funbook-pk Chapter 606 3 City
Chapter 606 3 City
When Cao Bianjiao was very young, he followed his uncle Cao Wenzhao to guard the border towns of the Ming Dynasty and fought many bloody battles with the Tartars outside the Great Wall.
Later, because bandits were rampant in the interior, the court had no choice but to transfer Cao Wenzhao and his nephew to the interior to help suppress the bandits.
This suppression campaign lasted for eight years, and his uncle Cao Wenzhao also died in the suppression campaign. After his uncle's death, Cao Bianjiao was extremely disappointed with the Ming court for a time.
Especially those hateful civil servants at that time. No matter how hard the generals fought on the battlefield, they could wipe out their military achievements with just a few words.
Cao Bianjiao had been depressed for a long time, but finally after getting in touch with Zhang Shikang, his fighting spirit was rekindled.
Speaking of which, he has been away from the border for nearly ten years.
Now that he has returned to the border, he doesn't know how many of his brothers are still alive, but Cao Bianjiao knows very well that this trip will definitely allow him to avenge his dead brothers.
The Ming Dynasty is no longer the Ming Dynasty of a few years ago, and he, Cao Bianjiao, is no longer the Cao Bianjiao who was busy running around for food and supplies.
"The morale of the brothers is high and they are all ready to kill the Tartars and show their martial arts skills," Cao Bianjiao added.
The news of Ming Dynasty forming this black armor army was not announced to the outside except to the senior officials of the General Manufacturing Bureau, the Cabinet and the Guards.
Even when the Black Armor Army trains, they have a separate place to keep it secret.
On the battlefield, only by knowing both yourself and the enemy can you win every battle.
Huang Taiji was no ordinary opponent. He hid the Black Armor Army just to give Huang Taiji a surprise.
After learning from the lessons of the previous two wars, Zhang Shikang could easily guess that Huang Taiji would make adjustments to his firearms battalion.
But he might not have imagined that when the sleeping lion woke up and the power of centralization came into play, within a year the Ming Dynasty would have an additional heavily armored corps.
Zhang Shikang nodded and said:
"Go and inform Sun Weifan and Huang Degong to go to the meeting room to discuss this matter."
Half a quarter of an hour later, in the meeting hall of Xishan Camp.
Zhang Shikang sat in the main seat, with Sun Weifan and Huang Degong sitting on his left and right, followed by Zhou Yuji, Sun Yingyuan, Cao Bianjiao, Wen Bangguo, Niu Gang, Wei Shuangyong and other senior generals of the Guards.
Regardless of age and position, their faces were filled with gloomy excitement. They had never been more eager for war than they had been in the past two years.
Sun Weifan, who was the first to follow Zhang Shikang, had been promoted to Duke, and the others were at least earls.
In the past, war might have meant being taken advantage of or being a hard job, but today, it has become a fast track for advancement for all soldiers.
It was also for this reason that Huang Degong and others felt that they should bring more people for this battle instead of just 60,000 guards.
We are all family, Zhang Shikang didn't bother to be polite, and said directly:
"Is the camp ready?"
Sun Weifan replied:
"The baggage train is almost arriving at Yongping Prefecture, and our 60,000 soldiers are just waiting for the order to go to war."
"After much urging from my subordinates, the Ministry of Industry and the General Administration of Manufacturing finally delivered all 200 artillery carriages. This way, we can move the artillery without slowing down our march too much."
Huang Degong also reported, and then grinned:
"We are finally going to go on the expedition. Marshal, you may not know that my subordinates have been annoyed to death by those guys these days.
He keeps clamoring to join the army and even asks me, Huang, to intercede with the Marshal. I, Huang, don’t have the face to do that.”
The soldiers who were not selected into the expeditionary team naturally felt unhappy, but military orders were military orders and no one could do anything about it.
“Humph, I know what you are thinking, but you must understand that this expedition to Jianlu is first to recover the lost territory for the Ming Dynasty, and secondly to avenge the Huben Army.
Marquis Annan and Marquis Wugong, you have both served in the Tiger Guards and should know what the border troops were like in the past."
