The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 307 The True Test on the Battlefield
Lintao Prefecture is located more than a hundred miles north of Didao City, at the mouth of the Tao River.

This is the front corner of the Yellow River's bend.

The Tao River flows into the Yellow River, which flows from west to east and turns sharply to the north, forming a huge corner.

Less than fifty miles north of the corner, another large tributary, the Huangshui River, merges into the Yellow River. Since then, the water volume of the main trunk of the Yellow River has increased sharply, and the width of the river has reached hundreds of feet.

Different in ancient and modern times.

In later generations, this place was not a waterway, but now it is the shipping center of the northwest.

Because the Tao River Valley is the ancient Tea-Horse Road leading to the Western Regions, and the Huangshui River Valley is the only way to the Western Regions, it has been a gathering place for merchants and peddlers since ancient times, and there are many people who make a living on the river.

At this moment, there are an endless stream of small wooden boats and even sheepskin rafts from the people at the bend of the Yellow River, and there are even more swarms of navy warships. The prosperity of water transportation is like a miniature version of the Yangtze River waterway.

Early in the morning, as the sun rose, Wanli also arrived here by riding a navy centipede boat.

The water transportation here is quite prosperous, but the land transportation seems to be non-existent.

There is no other way. This place is surrounded by mountains and hills. Under the current conditions, it is almost impossible to build a road through the mountains and hills.

Wanli stood at the bow of the ship holding a telescope and took a careful look around. He couldn't help but sigh slightly and shook his head slowly.

This place is not suitable for building a port or wharf. Even if there is a large mudflat in front, it will be useless. Without land transportation, it will be like an isolated island. People and materials can only be transported in and out by boat. There is no point in building a port or wharf.

He thought about it carefully, then asked, "General Man, how is the land transportation at the mouth of the Huangshui River?"

Man Gui said without hesitation, "Your Majesty, that place is better than this one. The Huangshui River Valley is wider over there. Going west, the land route leads all the way to Xining Guard and even Jiayu Pass. Going north, it leads to Zhuanglang Guard. If you go east, you can cross the river by ferry and go directly to Lanzhou, which was formerly the Ganzhou Central Guard, the fiefdom of Prince Su."

Wanli thought for a moment, then waved his hand and said, "Yunqing, let's go to the Huangshui River estuary to take a look."

The navy fleet went down the river at an extremely fast speed. In less than two quarters of an hour, they arrived at the mouth of the Huangshui River, dozens of miles to the north.

This place is indeed different from the mouth of the Tao River, because there are mountain valleys several miles wide on both the north and south sides of the Huangshui River mouth, and the valley in the north extends to the mouth of the Zhuanglang River more than ten miles away.

Moreover, the section where the Huangshui River merges into the main trunk of the Yellow River is more than one mile wide, so building a dock more than ten meters long will not have any impact on the navigation of the waterway.

At this moment, there is only one road in the valley in the north, and there are many pedestrians and carriages on it.

Seeing this, Wanli nodded slightly and said, "Well, that's right, Yunqing. Let's build the navy dock here, along the valley on the north bank all the way to the mouth of the Zhuanglang River."

Deng Zilong heard this and bowed repeatedly, saying, "I understand."

Wanli thought for a moment, then waved his hand and said, "Let's go and look at the map."

After saying that, he brought a group of generals into the cabin and began to ponder the map on the table.

He looked carefully for a while, then asked, "General Man, how far is Xiningwei from here?"

Man Gui said without hesitation: "It's about three hundred miles, and we can get there in a day by horseback."

Well, it’s not too far. It only takes two days to get there by horse carriage, and communication is also convenient.

Wanli nodded slightly, then pointed at the map and said, "Yuan Jing, it seems that we should focus our main attack on Xiningwei. There are two avenues there, and both land and water transportation are relatively convenient.

More importantly, that's the northernmost of the three vast grasslands of the Duolun Tumed and Weiwushen tribes. If we attack that area first, we could very well cut off their escape route to the north, and then we could wipe them out completely."

This is just a possibility.

Qi Jiguang nodded slowly, then pointed to the map and carefully reminded: "Your Majesty, we don't know how big the grasslands west of Qinghai Lake are. Even if we cut off the north, they may still escape to the west.

More importantly, there are traitors within. If we gather troops in the direction of Xiningwei, the traitors will definitely guess our intentions and will most likely flee north before we can launch an attack."

