After Ma Shouying escaped from Xishui, the cavalry of the Tianwu Army persisted and chased him down more than a hundred miles to Tuanfeng County.

Since the defeat of Lu'an, Ma Shouying led the old battalion for more than 600 miles. It can be said that he was extremely frustrated. The few thousand remaining old battalion soldiers even collapsed.

After thinking about it, Ma Shouying came up with a way: continue to drill into the mountains, take a detour, and return to Huoshan in order to develop!

It was too dangerous to be outside. Wuchang Mansion was not far away, and a large number of Ming troops were stationed there. If anything happened, the officers and soldiers would have their heads chopped off and sacrificed to the flag. What a terrible thing.

Ma Shouying didn't dare to take risks, so he decided to go back to Huoshan. At least the mountains were safer than outside, and he would wait until the storm passed before going out.

Ma Shouying first sent out troops from various battalions with dead leaders to attack Wuchang, Xinzhou, Hong'an and other places respectively, such as the old battalions under Lin Yangcheng, He Yilong, and He Jin. These troops were now like stepmothers. They

Who should be cannon fodder if not cannon fodder?

In order to avoid the suspicion of his brother troops, Ma Shouying ordered all the troops in his old camp to pretend to attack Macheng, and turned directly to Guifeng Mountain in the Yinghuo Mountains halfway.

After entering the Yinghuo Mountain Area, Ma Shouying asked his more than 2,000 old battalions to disperse and hide in the mountains, break them into pieces, and wait for the Tianwu Army to withdraw before coming out to assemble.

At the same time, Ma Shouying also sent people to Wuchang and Xinzhou to inquire to see if the brothers' troops were at war with the Tianwu Army. The next day, he got the news that Liu Xiyao's men and horses were discovered by the Tianwu Army, and the two sides started fighting.

, Liu Xiyao was also killed by officers and soldiers.

Ma Shouying was overjoyed after hearing this, and another cannon fodder king helped him attract firepower.

On the way to Wuchang, after Zhu Cihong received the message from Long Xiangye who refused to accept it secretly, he immediately convened a military meeting to discuss the battle plan of entering the mountains to search for Ma Shouying.

The Yinghuo Mountain Area was later known as the Dabie Mountains, with an area of ​​hundreds of miles, and hundreds of mountains alone. Without Long Xiang Ye, who was working carefully in the old camp, it would have been impossible for the Tianwu Army to search the mountains for four or five months.

Zhu Cixiang estimated that Ma Shouying would not go deep into the mountains and would only hide on the edge of the Yinghuo Mountain area. There were at least two to three thousand veteran soldiers around him. If he was hiding in the mountains and could not get supplies, he would have to rely on hunting and collecting wild vegetables and fruits.

Living the life of a savage is not a big deal. The most important thing is that the war horses in the old camp cannot be fed and will only starve to death.

The old camp without war horses is like a tiger without teeth, so it does not pose much of a threat.

Zhu Cixiang ordered Sun Yingyuan to lead the Royal Second Brigade of the Tianwu Army to support the Royal Cavalry Regiment, with battalions distributed in the villages around Huoshan. One was to wait for Longxiang to reveal the specific location of the bandit's hiding place at night, and the other was to wait and wait for the bandit to hide.

The thieves went down the mountain to rob nearby villages to replenish food and supplies.

Sure enough, just two days later, a group of old soldiers from the bandit camp went down the mountain to grab food from the surrounding villages. Just as they entered the village, they found themselves surrounded by officers and soldiers. Looking at the black holes all around, these old soldiers

They had no choice but to dismount and surrender. They didn't even have the courage to resist. They were really frightened by this thing these days.

After a period of torture, these old soldiers finally revealed the location where Ma Shouying was hiding. However, some said it was in Black Eagle Stream, while others said it was in Wohu Slope. Although the locations were not uniform, they were almost in the same area.

After Sun Yingyuan learned about it, he immediately ordered the first brigade to enter the mountain. They still operated separately in battalion units and searched in the area where the prisoners of the old camp had told them. The troops entering the mountain were required to carry five days of dry food. Once the camp of the old camp of the bandits was discovered, they immediately sent out an order.

A signal flare was fired, and nearby people and horses rushed over at full speed to support.

Not long after, Ma Shouying received the news that the team that went out to grab food had not returned. He was shocked. The dog officers and soldiers were completely trying to drive him away.

There were only a few hundred people around Ma Shouying, and the others were led by their own cronies and hid separately.

Although there are not many people around, there is not much food. It can only last for two days. I have already run out of salt for two days. Without salt, the smell of birds will fade away when eating. Even if I am full, I will feel weak and run away.

It's not easy to get up, so sooner or later the dog officers and soldiers will overtake you.

Ma Shouying's mind was on fire and he couldn't figure out what to do next. The safest way was to run north to the border of Henan. Henan was not Prince Gou's sphere of influence. The officers, soldiers and officials there were easy to deal with, but

The journey is far away, and I don't know if my subordinates are willing to follow.

These are his old subordinates who have followed him for many years, and they are also his last capital. As long as he ensures this team, he can make a comeback at any time, but if he loses this team, he may have to struggle for several years to regain his strength.

Ma Shouying really wanted to take the risk and give it a try. Henan was experiencing a drought this year, and countless people died of starvation. It was easy to recruit soldiers and horses to expand the team. According to his record and reputation in Henan last year, he could gather ten people in less than a month with just a cheer.

Tens of thousands of horses.

Ma Shouying made his thoughts clear to several core people under his command. Some supported it, while others opposed it, and even quarreled as they talked.

While several of his subordinates were arguing, an old camp spy hurried to the tent and exclaimed: "General Manager, something bad has happened. We have been discovered by the Tianwu Army!"

The people who were arguing were startled when they heard this and quickly shut up. Ma Shouying walked out of the tent and looked outside. Sure enough, there were several groups of officers and soldiers at the bottom of the mountain carrying firecrackers and attacking up the mountain. His old soldiers retreated one after another in defeat.

, obviously very afraid of the firearms of officers and soldiers.

"Chief Commander, what should we do?" Several generals from the old camp asked nervously.

Before Ma Shouying opened his mouth to speak, he heard a loud "pop" sound in the air, and a very conspicuous red smoke rose in the air.

Ma Shouying was also a good person and immediately understood what this meant. He quickly ordered his men to divide their troops and hide to distract the attention of the officers and soldiers.

The rogues could divide their troops, so naturally the Tianwu Army could also divide their troops. In addition, the surrounding troops began to encircle the location of the signal flare. For a while, the old soldiers were like wild dogs being besieged by hunters, scurrying around.

The various departments of the Tianwu Army ignored three rows of continuous fire and four rows of volley fire. They all turned into free fire. They rushed to greet the old camp of thieves with firecrackers. The speed of each person's reloading was uneven, and the sound of shooting was also crackling.

All the while.

The terrain of the mountain forest was rugged, and the cavalry of the old battalion of the rogue thieves could not take advantage of it. When they fled, they could only attack the Tianwu Army one by one. They were beaten and fell to the ground. After two quarters of an hour of pursuit, hundreds of old battalion soldiers had been killed.

, dead bodies in various postures lay all over the floor.
Chapter completed!