In winter, all the Mongolians in Hetao have returned to station in the winter, which means that if they send troops to Hetao at this time, they will face more Mongolians.

Cui Ziyi said, "The enemy has returned to Hetao to station in the winter. We can't send too few troops. If we send more troops, we need more food and clothing to keep out the cold. If we withdraw the army after we capture it, wouldn't it be in vain? If we station it on the spot,

Money and food for the winter are a big problem."

Wen'an's Way, "During the Chenghua period of the Ming Dynasty, Hetao was captured with 80,000 troops. The grain and fodder required for a year cost 1.5 million taels of silver. With so much grain and grass transported by the people, the cost was 8.25 million taels.

, using this as a reference, if we capture the Hetao garrison, it will cost 10 million taels of silver a year."

Ten million taels of silver. Everyone gasped when they heard this figure. Wan Jun was also shocked, "Ten million taels of silver a year, how can you ask for so much?"

Wen'an's way, "The land in the Hetao is barren, it is a Gobi desert, and it is impossible to cultivate at all. The food and grass needed for the garrison need to be transported from the interior. Therefore, after occupying the Hetao, there is almost no tax income, but a huge amount of money is spent."

Food eventually brought down the entire empire, which is why the Ming Dynasty repeatedly occupied Hetao but had to give up."

Du Yinxi said, "The country is not yet stable, so it is better to attack Shanxi than to attack Hetao. After driving the Tatars out of the customs, we can level the south. After the mountains and rivers are unified, we can then use all our strength to deal with the north. We will imitate the Yongle Dynasty when they went out to wipe out thieves and sealed the wolf in Xu."

Establish unparalleled achievements."

Among the generals, many were persuaded and began to hesitate in their hearts. They looked at Wan Jun one after another. Decision makers are most afraid of hesitation. Even if it is a wrong decision, it is better than not making a decision. Wan Jun shook his head and said, "Wait until we make it."

Are the Tatars going to break through the customs and then confront the barbarians along the Great Wall? This is not what I want. What I want is not to restore the territory of the Ming Dynasty."

Cui Ziyi knows Wan Jun best. When he took the waterway to Chongqing, he heard Wan Jun talk about his grand plan. The northern border is the snow country covered with thousands of miles of ice, and it will never stop at the Great Wall. Cui Ziyi said, "Wen Zhu

Our country, now that the head of state’s strategy for dispatching troops has been decided, we still discuss the matter of dispatching troops, and the settlement of accounts should wait until the battle is over. After all, the Hetao is too close to the capital of the country. If it is not possible, we will withdraw our troops and horses."

Wen Anzhi glanced at Wan Jun, bowed and said, "Forgive me, the head of state. Wen just said what should be said. We will not hesitate to make the decision regardless of how the head of state makes the decision."

Wan Jun said, "What are you talking about? You are the Zhuguo. What crime do you have to make plans for the country? You have been in the Chinese army for so long, and you still don't know my wishes."

Wan Jun stretched out his hand to hold Wen Anzhi's arm, patted Wen Anzhi on the shoulder, and said to everyone, "The world belongs to everyone, the empire has seven pillars, and it is not my empire alone. Don't mess with the kings, kings, and ministers."

It’s a set, feel free to say whatever you want.”

Cui Ziyi said, "Our finances will definitely not be able to support ten million taels of silver a year."

Wan Jun said, "Of course it's impossible to spend ten million taels of silver a year, but I don't know the current situation of the Loop. I have to make plans after we capture it."

Cui Ziyi said, "The land west of Ningxia Prefecture in the Loop is the old territory of the Ming Dynasty. There is also the Great Wall defense line from Zhenyuan Pass to Helan Mountain. Why don't our army take Ningxia Prefecture first? Firstly, we can familiarize ourselves with the terrain, secondly, we can control the losses, and thirdly, we can take the next step.

Make preparations to fully launch the Great Wall and capture the entire Hetao area."

Wan Jun nodded and said, "Ziyi is right. After all, winter is about to enter. It is also a big problem for tens of thousands of soldiers and horses to keep out the cold. We might as well get a bridgehead first."

