Hong Chengchou, the military governor of Shaanxi, the trilateral governor and the military of Henan, wore civilian civilian clothes, rode horses, and mixed in the middle of a large group of staff on horseback, and stood on a hill near Tongguan in front of hundreds of soldiers and personal soldiers of the superintendent battalion.

Tongguan does not have a north gate, only the east gate, the west gate, the south gate and the upper south gate. Every gate is guarded by a commander in general.

The direction to the north leading to Luochuan is even more heavily guarded.

Tongguan City is full of troops, and there are tents in all directions, and there are herds of mules and horses. The sound of drums and horns came and went.

One after another, the checkpoints strictly checked the pedestrians on the road leading to Luochuan, and those who came from the direction of Luochuan were all arrested and interrogated first.

In the direction of Luochuan, there are now nearly 200,000 thieves entrenched in Gao Yingxiang, Li Zicheng and others.

Since the outbreak of the Shaanxi People's Uprising, the peasant army often entered Henan from Qin, from Henan to Qin, or from the line of Fufengmei County in Shaanxi to the south over the Qinling Mountains into Hanzhong, and then to the south into Sichuan, and then from Sichuan into Hubei. However, the road of Tongguan, since the earliest breakthrough from Shaanxi to Shanxi, has been familiar to the peasant army as well as its own kangtou. If you go from Tongguan, you are bypassing Tongguan County, coming and going from the place within 40 miles of Guannan, going out of the south gate of Tongguan until the foot of Huashan, 40 miles are open, all are plateaus, shallow mountains and Pinggang, one after another, and there is no precipitous place. Surrounded by mountains and ravines, there is a road to pass through called Yu. There are many valleys leading to the border of Ruxiang County, Henan, and the terrain is inclined to the east, which is suitable for the conflict and gallop of the peasant army with the horse team as the main force.

Therefore, Hong Chengchou's defense focus is also set here.

The sun gradually rose above people's heads. The Huashan Mountain in the distance seems to be closer.

In the past, when the staff around them saw such a scene, they would have to come and have fun, and ask Inspector Hong to write a poem, and then everyone would have a poem with the previous one. However, today, the atmosphere of the battle formation makes everyone have no courage and Yaxing.

Suddenly, a long neighing of a war horse pierced the deathly silence, and a muffled thunderous sound was faintly heard in the distance.

Followed by. From beyond people's field of vision, a burst of cannon shouts and killings kept coming.

"It's coming!"

Hong Chengchou and the staff around him all thought like this.

"Report!"

A cavalryman rode his horse and galloped from a distance. When he reached the foot of the hill, he jumped off the reins of his horse and threw it aside, and ran briskly to the top of the mountain.

"General He in the east and Zuo in the west have already engaged the thieves in the front! Decapitate dozens of levels! ”

"Tell the general soldier of Sù He, be sure to guard the crossing. Don't let the thieves escape to the ground in Henan! ”

"After the work. There will be a great reward for this governor! ”

Zuo Guangxian and He Renlong, who are known as He Maniac, are both relatively capable generals in Hong Chengchou's hands. But the styles of the two are very different. Zuo Guangxian's troops pay more attention to training on weekdays and have strong combat effectiveness, while He Renlong's troops. It's the same as the nickname of He Madman, he is a madman when he goes to the battlefield, and he is a madman when he goes off the battlefield. Military discipline can be said to have no zài at all, and it is completely dependent on He Renlong's reliance on the friendship of the villagers in northern Shaanxi and the ties between clan blood relatives to maintain the army.

However, this He madman is also a famous figure among the thieves, second only to Cao Wenzhao, who died in battle. Half of the eighteen main teams under Gao Yingxiang suffered heavy losses under him, and the leaders of four teams were killed by him.

"I hope this He madman can hold the Lancao River and buy time for the army to encircle!"

Hong Chengchou didn't think much about it at this time, and turned his head to signal the Chinese army beside him to give the order to start attacking. The Chinese army understood, shook the order flag in his hand, and as the order flag moved, a series of trumpets and cannons sounded, and dozens of cavalry who passed orders back and forth were like arrows to the officers and soldiers everywhere.

The degeneration of the Ming army is already very strict, and the current Ming army is far from being compared with the Ming army in Qi Jiguang's era decades ago. On the basis of flags, drums, and cannons, the heralds will convey the orders of the commander and commander!

