weaving

Liu Zongmin rode his horse on the other side of the ditch, observing the changes on the battlefield. When he saw that the resistance of the left army on the other side of the ditch was very resolute, he said with a slightly ferocious expression on his face: "Mingyuan, you lead the cavalry to bypass from the right and attack the waist of the left army. Make sure to cut it off in half. Even if we can't keep Zuo Liangyu today, we must tear a big piece of his flesh off!"

Liu Fangliang also responded with a loud command and led the cavalry to gallop to the right along the deep ditch.

"Master, although the government troops rely on the trenches to separate them, their morale is low. As long as you give the order, we will be able to break through their defenses and capture the thief Zuo Liangyu and bring him before you."

"No need."

Liu Zongmin's expression had returned to normal. He said calmly, "Just consider it Zuo Liangyu's fate."

He looked at the soldiers who kept falling down on both sides of the trench in front of him, and said to Li Guo beside him: "Buzhi, I understand your feelings. Zuo Liangyu should have been doomed this time. We have made all kinds of arrangements to completely defeat him so that the court will no longer be able to embarrass us."

"Master, I am unwilling to let that thief get away like this!"

"Are you the only one who is unhappy?"

  Although Li Guo was also a famous general for his bravery in the rebel army, he always regarded himself as a nephew in front of Liu Zongmin. After all, he was the nephew of Li Zicheng, the King of Rebellion.

Therefore, Liu Zongmin treated him like his own son or nephew, and taught him patiently on weekdays. Today, just like in the past, he continued to speak to him very patiently: "Buzhi, according to the previous plan of King Chuang, me, and Military Advisor Song, this time we are going to kill Zuo Liangyu, so as to remove an obstacle in the future conquest of the world.

But after all, 'Man proposes, God disposes'!

Who would have thought that the border troops from Xuanda would come to Zhuxian Town at this time instead of earlier? Isn't this heaven's will? Zuo Liangyu should not have died here."

"What about Fu Zonglong and Wang Qiaonian's Shaanxi troops? We have already wiped them out. Why are you afraid of his border troops from Xuanda?"

"I'm not afraid." Liu Zongmin continued, "It's just that the situation is different now. The King of Rebellion will be the emperor in the future and rule the world. Besides, we have a big family and a big business now, so we need to be more cautious in our actions. We must not gamble on anything like we did before."

"These are unnecessary. But why are Prince Chuang and the Lord so cautious about Zhang Cheng from Xuanda? Is it just because their cavalry is quite capable and has covered a large area of ​​the northern front?"

"This is just one aspect. Zhang Cheng fought with us at the gates of Kaifeng in the eleventh year. He is indeed quite capable and is different from the other generals. You know this as well.

Another thing is that the spies found out that Zhang Cheng defeated the Jianzhou Tartars in Liaodong. Although we didn't take the Jianzhou Tartars too seriously, the Xuanfu Army was able to defeat the Tartars, so I think there must be something special about it. I think it's better to be cautious. "

At this moment, the left army on the opposite bank was in chaos. The defense was slightly relaxed and was broken through by the soldiers of the Chuang army. The left army, which had no intention of fighting, rushed forward like a group of frightened birds.

At this moment, Liu Fangliang's cavalry also took a detour from the west to encircle the enemy. Although the left army had collapsed before, the biggest role of the cavalry was to pursue the defeated enemy.

The soldiers of the Left Army fled in all directions like headless flies. Some even ran head-on into the formation of the Chuang Army. Many soldiers of the Left Army knelt on the ground and raised their hands in surrender...

Tian Jianxiu had been fighting with the left army. Originally, he was able to handle it with ease. However, as the number of left army soldiers increased and they rushed forward and killed like crazy, he gradually felt that he could no longer hold on. Then, for some reason, the left army suddenly rushed westward.

Seeing such a good opportunity, how could Tian Jianxiu give up? He was busy commanding the cavalry to chase and intercept, but the fleeing army was the most ferocious, and even Tian Jianxiu could not stop this torrent of escape.

Later, Tian Jianxiu received an order from Liu Zongmin, the general, and stopped chasing Zuo Liangyu's deserters. A junior general in the camp asked him, "Master Tian, ​​why don't you chase them? Are we going to let Zuo escape from us?" Tian Jianxiu smiled and said, "Let's search for the stragglers here first. Master Liu will make arrangements over there."

When the young general heard General Liu's arrangement, he quietly stuck out his tongue and dared not say anything else.

…………

Most of the cavalry of the left army escaped with their respective commanders, but the infantry were in a miserable state. Less than half of them managed to escape successfully, and together with the cavalry, there were only about 40,000 to 50,000 troops left.

Originally, there were more than 100,000 troops going to support Kaifeng, but now, more than half of the troops have been lost before they even saw the shadow of Kaifeng city. Zuo Liangyu must be regretting his decision.

  But there is no other way. After all, if we continue to hold on in Shuipoji, the outcome may not necessarily be better than it is now!

But one thing is certain, that is, although Zuo Liangyu knew very well that it was Zhang Cheng in the north of Zhuxian Town who saved him, he would never be grateful to Zhang Cheng no matter what.

…………

On the 18th, at the time of Xu, the troops that were pursuing the government troops returned to Zhuxian Town one after another under the rising stars.

Since the late night of yesterday, the Chuang and Cao armies have started to pursue the fleeing government troops in different directions. The whole day was spent in pursuit, ambushes, and melee.

Although they had won an unprecedented victory, defeating the 170,000-strong government army at Shuipo Ji in one fell swoop and seizing countless military supplies, of course they had no food or fodder at all. However, what the rebel army lacked the most was food and fodder.

What made Li Zicheng most satisfied was that a large number of officers and soldiers were captured in this battle. For Li Zicheng, these were his most preferred source of soldiers. After simple division and training, they could be deployed to new battles.

However, there were still several cavalry units outside continuing to pursue the defeated officers and soldiers, while gathering the defeated soldiers scattered in the countryside.

At the same time, Gao Yigong and Song Xiance also reaped great rewards in Shuipo Village. In addition to the military supplies abandoned by the government troops, there were also many important documents that had not been burned, as well as a large silver seal of the commander-in-chief Ding Qirui, an imperial sword and a yellow imperial edict.

Now that he had defeated the 170,000 government troops at Shuipo Ji, he was no longer afraid of being attacked from both sides by the Xuan army in the north. For a moment, Li Zicheng even felt that he was not far from ascending the throne.

Not long after, Liu Zongmin also came back with Liu Fangliang, Li Guo, Tian Jianxiu and others. As soon as he saw King Chuang, he scolded himself for not capturing Zuo Liangyu.

King Chuang did not take it seriously and said to him, "Jiexuan, don't feel remorseful. It's not your fault. Although we planned very carefully, there were two things we did not expect. First, tens of thousands of Xuanda border troops would suddenly appear in the north; second, we did not expect Zuo Liangyu to suddenly withdraw his troops and flee.

Therefore, our temporary deployment of troops was not as complete as expected, which allowed him to escape. Many things in this world cannot be planned perfectly, let alone a battle between a large army.

We didn’t catch Zuo Liangyu today. Perhaps this was destined by heaven. All great generals are in accordance with the stars, so it’s clear that his star has not fallen yet.”

Liu Zongmin cursed: "If this is really destiny, I think God must be blind!" (End of this chapter)