He Xiaomi's face was overjoyed, and he said with a smile: "Dadu Governor, they got Guanshan so quickly?" Isn't that a good thing? ”

"It's a good thing to be able to get Guanshan," Li Zicheng nodded slightly, and said: "In this next step, they must not be able to go east out of Guanshan, they only have more than a thousand cavalry, and they are alone in the depths...... As for the counties of Gongchang Mansion......" he paused suddenly, and said, "Xiaomi, go find a ranger who is familiar with Guanshan." ”

"Yes, Grand Duke!"

He Xiaomi came back soon, followed by Wang Anping.

Wang Anping first saluted Li Zicheng, "Subordinate Wang Anping, knock to see the governor!" ”

"Anping doesn't need to be polite, get up quickly and sit," Li Zicheng waited for He Mi to serve tea, and said: "Is Anping familiar with Guanshan Road?" Tell me more about it. ”

"Yes, Metropolitan Governor," Wang Anping closed his eyes and pondered for a moment before he said: "Longshan is a general term, the mountain range in its north is also called Liupan Mountain, and the mountain range in the south is called Guanshan. ”

"There are three ...... on Kansan Road"

Li Zicheng immediately interrupted Wang Anping, "What? There are three Guanshan Road? Isn't it? ”

Wang Anping said with a smile: "Governor, according to the personal inspection of his subordinates, there are indeed three Guanshan Roads, but they are not far apart, and the difficulty of passing them is not consistent. ”

Li Zicheng smiled bitterly, the more passages there are, the more difficult it is to garrison, and the more soldiers are needed, at this moment, he would rather Guanshan be like the Himalayas, there is no mountain pass, however, Guanshan has been between Guanzhong and Longyou since ancient times, how can there be no passage? He waved his hand, "Anping, you continue!" ”

"Yes, Metropolitan Governor," Wang Anping moistened his throat with tea and said, "There are three passages on Guanshan, and the northern line, also called Qinjiayuan Ancient Road, is the earliest trunk road of Guanshan Ancient Road. The general direction of this trunk road is from Gongmen Town, Qingshui County, through Red Deer, Yanggutan, Qinjiayuan to Guguan, and finally Longzhou. ”

"The southern route, that is, the Xianyi Pass Road. From Nanzhai paved out of the black stone ditch, through the stele Zhiliang to Changning Station, across the Caizi River, all the way up the ghost gate, camel lane, saddle, through the cliff to pay the ditch mouth, to Xianyi Pass, and finally Longzhou. ”

Li Zicheng was thoughtful, but did not say a word.

"Dadudu, this road was built in the Mengyuan Dynasty, is the latest of the three roads, although the road is convenient, but the river valley and the cross-ridge section is very difficult, the road only plays a limited role in communicating the regional economy, mainly used for the small scale of the people and businessmen."

Li Zicheng raised his eyes and said, "Anping is saying that the other two roads were built relatively early and were once part of the 'Silk Road'?" Can merchants and armies pass on a large scale? ”

Wang Anping arched his hand and said: "Back to the Metropolitan Governor, it should be like this, when the subordinates personally investigated, they found that although the other two roads circled back and forth, and the distance was longer, they were more suitable for a large number of troops. ”

"I see, you go on!"

"Yes, Metropolitan Governor," Wang Anping continued: "The middle line, that is, Longguan Road, also called Guanlong Avenue and Guanshan Road, this road is the official road, the longest time in use, from the east, starting from Longzhou, thirty miles west, through Guguan, Dazhen Pass, Anrong Pass, Fu Hanping bifurcation on Lao Ye Ling, down the mountain to the Red Deer Station, and then through the Gongmen to Longcheng, or from the Red Deer Station to the south through Changning Station to Qingshui County. ”

"What is commonly referred to as Guanshan Road refers to this road?" Li Zicheng said lightly, but he was thinking in his heart.

"It should refer to this road, this road is the official road, the most gentle, and the most suitable for the army to travel."

