The large-scale war on the front line in northern Sichuan has been temporarily stopped, but this does not mean that the front line is calm and quiet, Wang Pingfan, the governor of Sichuan in the Southern Zhou Dynasty, is not an incompetent person, on the contrary, he has strong military ability, and is one of the generals under Wu Sangui, although in terms of qualifications and military achievements, he is worse than Ma Bao, Xia Guoxiang, Hu Guozhu, etc., but this is only qualifications, and has little to do with his own talents.

In the past, Wu Sangui opened up Yunnan and fired the first shot against the Qing court, Yunnan, Sichuan, Guizhou, Hunan, Hubei and other places Wu's old troops rose up one after another, for a time China was shaken, the momentum was unmatched, and at that time, in addition to the Huguang line, another main heavy army group was hoarded in Sichuan, Shaanxi, Gan, and Liang, and the main forces included: the Ganshan battalion led by Daniel Zhang and Wang Jinbao and the Pingliang army led by Mo Luo and Wang Fuchen, in order to expand the front, involving Kangxi's main army, With the successive victories of Wu Sangui's main army, the rebellion work was finally successful, Wang Fuchen betrayed the Qing court again, launched a mutiny in the Pingliang camp, beheaded the governor of Shaanxi, and ordered the prison army Mo Luo, and defected to Wu Sangui's group before the battle, pulling northwest China into the whirlpool of war.

On the day of the sudden change in the situation, Kangxi Zhengfǔ immediately responded, and the eight hundred miles of Pegasus sent a decree, ordering the Ganshan battalion to attack Wang Fuchen's rebels, so the two armies were entangled in battle, because the army was hasty, and the people's hearts were "mixed" and "chaotic", and all parts of Sichuan were in a disorder "chaos", Wang Fuchen's army fought with the Qing army in Hanzhong again and again, but the rear could not find the people, could not urge grain and grass, and even sent the military envoys to contact were repeatedly robbed and killed, and the army was increasingly embarrassed, and in desperation, he had to seek help from Wu Sangui.

At the request of Ma Harrier, Wu Sangui quickly appointed Wang Pingfan as the commander-in-chief, and sent a 'elite' army of more than 20,000 people, along the Yangtze River through the White Emperor City, and in an instant, successively broke tens of thousands of remnants of the Qing court, pacified Sichuanzhong in one month, and then went non-stop to aid Wang Fuchen's department, and fought several battles in two months, and finally thwarted the offensive of the Ganshan Green Battalion, stabilized the situation in Sichuan, and then waited for the Han army to raid Beijing, and the Qing army was a 'chaos' At the time of the chaos, Wang Pingfan boldly planned, forcibly requisitioned grain and grass in Sichuan to make up for local reorganization, and cooperated with Wang Fuchen's army to counterattack, recapture Hanzhong Mansion, and further threaten the Qinzhong region.

In terms of official position, Wang Fuchen's official rank is higher than that of Wang Ping Fan, but in fact it is not trusted by Wu Sangui's guest army, when he has not defected to the Han army before, his life is extremely embarrassing, always looking up to people to breathe, Zhou will Wang Ping Fan sit in Sichuan, choke the throat of the grain road of the Ma Harrier's department, the daily supply of the army is often deducted by Wang Ping Fan's troubles, and the two armies are extremely resentful for several years. Therefore, the change of Wang Fuchen can be regarded as a cause and effect.

After a 'fierce' battle in January, Ma Harrier's department took advantage of the negligence of the Zhou army's defense, and suddenly sent a small force to attack the plank roads everywhere, and then the army covered in, and successively captured Mian County, Yangping Pass, Ningqiang, Qipanguan and other strategic places, the main force gathered in Guangyuan Mansion in northern Sichuan, and then besieged Fucheng, after three days of hard fighting, under the cover of the artillery supported by the Han army, finally conquered Guangyuan Mansion City, opened the passage to the interior of Sichuan, the Zhou army was horrified, and the remnants of the army retreated towards the front line of Jiange, intending to defend Chengdu according to the danger.

