Emperor Zhu Youxiao never gave the Donglin Party a chance again. He made a final decision: "Just follow the decision just now. Believe in the king and send troops to Shaanxi today."
"Yes, brother emperor. The ministers take the orders, and the ministers will prepare now." Zhu Youjian seemed to provoke the Donglin Party and answered very loudly, in sharp contrast to the frustration of the Donglin Party members. At this moment, Zhu Youjian is like the leader of the eunuch party.
After Zhu Youxiao disbanded the court meeting, Zhu Youjian did not stay in any way. He took Wang Mujiu straight to the military academy. Under his instruction, a soldier rushed to the Siwu Camp and notified the officers to go to the camp for a meeting.
"Wen Qi, how many graduates and graduating students are there in the investigation class?" Zhu Youjian couldn't wait, and he wanted to send these students to Shaanxi. He has no idea about the situation in Shaanxi now, nor does he know the extent of the peasant uprising.
"His Royal Highness, there are six people who have graduated but haven't left school, and another eight are about to graduate." Zhou Wenqi replied in a deep voice.
"Immediately let twelve of them rush to Shaanxi to collect information from the bandit army, and leave one or two people with the army and be responsible for contact." The students in the investigation class have all learned to send messages through carrier pigeons. The postman was much faster.
In the Siwu camp, Zhu Youjian was sitting in the middle of the camp, and senior officers who had been notified were sitting around him.
"Generals, the peasants in Shaanxi are in trouble. The bandits have reached more than 200,000. Your Majesty ordered Siwuying to go to Shaanxi immediately and quickly quell the chaos in Shaanxi. Do you have any good ideas?" There are only more than 40,000 people in Siwuying. The bandit army is more than five times that of Siwuying. This is different from Shandong's suppression of Japanese pirates, when Fenwuying had the advantage of numbers. The war is imminent, and the situation is severe. Zhu Youjian didn't want to hide the officers.
"His Royal Highness, the Shaanxi bandits are all peasants, all mobs, and the cavalry can grind them into minced meat with a single charge." Man Gui didn't care, these useless trained soldiers, compared with Jiannu in Liaodong, simply tofu.
"General Manchu despised the bandit army and was not intimidated by the bandit's momentum. His courage is commendable. He deserves to be a general of the Siwu Camp." Although Zhu Youjian did not know the specific situation in Shaanxi, he did not dare to take this group of volunteers lightly. But according to the memorial of the governor of Shanxi Cao Erzhen, many military households have joined the bandit army, and we cannot take it lightly."
"His Royal Highness, the military households in Shaanxi are similar to the peasants, and they have not undergone actual training at all. The final general and Xianwuying are willing to be the vanguard." Yuan Chonghuan is a civil officer, but now he is serving in the army, and he has long regarded himself as a four martial artist A member of the battalion, but the experience of the Liaodong commander made him look down on the Ming army outside Liaodong.
"General Yuan's analysis is also correct, but after all there are a large number of bandits, it is better to be careful." Zhu Youjian is very satisfied with the desire for battle of the two old Liaodong generals. As long as they don't fight timidly, they have trained forty thousand four martial arts for a year. The battalion military should be able to deal with the bandits in Shaanxi. But Man Gui and Yuan Chonghuan were too underestimated to be the vanguard.
"His Royal Highness, just say, how to fight, we all listen to you." Wu Bing has a blind worship of Zhu Youjian. Last time in Shandong, he saw Zhu Youjian's strategy with his own eyes. With Zhu Youjian's command, he didn't bother to worry about it, and no matter how much he worried, Zhu Youzhen couldn't think far.
Although Yang Du didn't speak, his eyes were full of expectation. Soldiers, especially the ideologically educated soldiers in the Siwu Camp, who wouldn't want to make contributions on the battlefield
"Okay, then I'll send troops." Zhu Youjian is not polite. Now the peasant uprising in Shaanxi has become a prairie prairie situation and cannot be delayed. "Zhu Dashou?"
"Yes." Zu Dashou did not expect that Zhu Youjian would be the first to point himself. He stood straight in front of Zhu Youjian, waiting for Zhu Youjian's military order.
"You take Ning Xianlong's cavalry guards and prepare five days' worth of dry food. You will set off tomorrow morning, passing through Taiyuan, Fenzhou, and Pingyang, crossing the Yellow River from Fengling Ferry, and going straight to Tongguan. Do not delay on the road. Arrive and take over Tongguan within a day. If Tongguan has been lost and will move from time to time, as long as you don’t let the bandits go out of Tongguan, you don’t have to attack. I have my own method of passing Tongguan.” Zhu Youjian believes that compared with Man Gui and Yuan Chonghuan , Zu Dashou is more stable. Defending Tongguan does not require a fierce player like Man Gui, but a good player like Zu Dashou.
"Yes, Your Majesty. The general will definitely refuse to accept His Highness's entrustment." Zu Dashou triumphantly, as the pioneer of the Siwuying, he has the opportunity to take the lead. One year is just training, without wars, his heart is almost deserted.
"The rest of the army, prepare for half a day, and set off at noon tomorrow." Zhu Youjian glanced over the crowd coldly, "Everyone, keep your army for a thousand days, use your army for a while, and it's time to serve the country as a soldier."
"Yes, Your Highness." Everyone answered neatly. It seems that usual training is also effective for officers.
In the morning, Zhu Youjian went to the Firearms Bureau to pick up the firearms. Landmines and grenade have been mass-produced, and the number is huge, but only ten artillery pieces have been received. Because there are only 300 rounds of blooming bullets, these 300 rounds of blooming bullets have not yet been fully accepted. No way, Zhu Youjian had to take it first.
