Early Ming Dynasty: Turning Clouds and Rains into New Learning Saints

Chapter 226 Can't Help
No text is the first, no martial arts is the second!
I have always felt that my ability to lead troops in battle is strong and awesome!But how strong and powerful is it?

Huo Qubing of Han Dynasty is the benchmark for all generals!Especially the situation at the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty was similar to that when Huo Qubing was chasing death and chasing the north. He was dealing with enemies on the grassland.

If Zhang Yifan hadn't mentioned Huo Qubing, then those people present might not have subconsciously thought about comparing him with Huo Qubing, who was famous in history.But now that Zhang Yifan had brought it up, Huo Qubing was like a big mountain, weighing on their hearts.

Whether the fighting is fierce or not, whether the killing of Tatars is fierce or not, you will know by comparing it with Huo Qubing!

In such a comparison, this great victory in front of us is really nothing!
As the Prince Consort said, this is just to lock the enemy in his own room and fight. Even if he wins, his family will be affected.But for Huo Qubing, he went to fight at someone's home and was able to win. He beat the enemy so hard that he was unable to parry and fell to the ground with one move.

In such a comparison, the gap is huge and very obvious. Who can be proud of it?
Zhang Yifan looked at Zhu Di, Lan Yu and others, who were hit hard by him, and said in a deep voice: "In this battle, many people in Yongping Mansion suffered casualties. Who will avenge this revenge? The main force of the Tatars has already The whole army was wiped out inside the pass, and I have already asked the prisoners, whose camp is spending the winter in the Gray Mountain area outside the pass, who will take revenge?"

It is not a gentleman to take revenge!Just allow the Tatars to enter and plunder. If they don't come back with revenge, they won't have any worries at all when they enter and plunder again!

No matter who invades the Ming Dynasty, they must be beaten back hard and let all the enemies of the Ming Dynasty know that if they dare to enter the country and plunder next time, be prepared to be retaliated!

Upon hearing Zhang Yifan's question, these founding generals of the Ming Dynasty were not cowards and responded immediately.

"I!"

"The end will go!"

"..."

Lan Yu had the loudest voice and shouted: "No one can argue with me. I am the guardian of Yongping Mansion. I am responsible for this matter. I will go!"

Zhu Di actually wanted to go, but after hearing Lan Yu's words, he finally decided: "Okay, just you go, take all the cavalry with you!"

There are more than 5000 cavalry troops gathered in Yongping Mansion. Even if they are injured or too tired, they can definitely make up [-] cavalry troops.

After Zhang Yifan heard Zhu Di's words, he immediately looked at Lan Yu and said: "When you go to the grassland, remember not to love fighting. It doesn't matter how many soldiers you can bring back to the customs. The important thing is to bring back all the soldiers who have left the customs!"

"You don't need to say it!" Lan Yu replied coldly after hearing this.

In terms of politics, he obeyed Zhang Yifan.But he doesn't allow Zhang Yifan to dictate the military affairs he is good at. This is his bottom line!
After Zhu Di heard this, he didn't know whether it was intentional or not. He looked at Lan Yu and said, "Go and rest quickly. We will set off tomorrow. Don't forget to confirm the military situation and bring a guide with you!"

"Follow your orders!" Zhu Di is the commander-in-chief. There is a clear distinction between superiors and subordinates in the army. Military law is ruthless and does not allow for conflict. Lan Yu can only respond.

Afterwards, Lan Yu immediately received the military order and went to select the cavalry troops for the expedition.

Zhang Yifan looked at his back and suddenly realized that it started to snow again.

Looking up, I couldn't see why. I couldn't tell how long the snow would last.

The next morning, Zhang Yifan got up and saw that there was already a thick layer of snow on the ground, which should be able to cover people's insteps.The most important thing is that the snow is still falling and there is no sign of stopping.

Looking at this, he was also speechless. God was not good, and it seemed that he would not be able to go on the expedition.

Unexpectedly, at this moment, the horn sounded.

Zhang Yifan was a little surprised when he heard this and hurriedly went out to see the situation.

Outside Yongping City, more than 1 Ming army soldiers stood neatly holding the reins of their horses.On the top of the city, King Zhu Di of Yan was speaking loudly.

Snowflakes are flying, the cold wind is howling, and the noses of people and horses are puffing with white air.The cavalry officers and soldiers, whether they heard Zhu Di's words or not, straightened their backs and listened quietly.

When Zhang Yifan rushed to the city, he saw this scene.

