A group of civil servants and generals could not learn anything about Europe from other sources except for a few individuals who could get a small amount of information from the mouths of warlocks or some books.
After being introduced twice by a certain prince, I had a preliminary understanding of what was happening thousands of miles away. I felt like my horizons had been broadened, and I no longer looked like the frog in the well before.
With a series of inventions and creations, the launch of airships, and the introduction of European affairs, the ministers were convinced that the prince was studying in the fairy world. Only in this way can the results of this series of words and deeds be fully explained.
Without the guidance of a certain prince, the Ministry of Rites of the Great Rebellion Dynasty had a dark eye on the situation in Europe and could not find a solution at all. Now Feng Quan, the minister of the Ministry of Rites, got the bound volume written by a certain prince, and there was "action". guide".
The Ming Empire's recent strategy is to support the three-nation alliance of "Xiqi", "Aochu", and "Dezhao". In the later period, it will help "Faqin" dominate Europe.
If possible, Sweden can also be brought along to maintain the country's military strength, which is very beneficial to curbing Russia's expansion to the west.
Among the Western countries, the threat to the Ming Empire from the "Dutch, Koreans" and "Xiqi" came from the sea. Russia, which broke away from the control of the Golden Horde, was as ambitious as its former master, intending to conquer the vast territory of the Ming Dynasty. Siberia swallowed into the belly.
A war between the Ming Dynasty and Russia is inevitable. Within three years at the latest, the armies of both sides will engage in a fierce battle with thousands of soldiers north of Blackwater.
A certain prince had no doubt about the outcome of the battle, that is, the vassal army would definitely be defeated. One Russian Cossack cavalry could bully five or six vassal soldiers.
Five hundred Cossack cavalry can sweep away the 2,500 to 3,000 vassal coalition forces. At that time, it will be necessary to mobilize royal divisions from the mainland to assist them. Otherwise, the Ming vassal state will be destroyed by the Russian army, which will really lose its face.
The five vassal kings of the upcoming vassal "Northland" also requested a certain prince to send troops to help suppress the local braids. However, the matter was still under consideration and no reply was given immediately.
It stands to reason that Kuwu Island has Yang Zhan with 3,000 soldiers and horses to help King Dai and King Jin clean up the island. So the huge "Northland" naturally needs a large number of soldiers and horses from the imperial court.
But after autumn, pigtails would enter the border to rob, and the imperial court could not mobilize the main battle troops to go overseas, so the border troops could only scavenge scraps and transport them to the "Northland" to do miscellaneous tasks.
Yang Zhan is under the jurisdiction of the border troops stationed in Jizhou, and the same is true for the troops sent to the "Northland" this time. If there are other places, such as the vassal kings in Nanyang, if they also request to send troops, I am afraid that the imperial court will even send troops to the border areas. No troops can be sent out.
"I believe that in countries that have established diplomatic relations, each country can station 300 to 500 soldiers to protect the safety of the Ming Dynasty's consulate. The total number is about 2,000 to 3,000 people. In addition, the court still needs to mobilize Three thousand to four thousand soldiers rushed to the "Northland" to help many vassal kings regain their lost territories. Before autumn, the Jifu garrison still needed to seize the time to prepare for war, so the soldiers and horses going to the "Northland" needed to be drawn from the border army, such as this If the town's military strength is not sufficient, Xuanda and even Shaanxi border troops can be deployed."
A certain prince didn't think that the border troops were so bad that they couldn't even defeat the natives of the "Northland", and at least they could pretend to "snap" them.
If you really lose to the natives over there, you don't have to come back. You can't defeat the natives who don't even have muskets. Why are you so embarrassed to come back?
A certain prince felt that the imperial court's dispatch of 3,000 border troops would be enough to deal with the natives north of the Black River. At present, neither the imperial court nor the vassal state had enough troops to cross the Black River and go south.
More importantly, the southern coast area near the Black Water is either swampland or mountainous, and there is no plain suitable for growing crops at all.
If you really want to find a large area of land that can cultivate thousands of hectares of fertile land, you have to go south to the Songhua River and Nenjiang River areas. That would be like delivering Huang Tai Chicken to your door.
This is equivalent to fighting at someone else's home court. It would be weird if you don't lose.
Although you may not necessarily encounter the main force of Huang Taiji there, there is no doubt that the further south you go, the more braids you will encounter, and the greater the possibility of defeat.
It would be good if the vassal kings could hold on to the territory north of Blackwater. It was completely unrealistic to expect them to attack Huang Taiji's backyard.
"Your Majesty, if the border troops are deployed so frequently, and if the Eastern captives invade south again after autumn, how should the court respond?"
Wang Jiayan, the Secretary of the Ministry of War, also had to consider the paper-like defense line in the north. No matter how low the frontier army's combat power was, they could still resist for a while and serve as an early warning.
If all the border troops in Jizhen, Xuanda and other places were really mobilized, I'm afraid this would be what Donglu would be most happy to see, and it would be like entering a deserted land when knocking on the pass.
