Lu Xiangsheng keenly discovered that the Shandong Army had begun to develop from focusing on personal combat capabilities to focusing on weapon use and military cooperation.

And what made Lu Xiangsheng feel the most different this time was that the Shandong Army attached great importance to the personal lives of soldiers. Each company was equipped with a medical soldier and each brigade had a battlefield hospital.

When fighting, the commanders of the Shandong Army began to reduce casualties as the first principle. They could use long-range dying of the enemy and would never have to make progress in hand-to-hand combat.

The terrifying range and range of artillery cannons increased, which often caused the Mongols to be beaten and fled without rushing in front of them.

The gap between the imperial court and Shandong soldiers was getting bigger and bigger. The imperial court has only begun to train new troops now. For the Shandong army, such a new army has long been outdated, and its weapons are also outdated equipment from the Shandong army.

Moreover, in terms of financial resources, the imperial court could not compare with the Shandong army at all.

What is even more incomparable is the loyalty of the soldiers. Few civil officials and generals in the court were willing to die for Chongzhen, while the Shandong army could die for Zhao Yan at any time.

This is the biggest gap.

One of the injuries will be caused when the two tigers fight each other. This temporary peace will not be maintained for too long, and the court will undoubtedly be defeated. Lu Xiangsheng thought a lot while cooperating with the infantry brigade of the First Division, and was very conflicted in his heart.

As a wise minister, the word "loyal" cannot be abandoned.

However, the imperial court was decayed and was no longer the wise ruler of the world. The Shandong Military Group headed by Zhao Yan was a group with great development awareness and a group that considered the people of the world.

Strictly speaking, this is a group that fights for the nation, but treats foreigners very hard-working.

Lu Xiangsheng did support the Shandong Army in his heart, but was bound by loyalty and filial piety. He could never decide which camp he wanted to stand in. Generally speaking, it was very contradictory.

The best result is to keep it true - constitutional!

However, judging by the various methods of Chongzhen recently, Lu Xiangsheng understood that constitutionalism may not last for years. Maybe two years, maybe three years, maybe five years, definitely not more than five years.

Chongzhen has recently vigorously abolished the official troops of various provinces. The Xuan Da army trained by Lu Xiangsheng was the first to learn from the Shandong Army, so it was not abolished.

As for Chongzhen's border disarmament, the Shandong Army expanded its borders and continuously sent troops to various provinces. Lu Xiangsheng understood that this was Chongzhen concentrating his own strength and dispersing the power of the Shandong Army.

But what's the use of this?

The Shandong Army had an amazing financial resources. The last time he went to Shandong to attend Zhao Yan's wedding banquet, he learned from some naval officers that the Shandong Army had seized a large amount of gold and silver overseas last year.

With such financial support, and Shandong now adopts a compulsory military service system, soldiers no longer pay military salaries, and those who join the army are also given to Japanese slaves, and their production will not be affected.

Even if all the officials and troops in various provinces are laid off? Moreover, the territory has been taken over by the Shandong army. With Shandong's business capabilities, the wealth will inevitably increase.

Even if Shandong's defense is empty, the imperial court will not be able to win.

Shandong's defense system Lu Xiangsheng has seen it. There are bastions everywhere in Shandong, and attacking these bastions can kill people. Moreover, most young and strong people in Shandong participate in military training, and there are even women learning to use muskets at the shooting range. If the imperial court attacks Shandong, it will definitely fall into a hornet's nest.

Furthermore, Zhao Yan can evacuate Zhaojia Fort at any time, and there are too many places to move. He can hide on the sea, in Liaodong, and in North Korea.

As long as Zhao Yan is still there, when the main force of the Shandong Army returns, the final day of the court will arrive. If Zhao Yan is gone, the result will be even more terrifying. The Shandong Army is very likely to split, but no one will surrender to the court, but instead will slaughter the Ming Court.

Helping the court is impossible to succeed, and it may lead to irreversible results.

