Shaanxi and Henan are contending, and Tongguan is important.

Although they lost in the Battle of Jiaxian, the casualties of the Shaanxi soldiers were not large, and their vitality still existed. After Sun Chuanting, the governor of the three sides of Shaanxi, led his troops back to Shaanxi, he took Tongguanwei as an outpost to defend it, sat in Xi'an, and actively prepared for war in Guanzhong, with three main measures.

First, recruit soldiers and horses and train soldiers.

Only half a year before the Battle of Jiaxian, under the auspices of Sun Chuanting, 40,000 new soldiers had been recruited under the name of the Governor Yamen. In addition, Shaanxi used to have soldiers from various towns and towns, and the total number reached about 100,000. Qiao Yuanzhu, the deputy envoy of the supervising army, once expressed concern about this rapid expansion of the army, believing that the recruits were "mostly children and soldiers", and the quality of the soldiers was not high, and they were unbearable to fight. However, Sun Chuanting was not at ease about this, and he optimistically said that strengthening the army depends on drills, and as long as drills are in place, the quality of soldiers is not the first priority. Therefore, he sent hundreds of officers to supervise the training of new recruits day and night, with the intention of waiting for the army to attack skillfully and then launch an attack when the army was hungry and tired.

Second, open up the tuntian field widely, and accumulate millet with the utensils.

In the past two years, Guanzhong was similar to Henan, there was a long drought without harvest, the army lacked food and wages, and the state and county treasury also had little grain. Sun Chuanting then ordered the wealthy households to donate food and wages, and if they did not comply, they would be forced to pay by force, and ordered the people, regardless of whether they were rich or poor, to make up 50 taels of silver for every third family. Therefore, there are sayings such as "the Qin soldiers steal grain and beat the thieves", "the supervisor plays with Kou Mi salary, and the Qin people are in the soup and fire", and the dislike of Shaanxi officials and people for Sun Chuanting can be seen. However, Sun Chuanting didn't care, because with this fierce means, he was able to raise an army that was enough to rival the intruding army.

Third, appoint veteran generals and build a large car battalion.

In order to deal with this situation, Sun Chuanting referred to the tactics of his predecessors against the Mongol tribes in northern Cyprus, and decided to vigorously develop the car battalion and named it the "train battalion". The craftsmen worked day and night, carrying lamps and nights, rushing to build more than 30,000 trains carrying small artillery, bows and arrows, clothing and food, and selecting strong men as chariot soldiers, in an effort to achieve the effect of "driving away horses when fighting, and defending themselves when they stop". Since he regarded the train as the key to defeating the enemy, he had to choose generals with rich military experience to serve as commanders, and people with bad deeds such as Bai Guangen were also promoted.

Sun Chuanting worked hard with these three measures, and the momentum was huge for several months, so it was naturally difficult to escape the eyes and ears of the army.

Niu Jinxing talked about the recent movements of the governor of Shaanxi on the three sides, and Liu Zongmin said unconvinced: "Our army concentrated blacksmiths to make more than 10,000 iron nails and iron hooks, which were used to cross the mountain danger when capturing Tongguan, and they have been largely complete so far. As long as the king gives an order, we will carry it forward, and Tongguan will be defeated overnight! ”

Tian Jianxiu frowned and said: "I heard a month ago that the Ming Court had ordered Sun Chuanting to be the governor of Henan, Shaanxi, and Sichuan military affairs. The Ming army in various towns in central Shaanxi also showed signs of mobilization, and I don't think he waited for us to go, but he was going to come by himself. ”

Niu Jinxing smiled and said, "Vice Master Tian's news is very new, but it is a little slower in the end." Yesterday, the spies planted by our army in Beijing reported that Emperor Chongzhen and the cabinet planned to add the title of Governor of Sun Chuanting, and the general system of Ying, Feng, Jiang, Anhui, Chu, Henan, Sichuan and other places. Shaking his head as he spoke, "There is a huge reward when the wind is calm, hehe, it can be seen that Sun Chuanting's exit is just around the corner." "On the eve of Fu Zonglong, Ding Qirui and others raising troops to attack before, the promotion of officials to the rank of lord was the same as at this time.

"Ahem."

Li Zicheng coughed lightly, including Niu Jinxing, and the eyes of all the generals looked at him in unison. Li Zicheng supported his right half-pulled face with three fingers, tilted his head and said in a deep voice: "Sun Chuanting is a trouble for our army's henchmen, and it will be broken." Its forces are numerous, and they are a rare and formidable enemy of our army in recent years, and they should be dealt with with all their might. Today, all the camps are gathered in Xuzhou, in order to pinch their palms into fists. ”

"What the king said is very true." Everyone should do it.

