"As King Chuang expected, the officers and soldiers fortified everywhere all the way, step by step, pulling out the village and advancing slowly, and now they are coming from all sides, intending to encircle our army!"

Tian Jianxiu walked quickly all the way, hurriedly climbed the high slope where Li Zicheng was, and reported anxiously.

A few days ago, there was an urgent message from the east, and the Ming court's army of pacification had arrived in Zitong under the leadership of Hong Chengchou.

He Renlong, Zuo Guangxian, Zu Dabi, Gao Jie, and Ma Ke were among them, with a total strength of 13,000 people.

The vanguard troops led by Cao Wenzhao and Cao Bianjiao had reached Weicheng, which was only a few dozen miles away from Mianzhou, where they were located, and they were just around the corner.

The Ming army in eastern Sichuan is also assembling, and not long ago, a Tusi soldier rushed from the Shizhu Xuanwei Division, which greatly boosted the morale of the Ming army in eastern Sichuan.

The Xuanwei Division is also commonly known as the Tusi, and the Shizhu Xuanwei Division can be traced back to the Southern Song Dynasty at the earliest, and was originally one of the six major Xuanwei Divisions of the Tujia family.

The former consolation envoy was Ma Qiancheng, and Qin Liangyu was his wife.

After Ma Qiancheng was killed, because his son Ma Xianglin was young, Qin Liangyu took the position of husband on his behalf.

The Shizhu Xuanwei Division also rose because of this, Qin Liangyu was brave and wise, good at riding and shooting, fluent in words, elegant in manners, marching and governing the army, and strict orders, so he was feared by far and near.

When he was in charge of the Shizhu Propaganda Division, the prestige of the Shizhu Propaganda Division also reached its peak, and all the ministries were convinced, and in fact, they had become the head of the six major propaganda divisions of the Tujia family.

And this time, it was Ma Xianglin, the current Shizhu consolation envoy, who led the troops to help eastern Sichuan.

Ma Xianglin is now in the prime of life, three out of forty.

Extremely brave, when he was young, he began to follow Qin Liangyu to the south and the north, and tried to charge the battle with a single horse and capture Qu Kui.

When galloping to the aid of Liaodong, the eyes were stray arrows, and the arrows were still drawn to chase the thieves, and the capture was the same.

The arrival of Ma Xianglin greatly boosted the morale of the Ming army in eastern Sichuan, and he became the chief general of the Ming army in eastern Sichuan as a consolation envoy, commanding all departments.

Generally speaking, no matter how many troops the Tusi sent, the Han officials are the main generals, but this unspoken rule cannot be controlled by the Shizhu Xuanwei Division now.

Qin Liangyu's identity is extraordinary, when Chongzhen was three years old, Chongzhen issued an edict to praise the beauty, summoned to the platform, personally gave Liangyu color coins and sheep wine, and endowed four poems with his merits.

The Shizhu Xuanwei Division is now the Dinghai Shenzhu of the entire Sichuan, and the places of the various departments in Sichuan are still honest under this chaotic situation, because of the Shizhu Xuanwei Division.

At the time of the Battle of Banshu, the stone pillar white pole soldiers were already famous.

In the rebellion of Luxury, the Shizhu Xuanwei Division was the main force in counterinsurgency.

If the stone pillar does not rebel, the other five Tujia Xuanfu Divisions will not rebel, and the Tusi in Sichuan do not dare to have the slightest dissent.

How strong the combat power of the stone pillar white pole soldiers is, they are all obvious to all.

The pressure from the east and south is already hard to breathe.

Now, there is movement in the west again, and Hou Liangzhu, who has been quiet in Mianzhu for a long time, may have received orders and made moves.

"Hou Liangzhu, the chief soldier of Sichuan, led most of the Sichuan army out of Mianzhu and returned from exploring horses, and the strength should be more than 15,000 people, and he is marching in the direction of Mianzhou......"

Tian Jianxiu climbed the high slope, and he had already noticed that the atmosphere was a little wrong.

The five battalion leaders, including Chief Manager Qi and King Renyi, as well as Liu Zongmin, Gao Yigong and others were all standing on the high slope at this time.

Of course, to be accurate now, there is no distinction between the battalion leader and the management team, and now they have all been renamed as the management leader.

The leader of the ten teams is only one short of him, and he is already complete.

"You came just in time, and it seems that I sent someone to inform your messenger that you have just missed it."

Li Zicheng bowed slightly, as if he had already learned the news, and the look on his face changed in the slightest because of the news in Tian Jianxiu's mouth.

Tian Jianxiu's heart was full of doubts, but he didn't ask more questions because he knew the situation very well, but stood in the position where he had been standing in the past.

"Yufeng has already said some of what I want to say first, and the current situation is probably like this."

Li Zicheng wore a felt hat as always, but the arrow jacket on his body had been changed to blue.

"Officers and soldiers are coming from the east, west, and south roads, and Wenxian and Baishui in the north have now been completely blocked by Sun Chuanting."

