"Look!"

Zhu Yuanzhang said to the eunuch beside him.

Immediately three chairs were placed on the main hall.

Tang He and the others sat down.

"Three, now that the Tartars have shown their fangs to my Ming Dynasty, do the Aiqing have a strategy against the enemy?"

Zhu Yuanzhang didn't waste time, and asked directly.

After listening to Zhu Yuanzhang's words, the three of them all glanced at each other, and they all lowered their heads and thought about it.

Zhu Yuanzhang beckoned and ordered the eunuch to serve tea.

The three people sitting in their chairs and meditating had already been thinking about this question just now.

Whether it was Tang He or Xu Da, even Li Shanchang, who usually had a lot of ideas, didn't think of anything at this time.

"Your Majesty, the Tatars are ready to move now, and judging from the current situation of our Ming Dynasty, we can't face it! First, the troops are scattered and the whole body is launched! The second is that since the Tatars dare to provoke, they must have made preparations! If the two armies are at war, the outcome is also unpredictable. ”

Xu Da stood up from the chair and said to Zhu Yuanzhang.

Xu Da said that it is still a conservative estimate that he has always served as the first marshal of the Ming Dynasty, so he naturally understands the current strength gap between the two armies.

The Tatars, especially the cavalry, were brave and warlike, and the cavalry of the Ming Dynasty could not compete with them.

The combat power of the cavalry has nothing to do with the soldiers of the two sides, mainly because of the influence of the environment! Tatars are in the steppe, and horseback riding is their birth.

Moreover, the war horses of the grassland are not simple war horses, only the best horses in a dozen can become war horses, and the Tatars can only send more than 100,000 war horses to the battlefield after hiding in the grassland for more than ten years.

The current Ming war horses are not at all, and the cavalry of the Ming Dynasty is only literally, holding the tens of thousands of ordinary horses in the north, how to resist the Tatar hundreds of thousands of iron horses. It's like hitting a stone with an egg.

This was said very directly, and Zhu Yuanzhang and the three of them also frowned after hearing it, as soon as they heard him say this, this was really a problem.

"If we Daming have these hundreds of thousands of war horses, we can directly sweep the north to him, who would dare to be arrogant."

Zhu Yuanzhang said with emotion after listening.

"Your Majesty, now that everyone around us knows that Daming lacks war horses, how can we get them easily."

Tang He shook his head helplessly and said.

"Tatar now strictly prohibits any war horse from being sold to the Ming Dynasty, and if it is found, it will be directly beheaded on the spot."

Xu Da also followed.

"If you give us 30,000, it's fine! I'm confident too. ”

Zhu Yuanzhang sighed and said.

With 30,000 iron horsemen, plus other armies, he could completely defeat the Tatars.

If the sky doesn't follow people's wishes, it can't take the initiative to attack, so there is only defense.

"General Tang, you have been fighting defensive battles before, what do you think we should do in this situation?"

Zhu Yuanzhang thought of defense, looked at Tang He and said.

Tang He heard Zhu Yuanzhang say that he wanted to defend, which was indeed his best style of play.

I think he was also defending Changzhou back then, and he was very confident in defending the city.

"Nowadays, if you want to defend it, you have to use artillery. There are so many soldiers in the north of the Ming Dynasty, and if the two armies fight, their cavalry will be invincible. We can only return fire with artillery. ”

Tang He thought for a while and said to Zhu Yuanzhang.

"Then transport the cannons from the south to the north half and use them to defend the city."

Li Shanchang followed up and said.

"The artillery in the south still has to guard the coastal line, and it can't be mobilized at all, even if we transfer it, now that it's spring, the Tatars will definitely take advantage of this time to make a move, and they won't let us transport the artillery to them."

Xu Da said worriedly after listening.

"There are only about two dozen artillery pieces in the north now, and in the face of the Tatar iron cavalry, if you want to defend the city, you will need more artillery, but ......."

