Ye Yingwu slowly closed the concerto. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

Su Liu Yi, the right prime minister of the Ming Dynasty, and Liu Shiyong, the left attendant of the military department, stood in front of Ye Yingwu together. Zhang Shijie, the secretary of the Ministry of War, has already set off to the north to train the new army and prepare for the Northern Expedition, so now Liu Shiyong is actually Liu Shiyong as the Ministry of War, and he is also in charge of many matters in the Ministry of War.

Everyone can see that in the future of the Northern Expedition of the Ming Dynasty, Zhang Shijie will definitely sit in the middle of the army and command the battle to recover Hebei and Yanyun, this battle is the key to the entire Northern Expedition, and it is also the ambition of China for three hundred years.

And because of the status of Zhang Shijie's relatives and relatives, he has made great contributions after this war, and naturally he can reach the point where he can be crowned king. Although the Ming Dynasty does not have a prince now, everyone knows that nine times out of ten, the prince of the Ming Dynasty still inherits the system of the former Song Dynasty, and the title of king means withdrawing from the front line, unless the country is facing a catastrophe, it will not be easy to invite the prince to battle.

Zhang Shijie was crowned king after the war, and the secretary of the military department was naturally vacant for Liu Shiyong, which means that the people below can also be promoted in order. After all, among the Ming and opposition officials now, there are mostly young people, especially in the army, except for Ma Rong and Gundam two veterans, the others are all young generals, which makes the Ming army always full of vigor and vitality, but also has to face another serious problem, that is, the army has no way to get promoted after the military has achieved military exploits.

Therefore, Ye Yingwu must choose one person from the top to withdraw from the front line, and now this candidate is obviously Zhang Shijie. After all, Zhang Shijie is Ye Yingwu's brother-in-law, as a relative of the emperor, he can fight on the battlefield and make a name for himself with a glorious Northern Expedition, which can be regarded as a comforting life, not to mention that Zhang Shijie, as a son from the south, can personally lead the army to kill back, which is naturally also a dream.

Coughing lightly, Ye Yingwu looked at Su Liuyi and Liu Shiyong, who was holding the battle report that had just been sent from Hexi. Just five days ago, the Mongol Kublai Khan and the Bala tribe fought at the Hongliu River, and the situation on the entire steppe changed dramatically. Immediately three days ago, the Ming Army's Shence Army and the Tianxiong Army joined forces to break through the Star Gorge, after all, the Eight Rak Tribes launched an attack on Kublai Khan's Ministry with all their might, so even if there were many troops left behind in the Star Gorge, it was not an opponent of the Ming army who came like a wolf and a tiger.

Even if the Ming army lacks anything, it will not lack supplies, especially in the past few months, the Silk Road from Guanzhong to Hexi to Dunhuang has a great revival posture, and there are more and more caravans along the way, and many of them are entrusted by the Ming Military Department to transport ordnance for Dunhuang. In the previous battle of Dunhuang, many caravans were stranded in Wuwei and other places in Hexi, and now that the trade routes have been reopened, naturally these caravans continue to enter Dunhuang, which makes the Tianxiong army and the Shence army extremely solid.

Therefore, Ye Yingwu could imagine the scene of Zhang Jue and Tang Zhen's subordinates mercilessly, slashing the flying thunder cannon and artillery all over the head and covering their faces. In the final analysis, Xingxing Gorge is also a pass guarded by people, and under the deterrence of such firearms, it is only inevitable that it will be breached.

What Ye Yingwu really cared about was the reaction of Haidu, Bara and Kublai Khan in the future. After all, this will be related to the arrangement of the entire Northern Expedition of the Ming Dynasty.

