Please ask me to be the emperor

It is also fitting that Zhang Zongheng, the governor of Xuanda, was unlucky. Among the rebels, these "eight kings" were only inferior to Zhang Shun and "General Chuang" in terms of strength and reputation. Now it has joined forces with the other three battalions, with 30,000 to 40,000 soldiers and horses. Its strength is not inferior to the current three battalions of "Zijin Liang", Zhang Shun and "Chuang Jiang".

Although the border troops under Zhang Zongheng, the governor of Xuanda, are good at fighting, they only have 4,000 troops and they dare not claim victory easily. But now his subordinate He Renlong was left in Pingyang Mansion, and Zuo Liangyu stayed in Henan because of the strong request of the Henan gentry. As a result, Zhang Zongheng was unable to send other troops to support him.

The two sides had no choice but to fight with gritted teeth. There were many soldiers and horses on both sides, and both sides were elites. The outcome was originally a 50-50 split.

Fortunately, neither side had the will to fight. After a day of fierce fighting, the "Eight Kings" and others found that the losses were too heavy and were reluctant to part with their men, so they led their troops to leave. The Governor of Xuanda, Zhang Zongheng, was even more worried that his men would be damaged too much and could not fight. After conquering the lost city of Liaozhou, the two parties left without mentioning the tacit agreement.

Not to mention how the officers and soldiers dispatched troops and generals, since Zhang Shun expelled You Shilu, the commander-in-chief of Yanghe, he suggested that the second leader "Zijin Liang" make an early decision. Either go all out and besiege Taiyuan City; or abandon Liaozhou and go east to Zhili and other places.

As a result, "Purple Golden Liang" was hesitant and difficult to resolve due to unclear intelligence. Fortunately, Zhang Shun remembered that his subordinate Zhang Shenyan was a high official in the imperial court and should know the situation in Shanxi, so he asked him for information.

Zhang Shenyan couldn't help but smile bitterly when he heard this: "Although I am a central official of the imperial court, I have never participated in military aircraft, and I don't know what the military situation in Shanxi is like!"

"There is just one thing that I know a little bit about. This land of Shanxi has two positions: the Governor of Xuanda and the Governor of Shanxi. The Governor of Xuanda, Zhang Zongheng, and I have already competed with each other. There is nothing to fear for the time being. It's just that since the Governor of Shanxi Song Tong Yin Zhan After his death, a new official should be appointed, but I have not heard of him so far. I am afraid that this person is hiding in the dark and will not be conducive to the rebel movement."

Zhang Shun was shocked when he heard this. He didn't understand the complicated official system of the Ming Dynasty. Now that he heard that there was still a big official holding military power, he couldn't help but worry. In his opinion, this person must be stationed in Taiyuan.

Although Zhang Shun had no way to verify it, he accidentally discovered the location of Xu Dingchen, the governor of Shanxi. Therefore, Zhang Shun simply visited "Purple Gold Liang" again and asked the rebels to evacuate Liaozhou City and enter the capital eastward.

"Purple Golden Liang" was hesitating when it happened to receive news that the "Eight Kings", "Sweeper King" and others had just had a fight with Zhang Zongheng, the governor of Xuanda, in Wuxiang. At this time, "Purple Golden Liang" became anxious.

He quickly arranged for Zhang Shun and "Chuang Jiang" to attack the Huangyuguan Inspection Department and Shibapan Inspection Department east of Liaozhou.

The previous time, Zhang Shun had a favor with the "general". The "general" who entered Liaozhou City first got a lot of artillery, so he gave some of them to Zhang Shun. This time, Zhang Shun finally got four more "generals".

These four "General" artillery pieces have different calibers, ranging from about three inches seven to three inches nine. They are about four feet five inches long and weigh about a thousand kilograms. They are all forged from fine iron, with nine iron hoops covering the entire body, and are placed on a simple two-wheeled gun mount.

Zhang Shun asked Li Shian to test-fire and found that the quality of these artillery pieces was far superior to his previous crudely made gadgets. Zhang Shun couldn't help but be overjoyed, and quickly found a carpenter in the city to re-make the gun carriage's mount according to his own design, and then took the artillery out of the east of the city.

Huangyuguan is located deep in the Taihang Mountains, surrounded by mountains and dangerous terrain. It has always been known as the "first danger in Taihang". The main peak of Huangyu Ridge is more than 1,600 meters above sea level. There are cliffs for dozens of miles along the mountain. The black mountain wall stands thousands of feet tall and majestic. It is an important transportation road connecting Shanxi and Zhili.

Huangyu Pass is not a simple pass, but a pass based on danger, with the two sides connected by the Great Wall. There are also piers in front and behind it, one is used as a beacon tower, and the other is used as a city barrier, both made of bluestone from the mountain.

As soon as Zhang Shun entered the rugged mountain road, he saw beacons burning on the top of the mountain from a distance, and knew that he and others had been exposed. Zhang Shun had no choice but to lead the crowd and trek forward.

The mountain road was difficult to travel, and the four "Generals" and one "Golden Cannon" in Zhang Shun's hands were really difficult to move. Li Shi'an had to ask to leave the team and move slowly.

Zhang Shun refused. Zhang Shun sent some soldiers to help Li Shi'an transport the artillery, and said to everyone: "Huangyu Pass has a steep terrain and is easy to defend but difficult to attack. If you want to capture this pass, you must either take it by surprise or use artillery." Hard bomb, there is no other way.”

"We have already tested the attack once before, and Huangyu Pass must have been on guard, so I was not prepared to attack this pass at the beginning. If we no longer have artillery support, how many people can conquer such a dangerous pass? "

After everyone listened, they worked together to transport the five artillery pieces. When the rebels approached the Huangyu Pass checkpoint, they encountered a pier outside the checkpoint.

There were not many people on the pier. However, the pier is high and difficult to capture. Chen Changzhen, Zhang Sanbai and others advocated giving up the pier and just making a concerted effort to attack Huangyuguan; while Zhang Shenyan and Li Xin advocated attacking the pier first to test the enemy's defensive confidence.

There is nothing wrong with both sides' claims, but they each have their own pros and cons. If the pier is abandoned and all we have to do is concentrate on capturing Huangyuguan, the pier will not be a cause for concern and will only surrender. However, if Huangyuguan cannot be captured, it will inevitably be attacked from both sides, and accidents may occur.

If you attack the pier and attack the city step by step, it will be stable, but it will waste more time. If Huangyuguan vows to defend the city to the death, Zhang Shun may not be able to complete the task, causing the rebels to be unable to retreat in time.

Zhang Shun thought about it carefully and decided to attack the city again after clearing the two piers that were close together and not conducive to siege. For the remaining piers and platforms, Chen Changzhen can lead the cavalry and monitor them.

The two piers wanted to hold on at first, until Zhang Shun ordered Li Shi'an to pull out five cannons, lined them up, and fired a test shot, then they all stepped down and surrendered.

It's no wonder that the soldiers on these piers surrendered. After Zhang Shun surrendered them, he found that there were only about ten people on this pier. The pier is made of bluestone, unlike the earth pier, which can resist artillery to a certain extent.

After Zhang Shun eliminated the immediate threat, he still pulled out the artillery and threatened Huang Yuguan to pass the city. However, he did not expect that the ninth-level inspection envoy of Huangyuguan not only refused to surrender, but instead fired in the direction of Zhang Shun.

The Huangyuguan artillery was not very powerful. Judging from the shells recovered by the soldiers, it was only a small cannon the size of a goose egg, which was not something to be afraid of. Therefore, Zhang incidentally ordered Li Shian to use the artillery to load live ammunition to fight back.