"Your Majesty, Daming Mansion has won the first battle!" As soon as Zhao Bing entered the front hall, Lu Xiufu politely said.

"Okay!" Zhao Bing nodded and walked to the map with a smile, looking at the battlefield situation.

"A day before yesterday, the Eighth Army severely damaged the front and central army of the guards led by Zhang Gui outside Daming City, injured Yesuge, the leader of the former army, beheaded 2,000, captured more than 700 enemies, seized more than 500 muskets, twenty artillery pieces, and 400 war horses. At the same time, the Third Division of the Eighth Army stationed at the north gate of the City defeated the enemy defenders and attacked more than ten times, annihilated thousands of enemies, and captured the fortress in front of the city." Jiang Jin and others followed and reported the results of the battle.

"Well, our army has reached the capital city in this battle, and the enemy troops in the city have become trapped; the Eighth Army took advantage of the enemy's defeat and retreated northward for ten miles, expanding the depth of defense. The First Army, Third Army and Fifth Army also took the opportunity to tighten the encirclement and compress the enemy's core area. Now Zhang Gui's troops are surrounded in an irregular area less than 80 miles." Lu Xiufu pointed at the situation diagram with his finger.

"Yes, they cooked it with a pot of raw rice!" Zhao Bing looked at the map. Now the Mongolian and Yuan army was besieged in a zone similar to the 8-character area, dividing the enemy into two areas. Inside and outside the city, they looked at each other with tears in their eyes, but they could not meet, and basically completed the battle plan scheduled by the two.

"This battle is a classic. Deputy Envoy Han and General Manager Tian plan on two battlefields thousands of miles apart, cooperate with each other, and successfully lured Zhang Gui to the predetermined battlefield and surrounded him. It was really beyond my expectations. After this battle, there was no more strong city in Hebei to defend, and the army could drive directly to the Dadu City!" Jiang Zheng stroked his beard and said.

"I think the significance of this battle is not to annihilate the enemy or to seize the basin. Instead, they can find out the trump card of the Yuan army and learn their true combat effectiveness!" Zhao Bing said, "At the beginning, we didn't know how much their combat effectiveness increased after the personal army of the Mongolian Yuan guards changed into firearms, and what new tactics would be developed. We also couldn't figure out how strong the Zong Wang army transferred from the grassland was. They were afraid of their legendary invincibility and had to be more conservative when using troops. Now they all looked like paper tigers!"

"Your Majesty said it is right. The military strategy says: if you 10, you will surround it, if you 5, you will attack it, if you 5, you will divide it, if you can fight it, if you 5, you will escape it, if you are not as good as you can avoid it. Therefore, the strongness of a small enemy is the capture of a great enemy. In the past, it has been regarded as a guise by military strategists and cannot be violated, but now it has been broken by this battle." Lu Xiufu said.

"In this battle, we mobilized five imperial troops, two cavalry divisions and artillery divisions, and several state troops, with a total of about 200,000 troops. However, after the early battle, after deducting the newly retained land and the reduction of personnel, it was basically the same as the enemy trapped in Daming, and even slightly inferior to them. However, our army not only surrounded them, but also had the ability to annihilate them, which was extremely rare in plains where there was no natural danger in the past."

"Well, in the past, it is often said that 'annihilated one thousand enemies, and 800 damages themselves'. However, in the head-on battle the day before yesterday, our army suffered less than 500 casualties, but achieved several times of the results of annihilation of the enemy, breaking the perception of the predecessors." Deng Guangjian also agreed, "The enemy dispatched four 10,000 teams, while our army had only one and a half divisions of the Eighth Army. In addition, some direct cavalry and artillery formed a battle formation, defending the front battlefield of more than ten miles, blocked the enemy's attack and launched a counterattack in time to defeat the enemy, but the losses were extremely minor. If it were in the past, they would definitely think that he had lie about his military achievements!"

"Yes! Many difficult things in the past have become very simple now!" Jiang Yu also took over the topic and said, "The two armies of Yan Feng and Guan Hong are both reduced troops, with two combat divisions under their jurisdiction. The direct team is less than the main division, but they conquered Yidu Fucheng within five days, which was incredible in the past."

"Well, it's right. In the past thousand years, a strong city can hold on for many years, blocking millions of troops, and even affecting the national destiny of a country. Now, under the power of artillery and gunpowder, they are all native chickens and dogs, and they are destroyed in an instant, which is a miracle. A strong city can no longer be an obstacle to the advance of a large army!" Lu Xiufu said.

"Actually, all this is not a miracle, and the ideas of the ancients are not no longer applicable. This is just a microcosm of technological progress!" Zhao Bing said, "The military victory of our dynasty now actually originates from the replacement of cold weapons by firearms. This is the same as the emergence of bows and chariots in the barbaric era, metal weapons replaced stones and wooden sticks in the Xia and Shang era, iron weapons replaced bronze weapons in the Qin and Han dynasties, and cavalry replaced chariots. The renewal of weapons changed the form of war, prompting the emergence of new military ideas and the improvement of old ideas, and forming a systematic advantage for conservatives!"

