Chapter 107: The merits of the present, the sins of the future

"died?"

Lan Yu shifted his gaze from the military newspaper in front of him and glanced sideways at Lu Yunyi, but received no reply.

At this moment, two hours have passed since the war started.

The camp of the Northern Yuan Dynasty royal court has been ravaged by war and is now in ruins.

The moonlight shone obliquely on this desolate land, making the blood dripping on the ground shine.

The wind was a bit chilly.

It shuttled between the broken tents and fallen flags, making a whimpering sound.

In the center of the camp, only charred skeletons remained of the once glorious main tents. They stood tall but could no longer shelter from the wind and rain.

All around, scattered weapons, broken armor, and piles of burnt food and grass silently told of the fierceness of the battle.

On the ground, footprints and wheel marks of varying depths crisscrossed each other, recording the haste and chaos of the war.

The soldiers were dressed in iron armor, holding spears and sharp blades.
Carefully search every corner, looking for possible enemies.

"Search carefully and don't miss anything suspicious."

A general gave an order in a deep voice. His voice echoed in the empty camp, sounding particularly majestic.

Upon hearing this, the soldiers carefully inspected every ruin.
He turned over rocks, pushed aside the grass, and used his spear to gently pick apart the remains of the collapsed tent.

This shout also woke up Lu Yunyi who was standing there in a daze.
He was now covered in blood, and his armor was already tattered.

The exposed skin had some small wounds that came from nowhere, revealing the flesh and blood inside.

Lan Yu beside him looked much more respectable.

There was only some black ash from the gunfire on his armor, and he was holding military newspapers and documents sent from various places.
The central army's attack ended early because it was a surprise attack.
The battle between the rear army and the front army was still going on fiercely.

The Northern Yuan Dynasty's royal court was fragmented, and some generals followed orders but not instructions, which was a bad thing in normal times.
But in the current war, it is a good thing for the Northern Yuan Dynasty.
Even if the king's tent was breached, the other dignitaries would lead their troops to fight.

Many messengers had gathered beside Lan Yu, waiting for him to give orders.

"Order Dingyuan Marquis Wang Bi to dispatch 20,000 soldiers to the northeast to support Dengzhen. We must eliminate the Northern Yuan army before daybreak."

"Yes"

"Order Cao Xing and Zhao Yong to transfer half of the soldiers who are blocking the enemy to the rear of the Northern Yuan army to clean up the battlefield and gather the troops."

"Yes"

"Where is Yu Tongyuan? The war isn't over yet?" Lan Yu flipped through the documents in his hand with a puzzled look on his face.

A messenger spoke loudly:
"Reporting to the general, the Northern Yuan imperial army is fighting and retreating, and is now heading northwest. Commander Yu guessed that they were going to flee westward, so he led his army to stop them."

"How many people are there?"

"General Yu's troops suffered more than 2,300 casualties. The Northern Yuan imperial army had 20,000 soldiers, but now there are only more than 15,000 left."

Lan Yu frowned slightly, looking thoughtful, and ordered:

"Order Zhou Wu and Hu Hai to dispatch 10,000 soldiers to rush to the rescue.
Cao Xing and Zhao Yong led the Ma Fuzhi to stop the enemy.
Also take the 50 artillery pieces from the front army and order Yu Tongyuan to keep them."

"Yes!"

A trace of murderous intent flashed across Lan Yu's eyes.

The purpose of this battle is not only to destroy the Northern Yuan Dynasty's royal court, but more importantly to destroy all of its combat-capable troops!

There are still some elite divisions in the Northern Yuan Dynasty who have fought against the Ming Dynasty for a long time and are very experienced.
As long as they were all killed, the subsequent grassland people would lack the experience to fight against the Ming army.
In addition, the Northern Yuan Dynasty had also perished, making training even more difficult.

In this way, even if there is a war on the grassland in the future, it will be easy to win.

This action cuts off their inheritance.

Lan Yu looked up at the grassland soldiers kneeling around him.
They should be the expansion of 'sinners',
The fighting was a mess, and some people had never seen artillery before.

When he saw the cannons and muskets, most of his energy and spirit were gone with fear.

In general, the grassland regime was gradually degenerating amidst repeated wars and escapes, to the point where these soldiers were exhausted and weak.

And the Ming army became more and more advanced!

Lan Yu sniffed and saw that the air in the middle of the army was already filled with the smell of blood.

The smell of burning corpses was overwhelming, and there was a foul smell in the air.

But he still felt excited!

The battle ended after the army discovered the location of the Northern Yuan Dynasty's royal court.

