Although Zhang Damou tried his best to block the news about the Yinzhou Pass defeat, it quickly spread throughout Yan'an Prefecture due to the spread of Cao Wenzhao and others. This tragic defeat had a great spiritual impact on the entire northern Shaanxi peasant army.
, the peasant army was originally in awe of the Xuanfu and Datongfu border troops, especially the Living Hell King Tiemo, but now they suffered another great defeat, which deepened their inner fear.
Not long after Liu Wenxiu withdrew to Ansai City, Yuan Ma, Zhang Yichuan and others also began to shrink their troops to Ganquan City and Yezhuxia. At this point, Yuan Ma was determined. As long as the officers and soldiers did not attack Yezhuxia and Ganquan City, they could do whatever they wanted.
, anyway, it is impossible to easily start a war with the officers and soldiers. Now the soldiers under his command are panic-stricken. Once a war starts, the result will not be too good.
Of course, the saddest person is Zhang Cunmeng of Hequ City. When the results of the Yinzhou Pass War came out, Zhang Cunmeng wanted to slap himself a few times. At this time, his heart was filled with regret. If he had cooperated in sending troops, the Yinzhou Pass War would not have been like this. But
There is no regret in the world, and Zhang Cunmeng cannot be entirely blamed. The officers and soldiers approached Hequ City and kept firing. The soldiers defending the city suffered heavy casualties from the bombing and their morale was low. Zhang Xianzhong was angry, but did he know the situation in Hequ City? Who was killed?
After a few days of bombardment, you don't have the guts to lead the army out of the city, right?
This time, Zhang Xianzhong was offended to death. It is impossible to expect others to rush to the aid of the Loop. Now the only troops that can be mobilized are Zhang Xianzhong's troops. Leader Wang and Zhang Damou still have to guard Qingyang.
Even if Yan'an Prefecture and Yan'an Prefecture rushed to the aid of Hetao, they would not be able to send too many troops.
For the first time, Zhang Cunmeng felt that having too much territory was not a good thing. The rebel army's combat effectiveness had always been a problem. In order to deal with the officers and soldiers, they could only win with numbers. Now they have to defend the territory and cannot fight on the move, which directly limits their own strength advantage. The Hetao also
Well, whether it's Qingyang Mansion or not, if you deal with the officers and soldiers alone, the strength advantage is not obvious.
On April 24th of the third year of Chongzhen, when the good news flew to the capital, the border troops of Xuanfu and Datongfu came to Hequ City again. At noon that day, under the command of Man Gui, Lou Daji and Liu Guoneng took the lead in launching an attack on Hequ City.
Attack, artillery bombardment for a quarter of an hour, more than 3,000 frontier soldiers carrying various siege equipment rushed towards Hequ City. This time, it was a real siege, and Zhang Cunmeng felt that a danger was coming.
Under the continuous bombardment, Hequ City has long been in dilapidated state, and the defenses that were finally built before have been completely destroyed. The city wall is not high, and there are gaps in some places. Only half of the ladder frame has been used.
Within an hour, Lou Daji's left wing attacked the city wall and started a close fight with the peasant army defending the city. Not long after, Liu Guoneng also led his troops to attack the west city wall. The first official attack on the city, they were beaten onto the city wall.
Although Zhang Cunmeng was mentally prepared, he still felt a little shocked.
The peasant army in the city continued to rush to the city wall, and after an hour of fierce fighting, they finally drove the officers and soldiers down. However, in the first official confrontation, they were not only attacked on the city wall, but also lost the lives of more than 3,000 soldiers. They were temporarily saved.
After entering Hequ City, Zhang Cunmeng clearly felt that there was a sense of panic everywhere in the city. Everyone was less and less confident in guarding Hequ, and even the entire Hetao.
A dilapidated private house, with drafts leaking from all sides and dark walls. Some time ago, this house was destroyed by artillery bombardment by officers and soldiers. At that time, the roof collapsed. Afterwards, the bodies of six brothers were dug up inside. At that time, everyone was at a loss.
The feeling of helplessness, the feeling of being slaughtered by others but unable to do so, is suffocating and despairing.
However, now I have experienced what real despair is. Several peasant soldiers were leaning against the broken wall, their faces ashen, their heads hanging down, like eggplants beaten by frost. A middle-aged man touched his beard.
, showing a vicissitudes of life face, "Hey, this Hequ City can't be defended. This battle...is worthy of being the living king of hell. Every time you encounter him, there will be no good results."
eat."
The young man next to him was playing with the dirt on the ground and said angrily: "I still have tens of thousands of brothers in the city, why can't I defend it?"
