Gao Pragmatic looked left and right and felt that it was unsafe, but he never expected that Zhou Benbing would actually put forward an absolutely safe opinion at this moment, but... it seemed to be only military safe, because Zhou Benbing's suggestion was: Xiao Ruxun Perhaps Ma Chengxun would lead troops to fight in the fortress, but Jinghua would send out a large number of cavalry to assist.
This idea really shocked Gao Pangshi, but after the shock, he had to admit that from a military point of view, Jinghua's armed servants in Liaodong at this time were indeed capable of completing this task.
Why? Because Gao Pragmatic had been expanding his investment in Liaodong since he first went to Liaonan to take up the post of Jin Fuhai to build troops, while he was also actively expanding the number of armed servants in Liaodong and hoarding all kinds of combat materials.
This move was even reported by Liu Shouyou, but Gao Pragmatic had great influence on Dongchang and Jinyiwei at that time. As a result, the intelligence received by the emperor in the end had an obvious tendency, so he believed that these preparations were only because of Liaodong's The security situation is worrying. In order to ensure the safety of important industries such as coal and iron, Jinghua has installed multiple security measures.
These means mainly include the establishment of Jinghua Trading Company cavalry escort teams, mining protection teams in various mining areas, factory protection teams, as well as inland water transport and escort fleets such as the Liaohe River and Taizi River, etc.
If we look at the internal habits of the Ming Dynasty, these servants were organized according to conventions and customs, and were no different from the militia organizations created by countless squires across the country to guard against rogue bandits.
If there is any difference, it is probably that Jinghua is too big, so the total scale of these armed forces is really huge, and Jinghua is too rich, so the equipment level of these armed forces is too high.
Since Jinghua sent troops there might be some other problems, Gao Pragmatic couldn't agree immediately, so he just said noncommittally that he would consider it, and then asked Zhou Benbing to go back first.
As soon as Zhou Yong left, Gao pragmatic returned to the study and called Liu Xin to continue the discussion, especially to seek her opinion on Jinghua's proposal to send troops.
After hearing this, Liu Xin smiled and said: "Jinghua's sending troops is not a problem in itself. The problem is that Jinghua maintains a large-scale armed force in Liaodong. It was originally a reserve force for the Ming army prepared for the Japanese Rebellion in Imjin and the decisive battle of Chahar. You If you want to use it in advance now, you have to consider whether Jinghua's actual strength in Liaodong will be exposed.
In addition, there is another problem. Not long ago, the emperor was worried that your power was too great. If the military force under Jinghua plays a more important role in this battle, the emperor will promote it to everyone. From Liaodong Lenovo to Quan Daming, and even think of Southern Xinjiang... Then would he think that you, Gao Situ, seem to be a good civil servant, but in the end you have hundreds of thousands of troops in your hands? Isn't this a bit too shocking? "
"That's what I'm worried about." Gao Pragmatic frowned and said: "The armed servants in Liaodong are indeed not weak, but they are indeed preparing for the decisive battle between the Imchen Japanese Rebellion and Chahar. This has never been done from the beginning to the end. Changes. From my personal point of view, they pose no threat to the court, but will the emperor be so confident? After the last incident, I can no longer guarantee it."
Liu Xin plucked her hair from her temples and said calmly: "In this case, my suggestion is that it is best not to dispatch Jinghua's cavalry if possible. If you really have to dispatch them, then you should try to reduce the scale as much as possible, especially if you must Make sure that the number of Beijing cavalry dispatched can never exceed the regular cavalry troops in Liaodong, so that 'assisting in combat' at least seems worthy of the name."
Gao pragmatic turned his eyes out the window, looked at Shichahai, and said calmly: "Then we must first evaluate the strength of Tumen's troop dispatch and how many troops we need to deal with it."
Liu Xin said without hesitation: "As for Tumen, we need to be lenient to the enemy. It is said that the Outer Khalkha tribe has maintained the Mongolian tradition relatively well. I think it is best to overestimate the combat effectiveness.
Chahar itself has 60,000 elite cavalry. Although the Outer Khalkha tribe is capable of fighting, its population is relatively insufficient. I think even if they are forced to fully support Tumen, they will not be able to dispatch more than 20,000 cavalry. In this case, the opponent will have up to 80,000 Mongolian cavalry, which is definitely a powerful combat force. "
Gao pragmatic pondered for a moment, let out a long breath, and said cautiously: "I have tried riding with a foot system several times, and the effect is pretty good, but the problems are also obvious. The most serious point is that this kind of combat First of all, we must ensure that the battle breaks out on the battlefield I have predetermined.