"There are more than 13,000 officers and men on the East Road, about 15,000 on the West Road, and about 9,000 on the South Road, totaling nearly 40,000 people......

All the leaders on the high slope were silent, and everyone's eyes were focused on Li Zicheng, and they were all waiting for Li Zicheng's order.

Kill from the Chengjie Mountains to Jingyang, and then go back to Chengcheng and Jieshan from Jingyang, and go back and forth continuously, constantly shifting, crossing the Guanshan Mountains and leaving the Ming army far behind.

Along the way, they are getting stronger and stronger day by day, and all this credit is due to Li Zicheng.

Li Zicheng looked around at the generals standing beside him, and from their eyes, he already knew one thing, and now he has accumulated enough prestige in the army, and has been convinced and recognized by everyone.

"From the time I entered the river, I actually thought about the current situation."

Li Zicheng's eyes were deep, and he spoke slowly, and what he said made everyone's attention focused.

"Henan, Huguang, you all know that Zhang Xianzhong and Liu Guoneng have already lowered their ......"

Zhang Xianzhong and Liu Guoneng were defeated one after another, and the news of the final surrender has long been known to everyone, and the Ming army hyped it up, even if they didn't want to know, it was impossible, and the morale of the army became more and more sluggish, even if it was still not much higher under the successive victories.

Now in the east, only Luo Rucai, He Yilong and other troops are still holding on, but the officers and soldiers are constantly shrinking the encirclement network.

The newly appointed premier Xiong Wencan does have some ability, and the deployment of troops is not much inferior to Lu Xiangsheng, and even because he has been an official in the south for a long time, he knows how to fight in these areas very well.

Moreover, Xiong Wencan also had a southern soldier brought from Guangzhou, those southern soldiers had sharp firearms in their hands, the queue was solemn, and they were also fearless in hand-to-hand combat, fierce and daring to fight, and established a lot of meritorious deeds.

The eastern battlefield is now a mess, Luo Rucai and He Yilong have only tens of thousands of people under their command, and the original tens of thousands have been defeated, how can they win now, I am afraid that they will not last long, and they will be exterminated or surrender.

"Now, we're the only ones left......"

Li Zicheng's voice was low and his eyes were calm.

The officers and men who marched in and suppressed came from all directions, spread their nets from all sides, and came from every step of the camp, overburdening them, even if they were lucky enough to have one or even two lines of defense, there were still several checkpoints waiting for them.

The Ming army in Shaanxi has now all been concentrated in the southern Shaanxi region, and the Sichuan army of the brigade has also been gathered, once the Ming army completes the encirclement, they will become the turtle in the urn, there is no way to go to the sky, there is no door to the ground.

From the time Zhang Xianzhong, Liu Guoneng and others were defeated, they were actually in a dead end.

The Shaanxi Ming army led by Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting had no threat from Henan, and freed up all their hands to encircle and suppress.

At the same time, because of the easing of the fighting on the eastern battlefield, a large number of Sichuan soldiers returned to Sichuan, and their return made Sichuan once again an iron bucket.

After years of conquest, Li Zicheng is no longer the postman and general who has lived in Shaanxi for a long time and does not know how big the world is.

Although the Lu'an Rebellion that broke out in Sichuan before had dealt a heavy blow to Sichuan, it was precisely because of this that most of the soldiers in Sichuan Province now, including the guards, have a certain combat power, and they are not as unbearable as Henan and other provinces that have been at peace for a long time.

The previous two battles in Sword Pavilion and Guangyuan, although they were won twice, were both disastrous victories, and they still had the advantage of attacking first and manpower.

"Fighting head-on, no matter which way we are fighting, we don't have much chance of winning."

Li Zicheng's expression was calm and he spoke lightly.

With a very calm expectation, he recounts the possible failures.

The faces of all the generals on the high slope changed slightly, they were all waiting for Li Zicheng's order to go where, waiting for Li Zicheng to lead them out of the encirclement again.

But Li Zicheng is now saying that there is no chance of winning any way.

Seem...... A ...... awaits them ahead There is only one way to perish.

Tian Jianxiu's heart was slightly cold, and a chill slowly rose in his heart.

He was a little unacceptable for a while, they obviously fought all the way and won like a bamboo, and they were in the limelight for a while, and they obviously hadn't lost yet!

Tian Jianxiu wanted to say something, but after his fist was released and clenched several times, he still didn't say anything.

Because what Li Zicheng said is really good, they don't have any chance of winning no matter which way they are on......

The officers and men did not move for a long time, but at this time they were marching towards Mianzhou one after another, which undoubtedly proved that the officers and troops were ready.

Hong Chengchou, Hou Liangzhu, and Ma Xianglin respectively led the three-way army to suppress it, and none of the three of them was a good person, and this time the officers and soldiers were imperative.

This time, I'm afraid they've really come to the end......

Wrong......

Tian Jianxiu's eyes suddenly became clear, if he was really in a desperate situation, Li Zicheng should not have this attitude and look.