Tang He said the difficulties to Zhu Yuanzhang, but he didn't completely say it.

Zhu Yuanzhang also knew that this was simply a battle with a huge disparity in strength. Twenty artillery pieces against hundreds of thousands of Tatar iron cavalry, the effect is negligible.

"If Tang He asks you to guard Datong Mansion, how many artillery will you need?"

Zhu Yuanzhang asked Tang He with a melancholy face.

"The minister thinks that if you want to compete with 100,000 iron cavalry, you have to have at least eighty or ninety cannons at the head of the city."

Tang He thought for a while and said affirmatively to Zhu Yuanzhang.

The artillery in the south is all in the coastal area, and the artillery is huge, and if it is transported to Datong Mansion in the north, it will take at least four months.

By that time it was summer, and the Tatars would have already taken advantage of this time to attack in a big way, would they still wait for the artillery on their side to arrive?

"Your Majesty, in fact, we are using old-fashioned copper artillery, and the distance is too close, and before we can fight it, the Tatar iron cavalry will go to the bottom of the city."

Tang He said another question to Zhu Yuanzhang.

"According to General Tang, how should this matter be?"

Zhu Yuanzhang asked Tang He with his eyebrows locked.

"I'm going to start fortifying the city now, and I'm also going to train artillery made of 100 steel, which has a long range. In this way, I only need a dozen or so artillery pieces to withstand the Tatar cavalry of more than 100,000 iron horses. ”

Tang He made his own request to Zhu Yuanzhang.

After Tang He finished speaking, Zhu Yuanzhang and the others knew the difficulty as soon as they heard it.

The city wall is built with a large number of bluestones and then filled with clay, which seems to be solid, if the city is weak, if there are siege equipment on the opposite side, it will be broken in a few strokes.

The reinforcement of the city is still very simple for Daming, as long as it is thickened, but the other question raised by Tang He is more of a headache.

Hundreds of steels to train artillery, it's a luxury! The practice of 100 steels is very cumbersome, people who need to exercise keep burning red and hammering, 100 steels are used to exercise famous swords, and it is conceivable how difficult it is to build something as big as a cannon.

"Pass our will, order the Ministry of Industry to start immediately, quickly temper the artillery, even if we don't have a hundred steel, we will make more copper artillery, and after it is done, send it directly to Datong Mansion, so that the city is full of artillery."

Zhu Yuanzhang said to the eunuch next to him.

The eunuch knew the urgency of the matter and hurried to the Ministry of Industry to deliver the decree.

"Artillery is not that easy to build, and even if they start to temper it now, it will be difficult to build a number that can withstand it before the Tatars make a move."

Li Shanchang listened to it for a long time and said.

"It's not okay to take the initiative to go out now, and I can't defend in Datong, what should I do?"

Xu Da said anxiously.

Zhu Yuanzhang and a few people sat on the chair and were a little helpless.

At this time, Da Ming seemed to have reached a dead end that he could not get out of.

Zhu Yuanzhang didn't dare to imagine in his mind that if Tatar invaded Datong Mansion and then went directly south, the road would be unimpeded.

Compared with other places, the deployment of troops and troops in the north are still very small, and the originally small army has to defend more than a dozen cities.

As long as Datong breaks through Datong, then the entire north should fall, and in a blink of an eye, more than a dozen cities can be destroyed, and then lead troops into the Central Plains.

Compared with other ethnic minorities, the difference between the Tatars and other ethnic minorities is that they were the remnants of the Yuan Dynasty before, and they have long hated the Ming Dynasty.

If they fight back, what kind of revenge will they have against the people of Daming?

Zhu Yuanzhang thought of this, clutching the dragon chair tightly.

"You inform all the ministers that starting tomorrow, you will have to go to the morning court every day!"

"Also, as long as we find a way to resist the Tatars, tell us that we will be rewarded."

Zhu Yuanzhang said to Li Shanchang.

"Obey."

Li Shanchang arched his hand and said.

......