Recently, during a conversation between Lu Xiangsheng and Liu Heng, he learned that the Shandong Army had already set up the Nuergandus and began to expand northward and westward. After the Shandong Army conquered Mongolia, it planned to reset the "Western Region Protectorate" in the Tang Dynasty. Lu Xiangsheng couldn't help but feel upset. He had an idea in his mind, it would be better to go to the Western Regions to fight against foreign races by himself, and never participate in the battle between the emperor and Zhao Yan from then on.

On one hand, he is his loyal emperor, and on the other hand, he is his own allies. He does not participate in it, but goes to fight against foreign races. He is so loyal and righteous.

... "The Mongols are joining the alliance in Hetao?" Liu Heng couldn't help but confirm again when he received information from the west.

"Report to the Chief of Staff that more than 100,000 Mongolians are all in the Ordos tribe in Hetao."

"Aren't they looking for death?" Liu Heng wondered, and spread the map out, the Hetao Plain, which is an area surrounded by water on three sides and rich water plants.

The Yellow River originates on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, then flows through Lanzhou and turns north, then goes east, south, and east.

Therefore, a door font is formed, and the Hetao Plain is among the door fonts. The Hetao Plain in a broad sense also refers to the surroundings of the door font, and under this door is northern Shaanxi.

The Mongols gathered in Ordos, which was equivalent to gathering above the door font.

"What would happen if we closed the door and beat the dog?" Liu Hengyan said, and Zhang Zhi shook his head and said, "We don't have that many troops."

"There are two infantry brigades in Shaanxi that can be drawn," said Liu Heng. Zhang Zhi thought for a while and said, "It's enough, but the significance of this battle may not be too great. Even if these Mongols are destroyed, their tribes will still run away, and if we chase them again, we will be slower. However, if we don't fight this battle, the Mongols may harass us everywhere."

"That makes sense." Liu Heng nodded and said, "It's okay for those tribes to let them run. We are mainly to clear the field. Mongolian tribes are not allowed to exist in this grassland, and they can run to the first day of the lunar month, and they can't run to the fifteenth."

"I am sending my order, 01,02,03,04 cavalry brigade patrols along the Yellow River, destroying the river crossing facilities, and saying patrols, and not letting anyone cross the river."

"The Infantry Brigade of the First Division and Xuandayou Army crossed the river from the Hequ Ferry Crossing, joined the 03,04th Infantry Brigade of the Second Shaanxi Division to comprehensively eliminate the turtle in the jar..."

The combat command issued several orders in succession. The cavalry brigade received the order to advance westward quickly. On April 12, it arrived at the bank of the Yellow River, opposite the Hetao Plain, which was called Tumochuan in this era.

The Yellow River has thawed in April, and the water in the upper reaches of the Yellow River is relatively flat, but the river surface is also wider. After the Cavalry Brigade arrives along the Yellow River, the Cavalry Brigade marches along the Yellow River. Each time a distance is marching, a cavalry battalion and several artillery are left behind.

Scouts were planted everywhere along the Yellow River. Pay attention to whether the Mongols crossed the river at any time. Once the Mongols were found crossing the river, immediately notify the nearby cavalry camp to come and stop it.

Four cavalry battalions arranged troops along the Yellow River. In just eight days, they surrounded the entire Yellow River periphery of the Hetao area.

During this period, three bridges used by the Mongols to cross the river were destroyed.

The infantry brigade and Xuanda soldiers went from Datong to the river breeze.

There is a Yellow River Ferry in Hequ. It is thought that it is a place where bandits compete with the government army and focus on defense. In the sixth year of Chongzhen, Hequ was captured by bandits, causing a large number of bandits in northern Shaanxi to pour into Shanxi.

After learning from the lessons, the Shanxi authorities greatly strengthened the defense line of the Yellow River, which led to the failure of Li Zicheng to cross the river in the ninth year of Chongzhen and had to turn west.

