July 1 of the ninth year of Chongzhen.

There are ruins in Meridian Town.

The roads outside the town were filled with marching soldiers.

These soldiers all wore gray scarves on their heads, gray clothes, straw sandals on their feet, and their legs were tied.

The so-called line wrapping is actually leggings, and leggings are not actually a rare thing born in later generations, as early as in ancient China, the military has begun to popularize.

They held the reins in their hands and dragged their horses along the official road all the way to the northeast.

The soldiers who still dare to move freely in the wilderness of Hanzhong Mansion today cannot be the Ming army, they are the army under Gao Yingxiang.

Gao Yingxiang rode a war horse, holding the reins and walking back and forth on the side of the official road, he frowned, and raised his eyes from time to time to look in the direction of the southwest, as if waiting for something.

The cavalry that followed them did not wear armor, but all wore green cloth and arrow suits, nets and scarves on their heads, and bows and swords.

Gao Yingxiang didn't wait long, and soon a group of cavalry was galloping from the southwest.

Liu Zhe galloped all the way to the horse, and only stopped the war horse when he got close.

"How's it going?"

Gao Yingxiangce immediately stepped forward a little and asked.

"The troops behind the palace have all been arranged, and the materials that cannot be taken away are left in the camp west of Shiquan City."

Liu Zhe gasped slightly, and reported.

"Part of it was given to one dragon and two dragons, and the rest was given to Gao Yingde."

Gao Yingde is the righteous son recognized by Gao Yingxiang, formerly known as Zhao Yingde, and changed his surname to Gao after being recognized by Gao Yingxiang as his righteous son.

Gao Yingxiang's eyes were slightly cold, and he unconsciously dragged the war horse to look north.

Going north to the Meridian Valley to attack Xi'an, it is naturally impossible to bring all the troops with them.

The plank road is narrow and difficult to navigate, and it is not easy for thousands of people to get there, as well as to provide food and grass.

Therefore, the people who can enter the Meridian Road now are all elite cavalry soldiers in each battalion, and the rest of the infantry hungry soldiers and the old and weak are naturally temporarily staying in Hanzhong Mansion.

Just a few days ago, Gao Yingxiang ordered one dragon, two dragons, nine dragons, as well as Hengtian Wang Zishun and Yizi Wang Tuo Xianling to lead the soldiers and horses of the headquarters to withdraw to Hanyin and Xing'an, and transferred to Xunyang Mansion.

Shuntian King He Guoguan, Thousand Rooster Zhang Er, Drill Sky Harrier Wang Cheng, and Saima Chao Ma Yu followed Gao Yingxiang to lead the elite horse army under his command into the meridian road.

Gao Yingxiang left a small number of elite cavalry and horse troops to Gao Yingde to lead, and this part totaled more than 5,000 people.

The tens of thousands of hungry soldiers and infantry teams who remained in Hanzhong Mansion were also handed over to Gao Yingde for management.

Originally, the infantry team and the hungry soldiers had always been taken care of by his younger brother Gao Yingen, but Gao Yingen had already died in Pizhou.

He Guoguan, Wang Zishun and others also left their respective sons and henchmen to manage the infantry and hungry soldiers under their command.

Most of the hungry infantry were left in the area of Hung Yen Prefecture, and they would raise their banners all the way east in early July to attract the attention of the Ming army as suspicious soldiers.

Let the Ming army think that most of the Liukou in Hanzhong Mansion have returned to Xunyang Mansion.

Gao Yingxiang shook his head slightly, dispelled the thoughts in his heart, and asked again.

"What is the current situation in terms of food and grass and soldiers?"

Liu Zhe groaned slightly, and quickly gave an answer.

"Our cavalry entered the plank road with a total of 41,120 people, including 43,078 horses and 2,434 mules."

Nowadays, all aspects of the army are becoming more and more regular, and it is normal for the number of horses to reach single digits.

The reason why it was slower this time was because the soldiers from other battalions such as King Shun and King Heng also joined in, so it was a bit chaotic.

"According to the original plan, a batch of dry rations was made for the soldiers to hang on the saddle, which could last for fifteen days."

Starting from the town of Meridian in the west of Shiquan County, it would take about ten days to pass through the Meridian Road all the way north at a normal marching pace.

The Meridian Road has undergone thousands of years of expansion, and although it is still steep compared to ordinary roads, it is much smoother than in the Qin and Han dynasties, and many places can be driven by horses and cars.

"The bean grass of the war horse was specially transported by a logistics mule team, and it was prepared for almost twenty days."

Liu Zhe paused and continued.

"The detective cavalry reported that there are no pedestrians and merchants in the Meridian Road now, and most of the checkpoint strongholds have been abandoned."

"There are now 500 scouts in the front, one person and three horses, who take turns to probe."