Guguan, Dazhen Pass, Anrong Pass, listen to the name, one by one makes people feel angry, on these passes, there have been many battles, but Li Zicheng has no heart to care about them now, he unfolded the march map, "Anping, the east exit of these three roads, respectively, Guguan, Xianyiguan, and finally Longzhou?" ”

"Yes, Dadudu, the eastern exit of the middle line and the northern line are all Guguan, and the eastern exit of the southern line is Xianyi Pass, and these two passes are about thirty miles west of Longzhou."

"As long as you hold Guguan, you can hold the northern line and the middle line, and the Xianyi Pass on the southern line," Li Zicheng's gaze turned to the west of Guanshan, "The west exit is in Changningyi, if I remember correctly, Changningyi and Maluyi are also the main nodes of the middle line, right?" ”

"Yes, Grand Duke."

"Then as long as I station a small army in Changning Station, won't I seal the western exit of the northern front?" Li Zicheng's mind spun rapidly, and he soon had a plan, "Okay, from Qingshui County, Changning Station, and Maluyi, a small number of soldiers will be stationed all the way, and all the exits in the west will be blocked, and then along the middle line Anrong Pass, Dazhen Pass, and Guguan, gather heavy troops, and even go out of Guguan to threaten Longzhou ......"

"The Governor ......"

Li Zicheng said with a smile: "Anping thinks this can be stubborn? ”

"Dadu Governor, this kind of stubbornness is tantamount to an extremely safe method, however, Anjung Pass is still there, but the Great Earthquake Pass has long been abandoned, and the solid pass is also in disrepair......

Li Zicheng's heart moved, he was worried that Tao Zhiyong's auxiliary soldiers could not deal with it, and now it was just right to repair the solid pass and the big earthquake pass, although the big earthquake pass was very famous, but now the role is not as good as the solid pass, as long as the solid pass is repaired, and then a thousand gunners will be arranged...... He smiled unconsciously and said, "What difficulties does Anping think there are?" ”

"Metropolitan Governor, Guguan is already the eastern foot of Guanshan, at least a hundred miles away from Changning Post and Maluyi at the western foothills, and even farther away from Qingshui County, I'm afraid it will not be easy to ...... supplies."

"No matter how difficult it is to supply, we can't give up the solid pass," the hard-won situation, how could Li Zicheng be willing to give up? He is not short of food now, and it is a big deal to let the auxiliary soldiers rebuild the road in the mountain, as for Qingshui County, it can be used as a food supply base to guard the Guanshan Road for the time being, and it will not be too far to transport.

Wang Anping nodded, suddenly arched his hand, and said, "Governor, since this is the case, his subordinates will also release some rangers to assist the cavalry in finding out information." ”

"Well, it's going to be hard for these brothers to drill a ravine in the thorn bushes again!" Li Zicheng also gave up, "Anping go back and rest!" ”

"Yes, Metropolitan Governor, subordinates retire!"

After Wang Anping left, Li Zicheng immediately wrote a secret letter to Liu Yunshui, asking him to use the main force to defend Guguan, and at the same time establish a defense line from Qingshui County to Guguan, and he would arrive later.

The letter was handed over to He Xiaomi, and asked him to immediately use the flying pigeon to deliver the message to Liu Yunshui, with detailed information, and after dawn, Li Zicheng sent a herald to send it to Guanshan.

After dawn, Li Zicheng left a hundred households of auxiliaries in Lintao City to garrison, and the army continued to move south, Qiu Shike had just reorganized five hundred households, this time as the vanguard, Li Zicheng and Ma Youshui as the central army, and the auxiliary soldiers left by the hundredth households, as well as the seven or eight hundred households in charge of Tao Zhiyong, because of the transportation of a large amount of food, the action was relatively slow, and they fell behind the back of the team.

The army went south along Taoshui, traveled fifty or sixty miles, and then turned to the east of the Bird and Mouse Mountain, and traveled to the source of the Dongyu River, which originated from the Bird and Mouse Mountain.

