At the end of October of the fourth year of Jingtai.

As the Great Khan of Warat also led an army of 100,000 to invade the south, the guards of Datong Town, Xuanfu Town, Shanxi Town and other places warned one after another, and the military situation of the enemy's invasion flew to Beijing like snowflakes.

Looking at the urgent reports of the military situation in various places, Emperor Jingtai also began to sit still, and constantly asked Yu Qian, the secretary of the military department, to urge Shandong Town to lead the army north to resist the enemy as soon as possible.

But at this time, Yu Qian was also very embarrassed, although the Great Khan of Warat had already led 100,000 iron horsemen to the south, but the main direction of the Warat army was not yet clear, so it was not yet possible to conclude where the Tiance army would help.

Once the judgment of the military department is wrong, resulting in the wrong direction of the Tiance army's support, the consequences are unimaginable, at this time, any military town on the nine sides will not be able to withstand the onslaught of the 100,000 Wara army!

Therefore, Yu Qian, the secretary of the military department, urgently ordered Liu Juntao, the chief military officer of Shandong Town, to mobilize his troops and horses and go north to Gyeonggi first, and at the same time sent the sharp sentry of the military department to the north to prepare to find out the main direction of attack in Wara.

More than ten days later, the sentry sent out by the military department has not sent back any useful news, but the guards from all over the nine sides have sent back disturbing news!

"It has been reported that the Warat Iron Cavalry has been found at all the passes on the nine sides, and the Tartar forces are increasing day by day, and the slave chieftains seem to be preparing to go south in an all-round way, and there is no focus of attack!"

Although this news has not yet been confirmed by the sentry, it is enough to make Yu Qian, the secretary of the military department, gasp.

"Could it be that the information is wrong? The soldiers and horses led by Ye first were not 100,000, but more? ”

At this time, Yu Qian also had some doubts in his heart, and wrote his doubts in a letter to Liu Juntao.

After Liu Juntao received the letter, he was also a little puzzled, and he didn't understand what kind of routine he had done first.

This time, the army of Warat, which went south this time, was already short of troops, but it divided its troops so much and attacked everywhere on the long border of the nine sides, aren't you afraid of defeat again?

Just when Liu Juntao was thinking about it, Guo Muying, who was pouring tea for Liu Juntao on the side, saw that his brows were tightly locked, so he asked the reason.

After listening, Guo Muying said with a smile: "If you want me to say, I didn't really want to attack the south at all, I guess most of the time I just wanted to be a robber and run away if I got enough money on the border!" ”

Hearing this, Liu Juntao suddenly had a flash of inspiration, slammed the table and stood up, and said with a smile: "Haha! Thanks to Madame, I'm on the tip of the bull's head! ”

Then, Liu Juntao summoned the people of various departments, as well as the generals of the various armies, to the General Military Mansion to discuss matters.

At the meeting, Liu Juntao explained the harassment of the Warat army in the south, and then said: "This time our army is different from the past, it is estimated that there will not be any decisive battle of the army, but to divide the troops everywhere and start a long-term confrontation with the 100,000 Warat army!" ”

Minister of Commerce Tang Yu frowned and said; "In this way, our logistical burden will be too great, even if we have the money and grain of the imperial court, the beginning of our Shandong town will increase a lot!"

Xiang Qun, the head of the military department, said: "Moreover, the strength of our Shandong Town now has more than 130,000 people, in addition to the soldiers and horses stationed in various places, the maximum strength of the northward this time is only more than 100,000 people, which is on par with the strength of Wara. In this way, on the long border line, the stalemate between the enemy and us for a long time will not only consume huge money and food, but also the consumption of troops in various departments will increase dramatically! ”

As soon as the words fell, everyone present was solemn, although everyone was not afraid of sacrifice, but they could not accept huge and unnecessary sacrifices!

At this time, Zhang Xiaojun, the general of the trapped army, said: "Then can our army concentrate its forces to attack one point and force the Warat army to start a decisive battle with our army?" ”

Indeed, if the two sides were to engage in a decisive battle, the Celestial Army would have won the battle that day, and the battle losses would have been much lower than in a long stalemate.

Liu Juntao thought for a while, and then said: "General Zhang's proposal is very good!" ”

Then, Liu Juntao said to Lan Siqi, the head of the Central Department: "The Central Department immediately formulates a strategy for sending troops to the north, and immediately starts mobilizing with all departments!" ”

"In this battle, the general strategy of our army is to garrison Datong Town with the main force, and the rest to cover Xuanfu Town and Shanxi Town, and seek an opportunity to start a decisive battle with the Warat army!"

