On June 28, the 15th year of Chongzhen, Zhang Mingwei continued to lead the army south.

When he arrived in Kaizhou, Daming Prefecture, Liu Jin brought Ye Bushang to report, saying that he had met Ye Bushang sent by Wu Sangui.

When Zhang Mingwei heard this, he immediately summoned Ye Bucheng to find out the situation on the front line.

He attaches great importance to intelligence work. Therefore, he usually releases hundreds of miles in a radius if he doesn't collect it at night.

Some people don’t accept information about personally investigating, some people don’t accept information about the local government, and they will eventually be summarized every day as a reference for the next day’s march.

"Return to the Duke of China!" Wu Sangui's troops, Ye Busu, saw Duke Xing personally questioning, was very excited and quickly replied, "Our troops joined forces with the other four guerrillas to fight together, wiped out more than 10,000 bandits from Li Di's troops, and the troops headed straight to Kaifeng City..."

Zhang Mingwei listened very carefully and asked a few questions from time to time. Finally, he learned about the basic situation of the five-way guerrillas.

In general, Li Zicheng should have known the truth and reality of Wu Sangui and others, so he did not pay special attention to it, but Yuan Zongdi led his troops to deal with it.

According to Ye Bushang, Wu Sangui and others were not afraid of powerful enemies and fully utilized their flexibility in guerrilla warfare. They repeatedly injured Yuan Zongdi's troops who besieged Kaifeng, successfully restrained the bandits and ensured that Kaifeng City is still in the hands of the court.

However, there were many casualties and injuries, and there were even a few times when they were almost entangled by the cavalry of Yuan Zongdi.

After listening to it, Zhang Mingwei asked Yebu to receive the map of Henan and Hebei, and then said it again based on the map, including the movements of Wu Sangui's troops and Yuan Zongdi's troops.

However, this night is not only responsible for the investigation of information from the north, so the information known is not comprehensive.

After thinking for a while, Zhang Mingwei sent Liu Jin to the army of Wu Sangui and others to learn more specific situations with the Ye Busuo.

Then, he ordered Lan Tianbao to say, "Go and find some yellow mud!"

When Zhu Moe next to him heard this, he was very surprised and couldn't help asking: "Sir, why do you want Huang Niba?"

She was still busy with the upcoming war just now, and suddenly she was about to be yellow. She really couldn't figure out this unrelated thing.

After hearing this, Zhang Mingwei smiled slightly and said, "Of course I'm playing with mud!"

"..." Zhu Mai was speechless when she heard this.

Lan Tianbao couldn't figure it out, but since it was the master's order, he went out to look for Huang Niba immediately without saying a word.

Zhu Mai wanted to ask again, but Zhang Mingwei said to her: "Let the Kaizhou magistrate come in, I have something to tell him!"

When the power of the government and the opposition arrived in Kaizhou, although he stayed in the army outside the city without entering the city, he had such a good opportunity to curry favor with the Duke, so the magistrate of Kaizhou would not miss it. He found a reason to stay in the military camp.

This is also a benefit of Zhang Mingwei's leadership. If someone else was replaced, even Min Hongxue might not have such influence. In the 11th year of Chongzhen, the first assistant Liu Yuliang was directly rejected when he wanted to enter the city.

Sometimes people can’t compare with each other.

After Zhang Mingwei ordered, the middle-aged and old man Kaizhou magistrate came in happily.

"I don't know what the Duke of the State has to give, so the subordinates will definitely overcome all difficulties and will do it!" The voice of the Kaizhou magistrate was very loud, and it was obvious that he was determined.

In his opinion, it was nothing more than to provide money and food in Kaizhou? There was the previous imperial edict and the Duke of the State was here personally. There was no need to say that the State Office could ask the gentry of Kaizhou for money. I believe that they knew it was provided to the Duke of the State, so they would definitely take the opportunity to hand the name to the Duke of the State.

Zhang Mingwei could understand the flattery in the eyes of this middle-aged man, and said kindly: "I need people who are very familiar with the situation south of Kaizhou, including the terrain, population distribution, etc., all the way to the surrounding area of ​​Kaifeng City..."

Speaking of this, he found that the Kaizhou magistrate looked stunned and reminded him: "Businessmen, hunters, Tchaifu, etc., these people may know more. You can do it immediately!"

The Kaizhou Magistrate came to his senses and guessed that it was related to the battle in Kaifeng, so he quickly agreed and went there again.

As soon as he left, Lan Tianbao had already come back and reported: "I found a lot of yellow nippas, and the master wanted as much as he could."

After hearing this, Zhang Mingwei smiled and said to Zhu Xi, "Listen, I will teach you how to play with Mudba next time. This time, I will do it first, and you will have to do it later."

"..." Zhu Mai was speechless. Could it be that she was playing house with a clay man? But, isn't it right now?

"..." Lan Tianbao was also a little confused.

