Su He watched the sand table of the entire northern battlefield.
Especially the sand table terrain near Mengjin County.
This place has been explored many times by secret guards and people from the Military Intelligence Bureau, and even the location of a well has been marked on the sand table.
Su Hu looked anxious. He saw Su He staring at the sand table and saying nothing for a long time.
"Your Majesty, when will we set off for the expedition? The soldiers know that Your Majesty has arrived at Tongguan, and their morale is very high now.
If it is delayed any longer, the high morale of the soldiers will decrease."
Su He looked at the sand table. He got news some time ago that the Tianxiong Army had left Mengjin County to attack Luoyang.
The secret guards have received definite news that the Guan Ning Army in Liaodong has set off and appeared near the capital some time ago, but they have not yet arrived in Mengjin County.
If we launch an attack now, we will definitely alert the enemy.
If we didn't catch all Lu Xiangsheng and Sun Chuanting this time, we will definitely pay several times the price in the future.
"Wait a minute, you are the governor of the Northern Governor's Mansion, and you control the lives of hundreds of thousands of soldiers, so you can't be too impatient.
We need to choose the best time and try our best to achieve a big victory at the beginning and enhance the soldiers' confidence."
After Su He said this, he walked out of the room.
He went to the logistics department station next door and asked Jiang Zhiyu about the preparations of the logistics department.
In this battle, Su He did not doubt the strength of the Qin army.
As long as they fight steadily and do not advance rashly, the Ming army will not be able to stop the Qin army.
Wu Jie and Li Dazhuang saw Su He walking out of the room.
They immediately walked into the room and asked Su Hu about the situation.
In the past few days, the two of them have been trying different ways to urge Su He.
Now the soldiers have put on cotton-padded clothes, and there is a thin layer of ice on the Yellow River.
The weather is changing now. It has already rained heavily in the Hetao area. If there is a heavy snowstorm in Henan.
They definitely can't launch an attack in a blizzard. The war that has been prepared for so long will be delayed for a long time.
"Captain Su, how is the situation? Has the king agreed to send troops?"
Su Hu shook his head. He didn't know why Su He paid so much attention to Lu Xiangsheng and Sun Chuanting.
During their rise, they had captured so many governors, why should they care about these two Ming military and civilian officials.
They do have some abilities, but they can't stop the attack of muskets and artillery just by relying on military strategy and tactics.
"Keep waiting! The most we can do is wait until spring.
Now that we have been preparing for so long, there are thirty to forty thousand people who have come to Tongguan.
The King of Qin also paid them wages, which was an extremely huge expense.
If the king didn't want to attack, he wouldn't do it at all."
Wu Jie and Li Dazhuang sighed after hearing this.
Both of them also knew that this war would definitely happen.
But as the war approaches, now is the best time. If it is delayed any longer, the grassroots will lose their breath.
Su He came to the headquarters of the Logistics Department. Jiang Zhiyu, the head of the Logistics Department, would always follow behind the army.
Responsible for handling all logistical work on the northern battlefield.
In the southern battlefield, the Logistics Department also sent Deputy Minister Zhou Yunxu to take charge of management.
Su He approached the Logistics Department, where Jiang Zhiyu was discussing with Wang Shiyuan, deputy chief of staff.
“As for the roads in Henan, some areas don’t even have official roads, or the quality of the official roads is too poor, and they are full of large and small pits.
It’s hard for mules to move, so they can only rely on wheelbarrows and shoulder-carrying hands.”
"The Yellow River is about to freeze over. Cannons and other baggage cannot be pushed by wheelbarrows, and they need to be transported by large horse-drawn carriages with strong load-bearing capacity.
Can your logistics department build a cement road to facilitate the transportation of goods?"
"This is impossible, the road construction is too slow, and it will also affect the transportation of materials behind the army.
Besides, when building cement roads in winter, the quality of the roads is too poor and may not be able to withstand being repeatedly run over by heavy-duty carriages."
Jiang Zhiyu sighed again and said: "It will be fine if we wait a little longer, then the Yellow River will be completely frozen.
The weather is very cold now, and we can transport our luggage on the ice.
All we need is to get a few ice trucks and transport them on the ice, which is faster than on cement roads."
Su He walked into the house and said: "I know it's extremely cold in the north in winter, so why worry about the roads?
The roads in the north are extremely frozen in winter, and at best they are a little uneven.
Temporarily filling the road with soil and smoothing it out means scrapping cars and horses.
When the roads become muddy, we can transport by river.
I'm not worried about roads now, I'm more worried about whether there are enough manpower.
Most supplies still have to be transported by manpower.
After the army changed its equipment, it fought on a large scale for the first time.
