The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 306 The emperor is angry

Taozhou Wei was first established during the Hongwu period.

In the 12th year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty, Xiping Hou Mu Ying led an expedition to the west and expanded the territory by a thousand miles, and set up Taozhou Guard to guard it.

Mu Ying, Marquis of Xiping, also ordered Jin Chaoxing to build the huge Taozhou Wei City and left more than 5,000 Jianghuai soldiers to garrison there all year round.

This place was also an important gateway for the tea-horse trade between the Ming Dynasty and the Western Regions. After the families of 5,000 Jianghuai soldiers migrated here, this place gradually became prosperous.

Sadly, everything here is ruined.

The northern barbarians invaded, and almost all of the 5,000 Jianghuai soldiers were killed in battle.

At this moment, the entire Taozhou Weicheng was in mourning, and the cries were deafening and continued for a long time.

As the sun sets, Wanli stands on the west gate tower of Taozhou City, looking at the blood-red setting sun and listening to the cries of pain all over the city, his eyes full of anger.

The three powerful families in Puzhou are truly vicious.

They knew that Taozhouwei City would be difficult to capture in a short time, so they let the northern barbarians besiege Gurzhan Fort, which was dozens of miles away, forcing Taomin Deputy General Li Lianfang to rescue it. Then they set up an ambush on the way and annihilated the Taozhouwei defenders in one fell swoop.

This tactic of besieging a point and attacking reinforcements was definitely not the work of the Northern Tartars.

Moreover, the evil plots of the three major families in Puzhou are probably more than that.

If he did not lead more than 100,000 cavalry to support, but instead transferred 30,000 cavalry from Ningxia Town, Guyuan Town and Yansui Town to support, he would have fallen into the trap!
The Duolun Tumed and Weiwushen tribes came out in full force this time. Not only did they have 40,000 to 50,000 cavalry, but they also had an estimated 40,000 to 50,000 infantry.

If he transferred 30,000 cavalry from Ningxia Town, Guyuan Town and Yansui Town to support, the Northern Tartar cavalry would fight if they could defeat them, and if they could not, they would retreat to the vicinity of Taozhou Weicheng and rely on the infantry in the Weicheng to deal with the cavalry from Ningxia Town, Guyuan Town and Yansui Town.

What can the cavalry from Ningxia Town, Guyuan Town and Yansui Town do to them?
In that situation, he could only transfer infantry from Ningxia Town, Guyuan Town, Yansui Town, and even other citadels in Gansu Town, and cooperate with infantry and cavalry to attack the city.

The permanent troops of these four border towns added up to only 100,000, and the people of the Duolun Tumed and Weiwushen tribes added up to almost 100,000. Moreover, they also designed a plan to encircle and annihilate the Taozhou Wei garrison and easily captured the Taozhou Wei city.

If we really fight like that, even if all the troops from the four border towns are mobilized, they may not be able to recapture Taozhou City!

The wall of Taozhou Weicheng is three meters high and more than ten miles long. There are at least forty to fifty thousand infantrymen guarding inside. Even two hundred thousand troops may not be able to take it down!
At that time, not only would the troops in the four border towns suffer heavy losses, but the northwest defense line would also be full of loopholes.

If the Tumed and Kharchin tribes take the opportunity to counterattack, it is possible to take back the coat!
This may seem a bit out of control, but it is a historical fact. It would be difficult to recapture this place by relying solely on border troops.

Historically, after the Duolun Tumed and Weiwushen tribes took over Taozhouwei, they occupied this place for more than ten years. It was not until Liu Jing, the most powerful general in the late Ming Dynasty, was promoted to the commander-in-chief of Lintao in the 28th year of Wanli that they slowly took it back.

However, this part was deleted in the official history by the three major families of Puzhou.

There is only one sentence in the official history: in the 28th year of Wanli, Liu Jing was rewarded for his merit in pacifying Bozhou and was promoted to General of Lintao, and then there is nothing else. Then in the 36th year of Wanli, Liu Jing was transferred to General of Yunnan and quelled the rebellion of the chieftains. It seems that Liu Jing did nothing here in the eight or nine years in between!
Liu Jing didn't know how many years it took to fight here to recapture Taozhou City. In short, Wanli was not daydreaming. If he transferred the border troops from the four towns, it would not only be difficult to recapture Taozhou City, but the northwest defense line would also be full of loopholes.

Fortunately, he accidentally hit the target and led more than 100,000 cavalrymen from the Imperial Guards, the Embroidered Uniform Guards, and the Shenwu Camp to charge forward.

Under such circumstances, the Duolun Tumed and Weiwushen tribes had no choice but to flee quickly.

Otherwise, it is not certain whether the 30,000 or 40,000 cavalrymen would be surrounded and annihilated, and Taozhou City would definitely be surrounded by more than 100,000 cavalrymen like an iron barrel.

