Li Tiezhu found several places in the ravines of Daning County that were washed out by water in the middle of the mountain, and the quality of the coal was good, and it was the anthracite coal that Wang Hongyu asked him to pay attention to, and anthracite coal could be used to make iron and steel without coking carbon.

After Wang Hongyu found out, he left a few technicians and two guides who were familiar with the neighborhood to find suitable coal mines, as well as iron mines, copper mines, and lead-zinc mines nearby, and prepared to open mines and smelting workshops here.

At noon the next day, during the break in the march, the pathfinders reported that not far in front of them found seven or eight fellows of about sixty waiting at the fork in the road, and it turned out that it was a veteran of Zhujiping who walked twenty or thirty miles to meet the Hunhe army.

Wang Hongyu personally received these old people, who were veterans of the rebellion of Yang Yinglong in the 27th year of Wanli, when they left their wives on the battlefield and worked as farmers after returning to the village.

Later, when Liu Wei went north to fight against Jiannu, they were already old.

After all, only young people were recruited to join the army when they went to the decisive battle of Salhu, and most of their nephews were already over the age of joining the army, and only a few of them joined the army, but they never returned.

Because their ancestors were soldiers who fought on the border, they demanded that someone from each generation must join the army to defend the country, and they have always abided by the ancestral teachings, regarded joining the army as an obligation, and regarded the horse leather shroud that died on the battlefield as extremely sacred.

In the afternoon, the Hunhe army followed the old people into an east-west mountain corridor that traversed several mountain ranges, far away from the township and 200 miles away from the nearest county seat, and Zhuyiping was on the east side of this mountain valley.

There are patches of rice fields on both sides of the river, the rice has turned yellow, the growth is good, and a good harvest is in sight. The children took bamboo poles and branches in groups to blast away the birds that came to peck at them, but they circled and flew again.

Li Laohan explained: "There are few people in the mountains, there is not much land to plant, there are too many birds and wild beasts, and when the grain is about to ripen, you can't look at it, and you can't go away." ”

"The most powerful is the wild boar, which comes to harm at night, and they are not afraid of the people on duty at night, and even hurt people; There are more people on duty at night, which affects production. Uncle Wang said.

Li Laohan said: "If there are six or seven villages nearby, and two or three thousand people live, it would be fine, and if there are many villages and people, the wild beasts will hide far away, and there will be no need for people to guard the farming." ”

Wang Er doesn't think so: "We can hunt game all year round to eat, isn't it because there are few people?" You see that people in our village are sixty or seventy years old and go up the mountain like walking on the flat ground, I heard that people in the city rarely live to this age, is it not the reason why there is meat to eat? ”

"It's pretty good to have wild boar meat to eat in the mountains, and after eating, the whole body has inexhaustible strength, and the old hunter eats game all year round, and he can still have a baby when he is over sixty years old." Wang Er continued.

"But the wild boar is too destructive, we specially planted taro on the slope for them to eat as they pleased, and these animals are picky eaters!" Zhao Laosan said angrily.

"There are a lot of wolves, sometimes they can't catch their prey and go into the village to scourge chickens, ducks, and sheep, and that year Liu Qiangtou killed a wolf, and as a result, every night a group of wolves howled outside the village, and the scared children didn't dare to go out."

A few old men forgot about the brigade of soldiers behind them, and they blushed in the face.

The mountain people can't be idle all year round, but they don't have to worry about food and clothing, and they are much happier than the mountain people in the north.

However, 300 years ago, the Mongols harmed the Sichuan people.

In the previous life, Sichuan was harmed by Yang Yinglong and Hao Chongming for many years, and later let Zhang Xianzhong loot many times, and finally the Qing army killed on a large scale in Sichuan.

Wang Hongyu will not let the people of Sichuan suffer anymore.

He didn't let the Hunhe army disturb the people, and lived in tents outside the village, and the villagers didn't do anything, so he had to let everyone live in the village, but there were too many people to live, so the hospitable villagers had to give up.

Before leaving, he also gave all the surplus grain at home to the Hunhe army, Wang Hongyu left a few people to wait for the arrival of the follow-up army, and the grain transportation team arrived to return the grain, and sent some farm tools, salt, cloth, etc.

There are only 300 people in the village, and 30 young people are sent to Wang Hongyu to join the army or contribute to serve the country.

When passing through Tanjiaping and Majiazhai, he also received the full support of the two villages, and all the food was donated, and he also sent his son to join the army, participate in transportation, or be a guide and build roads.

】

After three villages and towns, 100 soldiers and dozens of donkeys were added.

This part of the road is easier than expected.

Although the surrounding area is either a hill full of vegetation or a steep rocky mountain, the local villagers are fully assisted by veterans.

This section is also much easier to walk than the mountain road in Yunyang, although there is no river to facilitate water transportation, but it will definitely be able to build a wide road in the future.

The donkey and mule convoys had no problem taking this road, and they would later replenish some of the food for the people in these villages and towns.

At that time, the money was given, and some food was added later, and of course these people loved to support Wang Hongyu and the Hunhe Army more.

There are no big problems in other aspects, only the acquisition of external intelligence has indeed been greatly affected.

The flying pigeon can only send news to the outside, but as soon as the location changes, the news cannot be received.

The mountain roads in the southwest are also difficult to transmit messages through fast horses, which are difficult for horses to run and more dangerous.

Therefore, when the imperial court passed the latest news to Yunyang and Wushan, Wang Hongyu did not know it for the first time.

This situation is more similar to the "silence" in modern warfare, that is, the situation of cutting off communication in order to avoid the enemy's detection.

In silent battles, it is highly dependent on the command level of the generals.

How Wang Hongyu grasps the situation determines the direction of this war.

"We have arrived in Kaixian, and more than 100 miles to the south is Wanxian."

More than 100 miles to the south is Wanxian......

Wang Hongyu made a careful study according to the map.

Previously, Ma Xianglin and Zhang Fengyi of Shizhu gave maps of eastern and northern Sichuan.

The eldest brother Zhou Dunji has been on guard against Yongning Tusi all year round, and he also has a detailed map of eastern and southern Sichuan.

Comparing the two maps, coupled with Zou Wenqi's guidance and the results of the Hunhe Army not collecting the road at night, they finally came to the north of Wanxian.

Wanxian County has been incorporated into Chongqing in later generations, but at this time, there are still nearly 500 miles to Chongqing.

When they arrived in Kaixian and Wanxian, although the two counties had not yet received orders to supply money and food for the counterinsurgency army, Nangao Academy and Wang Xuelongchang had done a good job and had also received the support of the county order.

The two counties added 400 Sichuan troops and nearly 1,000 people to Wang Hongyu, and followed the Hunhe army into Chongqing to quell the rebellion. Sufficient military rations and means of transport were also prepared for the Hunhe Army.

This time, Nangao Academy and Wang Xuelongchang mobilized their personal connections to solve the food problem in the early stage of the counterinsurgency army. With connections and food, everything is easy to do.

The Hunhe Army was repaired in Wanxian, the food and accommodation arrangements were in place, and the physical strength was restored. With the support of the masses of the people and local governments, the fighting spirit is even higher.