The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 118: The Battle of Tumu Re-enacted

It seems that Wanli really can't fight a war, he just gives blind orders.

He actually chose to cross the river in Baode Prefecture to quell the rebellion.

This route is indeed the shortest journey from the capital to Ningxia Town.

If we take a detour via Fenglingdu, go through Xi'an Prefecture, and go to Ningxia Town via Guyuan Town to quell the rebellion, it would take at least a thousand miles more.

However, this route is the most dangerous.

Because Fugu is less than a hundred miles away from the Neitao Ordos tribes.

He actually chose to transport grain and grass through Fugu, Shenmu and Yulinwei.

The Great Wall to the north can be seen from many places on that road, so you can imagine how close it is to the Northern Tartars.

He is simply giving the food and supplies to the northern barbarians to rob!
If he took a detour via Fenglingdu, went through Xi'an Prefecture, and went to Ningxia Town via Guyuan Town to quell the rebellion, that would be the safest way. It would be almost impossible for the Northern Tartars to reach Fenglingdu and Xi'an Prefecture.

It was really unexpected that he gave such blind orders.

Wang Chonggu was very surprised when he received the news.

The little emperor is really messing around.

Why was Yingzong captured?
That's because he was wandering around the border town with a large army.

Yansui Town is even more dangerous than Xuanfu Town and Datong Town.

The young emperor was so ignorant of the danger that he wanted to go to Yansui Town to quell the rebellion.

Now, the Battle of Tumu is really going to happen again.

Once the food supply of an army of 100,000 is cut off, it will definitely collapse without a fight.

Then let the Northern Barbarians surround the young emperor, kill him, and let the eldest son who is less than two years old ascend the throne!
Would Wanli really transport grain through Fugu, Shenmu and Yulinwei?

He wasn't lying about this.

Within a few days, he dispatched dozens of centipede boats from the navy, and the centipede boats even brought iron chains and wood for building a pontoon bridge.

On the 15th day of the seventh month, early in the morning at about 1 a.m., just as the sky was getting light, the sound of horse hooves was heard near the Baodezhou ferry terminal. Dozens of generals wearing fish-scale armor galloped out of the camp and arrived at the Yellow River north of the ferry terminal.

Among them is Wanli.

At this time, a flat area of ​​more than ten feet wide had been dug out on the shore, on which were piled several piles of iron chains as thick as arms and iron pillars as thick as thighs, as well as wooden blocks and planks. Rows of naval officers and soldiers had been waiting for a long time, and dozens of centipede boats had also left the shore and were cruising back and forth on the river.

It is not easy to build a floating bridge on the Yellow River, especially when the water flow is relatively turbulent. The ancient Puzhou Bridge was located near Puzhou City, where the water flow was very calm.

Wanli looked at the turbulent current visible on the river surface and said with some concern, "General Deng, are you ready? Is everything okay?"

Deng Zilong nodded repeatedly and said, "No problem, Your Majesty, don't worry. This place is not even as wide as the lower reaches of the Luan River. I have built such a long floating bridge with my soldiers at least ten times."

This time the floating bridge is different.

Wanli looked at the height of the riverbank and asked, "This time I want the chain to pass over the top of the cabin. Is that okay?"

Deng Zilong nodded repeatedly and said, "No problem, Your Majesty. The chain was originally passed through the deck. It's just a little more troublesome to pass it through the cabin roof."

That'll do.

Wanli nodded slightly, then waved his hand and said, "General Deng, let's begin."

Upon hearing this, Deng Zilong quickly rode forward and gave a loud order: "Lower the iron and wooden stakes and prepare to receive the boat."

The rows of platoon cavalry soldiers immediately took action.

Some of them took tape measures to measure the distance on the shore and dug circles to dig holes. Some carried iron poles as thick as their thighs and moved towards the edge of the pit. Some carried wooden stakes as thick as their thighs and ran into the water.

After a while, a row of half-person-high iron pillars were erected on the shore, and a row of wooden stakes were erected in the waist-deep water.

Immediately afterwards, two teams of strong and powerful naval officers and soldiers swung their big hammers and started hitting them.

After the iron pillars and wooden stakes were fixed, a centipede boat with a clearly reinforced cabin came over. The navy officer standing in the water took the wood handed down from the boat and pounded it as if building a dock. The boat quickly connected to the wooden stakes in the water and remained there motionless.

The naval officers on the shore deftly wrapped the five chains around the iron pillar, and then inserted the prepared pin into the round hole in the middle of the iron pillar, and one end of the chain was fixed.