"All of them are wearing the armor of the Ming army, and they are using the banner that Wang Cheng captured from the Hanzhong Mansion battalion before."

"Good work."

Gao Yingxiang bowed slightly, raised his hand and gently patted Liu Zhe's shoulder, and encouraged.

As the general manager, Liu Zhe has always been responsible for military supplies and food, and the internal management of the generals has always been in order, and this time he did not disappoint.

Gao Yingxiang set his sights in the direction of the northeast.

At this time, the meridian road was densely packed with human heads and horses, and the sound of horses' hooves and footsteps was as constant as the surging river.

The mountains stretch out to the end of the sky.

The mist wraps around the mountains like a white veil, making it difficult to see the mountains in their entirety.

Everything is hazy, everything is vague, no one knows what lurks in the mountains, and no one knows what is lurking in the mountains, and no one knows whether this road is the way to live...... Still dead......

The sound of rumbling footsteps echoed in Gao Yingxiang's ears, but he could hear the beating of his heart in his chest.

He now has the same feeling as Liu Bei in the Three Kingdoms, and has always been like a caged bird and a fish in a net.

If this battle is won, it will be like a dragon entering the sea, and the bird will be in the sky, and from then on, the world will be at its own perpetration, and it will no longer be bound by the cage net.

But if you lose......

Nine years of wind and rain, nine years of frost and snow, and nine years of conquest have already made Gao Yingxiang numb and tough.

For the way of the general, the heart should be cured first.

Mount Tai collapsed in front and the color remained unchanged, and the elk was on the left and the eyes were not instantaneous.

But this time, Gao Yingxiang had no way not to think about the result of the failure.

Qianjun's burden was on his shoulders, and it had been a full nine years from the first year of Chongzhen to now.

Along the way, in order to survive, he committed countless sins and committed countless mistakes......

Gao Yingxiang clenched the horsewhip in his hand, and his knuckles couldn't help but turn white slightly because of the force.

Now he has all his chips on the table, on the chessboard.

He can't afford to lose, and he can't lose......

Gao Yingxiang held his head high, looked in the direction of the northeast, his eyes slowly became firm again, and he muttered in a low voice.

"Life and death are life, wealth is in the sky."

Gao Yingxiang's expression was firm, and there was no hesitation in his eyes.

Until now, there is only one way forward!

Gao Yingxiang finally glanced back at the meridian town that had turned into mounds on the side of the official road, and then turned the horse's head, without half a minute of hesitation, leading a group of personal guard cavalry to gallop towards the depths of the meridian road.

……

July 5 of the ninth year of Chongzhen.

Xi'an Prefecture, the southern part of Juxian Ming army camp.

At this time, more than 8,000 soldiers and horses had gathered in the southern part of Juxian County, of which 3,000 were recruited by Sun Chuanting, and more than 2,000 were Li Yuchun, the general of Guyuan Town

The remaining 3,000 or so soldiers were guards from various guards.

The atmosphere in the Chinese military tent was silent, Sun Chuanting looked gloomy, standing in front of the sand table, and all the generals around him bowed their heads and were silent, looking at their noses and noses.

Originally, there were more than 4,000 guards in total, but now there are only 2,000 because half of them were sent back by Sun Chuanting.

Among the more than 4,000 people, only a few hundred were in full armor, and they were all family members of various military schools, and the rest of the guards were all dressed in rags, and there were few who were neatly dressed and armored.

Even the ordinary red hat can't guarantee one for everyone, and there are many old and weak.

Sun Chuanting glanced at several guard officers standing in the tent and couldn't help but shake his head.

This is a problem caused by the general environment, although the rectification has been more than a month and has seen some results, but after all, it is a long time of accumulation, and this situation has changed for a while.

Sun Chuanting's eyes glanced to the left, and the person standing on his left at this time was none other than General Li Yuchun.

Li Yuchun was originally ordered to purge Li Chuang's remnants in Qingyang Mansion, and shouldered the task of blocking Li Zicheng's westward escape route.

However, the matter was urgent, and Sun Chuanting used the power of the governor to negotiate with Hong Chengchou, and transferred Li Yuchun urgently.

Regarding Sun Chuanting's plan that the army was likely to attack Xi'an City from the north through the Meridian Valley, Hong Chengchou actually felt that it was unlikely, but he did not refuse Sun Chuanting's request.

Sun Chuanting was the governor of Shaanxi, and he also had a lot of influence in the court, so his request was not excessive.

Li Yuchun's army only has 2,000 soldiers, which is itself an arrangement to prevent Li Zicheng from fleeing west, which is irrelevant to the overall situation.

"The horse probe reported that the Liukou had a military force enter the meridian road, and the Liukou arranged for the detectives to ride in front as an investigation, and it was difficult to find out the details of the Liukou, but when I looked at it from afar, I saw that the plank road was densely winding like a snake."

