The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 308: Not According to Common Sense
In September, the autumn atmosphere is in full swing in Lintao Prefecture.

In the mountains and forests on both sides of the Tao River, the leaves have turned red and yellow, and in the fields around Didao City, the grass is gradually turning yellow.

The breeze is blowing, it's cool and pleasant, it's a good time to train troops.

At this moment, five thousand military candidates who were taking part in the imperial examination had already arrived, and the cavalry selected by Ningxia Town and the war horses produced in Hetao were also brought here. The Tao River Valley was full of tents like a sea, with soldiers and horses gathered, and there were bursts of orders and thunderous hooves. It was very lively.

If an outsider were to look at it, the main attack direction of the Ming army would definitely be this side.

Because Lintao Prefecture and Taozhou Guard had assembled a total of 120,000 cavalry from the Shenwu Camp, 30,000 cavalry from the Ningxia Town, and 20,000 imperial guards Jinyiwei light cavalry.

This number of troops was enough to sweep across the Duolun Tumed and Weiwushen tribes.

All they had to do was rush out from the ancient Tea-Horse Road of Taozhou Wei, rush into the grazing areas of the Duolun Tumed and Weiwushen tribes, and push forward from south to north.

Who could have imagined that the main attack direction decided by Wanli was not this side at all, but Xining Guard five or six hundred miles away!
If the journey from Lintao Prefecture to Xining Guard was smooth, some people might think that he might be making a feint to the east and attack in the west.

The problem is that the area between Lintao Prefecture and Xining Wei is almost entirely mountainous, and there are no roads at all. If you want to get from Lintao Prefecture to Xining Wei, you can only take the water route, entering the main trunk of the Yellow River from the Tao River, and then turning into the Huangshui River from the main trunk of the Yellow River, going upstream all the way, and it may not be possible to arrive even if you row for four or five days.

Who could have thought that he would be able to do such a great thing?

This doesn't make sense.

The problem is that Wanli just likes to do things against common sense.

On the Gengwu day of the last month of September, early in the morning before the hour of Mao, the sky was still pitch black when strings of oil lamps suddenly lit up on the Tao River. The oil lamps stretched for hundreds of miles.

In the vast camp on the river bank, which was as vast as the coastal area, countless oil lamps suddenly lit up, just like a sky full of stars, illuminating the sky.

Teams of cavalry quickly dismantled their tents, arrived at the dock in an orderly manner, and pulled their horses towards the ship.

Soon, the first batch of hundreds of warships were filled with people and horses, left the dock, and sailed downstream, slowly heading towards the main trunk of the Yellow River.

Then came the next batch, and then batch after batch, totaling more than ten batches.

At around the hour of Mao, when the sky was just getting light, the section of Tao River from Didao City to the main trunk of the Yellow River was already filled with naval warships.

At this time, the navy warships suddenly rushed into the main trunk of the Yellow River like wild horses, and headed towards the dock at the entrance of Huangshui River.

In less than two quarters of an hour, the first batch of naval warships arrived at the dock at the mouth of the Huangshui River.

The cavalry rushed off the boat like a tide, and after a slight reorganization, they headed straight towards Xiningwei.

At around noon, the sun was rising, and on the road leading from the mouth of the Huangshui River to Xining Wei, a huge line of cavalry was formed for dozens of miles.

The cavalry team continued to extend forward, and continued to extend forward, as if there would never be an end.

At about 3 p.m., the sun was setting in the west, and suddenly there was a deafening sound of horse hooves near Xining City. It was so earth-shaking that no one knew how many cavalrymen had arrived.

Qi Bingzhong, the deputy general of Gansu Town, was shocked.

He quickly climbed up to the east gate tower and raised his telescope to take a quick look.

My goodness, the cavalry is so long that you can’t even see the end of it through a telescope.

Fortunately, the cavalry were all wearing the same military uniform. Judging from the colored threads on the collars and cuffs, they should be the cavalry of the Shenwu Camp.

At this time, Man Guidu, who was camping outside the city, rode his horse to the foot of the city gate with his personal guards.

He raised his head and said loudly, "Bingzhong, come down quickly."

Upon hearing this, Qi Bingzhong hurried down the city gate tower, rode his horse to the outside of the city gate, and asked in surprise, "General Man, what's going on?"

Man Gui said kindly, "This was originally meant to be kept secret, but now it's no longer necessary. Your Majesty intends to lead the main force of the Shenwu Battalion to attack the territories of the Duolun Tumed and Weiwushen tribes from this side."

Oh, that's what happened.

Rumor has it that His Majesty doesn't like to do things according to common sense.

This time, even he didn't expect it. There was no news at all beforehand. The cavalry from the Shenwu Camp suddenly came running over. Who could have thought of it?
Qi Bingzhong asked nervously, "Should we go and welcome His Majesty?"

Man Gui nodded slightly and said, "Of course. Come on, come with me."

Having said this, he rode his horse eastward to meet them.

The first ones to run over were the cavalry from the Shenwu Front Camp.

