weaving

Chapter 1177 I Will Give You a Good Fight

"Do you think Zuo Liangyu is really made of dough?"

In the Yuewang Temple in Zhuxian Town, Li Zicheng glared at Hao Yaoqi and said, "Today, Mingyuan's front camp was attacked by the Zuo army. If it weren't for the bravery of the soldiers and the timely rescue, they would have almost fallen into the trap of the Zuo Ping bandit. It can be seen that although the government troops in Shuipoji have been cut off from water and food, they are not incapable of fighting. If we force them into a corner, it may not be a good thing for me."

Niu Jinxing also said at this time: "Shuipoji is downstream of us, so our army can cut off their water source. We only need to wait for another two or three days, and they will surely collapse without a fight. Even if they can still fight hard now, we have nothing to fear. As long as we hold the camp, bombard them from a distance and shoot them with bows and crossbows at close range, if they are forced to the front of the camp, their strength will be weakened, so there is no need to worry."

He twirled his beard and glanced at Song Xiance before continuing, "It's just that we don't know the details of this new government army reinforcement from the north, and we can't cut off its water supply, so we really can't ignore it."

After hearing his analysis, everyone nodded continuously. Even Hao Yaoqi, who was known for his recklessness, grinned and nodded continuously. He even raised his hand and scratched his scalp, looking thoughtful.

Luo Rucai interrupted and said, "The most important thing now is the news from Brother Yaoqi. If the soldiers who broke through were indeed sent by Zhang Cheng from Xuanfu in the north, I'm afraid they have already made contact..."

Liu Zongmin's expression tensed, and he asked, "Rucai, are you saying that Ding Qirui and Zuo Liangyu might resist stubbornly if they learn that there are reinforcements?"

"Exactly."

Liu Fangliang also said: "If Shuipoji continues to resist stubbornly and wait for help, it will be disadvantageous to me!"

The expression of Luo Rucai's trusted military advisor Ji Gui was quite intriguing. He seemed to be very regretful, yet also had a hint of gloating. However, all the generals were thinking about countermeasures, and no one noticed the subtle change in his expression.

At this moment, he stroked the few whiskers on his chin and said, "Grand Marshal, according to Ji Gui, we should prepare immediately. At 3 pm tomorrow, we will bombard Shuipoji with artillery fire, and at 3 pm tomorrow, we will send infantry and cavalry to attack the various camps of the government troops in Shuipoji..."

"Are you afraid that it will be difficult to break through Shuipoji in a hurry?"

Facing Yuan Zongdi's questioning, Ji Gui seemed to have been prepared. He only said: "Our purpose is not to break through the government army camp in one fell swoop, but to exert pressure on them and force them to collapse on their own!"

Hao Yaoqi couldn't help it anymore. He jumped up and said, "Prince Chuang, Grand Marshal, please send me! Tell Xiao Naizi to attack Old Zuo for an hour, and I will surely scatter all the troops in Zuoying!"

Upon hearing this, the King of Rebellion could not help but smile and said, "You... you underestimate the bandit Zuo Ping. After all, he is also a veteran who has fought for half his life. Even though Jingxuan is cunning and brave, he still suffered a lot at the hands of the bandit Zuo Ping. Some time ago, he even came to us to borrow troops and beg for help. It can be seen that Zuo Liangyu's title of General Suppressing Bandits is not in vain."

Hao Yaoqi was obviously unconvinced: "Great Marshal, do you think I will just follow you for free? As the saying goes, 'Train your soldiers for a thousand days and use them in one moment'. If you don't send me to fight in the first battle today, then I... I will have no choice but to retire."

He added with a stubborn look on his face: "If there is a good battle and I am not allowed to fight, then what is the use of me being in the army of King Chuang?"

Li Zicheng felt that Hao Yaoqi was both angry and amused, so he could only comfort him, "Yaoqi, why are you so anxious? There are more than 100,000 government troops in Shuipo Ji in the south, and there are at least tens of thousands of new government troops in the north. Are you still worried that you can't defeat them?"

After the King of Chuang finished speaking, he glared at Hao Yaoqi in a friendly manner, and continued: "Don't worry, I will definitely assign you an important task and let you fight a good battle!"

After hearing this, Hao Yaoqi said happily: "Okay...Okay! My brothers and I are waiting for the order from Grand Marshal Li Zicheng." Hao Yaoqi, a native of Yan'an Prefecture in Shaanxi Province, was also an old thief who participated in the uprising in the early days. Although he was originally a general in the camp of old Li Zicheng Gao Yingxiang, he was not a confidant of Li Zicheng's Eighth Team.

