Zhang Qi stopped his horse and couldn't help frowning as he watched the snowflakes fall and the surrounding mountains were vast. After being silent for a while, he asked the soldiers around him: "How far is it from Dongjiazhai in front?" If we can't catch up, we will choose a place to set up camp. ”

The soldiers crossed their hands and said: "Back to the capital prison, there are still dozens of miles of road in Dongjiazhai, and the mountain road is difficult to travel, so it is difficult to arrive today." However, ten miles to the west, you can go out of the mountain, and there is a newly built camp of the Volcano Army, where you can rest. ”

Zhang Qi said: "I was about to go to the Volcano Army to discuss the situation with the new Zhijun there. Okay, don't go to Dongjiazhai, go to the camp. ”

A group of soldiers responded to the promise, and gave orders one after another, changed direction, and turned westward.

Near the pasture, Du Zhongxiao was wearing a leather robe, standing on the slope of a small hill, watching Tao Seventeen and Thirteen Lang and others fiddling with artillery under the mountain.

The camp has begun to take shape, all kinds of affairs have been put on the right track, and even the improvement of muskets has encountered a bottleneck. After nearly a year of tossing, the shape of the musket was basically settled, and the firing rate was stable at more than 70 percent, which did not affect the use. Without actual combat, the current musket will lose the direction of improvement, and there is little point in continuing to toss. At this time, Du Zhongxiao was able to spare his energy to engage in artillery.

The artillery was much simpler than the musket, and it was placed behind the musket because of Du Zhongxiao's official position. Using the territory of the walled fort, artillery was much more useful and urgent than muskets. Fortunately, with the foundation of the musket, it is relatively simple.

With a muffled sound, black smoke rose and projectiles shot at a mound of earth hundreds of paces away. In the surrounding mountains and forests, wild beasts and wild birds fly wildly.

Du Zhongxiao didn't know how far the artillery with the current technology should hit and how powerful it was, so he could only try out what was what. The most common gunpowder of this era, also known as flame nitrate, was actually mainly based on smoke and ignition. At this time, it has been used for military purposes, and in the border trade, it is strictly forbidden for flame nitrate to flow out of the country. According to memory, Du Zhongxiao improved the recipe and became black powder. However, Du Zhongxiao has always suspected that the formula is not accurate, but he doesn't have the energy to test it carefully, so he can only use it again. He remembered that the gunpowder had any other routes such as mixing evenly and granulating it would be left for later.

Snowflakes fall and hit the face coldly. Although the Volcano Army had not yet reached that level, the first snow fell as soon as it entered September. The border is bitterly cold, and Du Zhongxiao really understands the meaning of this sentence now.

The wheat fields in the distance were already blue, and the snowflakes fell on them, slowly dotting them with white patches. In the morning, Du Zhongxiao went to the wheat field to take a look, and asked the old farmers from Jinju in the south if they could spend the winter safely. When I got a positive answer, I was relieved.

When buying wheat seeds, Du Zhongxiao specially hired a few families from the Jinju area to guide wheat planting in the fields. Now it seems that I made the right decision. The geographical location of the Volcano Army is already very far north, and if it were not surrounded by mountains, it would not be possible to grow winter wheat at all. The little agricultural knowledge in my memory is not enough at all, and the agricultural experience of these old farmers is very valuable, and they can pinch the timing of planting and harvesting.

At this moment, a fast horse came rushing from the west amid snowflakes. When he arrived at the hillside where Du Zhongxiao was, the knight turned over and dismounted, ran quickly in front of Du Zhongxiao, and sang with his crossed hands: "The small one is the patrol soldiers, and a team of soldiers and horses came from the mountains to the west. The little ones didn't dare to make their own claims, so they came to report to the army. ”

Du Zhongxiao was stunned, and suddenly woke up to the fact that it was late autumn and he had to guard against the infestation of the Khitans. In autumn, the horses are fattened, and the nomads drive their livestock to the wintering grounds, where they have nothing to do and often plunder everywhere. Not only in the territory of the Song Dynasty, but also in the territory of the Khitan, there were often wars between various tribes. In this season, one of the things that the border state army has to do is to prevent autumn. A few days ago, in order to prevent autumn, Du Zhongxiao had many official correspondence with Zhang Qi of the Lan Army and Zhe Kemin of Fuzhou.

