Zhu Yuanzhang can see my dreams

Chapter 371: The Five Expeditions to Mobei Are Not Working
Zhu Di didn't know how to answer his father's question, but he felt that Qiu Fu had underestimated the enemy.

If the Ming Dynasty really lost 100,000 troops and was completely wiped out, it would take a long time to lick its wounds and recover.

It was also impossible for Zhu Di to lead a large army to retaliate a few months later.

"Father, the battlefield is ever-changing. Since I appointed him as the commander of the army, he must have extraordinary qualities. Moreover, this man died fighting for his country. I don't know what to say."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded slightly, but he actually had some vague guesses in his mind.

Even when such a big thing happened, Wang Buli was not with him at all, and he didn't even offer any advice.

How else could such a thing happen?
"Five expeditions to Mobei!"

Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but ask, "You are leading the army yourself. Who will handle the government affairs?"

"It's probably Gao Chi who is the regent."

Zhu Di believed that he could only place the important responsibility on his son so that he could travel with peace of mind.

In addition, in the Jingnan Campaign, both the eldest son and the second son performed extremely well.

"What's wrong with fighting the Mongols? These people are always thinking about counterattacks."

Wang Buli smiled and came to Zhu Di's rescue. He knew that Zhu Di had always wanted to be the General of the Northern Expedition or something like that.

After Zhu Di decided to lead the army in person, he began to mobilize troops from various routes to Beijing to wait for orders in September of the seventh year of Yongle. He also strengthened the defensive forces in important places along the border, repaired cities, transported military equipment, and trained soldiers in preparation for the war.

In October, he ordered the Ministry of Works to build 3 Wugang carts to transport 20 dan of grain to accompany the army.

At the same time, a grain station was set up along the way north of Xuanfu according to the calculation of 10 days' journey, to store a batch of military rations, and soldiers were left to guard it in case the army returned.

In order to solve the water problem of the northern expedition troops fighting in Mobei, a large number of camels were recruited to transport water.

Through these pre-war preparations, the defense in the rear was strengthened, and the food reserves and military supplies for the march were enriched, thus preparing the material conditions for victory in the Northern Expedition.

Zhu Di ordered his eldest grandson Zhu Zhanji to stay in Beijing, and the Minister of Revenue Xia Yuanji to assist in the administration. On the fourth day of the first lunar month, he issued an imperial edict to denounce the Tatars for killing envoys and violating the border.

He enumerated the five conditions for the Ming army to win, namely "using the big to defeat the small, using the compliant to defeat the rebellious, using the orderly to attack the rebellious, using the at-ease to defeat the tired, and using the pleasing to relieve the resentful", to boost the morale of the troops, publicize public opinion that the expedition was based on reason, and then set out with an army of 5.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Zhu Di's actions and felt that the Ming Dynasty was indeed becoming more and more powerful. The 100,000 people in front of him who were running back in a panic could be quickly reorganized by him and he could lead the team to set off again.

In the entire Ming Dynasty, only Zhu Di could command a large-scale military operation.

Moreover, the generals in the early stage were defeated and killed in the battle, so the emperor personally leading the army had a great effect in boosting morale.

Of course, we must also be prepared to predict that someone will end up like Qiu Fu.

Zhu Di also had some guesses in his mind, after I became the emperor, I personally served as the General of the Northern Expedition, why haven't I seen my General Wang Buli, the Great Military Advisor of the Northern Expedition!

Could it be that he really died early?

In fact, when Zhu Di saw this, he still felt a little uncomfortable.

When he entered Nanjing, Wang Buli's face was still so young. How could he die so early?
"Good fellow, look at the majestic spirit of the fourth brother."

Wang Buli pointed at Zhu Di in the picture and laughed, "He is so majestic."

Zhu Di forced a smile when he heard Wang Buli's heartless words. "It would be such a pity if you weren't there to see such a magnificent scene."

"Indeed, this military uniform is much more impressive than what we wear."

Zhu Yuanzhang had not been to the battlefield in person for a long time, and many things were left to his generals.

However, it can be seen from this that among Zhu Di's meritorious servicemen, there were not many who were capable of commanding a large army in battle, and most of them still had the mentality of charge generals.

Otherwise, he would not have left the army without permission, leading to his death in Mobei.

At this time, Bayanchur had led his troops to flee westward, while Arutai led his troops to flee eastward to avoid fighting with the Ming army.

The Ming army saw no trace of Tatars along the way, so they moved eastward along the river.