Look at this, even though it's snowing heavily, the cavalry is still going out!
When he arrived, Zhu Di had already finished speaking, so he quickly asked: "Is it difficult to get out of the customs with such heavy snow?"

Lan Yu, who had just received the military order and was about to go down to the top of the city, only showed a hint of contempt when he heard this, but did not answer and went down directly.

Zhu Di, on the other hand, answered Zhang Yifan: "We have discussed that with this snow as a cover, the Tatars are even less likely to think that we will send troops out of the customs. We can reach Huishan in two days at most. We will rest for a day on the road and spend the night in Huishan." Stay one night and come back on the third day, nothing will happen."

At this point, he pointed to a place under the city and said: "Those are the Tatars among the prisoners who have surrendered to us. With them leading the way, they might be able to arrive in one day. If they don't cooperate, the army will kill them when they arrive. That’s their family.”

After hearing this, Zhang Yifan looked in the direction of Zhu Di's finger and saw about 500 people holding old horses in their hands, without weapons or luggage.But around them, the soldiers of the Ming Army were riding two horses.

Zhu Yuanzhang's policy was to recruit and surrender the Mongols to be used by the Ming Dynasty.Daotong, the magistrate of Panyu County whom Zhang Yifan was familiar with, was a Mongolian.Of course, there are also those who surrender and then defect, such as Meng Yuan Duoer who was captured this time.

Thinking of this, Zhang Yifan suddenly saw a corpse in front of Zhu Di, near the battlements. The head had been separated and hung outside the battlements.The cold wind blew, swaying there.

While turning, Zhang Yifan saw the face, wasn't it that Yuan Jiang Duoer Buhua!

But he remembered that Duo'er Buhua was captured alive and was originally planned to be sent to Nanjing as a captive, so why did he kill it?

Looking at the head and the surrendered Tatars below, Zhang Yifan suddenly understood.Zhu Di killed Duo'er without flowers just to show the surrendering Tatars below.

He has no opinion on this matter.What he cares about is whether these soldiers can come back safely.

At this moment, Lan Yu, surrounded by his personal guards, had already returned to the army on horseback, and the army immediately set off.Under the howling cold wind, the military flags whistled, guiding the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty Cavalry all the way north.

Seeing more than 1 cavalry troops slowly disappearing into the wind and snow, Zhang Yifan couldn't help him militarily, but he could care about other places.

So he asked Zhu Di: "What do the soldiers eat?"

Hearing this, Zhu Di was a little confused and immediately replied: "Of course it is millet and rice, what else can it be?"

After he finished speaking, he remembered something, and immediately added an answer: "You mean fish floss? They don't have it. I bought it for the navy back then. These soldiers don't exist."

Having said this, he praised again: "The fish floss is indeed a good thing. When cooking rice in the pot, it is served with a little fish floss. It is very popular among the military officers!"

Zhang Yifan usually doesn't care about military affairs.Of course, this was because he had not had much dealings with the military before.The Qianhu Station in Xiangshan County does not count, and that does not count as a field army, it is just a local army.

At this time, he listened to Zhu Di's words and asked for details.

The snow was falling heavily and the cold wind was biting. Zhang Yifan stayed in the house and didn't want to come out. However, the soldiers of the imperial court had to brave the heavy snow and the freezing cold to fight for the country.Especially Zhang Yifan himself was wearing a brocade mink suit, which kept him warmer than those soldiers who went on an expedition.

There was not much luggage on the horses of those soldiers. It was unimaginable for Zhang Yifan to be delayed for one night on the road in this ice and snow. How would he survive the night?
Killing the enemy in battle is not his strong point, but when it comes to economics, Zhang Yifan considers himself second, and no one can be the first.

Therefore, he thought that he would do something to help these soldiers who were protecting their home and country!
After questioning Zhu Di in detail, Zhang Yifan also learned that when soldiers marched and fought, they usually cooked millet or rice and dug wild vegetables together to make a thick vegetable porridge to drink.The army with better conditions may also add some minced meat, similar to the preserved egg and lean meat porridge in later generations. This is the food of the army.

However, even if it is good food, that is, thick porridge with minced meat, it is only available to the elite, not every meal.

Thinking of this, Zhang Yifan said to Zhu Di: "The food in the army is too bad. Give me some people later. I will go to Tianjin to see if there is a fish floss factory. If there is a meat floss factory, it would be best. Use it." Come to supply the needs of the army, and improve the food for the army and the capital. You can also make pickles and other things! You can also make portable dry food such as fried noodles..."

