As the gunshots were heard, six men wearing heavy armor fell softly to the ground, twitching for a few times, and then there was no movement.

Zhang Ke took a breath of cold air: "This musket is so powerful, no less than a powerful crossbow." As he said, he stepped forward to check his injuries.

These people were not wearing iron armor, and were fuzzy by a row of muskets. When Zhang Ji saw it, he secretly twitched his tongue. He just estimated that the loading speed and firing preparation of muskets were better than crossbowmen in all aspects. Not to mention, gunpowder only needs to be skilled in loading, even a child can use it like a look after training. If a hard crossbow is to be pulled open, the crossbowmen must be carefully selected. When it comes to war, even a strong man will lose his strength after firing a few arrows.

He ordered the soldiers to carry a few people away and bury them with heavy armor. Zhang Ji returned to Du Zhongxiao and said, "Zhijun, this musket can beat people wearing heavy armor to pieces, and its power is better than a hard crossbow. The most important thing is to use muskets without effort, and it is not as difficult as crossbows to find and practice. The volcanic army has two thousand soldiers and horses, and there are not many crossbowmen. If they are equipped with muskets, it will be different."

Du Zhongxiao said it repeatedly, and felt something was wrong. His plan was to make steady progress. He first built a good field in the volcanic army, had sufficient material foundation, and then competed for the surrounding small tribes to occupy key areas. Why is Zhang Ji much more radical than himself? Judging from this situation, he has the intention of building some muskets and cannons to attack.

After looking around again, Zhang Ke said to Du Zhongxiao: "Zhijun, let's go back to the horse land first, and then make plans calmly."

Du Zhongxiao said: "The pasture has many inconveniences, not far from here, is the field affairs. The Dujian is tired, so we can rush there today and station it in peace. Apart from the Yingtianwu River, it is Anfengzhai, Fuzhou. At this time, there is a ferry crossing, and Dujian can cross the river and enter the Fuzhou."

Zhang Ke nodded: "Okay, go back to the camp and field affairs first!"

Back at the ranch, Zhang Ji ordered his troops to set up the camp and go to the camp for the field affairs. Du Zhongxiao sorted out his entourage and asked someone to bring two cannons to walk with him.

When the road was being 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 clear. Everyone walked west along the road signs formed by the elm trees. The road was difficult to walk, and the army walked slowly until the evening when they arrived at the Yingtianwu Office.

Zhang Ji ordered his subordinates to station along the Yellow River outside the yamen, and assigned their generals to restrain their subordinates and go to the yamen with Du Zhongxiao.

Du Zhongxiao spent most of his time here. Pan Zhen, the officer of the army, returned to the army city to handle daily government affairs. The republicant Cheng Wenli was with Du Zhongxiao and handled the common affairs of the field affairs. The officials of the Volcanic Army were basically divided into two parts.

After arriving at the official hall, Cheng Wenli brought a group of officials to visit. Du Zhongxiao said, "Zhang Dujianyuan came to patrol. He worked hard all the way. Tonight, he went to the village outside the village to watch the river tower and held a banquet for him to greet him. The heavy snow came suddenly, and there were many things to do, please be careful."

Everyone agreed and retreated. For the Volcanic Army, it was not surprising that it snowed this season, and there was no big trouble among the people.

The officials retreated, and Du Zhongxiao said to Cheng Wenli again: "The sky is snowing, and the weather is getting colder. The officials should prepare carefully to ensure that there is no shortage of carbonite on the market. Moreover, carbonite is toxic and should not be used in the room. Be sure to tell the military and civilians and be careful of this."

Cheng Wenli promised that the people are looking for convenience, and they mostly burn coal indoors to keep warm, but there are few poisoning incidents. The most important reason is that houses in this era are difficult to seal, and ordinary houses leak air everywhere, so carbon monoxide poisoning is not easy.

After giving orders to Cheng Wenli, Du Zhongxiao said to Zhang Ji again: "The army is stationed in the camp and field affairs. At night, soldiers will inevitably go to the market to stroll. In order to avoid conflict, the city still gave orders and restrained the soldiers who came out of the camp."

Zhang Ke nodded: "I know the army and feel at ease. Those who come out are all my trusted troops, and they will strictly guard the military orders."

