Although Emperor Chongzhen personally conducted the expedition, for outsiders or Hong Chengchou himself, it was a question of Hong Chengchou's ability. This situation is a bit bad after all.
If it were something else, even if it failed, the impact would be relatively small; or if it was not to conquer the Tianshan Mountains in the west, but to attack a certain chieftain in Sichuan, then Emperor Chongzhen would definitely let Hong Chengchou do it.
But now, the enemies that Hong Chengchou wants to destroy are far away in the Western Regions. Not only are the logistical pressures huge, they are still on the grasslands. If the Jungar tribe does not engage in a decisive battle with the Ming army, in fact, as long as the leader of the Junggar tribe is a little bit stronger, The brain will definitely not confront the Ming army head-on. In this way, how long will the Ming army led by Hong Chengchou consume energy?
If Hong Chengchou's Ming army failed, it would be equivalent to defeating the integrated prairie cavalry army. In addition, defeat will also affect the grassland tribes that have surrendered. Some Mongolians who were unwilling to surrender in the first place are likely to have trouble. In other words, once the army led by Hong Chengchou is defeated by the Jungar tribe, a series of consequences will occur.
Although Emperor Chongzhen was confident that if Hong Chengchou was defeated, he could lead the army and go out again. With the advantage of Golden Finger, he should be able to defeat the enemy.
However, if this is the case, first, the manpower and materials lost due to the defeat of Hong Chengchou's troops will be wasted, which will affect the economic development of the Ming Dynasty; the other, and the most important one, is that Emperor Chongzhen is already thirty-eight years old . Although the Ming Dynasty has become stronger, it is still far from the goal of Emperor Chongzhen. Time was what Emperor Chongzhen lacked most. If Hong Chengchou's troops failed, it would take at least two years, and he couldn't afford to delay.
Although it was already the beginning of May in the 22nd year of Chongzhen when Emperor Chongzhen led the army, Sun Chuanting's troops had already advanced to Edo. It is estimated that by the end of the year, the entire Honshu Island will be occupied next year at most. It can be said that the Japanese country has almost been captured. However, matters in North and South America have not yet been put on the agenda; the Togo Shipyard has just been completed, and it will take time to build the ships. In the Middle East, I don't know when the Ming army will appear.
Another point is that through the Class A eavesdropping seeds on the body of Dongwu Governor Yan Yingyuan, Emperor Chongzhen already knew that the butterfly effect brought about by the Ming Dynasty's conquest of Dongwu had already affected the Mughal Empire in India. Emperor Chongzhen could think of it with his toes. The Mughal Empire would certainly not be happy for the Ming Empire to reach out to them. It is still unknown what actions will follow.
Not to mention, domestic economic construction, technological advancement, etc. are also beyond the reach of Emperor Chongzhen. There were too many things to do, and Emperor Chongzhen had no time to waste.
Therefore, Emperor Chongzhen did not want to take the risk of losing two years to annihilate the Jungar tribe's rebellion, so he decided to conduct this personal expedition.
All the way west, the expansion and construction of a new two-way cement official road with three lanes on the basis of the original official road is actually not very friendly to the cavalry. Cement is too hard and can damage the horse's hooves. If the train is repaired, you can take the train and really travel day and night. However, the westbound railway track is much more difficult to build than the southbound railway track. At least in the past two years, there is no hope at all.
After inspecting the construction of the cement official road, Emperor Chongzhen simply left Zhangjiakou and galloped on the grassland to Guihua City. Prepare to rest somewhere before going to Baotou, and finally catch up with Hong Chengchou's army.
This time, although he was marching in person, he did not order Hong Chengchou to lead the army and wait for him. He believed that with Hong Chengchou's ability, the battle would not be lost before he arrived.
Before Emperor Chongzhen left Zhangjiakou, Hong Chengchou received the decree permitting the expedition. At the same time, he also learned that the emperor had also led the Hussars Battalion out of Beijing.
To be honest, after Hong Chengchou heard the news, even though he was very deep in the city, he was distracted for a while and felt a little lost. In his opinion, if it had been Lu Xiangsheng, he probably wouldn't have been able to lead the expedition in person, right?
However, after his loss, he immediately ordered to march westward to conquer the Jungar tribe.
Fifty thousand cavalry, mainly Mongolian soldiers, only more than 5,000 were Qin border cavalry, driving cattle and sheep, and of course accompanying the army to escort grain and grass supplies. They were divided into two armies, and they marched towards the Tianshan Mountains in a mighty manner. go.
Of course, Hong Chengchou was not an incompetent person. He knew that the key to this war was to force Junger's tribe to engage in a decisive battle with the army, either to attack him and save him, or to encircle him so that he could not escape. For this reason, even if the Jungar Tribe annexed the other tribes of the Oirat Tribe, they would only have 30,000 cavalry at most, but he still brought nearly twice as many troops to the expedition.
Before setting off, of course he had learned about the situation of the Jungar tribe.
