On the Yangtze River, the spring breeze blows, the war drums beat, and the rows of warships are like giant beasts, staring at the west with ferocious eyes, as if they want to pounce on them at any time and devour the enemy alive.

The Ming army was about to set off, hunting with flags, constantly fluttering in the still cold wind, and the civil and military officials of the Ming Dynasty on the shore lined up behind Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao, watching the Xia army on the warships.

Mu Ying, the general of the expedition to the west!

Former General Zhu Wenzheng!

Left Deputy General He Wenhui!

Right Deputy General Lan Yu!

If you just look at the lineup of generals, such a group of young people leading the troops must not be comparable to the old generation of Huaixi star lineups such as Tang He, Fu Youde, and Liao Yongzhong on the original trajectory.

After all, the current Mu Ying is not the mighty King Mu, and Lan Yu is not the Lan general who swept Mobei, and his and Zhu Wenzheng's achievements are still limited to the bloody battle in Hongdu, blocking the offensive of Chen Youliang's army, and winning time for Zhu Yuanzhang to win.

Under normal circumstances, Lao Zhu would naturally not be willing to let such a group of young people with a little reputation lead the army.

However, in this group of people, there is still one person, Mr. Huaixi, the military division of the army, Xiao Han!

It is precisely because of Xiao Han's existence that a group of older generation generals in the Ming Dynasty have nothing to say, after all, Xiao Han's prestige among the nobles in Huaixi is not at the same level as his age.

Zhuge Liang in three parts of the world, unifying the country and Xiao Fengxue, whether it is within the Huaixi nobles or in the reputation of the people, Xiao Han is not weaker than the Huaixi veterans.

"Soldiers, the country of Ming Xia, I don't know the number of days, and I have repeatedly violated our Ming and Void and Snakes, and the yang and the yin are violated! Provoke the majesty of our Ming Dynasty, divide the country of Tianfu in Shuzhong, and try in vain to coerce the people to stand on their own, the crime is unforgivable! ”

"We can't swallow this breath!"

"Don't say much else, this glass of wine, let's respect you, and when you return victoriously, let's hold a banquet to celebrate!"

Zhu Yuanzhang raised his glass and drank it all.

"Die for Your Majesty! Destroy the rebels in the summer of tomorrow! ”

Mu Ying raised the spear in his hand and roared angrily.

"Die for Your Majesty! Destroy the rebels in the summer of tomorrow! ”

"Die for Your Majesty! Destroy the rebels in the summer of tomorrow! ”

…

A roar of rage, one after another on the warships, the sails were raised, the anchors were tightened, and they went upriver in the direction of Mingxia.

"Fengxue, this time I sent 100,000 elite soldiers to destroy the Ming family's puppet court."

"Although the Ming family is just a dry bone in the mound, if you press all of them, you can also take out more than 100,000 or even 200,000 troops, and the Shu Mountain is high and dangerous, easy to defend and difficult to attack, I don't know how Mr. Xiao thinks we should quickly conquer it?"

In the flagship, Mu Ying looked at the map on the table and asked Xiao Han.

"Pseudo-Xia is not to be afraid, the ancient Three Kingdoms, the reason why Shu can rely on the land of one state to fight against Wei and Wu is because they have Shu land, Hanzhong, and southern Xinjiang, although it is said to be a state, but the actual size of the territory can be called the land of three or four states, but the degree of development is poor, the population is small, and the national strength is not good."

"And now, Hanzhong is under the control of my Ming Dynasty, and the Pseudo-Xia has been shut down by us at the north gate."

"And Nanjiang is also not in the hands of Pseudo-Xia, there are two forces in the local area, Tusi and King Liang, these two groups of people, it is still possible to join the battle under the cold lips and teeth, we have to take some precautions."

Xiao Han pinched his chin and pointed to the map and counted points one after another.

In Xiao Han's opinion, although Xia Guo has a lot of troops, its real combat strength is indeed too far behind the Ming soldiers who fought all the way.

After all, the population of Xia is less than 90,000 households, that is, 5 or 600,000 people, but this is obviously unreasonable, after all, the population of the Ming Dynasty is more than one million households if it is not counted as homeless.

But it's no wonder, after all, the chaos at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, even if the original seventy or eighty million people died a lot in the war, they would not directly become one-tenth, and a large number of them could not survive in their hometowns because of the loss of their land, and became homeless.

