Rebirth of the Ming Dynasty: Sixth Generation of Glory, I don't want it

Ming Dynasty, the second year of Jianwen, June.

Yan army camp.

"From Peking to Nanjing, there are no cities along the way, a distance of 2,300 miles. How long will it take to march for such a long distance? Without entering the city for supplies, the amount of food and fodder needed will be even greater!"

"It's July, and it's very hot in the south. Can the soldiers withstand it?"

"Once the city is attacked, Tie Xuan and Sheng Yong will return to the capital, and we will become the stuffing for them."

"Sheng Yong replaced Li Jinglong, and we won the battles in Jinan and Dongchang. Even though Jiahe and Haocheng suffered heavy losses, with Tie Xuan managing Jinan, the troops from Shaanxi and Liaodong are eyeing them covetously."

"We only have three counties, namely, Beiping, Baoding and Yongping. I don't think it's appropriate to use these three counties to fight against the whole country."

"The fighting has already begun. If we don't fight, we will just be waiting for others to beat us and exhaust us to death."

"It is better to take it slow, accumulate food, and slowly become king."

"Bullshit, is this a matter of being a king or not?! Our King Yan is already a prince!"

"If you ask me, just fuck him, thinking about it is useless!"

"Just be patient, do it, map——"

"Old Li brought 500,000 troops, and later Zhu Yunwen gave him another 600,000. Was the original number of troops in the capital about this number?"

"More than that, one million and a half is enough."

"Sheng Yong and Tie Xuan must also take some."

"The capital must be empty, and there is a lot to be gained."

The people in the camp argued for two days over whether to attack Huanglong directly and how to attack Huanglong directly. There was even a fight, but in the end everyone reached a consensus.

Going straight to the capital is indeed the only and best way to break the impasse at the moment.

At this time, Zhu Yunwen and the civil servants behind him had no experience in fighting wars. They could not get any solid evidence after a few military men let them go, so they had no choice but to continue using these military men.

Zhu Di could also receive information about the court's military deployments.

By the time they react, the news from the south will be blocked, and the battle will only become more and more difficult.

The princes who were waiting and watching might also suffer the consequences.

It can't be delayed any longer.

~~~

After setting the goal, everyone who was used to fighting began to study the route.

The Southern Army’s first line of defense was the Shandong Line of Defense, which had previously brought the war to a stalemate.

Sheng Yong expended a huge amount of military force in Shandong Province, and built a very solid defense line with Jinan Prefecture as the center, Dezhou as the tip of the sword, and the prefectures in the east and west as fulcrums.

If all of Yan's existing 800,000 troops were deployed, it would certainly be possible to break this line of defense.

The Yan army only needed a breakthrough, and it had to be fast, so fast that Sheng Yong would not be able to gather support from other states.

I'm afraid this line of defense can only be filled by the lives of soldiers.

After making a hole, leave someone behind to cover the retreat.

The main force did not linger in the battle or get entangled, but instead bypassed the defense line and marched quickly southward.

The real difficulty lies in the second line of defense - the natural barrier.

The banks of the Yangtze and Huaihe Rivers were not only the hinterland of the imperial court, but also the focus of river defense. Throughout the dynasties, countless southern expeditions were blocked by the great rivers.

The Yan army was composed of soldiers from the north, who were traditionally rich in cavalry. They were not good at naval battles, and they had no navy.

Therefore, if the Yan army could not cross the river, or encountered the Southern army while crossing the river, it would basically be a dead end.

Finally, it’s the destination – the capital.

As the capital of the entire Ming Dynasty, the capital's city walls began to be built on a large scale in the early Hongwu Dynasty. The length of the wall is seventy miles, not to mention the height. It is truly magnificent and majestic, with thousands of arrow towers and towers, and there are at least 20 troops in the city.

The Yan army had to travel a long distance and cross a river, and more than half of their supplies, such as siege weapons, that finally arrived would be lost.

If they waited for the troops from various places to arrive to defend the king, the Yan army would be completely wiped out and would have no way to retreat.

After the three difficulties were listed one by one, everyone fell into silence.

The idea is certainly a good one, but it is extremely difficult.

After a long raid of two thousand miles, it was normal to be hunted down and encircled by the Southern Army, but what we were more afraid of were accidents.

"Your Highness, why not enter Shandong Province from Binzhou, next to Dezhou? There are many Binzhou people among the rear guards who can lead the way."

Since its establishment, Zhang Chang's Yanshan rear guard was composed of disaster victims from Shandong. They had too little training time and had no chance to participate in the previous battles.

He was just stationed in Beiping, wandering around the wall with Zhu Gaochi. . .

As the least experienced soldier, he just listened quietly while everyone expressed their opinions.

After everyone quieted down, he pointed to the location of Bingzhou Prefecture on the sand table and spoke.

"How do you lead the way?"

Zhu Neng, a general under Zhu Di asked.

"A way to avoid the Confederate defense line."

Zhang Chang smiled.

"Appreciate further details!"

Zhu Di became interested.

Zhang Chang immediately asked someone to call two of his guards over.

One of these two men is surnamed Tang and the other is surnamed Lin. Both are from Putai County, Binzhou, Shandong.

The two of them moved their family to Beijing after the severe drought in Shandong last year.

Zhang Chang became a household name in Shandong through publicity from the first batch of disaster victims who relocated from Zhang Qiuhe.

It was common knowledge that Zhang Chang was recruited into the army by Prince Yan and that all his men were from Shandong.

Both families were very smart and became military households as soon as possible, and after many twists and turns of relationships, they found Zhang Chang.

Although they were later arrivals, Zhang Chang made them centurions because they were also minor officials and were able to manage people and affairs.

Later, through more exposure in daily practice and life, Zhang Chang learned a lot about the Binzhou drought.

Both Dezhou and Jinan are relatively large cities in Shandong Province and are relatively wealthy.

Binzhou is not a small place in terms of size, but it has a small population and is not a place with abundant resources.

After the drought was reported, the people in Binzhou were eagerly waiting for the relief grain from the imperial court, but the grain arrived in Jinan first.

No one in Putai County, including the county magistrate and the chief clerk in the county government, knew the exact amount of grain that had arrived.

It took almost a month for the relief food to reach Putai County.

Everyone in the county government was shocked when they saw those carts of food that were not even enough to feed the people in the government office.

The people affected by the disaster began to eat tree bark, and even firewood became a scarce commodity.

Finally, in the porridge shed for disaster relief, three pounds of soil were mixed with one pound of rice, and the mud-rice water was only half boiling.

The victims were originally just hungry, but after drinking the relief porridge, they suffered from vomiting and diarrhea, and many died.

Putai County is still okay, but the small places under the county are even worse.

There was not even muddy porridge to drink, and if one person died, the entire village would die.

It is said that some villages have formed teams to smash government offices and rob government warehouses.