The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 123 Collaboration is a lie

Hantai River is an inconspicuous tributary south of the Yellow River.

It is only a hundred miles long, the river is not deep, and there are mudflats everywhere, so it is no problem to ride a horse back and forth.

However, both sides of the Hantai River are home to the most lush and abundant grasslands in Neitao, which probably cover an area of ​​over one million mu.

Therefore, Wanli decided to set this as the gathering place for the army.

He had already rushed here with the soldiers of the Shenji Camp, the Jinyiwei, and the Imperial Guards. A nomadic tribe that had originally been here had also been captured by the Shenji Camp.

The soldiers of the Shenwu Camp also came over one after another, escorting the old, young, women, and children from the Ordos tribes, as well as cattle, sheep, and horses.

The green grasslands on both sides of the Hantai River were suddenly covered with black and white spots, so densely packed that it was impossible to tell how many there were.

After the Ordos tribes moved into the Neitao and developed for several decades, their reproduction rate was truly astonishing.

They had more than 100,000 old, young, women and children, and hundreds of thousands of cattle and sheep. In addition to war horses, there were more than 100,000 old horses, ponies and mares in total.

Wanli originally thought that the lush grass on both sides of the Hantai River was enough for their cattle, sheep and horses to eat for a month or so.

It seems now that I may not be able to hold on for even half a month.

He had to quickly take over the three plains of Yiou controlled by the Tumed tribe, otherwise he would not be able to promote the reform of the border troops, nor would he be able to distribute the elderly, weak, women, children, cattle, sheep and horses to the border troops so that they could graze them separately.

Because the three major plains of Inner Plain and Outer Plain were separated by a river, and the northern barbarians could also use sheepskin rafts to build floating bridges, the fact that the Ordos tribes were able to migrate to Inner Plain is clear proof.

If he didn't take over the three outer plains, he would have to send people to guard the thousands of miles of river banks in the inner plains, and he simply didn't have that many troops.

Therefore, he had to take over the three outer plains so that the soldiers could take these old people, children, women and children to graze.

The problem is that if he wants to take over the three outer plains, he has to let the army cross the river. Without a pontoon bridge, an army of more than 100,000 people will not be able to cross the river.

Also, he needs to have a general understanding of the situation of the Tumed tribe.

The current Tumed tribe is not a soft persimmon. The combined number of troops of the Tumed tribe and the Darat tribe alone is over 100,000. What's more, they have external aid. The combined number of troops of the Weiwushen tribe and the Duolun Tumed tribe is nearly 100,000.

He couldn't just rush in blindly.

Fortunately, the half-month deadline he set was very effective. When the deadline arrived, not only all the cavalry of the Shenwu Camp arrived, but the navy warships also arrived.

At about 5 p.m. on the fifteenth day, just as the sun was setting, nearly two hundred centipede boats appeared in the main trunk of the Yellow River in the north.

Upon hearing the news, Wanli could not help but ride his horses with a group of generals to the temporary dock that had been built long ago, and stood there waiting with everyone.

They couldn't go to the dock because there was not much wood here, and they needed to build more than ten temporary docks, so the docks were very narrow. If they stood on a dock, the navy officers and soldiers would not be able to get off the ship.

Soon, a dense crowd of warships approached the pier on the river bank. Deng Zilong and Luo Sigong hurriedly jumped off the boat and ran over to pay their respects.

Wanli nodded slightly and said, "Well, General Deng, you've worked hard. Fortunately, you led the fleet here in time. I'm waiting for you to build the pontoon bridge."

Deng Zilong heard this and said with a sense of shame, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. The water in this river gets faster and faster as you go upstream. Even if the soldiers try their best, they can't row very fast. So, I am a little late."

You are on time, not too late.

Wanli waved his hand slightly and then asked, "Have you brought the materials for building the floating bridge?"

Deng Zilong nodded repeatedly and said, "I brought it, I brought it."

Wanli asked again: "How much grain was brought here?"

Deng Zilong said without hesitation: "70,000 shi."

That was about enough. They had plenty of mutton and smoked horse meat, and a hundred thousand soldiers, plus over a hundred thousand elderly, weak, women, and children, couldn't consume more than three thousand dan of grain a day. Furthermore, they had brought eighty thousand dan, of which they hadn't even eaten half in the past two weeks. In other words, the food the navy had brought in this trip alone was enough to sustain them for over a month.

