Eighth year of Chongzhen

Chapter 96 Mind

After two days of preparation, under the urging of Gao Yingxiang, Zhang Xianzhong finally showed up at the city of Shouzhou with [-] soldiers.

During this period, Gao Yingxiang did not break his promise, and soon sent someone to send a batch of knives, guns and arrows. The quantity was quite large, but the quality was not to be praised.Pick up a long knife and swing it a little, the handle and the blade are separated directly.The arrows are also ordinary long arrows with flat arrows. This kind of arrows are not stable and have a short range, and their lethality is much worse than that of triangular arrows.

Sun Kewang and the others were yelling at each other, while Zhang Xianzhong had an expected expression. Although he had more than [-] men, many of them used sticks and hoes as weapons. Now they have regular weapons. Better than a stick.

So he ordered the available knives and guns to be sent out to replace those farm tools.It always gives people a strange feeling to use farm tools for farming as weapons.

However, Zhang Xianzhong disdains Gao Yingxiang's demeanor even more in his heart: With this kind of pettiness, you Gao Yingxiang will not be able to achieve anything!
Immediately, Zhang Xianzhong delayed for another day on the grounds of building siege equipment and practicing how the soldiers would attack the city. It was not until Gao Yingxiang sent his younger brother Gao Yingen to urge him in person that he had to gather all the troops out of the camp to prepare for the siege.

So why did Zhang Xianzhong delay the siege time?Could it be that he is so kind and can't bear to see people suffer?

Absolutely not!Why did he, Zhang Xianzhong, treat people as human beings?In his eyes, except for his adopted sons, the others are like animals, they can be killed!No matter men, women or children!

The official cavalry had been hanging behind them for more than half a month, except for rushing up to harass and scare them from time to time, there was no other action. Gao Yingxiang sent a five thousand cavalry to the end to drive them away, and wanted to find an opportunity to severely damage this official army.But the cavalry of the official army was very thieves. As long as Gao Yingxiang's large cavalry showed signs of gathering, the official army would turn around and run away. Once they felt safe, they would stick together again.They didn't have the shock of risking their lives, it just kept hanging them from afar.What does this mean?Explain that the official army cavalry is waiting for someone!Who are you waiting for?Of course it is a large group of elite officers and soldiers!As long as the infantry arrives, it's time for the officers and soldiers to attack!
If there is no accident, the person leading the officers and soldiers is coming is Gao Yingxiang's old acquaintance - Lu Xiangsheng!

Although he did not lead his troops to fight Lu Xiangsheng himself, Zhang Xianzhong watched the confrontation between Tianxiong Army and Gao Yingxiang from afar.

This officer army is completely different from the officer army in Zhang Xianzhong's impression. They have clear orders, are brave and good at fighting, and can advance and retreat well. They are definitely an elite army.

Zhang Xianzhong secretly compared that his men are said to be [-], but there are not many thousands of them who can really fight. Against this well-equipped, brave and courageous officer, the ending will be quite miserable.

Zhang Xianzhong was waiting for Lu Xiangsheng's arrival!
Only Lu Xiangsheng's Tianxiong Army can deal with Gao Yingxiang, even if they can't destroy him, they will injure him severely!Thinking of Gao Yingxiang running away like a bereaved dog, Zhang Xianzhong felt as happy as drinking fine wine.As for whether Lu Xiangsheng could defeat Gao Yingxiang, Zhang Xianzhong had no doubts. Gao Yingxiang had no choice but to use his cavalry to escape.

Lu Xiangsheng either came from the south or the southeast, and it was absolutely impossible to come from the west or north.At this time, he had already grabbed the seat of the siege, which was equivalent to being covered by Gao Yingxiang.

As long as Lu Xiangsheng arrives and launches an attack, Gao Yingxiang can only lead his troops to fight, and Zhang Xianzhong will immediately send elite soldiers to attack the city.Taking advantage of the short time when Lu Xiangsheng and Gao Yingxiang couldn't tell the winner, Xianyinghui quickly looted after entering the city, amassed a large amount of money and food in a short period of time, and then sent out from the east gate of Shouzhou to Fengyang.Whether Gao Yingxiang wanted to or not, he could only help him resist Lu Xiangsheng's attack.

But Zhang Xianzhong will not go to Fengyang again. If Lu Xiangsheng defeats Gao Yingxiang, he will go to Fengyang immediately. Protecting the safety of the imperial mausoleum is the most important thing. Zhang Xianzhong firmly believes in this. He knows what the civilian and military generals of Ming Dynasty value. .

