Chongzhen decided to follow Yang Sichang's strategy to encircle and suppress the peasant army.

To this end, he was promoted to Chen Qiyu, governor of Yansui, and governor of Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Huguang, and Sichuan.

And the governor of the four provinces was instructed to carry out the four positive six corners and ten sides of the net.

The "four positives" are: the governor of Shaanxi practiced state affairs, led the Shaanxi general soldier Wang Chengen, and the Gansu general soldier Yang Jiamo, and garrisoned Shangnan County, Xi'an Prefecture, to prevent the rogue from entering Shaanxi.

Lu Xiangsheng, the governor of Yunyang, garrisoned Fangxian and Zhushan counties to prevent the rogues from escaping into Huguang.

Xuan Mo, the governor of Henan, led You Shiwei, the general soldier of Changping, and Tang Jiuzhou, the deputy general soldier, to garrison Lushi County to prevent thieves from entering Henan.

Tang Hui, the governor of Huguang, garrisoned Nanzhang County and prevented them from escaping to the southeast.

They acted like a barrier to separate the peasant army stranded in Henan from the peasant army in Shaanxi and Shanxi.

Not only that, Hong Chengchou, the governor of the three sides, led the Qin troops to garrison Qinzhou and guard the road of the peasants out of Sichuan.

Chen Qiyu led the main force composed of the general troops of various provinces and rushed straight to Hanzhong.

The peasant army may not be able to inquire about all this information.

However, the news of Hong Chengchou's defense of Qinzhou and Chen Qiyu's entry into Sichuan still reached the ears of the peasant army.

"Mom, it's next door, we just want to occupy a piece of land and learn from Han Gaozu Liu Bang."

When Zhang Xianzhong saw the Tang newspaper, he was so angry that he scolded: "Grandma, before Lao Tzu's ass is hot, these dogs are chasing after me." ”

"Da, the enemy is menacing this time, and we are in big trouble."

Zhang Dingguo is very calm.

Zhang Xianzhong said: "Don't panic, Hanzhong is full of mountains, Lao Tzu drilled into the mountains, and the officials and soldiers could only smell Lao Tzu's fart." "Laughing.

The righteous sons laughed.

They laughed, but Zhang Xianzhong didn't smile anymore.

What I said just now was all about learning drama and literature to appease the morale of the army.

The reality is much more serious than imagined.

The peasant army now has tens of thousands of people, and they can only gnaw on the bark of trees when they really dig into the mountains.

At this time, the pro-soldiers came to report: "General Li Chuang, please come to the camp to speak." ”

"Who else is going but Lao Tzu?" Zhang Xianzhong asked.

Although the two armies are jointly operated, they must still have the vigilance they should have.

"Tuoyangkun, Zhang Miaoshou and other leaders will go." The pro-soldier replied.

"Got it."

Zhang Xianzhong got up and turned his head to look at Zhang Kewang: "Our Lao Tzu is not here, you have to take care of your home." ”

"Yes, Da." Zhang Kewang and the other righteous son hugged their fists.

"Dingguo, let's go."

When Zhang Xianzhong arrived, Tuoyangkun and Zhang Miaoshou had already arrived.

Looking at their faces, the situation is not good.

Li Zicheng crossed his waist with one hand, and his face was also dignified.

"What's the matter, their faces are more ugly than horse manure."

Zhang Xianzhong sat down in his seat with a golden knife.

"The imperial court has made a bloody investment this time to eliminate us."

Li Zicheng said calmly: "Hong Chengchou is guarding Qinzhou, which seems to be 108,000 miles away from us, but actually blocks our retreat. ”

Since ancient times, there are five roads from Hanzhong to Shaanxi.

The first is the road where Zhuge Liang left Qishan Mountain, called Qishan Road.

Although it is a long detour, the road is flat and suitable for the march of large armies.

Hong Chengchou guarded there, which was tantamount to blocking the possibility of the escape of a large number of troops of the peasant army.