When they reached the middle reaches of the Luqu River, they learned that Bayanchur had fled to the area around the Wugurza River (now the Uleji River in Mongolia).

Zhu Di immediately led his troops across the river and advanced rapidly with light cavalry, arriving at the south bank of the Onon River and catching up with Bayanchur's troops.

Bayanchur led his troops to resist. Zhu Di climbed the mountain to deploy his troops and led his army to fight.

Ben Ya Shi Li was defeated and fled to Hebei with only 7 cavalrymen.

The Ming army released all the prisoners and accepted the surrender of some of the surrendered personnel in order to appease them.

After the Ming army won the battle, it turned its front line and attacked Arutai along the Luqu River to the east.

Aluta led his troops to fight, and Zhu Di led more than a thousand elite cavalry to charge directly into their camp and defeated Aluta's troops.

Aluta led the remaining troops to flee north in panic, and the Ming army pursued them. Liu Sheng ordered the machine guns and artillery to fire fiercely, "the sound was heard for dozens of miles, and each arrow pierced two people, and hit the horses beside them, killing them instantly."

The remaining troops of Aluta fled on horseback, and the Ming army bravely pursued them for more than a hundred miles, killing hundreds of people including the king.

It was midsummer, and the Ming army was short of food and water, so it was inconvenient to continue the pursuit and withdrew.

The Tatar cavalry followed behind.

Zhu Di personally led the cavalry as the rear guard, deliberately abandoned the baggage to lure the enemy, and set up an ambush with muskets to annihilate the Tatar cavalry.

Zhu Yuanzhang had just said that Qiu Fu learned this from you, but you, as the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, also led more than a thousand cavalrymen to attack the enemy camp, and then personally covered their retreat.

Is this something an emperor can do?
What kind of commander you are, what kind of generals you will bring out.

When Zhu Di saw this scene, he also forced an explanation: "Father, I am setting an example myself so that the soldiers can fight for their lives."

"Yeah." Zhu Yuanzhang replied with a fake smile: "I see, you are much braver than me."

In Zhu Yuanzhang's view, how could he take such a risk as the emperor of the Ming Dynasty?
Zhu Di also pretended not to hear and asked quickly: "Brother-in-law, it's hot and there's a lack of water. What should we do?"

"First, find a river. If you can't find a river, the army can use swords and helmets as a way to collect morning dew. It's best to drink light salt water. Otherwise, you will sweat all the time and won't be able to drink water. Within three days, your army of more than 100,000 will be finished."

Wang Buli also explained to Zhu Di some methods of collecting dew and other outdoor methods such as digging pits to collect water.

Especially since there are so many swords in the army, maybe we can find some.

Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head and said: "You did a good job. There is no need to force the pursuit, otherwise you will turn a great victory into a great defeat."

"This method is still not enough for a large army. It can only slightly solve the urgent problem. You must not rely on this method to pursue the enemy. If you follow Bu Li's method in the middle of the pursuit, but no water appears, the entire army will collapse."

"In foreign wars, you must achieve victory in a steady manner. Next time, you don't need to advertise that you are bringing an army of 500,000 or something like that. Just advertise that you are bringing a few tens of thousands of people, but in fact you have more troops. Otherwise, they will retreat as soon as they hear your name. Instead, you will lure the enemy in and find an opportunity to kill you."

Zhu Yuanzhang felt that the Tatars' actions were somewhat cunning.

They don't confront you head-on at all, but always want to extend your grain transportation lines. In this way, if you, the Ming Dynasty, want to win the battle, you have to stay away from the borders of the Ming court.

The logistical pressure has become enormous, and if the battle line is long enough, all kinds of accidents will occur.

In addition, they are familiar with the surrounding environment, so the initiative is not in the hands of the Ming Dynasty at all.

Although Zhu Di acted extremely tough and powerful, Zhu Yuanzhang thought he was a little too reckless.

Just the issue of scorching heat and water shortage is enough to destroy an army, according to Wang Buli's popular science. After all, Liu Bei had already given a specific example during the Battle of Yiling.

"Your Majesty, what you said makes sense. Since we cannot wipe out the Tatars in one go, it is good to take some meat from them from time to time. Since you have been so kind to the three guards of Doyan, why didn't you bring them with you in this battle?"

Wang Buli said leisurely: "Only if the two sides fight too fiercely will there be no chance to turn back.

Otherwise, the three guards of Ruanduoyan only helped you fight the civil war in the Ming Dynasty, and did not have many military achievements in foreign wars. How could they submit to you for generations?"

