Yuan Chonghuan's words immediately resonated with everyone, Datong border town had always been the most important border town in the nine sides before Nurhachi raised troops.

The geographical location of Datong is dangerous, known as the east of the upper valley, the south of the Heng, the west of the Yellow River, the north of the desert, the key point of the border, the Beijing division of the screen.

At the beginning, the Northern Yuan Dynasty lost Datong and completely lost the hope of returning to the Central Plains. To the north of Datong is an open and boundless plain terrain, which is suitable for the assembly of large armies, so whether it is the Central Plains army going north or the Mongols going south, Datong is a choke point that must be passed.

With the relaxation of the Ming Dynasty's armament, the army of Datong border town also began to go down rapidly, from the early Ming Dynasty with a quota of more than 130,000 soldiers, more than 50,000 horses, to Emperor Sejong when there were more than 80,000 people, more than 20,000 horses.

The border generals did not train their armies, but they were bent on using the horse market as a means of controlling the invasion of the Mongol tribes. The corruption of the military cantonment system in the border towns of Datong has also caused the number and strength of the army in the border towns of Datong to decline, but the consumption of military spending has increased dramatically.

At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the military food consumed by Datong border town every year was nearly one million stones, half of which was produced by the military tun. However, by the time of Emperor Sejong, although the military rations were less than 300,000 stones, the output of the military camp accounted for only one-sixth.

The annual silver used in the border town of Datong has changed from 50,000 taels to more than 200,000 taels for the main soldiers and nearly 200,000 taels for the guest soldiers.

Behind the continuous decrease in the number of soldiers and the continuous increase in consumption is the situation of large-scale corruption in the border towns of Datong and civilian officials.

Although several emperors wanted to change this situation, the intricate military salary supply system in the border town of Datong and the collusion between civil and military officials could no longer be corrected by sending one or two officials.

After Luo Yangxing was stationed in Datong, and the eunuchs of Datong Town were replaced at the same time, Chongzhen began to investigate and adjust the personnel of the Datong border army.

The civilian officials in Datong include the military affairs of the Governor Xuanda and Shanxi, and they are also in charge of food and salary. Governor of Datong place, a member of the military affairs of Zanli. A member of the North Hebei Province, a member of the Yanghe Army, a member of the North Hebei Road, and a member of the Left Guard.

On the military attaché side, there is one general soldier of the town guard and one deputy general soldier of the assistant guard. There were nine guards, two guerrilla generals, two officers in the camp, and thirty-nine garrisons.

In the past two months, the North Hebei Province has been patrolled, the Yanghe troops have been guarded, and the North Hebei Province has been guarded, and the four left guards have all been replaced. Nearly half of the military attachés below the deputy commander-in-chief and above the garrison have been replaced.

However, the intelligence gathered from these newly appointed officials has made the General Staff completely lose confidence in the Datong Border Army.

When Emperor Sejong was still there more than 80,000 soldiers and more than 20,000 horses in the Datong border army, now there are only more than 40,000 people counting the old, weak, sick and disabled, and there are nearly 10,000 horses, which mainly depends on the convenience of Datong Horse Market.

According to Sun Chengzong and Yuan Chonghuan's past experience in the army, it is a fluke that there are more than 40,000 people and 5,000 elites.

It was undoubtedly a big gamble to pull such an army into battle, or to fight against the Mongols in the field. If it fails, Lin Dan Khan can drive straight in, whether it is south to Shanxi or east to the capital, it will be irresistible.

Most of the people sitting in the Wuying Hall thought that it was obviously not a good idea to break away from the protection of the fortified city and fight a field battle with Lin Dan Khan, or fight for a group of Mongols.

Zhu Youzhen knocked on the table, and then said, "Why do you think that we will lose this war?" I hope that the General Staff will keep in mind the principle that strategically we should despise each other and tactically we should attach importance to each other.

However, I looked through the records of the battles with our army since Nurhachi raised his army, and I found that we had violated this principle from beginning to end.

We always attach great importance to each other strategically, but we also despise our opponents in terms of actual tactics. This will appear, the implementation plan of each operation, no, maybe there is no tactical plan at all.

Just gave an order to the destination of the march, is it also called a battle plan? ”

Chongzhen's questioning suddenly made these staff officers dumbfounded, whether it was Sun Chengzong and other civilian officials or several military attachés, after experiencing the formation of the staff in the past few months, they agreed with what the emperor said, the previous kind of combat orders that were only a few words could not be called a battle plan at all.

The route of the army, the logistical supply along the way, the distance to be maintained when the army and the army were to advance separately, etc., made these officials relearn how to organize the army to fight.

At the same time, these officials also discovered that the staff work advocated by the emperor did not pay attention to any clever schemes and personal bravery. There is only a step-by-step march, adequate logistical supplies, and a programmed way to deal with all kinds of unexpected situations during the march.

This kind of detailed and cumbersome instructions have basically caused the commander-in-chief of the front-line army to lose most of his command power. But for the imperial court, the army that can obey the orders of the general staff in this way is undoubtedly the most reliable army.

