Eighth year of Chongzhen

Chapter 172 Out of the fortress
Lost!And it was defeated simply and neatly!I underestimated the officers and soldiers, and I even underestimated Old Ghost Hong!
The side wall of Gaojiabao was already visible to the naked eye, and Li Zicheng fled here from Sheyanshui with the remnants of the defeated general.

In the battle of Sheyanshui, Li Zicheng mobilized more than [-] cavalry and two wings to guard against the two wings of the official army.

As a result, there was no problem with the flanks, and the front had already been broken through.

He Shisan led the sixteen cavalry, and while the archers on both sides were shooting at each other and had no time to pay attention to him, he rammed into the team of bandit archers from the side, and rushed the formation of a thousand archers who was not very neat to the point of falling behind. Go out, go around in a circle and then gallop back to the base.

He Shisan's body was covered with arrows, and none of the arrows pierced through the two layers of armor, but he was shot across the cheek by a bow and arrow, and a few teeth were knocked out; 17 of the 11 soldiers survived in the end. Everyone was wounded.The remaining six people were killed in battle, all of them were shot to the neck and other vital points by two bows and arrows.

The official archers took advantage of the chaos and fired three rounds in a row, killing most of the terrified bandit archers, and the remaining archers and shield players fled back to their own formation; Before the bandits could counterattack, He Renlong arrived with his infantry.

The shirtless He Renlong carried a long-handled sword and rushed into the bandit army without archers to cover him.

Seeing that the archers were defeated, the thieves, who were already a little frustrated, were rushed by He Renlong first, and suddenly panicked.

Although Gao Yigong and Yuan Zongdi fought hard with their own soldiers, the morale of He Renlong's tribe, which had been encouraged by the bravery of the general, was vying to be the first. He began to retreat, and Gao Yigong was also beheaded by He Renlong.

Upon seeing this, Li Zicheng immediately ordered Li Shuangxi to lead his own soldiers forward and kill dozens of defeated thieves one after another. Coupled with the hoarse shouts of Yuan Zongdi and his subordinates, the thieves in front realized that they should retreat He ran into his own army.

The thieves who woke up retreated to both sides. Li Zicheng, Liu Zongmin, and Liu Fangliang led the old battalion elite to meet He Renlong. No, the two sides began a fierce battle.

At this moment, Zuo Liangyu led his troops to launch an attack on Liu Tichunbu on the left wing. The left wing bandit army, which was already not strong, would collapse at the touch of a touch, and began to flee desperately.

Just when Li Zicheng was frightened and angry, and wanted to divide his troops to rescue Liu Tichun on the left wing, the cavalry a few miles away from the right wing fired warning shots, and a large number of officers and troops attacked from the right wing.

Seeing that the situation was overwhelming, Li Zicheng made a decisive decision and led the old battalion to pounce. After repelling He Renlong's troops, he immediately led the team to turn back. After leaving most of the troops, he and Liu Zongmin and others turned to go north.

It was Zu Dale and Ai Wannian who attacked from the right wing of the bandit army. The two had already set up an ambush ten miles away. When they saw the smoke and dust everywhere, they immediately led their troops to come.

Li Zicheng's cavalry was confronting Hong Chengchou's standard battalion. The numbers of the two sides were about the same, and there was no hedging against each other's scruples.

After seeing a large cloud of dust and smoke floating several miles to the right, Dang Shousu, the leader of the team, had a bad sense, and immediately issued a warning to the Chinese army, and then ordered the rear team to withdraw first. Launch an attack on He Renlong's department.Li Shu, a member of the Hong Chengchou Biaobattalion, quickly led the team to move closer to the center, but after Dang Shousu took hundreds of steps, he circled to the right and quickly walked north. Follow Dang Shousu and go away.

After Li Zicheng assembled more than 1000 cavalry from the left wing, he quickly headed north with the remaining [-] old battalion elites.Seeing this situation, Yuan Zongdi and Li Guo knew that they would die. In order to buy more time for Li Zicheng to escape, they organized more than [-] troops from Li Zicheng's department to attack He Renlong and Zuo Liangyu's department. The two sides fought together .

