The invasion army's offensive against Xiaogan was still led by Guo Junzhen as the commander-in-chief of the former enemy. Xiaogan itself did not have many defenders, so it was rare for Guo Junzhen to have an overwhelming superior force.
The invading army attacked the city from the southeast, northwest and four sides at the same time. First, the artillery launched a fierce bombardment, and then the archers and muskets moved forward to suppress the defenders at the top of the city. The miners seized the time to dig tunnels and wall foundations to prepare for blasting, and the infantry
The main force held up their cards and attacked the city.
Li Laiheng rode his horse and stood on a high ground a little further to the north to watch the battle. Beside him were a group of well-dressed gentry such as Yi Daosan. Xiaogan had almost no defenders. If this battle didn't take much effort, the invading army would be sure to win.
That's why Li Laiheng brought these people with him, both as a demonstration and as a warning.
At this time, there was a roar from the city. Miao Lichen commanded the blasting of the mine caves to achieve great results. A city wall suddenly collapsed. The invaders, who had been prepared for a long time, immediately rushed into the city through the gap. The Xiaogan defenders
It was already difficult to support them in terms of morale and physical strength. At this time, the city wall collapsed, their spirits were completely broken, and almost everyone surrendered.
Yi Daosan's cousin, Yi Daoxian, a well-known scholar in Huguang, was stunned by the Chuang army's siege skills. He knew that there were not many defenders in Xiaogan, and he vowed that it would be difficult to withstand the Chuang army's offensive, but he never expected that the Chuang army would
It was so easy and easy to conquer Xiaogan. I was shocked in my heart. I finally felt that it made some sense for Yi Daosan to take Tian Xi to form a "public-private partnership" with the Chuang army.
Li Laiheng looked at the shocked expressions of the gentry, feeling amused and contented in his heart. He spoke a few words to the two generals Guo Yi and Gu Kecheng in the front camp, asking them to strictly restrain the troops entering the city and not to kill or set fire to them.
,robbery.
Then he turned his horse's head and went to the other end of the army to listen to the news brought back by Zhang Pizhu and Hao Yaoqi.
What Zhang Pizhu reported was that Zuo Liangyu had withdrawn to Xiangyang. According to the intelligence from the red team's investigation, Zuo Liangyu had collected a lot of officers and soldiers who were scattered in Henan. There are now about 30,000 combatable soldiers in Xiangyang. Although most of them are
It's a frightening bird, but after all, there are many people and it is adjacent to Suizhou, threatening the base camp in the rear of the invading army, so we must be strictly vigilant.
The news brought by Hao Yaoqi was even more important. First, Ding Qirui had returned to Wuchang with about 20,000 troops and horses. Second, Zhang Xianzhong and the Gezuo Fifth Battalion had bitten on Ding Qirui's ass and arrived in Huguang. Now the Qishui area
Activity.
Zhang Xianzhong is a familiar person, and the Gezuo Fifth Battalion is led by Ge Liyan He Yilong, Zuo Jin Wang He Jin, Zhengshi Wang Liu Xiyao, Zhishi Wang Lin Chengcheng and Lao Huihui Ma Shouying.
The fifth battalion of Gezuo did not belong to each other, but in order to deal with the threat from the official army, they always acted together. The total strength was more than 10,000 and close to 20,000, which was as good as Zhang Xianzhong.
Zhang Xianzhong and the Fifth Battalion of Ge Zuo were very concerned about the movements of the Chuang Army. Their progress in Jiangbei was unfavorable. They also heard that the Chuang Army was victorious on the battlefields of Yuchu and Chu, and their troops were growing stronger. They decided to go to Huguang first to meet Li Laiheng, and then
Think about the next step.
Although Hao Yaoqi's official position was not high, he was very senior in the rebel army. He knew Zhang Xianzhong and the main leaders of the Gezuo Fifth Battalion and had good friendships.
So Li Laiheng sent him to deal with the tens of thousands of troops who suddenly rushed into Huguang. Hao Yaoqi had already placed the vanguard troops from Xiying and Gezuo near Qishui County to rest and recuperate.
It is said that Zhang Xianzhong, He Yilong, Ma Shouying, He Jin and other famous leaders have all arrived near Qishui. They all asked to see Li Zicheng immediately. If they could not see Li Zicheng, they also asked to see Tian Jianxiu, Li Guo and other intruders.
A well-known figure or the top person in charge of the Huguang Army.
Li Laiheng smiled coldly and said: "They are operating in the area of Yinghuo Qianshan. I really don't believe that the Fifth Battalion of Gezuo doesn't know who is leading the Huguang Breaking Army. These people are just relying on their old people and trying to give me a blow."
Well, since they came with bad intentions, no wonder I used all kinds of methods."
He lowered his head and meditated for a while, then asked Zhang Pili to call Fang Yiren and others, and asked Hao Yaoqi to prepare. After Xiaogan calmed down a little, he organized a group of troops to go to Qishui to meet with Zhang Xianzhong and the fifth battalion of Gezuo.
