Brother Zhu Youxiao

"Bang bang bang-"

On the first day of March in the 11th year of Apocalypse, along with the Ming army in Yidonghe City, the sound of cannons celebrating ahead of time announced the third Northern Expedition in the Apocalypse Year, and finally started.

Although this process was too hasty and did not proceed according to the original plan of the Ming army, and the troops and horses did not even prepare enough food and supplies, the battle still started.

Huang Taiji wanted to escape, but Zhu Youjian was not going to give him a chance, even if Shangzhi only had less than three months of military rations, he would fight Huang Taiji in a battle between the Beishan Mountains.

On February 29, Sun Shoufa and Cao Meng successively led eight guards, starting from Taining Mansion, and marching to the capital.

Behind them were [-] civilian husbands and [-] draft horses, mules and horses who had been summoned temporarily, and Zhu Youjian also led people directly to Shangjing.

On February 29, Xiong Tingbi, who was in Yidonghe City, received the order and launched the Northern Expedition on the first day of March.

Forty thousand soldiers and horses set off under the leadership of Xiong Tingbi. As a civil servant at the age of 61, he put on armor and rode his horses to march north.

At the same time as he sent troops, Sun Yingyuan of Jianzhou County was ordered to lead [-] troops to conquer Huifa City on the second day of March.

Similarly, one day after he led his troops to march north, You Shigong, the general of Jingcheng, marched [-] troops north to Mowenhe City.

The northern expedition of the four soldiers and horses seemed mighty, but in fact they were all rushed northward. Not only was there insufficient gunpowder, but there was also a serious shortage of food, civilian husbands, and supplies.

At this time, Zhu Xieyuan, who was the minister of the Ministry of War, and Yuan Yingtai, the political envoy of Liaodong, began to organize civilian husbands to transport gunpowder and grain northward.

Because it was organized hastily, this battle undoubtedly delayed the spring planting of many people's homes, but compared to Mielu, the delay in the spring planting of millions of acres of land is nothing.

"We need to replenish the military rations in time on the west road. First, we need to transfer 30 shi from Shenyang, organize 100 draft horses and [-] civilian men, and then transport another [-] million shi."

"Political Envoy, Xiong Jinglue..."

"Their road is the closest to Shenyang, don't worry about it!"

In March, Liaodong Chief Envoy was in full swing, and the pressure of the Northern Expedition almost fell on Yuan Yingtai's shoulders.

Facts have also proved that although Yuan Yingtai is not good at fighting, he is good at logistics.

He dealt with the matter according to the priority, and what he continued to deal with was the food and grass problem of Shangzhi Sixteen Guards.

Because the Northern Expedition was too hasty, the sixteen guards of Shangzhi only had three months of military rations, so if the food could not be delivered to them in three months, Shangzhi would face the danger of running out of food.

Busy and busy, Yuan Yingtai finally arranged the logistics of each department, and he was able to pick up a teacup to moisten his throat a little bit.

But while he was drinking tea, the Shenyang magistrate who came to deliver the documents was worried:

"Master, you said that His Highness hastily ordered the Northern Expedition, will it..."

The magistrate was worried about the fiasco of the Northern Expedition, but Yuan Yingtai smiled and said indifferently:

"No, although the Northern Expedition is in a hurry, fortunately, the food in Yingzhou has already arrived. Although it is chaotic now, it is just a matter of people's scheduling."

"There are nearly 800 million Liao people in Liaodong right now, and the transfer of hundreds of thousands of people is not a problem at all."

"Besides, early strikes have the advantage of early strikes. At the beginning of the month, I estimate that His Highness and the others will besiege Jianlu's Shangjing City at the end of the month. As for Xiong Feibai, he can also attack Xingjing."

"The only thing that is uncertain now is Huang Taiji who wants to flee north. According to His Highness's arrangement, it is still a bit dangerous."

"If Huang Taiji escapes quickly, it may be too late to close the siege."

As Yuan Yingtai spoke, the expression on his face was also a bit dignified, because the strategic goal of this battle was to sweep the acupoints in Liting. If Huang Taiji led people to escape, even if he only took 1000 people to escape, then this strategy would fail.

