Eighth year of Chongzhen

Chapter 133
In the lobby of the Shaanxi governor's yamen, the two sides of the hall are full of generals with top helmets and armour. Zhou Yuji, as the commander-in-chief of the new Qin Army, stands first on the right hand, and the military discipline officers sent by the Ministry of War and Jin Yiwei stand one or two on the left.

"The Governor is here!"

With a majestic cry, the tall and burly Sun Chuanting turned out from behind the screen behind the hall, wearing an official robe mended by a red crane, a jade belt around his waist, and thick-soled official boots, followed by Xie Renxing in a Confucian robe thereafter.After standing still, Sun Chuanting scanned the generals in the hall with his sharp eyes. The hum of the generals talking with each other stopped suddenly, and the whole hall was instantly silent.

Sun Chuanting nodded in satisfaction, walked to the chair behind the big case and sat down, while Xie Renxing stood beside him.

Then the generals, headed by Zhou Yuji, called out their names one by one to pay homage.

After receiving the urgent report from the magistrate of Hanyin County, Sun Chuanting discussed urgently with Yang Mingsheng, Cui Shisheng, Xie Renxing and others, and concluded that Gao Yingxiang decided to take advantage of the fact that the army was concentrated in northern Shaanxi and the southern Shaanxi area was empty. Xi'an Mansion, in order to expand the strength of the camp and make a greater reputation.

Sun Chuanting knew that if nothing else happened, the Sichuan Army had already arrived in Hanzhong, and after Gao Yingxiang captured Hanyin, Shiquan County was no longer safe.But if Chuangying continues to attack Hanzhong Mansion westward, seeing that Hanzhong is heavily guarded and unable to break through, he will definitely choose a route to attack Xi'an northward.

Yang Mingsheng and others suggested to stick to Xi'an, and then keep in touch with the northern Shaanxi government army. When the bandits attacked Xi'an for several days, and when the veterans were exhausted, the northern Shaanxi government army elites would kill Gao Yingxiang in one fell swoop.

Sun Chuanting is arrogant and arrogant. Now that he has a heavy army in hand and is about to show off his skills, how can he adopt such a conservative strategy.Aren't you, Gao Yingxiang, the most powerful group of thieves?Isn't it that Hong Du and Lu Du can't bear you?Well, let me, Sun Chuanting, come and meet you!

After checking the map, Sun Chuanting focused his attention on the Heishui Valley in the southeast of Zhouzhi County, west of Xi'an.

He believes that Gao Yingxiang will definitely come out of Ziwu Valley from the north of Shiquan.

Ziwu Valley is located in the north of Shiquan, with a river in the middle named Ziwu Water, Heishuiyu in the west, and a small road leading to Xi'an.If you want to catch Xi'an by surprise, this trail is the best route.

Sun Chuanting considered that when the Qin army was first established, although the food and salaries were sufficient, the morale was high, and there were drills every two days, and there were strong generals like Zhou Yuji and Luo Shifang leading the army, they were recruits who had not actually fought.Although he has also suppressed a few bandits, most of them are small bandits with hundreds of people, at most a thousand, and have no experience in dealing with tens of thousands or even tens of thousands of large bandits.So he wrote to Hong Chengchou, governor of the five provinces, requesting to dispatch elite soldiers to help.

Hong Chengchou has been in northern Shaanxi for nearly a year, leading more than [-] troops from various ministries, fighting endlessly with more than [-] people including the thief Xie Zikuai Tuo Yangkun and the eighth team's break-in general Li Zicheng.There were wins and losses for each other, but neither of them hurt the root.

Although there are a large number of thieves, there are very few elites.The terrain in northern Shaanxi is complex, with many deep gullies and high ravines, which is not conducive to the pursuit of cavalry. Every time the bandits retreat, the officers and soldiers are always unable to catch up. Therefore, neither side can do anything to the other, and the battle is at a stalemate.

After Hong Chengchou received Sun Chuanting's fast horse report, he thought again and again, and sent out the two guerrillas Xu Zhong and Liu Yingjie under He Renlong, the deputy commander of Shaanxi.

These two are well-known assassins in the Shaanxi frontier army, and they have never observed military discipline. Their subordinates are brave and invincible when fighting with the wind, and will find ways to escape when the battle is tight.

He has always harassed the people and robbed property, and even suspected of killing good people and taking credit.

Because the pacification of northern Shaanxi still needs to rely on the efforts of various ministries, Hong Chengchou not only strictly warned He Renlong to restrain the two ministries, but also had nothing to do with them.He also wanted to find the right time to cut off the heads of the two, but he knew that Shaanxi soldiers attached great importance to the friendship between the village and the party. There are many thieves, and Hong Chengchou will not be redeemed after a hundred deaths.It happened that Sun Chuanting was short of soldiers, so the governors of the five provinces took advantage of the situation and sent the two of them.