And when all this is determined,
The joy in Lan Yu's heart surged out, and he even felt a little confused.

The Yuan Dynasty was completely destroyed. What would the Ming Dynasty do afterwards?
Gently shaking his head, Lan Yu showed emotion.
He turned his gaze to Lu Yunyi who was standing aside doing nothing.

Seeing that there was some clarity in his eyes, Lan Yu handed over the last military newspaper in his hand.

Lu Yunyi quickly reached out to catch it, his eyes quickly focused, showing doubt
"I asked you earlier, is Usar Khan dead?"

Lu Yunyi finally reacted and nodded quickly:

"Reporting to the general, it is my fault for not doing my job well.
When I found the fleeing Usar Khan, he was already dead in a military tent on the west side of the camp.

After investigation, the subordinates found that Usar Khan committed suicide, and there were traces of other people's activities and blood on his body.
He should have fled with Tianbao Nu together.
But when I went there, he had already fled to somewhere unknown."

After confirming the news again, Lan Yu remained calm and nodded slightly:
"The soldiers have searched the king's tent, and the seal is not there. It must have been taken away by Tianbao's slaves."

Lan Yu said this inexplicably, and others did not know what it meant.
But Lu Yunyi knew that this was their unspoken goal.

But Usar Khan's words awakened Lu Yunyi, making him hesitate, not knowing what to say or how to say it.

"Let's go for a walk with the general."

Seeing him like this, Lan Yu chuckled softly, put her hands behind her back, and walked away on her own.

Lu Yunyi quickly followed and asked curiously:
"General, the war is not over yet. Don't you need to go and command the war?"

"They are all experienced veterans. They don't need me to teach them how to fight."

Lan Yu smiled, feeling relaxed, and continued:
"We have fought all our lives and have seen more dead than alive.

Some people can't read a single word, but they know how to fight.

This should be the last war launched by Ming Dynasty.

The subsequent wars were mainly to clean up the remnants of the Northern Yuan Dynasty, and were not very large.

Now let them fight as much as they want."

Perhaps because the war was over, Lan Yu started to talk more, and the solemnity and sternness on his face gradually faded away.

The deep fatigue on his face began to emerge little by little, his eye sockets became sunken, his skin became sallow, and his originally neat beard became uneven.

Lu Yunyi looked thoughtful, and his heart was heavy.

Seeing him like this, Lan Yu thought he was doubtful, so he said:

"A general should know the weather, observe the terrain, understand human nature, know human desires, and know the human heart. This is what the book says.
But the real march and battle is not like this.

I am the general, and I am going to conquer the Northern Yuan Dynasty. Do you know what is the most exhausting thing?"

"I don't know."

“Coordinate the three armies.

A 150,000-man army was going to war. From making plans, mobilizing troops, recruiting soldiers, recruiting civilians, transporting food and grass, to making military equipment, all of these needed to be coordinated by the general.
The relationships are complex,

In addition, there are many factions in the court now, and any step forward would be an offensive task.
Either offend the important officials in the court or offend the local government.
Just talking about the issue of conscripting civilians, the army originally wanted to conscript 60,000 civilians from Lianghuai and northern Henan to follow the army and fight all the way to this place.

But just as the memorial was submitted, the court received at least twenty letters impeaching the general.

It was all the fault of the local government, who accused me of being aggressive and causing chaos among the people."

Lan Yu smiled bitterly and shook his head slowly:
"Under no other circumstances, the number of civilians was reduced to 30,000. This is a loss of face for me.

He summoned many of his old subordinates and borrowed the power of the Duke of Zheng's Mansion and the Duke of Shen's Mansion to barely get the group together.

You are gifted in battle, but I want to tell you,

The most difficult part of fighting a war is not on the battlefield, but the overall preparation before the war.
Just like the battle of Buir Lake, as long as I and the imperial court can safely send 150,000 troops here,

With the excellent armor and brave soldiers, the battle was already decided.

The generals in the army can fight, and they can do a great job even if I don't lead them personally.
But they cannot send this army of more than 100,000 here, so I, Lan Yu, the Marquis of Yongchang, will be the general who conquers the enemy."

Lu Yunyi frowned and fell into deep thought:
"General, do you mean that generals who are good at fighting in battles can only play a limited role?"

Lan Yu smiled and shook his head:
"It depends on the situation. The enemy and I are different in strength.
If the Northern Yuan Dynasty is stronger than the Ming Dynasty at this moment, I will rack my brains to think about how to defeat the strong with the weak, and use all my life's learning in the battle.

Before the Ming Dynasty was established, I followed General Chang Yuchun and General Xu Da.