Originally, the Jungar tribe was mainly active in the Tacheng area, extending north to the Jungar Basin and south to the Ili area. To the east of the Jungar tribe, the Heshuote tribe was mainly active in the Urumqi area. However, now, the Jungar tribe has annexed other tribes of the Oirat tribe, and its sphere of influence has been greatly increased.
Although the nomadic people live in no fixed place, they still have traces to follow. The Ming army will definitely visit the original pasture of the Jungar tribe, as well as the Tacheng area where the Jungar tribe’s original sweat tent is. of.
Hong Chengchou's strategy is to send forwards out of Gansu, attack directly in the Jungar Basin area, and then march into the Tacheng area. The main force will take the Urumqi area. If traces of the enemy are found in the Jungar Basin, the main force will go north to encircle the Jungar area. If No enemy was found, and the two armies met in the Tashan area. At that time, depending on the situation, we will either go south to the Yili area, or we will continue to pursue westward.
The westernmost place of the Ming Dynasty was originally the Hami Guard built in the fourth year of Yongle reign to control the Hami area; however, this place was invaded and occupied by Turpan many times, and it was repeatedly fought over by the Ming Dynasty.
Until the early years of the Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty court had been engaged in internal strife over the great etiquette disputes. As a result, Hami was taken away by Turpan, so the political struggle spread to Hami. Party disputes continued, opponents were impeached and prosecuted, large jails were set up, many ministers were involved, and many were arrested and killed. In the end, Emperor Jiajing had no choice but to ignore Hami under the pretext of stopping his troops and quelling the people, and only seeking autonomy.
Therefore, at this time, the actual westernmost sphere of influence of the Ming Dynasty was Gansu, and more specifically, Jiayuguan.
During this expedition, the Ming army exited the Jiayuguan Pass and entered Xinjiang via Hami.
Hami is also the only way to enter Xinjiang and is known as the "throat of the Western Regions" on the Silk Road. However, the population is only about 3,000, which is too poor to support too many people.
The forward commander of the Ming army was Lu Daqi, the governor of Gansu, who led an army of 15,000. At this time, Lu Daqi was standing on the top of Jiayuguan City, watching the army march out of the pass in a mighty manner, and he couldn't help but feel proud in his heart.
At this time, Lu Daqi was already over sixty years old. At this age, he was not suitable to lead an army on an expedition. However, now that the world is at peace and there is a rare rebellion in nearby areas, there is a possibility of fighting for a title through military exploits, so Lu Daqi requested an order and was finally able to take orders under Hong Chengchou and receive the position of forward coach.
Nowadays, the Ming Dynasty is strong and has no shortage of military equipment. The iron armor came out of the customs, which was so spectacular that Lu Daqi couldn't help but recite a few poems to suit the occasion. Finally, surrounded by many generals, he left the border.
He agreed with the strategy Hong Chengchou decided before setting off. Today, the Jungar Tribe took advantage of the cutoff in transportation in winter to annex other tribes in the Oirat Tribe. At this time, the first priority must be to digest and completely control the populations of other tribes.
Lu Daqi and Hong Chengchou both believed that it would be difficult to find traces of the Jungar tribe in the early stage. There is a high probability that there will be no chance of a decisive battle in the Jungar Basin and the Urumqi area.
This war is naturally a quick one for the imperial army, but the Jungar tribe will definitely not let the imperial army do what they want. Thinking of this, Lu Daqi felt a little pain in his back. Even if he was sitting in a carriage, he didn't know how far he had to walk. It was enough! But you only have one chance in this life, so you can only grit your teeth and persevere!
…………
It is more than 1,200 miles from Jiayuguan to Hami. If it were in later generations, it would only take more than six hours on the highway, or almost half a day.
But in this era, even though Lu Daqi was leading a cavalry army, it took him twelve days to reach Hami.
When the Ming army arrived here, there were very few locals in Hami. Most of them hid when they heard that there was going to be a war. The imperial army did not harass them, and immediately set up camp, preparing to rest here for the day.
The reason for issuing this military order was that Lu Daqi couldn't stand it anymore and felt too tired. Traveling every day, even in a car, the bumpy journey is enough for my old bones. Of course, the cavalry cannot march continuously. It must maintain its combat power and take necessary rest.
To be honest, at this time, Lu Daqi was drinking warm mutton soup and wrapped in a felt, and his thoughts on making achievements had become much less important.
Think about it, we have just arrived in Hami, and this old bone is so easy to deal with. If we continue, we will have to take a detour to the Zhungeer Basin and then to Tacheng. I don’t know how long it will take. If you encounter an enemy chasing you, you will need to speed up your journey...
Thinking of this, Lu Daqi didn't dare to think about it any more. Or just send your general soldiers to search and pursue him, while you go to Urumqi and wait for Governor Hong.
Lu Daqi thought about it and went to bed early. It doesn’t work if you don’t sleep. In other words, it’s too late for a hero!
However, what Lu Daqi never imagined was that he didn't have to go so far and suffer so much.
In the early morning of the next day, the army was still resting. What woke them up was not the rising sun in the east.
()
