Yesterday night the snow fell, but it did not last long, and this morning it all turned into icy water, and it accumulated in all kinds of horns.

A pole Xu banner was erected in the wind, and the soldiers with spears and swords met like a river from all directions. The banner stood up and the army was solemn, nine cannons rang out, the dazzling light of the sun flickered, the footsteps were heavy as moving, and the boundless Zhao Ying army pulled out from Zitong.

The old army, the first army, the Tsing Yi army, the Feijie army, and the four armies of Zhao Ying had a total of nearly 20,000 horses. 20,000 people moving at the same time is not realistic for the narrow roads in central Sichuan. Zhao Dangshi and Chang Zeyu, Mu Gongchun and others agreed that the Tsing Yi Army would be the vanguard first, and the army would be followed first, and the old army would be postponed again, and the Feijie army would be postponed and go out of the city in turn.

When Zhao Ying parted ways, Li Zicheng acquiesced. Zhao Dangshi has his own ideas, even if Li Zicheng doesn't allow it, he will not scruple about it. Before leaving, Tian Jianxiu, the representative of the camp, also rushed to Jianzhou City to practice in the starry night. He didn't say anything to Zhao at that time, but just wished him a smooth journey, and from his tone, you can also get a glimpse of Li Zicheng's mentality.

The final destination of this transfer is Huguang, and according to the set route, Tongchuan Prefecture is the first obstacle to be overcome. According to the information provided by the Secret Service Division, there are currently two field units of officers and troops stationed in Tongchuan Prefecture, one is Zhang Ling, deputy chief soldier of Sichuan, and the other is Kong Quanbin, deputy chief soldier of Songlong.

Zhang Ling settled in Tongchuan Prefecture City very early, and Guo Ruke suffered a loss under him a few days ago. Kong Quanbin, on the other hand, had recently retreated from Jianzhou to Tongchuan Prefecture, and now he was wandering around the junction of Yanting County in Tongchuan Prefecture and the southern county of Boryeong Prefecture, and his whereabouts were uncertain. Zhang Ling has 2,500 people, and Kong Quanbin also has nearly 2,000 people, and if these two people are pinched together, it will be more tricky. In addition, Wang Weizhang also took the Fu Biao soldiers in Langzhong, but he was still fighting with Yuan Tao, and it was difficult to pull out his hand for a while.

The former report Hu Jiusi had led the Tsing Yi Army as the vanguard into the boundary of Yanting County, and the first army would also go out of Zitong County, Zhao Dangshi sent someone to urge the march to prevent it from being out of touch with the front, and then he heard a burst of exclamation from the side and rear.

"What's the noise?" It is strictly forbidden to speak casually on the march, according to military discipline, the offenders are beheaded, Zhao Dangshi attaches the most importance to discipline, and when he heard the noise, he locked his eyebrows and asked.

"Somehow, the banner of the Chinese army was actually broken in half from it." Pang Jinming, who accompanied him, whispered, "The flag is conspicuous and conspicuous, and it is seen by all the troops, some people think it is a bad omen, and there are many tongues in private, and the army is impetuous." ”

Zhao Dangshi turned his head to look back, and sure enough, not far away, there were soldiers hurriedly lowering the flag of the Chinese army from the pole, and the generals who watched around were surprised.

"Are there any replacement flags?" No one will be happy about this, and Zhao Dangshi is no exception, "We must minimize the impact, if there are still people chewing their tongues, they will be cut immediately, and don't let him disturb the morale of the army again." ”

"The flag is still there. Mr. He has already sent someone to fetch it. Pang Jinming said in a low voice.

Chang Zeyu was by his side, he heard the conversation between the two clearly, and when Pang Jinming finished speaking, he smiled and said: "Lord, this is a great thing, it should be passed on by word of mouth, why punish the person who speaks?" ”

Zhao Dangshi was puzzled: "Before the army came out, the handsome banner fell, so frustrated, what is good?" ”

"As the old saying goes, 'the flag is victorious', and the flag is opened without a fight, isn't it a good omen?" Chang Zeyu stroked his beautiful hair, shook his head and said, "Dayu controls the water, it is advisable to be sparse and not blocked, it is obvious to everyone, no matter how the lord hides it, how can he stuff the mouths of the army?" If we blindly coerce, I am afraid that the morale of the military will be unstable. It is better to spread the word 'victory in the flag', and the army will feel at ease. ”

When Zhao Dangshi heard this, he said happily: "What the military advisor said is extremely true, and it should be done in this way!" Pang Jinming, who was about to go down to pick people, was also impressed when he heard it.

Soon, the banner was erected again, and the "victory of the banner" spread throughout the whole army at the same time, and the military appearance was visibly boosted.

