Li Zicheng ordered his troops and horses to go into battle.
People who had benefited from the revolutionary army crowded the streets to see him off.
Shen Yikui clasped his fists and said, "I wish the general a bright future!"
Li Zicheng returned the greeting, "See you later! Please forgive me for taking the first step."
Ma Shiyao, Xin Sizhong, and Zhang Neng each led several hundred people to follow them, apparently to assist Li Zicheng in defeating the enemy coming from the south and lifting the security siege.
Shen Yikui could not stop him. The small bosses under his command were originally allies, not subordinates.
The peasant army is like this, often consisting of small groups of dozens of people forming large groups of hundreds of people, and then converging into large groups of thousands or tens of thousands of people.
There is no absolute subordinate relationship between the big and small leaders. If they cooperate, they will stay, if they don't cooperate, they will go. Sometimes they gather and sometimes they disperse.
The revolutionary army marched out of the north gate, and Zhang Yingchang, who was stationed far away, immediately formed his troops.
"See you later!"
Li Zicheng made a feint and turned around to go south.
Five or six miles ahead, the officers and soldiers of Yuan Panlong Division were waiting in full formation.
"Pull the cannon over here! Blow him up!"
Li Zicheng personally operated the cannon.
"put!"
"Boom!"
The big iron ball weighing ten kilograms rushed out of the barrel of the cannon, flew, flew, flew over a distance of 400 feet, and smashed into the rear of the army.
A hapless person is heartbroken.
The cannonball was blocked by the corpse and caused no secondary damage.
Li Zicheng finished re-adjusting the artillery.
"put!"
"Boom!"
The big iron ball landed in front of the army formation and bounced all the way, harvesting three human calves and one horse calf.
Yuan Panlong was frightened by this bombardment.
"Why can the rogues fight so far?"
"Because my bronze cannon is finely cast and has good gunpowder."
"Then why can it be so accurate?"
"Because I have a calculation table for the sighting device, and I can adjust the shooting pitch angle at any time."
The third shot hit again.
Although the artillery of this era did not injure many people, it had a strong impact on morale.
A team of officers and soldiers immediately blew up the camp and scattered in all directions.
When the fourth shot went down, Yuan Panlong quickly mobilized his cavalry to respond. He led his brigade to retreat, crossed the river, and then retreated into the mountains.
Li Zicheng drew his sword and raised it high, "Forward!"
In the Chinese army, the big blue flag was waving, and the drummers were playing hard.
The small flags of the front team were waving wildly, and the bugles were blaring.
Liu Zongmin led the phalanx to advance slowly.
Walk ten steps and stop.
Gu Kecheng from the left team followed up, but stopped after ten steps ahead of the team ahead.
Li Zijia from the right team followed up, and then stopped ten steps ahead of the left team.
Liu Zongmin commanded the front team to set off again.
The method of stacking formations, the majestic formations, and the straight flags, stop at the sitting position. It is said that it can only be completed in five steps, six steps, and seven steps, and it can only be completed in five, six, and seven steps. This is the correctness of the army.
.
However, Xin Sizhong couldn't stand the delay and said: "Commander, let me lead the team forward?!"
He had nearly five hundred cavalry, half of whom were Mongols.
Li Zicheng turned to look at him and joked, "Who said outside Dabian last year, 'It's easier to live on the grassland, so I won't surrender'?"
Xin Sizhong's eyes widened with disbelief on his face, "This... that... you... me..."
It's not easy at all on the grassland.
If they fail to go south to clear grass in the valley in autumn, the winter winds are bitterly cold, and the cattle and sheep burp and catch cold, they will have no choice but to wait for death next year.
Although herdsmen raise cattle and sheep to make a living, they cannot indulge in eating meat. Roasting whole sheep is a luxury.
"... We poor barbarians only kill one sheep during festivals. We kill sheep in several households and divide them when they arrive. This is the time of year when we eat meat..."
Only a sheep can be killed during festivals, and each family should share the meal together.
