While Liu Yan led his troops to leap thousands of miles to the Hunan battlefield, the situation on the Hunan battlefield changed very quickly.

During this period, Zuo Liangyu exerted great power and led his troops to defeat Zhang Xianzhong's troops at the Gulping Pass, and Zhang Dingguo and Zhang Kewang led their troops to fight to the death to repel Zuo Liangyu's pursuit. Subsequently, Zuo Liangyu's subordinates led the defeated troops to flee to the Sichuan area.

After the Ming army returned to the camp, Zuo Liangyu proposed to Yang Sichang that the Ming army should enter Sichuan from Hanyang and Xixiang to pursue them.

However, Yang Sichang was ready to let Zheng Chongjian, the governor of Shaanxi, lead He Renlong and Li Guoqi to pursue from Xixiang into Sichuan, and let Zuo Liangyu garrison Xingping, and at the same time send partial generals to pursue Zhang Xianzhong, Zuo Liangyu naturally would not agree.

Yang Sichang said to Zuo Liangyu: "It seems that the thief can't enter the Sichuan, and he should still go to the Qin realm." The general entered the Sichuan from Hanyang and Xixiang, and if the thief came to the old road from the old road to the level, he still entered the bamboo and the house, how would he be royal? If you don't, you will go to Ningchang, enter the home, Wu, and Cao Cao, I will chase after the general and urge the thief to turn against Chu, not counting. ”

To put it bluntly, Yang Sichang is just worried: what if Zhang Xianzhong's department slips back to Hubei?

Zuo Liangyu immediately retorted: "The land of Shu is fertile, and the thief is allowed to run through the danger, and it will be difficult to control it later." And if the thief enters Sichuan, there is food to cause, and there is no land to plunder when he returns to Yun, and he will no longer run into Chu Realm. If the husband and the soldier are combined, they will be strong, and if they are divided, they will be weak. Now Liu Guoneng and Li Wanqing have been left to guard Yun, if another 3,000 people are divided into Shu, that is, they will be stationed in Xingping, and the troops will be thin, and the thieves will be able to stop them? Now when he is attacked by surprise, a big creation will naturally disintegrate, turn back to the house and bamboo, and cut off the traces of people, where will he get food? In addition, Yun Bing is in front, Qin Fu is in purple, and Xing is on the right, and he is bound to fail. If Ningchang, Gui, and Wu are dangerous and far away, Cao Cao and Xianzhong are not compatible. If you are poor and return to Cao, you will swallow each other, and your death will be seen immediately. ”

Zuo Liangyu's meaning is also very clear, that is, Zhang Xianzhong has suffered a big loss and will not run back to Hubei, the reason is very simple, Hubei has run out of food, so Zhang Xianzhong can only lead his troops into Sichuan to raise money and grain.

Yang Sichang didn't break down, so he could only follow Zuo Liangyu's suggestion, ordered all the units of the Ming army to turn in the direction of Sichuan, and began to pursue Zhang Xianzhong's department with all his might.

A few days later, Zhang Xianzhong led his troops to Taiping County, the capital of Kuizhou, Sichuan, and set up camp on the banks of a river called the Dazhu River.

Immediately afterwards, Zuo Liangyu led his troops to arrive and led the Ming army to be stationed at Yuxidu not far away.

Only two days later, Zheng Chong, the governor of Shaanxi, led He Renlong, Li Guoqi and other troops to join Zuo Liangyu. Zhang Xianzhong saw that the Ming army was strong, and after discussing with his sons Zhang Dingguo and Zhang Kewang, he immediately moved his troops to Jiu Rolling Ping, and ordered his son Zhang Nengxiu to lead the army to occupy Onyx Mountain, and led the main army to go up the mountain afterwards, preparing to defend against the danger.

At this time, Zhang Xianzhong's department still had more than 80,000 soldiers, and in addition to the women and children who went out to coerce, there were also 60,000 soldiers, and their strength was still there.

The army of thieves who withdrew to Agate Mountain with Zhang Xianzhong also had 20,000 soldiers and horses of Ge Li Yanhe Yilong, 17,000 men and horses of Cao Wei, and 30,000 troops of Zhang Tianlin, who had crossed the sky.

At this time, everyone gathered in the big tent of the Chinese army with Zhang Xianzhong, and after discussion, according to Zhang Dingguo's suggestion, the army of thieves was divided into three roads, and the troops were divided to guard the three roads up the mountain of Agate Mountain.