When the Mongols who came to Ordos were still clamoring for whom to lead the Allied forces, they suddenly discovered that a large number of Ming troops appeared along the Yellow River, and they were blocking them in full swing.

Unexpectedly, the Ming army came so rapidly that it suddenly returned from the eastern front.

However, many Mongolians did not know what this meant. Their intention to join the Hetao Alliance was also to invade south. They thought that since the Ming army came to attack Mongolia and their troops were now concentrated in the east, they would go to Shaanxi to loot.

Seeing that the Yellow River was surrounded, the Mongols might not have a big surname when they crossed the river and returned, so the 130,000 warriors from the alliance marched south in a mighty manner.

The alliance requires a lot of food and grass.

It is obviously impossible for the tribes to carry them, so they naturally have to go to Ming Kingdom to grab them, otherwise they will not be able to support them. As for the leader who has not been selected yet, Mongolia has become a headless snake after the Qing Dynasty.

But under the aggressive momentum of the Ming army, they still chose to unite.

Although the natural form of the Hetao area has been formed since ancient times, the name of the Hetao area began in the Ming Dynasty. The emergence of the name "Hetao" was related to the migration of various Mongolian tribes under the rule of the Northern Yuan Khan in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, namely the "Northern Lie" in the Chinese translation to the southern desert area. In the fifth year of Jingtai (1454), the Northern Yuan Dynasty was killed and the "Northern Lie" went south one after another. The Northern Yuan Taishi Bolai led his troops into the condom in the seventh year of Jingtai. After that, Bolai and Aluo tribes entered Hetao and repeatedly invaded the Ming border. In the first year of Chenghua (1465), Maori kids entered the condom. Since the sixth year of Chenghua (1470), Kaslan, Boluohu and Mandulu have also entered and left Hetao, and the ice was frozen into the condom, and the river ice was untied. After the sixth year of Chenghua, the "Northern Lie" lived in Hetao for a long time, and the Ming side tried to prevent them from staying in the condom.

"Search the set" and "discussing the set" became one of the issues of the Ming court, and the name of Hetao was found in history. In the second year of Tianshun (1458), "A man from the captive army said that more than 2,000 subordinates of Bolai were still trapped in the Yellow River Tao." This "Yellow River Tao" refers to the Hetao area. By the sixth year of Chenghua (1470), the name "Hetao" appeared in the report of the Ningxia Governor of the Ming Dynasty (such a title may be earlier). The article stated: "The recent captive chief Alu led the crowd to sneak in Hetao, moving tens of thousands of people. Hunting was a living, aquatic plants were living, without the worries of enemies, and there was the benefit of stealing."

The Mongolian tribes entered Hetao, which put huge pressure on the border defense of the Ming Dynasty. Mongolian tribes often used Hetao as a base to invade the mainland.

The northern Shaanxi border army took advantage of the Mongolian war and went to the north to "searching the set".

By the beginning of the 16th century, Dayan Khan unified Mongolia, and Hetao was sealed to the Ordos tribe, and Mongolia had long occupied this area.

In the 25th year of Jiajing of Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Ting had a long debate on reconnaissance. Zeng Xian, the representative official who advocated reconnaissance, was arrested, and Xia Yan was dismissed and killed. The reconnaissance discussion ended like this. After that, the Hetao area became a stable herd land for the Ordos tribe.

As Mingting's military destruction and the border wall became more and more perfect, the conflict between the two sides began to decrease.

This time, Mongolia was coming in full force, with 130,000 people rushing towards Shaanxi. As a result, they collided with the 03,04th Infantry Brigade who had just arrived in Shaanxi.

Suddenly, the sound of guns and cannons on the border was endless. The Mongolians tried to rush into the Great Wall. They chose a relatively easy gap. As a result, the Mongolians were violently bombarded by artillery as soon as they started rushing.