They were in charge of their own affairs. Seeing that it was still early, Du Zhongxiao said to Zhang Ji: "Please go to the flower hall to use tea."

When they arrived at the flower hall, the officer brought a plate of charcoal fire. Du Zhongxiao and Zhang Ku sat around and roasted it. They served tea and served a plate of grapes.

Du Zhongxiao said: "There are many grapes here, and some of them are stored in the cellar. If you are lucky enough, please try them."

The grapes produced here are actually quite sour, but this season is rare, so they are taken out to serve guests. Du Zhongxiao is not used to eating them, but Zhang Ku doesn't care and eats them with relish. While drinking tea and grapes, he asked about the changes in Du Zhongxiao's volcanic army in the past six months.

Du Zhongxiao introduced how to build the field affairs in the camp and how it is now. After a change of tone, he asked Zhang Ji: "The chief magistrate is so urgent about artillery and firearms. Do you want to recover Tanglong Town? It will be winter when it snows heavily. Is it a little too late to prepare now?"

Zhang Ke said: "It's not too late. Although it snows and the Yellow River is frozen, it will take one or two months to complete our preparations."

Du Zhongxiao pondered for a while before saying, "Although Tang Longzhen's family was originally a prefecture, it has now rebelled into Dangxiang. Let's take over it. Dangxiang people have no reason to sit idly by. If there is a conflict, I am afraid that the court will—"

Zhang Ku smiled and said, "You don't need to worry about this matter. Since it is our place, if you defend it, which one will say what? From Tanglong Town to the east, it was originally the territory of our dynasty. Because of fighting with Dangxiang and insufficient troops along the border, it was abandoned one by one. Tanglong Town is a prefecture and Pingzhou. If it is owned by the enemy, Fengzhou will be under the enemy's troops and it will be difficult to build again. It is not just a village, but it is guarding hundreds of miles of land. The Bitou Village in the east covers the Kelan Army. When the Bingzhou road is abandoned, the Kelan Army will have to station heavy troops to prevent the enemy from attacking."

Du Zhongxiao had a rough understanding of the terrain of this area and had a general understanding of the status of Tanglong Town and Piedouzhai. In theory, the Song and Khitans in the east of the Yellow River should be bounded by watersheds, but there was endless debate on which river and which mountain it was. To the west of the Yellow River, there were ravines and several roads between the mountains converged in Tanglong Town, which was a transportation center within hundreds of miles.

Not far east from Biedouzhai, there is a mountain ridge that extends all the way south, and finally enters Daizhou and connects with Yanmen Pass, which is a natural defense line. In fact, this is the direction of the Ming Great Wall later. After controlling Biedouzhai, he defended the road to the south of the Khitan, connected with Yanmen Pass, and defended the key watershed, which is of great significance to consolidating the border of the Song Dynasty. This line is the outer three gates of the Ming Great Wall later.

Zhang Ke has been fighting in this area for many years. After serving as the inspector of the border, he has been patrolling the border countless times. He is well aware of the terrain of that area and is more clear about the value of these two places than Du Zhongxiao. The Song Dynasty did not build the Great Wall, but used natural forests and forbidden areas to restrict the Khitan troops, and cooperated with a systematic fortress to guard the border. A military camp can often control territories of dozens or even hundreds of miles.

Du Zhongxiao was still a little doubtful: "We did this matter in a hurry. If there was a conflict with Dangxiang and Khitan, the court would not think that we were arbitrarily quarrel, right? Northwest just discussed peace with Dangxiang, if it started to fight-"

Zhang Ke smiled and shook his head: "Zhijun is worried too much. From Yanmen Pass to Biedouzhai, since the establishment of the country, it has been the territory of this dynasty. Emperor Taizong's northern expedition, and there were countless wars in this area. Yang Yanzhao guarded Yanmen and set up defenses along this area. The Khitans did not abide by the treaty and continued to go south to erode for only one day. Who would not know the harm in the court? We can defend it and have evidence of the law. What can the Khitans say? As for Tanglong Town, it is clearly the territory of this dynasty, and the land where the family origins of the dynasty are guarded. Since Zhijun has a nephew Lai Shushun's name, others can't say anything even more."
Chapter completed!