All the battles were of this kind, where victory was won by relying on the abilities of the generals and the use of manpower, and the weak defeated the strong countless times.

Duke of Song Feng Sheng, the late King of Ninghe Deng Yu, Duke of Ying Fu Youde, and Marquis of Dingyuan Wang Bi are all such people.

But now the Ming Dynasty has strong soldiers and horses, excellent armor, and is invincible in the world.
If you want to win, you just need to let nature take its course, use your national strength to crush the enemy, and the enemy will naturally be defeated.
In such circumstances, the general needs to focus on the coordination of the three armed forces.

Duke of Han Li Shanchang, Duke of Cao Li Wenzhong, Duke of Xin Tang He, and Yu Tongyuan's elder brother, the late Duke of Guo Yu Tonghai, are all such people. "

At this point, Lu Yunyi suddenly had a flash of enlightenment.
Lan Yu must have seen how ferocious he was when charging into battle, so he reminded himself to shift towards coordination.

Without waiting for Lu Yunyi to speak, Lan Yu said:
"There will be fewer opportunities to fight in the future, and those who can come to the fore are those who are good at coordination and integration.

You are young, have military achievements, are strategic, and dare to fight. If you were born forty years earlier, you would have had the opportunity to ascend to a high position, but not now. "

Lu Yunyi looked solemn and bowed slightly:

"Thank you for your support, General. However, I still have some doubts in my mind. I would like to ask you to help me."

Lan Yu waved his hand:

"Don't aim too high. The high position I'm talking about is something like a general.
In such a place, even for me it is just a coincidence and cannot be forced.

As for you, settle down first, and you should be more than capable of leading an army."

"Uh" Lu Yunyi scratched his head awkwardly, with a wry smile on his face:
"That is not what the general is wondering about."

Lan Yu was stunned for a moment, then reacted and pointed at Lu Yunyi and laughed:

"Hahaha, young people just don't know their place. Since you are so confident, I will wait and see.

Now that we have won the battle and you have performed a great service, what do you want to ask?"

Lu Yunyi hesitated for a moment, smelling the unpleasant smell in the air and looking at the blood on the ground.
The strange thing was that he was not affected at all, but instead became more focused than ever before.

Taking a deep breath, Lu Yunyi spoke in a deep voice:
"I just feel that the Ming Dynasty should win fairly in dealing with the northern grasslands."

After he finished speaking, Lu Yunyi lowered his head, stared at the ground, and dared not say another word.

Lan Yu also stopped at the right time, stood there, turned sideways to look at Lu Yunyi, with a gleam in his eyes, but unfortunately Lu Yunyi could not see it.

"Is this what you have in mind?"

"Reporting to the General, that is exactly the case.

I have read history books and found that the customs and military styles of the founding dynasties of each dynasty would be widely spread.
Both Song and Yuan took some shortcuts in the wars when they founded their countries, which also led to some flaws in the subsequent wars.
This continued until the end of the two dynasties, and I call it path dependence."

Lan Yu looked puzzled and frowned slightly: "Tell me in detail."

Lu Yunyi paused and said, "General, I have a lot on my mind. Why don't I write it down and present it to you, General?"

Lan Yu looked at the soldiers around him who were handling the battlefield in an orderly manner, and showed impatience:

"Tell me, why do you always imitate those scholars who are so flowery at such a young age?"

Seeing this, Lu Yunyi was no longer polite and said softly:
"When the Song Dynasty was founded,
Faced with threats from powerful enemies such as Liao and Western Xia in the north, a defensive military strategy was adopted.

This is mainly because the Song Dynasty was relatively weak in military strength at the beginning of its establishment.

Moreover, the loss of the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun in the north put the Song Dynasty at a disadvantage militarily.

Internally, emphasis was placed on the construction of the imperial guards to strengthen the court's control over the military, which also led to most of the Song Dynasty's elite troops being stationed near the capital.

The policy of "emphasizing civil officials over military officials" was implemented, with civil officials commanding the army to prevent military generals from monopolizing power.

This was the strategy set when the Song Dynasty was founded.
This strategy continued without change until the collapse of the Song Dynasty because people were used to solving problems with familiar methods.

However, as time went by, due to the long-term implementation of the defensive strategy and the policy of emphasizing culture over military affairs,
The Song Dynasty's army gradually lost its offensive capability and its combat effectiveness declined.

At the same time, problems such as redundant officials and soldiers became increasingly serious, aggravating the financial burden and making it difficult for the Song Dynasty to respond effectively when faced with foreign invasions.

