Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 1609 Overture to War ([-])
Looking left and right, Gao Wushi felt that it was not safe, but he never expected Zhou Benbing to put forward an absolutely safe opinion at this moment, but... it seems to be only military safe, because Zhou Benbing's suggestion is: Xiao Ruxun Or Ma Chengxun led troops out of the fortress to fight, but Jinghua had to dispatch a large number of cavalry to assist.

This idea really shocked Gao Wushi, but after the shock, he had to admit that from a military point of view, Jinghua's armed forces in Liaodong at this time were indeed capable of accomplishing this task.

Why?Because Gao Wushi has been expanding his investment in Liaodong since he went to Liaonan to serve as Jin Fuhai Gai's military equipment, while actively expanding his armed forces and hoarding all kinds of combat materials in Liaodong.

This move was even reported by Liu Shouyou, but Gao Wushi had a great influence on Dongchang and Jinyiwei at that time, which led to a clear tendency in the intelligence received by the emperor in the end, so he believed that these preparations were only because of Liaodong's The security situation is worrisome. In order to ensure the safety of important industries such as coal and iron, Jinghua has set up multiple security measures.

These methods mainly include the establishment of guard cavalry teams of Jinghua Trading Company, ore guard teams of various mining areas, factory guard teams of various factories, and inland river transportation and escort fleets such as Liaohe River and Taizi River, etc.

According to the internal habits of the Ming Dynasty, these servants were compiled according to the conventions and customs, and they were no different from the militia organizations built by countless gentry all over the country to guard against bandits.

If there is any difference, it is probably that Jinghua is too big, so these armed forces add up to a huge scale, and Jinghua is too rich, so the level of equipment of these armed forces is too high.

Since there might be some other problems in Jinghua's dispatch of troops, Gao Yushi 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 Wushi went back to the study and brought Liu Xin to continue the discussion, especially asking her for advice on the proposal of sending troops from Jinghua.

After hearing this, Liu Xin smiled and said, "Jinghua's dispatch of troops is not a problem in itself. The problem is that Jinghua maintains a large-scale armed force in Liaodong. Now if you want to use it in advance, you have to consider whether it will expose Jinghua's actual strength in Liaodong.

In addition, there is another problem. Not long ago, the emperor was still worried that your power was too great. If this battle, the military force under Jinghua played a relatively important role, then the emperor would push it to the public, and Liaodong would think of it. Quan Daming, even thinking of Southern Xinjiang... Would he think that you, Gao Situ, a seemingly good-looking civil servant, actually has hundreds of thousands of troops in his hands, wouldn't this be a bit too shocking? "

"That's what I'm worried about." Gao Wushi frowned and said, "The armed servants in Liaodong are indeed not weak, but they are indeed preparing for the Imjin Japanese Invasion and the decisive battle in Chahar. This has never been the case from the beginning to the end. Changes. From my personal point of view, they pose no threat to the imperial court, but whether the emperor will be so confident, after the last incident, I can no longer guarantee it."

Liu Xin brushed her hair from the sideburns, and said calmly: "In this case, my suggestion is that it is best not to dispatch Jinghua's cavalry. If you really want to dispatch, then you must try to reduce the scale, especially the Make sure that the number of Jinghua cavalry dispatched must never exceed the regular cavalry in Liaodong, and make 'assistance in combat' at least look worthy of the name."

Gao Wushi turned his gaze out of the window, looked at Shichahai, and said calmly: "Then we must first evaluate the strength of Tumen's dispatch of troops this time, and how much troops we need to deal with."

Liu Xin said without hesitation: "As for Tumen, we have to be lenient to the enemy. It is said that the Outer Khalkha tribe has maintained the traditions of the Mongols. I think it is best to overestimate the combat power.

There are [-] fine cavalry in the Chahar headquarters. Although the outer Khalkha is capable of fighting, it is relatively underpopulated. I think that even if they are forced to fully support Tumen, they will not be able to dispatch more than [-] cavalry.In this case, the opponent will have at most [-] Mongolian iron cavalry, which is definitely a powerful force. "

Gao Yushi pondered for a moment, let out a long breath, and said with a cautious expression: "I have tried riding with steps several times, and the effect is not bad, but the problem is also obvious. The most serious point is that this kind of combat The law must first ensure that the battle breaks out on the battlefield I have planned.

