Xingshan County is located in the west of Huguang and is under the jurisdiction of Guizhou.
It is named because "the city is surrounded by mountains, and the county government rises among the mountains." This place was the hometown of Wang Zhaojun, the concubine of the Han Dynasty. Because of the mountains in the territory, there is a saying that "eight half of the mountains and one half of the fields."
Xiangxi, also known as Zhaojun Stream, is a tributary on the north bank of the Yangtze River. It is called Xiangkou Stream in "Shui Jing Zhu". According to legend, Wang Zhaojun often washes fragrant Luopa in this stream before leaving the fortress. The water in the stream is fragrant, so it is named Xiangxi.
Xiangxi is a very beautiful stream. It originates from the Shennongjia Mountains. It flows through limestone cracks and is filtered and sedimented through caves. "The water color is as dark as black and clear enough to drink." It flows from north to south and merges into the Yangtze River on the north bank of Xiling Gorge.
The clarity and turbidity are distinct and complement each other.
This is a place that Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai are familiar with.
Just over half a year ago, Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai were forced by Yang Sichang's pursuing army. As a last resort, they entered eastern Sichuan from here.
At that time, Zhang Xianzhong could almost be described as a wolf running like a wolf. Although there were some small victories, it did not change the overall situation. Because he was the mastermind of the surrender and rebellion, Yang Sichang regarded him as his mortal enemy.
He mobilized most of the army to encircle and suppress Zhang Xianzhong with all his strength, and set up pockets in eastern Sichuan to force him to leave. Once he entered, he would tighten the pockets and completely eliminate him.
As for other groups of thieves, the main purpose is to recruit them, in order to reduce the pressure of pursuit and suppression, and free up their hands and feet to deal with Zhang Xianzhong's bandit army. Even Luo Rucai was acquitted of his crimes and promised high-ranking officials and generous salaries.
Recruit each other.
It was under this situation that Zhang Xianzhong became more and more difficult. Although he used unpredictable tactics such as "conquering the enemy with movement" and "avoiding the real and attacking the weak" to deal with the army, he was still defeated by Zuo Liangyu and others one after another.
, in the end there were only a few thousand men and horses left.
This situation did not change until he walked out of Xing'an and met Luo Rucai's men between Wushan and Dachang.
In just over half a year, the situation has changed drastically. Yang Sichang's entire encirclement and suppression strategy has been almost completely destroyed. The prestige of the supervisors and assistant ministers has plummeted. Millions of money from both countries have been wasted. Hundreds of thousands of troops have been mobilized for combat.
Beat a chicken with flying eggs.
…………
Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai's troops were stationed near Zhaojun Village in the south of Xingshan County. He did not attack Xingshan County in order to hide his strength and prepare to give Yang Sichang a heavy blow with his fist!
Zhang Xianzhong and Xu Yixian, his most trusted military advisor, stood on a stone platform on the bank of Xiangxi River not far from the old camp and talked.
The water is clear to the bottom, hitting the big rocks in the stream, splashing out little bits of silvery spray, and then pouring over the big rocks, making a surging sound like a small waterfall.
In front of the stream and behind the stream, there are overlapping mountains and numerous trees. Although it is cold winter, there are still the sounds of birds coming from the depths of the trees, and a few slender fish are swimming around in the unfrozen stream.
Xu Yixian seemed to have guessed what Zhang Xianzhong wanted to discuss with him, but he did not take the initiative to point it out. He looked at the stream in front of him and said with a smile: "This place has beautiful water and green mountains. No wonder it can produce such a beauty as Wang Zhaojun!"
But Zhang Xianzhong laughed and scolded: "You are just an old coward! Don't be like Cao Cao. When he is not fighting, he doesn't think about any big things, he only thinks about pretty little ladies!"
"Hahaha……"
After he finished speaking, he laughed again, and the cold wind blew his long beard, which was reflected in the water.
"Man, we finally managed to get back to Huguang from under the nose of Yang Sichang, the son of a bitch. Tell me, where should we fight next?"
Xu Yixian had already guessed Zhang Xianzhong's plan, but he wanted to wait for Zhang Xianzhong to say it himself, so he tilted his head and asked, "What do you think?"
Zhang Xianzhong took a look at his face, and then whispered: "Since we want to deal with Yang Sichang, we simply stop doing it and continue to fuck him hard.
Do you think we can go poke his bastard in his den of thieves?"
Xu Yixian didn't even think about it. He quickly replied: "Yes, if you want to attack us, then attack Xiangyang!"
Zhang Xianzhong nodded and asked again: "Old Xu, how do you think we should fight?"
Xu Yixian thought for a while and then said: "The city of Xiangyang is thick and well-defended. It is difficult to attack by force. We can only attack wisely. At the moment, Xiangyang City does not know that we have left Sichuan, so we plan a surprise attack, which may be successful."
Zhang Xianzhong said excitedly: "Yes, yes. You old fox and I want to go together."
Xu Yixian said with a sneer: "If Yang Sichang loses Xiangyang and falls into feudal vassalage, it won't be possible just by crying. I'm afraid his head will have to change."
Zhang Xianzhong slapped his thigh fiercely and said: "Old Xu, let's do this. Force Governor Yang into the city of Yidu! Old man, why do you think we came up with the same idea?"
Xu Yixian smiled and said: "I am your military advisor, not a casualty."
The two of them looked at each other and laughed happily.
Zhang Xianzhong then asked: "Old Xu, we have also found some news since we left Sichuan. It is said that Zicheng entered Henan in September and now has more than 200,000 troops. He also said that he broke into Yongning not long ago.
Killed King Wan'an, recently destroyed Luoyang, and killed the old guy King Fu.
Do you think this information is reliable?"
Xu Yixian sighed first and replied with a little regret in his heart: "According to my observation, among the various rebel armies, only the commander-in-chief and Zicheng are the leaders.
Since there is news that Zicheng is flourishing in Henan, I think it is almost the same. However, if it is said that he has more than 200,000 troops now, I don't think it is possible. At most, it is around 100,000.
Nowadays, drought and locust plague are raging in Henan, especially in western Henan. Even though he has destroyed some strongholds and opened some prefectures and counties, it is difficult to support an army of 200,000. I think half of them are women, children and old camp family members who are accompanying the army."
Zhang Xianzhong nodded and said: "The enemy is the military advisor who has made a thorough analysis!"
He then cursed: "Damn it, we were chased by that old guy Yang Sichang for more than half a year, dragging hundreds of thousands of soldiers in Shu. We were so exhausted that we asked Zicheng to jump out and pick out a big guy.
Cheap."
Xu Yixian also said with great regret: "The commander-in-chief must continue to act decisively and let the tiger return to the mountain. If I had adopted Yixian's advice, why would I regret it today!"
Zhang Xianzhong said: "I couldn't bear to kill him at that time. Isn't it because my loyalty is the most important thing?"
Xu Yixian said unwillingly: "There is no word 'loyalty' in my 'six-character mantra'."
Zhang Xianzhong said somewhat sarcastically: "Now that he has full wings, what else can we do?"
Seeing that Zhang Xianzhong was regretful, Xu Yixian hurriedly took the opportunity to cheer him up and said: "If we can defeat Xiangyang, kill the king of Xiang, and take the grain, grain, wealth and silk in the city, we can be evenly matched with him.
As for the general trend in the future, it is difficult to predict today. The most important thing now is that we hurry up and expand our manpower."