According to historical records, fried noodles have been recorded in the early Qing Dynasty, but there are no earlier records.During the Tang and Song Dynasties, there are records of big cakes being used as military rations.

At this time, Zhang Yifan actually felt a little regretful. Maybe he should have paid attention to the situation in the army earlier.

When Zhu Di heard what he said, he beamed with joy, and immediately said happily: "I knew it was right to bring you together! You can tell me later, if you need anything, I will discuss it with my father-in-law, and we will prepare it for you." !”

When he said this, he finally remembered something, and asked quickly: "By the way, when we were in Peiping, we were eating hot pot, and what were you going to say, but we were interrupted by the military report? "

Hearing this, Zhang Yifan also remembered, and immediately replied: "The musket used in the military has a short range, poor accuracy, slow reloading, it's too rubbish, I'll come up with a new type of musket for you later. "

At the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming army was already equipped with a lot of firearms, but they were all burst firearms, that is, the most primitive firearms.

Although, in the eyes of later generations, this kind of sudden fire gun is indeed rubbish.

But as long as you are an individual, you can use this sudden fire gun with a little training, and if you shoot at close range, the power is much greater than that of a cold weapon. If you are hit, you will either die or be injured, and you will not be able to fight again. Unlike a cold weapon, as long as it is Wearing armor and hanging arrows all over his body, he can still continue to kill people with vigor and vigor.

Based on this advantage, the Ming army was already equipped with a lot of firearms at this time.

But no matter what, what Zhang Yifan said is indeed the shortcomings of the sudden fire guns of this era.Therefore, wars in this era are still mainly fought with cold weapons.

At this moment, when Zhu Di heard his words, he immediately showed an expression of disbelief, but afterward, he was even more overjoyed, even happier than when he married a wife, grabbed Zhang Yifan's arms, and confirmed ecstatically: "Really, can you really come up with a better musket?"

Compared to others, Zhu Di paid more attention to firearms.After he became the Yongle Emperor in later generations, one of the three major camps in Beijing was the Shenji Camp, which used all firearms.This is the earliest organized army equipped with firearms in human history!
When Zhang Yifan saw it, he struggled quickly and tried to throw away Zhu Di's hands.Fortunately, it was such a cold day that I had to wear thick clothes, otherwise I would have been scratched and hurt by this old man!

Just do it when you're excited. Isn't it so powerful?
However, it is truly remarkable.

Zhang Yifan struggled for a while, but couldn't break free from the excited Zhu Di's two claws.

So, he had no choice but to say with a cold face: "If you catch me again, I won't say anything!"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Di quickly let go and said with a smile: "I'm used to it, I'm used to it!"

"Get rid of this bad habit!" Zhang Yifan demanded immediately, "If you dare to show off your strength to me next time, you won't be able to get any benefit from me!"

When Zhu Di heard this, his expression suddenly changed and he said, "Then I couldn't help it, it wasn't intentional, okay?"

After he finished speaking, he saw Zhang Yifan's cold face, and without waiting for Zhang Yifan to speak, he quickly added: "Okay, I promise, I promise I will never arrest you again!"

After Zhang Yifan heard this, he calmed down and said to Zhu Di: "If you want to build a good musket, you must have a sufficient foundation in steel smelting technology. Now I can't make any promises to you. After I go back, I will go to the iron Let’s take a look first.”

In this era, it is actually possible to smelt and produce steel, but there is still a problem of output and cost, that is, the problem of smelting methods.When Zhang Yifan decided to burn cement first, he actually had plans to make steel.

I just didn't expect that steelmaking would not be done in Nanjing, but in Peiping.Therefore, he would like to take another look at the situation here.The initial plan is to assemble a flintlock gun first, which is not technically difficult.The only requirement is that the gun parts must be made of good steel.

Zhu Di was naturally happy when he heard this, and he would give Zhang Yifan whatever he wanted.

At the same time, statistical results from various places were also reported one after another.This battle was indeed a great victory!
Not to mention that the entire Mongolian Tatar army that entered the pass was wiped out, the Ming army, that is, Yongping Prefecture, suffered the most casualties, followed by the car camp and cavalry that blocked Qingshui Mingyue Pass. As for other armies, the casualties were negligible.

Among these casualties, not many were actually killed in battle, and most were injured.Moreover, this battle took place in the coldest month of winter, so the possibility of wound inflammation was very small. In other words, the injured soldiers, except for those who were seriously injured, would basically not die.

Now, let's see how the final ending is going to be?
(End of this chapter)