Zhang Xianzhong led his troops to guard the West Road according to the Chu and Shu realms, which is also the best road in Agate Mountain, and it is also the most difficult to defend. Ge Li Yanhe Yilong led his troops to guard the East Road, and Cao Wei and Guo Tianxing Zhang Tianlin's troops guarded the South Road.

After the discussion was completed, the troops were immediately divided.

But what Zhang Xianzhong and others didn't expect was that the Ming army followed that day.

Zuo Liangyu and Zheng Chongjian each led a large army to the foot of Onyx Mountain, and the Ming army was divided into three roads after the night of exploration, Zuo Liangyu led the troops to attack the West Road and the East Road, and Zheng Chongjian's Qin army mainly attacked the South Road.

When Yang Sichang led the follow-up men and horses to arrive at the foot of Agate Mountain, the first thing he did was to send someone to contact Liu Yan and order Liu Yan to immediately change the assembly location and rush to Agate Mountain to join him.

Then Yang Sichang, under the protection of a group of guards, came to the foot of Agate Mountain to observe the terrain.

Agate Mountain is located in Taiping County, Kuizhou Prefecture, Sichuan, the mountain is handsome, there are many strange stones, trees, streams on the mountain, and the army of thieves is stationed on the mountain, which can be described as easy to defend and difficult to attack.

And because there is no shortage of streams and springs on the mountain, and there are many wild things and wild fruits in the mountain, it is not a way for the Ming army to blindly besiege it, and it is impossible to trap Zhang Xianzhong's thieves and horses at all.

Yang Sichang frowned, now he has three troops under his command, Zuo Liangyu has more than 40,000 people, Shaanxi Governor Zheng Chongjian led by He Renlong has more than 20,000 people, Li Guoqi has more than 10,000 people, the total strength of the Ming army is only more than 80,000 people, compared with the more than 100,000 horses of the thief army, it has no advantage in terms of strength at all, if it is attacked, it will be too much of a loss.

"But fortunately, there is the Dazhu River nearby, and the army can use water nearby."

After Yang Sichang returned to the camp, he immediately convened the generals of various departments to discuss countermeasures, and Zheng Chongjian immediately advocated besieging Zhang Xianzhong's troops, and then played the Son of Heaven to mobilize troops and horses, and then attacked the mountain together after the troops were sufficient.

He Renlong and Li Guoqi were both Zheng Chongjian's subordinates, and both naturally agreed with Zheng Chongjian's suggestion. And there is no need to storm Onyx Mountain, why not do it?

Yang Sichang also has this intention, anyway, Liu Yan's department is on the road, at most ten days to arrive, it is said that after Liu Yan's expansion, there are more than 20,000 elite new troops in his hands, and the combat power is very strong.

But Zuo Liangyu disagreed, and now he has fought a few battles with Zhang Xianzhong, Zuo Liangyu can be said to have won consecutive battles, and he has despised Zhang Xianzhong very much in his heart, thinking that the famous Zhang Xianzhong is nothing more than that, and he must not let Zhang Xianzhong and other bandit leaders breathe, and must continue to chase and fight.

So Zuo Liangyu said: "Supervisor, now that the thieves are already sleepy, and under the successive defeats, the morale of the thieves army is low, and it is a great opportunity for our army to pursue the victory." If our army does not move at the foot of the mountain, Zhang Xianzhong and other troops can rest on Agate Mountain, so that our army's previous achievements will be in vain! ”

Yang Sichang frowned slightly, looked at the arrogant Zuo Liangyu, and said: "Our army is not strong enough, if we forcibly attack the mountain, I am afraid that the casualties of the officers and soldiers of all departments will increase greatly." ”

"The thieves are all mud legs, and they will collapse at the touch of a button, although our army does not have many troops, but they are all elite soldiers, as long as the soldiers use their lives, they can go down to the Agate Mountain!"

Zuo Liangyu looked at Zheng Chongjian, He Renlong, and Li Guoqi, who were sinking like water, and said with a sneer: "It is said that the Qin army is tenacious, and it won't even be able to gnaw down this agate mountain, right?" ”33

He Renlong stood up suddenly, looking at Zuo Liangyu glaring angrily, and Li Guoqi also glared at him, with anger lingering on his face.