Li Zicheng replied: "But now there are still two things to deal with, one inside and one outside. ”

Niu Jinxing, as a representative, asked: "What is the inside and what is the outside?" ”

Li Zicheng straightened his head and folded his fingers, and replied: "The inner one lies in Henan." Henan is full of bandits, and although they are unable to do anything against our soldiers, they disturb logistics and have to be prepared to march when we are tired. Therefore, I mean that there needs to be a special person responsible for maintaining the stability of order in Henan and other places during the war against the Ming army. As he spoke, his voice raised, "Where are Li Jiyu, Liu Hongqi, and Shen Wandeng?" ”

"The villain is here!"

The figure in front of Yang Zhaofeng's eyes flickered, and Li Jiyu, who had been tense for a long time, responded and stepped out with Liu Hongqi and Shen Wandeng, and walked from the door of the big tent to not far from Li Zicheng.

Li Zicheng said directly: "Henan and other places, can you three be familiar with them?" ”

"It's more familiar than my father." The three of them said in unison.

"The three of you are all from Henan, and you are more familiar with the mountains and rivers, the fortresses and human relations in various places than others, and you all have strong soldiers. I entrust Anwen Henan to the three of you, is it appropriate? ”

Liu Hongqi said loudly: "The most suitable!" can be appreciated by the king, and it is difficult for us to repay each other even if we die. ”

Shen Wandeng was unwilling to follow, and also promised: "If the king's king is disturbed by the thieves in the village during the battle, my old Shen is willing to come to see him!" ”

Li Zicheng found that Li Jiyu didn't speak, and glanced at him, Li Jiyu hurriedly bowed down and hugged his fists and said: "The villain will go all out, and he will not pull the king's back!" ”

"Very good, defeating Sun Chuanting at that time will definitely require you to wait for great achievements." Li Zicheng stroked his palms with satisfaction and nodded.

Niu Jinxing and the other three retreated, and then asked: "There is no obstacle to internal affairs, and it is appropriate for the king to arrange foreign affairs." ”

Li Zicheng said: "In the land of the four wars in Henan, surrounded by foreign enemies, Sun Chuanting is not alone. In the east, there is Ma Shiying in Fengyang. In the north, there is also Cai Maode in Shanxi. I ......"

Niu Jinxing interjected and reminded in a whisper, Li Zicheng paused slightly, and added: "...... In the south, Huguang also has Zhao Dangshi. Our army must concentrate its forces to break through the Shaanxi army first, and we must not relax in other aspects. Standing upright and looking around at the generals, "I thought that in addition to the five battalions, there should be another army and horses to guard the flood land and beware of unscrupulous people." ”

Tian Jianxiu and Liu Fangliang both said: "What the king said is extremely true. Tian Jianxiu said again: "Although Henan is now settled, there are still many remnants of the Ming army in various places who resist guerrilla, and there are still a few county towns that have been regained and lost, and they are still in the hands of Ming officials. If our army only looks at one side and ignores the others, it will be absolutely difficult to maintain the situation that Henan has painstakingly managed, and it is necessary to set up local troops to patrol and defend the town in addition to the main force of the field as a wing protection. ”

Li Zicheng said in a loud voice: "This matter was agreed with Mr. Niu, Song Junshi and others earlier, and there are now five generals to guard the flood land. Saying that, his eyes were like torches and reported down, "General Yang Yanchang of Guoyi, guarding Nanyang Mansion, and Ji Jue is the second deputy." ”

When Yang Zhaofeng heard this, his body shook slightly, he really didn't expect that the first important place that Li Zicheng reported that needed to be heavily defended was in Nanyang Mansion. According to the original agreement of Jishan Dahongzhai, the Chuang army only occupied the northern prefectures and counties of Nanyang Prefecture, and was separated from the Zhao Ying's soldiers and horses who occupied the southern prefectures and counties. Yang Yanchang is the old subordinate of Liu Guoneng who "broke into the sky", and Yang Yanchang, who was defending the city for the Zuojia army when the army captured Yexian, surrendered with Zhou Fengwu and was named a mighty general. And Ji Ju is Luo Rucai's mastermind, when Luo Rucai went to Nanyang Mansion and died, he was sick and very resourceful. The quality of this combination of literature and martial arts is very high. With these two sitting in Nanyang Mansion, it can be seen that Li Zicheng is afraid of Zhao Ying in his heart.

"The general is glorious, guarding the Runing Mansion, and the lieutenant Ye Yunlin is the second deputy."

