The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 339 Weak Water Defense Line
The Ming army really began its northern expedition.

At the end of March, more than 100,000 cavalrymen from the Shenwu Camp formed a long dragon of hundreds of miles and headed straight for Longchengwei.

Immediately afterwards, more than 100,000 soldiers from the Shenji Camp followed, pulling more than 20,000 carts of food and supplies.

It seems that there are only more than 100,000 chariot soldiers from the Shenshu Camp guarding the capital.

In the valley where Longchengwei was located, there were nearly 200,000 cavalrymen and more than 100,000 soldiers from the Shenjiying Camp!

It seems that Wanli did not lead the army in person this time, but the Ming army soldiers were not vague at all.

As soon as the soldiers of the Shenji Camp arrived at Longchengwei, more than 100,000 or 200,000 cavalrymen swarmed out and headed straight for the Kharchin tribe.

The grasslands outside the Great Wall were suddenly filled with the sound of thundering hooves, and countless cavalrymen quickly covered the territory of the Kharchin tribe like a dark cloud.

The total number of young and strong men under Qingba Duer Taiji was only tens of thousands. How could he resist so many Ming cavalry?

The Kharchin tribe was defeated in an instant. Qingba Duer Taiji could not even protect his own people and cattle, sheep and horses, let alone resist.

The speed of cavalry's advance is simply incomparable to that of cattle, sheep, ox carts and horse carriages. Men, women, young and old, cattle, sheep and horses basically have no way to escape once they are covered by the cavalry.

In the end, Qingbaduer Taiji fled to the territory of the Tumed tribe with more than 10,000 cavalrymen.

This is not over yet.

The Ming cavalry followed them like a shadow, chasing them and rushing into the territory of the Tumed tribe.

This scared Sanniangzi and Chelike. The total number of young and strong men under their command was less than 100,000. How could they resist these 100,000 or 200,000 cavalrymen?

Originally, they wanted to use the familiar river valley terrain to deal with the Ming cavalry, but who knew that just as this cavalry had just rushed into their territory from the east, nearly 100,000 Ming cavalry suddenly rushed out from between Langshan and Daqingshan.

This time the little emperor really wants to deal with them.

Sanniangzi and Chelikena had no choice but to leave their people behind and flee to the northwest with their cavalry.

The Ming cavalry was still persistent and kept chasing them.

This chase lasted thousands of miles!

The Gobi Desert in the northwest was full of rolling yellow dragons and deafening hooves. Countless people and horses were chasing and fighting in it.

At this moment, the capital of the Ming Dynasty is bright and sunny in spring, with bustling traffic and a prosperous scene.

Although Wanli did not lead the army in person, he was very concerned about the war on the front. Every day he would analyze the battle reports with Qi Jiguang and discuss the next action plan for the Ming army outside the Great Wall.

Early in the morning at about noon, he had just finished reviewing the memorials and came to the side hall where maps were displayed.

At this time, Qi Jiguang had already taken the battle report that was urgently sent back from 800 miles away and added marks on the huge map.

After the emperor and his ministers exchanged greetings, Wanli asked, "How is it going? Where have they chased them to?"

Qi Jiguang raised his hand and gestured on the map, saying, "Your Majesty, according to the latest battle report, they have already chased us to the north of Gansu Town.

Their current location is over 4,000 miles from the capital, and even an expedited battle report of 800 miles would take five or six days to arrive. I estimate that they have already chased them to the north of Jiayu Pass."

This time, the place they set out from was almost two thousand miles away from the capital. They chased them for more than two thousand miles. It seemed that the Tumed tribe had no intention of turning back.

Wanli looked at the map and then asked, "Where do you think their destination is?"

Qi Jiguang slid his finger across the map, pondering, "Their escape route is similar to the one taken by the Oirat Grand Tutor Yesen as he fled south. Since Sanniang is from the Oirat tribe, I suspect she wants to return to her parents' homeland with the rest of her troops."

If she wants to go back to her parents' home, will you still pursue her?

Wanli thought about it carefully and asked again, "How many troops do you think they have left?"

This is hard to estimate.

Qi Jiguang pondered, "The number of Kharchin cavalry that escaped was approximately 10,000. We also crippled two of the five major Tumed tribes. Only then did Bingtu Taiji escape with more than 10,000 cavalry.

"I estimate that their original total number of cavalry was only about 60,000. We have caught up with over 10,000, nearly 20,000, so they should only have 40,000 to 50,000 cavalry left."

Forty to fifty thousand cavalrymen is not a small number.

However, this is what was left of the western half of the Tatar tribe. Compared with the heyday of Altan Khan, it is far less.

