Four days later, when the slightest morning light came out of the fog, the sound of military trumpets and golden drums in the Xishan camp sounded into a frenzy, waking up the people outside the barracks, Zhang Xuefei took a group of Jianrui battalion officers to stand at the barracks door to bid farewell to Li Guolou and his party, Li Guolou led a large army of more than 2 people to set off from Gyeonggi to Lanzhou, the road was arduous, icy and snowy, and the road was slow

Zhang Xuefei's rough face was flattering, and he and a group of subordinates saluted Li Guolou on the horse, and said solemnly: "Lord Li has had a smooth journey, and has made great achievements, I will wait for your good news to come."

"The Governor does not work far away, and when the lower officials come back, they will drink fine wine, and there will be a period after the farewell of the princes," Li Guolou stepped on, and said goodbye to a group of officers, turned the horse's head, and pulled up the front hooves of the war horse, and jumped wildly and uninhibitedly

Ma Zhan neighed, Li Guolou controlled the reins in one hand, and held a stabbing gun in the other, his face was sinking like water, his eyes were deep, and he seemed to want to see through the clouds and nights, and see through the haze and sky, so that the people outside the barracks could see the military might of Li Ziying, and he happened to be the escort of this army

"Li Guolou, I love you", "Tanhualang will redeem himself for the slaves", "Xiaolou, please come up, don't want silver"

The team passed by a fancy brothel not far from the Jianrui camp in Xishan, and a group of prostitutes waved at Li Guolou along the window, and the scene was so fragrant that the originally solemn soldiers couldn't help laughing

Li Guolou was filled with righteous indignation, his face was extremely ugly, and he was secretly angry, who deliberately made him lose face, he must have not chosen those nurturing soldiers, and it was unbearable to use shady tricks

Unexpectedly, a piece of champa came to cover his face, and the image of "Changshan Zhao Zilong" immediately appeared on his face, Li Guolou took off the champa on his face, and pulled it like a bitter gourd, he was a little afraid to look at the deputy envoy Xun Xi and Fan Dahui, and said with an embarrassed expression: "Xishan girls are so enthusiastic."

Through these days, Xun Xi is no longer afraid of Li Guolou, and he can't help but sigh: "Yes, for these girls, I am willing to eat and sleep in the open," and patted his chest and howled: "Brothers, give me a long face, let me make a good life in the artillery camp, cooperate with Lord Li, Shaanxi and Gan, make great achievements, and rob some thieves and mothers-in-law, hahahaha"

"Yes," the marching people echoed that when they were soldiers, they wanted to make war money, and Li Guolou went to great lengths to let them practice military skills, just to fight in Shaanxi and Gansu

Li Guolou's eyes flashed with shrewdness and cunning, looking at the war horse next to him in a daze, Xun Xi saw through his inner thoughts, and dared to look for the allies openly and honestly, and wanted to make war money, Zuo Zongtang Chu Jun was snatching food under his nose, and if he wanted to offend a large number of Qiu Ba under Zuo Zongtang's subordinates, it was still appropriate to stop and receive awards for meritorious service, and he could return to Beijing anyway, the emperor and the queen mother of the two palaces would count small merits as big merits, and one could be promoted and awarded when he returned to Beijing

There are two roads from Beijing to Lanzhou, one goes north, from Hohhot in Mongolia to Yinchuan, and then arrives at Lanzhou, but the weather is cold, the ground is frozen and covered with ice and snow, and the road to the north has been closed, Li Guolou is to the southwest, passing through Shijiazhuang, Taiyuan, Xi'an, and then to Lanzhou

Because the two Krupp cannons are heavy, their own weight is more than 4,000 catties, the gun body and the gun carriage need to be transported separately, each cannon needs horses, oxen, etc., nearly ten horses to drag, the march is slow, there are dozens of large-caliber mortar guns in the army, special stone bullets, iron bullets, and some flowering shells, of course, the flowering shells here are all frag shells, poison smoke bombs, ash bullets, etc., and there are no solid bullets in the transported ammunition

