The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 222 Recovering the old territory
In late September, Ming army camps were densely distributed in the Luoma River basin in the central part of the former Beijing Xingdusi area.

The square formations of the Shenjiying's grain carts were scattered on both sides of the Luoma River like city fortresses.

The city fortress formed by these grain carts was densely packed with tents inside and outside, including those of the soldiers of the Beijing camp and the herdsmen of the three guards of Doyan.

There were groups of cattle, sheep and horses near the camp, like clouds in the sky, and no one knew how many there were.

Luoma River is a tributary of Laoha River, a tributary of Lamulun River. It runs east-west and lies right across the middle of the former site of the Beijing Xingdusi. A hundred miles to the south is the Yanshan Valley.

Moreover, the river is not very wide, only a few feet at its widest point, and the water is not deep either, so it is easy to cross on horseback, which is very convenient. Therefore, Wanli chose to set up his camp here.

At this moment, the cavalry of the Shenwu Camp were still galloping back and forth on the nearby grassland, constantly collecting prisoners and cattle, sheep and horses.

The soldiers of the Shenji Camp were counting the population, cattle, sheep and horses, and guarding the prisoners.

All the troops that the three guards of Doyan could muster were defeated or even annihilated by them in one fell swoop. The tribal leaders were also killed in the battle. The remaining old, young, women and children had no power to resist, so it was no problem to capture them.

Now it was time to consider the construction of the Acropolis.

The former territory of the Beijing Xingdusi must be recaptured and defended, otherwise it will be in vain.

It's almost October now. Although it's still a bit hot in Beijing, it's a bit cold here. In more than a month, it's probably going to snow here. They don't have much time left.

At about 5 p.m. that afternoon, as the sun was setting, Dong Yiyuan arrived with 5,000 cavalrymen from Jizhou Town. Wanli immediately summoned Qi Jiguang, Huang Chengxuan, Peng Zungu and other brothers to discuss the matter.

In the general's tent where maps were specially displayed, everyone gathered around the map of the former Beijing Xingdusi site, and their faces were filled with excitement.

They finally recovered this vast territory.

Wanli said solemnly, "Yiyuan, how much supplies has the city of Yanshan Valley stockpiled for city construction?"

Uh, how do I put this?

Dong Yiyuan thought for a moment before explaining in detail, "Your Majesty, it depends on how big the Acropolis is.

If we build small Acropolises that can garrison 5,000 to 10,000 troops, then the supplies we have in stock should be enough to build about ten of them.

If we were to build David Cities like the original Daning and Kaiyuan Guards, which could station tens of thousands of troops and accommodate tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians, I estimate that at most five could be built."

The size of this Acropolis mainly depends on needs. Originally, the Beijing Xingdusi only had two large Acropolis, Daningwei and Kaiyuanwei, and the others were small Acropolis.

Because at that time, King Ning Zhu Quan had only 80,000 troops under his command, and if too many David cities were built, there would be no one to guard them.

It’s different now. The Beijing Army has 360,000 troops.

Wanli thought for a moment, then asked, "How many troops are needed to garrison the Weicheng in Yanshan?"

Dong Yiyuan pointed at the map and explained in detail, "Your Majesty, in the Chaohe, Luanhe, and Yixunhe valleys here, we have built the five guards of Xingzhou: front, back, center, left, and right. In the Kuanhe and Laohahe valleys here, we have built the three guards of Huizhou, Fuyu, and Xincheng. The eight guard cities will require approximately 40,000 to 50,000 troops to garrison them."

There is definitely no problem in garrisoning 60,000 troops in these eight Acropolis.

With 300,000 troops, how many Acropolises can be built?

Although we don't have to worry about the south and east now, the defense line on the west and north combined is more than 2,000 miles. It is impossible to build the Great Wall, so we can only build cities and fortresses to guard it.

They even don't have enough time to build a city fortress every hundred miles or so. For more than two thousand miles, they have to build about twenty. The materials prepared this year are only enough to build about ten.

If I need to collect or craft more materials, more than a month will not be enough to prepare them.

In other words, all he can consider now is whether to build a dozen small Acropolis or five David Cities.

There are actually only three Acropolis in the central, western and northern parts of the former Beijing Xingdusi.

To the west is Kaiping Wei, in the middle is Kaiping Zuotun Wei, and to the north is Quanning Wei. There are only these three in total. There is not even a single large place with a thousand-household defense station.

This is why?

Wanli stared at the map and thought for a while before he understood.

The reason is actually very simple, because the Ming Dynasty was strong enough during the Hongwu and Yongle dynasties.

At that time, it was the Ming Dynasty that conquered the Northern Barbarians, not the Northern Barbarians who invaded the Ming Dynasty.

Emperor Hongwu and Emperor Yongle launched more than ten northern expeditions in order to eliminate the vital forces of the northern barbarians.

At that time, the Northern Tartars did not dare to attack the Ming Dynasty's citadel. If the Northern Tartars attacked the Ming Dynasty's citadel, the Ming Dynasty's cavalry would arrive in a day or two to support them, followed by the infantry.

At that time, it was impossible for the Northern Tartars to capture a Ming Dynasty citadel in just one or two days. If they came to counterattack the Ming Dynasty, they would be seeking death.