Zuo Guangxian's troops moved from west to east and fought with Gao Yingxiang on the outside.

The main force of Zuo Guangxian's troops is the cavalry from Ningxia, Gansu, and Gao Yingxiang, a horse dealer who was born as a king, the main core of the army is also cavalry.

After turning over the two earthen hills, the two cavalry crashed head-on, and suddenly the flesh and blood flew sideways, and the screams kept ringing out. Hao Dayong, the first fierce general under Gao Yingxiang, was once called Hao Shaoqi in the peasant army because he took the lead in winning the handsome flag and shaking the charge in the first battle of Zhenning, and he liked to rush into battle the most. Seeing that the mountains were full of banners and men and horses, he couldn't help but shout wildly, waved the big knife in his hand, and rushed towards Zuo Guangxian's formation.

According to the past habits, as long as the main general's main formation is in chaos, this official army will be dispersed, and after everyone has been chasing and killing for a while, they can turn their heads and deal with the He madman in the east!

However, there is also a madman-like figure on the other side.

Zuo Guang saw a black man leading hundreds of cavalry to kill him like a whirlwind in the flatland, and called his standard battalion general, who is also his nephew Zuo Shixiong, "Red-faced tiger, go, the thief on the opposite side should be Hao Shaoqi, the fierce general among the thieves, go and kill him, General Xiao Cao (Cao Wenzhao's nephew Cao Bianjiao) is bound to thank you well!" ”

Listening to his uncle calling his nickname, Zuo Shixiong was also quite proud, shook the steel armor on his body, and straightened the eight-petal hat and iron-tipped helmet on his head, "Please rest assured, you just have to write to General Xiao Cao now, and ask him to prepare the banquet and silver, this wine, he has decided!" ”

After saying that, a soldier pulled the horse, he jumped on the zebra, waved the nine-foot spear in his hand, and rushed out with a roar with the four hundred cavalry under his command.

Both cavalry units belong to the elite ranks in their respective camps, what will happen when the elite meets the elite? Tragic!

Zuo Shixiong waved the newly acquired spear in his hand, and easily pierced a peasant army cavalry, the steel three-edged spear head was almost designed to pierce the human body, God knows which guy who lost his virtue designed and manufactured such a weapon lacking in morality? In the face of such spears, the peasant army said that there were pitiful cavalry in armor. Even the cavalry of the whole body iron family may not be able to withstand it!

He shook the barrel of his gun, threw the cavalryman far away, and pulled a package from the horseman's saddle and put it under his ass, something that could be so valued by this thief was worth a lot!

However, before he had time to rejoice for a while, a black horse jumped on the side, and the man on the horse brandished a big knife and roared at him, "Okay." There is a kind of word. Let's knife against knife! Don't make long guys! ”

It's Hao Shaoqi himself!

Zuo Shixiong looked at this guy with a beard like steel needles all over his face, and what he saw in his eyes was the banquet that Cao Bianjiao set up for himself, the words of thanks at the banquet, and the silver with white flowers after the banquet. And the woman with white flowers.

"I'm afraid you won't make it!"

Zuo Shixiong hung up the spear. Draw the saber from your waist. Go straight to Hao and go away!

Thanks to Hong Chengchou's selflessness, he gave the weapons and armor transported thousands of miles away to his two fierce generals, so that they could equip their main elites. And Zuo Shixiong. It happened to be within this category, from head to toe, all of them were new, and the long knife in his hand was the ten treasure knives made of iron and steel that Zuo Guang had first assigned.

This equipment and outfit, Hao Shaoqi drooled vigorously, he couldn't wait to kill Zuo Shixiong with a knife, and peel off the armor and guns on his body to get himself!

"Be a long one!"

The two big knives collided in the air, sparks splashed wildly, and Hao Shaoqi was surprised to find that the knife in his hand had been cut out of a gap!

Seeing that Hao Shaoqi was stunned, Zuo Shixiong showed a cruel smile on his face, and waved the treasure knife in his hand to slash towards Hao Shaoqi!

"Poof!" The head of a short spear came out from the back of Zuo Shixiong's neck, covered in blood.

Waving the flag and smiling at Zuo Shixiong, "Okay, let's talk about it, don't make a long guy, I'm less than three feet, I can't be a long guy!" ”

At this moment of lightning, he abandoned his sword, drew his spear, and pierced Zuo Shixiong's originally impeccable armor, "Damn! That's how Lao Tzu lost! Zuo Shixiong's last consciousness.