In other words, when our military's aircraft power is inferior to the opponent's, we must act first, prepare the battlefield in advance, and ensure that the opponent falls into the trap. You know, if you win this kind of battle, it will be really satisfying when you look back, but in fact it is a very difficult thing...
If Tumen came to attack the Ming Dynasty proactively like before, even attacking Ye He would be okay, because our city and Ye He's city are both fixed there. If he wants to plunder, he has to rush to the city. And go, this is more convenient for strategies such as setting up ambush.
However, the biggest problem this time may be the rescue of the Horqin tribe. The Horqin tribe is a large nomadic tribe. Not only does it have no fixed settlement, but its territory is not very small. In this case, it was difficult for me to judge the trajectory of Tumen's march. "
Liu Xin shook his head and said: "Even if you can judge accurately, it doesn't make much sense, because this is fighting the Mongols, not a city exchange in southern Xinjiang. The time and distance are all here, and it is impossible to rely on the front to fight. You control it.
If you decide to let Xiao Ruxun lead the troops, you must completely trust Xiao Ruxun's ability; if you only need Ma Chengxun to send troops, then you can only trust his ability. In short, how well they perform in battle depends entirely on the adaptability of the frontline generals. At most, you can only tell them some strategic goals and the like in advance, and the specific operations are entirely up to them. "
Gao pragmatic was silent for a while, changed the topic, and asked: "The cavalry troops that can be mobilized east of the Liaohe River are only about 8,000, which means that the assisting strength of the Jinghua cavalry cannot exceed this number at most."
Liu Xin glanced sideways at him: "It's impossible to be equal to them. To tell you the truth, I even wish I could only send out 2,000 people to barely get 10,000 cavalry for Liaodong."
Gao pragmatic frowned and said: "Ten thousand versus eighty thousand?"
"How is that possible!" Liu Xin rolled her eyes: "Since the advent of the Wanli Type II lance, the firepower of the Ming army's cavalry has indeed improved a lot, and now it is no longer inferior to the Mongolian cavalry.
But even so, it is mainly from the perspective of range and lethality, not necessarily from the perspective of firepower density - after all, although the lance has been changed to a flintlock type and has a paper shell fixed charge, it is now equipped with The medicine and reloading are separated. Although the entire reloading time is greatly shortened than before, no matter how fast the speed increases, it will not be faster than the Mongolian arrows.
So from this point of view, as long as the Mongols don't do anything with us, and the two sides will engage in the stupidest cavalry hedging, then there may be a hand-to-hand confrontation after the first wave of shooting - I can't judge this yet Who will have the upper hand in the battle? "
The Wanli II lance can be equipped with a bayonet, but the bayonet on the lance is not used for cavalry hedging operations. It is prepared for the cavalry's expulsion and pursuit operations against infantry. For cavalry hedging operations, whether it is the Ming cavalry or the Beijing cavalry, once the troops come into close combat, they still have to rely on their swords to decide the outcome.
However, the Mongolian sword is a typical Mongolian scimitar. The cold weapons of the Ming Dynasty are not standardized. There are slightly more styles of sabers - mainly because Jinghua rarely gets involved in cold weapon products, resulting in these sabers. Different suppliers have different styles.
Jinghua's own saber is the standard improved Yanling saber. This saber itself is not actually a professional saber, but a "universal sword" that can be used as a saber when mounted and as an infantry saber when dismounted.
The reason why knights are equipped with this sword is that their working environment is relatively complex. Firstly, they have been used as caravan guards for a long time, so they often receive the task of exterminating bandits; secondly, they often need to go out of the fortress, and they may encounter some horse bandits and caravans, so they have to be equipped with some "multi-functional" type. arms. The improved Yan Ling Dao is one of the typical examples.
Actually speaking of improvements, this improvement is not big. Generally speaking, it relies on Jinghua's advanced metallurgical technology to slightly lengthen the blade and make the blade thinner, maintaining the habit of the Yanling Sword. Just weight.
All in all, compared to the progress in firearms strength, although there have been improvements in cold weapons, due to various reasons, the actual improvement in combat power brought about by these improvements may not be much. So, if the Ming cavalry really fought against the Mongolian cavalry immediately, it would be difficult for both Liu Xin and Gao Pragmatic to make an accurate judgment without actual combat data. But no matter what, neither of them thought that 10,000 Ming army cavalry could defeat 80,000 Mongolian cavalry.
Liu Xin paused and then quickly continued: "The Ming army's dispatch of troops this time is not to fight a decisive battle with Chahar. Their mission is to rescue Horqin, and to rescue Horqin, they must send troops together with Ye He. This In other words, even in the most dangerous time, they should not be fighting alone. There will be Ye He's friendly troops beside them.
