Time has entered 1621. In the Ming Dynasty, this year was called the third year of Apocalypse.

On the first day of the first lunar month, on the shores of Lake Baikal, the Ming army camped.

At around nine o'clock in the morning, the winter sun at high latitudes finally fully rose, the morning fog gradually dispersed, and the vast Lake Baikal appeared in everyone's sight again.

As the line of sight became clear, the Ming army camp that stretched for dozens of miles gradually extinguished the torches lit last night, and then the cooks began to cook. As the smoke rose higher and higher, the smell mixed with the smell of beef and mutton filled the air.

When the sound of footsteps in the military camp became more and more intense, the figures of officers at all levels began to appear.

"The general is waiting to see the commander-in-chief. I would like to congratulate the commander-in-chief on the New Year."

"Hahaha, congratulations to you all, happy new year!"

After all the generals exchanged New Year greetings, everyone surrounded Cao Wenzhao and boarded a sentry tower that the engineers had just built by the lake last night.

Looking into the distance, even with the help of Fangshan's latest telescope, Cao Wenzhao could not see the edge of the lake at all. After staring for a long time, he took off the telescope and let out a long breath: "This is what Su Wu used to do in the past.

Isn’t it the North Sea where shepherds live? It’s really magnificent. It’s just that the lake has never frozen at this moment.”

"Commander, I have asked the Mongolians around. They said that the lake is too big and freezes very late. It usually starts to freeze from the north at the end of the year, and by the end of January or even the beginning of February, we are here now

It will freeze at the southern end.”

"Tsk! This is a bit troublesome." Cao Wenzhao lowered his head and thought for a while, then raised his head and said, "Now that fool, Huduntu, must have escaped into the lake, right?"

"Confirmed without a doubt, Marshal. Buryat Mongolia nearby is completely under our control. According to them, this large lake has a radius of thousands of miles, and there are dozens of islands in the lake. The largest one will eventually be based on

According to the description given by the Mongols, its area is probably not smaller than a county in the mainland of the Ming Dynasty."

"TMD!" After swearing, Cao Wenzhao said bitterly: "It's hidden in so many islands, and the lake is not completely frozen. How can we find it? We didn't bring the navy this time.

ah."

From the time it launched its troops in March last year to January this year, the Ming Dynasty was mainly responsible for conquering Mongolia's eastern and central armies of 120,000 Ming troops, which had been on the campaign for almost a year.

In ten months, Lin Dan Khan of Mongolia did not flee north. He still organized two or three large-scale counterattacks and more small-scale raids. However, the peak front-loaded rifle infantry and crotch were the Western giants.

The Ming army, with its cavalry and cavalry, had an absolute advantage when facing the Mongolian army, which was almost purely armed with cold weapons. Not to mention that later, after Fang Shan sent a small number of machine guns and breech-loading guns, the equipment generation gap between the two sides expanded to

A desperate situation.

In short, in the past ten months, there have been three major battles involving more than 10,000 people on both sides, and dozens of small and medium-sized battles involving hundreds or thousands of people. The loss ratio of each battle made Lin Dan Khan extremely embarrassed. In fact, in the past ten months,

, the 120,000 Ming army lost a total of more than 8,000 people, mostly due to fatigue and disease, and less than 3,000 people were actually killed in battle.

Thanks to the start of the Industrial Revolution in the Ming Dynasty, the huge increase in productivity has made products extremely rich. In addition, the Ming Dynasty now dominates East Asia, and a large amount of food throughout Southeast Asia is quickly transported to the north by sea. Therefore, although this army's daily demand for supplies

The workload is huge, but Yuan Keli, who specializes in logistics, still feels he has more than enough to do.

Along the way, the Ming army did not move very fast: every time it conquered a new tribe, the Ming army would pause, and the engineering personnel from Fangshan Laboratory who followed the army all the way north would teach the local Mongolian people how to shear sheep.

They make wool and teach them how to store fodder in summer and autumn. As for the liberal arts students in Fangshan, they usually like to convene local herdsmen to hold grievance meetings. After the meeting, they encourage the lowest herdsmen in the tribe to commit heinous crimes.

Tabu Nang…

Therefore, after ten months, Cao Wenzhao knew very well: the whole of Mongolia is slowly changing. By this summer at most, after the large amount of wool in the entire Mongolian grassland can be realized, the heavy losses of the Jiubian Town for more than two hundred years will

The military pressure will be completely relieved at this point.

As for why we continue to go north, on the one hand, Zhu Youdong, as a Chinese in the 21st century, has the plot of Lake Baikal in his heart: If the freshwater lake with the largest water content in the world is in the hands of the Chinese in the 21st century, with China

Due to the characteristics of the infrastructure maniac, there will be no water shortage problem in northern China - Lake Baikal, a super reservoir that contains 7% of the world's fresh water, must be included in the territory directly under the jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty in this era. This is because he is a time traveler.

