Make the most of your time and don't delay along the way...... This is the rule set by Shen Xi when he set off from Datong Mansion.

From the capital to Datong Mansion, an average of fifty or sixty miles a day, and in the second half, a day to walk eighty or ninety miles, the day is not yet dawn to set off, and only when the sky is dark can find a place to set up camp.

Do not look for a post station for rest, because it will be very troublesome to register, check in, etc., and camp in the mountains and wilderness to rest, which is more convenient, and you don't have to be tied up in order to catch the post station or miss the post station.

Zhang Laowu and others expressed absolute support for Shen Xi's decision. But Song Shu and other officers and soldiers in the Beijing camp couldn't wait to peel Shen Xi's skin and bones...... This kid is very sincere!

Speaking of danger, you can stay in Datong Mansion and wait for the Tatars to withdraw before going to Yansui, now you are in such a hurry, you are really not afraid of a team of Tatar cavalry suddenly coming out of nowhere!

Song Shu and the others were worried for a few days, and did not encounter any danger, but there were many post stations on the official roads that passed along the way, and some post stations were even burned down, depending on the situation, it was the first few days. This made those officers and soldiers of the Beijing battalion feel like a sword hanging over their heads, and they did not dare to take it lightly.

"Lord Shen, you see that there are many dangers along the way, maybe when you will encounter the Tatars head-on, why don't you withdraw to Datong as soon as possible and then make a decision."

Shen Xi felt more and more that the only meaning of Song Shu by his side was to keep pulling him back, and he would run to say something that lost his fighting spirit when he had nothing to do.

Shen Xi said coldly: "Now that they have left the boundary of Datong, they have been placed in the boundary of Taiyuan Town, and then to the west is the Yellow River. ”

Song Shu thought to himself, it is better to be held accountable than to lose his life.

"In fact, if we go back at this time, the possibility of encountering the Tatars is higher, we still continue to the west, as long as we enter Yansui Town, even if our mission is completed, even if we stay in Yansui for a year and a half, the imperial court will not hold us accountable for unfinished business."

Song Shu was always eaten to death in front of Shen Xi, and he felt powerless to deal with it, and the only thing he could hope for at the moment was that the Tatars would not come, and it would be safe to enter Yulinwei, the garrison of Yansui Town, if he could safely.

This journey is very unusual.

From Datong Mansion to Yansui, Shen Xi chose to take the southern route, that is, to detour through Shuozhou and Ningwusuo, enter Taiyuan Prefecture, and then go southwest to Xingxian County, and cross the Yellow River from Heiyu Ferry.

The territory of Taiyuan Mansion is better, after Ningwu Pass, because there is the protection of the Great Wall inside, you can see people from time to time along the way, but after crossing the Yellow River into the jurisdiction of Yansui Town, Shaanxi, it is not good, the official road walks for a few days and even a personal shadow can not be seen, the only thing that can be seen is the corpse that died next to the official road, most of these corpses have been pecked off by birds and beasts The carrion on the surface of the body, it looks extremely creepy.

The villages along the official road are in a dilapidated state, some of which have apparently been abandoned for a long time, and there is no smoke in the evening, let alone the barking of chickens and dogs.

Although it is said to be an official road, due to the fact that no one has walked for a long time, and the weeds are overgrown, there are basically no merchants in Yansui Town now, and after being repeatedly plundered by the Tatars, they are about to reach the point of being uninhabited for thousands of miles.

"It's all so miserable, the Tatars are still coming to loot, is it really a deception to me?" When Song Shu was cooking with the soldiers at night, he complained profusely, not realizing that if he was to fight the Tatars, his only response would probably be to run away.

At this time, the Ming army, the Beijing camp looked down on the border army, and the border army also looked down on the Beijing camp, but it was fifty steps and a hundred steps, and when they met the Tatars, they were difficult brothers, and it was good to be able to hold the city, and they could still be expected to come out to fight in the field?

The closer to the wax moon, the colder the weather becomes, and the night is spent in the wilderness, and the conditions are extremely difficult. Shen Xi has also been "pampered" over the years, and suddenly encountered such a harsh environment, his body was a little unable to endure this kind of suffering, and his bones were scattered every day, so he could only grit his teeth and work hard to support him.

However, the team that sent the artillery relied on him to cheer him on, and he couldn't complain about giving in, otherwise the officers and soldiers below would definitely rebel.

After ten days of arduous travel, the convoy finally arrived at the town of Qiang, an important guard station of the Great Wall, which was the seat of Shenmu County in later generations, but now it is only a large military fortress. Although there was a large convoy outside the city fortress, the defenders did not have the slightest intention of opening the city gate, Shen Xi sent someone to ask, saying that he was worried that the Tatars would attack the city, and the fortress gate had been blocked from the inside, so he could only throw down the artillery luggage and take the hanging basket to enter.