The materials for this escort were mainly military supplies, other small Krupp cannons, 100 howitzers, mortars, and bronze cannons, all of which had two- or four-wheeled gun mounts, and there was no need to disassemble them, and they could directly use ox carts or horse-drawn carts to tow 2,000 Mauser rifles, as well as a large number of flowering shells, bullets, 10,000 military coats, and other supporting military equipment, with more than 12 men and more than 12 men, carriages, ox carts, and more than 100 camels

Howitzers and mortars are light and flexible, but their power and range are not small, and they also require knowledge of ballistics

Soldiers wear hoods, helmets are inside is a hat that can keep warm, there are ear protectors to protect the ears, the outside is an iron helmet, there is a brim, quite like the Prussian helmet, the color is also the same as the cotton coat, it is gray, not bright, there is no feathers, from the appearance, the big difference between the soldier and the man is that the hat and the shoes, the man issued a pair of suede boots, but the vast majority of the man wears cloth shoes and even straw sandals, only some of the car drivers wear suede boots, and also wear the gray cotton coat to show off the superior dress

The morning breeze blows, and the big red plum flag is planted on the carriage, constantly churning on the long westbound road, like a swimming centipede, and there is no end in sight

Its sergeants are all tall, Gu Pan Zixiong, his eyes are proud, one is burly, his face is full of weather, beard is thick, he does not wear a cotton coat, but wears a red cloak, a prancing horse, galloping, and a red cloak on his body, and he tries his best to show off what kind of commander he is, and his subordinates Li Guolou loves to show off, of course, let him always admire Battle as a pioneer officer, this is a matter of face

Behind Battle is a group of five big and three stout men, horse thieves, scabbards, Yun with twenty horse thieves to open the way for Li Ziying, and will encounter many unexpected things, of course, you need experienced people to lead the way, except for the guide, it is a horse thief, the nose is spirited, and he is naturally alert

Scabbard Yun defected to Li Guolou in the Gyeonggi area to sell livestock, this time let him bring a group of people, Li Guolou affirmed his ability, Wutang war horses were bought from him, this army business, as long as it is easy in the future, the thin water and long flow of scabbard Yun will give Li Guolou tribute to the tablet of Changsheng

The gunners and people pushed the heavy gun wagons along the official road, and the doors were tightly wrapped, and the artillery was like a monster with its fangs erected and entered the Shijiazhuang territory

On the drum car, the drummer beats the marching song, every time it is striking, it is shocking, the military trumpeter behind it responds, so that the onlookers are jubilant and shouting, all feel satisfied, many people also flutter on the flag, the lion flag is fluttering, the lion flag is pointed, everyone first sees it fresh, and then all say that the Li Ziqi flag is really different from other armies, it is extraordinary, it makes people watch the blood boiling, the heart is burning, just like Changshan Zhao Zilong is as inspiring

The crowd screamed with passion exposed, and Li Guolou rode his horse and whipped away, waving to the people on both sides of the road before walking the military vehicle

In the rear were countless cavalrymen, all of them well-dressed, wearing red cloaks, hoods, hats, and helmets, which were extremely majestic, followed by columns of student soldiers in gray military coats

Then came the neat and orderly captains, their military uniforms were neat and neat, and they walked calmly, their military boots were beating, and there was a neat bang on the road, and everyone tried their best to show that they were raising soldiers, and they all held their heads high, and did not squint, but marched solemnly

The servant Deng Tong's face was tight, Shijiazhuang was his hometown governor who gave him the opportunity to show his face, put the Mauser gun close to his shoulder, and raised his feet high to the beat of the drum music, stomped down vigorously, and mixed in the long husband to join the Li Ziying, hoping that it would finally come true

Suddenly, there was a burst of women screaming on the side of the road, "Xiaolou, Xiaolou, I love you", they shouted at Li Guolou, and at the same time threw a large handkerchief, incense sachet and other boudoir things Li Guolou tossed, and immediately Li Guolou's head and body were immediately filled with fragrant and private things of women compatriots

Li Guolou has long been commonplace, deaf to women, in order to do crazy things, who called him Zhao Zilong of the Qing Empire, just stuffed the sachet on his body into the horse pocket, and couldn't help but glance over there, those women saw Li Guolou beckoning and stomping their feet, trying to attract his attention

One of the pretty young women gave a flying kiss and shouted, "Xiaolou, I am a widow."

