Li Zicheng and Lin Dan Khan soon reached an agreement, and Lin Dan Khan, with Namu Zhong and all his belongings, under the escort of a small number of cavalry, returned to Dacaotan Yonggu City first, leaving the commander Badasi to lead the rest of the cavalry to participate in the upcoming battle.

The Mongol cavalry led the army independently, but Badasi had to obey Li Zicheng's command.

This time it was a battle against the Han Chinese, and there was no chance of looting, and the Mongols' food had to be solved by themselves, which was not difficult for Lin Dan Khan, the rear team of the Mongols, some of them were flocks, and when they returned to Lanzhou, they would also be under the command of Badasi.

Li Zicheng specially told Lin Dan Khan not to return to Datong Mountain, but to live in Yonggu City, so as not to prevent the Mongols in Yonggu City from fleeing unnoticed in the future and weakening the power of the Chahar Department.

The rest of Lin Dan Khan's Fujin in Kadang City will also go to Yonggu City to join Lin Dan Khan.

In addition to Yonggu City, the Mongol villages on the Dacaotan must be stationed on the avenue in the direction of the west to Weiyuan County, or to the south, on the avenue leading to Ledu County, and be investigated by the Mandate of Heaven at any time.

Whether the Mongols in the area of Datong Mountain will also settle down will be decided when the war is over.

Lin Dan Khan did not enter Lanzhou, but took Namu Zhong and all the booty, and hurriedly returned to Yonggu City to distribute the spoils, Li Zicheng waited in Lanzhou for only one day, and then waited for Li Ji, who went south, to join the Mongol cavalry in Badassi, and also went east along the Yellow River.

On the afternoon of the 15th, the army converged with Qin Danian's troops in the west of Pingtan Fort, and to Li Zicheng's surprise, Qin Danian did not take Pingtan Fort.

Perhaps it was the first time to participate in a large-scale battle, Qin Danian had a whole thousand gunmen in his hands, but he was helpless against the small Pingtan Fort.

Hearing that the Metropolitan Governor was coming, he was immediately happy and afraid, happy that the Metropolitan Governor went to war, and he had always been invincible, and the Metropolitan Governor personally withdrew the command, and Pingtan Fort should not become an obstacle to the Eastern Expedition of the Mandate of Heaven.

At the same time, Qin Danian was also very afraid, since Li Zicheng entered Xining, the chief officer of the seven thousand households of the Heavenly Mandate Army has never lost a battle, even in the Triangle City and Kadang City, Zhou Bin and Song Wenbu have suffered more than half of the casualties, and even the chief officer has personally gone into battle, but relying on the city wall, the city is not lost.

Now facing a flat beach fort with only dozens of soldiers, he can't take it with more than a thousand gunners, which ...... Let him have the face to mix in the Mandate of Heaven Army in the future?

Qin Danian greeted Li Zicheng at the intersection early, "My subordinates knock to see the governor!" ”

"Danian, get up and speak!" Li Zicheng jumped off his horse and pointed to Pingtan Fort from afar, "How many garrisons are there in Pingtan Fort?" Why can't I take it? ”

"Back to the Grand Duke, there are only a few dozen soldiers in Pingtan Fort, but it is located on the top of the mountain, surrounded by cliffs on all sides, easy to defend and difficult to attack...... Eighteen brothers have been killed in battle......"

"Huh?" Li Zicheng was taken aback.

The Mandate of Heaven Army has already lost eighteen people, and the wounded soldiers may be even more, except in Triangle City and Kadang City, the Mandate of Heaven Army has never suffered such a big loss.

There are only a few dozen soldiers in the fort!

Is it that Qin Danian is not good at fighting, or is there some magic in Pingtan Fort?

“……”

"The ranger said, the number of people in the fort has increased exponentially, how can there be only a few dozen? Are there any discrepancies in the message? "Li Zicheng is ready to take matters into his own hands, and the more detailed the military situation is, the better.

"Back to the Metropolitan Governor, there are indeed only dozens of people in the fort, which is basically a full number," Qin Danian said: "Because Pingtan Fort has not been facing the enemy for a long time, the shortage of personnel is relatively serious, and the manpower has only recently been increased. ”

Just increased manpower, there is such combat effectiveness? Li Zicheng couldn't help but look forward to Dai Junen, he pointed forward with his hand, and said, "How far is the main force of the Ming army from here?" ”

"The subordinates sent rangers outside, and Dai Junen's main force is still in the Jingyu Acropolis, ninety miles away from here!"

Li Zicheng suddenly realized that something was wrong, "You have been attacking for two days, don't Dai Junen know about it?" Why didn't he send reinforcements? ”

"The subordinates have surrounded Pingtan Fort, and the rangers have released rumors, and Pingtan Fort has been taken......"

"Isn't there any other way to get in touch with the fort?" Li Zicheng felt that such a method was really not clever, the flying pigeon of the Heavenly Mandate Army was to take over the original carrier pigeons of Xiningwei, who would dare to guarantee that there were no carrier pigeons in Pingtan Fort?

"Back to the Metropolitan Governor, his subordinates will transfer most of the brothers to the east of Pingtan Fort and completely divide Pingtan Fort," Qin Danian said loudly: "It is useless for Dai Junen to know, unless he can defeat the main force of the three thousand households, it is said that his army has not yet been assembled......"

For so long, Dai Junen's soldiers have not been assembled? Li Zicheng didn't believe it, but Qin Danian used the main force to resist possible reinforcements and only attacked Pingtan Fort with a small number of troops, which was indeed a good choice.

He also thought about whether to give up Pingtan Fort for the time being and go directly to attack Jingyuwei, after all, there were only dozens of soldiers in Pingtan Fort!

