I don't know since when, the pre-imperial meeting formed a pattern of civil officials speaking first and military generals speaking later, and the same is true today, so when Huang Zicheng and Qi Tai spoke, Xu Huizu, Song Sheng and others just listened quietly, pondered, and signaled to each other with their eyes.

Of course, this is also Zhu Yunwen's intention: whether to fight or not is not something that a military general should consider, and how to win is the general's job.

Lian Zining was slightly unfamiliar with the military, and everything he could say was for Huang Zicheng to say, so he could only keep silent at the moment.

In the end, Zhuo Jing stood up and arched his hand: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that what Lord Huang and Lord Qi said is very true, and our court must respond to Annan's provocation and send Chen Tianping back to Annan to take the throne." ”

"I don't think there's a problem with that."

"However, Chen Tianping's entry into Annan will inevitably lead to a war with Annan, the reason is very simple, the Hu family and the Chen family can no longer stand side by side, either Chen Tianping will destroy the Hu family, or the Hu family will destroy Chen Tianping, in addition, there is no third possibility."

"So Weichen thinks that I, Daming, must be ready to start a war with Annan and completely exterminate the Hu rebels, but there are not a few food, grass, and soldiers needed, because Annan is not easy to deal with."

"Annan was originally the homeland of China, in the past, Qin Shi Huang pacified Lingnan, placed Guilin, Xiang County, Xiang County jurisdiction for the west of the two Guangxi and the whole territory of Annam, and then the two Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, are Chinese territory, indisputable."

"During the period of five dynasties and ten kingdoms, in the second year of Tianfu in the Later Jin Dynasty, Wu Quan, a local nobleman in Annam, launched a rebellion and established himself as a festival envoy, and the Southern Han State at that time sent troops to conscript, and was defeated in the Baiteng River, after which the Southern Han State was unable to conquer again, and Wu Quan established himself outside China two years later."

"After that, the two Song Dynasty and the Mongol Yuan were unable to recover Annan, and it has been more than 400 years since Annan became independent."

"The two Song Dynasty did not have the ability to conquer the Southern Han, and the Meng and Yuan made a total of three expeditions before and after, only the first one was successful, but only the superficial submission of Annan was obtained, and the other two times failed."

"The first expedition of the Meng Yuan to Annam occurred in the seventh year of the reign of the Emperor Xianzong of the Meng Yuan, when the Meng Yuan adopted a roundabout strategy against the Southern Song Dynasty, conquered Dali in Yunnan, and threatened the Southern Song Dynasty from the south."

"Yunnan and Annam are close at hand, and the commander of the army, Wuliang Hatai, ordered Annam to submit."

"At that time, Annam was in the weakening of the Li clan and the rise of the Chen clan, the king Chen Rixuan refused to surrender, and Wuliang Hatai led his troops south along the Red River to break the Annam army, and Annam was afraid and surrendered to Meng Yuan."

"However, Annan was only superficially subservient, and the Chen clan politely refused all of Meng Yuan's requests for him to enter the court, send his son as a hostage, set up Daru Huachi, and requisition and transfer military rations, and adopted a delaying strategy, which caused Yuan Shizu to be angry."

"In the twenty-first year of the Yuan Dynasty and the twenty-fourth year of the Yuan Dynasty, Yuan Shizu twice sent his son Tuhuan to conquer Annam, but both suffered heavy defeats."

"According to the process of Meng Yuan's two conquests of Annam, Annan had no less than 300,000 troops, and after Meng Yuan's two expeditions, each time the troops were more than 100,000, but they were both defeated."

"Now although my Ming national strength is stronger than that of Mengyuan, but also can not be underestimated in Annan, in addition, the weather in Annan is hot and humid, malaria is rampant, and the army of Mengyuan in the past has suffered a large number of casualties and attrition, so it is not to be careful."

With Zhuo Jing's words, everyone fell into deep thought, and everyone realized that this was a thorny issue, and couldn't help but turn their eyes to Emperor Zhu Yunwen.

Hearing Zhuo Jing's analysis, Zhu Yunwen admired in his heart, this Zhuo Jing is indeed good at military strategy, although it is suspected of talking on paper, but for a civilian official, it is not easy.

Zhu Yunwen thought for a while, raised his hand and said to Lian Zining: "Lian Aiqing, what do you think?" ”

"Back to Your Majesty, the minister agrees with your lordship's opinion, it is imperative to escort Chen Tianping, but it must be done carefully."

"Well, that's very good," Zhu Yunwen nodded with satisfaction, turned his head to look at several important ministers of the Military Aircraft Department, and said, "I also think that it is necessary to escort Chen Tianping into Annam, but this matter is not trivial, what do the generals of the Military Aircraft Department think about this?" ”

Xu Huizu, Song Sheng, Wu Gao and others glanced at each other, and finally Song Sheng, who was on duty this month, stood up and spoke: "Your Majesty, since Chen Tianping's identity was confirmed, the Military Aircraft Department has ordered the Military Intelligence Bureau to collect all kinds of intelligence, and then conduct war games to predict the future war. ”

"As Lord Zhuo said just now, Meng Yuan attacked Annam twice, and the number of troops dispatched was more than 150,000, so the Military Aircraft Department estimated that to defeat Hu Hancang and send Chen Tianping back, the strength of our army would be at least more than 200,000."

