Zhu Youzhen looked at the towering city wall of Tongguan, the height was not less than ten meters under visual inspection, and the terrain was too dangerous, if Tongguan was really occupied by bandits, the grenades might not be able to destroy the city wall at all, and artillery was still needed at the critical moment. However, there are only 300 flowering bullets, and if you really want to destroy the city wall of Tongguan, Zhu Youzhen's baby-like flowering bullets are probably going to run out.

After entering Tongguan, Zhu Youzhen found that there was only Liu Yushuan in Tongguan. When I asked, I found out that there were not many bandits nearby, and Zu Dashou had already led his troops to seize Huayin County west of Tongguan.

This ancestor Dashou is not considered a peaceful lord, is it possible that the generals in Liaodong are like this? However, Zu Dashou held Tongguan and seized Huayin County to the west of Tongguan, and the strategic space of the Siwu Battalion was greatly expanded.

"Jade Bolt, have you ever released a ranger?" The interrogation was far from sufficient, and Zhu Youzhen had no choice but to adopt the old method of releasing the rangers.

"Back to Your Highness, the rangers have been released forty miles away, and there are only some looting stragglers nearby, and there is no large bandit army." Liu Yuxuan felt strange, Tongguan is such an important pass, and there are no heavy troops gathered nearby, what does this bandit mean?

"Didn't Cao Erzhen say that there were more than 200,000 bandits? So where are they mainly stationed? Could it be hidden somewhere nearby? "Zhu Youzhen is also strange, what's wrong with the bandits? Is there no capable person in the bandit army? How could such an army overthrow the Ming Dynasty?

"Your Highness, the small leader of the bandit army who has just been captured confesses that there are about 80,000 bandit soldiers in the area of Baishui County, of which 30,000 are stationed in Weinan and Tongzhou, and the rest of the bandit troops are scattered in nearby counties." This was the information that Liu Yuxuan had just discovered, but the leader of the bandit army had a low status, and he didn't know the next move of the bandit army.

"So, the two bandit armies didn't merge?" Zhu Youzhen secretly rejoiced that in that case, he could break them individually.

"No, they're still fighting on their own." Liu Yuxuan was unwilling to defend Tongguan, he hoped to take the city like Zu Dashou: "Your Highness, your subordinates are willing to lead the troops and attack Huazhou." ”

"Don't worry, the battle still has to be fought. Who is the commander of the bandits? "This is Zhu Youzhen's first real commander, he must be careful and never rush forward.

"It's Wang Er, the peasant who started the incident." Liu Yushuan's eyes were full of contempt.

"Wang Er? Aren't there many border soldiers in the bandit army? Could it be that these generals of the border army also have no strategic vision? "Zhu Youzhen is also contemptuous, these tofu. It is no wonder that in front of more than 300,000 soldiers in the four towns of Shaanxi, the Mongolian Tatars knocked on the Great Wall to enter the customs, which was easier than Kobe Bryant's three-point shooting in the NBA.

Zhu Youzhen was very angry, do they really want to be their opponents? Historically, it was these tofu that broke through the city of Beijing? And he was still unjustly forced to hang himself in Wanshou Mountain?

The generals of the four martial arts battalions, except for Zu Dashou in Huayin County, the rest of the generals are in Tongguan. Zhu Youzhen began his first dispatch of troops after entering Shanxi.

"Li Hongjun?"

"Yes."

"The soldiers of the headquarters, according to the Tongguan, receive the grain and grass materials behind, no matter what, they must guard the Tongguan Pass to ensure the smooth flow of materials." Li Hongjun is an old man in the Fenwu Battalion, who has experienced the war between Shandong and the Japanese Invaders, and he took Li Xing, Wu Bing, and Liu Xingyu to garrison Tongguan, and Zhu Youzhen was very relieved.

In particular, Liu Xingyu won Zhu Youzhen's attention, and when he was originally exterminating the Japanese invaders, he was still the general and was a subordinate of Wu Bing, but he fought bravely in Shandong and destroyed many enemies. After the extermination of the Japanese Invaders, the original Qianzong Jiang Gen was left in Shandong by Qin Yongnian, and he was promoted to the new Qianzong.