Mingting built the most city walls. In the past, the labor service was dispatched almost every year. The Great Wall in northern Shaanxi was well-built. The Mongolians hit the head and under the defense of the 03,04th Infantry Brigade, there was nowhere to go and there was no gap to break into the mainland.

The Mongols wandered in the northern part of Yulin for three days in chaos. The 03 and 04th Infantry Brigade relied on the Great Wall. Although the troops were scattered on the long border line, they defeated the Mongols again and again.

When Governor Yantu heard that Mongolia had made a large-scale invasion, he quickly summoned the people of northern Shaanxi to cooperate with the defense of the 03,04th Infantry Brigade. Now that the Shaanxi border troops have been abolished, Governor Yantu has become famous and can only mobilize the people to help the Shandong army to assist in the defense.

After the people of northern Shaanxi arrived in the Yulin area, the defensive pressure of the 03 and 04th Infantry Brigade was greatly reduced because these people began to repair the gap in the border city wall, which allowed the two infantry brigades to pull out their hands in those places.

As soon as these Mongols went south, their hometown was quickly confiscated by Qin Zhiyuan. He found that the Mongols in Hetao area were empty, and directly built a floating bridge to cross the Yellow River and began to search for the trap.

The search was very smooth. In the north of Hetao, there were only some old, weak, women and children from the Ordos tribe, as well as some cattle and sheep. Qin Zhiyuan led the 03rd Cavalry Brigade to make trouble for the Ordos tribe. After a few days, he grabbed all the cattle, sheep and horses, cut off all the men above the wheel, and then quickly crossed the Yellow River.

When they retreated, the Ordos tribe no longer existed. When the Ordos tribe received the news, Qin Zhiyuan had already crossed the river.

The Mongolians who were thinking hard in the south to get into the pass heard that the rear was attacked and could not enter the front, and they were a little confused for a moment. Many Mongolian tribes finally realized that they had entered the encirclement of the Ming army.

And Hequ Ferry is busy at this moment.

The engineers quickly built a pontoon bridge in Hequ. It took a full day to build the pontoon bridge. Then the infantry brigades that arrived at Hequ quickly passed through the pontoon bridge and entered the Hetao area.

The combat command also came to Hequ. Lu Xiangsheng looked at the rolling Yellow River water in front of him and smiled: "Now that most of Mongolia is surrounded in Hetao, we can win in one battle."

"The encirclement is not tight yet, so the gap must be blocked in time." Liu Heng said.

"Where is there any quibulation? I will lead the troops to block the door." Lu Xiangsheng volunteered. He knew that with the strength of Xuan Da's troops, his performance in field battles with the Mongols was far less free than that of the Shandong Army. It would be better to lead the troops to block the door.

After discussion, the combat command finally asked Lu Xiangsheng to lead his troops to defend the Yulin front line, and the 03 and 04th Infantry Brigade of the Second Division also defended on this line.

The three sides of the gate-shaped area are surrounded by water, and are surrounded by four cavalry brigades based on the natural danger of the Yellow River. Although there are several places that are easy to exit and enter in the Hetao area, there are only a few places. It is still very simple for four cavalry brigades to surround these three sides.

Below the gate font is the Yulin defense line, Lu Xiangsheng's 50,000 Xuan horses, plus the 03,04th Infantry Brigade of the Second Division of the Shandong Army, it is even more blocked.

This door was quickly closed.

The five infantry brigades of the First Division crossing the Hequ Ferry were not in a hurry to find the Mongols to fight. They first rested in northern Yulin for five days.

During these five days, all the units responsible for the encirclement were in place. The Mongols were trapped in a square shape, and it was almost impossible to get out.

The following is the process of slowly clearing out.

The First Division, which had been resting for five days, quickly set off. It was slow and bit the main force of the Mongolians. Anyway, the Mongolians could not escape, and the food they carried could not last for a few days.

What should I do if I don’t have food?

There is only one who kills the horse.

What to do if there are no horses?

There is only one to fight in the foot.
To be continued...