This also explains why in history during the Hongwu period from the establishment of the dynasty to more than ten years, the population directly increased tenfold, after all, Lao Zhu will not be used to that group of people, a household registration reform, the population you eat, you have to spit it out.

Otherwise, you family members control more people than Zhu Yuanzhang, in the end, are we emperors or emperors?

In this case, it is the same if you want to come to the Xia Kingdom, so according to Xiao Han's estimate, there can be at least two or three million tenants hidden by the powerful family, but these populations will not be under the control of the Xia State regime, and the population that the Xia Kingdom can use is the registered tenants and those old ministers of the Ming family, at most one million.

Such a population, if it forcibly draws out an army of more than 100,000 or 200,000, it is almost five people to raise one soldier, even if there are some taxes paid by the powerful and powerful, it is already the limit.

Conscription in this way, these soldiers, it is not too much to say that they are peasants with weapons, their combat power, it is conceivable, it is not an exaggeration to say, almost still at the level of the rebel army that year, the reason why they can block the Ming Dynasty for more than half a year in history is also to take advantage of the geographical advantage to defend it.

Of course, in other words, if it weren't for the geographical advantage, and the two groups of people next to him who might join the battle from behind and backstab Da Ming at any time, Xiao Han wouldn't even bother to go on his own.

"It's just two gangs of rabble, can they be stronger than Zhang Shicheng, stronger than Chen Youliang, and stronger than Wang Baobao?"

"As long as we directly enter Shu and fight the momentum of my Ming soldiers, those two gang of thieves will not dare to touch my Ming edge!"

Lan Yu seemed quite confident, and he didn't pay attention to Tusi and King Liang at all.

"Sappy!"

"Shut up and listen to what Fengxue has to say first."

Mu Ying frowned, this guy's self-confidence is really innate, he can be like this at any time, and the main mentality is good.

"If it's just a group of rabble toasts, we really don't need to care, and they can even help us directly contain King Liang."

"But among the Tusi, there is a family, this family, which was also established as the emperor back then, but was later conquered by Meng Yuan and became Meng Yuan's local steward, but it still maintains no less influence and strength in the local area than it was back then.

Xiao Han narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze seemed to have crossed thousands of miles and landed on the south of the colorful clouds.

"You mean..."

"Dali, Duan family!"

Mu Ying's eyes also moved slightly, reacting from Xiao Han's words.

"Not bad."

"The country of Dali was destroyed by Meng Yuan, but the Duan family was not wiped out by Meng Yuan, but still managed the local area, it is not an exaggeration to say that Dali was only annexed by Meng Yuan in name, in fact, it can only be regarded as a subordinate, otherwise, Meng Yuan does not need to set up a Liang King over there to guard one side."

Xiao Han nodded lightly, in the original trajectory, the Ming Dynasty dispatched an all-star lineup headed by Tang He, and the soldiers were very fast, when the Duan family and King Liang were still intimidated by the momentum of the Ming army, it took less than a year to eliminate the Xia Kingdom, so that it seemed that these two groups of people were as if they did not exist, until Zhu Yuanzhang sent troops to recruit Yunnan and was wiped out together, and they were directly eliminated in the history books.

But this time the situation has changed dramatically, although this wave of people are also famous generals, but it is not enough to make the two groups of people in the south afraid.

As for the original trajectory, Zhu Yuanzhang made it clear that the inheritance of the Yuan Dynasty was orthodox, and he used this as an excuse to appease King Liang, which made King Liang, who had no grand ambitions, hesitate.

However, before the Ming retrial of the case of King Xiao Ming, the movement was not small, if there were people under the command of the Ming family who could speak well, and on this ground, King Liang thought that the Ming Dynasty was going to abandon the Yuan and inherit the Song Dynasty, and regarded him as an intruder, King Liang might not be so peaceful.

After all, when doubt begins, it can already be considered existent.

This inner suspicion is enough to make King Liang make a completely different decision, if these two groups of local forces with a force of less than 100,000 want to intervene, this Xia Kingdom is really not so easy to destroy.

Don't look at history, these two families have no sense of existence, but in fact, these two groups of people are not weak, if they are really vulnerable, they were taken away by Zhu Yuanzhang early, how could they be allowed to divide one side for so long?

It is no exaggeration to say that these two groups of people can also be regarded as the princes of the previous party like the Xia Kingdom.