Thinking of this, Yuan Yingtai couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief: "I hope this battle can end soon, so that I can retire and go home to retire."

He took off his black gauze cap, and his forehead was covered with fine sweat from the tension of dispatching logistics.

While he was wiping away his sweat, Xiong Tingbi, who was about the same age as him, ushered in his third career.

"put!"

"Boom bang bang-"

The cannons were like thunder, and the stone bullets were like thunder. On the third day of March, after three days of traveling, Xiong Tingbi finally arrived at Yimihe City, which is 120 miles away from Yidonghe City.

He ordered the artillery to line up and fight twelve rounds first.

Amidst the sound of cannons, Xiong Tingbi looked at Jianlu who was beaten so hard that he couldn't lift his head at the top of Yimihe city with binoculars, and laughed loudly like an old urchin:
"Ha ha ha ha……"

"I didn't expect Jianlu to act in such an embarrassing manner!"

"Jinglue, I think the people at the top of the city are all old, weak, sick and disabled, why don't you let me lead a wave?"

Xiong Tingbi was venting his mediocrity over the past few years, and He Shixian, who was standing next to him, was naturally unwilling to lag behind, and wanted to lead people to Yimihe City.

However, Xiong Tingbi was happy because he was happy, but his mind was still clear. Hearing this, he quickly shook his head: "No!"

"If Jin Yiwei's information is not wrong, then only the old and the weak are left in Mihe City. It is impossible to use the young to attack the old and the weak to the detriment of the young and strong."

"Right now, our army is the one closest to Shenyang among the four armies, with the most abundant gunpowder and the fastest supply."

"Since this is the case, we must give full play to our army's advantages, attack the city with artillery, and wash the ground with stone bombs!"

After finishing speaking, Xiong Tingbi turned his head and shouted to a young player not far away: "Wu Sangui! Tell your father to play another 36 rounds!"

"The last general takes orders!" Wu Sangui, who was dressed in defensive armor, bowed and saluted, and when he raised his head, he showed correct facial features and a handsome appearance, unlike the complexion of the army who has been in the army for a long time.

After responding, he rode his horse to the artillery position in front, while Xiong Tingbi looked at the map in his hand and said:

"What we have to do is to take down Yimihe City, then take down Wula City (Xingjing), and then remove the thirteen Jianlu stone forts in the north along the way."

Xiong Tingbi was in high spirits, but He Shixian scratched his beard: "I don't know where Your Highness got the map, it's so detailed, it's probably the same as the map that the old servant arranged himself."

"This is the matter of Beizhen Fusi, so we don't need to worry about it. In short, although this battle is launched in advance, it only has six months for us." Xiong Tingbi raised his head with a heavy face:

"In six months, if you can't complete the plowing task assigned by His Highness, it will be difficult to sweep the cave when winter comes."

Under Zhu Youjian's overall arrangement, the three armies in the south were in charge of plowing the courtyard, while Shangzhi was in charge of sweeping the acupoints.

It's just that Huang Taiji is fleeing north now, and it's too late to wait for Xiong Tingbi and the others to go from Yidonghe City in the south to Liting to the capital five hundred miles to the north.

Therefore, Zhu Youjian chose to oppose the division of troops, and at the same time urged Xiong Tingbi and the others to go north, so that Shangzhi would be divided into two, one to encircle Beishan, and the other to be in charge of Liting.

He himself did not participate in this battle, and was mainly responsible for sitting in the middle army and coordinating the various armies.

It is too far to sit in Taining Prefecture. This location is [-] miles away from Ala Mountain City in the north, [-] miles away from Xiong Tingbi, [-] miles away from Sun Yingyuan, and [-] miles away from You Shigong.

Spanning thousands of miles, this is not sitting in the middle of the army, this is remote command.

In the era when there was no radio station and the news was purely based on Tangqi, it was impossible for him to be more than a thousand miles away from any soldier and horse. This is why he chose to go to the capital with the army.

When he arrived in Shangjing, he was about a thousand miles away from any army and horse. With the speed of Tangqi, he could send the news to any army within two days.

Similarly, any army and horse can also convey the situation they face to Zhu Youjian in time.

