The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 181 A bad start
The Beijing Xingdusi was the former seat of Prince Ning, one of the nine great frontier kings of the Ming Dynasty.

Its location is roughly north of Xuanfu Town and Jizhou Town, and west of Liaodong Regional Military Commission. It is more than a thousand miles wide from north to south and more than a thousand five hundred miles long from east to west.

During the Jingnan Campaign, Zhu Di, the Prince of Yan and former commander of the Beiping Military Commission, borrowed troops from Zhu Quan, the Prince of Ning and former commander of the Beiping Military Commission, and thus seized the world.

Originally, Prince of Yan Zhu Di had agreed to divide the world equally with Prince of Ning.

As a result, Zhu Di, who became the emperor, was afraid that Prince Ning Zhu Quan would become too powerful in the Beijing Xingdusi, so he changed Prince Ning's title to Nanchang Prefecture.

This laid the groundwork for the subsequent Ning Wang Rebellion.

Because the cavalry of the Three Guards of Doyan had made great contributions in the Jingnan Campaign, Emperor Chengzu Zhu Di granted the land of the Beijing Xingdusi to the Three Guards of Doyan for grazing.

At this point, the Beijing Xingdusi gradually became deserted and became a grazing ground for the three guards of Doyan.

The three guards of Doyan were just like Shen Shixing, wavering between the Ming Dynasty and the northern barbarians.

When the Ming Dynasty was strong, they submitted to the Ming Dynasty; when the Tatars were strong, they submitted to the Tatars.

They jumped back and forth for more than a hundred years, and just happened to catch up with the Battle of Tumu. The powerful Beijing Army of the Ming Dynasty was almost wiped out, and the Ming Dynasty was no longer able to deter the Tatars and the Oirat.

From then on, the three guards of Doyan gradually broke away from the control of the Ming Dynasty and became part of the Northern Tartars. The Beijing Xingdusi was also occupied by them as their territory.

The territory of the Beijing Xingdusi is much larger than that of the northern Zhili, and the grasslands inside it cover at least hundreds of millions of acres!

If we can recapture this territory, not only will there be enough grazing land for the Beijing garrison and border troops, but the capital will also be completely safe.

Therefore, Wanli's primary goal in conquering the northern barbarians was to recapture the Beijing Xingdusi.

After he dealt with Shen Jing, he prepared to lead his troops out of the border to raid the three guards of Doyan.

Early in the morning at about noon, the warm morning sun had just risen when Qi Jiguang, Dong Yikui, Dong Yiyuan and a group of generals from the Beijing camp gathered in the main hall of the palace to discuss the map.

The map placed among the crowd was the map of the former Beijing Xingdusi.

Wanli stared at the map for a while, then asked, "Yiyuan, how is the situation north of Jizhou Town? Did the three guards of Duoyan move back to the south to graze their livestock this year while we were away from sending troops?"

Dong Yiyuan shook his head slowly, then pointed to the map and explained, "Your Majesty, the area over 500 miles north of Jizhou Town is mostly mountainous, with not much grassland in between.

The three guards of Doyan usually chose to spend the winter in the river valley of Yanshan Mountain to avoid the severe cold outside the Great Wall. Once spring came, they would move out of the Yanshan Valley and roam the grasslands in the north.

There was only a small amount of grassland in the Yanshan River Valley. They did not actually lose much grassland after retreating 500 miles north. They just lost a place to spend the winter.

After we drove them north over 500 miles last year, they didn't return to the Yanshan Valley to spend the winter. Now they are still nomadically roaming over 500 miles to the north."

It’s a bit difficult if these guys don’t return to the valley in the south.

They know nothing about the current situation of the three guards of Doyan.

What is the situation of the three guards of Doyan at this moment? Will there be any problems if they send troops out so rashly?

Wanli stared at the map, frowning and thinking for a while, then asked, "Yuan Jing, how many routes do we have for sending troops?"

Qi Jiguang immediately pointed to the map and explained, "The troops from Xuanfu Town can go north from Zhangjiakou, cross a low mountainous area, and march northeast for more than 500 miles to the vicinity of Kaipingwei, the former Beijing Xingdusi. It is estimated that there will be tribes of the three guards of Doyan grazing there.

Our troops in the Beijing camp can go north along the Chaohe River Valley to reach the original Yixing station. There is a valley to the east of there that leads to the Luanhe River Valley. We can go east along the Luanhe River Valley to the Yisun River Valley, and then go north along the Yisun River Valley for more than 400 miles to reach the current grazing grounds of the three guards of Doyan.

The troops of Jizhou Town can attack from Zunhua, go north to the Kuanhe River Valley, pass through the Kuanhe Office, Huizhou Guard, Fuyu Guard, and Xincheng Guard of the former Beijing Xingdusi, and then enter the Laoha River Valley and arrive near the former Beijing Xingdusi headquarters, Daning Guard, where the tribes of the three Doyan Guards should also be grazing.

It would be easier for the Liaodong Town troops to launch an attack. They could attack from Yizhou Guard, take the Daling River Valley, and head northwest for about 200 miles to reach the current grazing grounds of the three Duoyan Guards."