Thinking about it, I decided to take it, the mountains here are high and dense, the road is not very smooth, if you leave Pingtan Fort in the rear of the army, the transportation of grain and grass will be unsafe, and it is difficult to make a detour, if a Pingtan Fort that only garrisons dozens of people can't be taken, what kind of Jingyu Guard will be attacked?

Li Zicheng paused with pride, turned over his horse, and said to Qin Danian: "It's still early today, let's go, take me to Pingtan Fort to have a look!" ”

"Yes, Grand Duke!" Qin Danian took the lead, Li Ji and Badaxi accompanied Li Zicheng, and He Xiaomi took more than 100 personal soldiers and followed Li Zicheng's side closely.

In a few moments, there was Pingtan Fort in front of him, the Heavenly Mandate Army was still attacking, Qin Danian guarded a move, and the soldiers immediately withdrew from the mountain.

Li Zicheng raised his eyes to see, the mountain is really high and steep, from the top of the mountain, almost all are cliffs, preliminary visual inspection, this section of the mountain in the west, almost seventy or eighty degrees, the rock is smooth enough to reflect the light, and there are no vines drooping, if you want to attack it, it is really a dog bites a hedgehog - there is nowhere to go!

He walked around the Flat Beach Fort, and not only gasped.

Pingtan Fort sits in the north and faces south, hanging alone on the top of the fort mountain, and the strange rocks on all sides stand majestically and steeply, which seems to be a natural moat ravine, which cannot be climbed at all.

The east side is somewhat similar to the west face, the north side is close to the Yellow River, the valley is deep, the south side is tens of meters of cutting ditch, more steep than the city wall itself, only in the southeast direction there is a not too wide road, and the mountains on both sides are integrated, and the end is the four dangerous places that can not be opened.

It turned out that there was only one way up the mountain, and once the Mandate of Heaven Army attacked from the front, the defenders on the mountain had no way to retreat, no wonder they had to resist desperately!

Li Ji kept frowning, he wanted to show himself too much in front of the Grand Governor, if the 4,000th household could take Pingtan Fort, at least he could suppress Qin Danian.

However, in the face of the cliff-like fort, he really had nothing to do, "Governor, if you don't leave some brothers behind, continue to surround Pingtan Fort, and the army will pass through the ...... first"

Badassi's gaze kept lingering between the ground and the fort, probably thinking that such a long distance, with the level of the Mongols, it would never be possible to create a suitable siege ladder, so he finally shook his head, sighed softly, and didn't say a word.

Li Zicheng also felt aggrieved, Pingtan Fort was extremely dangerous, could it be that he was just allowed to be ridiculed by dozens of soldiers in the fort?

There is no way, when he encounters a problem, he can only count on the Firearms Bureau, "Danian, what about the gunpowder bag, can you send the gunpowder bag to the top of the mountain?" ”

"Dadudu, there is only one path on the mountain, and the brothers can't get close to the city wall at all......" In Qin Danian's opinion, the gunpowder bag is more suitable for defending the city, if the enemy is attacking the city, a gunpowder bag is thrown out, not to mention people, and even the ladder for attacking the city can be blown up.

"Danian, don't you still have a mountain cannon in your hand, can you use a mountain cannon to flatten Pingtan Fort?" Li Zicheng visually estimated that the mountain artillery might be able to be placed on this path in the southeast, and the Pingtan Fort might be within range.

If you don't try it, who will know you?

Qin Danian looked very aggrieved, like a new daughter-in-law who had just been scolded, "Governor Dadu, my subordinates have tried, put the mountain cannon on flat ground, the firing range is insufficient, if you push forward, the mountain cannon can't be fired up from the slope, and the subordinates finally bulldoze the slope together, and the elevation angle is not enough......" He pointed forward with his hand.

Li Zicheng followed the direction of his finger, and sure enough, he saw the traces of excavation, and cleared out a flat land from the battle slope, it was really difficult to be a brother.

This is the first time that mountain artillery has appeared on the battlefield, is there no way to take this flat beach fort?

He looked around, wanting to learn from the film and television dramas of later generations, to mount the mountain cannon on the opposite hill, and then shell the target, the Ming army could only nest in Pingtan Fort, and the periphery was the world of the Mandate of Heaven Army!

However, Li Zicheng was disappointed, there was no such mountain on the periphery of Pingtan Fort, and even if there was, it was far beyond the range of mountain artillery.

The Flat Beach Fort is like a reef jutting out of the sea level, lonely and proud looking down on all the brothers around it.

What to do?

Not only the pro-soldiers, but even Qin Danian and Li Ji all looked at Li Zicheng with a smile, and the corners of Badassi's mouth twitched, and there was a faint hint of mockery!

Li Zicheng was even more anxious, two thousand gunners, plus more than a thousand cavalry in Badasi, could it be that they were helpless by these dozens of people?

Dai Junen is guarding Jingyu, and may join the peripheral war group at any time.

He cast his gaze on the top of the mountain several times, and if there were strong enough rattan hanging from the top of the mountain, maybe he could force the attack regardless of casualties, but unfortunately, there were no thick rattan on the cliff, maybe there were originally, but they were cut off by the defenders.

Several unknown birds flew in front of the mountain, and Xu was startled by the strange costumes of the Mandate of Heaven, and with a long roar, turned towards the mountain, disappeared into the forest, and disappeared.

If only the soldiers of the Mandate of Heaven were like birds, they grew two wings!

Li Zicheng smiled a little self-deprecatingly, and suddenly his heart moved, and the smile froze on his face.

Isn't the flowering shell of the mountain cannon a bird with wings?