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Chapter 859: Annan Surrenders
At this time, a guide is needed to lead the army to find water sources. The problem is, apart from the herdsmen living in the local area, who would be familiar with the water source and willing to serve as a guide for the Ming army?
In fact, it is not difficult to find them. The Western Tumed and the Eastern Tumed are connected even if their bones are broken. The two sides have only separated, and they have not cut off contact with each other forever. It is not difficult to find a few guides familiar with the plateau through the Eastern Tumed.

Moreover, Bu Shitu himself had lived on the plateau for more than ten years, and he had no shortage of such people around him. In other words, Hong Tao had no shortage of helpers, and if allowed, he would even be willing to bring his own troops to attack the Xitumed tribe together with the Ming army.

Of course, this was not to make a deal, but Xiang Zhuang's sword dance was aimed at Pei Gong. It was not the Western Tumed tribe that bothered Bu Shitu, but Ligdan Khan.

Back then, the Su Nang and Ordos tribes were instigated and supported by Ligdan Khan. The two sides have become enemies and will never let go of the other if there is a chance.

Now there is hope to use the troops of the Ming Dynasty to eliminate the trouble for himself, and Bu Shitu supports it 100%. In order to avoid the suspicion of the Ming Emperor, he simply sent his own son to be a guide, which shows his eagerness.

"I dare to ask, even if Ligdan Khan had not entered Qinghai, would Your Majesty have gone to the plateau?" This time Yuan Keli understood everything, and then he had another question.

Obviously, the emperor did not attack Qinghai on impulse. Products such as felt overshoes, sheepskin coats, and felt tents cannot be mass-produced in a short period of time.

In order to meet the combat expenses of the army, it would take at least several months of stockpiling, plus production preparations, it would take at least a year.

"If we want to ensure the safety and smooth flow of the Hexi Corridor, it is necessary to take over the plateau. I originally had a timetable, and the plateau was at the back, but it was Lin Danhan who brought it forward." There was no need to hide this from Yuan Keli, and Hong Tao admitted it straightforwardly.

"In this case, I will immediately arrange for a new plan. I wonder if Your Majesty has any plans for the deployment of troops?"

Now Yuan Keli fully understood that the emperor had already made preparations. There was no need to argue about whether winter was suitable for fighting on the plateau. Even whether the plan was successful was secondary. He just had to do what the emperor wanted.

As for why the emperor had to let the general staff work hard to formulate a battle plan when he clearly had a plan in mind, it was simple, a test and exercise. This was not the first time this happened, and it might be a little confusing at first, but after a few times, you will get used to it.

"It is enough to dispatch a guard from the Northeast Military Commission to garrison Xining City, and dispatch a guard from the Northern Military Commission to garrison Hezhou and Taozhou respectively. There is no need to start a war."

If the requirements for the army to go to the plateau in winter were not high, Hong Tao would not even want to dispatch troops. It would be enough to directly use the three guards of the Northwest Military Command plus the tens of thousands of new troops trained in Lanzhou.

"Hezhou, Taozhou... Your Majesty, do you think the Uszang people from the Tuogandusi will come down?"

Yuan Keli understood and agreed to dispatch veteran soldiers from the Northeast Military Command to Xining Guard as the main force. But he was a little confused about arranging another main force of guards in Hezhou and Taozhou. He stood up and walked to the wall, staring at the big map and thinking for a while, and then he found a reason that sounded unlikely, but had to be guarded against.

"It is better to be safe than sorry. On the surface, it seems that Lindan Khan entered Qinghai at the invitation of the Western Tumed tribe, but in fact, it was instigated by the chieftain of Kang region, the Tibetan Khan, and the monks. It is not clear whether it is aimed at the Ming Dynasty. It is better to believe it than not. It is better to be prepared early than to sharpen the spear at the battle."

Regarding the Tuogan and U-Tsang regions, Hong Tao has always adhered to the principle of stabilizing the status quo, but he is a cunning person and he cannot trust anyone, so he always has to be on guard.