Because the soldiers of both sides were entangled together, the entire battlefield was covered, so that the cavalry of the officers and soldiers could not perform their duties. After Ai Wannian led the infantry to join the battle group, the bandits who had been fighting for a long time were defeated. At this time, Li Zicheng had already led The Ministry ran ten miles away.

Hong Chengchou ordered all the ministries to chase and kill for ten miles before clearing the battlefield, and ordered that no one should be kept in the name of insufficient food.

The officers and soldiers who had fought for a long time cheerfully began to chase and kill the fleeing thieves. Anyone who caught up, whether they were kneeling to surrender or fleeing desperately, hacked and killed them all, and then searched them.

The so-called clean-up is nothing more than having the officers and soldiers search their bodies.

Whoever searches the belongings carried by the thieves will return to whom, this is the source of motivation for the officers and soldiers.

The blood-stained He Renlong rode a war horse to Hong Chengchou's side, threw the long knife in his hand on the ground with a bang, got off the horse, took the water bag handed over by his own soldiers, raised his neck and poured it wildly, and then poured the water bag into the water bag. The remaining cold water poured down from head to toe, and the blood clots and pieces of flesh on his body were washed down and formed a red puddle at his feet.

Hong Chengchou has long been familiar with this unreasonable behavior of ramming goods. He stroked his beard and smiled and said: "I heard that there is a saying from the thief: I would rather meet the king of Hades than hit a lunatic. The well-known lunatic He showed his power today. After the merit book was reported to the imperial court, I estimate that the position of the commander-in-chief of Shaanxi Town must belong to you! Hehe!"

He Renlong was overjoyed. After throwing the water bag aside, he clasped his fists at Hong Chengchou and saluted, "I will never forget the kindness of the commander-in-chief's cultivation! I also want to ask the commander-in-chief for favors by the way! I hope the commander-in-chief will make it happen!"

After Hong Chengchou glanced at him, he put away his smile and said lightly: "What kind of favor is it? As long as it doesn't work, I will consider it at my own discretion!"

He Renlong leaned over to Hong Chengchou's side, brushed off a weed on his body to fawn on him, and said with a smile on his face, "I'm sorry for the commander-in-chief, just now I had more than ten cavalry charge into the battle, so I broke the stream." The thief archers are in a big formation, otherwise, our pawns will be crushed and unable to move forward!"

Hong Chengchou nodded.

Hong Chengchou also admired He Renlong's prompt decision.

On the ever-changing battlefield, a small move can determine the outcome of the entire battle. He Renlong's dispatch of more than ten cavalry to charge is exactly the breaking point of the entire battle.

He Renlong continued: "My old nephew He Shisan has been with me for many years and has made great contributions to the court. This time he was the one who took the lead, and his family was seriously injured by Liu Ya, and he was disfigured! I don't want to see the sky watching An ugly face dangles in front of you! The commander-in-chief is kind enough to promote him as a guerrilla for his first contribution, so how about telling him to roll aside and lead the army?"

Hong Chengchou couldn't laugh or cry when he was begging for an official position for his subordinates, but what he said was reasonable, and He Shisan was the first to contribute to this debate.

"Although it is the imperial court's custom to reward meritorious service by position, He Shisan is not an official. If he is suddenly promoted to a high position, it may be difficult to convince the public! Just give him the position of sentinel!" If you agree to him too easily, this guy will take it for granted.

He Renlong was in a hurry: "Superintendent, don't dare to say that! My old nephew has done a lot of meritorious service! In terms of meritorious service, he has already surpassed the rank of sentinel! Not to mention this great achievement! Superintendent, it is just a matter of convenience for you, my old man. Congratulations to Renlong Ji, happy life!"

Hong Chengchou scolded: "Get out of the way! I don't want to see your ugly face dangling in front of my eyes! That He Shisan temporarily acts as a guerrilla, and he can only be righted by making meritorious deeds later!"