With the construction of the camp and field affairs, a large number of people from the mountains came to apply, and Du Zhongxiao initially set up an intelligence network. In the Tibetan part of the mountains, from Tanglong Town in the northwest to Yongbyon Prefecture in the northeast, the Volcano Army had a relatively accurate grasp of the situation in Tibet. According to the information obtained by Du Zhongxiao, after a few days, when the Yellow River is frozen, the Khitans in Yongbyon Prefecture will cross the river to attack Fanluo in the west of the river. Now the Tibetan tribes in the area of Tanglong Town are mostly moving closer to the Volcano Army, wanting to use the power of the Song Dynasty to avoid the looting of the Khitans. The Khitans did not have the courage to attack the volcanic army of 2,000 garrisons, and Du Zhongxiao only strengthened his patrol.

Zhang Qi is the governor of the Linfu Road and the patrol envoy of the border capital, and the station is in the Lan Army. In this season, you have to lead troops to patrol the border, and go through the volcano army all the way to Fuzhou. After repairing in Fuzhou for a while, I returned the same way in the spring, just to patrol the border.

Fuzhou was a feudal town, and its rule was dominated by the Fan people, and its military power was restricted. Zhang Yu is a native of Fuzhou, but he is not a general, he was quickly promoted with his military exploits, and Ming Ho recommended him as a patrol envoy along the border, and he has been on an equal footing with Ji Min. As a feudal town, the Zhejia family could only command the soldiers and the township soldiers. The forbidden army and the Xiang army of Linfu Road are under the unified command of the army and horses of the Linfu Road under the jurisdiction of the same road, and the lower part will mainly have the capital supervisor Zhang Qi, the deployment of Wang Kai and Zhi Jimin, of which Zhi Jimin commanded the soldiers who were incorporated into the forbidden army and the box army sequence.

The war with the party subsided, and Ji Min's status declined, and he did not have much say in side affairs. Zhang Qi came from the Lan Army, and the only one who decided the side affairs with him in this area could only be Du Zhongxiao. Although the official position is low, Du Zhongxiao is also the commander of the army, in charge of the military and civil affairs.

instructed Tao Qiqi and the others to stop, and Du Zhongxiao brought a few retinues such as Shisanlang to meet Zhang Qi.

When they had traveled several miles to the west, they saw at the foot of the mountain about a few hundred soldiers. Du Zhongxiao stopped the horse and sent someone to Tongyu.

The sky in the snowflakes was dark, and he couldn't see the time, and Zhang Qi's heart was a little anxious. In his impression, it was desolate for several miles, and only Dongjiazhai could garrison troops. The new Zhijun Du Zhongxiao is engaged in camp and field work here, and I don't know what it looks like. In a few months, at most, there are only a few villages and dozens of families, how can they entertain themselves with five or six hundred soldiers and horses.

Zhang Qi didn't have much grain and grass to patrol the side, and he relied on supplies along the way. Where there is a fortress in this area, where there is a Tibetan department, Zhang Qi is familiar with it, and there will be no accidents. This time, it was because the partial head village was abolished, and the Tibetan tribe in that area was forced to flee by the Khitans, so it was so embarrassed.

Knowing that Du Zhongxiao came to greet him in person, Zhang Qi was taken aback. It was not surprising to meet the patrol soldiers of the Volcano Army, it was surprising that Du Zhongxiao could catch up in such a short time. instructed his generals, and Zhang Qi stepped forward immediately.

Seeing a young official in front of him, Zhang Qi knew that it was Du Zhongxiao, and stepped forward to salute with his hands crossed.

Du Zhongxiao replied: "The eunuch has worked hard from afar. Unfortunately, it is snowing today, and it is not good for the army to stay in the wilderness. Not far from here, there is a horse grazing ground of the army, and the capital supervisor can take his soldiers and horses to rest there. ”

"Horse Husbandry?" Zhang Qi wondered in his heart, when did the Volcano Army have a place to specialize in horse herding? It's not good to ask, say goodbye to Du Zhongxiao, go back to arrange soldiers and horses, and the people brought by Du Zhongxiao will be guides and go to the pasture not far away.

The snow is getting heavier and heavier, and it is no longer suitable for marching, Zhang Qi was anxious, and asked Du Zhongxiao beside him: "Zhijun, how far is the horse pasture?" With such heavy snowfall, the march of the army was difficult. If it's too far, camp here. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "One or two miles away." Although there are not many houses in the pasture, there is enough fuel and food for a large army to be stationed. I see that the soldiers are tired, so it is good to go to the ranch and have a good rest. ”

As soon as the list fell, Chen Qin had already brought the people from the ranch to greet him. In the snowflakes, the shadows of the houses are revealed.

Zhang Qi let out a sigh of relief, turned his head, and saw two huge iron pipes lying not far away. Curious for a moment, he asked Du Zhongxiao: "Zhijun, why is there a pile of iron there?" Such a big iron is really rare. ”

Du Zhongxiao said with a smile: "That's my newly made artillery, it's very sharp." If the army is in a hurry, I will show you the artillery tomorrow. ”