Sun Chuanting and Hou Sui led their troops south, but after receiving Xuchang, which was already an empty city, they went west again and went to Luoyang. шщш.(vii) (ix) x.S.сом The update is so fast.

Li Zicheng's troops were distributed in Ruzhou, Nanyang and other areas, and there was Li Jiyu in Dengfeng. In order to avoid being surrounded by thieves, Sun Chuanting led his troops to Luoyang first, and then prepared to 'engage' with the thieves.

Originally, this was the route he had discussed with Hou Sui, but when he was about to go west, there was a problem, and Liu Zeqing was reluctant to go to Luoyang.

To the west, isn't that the farther away from Shandong? Liu Zeqing's thoughts are obvious, that is, he doesn't want to run around like a lost dog when the war is not going well, and he wants to go back to Shandong directly. These generals, when they have soldiers, the punishment is only to make meritorious contributions, but if there are no soldiers, it is the life of being killed. Therefore, the first thing they did after their defeat was to return to their lair, as long as there were troops by their side, they would not have to worry about their lives.

Hou Sui gave the order, but it was useless, and in the end he had to stay in Xuchang with Liu Zeqing and Chen Yongfu's troops. And Sun Chuanting had no choice but to take the Western Army to the west and go to Luoyang. Li Jiyu, who was in Dengfeng, naturally did not dare to be the enemy of these border troops, so he gave up the county seat early and returned to Songshan to hide.

After Li Yan received the report from his subordinates, he shook his head and said: "There are not many people in the first place, and now that the troops are still divided, it seems that there is not much hope." After that, he asked, "Is there any movement in Zuo Liang's 'jade'?" ”

Sun Sifu replied: "There is no reaction, it is said that Zuo Liang 'Yu' himself has returned to Xiangyang, and most of Nanyang has been abandoned. ”

"It seems that Hou Sui, a benefactor, can't borrow any light." Li Yan shook his head and said, "Forget it, don't care about them." How's the preparation going in Qixian? ”

"General Wang Renfu has entered Taikang with 5,000 troops, and there are still 3,000 troops left in Qixian County, and the county seat is still guarded by General Feng Cheng." Sun Sifu reported: "Now the artillery workshop is making every effort to build tiger squat guns, and it is estimated that there will be 60 'doors' of qualified tiger squat guns by the end of the month." Efforts are also underway to manufacture gunpowder and shells. Master Zhou reported that all the iron materials were used to make tiger squat guns, and there were basically no materials available for handcuffs and firearms, and only chain mail was still being produced with stock iron wire. ”

Li Yan nodded and ordered: "Tell him, the tiger squat cannon is urgently needed now, and it's nothing to stop the handcuffs and firecrackers." The arrows of the crossbow arrows still have to be made, and they can be produced according to the previous production. Also, let Li Zhong pay attention to the fact that the bullets and crossbows do not need to wait for the tiger to squat and cannon, they can be sent over with five carts, and the bullets and arrows in other places cannot be missing. ”

"Okay, my subordinates will send them a letter." Sun Sifu nodded.

Li Yan instructed again: "Let the captives speed up the construction of the road." In particular, the roads from Qixian to Tongxu, Tongxu to Weishi, and Qixian to Taikang, and then to Huaiyang should be sorted out first. Ensure the fast passage of baggage and artillery. ”

"More than 200 captives fled last month, but they were all captured. If the work is increased, more captives may escape. Sun Sifu reminded.

Li Yan said helplessly: "I can't take care of so much now, our core area must be preserved." Now it seems that Sun Chuanting and Hou Sui can't hold out for a few days, they are defeated, and the thieves will inevitably come to attack our slender and evil 'girl'. With these roads, it is possible to quickly rescue all localities and maneuver around the enemy on the periphery. Since they still have the strength to escape, they should deduct half of their dinner and put away all their clothes before going to bed. If there is still trouble, then you don't have to be polite, the road will be repaired before the end of the month! ”

"My subordinates understood." Sun Sifu nodded in agreement. There are some things that don't need to be said too clearly, and they will naturally understand what they mean.

After Sun Sifu went out, Wang Renjie was summoned in.

Wang Renjie clenched his fists: "My subordinates have seen the handsome." ”

Li Yan nodded and said, "No courtesy, how is the training of the new gunner?" ”

"We are stepping up training," Wang Renjie reported: "We just expanded the artillery last time, so the gunner training here this time is not enough." But let's take a group here, it's much faster than when we were in Qixian. ”

Li Yan instructed: "We must practice hard, at least thirty 'door' tiger squat cannons will come next month, and we must let them become qualified gunners as soon as possible." ”

"The subordinates must make them qualified artillerymen before the artillery arrives!" Wang Renjie assured loudly.

Li Yan nodded and asked Wang Renjie to go down. He thought quietly by himself, to see if there was anything missing.

After a while, Sun Sifu came in with instructions to be sent to Li Zhong and the others. After Li Yan saw that there was no problem, Sun Sifu reported: "General Qian Er has arrived with five hundred soldiers and mules and horses. ”

Li Yan instructed: "Let him come here to see me immediately after arranging the soldiers." ”

He finally decided to 'hand' over the rapid troops that were going to be formed to Qian Er to command. He didn't have a more suitable candidate, after all, Qian Er could take the initiative to use the tactics of rapid raids, and there was no problem in his thinking. From the point of view of loyalty, there should be no problem. The daughter-in-law also married, and just gave birth to a son, and her home is in Qi County, so she shouldn't be a character like Shi Jincai.

Prior to this, other departments had successively transferred infantry who could ride horses, most of which were deployed in whole teams to facilitate the rapid formation of troops. Combined with the last 500 people to arrive today, it will reach the scale of 4,000 soldiers. If it weren't for the grain exchange for horses with Gao Jie and others, he would not have been able to scrape together these 4,000 mules and horses.

However, even so, the baggage troops still lacked mules and horses, and the pack horses of the tiger squat artillery troops were also short. Now he is having people investigate the situation of the mules and horses in Kaifeng, and if necessary, he will forcibly requisition. Originally, there was no need to be in such a hurry, but as soon as Hou Sui and Sun Chuanting divided their troops, time seemed to be urgent.

Qian Er came in and saluted with his fists: "My subordinates have seen the handsome." "They only clasp their fists when they see them, and they only kneel down when they ask for sin.

Li Yan said: "No courtesy." This time, you were transferred here to be in charge of commanding the fast troops, are you ready? ”

"Subordinates are ready!" Qian Er replied loudly. This is an independent combat unit, and it is the first part of their group, so Qian Er feels very 'excited'.

"Tell me about your understanding of the Rapid Force."

Qian Er thought cautiously for a moment before replying: "This is an infantry on horseback, moving quickly, and dismounting to fight after arriving at the destination." ”

Li Yan nodded and said, "Well, that's basically what it means." The purpose of this unit is to have the ability to move quickly, not only soldiers, but also artillery and baggage. You must be able to quickly go to the rescue of various places, and you must be able to hold on to the siege of the enemy and wait for the arrival of a large army. Even if the enemy wants to run, he must be able to catch up and hold on. So the task is heavy and dangerous, are you ready? ”

"The subordinates understand. The subordinates are ready to fight to the death on the battlefield at any time to defend their homeland. Qian Er replied after listening carefully.

Li Yan said with satisfaction: "Yes, it is to defend the homeland." You go to rest first, and tomorrow you will start training with the troops, and strive to be able to go into battle and kill the enemy before the end of the month. ”

"Humble command!"

...