The wind rises at the end of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 114
The mountain wind howls cold and cool like water, and the wind enters the mountains and forests, bringing with it the sound of pines.

The more you go south, the more trees there are, and the terrain becomes more steep.

"Most of the enemy has passed through Qishan and headed all the way to Lixian County in the southwest."

Ye Bushou, who was carrying an order flag, wearing a hood, and a helmet on his head, half-kneeled on the ground, reporting the military situation ahead.

Chen Wang reined in his horse and stopped, looking past the soldiers towards the towering Qishan Mountains not far away.

Qishan is located in the east of Lixian County, Gongchang Prefecture, and in the north of Xihan River.

It starts from Beiya in the west and reaches Lucheng in the east, stretching for more than fifty miles.

Lianshan Xiuju, Luo Feng stands firm, known as "the name of Kyushu, the world's most magnificent".

The ground strangles the throat of Shulong, controlling the offensive and defensive key points.

During the period of the Three Kingdoms, Zhuge Liang was the prime minister of the Ji Han Dynasty, and in order to revive the Han Dynasty, he led troops out of Qishan six times to launch the Northern Expedition, and Qishan became famous all over the world.

At the top of the central peak of Qishan Mountain, there was a strong city built during the Three Kingdoms period, which can be said to be a gate guarded by one man, and ten thousand men cannot open it.

It's just that with the development of the times and the changes of the years, this once strong city has already disappeared in the long river.

With the continuous northward movement of the border of the Central Plains, Qishan also lost its original function. This dangerous pass has now become a sparse and ordinary place, and it no longer has the function of the past.

There are no more heavily guarded military forts here, nor are there any ambitious armies gathered behind the mountains.

Everything in the past has disappeared with the years. Zhuge Wuhou died of illness in Wuzhangyuan with his unfulfilled ideals. Even though Jiang Wei worked hard, he couldn't save the building from falling.

When Hong Chengchou first entered Shaanxi, he divided his troops to guard the dangerous pass between Shaanxi and Huguang in Henan to prevent Gao Yingxiang, Zhang Xianzhong and others from fleeing into Henan and Huguang again.

In several provinces, there are only [-] soldiers who can be mobilized, and the strength of the army is stretched.

There are not many soldiers in Gongchang Mansion for defense at all, that is to say, there are a lot of battalions temporarily drawn from Ningxia and other places in the mansion to assist in the defense.

These battalions are not many, and the salaries given are not much.

They are not well equipped, and it is okay to defend the city with the guards and the brave men of the village, but it is difficult to fight in the field.

Fired two shots before the battle, it can be regarded as worthy of the food and salaries issued by the court.

There are only more than 300 soldiers in Qi County, all of them are guards, and there are no battalions.

The guard army is unbearable, especially the more they are in the interior, the more corrupt they become.

Don't say it's impossible to deal with bandits, even ordinary bandits and thieves are difficult to deal with.

At the time when the inland guards were already dilapidated, there was a shortage of people and there were many fugitives.

Five or six out of ten escaped from one school, and the rest were just regarded as private property of domestic slaves by the Guards Military Academy, so there was no decent fighting power.

In the interior, it often happens that bandits who want to wipe out a group of dozens or dozens of people actually want to mobilize the entire army of the Thousand Households, or even combine several Thousand Households' troops to attack together.

Qi Shan didn't become any hindrance, Li Yangchun, Lin Shengquan and Li Guo led their troops through Qi Shan smoothly.

"How is the situation in Li County?"

Chen Wang narrowed his eyes slightly and asked.

"The villages and towns around Lixian County were looted. Dozens of black smoke can be seen from a distance. Bandits roamed the forest and valleys, wantonly looting."

"Our troops searched the ruins at night. No one was killed. It should be an early warning. Local officials have moved people into the city to escape."

Chen Wang was slightly settled. He had already dispatched messengers to the south of Qishan Mountain to send warning messages to the prefectures and counties along the way, asking them to bring back the people in the surrounding villages and towns who were unable to protect themselves back to the city within a few days. .

Of course, among them, Chen Wang naturally used Hong Chengchou's tiger skin as a banner. According to his current level, he can't command the magistrates and magistrates in these places.

County magistrates like Wang Zhaolin are in the minority after all, and more are those "gentlemen" who think highly of themselves, speak benevolence, righteousness and morality, wear gorgeous official uniforms, stand aloof, and separate themselves from the world.

