Ten days later, Liu Juntao led the army to the boundary of Taiyuan Prefecture, at this time more than 83,000 Yanzhou town soldiers along the official road all the way to the north, against the scorching sun of early summer, the whole army was neatly clothed, the formation was neat, no soldier was left behind, no one spoke in the military formation, only the sound of neat footsteps and the collision of iron armor leaves.

Seeing this, the people along the way flashed to both sides of the official road, and even many people knelt down on both sides of the old and the young, and kept kowtowing to the army.

Liu Juntao rode the horse army, looked back at the endless ironclad army, and was also very proud in his heart.

Whether it is the quality of individual soldiers or the level of equipment, this iron-blooded army under Liu Juntao can be called a division of tigers and wolves, and among the Ming Dynasty, even if it is not the strongest army, it must be one of the top three!

Just when Liu Juntao sighed, he suddenly saw a group of cavalry rushing over on the official road ahead, and there was also an internal official flag among the cavalry!

Liu Juntao knew that those cavalry must have sent the overseers sent by the imperial court, and Yu Qian, the secretary of the military department, had already sent someone to report it.

It is customary for the imperial court to send a supervising army to a general, which plays a supervisory role in leading the general.

However, Liu Juntao can rest assured that at this time, the Ming Dynasty has not yet reached the time when the status of the military attache is abnormally underground, and the prison army sent by the imperial court has no right to influence the war into the city, and Liu Juntao does not need to report to the prison army and ask for anything, so Liu Juntao is not very resistant to the prison army in his heart.

Moreover, Yu Qian also mentioned in the report that this prison army was not a henchman of Cao Jixiang, the supervisor of the department, but an internal official appointed by Yu Qian, named Wang Zuhe.

This time, Wang Zuhe only walked to Taiyuan City with Liu Juntao, and then stayed in Taiyuan City to transport grain and grass for Liu Juntao's army, and would not follow Liu Juntao's army to Datong Town.

Liu Juntao also agrees with this very much, with the prison army Wang Zuhe sitting in Taiyuan City, the money and grain supply transferred by the imperial court here can also be guaranteed.

At this time, the cavalry had already come to the front, Wang Zu and Zema saw Liu Juntao, and they smiled and shouted: "General Liu!" It's been a great journey! ”

After speaking, Wang Zuhe turned over and dismounted, and strode towards Liu Juntao.

Liu Juntao also dismounted a long time ago, and greeted him with a smile: "Wang Jianjun has worked hard all the way. ”

Liu Juntao also took a general look at Wang Zuhe, and saw that he was of medium stature, white and fat, with a delicate face, and he looked very kind.

Liu Juntao saw that his face was full of sweat, and the team of cavalry behind him was also sweating, the hot weather, the whole body was armored, and he was marching in a hurry, so it was strange if he was not tired.

Seeing this, Liu Juntao took out the coconut scoop on his waist, handed it to Wang Zuhe with a smile, and exchanged a few words with him.

After that, Wang Zuhe said with a smile: "General Liu soldiers are hard, I don't know how many soldiers and horses General Liu has dispatched in this expedition?" ”

Liu Juntao said: "Eighty-three thousand, about 10,000 cavalry (6,000 iron cavalry, 4,000 horse teams in each battalion), and 73,000 infantry troops!" ”

Wang Zuhe suddenly shouted when he heard this: "Okay! ”

Originally, the official document of the Ministry of War said that Liu Juntao sent nearly 100,000 troops, but Wang Zuhe estimated that this was just a "claim", and the soldiers and horses under Liu Juntao's command were only 50,000 or 60,000 at best, and most of them were temporarily raised.

At this time, when I heard that there were more than 80,000 soldiers and horses under Liu Juntao's command, I was also pleasantly surprised.

At this time, Wang Zuhe saw Liu Juntao's handsome flag in the army, and his eyes couldn't help but light up, and he praised: "Liu Zongbing's banner is impressive, it's really good!" ”

Liu Juntao's handsome flag is a huge big flag, the pole is two zhang high, the fine wood and steel are for it, the flag is one zhang large, the red silk is for it, the gold silk is the edge, and the tassel head is decorated with beads, which is extremely gorgeous. In the four directions of the flag, there are green dragons, white tigers, vermilion birds, and Xuanwu patterns, and in the middle of the flag, it is the sun and moon ornamentation of the golden waves of the Ming Dynasty.

As soon as the wind and waves blow and the flag is churning, it gives people a feeling of passion and blood boiling.

Originally, this kind of flag, generally known as the sitting flag, was only used when camping, and later Qi Jiguang also said: "This cannot be used for marching, and it is important!" ”

This kind of flag, even the strongest flag bearer can't resist, so the Equipment Department specially built a handsome flag car for Liu Juntao in the vehicle workshop under the Ministry of Commerce, erected the Daxu flag on it, and pulled it by two healthy horses.

