The distance between the two small cities of Jiaocheng and Wenshui is only more than 40 miles, and they are horns of each other, firmly stuck on the passage of Luliang Mountain to the south.

As soon as Jiaocheng fell, Wenshui was left alone.

What's more, Zhang Dechang was captured in Jiaocheng, and the defenders of Wenshui were leaderless and in chaos.

Qin Chuan first surrounded Wenshui City, then pushed Zhang Dechang and Ni Pet to the city, shouted a call, and the defenders in the city surrendered obediently.

Jiaocheng and Wenshui are in hand, which completely solves the worries.

Eighty miles northwest from the Xichuan River between these two cities, there are three cliffs, and one hundred miles to the north is Gujiao Town.

This place can be used as a transit point for the transfer of money, food and people.

On the day of the city's destruction, Qin Chuan ordered people to return to Loufu to transfer another 2,000 men and horses to garrison these two small cities, and asked the lynx to lead 2,000 tiger guards to stay, and wait for the money, food, and population to be sent to the three cliffs before heading south.

He himself led the main force to continue southward, passing through Jiexiu and Lingshi without attacking, and went straight into the Linfen Basin.

As for Zhang Dechang and Ni Pet, Qin Chuan didn't kill them, these two have no enmity with him, they just have their own masters, and they have a little bit of a nest.

The most important thing is that both of them were born in a family of Jiangmen and have money in their families.

So, Qin Chuan asked Zhang Dechang and Ni Pet to repair a book and send it to their families, and let them take two thousand taels of silver to ransom people.

There are also generals, garrisons, and generals under the command of these two people, as long as the family has money, they all repair the book and go back to their families, so that their families can use the money to ransom people.

……

The news of the fall of Jiaocheng and Wenshui soon spread to Taiyuan.

Wu Fu was shocked and angry, but helpless.

Because he had insufficient troops at hand, reinforcements from Shanhaiguan and Xinzhou had not yet arrived.

However, Zhu Youzhen's holy decree has been transmitted to Datong.

After Yang Sichang, who was reorganizing the army in Datong, received the order, he immediately mobilized troops and horses, and asked Wang Pu, who had just succeeded Cao Wenzhao as the chief soldier of Datong, to lead 5,000 to act as the vanguard and gallop to aid Taiyuan first, and he himself led another 5,000 standard battalions to follow.

Soon, the decree also reached Shaanxi.

……

Yulin Acropolis, garrison house.

Hong Chengchou sat at the top of the lobby, holding an unfolded bright yellow scroll in both hands, with an unnatural expression on his face.

In the lobby, there were a group of Yansui civil and military officials, each holding their breath and staring at him quietly.

After a long time, Hong Chengchou slowly put down the scroll, sighed inexplicably, and then raised his eyes to look down the hall.

"Inspector, why are you worried?"

Guyuan General Zuo Guangxian asked suspiciously.

Hong Chengchou took a deep breath and said unhurriedly: "The emperor ordered us to cross the river immediately and collect Fuxing County and Baode Prefecture." ”

"Huh?"

Zuo Guangxian frowned.

There was a sudden buzzing noise in the lobby, and the officials present all exchanged heads and talked about each other.

"Inspector, this Yellow River is not easy to cross."

"Yes, the thief army is well defended on the other side, how should we cross the river?"

"When the army crosses the river, there are only pontoon bridges and ferries, but there are only a few places where the flow of the Yellow River is calm in this section, and the thief army is strictly guarded on the opposite bank.

"The thieves have sharp artillery, whether it is a ferry or a pontoon bridge, I am afraid that they will only become the target of the other party."

Hong Chengchou waved his hand, signaled everyone to be quiet, then rubbed his temples, and said: "The holy decree cannot be violated, no matter how dangerous this battle is, it must be fought, otherwise Taiyuan City will not be able to hold it." ”

Hearing his words, the hall instantly fell silent.

"Get the map."

"Yes."

After the map was delivered, Hong Chengchou didn't speak again, only looked carefully at a rough map on the desk.

He knew that Qin Chuan's prestige had already been played, and the generals under his command were unwilling to fight each other.

In fact, he didn't want to fight Qin Chuan so soon.

Because the combat power of the Guan Emperor Army is indeed strong, and the firearms are extremely sharp.

Moreover, Qin Chuan was preparing to capture the Hetao and had no intention of expanding his territory to the Ming border.

In this case, you should not provoke him again.

He should secretly mobilize heavy troops, gather all the troops that can be mobilized, and when he fights with Dongnu and Tatars in the Hetao area, he will attack from all sides, break through the defense line of Luliang Mountain, and attack in one fell swoop.

But now, the emperor was in a hurry, eager to cut off his trade routes, and as a result, he annoyed the other party, but was attacked by the other party, and even bombarded Taiyuan City.

Before the heavy troops were assembled, no one could get the benefits in Qin Chuan's hands.

