Chapter 1112: Spring is coming

As the saying goes, the soldiers and horses have not moved, the grain and grass go first, and the army is not a trip that can be left as soon as it is said, and there are too many things to prepare. In fact, since the court decided to send troops to the Northern Expedition on the second day of the Lunar New Year, Xu Jin began to transfer troops, such as the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Households, the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Rites, the Governor's Office of the Five Armies, the Ordnance Bureau, the War Bureau, the Gunpowder Bureau, and the Saddle Bin Bureau...... Almost the entire state apparatus was in motion in preparation for this great expedition. Grain, horses, weapons, medicines, etc., were continuously transported to the border towns in the north.

According to Xu Jin's estimate, when everything is ready, it will be at least February, but the time is just right, at this time the weather has warmed up, the ice and snow outside the plug have melted, and the horse grass has begun to grow, which is beneficial to the actions of the army.

Since sending away Bing Niu'er on the morning of the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, Xu Jin has devoted himself to preparing for the Northern Expedition, soaking in the military camp almost every day, eating and living with the soldiers, personally supervising the army drills during the day, studying the Tatar map at night, and conducting various tactical deductions with the generals under his command, to the point of forgetting to sleep and eat.

Although the Ming army has a huge advantage in weapons and equipment, but for this Northern Expedition, Xu Jin did not dare to take it lightly, after all, the Ming army was fighting away, and the three elements of time, place, and people were lost first, not to mention that the Tatar cavalry was not a group of docile sheep, but a group of fierce and bloodthirsty steppe wolves.

Xu Jin himself knows very well that what Jin Xianmin said outside the Wenhua Hall that day may be a bit alarmist, but if he fails this Northern Expedition, Daming will really fall into a very passive situation, and it is not impossible for the good situation of Daming Zhongxing to be ruined in one fell swoop, so he has to be cautious.

Besides, it is a big deal to fail the exam and take a make-up exam, but if the war is lost, it may be his own life, so Xu Jin does not allow himself to make mistakes, at least not fatal mistakes, and he always believes that practice makes perfect, and war is no exception, so he gnawed the map with his life, deduced with his life, and tried his best to know it clearly, and now he can roughly draw the terrain of Tatar even with his eyes closed.

The commanders are all playing with their lives, the soldiers are naturally playing with their lives, the generals are playing with their lives, the soldiers are training with their lives, and the morale of the whole army can be said to be high, and the momentum is like a rainbow, which is the power of example to lead by example.

It is worth mentioning here that the main force of the Northern Expedition was the three major battalions of the Beijing Army, with a total strength of about 50,000 people, including 5,000 people in the Shenji Battalion, 10,000 people in the 3,000 Battalion, and 40,000 in the Fifth Army Battalion.

Jiajing was furious and abolished the 12th regiment battalion of the Beijing army, re-selected elite soldiers to form the Beijing battalion, and restored the old system of the three battalions in the early Ming Dynasty.

The so-called three major battalions are the Shenji Battalion, the 3,000 Battalion and the Fifth Army Battalion, and the three major battalions of the Beijing Army that have been re-established, the source of troops is mainly from the elite of the border army and the local guards, of course, the combat effectiveness of the general local guards is also very bad, so the local guards selected by Jiajing are all from Shandong, Jiangnan, Henan, and Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and the guards in these places have one thing in common, that is, they have followed Xu Jin to fight and have been on the battlefield to cut people's blood.

Therefore, the combat effectiveness of the three reorganized battalions is not even more than that of the original 12 regiments and battalions of the Beijing Army, and after a year of training and running-in, the combat effectiveness should not be underestimated.

Of course, even if Xu Jin is confident, it is impossible to lead only 50,000 people out of the fortress to fight against seven or eight times the enemy, these 50,000 Beijing battalions are only the main force, and there are also Jizhou Town, Xuanfu Town, Datong Town, and Yulin Town, the garrisons of these four towns are auxiliary, with a total strength of more than 120,000.

Xu Jin's battle plan can be summed up in eight words, that is, "all the way to the main attack, more flowers", at that time Xu Jin will personally lead the main force of the Beijing camp from Gubeikou, all the way north to attack the Khanting in Chahar, and the deputy general Qiu Luan led the 20,000 border troops in Jizhou Town to fight together.

At the same time, Yu Linsheng, the commander-in-chief of Datong Town, Jing Dachu, the commander-in-chief of Xuanfu Town, and Pei Xingjin, the commander-in-chief of Yulin Town, respectively led 20,000 border troops across the Great Wall and attacked Tumut, Yongshebu and Ordos respectively.

