After Emperor Chongzhen received the call from Yang Weizhi reporting the matter, he was not angry but happy!
The Ming Dynasty wants to attack the Mughal Empire, which is a long-established national policy. However, after all, the Mughal Empire is an independent country. If it wants to attack the Mughal Empire, there must be a reason, right?
Originally, he and Sun Chuanting, the most senior officials of the Ming Dynasty, had already discussed it, and they used the excuse that chieftains from Tibet had rebelled and fled into the Mughal Empire, and asked the Mughal Empire for help.
In the middle, for example, if the words are more intense, it will lead to a situation where the Mughal Empire is not a thing if it really wants to give people to people. Then the Mughal Empire has to save face, right?
The emperor of the Mughal Empire is called Shah Jahan. What does this mean? Emperor Chongzhen has been introduced to it by Liu Weichao. For such an emperor, if he is humiliated, he will succumb?
If you don't give in, you will have an excuse to send troops to fight!
However, this kind of reason for sending troops always feels a bit bullying. For Ming Dynasty, it still has some flaws.
But now, the army of the Mughal Empire has taken the initiative to attack Dongwu, so this is the best reason to come.
Look, if the Mughal Empire came to invade the Ming Dynasty first, then the Ming Dynasty would fight back, destroy the Mughal Empire, and seal a few vassal kings there. It would be a logical thing. No one can say anything, right?
Another advantage is that the Ming Dynasty has not yet seriously managed Dongwu. It mainly conquers by force. For areas outside the Yinlowaddy River Basin, it only declares sovereignty. The Ming army does not give control to the tribes in these places.
They put pressure on people, and if they say they will consciously return to the Ming Dynasty, it is a lie.
Nowadays, these places are invaded by the Mughal Empire army. The imperial army is dispatched to destroy the Mughal Empire. This is to avenge them and this is to show mercy.
By the way, it will be much easier to implement domestic policies in Dongwu and officially turn Dongwu into a province of the Ming Dynasty.
In other words, the Mughal Empire will be the bad guys, and the Ming Dynasty will be the good guys.
Therefore, during the phone call between Emperor Chongzhen and Yang Weizhi, the governor of Yunnan, he conveyed an order to him to implement this established plan.
Later, Emperor Chongzhen visited the military battle station to learn about the latest military technological achievements at the military battle station.
After all, from now on, the Ming army is going to fight west, and things that should be upgraded still need to be upgraded.
Emperor Chongzhen was of course familiar with the news about the Mughal Empire, with Liu Weichao as his golden finger, at least far better than Shah Jahan knew about the Ming Dynasty through the Dutch.
He knew that the Mughal Empire was currently on the rise in national power, and that it would be at its peak for decades before it would decline. At this time, when the Ming Dynasty went to war with the Mughal Empire, it would be impossible to adopt a strategy of bullying small neighboring countries.
.
Through Liu Weichao's introduction, Emperor Chongzhen also knew that the elite army of the Mughal Empire was mainly divided into four major arms: light infantry, war elephants, artillery and cavalry.
Perhaps this is because the Mughal Empire was an empire founded by the Turks, so the main force of the imperial army was the cavalry.
The cavalry of the Mughal army was composed of the city cavalry, the feudal cavalry and the guard knights. The former two were troops provided by the local area, while the latter were elite cavalry supported by the treasury.
In the next few hundred years, until the British colonized India, the main force, or the decisive force on this continent, has always been the cavalry.
Artillery is artillery in the usual sense, not much different from the artillery of the Ming Dynasty. Of course, this refers to the front-loading smoothbore cannon. The artillery casting factories of the Mughal Empire were in the hands of the royal family, that is, in the hands of Shah Jahan.
No other semicolons.
This also means that the artillery of the Mughal Empire is definitely not as numerous as the artillery of the Ming Dynasty.
As for the war elephants, in the Mughal Empire at this time, the number of war elephants belonging to the imperial army had almost reached its peak, with a weight of more than a thousand. They were used for large-scale performances, transporting heavy objects, etc. in peacetime, and were used on the battlefield during wartime.
Finally, there is the light infantry of the Mughal Empire. They use matchlocks or archers who use traditional bows and arrows. Settlers from towns or villages recruit or recruit men. The elite light infantry generally uses the heavy matchlocks of the Ottoman Empire.
gun and Portuguese style conventional matchlock.
The Mughal Empire's light infantry has always been weak, and the outcome of battles often depends on the cavalry.
After receiving news about the Mughal Empire's army, Emperor Chongzhen and Sun Chuanting made an evaluation and felt that the Mughal Empire's army might not be able to defeat the Jianlu at its peak. However, the Mughal Empire's army was larger in number.
, and Jianlu cannot be defeated because their numbers are too small!
It was because the Jianlu were defeated twice and suffered heavy losses that their military strength collapsed, and there was no real force that could threaten the Ming army in the future. Of course, this is also related to the fact that the Ming army itself is getting stronger and stronger.
