Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 385 Spring Offensive!

Zhangjiakou is not only an important gateway for entering and exiting the country.

It is also an important port connecting trade inside and outside the country.

If something happens in Zhangjiakou, it will be a big problem.

Tang Rui took a deep breath, handed a vermilion lacquered report to Li Yi, and then said.

"Your Majesty is right. The Sunite tribe outside the Great Wall raided the border and attacked Zhangjiakou."

"They looted all the merchants gathered outside Zhangjiakou, causing countless casualties!"

Li Yi couldn't help but turn pale when he heard this.

"Where is our army's vigilance? Where is the reconnaissance?"

"Is it possible that Chengdu is just here to eat for free?"

"How could the Mongols directly attack Zhangjiakou, a place as important as it is?"

Although the Tang Dynasty has not yet had time to rebuild the nine-border Great Wall defense line of the former Ming Dynasty.

However, they have already dispatched troops to station at border fortresses such as Zhangjiakou, Gubeikou, and Shanhaiguan, and arranged for alerts.

Logically speaking, it was impossible for the Mongols to kill them directly at the Zhangjiakou Pass.

Hearing this, Tang Rui wiped the sweat from his forehead and shook his head to indicate that he didn't know either.

Seeing this, Li Yi stopped asking questions and took the urgent military report from Zhangjiakou from Tang Rui, then opened it and began to read it.

Looking at the contents of the military newspaper, Li Yi's frown relaxed slightly.

Because this time when the Mongols invaded the border, they did not directly use chariots and horses to storm the city.

Instead, they sent people disguised as a caravan and infiltrated the city of Zhangjiakou before suddenly launching the attack.

The Zhangjiakou defenders were caught off guard!
By the time the defenders had assembled and were ready to fight back, the Mongols had already looted and fled.

This time, the Mongols' invasion of Zhangjiakou was more of a raid and looting than a border invasion.

After reading it, Li Yi closed the general newspaper and said with a cold face.

"Pass on my order, have all the officials from the General Staff come to the palace to discuss matters immediately."

"I am waiting for them in the Yangxin Palace!"

Upon hearing this, Tang Rui clasped his fists in agreement, then ordered someone to pass on the message.

Li Yi's team continued their journey and headed towards the Forbidden City.

Soon, Li Yi returned to the Palace of Tranquil Longevity.

He took off his rain-soaked cloak and walked to the brazier to warm himself by the fire.

The red firelight reflected on Li Yi's face, and his expression was a little uncertain.

"Your Majesty, the ginger soup to ward off the cold is ready."

Tang Rui stepped forward and brought Li Yi a bowl of ginger soup.

Li Yi took the bowl, took a sip, and after making sure that the ginger soup was not too hot, he drank it in big gulps.

After drinking a bowl of hot ginger soup, Li Yi could feel as if a small stove had risen in his stomach, making it warm.

Slowly exhaling a breath, Li Yi turned around and gave instructions.

"Tang Rui, order someone to hang up the battle map."

Tang Rui agreed after hearing this, then turned and left.

Soon, several attendants came in and hung up a huge map in the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

This map contains detailed information about the terrain, water sources, tribes, etc. in the Zhangjiakou area.

It is a military map with quite complete content!

Li Yi walked up to the map, stroked his chin and fell into deep thought.

While thinking about strategy, he was waiting for the staff to come and meet him.

Li Yi didn't have to wait long before the staff who received the order arrived at the Palace of Tranquil Longevity.

After entering the Hall of Mental Cultivation, they all saluted Li Yi.

Li Yi just waved his hand to signal them not to formalize and took their seats.

After everyone had gathered, Li Yi spoke.

"I just received an urgent report from Zhangjiakou."

"The Sunite tribe outside the Great Wall raided the border and attacked Zhangjiakou. Many merchants and civilians outside Zhangjiakou were killed or injured, and the losses were incalculable."

"Please tell me, my lords. How should the Tang Dynasty respond?"

When asking this question, Li Yi's eyes seemed to be burning with anger.

These Mongols actually dared to invade the border, which really touched Li Yi's bottom line.

His original plan was to deal with the Qing Dynasty first and then take over the grassland, but there was someone who was looking for death!

Zuo Zongtang heard this and spoke.

"Your Majesty, in my humble opinion, the invasion of the Sunite tribe this time is a test of the Tang Dynasty by the Mongols on the grassland."

"If the Tang Dynasty fails to take decisive action and fight back against this attempt, then the next invasion will not be just by the Sunite tribe."

"If this happens, the borders of our Tang Dynasty will never be peaceful!"

Logically speaking, given the current situation the Tang Dynasty is facing, it should adopt an attitude of making a big deal out of a small matter and endure it for the time being.

After the domestic situation has been stabilized and we have rested and recuperated, it will not be too late to lead the army out to carry out revenge.

This is because, with the military strength that the Tang Dynasty can currently mobilize, even if it sends troops out of the border, it may not be able to wipe out the Sunite tribe in one fell swoop.

In a war, if you are not sure of inflicting a fatal blow to the enemy, the best way is to keep your troops in place and wait for the right opportunity.

But the problem is that this invasion by the Sunite tribe was clearly a test by the Mongols against the Tang Dynasty.

The Mongols are notoriously known for bullying the weak and fearing the strong.