At this time, although Wang Fuchen's troops fought a succession of battles and were received by the Eighth Army of the Han Infantry under Daniel Zhang's command, the food and ordnance needed to launch the attack were exhausted, the plank roads were rugged, the supply was difficult, and the consumption of tens of thousands of troops was amazing, so although the strength was several times that of the current enemy, they could only sit in Guangyuan and wait for the rear supplies to be replenished.

The war in northern Sichuan temporarily fell into a low 'tide', except for the tentative 'sex' and 'confrontation' of a small group of scout troops, the two armies did not make a large-scale march, and the latest news from the front line was full of old news such as "the enemy will increase the number of troops in the sword pavilion and stick to the city defense", and there is little new meaning.

Big Han Yu Lin Zhonglang will Rick? General Rachel arrived in Xi'an with his army after the autumn, he was the supreme commander of the westward marching corps, and the Lin Han court assigned the three main forces to his command, namely Wang Jinbao's Seventh Cavalry Army, Ma Ying's Sixth Cavalry Army and his headquarters Guards First Army, with more than 50,000 combat soldiers, together with more than 76,000 auxiliary militia groups and people's husbands, nearly 150,000 people, and the slogan of the Lin Han Empire was "300,000 troops".

On the surface, the task of this main army was to support the war in northern Sichuan, and the army of Wang Fuchen and Daniel Zhang swept Sichuan, but in reality it was more than that.

The Lin Han Empire launched the Sichuan Campaign this time, although it achieved a sudden 'sexual' effect, and the results were not expensive, but it was quite passive in the military arrangement, because of the relationship between the investment of troops, the heavy army groups that were originally sitting in Shaanxi and Gansu were 'drawn' and transferred, most of them were very empty, and on the defense line of more than 1,000 miles in the defense line of the Northwest Junggar Khanate, there was only one infantry corps of Zhao Liangdong at present, which was really reassuring, so it was urgent to 'draw' heavy troops from North China to fill the gap and deter the surrounding unscrupulous people.

In addition, this heavy army group's movement towards the front line also sent a political hint to the Southern Zhou group: that is, Sichuan, our Han must be taken, and those who know each other should not be 'chaotic' and say 'chaotic', otherwise the army will rush up and make your death ugly.

Rick is well aware of his mission.

Along the way, his troops marched very quickly, and the army of more than 13,000 people was pulled into a long snake formation, the cavalry brigade opened the way at the front, and the four infantry brigades followed in full gear, while the baggage battalion, the Langzhong battalion, and the civilian organs and artillery brigades were pulled far behind and sailed south on the Fen River.

Not long ago, there was a heavy rain in northern Shaanxi, the road was muddy, the officers and soldiers of the Guards in bright armor stepped on the ankle-deep mud, and they were difficult to advance in the direction of Tongguan, the northwest plain in late autumn was barren, the army passed everywhere, and there were almost no people in sight, since the end of the Ming Dynasty, the land of Sanqin has always been the main battlefield for the armies of all walks of life to dominate the world. Originally, after the Qing court unified the north, people still got a little respite, but Wu Sangui suddenly rose up again, the Han army entered Beijing, hungry people flocked to various places, princes disputed, bandits, robbers were rampant, and this land fell into many disasters.

It is said that for the sake of Li Min's peaceful settlement, Lin Feng, the king of the Han Dynasty, ordered that Shaanxi's field was reduced by three percent this year, but Rick and his subordinates could not see any results, there were sparse people along the way, only on the ridge next to the official road, perhaps occasionally you can see a few skinny little goats, as well as an indifferent expression, a haggard old sheepherd.

The broken felt hat, the old shepherd, the yellow earth with no grass, this is where Rick is ready to bleed. The officials say that there are more than 9 million people living in this barren land – where are they?!