By the 24th year of Chongzhen, half of the Ming army had completed the change of equipment, from ordinary flintlock rifles to divine rifles. The replaced flintlock rifles were sold at a cheap price to already
Just the various vassal states outside the vassal territory.
Of course, this so-called cheap price must be higher than the cost price of Ming's output, but the profit is just a little less.
The various vassals used these flintlock guns to maintain their rule and deal with the indigenous people, which was definitely enough.
This method of selling guns can be regarded as killing two birds with one stone.
In addition, due to the increase in the production of white gunpowder, conscienceless cannons and large grenades began to be equipped on a large scale in the army.
Among other things, the troops scheduled to go to war were given priority to change their equipment. For example, the troops led by Yang Weizhi to reinforce Dongwu were originally preparing to launch an offensive against the Mughal Empire from Dongwu's side, so they naturally got
Prioritize dressing up.
In addition, the Tibetan army and the Luntai army have also partially changed their equipment. It is expected that the change of equipment will be completed in the first half of the year after the weather improves and the roads become clear.
Generally speaking, the weapons generation difference between the Ming army and the Mughal Empire army at this time was at least one generation, which would definitely be of great help in reducing the casualties of the Ming soldiers.
However, Emperor Chongzhen obviously tasted the sweetness of this difference in weapons and was not satisfied with it. He used the armies of European countries as imaginary enemies and urged the War Bureau to develop new weapons.
Originally, this matter was not his focus, but now that he was at war with the Mughal Empire's army, he felt that it was necessary to go to the battlefield to understand the situation.
Du Yinxi, who had returned to the capital, and Sun Chuanting, who was originally in the capital. The two most knowledgeable ministers at present, accompanied Emperor Chongzhen to the war station.
Regarding this trip, both Du Yinxi and Sun Chuanting are actually looking forward to it.
No, they followed Emperor Chongzhen, perhaps because of confidants, so they did not remain silent, but were discussing.
I heard Du Yinxi say to Sun Chuanting: "Looking at the situation of the Mughal Empire's army, I think the most important thing is to pay attention to their cavalry. After all, we are not familiar with the situation in the Mughal Empire.
Their cavalry advantage can be used even more!"
The opponents of the Ming Dynasty were not without cavalry. Whether they were Jianlu or Mongol tribes, or those led by Gushi Khan, they all had cavalry, and even engaged in large-scale cavalry battles.
But Ming is familiar with these cavalry troops. He knows what weapons they are equipped with and what fighting styles they are accustomed to. The battlefield is also in a familiar place. Therefore, when facing each other, he will know what to do and even plan to go to the opposite side.
In the encounter with the main force of the eastern Mongolian cavalry led by Jianlu, it was only by having an insider who stabbed Jianlu in the back that he could easily win.
But facing the cavalry of the Mughal Empire, all these cognitions and advantages were lost.
Sun Chuanting obviously agreed with his point of view, and immediately nodded and said: "That's right, if the War Bureau can have weapons to restrain the cavalry, then no matter how the Mughal Empire's cavalry suddenly appears, we will be able to stand firm.
A place of defeat.”
Having said this, he glanced at Emperor Chongzhen's back, and then continued: "Of course, based on the news we have received now, the Mughal Empire's army is still not as large as ours. However, if we can reduce our army as much as possible,
The casualties of the soldiers are the best!"
If they thought they could not defeat the Mughal Empire's army, they would not prepare for a war against the Mughal Empire at all.
Therefore, what they talked about was based on how to reduce the casualties of the soldiers, rather than whether they could defeat the Mughal Empire army.
At this time, Emperor Chongzhen listened to the words of the two courtiers behind him, stopped, turned around, looked at Du Yinxi and Sun Chuanting, and immediately said calmly: "Don't worry, sir, the new firearms for this military battle are
, it will definitely open your eyes.”
Upon hearing this, Du Yinxi and Sun Chuanting's eyes suddenly lit up.
The Military War Bureau is under the control of the palace, and it is the highest level of confidentiality. Even if the two of them are important ministers of the Ming Dynasty, they are not qualified to inquire about the internal situation of the Military War Bureau.
When they heard Emperor Chongzhen's words, they immediately started looking forward to it.
However, Emperor Chongzhen did not tell them what new firearms they were going to see. He just turned around and walked leisurely as usual, saying at the same time: "Previously, the Military War Bureau mainly wanted to solve the mass production of Shenwei artillery and Shenwei rifles.
problem, so it took a lot of time to create new firearms. After the mass production of the Divine Artillery and Divine Rifle was solved in the first half of last year, we started to create new firearms based on the instructions I gave..."
Du Yinxi and Sun Chuanting followed behind. When they heard Emperor Chongzhen's words, they looked at each other with expressions of sudden realization.
The power of Shenwei artillery and Shenwei rifles has been greatly improved compared to the original guns and artillery. When fighting the Liaodong Jianlu, they only deployed a small number of troops and exerted great power. This is what both of them have
For all to see.
Now, what kind of new firearm will be more powerful than the Divine Artillery and the Divine Rifle?