Fuqiang Fort is about forty miles south of Zhenhai Fort, originally to deter the local Qiang descendants of the natives, who do not want the Qiang people to submit, but it was broken by the Mongols.

If the Mongols used this as a stronghold, it would be easy to cut off the connection between Zhenhai Fort and Xiningwei, making Zhenhaibao an isolated city, and without supplies from Xining, Zhenhai Fort would sooner or later be broken by the Mongols.

There are two thousand households in Fuqiang Fort, and there are no less than five or six hundred soldiers, and Fuqiang Fort can't be saved, so how can Zhenhai Fort, which is only defended by 100 people, resist the iron cavalry of the Mongols?

If Zhenhai Fort is also conquered, then the Mongols will face Xining City, no wonder Wu Shaoling and Zhao Feng are so anxious.

Li Zicheng was also anxious, the Mongols broke through Fuqiang Fort, which suddenly disrupted his plan for the triangle city, and he didn't care about breakfast at the moment, "Xiaomi, go and give the order quickly, and return to Zhenhai Fort immediately." ”

He Xiaomi knew that the military situation was urgent, so he didn't dare to delay for a moment, so he went to give the order, and Ma Youshui came to Li Zicheng's side, "Your Excellency really wants to go to Xining?" ”

"Youshui is worried about Liang Wencheng?"

"My lord, I'm not afraid of 10,000, I'm just afraid that in case, we didn't answer in Xining City."

Li Zicheng said: "Go back to Zhenhai Fort first, if the information of Fuqiang Fort is wrong, then Liang Wencheng has told the truth, if Fuqiang Fort is really broken, at this time Wu Shaoling is probably an ant on a hot pot, where can he take care of such a trivial matter?" ”

After noon, Li Zicheng had already arrived at the pasture two miles west of Zhenhai Fort, and Ma Youshui suddenly asked, "My lord, where are the cattle and sheep outside the fort?" Why aren't any of them gone? ”

"Sure enough, it's gone, are they all in the city?" He Xiaomi glanced around, except for the occasional three or five herdsmen carefully harvesting grass, where was there the shadow of cattle and sheep?

The cattle and sheep in Zhenhai Fort were grazing near the fort, and now none of them are missing, apparently returning to the fort, "It seems that the Mongols did break the Fuqiang Fort." At this time, Li Zicheng was not in a hurry, he calculated carefully, but for a while he couldn't tell whether Fuqiang Fort was broken by the Mongols, whether it was a gain or a loss for himself.

The Mongols stationed in Fuqiang Fort may threaten Zhenhai Fort at any time, which is the biggest threat to themselves, but at the same time, with the threat of these Mongols, even if Liang Wencheng reported to Wu Shaoling that he cheated in the purchase of war horses, Wu Shaoling could not attack himself for the time being, he just saved some silver, and the Mongols wanted everything, including their lives, which is more important, Wu Shaoling will weigh it.

In other words, if Wu Shaoling wants to do it to himself, he will have to wait until Fuqiang Fort is restored.

There is still the dragon flag of the Ming Dynasty hanging in Zhenhai Fort, Li Zicheng is a little relieved, it seems that the Mongols are not ready to attack Zhenhai Fort, when he came to the West City Gate, Liu Yunshui has already galloped out, "My lord, Fuqiang Fort is lost." ”

"Let's go back to Fort first."

After sitting in the official office, from the reports of Liu Yunshui and Li Guo, Li Zicheng knew the general idea, and Fuqiang Fort was attacked by the Mongols who attacked from the south of the West Sea.

If you can break through Fuqiang Fort, the number of Mongolian cavalry must be indispensable, Li Zicheng began to worry, Zhenhai Fort and Fuqiang Fort are only forty miles apart, in case the Mongol cavalry comes to attack, with only a hundred people, it may not be able to hold on for a long time, will Xining send reinforcements?

With Li Zicheng's understanding of Xiningwei, he will definitely not, he was originally an outcast, but he was able to get a war horse for Wu Shaoling, so he was allowed to be taken seriously, and now Wu Shaoling and Zhao Feng are worried about not Zhenhai Fort, but Xining.