On the fifth day of March, when Xiong Tingbi bombarded Yimihe City wildly, Sun Yingyuan pulled out the stone fort all the way north and attacked Huifa City, and when You Shigong led the troops to Mowenhewei, Zhu Youjian and Sun Yingyuan Abiding by the law, they successfully reunited on the north bank of the Songhua River, two hundred miles away from Shangjing.

"Sorry..."

The war horse was breathing tiredly, eating the beans in big gulps, and the draft horse kept eating the bundles of grass.

On the Songhua River Plain where the snow had melted, 12 troops formed a camp, and the [-] civilians accompanying the army also began to build fortifications around the camp.

The war horses and ragged horses, which had been supplemented with bean feed and grass bundles in time, were unsaddled and walked leisurely on the plain, gnawing on the green grass that came out of their heads.

Rows of wooden walls were erected, and in just a few hours, a small "town" stood on the vast Songjiang Plain.

"It's a good place to expand as a foundation for a county in the future."

On the banks of the Songhua River, Zhu Youjian was wearing a round neck robe, riding a white horse leisurely, walking along the Songhua River.

Behind him, Li Dingguo, Liu Xiaozu, and Liu Bingwen followed him closely, and around them were thousands of cavalry guards guarding their surroundings.

The Qianhu who is in charge of this cavalry is the elder brother of Wei Pingyang, the imperial concubine of the Qi Palace, and Wei Lian, the eldest uncle of Zhu Youjian.

Wei Lian is young, only 20 years old, one year younger than Zhu Youjian.

Although the younger sister is one of the two noble concubines, Xuancheng Bo's mansion has a good family style, and Wei Lian has no relatives, but just guards the surroundings, and personally follows Zhu Youjian and the other three.

"Sun Shoufa and Cao Meng are getting better and better."

Zhu Youjian turned around on his horse, looked at the well-organized Ming army camp, and nodded very satisfied.

He didn't expect that Sun Shoufa, who was just a guerrilla in history, and Cao Meng, who had mud legs, could manage an army of [-] in an orderly manner.

This is enough to show that in the long river of history, the buried talents are like crucian carp crossing the river, countless.

Not to mention them, even my uncle Wei Lian, who has no name in history, can command thousands of cavalry at such a young age. After training, it is still possible to lead one or even several guards.

But after this battle, I should start to reorganize the Shangzhi and Gongwei camps.

Thinking of the two teams of Shangzhi and Gongweiying, Zhu Youjian had the idea of ​​reorganizing them.

He had this idea very early on, but with his power at the time, it was impossible to abolish the Weisuo system and the battalion system under the situation where the Zhejiang Party and Donglin Party were powerful, so he came up with the Shangzhi Party under compromise. There are two systems of the Guard Army and the Gongwei Battalion Army.

Later, it was delayed because there was no time to give the army a chance to rest after reorganization because it had been fighting.

After this battle, Jianlu will have peace for at least two years.

Two years of reorganization and running-in is almost enough.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youjian's long-prepared system also emerged in Zhu Youjian's mind.

To put it bluntly, the Shangzhi Sixteen Guards and the Navy Twelve Guards were also transformed into a battalion system.

The current battalion system is that five people form a team, three teams form a team, five teams form one banner, five banners form one post, and five posts form one battalion.

In this way, there are 31 people in the first battalion, and what Zhu Youjian needs to do is to set up another military unit on top of the battalion, that is, the army.

The fifth battalion is one army, and the first army has 6000 people. The leading general is the commander-in-chief. In addition, one deputy commander-in-chief, one military commander, one military supply battalion, and one accompanying army commander are required to assist in commanding the army and manage politics and ideology. And discipline, logistics and all that stuff.

Now the number of the Ming army is too large, and the number of more than 90 people is not only a big burden on Ming's finances, but also a potential threat to internal politics.

It's just that Zhu Youjian has confidence in himself. As long as he is in Daming, it is impossible for these 90 soldiers and horses to follow some generals to rebel.

Of course, the premise is that Zhu Youjian doesn't do anything to hurt them, such as disarmament.

In fact, Zhu Youjian does not intend to disarm, but he does not intend to continue to expand the army.

He planned to stabilize the Ming army at a scale of 96 troops and [-] people.

