After Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong and other troops escaped from Hanzhong, they attacked the areas near Xi'an and the areas around Qingyang, Gongchang and Pingliang in Gansu, and their power was greatly enhanced. The Ming court and local officials all reported to accuse Chen Qiyu of being sued and misunderstood. Zhu Youjian was angry and angry. After Chongzhen ordered Chen Qiyu to be removed from office and imprisoned for garrison. Hong Chengchou was promoted to the Minister of War and the military affairs of Shanxi, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Huguang and Henan.

At this time, the troops in Xining garrisons changed mutiny, generals were killed, guard roads were driven away, and eunuchs in vain fled in panic. Hong Chengchou was forced to lead the army to Xining in person. The rebel army took the opportunity to "subsidize Guanlong." When Hong Chengchou pacified the mutiny and made his move to suppress the peasant uprising, the rebel army "flew all the people eastward and entered Henan, Jiwan and Luo."

At the beginning of the first lunar month, there were constant trends of thieves and quick horses to return. The Xingyang Conference did not happen. It was probably done by some historians who were full and full in later generations. Just like writing martial arts, they always had to make things a legendary thing.

...

"According to the intelligence, the bandits went west to three routes. The first route crossed the river from Shanxian County to attack Pingyang, Shanxi. However, the situation in Shanxi is not optimistic. They probably couldn't find much food, so they were likely to go south to attack Huaiqing Prefecture and Guide Prefecture. The second route passes through Nanyang Prefecture and Huguang in the south. The third route goes from Lushi County to attack Henan in the east." Zhao Yan looked at the map and the situation was clearer.

Pointing to the map, he said: "The bandits who attacked Henan in the east are mainly the king of sweeping land, the king of Taiping and other tribes. Their destination may be here..."

"Imperial Township!" Liu Heng exclaimed as he looked at the place Zhao Yan pointed at.

"That's right." Zhao Yan nodded, "Henan is the hinterland of our Ming Dynasty. The government army has few battle formations. Although the bandits entered Henan last year, they actually have no experience in fighting with bandits. In addition, Henan has no danger to defend, and bandits are good at using their own way to defeat the enemy, so they are likely to wander to Anhui."

"Fengyang's land is poor, but the labor force is heavy, and the thieves will follow the crowd as soon as they arrive."

"Then... the ancestral tomb of the priest is not..." Zhang Buyun pondered.

"Suppose the imperial tomb is about to be excavated, if fast horses rush to help, it might be too late," said Liu Heng. "But we only have 5,000 war horses, and most of the other horses that did not meet the standards are equipped for transportation, which is only enough to form a battalion of dragon cavalry."

"This time, the number of bandits coming from the east was about 200,000 to 300,000. These bandits were very fast. If there were not enough mobile surnames, they could not be wiped out." Zhao Yan looked at everyone and said, "This time he went to Anhui to suppress bandits in Henan, and only brought one cavalry battalion and one infantry battalion."

When Zhao Yong and Wang Wenyue heard this, they immediately left the line to ask Zhao Yan for his order. The competition between the first and second battalions has always existed.

Zhao Yan looked at the two of them and said, "After all, the first battalion has experienced a tough battle. This time, I will take the second battalion to suppress the thieves first! Then rotate in three months."

"Yes." The two responded in unison.

"When will the lord set out?" Liu Heng asked.

"Come together in the fourth day of the lunar month, and start in the fifth day of the lunar month." Zhao Yan said, intending to let the soldiers spend the New Year at home before talking about it.

"If the whole camp rode a horse in seven or eight days, it would be time to reach Fengyang." Liu Heng estimated the time of the march.

"The main purpose of our dispatch this time is to train troops, and the second is to gather refugees. The business will transfer 300,000 shi of sweet potatoes to Henan for disaster relief. How many days will it be transported to Henan?" Zhao Yan asked Zhao Quan.

"At most fifteen days, the first batch will be able to arrive in Henan." Zhao Quan estimated.

"The baggage battalion brings supplies for twenty days, each battalion has supplies for ten days, and the soldiers brings food for three days." Zhao Yan ordered.

With Zhao Yan's order, a group of staff from the General Staff began to get busy. Calculate the number of personnel, the number of supplies, how many horses, vehicles, and ships needed. Where to set up a supply station, etc.

This time, the first cavalry battalion, the second infantry battalion, and a baggage battalion of two thousand people. Needless to say, the mobile surname of the cavalry battalion is.

Everyone rode horses in the infantry battalion. The 75-meter mm howitzers equipped by the artillery of the infantry battalion were also pulled by horses. Each artillery was equipped with three horses to rotate to keep up with the marching speed. The baggage company was also equipped with a large number of horses and vehicles.

The mobile surname of the baggage battalion is a little worse, mainly following behind. Behind it is the transportation team of the merchant bank. The merchant also took the land route to Henan this time. The Yellow River has frozen after the winter and can only leave in spring.

………

On the fourth day of the first lunar month, the soldiers from the First Battalion of Cavalry and the Second Battalion of Infantry gathered together.

One thousand cavalry and one thousand five hundred spearmen were all covered with plate armor. The plate armor was still very fast, and after several months of continuous construction, more than three thousand sets have been produced.

Zhang Buyun led the Education Commission to start mobilization before the war. The soldiers under Zhao Yan were very active in combat. They not only had good training, but also had excellent equipment, and initially formed the belief that soldiers should have.

On the morning of the fifth day of the lunar month, Zhao Yan conducted a brief oath-taking ceremony and once again revealed the nature of the thief and the harm of the thief.