The brothers Ren Guangrong and Ren Jirong belonged to the Ming army generals who surrendered to Cheng in the early days, and were regarded as role models by Li Zicheng, and each had its own reseal. Ren Jirong is General Guoyi, and Ren Guangrong is even more ranked, and he is on an equal footing with the leader of the Fifth Field Battalion of the Lao Army. Ye Yunlin was first a student of Jiaxian County, and is now a lieutenant. Considering that the Chuang army and Zhao Ying were also in a situation of confrontation in Runing Mansion, putting Ren Guangrong, who had a very high status, here can also get a glimpse of Li Zicheng's thoughts.

"The mighty general Gao Yigong, guarding Ruzhou, and the lieutenant Ma Shitai is the second lieutenant."

Gao Yigong is Li Zicheng's brother-in-law, he is not very old, but he has outstanding military achievements, and his official position in the camp is not high, but no one dares to underestimate him. Ma Shitai is the younger brother of Ma Shiyao, the current general of Zuoying Guoyi and Liu Fangliang's deputy, with the official rank of captain. Ruzhou is a strategic place in the center of Henan, and it is more likely to be the main battlefield where the army is about to meet Sun Chuanting's Shaanxi soldiers.

"The mighty general Wang Wenyao guards the Kaifeng Mansion, and the lieutenant Zhang Li is the second lieutenant."

Wang Wenyao and Li Zicheng are old acquaintances, in the early years, they were both subordinates of Zhang Cunmeng, Zhang Cunmeng's battalion subordinate to the eighth team, Wang Wenyao is the captain of the seventh team, nicknamed "night does not collect", clever and keen. Zhang Li was born in the official army, once led the sailors to guard the river near Kaifeng Mansion, and he was responsible for protecting the embankment that broke when the flood opened Kaifeng.

"The mighty general Xie Yinglong, guarding the Defu, and the mighty general Feng Xiong is the second deputy."

Xie Yinglong was originally the family of Luo Dai, the general of the Zuo Army, and after Luo Dai died in Agate Mountain, he returned to Henan with Zuo Liangyu. Zuo Liangyu moved Luo Dai's family out of Xuzhou, he was angry and surrendered to Luoyang, and surrendered when Luoyang City was broken by the army, because he was good at handling firearms and was reused. Feng Xiong is an old man in northern Shaanxi, but he didn't belong to Li Zicheng before, and he didn't come to take refuge until recently, even so, he still has a good status.

"The above five armies of soldiers and horses are separated from the five field battalions and are guarded separately." Li Zicheng took the water bladder handed by the attendant, took a sip, moistened his throat and revived, "Third child, you are in control."

A neatly dressed military general stood up after Ren Guangrong and Gao Yigong turned around and said yes. He is Li Zicheng's third brother Li Zijing, who has no actual position in the army, but his status is transcendent, sitting between Li Guo and Li Shuangxi. After Li Zicheng called himself "King Xinshun", some people who knew how to come began to call Li Zicheng "Long live", as Li Zicheng's younger brother, Li Zijing was respectfully called "three thousand years old". These generals who are stationed in various places are from different backgrounds and come from different sources, and it may not be possible to convince them to be satisfied if they want to arbitrarily send a senior general to press on them, but it is appropriate to use Li Zijing to control the armies.

This is also the result of Niu Jinxing, Song Xiance and other strategists to Li Zicheng's persuasion, they believe that no matter how loyal and obedient the generals of the battalion are, after all, it is not as deep as the relationship between blood and water, and the forces of the army are gradually opening up vigorously, and it is necessary to deliberately place their own flesh and blood in some key positions, so as not to turn into elbows and armpits. Li Zicheng accepted this point of view, under his instruction, some relatives who did not travel with the army to fight earlier were found from all over the country and collected into the army, except for the second brother who died in the early war, the third brother Li Zijing is currently an important person that Li Zicheng is ready to support, and others such as Li Guo, whose original clan name is Li Zili, and his brother-in-law Gao Yigong, etc., have been quite important recently.

Liu Zongmin had a straight temperament, seemed to be smiling, and said with a strange expression: "Sending heavy troops to guard Nanyang Mansion and Runing Mansion, is Zhao Dangshi so terrible?" ”

Li Zicheng didn't answer, and Niu Jinxing said with a straight face: "Why did Liu Ye say this, the south is not Zhao Zhishi, and there is still Yuan Jixian." ”

"Oh, I see." Liu Zongmin grinned and stopped talking.

The appointment and dismissal of military generals is cumbersome and lengthy, and Li Jiyu, Xue Zhao and others have nothing to do with themselves, and many of them can't help but yawn. However, Yang Zhaofeng listened carefully to Li Zicheng's every word from beginning to end, and kept in mind the names of these appointed generals. Because he was close to Zhao Dangshi and listened to Zhao Dangshi's words, through his conversation with Zhao Dangshi and his own inference, he had an intuition that these generals appointed by Li Zicheng at the moment would inevitably have a direct intersection with Zhao Ying in the future.