In the sixth year of Chongzhen, in July.

Shaanxi, Hanzhong, the drought that has lasted for many years has been alleviated, and the rainfall has increased significantly this year, but the vegetation in Shaanxi is scarce, and there are many loess slopes, which cannot store rainwater, but serious floods have broken out.

The people, who had been hungry for many years, had once again lost their desire for a good harvest.

Of course, the imperial court has long announced the exemption of taxes for the people of Shaanxi, and the local government has also distributed some seeds of high-yield crops such as potatoes, corn, and sweet potatoes for free, teaching the people how to plant, because the ruling class is not stupid, and knows that the oppression of the people is too much, resulting in the destruction of the enemy country, what kind of fate will be, and has also achieved very good results, a small number of people, relying on these high-yield crops, have really achieved a good harvest, and even have surplus grain to supply to the grain market.

Therefore, the situation in Shaanxi this year, even if it is still not optimistic, but it can barely hang a life, and the government does not dare to bully and persecute too much, this year's mood of the people is quite stable, and very few people are so angry that they want to rebel, but they see the hope of getting rid of the famine with the help of high-yield crops.

Because of the high-yield crops such as potatoes, corn, and sweet potatoes, as long as you plant two or three acres and ensure sufficient water and fertilizer, the family's annual ration is completely enough, and there is no need to take risks and choose to rebel.

It's just that in June this year, Gao Yingxiang, the king of Chuang who had been hiding in Henan, Huguang and other places for several months, returned to the devastated Shaanxi with more than 100 people.

began to recruit hungry people again, attacking the big government households, and it was the familiar one to open warehouses and release grain, buy people's hearts, and take more hungry people to a road of no return.

In fact, a considerable number of hungry people feel that it is not appropriate to do this again, the government has announced tax exemption, and then relying on potatoes and other high-yield crops, everyone can barely survive, there is really no need to come to eat this bowl of head-killing rice.

But the hungry people are too hungry, the temptation to eat is too great, and their numbers still account for the majority, and a small number of people who have escaped the hunger crisis by planting potatoes and other high-yield crops are not only unable to stop it, but are the first target of the hungry people.

Go to pieces.

The fragile order in Hanzhong quickly collapsed, and in a short period of time, the peasant army of King Gao Yingxiang occupied most of Hanzhong, and the number of people snowballed from more than 100 to 200,000, and the vitality was restored.

Hong Chengchou, the governor of the three sides of Shaanxi, immediately led his army to suppress it.

Chen Qiyu, the military affairs of the five provinces, also led tens of thousands of troops.

Qin Liangyu, the Sichuan Shizhu Tusi, led 5,000 white pole soldiers to enter Shaanxi through the Meridian Valley to suppress thieves.

There are also more than 6,000 people in the Changping General Army Zuo Liangyu.

and the army led by generals such as Cao Wenzhao, Li Bei, Ai Wannian, and Tang Jiuzhou.

The 30,000 elites led by Yang Yufan, Wang Hong, and Deng Xi, who were stationed in Shanxi, also crossed the Yellow River one after another and entered Shaanxi.

Time.

At least more than 100,000 elite troops of the imperial court poured into Shaanxi from all directions, wanting to extinguish the flames of rebellion that had been rekindled in the land of Hanzhong Mansion immediately.

However, among the more than a dozen imperial court armies, one of them moved the most quickly, marching more than 120 miles a day on average, and in just a dozen days, it forcibly marched more than 2,000 miles, entered the Hanzhong Basin, and quickly engaged the Liukou, defeating and retreating from the Liukou, and it was difficult to resist.

In just three or five days, in the face of this special imperial army, the rogue army suffered heavy losses, and everyone was afraid of the change, to the extent that they fled when they heard the news.

What is it about the army that is so eye-catching?

Tianxiong Army!

Lu Xiangsheng's Tianxiong Army.

After equipping with a full 7,000 Jinlong brand bicycles, the Tianxiong Army, which has high mobility, has undergone a radical change.

Even in order to further reduce his dependence on logistics, Lu Xiangsheng borrowed 100,000 silver dollars from Tianxiatong Bank to buy a large number of military compressed biscuits and canned food as military rations.

Therefore, when other imperial armies can only march thirty or fifty miles a day, his Tianxiong army can travel at least one hundred and twenty miles a day, and the plain terrain can march two or three hundred miles a day.

