The room goes through the late Ming Dynasty, and the back door leads to North America at the beginni

Participating in this military meeting were not only He Lianyue and Zhang Ao, the two generals who were ordered to return to Beijing, but also important ministers from various ministries of the Military Affairs Council, as well as the military aircraft minister from the Government Affairs Council.

After the meeting began, Liu Sheng said: "Master Ma, let me tell you about the situation of the Heshuote Khanate first."

"Yes."

Ma Shimin responded, then stood up and came to the screen in the hall.

In addition to hanging many relevant maps on this huge screen, there are also many written materials that have been prepared.

Ma Shimin talked slowly about the map and information.

"Although the Heshuote Khanate was officially established in the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, in fact, as early as the tenth year of Chongzhen, Gushi Khan was invited by the Gelug Sect of Tibetan Buddhism and led some of the Heshuote troops to enter Qinghai-Tibet region.”

"At that time, the Qinghai area was occupied by Quetu Khan who was born in Mobei Mongolia. Gushi Khan spent three years to destroy Quetu Khan and occupy Qinghai."

"After that, it took more than a year to eliminate the Bon religion and the Baili Tusi tribe in the Kham area. So far, only the Uzang area in the entire Qinghai-Tibet region is still ruled by the Zangba Khan regime of the Kagyu sect."

Today, Da'ei's place names for the Qinghai-Tibet region are partly continued from the previous Ming Dynasty, and partly changed based on the current situation at the end of the Ming Dynasty.

In fact, most of the local names for the local area in Qinghai and Tibet are passed down from the Tubo era, which can be roughly summarized as "Weizang Siru".

That is, "Us", "Zang", "Kham", and "Anduo".

The first two were often called together, and during the Qing Dynasty, "Uzang" was officially renamed "Weizang", also known as Qianzang.

The ministers all knew this common sense about the Qinghai-Tibet region before the meeting, and of course they would not be unable to understand it.

What Ma Shimin meant was that Gushi Khan occupied most of Qinghai and Tibet except Uzang in four or five years.

"In the 14th year of Chongzhen, when Gushi Khan was about to attack Uzang, he pretended to return to Qinghai, but suddenly turned around and attacked Uzang, defeated Zangba Khan, and captured the regime of Zangba Khan in the 15th year of Chongzhen. His capital was Shigatse, and soon the Khoshot Khanate was established with the support of the Gelug sect. "

"Through Gushi Khan's war experience in the past few years, and the information sent back by the Xunfeng Guards, we have been able to determine that the soldiers and horses that Gushi Khan relied on for the founding of the country were the Mongolian cavalry brought by him from the Heshuote Department. , and the Mongolian cavalry under Quetu Khan recovered during the attack on Qinghai."

"In accordance with the customs of the prairie at this time, he integrated these cavalry into eight banners (tribes) and settled their families in the Damxung area, led by his eldest son Dayan, so it was also called the Eight Banners of Damxung."

"According to Xunfengwei's information, the Eight Banners should be elite light cavalry with a number of between 150,000 and 20,000 people."

"In addition, after these years of operation, Gushi Khan should be able to recruit 50,000 to 60,000 miscellaneous horsemen from various tribes in Qinghai, which are actually young and strong local herdsmen."

"In addition, Gushi Khan has now eliminated Zangba Khan and the remaining forces of the Kagyu sect, and has contacted most of the nobles in the Uszang area."

"Therefore, if we really go to war with Dawei, we should be able to recruit 70,000 to 100,000 Tibetan troops."

"However, according to the information passed by Xunfengwei, most of the Tibetan soldiers are actually local young serfs and Tibetans, and there should be no more than 30,000 elites among them."

"Finally, perhaps because of the friction with me over the years, Gushi Khan also formed a firearms force of more than 5,000 people."

"This firearms force is equipped with about three thousand matchlock guns, dozens of old-fashioned field guns, and hundreds of light guns similar to tiger squat guns, small French guns, and general guns."

Having said this, Ma Shimin breathed a sigh of relief, turned around completely to face everyone, and then concluded: "The above is the general situation of the current army and armament of the Kashote Khanate."

After listening to Ma Shimin's speech, he and the ministers in the congregation began to discuss softly.