In response to Wang Buli's question, Zhu Di nodded, saying that he was too generous to the three guards of Doyan.

"I'm not thinking carefully."

Zhu Di thought it was great that Wang Buli could help him fill in the gaps at this time.

After all, he won't be around in the future, so we should listen to Wang Buli's suggestions and take good notes.

In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang had already given up at this time. Even someone as lucky as Wang Buli could not live forever, and might even die early due to mental damage, even if the price was an eternal youth.

But for a man who wants to build a career, longevity is the most important thing. Otherwise, neither Liu Bang nor Liu Bei would have had a chance to rise.

Now it is equivalent to making a battle summary for Zhu Di. With Zhu Yuanzhang's sophisticated military experience and some of Wang Buli's later tricks, Zhu Di's improvement is far from a little bit.

Zhu Di's first northern expedition did not lead to complete submission of the Mongols.

Mahamu, a powerful chieftain who was crowned king by the Ming dynasty, assassinated Bayanchur while he was fleeing from the Ming army.

Then he established a puppet monarch in the old Mongolian capital of Kharkhorin and began to march eastward to deal with Arutai, with the obvious intention of unifying Mongolia.

The Ming court attempted to sow discord between the two rivals.

Arutai was named Prince of Hening by Zhu Di and was granted trade privileges under the tributary system. He informed the Ming court that Mahamu's army had crossed the Luqu River, an event that prompted the emperor to launch the Second Mongol Campaign.

After several months of preparation, the Second Mongol Campaign was launched with Zhu Di personally leading the army, attempting to concentrate his forces to annihilate the Western Mongols as they migrated to Eastern Mongolia.

The Ming army penetrated deep into Mongolia and fought with Mahamu's large tent in the upper reaches of the Tula River.

In the ensuing battle, the Ming army used cannons to attack the Oirat people. Although the Ming army suffered heavy losses, they still forced the Oirat people to retreat. Mahamu led his troops in a rout and his military strength was greatly reduced.

The battle lasted less than five months. On his way back, Zhu Di wanted to meet with Aluta of the Eastern Mongolians, but Aluta pretended to be sick and avoided him.

This war also caused Mahamu to be devastated and die in depression. The subsequent disintegration of his tent temporarily eliminated the threat of the unruly Oirat Mongols in the west.

However, Aluta took the opportunity to rise again and expanded his influence to the various Oirat tribes. They began to refuse to submit to the Ming Dynasty's control and launched sporadic attacks on the Ming border.

Zhu Di's response was to prepare for another campaign; but this time he encountered stubborn opposition at court from the Minister of Revenue Xia Yuanji and other senior officials on the grounds of military expenditure.

But in the end the emperor had the upper hand: Xia Yuanji was imprisoned, his deputy Fang Bin committed suicide, and as a result of the third battle, Aluta and his troops fled to Outer Mongolia, and Zhu Di returned without success.

As for the fourth time, it also ended in failure because Aluta's troops were defeated by the Oirat and all of them were dispersed.

Unwilling to give up, Zhu Di launched his final fifth campaign against the Mongols.

Zhu Di responded to Aluta's followers invading Kaiping and advancing southward to Datong by assembling a large army in Beijing and Xuanfu.

In early April, after inspecting the army, he led the expeditionary force out of Beijing for the final battle.

In the next two months, the Ming army advanced to the north of Kaiping through Tumu, but failed to encounter Aluta's tent.

Some generals requested a month's supply of rations to allow them to advance deeper into enemy territory, but Emperor Yongle, fearing that he had already advanced too far into enemy territory, rejected the proposals and withdrew his troops.

On August 1424, 8, he died of illness in Yumuchuan, north of Duolun, leaving the Mongolian issue as unresolved as it was in the early years of his reign.

Zhu Di was confused.

Unexpectedly, the next three expeditions ended in failure, and the last one even cost him his life.

"You too."

Wang Buli laughed a few times: "You are worthy of your goal of dying on the battlefield!"

Zhu Di learned the news of Wang Buli and his own death today one after another, and he was really unable to hold it in any longer.

I never thought that Wang Buli would say it so calmly. It turns out that I still need to learn this state of mind from him.

"I was already 65 years old by then, and I could still ride a horse to go to war, which was enough."

Zhu Di couldn't help but chuckle, feeling very emotional.

"You two little brats haven't lived as long as we have."

Zhu Yuanzhang also knew the date of his death, but he lived to be over seventy years old.

Wang Buli thought to himself, there is no other emperor in the entire Ming Dynasty who lived longer than you.

