After Yao Liang in Kaifeng received Xue Yongli's order, he ignored the efforts of the officials in Kaifeng City to keep him, took 20,000 yuan and another 30,000 taels of silver given in the back, turned around and went home, and returned to Guide at the end of March.

At this time, the city of Kaifeng was in turmoil, because of the loss of relatives, Li Xianfeng, the governor of Henan, and Wang Shaoyu, the general soldier of Luoyang, had been locked in the prisoner car by the Qin messenger sent by the imperial court. It was Gao Hengfei who succeeded as governor of Henan. So in the hectic handover, the officials in Kaifeng City were not in the mood to grind Yao Liang's troops, so that they could not leave.

So when I arrived in Zuihou, I don't know if Shumo and Yao Liang will have a big eye after they meet? I think that at that time, the two of them were fighting for auxiliaries-for-tat, but now they have become a family, and the future is really unknown!

At the same time, after discussing with Deng Qifan, Xue Yongli jointly decided to expand the army in advance and recruit another 20,000 new soldiers. However, this recruitment, for the first time, the Runing Army requires retired veterans to return to service due to "crisis times". There are nearly 10,000 such veterans, so as long as these veterans are equipped with weapons, they will be able to fight immediately.

As soon as Yao Liang returned, Xue Yongli left Zhou Xun in Runing to command, and left He Fei's personal guard troops and Yang Rusong's Tiger Roar Town in Runing, and then led four towns and artillery regiments directly under the command of more than 35,000 horses, and began to conquer the peasant army of the fifth battalion of the left battalion.

By this time, it had been more than two months since the Fifth Battalion of Gezuo came out of the Dabie Mountains. As soon as they came out of Dabie Mountain, the 5th Battalion of Gezuo obtained a large amount of money and grain from the cities near Lianke, and it was also relief to attract displaced people to vote, and Shili also swelled quickly.

But there is one county seat that has not been captured, that is, Huoshan County, where Sun Chengxiu was the magistrate. After the implementation of the contraction strategy of the Runing Army, although the Dabie Mountains were abandoned. But two strongholds were not abandoned. One is Huanggang on the edge of the Yangtze River, and the other is Sun Chengxiu's Huoshan. Of course, the choice of Huo Shan also has the meaning of Wu Shigong taking care of Sun Chengxiu.

Therefore, when the soldiers and horses of the 5th Battalion of Gezuo attacked Huoshan County, they were surprised to find that there was a battalion of the Runing Army and more than 4,000 merchants in the county. If you add the people mobilized by Sun Chengxiu in the city, the number of soldiers and horses defending in the city exceeds 6,000. Such a number of defenders can even exceed the average capital city of the Ming Dynasty, not to mention that the Runing army is very well-equipped.

And the highest official of the Runing Army in Huoshan County, Chang Meng, although he is not very good at fighting. But he was a confidant who originally stayed by Wu Shigong's side, and he knew quite well the combat effectiveness of the Runing Army, not to mention that he was very self-aware, he couldn't fight, and he couldn't fight those officers of the Runing Army under him? So Chang Meng became a hands-off shopkeeper. Let the troops of the Runing Army and the escort of the merchant house play freely.

The result of this battle was no surprise, and it was a partial division of the 5th Battalion of the Gezuo that was originally attacking Huoshan County. There are not many people. After the unsuccessful attack, the morale was drained, and when the Runing army, which had recuperated and recharged, rushed out of Huoshan County, the battle became one-sided. And this detachment of the 5th Battalion of the Revolution Left threw away its armor and fled.

And it is impossible for the Fifth Battalion of the Left to stop for a small Huoshan County, since Huoshan County has such a strong official army, then okay! You're ruthless! We couldn't afford to hide, so the 5th Battalion of the Left Wing bypassed Huoshan County and headed east.

I won't go into detail about the eastward journey along the way. Anyway, there was no Ming army along the way, and the Fifth Battalion of the Revolution also looted all the way, recruiting displaced people, and gradually swelled to more than 300,000 people.

Until I came to the line of Hanshan County and He County. The 5th Battalion of the Left Revolution was intercepted by the Nanjing Beijing Battalion led by Lu Jiude. The situation of Liu Guoneng's peasant army and Huang Degong's army fighting was repeated again.

But this time both sides were very cautious, and there was only a small-scale contact battle, and there was no large-scale decisive battle. Because Lu Jiude had already brought out all the Ming troops in Nanjing, he was afraid that if he lost, it would cause the erosion of Nanzhili. The 5th Battalion of the Left did not want to fight a decisive battle with the Ming army, and still wanted to find another way out and resume wandering around.

So after a stalemate for a period of time, the 5th Battalion of the Revolutionary Left began to collect ships and prepare to cross the Yangtze River to seek other development, but at this time, the situation of the battle suddenly changed.

On March 20, the thirteenth year of Chongzhen, a regiment of the Marine Corps of the Marine Division stationed in Huanggang set off ahead of schedule under the cover of 17 gunboats and began the campaign of the Runing Army to encircle and suppress the 5th Battalion of the Left Battalion. Three days later, a joint venture between the Runing Army's Pegasus Town and Jiaozheng Town requisitioned more than 7,000 horses from the army and civilian horses, and began a rapid and rapid march.

On 28 March, the gunboats of the Runing Army sailed to the Yangtze River and the county section and opened fire on the ships collected by the 5th Battalion of the Revolutionary Left, destroying and capturing more than 100 large and small ships. After the gunboat fire cleared the shore, at Baiqiao Town, a regiment of marines with a total of more than 2,700 people landed and occupied Baiqiao Town, and overhauled fortifications in Baiqiao Town to block the retreat of the 5th Battalion of the Revolution.

