On the afternoon of 17 July, Zhu Gaoxu followed the Chinese army brigade to the county seat of Si Libo, the political envoy of Guangxi.

The day before yesterday, the forward Wang Bin's troops continued south along the Zhangjiang River, and the barracks and houses left behind in Libo County were just for the Chinese soldiers and horses to live in. Heavy soldiers and some scouts were at the forefront of the march, and the officers and men of the baggage brigade had already cleaned the houses before the army arrived.

Zhu Gaoxu led his brown horse to the bank of the Zhangjiang River and let the horse drink water and graze by the river.

The setting sun is shining on the river, and it is sparkling. He turned his head to look at the west bank, and saw the dilapidated earthen walls and the low houses around him; The backward and simple scene over there is not as bright as the sparkling waves on the water.

Miaojin's figure also appeared in the west, wearing a hat, her head and face tightly wrapped, and she was dressed like a Middle Easterner. She approached on horseback, rolled over and dismounted, and threw off the reins. The horses walked to the river on their own.

Zhu Gaoxu looked at Miaojin, and the sunset in that direction was dazzling. He couldn't see her expression clearly, only her eyes.

"When the army is out, it is inevitable to sleep in the open for a long time." Zhu Gaoxu turned around and said to Miaojin, "Even if there are houses on the road, they can't be compared to the mansions in the big city. ”

Miaojin's voice came out of the scarf, which was a little different from usual, "I once wanted to go to the mountains and choose the Taoist Temple to live in seclusion, and I really thought about living in the mountains, I can think of the difficulties, but I am not so pampered." This little hardship in the army is nothing, and the King of Han does not need to worry about it. ”

Zhu Gaoxu smiled and said casually, "Yes, I am afraid that there are many mosquitoes in the mountains, and water sources and living materials may also be very scarce, so seclusion is not so elegant." I'm more worried that there are no official shops in the mountains, what should you do if a woman encounters bandits. ”

As he spoke, he turned and took a deep breath facing the river, and his nose smelled the faint smell of the mud and sand on the riverbank, mixed with the smell of grass leaves chewed by horses, and the stench of horse manure.

Zhu Gaoxu stood here and rested for a while, and then suddenly spoke again: "After our people came here, this place seems to be a little different? ”

Miao Jin thought for a moment and said softly, "Voice." This place was originally sparsely populated, but suddenly there were 10,000 or 20,000 people, and there was always a buzzing noise in the air. You don't have to look to see it, but you can feel that there are a lot of people around. ”

Zhu Gaoxu listened for a while, and nodded thoughtfully.

Then he heard the sound of horses' hoofs hurrying, and when he turned his head, he saw a man in a blue official robe coming this way. After a while, Zhu Gaoxu confirmed that the person who came was Shi Houhai, the right chief of the Han Palace.

Hou Hai dismounted and walked over, hugged his fists and said: "Lord Wang, the Chinese army has received some reports, you'd better take a look at these three copies!" ”

Zhu Gaoxu stretched out his hand to take the thing and saw that the envelope had been opened. He set his own rules for officials of the Changshi Mansion to review all kinds of newspapers first, so as to screen the priorities.

The first is a letter written by Sheng Yong, Sheng Yong'an and the two led the Southern Route Army, which is approaching the Tufu of Sitian Prefecture (around Baise City), the political envoy of Guangxi; Ping An has mobilized a force to open the road from Tianzhou to Gyeongwonfu (near Hechi City), and is setting up strongholds along the way to ensure the exchange of information between the Central Route Army and the South Route Army.

Zhu Gaoxu was not shocked when he saw the waves, his heart was prosperous, Yong and Ping'an were all good generals who had experienced a hundred battles, everything was going well, and they would not easily have any problems.

The second is Mr. Lee's letter. For a while, Zhu Gaoxu was not sure whether the official document came from Yunnan or Guizhou.

When the Middle Route Army set out, the Han Dynasty's Changshi Mansion was still in Kunming City, but it had already decided to migrate to Guizhou in the near future; Mr. Li, the head of the Han Dynasty's Governor's Mansion, and Qian Xun, the left Changshi of the Changshi Mansion who exchanged Guo Zi for his return, should all be in the same place as the family officials of the Han Palace.

Zhu Gaoxu read Mr. Li's letter and found that there was still a piece of paper in the envelope; He pulled it out and saw that the words were in Vedar's handwriting.

Veda has been given command of the land and water forces in eastern Sichuan, taking over the defense of the east. The outpost scouts of the camp in the east of Sichuan found that the strength of the enemy's Jingzhou division was unknown and was moving westward! The enemy army advanced by land and water, and there were signs of attacking Kuizhou and other places......

Zhu Gaoxu, who had been riding a horse all day, had just relaxed for a while, and his expression gradually became a little solemn.

Although Zhu Gaoxu had expected that Sichuan would be in danger of being attacked, when he heard the news at this time, he still couldn't help but worry in his heart.

After all, the current military strength in Sichuan is very empty. And a small half of the Han army's army were soldiers from Sichuan, and their families were all there; If the Sichuan political envoy is recaptured, it will not only greatly affect the morale of the army, but also make the already stretched finances of the Han Wangfu even worse!

Zhu Gaoxu was silent for a while, and his preliminary judgment did not change from his previous expectations, because the water and land situation in the great river channel in the east of Sichuan was sinister, and it would be difficult to break through for a while. However, the time should not be delayed too long, and if Sichuan is attacked from Shaanxi and Huguang, the terrain will not be able to stop it. From ancient times to the present, Sichuan has not only been breached by the army outside the mountains.

