In order to settle the people who were impoverished by natural and man-made disasters, Li Zicheng delayed for a lot of time in the three counties of Jiaxian, Baofeng, and Lushan, and did not lead his troops north until the people of the three counties were basically stable.

The target of the Mandate of Heaven is the northern part of Ruzhou.

Ruzhou is located in the north of Rushui, itself is Zhili Prefecture, directly belongs to the political envoy of Henan, equivalent to the "house", under the jurisdiction of the county, in addition to the south of Jiaxian, Baofeng, Lushan three counties, in the northwest of Ruzhou, north of Rushui, there is also a Yiyang County.

Li Zicheng's troops were divided into three routes, Li Xin's independent regiment went straight to Ruzhou City along the official road, while Liu Zongmin's second regiment went over the mountains and mountains, along the waves, and went straight to Yiyang County.

From Baofeng County to Ruyang, it is a very wide official road, this official road goes straight to Luoyang to the north, extends to Lushan County to the south, crosses the Luyang Pass, goes straight to Nanyang, and then goes deep into the boundary of Huguang.

Because Li Jibu had to escort grain and grass, the march was much slower than that of Li Xinbu and Liu Zongmin, and he had just entered the bank of Rushui, and he had not yet crossed the river. ”

He Xiaomi stepped forward, took the message, and handed it to Li Zicheng with both hands, Li Zicheng unfolded it, a smile appeared on his face, and he immediately pulled the reins lightly, Li Ji leaned over carefully, "Metropolitan Governor, Commander Li won't break the city so soon, right?" ”

"See for yourself!" Li Zicheng handed him the message and waved the herald to his feet.

Li Jigang looked at the two lines and was not surprised, "This Li Xin, but with five thousand recruits, he took Ruyang so quickly, it is really terrifying ......to be born."

Li Zicheng knew Li Ji's thoughts, this time the division of troops to attack Ruzhou and Yiyang, if it wasn't for Li Xin's sudden rise of the army, it must have been led by Li Ji and Liu Zongmin respectively, Li Xin joined the Mandate of Heaven Army, in such a short time, it gave the recruited recruits combat effectiveness, and snatched the credit that originally belonged to Li Ji.

However, for the Mandate of Heaven Army, this is a great thing, the more generals who can take charge alone, the greater the possibility of winning a decisive battle with the Ming army in the future, and they can even take advantage of the many generals of the Mandate of Heaven Army to attack the imperial army's army from multiple points.

With a smile on his face, he said, "General Li, are you sighing?" Actually, there are many opportunities to fight, and I'm still worried that General Li will be tired from a long distance! ”

"All subordinates obey the orders of the Grand Governor," Li Ji hurriedly arched his hand on horseback, and said with a smile: "But, to be honest, this Li Xin is really a general!" ”

"Haha, even the people who are admired by General Li should have some ability," Li Zicheng returned the salute and said: "It seems that this time to expand the army in Henan, it is still the right way." He glanced at the herald, "How is the city of Ruzhou now?" ”

"Back to the Metropolitan Governor, the city of Ruzhou has stabilized, and there is no commotion among the people!"

Li Ji said: "Li Gongzi was born in the Lile Division, and may have sent our people to promote the Mandate of Heaven Army in the city. ”

Li Zicheng waved his hand, let the herald leave first, turned his head to look at the sun, and said, "General Li, if we work harder, we can spend the night in Ruzhou City tonight!" ”

"Yes, Metropolitan Governor, my subordinates will order to go down!" Li Ji recruited a pro-soldier and whispered a few words, and the pro-soldier immediately ran to the end of the team, shouting as he ran: "Brothers, work hard, the general said that we can spend the night in Ruzhou tonight, and Li Gongzi has already taken Ruzhou City......"

The soldiers cheered, and then shouted all kinds of slogans, and even the soldiers who were transporting the food immediately got up and pushed the carts, and the army was in an orderly manner, although there was a chorus of joy, but there was no confusion at all.

Crossing Rushui, but more than ten miles, is Ruzhou City, along the way, although I met a lot of people, the people saw thousands of troops, at first a little scared, but when they saw the Kyushu military flag of the Heavenly Mandate Army, the fear on their faces faded instantly, and many people pointed at the military flag.

Li Zicheng smiled secretly, Li Xin not only has a talent, if he is asked to engage in intelligence and rebellion work, I am afraid he also has a hand, Wang Anping has been engaged in interrogation work for more than ten years, and he may not be as good as Li Xin, but the Mandate of Heaven Army already has a Han Qing Bureau, this Li Xin is still obediently his general.

Li Xin is now a Qianhu official, with his military talent, it is sooner or later to be promoted, but Li Zicheng does not plan to give him a promotion now, the officers of the Heavenly Mandate Army are mainly promoted by relying on military merits, Li Xin directly commands the independent regiment with the rank of Qianhu, which belongs to the advance military merits, and waits until he has accumulated enough military merits and smooths out the Qianhu officials, and then he can be promoted.

Compared with the commanders of the battalions of the Heavenly Mandate Army and the commanders of each regiment, Li Xin joined the Heavenly Mandate Army late, and if he was promoted too quickly, he would inevitably be jealous of others.

