Zhu Houzhao appointed Jiang Bin as the vanguard and led his troops to attack the grassland.

This was another seemingly massive war, and the emperor was in charge of the army, but this expedition did not put the capital in a tense state of war imminent.

For the people in the capital, life is still the same, and they don’t seem to know that this is the case. Even if they talk, they will feel that the emperor is just a small fuss.

What is the situation on the grassland? Not to mention the imperial court, even ordinary people know that the grassland tribes, especially the Mongolian cavalry who once dominated the grassland, have long been the past. I won’t talk about the glory of Taizu Taizong. In recent years, Chen Xi led troops to fight and defeated Tatar soldiers and horses in Yuxi River. Most of the Tatars were killed in battle. In addition, many civil wars have occurred for many years. The situation of the weak grasslands in the next few decades will not change.

As for how the emperor will go to the grasslands, or how the war will go in the future, it is more like doing something icing on the cake, and no one will feel that it will fail.

But no matter what, this war made the six ministries in Beijing, especially the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War very busy.

The Ministry of Revenue is responsible for transporting grain and ammunition and drug supplies. The Ministry of War must investigate information at any time, summarize the information obtained from various places, and even hold meetings to discuss strategies and tactics for the emperor's reference...

As a famous military strategist of the Ming Dynasty, Chen Xi seemed to have nothing to do with him this time. He neither went to the battlefield himself nor participated in the rear guarantee. He still followed the steps to promote his political and economic reforms and supervised the construction of the Mala Railway from Xishan to the capital. The Ministry of War sent people to ask about the suggestions, but Chen Xi politely refused.

Even though Wang Qiong had come to see him twice and mentioned the military situation in the northwest, Chen Xi would talk about him, and he would not discuss the topic again.

Jiang Bin went to war with great fanfare. He knew that war was the stage of hot weapons now, and brought all the musketeers from Shenji Camp and Xuanda Town transferred from Jing Camp, including Folang machine guns, Folang machine guns, bird guns, original version of Gatling machine guns, etc. In his opinion, Chen Xi's success was just based on these hot weapons. As long as he had them, he could succeed in one battle.

As the commander of the vanguard, Xu Tai was his deputy general. After the two led the troops out of the frontier, they marched 200 miles northwest within three days, which was much beyond Zhu Houzhao's expectations.

This is also related to Jiang Bin's investigation into the grassland situation in advance in order to show himself. He knew that the grassland tribes could not pose a threat to the Ming Dynasty. The tribes were fighting for territory and their strength was less than 10% of that at their peak, which made Jiang Bin feel that there was nothing to be afraid of.

Three days later, the entire army was stationed, and Xu Tai came with a secret letter asking about the march.

Jiang Binzhi was proud and said: "Tell your Majesty that we have arrived at Damangshan and will be able to reach the old place of Chahan Naoerwei in two days. The light cavalry will investigate the enemy situation three hundred miles around. We will go wherever there are traces of the Tatars."

The Chahan Naoerwei was a garrison established in the early years of this dynasty. It was located in the old Chahan Naoercheng on the southern edge of the Ordos Plateau. "One delayed the border, which lasted more than 2,000 miles east and west, and connected to the Chahan Naoer dead heads. The most important thing was." Like the Guanshan Guard, it was a military guard specially established by Taizu to resettle the Mongols who surrendered to the Ming Dynasty.

Before going to the expedition, Jiang Bin did his homework and roughly knew where he needed to go north, what tribes there were around, and the current situation of these tribes. He found out clearly and made detailed records to ensure that he knew his opponent and his own.

But unfortunately, he does not have his own intelligence system, and the investigations have a great lag. Some situations may have been two or three years ago, so of course he would not know about these.

Xu Tai said: "Do you report this to Your Majesty? What if His Majesty thinks we underestimate the enemy and advance rashly? Now we are more than one hundred miles away from the Central Army. If we are suddenly attacked, we may not be able to connect..."

Jiang Bin smiled and said, "Are you stupid or what? After you entered the grassland, have you seen a Tartar?"

Xu Tai thought about it and shook his head unconsciously.

"That's all."

Jiang Bin laughed loudly, "The grassland tribe heard that we sent troops, so they were so scared that they fled north... They knew that we would not stay on the grassland for too long, and would come back after we withdrew our troops. They are still fighting inside. Who would want to come out and touch the stone? It would be no good for them to win, and their tribe may be swallowed up."

Xu Tai said: "That's the reason, but what's the point when Datong Town was attacked before?"

Jiang Bin shook his head and said, "The situation I investigated before was internal strife of the grassland tribes. Some tribes moved inward and mistakenly entered our territory. They did not continue to invade later and went west."

