amaotonovel Chapter 914 The sealing of the Wolf-Dwelling Mountain is important, but the timing is not.
Chapter 914 The sealing of the Wolf-Dwelling Mountain is important, but the timing is not.
As the newly appointed Grand Commander of the Northern Desert Expedition, Li Shanchang's first question was when to march into the northern desert.
"Go directly to the."
Chang Yuchun was the first to speak: "Don't bring any food or supplies, don't need any resupply."
"If we attack now, Hu Yuan won't have any time to react."
Li Wenzhong expressed his opposition: "It's too early to rush over here at this time."
"Especially in the northern desert, the bitter cold is even greater than in Liaodong."
"If a white disaster occurs, the soldiers are very likely to suffer from frostbite or even freeze to death, resulting in a large number of casualties."
"We should wait until closer to spring to go."
Chang Yuchun persisted: "What's a white disaster?"
"If you want food, we have compressed rations and dried meat from Ningyang."
"We have plenty of cotton-padded clothes to wear."
"In the early stages, we will rely on the enemy for food and clothing. We will take advantage of the freezing weather to kill more of their cattle and sheep and seize more of their clothes. In the later stages, we will rely on the compressed rations and dried meat we brought with us."
"We're having a hard time, but the Tartars are having an even harder time."
At this point, Chang Yuchun suddenly turned his gaze to Li Mingchen, "You did this quite a bit back in the northern desert, didn't you?"
Li Mingchen chuckled twice and said, "Actually, we didn't do it that many times."
"At the beginning, we raided a few small tribes, and later we led those small tribes to raid a few large tribes."
"Later on, all the tribes, big and small, became obedient."
"..."
Lan Yu chimed in, "I think my brother-in-law is right."
“We will march into the northern desert now, firstly to ruin the Tartars’ winter storage, and secondly to disrupt their spring planting.”
"It's tantamount to destroying the foundation of the Tartars."
"Even if there are some casualties, it should be acceptable."
"..."
Listening to the four bastards constantly discussing how to wreak havoc in the northern desert during the freezing cold, Li Shanchang couldn't help but scratch the back of his head.
Is this right?
This is not right.
Throughout history, there have been many instances of people going to the grasslands after the start of spring or in the autumn.
This is how a normal person would act.
It's unlikely that anyone would choose to march into the northern desert during the coldest time of the year.
One of the most pressing issues is that the soldiers of the Central Plains will be even less able to adapt to the "White Disaster," which even the nomadic peoples of the grasslands fear.
In addition, resupply is also a major problem.
Supplies are not just about food and fodder.
If it only involves food and drink, then it is indeed possible to use the enemy's food supply as a means.
The key issue is that soldiers will suffer casualties, and weapons and armor will be worn out, all of which will require replenishment.
Supply refers to replenishing the wounded and slain soldiers and providing them with provisions.
Li Shanchang's head throbbed with worry. Suddenly, he turned to Yang Shaofeng and asked, "Your Highness, what do you say?"
Yang Shaofeng pointed back at himself, "Me?"
Li Shanchang sneered and said, "If it wasn't you, then who was it? You were the one who started this whole thing."
If it weren't for you, Yang the Madman, suddenly remembering to seal the wolf's lair, would Black Sesame Dumplings have come to Liaodong?
If the black sesame dumplings don't come to Liaodong, will the higher-ups arrest me, Li Shanchang, to be this Grand General of the Northern Expedition? Will they send those four killers over here?
Just as Li Shanchang was secretly complaining, Yang Shaofeng chuckled and said, "His Majesty is referring to Prime Minister Li's decision to launch an attack on the spot."
Li Shanchang was slightly taken aback and asked, "What do you mean?"
Yang Shaofeng glanced at the black sesame dumplings and said, "What I mean is, sealing the wolf's lair is important, but when to do it is not important."
"If Prime Minister Li is confident that he can break into the northern desert now, then let's do it now."
"If Prime Minister Li thinks it would be better to attack the northern desert after autumn, then attack after autumn."
Li Shanchang hummed in agreement, stroked his beard and pondered for a moment, then suddenly said, "Then let's hold off for now."
He had a huge map of Liaodong, Mobei, and Mobei spread out. Li Shanchang got up and walked to the map. He gestured with his hands and looked at Chang Yuchun and Li Mingchen, saying, "From the fifth year of Hongwu to last winter, the Duke of E and the Krupp sent troops out several times."
"The result is that peace can be achieved temporarily, but not permanently."
"Although a large number of herders have chosen to migrate south into the Central Plains, these vacated grasslands were quickly occupied by other tribes."
"To put it bluntly, these tribes on the grasslands are like weeds. Weeds can't be burned out; they just grow back in the spring breeze."
"Even with repeated attempts to conquer the Xiongnu, it only weakens them time and time again, but it cannot completely solve the problem of the grasslands."
"However, this time we have the opportunity to completely resolve the grassland issue."
Li Shanchang stroked his beard and smiled, then continued, "Your Highness and the Prince Consort want to seal the Wolf Mountain, Governor Hu wants to develop Liaodong, and the court wants to relocate people to Liaodong."
"In other words, as long as there are enough people, it doesn't matter which part of Liaodong is developed first."
"What if we changed the original road construction and land reclamation to road construction, city building, and land reclamation?"
Li Shanchang gestured on the map: "Build a city every ten days' journey. The city doesn't need to be large, just big enough for people to live in, for soldiers to garrison, and for grain to store."
"With brick kilns and cement kilns, the time required for building cities and roads should be shortened."
"From the beginning of spring to the beginning of autumn, even if we don't build all the way from Liaoyang to Langjuxu, we can at least build to Huanglongfu or even further."
"If enough people are relocated, the road might even be able to be built all the way to Langjuxu."
"If we could really build a city as tall as Wolf Dwelling Mountain..."
Li Shanchang smiled meaningfully: "The entire northern desert will be surrounded by the Ming Dynasty."
"At that time, Hu Yuan will either continue to migrate north and penetrate into the barren lands, or he will have no choice but to migrate west and follow the old path of his ancestors."
"The Ming Dynasty will no longer face any threat from the grasslands."
Yang Shaofeng stared blankly at Li Shanchang.
Is this right?
This isn't right.
This is a game that was only invented during the Yongle era, and you, Li Shanchang, started playing it decades earlier.
Zhu Biao also perked up.
To seal the wolf's lair and dwell in the wilderness?
Is not fun.
It would be more interesting to use the city to completely strangle Hu Yuan.
Hu Weiyong glanced at Li Shanchang, then at Zhu Biao and Yang Shaofeng.
Take the people from Liaodong to build the city, and let them seal the Wolf-Dwelling Mountain whenever they want.
It seems that only I, the old man, have been hurt?
Li Shanchang stroked his beard and smiled. "In addition, building a city every ten days may not actually require taking away many of the people who have been relocated to Liaodong. It may even promote the development of Liaodong."
Hu Weiyong immediately perked up.
Li Shanchang continued, "Krupp had previously made a name for himself on the grasslands."
Li Mingchen's face flushed slightly.
"By leveraging the reputation Krupp has built, we should be able to persuade some small tribes to surrender and have their herders build cities for the Ming Dynasty."
"With more and more small tribes building cities for the Ming Dynasty, it became difficult for the larger tribes to continue, and basically, building cities for the Ming Dynasty was the only path left for them to take."
“The city could even be built larger, so that the herders can also live there.”