Zhou Bin got up and said: "My lord, Lord Liang, it is precisely because we and the imperial court will break up sooner or later that we should expand the army, we now have money and food, compared with half a year ago, there is a big difference, in case of insufficient food, grit your teeth and get through."

His worries are not unreasonable, theoretically speaking, the imperial court now has more than a million soldiers, compared with the 3,000 soldiers in Xining, it is simply heaven and earth, the Yellow River and the ditch, in case the imperial court conquers Xining...... The thieves in northern Shaanxi made a lot of trouble, but the imperial court only sent Cao Wenzhao, and the thieves immediately fled like birds and beasts.

It is not that the imperial court does not have a strong army, but the thieves are like mosquitoes and flies, and the imperial court temporarily lacks the political soil to completely eliminate the thieves.

If the problem of feeding the people cannot be solved, even if the imperial army can extinguish the fire of thieves in one or two places, it cannot permanently eliminate the thieves.

Although Xining and Shaanxi are separated by the Yellow River, there is never an impenetrable line of defense in the world, whether it is the Great Wall or the Maginot Line.

In the event that the imperial army conquered Xining, it would be a thunderbolt, at least militarily, it would be difficult for the Xining army to resist the imperial army with the Yellow River.

Li Zicheng thought about it and felt that a compromise method should be adopted.

"Since the money and food have not reached the ideal situation, then the army will not be expanded for the time being, but in the core areas where the population is concentrated, such as Xining Prefecture, Sanchuan Prefecture, and Nanchuan County, an appropriate number of people will be selected to participate in the training as a preparation, and once the conditions permit, they can form an army as long as they have a little training, as for the number...... Let's train two or three thousand first! ”

This is a method of both worlds, the people do not need much food and salary for training in the leisure time, but it lays a solid foundation for the rapid expansion of the army in the future.

As soon as Li Zicheng made the final decision, everyone no longer dwelled on the matter of expanding the army, but turned their attention to the next move of the Xining army.

Whether it is to advance steadily from south to north, break through the guards in the Hexi Corridor, or go straight to Ganzhou, and completely solve the worries.

Li Zicheng had considered the differences and advantages and disadvantages between the two more than 20 times, but he still did not make a final decision, he was inclined to go directly south to Ganzhou, force the rest of the guards, quickly solve the imperial army in the Hexi corridor, and change the unfavorable situation of Xining surrounded by enemies as soon as possible.

The key is that does the Xining Army have this strength? Do the officials of the hundred households have the courage to do this?

If Ganzhou is taken, will the rest of the guards be in the wind?

After Cao Wenzhao's war against thieves in Shaanxi, almost all of Wang Anping's rangers were sent to Ganzhou and several nearby guards, so the news of these guards also continued to enter Xining.

"My lord, Ganzhou Wuwei, there are at least 2,000 soldiers at present, if you want to fight a battle, I am afraid it will not be easy, in case the news leaks...... Instead, the current situation in Xining was leaked to the imperial court. "Liang Wencheng is now the head of the civil service, and he seems quite stable.

"My lord, Lord Liang, in the north of the guards, there are indeed a lot of soldiers in Ganzhou, and the combat effectiveness is probably the strongest, if we can take Ganzhou in one fell swoop, we can deter the rest of the guards," In the past few months, Liu Yunshui has almost been idle, and he has not put the soldiers in Ganzhou in his eyes at all, "Moreover, Ganzhou is the seat of the Shaanxi Xingdu Division, and there must be a large amount of grain stored, that is, pig iron, I am afraid it is also a lot, these are the materials we urgently need." ”

"But, is Liu Baihu sure to take Ganzhou?" Liang Wencheng was still a little uneasy, "Even if we can win, if there are stragglers who escape and report to the imperial court, won't we suffer from the enemy?" ”