"I feel deeply touched what Your Majesty said!" Liu Zhu nodded, "It was no exaggeration to describe it as the defeat of the remnants of the general's army. The army joined more to be able to have enough food and had no fantasy about defeating the enemy in the Mongolian Yuan. However, His Majesty secretly summoned craftsmen to build rockets and crossbows, and in the battle of Guangzhou, he actually defeated the Yuan army without any power to fight back. With our three thousand gangs, we actually occupied the city. At that time, everyone was very moved today, and felt like they were in a dream."

"After arriving in Qiongzhou, Your Majesty started to transform the crossbows and formulate operating procedures. Even the crossbows and projectiles made were also required to be the same weight and size. At that time, we were extremely puzzled and thought that it was enough to defeat the Yuan army. Why was it so complicated and meticulous? But Your Majesty was unmoved and still insisted on following it. Then we understood that using crossbows and projectiles with the same weight and shape could accurately hit the target within a set distance by adjusting the strength and angle of the crossbows. This greatly improved the hit rate and simplicity of operation. At that time, even the recruits could master the firing of the crossbows after more than a month of training."

"Everyone knows that at that time, the Mongols also had troops equipped with catapults, but they were often beaten by the crossbows in battle with us without any power to fight back. The reason is that the various types of crossbows we equipped were built according to standards, using mechanical control of strength, and fired projectiles and crossbow arrows that were manufactured uniformly. Because the shape and difficulty of movement of the Mongols were often made by military craftsmen, the stone bullets were not uniform in shape and weight, and were fired entirely by human power. Therefore, they were all kinds of shots and had very low hit rate, which was not much different from our rocket launcher, so they were always destroyed by us first, and it was difficult to exert combat power."

"Go, go... Our rocket launcher is already quite good now, the deviation is only about thirty steps!" Zhao Bing smiled and scolded himself and defended him.

"Yes, yes, it's much better than before!" Liu Zhu also quickly smiled and said, "After that, His Majesty brought the crossbow onto the warship and developed a flowering bullet. That's really a weapon of water battle..."

"Everyone knows that you have been in charge of the navy for many years. Don't mention warships now. Let's continue to talk about artillery!" Jiang Yu saw that he was about to go off topic again, so he stopped him quickly.

"Haha, just listen to Jiang Xiang!" Liu Zhu was criticized, but he was not embarrassed. He continued, "I remember that when I was conquering Pu Shougeng, Quanzhou, Your Majesty was riding on a dragon boat on a dragon boat and was shot by the Mongol Yuan, smashing a pit on the outer armor of the dragon boat. Your Majesty immediately sent someone to attack the enemy camp and seized a copper musket!"

"Well, I remember this, what does this have to do with today's affairs?" Deng Guangjian frowned, thinking that he had gone off topic again.

"Of course, it's relevant. His Majesty found that the Mongol Yuan had equipped metal cannons and felt a crisis, so he found out that the development of muskets and metal cannons in the future, and that the artillery will dominate the battlefield today." Liu Zhuyan said.

"Oh, it turns out that Your Majesty had foreseeed it. It's a pity that I thought Your Majesty was addicted to books of skills and was distracted from playing with things. He scolded him many times." Deng Guangjian blushed and sighed.

"Haha, I and Xiang Deng generally think that I have taught Your Majesty a lesson because of this. Now I think I feel very ashamed!" Jiang Yu also smiled and bowed to the emperor and complained to the crime.

"Those who don't know are not guilty. The firearms were not known at the time, and the masters didn't know them even more. How could I blame them!" Zhao Bing waved his hand and said, "But when I saw the Mongol's musket, I was indeed shocked. It occupies a vast area, with countless talents and resources, and we only have a small land in Qiongzhou. If they first develop firearms and install them on a large scale, our advantage in weapons will be gone and it will be difficult to compete with them in war, so I have to try to surpass them!"

"Your Majesty has a deep vision and has seen the crisis of the coming day. If our dynasty is still complacent with its temporary advantage and has not stepped forward, even the firearms equipped by the Mongols today have surpassed them. Not to mention regaining the Central Plains, I am afraid that even Qiongzhou will not be able to defend it and can only die at sea." Lu Xiufu said, "Fortunately, the monarch and ministers of the Mongols are ignorant and did not continue to optimize the muskets, but still think that if the bow and horse are the best in the world, the world will be invincible, allowing our dynasty to breathe."

"It's also a lucky chance for our dynasty. If the Mongol Yuan Khan had foresight or the knowledgeable people in the dynasty were determined, with their advantages in financial and manpower, they could establish a complete firearm production system in less than a few years, and the army explored the application tactics of firearms, our dynasty would be difficult to compete with them on the battlefield!" Jiang Jin said in fear.

"There were not all confused people in the Mongolian and Yuan dynasties. In fact, after we recovered Jiangnan, Boyan and others discovered the advantages of firearms in the war, and began to actively imitate them, and trained them in small-scale military units. However, the time was still short, and they were still in the exploration stage and did not form a system, so they lost almost all in the last Northern Expedition." Zhao Bing said.

"I am lucky to have a wise king!" Lu Xiufu and others politely politely said to Zhao Bing, "After the last Northern Expedition, Your Majesty expanded the military weapon workshop on a large scale and recruited talents to work as a craftsman. We are not wise to the king and advised him many times. Fortunately, Your Majesty is firm in his will and did not stop without our advice. Otherwise, how could the entire army change into a new firearm and achieve the achievements of today!"
Chapter completed!