Zhu Youxiao didn't expect that the pool would become an important place for pampering concubines. Only Zhang Yan is the queen, and she still insists.

In the first few days, Zhu Youxiao felt that the novelty could still hold on, but he couldn't hold on to it later, and even an iron man couldn't hold on in this situation. Zhu Youxiao simply didn't go to the pool at all, and let the concubines learn to swim by themselves.

"Your Majesty, haven't you been swimming lately?" Zhang Yan asked knowingly.

"I felt that I had to change the way of teaching, I thought that it would be difficult for the concubines to learn by relying on me, so I decided to let them learn on their own, so that they would learn faster." Zhu Youxiao thought about it and said with a smile.

"Didn't the emperor always say that he wanted the Pope to learn to swim? Shuyan will be three years old next year, you can teach her to swim then! Zhang Yan also said with a smile.

"That's a good idea, it seems that I'm going to add another area in the shallow water area for the Shu'an and their use." Zhu Youxiao nodded and said.

……

On the tenth day of the ninth month, the 20,000 troops of Xuanfu Town, under the leadership of Zu Dashou, left Zhangjiakou and entered the grassland. On the 11th, the 20,000 troops of Jizhou Town, under the leadership of Chen Si, walked out of Xifeng Pass in Zunhua and entered the grassland, and the final destination of the two armies was the original Kaipingwei. The reconstruction of Kaipingwei was the ultimate goal of Zhu Youxiao's Northern Expedition. And the Datong Mansion is now in charge of containing the West Tumut Ministry.

In view of the nomadic nature of the Eastern Tumut Division, Chen Si and Zu Dashou considered that it would be difficult to find the main force of the enemy army for a while, so they decided to divide their troops in order to attract the main force of the Eastern Tumut Division to the decisive battle. At the same time, through discussions with Zhu Youxiao and the Governor's Mansion of the Beijing Division, the army adopted the strategy of encroachment, fought steadily, advanced layer by layer, and built six fortresses along the way.

As soon as the Ming army left the customs, the scouts of the Eastern Tumert Department received the news. The Eastern Tumut Division now has nearly 40,000 troops, mainly composed of the Eastern Tumut Department and the Uliangha Division, and in the face of the aggressive offensive of the Ming Dynasty, the Eastern Tumut Department adopted the strategy of clearing the wilderness with strong walls and looking for fighters.

There is not much else in the Ming Dynasty, that is, there are many people, especially now that natural disasters continue and there are many people. In order to prevent the displaced people from making trouble, Zhu Youxiao collected a large number of displaced people, and arranged for the displaced people to build roads while arranging for the displaced people to go out of the customs to build a fortress.

This time, as many as 200,000 people accompanied the army out of the customs. For the people who are willing to go out of the customs, Zhu Youxiao gives very good treatment, the government not only includes three meals a day, but also has two taels of silver dollars in a month. After Hebei and Shanxi implemented the apportionment into the mu, a large amount of grain was stored, plus the grain allocated by the Beijing Division, which was enough for the army for a year.

Although the use of troops against Dongtumut this time was huge, and Zhu Youxiao estimated that it would cost 8 million to 10 million taels of silver to re-establish Kaipingwei from sending troops to re-establishing Kaipingwei, Zhu Youxiao still decided to send troops, and the re-establishment of Kaipingwei was of great significance, and the defense line of the direct Beijing division was pushed northward by nearly 400 kilometers.

Zu Dashou and Chen Si's army advanced slowly, except for the occasional scout of the East Tumut Department along the way, none of the other people from the East Tumut Department could be seen, but Zu Dashou and Chen Si were not in a hurry at all, their strategy of steady and steady and layer-by-layer advance was precisely aimed at the guerrilla warfare of the East Tumut Department, and they knew that the East Tumut Department could not always retreat backward or eastward, otherwise they would enter the sphere of influence of Lin Dan Khan or other tribes.

The first fortress in the north was built on the site of the original Xinghesho, and Zu Dashou's 20,000 troops and 100,000 people built a new Xinghesho here. The construction of the fortress was time-consuming and laborious, and in order to speed up the construction, Zhu Youxiao used so many people. Just six days after Xinghe's construction, Chen Si also began to build his first fortress.

In just over three months, the fortress was completed. In order to guard against the Eastern Tumut Division, Zu Dashou did not dare to leave too many troops, and only left a thousand people. As for the gap in soldiers and horses, Zu Dashou decided to wait for the follow-up reinforcements to come up and fill it. After the construction of Xinghe Institute was completed, the pressure of the Xuanfu was greatly reduced, and it was completely possible to divide troops and horses to garrison Xinghe Institute.

Dongtumer was very unsuitable for the Ming army's strategy of steady and steady progress. It can be said that there is no way to retreat.

"According to the report of the spies, the Ming army's Xinghe Station has been built, and the army has set off for the Lightning River, and it seems that the Ming army intends to rebuild Kaipingwei." The rebuilding of Xinghe made Wenbu Chuhuer understand the true intentions of the Ming army.

"Great Khan, we must not let the Ming army re-establish Kaipingwei, once the Ming re-establish Kaipingwei, this grassland will completely belong to the Ming Dynasty in the future, and our tribe will have nowhere to live." Shanba said.

"Since the Ming army wants to establish Kaipingwei, then we will go around to the rear of the Ming army, attack its Xinghe by surprise, abolish its Xinghe, and completely mess up the plan of the Ming army." Wembchul said.

"This plan is very good, but what is the situation of the garrison of Xinghe?" Shanba said.

"According to the spies' report, the garrison of Xinghe should be no more than two thousand, and all of Zu Dashou's army has followed him to the Lightning River." Wenbu Chulu said with a smile.

"This is really God help me, Great Khan, I am willing to lead 10,000 soldiers and horses from my headquarters to attack Xinghe." When Shanba heard that there were only 2,000 people, this was an opportunity.

"This battle needs to be resolved quickly, Shanba, after you take the Xinghe Institute, you can't stay for a long time, and you will withdraw immediately after abolishing the Xinghe Institute." Umbuchulu nodded.

"Yes." Shanba Shili said.

……

In order to achieve the purpose of a surprise attack on Xinghesuo, the 10,000 soldiers and horses led by Shanba were all one person and two horses, and he even did not hesitate to attack at night, just to take Xinghesuo in one fell swoop. It's just that he completely underestimated the defense of Xinghesuo. Although Xinghesu was only defended by 1,000 people, Xinghesu not only used a fortress, but also used the most advanced artillery of the Ming Empire.

Since the establishment of the fortress, the Ming Empire has not experienced the test of war, except for a few people such as Zhu Youxiao, no one knows what the defensive strength of the fortress is?

At that moment, Shanba's army arrived at Xinghesho. Shanba didn't dare to stay in Xinghesu for too long, he knew that Zu Dashou's main force was only a day's journey away from Xinghesuo, and this battle must be resolved quickly.

After a little repair, Shanba took the lead in attacking, but he didn't expect that in addition to the trenches outside the Xinghe Institute, there were also mines. As soon as Shanba's army approached the Hehwasho, a landmine was set off.

There was a loud "bang", which woke up the half-sleeping sentinels on the city tower in an instant. It had been several months since they entered the grassland, and the army had not touched the enemy's main force, which made everyone relax, but the sudden enemy attack made the soldiers' nerves tense instantly.

(End of chapter)