In this case, the convoy did not enter the Zhenqiang Station to rest, and could only continue to advance along the official road on the inner side of the Great Wall, heading southwest.

At this time, there were still two days to go from Yulinwei, where Yansui Town was located, and seeing that they could not rest, the soldiers below complained bitterly.

"Hurry up and arrive in one day and one night!" Shen Xi took advantage of the dry food at noon to issue an order.

Song Shu sneered: "Lord Shen is really comfortable, sitting in the carriage all day long, ignoring the suffering of us soldiers, this time we say nothing and won't leave!" ”

Before, these officers and soldiers were afraid of the Tatars, and they were obedient along the way, saying that they would hurry up and hurry, but after walking for ten days, they did not find the shadow of the Tatars, and discussed in private, and they all felt that the Tatars would not be full to support the winter to come out to rob, and now there is nothing to rob, so the Tatars should have withdrawn to the steppe at this time after getting a vote in Datong Mansion.

Such a group of officers and men who were greedy for life and afraid of death, who had originally walked 900 miles in ten days entirely by fear of the Tatars, now began to spread a wave of laziness throughout the ranks as their destination approached.

Shen Xi was about to scold, trying to wake up these soldiers, but this time even Zhang Lao Wu came over a little tired and explained: "My lord, why don't you take a rest, anyway, no matter how much you rest, we can also reach Yulinwei the day after tomorrow." ”

Since Zhang Lao Wu arrived in the capital, it can be said that he is the same as a Xiao Qiang who can't be killed, seeing that he is so weak, Shen Xi can only nod.

In the afternoon of the same day, they only advanced more than 20 miles, and before the sun had set, the group found a hidden soldier cave in the Great Wall to rest, and set off again the next day.

On the second day, the march was still not very fast, and when it was dusk again, they arrived at Shuangshan Fort, which was only thirty miles away from Yulinwei. Like the fortresses along the way, the gates of the fort were closed and would not be opened no matter how much the officers and soldiers shouted.

Shen Xi's original plan was...... Since it was only thirty miles, I simply hurried overnight to rest in Yulinwei, but a group of soldiers in the Beijing camp became emotional, and even if they couldn't enter the fort to rest, they had to find a place nearby to camp and rest, and then go on the road the next day.

Shen Xi has no way, because Yulinwei is located between the north and south Great Wall, if you want to reach Yulinwei as soon as possible, you have to go out of the Great Wall in Shuangshan Fort, and then often Lebao to Yulinwei, otherwise you can only take a detour to Debao, and you have to walk more than 30 miles. At this time, the Tatars had destroyed the passes of the Outer Great Wall, and they came and went freely, although the safety factor of the night march was about the same as that of the day march, but in the end the day could bring people some sense of security.

However, Shen Xi didn't feel good.

It stands to reason that if Liu Daxia achieves certain results, there will definitely be fast horses that report to the capital, but this way, let alone fast horses, not even a border army sentry has been seen, and the fortresses along the way are all closed and strictly guarded, and the situation is very dangerous at a glance.

In a cave of Tibetan soldiers on the inner side of the Great Wall near Shuangshan Fort, just as Shen Xi was gathering in front of the bonfire, thinking about the possible actions of the Tatars against the map, Song Shu walked into the cave, he saw Shen Xi's deep appearance and was unhappy, so he snatched the map in Shen Xi's hand and threw it into the fire.

Shen Xi Huoran stood up and glared at Song Shu angrily.

Song Shu pursed his lips and sneered, "Lord Shen, forgive me, my hands trembled just now. ”

Seeing Yu Linwei, Song Shu became arrogant again.

"I will enter Yansui Town tomorrow, and I want to remind Lord Shen that after returning to Beijing, I will impeach Lord Shen for mistreating officers and soldiers with the court and the Hou Ye, and don't say that I am interceding when the time comes."

Song Shu was still a little polite before, but at this time he was arrogant and domineering, and he couldn't be a lifetime.

Shen Xi asked, "Have Song Deputy Qianhu ever observed those fortresses along the way?" ”

"What happened to those forts?" Song Shu is not clear.

Shen Xi said: "Since we crossed the Yellow River, logically speaking, along the inner Great Wall, there are no less than 20 fortresses and fortresses used for garrison defense, but how many do you see along the way?" How are they performing? ”

Song Shu frowned and thought about it, shook his head and said, "Maybe...... Some of it was demolished by the Tatars in the past year......"

"Why hasn't it been rebuilt?" Shen Xi continued to ask.

Song Shu sneered disdainfully: "Lord Shen is still worried about himself, he tossed the brothers so hard, and when he entered the city, the brothers were not bound to complete the task, and it was not necessarily ......."

"Not necessarily?"

Shen Xi snorted coldly, are you threatening me? Do you mean you want to take revenge on me when you enter the city? Don't you quietly look like a bear, do you really dare to do something to the East Palace lecturer and the Japanese lecturer in front of an emperor?