Herdsmen eat dairy products on a daily basis, and make a living by hunting, collecting wild vegetables and fruits. If any livestock dies unexpectedly, it is equivalent to the Chinese New Year. They kill sheep to eat when they really can't hunt any prey in winter.
Just like the landowners and tenants in the mainland, most Mongolian people graze for the gentlemen and do not have cattle or sheep of their own.
How many people can be fed by a thousand acres of grassland? How many people can be fed by a hundred acres of farmland? There is no comparison at all. If ancient people had a choice, only fools would go nomadic. We will talk about the miserable life of the Mongolian people later.
Therefore, the Mongolian and Ming armies are noobs at each other's throats. How can two gangs of underfed slave soldiers have any combat effectiveness?
…
Xin Sizhong couldn't figure out how the other party knew his origins, even in such detail that he knew exactly what he said.
He scratched his head and said, "Commander..."
Li Zicheng smiled heartily and said, "Do a good job! You will make great contributions in the future."
At this time, the official cavalry slowly retreated.
Li Zicheng did not pursue him and turned into the ravine from the intersection.
The revolutionary army ran for thirty miles in one breath before stopping to repair.
Why don't you run away quickly? You don't have to be afraid of Yuan Panlong. He Huchen's brigade chased him and he suffered. In 16 years, he fought with Lin Dan Khan and died in battle.
In the first few battles, we must first pick up the weak points and boost the morale of the revolutionary army, and then we can attack the tough ones.
After the leading scout cavalry found the camp, the group set off again.
After traveling ten miles, the group was divided into three, and each camped in a village.
Every small village has at most one well. If the whole army is crowded together, and the people eat and the horses drink, the well can be drained.
Only the old and the weak are left in the village, while the young and strong have fled into the mountains and forests.
The literary battalion was dispatched to publicize that the revolutionary army would not kill people, set fires, cheat money, slaughter cattle, or steal property.
Each team also assigned some people to help the villagers carry water, clean the yards, and provide some food rations to households in difficulty. Villagers returned one after another.
During the meal, Li Zicheng summoned Ma Shiyao, Xin Sizhong, and Zhang Neng for a chat, and then asked them to report to Li Guo.
In the afternoon, there were more than ten people in the three newly joined teams who were unwilling to join the revolution, so they were sent away with five taels of silver each.
As soon as they saw that they were actually given money, another fifty or sixty people in the group wanted to quit.
Ma Shiyao, Xin Sizhong, and Zhang Neng were so embarrassed that Li Zicheng simply circled them together and asked Li to go over to each team to investigate again.
Ma and Xin began to retreat.
Zhang Neng advised: "As the old saying goes, people are more infuriating than others. Look at the commander-in-chief's team, and then think about Shen Yikui's group..."
After spitting flying everywhere, the two men felt at ease.
In the end, more than a hundred people were unwilling to stay, and dozens more were not suitable to serve as soldiers, so they were all dismissed.
But the horse cannot be taken away, and the original owner will be given money.
Anyway, Li Tuhao had a lot of money, but he only had enough food and grass for a month.
Where to go next? Only by clearing your mind can you make a decision.
In February, Shen Yikui made an appointment with the Mongols to repel the Ming army.
However, after the Mongolian Tatars entered Baoan City, they would "plunder and flee", so Shen Yikui had no choice but to abandon the city and break out of the siege.
All Mongols have poor military discipline, not just Hetao Mongolians.
During the Jisi Incident, when Huang Taiji entered the pass, he knew that Karaqin and Tumote had poor military discipline, so he specifically said: "You will follow me on the expedition. If the Ming people reject me, they will be punished. Anyone who surrenders to the Ming Dynasty will be killed and plundered."
Those wearing his clothes are my enemies and will be killed without a doubt!"
Then when they arrived in Zunhua, Huang Taiji found that Haraqin was really difficult to restrain, so he drove them back to his hometown. They continued to rob them on the road, which made Huang Taiji extremely angry, "Why don't we punish them?!"
