Among the countries surrounding China in this era, only Tsarist Russia in the north could threaten the Ming Dynasty.

Russia itself is an extremely expansive and aggressive country, and the same is true of the Ming Dynasty of the Tianwu Dynasty, it is impossible for the two sides to make any concessions in terms of territory, and between Ming and Russia, sooner or later there will be a war!

To fight a war is to fight money, especially for this kind of expeditionary warfare.

Internally, the Ming Dynasty has launched many overseas wars over the years, but the empire's financial situation is good, and it has not had much impact on the country's economy, and it is fully capable of undertaking large-scale military operations in the northwest!

At present, Tsarist Russia's control over Central Asia is very weak, because the Kazakh Khanate is also a Central Asian power, and this time they are allied to take the Dzungar Khanate and use it as a buffer zone to contain the Ming Dynasty from reaching out to Central Asia.

From the analysis of the situation at home and abroad, Zhu Cihong believes that the battle with Tsarist Russia and the Kazakh Khanate cannot be fought indecently like Kang Mazi in history, winning militarily and losing completely at the negotiating table.

This time to send troops to Central Asia, we must teach Tsarist Russia and the Kazakh Khanate a cruel lesson, dare not say that they will destroy their country, but also beat them to their knees and beg for mercy!

At the imperial meeting held by Wuyingdian, the Minister of Military Aircraft agreed that the Russian army should respond fiercely!

As early as the Yuan Dynasty, there were records of them in China, which was called the Rakshasa State at that time.

In the column of "Taixi Zhuguolu" of the "Tianxia Times" sponsored by the queen, there is also a comprehensive introduction to Tsarist Russia, and the officials of the Ming Dynasty have some understanding of it when they go to work and drink tea.

After the Ministry of Intelligence introduced the situation of Tsarist Russia, Zhu Cihong spoke: "Tsarist Russia plotted a Dzungar rebellion and invaded the northern frontier of our Ming Dynasty. ”

Yang Tinglin, the first assistant of the cabinet, nodded and agreed: "What Your Majesty said is extremely true, those who commit strong men will be punished even if they are far away, the ancients still have such a heroic spirit, not to mention the prosperity of my emperor Ming, and he has been far away from the Han and Tang Dynasties!" ”

If it was placed before the Chongzhen Dynasty, Yang Tinglin would never have said this, at most, he would have saluted first and then the soldiers, first showed the holy virtues of the Celestial Empire to Tsarist Russia, and then raised the soldiers and so on.

Since the Tianwu Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty has continued to achieve military victories, the Qing court, which is known as the invincible Manchurian, and the invincible Mongolia, are all defeated generals of the Ming army!

The army of the Ming Dynasty has basically completed the transformation from an ancient army to a modern army, and the empire is full of confidence in military strength.

Coupled with the Age of Discovery, the eyes of the imperial elite were broadened, and they knew that all the Western countries were bullies.

Therefore, today's Ming officials, not using martial arts, are becoming more and more tough in their tone towards foreign enemies, and they have the momentum that you are ruthless and I am more ruthless than you!

Cao Bianjiao, the minister of military aircraft, came out to ask for battle, and his tone was sonorous: "Your Majesty, the minister is willing to lead the army to fight and give the Rakshasa ghost a head-on blow, so that he will not dare to peep into my emperor's land again!" ”

"The minister is willing to be the vanguard, fight the Russian ghosts, and go straight to Moscow!"

"The minister is also willing to go, enter the Kremlin, capture the puppet emperor of Tsarist Russia alive, and sacrifice the noon gate!"

Mao Zi touched the core interests of the Ming Dynasty, and the main battle voice of the Imperial Council was higher and higher, whether it was a civilian official or a military general, it was the main battle!

Zhu Cihong was relieved and said: "Aiqing, don't be impatient, now that the war in Myanmar has just started, and it is now autumn, if the imperial court moves troops at this time, I am afraid that it will only be able to spend the winter in the northwest, what I mean is to make arrangements first, wait for the end of the war in Burma, and then send troops to Dzungaria in the spring of next year!" If they want to play, we'll play a big one with them! ”

After a pause, Zhu Cihong said to Cao Bianjiao again: "Cao Qing, you give an order to the Protectorate of the Northern Capital in the name of the military aircraft, and Zhou Yuji, the Duke of Dingguo, will lead 50,000 troops to the west to the area of the Wulianghai in Altai, assist the Protectorate of the Western Empire to deal with the Junggar Rebellion, and wait for the opportunity to recapture the Ili River Valley to resist Tsarist Russia!" ”

"Obey the order!" Cao Bianjiao responded.

