Wuquan Mountain is a branch of Gaolan Mountain in the west, there are five springs on the mountain: Ganlu Spring, Yueyue Spring, Touch Zi Spring, Mengquan Spring, Hui Spring, the spring water is sweet and drinkable, it is said that the hussar general Huo Qu sick west to attack the Huns, passing through Lanzhou, when people were sleepy and horses were lacking, but they could not find the water source, Huo Qu was calm and calm, poked five times with a horse whip on the mountain, and five clear springs appeared at the whip mark in a flash.

Whether Huo Qubing has passed through Lanzhou or not, Li Zicheng doesn't know, maybe this is a later generation using Huo Quai's reputation to make a head, maybe he is deifying Huo Quai.

After he separated from Zhou Bin in Lanzhou City, Zhou Bin went out of the east gate, and he took the 6,000th household of the Ma Youshui Department and the soldiers of Lanzhou Wei directly out of the south gate and walked into Wuquan Mountain.

Su Wang Ye Zhu Zhihong followed Li Zicheng with him, he was wearing luxurious clothes and riding a high-headed horse, but there was a lack of accompanying guards, and the momentum of the prince was still a lot weaker, at least he did not have the feeling of being on top of him before and after calling on weekdays.

He was surrounded by the Mandate of Heaven, not only guarding him, but also spying on him.

However, compared with his family, Zhu Zhihong is still lucky, he still has the opportunity to watch the sunrise and sunset, and his family, like the soldiers guarding Ganzhou, has been burned by a fire and will be buried forever in Gaolan Mountain.

Zhu Zhihong is still young, if the Heavenly Mandate Army gives him a chance, he can still start all over again.

The army moved south along the right bank of the Agan River (now the Leitan River), and the Lanzhou guards under Qiu Shike's command were all locals, familiar with the roads, and wore the armor of the Ming army, so they led the way in front, and met the people along the way, all of them were army pretending to be the imperial court, so as not to frighten the people.

Li Zicheng's personal soldiers, accompanied by Zhu Zhihong, the king of Su, followed closely behind, and finally the soldiers of the Ma Youshui Department.

According to the signs on the marching map, before the Jiehe Pass, there was no garrison of the imperial court, so the speed of the march was extremely fast, and by noon, it had reached Huazhaizi, and it had traveled more than 30 miles.

Li Zicheng looked up at the sky, and saw that the sun was close to the middle of the sky, so he ordered to rest on the periphery of the village, replenish water, and eat some dry food. By the way, you can also ask for some hot water! ”

"The guerrilla general may not be ignorant that wherever the Mandate of Heaven army goes, it must not disturb the people," Li Zicheng found a big tree and stood in the shade of the tree, "Fighting a war is a soldier's business, and the people only need to pay food normally, and the army fights to ensure the peace of the people on one side." ”

"Ah......" Qiu Shike was shocked in his heart, raised his eyes and swept away, the soldiers of the Heavenly Mandate Army were all looking for a piece of shade in twos and threes, and sat down to eat dry food with clear water, but they really couldn't find the shade of the tree, at most they just crowded under the eaves, and absolutely no soldiers dared to knock on the door of the people.

"The guerrilla generals have not officially joined the Heavenly Mandate Army, and may not be familiar with the military discipline of the Heavenly Mandate Army," Li Zicheng smiled faintly and said: "Our military discipline is not written on paper, but engraved in our hearts, no matter where we go, it is the same." ”

"This ......" Qiu Shike's heart throbbed, just now he had seen that except for the gunners dressed in brown and green camouflage uniforms, the rest of the soldiers, including Li Zicheng's personal soldiers, were all heavy Mingguang armor, at this time their heads were already sweating like rain, but none of the soldiers took off their armor to dissipate heat, and said in their hearts: The Mandate of Heaven Army has strict discipline, the muskets equipped are good, and the combat effectiveness is naturally not a problem, but the soldiers are so hard, what is it for?