Zhao Dangshi looked around with satisfaction, walked side by side with Chang Zeyu, and said, "Mr. Chang, do you think it is feasible to go out of Sichuan this time?" ”

Chang Zeyu was noncommittal: "Things are man-made, and whether you do or not can be judged by just a few words." As he spoke, his eyes suddenly narrowed, and he looked extremely bright, "In the autumn of our army's survival, we can't do it, we have to know that there are tigers in the mountains, and we have to go to the tiger mountains!" ”

Zhao Dangshi nodded and said: "Yes, trapped in the middle of the river, it is really difficult to develop, and if you can't get out, it is a dead end." At the same time, his voice sank, "There is only one policy of our army, get out of Sichuan as soon as possible, and the city and the city will be closed, and you can go around it, and you will never love war." ”

Chang Zeyu said: "Exactly, you need to have a goal in doing things, and the whole army will work hard in one place, and you will get twice the result with half the effort." If you are aimless, you will only be distracted and will be delayed by yourself. ”

Zhao Dangshi echoed and continued: "I will enter Tongchuan Prefecture soon, I heard that there are two departments of Zhang and Kong, I don't know what Mr. Chang thinks?" ”

Chang Zeyu replied without thinking: "Zhang Ling and Kong Quanbin are both good generals, and the soldiers in the department are also veterans of a hundred battles, and they are fighting with them, which has disadvantages and no advantages. And Shaanxi Hong Chengchou is ready to move, if he is entangled with the two of them, he is afraid of delaying the opportunity and being surrounded by many people. Tongchuan Prefecture is a ghost gate, after passing, the road back is easy to walk, can't pass, even if Sun Wu is resurrected, there is no power to return to the sky. ”

He saw that Zhao Dangshi was silent, and said: "The so-called 'country of abundance' in central Sichuan is nothing more than the flat and anointed land around Chengdu. The rest of the places can be said to be thorny ghosts. By land, the mountains are blocked, the fortresses are everywhere, and the heavy snow is coming, it is extremely difficult to walk. ”

Zhao Dangshi was still silent when he heard this. He was silent because he knew the truth in Chang Zeyu's words. The difficulty of the Sichuan Road is not just talking, but when you really walk, you know that there are thousands of difficulties and dangers, and it is really difficult to explain. The difficult scene of Zhao Ying's departure from Sichuan two years ago is still vivid, and Zhao Dangshi will not be without reflection, not to mention that the scale of Zhao Ying at that time was far less than now, and it cannot be said that it is the same day in terms of mobility or control strength. It's impossible to follow the same path as two years ago.

Chang Zeyu said at this time: "Has the lord ever thought about the origin of the word 'Sichuan'? ”

"Sichuan?" Zhao Dangshi was puzzled, I don't know why Chang Zeyu asked this.

"The river, the river. It is said that Shu has four major rivers, Min, Lu, Luo and Ba, because of its name. Chang Zeyu Kankan said, "Although its name actually comes from the Tang and Song dynasties, it can contain the word 'Sichuan', which naturally shows the status of rivers in this area." ”

"River ......"

"Sichuan is closed and the mountain roads are difficult to travel, if it is not for the criss-crossing river network and waterways to provide convenience, only relying on animal manpower and manpower transportation and transportation, how can it develop to the current point? Just like the reason why Chongqing Prefecture is prosperous, is it not taking advantage of the waterway? ”

"What do you mean, sir?" Zhao Dangshi was thoughtful, but he still didn't rashly export. The previous situation was pressing, and it was impossible to conduct military discussions for a long time, so when they were in Zitong, they only set the phased goal of passing through Tongchuan Prefecture and arriving at Dingyuan County, Chongqing Prefecture, and there was no time for in-depth discussion on how to follow-up. It's like crossing the river by feeling the stones, and then set off first. Poor planning, coupled with a premonition that the wind and snow were coming, Zhao Dangshi naturally had no bottom in his heart.

Chang Zeyu's voice was deep and magnetic: "Sichuan Shu Sichuan Shu has described the northwest as Shu since ancient times, with Chengdu as the capital; The southeast is Sichuan, with Chongqing as the capital. Although the two are now one, they are very different. Shu passes through Shaanxi and Yunnan, and the land route is heavy, while Sichuan goes straight down to Huguang and relies on waterways. ”

Zhao Dangshi scratched the short mustache on his lips: "Could it be that you want to go to Huguang by water?" ”

Chang Zeyu did not answer him directly, but looked into the distance and said: "Shu Road is difficult, mostly refers to the traffic with the outside, in fact, such as Chengdu and other places, it is quite convenient to float and turn around." The great river runs through, and the tributaries are innumerable, and the water such as Min, Tuo, Fu, and Jialing are all called trunk roads. Among them, for Kawanaka, the internal and external water is the most important. ”

"What is 'inner and outer water'?" Zhao Dangshi was confused, but he was also interested.

