On the evening of June 2nd, Quan Jiu and I had just finished handling the memorial when we heard Eunuch Zhou saying outside the door of the imperial study: "The official family. Urgent report from the Military Academy."
"Eunuch Zhou, come in."
"Yes. The official family." Zhou Eunuch hurriedly entered the room and said. "The official family. The battle report of the Eastern Expedition."
I took the battle report: "Eunuch Zhou. Where is Xiao Qi?"
"The official family. The seventh father-in-law is having a meeting at Jinyiwei tonight."
"Oh. That's right. I forgot about it."
Quan Jiu said: "Eunuch Zhou, your complexion seems not to be very good recently. Are you feeling uncomfortable somewhere?"
Eunuch Zhou's expression changed slightly and he said, "My Queen, I had a cold a few days ago and it hasn't healed yet."
"Really? Then you have a good rest."
"Yes. I have thanked the Queen."
I was eager to read the battle report and didn't notice anything wrong with Eunuch Zhou. This was the first Eastern Expedition Army battle report I received. The battle report was recorded on April 16. After many twists and turns, it arrived in my hands one and a half months later.
If we still have 800 miles to hurry on land, but when we reach sea, there is nothing we can do.
Yin Ying Lei, Li Beiyang said in the battle report. In mid-April, the Eastern Expeditionary Army had successfully captured the Tamna Kingdom outside Goryeo. It was also the renamed Jeju Island. In this battle, our army suffered very few casualties. Due to the accompanying army Thanks to the timely treatment of doctors and health workers, less than one of the few wounded was killed. After that, the army took a short rest and then launched an attack on the Koryo Peninsula the next day.
Occupying Jeju Island is the first goal of the Eastern Expedition. It is also the simplest one. The description of the process in this battle report is basically consistent with the original expectations. Although it is only an expected victory, it is still a happy event anyway. , good thing.
During this period of time, there was no news about Yang Liazhenjia and Yunze. They seemed to have disappeared from the world. The Jinyiwei interrogated other monks in Yanfu Temple. They did not know their whereabouts. In the end, they could only inform the Dragon Tooth Organization in various places. Secret investigation. If Yuan Ji's guess is correct, with Lian Zhen's martial arts skills, he can easily cross the pass and go to various places in the north.
On June 21, I held a military meeting in the rear hall. Before the meeting, the Intelligence Department of the Military Academy sent the second battle report of the Eastern Expedition Army.
The general content of the battle report is as follows: The Eastern Expeditionary Army easily landed on the Goryeo Peninsula. At that time, there was a civil strife in Goryeo. The two major forces in Goryeo, Lin Yanjun and Jin Junjun, clashed over the territorial dispute. Our army followed the trend and added fuel to the flames. The conflict between the two sides intensified and developed from civil strife to war. After understanding the situation, our army bribed Prince Anqing of Goryeo with a heavy sum of money and promised him to serve as the king of Goryeo after our army destroyed Mongolia. And I The army will also withdraw from Goryeo. With the help of Wang Hui, our army easily defeated the two largest forces in Goryeo in the name of Wang Hui and successfully occupied Ganghwa Island when Lin Yan and Jin Jun were fighting to the death.
The King of Goryeo, King Wonjong, was hidden in the mountains near Ganghwa Island under the protection of the chief minister Seong Yoo-joo. His troops were broken into pieces and joined forces with local forces in Goryeo to constantly harass our army's logistics. Our army moved out, but they retreated into the mountains. The army marched, and they came out to cause trouble again. This is similar to the sixteen-character formula mentioned by your majesty. After careful discussion, the ministers and others agreed that if our army wants to If we go north, we may fall into a quagmire due to insufficient troops. This is the case. Please give us your Majesty's instructions.
After reading it, I said: "Lu Aiqing, Fan Aiqing, what are the opinions of the Military Academy and the Ministry of War on the current situation of the Eastern Expedition Army."
Lu Xiufu hesitated for a moment and said: "Your Majesty, the ministers and others unanimously agree with the suggestions of Yin Yinglei and Li Beiyang. They are not allowed to go north for the time being. The Eastern Expedition Army should first stabilize the situation in southern Goryeo, and then make plans."
I know the reason for Lu Xiufu's hesitation. After all, it was me who proposed the Eastern Expedition: "My dear friends, this Eastern Expedition is too hasty. This is my fault."
"Ah. What is your Majesty's fault? How could your Majesty be wrong? Your Majesty is a god. How could a god make mistakes?" The ministers present were quite surprised and thought to themselves.
This is the first time that I have admitted in public that I made a wrong decision. So it will inevitably surprise the ministers. You know, with my current prestige, I am really like a god.
I thought for a while and continued: "My judgment about the situation in Goryeo was wrong. Even after Ouyang Jianqing reminded me, I still sent troops to attack with the intention of forming a new route to attack Mongolia. However, I still underestimated Goryeo.
Human guerrilla tactics. Compared to Mongolia.
Goryeo is just a side detail. If we force a way to attack and trap tens of thousands of our troops in Goryeo, it will be more than worth the loss. My dear friends, I have decided to withdraw our troops. Except for leaving some soldiers to garrison Jeju Island.
.The rest of the army will return to our court immediately."
"Yes, Your Majesty," Lu Xiufu said.
"The retreat of the army does not mean the failure of the Eastern Expedition. After all, our army successfully captured Jeju Island. As long as I defeat Mongolia in the future, we can attack from the north and the south. It will be easy to recover Goryeo. I have said before.
no one can
Predict the entire course of the war 100% accurately. As the ancients said, if there is a problem, correct it; if not, encourage me. Since I am wrong, then I will correct it. If you know there is a problem and don't change it, then you are the leader.
