In the autumn of the eighth year of Chongzhen's reign, the Northwest Rebel Army returned to the Central Plains, which actually meant that there had been a split within the rebel army.
Li Zicheng did not follow the various ministries, but stayed in northern Shaanxi.
This represents the awakening of Li Zicheng's independent consciousness, and also means that he can stand up to the leaders of other departments.
Destroying Zhu Ming's ancestral mausoleum and eliminating Cao Wenzhao will bring endless benefits to the northwest rebels.
After nearly a year of development, the size of the Northwest Rebel Army has become extremely large.
This time when we left Tongguan from the east, everything we passed was like a flood, unstoppable.
The large group marched eastward, the sky was filled with dust, it was forty miles wide, and it was more than a hundred miles in front and back, with the old and the weak in the middle, and the elite riders outside.
It doesn't look like a bandit moving away, but more like an invincible king master patrolling the territory.
Zuo Liangyu and Zu Dabi from Henan heard the news and came over, wanting to take some credit. However, they were still seventy miles away. Seeing the momentum here, the two generals did not dare to come any closer.
Zuo Liangyu was stroking his beard, his hands shaking.
He knew that those mud-legged people were already a force he could not match.
Zu Dabi was even more worried, and immediately turned around and went to Lu Xiangsheng to report the situation.
At this time, Lu Xiangsheng had already arrived in Ruzhou, making plans while waiting for reinforcements to arrive.
At the same time, he was waiting for his staff to return.
His staff did not disappoint him, and he returned home after more than a month, dusty and tired.
"Proprietor, fortunately, the student has returned with the artifact."
What was displayed in front of Lu Xiangsheng was a large row of artillery pieces with cold light.
At first glance, these artillery pieces are different from those used by the Ming army.
The barrel of the gun is slender and the body is smooth. It is placed on a wooden stand and comes with two wooden wheels as high as one person. The back is supported on the ground by a curved stand.
When the frame is lifted up and combined, it can be put on the horse and dragged along without slowing down the marching speed.
Lu Xiangsheng was so curious that he stepped forward in person, bent down and lifted up the wooden shelf.
Just lifting it up will inevitably make you look surprised.
"This cannon is so light!"
Although he has been in the military for many years, Lu Xiangsheng is still a scholar in the end. His strength can actually lift the cannon by himself, which speaks volumes.
The Ming army's self-produced artillery would never be able to do this.
Zu Dabi also tried it himself and was even more amazed.
"I really don't know how the Shandong rebels made this cannon, but how powerful it is?"
Immediately, a soldier came forward to demonstrate the operation.
Everyone was even more stunned when they saw a cannon go out as far as three or four miles, destroying walls and destroying trees and making everything in a mess.
Lu Xiangsheng's heart was surging. He stroked the cold and hard barrel and finally gained some confidence.
"With the blessing of this artifact, pacifying the bandits will be a piece of cake."
The generals below all looked strange.
This artillery was bought from Shandong, and it is obvious that Shandong's own artillery is better. Even if the northwest rebels were defeated with this artillery, how will they face the new Shandong army in the future?
Suddenly, many people had other thoughts in their hearts.
Lu Xiangsheng did not notice it, but began to devote himself to the intense work of suppressing thieves.
He knew that the land in Henan was rotten to the core, but Huguang still maintained its vitality, so the Northwest Rebels could not be allowed to go to Huguang under any circumstances.
Therefore, he deployed a large number of troops in southern Henan to form a tight defense line.
Gao Yingxiang and others returned to Henan and searched everywhere, but the disaster situation in Henan was not much better than in Shaanxi, and what they could grab was very limited.
Under such circumstances, the Northwest Rebels naturally set their sights on Huguang.
However, Lu Xiangsheng's layout was tight and his command was good. After several battles, the northwest rebels were unable to do anything.
Several leaders discussed it and decided that since there was no hope of going south, they might as well just go east.
They set their sights on Fengyang again.
"Since Shandong Zuo Mengeng returned Fengyang to the court, then if we go to fight, it doesn't count as being against him. He has no reason to seek trouble from us."
"As long as we defeat Fengyang one more time, let's see how shameless the Emperor of the Zhu family will be in the world."
The leaders discussed it and immediately led the army to the east.
Lu Xiangsheng was really frightened when he got the military information.
When Fengyang was conquered for the first time, it caused a huge uproar and caused people to lose heart. If it happened a second time, the Ming Dynasty would probably exist in name only.
He quickly mobilized all his elite troops and rushed to Fengyang at night. At the same time, he sent an order to the magistrate of Fengyang to defend the city no matter what.
During this battle, Gao Yingxiang and others made serious military mistakes.
They were dragging their families along, but the speed was so slow that Lu Xiangsheng got ahead of them.
On the eighth day of the first lunar month, Lu Xiangsheng finally arrived in Fengyang despite the wind and snow.
He did not enter the city, but formed a formation on the west bank of the Huaihe River. Apparently he had the intention of coexisting with Fengyang.
That afternoon, Zhang Xianzhong's troops arrived late.
Seeing that the Ming army was already in formation, but there were not many of them, Zhang Xianzhong could not help but underestimate the enemy and immediately launched an attack.
Lu Xiangsheng saw that Zhang Xianzhong's troops were in a mess in the formation, so he did not let the newly purchased artillery take action, but commanded Zu Dabi, Tang Jiuzhou and others to fight to the death.
After a fierce battle all afternoon, Zhang Xianzhong's troops suffered heavy losses and slowly retreated.
Lu Xiangsheng accepted the supplies sent by Fengyang and firmly established himself.
In the early morning of the next day, Gao Yingxiang, Lao Huihui and others arrived one after another. The army was overwhelming and they could not see where they were going.
Seeing this scene in the army formation, many people felt uneasy and fearful.
Lu Xiangsheng was as firm as iron and rode in front of the army.
"We are loyal to the emperor by eating the emperor's salary. We protect the family and the country and eliminate rebellion. The king's way is to punish evil and avoid trouble. We are invincible in battle. Who can defeat the enemy?"
His impassioned speech inspired the morale of the Ming army. Although their number was only one-tenth that of the Northwest Rebels, they still responded to the battle with enthusiasm.
"Across the way is Lu Xiangsheng, the premier of the five provinces of Nalao Shenzi?"
Gao Yingxiang rode on his horse, raised his hands to his eyes, and saw all the battle formations of the Ming army.
Since the uprising, the highest Ming court official they have killed was only Cao Wenzhao.
If the prime ministers of the five provinces can be killed today, who has the final say in the world is not certain.
"If he dares to block us with such a small number of troops, he is really asking for death. Let's stand shoulder to shoulder and we will pile up people to kill him."
Lao Huihui was gearing up and was the first to take action.
The cavalry under his command slowly walked out and began to press forward.
As soon as he moved, Gao Yingxiang, Zhang Xianzhong, Yi Zi Wang, and Chuang Tian Wang also started to move, and the entire battlefield immediately became agitated.
Lu Xiangsheng's palms were filled with hot sweat, and he stared at the northwest rebels approaching slowly, with only one thought in his mind.
"Victory or defeat depends on this one move!"
"Sir, there is someone behind you!"
Lu Xiangsheng was startled by his subordinate's shouting, and he quickly turned around to look.
As a result, I saw a dozen cavalrymen stationed on the other side of the Huaihe River behind me, looking over here.
Looking across the river, he saw it very clearly.
Those dozen cavalrymen were wearing the uniforms of the Shandong New Army.
Is Shandong coming to take advantage of the situation again?
Lu Xiangsheng's heart could not help but feel gloomy.