If Taozhou City was besieged, there would be no need to fight, as food could not be delivered. The tens of thousands of infantrymen inside would have no choice but to starve to death or leave the city and surrender.

Of course, it would be useless even if they ran away.

Wanli is now furious, and this matter is definitely not over.

If the emperor gets angry, not only will millions of people be killed, but the Duolun Tumed and Weiwushen tribes will most likely be destroyed.

As for how to retaliate.

Wanli frowned and pondered for a moment, then asked, "General Man, how many routes did the Duolun Tumed and Weiwushen tribes use to invade from the south of Gansu Town?"

This is too much.

Man Gui explained in detail: "Your Majesty, there are three routes for the Duolun Tumed and Weiwushen tribes to invade from the south of Gansu Town. In addition to the Taozhouwei Ancient Tea Horse Road, there are two other routes to the north and south of Qinghai Lake.

However, those two roads lead to Xining Guard. Qi Bingzhong, the hereditary chieftain of Dongqi, commands a vast army there. Furthermore, the Dongqi chieftain's soldiers are renowned for their fighting prowess. Neither the Duolun Tumed nor the Weiwushen tribes would dare invade from that direction. Besides these three roads, there are several smaller mountain trails, but they are winding, undulating, and extremely difficult to navigate.

Qinghai Lake?
Wanli thought for a moment, then raised his hand and said, "Map of Gansu Town."

Soon, the two imperial guards unfolded the map of Gansu Town in front of them.

Wanli stared at the map for a while, then asked, "How big is the territory of the Duolun Tumed and Weiwushen tribes now?"

It’s hard to say.

Man Gui thought for a moment, then raised his hand and gestured, "The area southwest of Gansu Town, at least five hundred miles, should be the territory of the Duolun Tumed and Weiwushen tribes. As for how far southwest they have fought, we are not sure."

How many troops would be needed to guard such a large territory?

Wanli thought for a moment and then asked, "Is there much grassland here?"

Man Gui nodded slowly and said, "There are a lot of grasslands in this area. The upper reaches of the Tao River, the upper reaches of the Yellow River, and around Qinghai Lake are all large tracts of grassland."

How big is this grassland?

It seems that we need to train cavalry.

This is a plateau. If you have not lived here for a long time, you would feel a little breathless even if you just stand still. It is unrealistic to build cities and fortresses frantically.

Wanli thought about it carefully, then asked, "Yuan Jing, how many war horses did Hetao produce this year, and how many are left?"

Qi Jiguang explained in detail: "Your Majesty, the Hetao region can produce about 60,000 war horses this year. Since we have not expanded our cavalry, those war horses are still being kept there.

In addition, the Beijing Xingdusi has also started producing war horses. In the next two years, they should be able to produce about 20,000 horses. In another two years, when the mares have grown up, the number of war horses produced will probably increase even more."

There are enough war horses, but there are not enough people, or not enough money.

The Ming Dynasty still has plenty of garrisons, but the key point is that the navy is expanding rapidly, and the food and wages are rising rapidly. If the border troops here continue to expand rapidly, he will not be able to raise the food and wages.

Wanli frowned and pondered for a moment, then said decisively, "General Man, I will first replenish your border garrison with 50,000 troops. I will provide as many war horses as you want. How many cavalrymen do you think you can mobilize?"

Is there such a good thing?

Unfortunately, Gansu Town is too large and there are too many places to guard.

Man Gui thought about it carefully, then said carefully: "I estimate that out of the 50,000 troops, at most 20,000 can be drawn to form the cavalry."

Only 20,000 cavalry here is definitely not enough.

Wanli thought for a moment and then asked, "Ruxun, what about you? If we have enough war horses, how many cavalrymen can you mobilize?"

Ningxia Town is not big, and with enough cavalry, those cities and fortresses do not need many people to guard them.

Xiao Ruxun estimated, "If we have enough war horses, we should have no problem sending out 30,000 cavalrymen."

Wanli nodded slightly upon hearing this and said, "Okay, I will equip you with all the war horses, and you two towns will gather 50,000 cavalrymen. When the weather is right, you will rush along the three avenues to the territories of the Duolun Tumed and Weiwushen tribes and plunder them.

You must go there every year and don't give them a chance to catch their breath. Take away all the cattle, sheep, horses, men, women, old and young, until they are all gone."

what?
Upon hearing this, Man Gui said cautiously, "Your Majesty, with their current strength, I'm afraid the fifty thousand cavalry from our two towns might not be enough."

Their current strength is still acceptable, but it will soon be gone.

Wanli said coldly, "They actually dared to invade the Ming Dynasty. I will not forgive them. Once your war horses are in place and the cavalry have done some training, we will rush to their territory together and kill them fiercely. Let them know how serious the consequences of invading the Ming Dynasty are.

It's not certain whether they can escape this time. If they don't run fast enough, I will kill them all!"

(End of this chapter)