Xu Zhong and Liu Yingjie each led 500 troops to Xi'an.On the first day of arrival, Sun Chuanting, in order to reassure the army, immediately paid the two ministries one tael of silver per person, Xu Zhong and Liu Yingjie ten taels of silver each.This move really worked, and the two subordinates were very happy, and they all praised the governor for being a man.

The generals had finished calling their names, and Sun Chuanting said in a deep voice, "I have received an urgent report that the intruders led their troops from Yunyang Mansion to the territory of Shaanxi. They have now connected Kexing'an and Hanyin counties, and Shiquan may not be safe. , the thieves will definitely find a way to attack Xi'an in the north!"

After hearing the news that Gao Yingxiang had returned to Shaanxi, the generals below had different expressions, some excited, some worried.

Zhou Yuji, the commander-in-chief of the Qin Army, took a step forward, and after saluting, he said with emotion: "Master Futai, I have heard about the intruders for a long time, and they all say that they are capable and difficult to control! I am not talented in my humble position, and I am willing to lead the Qin army to meet the enemy! I would like to see you for my humble position." , is Gao Chuang as powerful as the rumors say!"

Luo Shifang, who had been promoted to be a general of the Qin Army, also came forward and said loudly: "Master Futai, I heard that the bandit cavalry is very elite, and I would like to lead the cavalry as the vanguard, and compete with them!"

The middle and high-level generals in the Qin army were all promoted from the cavalry of the brave guard battalion brought by Luo Shifang, so they naturally wanted to use their military exploits to climb the ranks.Seeing that their own generals asked for a fight, they all came out to join in. For a while, the atmosphere in the lobby was enthusiastic, and all the generals wanted to fight very strongly, but Xu Zhong and Liu Yingjie looked indifferent.

Sun Chuanting looked at the generals in the hall with satisfaction, secretly proud in his heart: the military spirit is available!The new army that I have painstakingly built finally has a chance to show its skills. This battle will make my name widely spread in the world!

He raised one arm and pressed it down, all the generals immediately fell silent and stood back one after another.

Sun Chuanting gave a majestic order: "I expect the bandits must have sneak attacks! Therefore, I will place the decisive battle with the bandits in the Heishui Valley in the southeast of Zhouzhi County! After the generals return to the camp, immediately send an order, and the soldiers pack up the soldiers." Armor, carry five days of military rations, and after an hour, the whole army will be dispatched to Heishuiyu! If there is any delay, the military discipline officer will kill him!"

When Qin Liangyu led his troops day and night and arrived ten miles west of Shiquan County on the third day, the scouts sent in front reported that the four gates of the county were wide open, and the thieves had broken through the city and were looting in the city. The thieves set up roadblocks outside the west gate. It was obvious that they were guarding against reinforcements coming from the direction of Hanzhong. Hundreds of bandits and cavalry were guarding freely in the open area outside the west gate.

Qin Liangyu ordered the army to camp on the spot, and also set up a roadblock with a length of [-] steps on the road facing the west gate of Shiquan to prevent the bandits from charging.

The official road from Shiquan to Hanzhong is very narrow, with mountains and rivers on both sides of the road.Qin Liangyu ordered two hundred soldiers with white poles to climb up the cliff to the north of the road, search for rough wood and boulders, and throw them down when the enemy attacked.She didn't plan to attack the bandits, the difference in strength was too great, and the bandits still had a cavalry team, and the white-armed soldiers attacked the open area below the city, and they were easily attacked by the cavalry.

The terrain here is very conducive to defense. Apart from this official road, there is no other road leading to Hanzhong.Unless the thieves want to cross the mountains, what about the two thousand cavalry?If you want to fight Hanzhong, this is the only way to go.

The camp was defeated all the way, and morale had fallen to the bottom.But after entering Shaanxi, they broke through the three cities of Xing'an, Hanyin, and Shiquan, plundered a large amount of gold, silver, cloth, grain and grass, and forced the people with no surplus to join the team. expanded to more than 3.Gao Yingxiang and a group of bandit leaders rekindled their fighting spirit. They believed that only Lu Xiangsheng and the Liaodong cavalry could hold back the barracks in Ming Dynasty, and the rest of the officers and soldiers were not to be feared at all.In a few days, after going back to Chuangwang's hometown in northern Shaanxi and recruiting more fighters from the frontier areas where the people have always been tough, Chuangying will definitely be able to restore its original strength.

After receiving a report that officials and troops from Hanzhong had come to aid Shiquan and that the road had been blocked, Gao Yingxiang summoned the generals to discuss countermeasures.

