Cai Zhishan's 1st Brigade is the most elite unit of Gao Jun Mountain, equipped with all kinds of firearms such as red-coat artillery, tiger squat artillery, rocket artillery, etc., and it is not a problem to attack a small Ruyang, but in Gao Jun Mountain, which is in mobile combat, gunpowder is precious to him, and he cannot use the limited gunpowder desperately for the sake of a Ruyang.

Cai Zhishan is the number two person in Gao Junshan's team, and many times, when it is necessary to divide the troops, it is Cai Zhishan who stands alone, so Gao Junshan's eyes are on him.

Cai Zhishan said his opinion without reservation: "King Qin, in my opinion, it is better to give up attacking Ruyang. Ruyang has been occupied by us once, and we have not much oil and water to fish for attacking again, and we still don't know who the defending generals in Ruyang City are. ”

Gao Junshan smiled lightly to ease his nervousness, and said: "Bolan is right, fighting a war is like doing business, let's not do a loss-making business, there is not much oil and water to be fished in Ruyang City, so we won't fight." However, if we don't fight Ruyang, where should we go next? ”

Gao Junshan's question stopped him left and right, and no one could give an answer. After all, Gao Junshan is a person who has crossed over, he can stand at the highest point of history to look at the problem, he still firmly believes that he must move closer to Li Zicheng or Zhang Xianzhong, so as not to be destroyed by the Ming court, because Gao Junshan knows that the two rebel armies that held out to the end were Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, and the other rebel armies were either destroyed by the Ming court, or were annexed by Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong.

must maintain a close and close posture with Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, otherwise it is inevitable that these two historical figures will be overshadowed, Gao Junshan always reminds himself.

Where do we go next?

Gao Junshan's thinking was clear, so the answer was soon available, he glanced left and right, and said: "Since Ruyang can't be captured quickly, we can't wait to be beaten by the Ming army here, let's go east and take Yingzhou." ”

Cao Wenzhao was not familiar with the activities and habits of the rebels, so he had no suggestions; Bai Wenxuan is a staunch supporter of Gao Junshan, and he obeys Gao Junshan's words 100%, so he has no objections, anyway, wherever Gao Junshan points, he will hit; Bailisha and Tian Wenju didn't speak at this time, because they were opposed from Tongbai out of Henan, if you mention going to Shu now, Gao Junshan will definitely have many reasons waiting for you.

Cai Zhishan said worriedly: "Yingzhou has been occupied by the rebels many times, and now it will definitely increase the strength of the defense, I don't think it will be better than Ruyang." ”

Gao Junshan said: "According to the reports of Feng Shuangli and Tian Fang, Zhang Xianzhong is fighting Chuzhou, Chuzhou is the gateway to Nanjing, Lu Xiangsheng is rushing there to encircle and suppress, Yingzhou must be empty. ”

In fact, this sentence was not Gao Junshan's original intention, his intention was to get close to Zhang Xianzhong, assist Zhang Xianzhong in containing Lu Xiangsheng, and use Zhang Xianzhong as horns for each other, so that this is the best way to protect himself.

Therefore, Gao Junshan ordered that the second brigade and the new battalion of the Red Army immediately withdraw from the battle and march to Xincai along the north bank of Rushui.

Xincai is a small city on the border between Ruyang and Yingzhou, only 200 miles away from Ruyang.

After the order was issued, Gao Junshan set off as a team, Bai Wenxuan was in front, Cai Zhishan was in the middle, and Cao Wenzhao was the palace army, because the road was flat, the march was like an electric switch, and half a day's work arrived at a place called Laowangou, and the team had walked out of fifty or sixty miles.

Gao Junshan grabbed the reins, looked at the other side of the river, the river surface is not very wide, it is only ten zhang, the water is turbulent, you can't see the end at a glance, the north bank is desolate, there is no one in sight. He jumped off his horse and walked to the shore, followed by the chief of the guard.

