Chapter 64 Wang Zhen: When it comes to military strength, I have the advantage
Tumu Fort is located inside the line from Juyongguan to Datong.
It is part of the Great Wall defense system and is known as the three major forts in northern Beijing together with Yulin Fort and Jiming Fort.
The entire fort has a ship-shaped layout, with a width of about 150 feet from north to south and a length of 300 feet from east to west. The fort wall made of earth and bricks is about two feet high, and there are more than 100 guardhouses in it.
However, since Yongle, most of the energy of the Ren and Xuan sects has been focused on people's livelihood and internal affairs.
During the entire ten years of Hongxi and Xuande, no troops were launched against Mongolia. They basically maintained stability by paying tribute.
As a result, the imperial court naturally did not pay attention to these border defense posts, which were the most proud of Taizu Taizong. Under the wanton annexation of land by the border defense generals, by the Zhengtong period, there were not even ten soldiers left in the guard posts.
The so-called garrison soldiers are military camps. When soldiers join the army, they receive 70% of the land for farming and 30% for training. To put it bluntly, they give you a piece of land and you can cultivate the land to support yourself. You are completely responsible for your own profits and losses.
Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang once said with great pride that he could raise an army of millions without costing the people a grain of rice.
If we strictly follow Lao Zhu's ideas and implement them, we can naturally achieve this result. For example, the guardsmen during the Yongle period maintained a strong combat effectiveness.
But during the Xuande period.
I would rather be a bandit than serve as a guard.
Even if the law clearly stipulates that if a military household escapes, he will be charged with desertion, and if caught, he will be sentenced to death, his son will be castrated, and his wife and daughter will be confiscated, but it still cannot stop the fleeing speed of the guardsmen. The number of fleeing guardsmen across the country has reached an astonishing six
One hundred thousand!
According to the "Records of Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty", in November of the eighth year of Xuande's reign, Shandong Inspector Zhang Cong visited Liaodong and discovered that there were only five or six garrison troops in Shanhaiguan.
Can you believe it?
Shanhaiguan is such an important strategic place, but the number of defenders is in single digits!
But it’s no wonder these guardsmen are so miserable.
The land is gone, and you still have to carry heavy corvees to work for the border defense generals. If there is a war outside the customs, you have to raise your own rations and go out to fight.
In the end, the land is gone, and taxes still have to be paid!
I’ve lost all my land, so why bother?!
Moreover, this military household stipulation is passed down from generation to generation, so it can be said that the next eighteen generations have no hope at all.
The heart is crossed and the feet are stamped.
GNMLGB, moisturized.
The wind stirs up dust.
The earthen fortress covering an area of 1,000 acres and the ruined buildings should have hundreds of military households here, but now there are only a dozen or so poorly dressed sergeants coming and going from time to time.
Most of these soldiers were wrapped in leather cloth, and their armor and other iron tools had long since disappeared, probably to be exchanged for money to pay taxes.
Every one of them looks exactly like Sparta.
At this time, the eyes of these Spartans were all focused on one person.
After all, a man wearing a different kind of clothes made of noble silk, and also wearing a shiny thing on his face, is extremely conspicuous in this desolate place of Tumu Fortress.
Ji Boying didn't pay attention to the surprised looks of the Spartans and stood alone on the highest beacon tower in the earthen fortress.
Looking around the Tumu Fort from here and doing some on-the-spot investigation, Ji Boying finally understood why the Battle of the Tumu Fort was such a miserable defeat.
Damn, this place is like a big graveyard.
Camping in Tumu Fort is like leading people to a graveyard, which is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
The terrain of Tumu Fort is extremely high, with a cliff to the north, a Yongding River ten miles away to the south, the retreat direction of the Baozong's army to the west, and the Pseudo River not far away to the east.
The whole process of Tumubao's defeat was also very simple.
When the Baozong Central Army arrived at Tumubao, they originally only had to continue marching quickly and enter Huailai City, which was only about 20 miles away. There was a city to hold on to, and then they ordered the surrounding troops to be diligent, and the army would be safe and sound.
After all, Wala also only wanted wealth in this wave, and had no intention of severely damaging the Ming Dynasty.
But the damn eunuch Wang Zhen, in the name of having more than a thousand military supplies that he could not keep up with (actually the private property that Wang Zhen had plundered on his way north this time), persuaded the Baozong to order the entire army to camp in Tumubao and wait for the trains to follow.
Up.
Kuang Ye, Minister of the Ministry of War, learned that Wang Zhen had abandoned the emperor and ignored the lives of hundreds of thousands of Ming soldiers for the sake of private property. He was so angry that he almost vomited blood on the spot and went directly to see Baozong, hoping that Baozong would lead a small number of elites to enter the pass.
Lead the main force to stay and wait for the baggage.
But something magical happened again. Baozong did not hesitate to reject the suggestion of Kuang Ye, the Minister of War, and said that he would stay with Wang Zhen to wait for the arrival of the baggage.
How come you don’t trust the head of the Ministry of War when it comes to using troops? Why don’t you trust a dead eunuch?!
Why the hell don’t you let Wang Zhen be the Minister of the Ministry of War?
As the old saying goes, if you don't seek death, you won't die. God of War is a typical death seeker.
Ji Boying briefly recalled the process of the Tumubao incident.
Then, his eyes fixed on the best-preserved small courtyard in the Tumu Fort.
If nothing happens, this small courtyard will become the temporary palace of Baozong.
The sunglasses flickered slightly, and a string of silver data like codes flashed past. This is the coordinates of this small courtyard.
When the space-time coordinates are there, Ji Boying can arrive with a group of emperors accurately, instead of constantly narrowing the scope to locate the location like he himself did.
‘Wang Zhen.’
Looking at this desolate and windy land, and thinking that in ten other time and space, this is the burial ground of hundreds of thousands of heroic souls, and all this is because of the mental retardation of a dead eunuch and a god of war, Ji Boying was filled with anger.
.
If I remember correctly, Zhu Qizhen is on his way to Tumubao right now.
Phew~!
The wind and sand pass by.
Suddenly, there was a scene of surprise in the earthen fort. The Spartans who had been watching Ji Boying were almost so shocked that they forgot to pick up their pants after draining the water.
‘People, people are gone?!’
……………………………
Half a day's journey away from Tumu Fort, there is a sergeant taking a rest.
This is the personal army of the Ming God of War.
In the temporarily arranged emperor's tent, a handsome and heroic young man, wearing a golden battle armor, sat at the head of the tent, with delicacies and wine on the table in front of him.
On the left side of the big tent, there sat a middle-aged man with a beard that looked a little fake, and he had a scholarly air about him. It seemed that Mr. Wang, despite having great power, still kept his hands on the book.
"Mr. Wang, do you think Zhu Yong can win?"
Zhu Qizhen, the God of War, frowned in a rare way. After all, the losses in the first two battles were too ugly.
Mr. Wang chuckled.
"Your Majesty, Duke Cheng Guo led 3,000 battalions and 40,000 cavalry to the rescue. Nawala also had all his men under his command first, and only about 20,000 people came after him. The advantage is mine!"
"Two to one, our army will definitely win!"
In Mr. Wang's view, fighting means that there are more people than there are people. How can two people win against one person?!
"Thanks to your words, I am relieved."
Zhu Qizhen nodded, then looked at Wang Zhen and suddenly smiled.