In the afternoon, Li Chunye, Shangshu from the Ministry of War, came to see Zhu Youjian off. Cui Chengxiu, the Shangshu of the Ministry of War, who is also an eunuch, did not have time to see off because of the various documents of the Ministry of War, and Wang Yongguang, the Shangshu of the Ministry of War as a member of the Donglin Party, lost his voice because of the Donglin Party’s group in front of Zhu Youxiao. He lied in the house and rested on the excuse of having an itchy body.
"His Royal Highness, the old minister came here specially to see off His Highness." Li Chunye lowered his voice after bowing, "How sure is your Highness to break the bandit army?"
Zhu Youjian returned a gift: "Thank you, Master Shangshu, for your concern. To be honest, I am 90% sure."
Ninety percent of the certainty is basically a certainty. Reminiscent of Zhu Youjian’s vision of Daming last time, Li Chunye's eyes again showed an old and firm light, but Zhu Youjian has experienced too few wars, and he still has a share. Doubt: "If Tongguan has been lost, how will the 40,000 troops of His Highness go west to Guanzhong?"
"Grenade. Our army will use a grenade to clear the way. Maybe there are not many bandits who have casualties, but the tragic situation of flying with flesh and blood, dancing in the air with hands and feet will inevitably put the bandits under tremendous pressure. In addition, the grenade exploded and issued a huge amount of pressure. It’s only a matter of time before the bandits that have not received rigorous training collapse.” Zhu Youzhen was also afraid that Li Chunye would be uneasy. “Even if the Siwu Camp cannot break Tongguan, the bandit troops will not be able to cross Tongguan east.”
"So, the old minister has no worries." Zhu Youjian considered the nature of the bandit peasantry that he had considered, and Zhu Youjian also considered the special use of the grenade that he had not considered.
Li Chunye relaxed, and with Zhu Youjian, Shaanxi was not worried about banditry.
When Zhu Youjian arrived in Taiyuan, Shaanxi governor Cao Erzhen personally left Taiyuan City.
"Master Cao, how is the current banditry?" Zhu Youjian felt as if he was blindly touching the elephant without getting the military information from the front line, and his self-confidence was fading bit by bit.
"Report to His Royal Highness that Datong has already dispatched 20,000 more defenders. With its geographical advantage, the bandits should not be able to advance eastward, but our army has no ability to enter Shanxi." Cao Erzhen saw that the leader of the army turned out to be Zhu Youjian, who was just weak. The prince, can't help being surprised, but he is calm on the surface.
"You don't need to enter Shaanxi, as long as the bandits are blocked in Shaanxi, the capital will have no worries. So what about Tongguan? Did the bandits capture Tongguan?" Zhu Youjian is most worried about Tongguan, although he believes that even if the bandits occupy Tongguan, He can also be snatched back from the bandit army. However, the battle for Tongguan must be an uphill battle, and there will be many casualties among soldiers.
"Tongguan is not a land in Shanxi, and there is nothing about Tongguan in the Ministry of War texts. The officials really don't know." Cao Erzhen is not a troublesome person. Without the text of the Ministry of War, he would not do such things that only hard work and no merit. Moreover, the number of bandits is so large that they cannot be handled by the army of a province in Shanxi, and the flames of war might be on his own.
Without the information from Tongguan, Zhu Youjian couldn't lift his energy. He accepted Cao Erzhen's food and supplies. The army went straight to Tongguan without entering Taiyuan City.
When the army arrived in Fenzhou, Liu Lin, an investigator with the army, came to report: "His Royal Highness, received the message from the front, General Zu has taken Tongguan."
"Take Tongguan? Is this information reliable?" This is the first time that the investigators have directly participated in the war. Zhu Youjian thinks it is better to be careful with such an important information.
"His Royal Highness, the message will not be wrong. The mark we agreed upon is still there, which means that no one else has read it." Liu Lin was very sure.
"Bring the marching map."
The special forces team opened the map, and Zhu Youjian estimated that there were still three days to go to Tongguan. "Notify Zu Dashou, he must stick to it for three days. My army will arrive at Tongguan in three days."
"Yes, Your Highness." Liu Lin agreed, and then went out to contact the investigation.
"Liu Yushuan?"
"Have."
"Lead your cavalry guard, speed up the march, and be sure to arrive at Tongguan within two days, accept the ancestral general's temperance, and assist the ancestral general to hold Tongguan." Zhu Youjian was also troubled by not knowing the information ahead, and the message Liu Lin brought was too simple , He didn't know the specific information ahead, how many troops the bandit army had in Tongguan. However, since Tongguan has been occupied, it must be held to reduce the loss of capturing Tongguan again.
"Yes, Your Highness." Liu Yushuan followed his orders.
Three days later, Zhu Youjian came to Tongguan.
Tongguan is located at the junction of the three provinces of Shaanxi, Shanxi and Henan. It is named because of its proximity to Tongshui. To the south is the Qinling Mountains, with a large number of mountains and valleys, which are completely impassable; to the north are the Weishui and Luoshui, which intersect with the Yellow River, forming an encircling place. Unless an overpass is built, there is no way to go; the west is Huashan, "since ancient Huashan" "One road", the steep terrain can be imagined; to the east, mountains are connected to mountains, valleys are connected to valleys, and cliffs can be seen everywhere, but there is a small path in the middle, and only one horse can pass through.
Tongguan was first built in the Eastern Han Dynasty. After that, all dynasties established a pass, and Ming Dynasty set up Tongguan Guard here. Tongguan is the east gate of Guanzhong. Since the establishment of the customs, it has always been known as the “No. 1 Pass in the World”, but in recent years, with the rise of Shanhaiguan, Tongguan has gradually given up its first position.