Zhang Sheng said, "If we persuade Milayin and Ding Guodong to surrender and send troops from Lanzhou direction at the same time, we can capture Ningxia with half the effort."

Times."

Wan Jun said, "It would be best if we could surrender. What is the attitude of Milayin and Ding Guodong?"

Zhang Sheng said, "Mi Layin and Ding Guodong rebelled against the Qing Dynasty in March, supported Zhu Ming's clan Zhu Shizhong, and proclaimed themselves King of Yanchang. Our army Sun Shoufa and He Zhen's troops had been in Gansu for several months, and they had close contact with these two men.

.”

Wan Jun said, "Since we are raising the banner of the Ming Dynasty, we don't have to force the surrender. There are also King Gui and King Lu of the Ming Dynasty in the south. There are many people in the world who care about the Ming Dynasty. We can't give people an excuse."

Zhang Sheng said, "King Gui and King Lu are attacking each other, how can they say anything about us?"

Wan Jun said, "Who is our friend and who is our enemy? This is the primary issue in the war. Since Ming and we are in peace, there is no need to push Ming to the opposite side."

Zhang Sheng said, "What if they take the initiative to vote?"

Wan Jun said, "If they come to surrender, then we will accept it. Before that, they beat theirs and we beat ours!"

In Wan Jun's mind, there is a deeper consideration. Unlike the Shun Army and the Daxi Army, if forces like Li Chengdong, Yang Zhan, and He Tengjiao surrender, the troops they bring cannot be directly digested, but instead involve part of the energy of the Chinese Army.

Up to now, Wanjun's arrangements for Yang Zhan and Li Chengdong have been independent of the generals of the Chinese Army. If Milayin and Ding Guodong's soldiers and horses were directly surrendered, although Gansu would be directly included in the Chinese Army, the army would become increasingly unstable.

Tricky.

Wan Jun said, "Let Sun abide by the law. He Zhen's troops can move west to capture Tianshui, and stabilize the front line in the Longxi area of ​​Tianshui. We will wait and see while Milayin and Ding Guodong's troops attack Lanzhou. There is no need to force surrender."

"The order was sent to Chang Jian and Li Guo, and the troops and horses under his command cooperated with He Dingchuan's troops to advance the battle line to Pingyang Prefecture years ago."

"Instruct Gao Yigong, Li Wenlong, and Sun Kewang's troops to add another 20,000 troops to pursue Meng Qiaofang, the Manchu Governor of Shaanxi, and restore the battle line to the edge of the Yulin Sacred Tree."

"I will lead a new army of 60,000 people, and enter Ningxia from Guyuan. Within ten days, I will gather troops and horses, and three groups of troops will set off at the same time."

The new army compiled and trained by Wanjun is not only equipped with a larger proportion of firearms, but is also built on the basis of the original Chinese army and in accordance with the requirements of the modern army in memory.

The army in the Ming Dynasty basically relied on the personal prestige of the generals, using money to buy a group of personal soldiers who were loyal to the general, plus a group of conscripted civilians. The main combat power basically came from the personal soldiers.

The new army adopts the regiment system. The newly organized twenty-four armies, each with ten regiments under its control, receive Li Youtian's political propaganda and education. Their belief in the Chinese nation, their morale, and their will to fight are greatly improved, and they can also ensure that the new army

The blade of the knife will not face inwards.

Li Dingguo led five regiments of the vanguard army to Fengxiang to join Ainengqi, and then attacked Guyuan from Qianyang County and Long County along Liupan Mountain.

Guanzhong was lost last year, and soon there were rebels in Gansu. Ningxia was a nail stuck between the two places. Hu Quancai, the governor of Ningxia, wanted to reinforce Gansu on the one hand, and defend Guanzhong on the other, so he had to ask the Manchu court for help.

Dorgon naturally knew the importance of Ningxia, which was related to the entire northwest war situation. If the reinforcements were slow, it would lead to the same tragedy as Hauge in Guanzhong. In April, he quickly sent Han Dai, the leader of the Manchu Zhenghong Banner, and in July he sent Bolo

, Hong Chengchou and Wu Sangui reinforced Ningxia.