"According to Zhang Junyu's meaning in the chapter, the Tianxiong Army now has the ability to attack the Western Regions to the west." Ye Yingwu said in a deep voice, "Especially now that the army of the Tubo people is continuously arriving at Xingxing Gorge, with the defense of the Shence Army and the Tubo Army, the Tianxiong Army can withdraw. ”

Su Liuyi nodded, this piece was sent to Ye Yingwu, and naturally a copy was sent to him: "The minister thinks that the current movements of the Mongolian Tartars are unknown, so Da Ming should not act rashly." Xingxing Gorge is the choke point that controls the Western Regions and Hexi, the last time the Ming Dynasty took Xingxing Gorge with the help of the Tubo people, and then the Ba Ra and Haidu fought back with all their might, forcing the Tubo people to withdraw their troops. What Haidu and Yara will do this time is obviously expected. I'm afraid that the sea will not stand still as previously judged. ”

Liu Shiyong frowned and said: "Your Majesty, didn't the chapter sent from Hexi before say that it only feints to attack Xingxing Gorge and attract the Eight Returning Soldiers?" In this way, the purpose of stirring up a wedge between Haidu and Bara can be achieved. But now that we have won the Star Gorge, it is naturally impossible for the sea to sit idly by as we expected before, wouldn't it be a snake to add to it? ”

Ye Yingwu stood up with his hands on the table and looked at Liu Shiyong. After all, Liu Shiyong was born as a general of the Navy Division, and he was the left attendant of the Ministry of War, and he had not yet experienced the position of Shangshu of the Ministry of War, so his vision was a little narrow, but Ye Yingwu did not blame him. If Liu Shiyong had enough ability to be directly qualified as the secretary of the military department, then there would be no need to train him like this now.

Su Liuyi said lightly on the side: "The general is outside, and the king's order is not affected, especially when Hexi and Nanjing are thousands of miles apart, and even if the news comes and goes, it will take several days to expedite it, so it can be said that the entire Hexi war court can only delegate power to the front-line generals." Zhang Junyu has been fighting horses for many years, and he has many victories, so his decision to attack Xingxing Gorge must be justified. ”

Ye Yingwu nodded: "Judging from the current situation, if you don't take the Star Gorge, it is impossible for Bara to return to the army, and even if you take the Star Gorge, Bara may also make a desperate bet and fight a decisive battle with Kublai Khan's army, after all, compared to the foundation of the Western Regions, in fact, the grassland occupied by Kublai Khan's department is the place that Bara really wants, and the fertile grassland can nourish more soldiers and horses, so that Bara has enough troops to compete with Kublai Khan and Haidu." ”

After a pause, Ye Yingwu continued: "Ba Ra has always been in the vanguard of the war with Kublai Khan before, not so much that he really wants to care about the lives of his subordinates, but rather that he covets the grassland with abundant water and grass where Kublai Khan's troops are entrenched. Haidu obviously understands what Ba Ra means, so he has always turned a blind eye to Ba Ra, but this does not mean that Hai is not the slightest wary. After all, Yara is strong, which is definitely not a good thing for him. ”

Liu Shiyong understood, and Ye Yingwu sighed softly: "To tell the truth, I now hope that Haidu can send troops." For Bara, who was separated from the foundation, it was definitely not a good thing for Haidu to enter the territory of his Chagatai Khanate. ”

"There are wolves in front and tigers in the back, Haidu is marching into the army, even if Ba Ra is 10,000 unwilling, he will return to the army, he can't take his own territory to cheapen Haidu." Liu Shiyong finally understood thoroughly and said immediately.

Ye Yingwu and Su Liuyi nodded, and a wry smile appeared on the corner of Ye Yingwu's mouth: "So this is what I'm really worried about, Ba Ra will return to the army, Kublai Khan and Na Muhan will definitely not let him go back safely, after all, they must also give a proper explanation to the tribe that has taken refuge in them, and let the tiger return to the mountain and let Ba Ra come and go with a big grin, it will definitely not be explained." Kublai Khan wanted to gnaw a piece of meat on Ba Ra's body, and Ba Ra was in a hurry to go back and grab the foundation land with Haidu, and Haidu was anxious to snatch back Xingxing Gorge under the hands of Da Ming, so as to avoid Da Ming directly advancing westward and threatening himself. ”

Turning to look at the map hanging behind him, Ye Yingwu's hand suddenly pressed on the position of the Western Regions, and said a little helplessly: "It is conceivable that the entire Western Regions, Hexi and the western part of the grassland will be chaotic in the near future. And the Kublai Khan Department, the Haidu Department, the Bara Department and the Ming Dynasty will all be involved. ”

