It was early May when Zhu Cihong returned to Beijing from Nanjing, and winter wheat was being harvested all over the north.
After more than three years of recuperation, the north is no longer as devastated as it was in the 17th year of Chongzhen's reign. However, the population loss is too heavy and cannot be restored in three to five years. Therefore, except for the vicinity of the capital, the road still looks deserted.
Beijing is really lively. The industrial zone in the west is almost completed, and the residential and commercial districts in the north and east have also been roughly outlined.
Although it has not yet been completed, Beijing, the capital of the Ming Dynasty, with its floating population, has now exceeded two million, and a super city is taking shape.
"My beloved concubine, how is the current situation?"
"Back to Your Majesty, the three parties are still standing still. The army of Jiannu has been staying east of the Liao River, and the army of the Eight Kings has also been reluctant to advance northward in Hanzhong. They are probably waiting for the next move of our army." Red Lady replied.
road.
"They are not afraid of rabbits, but in terms of cost, are they qualified to compete with me?"
Zhu Cixi sneered. The Jiannu occupied North Korea. The Eight Kings may have thought that they were sitting on the Kingdom of Abundance, since they still wanted to wait for him to make the first move.
Let's see who can afford it first.
Then he asked: "Are all the cloth subordinates of our army in place?"
"Back to Your Majesty, Tang Tong and Liu Zeqing's troops have all arrived at Xunyang and Pingyang. The Chinese Army, the Left Army, and the Right Army have already been transferred to Xuan Mansion, and no less than five million shi of food and grass have been hoarded."
The red lady smiled slightly, and she also knew that the little emperor was resentful about the lack of food and grass in the past and being driven almost crazy by the slaves.
"How many soldiers and horses did Jiannu leave on the front line in Jinzhou?"
"Your Majesty, Jiannu also implemented the guard station and farmland system in the Jinzhou area. During the war, he could gather about 100,000 Han soldiers."
When Zhu Cihong heard this, he frowned and gave up the idea of letting Zhou Yuji leave Shanhaiguan.
"My dear concubine, Jiannu claims to have 300,000 horse and infantry soldiers. What is the real strength of the army?"
This time it was the red lady's turn to look serious and replied: "Your Majesty, Jiannu is not bluffing this time. According to the spies' report, Jiannu's horse and infantry troops east of the Liao River may not really number thirty in total.
Ten thousand."
"Tsk, tsk, it seems that the slaves made a fortune in North Korea."
Zhu Cixiang said with a sinister smile, it is not unusual for the Jian Nu to gather 300,000 horse infantry after conquering Mobei Mongolia and Korea. What is strange is that Dorgon dared to gather 300,000 horse infantry on the Liaohe grassland.
It's been nearly a month.
That man ate horse chews, and the daily consumption of grain and grass was scary just thinking about it. It can be seen that Jiannu must have wiped the ground of Korea three feet deep.
"Indeed, according to Jin Yiwei's report, the slaves in North Korea almost killed all the local wealthy landowners, and gained countless wealth and food." The red lady nodded with a greedy look on her face.
"Don't worry, my beloved, these wealth belong to Ming Dynasty and me after all. I just let Jiannu keep it for a while first."
Zhu Cixi waved his hand, then looked at the red lady and said: "Tomorrow my beloved concubine will go to Xuanfu first, and I will come back in a few days. If Dorgon doesn't move first this time, we will never leave the Great Wall. Even if we leave the Great Wall, we will never take the initiative.
If we attack, I will come with a soldier who can defeat the enemy without fighting." At the end of the sentence, his handsome face became a little distorted.
"My concubine obeys your orders. Your Majesty, don't worry. Our army can't hold you back for three to five years, not to mention one and a half years."
The red lady clasped her fists and said confidently.
The next day, the Red Lady set off for Xuanfu with ten thousand imperial troops, including Randuoer and her five thousand Mongolian cavalry.
These 5,000 Mongolian cavalry belong to the Royal Forest Army in terms of organization. They can basically speak Chinese in more than two years and have a sense of belonging to the Ming Dynasty. They will be the backbone of the assimilation of the Mongols in the future.
Zhu Cixiang stayed in the capital for a few more days, and after giving all the instructions, he also headed to Xuanfu with 10,000 imperial troops.
Including Nanjing's 10,000 Imperial Guards, there were only 20,000 Imperial Guards left in the capital. This time Zhu Cixiang also used all the troops that could be mobilized in the north.
So much so that Guangxuan Mansion assembled an army of 260,000, including 60,000 central army, 60,000 left army, 60,000 right army, 20,000 Yulin army, 30,000 Liu Fangliang's troops, 30,000 Wu Sanfu's troops, of which nearly 40,000 were cavalry.
.
And these more than 200,000 troops are still field troops, and do not include the reserve military households in Xuanfu and Datong and the standing troops stationed at various guard posts on the Great Wall.