On the second day, more than 10,000 cavalry troops marched to Shihe Town. After handing over the requisitioned horses to the cavalry of Pegasus Town, the association of Jiaozheng Town also blocked the retreat of the 5th Battalion of Gezuo here. As a result, the 5th Battalion of the Left Revolution was suddenly surrounded by the Nanjing Jingying and Runing Army.

Seeing that the back road was cut off, the 5th Battalion of the Left Wing immediately panicked. They first launched an attack on the Runing Army in Shihe Town. However, the troops defending Shiqiao Town, with the cooperation of the Runing Army Pegasus Town, held the battle line steadily. However, the 5th Battalion of the Left Wing could not form a continuous offensive at all, and the battle was frustrated one after another.

Then, the 5th Battalion of the Left Wing began to attack Baiqiao Town. After all, they still have some boats saved, and if this road is opened, whether they walk along the river or cross the Yangtze River while it is dark at night, they will be able to escape a batch. Of course, it is impossible to bring the whole army out of the encirclement.

And this battle was more tragic. After all, the number of marines in the Marine Regiment was smaller. Although it was covered by the artillery of the gunboats, the 5th Battalion of Gezuo attacked the town three times before and after, and Zuihou was counterattacked by the Marine Corps. However, the attack of the fifth battalion of the left also cost blood, and they used the men and horses of the old battalion. The Marine Regiment of the Marine Division suffered more than 800 casualties, and if it weren't for the fact that Shiqiao Town was not large, it might have been lost due to insufficient troops.

It was not until April 3 that the main force of the Runing Army rushed to Wuwei County under the leadership of Xue Yongli, which made the Fifth Battalion of Gezuo suddenly realize: it turned out that the Wu butcher of Runing had sent troops, and he had been surrounded by two powerful Ming armies.

As soon as Xue Yongli's troops arrived, they immediately launched a strong attack on the 5th Battalion of the Revolutionary Left. On April 4, the Runing army defeated the 5th Battalion of Gezuo, killing and capturing more than 20,000 soldiers of the 5th Battalion of Gezuo. On the second day, the Runing army continued to attack, causing the 5th Battalion of Gezuo to lose more than 30,000 people. In the evening of the same day, more than 5,000 soldiers of the 5th Battalion of Gezuo fled to the main camp of the Runing Army. Under the fierce offensive of the Runing Army, the 5th Battalion of the Revolution was about to collapse.

Knowing that the Runing Army had won one after another, Lu Jiude couldn't close his mouth with a smile. He constantly sent messengers to the Runing Army, assuring Xue Yongli that as long as the Runing Army completely eliminated the Fifth Battalion of Gezuo, he would definitely add officers to Xue Yongli and all the soldiers. But at this moment, the Runing army strangely stopped attacking.

On April 7, in the camp of He Jin, the king of Zuojin.

"Call the two brothers over today! It's about discussing. I don't like to talk about those false things, so I want to tell the two brothers that my Lao He is ready to surrender to the official army. I don't know what two brothers mean? He Jin said.

Today, He Jin only invited Liu Xiyao, the king of reincarnation, and Lin Yang, the king of troubled times. Because Lao Hui Ma Shouying and Ge Li Yan He Yilong have always been at odds with the imperial court, and they are very disgusted with Zhao'an, so He Jin first looked for these two companions whose "revolutionary will" was not very firm, and wanted to unify their understanding among them first.

But He Jin's words stimulated the two of them at once, and they couldn't help but hold down the handle of the knife with their hands, and the corners of their eyes unconsciously looked outside the big tent, observing the possible movements.

"Don't be suspicious!" He Jin waved his hand indifferently and said, "Thinking about throwing a cup, Lao He, do I dare to sit here alone?" ”

Liu Xiyao and Lin Chengcheng were right to think about it, there were only the two of them in this big tent, and they were carrying weapons, if there was an ambush, He Jin might die first. So it seems that He Jin has a negotiable attitude. Therefore, Liu Xiyao and Lin Chengcheng relaxed a little, and their hands were also lowered from the hilt.

"Brother He, you and the official dog...... Has the government contacted me? Liu Xiyao asked.

"Hmm!" He Jin nodded and said, "I sent someone to run last night and talked to them. ”

"Which side?" Liu Xiyao asked again.

"Where else? Butcher Wu's side. ”

"Isn't there another side?" Lin Yangcheng immediately asked, "Speaking from the heart, the battle has reached this level, and we are also cornered." But the officers and soldiers on both sides always have to choose a haode, and whoever has good conditions will go to whichever house. ”

"That's a good word!" He Jin nodded and said, "Do you still need to choose?" The person I sent met with Chuang Tatian, everything was fine with Wu Butcher, he brought troops to him, his family wealth was kept, and even the families of his brothers were settled, can you give us all the side you said? ”

"But that's Grandpa Lu from Nanjing! It is much bigger than the general soldier of Wu Butcher. Lin Yangcheng said again.

"If you believe the words of the eggless man, the sow will go up the tree!" He Jin pursed his lips disdainfully and said, "Give us a half-official position, and take precautions against us, the brothers under our command will either be cannon fodder, or they will be dismissed and still displaced, unless we still want to rebel, otherwise who will pay attention to them?" ”

Regarding He Jin's words, Liu Xiyao and Lin Chengcheng both nodded. Then Liu Xiyao asked with concern: "Then what conditions did Butcher Wu give us?" (To be continued......)