The obsession of the person!

On the other hand, it is of course because of Lin Dan Khan: it is better to cut off the direct bloodline of the Golden Family. Besides, although Lin Dan Khan is not rated highly in terms of historical standards, it is because he met the emperor.

For a son of a plane like Tai Chi, his ability is not low. It would be better for the Mongol Khan, who is so far beyond the ordinary, to die.

Therefore, although the Ming army played more of a propaganda team in this expedition, in the autumn of this year, after the lives of a large number of Mongolian herdsmen were greatly improved, even if Lin Dan Khan was still there, the Ming army

After retreating, he could not come back. However, Cao Wenzhao still faithfully carried out Zhu Youdong's order and led more than 100,000 Ming troops to keep advancing until they came to the shores of Lake Baikal.

"Wenlong, how is the situation with the West Route Army?"

After confirming that there was nothing he could do to take out Lin Dan Khan who was hiding on an island inside Lake Baikal, Cao Wenzhao simply gave up the idea and asked about the situation of the West Route Army in Mangui.

"Yes, yesterday's battle report came from the rear. Commander Manchu fought a battle with the so-called Western Region Alliance Army organized by the Yarkand Khanate more than two months ago. He won a complete victory and beheaded more than 30,000 people. Our side lost less than 30,000 people.

Two thousand. Now, the Hami Guard, which was abandoned since the time of Emperor Xiaozong, has been regained by our Han family, and the Turpan tribe near the Hami Guard has surrendered. Uh... there is another news in the recent Dibao."

"What's wrong?"

"After the Hami Guards were captured, news spread to Beijing that the Supreme Emperor wanted to visit Dunhuang."

"Dunhuang? Taishang Taihuang?"

Speaking of which, this is one of the changes that Zhu Youdong, a time traveler, has brought to this era.

On the historical level, Zhu Yijun died in 1620. But now, due to the advancement of medicine and Zhu Youdong's early intervention in the maintenance of Zhu Yijun's body, more importantly, Emperor Wanli retired many years in advance, and there was no defeat in Saarhu.

Such stimulation. Therefore, it is now 1621, and Zhu Yijun, who is not yet fifty-eight years old, is still in good health.

As for why Wanli had the enthusiasm to go to Dunhuang, of course it was when Zhu Youdong was chatting with his imperial grandfather, he talked about the large number of cultural relics and murals that are still sleeping in the Mogao Grottoes, as well as the magic of Crescent Moon Spring.

Moreover, since Emperor Xiaozong abandoned the Hami Guard, the Han people in the vast area west of Lanzhou have been groaning under the iron heel of the foreigners for more than a hundred years. The royal family invited the Supreme Emperor to visit them, which also had the meaning of comforting and reassuring them.

"The Emperor went to the northwest to win the hearts and minds of the people there."

"So it turns out that the commander-in-chief has been in a high position for a long time, so he can build a stronghold."

"Ha! Wenlong, when did you start flattering people? But as for the issue of people's hearts and minds. In fact, we have gained a lot from the hearts and minds of ordinary Mongolian people along the way, but we really don't seem to care enough about the Mongolian Taijis.

.”

"What do you mean, Marshal?"

"We went all the way north and pressed the Mongolian princes and nobles too hard. You see, according to the intelligence of the Buryat Mongols nearby, there are still about 20,000 to 30,000 people with Lin Dan Khan.

. Among them, Tabu Nang, Taiji and their cronies from the Tumut, Khalkha, and Kalaqin tribes account for the vast majority. It can be said that the current Huduntuhan is basically surrounded by Mongolians.

Noble person. Noble person, who wants to run around all day long, drinking ice and snow or eating sand? But why have they gritted their teeth and persisted for so long? It’s not because we have pushed them too hard."

"...Does the commander want to imitate Wei Wu's old tricks against the three sons of the Yuan family?"

"Hahaha, that's it. After Yuan Benchu ​​died, Wei Wu immediately led his army to conquer Hebei. As a result, the three brothers Yuan and Tan worked together to make Wei Wu return without success. So Wei Wu simply withdrew his troops and returned to Henan, without external pressure.

, the three sons of the Yuan family immediately began to fight for power, and Yuan Shang and Yuan Tan became enemies of each other. Wei Wu divided them and attacked them, swallowing up all four states in Hebei."

"The commander-in-chief is right. Later, when brothers Yuan Xi and Yuan Shang went north to Liaodong, Gongsun Kang began to not understand Wei Wu's intentions and protected the Yuan brothers. After Wei Wu made it clear that he had no idea about Liaodong, Gongsun Kang

He voluntarily handed over the heads of the Yuan brothers."

"That's right! Therefore, I have made up my mind to withdraw the entire army temporarily, and then send envoys to contact various Mongolian tribes. I believe that after we take the initiative to relieve the pressure, nobles from so many tribes in Mongolia will gather together, and soon we will
Chapter completed!