Plus there are 1,000 war horses and 2,000 pack horses (it is unrealistic to have 3,000 war horses, the logistical pressure is huge, and only 1,000 war horses can be maintained, and the rest are logistics pack horses that only eat grass).

Therefore, such a new type of army came out in this era.

Use it to deal with low-configuration opponents like Rogue Kou.

It can only be described as killing crazy!

On July 3, the Tianxiong army engaged the Liukou army for the first time, beheading 800 and taking 3,000 prisoners.

On the 4th, the Tianxiong army fought again with the Liukou army, beheading 1,020 and capturing 5,000.

On the 5th, the Tianxiong army moved to a hundred miles, intercepted the retreat of the Liukou, beheaded another thousand, and captured 7,000.

On the 6th, he fought four battles with the rogues, beheaded 700 and took 6,000 prisoners.

In seven days, three hundred were beheaded, and twelve thousand were taken prisoner.

By July 10, almost all the Liukou in the Hanzhong Basin were wiped out by the Tianxiong army, beheaded nearly 10,000, and captured 100,000.

After dealing with these captives.

On 13 July, Lu Xiangsheng dispatched 300 healthy horses, 500 Jinlong bicycles, 800 elites, and enough compressed biscuits, canned meat, and water, and set off in a hurry, chasing in the direction where King Gao Yingxiang had fled.

It's just that at this time, Gao Yingxiang and other remnant thieves, after the defeat, have been running away for four or five days, they also know that there are imperial army in all directions, and once they hit head-on, they will definitely die, so they chose to take the Qishan Road in the northwest direction, first arrived in Tianshui, Gansu, and then along the ancient Silk Road, to the Hetao area controlled by the Mongols, it is really impossible to go north along the Hexi Corridor, as long as they avoid the limelight for a while, they will kill back after a while.

However, Gao Yingxiang's wishful thinking this time was a serious miscalculation.

Lu Xiangsheng led people to chase him over.

And it was not an aimless chase, but with the support of the intelligence provided by Xu Jiazhuang, he knew the approximate direction and route of Gao Yingxiang, the king of Chuang.

In addition, there are also artifacts such as high-powered telescopes, and the fire that is lit twenty or thirty miles away can be seen very clearly, and even through the extinguished fire, you can also judge how long the Liukou has walked, how fast the journey is, and what is the approximate number of people?

So chasing, just chase desperately.

It's just that in the more than 300-mile-long Qishan Road, bicycle riders get off the bike and walk more than the allowed section of the road.

Therefore, it took three days to get out of Qishan Road.

But after leaving this mountainous area, the plateau terrain in front of you is quite flat, there are no trees to cover it, and it only took one day to ride the bicycle for more than 300 miles, leaving the cavalry behind.

The Silk Road ahead is mostly flat and desolate terrain, which is more suitable for bicycles.

Lu Xiangsheng simply gave up all the cavalry, personally stepped on a bicycle, and set off with a bicycle mobile team of 500 people, heading towards the Hexi Corridor.

At this time, the five hundred elites led by Lu Xiangsheng had already caught up with the butt of Gao Yingxiang, the king of Chuang, and the remnants of about 800 people could be seen, each with one to two tall horses, fleeing in the northwest direction.

In terms of the number of troops, Gao Yingxiang's side is obviously superior, and all of them have superb riding skills, maybe a U-turn charge can defeat Lu Xiangsheng's 500 people.

Even so, Gao Yingxiang and other thieves who have been accumulating years still do not have the courage to turn around and fight hard, because they do not have a set of half-body plate armor and alloy knives, and the consequences of turning around and fighting hard are very likely to be heavy losses, or even annihilation.

They are not willing to pay such a price, let alone sacrifice themselves, they came to this world, the first half of their lives were indeed to struggle for survival, just want to eat well, but now, what they are pursuing is glory and wealth, and even the emperor will be Xiang Ning has a kind, how can they be willing to sacrifice themselves?

Run!

Keep running like crazy.

Lu Xiangsheng led people to chase after him on a bicycle.

In fact, in terms of speed, the fastest running speed of a war horse can exceed the speed of 50 kilometers per hour and maintain it for a period of time.