"So, the Heshuote Khanate can mobilize up to 200,000 troops?"

"That's true, but they also need to leave troops to guard the capital and the southwest border. If they really fight against us, it would be good if they can pull out hundreds of thousands of troops."

"That's right, and among the soldiers and horses of the Heshuote Khanate, the herdsmen and serfs are just filling up the numbers and can only fight with the wind. The number of elite soldiers with real combat effectiveness does not exceed 50,000."

"For me in Dawei, the biggest problem in conquering Qinghai-Tibet is actually the harsh local climate and environment, as well as logistics and transportation problems." "..."

After the ministers finished their discussion, Liu Sheng asked some people by name what they thought.

Finally, he named Helianyue.

"Mr. Wuling, how is the training of the Songfan Independent Brigade? Is it worthy of use?"

Helianyue immediately stood up and said: "Reporting to your Majesty, the Songbo Independent Brigade has been established for seven years, trained hard every day, and has been engaged in small-scale battles with the Kashote Khanate on the Sichuan-Tibet border all year round. Even in the standing army, it is enough Called elite.”

"Now the soldiers of the Songbo Independent Brigade are looking forward to fighting a big battle. If they are the vanguard of this battle, they will be able to attack and win every battle!"

Liu Sheng nodded, "Now that you have said this, I feel relieved."

Then Liu Sheng asked Zhang Ao similar questions.

Zhang Ao also trained a plateau mountain force on the Yunnan-Tibet border, but it only had one regiment. However, in recent years, there have been occasional small-scale battles with the Kashote Khanate, and the results have been very good...
After the meeting.

The group of people left Wuying Hall, while He Lianyue and Zhang Ao left the imperial city directly.

Although the two of them were stationed in the border provinces all year round, their homes were in Nanjing city - this was obviously a check and balance imposed by the imperial court on the border generals, but it was necessary. No matter how confident Liu Sheng is, he will not let go in this regard.

On the contrary, the lower-level soldiers and middle- and low-level generals mostly got married and established their families locally because they were stationed in border provinces all year round and transportation was far less convenient than in later generations.

Zhang Ao wanted to go back as soon as he left the imperial city.

He doesn't know how long he can stay in Nanjing this time, so he naturally hopes to spend more time with his family.

But He Lianyue came over and said, "Old Zhang, do you have time? Let's go to Zuixian Tower to have a drink and catch up on old times?"

Zhang Ao hesitated for a moment and said, "I still have something to do at home, why don't we have dinner together in the evening?"

"also."

At five or six o'clock, the two of them started eating and drinking in a high-end private room in Zuixian Building.

Not only are the two now both commanders of the standing army, but Zhang Ao has also been He Lianyue's deputy for many years, and their relationship is still good - at least on the surface.

After a few glasses of wine and a few useless conversations, Helianyue couldn't help but said: "Old Zhang, when I return to Beijing this time, I feel that His Majesty is obviously dissatisfied with me."

Zhang Ao said, "I think His Majesty is very kind to you? At today's meeting, you said that the Songbo Independent Brigade can fight, and His Majesty immediately believed it."

"The Songfan Independent Brigade is indeed capable of fighting. How can I, Helianyue, boast falsely about this matter?" Helianyue raised his brows, a little displeased, and then sighed: "Actually, I know that our third division has been outnumbered in recent years. A lot of messy things must have reached His Majesty’s ears.”

"But I didn't mean to indulge in those things in the army. The soldiers stayed in Sichuan for five or six years and didn't get a chance to fight. They only trained all day long. Who can stand it after a long time?"

Not to mention that the soldiers couldn't stand it, even Helian Yue couldn't stand it.

Zhang Ao pondered for a moment after hearing this, and said: "The army has been stationed in one place for a long time, and its morale has declined. This is a normal phenomenon."

"Our Eighth Division has only been established a few years ago. In the past two years, the number of troops who have violated military discipline has increased significantly. We just deal with it according to discipline. How can His Majesty blame us?"

Hearing this, Helianyue drank another glass of wine and said, "Oh, you don't understand."

After serving in the army for a long time, Zhang Ao became more outspoken, so he asked: "Tell me, why don't I understand?" (End of Chapter)