pushed away Li and his forces from Shaanxi to Henan. After the death of Gao Yingxiang, Li went on defensive, moved back and forth across the east and south Shaanxi mountainous borders fighting against Ming general Sun Chuanting soldiers.

In the early 1638, Ming general Hong Chengchou was able to surprise Li Zicheng in the Shaanxi-Sichuan border and dealt him a heavy defeat. Betting on the poor quality of his Sichuanese contingent, Chengchou put them in the