Li Yu, the governor of the Chinese Military Governor's Mansion, said: "Your Majesty, the northwest region is vast, and the total strength of the two major capitals of the north and west is only more than 100,000, and it is necessary to defend the Mobei and Hexi corridors. Let the two metropolitan protectorates go all out to deal with the Russian-Kazakh coalition forces? ”

Zhu Cihong shook his head and said, "The Western Army Governor's Mansion and the Northern Army Governor's Mansion have other responsibilities, so don't act rashly. ”

The role of the two metropolitan governors is to contain the Tushetu Khan, Zasaktu Khan and Chechen Khan of the Khalkha Mongols in Mobei, these three khanates, on the surface, are dependent on the Ming Dynasty, and behind the scenes, they have never regarded themselves as the courtiers of the Ming Dynasty, and they have great autonomy in the territory.

Now that the war in the northwest is tight, and the Dzungar Department, which was originally responsible for containing the three divisions of Mobei on the western front, was rebelled by Tsarist Russia, the three khans will inevitably begin to be active, taking the opportunity to ask the imperial court for more assistance, and even opportunistic, so they have to guard against it.

After thinking for a while, Zhu Cihong said again: "If the troops are still insufficient, you can order the villages and tribes in the northwest border to organize their own militias, and the imperial court will issue weapons and ammunition, and send instructors for training, so that they can form a village to protect themselves." ”

The four eunuchs unfolded a map of the area around the Ulianghai in Altai, and Zhu Cihong inspected it with a group of civil and military officials.

This area is close to the Altai Mountains, diagonally across the Tsarist Russia, the Kazakh Khanate, Mobei Khalkha Mongolia, Moxi Junggar Department four places, in the Tang Dynasty under the jurisdiction of the Anbei Protectorate, the Yuan Dynasty belonged to the Lingbei Province, called Yilanzhou, the Ming Dynasty belonged to the Mongolian Wara Department and the Wuliang Ha Department, the power is intricate.

After a while, Lu Jiude, the secretary of the logistics department, took the lead in speaking: "Your Majesty, the road from Guannai to Altai Wulianghai is a desert, and it is very difficult to supply the baggage of logistics, why don't we choose the battlefield in the Ili area?" ”

According to Lu Jiude's understanding, there is a road leading to Ili in the Hexi Corridor, and there is railway transportation from Xijing to Jiayuguan, and it is the fastest way to transport materials from the Guannai to the Ili front, which can be as little as three months and as long as half a year.

On the contrary, the only way to transport supplies from Guannai to the Altai Ulianghai was to use camel and horse teams, and even from the nearest province of Naturalization (the area of the Monan Loop), it would take at least half a year.

Everyone looked at the white-haired old eunuch with a smile, Lu Jiude was an old man in the Yongwei Battalion who followed Zhu Cihong, and he had always been diligent in his work, but his strategic vision was not good, so he could only engage in logistics.

Xu Qingshan said: "Lu Gong doesn't know, the Russian Cossack cavalry is extremely mobile, and the heavy troops are deployed in the Ili River Valley, our intention is to attract the Russian-Kazakh coalition army to the north, so that the Western Protectorate can take the opportunity to retake the Ili River Valley, and then wait for the opportunity to use the terrain to make its cavalry unable to play a role, and the north and south flank attack to eliminate it." ”

After hearing this, Lu Jiude shook his head and said, "How are the Cossack cavalry bigger than me?" Why do you want to target them like this? ”

Hearing this question, everyone's brains calmed down a lot, at least they found that Tsarist Russia was not as vulnerable as they imagined!

Looking at the deployment of simulated troops on both sides and the vast grasslands and rivers on the terrain in this area, everyone fell into deep thought.

According to intelligence, the Russians also use firearms, and may still be veterans of battle, especially their Cossack cavalry, known for their ferocity, good horsemanship, and fast movement.

The Cossacks, which means 'free people' in Turkic language, are a group of Slavs who migrated to the Don Valley, the lower Dnieper River and the Volga River valley after the rise of the Mongol Empire in order to escape its rule, and gradually formed the Cossacks.

The Cossacks, who had long lived on horseback and were skilled in riding, were black storms in the Eurasian steppes after the yellow storm of the Mongol cavalry.

Their main weapon is the Cossack cavalry swords, known as the 'Eagle's Talons', and their toughest thing is not because of how terrible their weapons are, nor how amazing their combat power is, but because of their excellent riding skills, which move so quickly that you can't catch them at all.

Unless you have a more flexible class than them, but there is no such class in the Ming army at present, and the environment and development focus make the Ming slightly behind the Cossack cavalry in cavalry.

In the past, when the northern capital was fought with the Cossack cavalry, it was often attacked with advanced firearms, and a musketeer cavalry was built to deal with it.

In terms of infantry, although the equipment of the Ming army was stronger than that of the Russians, the gap was not as great as that of hot and cold weapons.

Over the years, the Ming army's firearms are strong, the record is strong, so that all countries in the world rush to follow suit, vigorously develop firearms, at present, several major European powers, has been poured out of the Mini rifle, in the study of firearms, than the history at least more than 100 years earlier.

The range and accuracy of the Minnie rifle are far stronger than those of the Bird Gun and the Lumi Rifle, and the only difference is the rate of fire compared to the Wu Shi Rifle.