It’s a big taboo.”
"Your Majesty is a wise man. I am worthy of your instruction."
"Okay. This is the end of the discussion regarding the Eastern Expeditionary Army. Lu Aiqing of the Military Council sent an order to Yin Lei, and Li Beiyang returned to Lin'an immediately."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Let's continue today's meeting. My dear friends, I plan to set up a frontline headquarters in Yicheng County in the upper reaches of the Han River. After the Battle of Xiangyang breaks out, I will sit in Yicheng and personally command the Battle of Xiangyang. Fan Aiqing. Currently, there are two places in Xiangyang and Fan.
How is the reserve of military supplies going?"
"Back to Your Majesty. Xiangfan's military ration reserves are enough to support Xiangfan soldiers and the people of the city for two years. The standing bows and arrows, large-scale city defense crossbows, armor and other military weapons are also enough to support one year."
I nodded in approval and said, "Okay. Fan Aiqing. All the remaining military supplies will be shipped to Yicheng. Yicheng guard general Lu Wenfu (cousin of Lu Wende) will be ordered to secretly build a military supplies warehouse."
"Yes, Your Majesty. I accept the decree."
"Ouyang Jianqing sent an order to Chen Yi, the commander of the fleet along the river, to expand the naval base in Yicheng. In the future, the supply of Xiangfan and Xiangfan will depend on the navy."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Lu Aiqing passed on my decree and ordered General Wang Anjie, deputy commander of the Lin'an Military Region, to dispatch half of the soldiers of the first compartment to Yicheng to garrison in advance. General Zhang Shun, commander of the first compartment, will personally lead the team and replace Lu Wenfu to guard Yicheng.
"
"Yes, Your Majesty. I obey the order." Lu Xiufu continued. "Your Majesty, please give your Majesty's instructions regarding the distribution of firearms."
"Well. The musketeers from all military regions who came to Lin'an for training must have mastered the essentials of musket shooting."
"Back to Your Majesty. I have passed the examination."
"Okay. Let's discuss the method of distributing firearms at the end. Let's discuss the tasks of each military region first. The Xiangyang Military Region has the simplest task. There is only one, and that is to defend Xiangfan. Everyone must be clear about this. I won't say more. The tasks of Yangzhou Military Region and Luzhou Military Region need to be adjusted at any time as the war in Xiangyang develops. I have said their tasks before. The first is to hold on. The second is to support Xiangyang. The third is to send troops to march north. Li Tingzhi and Xia Gui both have experience. For rich people, you only need to tell them the directional goals. Next, I will mainly talk about the tasks of the three major military regions in the southwest."
"Everyone, please look at the map. My plan is that when the Battle of Xiangyang becomes intertwined, our country and Mongolia will continue to increase their troops in Xiangyang. As for the time, I estimate it will be at the end of next year or the beginning of the next year. By then, I will be in Guangnan The Military Region and the Miao Military Region jointly sent troops to the former Dali Kingdom, which is the Yunnan Province in my plan. While the Sichuan Military Region was defending, it sent a group of troops to wait for an opportunity to go south. The three parties worked together to quickly eliminate the Mongolian army in Yunnan Province. After that, .Leave some troops stationed in Yunnan Province. In Guangnan, most of the troops from the Miao Military Region accompanied a group of soldiers from the Sichuan Military Region to go north to form the West Route Army. When the time is right, they will directly go from Yangping Pass, Dashan Pass and other places. Go north."
After hearing this, Shi Yanzhi immediately said: "Your Majesty, please be frank. Although your Majesty's plan is bold, there is a problem."
"Shi Aiqing. What's the problem?"
"Your Majesty, although there are only 5,000 Mongolian troops and 30,000 former Dali troops in Dali, oh, Yunnan Province, the environment in Yunnan Province is complex and the roads are rugged. It may not be easy to defeat the enemy in a short time. .If our army falls into Yunnan, and once the Mongolian Western Route Army knows that our Sichuan Military Division troops are heading south, they will definitely launch a strong attack. Then the danger in Sichuan will be over."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Fan Wenhuan also said. "I also agree with Mr. Shi. Your Majesty's move is a bit risky."
"Shi Aiqing, Fan Aiqing, you don't have to worry. If it's just a three-pronged army attacking Yunnan, I'm not sure that we can capture Yunnan in a short time. However, I have already ambushed a group of surprise troops in Yunnan. So it should be a four-pronged army. As for this third army The four-pronged army. I’ll give it a try first. You will naturally know about it later.”
No one in the DPRK or the Central Government knew about the empty relics and fear of relics in Dali. I only told Fan Wenhu of the Guangnan Military Region and the Great Wizard of Hongyuan of the Miao Military Region, asking them to support them with material and financial resources. In Fan Wenhu's opinion, it was nothing more. I hope that Relic will cause trouble in Dali to ensure the safety of our border. However, even Yuan Ji and the great wizard Hongyuan are not clear about Relic surrendering to me.
Shi Yanzhi and others did not dare to ask any more questions. He said: "Your Majesty, if the enemy troops in Yunnan Province can be eliminated in a very short time, then there should be no problem in Sichuan. Your Majesty, since we have such a rare army, why do we still need it?" We will wait until the battle of Xiangyang enters a state of interweaving before launching the attack from Guangnan West Road."