Zhang Xianzhong will lead most of the troops back from the north of Shouzhou, and then fight all the way to the southwest, heading straight to Huguang, where the high mountains and deep ravines are the most suitable place for cultivating health and training soldiers and horses.Moreover, the mountainous terrain directly hindered the mobility of the cavalry. What he feared most was the cavalry of the official army. The stragglers under his command could not withstand the impact of a large cavalry.

As long as you go to the Huguang area, you will stay away from almost all the officers and soldiers who can fight. As long as you develop with peace of mind, with the skills of yourself and a few adopted sons, you will build an elite division that can compete with the officers and soldiers in a few years. When you have money, food and soldiers, where can you go?
What he is doing now is delaying time, he must not destroy Shouzhou immediately, as long as the city is destroyed, Gao Yingxiang should turn his face.

Following Zhang Xianzhong's order, more than a thousand soldiers who were not so much thieves as refugees gradually approached the city wall under the yelling of some small leaders.

The moat had long been cut off due to drought, so it saved the time for the thieves to fill it up. Soon, more than a thousand people arrived at a place dozens of steps away from the city wall.

"Leader bearers go forward! Put the ladder on the wall!"

The little leader who fell behind shouted loudly.

There were five ladders in total, and each was carried by seven or eight people. Seeing that there was no movement on the city wall, dozens of thieves bravely ran and leaned the ladders against the city wall. It is a regular ladder at the crenel, but the length of the ladder is enough. After the attackers climb to the top, they can step onto the city wall with one step.

The thieves who had built the ladder ran back like a swarm, and a little boss drew his knife angrily and cursed: "Leave someone to hold the ladder! Go back! Whoever comes back first, I will chop him up!"

Dozens of thieves looked at the bright long knife in his hand, and after glancing at each other, they could only shrink back to the side of the ladder, using hands and feet to stabilize the ladder, so that the ladder would not fall when the thieves climbing the city climbed up. .

"First team, go!"

There was another cry, and more than two hundred thieves armed with knives and guns were divided into groups, looking up at the top of the city, and approaching the ladder.

There was no movement above the top of the city, as if the officers and soldiers guarding the city had all fled, allowing the thieves to climb the ladder.

The thieves who climbed the ladder began to climb with trepidation. The first thieves were all tall and strong, with a knife in one hand and a round shield tied to the other arm so that they could hold the ladder with their hands to maintain balance.

The thieves who went up first climbed a few stools and found that there was still no movement in the city. They wondered in their hearts that the officers and soldiers had all fled, right?So he became more courageous, and began to use his hands and feet to speed up the climbing. The bandits behind him climbed up the ladder one by one.

Just halfway through the first bandit soldier's climb on the five ladders, a gong suddenly sounded at the top of the city, and several officers and soldiers appeared from the crenel, and then pieces of basin-sized stones fell down.

Because the thieves did not have the cover of archers, the officers and soldiers throwing stones could aim at the people on the ladder and then smash them down, with an accuracy rate of 100%.

Several screams sounded, and every piece of stone accurately hit the bandit soldier who was ranked first on the ladder, some hit the bandit soldier's head, the bandit soldier's head exploded, and his body fell out of control; some hit the bandit soldier The huge impact on his body caused the hit bandit soldiers to break their bones and roll down, knocking over a bunch of bandit soldiers behind them and bringing them down together.

"Gray bottle!"

There was another shout from the top of the city, and gray bottles rained down from the sky, falling into the crowd of people who had been blinded by the sudden blow.

The bottle made of rough pottery was filled with quicklime, and when the bottle shattered after falling to the ground, the lime powder instantly scattered around. Many bandits had no time to close their eyes, and the lime powder directly got into their eyes, and their delicate eyeballs were instantly burnt alive. In pain, the thieves threw away their weapons, screamed and rubbed their eyes with their hands, which made the contact surface between the lime and the inside of the eye even heavier. The excruciating pain and the fear of suddenly losing light made the thieves run around in panic, Lime powder enters the trachea and lung lobes with the accelerated breathing, and also causes great damage to these two organs.

"Stone!"

Following an order, pieces of rocks fell from the sky, and many thieves who were rolling all over the ground, howling and screaming, were smashed into blood and blood, stopped breathing, and they were relieved.

After a while, almost all of the more than two hundred thieves were stoned to death, except for a few who reacted quickly and turned around to flee. The officers and soldiers didn't need to aim at all, one stone could knock down one or two bandit soldiers, and the gray bottle prevented the bandit soldiers from evacuating quickly, which led to large-scale casualties. The team of more than [-] people , Only dozens of people fled back.

(End of this chapter)