Thousands of soldiers of the first regiment pulled out a long column on the official road outside the city, Li Xin heard the inquiry, hurriedly greeted out of the city, saw Li Zicheng, turned over and bowed, "Subordinate Li Xin, welcome the metropolitan governor into the city!" ”

Li Zicheng laughed, jumped off the horse, and handed the reins to the soldiers behind him, "Li Gongzi is really proficient in strategy, it's only been a day, and he has taken Ruzhou, not bad, get up quickly!" ”

"The Metropolitan Governor has won awards, and it is the Metropolitan Governor who laid the foundation for the Heavenly Mandate Army, and his subordinates are just picking peaches," Li Xin smiled on his face, his eyes were shining, although he was humble in his mouth, he was very proud in his heart, he bowed slightly and pointed forward with his hand, "Metropolitan Governor, General Li, please enter the city!" ”

In the city of Ruzhou, only the soldiers of the Mandate of Heaven patrolled the main streets, most of the people stayed at home, and a small number of people quietly came out of their homes, but the soldiers of the Mandate of Heaven Army turned a blind eye, as long as they did not have weapons in their hands, the soldiers of the Mandate of Heaven would not interfere with their actions.

Li Zicheng nodded, although there are not many people on the street, they are tinder, as long as the soldiers of the Heavenly Mandate Army do not disturb them, they will definitely do free positive publicity for the Heavenly Mandate Army.

Li Xin himself abides by military discipline and does not harass the people in the city, Li Zicheng is not surprising, when he was in Qixian County, he scattered all his wealth and took the initiative to provide disaster relief to the people, but the soldiers of the independent regiment joined the Heavenly Mandate Army not long ago, they can be regarded as new soldiers, even if some people are surrendered soldiers, but the military discipline of the Ming Army is very different from the military discipline of the Heavenly Mandate Army, at least it will not fully protect the property and interests of the people like the Heavenly Mandate Army.

Li Xinneng brought the independent regiment out of such a level in such a short period of time, and his ability to command troops can be seen, and he is more reckless than the commander of the eight battalions of the Heavenly Mandate Army.

However, Jiaxian and Ruzhou are not fortified cities, there will not be too many soldiers in the city, plus the people of the Lile Division and the Han Qing Bureau, who help from the secret, the battle will not be too fierce, only after a battle of life and death like the defense of Triangle City and the defense of Kadang City, Li Xin will become a generation of famous generals!

Although the Independent Regiment is a new army and is not equipped with firearms, under the leadership of Li Xin, it may be able to become an elite force second only to the fourth battalion!

Li Zicheng stayed at the state government that night, and after dinner, he summoned Li Ji and Li Xin at the state office.

Li Ji's face was almost expressionless, looking particularly solemn, while Li Xin was smiling faintly in his eyes, perhaps still thinking about today's battle.

Li Zicheng pointed with his hand, asked the two of them to sit down casually, and waited for He Xiaomi to serve tea, Fang said: "Now that Ruzhou City has been taken, it is no accident that the second regiment will also take Yiyang sooner or later, and the entire Ruzhou is ours, you two tell me what direction the next move of the Heavenly Mandate Army should be." ”

Li Xin was overjoyed and said, "Governor, the next move of the Heavenly Mandate Army is to hold on to Ruzhou, and to carry out new expansions?" ”

Li Zicheng smiled faintly and said: "According to Li Gongzi, can the Heavenly Mandate Army take advantage of the mountains on the east and west sides to hold in Ruzhou?" ”

"I'm afraid not," Li Xin shook his head, his face suddenly became solemn, "Although there are mountains on the east and west sides of Ruzhou, it is difficult for the army to pass, but the north-south direction is completely open terrain, and it is entirely possible for the Ming army to march from the north-south direction." ”

Li Zicheng nodded slightly, turned his gaze to Li Ji, and said, "General Li, what do you think?" ”

"Relying entirely on defense, I'm afraid it won't work, the north-south direction is too wide, and there is no obvious pass," Li Ji said: "Besides, our food is not sufficient, once surrounded by the superior forces of the Ming army, the Ming army only needs to besiege ......the city."

"You are right, Ruzhou is too small, and there is a serious shortage of food, our food must not only protect the soldiers, but also help the people in the region," Li Zicheng's face showed a wry smile, "Henan is in a series of droughts, it seems that we have come at the wrong time." ”

Li Xin pondered for a moment and said: "Governor, bad things can also be turned into good things, if the people of Henan are not short of food, who is willing to risk killing their heads and support the Mandate of Heaven Army?" ”

"Haha, since the Mandate of Heaven Army came to Henan, not only has the original strength been almost not lost, but also an independent regiment has been added," Li Zicheng remembered Mao Taizu back then, "The Mandate of Heaven Army is not afraid of war, as long as the people are on our side, the more we fight, the stronger our strength will be, and sooner or later we can face the enemy with the Ming Dynasty!" ”

"The Governor of the Metropolitan is right," Li Xin said: "The Governor of the Metropolis, since you can't hold on to Ruzhou, then simply attack, now the people of Henan are struggling on the line of death, wherever the Mandate of Heaven army goes, the people will definitely welcome ......"

Li Zicheng said with a smile: "Then Li Gongzi said, how do we enter the army next?" ”

"Luoyang," Li Xin said: "We have now crossed the Rushui River, out of the boundary of Ruzhou, that is, Luoyang, Luoyang is a strong city, there must be a lot of money in the city, as long as we break Luoyang and obtain some of the money and grain in the city, we can expand the army from the people, we can also provide disaster relief to the people, and establish prestige among the people!" ”

Li Zicheng didn't speak, but looked at Li Ji, Li Ji hurriedly said: "Luoyang is a strong city, but we haven't met a strong city before, Chengdu in Sichuan should also be regarded as a strong city, hasn't it been taken by us?" ”

Li Zicheng bowed slightly, and said, "What do you mean, the next step is to attack Luoyang City?" ”