You have been used to working like a slave all your life, but you haven't died of exhaustion early, and you are ranked first in the longevity of the Ming Dynasty.

What the fucking physical fitness!
Your son Zhu Di is ranked second. The average age of the Ming emperors is thirty-six. You, Zhu Yuanzhang, are indeed qualified to say this.

"I will also practice Ba Duan Jin well after I go back."

Wang Buli made a complaint, which made Zhu Yuanzhang and his son burst into laughter.

"But we still have to say that your five northern expeditions sound impressive, but in fact the results achieved were not significant."

Zhu Yuanzhang changed the subject and did not say anything more about the age of a person. He looked at Zhu Di:

"You have neither destroyed the Mongol tribes nor restricted their invasion of the northern border, which has created a major policy problem.

You have abandoned our strategic approach and no longer deploy troops in the garrisons outside the Great Wall.

This way of deploying troops will certainly cost a lot in terms of supplies, and will also tie the garrison troops to their defensive positions for a long time.

However, you withdrew several key frontier garrisons to the south of the Great Wall and redeployed the troops according to the needs of defending the new capital."

Zhu Di's eyes widened suddenly. It was obvious that he was not as far-sighted as his father in managing the northern border.

"I guess it was our son-in-law who gave you the idea. Don't send so many people to the front line to cultivate the land."

Zhu Yuanzhang did not let Wang Buli go either.

Wang Buli shook his head: "Who can predict the future? Who knows if it was an idea given to the fourth brother?"

Zhu Yuanzhang did not dwell on it and continued to analyze: "Among the retreating guards, I remember there was one guard in Dongsheng, northwest of Datong, which became a symbol of the inner defense of the Ming Dynasty.

However, these plans would fail when the Fourth Emperor took the initiative as an emperor and did his best to hunt down the enemy, or when he implemented a policy of divide and conquer, allowing the Mongol leaders to kill each other.

Because it was difficult for the Fourth Brother to track down and fight against the erratic Mongolian tribes, the policy of divide and rule eventually alienated the various factions of the Mongols.

These indecisive battles also greatly consumed the Ming Dynasty's financial resources and damaged the morale of the Ming army.

Especially since you returned almost without success in the last three battles, and you died on the way back. What if your descendants also have disputes over who should be the emperor?"

Zhu Yuanzhang might be a little annoyed.

Now he can't reprimand Zhu Yunwen, and he won't be allowed to ascend the throne in the future, so it doesn't matter what he does.

But Zhu Di was different. If he could not change everyone's lifespan, Zhu Di's ascension to the throne would be a foregone conclusion.

Zhu Yuanzhang was determined to change Zhu Di's mind.

In fact, it was Zhu Di's policies that inadvertently weakened the security of the northern border.

After his death, there was no organized crusade except for one disastrous defeat by overseas students.

The Ming Dynasty lost control of the areas outside the Great Wall and could only organize a defense line within the Great Wall.

This was certainly the most serious negative effect of Emperor Yongle's aggressive border policy.

A great deal of energy and material resources were wasted in these crusades, without achieving any long-term benefits.

Wang Buli looked at Zhu Yuanzhang with some horror for a moment. It seemed that Zhu knew that his great-grandson had roasted his eldest grandson to death?
Otherwise, I wouldn’t say such a thing!
After being scolded by his father, Zhu Di seemed a little depressed. He just felt that he had led five expeditions to Mongolia and weakened their power. Although he did not achieve much success in the last three expeditions, it was still quite impressive to say the least.

He never thought that his father would point out this problem to him directly.

"Your Majesty, it is absolutely impossible that I came up with the idea of ​​withdrawing the troops." Wang Buli immediately turned against me and flattered himself: "According to my idea, we should continue to expand large tracts of land, and then use economic warfare to continuously weaken the strength of the Mongols.

In this way, we can continuously draw the map of the Mongolian noble tents, and better implement the tactics of the champion Hou Huo Qubing. I do not agree with retreating."

"Ah."

Zhu Yuanzhang responded. He believed what Wang Buli said. After all, this guy was a radical in foreign wars and didn't want to retreat at all.

That means Zhu Di's own thoughts might have been deceived by the civil officials under his command.

Otherwise, why would they take the initiative to withdraw their troops and place the Three Guards of Doyan so close to the capital?

Zhu Di didn't know what to say after listening to Wang Buli's "sophisticated excuses". Anyway, many people advised him against it during his last expedition, but he insisted on going his own way.

(End of this chapter)