The next day, just after dawn, Shen Xi was suddenly awakened by a palpitation, and an unusual sense of crisis overwhelmed him.

"Your Excellency, Your Excellency!" Zhang Laowu's voice came from outside.

When Shen Xi came out of the Tibetan Soldier Cave, he saw Zhang Laowu and Yu Niang escorting a person who was dressed in the costume of an ordinary person in the Ming Dynasty but had a problem at first glance.

"This man is sneaky looking outside the camp, and we've got him!" Zhang Lao Wu said excitedly, in his opinion, this time it should be the Tatar work that has been caught.

"Who are you?"

Shen Xi asked, and when the captured captives heard Shen Xi's official words, they were relieved, and hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed, "My lord, the villain is the butcher around here." ”

"Butcher? Clearly Tatars! Zhang Lao Wu picked up the long knife, put it on the prisoner's neck, and shouted angrily.

The captive cried and shouted to his mother: "The villain is really not, my lord, you listen to the villain......"

"You're a deserter, aren't you?"

Shen Xi suddenly asked, obviously the Tatars are used to being arrogant, they will not be so weak, and this person speaks and acts in the style of the Ming Dynasty.

The man cried: "The villain used to be a butcher in the Zhenqiang Institute, but he was arrested by the imperial court at the beginning of last year, and he was stationed in Gushan Fort in Fugu County...... About ten days ago, there was a bloody battle on the other side of the Yellow River, the Tatars defeated our Ming escort army rations, and captured a large amount of money and grain, and then the Tatar cavalry circled outside the city of Datongfu, and immediately returned to the division to the west, crossed the Yellow River in the upper reaches of the Yellow River, and surrounded Gushan Fort seven or eight days ago. ”

"The Tartars attacked the city for three or four days in a row, and our men became fewer and fewer, seeing that the situation was not good, Lord Qianhu decided to abandon the fort and go south to Yulin to report the news, but that night, as soon as we rushed out of the fortress, we were noticed by the Tatars, and the Tatars sent a large cavalry to chase and kill, and our main force was quickly routed by the Tatars."

"The villain was lucky enough to fight a bloody way, and wanted to continue to report to Yulin Wei, but he encountered Tatar rangers many times along the way, and fled everywhere in a panic, and when he got to the vicinity, the war horse was tired and died."

Shen Xi nodded, all thoughts. At this time, Song Shu came over: "How can you be credulous if you say something like this?" ”

Shen Xi asked rhetorically: "The words are coherent, why don't you believe it?" ”

"Adults spare their lives, the small ones are not deserters, but they were defeated on the battlefield, if they can reach Yulinwei safely, they must be divided into soldiers......"

The deserter caught on the battlefield will be beheaded according to the Ming military law, no wonder this person is so afraid.

But Shen Xi didn't mean to kill, because he now knew the exact news that Liu Daxia had indeed led the army to the battle, and if nothing else, he would encounter a great crisis...... At this time, the main Tatar force has already hijacked the Ming army's rations, and the next step is to go around to the flank of Liu Daxia's department and wait for the opportunity to annihilate Liu Daxia's main force.

"Pass the order, pack up and set off immediately, don't rest halfway, and arrive at Yulinwei as soon as possible." Shen Xi shouted to Song Shu.

Song Shu asked disdainfully, "Lord Shen, you can't believe this nonsense, right?" ”

Shen Xi asked rhetorically: "What good does it do him if he lies?" ”

Song Shu thought about it, if this person was really a Tatar, it really didn't make the slightest sense to say this, but it could make the Ming army strengthen its vigilance and lose the effect of surprising victory.

When Song Shu went to give the order, the soldiers scolded again, and they didn't even bother to eat breakfast, so they gnawed on dry food and went back on the road.

However, after walking for less than half an hour out of the Great Wall, the soldiers changed from the initial sluggishness and slow walking all the way to trotting, and they could still hear all kinds of urgings: "Run quickly, run quickly, if you are slow, you will not be able to enter the city!" ”

After approaching Yulinwei, there were more and more fast horses on the official road, and there were reports that fast horses came from behind the team escorting artillery, and Shen Xi only learned that there was a team of about 1,000 Tatar cavalry, which was coming from the direction of Zhenqiang, Gaojiabao, and Shuangshan Fort where they passed, and the target was Yulinwei.

Once the foreign enemy invades, Yulinwei must close the city gates, that is, it must rush to advance the city before the arrival of the Tatars, otherwise it will only be a dead end.

These officers and soldiers who prevaricated along the way, finally didn't care about laziness and gossip at this time, and only hated their parents for having two legs and running wildly all the way.

***********

PS: The second update is here!

Today's first miss is mainly because the Son of Heaven needs to check the information, about the topography of Daming Beiguan, the deployment of troops, etc., there is no room for sloppiness.

The plot should be more tense and exciting next, and when the Son of Heaven straightens out the plot, he will be able to speed up! (To be continued.) )