With the sound of the gunshot, the six people in heavy armor fell to the ground limply, and after a few convulsions, there was no movement.

Zhang Qi took a breath of cool air: "This musket is so powerful, no less than a strong crossbow." As he spoke, he stepped forward to check on his injuries.

The men were not wearing iron armor, and they were beaten to a bloody pulp by a volley of muskets. When Zhang Qi saw it, he secretly slurred to himself. Just now he estimated that the loading speed of the musket and the preparation for firing were superior to the crossbowman in all aspects. Not to mention, gunpowder only needs to be skillfully loaded, even a child can use it after training. And if you want to pull the hard crossbow apart, the crossbowman must be carefully selected. In wartime, no matter how strong a man is, he will lose his strength after firing a few arrows.

He ordered the soldiers to carry a few people away, and buried them with heavy armor. Zhang Yu returned to Du Zhongxiao's side and said, "Zhijun, this musket can beat people wearing heavy armor to pieces, and its power is better than that of a hard crossbow." Most importantly, the use of muskets is effortless, and it is not as difficult to find and practice as crossbowmen. The Volcano Army has 2,000 soldiers and horses, and there are not many crossbowmen, so if they are equipped with muskets, it is different. ”

Du Zhongxiao said yes again and again, feeling a little bad in his heart. His plan was to fight steadily, first build a camp and field affairs in the Volcano Army, have a sufficient material foundation, and then fight for the surrounding Xiaofan tribes and occupy key places. Why is this Zhang Qi much more radical than himself, looking at this posture, it has the meaning of building some muskets and artillery to attack.

Looking around again, Zhang Qi said to Du Zhongxiao: "Zhijun, let's go back to the horse land first, and then calmly calculate." ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "There are many inconveniences in the pasture, and it is not far from here, which is the field business. The prisoners are a little tired, so it is better for us to rush there today, and we can calmly station and repair. Across the river from Yingtianwu, is Fuzhou Anfeng Village. At this time, there is a ferry in the camp field, and the capital supervisor can cross the river to enter the prefecture. ”

Zhang Qi nodded: "It's okay, go back to the camp first!" ”

Back at the pasture, Zhang Qi instructed his troops to pull out the camp and go to the camp to do field work. Du Zhongxiao sorted out his entourage and asked people to bring two artillery pieces and walk together.

When the road was built a few months ago, elm trees were planted on both sides of the road. After the snow, the world was white, and the road was not recognized, and everyone followed the road signs formed by the elm trees and walked westward. The road was difficult to walk, and the army marched slowly, and it was not until evening that they reached the camp and field affairs yamen.

Zhang Qi ordered his subordinates to be stationed along the Yellow River outside the yamen, and assigned their generals to restrain their subordinates and horses, and went to the yamen with Du Zhongxiao.

Self-built camp field affairs, Du Zhongxiao spent most of his time here, recording Pan Zhen, who joined the army, returned to the military city to deal with daily government affairs. Cheng Wenli, the official of the promotion, followed Du Zhongxiao and took care of the general affairs of the camp and fields. The officials of the Volcano Army are basically divided into two parts.

went to the official hall to sit down, and Cheng Wenli brought a group of officials to see it. Du Zhongxiao said: "Zhang Dujian came from afar to inspect, worked hard all the way, tonight to Wangjianglou outside the village, and set up a feast for him. This heavy snowfall came suddenly, and there are many things to do, so be careful. ”

And they all took their promise, and each of them withdrew. For the Volcano Army, the snow this season is not unexpected, and there is no major chaos among the people.

The officials retreated, and Du Zhongxiao said to Cheng Wenli again: "It is snowing in the sky, and the weather is cold, so the officials should prepare carefully so that there is no shortage of coal on the market." Moreover, the charcoal is poisonous and should not be used in the house, so it is important to tell the military and civilians to be careful about this matter. ”

Cheng Wenli promised. Most of the people are directly burning coal indoors for heating, but there are very few poisoning incidents. The most important reason is that it is difficult to seal the houses of this era, and it is not easy for ordinary houses to leak air everywhere and carbon monoxide poisoning.

After instructing Cheng Wenli, Du Zhongxiao said to Zhang Qi again: "Eunuch, the army is stationed in the camp and fields, and it is inevitable that some soldiers will go to the market to hang out at night. In order to avoid conflict, the governor still gave orders and restrained the soldiers who left the camp. ”

Zhang Qi nodded: "Knowing the army is at ease, all the people who come out are my cronies, and they will strictly abide by the military orders." ”

Seeing that it was still early, Du Zhongxiao said to Zhang Qi: "Please go to the flower hall for tea." ”

When they arrived at the flower hall, the messenger brought a plate of charcoal, and Du Zhongxiao and Zhang Qi sat around and roasted. I served tea again and brought a plate of grapes.

