April 30 of the first year of Chenghua.

Emperor Chenghua officially issued an order, ordering Liu Juntao, a scholar of Xianghou, a scholar of the Ministry of War, and a scholar of Wenyuange, to lead the military affairs of the six provinces of Shanxi, Shandong, Shaanxi, Gansu, Hanhai Prefecture, and Beizhili, and lead the army to the west to meet the army of the leader of the Qikeli Department, and to recover Hamiwei and attack the Western Regions!

After Liu Juntao received the order, he issued an order in the name of the military department, ordering the soldiers and horses of the six provinces to start mobilizing immediately, and ordered the military department, the household department, the shogunate business department and the civil department to start mobilizing money, grain, baggage, and military equipment, and transported the materials needed by the army to Taiyuan Fucheng for hoarding within a time limit.

At the same time, the household department also began to recruit people, the military department began to set up military stations, plan the westward route of various armies, and the war machine of the Ming Empire began to roar!

The Yamen of the Ministry of War.

Liu Juntao stood on top of the lobby in armor, Lan Siqi, Minister of the Central Department, Xiang Qun, Minister of the Military Department, Liu Zi'an, Minister of the Intelligence Department, Huang Wu, Minister of the Inspection Department, Zhang Yuqing, Minister of the Praise and Painting Department, and Menda, the commander of the Beizhen Fusi, gathered together, in addition to more than 20 waiters from the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Households.

"In this battle, all the departments of the Tiance Army stationed in Shanxi were dispatched, and the Tiger Army, the Eagle Yang Army, the Yue Cavalry Army, and the Zhichong Army immediately opened and escorted the army that arrived in Taiyuan Mansion within a time limit to send heavy supplies to Pingyang Mansion Madouguan to station, this road soldiers and horses are the South Road Army, waiting for the order of this Xian attack!"

"Order the chief officer of Gansu Town to immediately lead an army of 30,000 to aid Jiayuguan, arrive within a time limit of ten days, and immediately cut off if the deadline is delayed!"

"Order all the troops and horses in Shaanxi to immediately assemble on the front line of Gansu and Jiayuguan, and defend the danger east of Jiayuguan.

"Order Zhou Zongsheng, the chief officer of Hanhai Town, to immediately send troops, lead the Changshui Army and the 50,000 servants of the Hanhai Metropolitan Protectorate to march westward from the Hanhai Metropolitan Protectorate, and raid Hamiwei through Juyanhai! The soldiers and horses on this road are the army of the North Road. ”

"Order the Gyeonggi garrison to strengthen its vigilance, and at the same time recruit and transfer troops and horses from Miyun Town, Changping Town, Jizhou Town, Fengtai Daying and other places, and set out 30,000 troops together. Two days later, the Gyeonggi army marched west with the Longxiang army, and arrived at Madouguan in Binh Duong Province to join the army on the South Road! ”

"Order Hu Dexing, the governor of Shandong, to prepare for the expedition, and lead the soldiers of the trapping army together with Zhang Xiaojun, the chief military officer of Shandong Town, and prepare to send troops north to stabilize and protect the Beijing division!"

Speaking of this, everyone in the lobby gasped, and their hearts were surging.

Liu Juntao's arrangement is an unprecedented big scene, and there has never been such a big deal for so many years!

Except for the trapping army sitting in the rear and stabilizing the Beijing division, all the rest of the troops went out to fight, with a total strength of about 115,000; The Hanhai Protectorate sent 50,000 troops from the iron cavalry, 30,000 troops from various towns in Gyeonggi, and 30,000 troops led by the chief military officer of Gansu Town to rush to the aid of Jiayuguan, which had already mobilized 22 or 30,000 troops.

Coupled with the tens of thousands of soldiers and horses on the front line of Gansu and Jiayuguan from all roads in Shaanxi, the strength of the Ming army this time has been around 300,000!

In particular, the hearts of the people in the shogunate were even more excited, in the past, everyone followed Liu Juntao on the expedition, basically at a disadvantage in terms of troops, at best, it was equivalent to the enemy's strength.

And now, although the Ming army seems to be on par with the soldiers and horses of the leader of the Qikeli Division, the Ming army has all the departments of the Tiance Army, the elite of the Beijing camp, and the iron cavalry army of the Hanhai Protectorate, and the rest of the soldiers and horses are also the elite of the nine sides, which can show that the army is much higher than the enemy in terms of combat power!

This kind of battle with obvious advantages is the first time for everyone!

After the deployment, Liu Juntao said to Menda, the commander of the Beizhen Fusi: "Lord Men, now that the Jingshi has just stabilized, after the army goes out, it will definitely make all parties think about it, and then we will need to make more efforts from Lord Men!" ”

Menda immediately clenched his fists and said: "Please rest assured, the humble duty must do his best, during the war, the Beijing division will be as stable as Mount Tai, and the humble duty will never allow the small people to take the opportunity to make trouble, the Hou Ye can only lead the army to fight and return triumphantly!" ”

"Good!"

Liu Juntao said to the soldiers again: "After the war, this constitution will lead the army to the battle, the affairs of the military department are complicated, you must do your best, this battle will lay a hundred years of peace in the northwest of the Ming Dynasty, and there will be no problems!" The rear armament and baggage must be sufficient to reach the front line, if the large army is lacking, don't blame Benxian for turning his face ruthlessly! ”

The waiters hurriedly clasped their fists and said: "The lower officials must do their best to ensure that the front-line army is worry-free!" ”

Liu Juntao nodded with satisfaction, and said to several servants in the household department: "Lord Shangshu was summoned by His Majesty today, and I think Your Majesty also has the affairs of the war to explain, so this constitution will explain a few words to you." ”

"Please Dingxiang Marquis, we will do our best."

