Chapter 153: Heilongjiang Estuary! Recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun
Soon after, countless explorers and conquerors of Europa were eager to start their own dream of conquering the world.
The Rus on the Eurasian continent will also embark on the road of barbaric expansion. The Mongols of the Golden Horde will not be able to curb the rise of the Rus. Once these expansionist old men begin to rise, the Ming Dynasty will
Add a powerful opponent on land.
Therefore, in order to better deal with competitors on land and sea in the future, the Ming Dynasty must bring the Northeast, a barbaric land all over Chichi, under its control as soon as possible.
"Then your Highness means that the Jurchens in the north must be subdued?" Mao Gui asked.
Zhu Han nodded and said with certainty: "Yes, we must not only conquer them militarily, but also conquer them psychologically. We must make the Jurchens in these wild lands accept the fact that they are citizens of the Ming Dynasty.
Let them dedicate themselves to the Ming Dynasty."
Zhu Han's words showed that the Jurchens in the north were not just conquered in name.
It also requires actual control.
"Your Highness, the general is still worried about the difficulty of marching along the way!" Mao Gui said with some embarrassment.
Liu Bowen and others next to him also quickly helped Mao Gui explain.
Their reasons are simply that the roads are difficult to travel and the logistics supplies cannot keep up. Moreover, the forests and snow plains in the Northeast are the norm. After the short summer, it will immediately become a bitter and cold place where no one can survive. I am afraid that there will be no number of elite soldiers and generals.
Not enough for God to clean up.
"Summer has begun now, and those deep mountains and old forests are covered with lakes and swamps. There is no place for carriages to pass. If only people carry horses, no matter how much grain and grass they have, they will not be able to be transported to the front line." Liu Bowen hurriedly persuaded from the side.
After hearing these words, Zhu Han smiled slightly.
"Since this road is blocked, let's take another road!"
Mao Gui, Liu Bowen and others were all stunned. They never knew that there was another road leading to the north.
Mao Gui, who was confused, was even more confused. He had been dealing with the Jurchens for several years, but he had never heard of any other roads leading to the north.
"May I ask, Your Highness, where is this road?" Mao Gui asked doubtfully.
Zhu Han immediately sent someone to get his battle map. He unfolded the map on the table and pointed at it, and said to Mao Gui, Liu Bowen and others.
"You see, this is the way to go!"
Mao Gui, Liu Bowen and others looked down and suddenly realized.
"Your Highness, you were talking about the sea route?"
That's right, Zhu Han wanted to march into the outer northeast, and the route he wanted to take was through the sea.
The swamps in the middle of the Northeast Plains may have no roads at all. Without decades of land reclamation and construction, the Ming army would not have been able to safely pass through them.
After all, today's Ming army relies heavily on baggage and artillery. These items are very heavy. Without those heavy carriages, it would be impossible to reach the battlefield ahead.
The route Zhu Han chose was to start from the seaports in Liaonan, Shandong, first go around the Koryo Peninsula, then cross the Whale Sea, and go north to the seaport of Heilongjiang.
As long as the Ming army established a fortress base at the seaport of Heilongjiang, they could hoard a large amount of materials and equipment here.
Heilongjiang has abundant water flow and numerous tributaries, with a water network covering the entire outer northeastern region.
The Ming army could use Heilongjiang as its own natural canal, and use the naval warships as tools to spread the Ming army's power to various places in the outer northeast.
As long as there are sufficient logistical supplies and weapons and equipment, the Ming army is destined to be invincible in this land. It will only be a matter of time before other Jurchen and other tribes are conquered.
As soon as Zhu Han explained his route of conquest using naval warships, Mao Gui, Liu Bowen and others were immediately impressed.
However, Mao Gui soon discovered another shortcoming.
"Your Highness, the water transportation in Heilongjiang is indeed convenient, but in the bitter cold region of the Northeast, it is frozen for most of the year. The river will definitely be frozen as well. At that time, ships will not be able to pass, so what should we do?
"Mao Gui asked.
"Haha, this is not a problem at all. If the rivers in the Northeast are frozen, they will become natural roads. As long as our Ming Dynasty is equipped with this new type of sled, we will be able to fly like the wind on the ice." Zhu Han said.
As he spoke, he took out a charcoal pen and quickly drew a model of a sled on the paper.
Mao Gui, Liu Bowen and others came forward, took a closer look, and immediately recognized the key points.