He picked up the last envelope again, which contained several messages from the Han Wangfu Beisi sent to Guangxi.

Wu Gaojun had left Nanning Prefecture and marched in the direction of Laibin County (Laibin City), Liuzhou Prefecture. The flags on the official road cover the sun, the cars are like a long dragon, and there may be 150,000 enemy soldiers and horses!

Zhu Gaoxu said in his heart: After Wu Gao arrived in Guangxi, he was replaced by the original Zhang Fu's army, with a total strength of about 100,000; Wu Gao could not have a total of 150,000 people at this time. However, it is difficult to see the exact number of scouts by looking at them with their eyes, and it is normal that they are often exaggerated.

"We've got to go into town." Zhu Gaoxu said.

Miao Jin nodded silently, she shouted, and the horse grazing by the river actually understood the call, and ran over herself.

Zhu Gaoxu asked Hou Hai, "Is the Chinese army ready?" ”

Hou Hai nodded and said, "Back to the prince, it's ready." The lower official led the prince forward. ”

Zhu Gaoxu and the others rode into the county town of Tucheng City. Under the Hou Hai Belt Road, they went to the dirt road paved with some stone slabs in front of the county government, and entered a tiled mansion.

On the chair in the living room, Zhu Gaoxu sat down for a long time and was silent, a little distracted.

And Miaojin, who followed in, had already placed his maps, paper and ink and other commonly used items from his baggage, and even the teacup that Zhu Gaoxu drank water was always the same one. After getting along with Miaojin for a long time, Zhu Gaoxu found out that she was an orderly and tidy person.

Zhu Gaoxu didn't look at the map at this time, but still thought there. Without a scale diagram, distances cannot be represented from above; However, the distance of most places, Zhu Gaoxu remembered it in his heart. The method of scouting the way of the Han army scouts was to estimate the distance through the time of the horse race.

Laibin County is in the northeast of Nanning Prefecture, and the official road is more than 300 miles long; If you want to go from Nanning to Liuzhou Mansion and Guilin Mansion, you will go in that direction. So Zhu Gaoxu guessed that Wu Gao's first destination should be Guilin, the seat of the Guangxi political envoy!

At this moment, Zhao Ping, Wang Yu and other generals walked into the living room. The right Changshi Hou Hai and Miao Jin were here before.

"The last general will wait to meet the prince." The generals stepped forward one after another to salute.

Zhu Gaoxu glanced up and said, "No courtesy." I have just learned the news from the soldiers of the Northern Division of the Imperial Mansion that Wu Gaojun is moving in the direction of Laibin County in the northeast. It seems that Wu Gao may be going to Guilin Mansion, Liuzhou Mansion. ”

After a while, Zhao Ping clenched his fists and said: "Our middle route army was originally scheduled to arrive at Qingyuan Mansion (Hechi City) first, and then attack Nanning Mansion in the direction of due south. Now that Wu Gaojun has left Nanning, the main force of our army does not need to go south; If you divert from Qingyuan Mansion to the west, will you be able to meet Wu Gao in the north of Liuzhou Mansion? ”

Zhu Gaoxu said: "Based on the estimation of the time and distance of the detailed report, if both armies march normally, Wu Gao should arrive at Liuzhou Mansion earlier. Because of this, Wu Gaojun moved to the northeast. ”

Although Zhao Ping was from a low background, he was finally a scholar who passed the Tongsheng examination, and he also followed Zhu Gaoxu to experience a lot in many wars. He should have understood the meaning of Zhu Gaoxu's words, so he asked at this time: "The prince has decided that Wu Gao wants to get rid of our army, and does not plan to break us on each side?" ”

"He's not like that!" Zhu Gaoxu glanced at Zhao Ping, "He should have 100,000 troops in his hands, and he only has 70,000 troops to deal with us, so the advantage is not too big." When did he Wu Gao become so bold? Are you sure he can quickly defeat this king before the rendezvous of Sheng Yong's army? ”

King Zhao bowed and said: "King Han is wise! ”

Zhu Gaoxu said again: "The main force of Zhang Fujun is in Huguang, and Wu Gao wants to get closer to Zhang Fujun in order to gather more troops in the future!" ”

At this time, Zhu Gaoxu had to admit that the British Gong Zhang Fu was a very thoughtful general.

Zhu Gaoxu even had a faint feeling that Zhang Fu had expected that the big war might explode in Huguang! That's why Wu Gaojun took the risk of moving north, and abandoned the safer route to Guangdong.

The generals of the official army no longer care about Guangdong, which is empty of troops. They reacted only when they decided that it was unlikely that the Han army's army would continue to advance eastward.

And the Jingzhou army marched into Sichuan, but also to prevent the Han Wang's army from going too far to the east...... Once Zhu Gaoxu advances to the Guangdong and Fujian regions, ignoring the heavy troops of the officers and troops in Huguang, the three empty southwestern provinces will be seriously threatened.

Zhu Gaochu repeatedly pondered the current movements of the official army, and believed even more in the general strategy of He Fu's retribution, the enemy was trying to force Zhu Gaochu to conduct a general battle!

The mobilization and deployment in the early stage of the war is a necessary process. Because of the limited efficiency of grain and military transportation at this time; The army generally tries to get food on the spot, and does not gather in one place, otherwise there will not be enough food to eat over time. Only in the short period of time when the decisive battle is about to break out, will the commanders of both sides gather their armies in order to gain superiority in the frontal battlefield.

Of course, Zhang Fu hopes that the big battle will start in Huguang nearby! Zhu Gaoxu is the opposite, he should avoid the main route of the river is the best policy, but unfortunately the time can't wait.