"The subordinates must guard Tongguan and not pay the trust of His Highness." Li Hongjun's voice was not loud, but he was also extremely resolute. In fact, he still likes to destroy the city in front, but Zhu Youzhen trusts him and gives him such an important task, and he can't say a reason to oppose it.

"Liu Yushuan?"

"Yes."

"You will take your headquarters cavalry, take your guide, go out day and night, and ambush from Kamayama and Chengcheng to Luochuan in the east of Tongzhou. No need to attack, stop the two bandits from converging. After our army takes Tongzhou, intercept Wang Er's rout. "Cutting off the confluence of the two bandits is the top priority, laying the foundation for Zhu Youzhen's army to break through the bandit army, so Zhu Youzhen still sent veterans of the Fenwu battalion.

"The subordinates will definitely complete the task."

"Wang Bo?" Wang Bo was the commander of the cavalry guard of the training battalion in Yangdu.

"Yes."

"You lead the cavalry of your headquarters, contact General Zu, and work together to take Huazhou, and wait for the arrival of the army in Huazhou." Wang Bo had no actual combat experience, so Zhu Youzhen asked him to accept Zu Dashou's command. He is a soldier who is a cavalryman, and the speed at which the army advances is fast, so he can take advantage of the speed to surprise and attack Huazhou when the bandits are not ready.

"Honorable Order."

"The rest of the armies will rest today and set off tomorrow to advance to Weinan." Zhu Youzhen wanted to clean up the bandits south of Weishui first.

When Zhu Youzhen and his entourage arrived in Huayin County, it happened that Zu Dashou's messenger came to report that he and Wang Bo had occupied Huazhou.

"Okay, then we don't have to stay, the army will go directly to Huazhou." Zhu Youzhen considered that the next battle of Weinan would be the first hard battle to enter Shaanxi, Weinan is an important town in the southeast of Shaanxi, the terrain is dangerous, the city wall is thick, easy to defend and difficult to attack. The sooner the soldiers arrived, the more time they would rest.

After a rapid march, the army finally arrived at the border of Huazhou, and Zu Dashou, Ning Xianlong, Wang Bo and other officers went out of the city for twenty miles to welcome Zhu Youzhen into the city.

"General Zu, it's been a hard work. In addition to Tongguan, you can also connect two cities, and the credit is for you to occupy alone. Zhu Youzhen was afraid of Zu Dashou's shoulders, which were broad and strong, which made people have a sense of trust.

"Your Highness doesn't know that Huayin and Huazhou are two empty cities, and there are not many bandits stationed. The subordinates just picked up two cities, how can they get the credit? Zu Dashou seemed to be very dissatisfied and did not give him a chance to show his talents.

It's also good to train in small battles.

Zhu Youzhen is now concerned about the upcoming battle of Weinan. This not only gave the four martial arts battalions a chance to really fight and even fight hard, but also an important beginning to exterminate the Shaanxi bandit army. "General Zu, I don't know how the bandit army in Weinan is deployed?"

"Back to Your Highness, the last general has already released the ranger. The bandits gathered the nearby stragglers and concentrated in Weinan, where there were now about 33,000 bandits. There are no bandit troops in the east and south of the city, but there are bandits stationed in Pucheng and Fuping north of Weishui, which are basically connected with the same state. "Zu Dashou had already been prepared, if Zhu Youzhen hadn't come to Huazhou in time, he might have launched an attack on Weinan independently.

"General Zu's message is very detailed. Today, everyone will have a good rest, and then send troops to Weinan the day after tomorrow. Zhu Youzhen saw that the four martial arts battalions marched rapidly for days, and the soldiers were very tired, so they had to rest well, and war was not a one-day affair. Now that the Siwu Battalion has crossed Tongguan and entered the hinterland of Shaanxi, the bandits can no longer expand wantonly

Near noon, the army arrived at the east gate of Huazhou City. The soldiers continued to advance and set up camp twenty miles away from Weinan City, and Zhu Youzhen did not enter the city, but took Yuan Chonghuan, Man Gui, Zu Dashou and others to inspect outside Weinan City.