Can you take the initiative to give up Zhenhai Fort and save the lives of soldiers?

The same can't, soldiers have the responsibility to defend the land, this is not a great righteousness, but a military discipline, once you give up Zhenhai Fort, not only yourself, all soldiers will be beheaded.

Li Zicheng was a little irritable, and casually asked the most crucial question: "How many Mongolians are there?" ”

"There are only a few dozen Mongols."

Liu Yunshui's words made Li Zicheng puzzled, "How can dozens of people conquer Fuqiang Fort?" Aren't there hundreds of soldiers in the fort? Is the message accurate? ”

"Indeed, we have sent a large number of rangers to Fuqiang Fort, and we have also questioned many soldiers who escaped from Fuqiang Fort," Li said, "Not only was Fuqiang Fort conquered, but even the two thousand lords who guarded Fuqiang Fort also lost their lives. ”

"How the hell is this battle fought? Was the Ming army too weak, or was the Mongol cavalry too strong? "Li Zicheng was so angry that he wanted to scold his mother, these Ming troops are really consuming food in vain, Fuqiang Fort is lost, his plan to restore the Triangle City, I'm afraid it will fail, even Zhenhai Fort is not at peace, what else to talk about recovering lost territory?" With the city wall to rely on, even if the combat effectiveness of the Ming army is low, it will not lose Fuqiang Fort for a while and a half. ”

Liu Yunshui's face was also indignant, "My lord, it is said that the Mongols attacked Fuqiang Fort, when two thousand households were hunting outside the city, they were suddenly seen by the Mongolian cavalry, they wanted to return to the city It was too late, the Mongols rushed according to the handsome banner, only two of them looked at each other, and the two thousand households were killed, and the soldiers were suddenly in chaos, scrambling to return to the city, and the Mongolian cavalry was fast, and they entered Fuqiang Fort before these soldiers. ”

Li Zicheng suddenly thought of a creepy question, "Are there any Mongols in the city to answer it?" ”

"I haven't heard of this, because there are too many soldiers outside the city, and the two thousand households are outside the city, and the soldiers in the city dare not close the city gate."

If the Ming army is mixed with Mongol spies, it will be difficult to clear it, and the army will be discouraged, and dozens of Mongolian cavalry will go down to Xining, "Why can't you see the Mongols outside the city?" Didn't they make a living by plundering, why didn't they plunder the herdsmen around them? ”

Both of them shook their heads, "My lord, after the Mongols occupied Fuqiang Fort, our rangers did not dare to get too close, and we don't know the situation in the fort for the time being. ”

Could it be that the supplies in the fort were too abundant for the Mongols to take care of? Or are the Mongols sorting out supplies and preparing for a retreat? There are only dozens of cavalry, if Xiningwei wants to remove these thorns in the eye, it should not be difficult, are they already aware of the danger? Because there was no information from the city, Li Zicheng could not figure out the movements of the Mongols for a while.

"My lord, what should I do?" Li Guo habitually waited for Li Zicheng to make a decision.

"Now that Xining Wei has summoned me to discuss matters, I naturally want to go to Xining." Li Zicheng decided to observe the dynamics of Xiningwei first before making the next step.

"No," Liu Yunshui stood up, "My lord, the road to Xining is too dangerous now, in case the Mongols attack from the fort...... And ......"

"Yunshui rest assured," Li Zicheng smiled and asked Liu Yunshui to sit down, "Yunshui's meaning, I know, but we also have cavalry now, and the combat effectiveness may not be as good as the Mongols, and the running should not be much worse, as for Weili, I'm afraid it's all a mess now, except for Fuqiang Fort, we are the ones who have the most contact with the Mongols, maybe the heavy task of recovering Fuqiang Fort will fall on our shoulders," paused, and said: "On the way back, I have already planned to stop, in addition to the two personal soldiers, I also brought two small flag cavalry, When we arrived outside the city of Xining, leaving the war horses outside the city and guarding them by soldiers with a small banner, we walked into the city. ”

Liu Yunshui pondered for a moment, and saw that Li Zicheng's arrangement was far beyond his imagination, so he no longer objected, but was interested in recovering Fuqiang Fort, "My lord, will Weili really let us recover Fuqiang Fort?" ”

"It's not certain for the time being, but you have to be prepared, especially the movements of the Inner Mongolians in Fuqiangbao, and whether there is any backup, you must send additional rangers to monitor day and night."