We don't quite understand the logistics needs of a large-scale firearms force.
But according to previous tests, the speed at which ammunition is consumed is extremely terrifying.
I'm afraid that the logistical supplies are too fragile and there will be no way to support frontline operations."
When Jiang Zhiyu saw Su He enter the room, he immediately stood up and saluted, and said, "Your Majesty, you don't have to worry about logistical issues.
The Ming army solved logistical problems, such as the last encirclement and suppression of us.
The method they adopted was to collect a large number of corvees and transport them through a large number of manpower.
The Ming army can adopt this method, and our army can also adopt it.
It's just that through employment, we will be more efficient and will not cause civil unrest.
To transport weapons and ammunition, the logistics department personally organizes the people and pays them wages.
They push wheelbarrows or carry poles to transport bullets, grenades and other small weapons.
It also transports small amounts of food and other supplies.
The carriages are all used to transport heavy weapons such as machine guns, artillery and artillery shells.”
Wang Shiyuan added from the side: "They may be attacked by enemy troops. The Dudu Mansion has specially formed a logistics corps to protect these people.
Mainly remove the reclamation corps, militia and security sections of various factories to form a logistics corps.
The officers of the logistics corps are mainly retired officers, and some of them are taken from the garrison.
As long as they persist for a while, our army's reserve troops will rush to support them in time."
Jiang Zhiyu watched Wang Shiyuan introduce the logistics corps.
He and Wang Shiyuan were discussing the logistics corps just now.
The coordination mechanism between the Logistics Department and the General Staff Department has been studied to jointly command the logistics corps.
Jiang Zhiyu continued to introduce the logistics situation.
“For some bulk civilian supplies, such as food and military uniforms, we hire private caravans to transport these supplies to designated locations.
These private transportation companies are also very organized and often transport bulk commodities.
We agree on a price, and the food and other goods are shipped to the destination and settled at the price we agreed on in advance.
This time, most of the officials at all levels of government were removed to manage the newly occupied areas.
There is only a small group of people left in the local area to maintain the basic operation of the government.
Officials were short of manpower and could not organize the people to transport food to the army.
We can only adapt and select private businessmen to take on some of the transportation work.
Now there are more than 30,000 civilians waiting near the Tongguan camp to help the army transport supplies.
There are still 70,000 to 80,000 people, organized by transportation companies formed by various large caravans, waiting near several large granaries and other warehouses.
After our army captures the city and controls the local situation, these caravans will set off."
Su He listened to Jiang Zhiyu's report and realized that everything was ready in terms of logistics.
The army has been prepared for a long time, and the Qin army can set off at any time.
He praised Jiang Zhiyu and asked Jiang Zhiyu to pay attention to all details and ensure that there must be no problems with frontline logistics support.
A guard ran over panting.
He whispered a few words into Qin Shanshui's ear.
Qin Shanshui knocked on the door, and after receiving permission, he walked into the house.
"Your Majesty, the leader of the secret guards, Su Changsheng, has something important to see you."
Su He was shocked. Su Changsheng came to see him now. He must have important information to report.
He immediately returned to his room and met with Su Changsheng.
"Your Majesty, the secret guards have received accurate information that Sun Chuanting's Guan Ning Army has arrived in Mengjin County.
Gao Jie, a general of King Chuang's tribe, had an affair with King Chuang's wife, Xing, and defected.
As a result, Mengjin County was besieged on all sides, and Li Zicheng, the king of the rebels, was trapped in Mengjin County."
When Su He heard the news about Sun Chuanting, he was overjoyed.
It is now November 12, 4332 (the eighth year of Chongzhen).
If it drags on any longer, the weather will be too cold, and if there is a snowstorm, the battle will not be able to continue.
"Is there any news about the Tianxiong Army? I found out from past intelligence that the Tianxiong Army is not near Mengjin."
Su Changsheng shook his head and said: "Your Majesty, for the exact information, we need to compile the information sent by different spies.
When I received the news from Sun Chuanting, I came to report as soon as possible, and I found no information about the Tianxiong Army."
Su He frowned. There was no news about the Tianxiong Army. If we attack now, the Tianxiong Army might not dare to come to Mengjin County.
You only have one chance, so it's a pity that you didn't make the most of it.
Su He was about to hold a military meeting, and Qin Shanshui came to report again: "Your Majesty, Yang Qianhe, the director of the Military Intelligence Bureau, wants to see you."
Yang Qianhe was quickly brought into the house. When he saw Su Changsheng, his eyes became solemn. This time, he was a step too late.
"Your Majesty, our Military Intelligence Bureau has received accurate information that both Tianxiong Army and Guan Ning Army have arrived in Mengjin County.