For example, during the Song-Jin War, although the Southern Song had some successful defensive battles in the early period,

But overall, the Southern Song army had difficulty organizing an effective attack, and even if they did, it would end in absurdity.

Song officials were more defensive, which was the foundation of their country and also the cause of their demise.”

Lan Yu frowned more and more, and after a long while, she nodded heavily:

"You are right. Whenever there was a rebellion, the Song Dynasty would pacify it and incorporate it into the Xiang army.

Finally, people actually tried to survive in the disaster year.
Taking the initiative to rebel and request to be incorporated into the Xiang army,
That’s probably what you mean by always using familiar methods to solve problems.”

Lan Yu turned her head to look at Lu Yunyi, her eyes gradually brightened:

"I said earlier that you are a warrior in battle.

But now it seems that I was wrong. Your ability to coordinate military strategies is also not bad. Continue. "

After receiving the compliment, Lu Yunyi breathed a sigh of relief. He was extremely nervous about showing off his skills in front of such a high-ranking official in the court.

"When the Yuan Dynasty was founded,

Externally, it adopted an active expansion strategy based on its strong military force.

The Mongol army relied heavily on its cavalry advantage, which came directly from the Mongols' nomadic lifestyle.

They are good at fighting on horseback, using the horses' fast movement to carry out surprise attacks and harassment.

This gave the Mongolian army extremely high mobility and flexibility on the battlefield.

Among them, the Mongolian army was in the process of pursuing the Naiman prince Qu Chuli.
Taking advantage of the situation, they marched westward to destroy Western Liao and opened up the road to the west. This shows their versatile mobility and flexibility.

In order to continue the war, the Yuan Dynasty army used Mongolian cavalry as its main force.

Focus on cavalry training and cavalry equipment, and pay less attention to infantry.

Internally, the "Thousand Household System" and "Qexue Military System" were adopted, and the Mongolian people were divided into several thousand households.
It was managed by the "Nayan" at all levels, forming a highly centralized military organization.

This system not only improved the mobilization and combat effectiveness of the Mongolian army,

It also strengthened the Mongol Khan's control over the army.

In the battle to eliminate Wang Han of the Kerait tribe, the Mongolian army relied on the thousand-household system to organize its advance and defeated the Kerait tribe with its organizational power.

However, precisely because of the tone set when the country was founded, the Yuan Dynasty was shackled by the "cavalry", "thousand-household system" and "Qieshu military system" until its death, and advocated the use of force to resolve conflicts until its death.

In the later battles with local rebel forces, the Mongolian army encountered opponents with strong city defenses and elite infantry.
It is the Red Turban Army, the predecessor of our Ming Dynasty.

In these areas, the mobility and rapid movement of the Mongolian cavalry could not bring into play their advantages.
This resulted in setbacks for the Mongolian army's military operations in these areas.

Also because Yuan advocated taking the initiative, heavy cavalry, light infantry,

When the Ming Dynasty marched north, they were unable to defend effectively.
They lost Shandong, Henan, and then Dadu."

Lan Yu looked reminiscent and nodded slightly:
"You are right. When we go north to destroy Yuan,

They have sent large cavalry forces to try to defeat us many times, using the same method they used when the Yuan Dynasty was founded."

Speaking of this, Lan Yu showed deep thought on his face.
Thinking of what Lu Yunyi had just said about being upright, his brows furrowed deeper and deeper, and he lowered his head and remained silent.

After a long time, Lan Yu slowly raised his head and looked at Lu Yunyi:
"Do you think that if we use evil tricks to win over the grassland, people in the future will become dependent on us?"

Lu Yunyi's face was solemn. It was only after Wusar Khan pointed this out to him that he finally figured out the problem.

"General, our Ming Dynasty conquered the Yuan Dynasty in the north, ended the chaotic times, established a unified dynasty, and won the country.

This is a great legacy, and all future generations of Ming soldiers and civilians will benefit from it.

Even if there are treasonous people who rebel, the people of the Ming Dynasty will not agree.

Since the beginning of the Northern Expedition, Your Majesty has been telling the world that the Ming Dynasty is determined to destroy the Yuan Dynasty in an upright manner. If one year is not enough, then fight for ten years. If ten years are not enough, then fight for twenty years.

Now is the 21st year of Hongwu. The Northern Yuan Dynasty has been destroyed. This is an upright act, and it will also be a blessing for future generations.

Therefore, I feel that if there are more twists and turns in this process, it is inevitable that future generations will follow suit and become dependent on it.

This move is a great achievement for the present generation, but a great sin for future generations!"

(End of this chapter)

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