At the same time, if the Ming army, Ye He, and Horqin can cooperate effectively, I think the best way is to form a situation where the three coalition forces are concentrated in one place and waiting for the decisive battle before Tumen engages them. "
"Waiting for the decisive battle?" Gao Jingshi narrowed his eyes slightly: "I don't think you really want to fight now, but... set up a hedgehog tactic to make the Tumen feel that it is unprofitable and take the initiative to retreat?"
Liu Xin nodded calmly and admitted: "Yes, that's what I meant."
Gao Pragmatic smiled bitterly and said: "The idea is good, but do you know how many troops Horqin has? There are only more than 10,000 troops in peacetime, and there may be more than 20,000 troops in wartime, that's all."
Liu Xin was slightly surprised and raised her eyebrows: "No way? I remember that the status of Prince Horqin was quite high in the Qing Dynasty. They only have this small number of troops?"
Gao pragmatically said: "During the Qing Dynasty, the Mongolian population was restricted, and the Manchus implemented a policy of reducing their population. Have you heard of it?"
"I've heard a little about it, but I don't know the details." Liu Xin said honestly.
Gao Pragmatic said "hmm" and simply explained: "Basically, it is to divide and disintegrate the various Mongolian tribes, and to control the population of the Mongolian tribes with a larger population and stronger cohesion. For example, the upper limit of men in Horqin Mongolia is 80,000, and more than will be killed.
Similarly, the Mongolian army was used as the vanguard in the war, and there were even more ways to reduce Ding in disguise. for example
Through this method, by the end of the Qing Dynasty, the population of Mongolia (referring to the entire Mongolia) increased from about 12 million in the late Ming Dynasty (Note: This is the Outer Mongolian language reported by Feng Yuxiang, but I think this data is doubtful, and there should not be so many) It was reduced to less than one million by the end of the Qing Dynasty.
This data is a bit scary, but based on the information from the time when Outer Mongolia became independent, as well as the records in Feng Yuxiang's "Travel Notes on Outer Mongolia", it should be roughly true. The specific figures may be different, but they are always consistent with the Qing Dynasty's reduction policy. It cannot be separated. "
Liu Xin sighed with emotion: "This is really... a Manchu and Mongolian family, so close that they have to reduce the number of children." After a pause, she had doubts again and asked: "But why do they only limit the number of boys? Healthy? It’s a woman who has the child.”
"The Manchus consider military threats, and the tradition of Mongolian women has always been to obey the strong. So when there are only that few men, they naturally cannot threaten the Manchus. As for Mongolian women, no matter how many they are... uh, let me put it bluntly. One thing - do you think it was necessary to worry about gender imbalance in that era? Especially the imbalance of more women than men?"
Liu Xin snorted and said angrily: "That's not necessary. Who wouldn't want to have three wives and four concubines, right?"
Gao pragmatic laughed, turned the topic back to business, and said: "Anyway, the current situation is that the population of Horqin is actually not large. In the original history, they became stronger mainly because they voted for Nurhachi earlier. , and was closely married to Nurhaci, Huang Taiji and other generations of barbarian chiefs, so his political status was high. In addition, Huang Taiji gave many Mongolians to the Horqin tribe during the war to unify Mongolia... We haven’t had that chance yet.”
Liu Xin pondered and calculated: "Horqin has 20,000 cavalry, and Ye He has about 20,000 soldiers, of which the cavalry is at most half, which is 30,000... plus the Ming Dynasty's 10,000, there are only 40,000 cavalry in total, almost It’s only half of Tumen’s strength.” She said in surprise: “Hey, from the looks of it, Tumen’s strength is really not weak!”
"Let's see who we compete with." Gao pragmatic shook his head, then frowned and touched his chin, and said thoughtfully: "Forty thousand versus eighty thousand, and it's a pure cavalry battle... To tell you the truth, I'm not very confident, I'm afraid We have to think of other ways.”
Then he sighed and said helplessly: "Zhou Benbing proposed that Jinghua send troops to assist. I guess he thought that Jinghua's tens of thousands of servants in Liaodong - including nearly 20,000 cavalry, can be used casually."
Liu Xin also frowned and couldn't help but said: "Since Jinghua itself cannot turn against the foreigners and steal the credit of the economic system army, then if we do not rely on the support of other regions and only rely on the local strength of Liaodong, I am afraid that Li Rusong will not take action. It won't work, after all, only he has a strong enough cavalry force in his hands." As he said that, he looked towards Gao Yingshi.
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