In other words, when our military is not as mobile as the opponent, we must act first, preset the battlefield in advance, and ensure that the opponent is caught.You know, it's nice to look back at this kind of battle if it's won, but it's actually a very difficult thing to do...

If Tumen came to take the initiative to attack Daming as before, it would be okay to even attack Yehe, because our city and Yehe's fortress are all fixed there, and he has to rush to the city if he wants to plunder And go, this is more convenient for strategies such as setting up an ambush.

However, the biggest problem this time may be the matter of rescuing the Horqin tribe. Horqin is a large nomadic tribe. Not only does it have no fixed place, but its territory is not too small.Under such circumstances, it is difficult for me to judge the marching trajectory of Tumen. "

Liu Xin shook her head and said: "Even if you can judge it, it doesn't make much sense, because this is fighting the Mongols, not fighting for a city exchange in southern Xinjiang. The time and distance are here, and it is impossible to rely on You come to the remote control.

If you decide to let Xiao Ruxun lead the army, you have to fully 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 will perform before the battle depends entirely on the adaptability of the frontline generals. At most, you can only tell them some strategic goals in advance, and the specific operations are all up to them. "

Gao Wushi was silent for a while, changed the topic, and asked: "The cavalry troops that can be dispatched to the east of the Liaohe River are only about [-], which means that the Jinghua cavalry's assistance troops can't exceed this number at most."

Liu Xin gave him a squinting look: "It's impossible to be equal. To tell you the truth, I can't wait to send out only 2000 men, and barely make up [-] cavalry for Liaodong."

Gao Wushi frowned and said, "[-] to [-]?"

"How is that possible!" Liu Xin rolled her eyes: "Since the advent of the Wanli Type II cavalry, the firepower of the Ming army's cavalry has indeed improved a lot, and now it is indeed no longer a disadvantage when shooting against the Mongolian cavalry.

But even so, it is mainly from the perspective of range and lethality, not necessarily in terms of firepower density-after all, although the lance has been changed to a flintlock type, and it also has a cardboard fixed charge, but now it is loaded The ammunition and the reloading are separated. Although the entire reloading time is greatly shortened compared to before, no matter how fast this speed is increased, it will not be faster than the Mongols shooting out arrows.

So from this point of view, as long as the Mongols don't mess with us, the two sides will form the most stupid cavalry to hedge, then there may be short combat after the first wave of shooting-I'm still not good at judging such a situation Who will win the battle. "

The Wanli Type II cavalry gun can be inserted with a bayonet, but the cavalry bayonet is not used for cavalry confrontation operations, it is something prepared for cavalry to expel and chase infantry.For the cavalry hedging battle, whether it is the Ming cavalry or the Jinghua cavalry, once the soldiers meet, they still have to rely on the sword to determine the outcome.

It's just that the Mongols' war swords are the typical Mongolian scimitars, but the cold weapons of the Ming Dynasty are not standardized, and there are slightly more styles of sabers—mainly because Jinghua seldom gets involved in cold weapon products, so these sabers The suppliers are different, so the styles are also different.

Jinghua's own saber is a standard improved Yanling saber. This saber itself is not a professional saber, but a "universal saber".

The reason why knights are equipped with this sword is that their working environment is more complicated.First, they have been used as caravan guards for a long time, so they often receive the task of exterminating bandits; second, 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 "multifunctional" type arms.The improved Yanling knife is a typical example.

In fact, it is said to be an improvement, which is not a big improvement. Generally speaking, it is due to the relatively advanced technology of Jinghua in metallurgy. The blade is slightly longer, and the blade is thinner, maintaining the habit of the Yanling Sword. weight only.

All in all, compared with the progress of firearms, although cold weapons have also improved, due to various reasons, the actual increase in combat power brought about by these advances may not be much.Then, if the Ming army cavalry really fought against the Mongolian cavalry immediately, it would be difficult for Liu Xin or Gao Yushi to make an accurate judgment without actual combat data.But in any case, neither of them would think that [-] Ming army cavalry could beat [-] Mongolian cavalry.

Liu Xin paused, and then quickly continued: "The Ming army's dispatch of troops this time does not mean that they are going 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. In other words, even in the most dangerous time, they should not fight alone, and there will be Ye He's friendly troops beside them.