As for why these two places were not included in the map, one is that the natural conditions are too poor, the food is tasteless, and there is no need to occupy them; the other is that there are big crabs watching, and if you are not careful, the whole book will be 404, so write as little as possible, and don’t write if you can, just pretend that the map is not open. In the first month of the eighteenth year of Jingyang, many warships and armed cargo ships of the Ming Dynasty Navy suddenly appeared at the mouth of the Red River, attracting several ships of the Li Dynasty navy. The two sides fought during the contact, and many naval ships were sunk. Then the Ming Dynasty Navy lowered dozens of small boats and loaded soldiers to land on the beach on the north side of the estuary.

Upon hearing the news, Emperor Le Shen Tong quickly summoned his ministers to discuss countermeasures. Zheng Song had suffered a loss in the surprise attack on Thang Long Prefecture in the past, and he was afraid of the ropes for ten years after being bitten by a snake. Even during the most intense moment of the struggle with the Nguyen family of the Southern Dynasty, he always kept an elite force near Thang Long Prefecture.

He did not dare to delay and immediately sent his younger brother Zheng Du to lead 3000 elite troops to the seaside to intercept them. He then ordered his son Zheng Chun to quickly gather nearby troops to defend Thang Long Prefecture.

On the second day, Zheng Du returned in defeat, losing more than 1000 soldiers, and told the Ming army coming from the sea that there were many of them. Zheng Song immediately sent people south to mobilize the front-line troops to come back for support, and prepared to abandon Thang Long Prefecture and retreat westward.

However, the Ming army's landing operation did not seem to be smooth. For several consecutive days, they did not advance westward, but only attacked several villages near the coast, as if preparing to set up camp there.

This gave Zheng Song an opportunity to transfer more than 10,000 main forces from the southern front. But before he could breathe a sigh of relief, the front line sent another battle report that the Nguyen clan launched an attack to the north.

What was different from previous attacks was that this time the intensity of the attack was very high, and a large number of muskets and artillery were used. The Le Dynasty's defense line was simply unable to stop it, and it collapsed at the first touch, with many places lost.

At this point, Zheng Song finally understood that the Ming navy was just feinting to prevent Thang Long from sending reinforcements, so as to cooperate with the Nguyen clan's northward advance. But even though he understood, he still didn't dare to send all his troops to the south. If the Ming army on the coast was not a feint, Thang Long would be in danger.

While they were hesitating, the Nguyen army heading north had already broken through the defense line and made rapid progress, reaching Thanh Hoa Prefecture within a few days. Prefectures and counties along the way surrendered one after another, and the army was unstoppable all the way.

Zheng Song was already in his seventies, and his energy was not as good as before. He had no way to deal with the terrible situation. In addition, he had heard a lot about the invincibility of the Ming army over the years. He sent people to contact the Ming navy, but his conditions were rejected one by one. He became afraid and knew that it would be difficult to settle the matter peacefully. He simply surrendered the city with the puppet emperor of the Le Dynasty.

However, there were some stubborn ones. His younger brother Zheng Du and eldest son Zheng Xun were unwilling to accept defeat. They took thousands of elite troops and took tens of thousands of civilians with them. They took advantage of Zheng Song's absence from the city to loot the palace, set it on fire, and then left the city to the north.

On the 19th day of the first lunar month, after only 15 days, the Later Le Dynasty, which had lasted for nearly 200 years, was declared extinct. The entire territory of Annan was taken over by the Nguyen Dynasty, which immediately submitted a petition to the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty requesting submission.

At the same time, the Nguyen Dynasty army and the Ming army continued to move north to pursue the escaped Zheng remnants. Two months later, Zheng Du was captured in the dense forest near Nanzhang State in Xuanhua Prefecture. Zheng Xuan and part of the Zheng army fled westward into Nanzhang State.

At this time, the imperial envoy of the Ming Dynasty court also arrived in Da Nang and read the imperial edict to Nguyen Huong Giang and Nguyen Dynasty officials.

Emperor Yang agreed to the Nguyen Dynasty's request to submit to the Ming Dynasty and granted Annan the title of the Ming Dynasty's Annan Special District, which was governed by the Governor-General of Nanyang and temporarily garrisoned by the Navy and Marine Command. Nguyen Xiangjiang and several Nguyen Dynasty officials immediately brought their families to Beijing to meet the emperor.

(End of this chapter)