Immediately afterwards, the naval officers on the shore worked together to lift the iron chain and walked into the water. The naval officers on the ship also quickly took out the ladder and climbed to the top of the cabin.

They used a special hook and sickle to hook up the five iron chains.

Then, they passed the specially made hook sickle through the five specially made round holes on the top of the cabin like threading a needle, and then pulled together, and the five iron chains seemed to be fixed on the top of the cabin.

Seeing this, Wanli couldn't help but raise his small telescope to take a closer look.

It turned out that there were five iron pipes as thick as calves fixed on the top of the cabin, and after the iron chain passed through the iron pipes, it naturally could not escape.

The iron pipe seemed to be as thick and long as the barrel of a cannon weighing about 100 pounds.

The iron pipe should be made from the blank of the gun barrel, but the inner and outer walls have been slightly processed without any fine processing.

As soon as the iron chain passed through the iron pipe on the top of the cabin, five centipede boats came over in turns, used special grappling hooks to pull the iron chain through, tied it to the big wooden stake used to tie the cable, and then rowed with all their strength towards the other side.

The naval officers and soldiers on the shore stood in five rows as if passing something, lifted the chain and passed it over, and the chain was pulled to the other side at such a fast speed.

In less than a quarter of an hour, the chain was pulled to the other side. It seemed that there was also a centipede boat fixed on the other side, and its style was the same as the one here.

After the chain was pulled to the other side, the naval officers on the other side actually used a grappling hook to hook the chain to the top of the cabin, then passed it through the iron pipe and pulled it down.

At this time, Wanli was a little confused. He couldn't help asking: "General Deng, what about the boat in the middle? Doesn't it need to be put through iron pipes?"

Deng Zilong shook his head slightly, then explained in detail: "Your Majesty, the iron pipes in the middle of the ship are made of two semicircular pipes joined together. Anyway, they are used to fix the iron chain. There are no fine requirements. As long as there are a few edges on both sides and holes for the big iron nails, it will be fine."

Oh, it turns out there are semicircular tubes put together.

It seems that Deng Zilong is indeed diligent and uses his brain during training.

The soldiers of the Five Rows Brigade over there shouted as if they were playing tug-of-war, and the five iron chains were quickly pulled out of the water and stretched straight. Then, they wrapped the iron chains around the iron stakes that had been nailed on the opposite side, and inserted the pins, and the chains were fixed.

The next step was easy. One by one, the centipede boats with reinforced cabins were rowed under the iron chains. The five iron chains were pried into the semicircular iron pipes, and then the upper semicircular iron pipes were covered and nailed down. The nine centipede boats were then fixed on the river.

Immediately afterwards, the sailors on the ship carried out three-meter-long thick wooden boards from the cabin and handed them to the top of the cabin. The sailors on the top of the cabin placed the wooden boards on the boats on both sides, roughly adjusted the distance between them, and then swung hammers to start hammering nails.

The soldiers on both sides of the river began to build slopes with various woods according to the height of the top of the cabin from the river bank, very efficiently.

The speed of building the floating bridge is too fast.

At around noon, the sun had just risen, and a floating bridge about seventy or eighty feet wide was almost built.

The people of Baode Prefecture and Fugu were stunned when they saw such a spectacular floating bridge suddenly appear on the river.

Seeing this, Wanli couldn't help but curl up the corners of his mouth and smile evilly to himself.

This floating bridge is just a template. Many places on the river channel in the Houtao Plain are about the same width!

Immediately afterwards, as if he was really repeating the Battle of Tumu, he led an army of 100,000 across the river, passed Shenmu, passed Yulinwei, and then went straight to Ningsai Fort, which was less than 30 miles away from the grazing grounds of the Ordos tribes, and stopped there to rest.

This is understandable, because Ningsai Fort is less than a hundred miles away from Sanshan Fort, which leads to Ningxia Town.

If he led 60,000 cavalrymen to charge forward, it would not take half a day.

Moreover, this is Du Song's hometown. There is no problem at all for him to stop here to rest and then lead his troops to Ningxia Town to quell the rebellion.

The problem is the food and fodder for the 100,000-strong army.

Ningsai Fort is more than 600 miles away from Fugu. Even if the grain is transported by horse-drawn carts, it will take seven or eight days to go back and forth.

It was such a long distance and took such a long time. If something happened to the grain carts in the middle, he would have no time to lead his troops to rescue them. Once the 100,000-strong army ran out of food, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Will Ningsai Fort really become the second Tumu Fort?

(End of this chapter)