"Hooray, hooray, hooray!"

Li Dingguo, the king of Jin, and Gao Wenguishan, the king of Nanyang, shouted long live, and the gratitude was over, and they got up to see off the envoy before entering the hall and taking a seat.

"This horse, hehe, majestic." Gao Wengui, the Duke of Changguo, was promoted to the king of the county this time, and was given a war horse by the emperor, and his heart was full of joy, overflowing with words, "I heard that this horse is a tribute from Xiyi, and I didn't even want to use it!" Gee. ”

Li Dingguo, the king of Jin, arched his hand to the east, and said: "Long live Shengming, we dare not to repay with death." After a pause, he sighed again and said, "It's just that the soldiers are in danger, the personnel, horses, grain and grass materials have not yet been prepared, and it will take time to comfort the heart of Long Live with good news." ”

In the entire counteroffensive operation, although it also played a role in countermeasures and containment, the results were not great. In the later period, the Manchu Qing took the initiative to retreat and gathered troops in Zhili, and the Northwest Corps took a large area of territory almost without a fight, but its military achievements were difficult to remark.

However, the northwest and northeast will be the two most important battlefields, and Zhu Yongxing and the General Staff Headquarters have always been convinced and insisted on this. It's just that the Manchu Qing Dynasty is the main enemy now, the northeast is the main battlefield, and the northwest should be put aside for the time being, or it should be stabilized.

In his correspondence with Zhu Yongxing and the Ministry of War, Li Dingguo, the king of the Jin Dynasty, also knew and understood the current strategic tilt. At the same time, due to the relationship between grain and grass materials, the Ming army in the northwest could only occupy it steadily, first consolidate Shaanxi, and advance to Gansu on the basis of ensuring the grain route.

According to Ganshan, peeping into Qinghai-Tibet, this is a military plan drawn up by the General Staff. Before the remnants of the Manchu Qing Dynasty were eliminated and the war in the northeast ended, the northwest was dominated by strategic defense. Because with the current national strength, it is difficult to support a large war at the corps level in two directions.

Li Dingguo and other generals also know this. In the war with the nomads, cavalry is the key. And the Northwest Ming Army, which had been transferred part of its cavalry, really needed a buffer period to replenish and restore its strength. Therefore, although the Ming army in the northwest has a quota of 100,000 and has an advantage in muskets and artillery, it is mainly infantry, and it is still the most suitable for defense.

"It will take at least two to three years." Gao Wengui, the king of Nanyang, stroked his beard and said: "It depends on the situation in Liaodong, if the Tartars can be eliminated, or the stars are scattered and fled, the imperial court can vigorously support the northwest." Of course, it also depends on our strength. Cavalry, the key is still cavalry, without tens of thousands of elite cavalry, it is very difficult to fight out of the customs. ”

"So it is necessary to recover the Hetao area to solve the source of war horses." Li Dingguo pointed to the map and said: "Lanzhou is the key, and Yulin is a fence, and it needs to be garrisoned by heavy troops. ”

The Hetao was a military important place in ancient China. The Yellow River becomes a big bend through this, and the Qin and Han Dynasty call Henan; Since the construction of the Yulin Great Wall in the Ming Dynasty, it was called Hetao (the southwest of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the northeast of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and parts of the northern part of Shaanxi Province). Hetao is not only a good place for producing horses and market horses, but also connects to the outside of the Saiwai in the north, Guanzhong in the south, Ganliang (now Zhangye, Wuwei area, Gansu) in the west, and Youyan (now Hebei area) in the east, and the location is extremely important.

Similarly, the resistance of the Ming army to continue to advance north and west will be increasing. The Mongol tribes such as Qinghai and Shuote, Huijiang and Zhuo, and Chagatai in Monan have an unclear attitude and complex shapes, and if they are not careful, there is a possibility that the war will expand and become uncontrollable.

"Holy Wisdom. There is a pull and a fight, as much as possible to recover the river loop or difficulties, and there is no problem in recovering the former set. Gao Wengui said, staring at the map.

The Hetao area can be divided into two parts according to the direction, the Yinchuan Plain is also called the "West Loop", and the Inner Mongolia part is called the "East Loop". The east set is divided into "back set" and "front set".

What Gao Wengui said was the name divided by the territory of the Ming Dynasty, that is, the area south of the Yellow River and north of the Great Wall is called Qiantao, and the north bank of the Yellow River is called Houtao. (To be continued......)