Including Hong Chengchou himself, he has 20,000 border troops that can be mobilized, but across the Yellow River, these 20,000 troops can't give full play to their strength advantage at all.

In the process of crossing the river alone, there will inevitably be heavy losses.

He had tested Qin Chuan's tactics, and there were not many Guan Di troops deployed on the other side of the river, but he reacted quickly, and as soon as there was movement on this side of the river, he immediately assembled on the other bank, and then set up artillery, waiting for him to cross the river.

This tactic was simple and practical, and under the deterrence of a large number of artillery, even if he had more troops, he would not dare to cross the river rashly.

But now, the holy decrees have been sent to Yulin, and he has to fight if he doesn't want to.

The next day, Hong Chengchou began to dispatch troops, dividing the 20,000-strong army into three routes, one way straight to Fugu, all the way to the sand ditch weir on the other side of the river, and the other road to the beach of the river seventy miles south of Fugu.

He wanted the three armies to march together.

……

Pingyang Mansion, Linfen County.

Chow Tai Fook was lying on the bed, and his wife Peng Shi was holding a jar of black bone-setting ointment and applying it to his beaten buttocks, making him scream in pain.

"Boss, that Lou annoying iron pot, let's not sell it, this is a big disaster."

Peng wiped a handful of tears and said in a pitch-shifting crying tone.

"If you want to sell it, you can't sell it...... Ah......h

Zhou Taifu was so painful that he broke out in a cold sweat, lying on the bed panting for a long time, suddenly raised his head, gritted his teeth and said: "Lou Annoying Iron Pot can not be sold, but the Jin family not only colluded with the government to copy my shop, but also let the officials beat me for thirty boards, this revenge cannot be avenged!" ”

"The master, forget it, the so-called people don't fight with the officials, our family has a small business, and the Jin family has the protection of official uniforms, we can't fight them."

"Humph! We have all passed them, naturally some people can fight, when will their Jin family ship grain, and which route to take to Zhangjiakou Fort, I know clearly, wait for ......"

Chow Tai Fook didn't speak, but his face suddenly changed.

For there was a panicked noise and screams outside, and a familiar laugh among them.

It was Jin Dezhong's laughter.

Sure enough, Chow Tai Fook's door was suddenly kicked open with a "bang", and a boy shook a folding fan and walked in.

"Yo, Brother Zhou, are you lying in bed in the middle of the day, are you going to serve your wife?"

That boy is Jin Dezhong, and as soon as he entered the door, he walked over while talking in a weird manner.

"Jin Dezhong, you...... What are you doing? ”

Chow Tai Fook was furious, endured the sharp pain in his buttocks, and got up from the bed.

His wife, Peng, hurriedly shrank behind him and looked in horror at the group of vicious family members behind Jin Dezhong.

"Hey, hey, what am I going to do?"

Jin Dezhong swaggered to the window, patted Zhou Dafu's face with a folding fan, and said in a sinister voice: "In the entire Linfen City, only you, Zhou Dafu, are against this son, you say, what am I going to do?" ”

"You dare?"

"Why don't you dare?"

Jin Dezhong's face suddenly became extremely hideous, and he slapped Chow Tai Fook in the face.

Chow Tai Fook's lower body was unstable, and he fell heavily on the bed, just falling into the injured buttocks, and suddenly screamed in pain.

"Humph! Chow Tai Fook, you are just a lowly blacksmith, thinking that if you make a deal with that little thief in Qin Chuan, you can go straight in Linfen City? ”

"Hehe, let me tell you the truth, the imperial court is preparing to besiege Luliang Mountain, and the little thief in Qinchuan is unable to protect himself, and it won't be long before the imperial court will inevitably execute him Ling Chi and spread it to all places."

"As for you...... Hum! I'm going to break your legs today, and I'll see how you walk straight in the future. ”

After saying that, Jin Dezhong waved his hand, and several sturdy family members behind him walked towards Zhou Taifu with a cruel smile.

At this time, a rush of footsteps suddenly sounded outside the door, and a member of the Jin family rushed in in a panic.

"Eldest son, it's not good, it's not good......"

"What's the matter?" Jin Dezhong was a little impatient.

"Childe, Qin Chuan is here, Qin Chuan is here...... Just outside the city of Linfen, he was setting up a position and launching dozens of artillery pieces, apparently to attack Linfen. ”

"What?"

Jin Dezhong's face changed greatly.

The guy hurriedly repeated what he had just said.

After repeatedly confirming that he had heard correctly, Jin Dezhong ran out.

"Quick, go help defend the city, don't let that thief attack you."

"Yes."

The originally fierce and vicious family members also ran out in a panic.

Chow Tai Fook, who was slapped on the bed, suddenly burst into laughter: "Hahaha, hahahaha...... Jin Dezhong, your Jin family's retribution is coming. ”