Of course, this is also an insurmountable chasm, which gives the Ming army an advantage.

Xu Qingshan said: "The Cossack cavalry is brave in battle, moves quickly and flexibly, and is a well-known strong army in Europe, and this time the Russian army sent not scattered Cossacks in the Far East in the past, but a group of main forces, we have to be cautious." ”

Xu Qingshan pointed to the terrain on the map and said: "The Yenisei River and the Ob River in the territory of the Junggar Department, from March to September every year is the thawing period of the river, only six months, and now it is July. ”

"As long as the Northern Army holds out for two months, and during the thawing period, even if the Russian army gets the news that the Western Army will send troops to recover the Ili River Valley, it will not be able to calmly cross the two major rivers and return to the Ili River Valley under the harassment of the Northern Army."

"Pingyang Hou's strategy is excellent, and the minister agrees!" Li Yu, the governor of the Chinese Military Governor's Mansion, echoed.

The generals nodded yes, and some of them looked pensive and frowned.

After a while, Yao Qisheng, who belonged to the Praise Painting Department, secretly glanced at Zhu Cihong, as if he had something to say, and Zhu Cihong saw it.

Zhu Cihong reprimanded: "If you have something to say, if you have a fart, you are a praise painting, if you have any ideas, just say it, twist and pinch like a big girl, how can you look like a little soldier!" ”

"Soldiers are to be vigorous and resolute, now they are formulating tactics, don't be afraid to make mistakes, take them out for everyone to discuss, avoid mistakes as much as possible, and reduce the losses of our army!"

After listening to Zhu Cihong's words, Yao Qisheng, who wanted to stop talking, nodded solemnly, let go of his nervousness, and then spoke: "Your Majesty, the minister feels that the tactics of the Marquis of Pingyang are slightly inappropriate. ”

Zhu Cihong encouraged: "Where is the debt? Speak boldly and listen! ”

Yao Qisheng drew a circle with his finger in a place in the Altai Luliang Sea, and said with some concern: "There are two flaws here, the first is that the Northern Expeditionary Army is stationed in this strange place in the cold winter season, and it is in the territory of the three parts of Mobei, is it safe?" ”

"Secondly, the Northern Army as a bait, can it get rid of the Cossack cavalry of large-scale operations, these two river areas are a flat land, which is very conducive to cavalry warfare, if the Northern Army can't drag the Cossack cavalry, and then encounters the threat of the three Mobei behind it, there may be a danger of annihilation!"

When they heard that this bait might wipe out the entire army, Zhu Cihong and the others frowned, and their hearts were cold.

After a short period of calm, Zhu Cihong took the lead in speaking: "Pingyang Hou's strategy is good, as for whether the northern army will have too many losses, don't worry about this, Dingguo Gong Zhou Yuji has been fighting with the Cossack cavalry in northern Xinjiang all the year round, and his troops have experience and can withstand the test of the environment!" ”

As for the threat of the Mobei Third Division, Zhu Cihong did not mention it, this is considered a political factor, he believes that the Mobei Third Division, after the Tianwu Army went deep into Mobei to beat it, would not take the risk and take the initiative to fight against the Ming Dynasty!

Hearing what the emperor said, Yao Qisheng immediately shut up, and he even suspected that the emperor transferred the northern army to the Altai Wulianghai, and many of them tested the loyalty of the three khans of Mobei to the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Cihong smiled heartily and said: "Yao Qing is also imagining the worst-case scenario, but their Cossack cavalry is powerful, and the musketeers of my northern army are not vegetarians!" In training, the soldiers have to shoot dozens of silver yuan bullets every year, these musketeers are the elite of the Ming border army, and they are not afraid of those Cossacks! ”

He thought for a while, and then said: "According to the strategy that Pingyang Hou said, put the main battlefield in Wulianghai!" If the Russians really come, the northern army will immediately enter the Ili River valley, stationed in the Ili Jiuwei respectively, take advantage of the city wall to hold on to help, seal the mountain pass, trap the deep Russian army in Dzungaria, and wait for the army in our pass to enter the northern frontier and be wiped out! ”

The ministers nodded and said yes, if there is an opportunity, first close the door and beat the dogs to defeat the Cossack cavalry, so that the Russian army will lose its mobile strength, so that the cavalry of the Ming army can play a role, or harass the rear of the enemy behind the back, or wait for an opportunity on both flanks.

Moreover, the 100,000 Russian-Kazakh troops are in the Junggar steppe, where thousands of miles are uninhabited and very desolate, and in the depths of winter, the weather will definitely be very cold at night, so they will suffer there for half a year!

The main task of the Ming Dynasty at present is to resolve the war in Burma.

To put it bluntly, the Ming army is currently unable to immediately send troops to the northwest, and the expeditionary operations of several thousand miles require large-scale mobilization of troops, logistics and supplies, and other preparations, which will take at least half a year.

(End of chapter)