city, which was not a problem. The problem is that Hong Chengchou ordered Su Haochen to divide his troops, one to reinforce Zuo Liangyu to fight, and the other to reinforce Deng Xi of the Sichuan army. Zuo Liangyu is okay to say, there is no injustice and no hatred. Sichuan Army Deng Xi this, Su Haochen can't bear it. What do you mean? When Deng Xi fought under Lu Xiangsheng, you really don't know?

Su Haochen directly replied to Hong Chengchou that the Dengzhou camp was short of food and grass and could not fight. didn't say hello, and arrived at Baofeng with the troops, Hong Chengchou sent someone to chase, but was stopped by Wang Dehua, and asked the person chasing to bring a message to Hong Chengchou. Don't off Chen Xie.

Chen Xie knew that Hong Chengchou was unhappy with the Dengzhou camp, and saw that Wang Dehua actually followed the Dengzhou camp, so he gave him face. I don't know Wang Dehua's role in it. Because of this matter, what Wang Dehua did in the past, Chen Xie didn't mind. (To be continued......)