Wang Jiayan's worries were also the worries of other officials in the imperial court. As long as Emperor Chongzhen's inability to govern was spread outside the country, the Donglu would definitely be dispatched after the autumn harvest. Perhaps before that time, the Donglu would invade early. .
According to the news forwarded by Wang Zaijin, the governor of western Liaoning, from Jinzhou General Soldier Zu Dashou, when Dorgon and Yue Tuo led their troops into the pass to plunder, Huang Taiji outside the pass was not idle either.
He personally led the troops of Daishan, Azige, Shuotuo, Nikan, Luotuo and other clan members, supplemented by Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming's Tianyou Army, the still gratifying Tianyou Army, and the Han army began to besiege Xingshan and Xingshan on the outskirts of Jinzhou. Songshan, Tashan, Lianshan and other strongholds.
Under the command of guard Jin Guofeng, the Songshan defenders tenaciously blocked the invading Qing army. In addition, the news of digging the tunnel was leaked in advance, so Huang Taiji's plot to capture Songshan failed.
However, he still killed thousands of Ming troops, killed deputy general Yang Zhen, captured Zu Keyong alive, and destroyed a bunch of forts outside Songshan.
Zu Dashou also sent flying cavalry to find out that Huang Taiji had ordered Duduo to be the commander of the left wing and Jierhalang to be the commander of the right wing. The two forces worked together to build a city and farm in Yizhou, intending to lead the army to besiege Jinzhou again when the time was right.
According to the accounts of captured Han prisoners, the Qing army deployed more than a hundred Hongyi cannons in the Songjin area alone, and their firepower far exceeded that of the siege of Ningyuan.
However, due to the stubborn resistance of the Songshan and Jinzhou defenders, especially Shi Tingzhu's nephew who was injured by the artillery fire of the Songshan defenders, Shi Tingzhu and Ma Guangyuan, who commanded the two banners of the Han army, became fearful.
Due to the terrain limitations around Songshan, the Eight Banners Army's attack was unsatisfactory and fell far short of Huang Taiji's expectations. The general attack originally scheduled to be launched in the early morning of February 25 was actually frustrated by the defenders.
There were no less than a hundred Eight Banners soldiers who died at the foot of Songshan City that day, not counting the casualties of the Han armies of the two banners and the Tianyou Army and the Tianyou Army.
As a last resort, the Qing army began to dig tunnels in an attempt to surprise the enemy and launch a sneak attack at midnight. However, this was discovered by Lieutenant General Yang Zhen and others who were leading a troop of cavalry cruising outside Songshan, so they sent people to notify the defenders in the city.
After digging the tunnel for twenty days, the Ming army discovered it before the sneak attack. It was impossible to attack by force, and the sneak attack failed. Considering that the morale of the troops was gradually declining and the army had no fighting spirit, Huang Taiji had no choice but to order the entire army to retreat northward.
Taking this opportunity, Zu Dashou sent someone to contact Jin Guofeng. After confirming that the Qing army had indeed retreated across the board, he was relieved and immediately reported the situation here to Wang Zaijin.
Wang Zaijin felt that the opportunity was too good to miss. Maybe Huang Taiji would make a comeback soon, and he immediately decided to implement a certain prince's plan to shrink his troops and manpower.
Zu Dashou was ordered to send all the people and craftsmen from Jinzhou and nearby areas to Shanhaiguan. At the same time, he transferred the Menggu cavalry to the pass and informed them to be prepared for the enemy's comeback after autumn.
Wang Zaijin ordered that only 5,000 soldiers and horses be retained in Jinzhou City, and 2,000 defenders should be left in each of the four outer strongholds of Xingshan, Songshan, Tashan, and Lianshan. All other small strongholds should be abolished and the defenders should all retreat to Shanhaiguan.
Zu Dashou did not agree with this plan and adopted a tactful resistance strategy, that is, non-combatants could evacuate to Shanhaiguan, but his troops could not be easily transferred by their superiors, otherwise Jinzhou City would be in danger.
As a result, there are still tens of thousands of defenders in the city, and all the food and wages sent by Wang Zaijin for a year have been accepted. However, the people around the city have no intention of staying behind, and all follow the returning fleet to Shanhaiguan. .
Due to human feelings, he didn't want to have too much trouble with his immediate boss, lest he follow in the footsteps of Mao Wenlong and have to rely on the supplies provided by Wang Zaijin in the future.
After much deliberation, Zu Dashou reluctantly agreed to transfer two troops led by Menggu generals Wu Marsh and Na Muqi, totaling more than a thousand troops, to Shanhaiguan to defend Shanhaiguan.
After losing Yang Zhen, Zu Keyong, Xu Yongchang and other generals this time, Zu Dashou relied more and more on his Menggu horsemen, but he also guarded against these seemingly loyal servants.
Zu Dashou wanted to show his favor to Wang Zaijin, so he had to show a certain degree of sincerity in order to leave a way out for himself, at least not to seek refuge with Huang Taiji, who he had falsely surrendered to.
For the time being, Wang Zaijin had no idea what to do with this important subordinate who was already too big to lose, because he still had to reorganize other garrison troops in the western Liaoning region.