"Chen Qiyu has led the army to Pingli, and after Pingli is Xing'an Mansion. Follow this road and kill Hanzhong. ”

Li Zicheng continued: "It is only a matter of time before they arrive in Hanzhong. ”

Looking at the simple map on the table, Zhang Xianzhong asked: "General, which line do you think Chen Qiyu will take?" ”

"When the army is out, it needs food and grass. After Shiquan, the only way to Yangxian is to go. It is adjacent to the Han River, making it convenient for ships to transport grain. ”

Li Zicheng analyzed: "And when we arrive in Yangxian, it is equivalent to choking our road out of Sichuan." So they will march north at Shiquan and block our way out. ”

"That means you have to be prepared before they arrive."

Zhang Xianzhong guessed what Li Zicheng meant.

At present, so many people have become turtles in the urn, and if they want to escape, they have to rely on their positions to avoid the enemy's main force.

But so many people come together, that's unrealistic.

Zhang Xianzhong looked at the other leaders, all of whom were embarrassed.

"Damn, one by one bragging, I really have to carry things, and all of them are like bound feet."

Zhang Xianzhong scolded secretly in his heart.

However, let him divide his troops to Shaanxi to contain Hong Chengchou.

I'm sorry, our Lao Tzu is in very bad health and can't bear the heavy responsibility.

"I mean, I will lead a part of the men and horses from Chencang Road out of Sichuan to contain Hong Chengchou's main force."

Li Zicheng said: "The rest of the brothers, led by Brother Zhang, went to Shiquan, avoided Chen Qiyu's main force, passed through Yunyang Mansion, and arrived at Huguang. ”

He didn't know the four corners of the imperial court yet.

Seeing that Li Zicheng took the initiative to take on the heaviest task, Zhang Xianzhong nodded: "This idea is good, let's take Liu Bei once and come to him to counterattack Jingzhou." ”

"It's so decided." Li Zicheng rolled up the map and said, "Inform the brothers in each battalion to bury the pot and cook before dawn, and set off as soon as the morning dawns." ”

"Okay."

All the chiefs are gone.

Li Guo was puzzled: "General, are we too much of a loss." ”

"Suffer? Except for us, you see who is willing to take on this task. ”

Li Zicheng smiled bitterly: "When I heard Hong Chengchou's name, I was so frightened that my face turned pale. ”

"We can follow along, so why go it alone."

Gao Jie also felt that Li Zicheng's approach would make the old eighth team suffer a big loss.

"The terrain here is different from other places, and there are cliffs everywhere."

Li Zicheng said with a smile: "We use the most unexpected way to get out of Sichuan, Shaanxi is big, let us come and go." Isn't it a hundred times better than staying here? ”

"That's just as well." Li Guo smiled and nodded.

After pacifying his subordinates, Li Zicheng arranged the retreat.

Things were much easier than they thought.

Li Zicheng did not know that the Shaanxi soldiers were either in Qinzhou or Shangnan.

I also thought I had the heaviest task.

As a result, the old eighth team went out of Sichuan unusually smoothly, avoiding the important town of Baoji, and breaking through Qianyang and Longzhou.

There, get a big wave of supplies.

Zhang Xianzhong was miserable.

They didn't know that Chen Qiyu went north from Shiquan to deliberately give them a way to escape for their lives.

What is the reason for this?

Because, there are Ming Dynasty vassal kings in Han.

Ruiwang Zhu Changhao is in Hanzhong.

"Trapping" is a major crime of killing the head.

In addition, Chen Qiyu does not want Hanzhong, which is economically rich, to become a wasteland.

Zhang Xianzhong and other main forces of the peasant army arrived at Shiquan from Xixiang County.

Chen Qiyu also went to Hanzhong.

He left the guerrilla general Tang Tong to defend Hanzhong, and protected the Ruiwang generals Liu Qian and Xia Hao to hold Luoyang and Mianxian to prevent the peasant army from coming back.

Yang Zhengfang and Yu Shiren, deputy commanders-in-chief, held Xiangcheng to prevent the peasant army from fleeing north.

So far, a big net has been carefully compiled for Zhang Xianzhong.

Zhang Xianzhong didn't know it, led the leaders of the peasant army, and continued to go east.

I came to a place called Carriage Gorge.