"So... What do you mean, do we have to divide our troops? ”

Mu Ying frowned slightly, although the Ming army was elite and it was okay to win more with less, but this time there were only 100,000 troops, and the total strength of the Xia Kingdom was only a lot more than that of the Ming Dynasty.

At this time, if he still has to divide the troops, even if Mu Ying has confidence in the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty, he will still feel inappropriate.

"The division of troops must be divided, but it doesn't need much, whether it is the Duan family in Dali or the Liang King of Yunnan, they are all in our south, and it is enough to divide 10,000 people to guard the pass."

Xiao Han was confident, as if the other party was not a big warlord with two groups of mercenaries with more than 100,000 soldiers, but a small bandit.

"Ten thousand?"

"It's good that they don't move, if they join forces, even if there is a dangerous pass, but the difference in strength is more than 20 times, I am afraid it will be even more dangerous than Hongdu back then."

Mu Ying was a little hesitant, after all, the defense of Hongdu between Zhu Wenzheng and Lan Yu back then was only 40,000 to 600,000, and it was really too difficult to fight 200,000 to 10,000.

In particular, Hongdu is a fortified city with high walls and thick walls, and in this southern Xinjiang, there is no such dangerous pass that cannot be opened by one man.

This is also something that cannot be helped, since ancient times, the threat of the Central Plains Dynasty has come from the nomadic herding in the north, and the alien races in the southern jungle have always been unsatisfactory.

Whether the Central Plains Dynasty is strong or declining, there is no chance to dominate the Central Plains, at most like the Dali Duan family back then, occupy a place, and stand on its own as emperor.

More often, in the face of the Central Plains forces, they are low-brow and pleasing to the eyes, and sometimes even when they are in chaos and separatism, they can't even defeat the Han separatist forces.

This also led to the fact that all dynasties did not have much heart to build the city wall pass here, and often directly sent troops to fight and subdue, and the most beautiful show, called Zhuge Liang, was beaten alive to become a border citizen of Shu.

However, don't care about the combat power of other men, the number of people is there, you want to beat 200,000 people with 10,000 people?

It's 200,000 pigs, and you can't stop it if you rush this way, right?

"The marshal can hand over this task to Lan, it's just more than 200,000 local chickens and dogs, how can the combat power be compared to Chen Youliang's army back then."

"If Lan Yu can't defend until the army breaks through the Xia Kingdom, come and see you!"

Lan Yu boasted about Haikou before, and it was difficult to ride a tiger at this time, so he simply stiffened his neck and looked like he wanted to be hard to the end.

Everyone is a child of Huaixi, Lan Yu thinks that his relationship with Xiao Han is okay, he doesn't believe that Xiao Han will really let him die.

"Nonsense!"

"Chen Youliang usurped power, unpopular, cruel and tyrannical, so that everyone betrayed their relatives and left, so my Ming soldiers fought and won successes, and this time it is my Ming labor expedition, the home field is not there, how do you fight more than 200,000 with 10,000?"

"It's okay if they don't come, if they really come, you Lan Yuyan has a life?"

Mu Ying's eyes widened, there were too many troops, Xia Guo was difficult to fight, and Lao Zhu would be held accountable, but in comparison, Mu Ying didn't want anything to happen to his brothers.

If the battle is lost, it is a big deal to lose the official position and dismiss the knight, but these old brothers are dead, but they will never survive again.

"Lan Yu, are you serious?"

"Do you dare to make a military order?"

Xiao Han narrowed his eyes and looked at Lan Yu with a smile, since he opened his mouth to talk about this, he naturally had a plan in his heart.

However, before that, he still had to provoke Lan Yu and let Lan Yu take it by himself, otherwise this matter would be too outrageous and not so easy to promote.

"Wind and snow!"

Mu Ying was shocked, but he didn't expect that Xiao Han not only did not dissuade Lan Yu at this time, but also provoked Lan Yu to issue a military order, although he had confidence in Xiao Han, a little gentleman in Huaixi, but this matter sounded too unreliable.

"Why don't you dare?"

"We're afraid they won't come and have a bird!"

"I, Lanyu, made a military order today, if I can't defend the south and break through the Xia Kingdom, I will die in battle and apologize!"

Lan Yu raised his head, he didn't expect Xiao Han to really plan to let him 10,000 people fight 200,000 people, although he said that his scalp was a little numb when he thought about it, but when it came to this, he had the ability to go up, and he didn't have the ability to go hard, he really didn't believe it, Hong Du beat Chen Youliang and could hold it, but he couldn't hold it against a group of rabble?

can't fight, with 10,000 people blocked there, the soldiers are dead, and the generals are dead, and the blue jade is on himself, even if it is blocked with corpses, it will take some more time!