"Since Your Majesty ascended the throne, my Ming Dynasty has expanded in the north, and the results have been brilliant, and my Ming Dynasty has successively established the Suiyuan Division, the Rehe Division, the Jilin Division, the Heilongjiang Division, the Korean Division, and the Haidong Division, and the Haidong Division, that is, the Wa Island, is still in a fierce battle."

"The total number of troops in these areas is around half a million, and they cannot be mobilized unless they are absolutely necessary, otherwise these areas are likely to be gained and lost, and it will be very difficult to recover in the future."

"In addition, even if the commander-in-chief of the conscription army can end the war by the end of this year as expected, most of the conscription army will not be able to be mobilized in the short term."

"Moreover, considering the climate of Annam, the only troops that our army can mobilize can be the pro-army and the guards stationed in the inland capital division and the Beijing division, but it is not easy to transfer 200,000 people from these places to conquer Annam, and there is no certainty of victory."

"In addition, the Varat in the northwest did not attack the Timurid Khanate as expected, resulting in a great loss to the Chagatai Khanate that attacked earlier, and has asked for help from Zhang Fu, the capital of Gansu, who reported to the Military Aircraft Department after hearing the news, and at the same time sent an envoy to inquire about the situation in Warat, but there is no result yet."

"So there will be a worry that Warat is likely to merge with the Golden Family and advance eastward again, then the first to bear the brunt is the two cities of Chengde in Rehe and Tongliao in Jilin, especially Tongliao City."

"Tongliao City is lonely and plugged outside, the geographical location is extremely important, but it is extremely difficult to replenish supplies, and the railway connecting Siping and Tongliao has not yet been fully penetrated, so the garrison of Tongliao City is only 8,000 people, including 5,000 cavalry troops, 3,000 infantry troops, and the grain and grass in the city are only enough to last for 3 months."

"Tongliao City is a place that I must defend, and it is also a place that Mongolia must fight, and the northeast, Rehe, Hebei and other places have more military strength, but the grain is insufficient, once the war starts, the imperial court is bound to transfer grain and grass to the northeast and Hebei."

"If our army is caught in a bitter battle in Annam at that time, then with the conquest of the Japanese army and the supply supplement from the north, our DPRK needs to meet the needs of 600,000 troops at the same time, and the burden is a bit heavy."

"To sum up, the last general thought that it would be difficult to send troops to Annam on a large scale, and it would be easy to fall into a dilemma, and even lose troops!"

"That's all the last general has to say, please ask Your Majesty to judge!"

If Zhuo Jing's words made everyone realize that it was not easy to conquer Annan, then Song Sheng's words were equivalent to explaining that it was impossible to conquer Annan on a large scale, and this was obviously contrary to His Majesty's style all along, so everyone held their breath and peeked at Zhu Yunwen's face in horror.

Zhu Yunwen's face was a little gloomy, he wanted to interrupt Song Sheng's words several times, but in the end he gave up, he knew Song Sheng's loyalty, and what he said did make sense.

No matter how important Annam is, it is not as important as the Wa Kingdom and Mongolia.

The former is to give the Ming a chance to face the ocean and avoid falling into the island chain blockade in later generations; And the latter is the mortal enemy of the Ming Dynasty, no matter how much attention is paid to it.

In other words, if you are defeated in Annan, you can admit defeat and withdraw, and Annan will not dare to counterattack; Mongolia is not, once defeated, the Ming Dynasty will have to retreat to the Great Wall, the situation in northern Xinjiang will deteriorate suddenly, the Northeast, North Korea will inevitably appear repeatedly, not good, since the establishment of the Wen Dynasty since the new expansion of land will have to give up most of the risk, this risk, Zhu Yunwen can not afford to take it.

After a long time, Zhu Yunwen asked: "Song Sheng, is there accurate information about Wara's eastward advance?" ”

"Not yet!"

"Then why do you judge that?"

Song Sheng pondered for a while, and said: "Your Majesty, since the return of Waratsi, in order to isolate the Golden Family, our dynasty sent envoys to contact it, lured it westward, and destroyed the Timurid Khanate with the Chagatai Khanate, and divided its territory equally. ”

"After receiving the first five thousand pairs of armor and swords, the Chagatai Khanate sent troops as agreed; The fact that the Warat tribe, having received the same number of weapons, did not send troops as agreed, cannot but raise doubts about their intentions. ”

"In addition, according to the intelligence of the Military Intelligence Agency, the successor leader of Warat, Eseku, is very fond of his new concubine - Samur, Samur is the daughter of the former Mongolian Great Khan Erlebok, so Eseku is actually the son-in-law of the Golden Family, so it is not ruled out that Eseku may go east to support the Golden Family."

"Is it just because of this Samur that Eseku does not hesitate to be my enemy?"

Zhu Yunwen shook his head, a little reluctant to believe it.

Song Sheng hesitated for a moment and said, "Maybe Eseku is still on the sidelines, unwilling to give up the westward expansion of the grassland, hoping to see the success or failure of my Ming Dynasty and the Golden Family's decision; Maybe Eseku still has the ambition to dominate the grassland, so I can't help but guard against it. ”

This time it was Zhu Yunwen's turn to be silent...

What to do? There is some truth in what Song Sheng said, it is impossible for Daming to start a war in three directions at the same time, but Hu Hancang has already opened a handicap, is it true that my Daming will not dare to accept it?

......