"Order!"

Suddenly, a member of the Ministry of Intelligence ran in and handed over an urgent message to the Minister of Intelligence, Liu Zi'an.

Liu Zi'an's face also changed after reading it.

Then Liu Zi'an said: "General Town! Just got the information, the border army captured some Warat soldiers, and asked for some news: this time also led the army south to the south is by no means a simple plunder, but is ready to change according to the development of the situation! ”

"Be specific!"

"The head town! He is also ready to enter the customs first, and is ready to fight a protracted battle. This time, among the 100,000 troops led by the first, not only the soldiers and horses of the sweat tent, but also the soldiers and horses of the three guards of Wuliang Ha, it is said that the three guards of Wuliang Ha were coerced by the general Arazhiyuan to "make Ding Zhuang" and fight with him in the south; Not only did the three guards of Wuliang Ha accompany the expedition, but the Chijin Mongolian guards in the northwest also received orders from Yexian and raised troops as a countermeasure. ”

Hearing this, everyone's faces changed, and they were ready for both hands.

If Daming copes with it effectively, then it must be accepted when it is good, and run away when it is strong; Once the Ming Dynasty loses the battle, it will definitely attack with a large army first, and concentrate all the remaining forces of Warat to attack again!

At this time, Liu Juntao said in a deep voice: "Now what I care about is not the soldiers and horses that have also gone first, but the 150,000 iron horsemen who have already marched west!" Where are those soldiers and horses fighting now? ”

Liu Zi'an was slightly stunned, and then said: "There is no news for the time being, after all, the distance is too far, the intelligence department is not able to catch it, and even the imperial court has no exact news back." ”

Deputy Chief Soldier Hu Dexing frowned and asked, "What?" Is the town worried that the 150,000 iron cavalry expedition to the west is just a pretense, and the real killer weapon is actually this army? ”

"Exactly!"

Everyone was shocked.

If the Tiance army is entangled by the 100,000 iron cavalry of Yexian, the main army of the 150,000 Warat suddenly joins the battle, even if the Tiance army is strong, it will be difficult to defeat the fists with both hands!

Hu Dexing said: "In this case, the town should immediately inform the military of this speculation!" ”

Liu Juntao nodded, and immediately asked the Central Department to write a document and report it to Yu Qian, the secretary of the Ministry of War, and also wrote in the text that it was recommended that the Tiance Army directly garrison Datong Town, so as to echo Shanxi Town in the west and Xuanfu Town in the east.

Then, Liu Juntao said in a deep voice: "No matter what, our army must go all out in this battle, go north first and confront Ye first, and stabilize the situation on the nine sides." ”

Hu Dexing asked: "Then what is the strength of our army in this battle?" ”

This is what everyone is most concerned about, and for a while, everyone's eyes were focused on Liu Juntao.

Liu Juntao pondered for a moment, and then said: "The trapped army stays behind, and the rest of the armies all go north to participate in the battle!" ”

Hearing the news, except for Zhang Xiaojun, the general of the trapping army, all the other generals cheered.

Zhang Xiaojun was slightly disappointed and got up to receive his order.

Liu Juntao said to Zhang Xiaojun with a smile: "The Yanzhou Mansion garrisoned by the trapping army is the foundation of our Shandong Town, and the trapping army cannot be moved lightly, and the burden on General Zhang's shoulders is still very heavy!" ”

Zhang Xiaojun said with a smile: "Don't worry, the general understands." It's just that I can't go north to kill Hu this time, and I have some regrets in my heart, so please kill more Tartars and export evil anger for the soldiers of my trapped army! ”

A few days later, Yu Qian, the secretary of the Ministry of War, received a report from Liu Juntao, and he also recognized Liu Juntao's speculation very much, and agreed to the suggestion that the Tiance Army should be stationed in Datong Town.

After that, Yu Qian sent the march route of the Tiance army north to Datong Town, and the state capitals along the way provided the army with the required grain and baggage, and limited the Tiance army to arrive at Datong Town within a month to guard all parts of the nine sides!

At the beginning of November of the fourth year of Jingtai, Liu Juntao, the chief military officer of Shandong Town, led more than 100,000 soldiers of the Tiance Army to assemble in the city of Jinan, and set off from here to Datong Town.