"The escape of the stragglers is certain, there are thousands of soldiers in the five guards of Ganzhou, and it is probably unrealistic to want to be the same as before, without bloodshed," Zhou Bin said leisurely: "But Song Baihu is stationed on the front line of the watershed, if the watershed is blocked, these stragglers will not be able to escape back to Shaanxi no matter what." ”

"As for the issue of victory, we have cavalry, which have an advantage in mobility and combat effectiveness, and in the overall war, we should not be at a disadvantage," Li Guo also advocated taking Ganzhou directly, "If the adults decide to attack Ganzhou, our department is willing to be the vanguard!" ”

"Our department is also willing to be a pioneer!" Liu Yunshui hurriedly said.

Liang Wencheng had to shake his head and smile bitterly, compared with the original Xiningwei, the current officials of the hundred households are all rushing to fight, and only by fighting will they have military merits, and they will be promoted, rewarded with silver, and issued monthly tickets for war merits.

The sergeants were reborn, the combat effectiveness of the army increased, and even the Mongols did not pay attention to it, and self-confidence had spread among the Xining army, all of which only originated from Li Zicheng's arrival in Xining.

However, once the news of the attack on Ganzhou spreads, it is very likely to provoke a concerted counterattack by the imperial court army and nearby guards, can the Xining army really withstand it?

Xining currently has only 3,000 soldiers, compared with the tens of thousands or tens of thousands of troops of the imperial court, can the Xining army really withstand ten or dozens of times the imperial army? Xining and Shaanxi are separated by the Yellow River, but is the Yellow River really a natural hazard?

The confidence of the sergeants basically comes from Li Zicheng, but can the young Li Zicheng really destroy the withering and decaying? Although the army of the imperial court was not as elite as the Xining army, after all, it had a large number of people, a steady stream of reinforcements, and extremely sufficient supplies, even if it was ten times the casualty and consumption, Xining could not afford to consume.

Although he understood the tremendous pressure on Xining from the guards in the Hexi Corridor, the Xining army might face a greater threat by destroying these guards.

Liang Wencheng set his eyes on Li Zicheng, and it seemed that only Li Zicheng could stop these crazy hundred household officials.

Li Zicheng saw that everyone was stopped, so he smiled faintly and said: "Since all the officials of the hundred households have agreed to take Ganzhou directly, I also agree, although Ganzhou is strong, it is not indestructible!" ”

Everyone was staring at Li Zicheng, completely forgetting that he still had a mouth, although Liang Wencheng was a little surprised, but he was still patient and wanted to hear what good strategy Li Zicheng had.

"If we attack Ganzhou, it is impossible for us to gather a large number of soldiers, and in terms of numbers, we are at a disadvantage," Li Zicheng paused for a moment, and then said: "But the soldiers in Ganzhou are not all concentrated in Ganzhou, but scattered in various nearby forts, that is to say, every time we attack a fort, we can concentrate superior forces to fight more and less!" ”

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and the original problem of insufficient numbers was like this...... It was easily solved, and by the time the final decisive battle with Ganzhou was reached, the number of people on both sides should be about the same.

"Shuangxi also said just now, our soldiers are stronger in combat than the soldiers in Ganzhou, and they have the assistance of cavalry, but you have forgotten that we are one of the most important forces," Li Zicheng turned his gaze to the left, "There is water, your soldiers, they are almost trained, right?" ”

"Yes, my lord," Ma Youshui was overjoyed, it seems that the six hundredth households have been favored by the adults, no accident, they will be the main force in this war, and the opportunity to make meritorious contributions has arrived, this time, no matter what, they can't make the same mistakes last time, if they can reap a big victory, maybe the identity of these hundred households...... He trembled a little because of his excitement, "In another half month, all the soldiers will complete their tactical training and will be ready to go to the battlefield." ”

"The effective range of the Xining rifle can reach at least two hundred paces, and at a distance of four hundred paces, the accuracy will also reach three or four percent, if all the six hundred households are issued with this rifle......" Li Zicheng just wanted to see the power of the rifle on the battlefield, the last time he faced the Mongolian cavalry in the triangle city, the rifle equipment was too small, and he was not able to dominate the battlefield, and it was Liu Yunshui's superior cavalry that defeated the Mongolian cavalry, and the real power of the rifle was not fully exerted.

