Chapter 117                                                             

At the end of April of the 31st year of Jiajing.

Ma Fang returned from Xuan Mansion in a dusty manner.

Boyan stayed in Xuanfu for more than a month. With the support of the Ming army and several towns of troops, he left with the looted things. The people's livelihood of the Xuanfu was once again severely damaged. Even Ma Fang came back this time, he actually brought many people in Xuanfu who were willing to move to Datong.

After all, the gap between the Datong Army and the Xuanfu Army is quite large in the war this spring. Anyone with a discerning eye can see it.

After Ma Fang arrived in Datong, she was immediately called by Zhou Mengchen.

Ma Fang told Zhou Mengchen about the war in Xuanfu in detail.

Zhou Mengchen pondered for a moment and said, "So that the Tartars did not suffer much damage?"

Ma Fang's face twitched slightly and said, "That's right, all the troops were afraid to fight. I really couldn't help it, so I fought with the Tartars twice. The Tartars felt pain and felt that the Ming army around them were getting bigger and bigger, so they fled. Without even going far, they grazed on the grassland north of Xuanfu. It was only a few dozen miles away from the side wall."

Zhou Mengchen said: "The same is true? There are also Tartars grazing on the grasslands in Datong North."

Ma Fang's eyes sagged and said coldly: "Please rest assured, I will let them know that Prince Ma has three eyes. If you dare to be arrogant in front of me, I want to see how many lives they have."

The distance of dozens of miles is already very close to the cavalry.

If you go too deep outside the side wall, even Ma Fang would not dare to take too much risk. But just a few dozen miles north of the side wall, in Ma Fang's opinion, it was almost done. As long as there were heavy troops on the side wall, even if there were thousands of troops, Ma Fang would dare to walk, let alone some grazing people.

Even in Ma Fang's opinion, this is a good opportunity to grab the horse.

Zhou Mengchen said: "Of course, we can't let the Tartars live a better life. I've figured it out clearly. If the Tartars live a better life, we're not going to live a better life. Now we have the energy to not give the Tartars a good-looking one. The Tartars don't know how powerful we are. If they keep thinking about it like this, they come and leave. The vitality of Datong has never been able to recover. Therefore, we don't know that we have been passively beaten like this."

When Ma Fang heard this, she was delighted and said, "Sir, how are you going to fight?"

Zhou Mengchen originally wanted to postpone this plan for a while. After all, Datong's foundation is still weak. If he could cultivate for one or two years, Zhou Mengchen would have enough manpower and material resources to implement this plan. However, after the war this spring, Zhou Mengchen deeply understood a truth, that is, if he wanted to farm quietly, it depends on whether the Tartars were beaten and hurt.

Otherwise, the Tartar cavalry was ready to go south at any time, what would Zhou Mengchen use to farm?

Once the Tartars went south, everything in Datong would be delayed, and all manpower and material resources would be transferred to the military. Normal agricultural production was strongly affected, let alone other industries. Zhou Mengchen had no idea how to start.

Zhou Mengchen said: "I have discussed with you before. This time I am planning to rebuild the Yulin Acropolis."

After hearing this, Ma Fang moved all over and said, "Sir, do you really want to fight like this? If you fight like this, it will consume too much. It will be a protracted war of attrition. Datong's foundation may not be able to hold on."

Zhou Mengchen naturally knew this. He said: "I have calculated that although the old Yulin city still has its foundation, it has many declines. If you want to build a city in one fell swoop, you must have tens of thousands of troops stationed in Yulin Guards for one month. As long as you have to maintain 5,000 people in Yulin Old City for a long time. From Datong to Yulin Old City, you can go upstream along the Shili River. However, after abandoning the boat from Shili River, you will be a mountain road along the way. The mountain road is difficult and we have insufficient support and need wheelbarrow transportation. This hundred-mile transportation line, especially from the Khahukou to the old Yulin Old City, is exposed to the attack of the Tartars. If we cannot transport food to the Yulin City, the Tartars may not be able to conquer Yulin City, but under the long siege, the fate of Yulin City can be imagined."

"This is a war of attrition, and I don't even know how much it will be consumed. But one thing I know is that Datong Town has a weak foundation, but the Tartars are weaker than ours."

"You have to choose the time to fight a war, but when the time is ripe. There will never be a real time to mature."

