"Mao Zanhua, we can go." Ma Shilong woke up Mao Yuanyi, who was pondering, as if he saw what Mao Yuanyi was thinking, and he said softly: "Our Ming Dynasty is like this, it is better to play with a pen than to hold a gun, damn it, Lao Tzu's sons can't wait to ask them to read." ”

Mao Yuanyi smiled reluctantly and said: "The troubled times are coming, and in the future, it may be the person who makes the knife and the gun proud." ”

"Don't you dare to hope for this day." Ma Shilong replied sullenly, then pointed ahead with a horsewhip, and said: "On the 15th, we will rush to Youtun, the soldiers and horses are already mobilized, Ningyuan City is preparing to carry food, and the water camp will first go to the river to build a pontoon bridge, if everything goes well, cross the river on the 25th and attack Yaozhou City." ”

"I heard that Yaozhou City has been demolished?"

"It's not all demolished." Some of the most basic information on the west side of Liaoxi is still available, Ma Shilong said: "Yaozhou City was demolished in half, and then the old slave felt that it was stable in Liaozhong, so he stopped demolishing the city, and later said that it had not been repaired again, and now there is only a city foundation more than one person high." ”

"It's easy to take." Mao Yuanyi felt a lot of comfort in her heart, three hundred old and weak women and children plus a one-person tall city, no matter how it is counted, it is not a violent tiger Feng He, but a victory in hand.

"You can't say you're going to win." According to the habits of military generals, Ma Shilong still has some reservations when speaking in private, but judging from the expression on his face, it is indeed relatively relaxed.

"That's right." Mao Yuanyi said: "That fugitive also asked him to go with him?" ”

"Yes, as a guide and head of the servants." Ma Shilong sneered: "Liu Sheng led two hundred and thirty returning refugees to cross the river with us, and the returning refugees were recruited in the Youtun area, and it was easy to get together the manpower." ”

Mao Yuanyi glanced back at this time, and sure enough, he saw a middle-aged man with a pale face riding a horse in a crooked posture and following the team.

"Hmph, Liu Sheng and Mr. Yao have met in private." Ma Shilong smiled slightly and said: "Although Yao has seen a lot of fugitives in the Guanning area, I would rather be cautious and cautious in this matter, and I can't let it go, I asked Liu Sheng to take someone across the river together, and if something is wrong, he will behead him in front of the battle, if you want to lie to me, you have to be careful to lose your head." ”

Mao Yuanyi felt that this move was a bit redundant, Liu Boqi was a student, Mao Yuanyi was also a scholar, and he had a natural sense of trust, and Yao Zongwen was a big man in the middle of the court, although his conduct was not good, but he would never collude with Dongyu, Ma Shilong was really a military general, and he thought of everything as a conspiracy and trick such as the art of war.

Ma Shilong himself doesn't quite believe that Liu Boqiao is a meticulous work, and he teamed up with Yao Zongwen to dig a pit, this thing feels too strange when he thinks about it, he just doesn't believe Liu Boqiang, including anyone, that's it.

The brigade continued to march forward mightily, arriving more than 200 miles from the closed gate to Ningyuan, during which it took four days and walked more than 50 miles a day.

For a corps with sufficient provisions, this distance and speed were quite normal.

There are several post stations along the way, Zhongqiansuo, Gaoling Station, Zhonghousuo, Dongguan Station, Xianling Temple Fort, Changling Mountain Station, Lianshan Station, and finally arrive in Ningyuan.

When he arrived in Ningyuan, it was already June 14, and there were still three days before the agreed date to cross the river by the river, when he arrived in Ningyuan City, Ma Shilong received news that the guerrilla Jin Guan reported that the boats of the water camp had not been used since the winter of last year, and all the ships had to be repaired before they could be started, and Jin Guan claimed to be taking people to repair them day and night, but whether he could rush to the mouth of the Liuhe River around the 17th, he did not dare to guarantee.

Ma Shilong was half angry, and directly transferred the report of the golden crown to Sun Chengzong, and asked the old Sun Tou to fight in the ring with these soldiers.

Ning Qiandao Yuan Chongcang and Ning Yuan's general soldier Man Gui, and deputy chief soldier Zu Dashou all went out of the city to greet him.

Ma Shilong actually didn't appreciate Zu Dashou at all, let alone like it, this guy was the head of the ancestral family, and the battle of Guangning led his troops to run first and sold the friendly army clean. The one who fights the war is most worried about this bastard, and who knows when he will sell his teammates again?

Anyway, Ma Shilong has already removed Zu Dashou from the list of cooperable people in his heart, but even if Ma Shilong wants to cooperate with Zu Dashou, there is no chance, Zu Dashou is the leader of the generals in Liaoxi, except for Man Gui and Yuan Chonghuan, no one buys the account, and I heard that Man Gui and Zu Dashou are gradually resentful between the two strong guys, and it is estimated that the cooperation will not last long, in short, Liaoxi is a pot of boiling porridge, that is, Sun Chengzong's strong qualifications can be slightly shocked, Ma Shilong thought sadly, if Sun Gebu is gone, How can you stop these karmas?

"I wish the commander-in-chief a victory."

Zu Dashou said something that was not nutritious, and his face was cold and he didn't even save the effort to cover it up, while Man Gui half-raised his face and only arched his hand, showing that he had no respect for Ma Shilong and was not interested at all.