Li Zicheng seemed to guess Qiu Shike's thoughts, he put down the water bag in his hand, and said leisurely: "The soldiers fight, in general, so that all the people in the world have food, clothing, housing, and land, and the people live and work in peace and contentment, which is the highest goal of the Heavenly Mandate Army. ”

Qiu Shi is noncommittal, he is just an ordinary officer, he does not have too much ambition, and he does not have unrealistic ideals, his only purpose is to make his life better.

"From the perspective of the soldiers themselves, who doesn't aspire to be promoted and rich?" Li Zicheng didn't pay attention to Qiu Shike's thoughts, and said: "Although the salary of the Heavenly Mandate Army is not high on weekdays, only half a tael per month, but it is not impossible to be promoted and make a fortune, as long as you can make meritorious contributions on the battlefield, the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion will never owe the sergeants a reward, and will also give the sergeants the opportunity to be promoted. He was given a large amount of money and food in the palace, and his faith was strengthened.

"Get promoted and get rich?" Qiu Shike almost couldn't believe his ears, being a soldier has always been only the obligation of a military household, if he has a choice, who wants to be born and die on the battlefield? I didn't expect that in the ...... of the Heavenly Mandate Army, "Metropolitan Governor, are the brothers of the Heavenly Mandate Army willing to be soldiers?" ”

"Naturally, am I going to persecute them?" Li Zicheng said with a smile: "Don't hide it from the guerrilla generals, many people in Xining are crying and shouting to be soldiers, first, we don't need too many soldiers for the time being, and secondly, not all kinds of people can be soldiers, so many people don't have the opportunity to become the Mandate of Heaven Army." ”

Qiu Shike still doesn't believe it, how can anyone rush to be a soldier to go to the battlefield, unless he is a fool, is the reward that the Heavenly Mandate Army said is true? His mind turned, and he suddenly had an idea, "Dadu Governor, from here to Lintao Mansion, you must pass through the Jiehe Pass in front, and the villain is willing to lead the soldiers of the headquarters to take down the pass and ensure the passage of the army!" ”

"The guerrilla generals are willing to make meritorious contributions to the Heavenly Mandate Army, and I welcome them very much, but Jiehe Pass is only a small pass, and there are not many soldiers stationed there, and the reward will not be too high," Li Zicheng pondered for a moment and said: "If you take Jiehe Pass, one hundred soldiers will be enough, each soldier is half a tael, and the commander is twenty taels." ”

"So little silver?" Qiu Shike was suddenly speechless.

"Haha, it's a lot, the reward of the Heavenly Mandate Army also has rules," Li Zicheng said with a smile: "Has the guerrilla general seen the Heavenly Mandate Army attacking Suwangfu?" The casualties were not large, and there was not much danger. ”

"This ......" Qiu Shike was speechless for a while, Li Zicheng said it well, he saw the combat effectiveness of the Heavenly Mandate Army with his own eyes, but in a moment and three moments, the entire Ganzhou Central Guard, more than 1,000 soldiers, was completely annihilated by the smaller number of Heavenly Mandate Army, and he didn't even have a chance to fight back. However, after taking the Jiehe Pass, it was only seventy or eighty taels of silver, and it is estimated that there are more than seventy or eighty taels of silver in the pass, right?

"Does the guerrilla general think that if you take the Jiehe Pass, the money in the pass will be yours?" Li Zicheng took a sip of cold water and said: "The rules of the Mandate of Heaven Army, the capture of the battlefield, all must be handed over, and the Dadu Governor's Mansion will reward the soldiers for their meritorious deeds, and the reward will generally not exceed 30% of the captured, otherwise, how can the Dadu Governor's Mansion have money and food to pay military salaries on weekdays?" ”

"I see!" Qiu Shi was a little disappointed, but he was now half of the Heavenly Mandate Army, now that the words had been spoken, could he still take it back, and said stubbornly: "Metropolitan Governor, even if there is no silver reward, the villain is willing to take the pass!" ”

"Haha, how are the guerrilla generals going to take the Jiehe Pass?" Li Zicheng said with a smile: "Since it is a pass, it should stand on the road, easy to defend and difficult to attack, right?" ”

"Although the Jiehe Pass is standing on the road, but between the two mountains here, the passage is too wide, the pass is only located in the West Mountain, and there is still a passage several miles wide in the east, our department can rely on the advantage of numbers, attack from the north and east directions, there are not many defenders in the Jiehe Pass, most of the governors rest assured, it is to fight for consumption, and the villain will also consume the defenders in the interior of the pass!"

