The Naadam Conference began on the 15th day of the 10th lunar month and ended on the 24th of October, and the tribes living in the vast area from outside the Jizhou Pass to the Zhangjiakou Pass basically sent people to participate in the conference.

And this Naadam conference did not disappoint the herdsmen who came to attend, they not only had a great time, but also received a lot of rewards from the emperor. Many young people also formed a fate at this conference, which added a bit of joy to this conference.

Compared to these carefree ordinary herdsmen, the tribal leaders who came to the assembly were probably glad for their choice. Those tribes on the edge of Liaodong, because they didn't want to offend Houjin, chose to ignore the emperor's orders, so they also got the emperor's revenge. Just after today's Naadam conference, the emperor will order the army to sweep these tribes.

Neither the ordinary herdsmen nor the tribal leaders who attended the Naadam assembly thought there was anything wrong with the emperor doing so. If these tribes had defied the emperor's orders and survived, they would have to look down on the cowardice of the Ming Kingdom. Now, regardless of whether or not their own children join the army of the Ming Kingdom, every tribe present hopes to reap some benefits from this war.

While the tribal leaders and herdsmen who participated in Naadam were waiting for the emperor's order to send troops, Zhu Youzhen was also holding a meeting with his temporary staff.

First, Zhuo Erbi reported to the Emperor the news of the completion of the formation of his cowardly Xue Wei, and then reported to the Emperor on Wednesday the battle plan to sweep the grassland.

Wednesday Wei walked to the map and said to everyone: "The minister and several staff officers mean to divide the troops into three main armies.

the western route to Chengde to the area of Chahanhot; The eastern route went south to Kuanhe City in Chengde and then turned to the original Daning wasteland until the Longshan area. This place is the territory of the Subudi Department of the 36 Guanmen who rebelled against our country, and further north is the territory of Burhatu, which is the place where the most Houjin tribes have fallen.

Therefore, the ministers and others thought that the deployment of the eastern and western route armies should be light in the west and heavy in the east. The western route should be dominated by peace talks, supplemented by armed attacks. The eastern route is mainly based on armed attack, supplemented by attacking the heart.

The main force of our army and the baggage troops were placed in the middle of the road, from Chengde to Karaqin Qingcheng in the middle and upper reaches of the Laoha River, and then sent a partial division to turn to the source of the Daling River and go down the river until it met with the East Route Army. The main force stayed in Karaqin Qingcheng, waiting for the opportunity to meet the east and west roads. ”

Wednesday paused at this point, turning his head to look at the Emperor and his colleagues, waiting for their different opinions. However, it was clear that everyone was quite satisfied with this battle plan, after all, there were only some loose Mongol tribes on the other side, not a Mongol army fighting with the Houjin.

Seeing that everyone was silent, Wednesday Wei opened his mouth and continued: "The Eight Banners of Loyalty led by Du Du on the East Road cooperate with the self-defense forces of the 36th Division, a total of 3,000 people.

On the west road, most of the cowardly Xue Wei led by Zhuo Erbi cooperated with a battalion of guards cavalry, totaling 1,500 people; The Middle Route Army consisted of the First Cavalry Division led by General Wu Huai, plus part of the troops stationed in Chengde, and the self-defense army of the 36th Division of Guanmen, totaling 6,500 people.

A total of 11,000 troops were mobilized. His Majesty led more than 4,000 people from the First Guards Division, the Imperial Guards and the Chengde Garrison to Chengde as a backup. ”

After listening to this, Zhu Youzhen couldn't help but ask with some curiosity: "According to this battle plan, the various departments outside the customs will mobilize seven or eight thousand people to fight with us, are they dissatisfied with the number of people we have transferred?" ”

Wednesday Wei immediately replied: "After deducting the number of cowardly Xue Wei, the Karaqin Self-Defense Army only sent about 5,000 troops, and for the entire Self-Defense Army, this only accounts for sixty percent of the troops, so it won't be too difficult."

In addition, last year, Houjin sent troops to attack our Jizhou area, and because the capture was not large, he plundered many tribes that passed by on the way back. Although we gave some relief this spring, the livestock population of these tribes has not fully recovered.

If they fight for us, they will receive rations, but if they return to their tribes, they will have to compete with women, the old and the weak. Therefore, the Self-Defense Forces have no dissatisfaction with the fight with our army. ”

Zhu Youzhen nodded slightly, and then asked: "How many tons of materials do we have to consume every day to support the 15,000-strong troops outside the pass?" How much supplies does Chengde have in stock? Where does Chengde's supply come from now? ”

Wednesday lowered his head and thought for a while, before replying: "According to our calculations, in addition to the hay eaten by the horses, 0 horses, the daily loss of materials has reached 80 tons.

There are more than 2,400 tons of various materials in the warehouse in Chengde, which can be used for more than 30 days. Chengde's supplies mainly come from Zunhua City, and 120 tons of materials arrive in Chengde every day.