Among them, there are eight naval armies with 12 people, 8000 upper-level armies with 25 people, and the remaining four armies with nine armies each with 6000 people.

It is Zhu Youjian's job to ensure that Shangzhi has one-on-one or even one-on-two overwhelming strength against the military governors' mansions.

Of course, this is an army belonging to the imperial court. As for the army in the imperial palace, Zhu Youjian is not going to move.

The three guards of the imperial city plus the generals of the Han, a total of 300 people are enough. As for the more than 6000 pure troops in Wei Zhongxian's hands, Zhu Youjian did not count them as combat power at all.

Although they did a good job when they broke into and attacked the imperial city in history, it was only reflected in fighting alone. Once they faced hundreds or thousands of people, they would only be defeated by regular troops of the same scale.

The three guards of the imperial city and the generals of the Han Dynasty came to guard the imperial city with a circumference of eighteen miles. This is not a small number.

If it is really impossible to defend the imperial city, it is also possible to retreat to the palace city with a circumference of six miles.

Zhu Youjian had already asked people to expand the big chefs in the outer court of the Forbidden City, and used the ancient classics library as a granary and armory.

What really happened, more than 1 court ladies, eunuchs and concubines in the Forbidden City can be used as civilian husbands to deliver supplies, and the three guards of the imperial city with more than 8000 people are enough to stick to the Forbidden City.

With the materials in the granary and armory, as long as there are no problems with the generals, the Forbidden City can easily defend for a year.

For a year, Zhu Youjian did not believe that all the governors of the five armies were rebellious, and that none of the troops came to serve the king.

As long as one of them comes to serve the king, the other soldiers and horses will serve the king one after another.

However, if the five military governors' mansions are against each other, then there is no need to stick to it, and prepare to accept the second king and three Ke of the new dynasty.

Zhu Youjian is full of confusion about the future of the Ming Dynasty, because he himself does not believe that a dynasty can be passed on forever.

"I hope this battle is over and I can take a good rest for a while."

Looking at the camp, he was full of emotions in his heart. Similarly, at this time, Huang Taiji was also looking at the Beishou team, full of emotions...

Although it was already March, Nu'er's dry and fierce cold wind was still blowing, as if it was about to turn into a wind knife and scrape off human flesh and blood.

Pieces of icy snowflakes slapped down, making the whole world almost turn into a white world.

In this lonely and cold Beishan dense forest, the long Beihuning team makes people feel bleak.

"Thirty miles ahead is Tunhe City, rest in Tunhe City tonight!"

On the narrow mountain road, there are thousands of cavalry running back and forth. These three teams of 10,000+ people have pulled a full sixty miles on the mountain road.

These northern hunting men and horses marching in the ice and snow were wrapped in worn-out cotton armor, turbans on their heads, and the same worn-out cotton shoes on their feet.

At this time, they were limping towards the north. On the hill, a team dressed in bright armor was very eye-catching, especially the leader.

This person was wearing a neat eight-banner yellow-banner padded armor, and compared to other people around him, he was simply too majestic.

In addition, the man wore a helmet on his head, with beams on the front, back, left, and right sides, and a piece of eyebrow protruding from the middle of his forehead.

There is a dancer and a covered bowl on it. On the bowl is a helmet plate shaped like a wine cup. There is an iron pipe standing in the middle of the helmet plate.

Originally, there should be tassels, eagle feathers or otter tails on it, but at this time it is bare, which seems a little regrettable.

As for this person, it was the very embarrassed Huang Taiji.

He looked at Beishou's team with numb eyes, and the people behind him seemed to be exhausted, and the icy snowflakes kept hitting their faces, but no one cared about it.

In the eyes of Huang Taiji and them, the people in the northern hunting team were their relatives, clan members and important craftsmen.

This group of people no longer had the steady smiles of the previous two years, but only numb expressions.

They walked silently with their heads down, and from time to time someone slipped and fell to the ground, unable to get up again.

Or some people were panting and moving forward step by step, for fear of leaving the team.

"It's too cold, can't we wait a few days before leaving?"

Among the nobles, Yue Tuo couldn't help questioning Huang Taiji when he saw his man with the red flag falling down, but Huang Taiji didn't speak, but Daishan taught him:
"Going straight will only kill some weak people, but if you stop and wait for the Ming army to encircle you, thousands of people will die."

