On the fourth day of the sixth lunar month, all preparations were in place, and early the next morning, Wu Shaogang would lead the army to Yizhou. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

It was also at this time that the Intelligence Department under the Privy Council sent important information: Kublai Khan, the emperor of the Great Yuan Dynasty, would personally drive the expedition and command the operation in Shandong.

This news, like a thunderclap, caused a lot of repercussions among Li Tingzhi and others.

At this time, Li Tingzhi and others felt that the original emperor drove the expedition in person, it was indeed reasonable, the battle of Shandong was too important, if it could not be dealt with carefully, I am afraid that it may not be able to achieve the final victory of the battle, so Li Tingzhi and others also came to the conclusion that the battle of Shandong was a life-and-death battle for the Great Yuan court and Kublai Khan, and if the Mongolian army failed in this battle, it would be difficult to gain a foothold in the Central Plains, and I am afraid that it would be forced to evacuate.

Li Tingzhi and the others had very complicated thoughts in their hearts, they felt happy and apprehensive.

Wu Shaogang's thoughts are different, his first thought is that the Mongolian army deployed in the area of Jinan Prefecture in Shandong, I am afraid that there are more than 200,000 people, the number should be more, you must know that Kublai Khan since he inherited the position of the Mongolian Great Khan, did not lead the troops to fight, this situation has lasted for nearly 15 years, and now Kublai Khan is driving in person, according to normal estimates, the troops under his command are at least more than 300,000 people, and the Mongolian iron cavalry is a lot of power, and the combat effectiveness is also extraordinary.

According to the information provided by Yao Shu and Shi Tianze and others, the total strength of the Mongolian army that the Great Yuan Imperial Court was able to mobilize was between 400,000 and 45 people, and the total strength of the Mongolian iron cavalry was close to 250,000, and the situation of the Mongolian army stationed was very clear, nearly 10,000 Mongolian iron cavalry, and 40,000 new annexed troops were stationed in the Mobei grassland to prevent great changes in the Mobei grassland, and the rest of the troops were stationed in Yanjing, Hebei, Shandong and the Daimyofu area, and the main force of the Mongolian iron cavalry was mostly stationed in the Yanjing area.

After a period of expansion, the total strength of the Ming army has approached 500,000, but the sergeants recruited later are obviously not good at combat effectiveness, which means that the army that can be drawn to fight in Shandong is still about 300,000.

In terms of total strength, the Ming army surpassed the Mongol army in terms of numbers for the first time, but Wu Shaogang did not believe in such a situation.

Wu Shaogang has his own analysis, and he thinks that this analysis should be correct.

The so-called Mongolian iron cavalry is about 250,000 people, this number is barely credible, but there is an exaggerated part in this, the real combat effectiveness of the Mongolian iron cavalry, should be less than 250,000 people, at most 200,000 people, after all, the Mongolian army and the Ming army have fought repeatedly over the years, and the loss of its Mongolian iron cavalry is not small, and the increase in the number of Mongolian iron cavalry is not as simple as words, the brave Mongolian iron cavalry, it takes many years of combat to be tempered.

Except for the 200,000 or so Mongolian iron cavalry, the rest are basically the new annexed army, Yao Shu and Shi Tianze think that the number of new annexed troops in the Mongolian army does not exceed 200,000, this number Wu Shaogang will not believe it anyway.

Wu Shaogang believes that the total strength of the Mongolian army should be close to 600,000, of which about 200,000 are Mongolian iron cavalry and about 400,000 are newly attached army.

According to the information I got before, the total number of Inner Mongolian iron cavalry in Shandong was about 100,000, but at that time, the commander was the Mongolian prince Hedan, and this time the commander of the Mongolian army was Kublai Khan, so it was impossible for the Mongolian iron cavalry to leave so many troops in Dadu.

That is, the Mongol army stationed in Shandong, the strength of the Mongol iron cavalry was strengthened.

According to Wu Shaogang's estimate, the total strength of the Mongolian iron cavalry entering Shandong should be about 150,000.

As for the total strength of the new annexed army, it will not be less than 200,000 people, although the combat effectiveness of the new annexed army is average, and it can be used to deal with the fierce attack of the Ming army at the beginning and buy time for the general attack of the Mongolian iron cavalry.

Based on such an analysis, the total strength of the Mongolian army entering Shandong should be about 350,000.

The Ming army under the command of Wu Shaogang that entered the battle in Shandong was only 300,000 people.

In this comparison, the total number of the Ming army was less than that of the Mongolian army.

Kublai Khan's personal expedition was a huge boost to the morale of the Mongolian army, at least the Mongolian iron cavalry was encouraged, and they would be more brave and more desperate in battle.

As for the disparity in troops, it is not a reason for a temporary truce, Kublai Khan has already been eyed by the tiger and has shown his fangs, how could Wu Shaogang retreat.

After thinking about it for nearly a night, Wu Shaogang made a decision to continue to send troops to Shandong and fight a decisive battle with the Mongolian army in Shandong.