Although it was Li Guo who he let go on purpose, and Li Yangchun and others who let go on purpose.

These rogues were all rushed to the south of Gongchang Mansion by Chen Wang, and these disasters could be counted as what Chen Wang brought to Gongchang Mansion.

But this is also the future development, and it is necessary to act like this.

Chen Wang stared at the Qishan Mountains in the distance, his heart did not waver.

Everyone in the world has the law of duality, and there are gains and losses. He has made the best choice as much as possible to save more people.

He tried his best, procrastinated, and made plans, just to be able to enter the Hanzhong Mansion, get rid of the shackles, and save a fortune.

In troubled times, there is a saying that there is a grass belly with golden horns and silver edges, but although Hanzhong Mansion is in the hinterland, it is not a grass belly.

Hanzhong Mansion faces the Qinling Mountains in the north. The Qinling Mountains are high and steep, steep and circuitous, and difficult to cross.

To the south lies the Daba Mountains. Although the Daba Mountains are a little slower and lower, the mountains are extremely winding and stretching.

Hanzhong Mansion is sandwiched between the narrow mountains of Qinling and Daba Mountains.

In addition, there are mountains on both sides of the east and west. Hanzhong is surrounded by mountains. It can be attacked when advancing, and it is easier to defend when retreating.

Occupying Hanzhong only needs to guard a few important passes, and a small number of soldiers and horses can block the entry of most enemy troops.

Hanzhong has always been a battleground for military strategists. Liu Bang was the lord of Hanzhong in the past, and then aspired to the world.

At the end of Ming Dynasty, the status of Hanzhong did not decrease much.

If Hanzhong is completely occupied, the east can go to Huguang, the south can go to Sichuan, and the north and west can control Shaanxi.

The most important thing is that the successive years of famine in the late Ming Dynasty hardly affected the Hanzhong Basin, which is undoubtedly the most suitable place for living and development at this time.

With his mind set, Chen Wang looked back to the east.

For some reason, after sending Tang Bao to Guanzhong, he began to feel restless.

Thinking carefully about his own actions, Chen Wang always felt that he had missed a lot of things, but no one helped him to check the omissions and make up for the vacancies. Now he needs to think about everything by himself.

No one can mention him, and no one can advise him, make plans for him.

Chen Wang's eyes lit up again, and he raised his hand holding the whip.

After entering Qishan, two roads were placed in front of Li Yangchun's eyes, one went south to Sichuan, Li Yangchun and others naturally did not dare to choose.

The other route is through Lixian, Xihe, Chengxian, and Weizhou to Hanzhong Prefecture in the southeast.

Lixian-Weizhou line is relatively open. Li Yangchun, Lin Shengquan, and Li Guo are all elite cavalry and cavalry troops. Without infantry, hungry soldiers, and the old and weak, they can travel hundreds of miles a day at an extremely fast speed. , It won't be long before they can come to Weizhou.

What they have to do is very simple, that is to break through the pass between Hanzhong Mansion and Gongchang Mansion - Yu Pass.

He led the troops to pursue them, traveling forty or fifty miles a day, and the delay lasted for seven or eight days. As long as Li Yangchun and others were not trash, they could break through Yu Pass.

At that time, you can follow Li Yangchun and other departments to enter the Hanzhong mansion...

While Chen Wang was imagining, a rush of horseshoes suddenly came to Chen Wang's ears from behind.

When everyone turned their heads, they saw a messenger in red arrow clothes galloping from the official road in the east.

When the visitor reined in his horse and stopped, Chen Wang finally saw the appearance of the visitor. Chen Wang was taken aback for a moment, hesitated for a moment, and then called out.

"Brother Ming, why are you here?"

Chen Wang frowned slightly, feeling a little bad in his heart, and immediately went forward to meet him.

The person who came was none other than his elder brother Chen Ming. Like him, he was under Cao Wenzhao's tent as a servant. He should have followed Cao Wenzhao in Guanzhong, but why did he come to Gongchang Mansion.

Chen Ming didn't answer first, but rode his horse up to him, and handed Chen Wang a well-packaged letter.

Chen Wang was slightly startled, and took the letter from Chen Ming's hand.

The moment he received the letter, Chen Wang's heart sank suddenly.

He saw Cao Wenzhao's autograph on the letter.

If something goes wrong, there must be a demon.

Although he didn't open the letter, Chen Wang had already noticed something unusual.

(End of this chapter)