"Yes, sir."

Li Zicheng arrived in Xining in the evening, and the soldiers of a small banner hid their horses among the herdsmen's cattle and sheep, while he entered the city with his own soldiers and another soldier of a small banner.

Because it was getting late, Li Zicheng estimated that the official office had already gotten off work, so he went straight to Wu Shaoling's mansion, but the mansion guarding the door told him that Wu Gonggong went to the official office early in the morning and has not returned.

Could it be that Xiningwei had a one-day meeting? Li Zicheng didn't care about his humble status, and trotted to the official office.

At this time, it was completely dark, and the Xining official office had already lit an oil lamp, Li Zicheng made his identity clear to the soldier guarding the door, but the soldier did not report it, and let him go directly, "Li Baihu, you are finally here, Gonggong Wu has been waiting for you for a long time, and now he is angry, and you need to be careful after entering." ”

"Why is my father-in-law angry? Is it because I'm late? Li Zicheng was slightly surprised, the atmosphere in Xining was a little solemn, but he was far away in the Triangle City, if it wasn't for the war horse, he was afraid that he hadn't arrived at Zhenhai Fort at this moment.

"This villain doesn't know, the villain is just a guard, the situation in the official office, the villain doesn't know at all, the villain only hears the voice of Gonggong Wu's angry scolding, and it seems that he has fallen something."

Li Zicheng frowned, since he came to the door of the official office, there was no reason not to go in, besides, Wu Shaoling had passed the word, it seemed that he was waiting for him, maybe it was not a bad thing, thanked the guards, walked to the official office alone, touched it with his hand, the short knife in his sleeve was still there, in case ...... It's best to get a hostage first.

There were five people sitting in the official office, in addition to Wu Shaoling, Zhao Feng, and Liang Wencheng in the main hall, there were two people with their heads hanging on their sides, Li Zicheng didn't know these two people, and they seemed to be officers.

"My subordinates will knock to see Grandpa Wu, and I will knock to meet my lords." Li Zicheng took two steps and knelt down in the center of the hall, his eyes fixed on Wu Shaoling's foot.

"Zicheng, you're finally here?" Wu Shaoling didn't know what was going on in Li Zicheng's mind, he only had this last hope left, his eyes couldn't help but shine, his legs stood up, his heart beat faster, as if he was seeing his bride for the first time, "Come on, look at the seat!" ”

"Grandpa Xie!" Li Zicheng had just gotten up, and a soldier had already taken a wooden chair and placed it on the side, he confessed, and Fang sat down next to the two strange officers.

"Zicheng, have you heard about Fuqiang Castle?" Wu Shaoling was like an abducted and trafficked child, suddenly seeing his parents, he said to himself, "Mongolians, hateful, these mischievous breeds are even more hateful!" He also glanced at Li Zicheng's opposite.

Li Zicheng followed his gaze, and then saw that on the ground opposite, there seemed to be a person lying down, with ropes tied all over his body, motionless, "Father-in-law......"

"Zicheng, your Zhenhai Fort is the closest to Fuqiang Fort," Wu Shaoling's face suddenly smiled, although this smile was very reluctant, "Tell me, can you take back Fuqiang Fort?" If Fuqiang Fort is recaptured, it will be of more practical significance to Xiningwei than the restoration of the Triangle City. ”

Could it be that Wu Shaoling is blackmailing the Triangle City? Li Zicheng pondered for a moment, then suddenly stood up and said loudly: "Fuqiang Fort is no more than fifty miles away from Xining and Zhenhai Fort, and with the speed of the Mongolian cavalry, it will take less than two hours to arrive, and the Mongolian cavalry will definitely wreak havoc on the surrounding herdsmen, so Fuqiang Fort must not fall into the hands of the Mongols." ”