"I hope everything goes well." Xu Tai was a little worried in his words, "We don't want to build a great achievement, as long as it is stable."

Jiang Bin seemed confident: "That's not possible. Since we have arrived at the grassland, we must seal the wolf's servants like Duke Shen, let the world remember our names and leave a brilliant mark in history. Your Majesty is a wise monarch who can be compared with Emperor Wu of Han. Don't you want to leave your name in history?"

Xu Tai widened his eyes: "Let's leave a name in history? History does not praise Duke Shen, praise us... It's better to give up this idea as soon as possible."

When Xu Tai found that Jiang Bin's gaze was extremely bad, he quickly changed his words: "My Lord Jiang, you will be successful."

...

...

A few days before the expedition, the Tatars had no movement at all. The entire grassland was empty, and even the plump grass was plentiful, that is, the surrounding Changshui Haizi, the Han people called Bai Haizi, there were no traces of nomadic tribes.

Zhu Houzhao cares about the information sent by the scouts every day. He learned a lot of tricks from Shen Xi. He knew that the most important thing in marching was to investigate the situation of the enemy. The occurrence of war may take one or two days or even one or two hours. What needs to be prepared for war takes years. Only by knowing the enemy and being close friends can one win every battle.

Because the Ming Dynasty has advantages in terms of number of troops and weapons and equipment, the grassland terrain has long been clear. In Zhu Houzhao's opinion, there is no problem of the right time, place and people. As long as the intelligence work is done well, it will be unstoppable.

"...Your Majesty, it seems that no Tartars appeared on the grassland. There was news before that there were Tartar tribes outside the three sides..."

Zhu Houzhao did not bring any counselors this time, and even Governor Wang Shouren of Xuanda. His staff were basically officials of the Ministry of War, as well as officials who were temporarily transferred from the Governor of Xuandada, and of course his entourage.

Qian Ning escorted Concubine Li and Concubine Hua to Xuanfu and never left. This time he also accompanied the Central Army. As Zhu Houzhao's personal bodyguard, he usually acted as an aide.

The person who said this was Qian Ning. There were Xiao Tiaozi and several staff members standing next to him. A group of people surrounded the sand table. Zhu Houzhao raised his whip and pointed seriously in front of the sand table, but except for Qian Ning, everyone else remained silent.

"Is it a hundred miles away?" Zhu Houzhao asked.

Qian Ning replied: "Your Majesty, we are only sixty miles away."

Zhu Houzhao nodded: "It's indeed a little slower. The forward has sent troops for three days, and we have been walking for two days. Now we have walked sixty miles, which is considered a normal speed... Where has the forward been?"

Zhu Houzhao had no idea about his marching speed, and he thought he was doing well.

Qian Ning said: "The marching situation of the vanguard today has not been reported, but they had walked 120 miles yesterday, but they were afraid that there were two hundred miles now and they were disconnected from each other. Your Majesty, do you think you should order the vanguard to go slower?"

After Qian Ning finished speaking, he suddenly realized that he had said the wrong thing, and then he found that Zhu Houzhao's face was not good-looking.

Zhu Houzhao said angrily: "Marching always requires fast speed, so where can you tell people to move slowly? If you are disconnected from the front and back, then hurry up and chase after me... Will the people in front wait for my central army? Will the enemy laugh at me?"

Qian Ning realized that this time Zhu Houzhao sent troops was more like a momentary intent. The strategic intention to achieve was to establish his authority on the grassland, rather than fighting with the Tatars.

Qian Ning thought to himself: "The rumors outside are correct. The Tatars do not have the ability to fight with us at all. Your Majesty goes out of the frontier this time to show off his martial power!"

While speaking, someone was passing information at the door.

Xiao Tiaozi took it to the tent door, and handed it to Qian Ning after he came back. After Qian Ning saw it, he smiled and said, "Your Majesty, as I expected, the vanguard has advanced two hundred miles."

"Jiang Bin is not a mediocre person after all. When I was in Jiangnan, I discovered that he was still capable of leading troops." Zhu Houzhao's tone was somewhat relieved, and she felt that it was not wrong to appreciate and promote Jiang Bin, and she was content.

Qian Ning asked, "Your Majesty, I don't know how to march tomorrow?"

"They walk eighty miles a day, and we need one hundred miles. Anyway, they have already explored the road ahead. Now it is known that there are no Tatars on our way forward. If you don't hurry up and march, what can you wait for?" Zhu Houzhao said sternly.

"Get orders."

Qian Ning did not argue with Zhu Houzhao, and whatever Zhu Houzhao said was what he said.

A military meeting that seemed regular was over without any results. The participants went back to rest and waited for the next day to march.