Du Zhongxiao said: "This place is rich in grapes, and the yamen has stored some in the cellar, and it is not bad to be lucky, so I will taste it." ”

The grapes in this property are actually quite sour, but this season is a rarity, so they are taken out for guests. Du Zhongxiao is not used to eating, but Zhang Qi doesn't care, and eats with relish. While drinking tea and eating grapes, he asked about the changes in Du Zhongxiao's volcano army in the past six months.

Du Zhongxiao introduced how the camp was built and how it is now, and asked Zhang Qi: "The capital eunuch is so urgent about artillery and muskets, does he want to recover Tanglong Town?" As soon as the snow falls, winter will begin, is it too late to prepare? ”

Zhang Qi said: "It's not too late. Although it snowed, it would take another month or two for the Yellow River to freeze, so we were well prepared. ”

Du Zhongxiao pondered for a while before he said: "Although the family from Tanglong Town is originally affiliated with Fuzhou, now it has betrayed the party, we will occupy it, and the party people have no reason to sit idly by." If there is a conflict because of this, I am afraid that the court-"

Zhang Qi said with a smile: "There is no need to worry about this matter, since it is our place, which one will say anything?" From Tanglong Town, to the east of the head village, this is the territory of my dynasty. Due to the war with the party, there were not enough troops along the border, so they were abandoned one by one. Tanglong Town is the Ping Domain of Fuzhou, if it is owned by the enemy, Fengzhou will be under the enemy's front, and it will be difficult to build again. It was not just a stockade, it was guarding hundreds of miles of territory. The partial head village in the east covers the Lan army, and when the road to the state is abandoned, the Lan army will have to garrison heavy troops to defend against the enemy's attack. ”

Du Zhongxiao has a general understanding of the topography of this area, and has a general understanding of the status of Tanglong Town and Yatou Village. Theoretically, the Song and Khitan to the east of the Yellow River should be demarcated by a watershed, but which river and which mountain is debated. To the west of the Yellow River, ravines and mountains meet in Tanglong Town, which is the transportation center for hundreds of miles.

Not far from the east of the partial head village, there is a mountain beam, which extends to the south all the way, and finally enters Daizhou, which is connected with Yanmen Pass, which is a natural defense line. In fact, this is the direction of the Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty later. After controlling the Yitou Village, it guarded the road to the south of the Khitan, connected with Yanmen Pass, and guarded the key watershed, which was of great significance to consolidating the border of the Great Song Dynasty. This line is the outer three passes of the Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhang Qi has been fighting in this area for many years, and he has patrolled the border many times after he has been inspected along the border, and he knows the terrain of that area well, and he knows the value of these two places better than Du Zhongxiao. The Song Dynasty did not build the Great Wall, but used the Yusai formed by natural forests and forbidden lands to restrict the Khitan army, and cooperated with a system of walled forts to guard the border. A military village can often control tens or even hundreds of miles of territory.

Du Zhongxiao still had some doubts: "We did this in a hurry, if there is a conflict with the party and the Khitan, the court will not think that we are provoking the border, right?" The Northwest has just made peace with the party, and if there is a fight—"

Zhang Qi shook his head with a smile: "Zhijun is too worried." From Yanmen Pass to the partial head village, since the establishment of the country, it is the territory of this dynasty. Emperor Taizong's Northern Expedition, I don't know how many wars took place in this area. Yang Yanzhao guarded the Yanmen Gate, and it was along this area that he was armed. The Khitans did not abide by the treaty, and continued to encroach on the south, not only one day, but people of insight in the court, who did not know the harm? We can hold it, we have a basis in the law, what can the Khitans say? As for Tanglong Town, it is clearly the territory of this dynasty, and it is a place to be guarded by the family. Zhijun has a nephew who has come to Shoushun in his hands, and in his name, others can't say anything. ”

Seeing that Du Zhongxiao still had doubts, Zhang Qi said: "At the beginning of this year, there were still soldiers in Fuzhou who went deep into the north of Tanglong Town to rob and kill the party Xiangfan, and the imperial court only ordered it to return the plunder. If we go to guard the land of the court, will we be punished? I am an inspector along the border, and I deserve to do my best in this matter, although the army provides food and grass for the soldiers, support me. If the imperial court has any questions, they are all on the yamen of the border inspection department. ”