Seeing them like this, Zhang Mingwei stopped teasing them and said with a smile: "Next, we should use Kaifeng as the decisive battle place with the thief army under Li Zicheng. Therefore, it is very important to understand the terrain and terrain around Kaifeng and the distribution of enemy and our troops."

Speaking of this, after a pause, he continued: "So we have to make a sand table for reference for marching and fighting!"

The earliest record of the sand table is in "Book of the Later Han Dynasty: Biography of Ma Yuan".

It is said that in 32 AD, Emperor Guangwu of Han conquered Wei Xiang in Longxi and summoned the famous general Ma Yuan to discuss the strategy of march. Ma Yuan was very familiar with the geographical situation in the Longxi area, so he piled rice into a model similar to the terrain on the ground.

Then, there is no specific record. Although it is often seen in film and television dramas, those are not reliable.

The most formal record of military sand tables was that in 1811, von Leswitz, a civilian military adviser of King Fetterey William III of Prussia, made an exquisite battlefield model with clay, and used colors to represent roads, rivers, villages and woods, and used small pieces of porcelain to represent troops and weapons, etc.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, sand table map matchups were mainly used for military training. It was not until after World War I that it was used in actual wars. By the time of World War II, sand table map matchups developed again and were widely used, and almost became a regular procedure for starting a combat plan.

At this time, when Zhu Mai and Lan Tianbao heard what Zhang Mingwei said, they were still a little confused, but they also realized that this was the Duke who taught the ability to fight. So both of them were excited and looking forward to it.

It is easy to say that sand tables are easy to say, such as horses just pile up rice. However, if it is difficult, it is definitely very difficult.

The sand tables in later generations were made of satellite photos, and only through various methods could they be made into military sand tables. In this era, there was no such thing at all.

During the preparation of materials, Zhang Mingwei first started drawing with a charcoal pen. He set the overall proportion with the distance to Kaifeng City, and then subdivided it.

He now has a preliminary idea to fight a war north of the Yellow River first. Therefore, this sand table is mainly north of the Yellow River. As for the future war in Kaifeng, it is not too late to wait until Kaifeng to make a sand table.

Zhang Mingwei has never made a sand table, but he knows the general principle. He only gets a relatively satisfactory piece of paper by writing and drawing.

At this time, the magistrate of Kaizhou was also diligent and had already found a group of businessmen and Tchaifu to come.

Zhang Mingwei personally met him, listened to them telling the terrain, and then began to add to the manuscript he had drawn. In this way, a lot of white paper wasted.

In the meantime, it was thanks to Zhu Mai who was by her side. After seeing the paintings painted by Zhang Mingwei, she was able to "copied" many copies for Zhang Mingwei to modify.

It took a day to complete the first draft. Then the blue sky ensured the living here, split it up in a grid, used yellow mud to shape the terrain, and used different colors to represent mountains, rivers and rivers.

During this process, Zhang Mingwei guided the whole process and had to strictly follow the proportion line he specified in advance, including size, height, etc. If he lost the loss, he had sufficient manpower and had a lot of blocks invalidated. It took two days to complete the production of the sand table.

Looking at the three-dimensional sand tables filled with the central army tent, they were really accomplished. When they looked at Zhang Mingwei, they were all different.

This kind of thing is definitely a secret that is not passed down, and it is a family treasure that is passed down by the general or other things. However, the Duke of the State gave them his own instructions and taught them step by step.

Having such a treasure in hand is equivalent to having a clear understanding of the battlefield, greatly increasing the chances of winning the battle!

At this time, Liu Jin had already rushed back in vain and reported to Zhang Mingwei the comprehensive information he had learned from Wu Sangui and others.

As a result, Zhang Mingwei identified Wu Sangui and others on the sand table, and the distribution of thieves. In addition, combined with the information found by the state prefecture archives and Ye Bushou and others, the situation in the villages and towns was also marked.

At this point, a military sand table was officially completed.

"Master, with this thing, villains can command war!" Liu Jin looked at the sand table with a little dumbfounded look and couldn't help but say to Zhang Mingwei.

When Lan Tianbao heard this, he said proudly from the side: "Do you know how to do it? The master has taught me!"

After hearing this, Liu Jin hurriedly said to Zhang Mingwei: "Master, the villain wants to learn too!"

"Haha, I want to learn to look back at what Lantianbao does!" Zhang Mingwei said with a smile after hearing this.

After saying that, he saw Liu Jin happily like something, and couldn't help but shake his head.

Zhang Mingwei was planning to concretely and standardize the war. Naturally, these things could not be hidden. Those that could be taught will be taught. For example, the sand table production, such as the summary before and after the war, etc.

Although it is said that hiding it can make the coach look very powerful. But this is not what Zhang Mingwei pursues: coming to this world is not to show off, but to bring peace to the ages!

Everything was ready, so Zhang Mingwei ordered a military convening.
Chapter completed!