Seeing that his nephew was killed and his subordinates were killed by Hao Shaoqi, Zuo Guangxian couldn't sit still anymore, and urged his standard battalion to kill the flag shaking department, no matter what, he had to snatch his nephew's body back!

Gao Yingxiang rode his horse to stand under the banner of the word "Chuang" made of silver and snow-white mane, and behind him was his old battalion of men and horses, with a horse team of about 2,000 people, and the riders on the horses were all wearing different varieties of armor, from iron armor to cotton armor, with a variety of patterns, but they were all elite soldiers wearing armor.

Seeing his fierce general Hao Shaoqi retreating from the front with a bloody face, Gao Yingxiang was quite surprised, this banner has always been charging into battle against the sword mountain and gun forest, and he always takes it as fun to rush into battle, but why did he lose today?

"The son of a bitch! Turned Zuo Guangxian into a madman! ”

Hao Shaoqi jumped off the sweaty war horse, picked up the water jar handed by his own soldiers, poured it on his head, and cursed endlessly.

"Hung the lottery?!" Gao Yingxiang looked at the expanding blood marks on the flag and asked with concern.

Shaking the flag knocked on his chest, "King Chuang, it's okay, someone else's blood!" ”

Gao Yingxiang noticed that the armor on the head of the flag had been changed, and the shining steel armor was as dazzling as a piece of silver in the winter sun.

"Damn! I don't know where Zuo Guangxian's gang got so many sophisticated armor and weapons, our cavalry fought against their cavalry, and many of them suffered this loss! ”

After paying the price of hundreds of cavalry casualties, he stripped off the armor on Zuo Shixiong's body, tied his body to a locust tree, and returned to Gao Yingxiang in a hurry.

"King Chuang, today's officers and soldiers are the same as mad dogs, this set of armor protection ability is really good, when I rushed into battle, a few boys fired arrows at me, and they all shot at the armor, but they didn't shoot in!"

Hao Shaoqi didn't say anything about Gao Chuang's loyalty, while speaking, he took off the armor on his body, wiped the blood stains briefly, and touched his hands in front of Gao Yingxiang, "We can't break into the camp without me, we can't do without you, this armor helmet is still worn by you, King Chuang!" ”

And how could Gao Yingxiang ask his subordinates for the spoils they had captured in the bloody battle in front of everyone? Especially this kind of armor that has an excellent life-saving effect.

"Waving the flag, you have always liked to break into battle. This armor is just for you! Don't excuse yourself, this cold-forged armor on my body is also the treasure armor handed down by the people of the Western Xia Party back then! This set of armor was obtained by you in a bloody battle, and it will be rewarded to you! ”

In the distance, a puff of smoke and dust arose, and another group of people broke into the camp and were defeated.

The number of people who came was small, only one or two hundred. They were all cavalry, but the armor and clothing were disheveled. The leader is tall, with a high nose and deep eyes, and he has strong characteristics of the northwest ethnic minorities when he looks up. He wore an old white pointed felt hat that was common to northern peasants, and his iron armor was covered with a half-worn green cloth sheepskin robe, which was tied around his waist with a war belt. He carried a bow diagonally on his back. Around his waist hung a sword and a cowhide quiver painted with vermilion and gold. Half-used quivers are full of knife marks and arrow marks. I've thought I've been born and died with him countless times.

"Chuang Wang, Chuang defeated them!"

The flag-waving eyes were sharp, and at a glance, he could see that the person who came was the general of the eighth team in the camp. Gao Yingxiang's nephew and niece-in-law. Li Zicheng. The one next to him was dressed in cotton armor. He covered his hair with red silk on his head, and wore a red silk cloak around his waist, and he was tightly braked around his waist with a silk belt. Riding a yellow horse, the same woman with a bow and arrows on her back, was none other than his wife Gao Guiying.

While speaking, a group of people from Team 8 also came to Gao Yingxiang's horse.

"King Chuang!"

"Uncle!"

"King Chuang!"