...

...

Zhu Houzhao said he was marching quickly, but the next day the sun had jumped out of the horizon for a long time. Before he got up, he could not get up, so the march could not proceed.

Qian Ning got up very early and waited outside the imperial tent.

Xiao Guozi went in and looked at it a few times, but after coming out, he looked bitter.

"You should know that Your Majesty has been very busy recently. He has to marches during the day and study strategies at night. How could he get up so early?" Xiao Zhuozi sighed.

Qian Ning frowned: "If you want to achieve the goal of traveling a hundred miles a day, and wait until the sun rises to the sky before setting off, it is probably too late... Although the hottest time in June is over, it is still not suitable for marching at noon."

Xiao Guozi said angrily: "You don't have to tell our family that you should have made these things clear to Your Majesty yesterday. What can you do if Your Majesty doesn't get up now? Is it appropriate to carry Your Majesty onto the carriage like this?"

Qian Ning unknowingly felt a little more responsible, so he wanted to make a fortune and persuade the emperor to be a counselor.

Xiao Tiaozi waved his hand: "Go back and do your job well, and wait until Your Majesty gets up before marching... Anyway, Your Majesty rides a horse or rides a carriage, and you won't be afraid of the sun... You'll just walk faster then."

"well!"

Qian Ning sighed heavily, as if he wanted to make his worry come out.

Xiao Tiaozi turned around and returned to the tent. Just as he was about to come to the dragon couch to take a look, he suddenly found that Zhu Houzhao had sat up.

"His Majesty?"

Xiao Tiaozi greeted in surprise.

Zhu Houzhao touched her head and said shyly: "I am still negligent in training. After walking for two days, I can't stand it anymore. The march is still different from usual. However, if Jiang Bin walks slowly... I will be very embarrassed. Forget it, I'd better make up for it. It's not too late to leave later."

...

...

After Zhu Houzhao officially led the army to the war, he maintained his usual style of thunder and rain, and was very popular for three minutes. When he encountered a little difficulty, he began to shirk responsibility and did not take the battle seriously.

Zhu Houzhao also felt that there was no need to worry about the Tatars. In his opinion, the Tatars had long been unable to pose a threat to the Ming Dynasty. Even he himself knew that this expedition was just a founding authority, and the symbolic significance was greater than the actual significance.

Zhu Houzhao's marching was temporarily suspended, and it seemed that he would fall into a dangerous situation without the vanguard of Ji. But the problem was that the central army he led was extremely powerful, with 30,000 hot weapons teams equipped with cannons, machine guns and muskets. As long as he had the intelligence to hold on, it would be difficult for the bows and cavalry or infantry of this era to rush closer, which means that Zhu Houzhao was invincible before the war began.

Jiang Bin and Xu Tai's troops were different from those who rushed in front. They didn't know that the emperor had not followed the plans he had formulated before, and blindly reflected his ability to lead troops and accelerate the march. So that after six days, the vanguard's distance from Zhu Houzhao's central army exceeded nearly 300 miles.

At this moment, Jiang Bin finally realized that the emperor had not kept up with his marching rhythm.

"Master Jiang, if this continues, something will happen. We have been out of the frontier for four or five hundred miles, and we have lost response. If the Tatars suddenly attack, how can we deal with it?"

Xu Tai doesn't seem to be very capable. After all, he is a deputy general and has a certain understanding of tactical aspects. Moreover, Xu Tai is as timid and afraid as the generals of the Ming border army. He is so lonely that he cannot accept it at all.

Jiang Bin said: "Do you think I am willing to do this? Didn't Your Majesty come with you now? The other groups of people seem to be decorations now. I haven't heard of where the soldiers and horses assisted by Datong Town are nearest."

"What should I do?"

Xu Tai asked nervously.

Jiang Bin stood in front of a wide map and thought for a long time and said, "It seems that such a rash is not a solution, but withdrawing will lead to a destiny. Then, the march will be delayed in the next few days, and more people will be sent to spy on the information of the Tartars, waiting for His Majesty's men to follow."

Xu Tai thought for a while and said, "I had to walk sixty or seventy miles a day before. How many miles will I march tomorrow?"

Jiang Bin sneered: "Let's go for twenty or thirty miles first and wait for news from Your Majesty. If Your Majesty walks slowly, we can just find a river and camp and wait."

...

...

Jiang Bin was full of confidence and felt that as long as he advanced steadily, even if he went deeper alone, he could compete with the Tatars head-on. After all, he had experienced fighting with the Ning King's troops and had won before, and felt that dealing with the Tatars, which had long been out of the climate was not a big problem.
To be continued...