After all, they are allies. How can we kill them all? We can just drive them away if we feel like it.
…
At this time, there were more than a dozen peasant troops remaining in Shaanxi, but Zhang Cunmeng was the most powerful, with tens of thousands of followers. Seven teams under his command were roaming around the central part (Huangling) and Luochuan.
So Li Zicheng wanted to join him.
Firstly, since we don’t have enough troops, it’s easier to work together; secondly, we can continue poaching others in the past.
The revolutionary army repaired for a day and set off south.
Yuan Panlong sent a reconnaissance horse to follow him, but two people were knocked over by a mine and then retreated.
The detonation rate of the steel wheel pressure-firing mine was limited. Li Zicheng buried five of them, but only one exploded.
In early February, the revolutionary army bypassed Yan'an Prefecture and arrived at Luochuan.
Zhang Cunmeng, who had entered the donkey, had already run away.
Li Zicheng found two local tycoons nearby to donate money, and then spent half a month in the mountains as a team.
Recruiting troops along the road, the revolutionary army now numbered nearly 2,000 people, and Li Zicheng was promoted to battalion commander.
Liu Zongmin and Gu Kecheng each took charge of one post, and Ma Shiyao and Zhang Neng served as post deputies.
Liu Fangliang, Yuan Zongdi, Li Zijia, and Xin Sizhong were combined into one post, and were temporarily under the personal control of Li Zicheng.
There are still more than 300 people in Li Guo's new army camp; the children's camp and the women's camp also have dozens of people each.
Zhang Nai became the king of children, and Xing Xiuniang was in charge of the Women's Federation. Gao Guiying was her deputy in charge of the children's camp.
On February 18, the reconnaissance cavalry found out the whereabouts of Zhang Cunmeng, and Li Zicheng led his team out of the mountain.
At Alfalfa Valley near Baishui County, Li Zicheng first met Li You.
The two had known each other since they were in Mizhi.
After Li Zicheng became the head of the village, he took great care of the people. Li You, who had been a thief for a long time, even paid a special visit.
"Brother! I won't thank you for your kindness. I'll prepare some water and wine to show my respect."
"Brother, you're too polite. Things that are within your scope are not worth mentioning."
Zhao Sheng, the captain of the second team who lit the lantern, also came and greeted them enthusiastically.
"I've been waiting for you for a long time. I've heard Li You talk about brothers a long time ago. When I saw him today, he looked really extraordinary and charming."
Zhao Sheng was a poor scholar from Qingjian County. He used to stay up late every day, light a lamp and read.
Unexpectedly, the government officials did not dare to provoke the real bandits, so they accused him of imitating "Huang Chao Lighting Lamps" and wanted to rebel.
Unwilling to surrender, Zhao Sheng was forced to gather a crowd at Huaya Temple in Xiejiagou to revolt, and simply nicknamed himself "Leng Dengzi".
"Brother Zhao has strict military discipline and has been praised by the people along the way. He is indeed a role model for our generation."
The two complimented each other and talked happily.
After the reception banquet, Zhao Sheng took Li Zicheng to the old camp to meet the boss.
Zhang Cunmeng was even more enthusiastic and immediately held a banquet to welcome the new brothers. He also sent a message to the leaders of each team to come and meet.
In one team, the money is three to five;
Team 2, lamplighter Zhao Sheng;
Team 3, Li Jinwang Li Wuwei;
Team 4, Scorpion Block Tuo Yangkun;
Team 5, Lao Zhang Fei and Zhang Wenchao;
Team 6, Guo, the king of troubled times, applied for the job;
Team 7 will not accept Wang Wenyao at night.
Each team has one to two thousand men and horses, and together with Zhang Cunmeng's headquarters, the total number is nearly 20,000.
Zhang Cunmeng's fighting skills are average and he is good at winning people's hearts. Many powerful people will come under his command in the future.
The revolutionary army was naturally organized into eight teams.
After everyone finished eating and drinking, they began to enjoy the show.
It was full of ugliness for a while. This chapter has been completed!