According to the report sent to the court by Yuan Shu, a doctor in the General Department of Household Affairs outside the Pass, there were approximately 70,000 Ming troops outside the Pass, with 2,700 war horses and 5,000 pack horses.
It seems that the troops are inferior, but these 70,000 people are divided into more than 50 battalions, stationed in the huge Western Liaoning Corridor from Shanhaiguan to Jinzhou.
Wang Zaijin understood that it was impossible to hold all the strongholds with these troops, so he could only change the previous comprehensive defense strategy to focused defense.
At present, the Ming army in western Liaoning only needs to garrison the four strategic locations of Jinzhou, Ningyuan, Guangning Qiantunwei and Shanhaiguan, as well as the four fortresses of Songshan, Tashan, Xingshan, Lianshan and Guangning Zhongqian in front of Shanhaiguan.
Wang Zaijin was temporarily unable to take care of the Qing troops who were stationed in Yizhou and might invade Jinzhou again at any time. He could only take advantage of Huang Taiji's new defeat to shrink his troops and defensive areas as much as possible.
"I think you all know in your heart that the combat effectiveness of the border troops on the Great Wall defense line is low. Every time the Donglu invaded, the defenders would just give up with symbolic resistance. It can be said that after the Donglu were equipped with red Yi cannons, we The Ming Dynasty's Great Wall defense line was actually in name only. It looked like a newly built public toilet in the capital. Donglu could come and leave whenever they wanted. There was no way to stop them. After looting everywhere, they left a mess to the court to clean up. Since So, why is the imperial court still deploying a large number of border troops on the Great Wall defense line? Just leave some soldiers to warn of the danger, and the rest can be withdrawn and sent to overseas vassals to fight. At least they will not waste money. Raise idlers for nothing. I am not directly dismantling, but using part of the border troops for overseas battlefields. As for how to resist the Donglu, I have already mentioned the specific strategies and tactics in the previous episode. There are four troops and horses around the capital, plus brave guards. The 50,000 to 60,000 troops of the battalion and the East Palace Guards can already ensure the safety of the capital. I wonder what Wang Aiqing thinks?"
In the view of a certain prince, the so-called border troops are a group of civilian actors in military uniforms, and their main task is to reach out to receive their lunch boxes!
In this way, the imperial court would give each of them one, two, three, or three taels of silver and three measures of rice every month. Through layers of deductions, the soldiers at the bottom would definitely not receive much food, but the imperial court actually distributed it in full.
No less than a million dollars were spent on the border troops every year, but the effect was negligible, which made a certain prince feel that the gains outweighed the losses.
It is not possible to abolish tens of thousands of border troops at the moment. It would be the same as scapegoating the father, but it is still possible to let them do some "strength work". You can't defeat the regular Donglu army, but you can defeat the natives of the "Northland". ?
"...I think this is a very appropriate policy for Your Highness!"
The border troops are all military households. If the imperial court insists on disbanding, it will inevitably cause a mutiny. It is exactly the same as what happened in Shaanxi many years ago. Wang Jiayan can't think of any other effective way for the time being, so he can only agree to the prince's suggestion.
To help the vassal king seize overseas fiefdoms, the court must send troops to assist in the suppression. The border army is currently the only combat force that can be mobilized in large numbers. Otherwise, the vassal king and his family will not leave in the capital, and the court will have a headache.
Using part of the border troops to meet the demands of the vassal kings does not seem to be too much. After all, both of them stayed in the Ming Dynasty and wanted to ask for money from the court.
Wang Jiayan, the Minister of the Ministry of War, has no objection, but Li Shiwen, the Minister of the Ministry of Household, has a very serious objection. At that time, the money from buying airships can only be used to support these uncles!
Now that he had to use troops overseas, a certain prince suddenly felt that his troops were insufficient. The border troops were just a group of uncles. If he didn't have any troops at hand, he would not want to use these people at all.
However, this method also has advantages. As long as the consent of the feudal princes is obtained, the border troops can follow the feudal princes to settle overseas, and each military household can get a hundred acres of land there.
"I will negotiate with the feudal princes to try to allow the feudal princes to accept some of the border troops and their families and settle down in the 'Northland', and the court will issue a certain resettlement allowance. This will not only solve the problem of landlessness in the military families' families," , and can guard the border for the imperial court and ensure the security of the vassal state, it is the best of both worlds."
A certain prince felt that this method was feasible, and he had almost thought it through, so he told his ministers that if you don't have a better method, you can only use this one.
"This method is very wonderful, I think this decision is feasible!"
Wang Jiayan thought about it for a while and agreed to this plan. Otherwise, just transferring the border soldiers overseas would not be a long-term solution. It would be appropriate to move their families together.
A large amount of land held by military households in the northwest has been misappropriated. The court has long been aware of it, but at this time it is so complicated that it involves a large number of gentry and officials, and it will not be solved for a while.
If you want to appease thousands of military households, the only way is to find another place for them to settle down. There is no doubt that the vast "Northland" is the best choice.