Seeing that everyone was silent, Zhu Youzhen continued: "In fact, in my opinion, Lin Dan Khan will lose this battle, and our side will win. ”

Sun Chengzong finally couldn't help but ask, "Why is Your Majesty so sure?" ”

Zhu Youzhen said confidently: "Lin Danhan faced Houjin in Liaodong and retreated, and even lost his hometown, he didn't think about fighting back against Houjin and taking back his hometown." On the contrary, he aimed the war at his own people in the Hetao, which can be described as a nameless teacher, which is a defeat;

It was the leaders of the right-wing Mongol tribes who did not obey Lin Dan Khan's orders, but after Lin Dan Khan captured Guihua City and Tumo River, not only did he not appease and recruit the ordinary subordinates of the right-wing Mongol tribes, but also distributed these troops to his subordinates as spoils, which can be described as perverse, which is a second defeat;

As the Great Khan of the Mongol Khanate, Lin Dan Khan did not think about how to protect and submit to his tribes, but wanted to seize the city rewards of his tribes by force.

The people of the right-wing Mongolian tribes have been living peacefully with the army and people of our Ming border for decades, and both sides want to continue to live peacefully, but Lin Dan Khan invaded the land of the right-wing Mongolian tribes for no reason, and raised troops to threaten our Ming border fortress, which is the rise of an unjust war. I, the Ming Dynasty and the right-wing Mongolian tribes, are fighting for peace and defending our homeland, and justice is in me, and our army will win;

At the beginning of the year, Hou Jin Huang Taiji personally led his troops to the west and smashed Lin Dan Khan's nest on the Liaohetao grassland in one fell swoop. At this moment, Lin Dan Khan is the water without a source and a tree without roots. With each battle, the population he lost could not be replenished immediately.

Since he is unwilling to stay in Liaodong and fight to the death with Houjin, he will also not have the determination to fight to the death with our army in Hetao. With enemies on all sides and difficulties both internally and externally, but without the determination to break the net, then his army must be full of contradictions. And our army and the right-wing Mongolia are both fighting to defend their homeland, and naturally they are united in their hearts and minds, and they will win the second one.

Lin Dan Khan came from afar and was not familiar with the geography of the Hetao. Although they have occupied Guihua City and Tumo River, who will manage the local agricultural production under such a scuffle this year? Therefore, although he has captured something, it may not be able to support a long army campaign. I have already raised a war budget of 3 million yuan, and all the materials used for Datong Horse Market this year will also be intercepted. Our army is well stocked, so what is there not to win? ”

The emperor's theory of three wins and three defeats made everyone in the conference room refute it without knowing where to start. After being silent for a while, Mao Yuanyi finally couldn't help but say: "Your Majesty, this war still needs people to fight, and now that Datong Border Town is so weak, even if the materials are abundant, he will not become a strong army in a while?"

Moreover, the Silu have always been capricious and rebellious, and they are really not reliable allies. If the two armies face each other, and the coalition formed by the right-wing Mongol tribes turns to the front, and our army is isolated and helpless, isn't it equivalent to sending sheep into the mouth of the tiger? ”

When several other people nodded at this, Zhu Youzhen said unmoved: "The General Staff knows that the Mongols are unreliable, so they should find a way to minimize the harm caused by this unreliability." Instead of pushing your own help out just because of a guess.

Do you have to let these Mongol tribes become the precursors of Jiannu's attack on the Ming Dynasty, and you will want to know how to destroy them? Destroying the enemy's ** is a way to destroy the enemy; But eliminating the hostility of wavering neutrals and making them allies of the Ming is also a way to eliminate potential enemies.

In my opinion, compared to the former, although the latter is not well-known, it is the best way to cost money. We have gained a friend who has weakened the enemy's strength and strengthened us. And to defeat an enemy on the battlefield, it may take several times the effort and a lot of sacrifices.

The homeland of these right-wing Mongol tribes was invaded by Lin Dan Khan, and the people who fled from them must have been deprived of food and clothing. Choosing the old and weak to be placed in the Guannei and allocating food and clothing for them to settle down will not only make the right-wing Mongolian allied forces lose their worries, but also equal to having one more hostage in hand.

In addition, the General Staff mobilized a group of sergeants who were familiar with the Mongolian language to propagate to the tribesmen of these Mongolian tribes that we joined forces with them to fight against Lin Dan Khan, not to destroy the Mongol Khanate, but only to hope that Lin Dan Khan would come to his senses and stop raising his butcher's knife against the right-wing Mongolian tribes.

In this battle, the Ming Dynasty fought to protect the right-wing Mongolian tribes who hoped for peace, and if anyone did not agree with the concept of this war, they could stay out of the matter, or under the protection of the Ming army, move from Guannai to the Qinghai region further west.

Move the unstable tribes away, stabilize the tribes that want to fight Lin Dan Khan, and then relieve their worries. I don't think the Mongols are unreliable.

As for what you have said about the Datong border army, in my opinion, the weakness of the Datong border town is a good opportunity for us to take this opportunity to rectify the Datong border town.

Now that the armies of Jizhou and Liaodong have come to an end, I thought that we could transfer an army from Liaodong and Jizhou to form a field army and transfer it to Datong.

Most of the cadets of the first phase of the Army Military Academy are also about to graduate, and the General Staff Headquarters can use the first batch of cadets as the backbone and the field army as the basis to draw and transfer soldiers from the border towns of Datong to expand the establishment.

After this battle, the remaining army in Datong border town can be reorganized and dismantled and set up a garrison force. In the future, the field army, as a first-class establishment, shall not be stationed in civilian cities in peacetime; The garrison force is a second-class formation, mainly as a city defense and law and order force.

The logistics of all first-class troops, the appointment and dismissal of officers, and the transfer of soldiers must be under the unified management of the general staff of the governor's office of the five armed forces, and the local governors have no right to command the troops of this level until they have been appointed.

The treatment of the first-class army shall be higher than that of the second-class army. Priority is also given to the promotion of officers in the first-class army. ”