However, as far as the minister knows, the transportation of materials from Tianjin to Zunhua has now been all transported by rail. 4 marshalling trucks per day, transporting 600 tons of goods a day, and the loss is less than half of it.

However, from Zunhua to Chengde, although a part of the waterway can be used, most of the time it is necessary to go by land, and there are only more than 200 miles between the two places, but the loss on the road has reached 30%, which is already the most outstanding efficiency of the logistics department.

The minister thought that if a railway could be built between Zunhua and Chengde, it would not only reduce the loss of material transportation, improve the efficiency of material transportation, but also shorten the time for the mobilization of troops between the two places. ”

Zhu Youzhen looked at the detailed list of materials handed over to him on Wednesday, strictly speaking, it would cost nearly 2,900 yuan just to feed these people and horses every day, not to mention the cost during the war.

He could only rejoice that he didn't want to build tens of thousands of cavalry troops, otherwise just raising them would make Daming's finances bankrupt.

After sighing for a while, Zhu Youzhen said to Wednesday: "Don't mention the railway in advance, let's talk about the materials first."

In addition to the combat armament*, Chengde had to reserve at least 100 days of food consumption, and let Zunhua send a batch of warm clothes and tents over. How do you think we can get these supplies to Chengde as quickly as possible? ”

Wednesday Wei just calculated, and then said: "According to Your Majesty's requirements, this will also transport at least 10,000 tons of materials to Chengde, plus the loss on the road, it is 13,000 tons."

With the current transportation capacity, it will take at least 100 days, and if we want to speed up, we will have to expand the number of people involved in transportation. In that case, the loss will increase, but within 30-40 days, the task should be completed. ”

Zhu Youzhen thought for a while and said: "With the loss, it is limited to 15,000 tons. As for manpower, isn't there more out there now? Zhuo Erbi go and gather the leaders of the various departments to recruit men, and try to complete the task of transporting supplies before the snow falls, otherwise, we will have to wait for the Luan River to freeze before we can continue transporting.

That's the end of the matter of material dispatch, and now I am telling you about the purpose of this battle. The reason why we want to send troops to fight against these tribes is not just because they are a wall between the Ming and the Houjin.

More importantly, we had to create a sufficiently spacious no-man's land between Houjin and Daming. It can be seen from the attack launched by Houjin last year that once they bypassed the Ningjin defensive line, we had to guess the direction of Houjin's attack on the line of the Great Wall for thousands of miles, which was unfavorable for Daming.

Because we couldn't defend the thousands of miles of border, we established a buffer zone outside the Great Wall. With Guannai as the back, the Mongolian departments on the steppe as the sentinel support, and then Fengzhen and Chengde as fists, in order to resist the detour invasion of Houjin.

But this is still a passive defense, and we need to be more proactive. Everyone has just heard that an army of more than 10,000 people needs so many supplies just for daily marching consumption.

From Shenyang to Chengde for more than 1,000 miles, the journey to the grassland detour through Fengzhen and Hetao areas is even farther. Houjin is a small country, and if we need to bring our own grain for each expedition, then we can drag him down just by dragging it out.

But if the Later Jin were able to collect grain and labor from the tribes on the road, then their expedition would not consume much of the Later Jin's national strength.

Therefore, starting from the Da and Xiao Ling Rivers, to the Xilamulun River, and ending in the Daxing'an Mountains, we must completely clean up the tribes in this area.

Either let them be our sentinels and defend against the Houjin bypass invasion. Either they will be relocated to Chengde, Monan, and Qinghai, and they must not leave a stepping board for Houjin to attack. Ladies and gentlemen, do you understand? ”

When Wednesday Wei made Wu Huai the commander of the Central Route Army, Wu Huai had not even arrived in Chengde. On the third day after the end of the Naadam Conference, the Eastern Route Army set off first, and when Zhu Youzhen saw him off, he said to Du Du and Yasun: "This is the first time that the Eight Banners of Loyalty and Righteousness have set out, if you encounter setbacks in battle, you don't have to attack hard, don't make senseless sacrifices, just ask for help from the rear." ”

Zhu Youzhen's words of relief made Du Du very hurt, and he couldn't help blushing and said: "Please rest assured, Your Majesty, although the Eight Banners of Loyalty and Righteousness have not been in the army for a long time, these soldiers have been on the battlefield for a long time and are not new soldiers.

We were ignorant in the past, and it was really a great sin to help Houjin fight against the Ming Dynasty. If it weren't for Your Majesty's generosity, we would have been left with no bones left. This expedition is the time to repay Your Majesty.

Please wait and see, the minister will not let your Majesty down. ”

Zhu Youzhen patted him on the shoulder and said, "Okay, it's good to have such ambition, then I'll wait to see your merits." However, I finally tell you that you can call the shots in the front, but you can't report to the rear. Since you have defected to my Ming Dynasty, I always hope that the friendship between our kings and ministers will last for a long time. ”