During the Gengxu Rebellion, Altan Khan led at least 120,000 cavalrymen into the capital. Wanli examined the map carefully again and pondered, "North of Jiayuguan is Jinshan. We are not familiar with the terrain there, and Sanniang has returned to her hometown. It is too dangerous to pursue her further."

Send an urgent message over 800 miles to have Du Tong stop the pursuit and establish a defensive line. The Shenwu Battalion can withdraw, and the Shenji Battalion can stay there to help them pull in supplies."

Qi Jiguang nodded slowly upon hearing this and said, "The Shenwu Camp is easy to deal with. First, we need to have them cross the grasslands north of Datong Town and Xuanfu Town and hide in the Laoha River Valley of the Beijing Xingdusi.

The key is the northwest defense line. Your Majesty, this area is over a thousand miles long and is all desert. It's very troublesome to transport the materials for building the Acropolis there. There's no grass or farmland in the desert. We'll have to transport everything in there, and the cost is enormous."

How to garrison in this desert Gobi?

Wanli thought for a moment, then asked, "Are there any rivers or lakes here?"

Are there rivers and lakes in the desert Gobi?
This possibility is really small.

Unexpectedly, Qi Jiguang pointed at the map and said, "Your Majesty, the headquarters of the Shaanxi Xingdusi, namely the five guards of Ganzhou, are all in a river valley.

This river was called Ruoshui in ancient times and is now called Heihe. There are two tributaries in the north of the Heihe River, extending to the north for about 800 miles.

The source of the two tributaries of the Black River is home to two relatively large lakes. These lakes were the only way for the Wala to move south, as there were dozens of miles of grassland surrounding the lakes. Furthermore, there was also pasture grass in the valleys of these two tributaries.

This location is right in the middle of the desert Gobi.

Wanli stared at the map and pondered, "How about we build two lines of defense along these two tributaries, and then build acropolises around these two lakes?"

If this position is blocked, the Wala cavalry will probably not dare to move south.

Because this is the only place in the desert Gobi of more than a thousand miles where you can get water and graze horses.

If there is no water or grass, and a war horse is forced to run in the desert Gobi for seven or eight days in a row, it will either starve to death or die of thirst.

Qi Jiguang nodded slowly and said, "There's no problem building a city wall and two lines of defense here. The problem is, who will guard these two lines of defense, Your Majesty?"

These two lines of defense, each stretching over 800 miles, would require at least 20,000 to 30,000 troops to garrison. The problem was that Gansu Town did not have enough troops, and Ningxia Town and Guyuan Town were thousands of miles away from these two lines of defense.

How to do?
It seems that we need to expand the manpower in Gansu Town.

However, we don’t even have the money to expand the navy, let alone expand the border troops. Where will the money come from?
Wanli said helplessly: "Then let Du Tong lead his men to help Gansu Town build these two lines of defense. These two lines of defense are called the Weak Water Lines.

You let them work hard and guard there first. I will send more troops to Gansu Town in the spring of next year, and then those two lines of defense will be handed over to Gansu Town."

Upon hearing this, Qi Jiguang nodded repeatedly and said, "I understand."

Wanli stared at the map again and estimated, "We must also build cities and fortresses in the river valleys north of the Qiantao Plain and Houtao Plain. If they take the risk of bypassing the mountains north of the desert Gobi and attacking across the Ruoshui Line, we will be in trouble.

Let Xiao Rulan and Du Song take care of the city fortresses here. There's still plenty of time this year, so there's no need to rush. They can build more of them with great fanfare."

The grazing areas of the former Tumed and Kharchin tribes were extremely large, and the terrain was quite complex.

Cities and fortresses cannot be built randomly, otherwise they will either be useless or it will be difficult to transport food and supplies.

There is also the issue of manpower. There are not many people in Guyuan Town, Yansui Town and Pianguan Town.

Upon hearing this, Qi Jiguang nodded slightly and then asked, "Your Majesty, how about leaving this area of ​​the city fortress to be guarded by the newly promoted nobles?"

By the way, there are also rewards for military merit and titles of nobility.

There happened to be a lot of grassland in this area that could be used as a fiefdom, and letting the newly promoted nobles guard it would save manpower.

Upon hearing this, Wanli nodded slowly and said, "Okay, it's just right that we can calculate the military merits and see how many honors we will be promoted this time."

They were discussing when Li Xuancheng suddenly looked up from outside the door and said, "Your Majesty, Luo Sigong requests an audience."

Why is Luo Sigong running over here now?
Could it be that the situation of Nurgandusi has been discovered?
Wanli thought for a moment, then said aloud, "Announce."

Soon, Luo Sigong walked in quickly.

After the emperor and his ministers exchanged greetings, he said with a beaming expression, "Your Majesty, I have learned the situation of Nurgandusi."

really.

(End of this chapter)