It is indeed difficult to encircle the Northern Tartars in an area of ​​thousands of miles.

The issue of internal thieves must also be considered.

Wanli frowned and pondered for a while, then asked, "Yunqing, how many cavalrymen can the Centipede Ship and the Octopus Ship carry at most? I mean, including both men and horses."

War horses take up too much space.

Deng Zilong estimated: "The centipede ship can carry a maximum of forty cavalrymen, and the octopus ship can carry a maximum of twenty cavalrymen."

So few? Their cavalry numbers tens of thousands.

Wanli calculated carefully, then said solemnly: "Yun Qing, in one month, can you mobilize 1,500 centipede ships and 3,000 octopus ships?"

There is no big problem in adjusting it.

The problem is that if we make such adjustments, there will be a shortage of ships in other places.

However, since His Majesty has spoken, let other places be short of ships.

Deng Zilong heard this, thought about it carefully, and then nodded decisively: "No problem."

That's good.

Wanli gave detailed instructions: "Yunqing, first mobilize the warships and pretend to bring craftsmen, war horses and food here. Build a dock here, at the mouth of the Huangshui River, and also at the side of Didao City. Let the traitors mistakenly think that we are just transiting here.

You can let these transferred ships pretend to transport supplies between the mouth of the Huangshui River and Didao City, and keep moving back and forth to conceal their tracks.

When we have everything ready, you will mobilize the warships to pull the Imperial Guards, the Embroidered Uniform Guards, the Shenwu Front Camp, the Shenwu Left Camp, and the Shenwu Right Camp here, land directly, and rush to Xining Guard.

This place is only about 300 miles away from Xiningwei. Over 100,000 cavalrymen can definitely reach it within two days, if not one. Then you can use these navy warships to transport the food to Xiningwei."

Deng Zilong heard this and nodded repeatedly, saying, "I understand."

Wanli then instructed, "General Man, you will gather the troops and train them in Xiningwei. We have 20,000 cavalry, and most of them are newly recruited and have not been trained yet. This should not arouse their vigilance."

Upon hearing this, Man Gui said without hesitation, "I understand."

Wanli then instructed, "Ruxun, the Ningxia Town cavalry will gather at Taozhouwei for training. When the time comes, you will attack from there with the Shenwu Rear Camp."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Ruxun said without hesitation, "I understand."

Do you have any other questions?

It is no joke for these more than 100,000 cavalrymen to rush into someone else's territory and kill people indiscriminately. That is their territory, and they will definitely fight back desperately. He has to consider everything carefully.

Wanli was staring at the map carefully when a navy speedboat suddenly approached.

It turned out that he was delivering a memorial. However, because he was not wearing the imperial robe and had concealed his identity, he was wandering around in the river. It took people a long time to find him.

This war must be fought, and the important affairs of the court cannot be delayed.

Seeing this, Wanli simply sat down and opened more than ten important memorials wrapped in oil paper and read them carefully.

When he saw this, he couldn't help but be stunned.

It's almost September now, and the military examination is about to begin again.

Liang Menglong probably knew that it would take more than a month to deal with the invasion of Taozhou Wei, so he specifically asked him whether all the military candidates taking the imperial examination should be sent here.

Wanli thought about it carefully, then handed the memorial to Qi Jiguang and said solemnly: "Yuan Jing, it seems that this year's military examination and palace examination can only be held here. I will have to trouble you again."

Upon hearing this, Qi Jiguang took the memorial and read it, then nodded repeatedly and said, "No problem, there are many military scholars in the Shenwu Camp anyway."

Actually, this method is quite good.

They select military candidates for the purpose of leading troops in battle. Holding the joint and palace examinations in the capital will not be able to test the candidates' ability to lead troops in battle. It would be better to test them directly on the battlefield.

Wanli pondered, "This time, let's simply give each martial arts candidate some troops. Let them serve as small flags, each leading ten cavalrymen to fight in the army. Let's see if they can use these ten cavalrymen to gain more military merit."

This method is indeed good.

In fact, when a military general commands thousands of troops, he also manages them through his officers. As a general, even if he commands 10,000 soldiers, it is impossible for him to command every one of them. A general can only command a dozen officers.

Qi Jiguang nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty is wise."

Upon hearing this, Wanli took the memorial and said decisively, "Okay, Yunqing, send a swift navy ship to the capital to pick up all the martial arts candidates who have participated in the imperial examination. Let them test their skills on the battlefield."

(End of this chapter)