Guo Tianxing said, "King Chuang, I checked it before, the official road to Hanzhong is very narrow, there are mountains and rivers on both sides, there is no other way to go, what should I do?"

Hun Shiwan asked: "I don't know which officer is blocking the way? How many troops are there?"

Gao Yingen, who was in charge of the outer guards, replied: "I heard from my sons that from a distance, there are thousands of officers and soldiers in this area. The strange thing is that the weapons used by the officers and soldiers are different from ordinary officers and soldiers. They are all long white wax rod, there is an extra hook on the gun head!"

Gao Yingxiang frowned and said, "Could it be that the white soldier who fought with Jiannu failed?"

After the Battle of Hunhe that year, the reputation of the white-armed soldiers spread all over the world. After processing and polishing by the common people, the white-armed soldiers became one enemy to one hundred, and the three-foot-long white spear head stabbed people to death. The heavenly soldiers and generals who must lose the first level.Gao Yingxiang, who traveled all over the world to sell horses, had heard many people talk about it. Although he didn't believe the rumors of those foolish men and women, he also admired the white soldiers from the bottom of his heart.

If the white soldiers are face to face, although there are many people on my side, it is absolutely difficult to win over them, not to mention that the opponent has a geographical advantage.

Guo Tianxing wondered: "Will King Chuang know the origin of this official army?"

The capital of all the bandits was from a peasant family in Shaanxi, with little knowledge, and had never heard of the name of the white-armed soldier.

Ma Tianlang said: "It doesn't matter which way the officers and soldiers are fighting. I have seen it with Guo Tianxing. The terrain over there is too dangerous. As long as the officers and soldiers block it, we will not be able to get through here, and it will not be possible to fill it with human lives." !"

Hun Shiwan said: "But if you want to go north to Xi'an, you have to take down Hanzhong first, and then go north on the plank road. Shiquan is full of mountains to the north, and there is no way to go!"

Gao Yingxiang frowned and said nothing. For a while, everyone was helpless and couldn't think of a way out. The atmosphere in the tent became extremely dull.

"King Chuang, I know there is a small road leading to Xi'an! You don't have to go to Hanzhong!" A weak voice suddenly sounded.

"There is a trail? Are you serious?!" Guo Tianxing's eyes lit up, and he asked anxiously.

The person who spoke was Liu San, a shabby local resident in Shiquan, in his twenties, homeless and jobless, he usually gathers a group of rascals to hang out in the city, specializing in deception, extortion and extortion.

When he broke into camp and attacked Shiquan County, he encountered stubborn resistance in the city.The Mongolian side of the county magistrate called on the big families in the city to provide food and money, and recruited the young and strong in the city to defend the city bravely.

Just when Gao Yingxiang gave the death order to destroy the city within half an hour, Liu San took dozens of rogues from the city and took advantage of the fact that the defenses in the city were concentrated at the east and south gates to kill and scatter more than a dozen civilians guarding the north city, The door was opened and someone was sent to inform the leader who broke into the east gate of the camp and was about to attack the city.The leader immediately reported the news to Guo Tianxing, and then Guo Tianxing personally led people into the city from the north gate, and Shi Quan declared his fall.

After the city was broken, Liu San led the way, and Guo Tianxing led his men to plunder the warehouses of the big households in the city, obtaining a large amount of food, salt, medicinal materials and other materials.

Afterwards, Gao Yingxiang rewarded Liu San heavily, gave him a position as a watchman, and allocated 2000 people to him, and they were under Guo Tianxing's command.Liu San changed suddenly, from a gangster to a general who broke into the camp.

Originally, he was not qualified to participate in the discussion of major affairs, but Guo Tianxing saw that he was clever and winking, and because he was a local, he might be useful, so he was brought into Gao Yingxiang's tent to participate in the discussion.

"When I was a teenager, I worked as a clerk in the city's cloth shop for a year. When I went to Xi'an with the shopkeeper to sell goods, I walked along that trail. After entering Ziwu Valley and walking west, there is a valley called Heishuiyu. It’s much closer to Xi’an from Hanzhong, and many merchants use that road to Xi’an!”

"Can the army pass through that road? How many days will it take?" Gao Yingxiang stared at Liu San and asked.

Liu San replied confidently: "If you go back to Chuang Wangye, although the Heishui Valley is not wide, the pack horses traveling to and from the caravan can travel! It only takes three days to reach Xingping County!"

Gao Yingxiang slapped his thigh excitedly, stood up suddenly and smiled and said, "God has eyes! Let's not fight hard with white soldiers! Liu San leads the way, let's go to Heishuiyu! When we suddenly appear under the city of Xi'an, we will It will scare those Xi'an guards! Hahahaha!"

　Thanks to the book friends for the reward.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)