November of the sixth year of Tianshun.

Hu Dexing, the commander-in-chief of Shandong Town, led the trapping army, the Vietnamese cavalry army, and the Zhichong army, and nearly 60,000 soldiers arrived at Datong Town.

Zhang Xiaojun, deputy commander-in-chief of Shandong Town, stayed in Jinan Fucheng and commanded the reserve soldiers in the training camps in Yushan Town and other places to be stationed in various places. The trapping army was temporarily commanded by Liu Youfu, a guerrilla general of the right battalion.

Liu Juntao led a group of generals of the Tiance Army stationed in Shanxi, as well as a group of officials of the Shogunate of the Shanxi Governor's Mansion to greet the soldiers outside the south gate.

The acting king and the prefect of Datong Prefecture also sent people to greet him, and the prefect of Datong Prefecture also mobilized a large number of grain and grass troops.

After everyone greeted each other, Liu Juntao ordered the officers and men of the army to camp directly outside the north gate of Datong Town, and Hu Dexing, the chief military officer of Shandong Town, and a group of guerrilla generals and above followed Liu Juntao into the city, ready to wait for Liu Juntao's dispatch.

Shanxi Governor's Palace.

The generals of the Tiance Army gathered together, and everyone hadn't seen each other for a long time, and they all greeted each other.

Liu Juntao smiled and waved his hand, letting everyone sit first, so all the military generals were on the right and the shogunate officials were on the left, and everyone took their seats to listen to the order.

Liu Juntao first inquired about the preparation of the army's money and food.

Tang Yu, Minister of Commerce, and Guo Yongzhong, Minister of Civil Affairs, successively made reports.

At this time, the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Civil Affairs had already raised a large amount of grain and grass, enough for the soldiers of the 13 or 40,000 Tiance Army to eat for more than three months, and also mobilized 4 million taels of silver as the military salary of the army, and silver would be mobilized one after another to ensure the logistics of the army.

After that, the Intelligence Department and the Inspection Department also made a report, and the two departments have sorted out the information they have collected and submitted it to the Central Department, the Zanhua Department, and the Military Department as the basis for formulating battle plans, planning the northward military station, and formulating various strategies.

The Central Department and the Zanhua Department also reported on their respective preparations.

The military department even came up with a detailed battle plan for going north, in which more than 130,000 soldiers of the Tiance Army would go all the way north, and the troops would be directed at the tent of the Tatar army, forcing the main army of the Tatar army to fight a decisive battle with it, preparing to complete the battle and completely solve the problem of the Tatar department.

Looking at the excited expressions of everyone present, Liu Juntao said proudly: "Everyone! The purpose of this battle is not only to defeat the Tatars, not only to force the Tatars to cease fighting and sue for peace, but also to completely annihilate the Tatars and completely annex the desert! ”

Speaking of this, Liu Juntao said loudly: "In this battle, this governor is ready to rebuild the Hanhai Protectorate in the land occupied by the Tatar Department and the Warat Department, as a barrier for my emperor!" ”

This is a frontier expansion!

For the warriors, this is not only the supreme glory, but also the ultimate goal pursued by victory. It was also a great honor for the people of the shogunate.

For a while, everyone was cheering and fighting spirit.

Then, Liu Juntao ordered that all the units of the Tiance Army would gather in the camp outside the north gate of Datong Town two days later and swear to go on the expedition!

The prefect of Datong Prefecture learned the news on the same day, and two days later, he gathered all the officials and gentry in Datong Town early, and presented the pigs, sheep, and wine sent by the people in the city to Liu Juntao outside the north gate. The king also sent an envoy to see off the army.

In this regard, Liu Juntao is very happy and gladly accepts.

The prefect of Datong Mansion and the envoy of the Acting Wang's Mansion looked at the soldiers with clear banners and momentum, and their hearts were very excited, and they immediately wrote poems for the soldiers.

The people of Datong Town also rushed to the vicinity of the north gate to see off the army, and Xue Tong, the chief military officer of Datong Town, also led a group of subordinates to come. ”

Outside the North Gate Tower, there were more than a dozen gorgeously dressed merchants looking at the boundless military array, and these people were all wealthy merchants who had a lot of dealings with the Ministry of Commerce. After hearing the news that Liu Juntao was about to go to the outside of the Saiwai, these wealthy businessmen immediately rushed over, wanting to see the army of the expedition, and at the same time preparing to undertake some business of transporting grain, grass and baggage for the army, and to see if they could summon a group of people and horses to follow the army to the outside of the Saiwai to grab a look.

At this time, after seeing the hundreds of thousands of Tiance soldiers in front of them, the hearts of these wealthy businessmen were all relaxed.

I saw that the army outside the city was divided into several huge phalanxes according to the battalion, and each large phalanx was divided into several small phalanxes according to different types of troops; The soldiers did not move in the cold wind, like a tall green pine, and the whole expedition was orderly and magnificent!

In the center of several huge phalanxes, there are three flags fluttering in the cold wind, from left to right are the military flag of the Tiance Army, the handsome flag of Liu Juntao, the governor of Shanxi, and the taller Ming Sun and Moon Jintao battle flag.

The soldiers of the Tiance Army who went out on the expedition were even more powerful, each wearing a brand-new red mandarin duck battle jacket inside, a helmet on the outside, wearing a layer of stainless steel armor, and on the outside was a cloth armor sewn with silk, which was used to defend against the arrows of the Tartars, which could be said to be armed to the teeth.