.
The Fifth Battalion of Gezuo did not camp at the same place as Zhang Xianzhong. The Western Camp was camped south of Qishui, close to the Yangtze River, while the Fifth Battalion of Gezuo was stationed north of Qishui, maintaining a certain distance from Xiying.
Zhang Xianzhong intends to join forces with the Ge Zuo Fifth Battalion to first capture the base that the Chuang Army has been operating in Huguang for a long time. Ge Liyan He Yilong is quite interested in this, but Zuo Jin Wang He Jin, Liu Xiyao, and Lin Chengcheng are very opposed.
Hui Hui Ma Shouying appeared non-committal on the surface, but in fact he strengthened his troops' vigilance against Xiying. He Yilong had no choice but to give up this plan.
But they still looked down upon Li Laiheng. When the leaders of the fifth battalion met, Ma Shouying directly said what everyone was thinking: "What the hell Mr. Li, how can a kid like Li Laiheng be on equal footing with us? Even if it's just his father."
Tiger, don’t even think about showing me any shame.”
Ge Liyan He Yilong also agreed: "Yes, how dare Li Laiheng ask us to wait for him here in Qishui? Who is he? He has such a high profile. If Li Zicheng's subordinates are all this kind of stuff, we will still go there
Go to him and become a bird."
But King He Jin of Zuojin advised: "Don't say that, you two. Li Laiheng is a young general, but he can capture the land of the second mansion and kill Song Yihe, the governor of Huguang. This is a victory that the five of us together cannot achieve."
.If he doesn’t have some skills, what is our Fifth Battalion of Ge Zuo? A young general under Li Zicheng has such skills. Now there are rumors everywhere that the eighteen-year-old boy is destined to be promoted to the top, and it may really be the fault of the Li family."
Liu Xiyao also said: "We'll settle down when we come. We came here with the intention of defecting to King Chuang, and we can only do as the locals do in some matters. Brother Ma doesn't like Li Laiheng, so don't associate with him and just go to Henan directly."
Regarding the matter of defecting to the Chuang Army, the opinions of the Fifth Battalion of Ge Zuo were very different. The two people with the highest reputation and the most prestigious status among the Five Battalions, Ge Liyan He Yilong and Zuo Jin Wang He Jin, respectively represented one faction of opinions.
Ge Liyan He Yilong was very distrustful of the Chuang Army, and he believed that his military strength was not weak and his qualifications were high, so he could compete with Li Zicheng; King He Jin of Zuo Jin had an old friendship with Li Zicheng, and he knew the Chuang Army better.
, my heart is more inclined to directly join the Chuang Army and cooperate with Li Zicheng to conquer the world.
As for Lao Huihui Ma Shouying, he is also a senior figure, and his opinions are consistent with those of Ge Liyan and He Yilong, both of whom want to maintain their independence.
The qualifications of Liu Xiyao and Lin Chengcheng are far different. Liu Xiyao is from Qizhou, Huguang, and Lin Chengcheng is from Zhangzhou, Huguang. They are not old brothers in northern Shaanxi. Their opinions are closer to that of King He Jin of Zuojin.
, even further than He Jin, He Jin wanted to go to Henan to become Li Zicheng's subordinate, while Liu Xiyao and Lin Chengcheng simply wanted to join Li Laiheng's subordinate in Huguang.
Between Liu Xiyao and Lin Chengcheng, Lin Chengcheng was more junior, so Lin Chengcheng was more inclined to seek refuge with Li Laiheng than Liu Xiyao.
When the 5th Gezuo Battalion first returned to Huguang, Lin Yangcheng secretly passed some inside information on the 5th Gezuo Battalion to Li Laiheng through Hao Yaoqi.
When he saw that He Yilong and Ma Shouying had deep opinions on Li Laiheng, he excused Li Laiheng and said: "Commander Ding Qirui led 20,000 troops to escape back to Wuchang. I think Li Hushuai also wanted to block Ding Qirui's crossing the river to resume the suppression.
They didn't take action, so they didn't come to Qishui to greet us. But depending on the Chuang army's intention, after the war there calms down a little, Li Hushuai will come to join us in person."
Lin Chengcheng himself was not ambitious and had little ambition, so he had always been popular among the various rebels and was relatively diplomatic and sophisticated. Now that he had said this, it was inconvenient for He Yilong and Ma Shouying to say anything else.
He Jin and Liu Xiyao were both smart and capable people. They looked at each other and felt that based on He Yilong's simple and rough manner and Ma Shouying's eccentric character, this venture might have many twists and turns.
However, He Yilong and Ma Shouying were fine. The bigger problem was Zhang Xianzhong who was stationed south of Qishui at this time.
The Eight Great Kings were more prestigious than Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai. As soon as he arrived in Huguang, he tested the Ge Zuo Fifth Battalion and revealed his intention to annex the Chuang Army's foundation.