Cai Zhishan, Bailisha, and Tian Wenju also dismounted and came to Gao Junshan's side.

"King Qin, what happened?" Cai Zhishan asked.

Gao Junshan sighed: "I'm starting to worry about my Red Army friends and Ma Jinzhong now, why haven't they disappeared until now?" ”

Tian Wenju comforted: "King Qin doesn't have to worry, maybe we are marching too fast, and they can't catch up." ”

"Maybe?" Gao Junshan's eyes were suspicious.

Cai Zhishan said: "I will send a sentry across the river to investigate. ”

Gao Junshan nodded and said, "Send it immediately!" The order goes down, and the whole army stops advancing! ”

Gao Junshan stood on the bank and looked at the tumbling river, his mood was difficult to calm down at the moment, there was no news from the second brigade and the new barracks, whether to continue to move forward, or go back to meet them, he didn't dare to make a decision, only waited, this kind of waiting was very tormenting.

It would be nice if there was a transmitter! His troubled mind was unexpectedly empty of scientific and technological inventions that would not appear until two hundred years later.

While he was thinking wildly, he heard the sound of horses' hooves, and he looked back to see that it was his two wives riding horses.

The second lady Ji Ya was wearing a blue cotton armor, and the third lady Su Ye Na was wearing a rose purple satin water red brocade jacket.

The two of them grabbed the reins in front of the high mountain and dismounted, already out of breath.

"What are you two doing here?"

"We were worried about you, so we came to take a look." Ji Yajiao replied dribblingly.

"Nonsense!" Gao Junshan said angrily, "It's windy by the river, if you two get sick, what about the three treasures and the four treasures?" Sun Kewang, send them back to the old camp for me! ”

"Obey!" Sun Kewang stood in front of Gao Jun Mountain and separated the two ladies in the middle, "Second lady, third lady, go back quickly, King Qin has something very important to do here!" ”

Ji Ya and Su Ye Na knew Gao Junshan's temper, and after they glanced at Gao Junshan affectionately, they reluctantly stepped on their horses and went back to the old camp.

Until dusk, the sent exploration horses have not returned, Gao Junshan does not want to eat dinner, the river breeze in March, still cold air, although the winter has passed, but now there is still a steep spring cold, the sour jujube trees on the bank of the river have sent out green shoots, the wind blows the branches and leaves to make a rustling sound.

It was not until the stars rose in the sky, and bonfires were lit on the south bank of the Joux River, that the sound of horses' hooves that Gao Junshan had hoped for finally sounded in the distance, and a small group of men and horses galloped to the bank of the river, and they looked like warriors who had gone through a fierce battle, all with blood stains on their bodies.

He stumbled to the front of Gao Jun Mountain, and hurriedly shouted: "Report to the ——, and report to the King of Qin, the men and horses who went to attack Ruyang were trapped by the official army in Wulipo in the east of Ruyang City, and we wanted to rush in to contact them, but there were too many people and horses in the official army, and they couldn't enter after several rounds, so we returned to report to you." ”

Gao Junshan's heart tightened, if something really happened over there, he asked this team of detectives to go down to heal first, and his eyes fell on the three important ministers.

"King Qin, we should immediately send troops to the rescue." Tian Wenju Road.

Gao Junshan shook his head: "The enemy situation is unknown, how can we use troops?" ”

Bailisha agreed: "King Qin said very much, how can there be so many officers and troops in Ruyang City, and they can actually surround the six men and horses of the second brigade and the new barracks?" ”

Cai Zhishan said: "King Qin, it seems that we should also send more detective posts around us to prevent the official army from attacking." ”

Gao Junshan agreed: "Okay, you go and arrange it immediately." ”

Cai Zhishan left, and another horse galloped over from a distance, and when the pegasus approached, Gao Junshan saw that it was Feng Shuangli, Feng Shuangli jumped off the horse and went straight to Gao Junshan's side.