Man Gui's qualifications are relatively complicated, but the growth of Xuanfu and the military of Xuanfu are relatively real, and the Xuanfu department has a strong sense of presence in Liaozhen, at least much stronger than Ma Shilong, who was born in Ningxia. Man Gui's character is rude and straightforward, quite conceited, he was a little jealous of the strength of his ancestors, Man Gui has developed well in Ningyuan in the past two years, the number of soldiers and family members soon exceeded 1,000, plus he is good at training, often engaged in some small wars in the border area, his subordinates are quite elite, the core of which is a veteran recruited from Xuanfu, the strength of Man Gui is unruly, and even Yuan Chonghuan, the Ning Qiandao, is not very much in his eyes.

Ma Shilong endured the liver pain and returned the salute one by one.

Ning Qiandao Yuan Chonghuan's appearance is not amazing, but his bearing is quite outstanding, he is black and thin and short, he is wearing a big red official robe, and he does not feel funny, on the contrary, he is very solemn, Ma Shilong knows that Yuan Chonghuan's majesty is extraordinary, and he does not buy any generals, so he is extra careful and takes the initiative to come forward to say hello.

"General Ma has worked hard, and this official also wishes the dynasty a triumphant return." Yuan Chonghuan's voice was low, which was the tone of a typical big man's speech, but the tone of his speech had an obvious southerner accent, and it was not unreasonable for some generals who had been tortured and humiliated by Yuan Manzi to call him Nanban or Yuan Manzi.

Ma Shilong bowed and said, "The last general will definitely do his best." ”

Yuan Chonghuan glanced at Mao Yuanyi behind Ma Shilong and said, "The soldiers are in danger, and the general must also be careful." ”

After Ma Shilong thanked him, Yuan Chonghuan pointed to the hundreds of picks of food in front of him, and said: "This official knows that the matter of raising food is very important, this time there are thousands of soldiers in the four battalions, and a lot of food is needed, although the water camp has not arrived, there are also two or three thousand soldiers and horses gathered near Erhegou, so in a few days, thousands of people were mobilized to prepare these food, and General Ma and the soldiers do not need to delay in waiting for food." ”

Ma Shilong is really grateful this time, the most headache for the Ming officers and soldiers is not the question of life and death whether they can win the battle, but the problem of hunger as soon as they go on the road.

This is no joke, it's a bloody reality.

Yuan Chonghuan prepared hundreds of picks of food here in Ningyuan, it seems that at least it is a multigrain cake, when the soldiers go out to fight a war, there is such a cake to fill the stomach, even if it burns high incense, if the Dongyu is not in trouble, the Ming army stationed in the fort has salt and cabbage silver, and the top will also directly send dishes such as sauerkraut and pickles to accompany the meal, or directly send salt and cabbage silver, as for now, it is good to have multigrain cakes.

"The last general, the general, thank you Elder Yuan." Ma Shilong bowed respectfully, Yuan Chonghuan and Sun Chengzong have a good relationship, and they have always been concerned about military affairs, and they are also bold, but they like to put up a fight with military generals too much, and they also like to use military law to punish soldiers, in addition to these shortcomings, Ma Shilong feels good about Yuan Chonghuan.

"This is also the business of this official." Yuan Chonghuan didn't have any expression on his dark and thin face, just nodded lightly.

……

Ma Shilong and the others are temporarily resting in Ningyuan, they still have to wait for the news of the water camp and then go to Youtun, as for Lu Zhijia and Li Chengxian and others, they have already arrived in the area of the Sancha River to prepare, and the car artillery battalion and the iron cavalry have also been in place one after another.

Liu Boqiao continued to move forward, and the prepared refugees who were willing to take risks followed him across the river, and if they made military achievements, they might become battalion soldiers or family members, and they could mix a bite to eat.

There are hundreds of thousands of refugees here in western Liaoning, and the head of the camp has been fixed, and it is not so easy for the strong and strong Liao people to join the camp and eat.

And what's even better is that the military salary of Liaozhen is quite high, even if the generals will use various methods to deduct it, the soldiers' salaries are much higher than those of other military towns, and the so-called "refugees" are actually strong men who want to join Liaozhen, and they are just masters or auxiliaries used in the army.

The troops and horses mobilized this time were mainly garrisons stationed in the Daling River and Xiaoling River and the garrisons in various places in Youtun, which had little to do with Ningyuan, and the Ningyuan Left Association only sent the officers and soldiers led by Ma Ji and Zhou Shouzhen, that is, 250 soldiers of the Iron Cavalry Battalion, to obey the command and dispatch to the area of the Sancha River.

"Send Ma Ji and Zhou Shouzhen?"

Yuan Chonghuan is still wearing the red official robe, he has been from a blue-robed official to a red-robed officer for less than two years, and the official prestige is already quite obvious, at least when he meets the generals, Yuan Chonghuan has always sat upright, never laughing with his subordinates at will, after a long time, at least Zu Dashou and others are still very afraid of his prestige, plus the distribution of many practical interests is dominated by Yuan Chonghuan, Zu Dashou and other Liaozhen generals stationed in Ningyuan have considerable respect for him, and the two sides have become one.

The general soldier Zhao Shujiao, Zu Dashou, and Man Gui, these are the most important armed forces mastered by Yuan Chonghuan, and the three of them are very strong, not only good at leading troops and charging to fight, but also good at tuntian and training soldiers and horses.

Yuan Chonghuan set his eyes on Zu Dashou, with big ears and excellent complexion, and some conceit and rigidity in the depths of his eyes, but he covered it up very well.