Sun Chuanting held the long whip in his hand, pointed to the direction of the meridian on the sand table, and said in a deep voice.

The generals in the tent were shocked when they heard Sun Chuanting's words, and many military academies actually had a lot of complaints about Sun Chuanting's order to suddenly go south to Ju County.

The main force of Liukou is obviously still in Xunxiang to confront the Huguang soldiers and the Henan soldiers, and the invasion of the army into Hanzhong Mansion this time is just to plunder, how can it be possible to go north to attack Xi'an City.

Moreover, the road in the plank road is narrow, and it is difficult for the army to travel, and once it is discovered, it is a dead end if you only need to block the pass.

Gao Yingxiang has always been cautious, how could he be so risky.

But now when they heard the information from Sun Chuanting, they were all shocked.

Li Yuchun's expression was slightly awe-inspiring, and he subconsciously glanced at Sun Chuanting.

If he remembered correctly, when Sun Chuanting ordered the army to go to Ju County, he did not receive the slightest news about the presence of rogues in the Meridian Road.

"The observer soldiers saw the Rogue Scout in the middle of the Meridian Road, which means that in five days, the Rogue will be able to walk out of the Meridian Road."

Sun Chuanting secretly paid attention to the expressions of the generals in the tent.

He had just become governor, although he had subdued these arrogant generals with his thunderous means.

But Sun Chuanting knew that they were now afraid more of their own governor's status.

Although it is taken orally, many people are not convinced.

In order to convince him and win the hearts of the army, what he needs is a big victory.

There is no soldier who is unwilling to follow a supervisor who can win a battle, and there is no general who is unwilling to follow a supervisor who knows about the war.

Sun Chuanting raised the long whip in his hand, and the whip head landed on the exit of the meridian road, setting a strategy.

"As soon as the lunch is over, move the camp to the meridian pass!"

A group of generals came out in response to the order, and in an instant, the camp was already noisy and boiling.

……

Just when Sun Chuanting ordered the camp to be moved to the Meridian Pass,

Chen Wangzheng stood on the tower of Xing'an City, staring at the marching rogue infantry on the official road.

Because of the blockade of news, Chen Wang did not know the specific situation in Hanzhong Mansion now.

Among the rogue troops who went east on the official road, he saw Gao Yingxiang's big flag, and also saw the big banners of the leaders of each battalion when they passed by Xing'an City before.

But this time, the proportion of horse troops and elite cavalry missing to the east through the official road brigade was much less than before.

From the observation in the past few days, Chen Wang has determined one thing - Gao Yingxiang has entered the Meridian Valley!

Chen Wang's heart turned a thousand times, he was thinking about one thing, one thing that was in the fire.

On Chen Wang's side, the military academies in the army were already ready to go, and everyone's eyes were focused on him, waiting for the military order he issued.

Time passed slowly, the sun slowly set west from the top position, and the sky darkened little by little.

Standing on top of the tower in the eastern city, Chen Wang could only see a piece of residual red and darkness.

The molten golden sunlight shone on the walls from both sides of the tower, proving that the sun had not yet completely set.

But at this time, under the eastern city, the place where the sun could not shine was already dark.

Braziers have also been lit in many places above the city walls for lighting.

The official road outside the city was in shambles, and the last group of rogues had already left the city of Xing'an, slowly heading towards Xunyang in the northeast.

In his eyes, the distant team of rogues on the horizon was only a small outline of the lake.

When the sun rises again, it will be the sixth day of the seventh month.

Chen Wang pressed the Yanling knife on his waist and calmly watched the changes in everything in front of him, he had already made the final plan.

"Pass me the order."

Chen Wang spoke slowly, and the guards who were waiting beside him had already reacted in the next moment.

"Ordered the guerrilla Zhou Yumao in Hanzhong, and immediately led all the soldiers and horses to the meridian town of Shiquan."

Chen Wang turned around and his gaze fell on Hu Zhiyi.

"During my absence, the defense of the city is decided by Hu Zhiyi."

Hu Zhiyi half-knelt on the ground, bowed his head and bowed respectfully to Chen Wang, and said in a deep voice.

"Humble duty, command."

Chen Wang glanced around at the military academies standing above the city tower, and walked down the city tower step by step.

Chen Wang didn't speak, and the military academies didn't say anything, they followed Chen Wang down the city tower, walked through the city wall, and walked down the road.

Behind the city gates, hundreds of soldiers stood in the streets.

Dressed in red, with scarves on their heads, straps around their feet, and reins in their hands to lead their horses, they stood quietly in the streets.

watched Chen Wang walk down from the road of the city wall, and watched Chen Wang walk all the way to the front.

Their eyes were unusually bright in the darkness, like torches.

On the huge street, there was not the slightest human voice, only the sound of the hooves of the war horses touching the ground from time to time, and the occasional snort.