This was a decision that shocked Li Tingzhi and others, and just as the army was about to set off, Li Tingzhi made a comeback and begged to increase the number of Ming troops entering Shandong, preferably about 400,000, so as to ensure the superiority of the army in terms of numbers.

But Li Tingzhi's twist, Wu Shaogang did not agree.

In Wu Shaogang's view, the biggest opponent of the Ming army is the predicted 150,000 Mongolian iron cavalry, as for the new annex army, not only the combat effectiveness is average, but also the Ming army needs to fight for the object, if in the process of fighting, the number of surrendered new annexed troops continues to increase, then the strength of the Mongolian army is naturally weakened.

The significance of this battle, Wu Shaogang also thoroughly understood, with the ultimate battle to describe, it is not an exaggeration, if the Mongolian army wins, then the Ming court will be in great danger, and may even be forced to evacuate Kaifeng Fucheng, back to Sichuan, and the Ming army's control over the south, will also be greatly weakened, if the Ming army wins, then Kublai Khan will have to consider whether to quickly return to the Mobei grassland.

On the fifth day of the sixth month, 200,000 Ming troops set off from outside the city of Kaifengfu.

Li Tingzhi led the civil and military ministers of the Manchu Dynasty to send him off outside the city, and the people of the capital also witnessed this scene.

When Li Tingzhi and the others knelt down, all the businessmen and people around them also knelt down, they also knew the importance of the emperor's personal conquest, and whether the stable and rich life in front of them could be maintained depended on whether the Ming army could defeat the Mongolian army.

Wu Shaogang, who was on horseback, looked at all this, very emotional, and also felt responsible.

Wu Shaogang drove the imperial chariot this time, Li Tingzhi and others suggested setting up the imperial chariot, but Wu Shaogang decisively refused, he was not so delicate, and taking the imperial chariot was not only separated from the soldiers, but also delayed the time of the march.

Wu Shaogang was still riding a war horse, and he accompanied the army one by one, but his personal guard was replaced by a guard, and it was still Yuan Shichun who was responsible for all matters of the guard.

The 200,000 army is divided into two parts, the front army is 50,000 and the middle army is 150,000, the distance between the front army and the Chinese army is not more than 50 miles, and the mileage of the 200,000 army marching every day is not less than 50 miles.

On this expedition, Wu Shaogang and the Ming court both spent blood.

Of the 200,000 people who set out on the expedition, each soldier was equipped with a war horse, and some of them were one person and two horses, and on this basis, nearly 1,000 carriages were used to transport Dingkun artillery and food.

In addition to the more than 100 Dingkun cannons left in Haizhou and Pizhou, the army also carried 300 Dingkun cannons, a total of more than 400 Dingkun cannons, and as for the thunder, it was hundreds of thousands.

The war is fought with money and food, war horses, Dingkun cannons, thunderstorms, etc., the expenses are huge, if there is no strong enough money, there is no way to support it.

The Privy Council, the Ministry of Books, and the Ministry of Households have done their best to raise money and food.

Wu Shaogang also knows that this battle cannot be a protracted war, both sides are out of the strength to eat, are hundreds of thousands of troops, the consumption is huge, it is impossible to fight for a long time, if it is consumed for a long time, both sides are unable to bear the huge consumption of money and grain, of course, in comparison, the Ming court has obvious advantages, there is still a month or so, that is, the autumn harvest season, has controlled the entire south and most of the Central Plains of the Ming court, can raise a large amount of grain, But the Great Yuan Imperial Court had no such possibility, and could only continue to exploit the few merchants and people who were already few.

It is the scorching summer season, the march of the army is still very hard, not only the physical exertion is huge, but the hot climate also makes it difficult for the soldiers to adapt, every day at noon rest for about an hour, the rest of the time is almost on the march.

However, the emperor, who followed the march, also rode forward on horseback, like many soldiers, without any specialization.

When Zhang Wenqian, Shi Tianze, Lu Wenhuan and others around him persuaded the emperor to rest, the emperor shook his head and waved his hands, and insisted on the time of the big rest before he dismounted to breathe.

The emperor is like this, and the soldiers below have nothing to say, they are all marching with full strength.

Originally, it was set to march 50 miles a day, but after nearly 10 days, the army marched about 70 miles a day, and according to the mileage of the march, 200,000 troops could arrive in Yizhou, Shandong by the end of June.

As the saying goes, the power of example is endless.

Wu Shaogang's insistence is in exchange for time, the two armies are facing each other, time is the most important, whoever can arrive first and make corresponding arrangements and deployments will be able to occupy a certain advantage.

In charge of directing the march of the army was Cai Siwei.

At the beginning of the march, Cai Siwei was basically by the emperor's side, but this situation only lasted for about two days, the emperor asked Cai Siwei to command the march of the entire army, coordinate the contact between the front army and the Chinese army, and what problems encountered during the march can be decided and disposed of by themselves, and there is no need to ask for instructions on everything, so as not to delay time.

In this way, Cai Siwei let go of his hands and feet and commanded the army to march, which also made the army march faster.