"This is indeed a good idea, the advantage in numbers should be fully utilized," Li Zicheng glanced at the soldiers of Lanzhou Wei, "However, these brothers who are all alive and well now, I don't know how many casualties will be inflicted, they all have parents, wives and children, and they want to wear it at home...... Although it is inevitable that people will die in war, as a general, you must come up with a way to achieve military goals and reduce the casualties of your brothers! ”

"The Governor means ......"

Li Zicheng pointed at the soldiers of Lanzhou Wei and said, "Didn't the guerrilla general see it?" ”

"The villain is stupid...... The villain didn't understand what the Metropolitan meant......"

"They are wearing Mingguang armor, and they are holding the standard weapons of the Ming army, which are completely the configuration of the Ming army," Li Zicheng patted Qiu Shike's arm and said: "Lanzhou has just fallen, and the information should not have reached Jiehe Pass yet, right?" ”

"The Metropolitan Governor is ......" Qiu Shike slapped his thigh violently, "villain...... The villain understands, the trick of the Metropolitan Governor is really high! ”

"No matter how clever a trick is, it needs people to carry it out, and if a guerrilla general wants to make meritorious contributions, he must think carefully and strive to come up with a feasible plan."

"Yes, Metropolitan Governor, the villain will go down and prepare!" Qiu Shike hurriedly threw the last bit of dry food into his mouth, poured two mouthfuls of water, said goodbye to Li Zicheng, and returned to the headquarters.

The soldiers only rested for half an hour, and then hurried under the scorching sun, but fortunately there were mountain roads in front of them, although they were rugged and fettered by weeds and thorns, but the trees on both sides of the road were vigorous, and there was some natural shade from time to time.

The army passed through the northwest corner of Yunding Mountain, and then passed along the western edge of Mahan Mountain, then turned southwest and cut into Taoshui, and when they camped at night, they were still thirty or forty miles away from the Jiehe Pass in the south.

Qiu Shike took advantage of the time when the firefighters were cooking, and rushed to see Li Zicheng, "Knock on the governor!" ”

"The guerrilla general doesn't have to be polite, get up and speak," Li Zicheng pointed to Ma Zha on the opposite side, signaling Qiu Shike to sit down, "The guerrilla general has thought of a way to take the Jiehe Pass?" ”

"Back to the Metropolitan Governor, the villain has an idea, but he doesn't know ......"

"Any method is theoretically correct, the key is to look at the actual effect, not only to achieve military goals, but also to reduce one's own losses," Li Zicheng asked He Xiaomi to serve tea, Fang said: "Guerrilla general, don't worry, speak slowly!" ”

"Thank you, Governor!" Qiu Shike picked up the warm white water, took two sips, put down the tea cup, and then explained his plan and plate.

"The guerrilla generals are both wise and brave, I underestimated them," Li Zicheng laughed, "This method is indeed good, but my army must quickly move south and take the city of Lintao as soon as possible, and the guerrilla generals must step up the implementation of your plan." ”

"That'...... The Grand Governor, the villain took advantage of the fact that the sky was not yet dark, the villain took a hundred soldiers, continued to move forward for a while and then set up camp, if everything went well, when the Metropolitan Governor arrived at the Jiehe Pass tomorrow, he should be able to pass directly. ”

"That's it, it's going to be a hard guerrilla general!" Li Zicheng bowed.

"What did the Governor say?" Qiu Shike hurriedly got up and returned the salute, "Serving the Governor is a blessing for the villain!" ”

"Hahaha......"

"Hahaha......"

The two laughed at each other, and Qiu Shike left Li Zicheng's big tent in this laughter.