The middle-aged man sighed, raised his hand and patted the other party's shoulder, "You are still too young and have too little experience. Didn't you find anything wrong with today's battle? The troops of the Living King of Hell used to think that
We are proud of the group of musketeers. None of the musketeers showed up today. If the musketeers suppressed and covered the siege like before, our casualties would be more than this. You have never fought against the troops of the Living King of Hell.
Soldiers and horses are famous for their ability to fight, and they often fight with the Mongolian Tatars on the grassland. But today, although they rushed to the city, they did not continue to increase their troops, and even captured the city wall in one fell swoop.
I didn't have the energy to do anything, and I couldn't do anything about it, so the other party took the initiative to retreat."
"They are saving their strength. The real siege has not started yet. Today is just a test. When the real attack comes, the terrible artillery will blast down, the musketeers will cover it, and the officers and soldiers will attack the city. Can we hold it?"
The man raised his head and looked at the long street not far away, where groups of peasant soldiers were hurriedly passing by. "Look at them, they are all panicked. Do you still think we can hold on?"
The young man was stunned. Although he was dissatisfied, he didn't know what to say.
.......
On this day, the officers and soldiers did not launch a second round of offensive, nor did they continue to bombard Hequ City, which gave the peasant army in the city a rare opportunity to rest. As night fell, many people found a place to sleep.
The terrible artillery tossing drove me crazy, and I never had a good night's sleep. Those people fired artillery at night. If I fell asleep, who knew which shell would land on top of my head?
The quiet Hequ City was full of stars. In the dead of night, a man quietly entered this heavily guarded city. He was wearing a black robe and his face could not be seen.
In the Hequ County Government Office, Zhang Cunmeng sat in the lobby with an uneasy expression. The food next to him had lost all its heat, but he still had no appetite at all. In today's battle, he could naturally see the problems that some veterans could see. Originally, he could see the problems that some veterans could see.
He thought that the officers and soldiers would soon launch a second round of fierce attacks, but the enemy stopped and did nothing. Zhang Cunmeng didn't think this was a good thing. The most terrifying dangers were the invisible dangers.
The sound of footsteps outside interrupted Zhang Cunmeng's thoughts. He looked up and saw his trusted brother Su Baisheng hurriedly walking towards him. Su Baisheng was inconspicuous among the peasant army and seemed to be easily ignored by others, but this was it.
He has a well-known nickname, "Black Fox". Anyone who knows Su Baisheng knows that this man has a cunning mind and many strategies, and he is Zhang Cunmeng's true confidant and has always been relied on as an adviser.
"Brother Su, something happened to the city defense?" Zhang Cunmeng was most worried about something going wrong on the city wall, so he hurriedly asked. Su Baisheng shook his head with a straight face, hesitated for a moment, frowned, and whispered: "Leader Zhang, there is someone
Want to see you."
"Who?" Zhang Cunmeng had just finished asking, and Su Baisheng quickly got closer and said something. Soon, Zhang Cunmeng's face changed drastically. His first reaction was to disappear, and he even wanted to order to chop off the other person's head. Su Baisheng knew what Zhang Cunmeng was thinking.
, so he quickly advised: "Brother Zhang, why don't you meet him and see what he has to say? It won't be too late to make a decision then."
"Let him come in." Zhang Cunmeng snorted and turned back to the main seat. After a while, Su Baisheng led a man in black robe into the lobby. After the man came in, he took off his hood, revealing a familiar face.
.
Looking at that face, Zhang Cunmeng grinned, leaned down on the ground, and said with a cold smile: "Wang Zuogao, you scum, I didn't expect you to dare to come to see me. Aren't you afraid that I will kill you with a knife?"
Yes, the person who came was none other than Wang Zuoguan. Facing Zhang Cunmeng's threat, Wang Zuoguan looked calm and held his hands with a warm face: "Brother Zhang, it's been a long time. It's understandable that you want to kill Wang, but you have to
It would be completely wrong to say that Wang is a scum. It can only be said that you and I have different paths and different choices. Or, in your eyes, Wang is a person who is greedy for life, afraid of death, and covets wealth?
"
"You..." Zhang Cunmeng suddenly became speechless. Even if he hated Wang Zuogao, he didn't think that he was a villain who was greedy for wealth and feared death. There were many talented people in the peasant army, but there were no more than three that he truly admired.
Wang Zuoguan was definitely one of them. I remember when he learned that Wang Zuoguan went to Zhangbei to seek refuge with the Living King of Hell, he was so angry that he didn't eat for a whole day.
So far, Zhang Cunmeng cannot understand why Wang Zuogao did this. "Have you forgotten why you raised the army in the first place? Have you forgotten what you said before?"
Wang Zuogao was calm and composed, sitting in the chair next to him, and said with a faint smile: "It is precisely because he has not forgotten that Wang chose to follow Tie Shouwei. At first, Wang spent all his wealth to raise an army in his hometown, in order to let the villagers live a better life.