Everyone has long forgotten his real name. It was only because when he was under the command of the old rebel leader Gao Yingxiang, there was a battle that ended in heavy casualties. It was Hao Yaoqi who snatched the big flag with the word "Chuang" from the flag officer beside Gao Yingxiang, waved the big flag on his warhorse, and rushed into the formation of the government army with wild shouts and screams...

When the soldiers of the Chuang army saw this, they were greatly encouraged and followed the big flag with the word "Chuang" in it and charged into the government army's formation. In a blink of an eye, they turned the unfavorable situation of the battle around and defeated the government army. From then on, everyone gave him the nickname "Hao Yaoqi" and over time, they even forgot his real name.

According to historical records, Hao Yaoqi was a loyal and brave man, and he was fierce in battle. Whenever there was a battle, he would raise the flag and charge ahead.

However, because he was a general under the old King Chuang Gao Yingxiang, he was on equal footing with Li Zicheng, the "Chuang General" at that time, and was not a general under Li Zicheng's old Eighth Team, he was quite ostracized in the Chuang camp.

  And there was one more thing he did that was really wrong!

At that time, Li Zicheng had just experienced the defeat at Tongguanyuan. He led 18 riders to hide in the Shangluo Mountains to take a break and recuperate, while gathering the remnants and training the troops, preparing to make a comeback when the time came.

But the conditions at that time were indeed extremely difficult, and even food and grain could not be guaranteed. Li Zicheng's own direct line of defense, the Eighth Team, was used to hard times and had always had strict military discipline, so they could barely hold on.

However, Hao Yaoqi's troops, who were originally under Gao Yingxiang's command, were not Li Zicheng's direct subordinates and had always had poor military discipline. They could not bear the constraints of military discipline, nor were they used to the hard life of not having enough food to eat, so they thought of taking the troops away and starting a new one.

Hao Yaoqi has always been a generous and loyal person. He believes that an honest man should not do shady things, and if he wants to leave, he must explain it clearly to Li Zicheng. So after weighing the pros and cons, he decided to go to Li Zicheng in person to say goodbye.

In fact, Hao Yaoqi was originally prepared to die. He was a chivalrous man. He would rather be stabbed by Li Zicheng himself than do anything sneaky behind Li Zicheng's back. He told Li Zicheng at that time: He just couldn't bear the hardship and wanted to go somewhere else to work. In the future, as long as King Chuang raised the flag, Hao Yaoqi would definitely come back and follow him.

You must know that this was the most difficult period for Li Zicheng, and he had only a few hundred men under his command. However, Hao Yaoqi had more than seventy men under his command, and all of them were experienced cavalrymen. They fought like a whirlwind and were a force that could not be underestimated.

At that time, Chief Patrol Liu Zongmin and others said that Hao Yaoqi was ungrateful and that such an ungrateful person should not be allowed to get away with it; others said that every family has its own rules and the army has its own regulations. Hao Yaoqi was usually proud of his achievements and refused to work together when faced with difficulties. He often complained and now he was about to mutiny and escape. If he was not stopped, the whole army would not be convinced. So they all urged Li Zicheng to kill Hao Yaoqi.

But after weighing the pros and cons again and again, Li Zicheng not only let him leave with more than 70 elite cavalrymen under his command, but also took out 20 war horses, 70 sets of armor, and broadswords from his already limited equipment and gave them to Hao Yaoqi, and also gave him 400 taels of silver for travel expenses.

All this was beyond Hao Yaoqi's expectations. He was so moved that he knelt down and cried, and immediately said that he would never leave, even if he died, he would never leave King Chuang.

Li Zicheng comforted him, "You should go. It's still peaceful here for now. There's not much to do here. You can even tie down some of the government troops. Besides, your soldiers can't stand the hardship. It's not good to force them to stay. You should take your people and go. We brothers can part ways today and get back together tomorrow."

Before leaving, Li Zicheng said to Hao Yaoqi: "If you are unhappy when you go out, you can always come back."

Li Zicheng let Hao Yaoqi go out of gratitude and handled this incident of bloodshed with a conciliatory policy. Hao Yaoqi really kept his word and returned to his army after Li Zicheng broke out of Shangluo Mountain.

However, Liu Zongmin and other generals of the Old Eighth Team have always been brooding over this matter and were very disgusted with Hao Yaoqi's actions, which made Hao Yaoqi feel isolated in the camp.