After greeting each other in a mess, Li Zicheng tightened his eyebrows, "King Chuang, today's momentum is not right, Zuo Guangxian tried his best not to say anything, even Ma Ke, the mountain harrier Gao Jie, the group of dogs and things, especially their old camp members, rushed up like taking mad dog medicine, and the brothers couldn't stand it." What about the east? Hasn't Cao Cao opened the Lancaochuan intersection yet?! ”

"My old Liu said a long time ago, Cao Cao is a slippery ghost, he can't fight a tough battle, and he is the dog thief of He Madman, where is he willing to invest his capital in? It's all spelled out, what does his Cao Ying rely on? ”

Li Zicheng's general Liu Zongmin waved the double knife in his hand in a violent temper, cursing loudly, and as the knife waved in his hand, the cloak full of blood behind him also danced from time to time in the cold wind, which looked both powerful and very weird and terrifying.

That Gao Jie was originally a subordinate general under Li Zicheng, who was the most daring to fight on weekdays, and had a straightforward and simple temperament, and was sent by Zicheng to surrender under the madman He Renlong. I don't want to, the leopard is out, Gao Jie, who is silent on weekdays, actually changed the felt hat on Li Zicheng's head to an environmentally friendly color in private, lest the matter be revealed and killed by Li Zicheng, so he simply took this opportunity to fake the show, and really surrendered with Li Zicheng's concubine Xing, and was immediately reused by Hong Chengchou and sent to fight with Li Zicheng.

Thinking of this past, Li Zicheng couldn't help but feel a burst of murderous intent in his heart.

"How many men have been lost?" Don't care about anything else, Gao Yingxiang has to immediately count the battle losses, so as to prepare for the next step of adjusting the deployment and changing tactics.

"The infantry is almost finished, there are still four or five hundred horses left, and the cavalry and the old battalion are behind, and there are about three hundred people!"

In just one morning, there were less than 800 people left in the eighth team, such a loss is indeed a bit surprising, you know, in the face of Cao Wenzhao and Cao Bianjiao's uncle and nephew, they have never lost so much, so fast!

"I caught a general manager of the official army who hung the lottery." Liu Zongmin angrily put the double knives in his hand into the sheath, making a soft "snap" sound.

"Na Qian confessed that before the start of the war, Madman Hong convened a meeting of the generals of various departments and distributed a batch of sophisticated equipment and armor he had transported from the capital to the two official armies of Zuo Guangxian and He Madman, who served as the head enemy this time. And the reward was hung at the conference. ”

"What, how much silver can one of our Lao Tzu's heads be exchanged for now?!"

Hao Shaoqi shook his head nonchalantly and grinned.

"There is not much silver, but the new reward issued by the madman Hong to the officers and generals of the various ministries is that whoever kills the cavalry of our righteous army above the five heads will reward you with such a set of armor. Those who kill two or more soldiers in the old camp will be rewarded with a sword and a gun. Those generals who led the troops, seeing that He Maniac and Zuo Guang first replaced half of their standard camp family members with new armor and swords, their strength skyrocketed, and their eyes were red when they landed, and they also increased their own sizes after they went back, and those who could do the above items were immediately included in the family members. ”

"Damn! Hong madman, what a vicious method! ”

In the Ming army, the family Ding, the southern soldiers, and the northern soldiers have different military salaries, the southern soldiers have a salary of one or two five dollars per month, and the true color of rice is five buckets, the family has two taels of silver per month, and the northern soldiers have one stone of rice and one tael of silver per month, and because the family is the capital of the generals with the troops, even if they are in arrears for a long time, the generals will dig out the silver from their pockets to support the family. This is why up to now, many generals and deputy generals with more than 10,000 soldiers and horses under their names can really fight with combat effectiveness, but there are only 1,000 or hundreds of soldiers. As long as the generals have their families in hand, they will not be afraid of the court's reproach or even dismissal, and it is a big deal to take these family members home. With the family in hand, no matter how many soldiers from the north and south can be recruited!

Hong Chengchou brought the role of a mere 1,000 pairs of armor, 1,000 knives and 1,200 spears to the point of outrageousness, making these materials the ignite and catalyst for igniting the morale of the Ming army, and truly achieving the "same desire from top to bottom" in Sun Tzu's Art of War!

When ordinary soldiers of the Ming army looked at the members of the horse team of the peasant army, they saw the guarantee of abundant food and clothing, and the guarantee of rich military salaries, and when the generals who led the troops saw the peasant army horse team passing in front of their formation, they saw the opportunity to be promoted and make a fortune to expand their strength!

In this way, Li Zicheng, Liu Zongmin, Hao Shaoqi and others are covered in iron, and they can't help but be so forged. (To be continued......)