"It's hard for me to fight this battle today, and it's hard for the enemy."

"I want to see if he can't hold on for the first time, or if I, Zhou Mengchen, can't hold on for the first time."

"Ma Fang, you are the leader of Datong military generals. Let me tell me the truth today. Do you think this battle can be fought?"

After hearing this, Ma Fang hesitated for a long time.

Ma Fang looked at the map hanging on the wall, and slowly lost her focus. He understood in his heart and said in his heart, "This is a decisive battle."

Ma Fang hated the Tartars the most, that the Tartars refused to fight with them. Instead, they launched the number of cavalry and the advantage of the number of war horses, and became a chaotic war. If the Tartars really dared to fight the Datong Army, a dignified battle and a confrontation between men. Ma Fang was really not afraid of them.

This is all Zhou Mengchen's strategic intentions, which forced the Tartars to face the battle.

It looks very good. But Ma Fang knows how many problems there are. The biggest problem is that Zhou Mengchen bets too much. The battle for Yulin Guard may not end in a year, and it will take several years to decide the outcome.

This is not surprising. The geographical location of Yulin Acropolis is not critical, but it represents the intention of the Ming Dynasty to march towards Qingcheng.

What Ma Fang was most worried about was that Datong could not support him in the end.

There is no more poison than food. Ma Fang knew what it would be like if Datong could not hold on to the consumption. No matter how good the army was, he would not be able to win the battle when he was hungry. However, the fate of corpses was to be buried all the way. I would lose many soldiers.

Even when Ma Fang was fighting, he never took his life seriously. He was thinking for a long time now, but he couldn't say anything. Or he couldn't do it.

How could Zhou Mengchen not understand Ma Fang? He actually knew that the bet on this battle was too big.

However, there is a reason why he dared to do this. Ma Fang didn't know that the Tartars sent troops to harass outside Juyong Pass again, causing Beijing to be shocked overnight, putting a lot of pressure on Xu Jie. Xu Jie had to do something to save the situation. If it didn't work, the Minister of War Nie Bao and Xu Jie would probably not be able to save it.

After all, if something like this happens, someone will always be responsible.

Therefore, Xu Jie urgently needs a great victory at this moment.

Xu Jie's policy on the border has always been conservative. As long as he can drive the Tartars away, he will not cause any major problems, even if he suffers a small loss, Xu Jie doesn't think there is anything wrong. After all, in Xu Jie's view, the problem of the Ming Dynasty is inside and outside.

Zhou Mengchen had previously passed the qi with the Marquis of Fengcheng. Although the Marquis of Fengcheng played a great role in the capital camp, he did not have much say in the court. He had to be supported by a big boss in the court.

Xu Jie would never support such a war on weekdays.

So, from this perspective, the opportunity is rare. If you miss this opportunity, it will be difficult for Zhou Mengchen to find such an opportunity.

Although Zhou Mengchen could be executed first and then report, Zhou Mengchen also knew that he had several criminal records. In addition, with Teng Xiang around him, many things were difficult to do. But with Xu Jie's endorsement, it would be different.

So in this matter, the military conditions may be a bit hasty, but the political conditions are ripe.

Also, the news that Xin Ai officially built Qingcheng reached Zhou Mengchen's ears.

What was Zhou Mengchen most worried about before this?

What I am worried about is that Xin Ai doesn't respond to the situation and doesn't care about you at all, avoiding Zhou Mengchen's edge. Preserving his strength is like Chengzu's northern expedition. The Mongols from all walks of life ran away, making Emperor Chengzu lose his temper. Now Zhou Mengchen doesn't have this worry.

After all, Xin Ai had just built the city and had not yet had a hot place. Without fighting with the Ming army, she gave the city to the Ming Dynasty. Not to mention Xin Ai was willing to give up or not. Just talking about Xin Ai's political prestige was gone.

So Xin Ai will definitely fight with the Ming Dynasty before he will run away.

Zhou Mengchen was not afraid of Xin Ai's fight, but was afraid that he would not fight. As long as he could force the Tartars to fight, it would be a good thing.

Seeing that Ma Fang couldn't figure it out for a moment, Zhou Mengchen said, "You go down and think about it carefully. This matter is not urgent, but it must not be circulated."

Ma Fang bowed and said, "Yes."
Chapter completed!