The Great War is on the verge of breaking out.

Behind Fang Yuan, there was a deafening sound of horses' hooves from the direction of Chigutai's ambush.

Fang Yuan was taken aback when he heard this, could it be that Fan Yongdou was really like a god, and he also divided a partial division to cut off his own back road?

Jing Jie didn't know what was going on, he and Fang Yuan looked at each other, if they encountered the front and rear attacks of the superior enemy forces in this river valley, although the combat power of the musket cavalry battalion was a few points higher, it was also more auspicious.

The sound of horses' hooves was getting closer and closer, and it wasn't until a hundred horsemen rushed straight in front of Fang Yuan that Fang Yuan saw clearly that this Ming army was hanging the banner of 'Zhou'.

As soon as Fang Yuan searched in his mind, he knew the origin of this banner, this person was Zhou Yuji, a famous general who died in Ningwuguan in the last years of Chongzhen, before the fall of the capital, and was the chief soldier of Shanxi.

When the man who came before was dressed in leather armor and armed with a fine iron saber, he was about forty years old, and he was born brave and strong, and his eyes were not angry and self-threatening.

When the person arrived in front of Fang Yuan, he immediately turned over and dismounted, and gave a military salute to Fang Yuan, "Lord Supervisor, Zhou is late, which makes your lord frightened." ”

When Fang Yuan faced this national break, the rare famous generals were in awe, and hurriedly dismounted and saluted him back, "It's good that General Zhou is here, I'm worried about causing internal strife between the Shenji Battalion and the Xuanfu Border Army." ”

Zhou Yuji looked at the oncoming Xuanfu army, and gritted his teeth with hatred, "Wang Chengyin, this dog is a miscellaneous dog, he dares to collude with profiteers and act with the prison army who escorted the military rations, and wants to rebel!" ”

He turned around and got on his horse, holding up the fine iron saber, and said to Fang Yuan, "Lord Supervisor, please be relieved, I brought five thousand men and horses here, and these miscellaneous pieces should all be dealt with by military law!" ”

Fang Yuan hurriedly got on the horse, stopped in front of him and said, "General Zhou, when I escort the military rations to Shaanxi, I have my own way to clean up Wang Chengyin and Fan Yongdou. ”

Zhou Yuji hurriedly said, "Lord Supervisor, please come with me, this dog is a miscellaneous retreat, if there is a slight change, I will immediately blow up his eggs!" ”

Fang Yuan was overjoyed, marched forward with him, and led five thousand cavalry to Wang Chengyin's array.

Wang Chengyin saw that Zhou Yuji, one of the top famous generals in Shanxi, had arrived, and brought countless cavalry, he couldn't help but be shocked, he didn't have the courage to fight with him at all, and hurriedly rode forward, "General Zhou Bing, you are moving the army to come, this is?" ”

Zhou Yuji pointed at Wang Chengyin's door with a horsewhip, and scolded him sharply, "General soldier Wang, as the chief soldier of Xuanfu, at this critical time, you actually left your post without permission and went to my Taiyuan Mansion to pursue the troops escorted by the imperial court to escort military rations, are you going to rebel?!" ”

Before Wang Chengyin could say more, Zhou Yuji had already issued him a tough warning, "General soldier Wang, within three days, if the Xuanfu army does not withdraw from the territory of Taiyuan Mansion, this general army will annihilate the Xuanfu army that entered without permission for the crime of treason!" ”

Wang Chengyin can't beat him, he can't say it, and Fan Yongdou, who is conceited and scheming, is also helpless when he meets this Zhou Yuji, who can't get in the oil and salt.

As soon as the two of them combined, if they forcibly started a war, with the elite cavalry under Fang Yuan's command and Zhou Yuji's 5,000-foot cavalry mixed army, they would definitely be defeated.

This operation could only end in failure, Wang Chengyin and Fan Yongdou immediately retreated with 3,000 cavalry.

Zhou Yuji forced back Wang Chengyin's Xuanfu army with a raise of his hand, avoiding a military disaster of infighting, Fang Yuan also breathed a sigh of relief, and returned with Zhou Yuji's 5,000 troops to join the advancing grain transportation team.

Zhou Yuji ordered 5,000 sergeants to divide into 5,000-man battalions, and acted as escorts around the grain transportation team, and marched south for a day and a night.