General Rick's forward headquarters was set up in the 1st Infantry Brigade, following the rapid advance of the cavalry brigade, and now only a group of guards and Major General Chief of Staff Mu Tianyan were following the general. After a long journey of more than 1,000 miles, this staff general from a literati background actually looked very good, perhaps because he had been in the barracks for a long time and had long been accustomed to it.

After the success of the mission to Russia, Mu Tianyan failed to transfer to his post as he wished, and returned to the chief of staff of the Nearly First Army, but it was not completely without benefits, according to the order issued by the General Staff, he still held the post of chief of staff of the Westward Advance Corps this time. He himself is quite optimistic, as far as he knows, at present, the Lin Han Empire is urgently training new regiments in Liaodong, Ningjin, Shandong and other places, and there are tens of thousands of Toucheng peasant army in Henan is gradually being absorbed, and it will soon be issued to the number of independent army, it is estimated that this battle will be fought, with his qualifications and military exploits, a position of army commander should be no problem.

Follow the Fen River all the way forward, cross the Fengling crossing, the towering and tall Tongguan city wall, has been faintly visible. At this time, the forward cavalry brigade Pegasus returned, and the Tongguan guards would go out of the city to greet them.

Because the mountains and Shaanxi are all in my hands, the strategic location of Tongguan is not very important, and at present, the army is fully deployed on the western front, and the military strength is quite tight, so the rear is either the old, weak, sick and disabled, or the unprepared empty frame troops.

Now the officer in charge of the defense of Tongguan is actually a young man less than twenty years old, thin and slender, full of childishness, although he tries his best to retouch, but the lips are only a slightly blue fluffy 'hair', at this time I saw Rick and his party from a distance, the young man hurriedly dismounted and saluted, "Under the command of General Anxi, Yue Zhonglin, the commander of the third battalion of the 24th Brigade of the Eighth Infantry Army, visited General Rick!" - " He stood up, slightly sideways, and bowed down again, "Meet General Mu Tianyan!" ”

"Excuse me!" Rick's Chinese was spoken in a straight voice, and the officials peeping next to him all 'revealed' their expressions of surprise and admiration.

Yue Zhonglin bowed slightly, pointed to the two officials behind him and introduced, "This is the prefect of Weinan Lu Qi; This is the teacher of Weinan Tongzhizi. ”

The two magistrates bowed down together, and according to the procedure of Jin to meet the governor, they saluted, "Your Majesty has seen the general!" ”

"Two adults, please get up!" Rick turned slightly sideways to show humility, and immediately returned the salute, although his official rank was far higher than the two, but in the end, he was not in the same system as the political fǔ civil official, so he was quite polite to Lu and the two. He smiled and said to Lu Qi, "My lord is the parents of hundreds of thousands of people in Weinan, so this time we have delayed a lot of government affairs, right?" He turned his head to look at Mu Tianyan, looked at each other and smiled, "If the people have opinions, we can't afford it!" ”

Looking at the blonde and blue-eyed general, listening to a crisp Beijing film, he said something appropriate and without losing the dignity of the official, Lu Yan admired it in his heart, and he didn't know where the King of Han found such an interesting person, and he was actually very good at fighting, it was really an outlier.

He smiled slightly, bowed his hand, and casually played a long official tone: "Don't dare, don't dare, Wang Shi is going eastward, saving thousands of Li people from fire and water, and returning China Shenzhou to Qingping, my Weinan people will wait for them sooner or later, like the hope of a long drought, like the hope of a child's mother, and now my king is generous and benevolent, and sends the children of the guards to run 'waves', so concerned about the Sanqin fathers and elders, the people of Shaanxi, etc., how dare you forget a little?!" He turned sideways, "The lower official is entrusted by the people of Shaanxi to prepare a little wine, please catch the wind and wash the dust with the general." ”

After a brief greeting, Rick ordered the adjutants of each team to lead the troops to station on the spot, but he took the chief of staff and two brigade commanders to the customs for the banquet.