Tumut, Yongshebu, and Ordos are 30,000 households on the right wing of the Tatars, and only the horses of Alta have always been the first to look forward, and Tumut is the headquarters of Altan 10,000 households, and the descendants of the generals under the command of Albert are all from these three 10,000 households.

And now, most of the soldiers and horses of the three thousand households on the right wing of the Tatar have been transferred by Alta to attack the left flank, and they are still stationed in the area of Chahar Khanting, so Xu Jin predicts that as long as Yu Linsheng, Jing Dachu, and Pei Xingjin send troops to attack 30,000 households on the right flank at the same time, Alta will definitely divide his troops to help, and he will be able to greatly reduce his positive pressure at that time.

Let's say that during the period when Xu Jin devoted himself to the pre-war preparations, there was also a big and small thing in the court, that is, the first assistant Jin Xianmin wrote to tell the old man to return to his hometown, which was also expected by everyone, and the old Jin Ge couldn't hold the position of the first assistant of the cabinet at all, and it was inevitable to abdicate and let Xian.

After Jin Xianmin repeated the book twelve times, Jiajing finally approved his resignation, and crowned him as the prince and teacher, rewarded him with gold coins and jade belts, and sent him home to retire.

After Jin Xianmin returned to his hometown, Liao Ji, the fourth assistant, also wrote a letter to resign, but Jiajing did not approve it, not that he valued Liao Ji much, it was really a lack of people to work in the cabinet, and once Liao Ji also left, Jia Yong, the old clay sculpture pavilion, was left.

Liao Ji was obviously not willing to leave the center of power, resigned three times without approval, and then he couldn't take advantage of the situation, and continued to stay in the cabinet with a cheeky face, jumping from the fourth assistant to the second assistant, and Jia Yong's clay sculpture pavilion is good, and others can't sit in the position of the first assistant of the cabinet, he doesn't fight but sits on it, so sometimes luck can't stop it.

Of course, whether Jia Yong can sit firmly in the position of the first assistant of the cabinet depends on whether he has the ability, and at present, it is very suspenseful!

Jin Xianmin resigned, Luo Qinshun was demoted, and now there are only Jia Yong and Liao Ji left in the cabinet, the two elders, and the next step is naturally to replenish fresh blood.

I don't know if everyone still has an impression of this Wang Zhan, when the Great Rites Discussion first started, Wang Zhan, the waiter of the Ministry of Rites, was the first senior deputy ministerial-level official to stand up and support Zhang Zhang, but he was demoted to the Nanjing Ministry of Rites by Yang Tinghe as the head of the Ministry of Rites.

Later, Yang Tinghe fell, Zhang Xuan and Gui Cao, these upstart factions gained power, Wang Zan was also immediately promoted to the left waiter of the Nanjing Ministry of Rites, and he would be transferred back to the capital after a transition, but unfortunately the good times did not last long, Zhang Xuan and Gui Cao soon lost power and were demoted, and the upstart faction in the court was purged, and Wang Zan was no exception, and was demoted to the head of the Ministry of Rites.

Therefore, this Lord Wang Zhan's career can also be described as twists and turns, at this time, the secretary of the Ministry of Shangshu Fang Xianfu recommended him to join the cabinet, Jiajing also remembered that he was the first to stand up and support his deputy ministerial-level senior official, even if he allowed Fang Xianfu's recommendation.

Jiajing, who has been in the sixth year of the imperial pole, has been very strong, coupled with the division of the civil official group, is no longer strong when Yang Tinghe was in charge of the cabinet, so Jiajing allowed Wang Zan to enter the cabinet, then Wang Zan has one foot and most of his body is equivalent to squeezing into the cabinet, sure enough, the ministers quarreled with Jiajing for a few days, and finally chose to compromise, so Wang Zan became the third cabinet minister in the cabinet.

On the eighth day after Wang Zan was pushed into the cabinet by the court, Zhang Zhang, who was in Changping Station, Jinan Prefecture, Shandong, received the news that he had made an appointment with Gui Cao, who was lecturing in the academy, and the two drank a cup together, because after Wang Zan entered the cabinet, the spring of the two of them was approaching, and the person they feared the most was about to lead the troops out of the Northern Expedition, how could Tatar be so easy to fight? Even if you can win in the end, you won't be able to come back in a year and a half.