In the Chongzheng Hall, Emperor Liu was discussing the deployment of troops and generals with Liu Tinghan and other military ministers. It was said to be a discussion, but in fact it was Emperor Liu accepting the report.
According to the plan of the Privy Council, in response to the Yulin Rebellion, the imperial court will strike hard, resolutely attack, and completely eliminate it. Different from the previous small fights, it will move like thunder, pressing forward with absolute crushing power and crushing all rebellions. Even if Yulin is completely destroyed, he will not hesitate.
Even in the Privy Council's initial plan, a hundred thousand troops were mobilized to go to the northwest to suppress the bandits. If the local troops in Yulin were included, there would be nearly 130,000 troops, and most of these troops were professionally recruited by the imperial court. The army, even the regiment-trained soldiers, are well-trained and selected from troops with experience in border defense.
After ten years of reorganization and reorganization, the number of professional soldiers in the Han Dynasty has dropped sharply, and they have been replaced by training from rural corps. In terms of the quality of the army, there has been an inevitable decline compared to ten years ago, but the consumption of soldiers by the imperial court is also real. falling.
Of course, this does not mean that the strength of the Han army has become weaker. The remaining Han army, especially those professional soldiers, have higher quality, higher requirements, and naturally stronger combat power.
The meritorious generals Yang Ye, Pan Mei, and Shi Shouxin have been absent from the court in recent years, and their tasks have become patrols on behalf of the sky, visiting all the armies in the world, and supervising the reform of the military system and the post-reform national defense establishment and military training. , escorting the reform of the military system.
After ten years of transformation, the Han army has not encountered any major challenges except for a bloody battle in the Western Regions, which truly tested its results. The war against Sri Lanka is not up to par. The opponent is too weak and the victory is too easy.
In contrast, the rebellion in Yulin can be used as a testing stone to test the temperament of the Han army in actual combat. In addition, the development of the Han army, in addition to improving personal qualities, also increasingly relied on the use of equipment.
In the past few decades, the Han Dynasty's military technology and armament technology have been significantly improved and achieved leapfrog development. In the past, they relied most on strong crossbows, sharp blades, and strong armor. However, with the development and application of gunpowder technology, a large number of Gunpowder-based weapons began to appear in the Han army, and various new weapons were developed by smart craftsmen with heavy rewards from the weapons workshops.
Cold weapons are still the mainstream of warfare in this era, but in the past thirty years of changes in the Han Dynasty, many "hot" attributes have been quietly added. After all, even artillery has been developed.
Sun Yongping, the "eighth-level worker" who took the lead in building the artillery, was directly awarded a marquis by Emperor Liu. Even though he was a third-class marquis, it was still hereditary, just like the previous rewards for improving cotton spinning technology.
Of course, so far, the artillery is still being tested. For the battle against Black Khan, a batch of them were deployed to see the actual effect on the battlefield. However, before it was put into use, Black Khan had been defeated, Qiuci captured, and swept south of the Tianshan Mountains.
The victory in the Western Region War was a traditional victory for the Han army, and the test of new weapons now focused on the Yulin Rebellion. For this purpose, the Ministry of War had already allocated fifty artillery pieces, and those directly under the Dianqian Division were still under the control of the Yulin Rebellion. The artillerymen under training and research were dispatched.
The birth of new weapons often brings about changes in new military and tactical thinking. The birth of rockets has to a certain extent replaced the role of sharp weapons such as the traditional rhubarb crossbow, not to mention the artillery, which was particularly loved by Emperor Liu.
In the research of some officers, if the power of the artillery can achieve the expected effect, then in the future this sharp weapon will completely replace the thunder cannon that played a vital role in the Han army's invincibility in the past.
That guy is really powerful. As the name suggests, Menghuo Oil can create a war inferno. However, it is bulky and difficult to operate, and requires more operators. One thunderbolt cannon requires at least a dozen or more dozens of people. Before the counterweight-type throwing vehicle was developed, a thunderbolt cannon even required hundreds of people to pull and launch it.
In comparison, artillery is much "lighter", much more concise, and more powerful. After all, gunpowder can break mountains, break rocks, and shake the earth.
Not only the traditional army, but also the navy is particularly concerned about artillery, not even to please the holy will. After all, in order to increase the strike capability of the naval fleet, thunderbolt cannons have been moved to warships, and the new artillery seems to be more suitable. Warship.
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However, at this time, Emperor Liu was not discussing with his ministers the power of artillery and its role in the military innovation of the Han Dynasty, but he was still considering Yulin's strategy for countering the rebellion.