If the Tang Dynasty fails to fight back against this Mongol invasion, but chooses to keep quiet, then the various Mongolian tribes will inevitably rush to invade next.

By then, the entire northern border of the Tang Dynasty will be in turmoil.

Such losses would cost much more than sending troops out to fight.

Well, this is called "one punch to open the door, to prevent a hundred punches from coming!" Hearing this, Li Yi nodded approvingly.

His attitude was the same as Zuo Zongtang's, which was to fight back.

Then he continued to ask.

"Then how do you think the Tang Dynasty should fight this battle?"

After hearing this, Zuo Zongtang thought for a while and then said.

"Your Majesty, I think that the Tang Dynasty should not mobilize the main force of the army to go out and sweep the country in this war."

"If that happens, the target will definitely be scared away. Not only will it be costly, but the benefits will be small, so it won't make up for the loss."

"Instead, we should send a group of several thousand elite cavalrymen, carrying dry food and water, to sneak out of the pass in the spring of next year and attack the Sunite tribe's lair."

"And then destroy it in one fell swoop!"

"In this way, the scale of the war will be limited and the cost will be low."

"Secondly, sending a small number of elite cavalry to sneak out of the pass would make less noise, and the Sunite tribe might not be able to detect it."

"Even if they notice, they won't necessarily run away."

"In this way, the Tang Dynasty will not have to worry about the Sunite tribe hearing the news and fleeing directly to the northern desert."

"In this way, our army will have the possibility of inflicting heavy damage or even annihilating the Sunite tribe in one battle."

Upon hearing this, Li Yi nodded approvingly again.

There is one thing Zuo Zongtang didn't say, which is that most horses on the grassland are free-range rather than raised.

In winter, the weather is cold and the grass is withered. During this period, the horses on the grassland are losing weight.

After the beginning of spring, their fighting power is at its weakest.

However, most of the horses in the Central Plains are raised in captivity rather than free-range, and winter is the time for them to fatten up.

The fighting power is at its strongest during the period after the beginning of spring.

The result of a fat horse versus a fat horse is self-evident.

The only drawback is that if a war is fought in the spring, it is necessary to mobilize civilians to transport food and ensure logistics, which will have a great destructive effect on agricultural production.

Once the people miss the farming season because of the war, they will really starve to death.

At this time, the state machinery is needed to step in and provide relief.

Well, the amount of food consumed will be astronomical.

To put it bluntly, declaring war on the grassland in spring is actually using national strength to bully others.

Well, that’s what Emperor Wu of Han did when he launched a northern expedition against the Huns, relying on the family wealth accumulated by Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing.

In the spring, when the Huns were at their weakest, the army marched north to fight against them.

Although there was suspicion of using one's own weapons to hurt people, it was indeed effective. The Huns really could not withstand the Han army's spring offensive.

After thinking for a while, Li Yi gave instructions.

"Send the order to summon the commander of the Second Cavalry Division, Zhang Lexing, to lead his troops into Beijing to prepare for the Northern Expedition."

"In addition, the Operations Department of the General Staff will immediately begin to formulate a complete combat plan."

"Logistics Department, immediately begin preparing the various materials needed for the Northern Expedition."

"The Ordnance Department must also be prepared to replenish ordnance and ammunition."

"In addition, immediately prepare to recruit civilians from all over the country to prepare to transport food, fodder, weapons and other supplies for the army going out of the border..."

As soon as Li Yi said this, Ye Zhisheng made a suggestion.

"Your Majesty, I think that our Tang Dynasty may not need to specially recruit civilian laborers for this war. We can just transfer a group of Eight Banners labor reform prisoners to serve as civilian laborers."

Hearing this, Li Yi thought for a while and then nodded.

"Well, that's okay."

The reason why Ye Zhisheng said this is mainly because there is actually no shortage of labor at the Yellow River embankment construction site in Shandong.

Even if the Tang Dynasty did not organize the reconstruction, the people of Shandong were still working hard to rebuild the Yellow River embankment in order to avoid disasters in the future.

At present, the repair progress of the Yellow River embankment is not slow.

If nothing goes wrong, it should be completed before the beginning of next spring.

In this case, it would be a good thing to let those Eight Banners labor camp prisoners serve as laborers in the army and civilians to reduce the impact of the spring war on the farming season of the people.

In this way, the worry that the war in spring would affect the farming season was also solved.

Well, also, it doesn’t matter how many Eight Banners labor camp prisoners die on the way out of the country.

Because labor camp prisoners have no human rights.

The most the Tang Dynasty can give them is cremation fees.

However, if too many civilians died on the road after following the army out of the pass, it would not be a good thing for the Tang Dynasty court.

Apart from anything else, it would be embarrassing just for the face.

After finalizing these matters, Li Yi waved his hand and ordered everyone to leave, and he also prepared to take a rest.

……

The next day, the sky brightened.

Li Yi got up early and prepared to handle official business.

Soon, accompanied by a knock on the door, Tang Rui walked in from outside.

"Your Majesty, a telegram from Tongzhou."

"The rain has stopped, and the team moving the capital has already set out from Tongzhou and is heading towards the capital."

"It is estimated that the team moving the capital will arrive outside the capital this afternoon!"

Upon hearing this, Li Yi couldn't help but smile.

"Good! Good! Good!"

"Tang Rui, make arrangements immediately. I want to go and greet the Queen Mother and the others in person..."

(End of this chapter)