Fang Yuan saw that Taiyuan Mansion had passed, and Zhou Yuji had no intention of returning to the army, so he was stunned and asked, "General Zhou is not going back to Taiyuan Mansion?" ”

Zhou Yuji hurriedly said, "Lord Jianjun, this is a long way to Shaanxi, this military food transportation is related to the Qin army's entry into Gyeonggi, I will lead the army to escort the adults into Shaanxi along the way." ”

With Zhou Yuji escorting him along the way, even if the grain transport to Shaanxi had military support, Fang Yuan thanked him repeatedly, and asked, "General Zhou also knows that my trip is to transfer Sun Chuanting's Qin army into Beijing?" ”

Zhou Yuji said in a low voice, "Lord Supervisor, in fact, I have long wanted to write to Your Majesty to withdraw the defense line against the Liukou from Shaanxi to Shanxi, relying on the terrain of the Taihang Mountains, from Longmen, Jiangxian, Huoyi, Taiyuan, Datong to Xuanfu, to establish a five-hundred-mile defense line to prevent the Liukou from Shanxi from breaking into Gyeonggi. As long as the Liukou dares to bypass Shanxi and go north from Henan, the Shanxi armies will immediately be able to take the nest of Liukou Henan when they go south. ”

His suggestion to shrink the front coincided with Fang Yuan's and set up a defensive line in Shanxi similar to that of Ningyuan-Jinzhou outside the Guanwai. With the solidity of the Ningjin defense line, it can consume the Manchu Qing Dynasty for twenty or thirty years, and it cannot be broken through, and the mobility of the Liukou is far inferior to that of the Manchu iron cavalry, and it must not be able to cross the Shanxi defense line.

Moreover, it can be used as a horn with Gyeonggi, and this line of defense can be described as impregnable.

Fang Yuan was overjoyed when he heard this, and even claimed that it was, "General Zhou Bing's suggestion is good, very good, why don't you go directly to Your Majesty to make a suggestion?" ”

Zhou Yuji said with a sad face, "If you give up Shaanxi, only Lord Prison Commander dares to mention it in front of His Majesty, and the criticism of the courtiers makes me shudder!" Alas! ”

"Another famous general like Lu Xiangsheng, dragged down by the political struggle of internal friction."

Fang Yuan sighed secretly, and said, "When I return to the capital, I will immediately report General Zhou's suggestion to Your Majesty." ”

After more than 20 days of slow marching, the army passed Huoyi, Jiangxian and Longmen, arrived at the bank of the Yellow River, and then went west to Shaanxi.

Along the way, every time he passed a fortress, Zhou Yuji would unreservedly explain to Fang Yuan how to consolidate the city defense, how many troops were stationed, how to cooperate with the two neighboring fortresses, and how large military forts to build where the defense was weak and the rogue might be interspersed.

As soon as Fang Yuan heard it, he knew that Zhou Yuji's topography and landform of this line had been investigated on the spot and had done a profound study.

Zhou Yuji is indeed a rare famous general, who has both the courage of the battlefield and the strategy of governing the army.

As soon as Zhou Yuji took office as the chief soldier of Shanxi, he immediately found out the crux of the Shanxi guards, eliminated a large number of old, weak, sick and disabled people who were mixed in the guards and soldiers, and improved the combat effectiveness of the Jin army while saving the salaries of the imperial court.

What impressed Fang Yuan even more was that he had no bureaucratic style at all, and when Shanxi did not affect the flames of the Liukou war, he was still prepared for danger in times of peace, personally inspected the terrain, and put forward suggestions for preventing trouble.

Fang Yuan is still secretly Baidu Baidu Zhou Yuji's past experience, Zhou Yuji is a famous general who completely relies on military merits.

When he entered the customs of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, he fought a bloody battle with the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and also defeated Luo Rucai and Zhang Xianzhong, and then forced the giant Li Qingshan to surrender in Shandong, making great contributions. In later historical records, when the Manchu Qing Dynasty entered the customs this time, he defeated thousands of Manchu elites; In the process of Li Zicheng's march from Shaanxi to Gyeonggi, he was the most brave and fierce general soldier of the Ming Dynasty, and almost beat Li Zicheng to abandon the city at Ningwu Pass, and finally died and died in Ningwu Pass.

On the battlefield, Zhou Yuji has always taken the initiative to ask for battle in battle, even if he encounters the Manchu Iron Cavalry, he never avoids the battle, it is completely a combination of the advantages of Chigutai and Jingjie, and he has the style of the famous general Lu Xiangsheng of the year.

Fang Yuan and he met late, and when they arrived on the bank of the Yellow River, they were still reluctant.

It was not until the grain army all crossed the Yellow River and entered the territory of Shaanxi that Fang Yuan said goodbye to Zhou Yuji with the rear army.