"Your Highness, I understand, this sled is made of double teeth made of fine iron?" Liu Bowen asked, looking at the pattern above.
Zhu Han nodded and said with a smile: "Mr. Liu is right. The sleds here are all made of fine iron cast sled bars. They are stronger than the wood used by the Jurchens and can transport more goods and people. Then
As long as we have enough cold-resistant horses and sled dogs, our Ming army can still move unimpeded in the Heilongjiang area when the weather is freezing."
Zhu Han's strategy was basically the general method used by later Tsarist Russia to conquer Siberia and the outer northeastern region.
The expansion period of Tsarist Russia in history lasted less than a hundred years.
It expanded all the way from the Volga River to the Daxinganling area in the outer northeast.
On that frozen snowfield, the Cossacks of Tsarist Russia rode horses in the spring and summer, and rode special sleighs in the autumn and winter.
The fishing and hunting peoples in Siberia and the outer northeast were simply unable to resist the rapid advance of these Russian Cossacks. With less than a few hundred desperadoes, Tsarist Russia conquered tens of thousands of Siberian natives along the way and expanded by five or six
Millions of square kilometers of land.
Therefore, Zhu Han naturally did not hesitate to bring over the means of transportation once used by the Russian Cossacks.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! As long as the Ming army uses its powerful navy to establish a base camp fortress at the Heilongjiang estuary, it can then use horses and sleds to completely conquer the local Jurchen and other tribes along the Heilongjiang River.
As for the subsequent enlightenment, which is actually assimilation, it couldn't be easier for the Ming Dynasty. In terms of assimilating barbarians, Chinese civilization was a few grades higher than Tsarist Russia.
"Hu Dahai!" Zhu Han shouted.
Hu Dahai, who had been listening for a long time, immediately realized that he had an opportunity to make a contribution.
During the Ming army's Northern Expedition against the Mongols, almost all of them were infantry and cavalry. In addition to transporting troops and supplies, the navy commanded by Hu Dahai acted as spectators throughout the entire process. The entire Ming navy was filled with indignation.
, watching the infantry and cavalry being rewarded for their meritorious service, they could only covet.
"Your Highness, the general is here!"
Hu Dahai immediately responded.
Zhu Han pointed to the map on the table and said to Hu Dahai.
"You have heard what I just said. I have decided to set up the Haidong Protectorate in Heilongjiang. With you, Hu Dahai, as the chief protector of the Haidong Protectorate, all the soldiers, supplies and equipment of the Haidong Protectorate will be
You need to lead the naval warships to transport it there, and you will also be responsible for setting up fortresses and deploying troops here in the early stage!" Zhu Han said.
Hu Dahai immediately became excited when he heard this.
The map on the table clearly showed that it was a very vast land.
It is almost as big as half of the Central Plains.
If I could conquer such a large piece of land, what a great contribution I would have made, which would be enough for future generations of the old Hu family to benefit from endlessly!
Moreover, His Royal Highness the King of England gave Hu Dahai full trust in this matter. The Haidong Protectorate was started from scratch and Hu Dahai was almost entirely responsible for it independently.
"Don't worry, Your Highness, the general will definitely fulfill his mission!" Hu Dahai said immediately.
Under Zhu Han's shroud, Hu Dahai immediately used the navy as the main force to gather troops from Liaonan and Dengzhou, Shandong, and marched towards the Heilongjiang estuary.
This distance is actually very far, but because of the chart guidance given by Zhu Han, Hu Dahai led the Ming Navy to find a very suitable base at the mouth of Heilongjiang in less than a month.
By June of the third year of Hongwu's reign in the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Han had already received Hu Dahai's memorial.
The Ming army had already built a fortress that was beginning to take shape at the mouth of Heilongjiang.
As the base camp of the Haidong Protectorate, the Ming army deployed more than a thousand troops in this fortress, hoarded a large amount of food, weapons and ammunition, and built a simple dock on the seaside.
The surrounding Jurchen tribes were all horrified when they saw the Ming army suddenly appearing.
These tribes had different attitudes towards the Ming army. Some tribes were hostile to the Ming army and even repeatedly attacked the Ming army's reconnaissance cavalry outside, while some tribes took the initiative to approach the Ming army and used the golden animal skins in their hands to
Waiting to trade with the Ming army in exchange for salt, sugar and other rare items.