"King Qin, Secret Document!"

Gao Junshan took the secret letter handed over by Feng Shuangli, opened it and saw that it was the information sent by Liu Lishun, who was lurking beside Zhu Youzhen.

The matter is top secret, Liu Lishun's true identity is only known to Sun Kewang, Feng Shuangli and Cai Zhishan, Bailisha and Tian Wenju do not know Liu Lishun's undercover identity, and this secret document can only be seen by himself.

According to Liu Lishun's secret report:

Since the Xingyang Conference of the Seventy-two Battalions of the Thirteen Families, the Righteous Army smashed the Zhu family's lair in Fengyang, causing Zhang Fengyi, the secretary of the military department, to commit suicide by taking poison, and Yang Sichang, who was mourning at home, took over as the secretary of the military department.

Yang Sichang is the son of Yang He, the former governor of Shaanxi Trilateral, and Yang Sichang during the mourning period was used by Zhu Youzhen to "seize love". Zhu Youzhen knew that this decision would be opposed by many people under the situation where the courtiers sang science and science in a high-profile situation, but he still made up his mind and appointed Yang Sichang as the secretary of the military department.

Yang Sichang proposed that "if you go outside, you must first settle inside".

He said to Zhu Youzhen: "The general trend of the world seems to be a person's body, Jingshi is the mind, Xuanfu, Jizhen and other frontier defenses are the shoulders and arms, and the Central Plains south of the Yellow River and north of the Great River are the heart. The most important thing in a person is the mind. The frontier beacon fire burns on the shoulders and arms, which is very harmful to the body; The rogue's rebellion is in the heart and has a deep impact on the body. Of course, the urgent should not be slowed down, and the profound impact should not be ignored a little. If the heart is safe and the internal organs are unharmed, you can transport essence and blood, run the bones, support the mind, and protect the wind from the cold of the shoulders and arms, what is there to worry about? …… Therefore, the ministers thought that they must first settle inside and then they can go outside, they must first have enough food and then they can have enough soldiers, and they must protect the people in order to be able to level the Liukou. This is the foundation of today's diagnosis and treatment, not to dare to speak slowly, because of the eagerness to go outside, we have to settle down first. ”

Zhu Youzhen had never heard anyone systematically analyze the situation for him from a strategic height, and when he heard these words, he felt a great sense of surprise, and said with emotion: "I only hate Yongqing too late!" From then on, he had unswerving trust in Yang Sichang and handed over the important matter of suppressing the peasant uprising to him.

In Liu Lishun's secret report, it was mentioned that Huang Taiji had ascended the throne in Shenyang and was named the "Great Qing Dynasty".

Yang Sichang advocated negotiating peace with the Qing court, opening a city on the border, and trading with Manchuria, taking the opportunity to gain time and placing the main military power of the imperial court on suppressing the Kou.

After deciding on the strategic concept of all-out efforts to eliminate the evil of the rebels, what is needed is a concrete implementation strategy. In view of the characteristics of the scattered and mobile operations of the rebel army, Yang Sichang put forward the plan of "spreading the net on all sides."

In order to conscientiously implement the plan of "spreading the net on all sides," many basic conditions are required.

First of all, it was necessary to increase the troops, and Yang Sichang immediately began to increase the troops after his plan was approved by Zhu Youzhen. According to his arrangement, the prime ministers of the five provinces and the two main forces of the governor of Shaanxi each increased their troops by 50,000 troops, the two governors of Huguang and Henan each increased their troops by 30,000, and the two governors of Fengyang and Shaanxi each increased their troops by 20,000. Together with the original number of troops in the Central Plains and Northwest Theaters and the "Six Corners" region, the number of troops used in the 10-sided network is close to 400,000.

Seeing this, Gao Junshan couldn't help but gasp, in the history he studied, Zhu Youzhen had never mobilized so many troops to suppress the Kou, could it be the butterfly effect caused by his own crossing?