At this time, Li Guolou couldn't hold his face, jumped off the war horse, got into the carriage, listened to the surrounding Goshha sneered and laughed, quite ashamed, he likes to marry a widow, and his reputation is not so good, let him attract bees and butterflies, and provoke countless peach blossoms, what a crime, he is oppressed by women

Three hundred cars to build a sturdy artillery car, horse team march, cattle pull people to carry out the army is quite difficult, at this time the vehicle wheels are special, and the outside is wrapped with rubber tires, which is more wear-resistant than animal skin wrapped tires, strong and strong, it is also very convenient to replace, but also like nailing horseshoe, where the rubber tire is broken, you can use glue to stick a piece of rubber on it, the only disadvantage is that there is no inner tube in the tire, the speed of the vehicle is just a little bit more than the past

All the way through the mountain city, stepping through the plains, there are lofty mountains and mountains in front of it, compared to the flat official roads in the Gyeonggi area, the official roads in the mountains here are much more difficult to walk, the cavalry soldiers and infantry are fortunately, but the baggage vehicles, artillery carts are difficult to travel, and there is still sunshine at noon, and many times are accompanied by cold

The trees are sparse and bare, the north wind is howling, the wind and sand are very strong, people can't open their eyes, wrapped in a turban, and only two eyeballs are exposed

All the soldiers marched with helmets and cotton coats to keep warm, but there was no need to worry about the army resting, drinking water, and eating some dry food under a hill, and there was a mound in front of them

Li Guolou inspected the army, pulled down the masked turban, and asked, "The brothers have worked hard to climb this hill and set up camp."

When the servant Deng Tong saw that the masked man was Li Guolou, he immediately burned his fighting spirit, stood up from the ground and said in a loud voice: "Lord Li, don't worry, a small hill will not be difficult for us."

Li Guolou looked around at the pack horse, caressed and touched the horse's mane, the horse's endurance is relatively strong, it is not easy to get sick, and it is difficult to be seen, and when he is sick, he often can't be saved

Even if horses and mules and other animals are well ill, and there are many veterinarians accompanying them, they can detect the omen in advance, the only thing that worries him is whether these student soldiers can endure the suffering, fortunately, more than 2,000 people have passed in more than ten days, and no one in the team has been placed in the place to recuperate because of illness, and the hazy weather indicates that a snowstorm is coming, and they will have to rest for a few days, so that those horse thieves, school officials, and people can go to the brothel a few times, and as for the student soldiers, they will all stay in the camp and receive ideological and moral education

Wan Niang sat in the carriage, wearing a fiery red fur coat, like a graceful and luxurious lady, she did not feel bitter at all, just bumpy all the way, out of the door, these days every day more than eighty miles, sometimes only thirty or forty miles

The magistrate was very flattering, for the four-rank official Li Guolou was exceptionally entertained, knowing that he loved his subordinates, and did not let the sergeants and civilians sleep in the field, they could always receive local souvenirs, the car was full of snacks, and the mouth was full of mouths, Wan Niang lifted the soft and thick windproof bear skin and looked at the scenery outside the glass window

From here, I see that everything is so desolate, with primitive rudeness, intoxicating, Wan Niang loves it, here is inaccessible, the wilderness is majestic, the mountains are tall and tall, and the wild Wuthering mountain wind, this is located in the loess high slope, a poignant landscape, this vast middle zone, the first touch of the morning sun bathes, it seems deep and thick, soft light, light in the haze, the troops slowly move forward

The mountain is covered with snow, the heavy snow on the branches bends the big trees, some overwhelmed, the trees are crushed by the wind and snow, blocking the way, "poof", a ball of snow falls from the branches, the ground seems to be lifelike, the robbers burst out from unexpected places, the fierce and cruel battle scene emerges in front of Li Guolou, the more you go forward, the more dangerous it becomes, the unique loess slope landform in Shaanxi and Gansu has begun to emerge