The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 741 The Old Rebel King Captured

Night fell quietly, and flames soared into the sky within Huanxian County, illuminating the city as bright as day. By this time, the government troops had basically taken control of all the city gates and were mopping up the remaining forces of Shen Yikui.

Shen Yikui was quite stubborn; he retreated into the county government office and continued to resist. Moreover, he used the high walls of the county government office to inflict considerable casualties on the government troops. In a fit of anger, Lu Xiang-sheng ordered two breech-loading cannons to be brought in from outside the city and bombarded the gate of the county government office.

The poor county government gate, along with the bandits lying in ambush behind it, was blasted into dust. Immediately afterwards, a group of armored soldiers rushed in, rampaging and hacking at anyone they saw, utterly destroying everything in their path.

Soon, the county government office was completely lost. The government troops swarmed in like a tide. Seeing that the situation was hopeless, Shen Yikui tried to escape by climbing over the wall, but as soon as he showed his head, he was shot by a volley of bullets and instantly riddled with bullets. He fell back into the courtyard and died.

About half an hour later, the battle inside the county government office was completely over. The remaining bandits were either killed or surrendered. Soon, Shen Yikui's body was identified by his comrades and carried to Lu Xiangsheng.

Looking at Shen Yikui, who was riddled with bullets, Lu Xiang-sheng couldn't help but feel sorry for him. It would be more valuable to capture a bandit leader of this level alive. But since he was already dead, he could only order his men to collect the body and take it to Jia Huan to claim credit and reward later.

After dealing with Shen Yikui, Lu Xiang-sheng rushed to the city wall to observe. At this time, Wang Ziyong in the east of the city was retreating and breaking through to the north, while the Beijing garrison was closely following behind. The torches covering the mountains and fields were a magnificent sight.

Seeing that Wang Ziyong had been defeated and only the south of the city was still in fierce fighting, Lu Xiangshan ordered his men to carry the breech-loading cannons to the top of the city wall and bombard Gao Yingxiang's camp. Then he opened the city gates and charged out, taking advantage of the chaos to attack Gao Yingxiang's rear guard.

Gao Yingxiang was already struggling to defend himself against the 10,000 elite troops led by Tie Hu when Juhua was attacked a second time by Lu Xiang Sheng. He was in dire straits, unable to defend himself on both sides, and could only hurriedly send people to ask Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong for help from nearby.

Unfortunately, Li Zicheng was also preoccupied with his own problems at the moment, being held back by Xing Wei's 10,000 elite troops and unable to break free. As for Zhang Xianzhong, he was thinking of breaking out and fleeing south, so it was even less likely that he would send troops to rescue Gao Yingxiang.

It is worth mentioning that the camps of Li Zicheng, Gao Yingxiang, and Zhang Xianzhong were all stationed south of the city, about three miles apart, forming a "品" (pin) shape, with Gao Yingxiang in the middle, Li Zicheng on the left, and Zhang Xianzhong on the right. This was originally a very tight formation, capable of mutual support and rapid reinforcement of each other. However, due to the lack of trust among the generals and the alienation of the people, even the tightest formation was in vain.

At this moment, Zhang Xianzhong saw that the time was ripe. If he didn't seize the opportunity now, when would he? With a single command, the entire army suddenly launched an attack under the cover of night, surging towards the government troops who were "feigning an attack" on the opposite side.

The government troops responsible for the "feigned attack" on Zhang Xianzhong were led by Tie Niu and Lu Xiangjin. They seemed to have been caught off guard by Zhang Xianzhong's sudden attack and were forced to retreat in quick succession.

Zhang Xianzhong was overjoyed at the sight. "Great! The government troops were indeed unprepared. Hehe, no matter how cunning Jia Huan is, he'll have to drink my foot bath water!"

In his triumph, Zhang Xianzhong spurred his horse, brandished his sword, and shouted: "Brothers, desecrating the emperor's ancestral tombs is a capital offense punishable by extermination of the entire clan. Surrender offers no way out. Those who wish to live, follow me and fight your way out! Charge! Those who stand in my way shall die!"

Zhang Xianzhong's four adopted sons were Sun Kewang, Li Dingguo, Liu Wenxiu, and Ai Nengqi. All four were highly capable generals. Each of them led an elite force to clear the way and charged forward bravely. They actually managed to fight their way out and successfully break through the encirclement.

Zhang Xianzhong was overjoyed and spurred his horse southward at breakneck speed. Behind him, the young and strong soldiers of the rebel army took off running for their lives, wishing they had more legs.

Whether intentionally or unintentionally, it seemed that only after half of Zhang Xianzhong's troops escaped the encirclement did Tie Niu and Lu Xiangjin realize what was happening. They each led a cavalry unit to charge and cut off the fleeing bandit army, blocking the gap in the encirclement and re-encircling the remaining half of Zhang Xianzhong's troops.

Zhang Xianzhong was a selfish and self-serving man who would rather the entire world perish than let himself die. Now that he had escaped to safety, there was absolutely no way he would turn back to rescue his trapped half of his troops. He simply led half of his men and continued to flee south without the slightest hesitation.

As the saying goes, "Where there's life, there's hope." Losing half the troops is fine; it's good that they temporarily hold back the government army, allowing us to escape more easily. At worst, we can escape into Sichuan and recruit another force. In this world, as long as you have money, food, and weapons, you'll never have trouble recruiting soldiers.

Tie Niu and Lu Xiangjin acted strangely, completely ignoring Zhang Xianzhong's escape and continuing to besiege and kill the half of Zhang Xianzhong's abandoned troops.