In this unflat, densely covered with stones, dusty, and headwind environment, the fastest speed of more than 30 kilometers per hour is very good, and once the tires are cut by sharp stones and leak, they will lose their mobility and have to stop for repairs.

Therefore, it is theoretically impossible to catch up with the cavalry by bicycle.

However, horses get tired easily, and at the fastest running speed, they can last a moment or so at most.

Then the speed drops dramatically, even to a point where it can't be faster than humans.

War horses can also feel hungry and thirsty, and must be replenished with forage and beans in time.

It's just that the Hexi Corridor is barren, where is there any forage?

And because of the perennial drought, the rivers are scarce, and there is not a single river for hundreds of miles.

So after escaping more than 30 miles.

"King Chuang, no, my horse is going to be tired to death, and I can't run anymore!"

"You can't go any further north, there is no grass or water, and the horses will all die of exhaustion, hunger and thirst!"

"We've chosen the wrong path, we shouldn't have come to this desperate realm."

The rogues beside him said one after another.

"Then fight with them, this King Lu Yan is chasing after us, as long as we kill them, we can escape!"

Hearing the sound of bicycle jamming that was getting closer and closer behind him, Gao Yingxiang gritted his teeth and said.

"Okay, fight with them and fight your way out!" Li Zicheng shouted.

"There are many of us, there are few of them, and the bicycles are much lighter than the war horses, as long as one charge, let them be crushed." Luo Rucai said.

"Kill them! Strip their armor and take away their bikes, and no one in the world will be able to catch us! ”

"Kill! Kill! Kill! ”

Seeing that everyone was so strong-willed to fight.

Gao Yingxiang ordered to turn the horse's head and put on a charging formation, to bury Lu Xiangsheng and others on this Hexi corridor.

"Rush me!"

Gao Yingxiang gave an order, urged the war horse under his crotch, and launched a charge against the elite of the Tianxiong Army.

But on this section of the charge road of several hundred meters, the war horses ridden by Gao Yingxiang and other rogues were just not fast, and more than a dozen war horses fell to the ground foaming at the mouth one after another, causing more than a dozen people to fall off their horses.

And just when the hand-to-hand battle was about to take place.

Li Zicheng suddenly pulled the reins, let the war horse deviate a little, and took dozens of people to the southwest, shouting: "King Chuang, great kindness, retribution in the next life!" ”

Luo Rucai on the right did the same, and also took dozens of subordinates, broke away from the large army, and went to the northeast, and said: "King Chuang, help delay for a while, thank you!" ”

Airplanes~

The remaining rogues were in chaos, and no one was willing to charge forward anymore, so they immediately scattered and fled, and the formation completely collapsed.

Only Gao Yingxiang and a few people walked forward blankly.

"Bastards, traitors, wolf-hearted dogs! I Gao Yingxiang misjudged you! ”

King Gao Yingxiang scolded, knowing that he had become an outcast, and he was the head of the thief that the court had to catch, it was impossible for him to escape, and here he was at the end of the world.

"I, Gao Yingxiang, will die even if I die, and I will not die in the hands of the imperial court!"

Gao Yingxiang pulled out his sword and was about to kill himself.

But an alloy goose knife struck him in the arm, and the saber fell off in his hand.

Immediately, several large nets were thrown at him, enveloping him and binding him, Lu Xiangsheng couldn't hold back his joy and said: "This thief is the first to catch alive, dedicated to Your Majesty!" ”

"Kill me, kill me quickly!"

"King Lu Yan, give me a good time, take my head to ask for credit!"

"It's just a matter of becoming a king and losing a villain, I'm not guilty! I am the king, and I should die as a king! ”

Gao Yingxiang in the big net struggled and roared unwillingly, constantly asking for a decent death.

Lu Xiangsheng ignored it and snorted coldly, but he was just a first-class man, how could he correct the law of the court without a thousand cuts? How to restrain hundreds of millions of subjects, such a thief and a giant must be executed at a later pace!

The only regret is that in addition to Gao Yingxiang and other 100 old thieves who were killed and captured, the remaining hundreds of thieves fled in all directions, and some small and medium-sized thieves escaped.

Moreover, Lu Xiangsheng is also confident that no matter how these rogues resurge, his Tianxiong Army can be extinguished in time, so that they will be whirled and extinguished, and they will not want to cause great harm to the Ming Dynasty!

"One Sword Alone"