Han Dai and Ningxia Commander-in-Chief Liu Fangming led their troops to reinforce Lanzhou and joined forces with Gansu Commander-in-Chief Zhang Yong. They defended the Chinese army in the east and fought with Milayin and Ding Guodong in the Lanzhou area in the west.

The Qing troops in Ningxia were divided into three groups. One group was led by Wu Sangui and defended in the areas of Yanchi and Andingbao.

One unit was led by Bolo and stationed in the Zhongwei area, while the other unit was led by Hu Quancai, governor of Ningxia, and defended in the Guyuan area.

It was already snowing heavily in the Liupan Mountains in September, and thousands of troops were galloping in the middle of the army, tightly wrapped in fur cloaks to resist the cold air from the north.

Wan Jun couldn't help but remember that when later generations talked about the reasons for the demise of the Ming Dynasty, the most common thing they mentioned was the climate change brought about by the Little Glacier. Since he landed in western Henan, he has truly felt the abnormality of this climate.

March is still cold and windy, summer arrives in a hurry in May, and spring almost disappears, resulting in abnormal rainfall in most areas, widespread drought in the north, and floods in the south. Winter comes early after August, and strong cold winds can reach directly

Ice-covered scenes can appear in Guangdong, Guangxi and the Yangtze River area.

The new army marched along the snow-covered road with high morale. The army breathed a sigh of relief, and the white mist quickly dispersed in the wind.

The two knights in front rushed forward, "Report to the head of state, the vanguard will capture Guyuan!"

Wan Jun nodded, clapped his horse forward, and praised in his heart that Li Dingguo is a famous general after all, and taking Guyuan opened the way to Ningxia.

In Guyuan City, the Chinese army was cleaning the battlefield. Li Dingguo led his men to guard the south of the city. When the army turned out from the mountain road, Li Dingguo immediately led his men to greet them.

The horse's hooves brought up the snowflakes. Li Dingguo reined in the horse from a distance, dismounted and said, "General Li Dingguo greets the head of state."

Wan Jun jumped off his horse and said happily, "Why do you need to be so formal in order to rule the country? You did a good job!"

Li Dingguo said, "Thank you very much, the head of state, for your praise. Ai Nengqi has led his troops to advance north."

Wan Jun said, "Very good. Can the local general capture him?"

Li Dingguo said, "Hu Quancai, the governor of Ningxia in the Puppet Qing Dynasty, hanged himself in his mansion, and his body is still in his mansion."

Soon Wan Jun entered Guyuan Mansion and saw a man lying outside the house. A layer of snow had fallen on his face and his face could not be seen clearly. However, he was neatly dressed in full official robes.

Li Dingguo said, "Hu Quancai died in the line of duty. He was actually a man. I dare to ask the head of state, how to dispose of this body?"

Wan Jun said, "If a person goes in the wrong direction, no matter whether he steps with his right foot or his left foot, everything he does is wrong. This guy is a Han, but he died for the Qing Dynasty. This guy...

He was dragged outside the city, beheaded, and his body thrown into a mass grave."

The soldiers dragged Hu Quancai out of the house. Cui Ziyi came in from the door and said as soon as he saw Wanjun, "Führer, there is heavy snow in the mountains and snow on the roads. The New Army's car camps are blocked on the road. The baggage behind will be unable to do so for a while."

Ship it over."

Wan Jun said, "How many can be transported?"

Cui Ziyi said, "Less than one tenth."

Wan Jun asked, "How many of the rear troops have arrived?"

Cui Ziyi said, "Each regiment of the New Army is marching together with the chariot camp and infantry camp. Now the rear army is advancing together with the chariot camp, and only two regiments have come over."

Li Dingguo said, "Even if the troops cannot be transported, the front army cannot stop. If we don't attack them in one go, it will be difficult to fight after the Qing troops have deployed their defensive lines."

Wan Jun said, "The two regiments, including the forward and center troops, are less than 10,000 people. Are you sure about the country?"

Li Dingguo said, "The only way to win is to have good soldiers but not too many. To have good soldiers and advance quickly is to win!"

Wan Jun secretly admired in his heart that Li Dingguo was a famous general from ancient times. It would be such a thrilling thing to fight with such a hero.
Chapter completed!