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Chapter 604 Late arrival
"Isn't there no problem? The road is smooth all the way east. I have a strong army to rely on, and there are ships at sea to support me. As long as I don't leave too far from the sea, even if the Mongol Khan comes to join forces with the Jurchens, , what can you do to me?

Don't worry and go to sleep. If we don't have to attack for a few more days, I will lose a general first. Remember, you are the commander-in-chief of an army, and your words and deeds will affect the soldiers. Even if you are facing a strong enemy and feel panic, don't let it show up on the surface. "

Li Ruzhang's evaluation is indeed quite fair, and he has no fans or haters. As long as there is enough ammunition and there is no intervention from nature, such as a blizzard or flood, a 10,000-strong army will not feel too much pressure when facing an army of 100,000 nomads.

It's not that it can kill all 100,000 enemies, but in the face of dense bullets, no matter how brave the soldiers are, it won't help. Humans are not machines, and their nerves cannot always remain strong in a scene with a large number of casualties. Naturally, if the losses reach a certain level, they will not be able to continue fighting.

Now that we already know the process and results, we still feel so uneasy, which is tantamount to telling the soldiers. Your daily training and exercises are all fake. We are not that powerful and it hurts morale.

"Huh... what your Majesty said is absolutely true. I am being shallow!" Li Ruzhang took a deep breath and finally began to understand why the emperor insisted on personally conducting the expedition. With the emperor present, this army that had never been on the battlefield had a backbone, including himself.

There was no talking all night, and before dawn, the baggage convoy from Shanhaiguan arrived as scheduled. After breakfast, the large force continued to march eastward. The next supply point was located in Ningyuan City, more than 80 miles away, and was expected to arrive in two days.

At the same time, after returning to Shanhaiguan, the staff officer responsible for escorting the baggage convoy will notify the person in charge of the shipping fleet with Hong Tao's handwritten letter, who will arrange for the shipping yamen's armed cargo ship to transport the baggage to the waters near Ningyuan City.

Of course, this fleet set sail in secret. Before sailing, the captains only knew that they were transporting a batch of goods. It was not until after leaving port that they were told by the staff escorting the ship to change its route to the east.

The two-day journey was still uneventful. The Jurchen Shenlong, which had previously claimed to be attacking with a hundred thousand troops, was nowhere to be seen. Only a small number of cavalry were found along the way. The two sides separated immediately after contact.

Li Ruzhang was a little uneasy about this abnormality. He ran back to the rear army many times to speak, trying to remind the emperor not to underestimate the enemy. But Hong Tao, as if he hadn't listened, still ordered the entire army to move forward.

Ningyuan City is basically Xingcheng City, Huludao, Liaoning Province in later generations, slightly to the west and 13 miles away from the sea. This city was built in the third year of Xuande and was the residence of Ningyuan Guards.

Compared with Guangning Acropolis, Ningyuan Acropolis is several times larger, with two layers of inner and outer walls and a circumference of more than nine miles. On the Banghai Road in the Western Liaoning Corridor, it is second only to Jinzhou City in size and is a very important place for garrisoning troops.

However, at this time, Ningyuan Acropolis and Guangning Acropolis ended up in the same fate, empty. The Ming Dynasty abandoned Liaodong Town, and all border troops and some border residents withdrew into the pass. Although some border residents were still unable to leave their homes, they did not dare to live on this land that was stared at by the Mongols, Jurchens and Ming armies, so they all moved eastward. .

Although the city wall is dilapidated, the stone bridge over the Ningyuan River in the west of the city is still intact. However, Hong Tao prohibited the army from crossing the river. Instead, he asked the engineer guards to cut down trees nearby and build two pontoon bridges.

"This city is not built right. Why should it be built in the east of the river instead of the west of the river? It is missing a natural barrier!" Taking advantage of the time of building the bridge, he led his guards to stand on the stone bridge and looked at the city wall with his riding whip. , began to evaluate the gains and losses of predecessors.

"I know a thing or two about this matter. The east bank of the Ningyuan River is higher than the west bank. If there is abundant rain, water will accumulate in many places in the west of the river." Li Ruzhang had no intention of giving directions, but the emperor had to speak and could only act as a guide temporarily. Briefly talk about what you know. "No matter how low it is, it won't be lower than the river bank. Just dig a few more drainage ditches. With this arrangement, as long as the enemy goes around the outside of the city at night and destroys the stone bridge, the place will become a desperate place and no way out." But. Hong Tao did not agree with this explanation and was still struggling with the intelligence of the people who built the city.

Li Ruzhang is so annoying, almost two hundred years have passed, and you don’t care how they built the city. Besides, even if you built the city in Hexi, you still gave up. What's the use of talking about it now? But he had to answer, and he had to go out of his way to praise the emperor for what he said.

"...Your Majesty, it's an enemy attack. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5... 6, 7, 8... 8 fireworks are the power of the goddess!" As a result, I haven't thought of the flattery yet, so emergencies come first Here comes a string of fireworks rising in the eastern sky.

I counted them with my telescope and found 6 in total. According to the Army's communication rules, each white parachute warning represents 5000 people, and each green parachute represents 5 miles. In other words, the team in front found no less than 3 enemies, about 10 miles away, and were using fireworks to transmit signals from far to near.

"It's finally here. I thought they could endure it all the way to Jinzhou! Don't panic, let the engineering guards continue to build the bridge. The vanguard and rear guard will set up positions on the north of the bridge, and the left and right guards will be on the south of the bridge. Send more exploration horses on the river bank. Cruise to prevent the enemy from crossing the river from upstream.”

Without Li Ruzhang's reminder, Hong Tao could see the small parachute floating in the sky, but he couldn't arouse much interest. There are only 30,000 people, which is a bit small in number, and they are separated by a river that is not very narrow or shallow. What he was thinking about now was not how to defend, but how to eat the opponent in one bite.

"Du Wenhuan, the commander of the vanguard of the army, has met His Majesty, the Governor, and the Chief of Staff!" At this time, three horses galloped from the opposite side of the stone bridge. One of them dismounted from a distance, trotted forward, put his chest with one hand and bent down to salute. .

"Well, you can teach me. Du Wenhuan, are you still used to being in the army? Have you gained anything?" Seeing that the visitor did not kneel down and bow down, Hong Tao was so happy that he didn't even ask for details about the enemy, but just asked for some greetings.

"Reporting to your majesty, it is an eye-opener for me to be in the army. Is there any reason for those who are behind to get used to it? The vanguard came to report that the Jurchen army was fifteen miles away, carrying red, yellow and blue flags and wearing uniforms of the same color. Armor: 40% cavalry, 60% infantry, nearly 10,000 each!"

Du Wenhuan was originally the deputy commander-in-chief of the army in Ningxia. He went to Beijing to celebrate the queen's birthday. As a result, he was taken into the palace by his uncle Du Song for questioning. He was favored by the emperor and stayed in the army.

Although his official position was not as high as before, the various differences in the new army made him feel like a treasure. There was something new to learn every day, and he had long forgotten his job as deputy commander-in-chief of Ningxia. In fact, it's not that I forgot, but I silently abandoned it in my heart.

Youdao is not sure if you look at it, but you will be shocked when you look at it. In the past, I only thought that the navy and army were the emperor's private armies. They took advantage of carefully selected materials and sufficient supplies. Their combat effectiveness was definitely better than that of ordinary border troops, but not much better.

Only when he actually entered it did he realize that there was a big difference. From the tactics to the military system, it was almost completely different from the border army and the guard army. Only then did he understand what his uncle meant by great wealth.

(End of this chapter)