His words silenced Yue Tuo, and so did the generals in the rear.

Among the silent crowd, Liu Aita was particularly distressed, but this was only on the surface, and he was wondering in his heart, did he send out his news?Can the Ming army succeed in closing the encirclement before Jianlu Beishou?

"Let's go..."

Huang Taiji shook the reins and began to lead the team northward, followed by the rest of the people.

They rode their horses northward beside the team for a long time. Along the way, they could see frozen corpses lying on the side of the road from time to time, and some people who stripped themselves naked and finally froze to death.

After these people died, other people went up to take off their cotton clothes and put them on themselves.

Such scenes kept appearing, which made Huang Taiji feel chills in his heart, and even felt that the wind and snow around him seemed to be blowing harder.

Snow particles kept hitting everyone's bodies and faces, and the bone-piercing cold almost made most people's exposed skin feel raw.

It was as if someone was using a branding iron to imprint directly on the flesh, and some people even lost the sense of pain.

"Damn Zhu Youjian, damn Zhu Ming..."

Looking at the tragic situation on both sides, Mangurtai, Dorgon, Duoduo and others among the nobles kept cursing in a low voice.

It seemed to them that they had already suffered a lot, but the Jurchens, Mongols and Han people under their command looked at them from time to time, their eyes full of helplessness and hatred.

They covered their cotton-padded coats with their hands in their sleeves, trying to keep the heat as much as possible. From time to time, they took out the dried sweet potatoes they usually hid and ate them in an attempt to gain a little heat.

But even so, they could still feel the warmth of their bodies slipping away continuously.

Helpless, they could only speed up their pace, hoping to warm up their bodies after the activity.

At the same time, they looked at the back of Huang Taiji and the others riding away, and the resentment in their hearts gradually increased.

It was Huang Taiji and the others who rode their horses back to the Chinese army, and Ji Erhalang, who was in charge of supervising the team to go on their way, also rode his horses to Huang Taiji's side.

"Brother, many people died."

"How many?"

Jierhalang's face was not very good-looking, but Huang Taiji remained calm.

"There are more than 300 people, basically weak women and children." Jierhalang said, thinking of those women and children who were frozen to death by the roadside, these images prompted him to speak worriedly:
"Only five days after departure, 300 people died. Later..."

"It's enough to ensure that the male is alive. If anyone's family freezes to death, give them three catties of rice." Huang Taiji interrupted Jierhalang's words, and issued a soothing policy.

In Huang Taiji's heart, he always knew that Beishou would die, even the nobles knew it.

However, for Huang Taiji, he only wanted to move north with [-] to [-] males from Jianzhou, and [-] to [-] males from the Eight Banners of Mongolia and the Eight Banners of Han Dynasty.

Bringing the two 10,000+ old and weak women and children is just to ensure that the 10,000+ men will not cause chaos.

In his opinion, Beishan is so bitterly cold that even adult men may not survive, let alone those women and children.

The food he brought was only enough to feed 10,000+ people for more than half a year, but in fact, many people would die if they couldn't eat the rice and wheat.

For example, at the moment, they have only walked for five days, and they have only traveled more than 300 miles, and more than 300 people have died.

It should be noted that the whole trip to the north this time is five or six thousand miles long, and the further north it gets, the colder it gets.

After this whole journey, those 10,000+ old and weak women and children are lucky to survive one-third.

It would take about a year to travel the six thousand miles in a nomadic way.

Of course, in the south of Beishan, they did not have time to travel nomadicly, because once the encirclement of the Ming army was completed, they could not move north.

There are still 35 days left, and Huang Taiji needs to lead the team to cover the remaining 35 miles in 700 days.

Even if the Ming army moved faster, they would need to successfully break through Beishan within 30 days. Once they failed, the whole clan would be wiped out.

Thinking of this, Huang Taiji Zhuma turned his head to look at the Beishou team, almost at the same time as Zhu Youjian looked at the camp.

"I hope this battle is over, and Da Jin won't have to be so embarrassed anymore..."

There is urgent work to be done, the second update is estimated to be around ten o'clock tonight