At this moment, near Zhangjiakou, all you can see are white camps, one after another, seemingly endless, with people shouting and horses neighing everywhere.
"Long live my emperor! Long live!"
As Zhu Cixiang's Generalissimo's flag arrived, more than 200,000 soldiers couldn't help but kneel down on one knee and began to shout in unison, and their morale instantly rose a lot.
Obviously, the emperor's personal conquest has been the best way to improve morale since ancient times. Moreover, more than a year of ideological education for students in the martial arts halls in various armies and towns has begun to show results.
It can be said that the morale of these more than 200,000 Ming troops, not to mention their combat effectiveness, is definitely far higher than that of armies of all dynasties since ancient times.
Because even the most ordinary soldier has achieved revenge by making meritorious deeds and killing enemies.
They have all heard the stories of heroes such as Huo Qubing and Yue Fei, and they all have the concept of nation and the understanding that the Chinese nation is above all else.
"Ms. sir, when will we leave the Great Wall?"
For several days, the army showed no sign of setting off, but Randall couldn't help but ask.
Because the eldest brother has gathered all the warriors in the clan to naturalize, and if the delay continues, the little wealth accumulated by the Tumut tribe will be exhausted.
After all, the war horses are all gathered together, so grazing is definitely not enough. They need a lot of fodder and food to feed them every day.
"Let's do this, Duo'er, you go back to naturalize and ask your elder brother to bring all the cavalry to the north of Datong first. I will provide them with food and grass then. Please don't be anxious and just wait patiently for my orders!
"
Zhu Cihong waved his hand and said, the little wealth of the Tumote tribe is probably almost exhausted. If the Ming Dynasty does not provide food and grass, I am afraid that in ten days and a half, they will have to disperse and return to their respective tribes.
"Thank you sir, I will return to my form and tell my elder brother..."
Randall said happily, and then hurriedly left the tent and returned with a thousand cavalry.
In the following days, Zhu Cixiang was still inspecting the armies, towns and battalions every day, and the summer grain and fodder collected from various places were also continuously transported to Xuanfu.
"My beloved, it has been a year or two and our cavalry is still somewhat unsatisfactory. The gap between us and those Mongolian cavalry is really huge."
After some inspection, Zhu Cixiang was quite satisfied with all the arms, but he was only a little dissatisfied with the cavalry battalions.
I didn't think so before, but now when compared with those Mongolian cavalry, their horse control skills are not even the slightest bit worse, and their riding and shooting skills are even more incomparable.
Whether the Mongolian cavalry was riding horses and shooting arrows, or cutting and charging, or dividing their troops and making circuitous routes, they appeared to be very smooth and comfortable. However, the Han cavalry looked a little unnatural and stiff in their movements.
"Your Majesty, those Mongolians have grown up on horses since they were young. They have a deep relationship with their horses. They hardly need to control them. The horses know what their masters want. However, our cavalry, although they have been on horseback for the past two years,
I personally feed my war horses every day, but in the end there is still a lack of tacit understanding, and there is nothing I can do about it."
The red lady sighed, and after speaking, she stroked her Zhuiyun. Although she loved her BMW very much, she was far from treating her war horse the way the Mongols did.
She couldn't do it, and neither could the other cavalry.
"These Mongolian cavalry are unreliable at critical times, and our own cavalry cannot be put to good use. This is really a big flaw."
Although the Mongolian cavalry under the Eight Banners are equally unreliable, the Jurchens' own tens of thousands of cavalry are powerful. It is definitely unrealistic to let the Tumote troops fight the Jurchens at a critical moment, and their cavalry is
Failure to win is undoubtedly a huge hidden danger.
After all, fighting on the grassland is no better than fighting in the pass. There are no cities, no official roads, and no rivers and mountains to hinder. If the cavalry is not strong, the hundreds of thousands of troops will become extremely passive.
"Your Majesty, if we want to contain the cavalry of the Jiannu, relying on the cavalry we train ourselves is not only time-consuming and labor-intensive, but in the end we won't be able to win the battle. It is more practical to build more tanks."
The red lady thought about it and said that the cavalry they trained could only defeat the rebel cavalry and infantry, but they were not strong enough to face the Mongolian cavalry and the Eight Banners cavalry.
"Yes, this grassland is simply a natural battlefield for chariots. It seems that old antiques like chariots must be moved out."
Zhu Cixi's eyes lit up and he immediately nodded in agreement.
The chariot is the natural nemesis of the cavalry, otherwise it would not be the most powerful one like winning a rook in chess.
However, with the continuous development of the Central Plains region, the tanks were subject to increasing restrictions and were eventually eliminated.
But there are very few rivers on the grassland, the mountains are gentle, and there are no fertile fields or ravines. If used together with the cavalry, they are simply invincible.
The more Zhu Cixiang thought about it, the more excited he became, and he wanted to tinker with the chariot himself right away.