Zheng Chongjian smiled and said: "General Zuo is anxious to make meritorious service, and his mood is understandable, but whether he hits Onyx Mountain or not, when he fights, he must obey the orders of the superintendent." ”

Yang Sichang waved his hand, and everyone sat down first, and then said: "Now that our army is insufficient, blindly attacking is not the way. However, what General Zuo said is also reasonable, and it is true that the various departments of the thieves cannot be allowed to rest their strength. ”

"So ......"

Yang Sichang pondered for a moment, as if he had made up his mind, and said: "All the departments will assemble to attack tomorrow, first test the situation of the various departments of the thieves, if the departments of the thieves will collapse at the first touch, our army will take the Agate Mountain in one go." However, if the resistance of the thieves was fierce, our army postponed the attack and waited for reinforcements. ”

Zuo Liangyu, Zheng Chongjian and others looked at Yang Sichang who was in the mud, although they were disdainful in their hearts, but they could only do so.

The next day, the various units of the Ming army began to attack the mountain.

He Renlong, Li Guoqi, and Zuo Liangyu oversaw the onslaught, and Zuo Liangyu stood in front of the formation in armor, roaring loudly and ordering his soldiers and horses to rush up.

In contrast, the momentum of the South Road is a little smaller, but He Renlong and Li Guoqi also tried their best, and the two sent their respective families to supervise the battle in front, so that Cao Wei and Zhang Tianlin, who were guarding the South Road, could not raise their heads, and the two sides repeatedly fought and fought in the mountains, and the battle was very fierce.

At this time, Yang Sichang and Zheng Chongjian stood under the protection of a large number of Ming troops, looking at the fierce battle of Agate Mountain in the distance, and their brows were tightened.

"Inspector, it seems that the fighting spirit of the various departments of the thieves is still very high."

Yang Sichang said: "Let the departments continue to attack, and then fight for another hour!" ”

Zheng Chongjian frowned slightly and said, "It's okay, it's just that I'm worried that the casualties of the various departments are too large." ”

"There is no way, the battle of attacking the mountain can only fight for people's lives."

The two sides fought fiercely for more than an hour, although the army of thieves was attacked by various units of the Ming army, but the formation of thieves on the mountain still fought to the death, which made Yang Sichang, Zheng Chongjian and others frightened, and even Zuo Liangyu frowned, and there was a trace of retreat in his heart.

In the afternoon, Zhang Dingguo concentrated 5,000 elites and launched a counter-charge on the west road, and 5,000 elite thief soldiers opened the way with big shields and spears, and the raid was successful under the command of Zhang Dingguo.

Then Zhang Nengqi and Zhang Wenxiu each led thousands of soldiers and horses to follow up, and there were signs of breaking through from the west road, Zuo Liangyu was shocked when he saw this, and hurriedly mobilized heavy troops to encircle, 10,000 Ming troops rushed up the mountainside again, and Zhang Dingguo, Zhang Nengqi, Zhang Wenxiu's troops started to fight, after all, the thief army was poorly equipped, and was defeated again, morale was already very low, after a stalemate, it began to rout, and was driven back to the mountain by the Ming army again.

In the evening, the Ming army and the thieves each withdrew.

In this battle, Zhang Xianzhong and Yang Sichang were deeply shocked.

Zhang Xianzhong was good at fighting with the Ming army, temporarily gave up the decision to break through, and chose to defend Onyx Mountain in order to consume the strength of the Ming army.

And Yang Sichang also gave up his plan to continue the onslaught, after all, in today's battle, the Ming army lost thousands of people, and this amount of troops could not withstand such attrition.

So Yang Sichang ordered all the troops to block the roads in Agate Mountain to prevent Zhang Xianzhong's troops from breaking through and waiting for reinforcements to arrive.

This time, Zuo Liangyu did not stand up against it again, after all, most of the thousands of soldiers who were lost were soldiers and horses under his command. Since it has been confirmed that it is easy to defeat Agate Mountain, Zuo Liangyu is naturally happy to temporarily stop fighting.

Subsequently, scouts and small groups of men on both sides engaged in contact almost every day, but large-scale fighting was suspended. Whether it is Zhang Xianzhong or Yang Sichang, both sides are waiting for the opportunity to break the game.

In a blink of an eye, at the end of June, Liu Yan led more than 28,000 soldiers of the New Army to arrive at the Ming Army camp on Onyx Mountain.

Some people died, but not completely......