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Chapter 826: The Pawn Wants to Cross the River
This large-scale march northwards from the border wall involved the use of troops from three guards. The 16th and 17th guards were deployed to Bagua City and Fuyu City respectively to wait for orders, while the 18th guard was divided into two parts, responsible for protecting the craftsmen who were building the track along the lines from Dushibao to Bagua City and from Xifengkou to Fuyu City.

The army only had 15 guards in total, so how did three new numbers appear? It was simple, thanks to Sun Chengzong. The new army that had been training in Lanzhou had already graduated, with a total of 1 people. They were mixed with guards 15 to 16 in a 29-14 manner, so there were more guards from to .

The reorganized new army has been gradually added to the four dusi. Among them, the 16th, 17th and 18th guards were designated as direct reserve forces by the General Staff and remained in the capital and Tongzhou camp.

This time, Hong Tao used the general reserve force to suddenly increase the deployment of troops in the two fortress cities in the most difficult way to detect in advance. It seemed to be to cover the construction of the track, but in fact it contained a greater evil intention.

After more than a year of carpet-style inspections, the Ming Army has presented all the mountains and rivers within a radius of 200 miles on the contour map. The farthest in the north can reach the banks of the Shaolang River, which is almost 350 miles away.

On the large sand table made by the General Staff, two small flags were planted in the mountains north of Fuyu City, one called Chifeng and the other called Shaolang, and the distance between them was about 170 miles.

These two flags are one of the goals of the army's march northward. Two new fortress-type cities will be built within half a year and connected by rail.

In order to achieve this goal, in addition to the troops of the three guards, the Ministry of Construction invested 50,000 engineering teams and 30,000 mobilized laborers. Under the personal command of Xiong Sanba, the project was started in sections at the same time, regardless of cost or quality, with only one word: fast!

After paying several times the cost, is it just a bunch of fake goods and superficial works? Of course, Hong Tao would not do such a stupid thing. Building the city and building the road is only the first step. After Shaolang City is built, the army will have a support and logistics will be guaranteed. The next step is to call the generals!
There is a saying in Chinese chess: a small pawn crosses the river to push up a large chariot. The pawns are the Ming army, which is mainly composed of infantry or cavalry infantry, and the chariots are the fast-moving Mongolian cavalry.

In order to prevent the less mobile pawns from being eaten up by the rampaging vehicles in field battles, Hong Tao came up with a stupid idea: to protect them with a series of solid fortress cities.

Starting from Fuyu City, Chifeng City and Shaolang City in the north are all within 200 miles, so even if there is no rail connection, there is no need to worry too much about logistics supply. In this way, the army heading north will not be afraid of being besieged by cavalry. If you have the ability, don't leave. Let's see who can survive.

But once a sufficient number of land forces penetrate deep into the heart of the Chahar territory, the pawns will become pawns crossing the river, able to go wherever they want, left or right, and the attack range will be within a hundred miles.

Grazing? Don't even think about it. Even eating and sleeping will become a luxury. As long as the army riding on two horses appears, wherever they go, it will be a battlefield. Those who can be captured will be captured, and those who cannot be taken away will be killed on the spot, and no living thing will be left alive.

Hong Tao called this method of warfare "returning the favor in their own way"! The nomadic peoples would return the same punishment to the farming peoples as they had inflicted on them when they moved south.

And it must be better than the original, replacing traditional bows and arrows with muskets that have a longer range, are easier to operate, are quicker to train, and have greater power, greatly improving efficiency.

Gather a large army to encircle and suppress? That is impossible. Destruction is always much easier than construction. The Ming army is like a pack of wolves on the grassland. They never linger in a place with lush grass and water. They take a bite and leave. They have no plan or strategy. The most prominent feature is two words: erratic!

If they were to attack from all sides, that would be great. The Ming army would immediately retreat to Shaolang City, hang up a banner and stay indoors. If you have the guts, you can just attack and see how long you can hold out if you ask all the young and strong men in the clan to take time off from work to fight. At the same time, you have to be on guard against Chifeng City, more than 100 miles away, sending troops to attack you from behind.

Is it enough to just harass the Chahar herdsmen? Of course not. Nomadic peoples can just migrate with their entire tribe. They are not like agricultural peoples who cannot be provoked or avoided.

But Lindan Khan made a mistake, a very serious mistake, he did not understand his own identity. You are the leader of a nomadic tribe, it would be better to live in a felt tent, but you had to learn to build a city like an agricultural tribe. You must be stupid, pretending to be a big burden. Abandoning the White City and migrating with the herdsmen, Lindan Khan, with his age and personality, would probably be depressed.

But if they did not abandon the city, they would be abandoned by their own people. No one wanted to live in fear all day and fight with the Ming Army, which had no work to do and was dedicated to fighting.

In fact, even if Lindan Khan reluctantly gave up his love for the sake of the overall situation, gave up the White City of Vajra, and swallowed his anger and moved his people north, it would still be a dead end.

Nomadic peoples, whether Turkic, Xiongnu, Khitan, Xianbei, or Mongolian, have always admired the strong. Whoever wins is right, and the opposite is wrong.

The Great Khan of Mongolia, with the blood of the Golden Family flowing in his body, was defeated by a group of cowardly Han people who only knew how to farm, and he fled in panic, abandoning his weapons and armor. He could not even protect his own palace. How could he have the face to call himself the Khan?

There are only two outcomes waiting for him: either he steps down voluntarily and leaves his hometown, and then is killed along the way; or he holds on tightly and refuses to let go, and then is abandoned by his tribe.

That's right, there is only one way to go! When he took the position of Khan, he was destined not to survive. This is no longer a hypothesis, but a cycle of history.

From ancient times to the present, from farming nations to nomadic nations, how many emperors or khans have abdicated? And how many have survived after abdicating? The ancients could not do it, and neither could Ligdan Khan.

As long as Fuyu City is built and Hong Tao's plan is put into action, he will be doomed to failure. It is just a matter of one year earlier or later.

Since they had planned to attack King Kong White City from Fuyu City all the way north, why did they deploy heavy troops in Bagua City? At this point, we have to delve into Hong Tao's character. From the cerebellum to the brain, and then mixing them together and putting them into a blender to make a paste, we can still find two words: cunning!

Hong Tao was afraid that the Kharchin tribe might have some thoughts when they saw Ligdan Khan in trouble. Although the possibility was very low, it was still a possibility, so he had to be on guard.

Now that we have more troops at our disposal and are no longer stretched too thin, we must not take risks when doing things, and it is never too much to pursue safety.

In addition, if you look carefully at the location of Bagua City on the map or sand table, you will find that it is located not far south of the mountain pass where the Xilamulun River enters the Liaohe Plain from the Mongolian Plateau.

If Ligdan Khan refused to abandon the city and flee north, but instead led his people westward into the Mongolian Plateau, without the help of the Ming Army, it seems unlikely that the Kharchin tribe alone would be able to defeat the Chahar tribe.

Therefore, the 16th guard stationed in Bagua City is a condom arranged by Hong Tao, and it has two uses. It can deter the Kharchin tribe from thinking too much, and it can also provide additional guns for Lin Danhan, and by the way, it can protect the craftsmen who build the track. It is really a three-pronged approach.

(End of this chapter)