According to the local soldiers, the Wei River, which runs through the entire Shaanxi, also originates from the Bird and Mouse Mountain, and the source of the Wei River is at the eastern foot of the Bird and Mouse Mountain, but in order to meet with Liu Yunshui and Li Guobu's cavalry as soon as possible, Li Zicheng has no interest in visiting the source of the Wei River.

After passing the Bird and Mouse Mountain, it is the West Tilting Mountain and its northern remnant Wuzhu Mountain and Shouyang Mountain, Li Zicheng passed through the valley between the West Tilting Mountain and Wuzhu Mountain and Shouyang Mountain under the guidance of the rangers, and arrived at the turning bay in the upper reaches of Zhangshui on the 25th.

Along the Zhangshui to the east, rushed to Zhangxian at noon on the 26th, there was no garrison of the imperial court in Zhangxian County, and dozens of arrests in the city were directly taken by Qiu Shike.

Li Zicheng rested in the city for a night, and summoned the magistrates and other civilian officials in the city overnight, asking them to put things right, support the Mandate of Heaven Army's crusade, and encourage them to pledge their allegiance to the Mandate of Heaven Army as a hostage of their eldest son.

The people in the city didn't even know that the Mandate of Heaven Army entered the city at night, and after dawn, the city gates were wide open on all sides, and the Mandate of Heaven Army left Zhangxian County one after another.

Zhangshui is a tributary of Weishui, and Li Zicheng marched eastward along the north of Zhangshui, crossed Zhangshui at the interface close to Weishui, and turned to the south of Weishui.

On the 28th, the Mandate of Heaven army took the undefended Ningyuan County, which was the place where Li Zicheng and Zhou Bin converged, but Zhou Bin had not yet crossed the Gongchang Mansion, Li Zicheng did not stay, but left a hundred auxiliary troops here to meet Zhou Bin, and the army continued to advance eastward along Weishui.

When Weishui traveled to Shaanxi, it was blocked by Longshan Mountain in the north and Qinling Mountains in the south, and lost the passage along the river, but in the upstream area, the road was relatively smooth, and Li Zicheng only took one day to rush to Fuqiang County, where Huachuan and Weishui meet.

Fuqiang County also did not have a garrison of the imperial court, and the Mandate of Heaven army entered the city without blood, but after camping, Qiu Shike couldn't take care of dinner, and immediately rushed to see Li Zicheng, "Dadu Governor, go east, and Qinzhou is ahead!" ”

Li Zicheng had already known about the garrison of Longyou from the mouth of the ranger, but he pretended not to know, and said in amazement: "Qinzhou? Is there anything special about Qinzhou? ”

Qiu Shike arched his hand and said: "Most of the governors don't know, Qinzhou is different from Zhangxian County, Ningyuan County, and Fuqiang County, there is a Qinzhou guard stationed there, according to the speculation of his subordinates, even if there is no complete establishment of a guard, at least there are more than 1,000 soldiers, but after Qinzhou, there is no garrison of the imperial court in Longyou." ”

Li Zicheng said with a smile: "Qiu Baihu is saying that as long as we take Qinzhou, we can quickly cross Weishui and join the cavalry?" ”

"The Metropolitan Governor is right, as long as Qinzhou is taken, there will be no army of the imperial court blocking the Heavenly Mandate Army in front of him."

Li Zicheng nodded, Qiu Shike did not lie, it seems that this person is preliminarily believed to be credible, but I don't know how this person is on the battlefield, so he smiled and said: "According to Qiu Baihu, how can we take Qinzhou?" Qin Zhouwei's soldiers, how to deal with them? ”

Qiu Shike was stunned for a moment, and then said: "The Grand Governor, the officers of Qin Zhouwei, have no friendship with their subordinates, and their subordinates can't comfort them, I'm afraid they will attack, as for the soldiers of Qin Zhouwei, ......" Saying this, he suddenly paused, his eyes glowed with a strange light, "The Metropolitan Governor...... Could it be that the Metropolitan Governor has already had a way to destroy the enemy? ”