Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 802 Adopted Son
Zhang Xianzhong was extremely unlucky. There were so many people he could have messed with, but he chose to mess with Qin Liangyu. Qin Liangyu's White Spear Soldiers were stronger than Lu Xiangsheng's Tianxiong Army in terms of combat effectiveness. You should know that the two top combat forces of the Ming army at that time were the Zhejiang Army based on the original Qi Family Army, and the other was the White Spear Soldiers.

The White-Pole Army was so arrogant that it even dared to fight against the Zhejiang Army, so its fighting power can be imagined. In the Battle of Hunhe, although the Zhejiang Army played the last glory of the powerful army of the Ming Dynasty, if the White-Pole Army had not fought with the Jiannu first, causing the Jiannu to suffer heavy losses, it would have been impossible for the Zhejiang Army to achieve such a record on its own.

From this point of view, the White Spear Soldiers and the Zhejiang Army joined forces in the Battle of Hunhe. The two forces combined had less than 10,000 people, but they were able to almost defeat Nurhaci. Nurhaci's tens of thousands of elite Eight Banners could not withstand it. If it were not for the firearms units of the Ming army captured by Nurhaci, forcing the captured Ming army to turn their cannons and bombard the enemy's formation, it would be hard to say who would have won or lost the Battle of Hunhe.

The Zhejiang Army was completely annihilated in the Battle of Hunhe River, and so were the White Spear Soldiers. After this battle, the Zhejiang Army became history in the Ming Army system. The Ming Dynasty lost the only army that was stronger than the Eight Banners, and the initiative of the Liaodong war was completely transferred to the other side.

Later, Emperor Tianqi wanted to rebuild the Zhejiang Army, but was rejected by the people of Yiwu. In the eyes of the people of Yiwu, the Ming Dynasty owed them too much guilt. They did everything well when they needed it, but resorted to dirty tricks when they didn't. They didn't know how much they had suffered over the years. Now the people of their hometown were wiped out in the Liaodong battlefield because of the defection of friendly forces. Your court actually plans to let the people of Yiwu rebuild the Zhejiang Army and work for you. How can you have such a face?
The formation of the Zhejiang Army failed, which made Emperor Tianqi helpless. But who would have thought that at this time, Zhu Shenzhui had plans for the Zhejiang Army, sent people to Yiwu, spent a lot of money to invite the three old Zhejiang Army leaders, brought them to Zhaowuling, and then spent a lot of money to train the troops in the Zhejiang Army model, thus giving birth to the new army today.

The New Army was Zhu Shenzhui's trump card, and it was also the basis for him to capture the capital and control the government.

After the White Spear Soldiers were destroyed in the battle of Liaodong, Qin Liangyu also began to rebuild the White Spear Soldiers, but they were different from the Ming army of the court. Both the Zhejiang Army and the White Spear Soldiers were special. The former was a recruited army, that is, a mercenary model, while the latter was Qin Liangyu's private army. Qin Liangyu's husband Ma Qiancheng inherited the position of Shizhu Xuanwei Envoy, and after her husband's death, his son inherited this position. Although this official position was from the Ming Dynasty, he was actually the local chieftain, so the White Spear Soldiers she commanded were the chieftain's army, not the official army of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhang Xianzhong had no idea about this. Although he had served in the Ming army, he was only a minor officer before the rebellion. He knew only a tiny part of the complex system and the numerous troops of the Ming army. As for the White-Pole Soldiers, he had heard of them, but the powerful White-Pole Soldiers had been annihilated on the Liaodong battlefield! In his opinion, the White-Pole Soldiers rebuilt by Qin Liangyu were just flying the original banner. How could they be the same as before? In addition, Qin Liangyu was a woman, which made Zhang Xianzhong even less concerned. Just as he thought, he couldn't beat Lu Xiangsheng and Lu Yanwang, and he couldn't beat you, an old widow? Besides, his people were dozens of times more than Qin Liangyu's, so how could he not beat them?

It was because of this idea that Zhang Xianzhong was finally pinned to the ground and rubbed repeatedly by Qin Liangyu, and he regretted it deeply.

If Zhang Xianzhong knew that Qin Liangyu, the old widow, was so good at fighting and so ruthless, he would not have dared to confront her. Unfortunately, by the time Zhang Xianzhong realized what was happening, it was too late. His troops were a motley crowd, and the strongest force was only his several thousand old battalion. How could they defeat the extremely fierce white-pole soldiers?

Zhang Xianzhong was defeated in the first battle and almost died on the battlefield. After being protected and fleeing the battlefield in a panic and running hundreds of miles without looking back, Zhang Xianzhong finally had the opportunity to count the remaining troops. However, the result made him cry without tears. He had an army of nearly 100,000 three days ago, but now he had less than a thousand people left. Not only did he lose the family fortune that he had built up with great difficulty, but even the old camp on which he depended for survival suffered heavy losses.

In addition to the old battalion and personal guards of less than a thousand people, there were only four of his adopted sons left, namely Li Dingguo, Liu Wenxiu, Sun Kewang, and Ai Nengqi. The rest of his old brothers were either killed in battle or missing. Seeing this scene, Zhang Xianzhong could not help but burst into tears.

"Father, now is not the time to be sad. The soldiers behind us may catch up at any time. Please make a decision as soon as possible and find a way out!" Li Dingguo was one of Zhang Xianzhong's four adopted sons and ranked first. Seeing that Zhang Xianzhong had lost his mind because of the disastrous defeat, he could not help but persuade him.

The other three adopted sons also tried to persuade them. Although they had escaped, the crisis was not over. The Ming army had set up a net everywhere and was clearly trying to kill them. Now was not the time to cry. The area they were in was not safe either. Once the Ming army caught them and caught up with them, their fate would be unimaginable.