Su Liuyi said softly: "The Ming Dynasty only has the Shence Army and the Tianxiong Army in Hexi, plus some Tubo troops, and they need to guard the land of Hexi, as well as Dunhuang and Xingxing Gorge. ”

Ye Yingwu sighed: "What kind of calculation is Zhang Junyu making, he can vaguely see through it, he wants to use Hexi to drive the entire Ming Northern Expedition to start in advance." With the expeditionary force composed of the Shence Army and the Tianxiong Army plus the Tubo people, it is not the opponent of Haidu and Ba Ra at all, and again and again, two and no three, the Ming Dynasty won the Xingxing Gorge twice, and the Ba Ra ate a trench and a long wisdom, and the next time you want to attack the Xingxing Gorge and further attack the Western Regions, it is not so simple. It is conceivable that after the Eight Raids, the Star Gorge will inevitably be heavily defended. ”

Liu Shiyong said in a deep voice: "That is to say, Daming must at least keep this big melee after the Star Gorge is still in the hands of Daming." ”

Ye Yingwu stretched out his hand and patted the map: "If you want to make Da Ming invincible in this battle, it's not that simple, it is expected that Haidu will raise troops to attack Xingxing Gorge, and Ba Ra should also have the ability to break through the encirclement set by Na Muhan, that is to say, Xingxing Gorge will inevitably face the embarrassing situation of attacking before and after, so even if it encounters greater difficulties when attacking Xingxing Gorge next time, Xingxing Gorge cannot defend it at this time, and we must let Haidu and Ba Ra meet, so that the dark chess we laid out before can take effect, It is best that Haidu and the Eight Soldiers meet each other in the end, which is the most in the interests of the Ming Dynasty. Once the two sides go to war, the Ming can profit. ”

After a pause, Ye Yingwu then pointed at the Mongolian steppe: "However, with Namuhan's ability, it is not so simple for Bara to return to the Xingxing Gorge, so we must also put a little pressure on Kublai Khan and help Bara go back." ”

Liu Shiyong and Su Liuyi nodded, and Ye Yingwu's voice immediately raised slightly: "How long can the military rations of the military department be able to support now?" ”

Su Liuyi immediately arched his hand: "Your Majesty, throughout the winter, the Ming Dynasty and the Mongolian Tartars fought twice in Hexi and Shandong, plus the Shandong disaster relief mobilized part of the military rations of the two Huai armies, so now the Ming military rations can still support the front-line armies to fight according to the original plan for two months, and two months later······ I'm afraid I'm going to have to raise food on the spot. ”

Ye Yingwu frowned slightly: "Two months······ It's too short. Moreover, the snow disaster in the north last year, the harvest was not good, if you count the large army stationed and waiting for the supply of grain and grass after the summer harvest, I am afraid that it will only be able to support the forward attack for a month. In a month, according to the estimate of the Ministry of War, where can it be hit? ”

Liu Shiyong immediately stood up and said: "Your Majesty, in view of the geography of the mountains and rivers in the north, Jinyiwei sent a large number of spies to reconnoiter and send back the news, so the military department has made a detailed sand table and wooden map, outlining the mountains and rivers for deduction, and at the same time, the main forces of the entire front line have also submitted their own combat arrangements, a month, if the attack goes well, the forward can cross the Taiyuan Mansion and the Baigou River to the land of Yanyun, if it doesn't go well, it can also recover all the land of the former Song Dynasty." ”

Ye Yingwu suddenly frowned.

And Liu Shiyong and Su Liuyi looked at him at the same time.

The two of them naturally understood what Ye Yingwu was worried about. Daming is now fighting hard, what he is doing is to be able to rush straight to Youyan in one go, and it is best to be able to kill to the edge of the Great Wall, so that he can really build a solid defense line belonging to Daming.

After all, now the Ming can only rely on their own military superiority over Mongolia to maintain the momentum of the offensive in order to maintain the current border line.