Good days, in order to prevent hundreds of miles of Qinchuan from being filled with hungry people. However, what has Wang gained since he joined the army with his brothers? More and more hungry people, and the people of the entire Qinchuan land are living in dire straits..."
Zhang Cunmeng's face darkened, he clenched his fists, glared at Wang Zuogao angrily, and said sullenly: "Since you remember, why do you still seek refuge in the Living King of Hell? Are you worthy of those dead brothers?"
"Why can't you take refuge in the Living King of Hell? What was Zhang Bei like three years ago? What is Zhang Bei like now?" Wang Zuogao frowned, his expression became serious and solemn, and there was a bit more sadness in his eyes.
and dissatisfied, "Tie Shouwei entered Zhangbei by himself, allowing many refugees to live and work in peace and contentment, and allowing Zhangbei to regain its former prosperity. But what were we doing at that time? Why did the number of refugees increase so much in Qinchuan, and there was no harvest? Brother Zhang, don't you understand at all?
...Ask yourself, how many people have done things that run counter to their original dreams...Wang is not willing to be buried with the ambitions of some people, what is wrong with him?"
"Wang Zuogua..." Zhang Cunmeng stared at the other person, word by word, his voice was as cold as ice. If words could be turned into swords, Wang Zuogua would have been cut into pieces at this moment.
"I think you are crazy. Shaanxi has become like this. The responsibility lies with the court. According to you, we are wrong?" Zhang Cunmeng asked sternly, but Wang Zuogao shrugged and said noncommittally: "The court is unethical.
This has led to today's situation. However, some people's behavior is worse than that of the imperial court. They blindly satisfy their own selfishness and do not know how to sympathize with Qinchuan's elders. Well, Brother Zhang, you and I have different paths, and no one can convince the other. Yes.
Whether it's right or wrong, time will tell."
Zhang Cunmeng snorted coldly, but still tried to calm down, "Tell me, why did you come to Hequ?"
"Of course it's to save brother Zhang's life!" Wang Zuoguan's voice was very soft, but in the ears of Zhang Cunmeng and Su Baisheng, it was extremely harsh. Zhang Cunmeng had a gloomy face and said sarcastically: "Wang Zuoguan, you just
Aren’t you afraid that I will chop you into pieces now?”
"Of course Brother Zhang can do this, but when Wang dies, Brother Zhang and these tens of thousands of brothers will also be buried with him. I believe Brother Zhang is not a reckless person, right?"
Wang Zuoguan was so confident that Zhang Cunmeng felt like he was full of strength but had nowhere to start. He took a breath and said: "Zhang doesn't think that although the frontier army has amazing combat power, there are still many people in Hequ City today.
There are 40,000 men who can fight. If Zhang is determined to defend Hequ, even if you can swallow up Hequ City, you will not get any good results in the end!"
"But as Brother Zhang said, what is the morale of the officers and soldiers in the city? What if our artillery fire extends to cover the entire Hequ City? By then Hequ City will be in ruins, and how many people will be lost? Brother Zhang really thinks you have a chance to fight with Tie
Defensively, both sides will lose?"
Wang Zuoguan paused for a moment and continued: "Now that Hetao has fallen into the hands of our army, what is the point of defending Hequ City? Just to fight for publicity? Or maybe Brother Zhang thinks that Man Tianxing or Wang Ziyong can free up his hands.
, send heavy troops to retake the Loop?"
Two questions in a row left Zhang Cunmeng speechless. Even Su Baisheng's expression changed drastically. No one seemed to have thought about this problem before. They only thought about how to guard the river, but they never thought about the meaning of guarding the river.
.
Shenmu City was lost, and most of the Hetao fell into the hands of officers and soldiers. There was no point in guarding Hequ City.
Zhang Cunmeng was a little unwilling and snorted: "So what? Even so, can you kill Zhang? I have tens of thousands of troops. If I want to withdraw, can you stop me?"
Wang Zuoguan nodded and said with a faint smile: "Of course we can't stop it, but don't forget that we have tens of thousands of cavalry outside the city. Under such circumstances, how many of them can finally escape to Yan'an Mansion? What's more,
There are artillery and musketeers to intercept. By the time we reach Yan'an Prefecture, there will probably be less than 10,000 people, right? After the Yinzhou Pass incident, do you think Zhang Xianzhong can let you go? How do you deal with Zhang Xianzhong when his strength is suddenly reduced? You and I both know it.
, relying on Gypsophila and the king for his own use cannot protect you."
The corners of Zhang Cunmeng's mouth twitched, and no one noticed that his hands were trembling slightly. Wang Zuogao's words were like a steel knife, stabbing hard into his chest, cutting straight to his vitals.