Tian Jianxiu's eyes moved slightly, and he noticed that Li Zicheng's expression was still light and clear, and Tuo Yangkun's face standing not far from him had not changed.

Tuoyangkun stood at the forefront of the generals, Li Zicheng set up five battalions and ten teams, and Tuoyangkun ranked first with his own qualifications and strength.

is Liu Zongmin and Gao Yigong, who have been following Li Zicheng all along, and their status is far inferior to Tuoyangkun.

Tuoyangkun is only afraid that he knows something, so he is so indifferent.

Not long after Tian Jianxiu reacted, Manager Qi, King Renyi, and Gao Yigong and others also reacted.

They all came out of the sea of corpses and blood, and they were able to survive the bloody battles all the way, and which one was a real mediocrity?

"Big brother, what you say, let's do it!"

Liu Zongmin was wearing a bright silver fish scale armor and a high-topped helmet, and he was the first to shout.

Liu Zongmin is sturdy, and the fish scale armor that should have been loose on his body looks bulging, like a brown bear in the forest.

He has been following Li Zicheng since very early on, has not missed any battles, and is Li Zicheng's real confidant.

"Breaking the king's military order, I will wait for the soup to go to the fire, and I will never refuse."

A group of generals also expressed their positions one after another and agreed in a deep voice.

A gleam flashed in Li Zicheng's eyes, and his sharp gaze swept over everyone.

"Along the way, we have not been in a few desperate situations."

"The officers and soldiers are well-armed, the forces are strong, and we have always lost more than we lost in head-to-head confrontations, but now we are forced to face them head-on."

Li Zicheng's voice was low, his eyes were calm, and he said in a deep voice.

"The soldiers and horses of the battalions on the East Road abandoned the soldiers and surrendered, thinking that the court was a lackey!"

"Without the threat of the eastern route, the officers and soldiers of the western route now have no external worries, and they can only target us."

"Now that only one part of our army is still supported on the west road, the officers and soldiers are bound to gather heavy troops to strangle."

Li Zicheng raised his voice slightly, and his gaze slowly swept over the faces of the people in front of him in turn.

"The building will be upside down, and it can't be supported by a single tree!"

"This time, the officers and soldiers gathered 40,000 heavy troops, came in three ways, and transferred troops to block the road to our north, cutting off the road for me to return to Gongchang again."

"Even if we can break through the encirclement network of officers and soldiers this time, but next time?"

Li Zicheng clenched the horsewhip in his hand and said coldly.

"Next time...... Officers and soldiers will inevitably gather more soldiers. ”

"The area where we are has been restricted, the officers and soldiers are fortified everywhere, step by step, and now we don't have many available people in northern Sichuan and southern Shaanxi, and even if they do, it is useless, and you all know why."

The tactic of crowd is useful, and there are only three or four thousand officers and men, and the effect of crowd tactics is huge, and once the officers and men are surrounded, they can be annihilated in one fell swoop.

However, the tactics of crowds were useless in many cases, and when the number of officers and men reached more than 10,000, they were well equipped and supplied, and even the largest crowd of men could not disperse them.

At this time, the only ones who were really useful were the elite cavalry and horse army in their respective teams.

However, if a qualified elite cavalry and horse army dies, there will be one less one, and each death is a huge loss, and it cannot afford to lose at all.

"So ......"

Li Zicheng slowly raised his horsewhip, everyone's eyes were focused on him, and the air almost fell into stagnation in an instant.

"In the battle of Mianzhou, even if we can win, we can't win ......"

Tian Jianxiu's eyes widened, his pupils involuntarily dilated a lot because of fear, and the rest of the generals also had the same expressions as him.

But Li Zicheng continued to talk as if he didn't see their expressions.

"In the battle of Mianzhou, we must lose, and we must lose, and we must lose miserably......"

Li Zicheng took a step forward, his expression cold and his tone resolute.

"We must make Hong Chengchou think that he has completely defeated our ......"

Li Zicheng turned to the north and looked in the direction where Jiang You was.

At present, the situation is extremely unfavorable, and the successive disasters and famines have eased a lot this year, but the strength of officers and men is unprecedentedly strong.

But...... As long as you survive this year, survive this period of time, everything will change dramatically.

The Ming court's strategy of four positive and six corners will soon suffer backlash.

The levy of 2.8 million yuan has indeed greatly strengthened the strength of officers and men.

But in the event of another famine, this extra tax will become the sharpest knife and spear in the heart of the Ming court......

He and Zhang Xianzhong have always been at odds with each other, but he knows Zhang Xianzhong very well.

It is impossible for Zhang Xianzhong to truly surrender, and when the backlash comes, Zhang Xianzhong will definitely rebel again.

Moreover, the northern captives marched south every year, and every few years they had to launch a large-scale war.

At that time, the Ming court will inevitably mobilize a large number of troops to go north to King Qin, and this is also their opportunity!

(End of chapter)