Wanli nodded slightly, then asked, "Sigong, how is your investigation into the Tumed tribe going?"

Luo Sigong explained carefully, "Your Majesty, there aren't many remnants of the Maitreya Sect left, and the Tumed tribe is also cooperating with the three great families of Puzhou to wipe them out. They can only sneak around and survive, so the information I can get is not much.

"I have only gathered a rough idea that Miss San probably thought that the imperial court would not use force against them after His Majesty approved the agreement, and the Tumed tribe seems to have dispersed all their assembled troops and sent them back to graze."

Hehe, the consensus is a lie. If you can unite the three major families of Puzhou to deceive the Ming Dynasty court, I can also deceive you.

Upon hearing this, Wanli nodded slightly and said, "Very good, this information is very important. Do you have any other information?"

Luo Sigong said carefully: "I heard that the Bayuet tribe moved to Houtao, took over several tribes there, and divided the Tumed tribe's tens of thousands of troops.

The Balin tribe seemed to have moved to the western part of the country, taking over several tribes there and also dividing up tens of thousands of troops from the Tumed tribe.

However, my secret guards have not yet infiltrated the Houtao Plain and Xitao Plain, so I don't know if this is true."

This should be true. The Khan of the nomadic tribe seems to treat his brothers differently. They basically will not kill each other, and they seem to help each other when someone is weak.

Perhaps this is because their population is too small and they cannot withstand the loss of infighting.

Who knows.

It was a good thing for him to love Huang Taiji and help his brother.

After the division, the Tumed headquarters has less than 40,000 troops left, and even the Shenshu Camp may not be able to defeat them.

The reason why he left behind the Shenshu Camp was to guard the capital. However, at this moment, the capital was unlikely to be invaded by the northern barbarians, and the border troops of Datong Town, Xuanfu Town, and Jizhou Town were still there. These 40,000 soldiers of the Shenshu Camp were just transferred to the Yintumed headquarters.

Wanli continued to ask: "Where is the Shenshu Camp now?"

Luo Sigong said without hesitation: "The Shenshu Camp is hidden in the valley near Tucheng where the Shenwu Camp cavalry attacked the Bayuete and Balin tribes."

Very good, Tucheng is only more than 200 miles away from Guihua City, and Shenshu Camp will definitely be able to arrive within two days.

Wanli thought about it carefully, then pointed to the main channel of the Yellow River, about a mile to the left of the Hantai River: "General Deng, the width of the river at that bend is only about thirty feet wide, and there is a sandy land on the opposite side. There is no grass, and no Tumed people are grazing there, so it is very suitable for building a floating bridge.

Tonight, you should ask your soldiers to work hard and quietly clear the river banks on both sides under the cover of darkness and transport the materials for building the pontoon bridge.

Tomorrow morning at about 11:00 AM, you will start building the floating bridge as quickly as possible."

Upon hearing this, Deng Zilong hurriedly bowed and said, "I obey your order."

Wanli wanted to launch another sneak attack.

He had already ordered people to use telescopes to conduct a thorough investigation. The river valley on the other side of the river connected the Qiantao Plain and the Houtao Plain. It was more than two hundred miles long, but not very wide. The widest part was only about fifty miles, and the narrowest part seemed to be only one or two miles wide.

Moreover, the river valley is wide in the middle and narrow at both ends. The river valley near the Qiantao Plain is only one or two miles wide, which can completely block the grain carts of the Shenji Camp.

As for the Houtao Plain, there is no need to block it. He plans to send all the cavalry of the Shenwu Camp to the Houtao Plain, kill and rob crazily, and destroy the several tribes in the Houtao Plain first!
The only problem now is what to do if the other side discovers us while we are building the pontoon bridge.

Wanli thought about it carefully, then said decisively, "Yuan Jing, tomorrow morning when General Deng builds the pontoon bridge, you will pull all 1,000 artillery pieces from the Shenji Battalion over and form a cannon array covering a two-mile radius on the other side. No matter who dares to come over to investigate, you will order your men to open fire and blast them into pieces."

Uh, is it so cruel? What if there is only one person running towards us?
A thousand shells kill one person!

Upon hearing this, Qi Jiguang quickly bowed and said, "I obey your order."

(End of this chapter)