Overjoyed, He Renlong knelt down on one knee to give Hong Chengchou a military salute, then happily ran to He Shisan to announce the good news.

This time, I have to get an official status for my old nephew, otherwise I feel awkward when I see him.This time it was clear that he was going to die, so he went without saying a word.He has saved his life several times, but he still cheated him like this, it is really hard on his conscience.

After the army finished cleaning the battlefield, rested and ate, Hong Chengchou led his troops to chase in the direction where the bandits were fleeing.

He had already arranged it well, and he was not afraid of how far Li Zicheng could run.

Seeing that the officers and soldiers were not chasing after him, Li Zicheng and others relaxed their minds.

But after arriving near his hometown, Mizhi, the situation suddenly changed.

First, it was suddenly killed by more than a thousand official cavalry and then went through the formation. When it was confirmed that the official cavalry had gone far, the thieves had traveled dozens of miles and were exhausted. When they were about to rest and eat, the thousand official cavalry killed Out, the thieves could only endure hunger and fatigue to fight hastily.

Seeing this, Li Zicheng did not dare to stay, and led his troops to continue fleeing north.

After arriving in the mountains and forests near Jiazhou, the ambush started again, this time it was Zuo Guangxian who had been lying in wait for a long time.

Hong Chengchou had figured out the escape route of the bandits, and ordered Wu Sangui and Zuo Guangxian to set up ambushes along the way, intending to wipe them out completely.

The thieves who had been lying in ambush for several consecutive days lost all morale. Fortunately, the brave Liu Zongmin took the lead and fought hard before fleeing.

After escaping the heavy ambushes of the government army, Li Zicheng and other bandit leaders had disputes about where to go.

Gao Yigong, Yuan Zongdi, and Li Guo were killed or disappeared one after another. Li Zicheng's generals were only Liu Zongmin, Liu Fangliang, Dang Shousu, He Jin, and Hao Yaoqi. Tian Jianxiu was mainly responsible for managing the logistics. There is nothing good about the array.

What Liu Zongmin meant was to find a place to settle down in the mountains near Jiazhou, and then return to Mizhi after the officers and soldiers retreated. Based on Li Zicheng's reputation, he recruited soldiers from the local area, and then recharged his energy and looked for opportunities to start again.

Dang Shousu and He Jin resolutely opposed it. The reason was that the officers and soldiers would continue to pursue them. Besides, Mizhi was too close to Yansui Town. Town, how can we sit idly by after hearing the news of their recruiting?

After careful consideration, Li Zicheng adopted Liu Fangliang's suggestion: while Yansui Town was empty of troops, go out from the side wall at Gaojiabao in the north of Jiazhou, pass through the Yulin defense area, and go out from the damaged part of the Great Wall, and then act in camera.

Because Liu Fangliang had served in Yulinwei for many years and was very familiar with the terrain in this area, he made this proposal.

The only advantage of doing this is security.

Even if there are pursuers later, the officers and soldiers will not go out to chase them down.

Just after they agreed, the scouts from behind came to report, and the major officers and soldiers caught up.

This time, it’s okay not to listen to Liu Fangliang, and fleeing north is the majestic side wall. Who knows where there is a gap?
If they are blocked under the side wall, what awaits them is the end of the entire army's destruction.

So everyone cheered up and headed towards Gaojiabao hungry.

There were more than 6000 people at the time of the Sheyan River, but now there are only [-] people left.More than half of the elite of the [-] old battalion had been lost, and only a few hundred cavalry were left in the [-]-odd cavalry. Li Zicheng, who was once full of ambitions, could only lead the remnants of the defeated generals to flee outside the Great Wall to seek a chance to start again.ten
　Reply to the question of book friend Long Ziyan: Li Zicheng rebelled in the second year of Chongzhen, and fought with the government and army for seven years. Its main force is dominated by the Fan Han in the frontier fortress.

　　Thank you Jinmojinmeizi for your reward, and I wish your book a good grade.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)