Therefore, in order to establish the prestige of the Ming Dynasty here, Hu Dahai launched two campaigns in succession.
They wiped out several surrounding small tribes that dared to offend the Ming army, demonstrating the Ming army's thunderous methods.
And for those fishing and hunting tribes who are willing to cooperate with them.
Hu Dahai sent people to give them a lot of grain, salt, sugar, medicinal materials, etc., and also absorbed them into the Ming army and organized them into auxiliary troops.
In less than two months.
It was here that Hu Dahai used both kindness and power to initially establish a new order led by the Ming Dynasty.
The tenth day of June.
Zhu Han led his guards to Fuzhou, from where he would take a sea ship to Hebei to witness the last moments of his brother Zhu Yuanzhang's march into Dadu.
After the Ming Dynasty Northern Expedition Army led by Zhu Yuanzhang captured Baoding, Hejian Prefecture, no one could stop the Ming Dynasty army from entering Dadu.
The Mongolian and Yuan court had fled from Dadu in a panic, leaving almost only an empty city.
Many Han people in Dadu City gathered spontaneously, drove away the remaining Mongolian and Yuan officials and soldiers, took control of the city defenses inside and outside Dadu City, and quickly sent people south to deliver a letter of dedication to the Ming Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang.
The Han Dynasty has lost the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun since the Five Dynasties period, and now it is finally about to recover.
At such a moment that will go down in history, Zhu Yuanzhang would not forget to ask Zhu Han to come. He issued three imperial edicts in succession, urging Zhu Han to come quickly and enter the capital city hand in hand with him.
Zhu Han couldn't resist his brother Zhu Yuanzhang's insistence, so he had no choice but to go to Hebei.
At the dock in Fuzhou, Zhu Han met Hu Dahai and others.
"Hu Dahai, what are you transporting?" Zhu Han pulled Hu Dahai over and asked.
After hearing Zhu Han's inquiry, Hu Dahai said in a showy tone, "Your Highness, the territory of our Haidong capital is really too big now. One person and one horse are no longer enough. I will come to Fuzhou this time to do more."
Carry five hundred war horses back!"
"I have read the battle report you sent me several times. You have done a good job. You must not be merciful to these Jurchen tribes. Kill those who deserve to be killed and win over those who need to be won over. Don't let them think that my Ming Dynasty is weak and can be bullied." Zhu
Han nodded beside him and said.
"Don't worry, your highness, the general has always kept your highness's teachings in mind. This time, if we send 500 more war horses back, we can defeat two more disobedient savage tribes." Hu Dahai said with a smile.
"Oh, are these two savage tribes very disobedient?" Zhu Han asked.
Hu Dahai chuckled, "Your Highness, these two savage tribes are not very disobedient, but they are really unlucky. The general's men discovered a huge gold mine on their territory. If we don't treat these two tribes
If a savage tribe is eradicated, won’t this gold mine have to be shared with them?”
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Zhu Han understood the reason and smiled and stopped talking. They were just some unlucky savage tribes and not worthy of his care.
This time Hu Dahai transported 500 war horses and used ten warships.
After leaving Fuzhou, this fleet first passed through Dengzhou, Shandong, and then bypassed the southernmost tip of the Koryo Peninsula.
After the fleet entered the Whale Sea, they suddenly found that the weather on the sea began to become gradually worse.
Hu Dahai's fleet took the risk of sailing in the summer, but finally encountered bad luck.
A storm is coming!
Dark clouds covered the sky, and the violent storm seemed to never stop, raging on the sea.
The huge waves rocked the ship like a leaf.
Hu Dahai's fleet was drifting forward aimlessly in the middle of the storm. In order to prevent the ship from capsizing, they had lowered all the sails, and some ships had cut off the main and stern booms in order to lower their center of gravity.
.
A sailboat that cannot rely on wind power can only rely on its own luck and sail aimlessly in the storm.
"God, please open your eyes. More than a thousand of us can't die here!" Hu Dahai stood on the bow of the ship, looking at the terrible storm outside, and kept praying in his heart.
Their team all uses fast sailing ships. Their size is limited, and their ability to withstand damage in storms is also very limited. Once the storm continues to rage like this, these ships will fall apart sooner or later. After going online, the brothers will also
I can go into the sea to feed the fish.
However, God did not stop the violent storm because of Hu Dahai's prayer. After a day and night, the storm gradually became smaller, but the rain continued to fall from the sky.