No wonder Li Chengliang was so excited. It turned out that the most convenient way to attack the three guards of Doyan was from Liaodong Town. This guy could attack from Yizhou Guard and reach the grazing grounds of the three guards of Doyan in just one day.

If they wanted to raid the three guards of Doyan, they would have to cross the entire Yanshan Mountain and spend at least three or four days circling in the valley.

Wanli looked at the intricate valleys and passages in Yanshan Mountain and frowned. "Yuan Jing, the three guards of Doyan have occupied the Beijing Xingdusi for over a hundred years. They must be more familiar with these valleys and passages than we are. When we lead our army to attack, we have to consider the issue of food supply.

It would be troublesome if they took advantage of the familiar valley terrain to attack our food supply routes.

This time we are just going to make a surprise attack. It is impossible to recapture the headquarters of the Beijing Xingdusi. Even if we are lucky enough to recapture it, we will not have time to build a border defense post.

Therefore, I think we should be cautious and have the Shenshu Camp's chariots form a square formation to guard every pass in the valley, let the Shenji Camp take charge of transporting food and fodder with the grain carts, and let the Shenwu Camp's cavalry carry out the raid.

This will be slower, but it's safer and nothing will go wrong."

Upon hearing this, Qi Jiguang nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty is wise. Our main purpose this time is to train our troops through surprise attacks. Even marching and forming defensive formations are still training."

Wanli nodded slightly when he heard this, and then said decisively: "Yikui, you take the Shenji Front Camp, Shenshu Front Camp and Shenwu Front Camp back, Yiyuan, you take the Shenji Rear Camp, Shenshu Rear Camp and Shenwu Rear Camp back.

The infantry under your command do not need to follow the attack this time. The infantry in Jizhou Town and Xuanfu Town will stay behind to defend. You just need to lead the troops from the Beijing Camp and your cavalry to attack.

Three days later, at about noon, we will attack from three directions and advance northward. I will send a message by express horse, asking Li Chengliang to attack again at about noon five days later.

Remember, don't underestimate the enemy and advance rashly. You must bring the chariots, artillery carts, and food carts of the Shenji Battalion and the Shenshu Battalion. Move cautiously and hold the narrow passes along the way. It doesn't matter if you can march over a hundred miles a day."

Upon hearing this, Dong Yikui and Dong Yiyuan quickly bowed and said, "I understand."

Not long after, more than 100,000 troops from the Beijing camp came out from the left and right sides of the Mountain Resort, forming two long lines, and rushed to Zhangjiakou in Xuanfu Town and Zunhua in Jizhou Town on the left and right. A team of Jinyiwei light cavalry also rushed towards Liaodong Town.

Three days later, at around noon, as the sun was rising, three groups of troops attacked simultaneously from Zhangjiakou in Xuanfu Town, Gubeikou in Chaohe River Valley, and Zunhua City in Jizhou Town, entering the vast mountains.

The entire Yanshan Mountain was immediately filled with the sound of thundering horses' hooves, birds flew away in fright, and beasts ran around in panic.

To be honest, their attack made quite a big noise. The three groups of troops formed a long line of over a hundred miles in the valley. In this clear and crisp autumn weather, they could be faintly seen from the mountains dozens of miles away.

At this time, smoke signals were rising from Yanshan Mountain.

Although the smoke columns were not large, they extended northward, as if extending to the end of the sky.

At the Gubeikou Great Wall, on the Wangjing Tower, Wanli raised his telescope and scanned the north. He then frowned and asked, "Do the northern barbarians also use signal smoke?"

Qi Jiguang shook his head solemnly and said, "Your Majesty, these wolf smoke signals were originally used to defend against the Northern Tartars. The Northern Tartars mostly use cavalry for surprise attacks, coming and going like the wind. They never needed them before. I have never seen the Northern Tartars use them, so I guess someone taught them how to use them."

Many of the remnants of the three major families in Puzhou must have fled to the Tatar tribe and the three guards of Doyan.

These guys actually taught the Northern Tartars how to use wolf smoke. Can their surprise attack still be successful?

Wanli frowned and pondered for a while, then said decisively: "Yuan Jing, immediately send a message to the four groups of troops, remember not to underestimate the enemy and advance rashly. Even if you enter the grazing area of ​​the three guards of Duoyan, do not underestimate the enemy and advance rashly. Do not leave the 200-li range of the Shenshu camp.

You should also tell Li Chengliang in Liaodong to be careful and not to rush ahead rashly, or he might fall into an ambush by the Northern Tartars."

At this time, he already had an ominous premonition that they were going to fail this time.

There are too many remnants of the three major families in Puzhou. Their every move is under surveillance. The Northern Tartars probably know everything about their actions.

It would be difficult for them to succeed in a surprise attack if they traveled five or six hundred miles.

Sure enough, about four days later, news came from Xuanfu Town that there were no tribes from the Three Doyan Guards grazing near the former Kaiping Guard station, and the pasture there had even been cut up!
(End of this chapter)