The counter-rebellion army is obviously mainly composed of the northwest local army, and there are also troops from nearby Hedong and Shanyang. If we add in the heroic and temporary soldiers of the Han people, the number of troops to suppress the rebels can easily reach 200,000. people.
Without delay, surrounding the entire Yulin, Zhao Pu's strategy of trapping the enemy still makes some sense. Emperor Liu also called it a cage policy, surrounding all Yulin parties, slowly crafting them, and eliminating them one by one.
The local Han people and even the miscellaneous Hus can be distinguished and treated differently, but there is no need to treat the Dangxiang people. Emperor Liu has completely lost patience and trust in the Dangxiang people, or in other words, he has never had the so-called trust.
Even for the Khitans, Emperor Liu's senses were better...
In original history, at the beginning of Li Jiqian's rebellion, the Song Dynasty was still very powerful in the northwest, and Li Jiqian could only make small troubles in Dijinze. However, Song Ting's own performance was too poor, and he did not have a unified and resolute strategy to suppress thieves from beginning to end.
First a military strike, but the military strike didn't work, then political differentiation, but that didn't work, and then economic siege. Step by step, it seemed step-by-step and steady, but in fact it was volatile.
As the emperor, Zhao Kuangyi also looked forward and backward. On the one hand, he wanted to eliminate the rebels, but on the other hand, he constantly sought compromises. When it came to employing people, he was even less impressive.
Both Tian Chongjin and Tian Renlang were veterans on the battlefield, especially Tian Renlang, who once forced Li Jiqian to a desperate situation and became a trapped beast. However, Zhao Kuangyi couldn't sit still in Tokyo and was impatient. He wanted to give orders and urge him. Finally, he simply withdrew Tian Renlang and replaced him with Wang Qian.
Wang Qian's talents have been fully proven in the Han Dynasty. What's even more ridiculous is that he actually let Li Ji take him back to Xiazhou with the intention of appeasing Li Jiqian, but he was fooled into a fool by the two cousins.
Of course, there is a crucial objective condition, that is, the Song Dynasty has a powerful enemy, the Liao Kingdom, in the north, which has been under tremendous military pressure, and also gave Li Jiqian the opportunity to play both sides between Song and Liao.
Why has the Northern Song Dynasty been criticized and not even considered a unified dynasty? In addition to those annoying policies, Yanyun is missing a piece, Northwest is missing a piece, and the good Jinou is broken and leaking everywhere, how can it not be despised.
However, in the Han Dynasty, the Liao Kingdom was already dead, and Li Jipeng's entire clan was wiped out early. The mistakes that Zhao Kuangyi could make could be completely avoided by Emperor Liu.
It didn't take it too seriously before, but now, if we really want to exert our strength, we need to attack it in all directions. Zhao Kuangyi would be concerned about the influence and pressure of the rebellion of hundreds of thousands of party members, while Emperor Liu wanted to kill hundreds of thousands of party members. Even if the disparity in actual conditions is not considered, the gap between the two is significant. of.
"The counterinsurgency in the northwest is somewhat different from the previous battles. This time, we are facing a nation, and the fighting methods and goals have to change!" Emperor Liu gave his final instructions: "However, nothing changes. According to his sect, victory on the battlefield is fundamental and everything. However, when marching to defeat Zhang Zhang, the cost of fighting is still soldiers, horses, money and food. In Yulin, the importance of logistics is even more important! On this point, the court must be fully prepared. Full support!"
Seeing Emperor Liu turn his attention to himself, Han Tong immediately expressed his position: "Your Majesty, don't worry, I have urged my subordinates to allocate military supplies in accordance with the military order of the Privy Council. If there is any problem with this matter, I will come to see you!"
Hearing this, Emperor Liu smiled and said to Shen Yilun, the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, who was summoned to listen: "Shen Qing, I will thank you for your efforts in suppressing the military expenses of thieves!"
"Yes!" Shen Yilun, who was already over seventy years old, said respectfully, very calmly. The veteran also knew that when the chaos in Yulin was settled, it would probably be the time for him to retire and retire, so his mentality was very peaceful.
Shen Yilun's official career can be said to have officially begun with the establishment of the Han Dynasty. He was initially an aide to Bai Wenke, and later served as the Mianchi Ling, the governor of Shaanzhou, and the prefect of Hezhong. After entering the imperial court, he has been working in the financial system, although he has never He once served as a financial officer, but he has always been a famous rationalist.
