The war has entered the final countdown, and everything is inevitable, and it was originally hoped that the imperial army could quickly respond and cooperate with the actions of the imperial court's internal affairs department to combat the arrogance of the Taiping Sect and curb the momentum of the Taiping Sect, but now it seems that he has obviously overestimated the efficiency of the bureaucrats in the empire, and without the support of the army, it is difficult for those officials of the internal affairs department to stir up much storm in places like Kansai County. It's a pity that the two main army divisions of the empire don't know how long they have to delay in Tianshui.

By now, no matter how determined the Imperial Court is, I'm afraid it won't help, and even the speed of development of the Taiping Sect's armed forces will surprise even them, not to mention the insensitive old decay of the Imperial Court.

Thinking of the development of the Taiping Sect, Qin Duan couldn't help but feel a tightening in his heart, it seems that there are still many capable people in the Taiping Sect, in addition to the development of the Ma Bu Army, according to intelligence, although the Lujiang Mansion suffered a heavy blow from the government, but the tenacious Taiping Sect still secretly formed a naval army, although the number is not large, but this also exposes that the intention of the Taiping Sect is not limited to the north of the empire, even the Lujiang Mansion can develop a naval army under such strict suppression, so what about the southern counties?

It seems that he is still a little satisfied with the results he has achieved now, and if this continues, maybe it will be himself who will be annihilated by history in the future Central Plains competition, and Qin Duan himself sounded a wake-up call in his heart.

Returning to Lishan County Mansion, in addition to waiting for the changes in the situation in the east, Qin Duan also checked various combat readiness non-stop. The reserve grain depot in Lishan County has long been filled with new grain, and the previous batch of old grain has been sold to the Tengger grassland at a fair price before the new grain is put into storage; Bundles of knives, guns, arrows, armor, and shields in the armory were neatly arranged, and a large number of various instruments were stacked in the corners of the large arena, where martial law had long been a forbidden military area. This qiē is orderly and orderly; Even the war horses, which were still in short supply, were being transported to a temporary horse farm on the outskirts of Lishan County, and next to it, a huge open-air forage field had been stockpiled more than ten days before the war horses arrived, and all of them were proceeding in the footsteps of the war.

The 3rd and 5th Divisions of the 3rd Northwest Army Corps, which arrived in Lishan County before Qin Dusk, had already begun adaptation training in the border area of Lishan County three days after their arrival, with the cooperation of the renamed Independent 2nd Mixed Division, and the guides and scouts under the intelligence department had also been assigned to the wing level of these two divisions. As soon as Qiē was ready, the tiger, which had been silent for a long time, finally began to show its sharp teeth.

In his busy schedule, Qin Duan took the time to go south to inspect the emerging land and water town in the south of Lishan County, Horseshoe Town. Here is the confluence of the two larger rivers in the northwest, the Miluo River and the Taiping River, from the west to the east is the Taiping River, and from the northwest to the southeast is the Miluo River, the confluence of the river is wide, the water flow is stable, and in the north of it, there is a medium-sized lake called Baixiang Lake, there is a canal to communicate with the confluence of the big river. Not only is the scenery beautiful, but also a natural reservoir for regulating the water volume of the river, and the Horseshoe Harbor in a position is really a good inland river port for a day.

After the confluence of the two rivers, it is still called the Taiping River, which goes all the way to the southeast, passes through the border area of Longdong and Xikang into Hanzhong, and then meanders eastward into the southern land of the empire.

After a short stay in Horseshoe Town, Qin Duan focused on inspecting Baixiang Lake. The name of Baixiang Lake comes from the fact that hundreds of years ago, local residents found a white statue in the mountains and forests near the lake, so Baixiang Lake got its name. Qin Du was not too interested in the beautiful scenery of the Lake District. Stimulated by the development of the Taiping Sect's water army, he just wanted to find a suitable base for building his own water army at this time. In his opinion, the horseshoe town, including Baixiang Lake, is really a treasure of feng shui, not only with developed transportation. Business is thriving, and it's also a good place to set up a training base for the navy.

The water depth in Baixiang Lake is moderate, the surrounding environment is quiet, and there is a canal and waterway with the Taiping River, so the sailors trained in the lake area can enter the Taiping River at any time to conduct drills, and in case of emergency, they can immediately dispatch along the Taiping River to the east and west. The establishment of a naval base here will also help other administrative authorities to enforce the law, such as waterway tax inspections. Of course, this is only a preliminary idea of Qin Duan, after all, the upcoming war is the major event facing him at the moment.

……

The news of the assassination of the commanders of the 3rd and 4th Divisions of the Fourth Army Corps was like a bolt from the blue, and Ye Xianggao, the first assistant of the Imperial Cabinet, and Wei Zhongxian, the commander of the Dongchang Cabinet, who were discussing affairs in their official offices, were struck on the head. I look at you, pale and dumbfounded.

After a long time, Ye Xianggaocai fell back to his seat weakly and muttered to himself: "It's over, it's over, is it going to kill my Great Qin?" ”

Wei Zhongxian, who stroked his forehead with his hand, also looked out of the window blankly, and couldn't say a word for a long time. His Dongchang's plan of action had already been blocked by the interference of local forces, and all hopes were pinned on the army that was about to return to the station, but he didn't expect the opponent to make such a vicious move, and it was difficult to maintain the daily operation of the army without the chief officer, and all kinds of contradictions hidden below would immediately appear, where would there be energy to assist Dongchang in suppressing and exterminating the rebel party, and since the other party dared to act like this, it means that their preparations have reached the last moment, and this delay, it is difficult for anyone to stop, Maybe tomorrow the beacon fire will roar in the sky, and will the rule of the empire be maintained? At this moment, Wei Zhongxian, who was as calm as a mountain, couldn't help but tremble in his heart.

At this moment, the two most powerful people in the court of the Great Qin Empire actually had a feeling of powerlessness in their hearts at the same time, as if a broken ship full of holes was slowly sinking, and no matter how hard the two boatmen in charge of the boat tried, they could not reverse the sinking trend after all.

Ye Xianggao's heart continued to sink, his gaze floated a little, and finally settled on the place where Wei Zhongxian's gaze landed, it was his favorite pot of chrysanthemum, the pale yellow stamens exuded a faint fragrance, and he often entertained himself with this, but today, how could the most gorgeous and huge flower on the branch of this pot of chrysanthemum wilt for no reason, but a few small flower bones next to it that were inconspicuous in the past are blooming in the wind today, as if absorbing the nutrition of the largest flower, the two are contrasting, It makes for a strange beauty.

Could this be a portent? An invisible pressure fell on the hearts of the two of them and lingered.

"Grandpa Wei, what do you think right now?" Ye Xianggao's weak voice was low and hoarse, as if he had changed from a different person just now. (To be continued......)