"—Report!"

Zhang Xianzhong broke through the encirclement and fled south with about 5,000 men!

Upon hearing the report, Jia Huan seemed unsurprised, simply nodding slightly and saying, "Understood, scout again!" The scout gave a sharp salute, left the command tent, mounted his horse, and rode away.

Jia Huan smiled and said to Chen Qiyu beside him, "Just as Mr. Chen predicted, that cunning thief Zhang Xianzhong has indeed seized the opportunity to flee south."

Chen Qiyu stroked his beard and smiled, "The borderlands are a harsh and cold place. It would be difficult to even survive there. This traitor Zhang Xianzhong would never flee north. He would either flee east to Shanxi or south to Sichuan. Sichuan has natural barriers and is also a land of plenty, so it is most likely that Zhang Xianzhong would flee to Sichuan. General Man Gui is guarding Tongchuan Bridge. If he can capture Zhang Xianzhong, it will be a great achievement."

Jia Huan nodded slightly, and said meaningfully, "I hope that boy Man Gui won't disappoint me."

About an incense stick's time later, another scout rushed into the tent and shouted, "Report! Li Zicheng has broken out to the east, and General Xing is in pursuit!"

Jia Huan frowned slightly. Shi Tou had failed to capture Li Zicheng and allowed him to break through the encirclement. To the east lay Shanxi. Did Li Zicheng intend to escape to Shanxi?

After a moment's thought, Jia Huan immediately drew a command arrow and shouted, "Immediately issue my order to the governor of Shanxi to assist in blocking Li Zicheng and prevent him from escaping into Henan."

The messenger immediately set off, rushing to Shanxi overnight. According to Emperor Qiansheng's decree, Jia Huan, as the Governor-General of Shaanxi, could control the troops of both Shaanxi and Shanxi provinces. However, if Li Zicheng fled into Henan, he would no longer be under Jia Huan's jurisdiction.

As for Shi Tou Xingwei, he was humiliated by Li Zicheng's breakout and pursued him relentlessly for five or six days until he finally caught up with Li Zicheng at the Yellow River, where he successfully blocked Li Zicheng's path.

With a mighty river in front and a relentless pursuing army behind, Li Zicheng could only look up to the sky and sigh. He had no choice but to steel himself, deploy his troops, and prepare for a desperate battle.

Seeing that Li Zicheng had nowhere to escape, Xing Wei was no longer in a hurry. He ordered them to set up camp on the spot. After pursuing Li Zicheng for hundreds of miles, his men and horses were exhausted. He decided to rest and recuperate before dealing with Li Zicheng. After all, there were no boats or bridges here, so Li Zicheng had no way to escape.

Let's talk about Gao Yingxiang, that unlucky fellow. That night, he was attacked from both sides by Tie Hu and Lu Xiangshan, and he quickly couldn't hold out. Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong were slow to come to his rescue, so he was very anxious and sent people to urge them. However, he found that Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng had abandoned him and each broke through the encirclement and fled.

Gao Yingxiang was so angry he almost vomited blood. At this moment, he was truly alone. Helpless, he could only try to break out on his own, but it was too late. Moreover, it was because he tied down most of the government troops that Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong were able to escape.

Gao Yingxiang charged left and right, exhausted and his horse was exhausted. Seeing that there was no hope of breaking through the encirclement, he took off his armor, changed into the clothes of an ordinary person, and tried to escape quietly under the cover of night. Unfortunately, he was recognized by one of his subordinate generals.

Just as the adjutant was in despair, he saw his boss trying to disguise himself and escape. His eyes lit up, and he grabbed the man by the collar, shouting, "The King of Rebels has run away! What are we going to do, brothers?"

Gao Yingxiang hurriedly raised his finger and whispered, "Don't make a fuss. You can escape with me. As long as we escape alive and regroup, I will appoint you as a general!"

The adjutant shook his head and said, "That's too troublesome, and we might not even be able to escape. I do have a good way to save our lives, and maybe we can even win a fortune, but we need the cooperation of the rebel king."

Gao Yingxiang knew something was wrong and tried to kick the subordinate general away, but unfortunately, Gao was old and his body had been weakened by wine and women over the years. Instead of kicking the man away, the kick only angered him.

The adjutant grabbed Gao Yingxiang by the collar and slammed him to the ground. Old Gao fell face-first into the mud, breaking two of his front teeth, his mouth full of blood, and seeing stars. He was in a terrible state, with not a trace of the former King Chuang's majesty.

The adjutant, his face contorted with rage, lifted Gao Yingxiang up and bound him hand and foot. He then ordered his men to raise a white flag and surrender to the government troops. Thus, Gao Yingxiang, the rebel leader who had stirred up a storm and ordered the desecration of the Xu family's ancestral graves, became Jia Huan's prisoner. What awaited him was the wrath of Emperor Qiansheng, and a slow slicing execution seemed inevitable.

By daybreak, the battles inside and outside Huanxian County had ended. Of the three major rebel armies, Shen Yikui was killed, Gao Yingxiang was captured, and Wang Ziyong, though on the run, was likely doomed under the pursuit of the Beijing garrison.

The decisive battle outside Huanxian City, involving hundreds of thousands of people, can basically be declared a victory. More than 20,000 rebel soldiers were killed and more than 200,000 were captured. In terms of both scale and ferocity, it was the most severe since the suppression of the peasant uprising. As the commander of the army, Jia Huan naturally became famous throughout the country and was at the height of his power. He made the rebel armies in various provinces tremble with fear and solidified his reputation as the "Jia the Killer Star".

(End of this chapter)