Therefore, there were only three citadels in the western, central and northern parts of the original huge Beijing Xingdusi, and the other citadels were concentrated in the Yanshan River Valley where the cold wind was smaller in winter.

The Ming Dynasty was so powerful at that time that the northern barbarians didn't dare to attack at all.

It’s actually almost the same now. The number of cavalry in the Beijing Camp is greater than that of any other force in the Northern Tartars.

If the Northern Tartars dare to attack their Acropolis, it would be tantamount to seeking death. If they cannot capture it in a day or two, they can just wait for the Shenwu Camp cavalry to come and take care of it.

He stared at the map for a while, then asked, "Yuan Jing, do we have 40,000 war horses captured from the three guards of Doyan?"

This one.

Qi Jiguang thought back, "We should be able to gather 40,000 horses."

The 120,000 soldiers of the Shenwu Camp all have war horses. With 120,000 cavalrymen, whoever comes from the northern barbarians will die!

Wanli stared at the map and thought carefully, then said decisively: "Then we will build five David cities, one each in the east, south, west, north and center of the valley from the Lamulun River to the Yanshan River.

The Da'ning Guard in the south, the Kaiping Guard in the west, the Quanning Guard in the north and the Kaiping Zuotun Guard in the middle were all built on the original site, so we can also borrow some of the city wall foundation.

Although these citadels had been completely demolished by the Northern Tartars, it was impossible for them to dig up the wall foundations. The Da Ning Wei and Kaiping Wei could just build on the original wall foundations. The original citadels of Quan Ning Wei and Kaiping Zuotun Wei could also be used as the inner city walls of one side of the city gate.

In addition, we only need to build a Kaiping Youtunwei at the intersection of Luoma River and Laoha River. In this way, the distance between the five citadels will be less than 500 miles, and cavalry support can arrive in one day.

We will station the Shenwu Camp cavalry in Quanningwei, Kaipingwei, Kaiping Zuotunwei and Kaiping Youtunwei, with 30,000 cavalry stationed in each city.

This way, even if the Northern Tartars attack, we don't have to worry. We can mobilize 30,000 or even 60,000 cavalry reinforcements in a day. In two days, the 120,000 cavalry of the Shenwu Camp can be assembled."

To be honest, if there are not enough cavalry, there is no point in building the Acropolis. Each Acropolis is four or five hundred miles apart, and the Northern Tartar cavalry can move around as they please.

However, they already have enough cavalry at this moment. If the Northern Tartar cavalry dares to run in, they will be surrounded and annihilated.

Upon hearing this, Qi Jiguang nodded slowly and said, "Your Majesty is wise. We can defend this area by building five citadels with the help of the 120,000 cavalrymen of the Divine Martial Battalion."

That'll do.

Wanli immediately issued an order: "Send the imperial edict. Command General Ma to lead the cavalry of Datong Town to defend Longchengwei. Command Earl Yongnian to lead the 12,000 chariots of the Shenshu Battalion to pull the 30,000 craftsmen of Longchengwei to Kaipingwei and rebuild the city on the original foundation. Command Yikui to lead the cavalry of Xuanfu Town and the Shenshu Front Battalion and Shenshu Rear Battalion to rush to Kaiping Zuotunwei to build the city.

Yuan Jing, you take the Shenwu Right Camp and your personal guards to the original site of Quanning Guard, clean up the ruins on the foundation, and send scouts to patrol the south bank of the Lamulun River to prevent Tumen Khan from leading his army across the river.

Yiyuan rushed back with the grain carts of the Shenji Front Camp and the Shenji Rear Camp, and took the 120,000 new recruits of the Beijing Camp and some materials to Quanning Wei and Kaiping Youtun Wei to build the Wei city.

Xing Can, you take the 30,000 troops from the Shenwu Rear Camp to the confluence of the Luoma River and the Laoha River to prepare to build the Kaiping Youtunwei City.

Upon hearing this, Qi Jiguang, Dong Yiyuan and Huang Chengxuan hurriedly bowed and responded to the order.

Wanli then gave detailed instructions: "Danyang, you brothers, take the Shenji Left Camp and 4,000 grain carts to the Summer Palace, and first take 20,000 craftsmen to the ruins of Daning Weicheng in the Laoha River Valley to prepare for the construction of the Weicheng.

I will lead the Shenwu Left Camp, Shenwu Right Camp and Shenji Right Camp to escort the prisoners and cattle, sheep and horses to the Daning Guard in the Laoha River Valley.

A warm shed had to be built for the cattle, sheep and horses to survive the winter. After carrying the craftsmen for one trip, they had to go back to the Mountain Resort and continue the second trip.

There are many carpenters over there, so let's bring all the carpenters on the second trip. We can use the wood to build the greenhouse. As for where to build it and how much to build, we can discuss it when we meet up."

Upon hearing this, Peng Zungu quickly bowed and said, "I understand."

The former territory of the Beijing Xingdusi was recovered, and hundreds of thousands of old and young women and children and millions of cattle, sheep and horses from the three guards of Doyan were almost all captured.

At this point, there was no longer any threat from the northern barbarians within a thousand miles north of the Ming capital.

This is just the beginning. As the Beijing camp and border troops continue to grow stronger, Wanli will continue his northern expedition.

The Tatar tribes and even the Oirat tribes should be careful.

Wanli’s goal is to completely resolve the threat from the Northern Tartars!

(End of this chapter)