"Everyone, Weinan City has thick walls, how can we capture such a strong city?" Zhu Youzhen pointed outside the city, and the defenders were dangling under his nose, but without the commander's order, they would never dare to go out of the city to pursue, although Zhu Youzhen did not have many soldiers around him, but who knows if there was an elite army behind him?

"Your Highness, Weinan City is strong, but the bandit army is all tofu and has no combat effectiveness. Even if you attack strongly, you can also attack it. The last general is willing to take the lead and will never disappoint His Highness. Yuan Chonghuan has not made an inch of success so far, and he can't wait. Moreover, he had seen the might of Jiannu in Liaodong, and he didn't take these peasant bandits in his eyes at all.

"General Yuan, there are more than 30,000 bandit troops in the city, which is comparable in number compared to our army. Although the bandit army is not yet a real army, it can still support it for a while by relying on the thick city walls. Moreover, Wang Er of the same state will never sit idly by and watch the fall of Weinan, he will definitely pay attention to the development of the situation and support Weinan at any time. "The number of people in the Siwu battalion is too small, Zhu Youzhen doesn't want to fight hard with the bandits, no matter who is killed or injured, they are all Han Chinese. Moreover, the soldiers of the Fourth Battalion, except for the Fenwu Battalion, who have been to Shandong, basically have no battlefield experience, and it is difficult to predict whether they can hold up in the face of a vicious battle.

When it was time to eat, the group rode horses and slowly hurried back to the barracks.

"Generals, do you think the bandits will attack out of the city?" When he was about to arrive at the barracks, Zhu Youzhen suddenly threw out a question.

He has been thinking about the fact that Weinan City is very strong because of its proximity to the four military towns in Shaanxi, and the height of the city wall alone is more than ten meters. The Siwu Battalion came in a hurry from Beijing, and there were not enough siege equipment, and the local soldiers and government soldiers in Shaanxi could not be contacted, so they could not provide sufficient support.

If it is attacked as Yuan Chonghuan said, the casualties of the Siwu Battalion must be very large, this is still the first big battle, to exterminate the bandits in Shaanxi, the road ahead is still very long, and the Siwu Battalion cannot afford a large number of casualties. If the city is attacked with artillery, it may be possible to blast open the city gates, but now there are only 300 flowering shells, Zhu Youzhen is really reluctant, the more sophisticated the weapon, the more it must be put to the end, and it will be taken out in the crucial battle.

It would be nice if the bandit army could go out of the city, the Siwu Battalion not only underwent a year of rigorous training, but also had the advantage of cavalry, and in the frontal battlefield, the infantry was basically the target of the cavalry, regardless of whether the cavalry of the Siwu Battalion was elite or not.

"The bandits certainly don't have the guts." Although Yuan Chonghuan was a civilian official, he stayed in the Liaodong military camp longer than he spent in Beijing as an official, and he was not a layman in military affairs. If he commands the army, facing the same number of elite soldiers who far surpass him in combat effectiveness, defending the city is the best choice.

On the Liaodong front, the Ming army did just that, so although the combat effectiveness of the Liaodong army was not as good as that of Jiannu, it could still maintain its presence in Liaodong. Wang Huazhen, who took office as the commander of Jiliao, did not listen to the advice of the superintendent Xiong Tingbi, made meritorious contributions, and went out of the city without authorization to attack Jiannu, not only let the hundreds of thousands of soldiers of the Ming Dynasty die in Liaodong, but even Wang Huazhen himself was dismissed and killed by the imperial court.

Yuan Chonghuan suddenly realized in his heart, could it be that Zhu Youzhen had a way to let the bandits out of the city?

Looking at the change in Yuan Chonghuan's expression, Zhu Youzhen estimated that this famous general of later generations was also touched: "Since the bandits don't have the courage, then we will lend them a courage." Zhu Youzhen looked at Yuan Chonghuan and smiled at him: "Thanks to General Yuan for the reminder he gave me." ”