Father can be an enemy to the country

Finally, Zhu Zhen and Fu Youde agreed that without further delay, the army would set off in three days!

The reason why I was able to leave so quickly was of course because I was prepared in advance.

Previously, Zhu Zhen and Fu Youde wanted to attack Qingyun Mountain with all their strength, so they had already gathered various Ming army units scattered in Tongliao, Daning and other places to the Qingzhou area.

A total of 150,000 troops were used in this expedition. Among them were Shen Guogong Deng Zhen, Dingyuan Marquis Wang Bi, Nanxiong Marquis Zhao Yong, Dongchuan Marquis Hu Hai, Heqing Marquis Zhang Yi, Xiongwu Marquis Zhou Wu, Huaiyuan Marquis Cao Xing and other troops.

Even the three Taiyuan guards of Jin King Zhu Fan were among them. In addition to the 50,000 troops left behind in Qingzhou, Tongliao, Daning and other fortresses, almost all the Ming troops in the Northern Expedition were dispatched.

The number of horses used was as many as 450,000!

Because it was necessary to cross the desert, cross the Gobi, and go deep into the grasslands to fight, the journey was not only long, but there were no driving roads at all. Therefore, the entire army did not have any baggage troops. Instead, it imitated the configuration of one man and three horses during the Mongolian expedition.

A war horse rides on it, and the other two pack horses are responsible for carrying the rations of the people and horses, as well as the soldiers' armor.

It's midsummer now, and riding a horse with a helmet on all day long would make a person die of dehydration. Therefore, except for the vigilant ranger scouts, the officers and soldiers only wore single clothes, put their armor into armor bags, and let the pack horses carry it. , which can also reduce the burden on the war horse.

But fortunately it was summer when the pasture was at its most abundant, so there was no need to bring your own fodder like you would when marching in winter. You only need to bring horse feed beans such as black beans and soybeans for your war horses.

This greatly reduced the burden of marching and made long-distance marches possible.

~~

Zhu Zhen and Fu Youde prepared a month's worth of food and grass for the expeditionary army. It’s not that they are stingy, it’s just that they can only bring so much.

According to the regulations of the Ming army, war horses were rationed ten liters, or about seven pounds of horse feed beans, every day. Soldiers were given rations of two kilograms and four taels, so the monthly rations for men and horses were less than three hundred kilograms.

Coupled with the soldiers' armor and equipment, it weighs almost four hundred kilograms.

The weight-bearing capacity of a horse is about one-fifth of its own body weight. If it exceeds this limit, the horse will have labored breathing, rapid heartbeat, and rapid muscle fatigue. Horses can be injured or even killed if they are overloaded for a long time.

Although Mongolian horses are small in size, they are hardworking and have good load-bearing capacity. They can carry materials up to 200 kilograms for long distances, so two pack horses can just transport enough food and grass for a month.

What if the Yuan army is not found after a month and we return? Then these two poor pack horses can only serve as rations for the soldiers...

But the good news is that the distance of this expedition is much closer than expected. For Lan Yu's troops who are good at long-distance raids, one month is very generous, even enough to make a round trip.

~~

This time, thanks to the surrender of the tribes of Naha, more than one million livestock were obtained, so that the three hundred thousand pack horses could be collected.

However, this also caused the ministries to vomit blood. Most of the adult horses were looted, and all the men in the ministries became horseless infantry.

This is what Zhu Zhen wants. The people of each tribe are unstable when they surrender. If they fail to do so, they will become frustrated and run away. They may even suddenly mutiny and take away their horses. They will not be able to go anywhere and can only live in their respective states. The pasture is waiting.

The army can now go on expeditions with confidence.

In addition to horses, the Ming army also requisitioned a large number of cattle and sheep from various Mongolian tribes to make bacon, dried meat, preserved meat, etc. that could be stored for a long time and distributed them as non-staple food to the expedition soldiers. The Sixth Prince, who always attached great importance to logistical support, could not let his soldiers eat only fried noodles and drink cold water.

Of course, Zhu Zhen would not take these horses, cattle and sheep for nothing, but exchange them with various ministries for daily necessities such as iron pots, tea leaves, cloth, and medicinal materials.

However, he couldn't bring out so many supplies at the moment, so he had to make an IOU first. Fortunately, he only had one person in Naha whose credit was bankrupt. The other Mongolians still believed that he, the famous King of Chu Hai and Dian, could keep his word. words.

~~

The army was already in a state of war, so the day before the expedition, it was basically ready to go, and it was just waiting for the troops to be launched tomorrow!

That afternoon, on the newly built flat official road south of Gyeongju, thousands of cavalry escorted the last batch of supplies slowly arrived.

Also accompanying him is His Royal Highness the King of Jin, who will participate in this expedition as a supervisor.

This made the third child very happy, especially since the fourth child could not go, he was even happier. He felt bursts of joy when he thought that the fourth child would take his place in guarding Daning and would have to worry about the rear.

But people's joys and sorrows are not the same. Ping An always looked depressed and looked like he was about to cry.

That time when he was escorting grain and grass, he brought the captives of King Ding and Fengwang of the Northern Yuan Dynasty to Daning, and he stayed there ever since. I want to find a disciple through my connections and want to stay on the front line and make new achievements on the battlefield.

As a result, the list of expedition generals was announced a few days ago. He looked over it eight times and couldn't find his name on the military post.

To make matters worse, before setting off this time, he saw from the King of Jin that he was not on the list of people who requested credit from the court for pacifying the Nahachu War!

How can you survive this? It's okay if he's not on the expedition list. He knows that those guys are xenophobic. But no matter how xenophobic you are, you can't write off all your real achievements. That would be too bullying.

But when he asked King Jin, Zhu Fan didn't know the reason. So he made up his mind that when he returned to Qingzhou, he must seek an explanation from the Sixth Prince.

"I see you don't just want to ask why you are not on the list of applicants?" King Jin asked with a smile.

"Yes." Ping An didn't mince his words and nodded: "I still want to go on an expedition, even if I am a small soldier."

"If you were really a soldier, it would be easy, just follow me." King Jin smiled and said, "But who made you the commander of the capital?"

"It's not enough if I don't do it!" Ping An said angrily: "I'm not qualified to be an official anyway!"

"Well, you are suitable for poking people." King Jin nodded, convinced. During their time in Daning, the two masters of marksmanship had competed against each other, and the result was that the stronger of the two had the stronger of the two, and the third one was resigned to losing. "If I can lead an army one day, I will definitely use you as the vanguard."

"Then the prince will tell the sixth prince." Ping An opened his eyes and said, "If you use me as the vanguard, you will be invincible and invincible!"

"That's why people don't use force..." King Jin chuckled and said: "Besides, I am no better than the Sixth Army Supervisor. I am really just a supervisor, and I can't point fingers."

"Oh, it's so lively for nothing..." Ping An lowered his head in frustration.

"I said, don't talk about it as soon as we meet. Find some time to talk to Lao Liu in private later." King Jin reminded him again: "It's definitely not okay to talk about it in public."

"I know." Ping An nodded again, not sure whether he heard it or not.