"I do have an idea." Zhu Youxiao nodded and said.

"The emperor said to listen to it." Xiao asked curiously.

"This time, I plan to make woolen wool into military uniforms and promote it in the army first. I want to change the aesthetic view of the empire and implement a new style of military uniform, gradually extending from the military to the people. Zhu Youxiao thought about it and said.

"Why start with the military?" Xiao Xiao asked.

"Soldiers take obedience to orders as their duty, and the acceptance of new clothes among the people will definitely be very low, and people may not be willing to wear them, but in the army, I order them to wear them, and they must all wear them, and I will keep about 1.5 million regular troops in the future, and if you think about it, 1.5 million people will wear new clothes, and in a few years, maybe more than ten years, everyone in the empire will accept this new style of clothing." Zhu Youxiao explained.

"Wool military uniforms? What about cotton nails? Xiao Xiao asked.

"I plan to divide the military uniform into two categories, one is for daily wear, and the other is for wartime, and the military uniform worn daily must be solemn, mighty, handsome, and temperamental, so as to attract the young people of the empire to join the army, and the military uniform worn in wartime is practical." Zhu Youxiao continued to explain.

"But this will increase military spending." A small reminder.

"Clothing doesn't add much expense, the biggest expense is the consumables in the army, for example, this battle with Houjin costs millions of taels of silver, which is why if this battle is not won, I will not be able to wage such a large-scale war for a few years. Moreover, once Mongolia is stabilized, it will actually save a lot of military spending every year, and I will also be able to devote myself to expansion at sea. Zhu Youxiao said.

"I understand, Feng Qiuhuang will fully cooperate with the emperor's actions." Xiao nodded and said.

……

On the sixth day of October, Xiong Tingbi's army arrived on the west bank of the Liao River.

"Is there any possibility that the river will freeze these days?" Xiong Tingbi asked.

"The last general has asked, it is very likely that the end of the month will be frozen, people can pass, but the artillery can't pass, if the weather goes cold again, the number of soldiers with frostbite will increase sharply." Lu Xiangsheng said.

"It seems that we can't wait for the river to freeze, and we must fight quickly." Xiong Tingbi said.

"It's a pity that the Shandong Navy can't come, otherwise, with the help of the Navy in this battle, the difficulty of crossing the river will be much reduced." Lu Xiangsheng said.

"Can our heavy artillery hit the other side?" Xiong Tingbi held up his binoculars and looked at the camp on the other side of the river and asked.

"The latest artillery can barely bombard the nearest enemy battalion near us." Lu Xiangsheng replied.

"After the heavy artillery arrives, first bombard the Jianyu on the opposite side, let the Jianyu retreat a little further, and then look for an opportunity to cross the river." Xiong Tingbi said.

"The general thought that we could cross the river by pontoon, and that it was faster to cross the river by pontoon than by boat." Lu Xiangsheng suggested.

"It is indeed feasible to build a pontoon bridge, after our army crosses the river, the cavalry of Jianyu will definitely attack first, to drive our army down the river, we can first send cavalry to cross the river and seize the beachhead, as long as we can win a beachhead and let our army gain a firm foothold, we will win this battle by seven points." Xiong Tingbi nodded and said.

……

On the eighth day of October, all the heavy artillery of the Ming army was transported to the camp.

At noon on the ninth day of October, the heavy artillery of the Ming army officially opened fire.

With a loud bang, the Ming army fired the first shell, and the first shell was a test firing so that the Ming army could adjust the firing angle. The first shell hit more than 500 meters away from the Houjin camp. Although this cannon did not hit the camp of the Houjin army, it also frightened the Houjin army.

"What's going on?" Hearing the sound, Huang Taiji walked out of the big tent of the Chinese army and asked.

"Great Khan, the thieves shelled the camp of our army, and the shells fell about four hundred paces away from the camp." Fan Wencheng bowed and replied.

"Can the thief's cannon hit so far now?" Huang Taiji said in surprise.

"Great Khan, you should immediately order the whole army to retreat......" Fan Wencheng's words were not finished, the artillery fire of the Ming army had already hit the front camp of the Houjin army, and then the overwhelming shells swarmed in.

Since the first shell of the Ming army, the Houjin army has been prepared, but from the first shell to the front army camp that hit the Houjin army, the speed is too fast, and the army of the front camp has not received the order to retreat, it has been covered by the artillery fire of the Ming army.

"Order, the army retreats five miles." Huang Taiji said with a blue face.

The Houjin army suffered setbacks one after another, making the entire Houjin camp no longer as confident as it was at the beginning, and even Huang Taiji's own confidence was shaken. On the contrary, the confidence of the Ming army soared and the morale was high.

Seeing that the Houjin army was bombarded by the Ming army and retreated five miles, the Ming army camp resounded with a burst of cheers.

At the tenth day of October, 90,000 Ming troops were ready to cross the Liao River.

The first 5,000 soldiers to go out were to take a pontoon bridge, which means going into the water, and now the weather is more than ten degrees below zero, and the river can be said to be cold and biting.

"Don't say much, be loyal to the empire, be loyal to Your Majesty, I respect everyone for this bowl of wine, do it!" Xiong Tingbi held up the wine bowl and said.

"Loyal to the Empire, loyal to Your Majesty!" Five thousand soldiers shouted.

After saying that, everyone drank the bowl of wine in one go.

"Get into the water!" Xiong An gave an order, and the soldiers at the front jumped into the water and began to build a pontoon bridge.

"Remember to change people every two quarters of an hour." Xiong Tingbi admonished.

"No."

……

The second group set off was the winged cavalry, 3,000 winged cavalry in the battle of the Liaohe River, in order to compete with the cavalry of the Later Jin and gain time to seize the beachhead, Xiong Tingbi had to use this most elite force.

"This battle is related to the overall situation, and you are related to the success or failure of this battle, I need you to hold on for half an hour, do you understand?" Xiong Tingbi said loudly.

"Understood." Everyone said in unison.

"I understand, you also understand, this battle is nine deaths, but Your Majesty often says that if no one generously goes to the death today to shake our country's prestige, he will not have a latecomer to reorganize the rivers and mountains, and today has come to the time for the empire, for Your Majesty's generosity to die and shake our country's prestige, today's war is even if the last person is killed, and it will never be allowed to retreat, if you retreat, the whole army will be in danger. Wine, we will not drink it for the time being, and after the big victory, I will personally serve you wine. Xiong Tingbi said.

"Loyal to the Empire, loyal to Your Majesty!" Lu Xianggao shouted.

"Loyal to the Empire, loyal to Your Majesty!" Three thousand winged cavalry shouted together. The hussars' horses seemed to be infected by this atmosphere, and let out bursts of neighing sounds.

"Let's go!" Lu Xiangsheng swung his big knife vigorously and shouted loudly.

(End of chapter)