"How is the recruitment of the people needed by the army?"

A head of the household department said: "Qi Ding Xianghou, at present, the household department has been in conjunction with the northern Zhili, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu army along the route of the state capitals, counties, a total of 1.18 million people, and the Ministry of War consultation, along the way set up 93 military stations, where the army will be assisted by the relay of the people, every 70 to 90 miles, there is a military station for the army soldiers to rest, food, please rest assured!" ”

Hearing this, Liu Juntao was very satisfied.

In the past, Liu Juntao led the army to the expedition, basically as a single general to lead the army, and this time he commanded several provinces of soldiers and horses, hundreds of thousands of troops to go out, as the commander of the whole army.

The command techniques involved in this are also different, although Liu Juntao has also been involved in the large-scale military station and the large-scale recruitment of civilian husbands before, it is far less detailed and comprehensive than today.

Liu Juntao said: "That's good! After the army goes on the march, the money, food, and baggage required by the army must be guaranteed to be continuous, and a batch of goods must arrive at the front line every ten days, and it must be ensured that there is enough food, grass, and baggage for a month in the army, otherwise this constitution will kill people! ”

The servants of the household department hurriedly responded and promised.

Liu Juntao looked around at everyone and asked, "If you still have any difficulties and questions, you can talk about them together today, and everyone can discuss them together." If you don't mention it today, don't say anything in the future, once something goes wrong, it will be the end of the head! ”

Everyone was silent for a moment, and then the household servant saluted and said: "Qi Qi Dingxianghou, the lower official dares to ask: How long is this battle Dingxianghou going to fight?" What is the result of the army? After all, this war will have to recruit 300,000 elite troops, as well as more than 1 million people, and the treasury will spend a huge amount of money. ”

Liu Juntao said: "This is what you should ask, it's okay!" The duration of this battle will be at least nine months to a year and a half, which is only a conservative estimate, and judging from the strength of the head of the Ghaslan Division, this period is very likely to be delayed. ”

Everyone's faces began to be a little solemn, and the excitement and enthusiasm at the beginning also subsided a little.

"As for the results that Benxian is preparing to get in this battle, it is not just about recovering Hamiwei!"

It is not surprising that the people of the shogunate were calm and composed, and they had long known about Liu Juntao's ambitions; Beizhen Fusi commanded Menda and more than a dozen attendants of the military department only changed color slightly, and after getting along with Liu Juntao during this time, he also knew Liu Juntao's courage, so he was naturally not too surprised.

However, the faces of the few household servants changed greatly, and everyone hurriedly asked.

Liu Juntao said: "In this battle, Benxian has three purposes: first, to recover Hamiwei!" Second, defeat the army of the Ganslan Division, completely eliminate the Qikeli Division, and completely ban the Hui cult spread by the Division! Third, march into the Western Regions and rebuild the Beiting Metropolitan Protectorate and the Anxi Metropolitan Protectorate! ”

Hearing this, everyone only felt that the qi and blood rushed to the Baihui acupoint above their heads, which was a feat of expanding the territory and rebuilding the majesty of the Han and Tang Dynasties!

Previously, Liu Juntao led the army to rebuild the Hanhai Metropolitan Protectorate, which has made everyone feel extremely glorious, and now Liu Juntao wants to rebuild the Anxi Metropolitan Protectorate and the Beiting Metropolitan Protectorate, once successful, the people will go down in history and be praised by future generations!

However, the few household servants still had some doubts, and said: "We admire the ambition of the Marquis of Dingxiang and the confidence of His Majesty, and I will do my best to work for it." But such a big war will definitely exert the strength of the whole country, and the lower officials and others are worried about whether the national strength can be supported, and whether the rebuilt Anxi Metropolitan Protectorate and Beiting Imperial Protectorate will bring taxes and manpower to the national dynasty, and whether it will become a burden for the national dynasty! ”

Liu Juntao also nodded in approval, these household servants are all honest and outspoken people, which is very good.

"The establishment of the Anxi Metropolitan Protectorate and the Beiting Metropolitan Protectorate is to firmly hold the entire Western Regions in my hands and become the bag of my Ming Dynasty! With the Western Regions, you can rebuild the Silk Road, you can be in the Western Regions, and communicate with the Western countries, as long as time passes, the Western Regions will become the golden jade basin of the dynasty, you don't have to worry about this. ”

Then, Liu Juntao continued: "Moreover, to recover the Western Regions, we must not only look at money and interests, but also look at integrity!" Since the defeat of the Tang Dynasty, I have lost the territory of thousands of miles west of the Western Regions, and then the Anshi Rebellion gradually lost the Western Regions, and it has been hundreds of years to this day, this is the shame of my China! ”

"In this battle, my Daming Tiger Ben is going westward and westward! It is necessary to let the banner of the Han family fly again on the snow-capped mountains and grasslands of the Western Regions, let all ethnic groups in the Western Regions wear Han costumes, perform Han salutes, and speak Chinese, and let the Western Regions, which has been subjected to Hu Chen for hundreds of years, return to civilization and the embrace of China! After this battle, my Ming Dynasty will begin to examine the four seas and eight wildernesses, and my Ming Dynasty's tiger and Chinese warships will make the world full of Han style! ”

"We are willing to gallop thousands of miles with the Marquis of Dingxiang and spread the style of the Han family!"