Zhao Guangrui kindly reminded: "The subordinates of the Grand Governor, but thousands of soldiers, how will the Grand Governor defeat Lord Dai......"

"The military situation must not be divulged," Li Zicheng said with a smile: "The governor of Pontus is asking you, are you willing to surrender to the army of the Mandate of Heaven?" ”

Zhao Guangrui pondered for a moment, suddenly plucked up his courage, and said: "If the Metropolitan Governor can defeat Lord Dai, the villain will return to the Heavenly Mandate Army!" ”

"Good, good, it's a deal!" Li Zicheng used two good words in a row, but his heart was happy.

Dai Junen is only 20,000 soldiers, how is it better than Hong Chengchou's 40,000? There are two thousand gunmen of the Mandate of Heaven Army gathered here, as well as the cavalry of Badasi, there is no problem in defeating Dai Junen, the key is whether Dai Junen will surrender, judging from his name, this person is probably a pedantic person again!

Li Zicheng turned around and whispered a few words to He Xiaomi, He Xiaomi gladly accepted the order and promised in a low voice, "Yes, the Metropolitan Governor, my subordinates understand!" Subordinates will never miss an errand! ”

That night, the soldiers were stationed in the outer valleys, and when the road was set up, Li Zicheng and his soldiers stayed in the barracks in Pingtan Fort, and after dawn, a soldier with a general banner was left to garrison Pingtan Fort to guard the rear road, and the army marched east along the Yellow River.

Out of Pingtan Fort, there is no avenue, more in the canyon through, Li Zicheng can't help but scold, since between Pingtan Fort and Jingyuwei, there is no traffic avenue, why should it be attached to Jingluwei? He already regretted it in his heart, he knew that the road was so difficult, and he should have marched to Pingtan Fort in the first place.

If the Ming army marched westward, it would be up to them to cross this valley.

However, now that he was on the way east, it was impossible to withdraw like this, so Li Zicheng had to cast out more rangers to scout the nearby terrain.

Two days later, the army reached Jinjiatai.

Jinjiatai was originally a small beacon tower, but it gradually lost its military role and is now abandoned.

However, it is a good road sign here, after Jinjiatai, there is already an official road, although it still passes through the valley, the road is tortuous, but the terrain difference has eased a lot.

Jinjiatai is only about 30 miles away from the Jingyu Acropolis, and the rangers of the Heavenly Mandate Army are mainly concentrated between Jinjiatai and the Jingyu Acropolis, and the terrain here and the movements of the Ming army continue to be passed to Li Zicheng's hands.

Li Zicheng was not in a hurry to advance eastward, and if he went further, he would approach Jingyuwei, the Ming army had an acropolis and occupied an absolute advantage in the terrain, he did not plan to attack the city, but waited for Dai Junen to come out by himself.

Dai Junen is a bandit this time, and he will never confront the Heavenly Mandate Army, as long as the Heavenly Mandate Army does not attack the city, he will definitely take the initiative to attack.

In addition, it is necessary to wait for the food in the rear, especially the Mongolian cavalry in Badassi, which is mainly meat-based, in case of lack of food, who knows whether he will plunder around, the military discipline of the Mongols is really difficult to reassure.

What made Li Zicheng more troubled was that there was no castle in front of him to garrison, even a small city like Jingyuwei.

The advantage of the Mandate of Heaven Army is defense, if there is no city wall to rely on, the advantage of the rifle is difficult to play, if they meet in the field, whether the two gunmen of a thousand households can resist Dai Junen's 20,000 army, he is really not sure.

Li Zicheng sent a lot of additional cavalry to carefully explore the terrain ahead, especially the ditch river and the ridge.

Later, a military conference was held with the participation of Qin Danian, Li Ji, and Badasi, who could only understand a few monosyllabic Chinese, so Li Zicheng temporarily equipped him with an interpreter.

Zhao Guangrui, as a special guest of Li Zicheng, also participated in this meeting, Li Zicheng did not give Zhao Guangrui a specific task, however, there is no need to worry about him leaking secrets, he is still a prisoner of war of the Mandate of Heaven Army, completely under surveillance, but there is no rope on his body.

Li Zicheng will screen out some information and hand it over to everyone to circulate, and when it is almost circulated, Fang Dao: "The number of the Ming army is ten times that of our army, everyone, how can we meet the enemy?" ”

Qin Danian was still recalling all kinds of information, and when he saw that everyone didn't speak, he said: "Governor, the number of our army is far inferior to that of the Ming army, but the combat effectiveness is strong, if there is a city wall as a support, it can repel the Ming army." ”

"Danian is right, but between Pingtan Fort and Jingyuwei, there is no fort city where troops can be stationed, and even Jinjiatai here is just a lookout post, and it is impossible to garrison troops at all." Li Zicheng is also ready to fight a blocking battle, there is no fort city, and he can choose the mountain.

Li Ji had already memorized the message, thought for a while, and said: "The fortress cannot be built in a day, and the Ming army will not give us enough time to build the city, but the rivers and ridges here are crisscrossed, and it may be possible to use the mountain to ......."

"Li Ji's words are exactly what I want," Li Zicheng didn't expect that Li Ji, a stuffy donkey, could occasionally shine as a donkey, "The question is, where can I find a suitable terrain." ”

Qin Danian saw that Li Ji had stolen his limelight, and he was anxious, and hurriedly said: "Dadu Governor, the area of Goat's Milk Ditch can be relied on, there is a river in the east, a high ground in the west, and between the two, there is an open terrain, but his subordinates did not go to investigate in person, so they can't be very sure." ”

Li Ji said: "Governor, my subordinates suggest that no matter where you block it, you should temporarily block the information and strangle the rangers of the Ming army. ”

Li Zicheng's heart moved, he originally didn't have enough cavalry, but at this time, there happened to be Badaxi by his side, these Mongolian cavalry, it would be a waste not to use them, "However, in order to paralyze Dai Junen, the Mongolian cavalry must change into the uniform of the Ming army and pretend to be Han cavalry." ”

"The Governor is right!" Qin Danian and Li Ji both agreed very much.