Not only that, but there are also a number of big drum carts in the military camp during this expedition, the diameter of the drum is up to three meters, and these huge war drums are placed on the drum carts, pulled by horses, and the drummer strikes, and the momentum is everywhere.

Moreover, Liu Juntao also improved the Yuanrong car used by him to ascend and the lookout pole car used by the sentry, and he was dispatched at the same time.

Today's Yuanrong chariots are more sturdy and can even protect against artillery fire, but of course they are heavier and require four healthy horses to pull them.

The pole car, the pole height is up to 20 meters, and the sergeant stands on the bucket and looks out, and can see the movement of more than ten miles around.

Looking at the huge army marshal flag of Yanzhou Town in front of him, as well as the golden waves of the sun and moon flags, not to mention the supervising army Wang Zuhe, even the eyes of the soldiers of each battalion are constantly turning on the flags, and the passion and vigor displayed in them are that they all feel enthusiastic.

At this time, Liu Juntao smiled and said, "Wang Jianjun, let you see the soldiers I trained." ”

Wang Zuhe, the supervising army, looked over, only to see in the distance, tens of thousands of soldiers and soldiers marching forward neatly, and on the winding official road, those soldiers were densely packed, and they were coming in a neat line.

From a distance, you can see that there are countless birds and soldiers in the military array, the iron armor is wearing red cotton armor, the long knife soldiers are wearing red waist-length armor, and in the arms, the blue side of the mandarin duck battle jacket is exposed, alternating blue and red, and the color is extremely moving.

Liu Juntao's heart moved at this time, and in order to let the prison Wang Zuhe see more clearly, he took out a clairvoyant mirror and handed it over.

As early as a year ago, Liulifang in Yushan Town had developed qualified optical glass, and Liu Juntao handed over the clairvoyant mirror drawings he designed to Zhang Baigui to let the Yushan Town Military Bureau start to build.

This time the army went out, Liu Juntao distributed more than 100 clairvoyant mirrors created by the Yushan Town Military Bureau, and each battalion had one general and above 1,000 generals!

This clairvoyant mirror is exquisitely made, and Wang Zuhe, the supervising army, can't put it down when he sees it, and hurriedly uses it, only to see that the sergeants of the army are young and strong, the military appearance is neat, the face is firm, and the hot weather is hot, but no one is noisy, and the ranks are very neat.

Seeing this, Wang Zuhe, the superintendent, praised sincerely: "He is indeed a good soldier!" ”

Although the praise of the prison army Wang Zuhe was sincere, Liu Juntao understood that the army under his command still had shortcomings.

For example, the cultural level of soldiers is generally not high, so the soldiers of each battalion are not sufficient in their observance and understanding of military regulations and military regulations. Moreover, the regulations, systems, tactics, battle formations, etc., of the army all need cultural support.

In order for soldiers to understand what they are fighting for, and to improve their will to fight, they need spiritual understanding, professionalism, army management, and the improvement of a series of systems, all of which require culture.

At this time, the soldiers and horses in the rear were getting closer and closer, and Wang Zuhe, the supervising army, saw that there were dense four-wheeled chariots in the army, all of which were in the style of carriages, led by two war horses, and in front of each cart, as well as the right side, there were holes, and there were obviously dismantling hardwood cards, which were inserted during wartime.

At this time, these four-wheeled chariots were loaded with all kinds of baggage, tents, grain and grass, weapons and ammunition.

Seeing this, Wang Zuhe, the superintendent of the army, also secretly sighed in his heart that Liu Juntao's wealth was abundant, the army's food and salary were allocated by the imperial court, and he also brought so much money and food, and I heard that there was still a large amount of money and grain, and the military equipment had been sent to Taiyuan Mansion in advance, how much silver was needed!

Subsequently, Liu Juntao and the superintendent Wang Zuhe moved forward side by side, and the two continued to discuss the matters of the war, and the superintendent Wang Zuhe also said that he would fully cooperate with Liu Juntao in Taiyuan City.

Liu Juntao was also very satisfied with the statement of Wang Zuhe, the superintendent.

At this time, Wang Zuhe saw the marching army around him, and his heart was also full of pride.

Under those iron helmets, there are hot-blooded men, who is not proud of all beings in this situation?

Seeing this, Liu Juntao also drew his sword in his hand, waving his salute at the soldiers of the army, and 83,000 soldiers roared in response, and the roar of "Wansheng" was even more like a stormy sea.

At this time, the drumbeat of the march in the army sounded, and tens of thousands of soldiers moved their own steps, instigated their war horses, like an endless torrent of steel, and went in the direction of Taiyuan Fucheng.

Looking at the marching army, Wang Zuhe, the superintendent, sighed: "This is called the king's division, and this is called the army." ”