Zhang Shikang was not stupid. Although Old Huang did not say anything, he actually wanted to suggest that he bring more people with him, which would give his subordinates a chance to make achievements.
Although the situation in the Ming Dynasty has improved a lot in the past two years, it cannot withstand such heavy consumption.
Sixty thousand guards may not seem like a large number, but this only counts the combat soldiers, not including the tens of thousands of logistics personnel and more than thirty thousand livestock.
When going to war, not only the soldiers need supplies, but also the tens of thousands of logistics personnel transporting food and weapons, and even more than 30,000 livestock need food.
For every 10,000 additional soldiers, there will be almost 20,000 additional mouths to feed. Under the current circumstances, the Ming Dynasty cannot afford to fight a long and prosperous war.
Zhang Shikang was the Grand Marshal, but he was also a member of the cabinet. As the spokesperson of Emperor Chongzhen, from the standpoint of the court, he would not let the court bear unbearable supply pressure just for the sake of a few more military achievements.
After Zhang Shikang said this, Huang Degong immediately fell silent.
When it comes to the grievances suffered by the border troops over the years, no one has the right to speak more than Huang Degong, who fought his way up from the bottom of the border troops.
The border towns were bitterly cold and often encountered invasions by the Tartars. In recent decades, the imperial court had been short of food and clothing, resulting in a very low armor rate among border troops.
For example, in the Battle of Sarhu twenty years ago, main generals such as Du Song, Li Rubai, and Liu Ting only wore half-body armor, with only leather armor protecting their lower bodies.
As a result, a general was shot to death by the Tartars' arrows.
Even so, this was when the country was in better shape. By the Chongzhen period, the border troops not only had insufficient food and clothing, but even their salaries could not be paid.
The only reason why the border troops are so powerful is that they will die if they don’t fight hard.
Either he died at the hands of the Jianlu, or he died at the hands of his own people.
Over the years, the border troops have suffered countless humiliations due to the lack of war horses, armor, food, and military pay.
For example, you may have won a battle, but may be unable to pursue the enemy due to lack of war horses, or you may have to retreat due to lack of supplies.
There are countless examples like this.
When Zhang Shikang said he wanted to avenge the Huben Army, he really touched the hearts of border army generals such as Huang Degong and Cao Bianjiao.
Next, Sun Weifan and Huang Degong, as deputy marshals of the Guards, made a final report on the arrangements for this expedition.
Both of them had rich experience in combat and marching, so the travel arrangements for 60,000 people were no problem. After asking about the situation of the artillery battalion and the Black Armor Army, Zhang Shikang returned to his tent.
He needs to have a good sleep, because starting from tomorrow morning, he may not be able to sleep on a soft bed for a long time.
……
The next day, after having breakfast in the military camp, Wen Bangguo was left to lead the army out of the camp, while the rest of the generals rode on horseback to Deshengmen in the capital.
According to the fine tradition of the Ming Dynasty, for such an important war, the emperor and his ministers had to see him off in person.
Although Zhang Shikang had experienced this kind of situation several times, Brother Chongzhen insisted on sending him off, and as a subject he could not refuse.
When Zhang Shikang, Sun Weifan and other generals arrived outside Deshengmen, the emperor and his ministers, who had just finished their morning court session, had been waiting for a long time.
As usual, after some greetings and Emperor Chongzhen's encouragement to the generals, he called Zhang Shikang to his side.
He was holding Princess Kunyi's left hand, but there was no sign of Crown Prince Zhu Cilang.
The ministers around him did not take it seriously, thinking that the prince was just studying in the palace.
Emperor Chongzhen looked at his most trusted minister, smiled slightly, and whispered:
"Don't take risks when you are out there. If something is impossible, remember not to act stubbornly."
Zhang Shikang grinned as he listened. Even the dogs in the capital knew that you, brother, hoped to recover more lost territory.
How come when it comes to catching up, it becomes the routine of not forgetting to run if you can't beat them.
In this situation, Zhang Shikang certainly did not say anything to spoil the mood. Instead, he nodded and raised three fingers to Brother Chongzhen.
Emperor Chongzhen did not know what this meant and looked puzzled.
"Your Majesty, this time I go out, I want to recover thirty cities for the Ming Dynasty."
……