Li Zicheng was surrounded, and they joined forces to attack Li Zicheng."
Su He asked in surprise: "I'm sure the Tianxiong Army is also in Mengjin County."
When Yang Qianhe heard this, a smile appeared on his face. The secret guard must not have detected such important information.
"Your Majesty, this news is correct, our undercover agent is in the Tianxiong Army.
After the Tianxiong army captured Luoyang, they returned to Mengjin County and prepared for a decisive battle with Chuang King Li Zicheng."
"That's great. You can get such important information, and you will be rewarded heavily."
Su He was extremely surprised. Tianxiong Army and Guan Ning Army were all in Mengjin County, and they were held back by Li Zicheng.
In the strategic vision, the most ideal situation appears.
Su He immediately asked Qin Shanshui to notify him and convene a meeting with all senior military officers.
Su Hu and the others came to the conference hall and looked at the large sand table in front of them.
He just asked, and the time for the expedition was far away, but he didn't expect that it would become clear now.
"The armies began to prepare today and will go out tomorrow."
When Su Hu heard the news, he was suddenly stunned.
Before getting the information, I was looking forward to sending troops every day.
After hearing the exact news, he still felt that something was missing?
Su Hu couldn't help it and asked:
"Your Majesty, we are launching a full-scale war against the Ming Dynasty and want to destroy the Ming Dynasty.
We need to make our troops famous and create a troop dispatching ceremony.
After setting up some flags and memorials, we will send out troops.
I read in ancient books that many people do this."
Su He smiled and said, "What are you thinking about? We are sending troops secretly this time, preparing to catch the Ming army by surprise.
The news that I came to Tongguan was completely blocked.
This kind of reputation can be supplemented after the first stage of the strategy is successful.
History is written by the victors. Everything we do will become a good plan as long as we win.
If you fail, no matter how well you do, it is still a foolish move."
Su He simply explained that he didn't care about these formalities, but these officers cared about it in their hearts.
What they have learned since childhood is to pay attention to righteousness and to have a reputation as a teacher.
"Who among you wants to be the vanguard?"
As soon as Su He finished speaking, Wu Jie and Li Dazhuang spoke at the same time.
"Your Majesty, the general is willing."
"If you two are willing, then whichever army has less artillery will be the vanguard."
Less artillery means less baggage to be carried and the troops can move faster.
When Wu Jie heard this, he smiled. The vanguard belonged to their fourth army.
Su He discussed with them many details of this war.
They had discussed it many times before.
Before the war started, Su He emphasized again.
"You don't have to save bullets and artillery shells. If you exchange a hundred rounds of bullets for an enemy's life, we will make a lot of money.
How much does one hundred rounds of ammunition cost? It takes less than a day to produce one hundred rounds of ammunition.
We produce industrially and the cost of ammunition is very low.
How much does it cost to train a soldier?
The recruits with the shortest training period still need to be trained in the recruit camp for three months.
Consuming a large amount of ammunition and reducing soldier casualties must be calculated clearly.
Which army has suffered a large number of avoidable casualties, I want to hold them accountable.
Capture prisoners if you can, but there is no need to force them.
After we are sure that the Ming army has lost the ability to resist, we will go and capture the prisoners.
…
That’s all I’m saying, you all should go back to your army and go out to conquer the Ming Dynasty tomorrow.”
These officers all returned to camp to prepare for the expedition. Su He also rode his little black horse to the camp of the Imperial Guard.
4332 (the eighth year of Chongzhen), November 13th, eight o'clock in the morning.
At the Tongguan camp, hundreds of thousands of Qin troops finished their breakfast and lined up to wait.
Su He was riding on a little black horse. He drew his sword and pointed to the east.
"Go to war."
In the Praetorian Guard camp, I immediately remembered the exciting drumbeats.
Then the drums sounded in the camps of the Third Army, the Fourth Army, and the Seventh Army.
Wu Jie, commander of the Fourth Army, had a smile on his face.
"The target is Mengjin County, let's set off.
As the vanguard, we must capture all the cities along the way and open the way for the army to Mengjin County."
The Fourth Army led by Wu Jie stepped out of Tongguan and launched an attack along the Yellow River towards Henan.
Su He was in charge of the central army, commanding all the troops and marching eastward in order.
At the same time, he sent someone to inform Hanzhong that he had led his troops eastward to Henan and that the southern battlefield was ready for action.
The major newspapers in Hanzhong no longer need to keep relevant matters confidential and can lift the ban on reporting.
The Qin army formed a long line and left Tongguan in the east, starting a war to unify the world.