"Good!"

"In Hongdu, Your Majesty asked you to keep it for a hundred days, and now that the difficulty is up, I will only let you keep it for fifty days."

"You can't hold it for these fifty days, I strongly persuade Mu Shuai, Zhuge Liang, to behead you, Ma Yan, and keep it, I will give you the greatest hero for this battle!"

"Alright, Lan Yu will go down and order some troops."

Xiao Han patted Lan Yu's shoulder and smiled, while quietly stuffing an object into Lan Yu's arms.

"No!"

Lan Yu responded, bowed to Mu Ying and Xiao Han and stepped back, with Xiao Han's movements, he was also slightly relieved, at least, Xiao Han had an arrangement, not really let him gamble on his life.

"Fengxue, are you really so sure that the two families in the south will definitely do it?"

He Wenhui, who had been silent on the side, asked Xiao Han, he couldn't think of a reason for Xiao Han to let Lan Yu take 10,000 people to go, the only possibility he thought was possible, that is, Xiao Han was sure that the two southern families would not move, but just let Lan Yu represent Da Ming and show an attitude.

"Eighty percent."

Xiao Han opened his mouth lightly, directly shattering He Wenhui's illusions, and according to Xiao Han's estimation, the probability of the two groups of people in the south at that time was two percent.

It is not the star lineup of Huaixi veterans who are in charge of the army, plus three percent, Zhu Yuanzhang's inheritance of Dayuan's orthodox position has a flaw that may be attacked, plus three percent.

"Whew!"

"In two days, it is estimated that Zhu Wenzheng's former army will meet with Xia Jun."

"Fengxue, what do you think Xia Jun will do?"

In a somewhat gloomy atmosphere, Mu Ying held down the sand table with one hand and asked Xiao Han with her eyebrows.

"Our side went upriver from the south of the Yangtze River and attacked Shu along the Yangtze River, although there are no people from a certain country in the Xia country, there are still some good generals available."

"They will definitely defend according to the river, rely on the mountains and rivers to defend the land, release the water across the river with iron locks, take advantage of the geographical advantages of Shu, and consume with my Ming Dynasty."

"If they are allowed to succeed, our Ming Dynasty has only begun to recover its national strength, the Mengyuan in the north has not been destroyed, and the army of the King of Liang of the Duan family in the south is peeping, and there is a barbarian country next to it, and it will not last for many years, so our army has to retreat."

Xiao Han pointed to the mountains and rivers in Shu on the sand table, and analyzed Mu Ying and He Wenhui in the big tent.

Since ancient times, it is difficult to get to the blue sky, if it weren't for the Shu people to find their own death, leading the tiger and wolf of Qin into the house, maybe the entire Warring States can always stay out of the matter.

In Xiao Han's view, the resistance caused by Shuzhong's geographical advantages to the Ming army is better than the army of 100,000 Xia Kingdom.

"In this way, time is not on my side."

"Fengxue, you said earlier that you would give Lan Yu fifty days, don't you already have a plan?"

Mu Ying's brows furrowed even deeper, and she looked at Xiao Han, wanting to ask Xiao Han about her countermeasures.

Anyway, he can't think of a way to quickly break through this kind of Xiongguan natural danger in fifty days, since you Xiao Fengxue has a way, it is better to say it and listen to it.

"Don't be in a hurry, don't be in a hurry, some things are done early, and it is easy to be seen flaws."

"If you want to break through the pseudo-Xia quickly, it is definitely not enough to send this army and sailors, and after Jing Chu, you have to go north with Brother Wenhui and attack from the north to the south with Hanzhong."

"Brother Mu Ying, please also write a report to Your Majesty, asking the defenders of Hanzhong and Guanzhong to cooperate with us in attacking the Xia Kingdom."

Xiao Han said, walked to the sand table, pushed the temperament of the 100,000 people who represented himself to the line of Qutang Gorge, and put He Wenhui in Hanzhong and smiled, but he sold a pass, and did not directly say his plan.

On the one hand, the earlier the strategy is said, the more risk it will be exposed, and it is safest to put it in his own head, on the other hand, Xiao Han needs to take the opportunity to hold the rhythm of normal war in his own hands.

The advantage is mine!

(End of chapter)