Li Zicheng believed that the "Xining rifle" that had been tested by later generations absolutely had a shocking ruling power when dealing with infantry, and his focus during this period of time was for the rifle, and he even did not hesitate to let Wu Ermao go to Xi'an and Chengdu to threaten and intimidate the King of Qin and the governor of Sichuan.

The focus of Ma Youshui's training during this period was tactical training with the nature of actual combat, and even with cavalry as the target, the combat effectiveness of the soldiers would inevitably be raised to a higher level, and if the battlefield was suddenly replaced by slower infantry......

Whether it is for soldiers or rifles, Li Zicheng has great expectations, so he has long advocated taking Ganzhou directly, cutting through the chaos with a knife, so as not to surround Xining with enemies on all sides.

As for the grain problem, Xining has now entered the stage of comprehensively "returning grazing land to farmland," and the planting area of winter wheat will certainly increase greatly; even if the output of winter wheat is reduced, the "three rural areas of the Americas" represented by sweet potatoes will still be able to ensure to a certain extent that the soldiers and the people will not starve; especially potatoes, they can be planted for another season in the autumn, and the stock will rise sharply.

Regardless of the refined grains and coarse grains, as long as they can maintain food and clothing, with the endurance of the Han nation, there should be no accidents.

These assumptions are all based on the worst, Li Zicheng doesn't believe it, all the bad news has been caught up by himself, unless God wants to destroy himself, if God really wants to lose himself, why let himself travel through hundreds of years of time to this distant Ming?

Liang Wencheng initially hoped that Li Zicheng could restrain the hundreds of officials under his command, but as soon as Li Zicheng analyzed it, even he himself was enthusiastic, and he couldn't wait to put on the Mingguang armor again and fight in front of the battle in person.

It's a pity, I'm afraid there won't be too many opportunities like this, he is now the prefect of Xining, a typical civilian official, he wants to raise grain, grass and silver for the Xining army and Li Zicheng.

Although the general direction of the meeting was laid, Li Zicheng did not announce the specific plan, so as not to leak the information, he was not worried that these hundred household officials would tell the truth, but worried that they would not be strict in their mouths, and leaked the specific implementation plan to their subordinates, and then spread it.

By mid-October, it was already very cold in Xining, and the grasslands had completely degraded into patches of withered yellow grass stalks, and even the alpine pastures were no longer able to find the grass needed by the livestock.

Qin Danian, the 300th household official stationed in Beichuan County, sent a message to Li Zicheng: Due to the lack of grassland, the Mongolian Maili cadres along the Datong River have begun to shrink and enter the winter rest period.

Li Zicheng had already completed all the preparations for the Northern Expedition, and in order to avoid harassment by the Mai Li cadres, he still ordered Liu Yunshui, carrying all the cavalry and 100 rifles, to rush to the Datong River to provide cover for the army.

The craftsman workshop has built more than 540 rifles, and the rest of the guns are all distributed to Ma Youshui, who and Li Zicheng formed the Chinese army as the main force of the Northern Expedition.

Li Guo's second cavalry hundred households, although they accepted all the mature horses of Xiningwei, now there are only more than 200 war horses, these cavalry will be the vanguard, and the rest of the infantry will follow Li Zicheng as the Chinese army.

Zhou Bin's 500th household, because most of the recruits were replenished, Li Zicheng asked him to guard Xining and temporarily accept Liang Wencheng's subordination.

On 18 October, two days after Liu Yunshui's troops left Xining, Li Guo's vanguard battalion and Li Zicheng's Chinese army left Xining at the same time.