Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 426
On the western edge of the Hanzhong Basin, in the shade of the Han River, a large crowd suddenly appeared, and the further back, the denser the crowd.

These people didn't say a word, they all hurried forward against the Han River. Looking down from the sky, they looked like ants rushing to move before the rain, moving from low-lying land to high place in groups.

On the Hanzhong Plain, there are such figures everywhere.

Getting closer and looking carefully, these people turned out to be the army of the Han family. Although many of them had no weapons in their hands, no iron helmets on their heads, and no armor on their bodies, it was still not difficult to see their identities.

This army was precisely the Daxi Army that was attacked by Wu Sangui and turned from victory to defeat.

At this time, the soldiers of the Western Army supported each other and walked west quickly. From time to time, some people fell down, and the companions did not dare to stay for a while, and dragged away.

Zhang Xianzhong, with disheveled hair, was supported by a general of the Western Army, with a saber in his hand that was used as a crutch, and he was sticking to the ground, walking forward step by step.

The Great West Emperor, the golden helmet on his head was long gone, and the golden armor on his body was also discarded long ago, leaving only a filthy bright yellow dragon robe, but with a skirt around his waist, he looked really embarrassed.

His body was covered in blood and his hair was disheveled, so he didn't have the majesty of Emperor Daxi. Even when Emperor Yizong of Ming Dynasty was cornered, he looked better than him.

"Where are you going?" Zhang Xianzhong was out of breath, his face was a little pale, and his eyes were a little absent-minded.

"Long live, I seem to be coming to Huangshayi, and we should arrive at Mian County ten miles ahead." The general of the Western Army also looked like he had thrown away his armor. After hearing Zhang Xianzhong's question, he quickly looked up at the terrain, out of breath He replied angrily.

From Mian County, they can enter Jinniu Road and return directly to Shuzhong, that is to say, they are out of danger. As soon as Zhang Xianzhong heard the vicinity of Mian County, he couldn't move anymore, so he fell to the ground and gulped. panting.

Zhang Xianzhong stopped, and the soldiers of the western army did not leave. They ran from the north of Baocheng for a day and a night, and they were defeated for hundreds of miles. They didn't eat anything in their stomachs. on the ground.

The soldiers of the Western Army relied on one breath and ran non-stop. Now that they stopped, the breath in their chests would be vented. They had no more strength, and they all sat on the ground. They didn't even want to move their fingers except for breathing, but there were some Some soldiers crawled to the edge of the Han River, buried their heads in the river, and drank the cold water desperately.

Looking at this miserable scene, Zhang Xianzhong felt like a knife was twisting his heart. Thinking of how high-spirited he was when he came out of Sichuan, but now he was defeated in such a field, he suddenly felt sad and his eyes gradually blurred.

At this moment, there was a sudden commotion behind the defeated troops of the Western Army. The soldiers let out a burst of screams. Zhang Xianzhong, not knowing where the strength came from, jumped up and asked loudly, "What's the matter?"

"Long live, it's the Longxiang Horse Army!" The general of the Western Army behind him quickly replied.

Wu Sangui's Guanning iron cavalry entered Hanzhong, and the Western Army's infantry was defeated. In order to cover Zhang Xianzhong's retreat, Long Xiang entangled with the Qing soldiers.

At this time, Zhang Xianzhong asked his general to help him up. Looking around, he saw a troop of horses coming from the east and heading west along the Han River. They were indeed Longxiang's men and horses.

Of the [-] dragon cavalry, only four or five hundred remained, all covered in blood. They had obviously experienced a bloody battle, and they immediately reined in before they were routed.

At this moment, there is nothing more exciting than this. The soldiers of the Western Army who had collapsed on the ground stood up one after another, expressing their gratitude to the cavalry covering their retreat. tribute.

Wang Shangli, the commander of the Central Army of the Western Army, was covered in gunpowder smoke and had a few feathered arrows stuck on his armor on his back. He reined in the reins and hurriedly asked, "Where is Long Live?" : "Long live is ahead~"

Hearing this, Wang Shangli quickly got off his horse, held the big gun that was still dripping blood, and separated the crowd. His eyes searched around in the crowd, and finally saw Zhang Xianzhong in the distance, so he hurriedly ran over in three steps at a time, bowing down to the rest of the crowd. , wailing loudly: "God blesses you, and I'm lucky to be safe forever. I thought ~ minister~ woooo~" Zhang Xianzhong's eyes were also sore, but he calmly said: "Shang Li, there is no need to be like this. He will surely be able to avenge today's shame in the future."