"Bandits do not work for production and rely on looting to make a living. During the looting process, they will destroy the originally stable environment, displace more people, and then join them. But most of the refugees are ordinary people who cannot survive. They are enslaved by a few bandits, and they use these ordinary people to attack towns and help them rob gold, silver and treasures." Zhao Yan stood on the high platform and said to the soldiers below.

"We went to the expedition this time to eliminate the small number of bandits and rob the people who were being bullied, just like when you first came, so that they could have fields to plant and a stable environment for them to produce." Zhao Yan's words infected many soldiers.

Most of the soldiers recruited initially were refugees or captured thieves.

They had a very happy Spring Festival this year. Most of the soldiers married their wives by the matchmaker. The shadow of the family was relieved a lot. Because of the reason for starting a family and starting a business, they were more thoroughly integrated into this group.

Moreover, the generous military pay and rewards not only bring them material worries, but also give them enough status. As long as they go outside, they will be in the army under the guerrilla general, they will attract envy and respect.

These enjoyment is not without a price, the price is that most of the year is spent training, and the holidays are generally very short.

In Europe, the compensation given to soldiers by the state is a title, but most of it is enjoyed by cavalry.

Zhao Yan has not yet reached the point of being able to be awarded a title, so he can only compensate them materially, and the treatment here is also of no difference.

Most of the economic compensation comes from land, and can be exempted from being a soldier. However, tenants are farmed and the part that is compensated to the soldiers is the collected part.

In order to increase the positive growth of sweet potatoes this year, the price of each stone was set at two cents of silver, and both tenants and soldiers had large sums of silver.

It is expected that by next year, the purchase price of sweet potatoes will drop to one cent of silver, and the year after that will drop to half of the money.

"Exterminate the thieves and steal the people back."

"Eliminate the thieves and steal the people..."

The shouts were rising and falling. In the loud military songs, the soldiers stepped on their horses and set off on the war...

On the first day of the first lunar month, Zhu Dadian received a request from Zhao Yan to go to Henan to suppress the thieves, which surprised and surprised Zhu Dadian. Liu Zeqing ran back to Shandong within a few months after being transferred to Henan. He was simply afraid of the thief.

Zhao Yan is the opposite of this, but the active surname of the bandit suppression is so high. Zhao Yan's active surname in suppressing bandit suppression is undoubtedly unquestionable.

Originally, Zhu Dadian planned to transfer Zhao Yan's troops to the three east governments to ask for advice on the bandits, but Zhao Yan asked someone to pretend to be a horse thief and attack the powerful people in those places.

Zhu Dadian naturally didn't believe in any horse bandits. He thought it was Zhao Yan who pretended to be a lie. After all, when he met last time, Zhao Yan asked him how to deal with the problems of the powerful people in those places.

As soon as the powerful men in the Denglai Palace were attacked, Zhu Dadian immediately reacted. With Zhao Yan's unsalable reaction afterwards, the speculation was already very certain.

In order not to cause any trouble, Zhu Dadian gave up his original idea.

Want to go to Henan to suppress bandits? This is a good thing! As long as there is no trouble in Shandong, Zhu Dadian was thinking about reporting to the court in two days, but unexpectedly, on the fifth day of the lunar month, Zhao Yan took nearly 5,000 people to hurry by Jinan Prefecture and galloped towards Henan.

When Zhu Dadian heard the report, he hurriedly sent Jinan magistrate Zhou Maofan to ask.

Although Zhao Yan rushed forward, he only maintained a speed of 200 miles. Zhou Maofan, the prefect of Jinan, rode a dozen people and chased him all the way, and within a few hours he chased him.

The first thing I saw was the back baggage battalion. Although the baggage battalion had only more than 2,000 people, it transported a lot of supplies. Each big truck was loaded with a supply of five or six hundred kilograms. Each big truck was pulled by a horse and mule, and it was a cart of two horses, or a cart of three mules, and it was rotated by a cart of three mules.

In front of me, there is a cannon, which is pulled by horses. It looks like it is only two or three hundred kilograms, but it is also equipped with three horses.

Zhou Maofan chased him to the front and saw the situation even more exaggerated. Each soldier rode his horse, and each rode in rotation with two war horses.

These war horses are different from the ones seen behind. Each of them is fat and strong. Moreover, all the soldiers have armor, some are wearing iron armor that they have never seen before, and there seems to be a layer of cotton armor inside, while others are wearing leather armor.

The official army has always been a three-step seven-step horse, and there are so many horses on the shortstop of Denglai! And the horses are so strong, which is really surprising.

After chasing him, he finally met Zhao Yan. When Zhao Yan saw Zhou Maofan chasing him, he asked, "What's the point of catching up with him in a hurry?"

"The military lord sent me to come. I wonder why Lord Zhao had mobilized his troops without the order?" Zhou Maofan asked.

"This... I have to ask the military supervisor." Zhao Yan kicked the ball to Qian Zhiyi on the side. Qian Zhiyi has been working very much during this period.

"Mr. Zhou, the bandits have attacked Anhui, and the imperial town is in a hurry." Qian Zhiyi bowed his hand and said to Zhou Maofan.

"Ah! Is the Emperor's Township in an emergency?" Zhou Maofan was shocked and shouted in dismay.

"Although there is no order for the transfer, the orders of the king from outside will not be accepted. The situation in the imperial town is urgent. As a minister, we must sacrifice our lives and be grateful to you." Zhao Yan immediately hugged Zhou Maofan and continued to ride forward.

—————

3000 words!

;
Chapter completed!