At the same time, if the Ming army, Yehe, and Horqin can cooperate effectively, I think the best way is to form a situation where the three-party coalition forces gather in one place and wait for a decisive battle before Tumen engages them. "

"Waiting for the decisive battle?" Gao Wushi narrowed his eyes slightly: "I don't think you really want the decisive battle now, but...playing a hedgehog tactic to make the Tumen feel that there is no profit and retreat voluntarily?"

Liu Xin nodded calmly and admitted, "That's right, that's what I mean."

Gao Wushi smiled wryly and said, "It's a good idea, but do you know how many troops Horqin has? It's only [-] in normal times, and maybe [-] in wartime, that's all."

Liu Xin was slightly surprised, raised her eyebrows and said, "No way? I remember that the princes of Horqin in the late Qing Dynasty had a high status. They only have this little force?"

Gao Wushi said: "During the Qing Dynasty, the Mongols were restricted in population, and the Manchus implemented a policy of reducing the population for them. Have you heard of it?"

"I heard it a little bit, but I don't know the details." Liu Xin said honestly.

Gao Yushi gave a "hmm" and explained briefly: "Basically, it is to divide and disintegrate the various Mongolian ministries, and to control the population of the Mongolian ministries with a relatively large population and strong cohesion. For example, the upper limit of males in Horqin Mongolia is [-]. will be killed.

Similarly, let the Mongolian army play the vanguard in the war, and there are more ways to reduce the number in disguise.for example

Through this method, by the end of the Qing Dynasty, the population of Mongolia (referring to the whole Mongolia) had increased from about 1200 million at the end of the Ming Dynasty (Note: This is the Mongolian language relayed 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 in the late Qing Dynasty.

This statistic is a bit scary, but according to the data from the time of Outer Mongolia’s independence, and the records in Feng Yuxiang’s "Journey to Outer Mongolia", it should be roughly true. The specific figures may vary, but they are always consistent with the policy of reducing the number of people in the Qing Dynasty. Can't get rid of it. "

Liu Xin said with emotion: "This is really... such a family of Manchurians, so close that we need to reduce the number of men." After a pause, she became puzzled and asked, "But why do they only limit the number of men? The child is a woman."

"The Manchus are thinking about military threats, and the tradition of Mongolian women has always been to obey the strong. So when there are only a few men, they will not be able to threaten the Manchus. As for the Mongolian women, no matter how many there are... Uh, let me put it bluntly One point—do you think there was a need to worry about gender imbalances in those days? Especially an imbalance of more women than men?"

Liu Xin let out a "hum hum" and said angrily, "That's not necessary, who wouldn't want three wives and four concubines, right?"

Gao Wushi laughed, turned the topic back to business, and said, "Anyway, the current situation is that Horqin's population is actually not large. In the past, they became stronger mainly because they voted for Nurhachi earlier. , and has been closely married to Nurhaci, Huang Taiji and other generations of captive chieftains, so their political status is relatively high, and in addition, Huang Taiji distributed many Mongolians to the Horqin tribe during the war to unify Mongolia... There is no such opportunity yet."

Liu Xin pondered, and calculated: "Korqin has [-] cavalry, and Ye He has about [-] cavalry, of which at most half of the cavalry is [-]...Including Daming's [-] cavalry, there are only [-] cavalry in total, almost It's only half of Tumen." She said in surprise: "Hey, from the look of it, Tumen's strength doesn't seem to be weak!"

"Let's see who to compare with." Gao Wushi shook his head, then frowned and touched his chin, and said in a deep thought: "Forty thousand vs. eighty thousand, and it's a pure cavalry battle... To tell you the truth, I'm not very confident, I'm afraid I can still We have to think of other ways.”

Then he sighed, and said helplessly: "Bing Zhou proposed Jinghua to send troops to assist. I guess he thought that Jinghua's tens of thousands of family members in Liaodong, including nearly [-] cavalry, could be used casually."

Liu Xin also frowned, and couldn't help but said: "Since Jinghua can't turn its back on the guest and take the credit of the Economic and Control Army, then if we don't rely on the support of other regions, and only rely on the local strength of Liaodong, I am afraid that Li Rusong will not go out." It can't be done, after all, only he has enough cavalry power in his hands." As he spoke, he looked at Gao Yushi.
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(End of this chapter)