The meeting ended quickly, everyone left Li Zicheng's Chinese army tent, but Zhao Guangrui couldn't go around, Li Zicheng felt strange, so he said: "Do you have any ideas in Hongzhou?" ”

Zhao Guangrui first saluted, and said: "Dadu Governor, it is feasible to block the Ming army in Goat's Milk Ditch, but the villain also knows that there is still a small road to detour south from Goat's Milk Ditch." ”

Li Zicheng didn't expect that Zhao Guangrui would start planning for the Heavenly Mandate Army so soon, and he was secretly happy in his heart, and said: "The governor of Pontus forgot, Hongzhou has lived in Jingyuwei since he was a child, and he must know the surrounding terrain well," paused, and then said: "Hongzhou, tell me, how far does this path need to be detoured, and can it pass the cavalry?" ”

"Cavalry?" Zhao Guangrui originally reminded Li Zicheng to prevent the Ming army from infiltrating the path to sneak attack, but he didn't expect Li Zicheng to use it to attack, he adjusted his mood a little, and said: "You need to detour forty miles to take the path, and the cavalry should be able to pass." ”

Li Zicheng was overjoyed, laughed, and said: "With the help of Hongzhou, it is difficult for the Ming army to fly this time!" ”

"Metropolitan Governor ......" Zhao Guangrui really doesn't understand, the Ming army has nearly ten times the strength of the force, even if there is a city, it may not be able to defend it, not to mention a temporary simple fortification, is it true that the combat effectiveness of the Mandate of Heaven Army has really reached a terrifying point?

Yes, last time in Pingtan Fort, the Mandate of Heaven Army used mountain artillery to take it, and the fort was blown up in pieces, and the flowering shells used by the Mandate of Heaven Army were even more unheard of......

"The governor of Pontus already has an idea in his heart," Li Zicheng thought about it, and decided to reveal something, "Dai Junen's 20,000 soldiers, if they are concentrated on Jingyuwei, after a long time, food will also be a problem, right?" ”

"What does the Metropolitan Governor mean, Lord Dai will definitely take the initiative to attack?" Although Zhao Guangrui is only nineteen years old, he was born in a family of generals, and he has been familiar with military books since he was a child, and he knows everything on the battlefield.

"Definitely, the more people there are, the greater the pressure on the grain and grass, and the advantage is to fight quickly," Li Zicheng said with a smile: "The governor of Pontus must first defeat Dai Junen's front before deciding on the next move." ”

"If Lord Dai suffers a loss, I am afraid that he will be stationed in Jingyuwei, the Acropolis is at the northern foot of Wulan Mountain, north of the Yellow River, there is only one small road from north to south, if you want to attack it, it is very difficult to ......."

Li Zicheng said with a smile: "The front was annihilated, and more than 10,000 soldiers were trapped in Jingyuwei, how did Dai Junen explain to Hong Chengchou?" He's not an enemy, he's here to suppress bandits......"

Zhao Guangrui unconsciously became Li Zicheng's adviser, "The Metropolitan Governor, Lord Dai's use of soldiers, has always been steady, and he rarely ventures into ......"

"It's okay, if he wants to defend, we will attack," Li Zicheng smiled faintly, and didn't look at Zhao Guangrui, so as not to embarrass him, "The Heavenly Mandate Army is not only stationed, attacking the city, or even fighting cavalry in the field, we will not fall behind." ”

"Ah......h

Zhao Guangrui left the Chinese army's tent with full questions, and the Heavenly Mandate Army stepped up its actions.

The Mongolian cavalry sent by Badaxi desperately strangled the Ming army's rangers, from Jinjiatai to Jingluwei, there were small-scale battlefields everywhere, and the Mongolian soldiers changed into the Ming army's Mingguang armor, and took a group of more than a dozen people, from west to east, under the guidance of the Heavenly Mandate Army rangers, along the road to clear, even in the valleys on both sides.

Li Zicheng, Qin Danian, and Li Ji personally went to Goat Milk Ditch for field investigation.

Goat milk ditch is a small river, because the river surface is too narrow, it is called "ditch" by the locals, and in the dry season, the water level will drop sharply, and even there will be a break in the flow, so it is called "goat milk", which means that "milk # water" is intermittent.

To the west of Yangzigou, near the side of Jinjiatai, about 300 paces, there is a ridge that rises and just jams the road.

Li Zicheng immediately asked the soldiers to dig a 90-degree fault on the east side of the ridge, which was as deep as one zhang and a half, close to the height of the city wall.

The extra rocks and soil were transported to the western slope, and the western slope was just cushioned out of a gentle slope, and the Mandate of Heaven army was stationed on the slope, which was equivalent to the head of the city.

The slope extends to both sides, to the middle of the mountain, which is several miles wide and wide, Li Zicheng let Qin Danian's department garrison the slope, and Li Ji's department camped in the rear as a reserve.

The Kanpo on this side had just been completed, and the Mongol cavalry who had stayed behind to drive the sheep had also arrived, and according to the orders of Lin Dan Khan, they were also under the control of Badassi, and almost at the same time, the auxiliaries of the Mandate of Heaven also transported grain and grass and gathered at Jinjiatai.