If you count it according to the level, Yue Zhonglin is a major, and he is absolutely not qualified to drink with Rick, but now the situation is a bit special, he is the general of Tongguan and has the identity of half a landlord, so he also accompanied the ranking adults to greet him at this time.

In the end, it was a young man, after three rounds of drinking, Yue Zhonglin's white face turned red, seeing that these old oilers were full of nonsense, he was very impatient, found a gap, and arched his hand towards Rick, "Rick's army 'door', I heard that Ma Harrier gave our king a chapter to ask for help, you are going to Sichuan to fight Wang Ping Clan this time, right?!" ”

This sentence is very abrupt and rude. As the commander of the corps, what purpose does Rick have, how can a major ask? At best, it is said to be an abrupt official, and at worst, it is called spying on the military. However, Rick was not angry, he looked at the young officer with interest, and smiled, "It's not a request for help, it's "Pingchuan Cezazi", you are right, the governor of Pontus is here to capture Sichuan." ”

"Then ......" Yue Zhonglin's face became more and more red, and he plucked up his courage and said, "Rick Army's 'door', the subordinate has a reluctant request, and he also asks the adults to help!" ”

"Oh?!" Rick laughed, "You speak! ”

"Xiaguan who entered Sichuan together," Yue Zhonglin smiled embarrassedly, "Don't dare to deceive the army's 'door', Xiaguan has been stationed in Tongguan for more than half a year, and he has nothing to do every day, seeing this good year passing in vain, he is really unwilling, and now there is a war in northern Sichuan, and he wants to serve the king of Han on the battlefield!" ”

"That's good! Young people have to be ambitious! Rick and Mu Tianyan looked at each other and laughed together, Mu Tianyan smiled, "But we have a lot of generals this time, I'm afraid you won't be able to use your strength!" ”

"Bad grown!" Yue Zhonglin's face was crimson, but his expression was very solemn, "According to the humble position, although my Western Advance Corps is numerous, it may not be able to be used in northern Sichuan!" ”

"Oh?!" Rick was slightly startled and said in surprise, "Please speak!" "My lord Mingjian, Zhong Lin has been in Ganxi for a long time, although he doesn't dare to boast of his deep knowledge, but he is also confident that he has some experience in the terrain of Sichuan!" Yue Zhonglin said solemnly, "I received a summons from the General Staff Headquarters, saying: The three armies of the Western Advance Corps entered Qin, except for the guards of the general's headquarters, the remaining two armies were all cavalry, while most of the northern Sichuan area was surrounded by mountains, hills and undulating hills, and the dangerous places were full of plank roads, and the grain trucks were rarely squeezed through. ”

Rick put down his wine glass, restrained his smile, and only now did he become serious, he stared at Yue Zhonglin tightly, and said solemnly, "Then in your opinion, what should we do?!" ”

Facing General Rick's fierce gaze, Yue Zhonglin did not have the slightest panic and "chaos", and said calmly, "Please forgive me for being humble, I think that our Western Advance Corps should have nothing to do with the battle of northern Sichuan, I am afraid that the drunkard does not mean to drink, but to care about Qinghai and Gansu!" ”

Rick turned his head, looked at Mu Tianyan and was stunned, silent for a long time, suddenly smiled dumbly, patted Yue Zhonglin's shoulder gently, a trace of appreciation flashed in his eyes, and nodded, "Not bad, not bad!" He smiled slightly, "You are the second major to say this to me along the way!" ”

"Oh?!" Yue Zhonglin was stunned and said, "The second one?!" ”

Rick leaned back slightly, following his gaze, Yue Zhonglin looked up, a young officer pressed the waist knife in his hand, and stood sideways behind Mu Tianyan, at this time, seeing Rick's signal, he smiled at Yue Zhonglin, hugged his fists and said: "The First Army of the Guards Infantry, Major Staff Officer Nian Qianyao, I have seen Brother Yue!" ”