I saw that the soldiers of the Tiance Army were wearing iron net combat boots under their feet, wearing iron wire gloves on their hands, and wearing eight-petal brass and bright iron helmets on their heads, and even the faces of the soldiers were wearing hideous iron masks.

Looking from afar, I saw that the wilderness was full of fiery red, and the bright red uniforms of the soldiers of the Tiance Army seemed to burn everything in the world, mighty and warm!

Not to mention the jungle-like bayonets, the cold light of the long knives that cut horses, just the black and shiny fine flintlock bird guns, the heavy and thick Shenji gun carriages, and all kinds of artillery are enough to make the onlookers and wealthy businessmen tremble and excited.

An elderly wealthy businessman couldn't help but sigh: "The soldiers under the command of Ning Beibo are so elite and so well-equipped, it seems that we are betting on the right treasure this time." In this battle, the dynasty will definitely be able to defeat the Tartars and return triumphantly! ”

The surrounding wealthy businessmen all thought it was true and were overjoyed.

At the same time, Lan Siqi, the head of the Central Committee, led the left-behind officials of the Central Committee, the Ministry of Commerce, and the Ministry of Civil Affairs, as well as the left-behind generals such as Xue Tong, the chief military officer of Datong Town, all came to march for the army.

Looking at the soldiers of the Tiance Army who went out on the expedition, Xue Tong, the chief officer of Datong Town, and others all said with red faces: "My soldiers of the Tiance Army are so strong, how many people are left in the Tatar Department after this battle?" Won't we have no chance of conquering the Tartar captives? ”

When Liu Juntao heard this, he comforted Xue Tong and the others, and said that now that Hamiwei has not been recovered, there are still strong enemies around the Ming Dynasty, and he guarantees that he will try his best to bring everyone with him when he goes on the next expedition, so that everyone can also follow him to make contributions.

After talking for a while, Liu Juntao saw that the auspicious time for the expedition had arrived, so he said, "Everyone, the hour is not early, please go back." Shanxi will ask you to take care of it, and wait until the day of the great victory of the dynasty and the triumph of the soldiers, let's drink another 300 cups! ”

After speaking, Liu Juntao hugged his fists goodbye to everyone who came to see him off.

Looking at Liu Juntao, who turned over and got on the horse, and looked at the soldiers of the army marching north, everyone's hearts were not only reluctant, but also full of pride, and high respect for the heroes who defended the country.

At this time, Xue Tong, the chief military officer of Datong Town, suddenly shouted loudly: "Beat the war drums!" Heroic for the brethren! ”

The generals of Datong Town behind Xue Tong shouted in unison: "Beat the war drums!" ”

Suddenly, all the war drums on the head of Datong Town rang out, and the majestic war drums resounded in the sky, and the surrounding people and officials were all infected by the passionate war drums, and they raised their arms and shouted to cheer for the soldiers who went out to fight.

At this time, the phalanx of more than 130,000 marching troops also sounded a loud war song:

"Wearing iron armor and carrying a long knife. The battle with the son is long. Fight with the enemy, die and live together. Fight with your son, and your heart will not be slack. Step on the swallow and chase the beard. Fight with the son, and sing fearlessly. ”

The words are divided into two ends, one for each table.

Since the fall of Guangning City, the commander-in-chief of Liaodong began to rectify the defense of Liaodong according to his own ideas.

Because the general military officer of Liaodong had heard the news that the Tatar troops might advance eastward, he had stepped up training and repairing weapons, and the important materials such as grain, grass, and gunpowder needed in Liaodong could be supplied in a timely manner.

However, at this time, in the face of the increasingly obvious strategic attempt of the 100,000-strong army of the Tatar Army, the commander-in-chief of Liaodong was never ready for a full-scale war, did not hoard grain, grass, and weapons, and the defenders distributed throughout Liaodong did not mobilize in time to gather around Liaoyang and Shenyang.

Not only that, the commander-in-chief of Liaodong also showed kindness at a very bad time, and placed thousands of "refugees" who had evaded the Tatar army in Liaoyang City, and recruited hundreds of strong men as auxiliaries to assist the defenders in defending the city.

Although the idea of the chief military officer of Liaodong Town was good, he thought that those "refugees" would be grateful to him after being rescued, and would be able to serve the dynasty under his orders, so as to strengthen the defense of Liaoyang.

But the reality is often cruel, these "refugees" not only did not have gratitude and defend the city wholeheartedly, but instead committed adultery in Liaoyang City? The act of prostitution and plunder, for some orders of the chief military officer of Liaodong Town, also ignored, made the people in Liaoyang City resentful, and the soldiers defending the city were even more resentful, so the Ming army soldiers were in great turmoil. After these "refugees" entered Liaoyang City, not only did the defensive strength in the city not be enhanced, but also frequently vivid~ chaotic.

Faced with such a situation, the chief military officer of Liaodong Town also knew that he had done a stupid thing, so he wanted to move those "refugees" elsewhere.

But as the saying goes: it's easier to please God, but it's harder to send God.

As soon as the chief military officer of Liaodong Town issued the order to move out of the "refugees", the so-called refugees in Liaoyang City became noisy one after another, and those "refugee" soldiers who had been recruited before were even more clamoring, and even threatened the chief military officer of Liaodong Town with mutiny, and began to deliberately create chaos.