Seeing this, Wang Shangli stopped crying, but Zhang Xianzhong asked again: "Qing is covering my retreat to the west, do you know the situation of the kings?"

"Long live the report." Wang Shangli thought for a while, and replied: "At that time, Wu Sangui suddenly attacked, and our army was scattered. King Anxi had the most complete system, but he didn't stop Wu Sangui, and the formation was directly pierced by Qingqi. Hauge Seeing that the reinforcements had arrived, they immediately led the Qing cavalry to fight back, and after Long live gave the order to retreat, King Dingbei of the southern formation immediately left the battlefield to the south, King Pingdong followed His Majesty, and the situation of King Anxi and King Funan is unknown.”

Zhang Xianzhong felt a pain in his heart when he heard this, at this time, thousands of rout soldiers came over, and after inquiring, it was Pingdong King Zhang Kewang who led his troops to flee here.

At this time, among his 3000 troops, there were only more than [-] left.

This is because Li Dingguo blocked Wu Sangui for a while, and Zhang Xianzhong gave the order to retreat early. Otherwise, if there was a little hesitation, the entire Western Army might be surrounded in the north of Baocheng and wiped out by the Qing army.

At this moment, Zhang Xianzhong called Zhang Kewang to him, "Your retreat all the way, can you see Dingguo and Wenxiu?"

"Reporting to my father, the elite Wu thieves came out together, Hauge took the opportunity to counterattack, fortunately Dingguo and Wenxiu were defeated, and I was able to escape the pursuit, but I'm afraid at this time~" Zhang Kewang said in a panic.

Seeing this, Zhang Xianzhong immediately said to Wang Shangli: "Your Majesty is working hard to gather all the horse troops and go down the Han River to see if we can meet the two kings."

"Your Majesty takes orders and will definitely bring the two Highnesses back."

Wang Shangli immediately led the remaining Longxiang cavalry and Zhang Kewang's more than [-] cavalry, making up [-] cavalry, left the brigade, and headed eastward along the Han River.

"I hope that you will go to the Dingjun Mountain camp immediately, and ask Wang Zhaoling to leave the camp immediately, burn all the food and supplies that cannot be taken away, and then join me at the entrance of Jinniu Road. In addition, Wudu Mountain will also be burned." After a short rest, Zhang Xianzhong has recovered a little, so he hastened to order.

Zhang Xianzhong has ruled the world for decades, and suffered many defeats. Although this time the defeat was more miserable, he calmed down quickly.

After Zhang Kewang took the order to leave, Zhang Xianzhong immediately stood up and urged the defeated army to move on. The army looted Mian County and the county town that had been robbed once before, and then marched towards the entrance of Jinniu Road.

Wang Shangli led [-] cavalry and marched eastward. He felt that if the two Highnesses really broke through, they would definitely go to Hanshui. He knew that the situation was urgent, so he urged his subordinates to advance quickly.

After walking eastward for more than [-] miles, Wang Shangli could vaguely hear the sound of shouting for killing. He became anxious and flogged his horse desperately. After walking for another three to five miles, he finally saw soldiers of the Western Army coming from the east here and there.

He went up to ask questions, and learned that it was the tribes of King Funan and King Anxi, saying that they resisted the impact of the Qing army's iron cavalry in order to buy time for the main force to retreat, resulting in heavy casualties, and were entangled by the Qing army, unable to escape. The troops were divided to pursue King Dingbei who fled to the south and the main force that was routed to the west. The troops had just escaped, but the Qing army pursued them closely, and the two His Royal Highnesses were personally leading their troops to cut off the rear.

Wang Shangli looked gloomy, "Go west quickly, don't go back to Dingjun Mountain, go to Mian County and enter the Jinniu Road, Long Live will wait there." After he finished speaking, he clamped his horse's belly and galloped away.

The six hundred cavalry continued eastward, and the further they went, the more they were defeated. They threw away their helmets and armor, and their faces were full of panic. If asked, they all said: "The Qing soldiers are in a hurry. Bing bites, unable to escape."

Wang Shangli continued to move forward, and finally saw from a distance, a Western Army infantry of more than 2000 people and more than a hundred cavalry were fighting and retreating all the way, and behind them were the Qing army chasing soldiers from all over the mountains and plains. (Thanks to T World, fly left and fly right, and spend all the monthly tickets for Building 66. Let's watch it at three o'clock tomorrow, it's a bit late today.)
(End of this chapter)