Zhang Xianzhong was no ordinary person. He was able to become a leading figure among the bandits, the most powerful group after Gao Yingxiang's death. Zhang Xianzhong was not only the leader of the bandits known as the Eight Kings, but also a hero who could take on or let go of things.

The reason why I cried just now was because the defeat was too tragic. The family fortune that I worked so hard to build was completely lost in just a few days. If it weren't for the four adopted sons and the brothers in the old camp who desperately protected me and broke through, I might have even been beheaded by Qin Liangyu today.

When Zhang Xianzhong thought of the old widow Qin Liangyu, his heart trembled. This old widow was too powerful. How could she fight so well? If he had known she was so ruthless, he would not have fought at all when he knew there were white-pole soldiers blocking the way ahead! He would have asked the cannon fodder below to block the enemy and buy time for himself to turn around and run away with the main force.

But now, because of his carelessness, Zhang Xianzhong ended up like this. He was filled with fear, terror, hatred and regret.

Raising his hand to wipe away his tears, Zhang Xianzhong stopped crying, looked around blankly and asked: "Where are we now?" "From the direction I see, it seems that we are near Dengzhou? How about I send someone to find out?" Li Dingguo replied. The other three looked at Zhang Xianzhong with the same eyes, as if waiting for Zhang Xianzhong's decision.

"Dengzhou..." Zhang Xianzhong thought to himself, why did he end up in Dengzhou? He was near Neixiang before, and in order to avoid the encirclement and suppression by the Ming army, he led his troops south, intending to enter Huguang from Henan, and then go west from Huguang.

However, as soon as he entered Huguang, he encountered Lu Xiangsheng and was directly defeated by Lu Xiangsheng. Zhang Xianzhong fled in a panic and did not pay attention to the direction at the time, and ran back to Henan.

After returning to Henan, Zhang Xianzhong encountered Qin Liangyu's White Spear Soldiers before he had time to adjust his marching route. He suffered a great loss at the hands of Qin Liangyu. After the defeat, he was protected by Li Dingguo and others and fled all the way without knowing the east, west, south or north. Until now, he is finally safe for the time being, but he doesn't know where he is.

Since Li Dingguo said they were near Dengzhou, this answer should be fine. Zhang Xianzhong knew his four adopted sons very well. None of them was simple. Among them, Liu Wenxiu was gentle, gentle and cautious. He was brave in battle and good at training soldiers. Sun Kewang was loyal to him but also a little smart. He was the most average among the four and had no problem taking charge. Ai Nengqi was the youngest among the four, but he had been with Zhang Xianzhong the longest and had the strongest martial arts. However, he was a little reckless. He was fine as a pioneer, but he was far from being a commander.

Among the four of them, the one Zhang Xianzhong valued the most was Li Dingguo. Li Dingguo was both wise and brave, and Zhang Xianzhong had always regarded him as his successor and cultivated him vigorously. Although he was not the first to follow Zhang Xianzhong, in Zhang Xianzhong's heart Li Dingguo ranked first among the four. For this reason, Sun Kewang was very dissatisfied with Li Dingguo. However, because Zhang Xianzhong was there, Sun Kewang could only watch Li Dingguo become the eldest brother of the four, while he himself ranked third after Liu Wenxiu.

Dengzhou is located in the southeast of Neixiang, in southern Henan Province. Not far to the southeast is the famous Xinye.

During the Three Kingdoms period, it was there that Zhuge Liang burned Xinye. It was also the three fires that Zhuge Liang set after he came out of the mountains that laid the foundation for Liu Bei, which led to the later division of the world into three parts.

If it were in the past, Zhang Xianzhong might have personally gone to Xinye to see the ancient battlefield where Zhuge Liang burned Xinye, and to remember the ancients, feel the present, and even recite a poem to express his heroic spirit. But how could he have such an idea now? Zhang Xianzhong was now thinking about what to do next. After two major defeats, Zhang Xianzhong now had less than a thousand people around him. With such a small number of people, it would be difficult for him to protect himself, let alone fight against the Ming army again. Moreover, Dengzhou was not a safe place. The various Ming army units repeatedly set up nets to encircle and suppress the surrounding areas. Once his traces were discovered, he would have nowhere to escape.

"No need to inquire, there is no need for that!" Zhang Xianzhong said after thinking carefully. Li Dingguo was stunned for a moment and instantly understood what Zhang Xianzhong meant. Zhang Xianzhong clearly said that it would be easy to get into trouble if he inquired at this time. If he wanted to know his location, he might as well just leave and wait until he met the local people and catch them and ask them. Why waste time to inquire?

"So, father, now we...?"

"Pack up. We should not stay here for long. If we are indeed in Dengzhou, then we should go south first, then west, and when we reach Dangzikou, we should turn around and continue south. We should go to Huguang first."

"Father, if we leave like this, what if we run into King Lu again?" Sun Kewang asked anxiously.

"Haha, King Lu has just defeated my army and is leading his troops into Henan. The same goes for the old widow Qin Liangyu. Our army was badly defeated and it will take some time for her to deal with my remaining troops. Let's take this opportunity to bypass them. We don't have many people, so as long as we are careful, it won't be easy for them to find us. When we get to Huguang, we will run behind King Lu. By then, it will be too late for King Lu to chase us. The sky is high and the ground is far away. How can King Lu catch us so easily with our speed?"

"Great! Great!" Sun Kewang's eyes lit up, and he gave a thumbs up in admiration, "Father is still very thoughtful. As long as we can escape the encirclement of the government troops, we can go anywhere in the world. When the time comes, we can reorganize the old troops, and father will still be father!"

(End of this chapter)