The ninth year of Chongzhen, March 4.

Shaanxi Province, Hanzhong Province, Baihe County.

The name of Baihe County is named after the Baishi River in the territory.

Baihe County is located at the junction of Xunyang and Hanzhong provinces.

The terrain is high in the south and low in the north, and the mountains and ditches of the county are interspersed, and there is no flat land of 100 acres.

Surrounded by Chu on three sides in the east, north and south, it is the throat of the Central Plains into Shaanxi and Sichuan.

In ancient times, it was known as "Qin Tou Chu Wei", and all goods that wanted to enter Hanzhong Mansion from the east needed to pass through Baihe County.

It is precisely because of this trade route that Baihe County has been thriving for thousands of years.

It's just that from now on, Baihe County may not continue to prosper......

Billowing black smoke rises, and fires are spreading between the streets and cities in Shirakawa Prefecture.

Just three days ago, Baihe County had fallen.

In the north of Baihe County, the brigade of soldiers wearing gray clothes and gray scarves on their heads is going west along the official road.

Their eyes were calm, and they slowly walked forward with spears on their shoulders.

On the official road, except for the dull and chaotic footsteps, there was no other superfluous sound.

Their purpose is the west of Baihe County - Hanzhong Mansion in Shaanxi Province!

These soldiers who were in strict order, did not have a disorderly march, and were dressed in gray clothes and wearing gray scarves on their heads were not Ming troops.

They are the breaking army, the breaking army under Gao Yingxiang.

Unlike other rogues who wore different clothes, Gao Yingxiang had already begun to require neatly dressed military uniforms.

The main color in General Gao Yingxiang was set to gray.

Gray is basically dyed with plant ash.

It takes a lot of money to dye other colors, but it's easy to dye them gray.

You only need to pour plant ash on a white cloth, constantly roll and then rinse, and after drying, it will become gray.

Grass ash is not rare, and there is a large amount of plant ash produced in the army every day for cooking and firewood.

A neat military uniform can improve the appearance of the army, and the appearance improvement of the army seems to be only a superficial project.

But in fact, the appearance of an army can have a great impact on morale.

Gao Yingxiang has not read any military books, nor has he listened to the lectures of any famous generals, but the battlefield is the best teacher.

Gao Yingxiang knows very well that those officers and men who have a neat appearance and an orderly march are often stronger in combat power than other officers and soldiers.

Not only did the specifications of the military uniforms be unified, but the soldiers under Gao Yingxiang and other rogues were actually different in many places.

Most of the peasant army, as soon as it was safe, rested, plundered everywhere, and replenished grain and grass.

Gao Yingxiang subdivided the army under his command, part of the army training, and the other part went to find grain and grass, and took turns.

Now Gao Yingxiang has 8,000 fine cavalry, more than 26,000 horse troops, and 20,000 infantry troops.

There are 20,000 women in the army, and more than 30,000 non-staff hungry soldiers, with a total number of more than 100,000, and the strength is the first of the 72 battalions.

Zhang Xianzhong, Lao Huihui and others combined, can only barely match Gao Yingxiang's strength.

Gao Yingxiang's position as the leader of the alliance is not so much because of his prestige, but because of his strength, so that everyone can only bow down.

You must know that among the seventy-two battalions, the camp owners of the twenty-four battalions can only have 1,000 elite cavalry.

The middle 24th battalion only has a few hundred elite cavalry, and the lower 24th battalion and 9th are even weaker, with a total number of only a few thousand.

……

Gao Yingxiang wore a Fan Yang hat on his head and a plain white robe, the right sleeve of the robe was tucked into the waist, exposing his right shoulder.

Under the battle robe, he wore an indigo green mountain pattern half-body armor, and a dragon pattern inlaid gold vermilion battle skirt.

Gao Yingxiang's complexion was much haggard compared to when he was in Shaanxi half a year ago.

His hair was disheveled, and his eyes were bloodshot.

Gao Yingxiang rode his white horse and stood on a high slope, staring at the lofty mountains in the distance.

All the guards were leading horses and swords, and the silent guards were under the high slope.

Gao Yingxiang's eyes were cold, and he thought of what was written in the imperial court's newspaper.

One million taels of military spending, and the deadline is six months to quell the thieves......

Those high-ranking officials sitting in the temple would rather spend millions, or even tens of millions of taels of silver, to quell the rebellion, rather than spend a little money to help the victims......

Gao Yingxiang closed his eyes, and the warm wind blowing from the southeast slowly blew across the hill.

"Instead of sitting and starving, why not steal and die!"

Gao Yingxiang couldn't remember who this sentence came out of first.