And now the Ming Dynasty occupies Shandong, Goryeo and other places, just to use it as a pedal to attack Youyan directly, and a month's time, it is obviously not enough for Shandong's two Huai armies and Goryeo's town navy to open up this lifeline, especially in the line from Jinzhou to Shanhaiguan, the Mongolian Tartars will inevitably defend with all their might, so as to avoid the Ming Dynasty connecting the entire Central Plains and Liaodong as a whole, and completely complete the counter-encirclement of Mongolia.

Therefore, if Ye Yingwu ordered the Northern Expedition in order to contain Kublai Khan's troops, that is, to push the current front to the original Song-Liao border area of the Baigou River, in fact, Baigou River and Waqiaoguan and other places are not the best choice for the national defense front at all, even if the Song people once expanded the Baigou River water system and became a "national protection river", but there is still no way to stop the Liao and Jurchen iron cavalry from going south. Therefore, for the Ming Dynasty, marching to the Baigou River is no different from maintaining the current front.

And it is even conceivable that after seeing through the situation of the shortage of food for the Ming army, Kublai Khan is likely to directly order the shrinkage of the defense line, directly cede the flat North China Plain south of the Baigou River, and make every effort to hold Yanyun and Liaodong.

In particular, the Ming army was difficult to advance, the food was insufficient, and finally had to cancel the attack and retreat again, Kublai Khan naturally achieved the purpose of consuming the Ming army's military food and delaying time, and Kublai Khan could not transfer the army of Namuhan back at all, so that Namuhan could devote himself to the western expedition, so that the Ming Dynasty's goal of containing Kublai Khan could not be achieved at all.

What is now in front of Ye Yingwu and Da Ming is a dead knot.

If Daming is allowed to withdraw from the hegemony of the Western Regions, Ye Yingwu will definitely not be reconciled, and for Daming, it is tantamount to losing the best opportunity to meddle in the Western Regions. And if the Ming Dynasty relies on the Tianxiong Army and the Shence Army to participate in the struggle for hegemony in the Western Regions, there will be some insufficient troops, and it is very likely that the whole army will be wiped out in the end, and there will be no people and land. Therefore, the Ming Dynasty must do its best to contain Kublai Khan, but if he wants Kublai Khan, he must have a full-scale northern expedition······

It's like falling from one loop to another.

Ye Yingwu silently looked at Su Liuyi and Liu Shiyong, his fists already clenched.

He knew very well that the order he gave now was likely to determine the final survival of the three forces, and at least the direction of the Ming Dynasty in the next ten years.

Ye Yingwu has now changed the entire history he is familiar with beyond recognition, so he can't be sure if the decision he has made now can still be as correct and accurate as ever, let alone what kind of road awaits him.

Abruptly, Ye Yingwu remembered that in that cave, it seemed to be a voice from heaven and earth.

Send me 90,000 miles of green mountains.

I don't know if the current Ming Dynasty can be regarded as 90,000 miles of green mountains?

The spring breeze blew in warmly, blowing the paper on the table.

The whole Hexi, pulling a hair and moving the whole body. Ye Yingwu is now facing another gamble, a gamble that he has no way to come out of, a real gamble. He had to bet that this year's summer harvest would be smooth, and he also had to bet that the main forces of the Ming Dynasty would be able to attack according to the predetermined orders.

Jiang Hao of the Tianwu Army, Wang Anjie of the Lianghuai Army, and Wang Huchen of the Zhenhai Navy, plus Zhang Shijie who sat in Heluo, and Zhao Wenyi who sat in Goryeo. He knew very well that these people were willing to go to the trouble for themselves and for the sake of Daming, but he was not sure if God would make everything go well.

After being silent for a long time, Ye Yingwu slowly spoke: "Immediately order the generals and commanders of the Divine Guard, Zhenjiang Mansion Water Division, and Praetorian Guard to enter the palace to meet them, and also announce the six Shangshu, the Imperial History of the Imperial History Table, the Imperial History of the Left Capital, and the scholars of the Hanlin Academy!" ”

Su Liuyi and Liu Shiyong glanced at each other, and they both saw each other's excited looks.

Although Ye Yingwu didn't say those two words, they knew it very well.

Northern Expedition, Northern Expedition! (To be continued.) )