"Neishui, Fujiang also; Outside the water, the Min River also. In addition to these two, there is also 'Zhongshui', which means Tuojiang River. "Zhao Dangshi has been fighting in Shaanxi and Henan all the year round, and he is not very clear about the situation in Sichuan and Shu, Chang Zeyu saw his incomprehension, and thought that as the commander of the first army, he could not help but have a general understanding of the situation before making a decision, so he decided to explain to him first, "From the north of the Fujiang River, you can go to the north of Mianzhou out of Chengdu, this is the internal water, and the key lies in Hezhou......"

"I know Hezhou, where Diaoyu City is located, Meng Yuan Khan Meng Ge died there in the past." Zhao Dangshi finally interjected.

Chang Zeyu continued: "From Chongqing Prefecture to the Great River, the Min River upstream, you can go out of the south of Chengdu, this is the external water, the key lies in Jiading. Huan Wenping, Li Shi, and Liu Jingxuan discussed Jiao Zong, and they all went to the outside water. He coughed lightly and continued, "Chongqing to the west, and then along the Tuojiang River to the north and towards Chengdu, this is the middle water, Zang Xi takes Guanghan, and this is the way." ”

Although Zhao Dangshi said that he didn't know anything about the internal and external waters, the geography was not bad, and he usually paid great attention to drawing a brief topographical map of mountains and rivers according to the information collected by the scouts, so he was no stranger to the geographical terms mentioned by Chang Zeyu, and even roughly knew where the location was. He listened to Chang Zeyu's explanation, thought for a while, frowned and said, "So, what does Mr. mean, can we go to Neishui?" ”

Tongchuan Prefecture was built on the edge of the Fujiang River, and now the Tongshui along the Zhao Ying's soldiers and horses is a tributary of the Fujiang River, which will flow into the main trunk in Shehong County in the south of Tongchuan Prefecture.

Chang Zeyu was very surprised by Zhao Dangshi's quick reaction, but he didn't show it outside, but stroked his beard with one hand and said indifferently: "If you can go to the inner water, it will naturally be smooth." "He always gives advice, he only gives a general direction, or only focuses on the strategic level, and as for the details of implementation, he doesn't bother. First, he has a self-respecting identity, and secondly, he doesn't have that energy, and he also knows that he always has to give a strategist like Mu Gongchun some opportunities to perform, although the cake is big, if you swallow it alone, it will always be broken.

A day later, the whole army of Zhao Ying entered Tongchuan Prefecture.

The old army and the Feijie army were temporarily stationed in Yanting. There are few soldiers in Yanting, but Zhao Dangshi does not plan to spend energy in this county seat. After all, through the plundering of Jianzhou, Zitong and Jiangyou, at least for the time being, Zhao Ying's military resources are not too big a problem.

First of all, there was a military report from Fucun and Liubianyi in the northeast of Yanting, where Hao Shaoqi and Qin Jinxiao fought an encounter with Kong Quanbin, and there were casualties among each other, and Kong Quanbin led his troops to retreat slightly in the direction of Langzhong in the north. This actually made Zhao Dangshi feel lucky, because once Kong Quanbin went south to meet Zhang Ling, then the next resistance would undoubtedly be much greater. However, now it seems that Kong Quanbin's use of troops still tends to be conservative, after all, when he is close to Wang Weizhang in Langzhong, the safety factor is increased, and it is easier to obtain the support of Hong Chengchou in the north.

The Tsing Yi Army, which pioneered to Tongchuan Prefecture, also reported military information, and Hu Jiusi, Liang Shizheng, and Yang San tried to cross the Fujiang River several times to attack and disturb the state city of Tongchuan Prefecture, but they were all blocked by Zhang Ling and failed. Although it failed, the effect was obvious, and the active performance of Hujiu Sibu made Zhang Ling scruples, he only had about 2,000 people, and he had to defend the city and fight in the field, so he couldn't help but be stretched. Later, Guo Ruke led troops to support him, and joined forces with the Tsing Yi Army to cross the Fujiang River, but he only held out for less than half a day, and forced the tenacious Zhang Ling back to the other side. However, after this battle, Zhang Ling completely abandoned the idea of taking the initiative to attack, and began to build simple fortifications along the river, insisting on sitting in the city.

Tongchuan Prefecture is a hard bone, and if you bite it down, you will inevitably knock out a few teeth. On the road out of Sichuan this time, Zhao Dangshi considered only one word - "fast". He didn't think about fighting a protracted war in Tongchuan Prefecture, and his gaze swept directly to the southern part of Tongchuan Prefecture.

Because Pang Jinming came to report, he didn't find it at night, and there were nearly 100 boats moored in the flood.