Chaos of the Three Kingdoms Summons

Chapter 2642 Two-pronged attack on Tang, Zheng He's treasure ships

May of the first year of the Qian Yuan era of the Great Jin Dynasty.

After the spring planting, with Xue Rengui as the main general and Li Mu and Qi Jiguang as the deputy generals of the land and naval forces respectively, the campaign against Tang officially began.

The army that attacked Tang was divided into two routes: land and water.

On the land route, the first priority is to take back the half of Youzhou that has fallen into the hands of Li Tang.

After all, at this time, half of Youzhou, including Liaodong and Liaoxi, had fallen into the hands of the Li Tang dynasty in that battle ten years ago.

In fact, the Liaodong region is very favorable for agricultural development. Its fertile black soil is a natural grain production base.

Unfortunately, Liaodong in this era was underdeveloped to a limited extent.

Furthermore, throughout the entire feudal period, the agricultural resources of this region were not effectively developed. Moreover, starting from the Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties, this region was no longer in the hands of the Han people for most of the time.

It wasn't until the late feudal period, in the mid-to-late 19th century, that the agricultural resources of Northeast China began to transition to a primitive agricultural state.

The development of agricultural resources in Northeast China reached its peak in the mid-to-late 20th century.

In fact, in this era, whoever could develop Liaodong could directly strengthen their control over the grasslands.

Xue Rengui and Li Mu led the main infantry and cavalry forces to directly attack the eastern part of Youzhou, and then launched a flanking attack on the Li Tang homeland.

As for the waterways, Han Shizhong was left to lead 50,000 naval troops to ensure the logistics of the hundreds of thousands of troops in this battle, transporting supplies and protecting the supply lines. Qi Jiguang himself set off from Qingzhou with 80,000 naval troops, heading straight for the Li Tang homeland to open up a second battlefield.

Once Qi Jiguang is able to establish a stable forward position on the Li Tang territory, Xue Rengui will immediately detach a portion of his infantry and cavalry troops and, with the aid of the navy, land on the Li Tang territory.

As the side with superior troop strength, it is natural not to rely entirely on one direction for the main attack, but to pursue multiple attacks to force the enemy to constantly divide their forces as well.

At this time, Qi Jiguang's warships were significantly larger in scale compared to those during the Southern Campaign ten years prior.

Among the massive fleet, a colossal aircraft, 148 meters long and 60 meters wide, stood at the very center of the entire fleet.

Around him were nine slightly smaller ships, and in addition, nearly a thousand other ships of varying sizes were densely distributed around him.

These ships were not all warships. A naval system does not consist only of warships. There are grain ships that transport food supplies, transport ships that transport supplies and key combat personnel, and reconnaissance ships that serve as vanguards and scouts.

Furthermore, when it came to transporting large infantry and cavalry troops to land, specially designed horse-drawn ships were deployed to transport warhorses.

Among Qi Jiguang's fleet, the ten largest warships were the treasure ships built after the Southern War, based on the blueprints for the construction of treasure ships obtained from Zhu Yuanzhang's shipbuilding base in the south.

Although Zheng He fled with the remnants of Zhu Yuanzhang's forces during the Southern Campaign, Qi Jiguang seized his treasure ship blueprints and warship casting base first.

However, of the treasure ships built over the years, 80% were armed and given to Xu Cheng's East China Sea Navy, only 20% were equipped to Qi Jiguang, and as for Han Shizhong's Yellow River Navy, not a single one was ever built.

These massive warships, known as treasure ships, were designed for seafaring, not river navigation. Because the Jin navy was now far more powerful than before, the northern navy had avoided direct confrontation with them in the early stages of the previous northern campaigns.

In reality, given the relative strengths of both sides at the time, even if the Qinghan and Youzhou navies joined forces, they wouldn't have had much of a chance of winning.

Therefore, when forced to do so, they can only avoid fighting and keep running away.

Li Shimin had already anticipated that the Jin army would officially begin its war after the start of spring this year.

Last winter, the Jin army made such big moves in Youzhou and Qingzhou. Could Li Shimin not see that the purpose of the Jin army's big moves was to target the Li Tang dynasty?
After all, Li Shimin himself was one of the world's most outstanding military strategists.

However, last winter was also a winter that made Li Shimin want to curse.

As early as when the Jin army attacked the north, he had already guessed that the Jin Dynasty would set its sights on their Li Tang dynasty next.

Therefore, while the Jin Dynasty launched its northern war, Li Shimin sent a large number of envoys to contact the three families on the grasslands, hoping to form a strategic alliance with them.

Of these three, he held the most hope for the Yuan-Mongols in the far west.

The Yuan Mongols were powerful enough that no one else in the entire grasslands had ever caused the Jin army to suffer such heavy losses as those in Liangzhou and Xizhou. In fact, no one else in the entire world, except for the Yuan Mongols, had ever caused the Jin army to suffer such heavy losses.

However, Tuoba Tao's death shattered all of Li Shimin's plans.

From the moment he received the news, he knew very well that in this battle, they would likely have no outside help and would have to rely on themselves to fight to the death.

The Yuan-Mongol side had been waiting far too long for an opportunity to unify the grasslands.

Furthermore, the Yuan Dynasty had already engaged in localized conflicts with the Kushan Empire in South Asia.

At this time, the three powerful empires surrounding the Kushan Empire were all eyeing it covetously, and each of them wanted to eliminate it.

After all, the Kushan Empire had grudges against each of these three families.

Not to mention, the gains from taking over such a vast empire, even if it's just a portion of it, would be enormous.

Therefore, even the long-time enemies, the Great Jin and the Yuan Mongols, did not mind starting to fight the Kushan Empire at the same time that the other was already fighting the Kushan Empire.

At this time, the three powerful empires were actually testing the Kushan Empire. If the Kushan Empire showed any weakness, the three of them would pounce on it together and tear it apart.

After all, the Kushan Empire was an imperial power, and none of the three could completely take it down by themselves.
Of the three, the Sasanian Empire was bordered by the Roman Empire at its peak to the west, while the Yuan Dynasty and the Great Jin Dynasty were enemies. None of the three could fully engage the Kushan Empire in a full-scale war!

As Yuan Meng was about to engage in a two-front war, Li Shimin, who had placed the most hope in this powerful ally, now lost all hope in him.

Li Tang, who had been closely monitoring the movements of the Jin army, mobilized immediately upon receiving the news that the Jin army of hundreds of thousands had set out in the north.