They waited for nearly an hour, and when the sun was about to set, Wanli finally rode over. When Wanli saw the majestic Xining City Wall, he couldn't help but show a touch of shock.

Xining Wei was first established in the sixth year of Hongwu.

In the 19th year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty, Geng Bingwen, the Marquis of Changxing, led his army to build a city here.

The overall length of the Xiningwei City wall is about ten miles, the height is five zhang, and the width of the base is also five zhang. Including the crenels, the wall is a full seventeen meters high!
No wonder the Duolun Tumed and Weiwushen tribes didn't dare to come here.

It would be impossible for the Tatar tribes, who were not good at siege, to capture such a majestic Acropolis.

Moreover, the Dongqi Tusi had lived here for generations, and this area was full of Dongqi Tusi's herdsmen. Qi Bingzhong had spies everywhere, so it was impossible to launch a sneak attack or ambush on Qi Bingzhong here.

Wanli was staring at the Xining City Wall in a daze when Man Gui and Qi Bingzhong came to greet him.

After the emperor and his ministers exchanged greetings, Wanli nodded slightly and said approvingly, "Well, not bad, Bingzhong, this is a good name."

In fact, a person’s loyalty or treachery can sometimes be discerned from his appearance.

Qi Bingzhong looked like a loyal and honest young man, so Wanli tried to win him over.

Upon hearing this, Qi Bingzhong immediately bowed and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your praise."

Wanli nodded slightly, then dismounted and ordered someone to fetch a map. He then called Qi Bingzhong to his side and asked, "Are you familiar with the terrain outside?"

Qi Bingzhong nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, I have been to this place several times.

The road to the north leads to Qinghai Lake, and the road to the south leads to Dogandusi. I have been to both Qinghai Lake and Dogandusi.

To the southeast of Qinghai Lake are towering mountains, while to the northwest lies endless grassland. As for the road leading to Dogandusi, after exiting the mountain pass, there is a sandy land of over a hundred miles in radius. In front of the sandy land is a grassland of about several dozen miles in radius. Beyond the grassland lies the mountainous area of ​​Dogandusi.

Is this area on the north bank of the Yellow River a sandy land?

He thought it was all grass.

This is a sandy land, so it's impossible for nomadic tribes to graze there. As long as they can clear the grazing area on that small piece of grassland, they can block the tribes on the two large grasslands to the south from crossing the river!

Wanli stared at the map and asked, "How wide is the Yellow River in this section? What is the terrain like on both sides of the river?"

Qi Bingzhong recalled, "This section of the Yellow River is about 40 to 50 zhang wide at its widest point and only a little over 10 zhang at its narrowest point. There are both mountains and flat lands on both sides of the river."

Very good, there are mountains where you can climb up and see the view, so there will be no problem if there is a blockage.

Wanli thought about it carefully, and then said decisively: "General Man, tomorrow morning at about 1:00 AM, you will take the Shenwu Left Camp, Shenwu Right Camp and your men to Qinghai Lake, and kill as far as you can in the northwest direction.

I will lead the Imperial Guards, the Embroidered Uniform Guards, and the Shenwu Front Camp to block the north bank of the Yellow River and prevent people on the south bank from crossing. Bingzhong, you will go with me."

Upon hearing this, Qi Bingzhong excitedly bowed and said, "I obey your command."

Man Gui said with a worried look on his face, "Your Majesty, you have too few men and horses. I'm afraid it might be dangerous. How about you bring more men and horses with you?"

You think too much.

Wanli said calmly: "I have a lot of troops with me, 50,000 cavalry. Even if the Duolun Tumed and Weiwushen tribes gathered all their troops and charged at me, they might not be able to defeat me.

Besides, this is sandy land, and it is impossible for them to concentrate their grazing here. It is estimated that there are only tens of thousands of people in this area, including men, women, young and old, cattle, sheep and horses. We can easily clean it up.

As long as we clear the north bank, they won't be able to build a pontoon bridge to cross the river. The cavalry of the Shenwu Camp are equipped with kerosene cans and thunder bombs. If they throw a bunch of kerosene cans over, the pontoon bridge will be burned down in an instant."

This time he just wanted to try out the effects of kerosene cans and thunder bombs, so he asked the cavalry of the Shenwu Camp to take some with them. Unexpectedly, they came in handy.

Kerosene tanks are absolutely perfect for burning floating bridges.

Man Gui was still a little worried and said, "Your Majesty, if they really gather all their forces and rush towards you, it will be a big trouble."

I was guarding the river bank, yet they still dared to gather all their troops to charge. They were coming to kill themselves.

Wanli remained calm and said, "General Man, don't worry. The two large grasslands to the south cover an area of ​​thousands of miles. It will take them at least several days to gather their troops.

The navy's warships are pulling in provisions and will arrive in two or three days at most. By then, I'll have all the navy's musketeers rush over. Even if they can fly, they can't cross the river."

Hearing this, Man Gui nodded slowly and said, "Your Majesty, I dare you to be careful. If all else fails, we can retreat to Xining City. We can still hold off the troops coming from the south. They won't be able to escape."

You think a lot.

(End of this chapter)