But it doesn't matter, this sentence has already spread throughout Shaanxi, and even the whole world......

In the past few months, from Shaanxi Province to Henan Province, then from Henan Province to Nanzhili, and then back to Henan, all the way south to Huguang.

Traveling to many places, galloping thousands of miles, nine years have passed from the first year of Chongzhen to now.

In the past nine years, the Ming army has been following closely like maggots on tarsal bones.

For nine years, Gao Yingxiang did not dare to slack off or relax for a day.

He knew how valuable the head on his neck was, and how much the officers and soldiers wanted his life.

Gao Yingxiang sighed lightly and opened his eyes, his spirit was too tired.

In the past nine years, there have been more and more soldiers and horses under his command, and more and more people have followed him.

Originally, there were only a few hundred people under his command, but when he walked out of Ansai, the number of soldiers and horses under his command increased to more than 3,000, and then to tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people behind.

Along the way, those who once walked in front of him, those who walked with him, and those who followed him, many have left this world.

"Xi'an ......"

Gao Yingxiang's eyes were deep, and the time he was most proud was when he became the leader of the seventy-second battalion.

Commanded the seventy-two battalions, led an army of one million, and the company battalion was 100 miles, and the beacon was shining in Xijing.

But even with all his might, he still failed to capture Xi'an City.

The power of the officers and soldiers became stronger and stronger, and more and more troops came to quell the rebellion, and they became stronger and stronger.

Although the forces under his command are also growing, they are always inferior in skill when facing officers and soldiers, and their strength is not enough.

Truth be told, his ambition has been continuously eroded in the constant flow of flights.

The world is so big that he hasn't finished it for nine years.

For nine years, there is no way to change it.

No matter how many officers and soldiers they have defeated, no matter how many victories they have won.

Officers and soldiers will always come in a steady stream from all over the country......

This time, the officers and soldiers requisitioned a large number of Liaodong iron cavalry from the north.

In the first battle of Chuzhou, Zu Kuan led the Liaodong Iron Cavalry to appear on the battlefield like a divine soldier, and then easily stepped through the multiple lines of defense he arranged......

The result is clear to everyone - a complete defeat.

Gao Yingxiang turned around with his horse and looked back at the east, his expression gloomy.

Lu Xiangsheng is now gathering troops in Nanyang Mansion to defend the Han River, and Xiangyang Mansion is also heavily armed.

At this time, if you attack Xiangyang, you will inevitably suffer from two bread sandwiches, and now is not a good opportunity to attack Xiangyang.

In the past nine years, although they seem to be huge, they have conquered countless cities along the way.

But he did not conquer a single big city.

Fengyang can't be counted, because Fengyang hasn't even set up a city wall, and there is no obstacle to it.

Footsteps came from behind him, and Gao Yingxiang didn't turn his head.

"The vanguard of our army has crossed the Baihe River and arrived at Xunyang, and the first reconnaissance cavalry has reaped the return of the dark line from outside the city, please check it out with the king."

The person who spoke was named Liu Zhe, he was Gao Yingxiang's lieutenant, and he had been following Gao Yingxiang since Ansai.

Gao Yingxiang glanced sideways slightly, Danfeng's eyes flashed with a hint of essence, and then stretched his right hand slightly downward.

Liu Zhe noticed Gao Yingxiang's movements and immediately stepped forward, handing the letter to Gao Yingxiang with both hands.

Gao Yingxiang was not very literate before, but he has been learning since the uprising.

It is inevitable that mistakes will occur when some military information is not recorded with pen and paper, especially when it comes to this kind of intelligence eavesdropping.

"Chen Wang......"

Gao Yingxiang's eyes narrowed slightly, his memory has always been very good.

When he saw Chen Wang's name, he immediately remembered the eight-year battle of Chunhua.

He knew how much ability his nephew had, but Li Zicheng was defeated when he had hundreds of thousands of people.

Then Li Yangchun and Lin Shengquan, who he sent to Gongchang Mansion as a later secret chess, were also killed by Chen Wang.

"Hanzhong Counselor ......"

Gao Yingxiang's heart sank slightly, Chen Wang was just a guerrilla before, but in less than half a year, he was promoted to a general.

The speed of such a promotion is already extremely rapid in the entire Ming army system.

Gao Yingxiang glanced at ten lines and quickly read the content of the letter.

After reading the letter, Gao Yingxiang's brows became more and more frowned, and his face began to be cloudy.

Even though the letter was written clearly in black and white, he still couldn't believe the news recorded in the letter.

Because the last thing written in the epistle is a little too bizarre.

"On February 20, the officers and men of the brigade withdrew from Xing'an City in the direction of Hanyin."

(End of chapter)