Chapter 784

A slightly chilling north wind howled across the city wall of Shanhai Pass.

Xiao Ming, along with Niu Ben and the generals, stood on the Shanhai Pass city wall, looking at the boundless grasslands before them. In the coming days, the Great Yu Empire would wage a war here that would determine its national destiny.

Unlike the hazy environment of contemporary times, the visibility in this era was extremely clear. Through a telescope, Xiao Ming could see very far.

“Your Majesty, this is the strategy we discussed.”

Lu Fei recounted the marching strategy he, Luo Xin, and Lei Ming had discussed a few days prior, to Xiao Ming.

Turning around, Xiao Ming looked at the dozens of generals behind him and said, “Building fortified villages takes too long, and preparing materials is quite cumbersome. This time, I have mobilized all the chariots. You can rely on the chariots to establish mutually dependent chariot redoubts every twenty li. This way, it will be much more flexible than fortified villages.”

Lu Fei glanced at the dense chariots outside Shanhai Pass. For these past few years, the Great Yu Empire had been continuously manufacturing chariots, and now the number of chariots reached 1,800.

On normal days, besides their regular training, they would also conduct military exercises with the chariots, simulating encounters with barbarian cavalry.

Niu Ben said, “Using chariots as strongholds allows for both offense and defense. In unfavorable situations, they can also quickly withdraw. This time, the barbarians will surely use the full might of their nation. For safety, we must still rely on the chariots. It won’t be too late to dispatch construction battalions to build fortified villages once our positions are stabilized.”

Luo Quan nodded upon hearing this.

Lu Fei and the other two exchanged glances, then bowed simultaneously, “Yes, Your Majesty.”

Xiao Ming turned around and looked at the grasslands again. “Ammunition supply is extremely important in this war. Once ammunition is depleted, all advantages will be lost. So, if we can guarantee ammunition supply in this war, we can achieve victory. Otherwise, we will be in danger.”

The generals’ faces were grim. Since the founding of the Great Yu Empire, no war of such magnitude had ever occurred.

This was not an internal strife of the Great Yu Empire, nor a small border skirmish, but a full-scale war between the Great Yu Empire and the barbarians.

After inspecting the city defenses of Shanhai Pass, Xiao Ming and the generals descended the city wall. Along the way, the soldiers all looked at Xiao Ming with reverence.

The Emperor they worshipped day and night had appeared at Shanhai Pass and would fight alongside them, which excited the soldiers immensely.

Xiao Ming looked at the soldiers with a smile on his face. His purpose in coming here was to boost morale. Throughout the entire war, he would stay in Shanhai Pass rather than personally lead the expedition.

The reason for this was that he did not want to burden the generals. Because once the barbarians knew he was with the army, they would attack at all costs.

This would cause the generals to focus on protecting him and forget their objectives. He did not want to repeat the mistake of the Tumu Crisis in the Ming Dynasty.

After descending from the city wall, Xiao Ming did not rush to the General Staff Department established there, but went directly to the Shanhai Pass Grand Camp.

Now, soldiers from all over the Great Yu Empire were gathered here.

Upon arriving at the military camp, Xiao Ming and the generals entered the soldiers’ tents one by one, greeting them warmly and asking about their current needs.

“Your… Majesty, we don’t… need anything.”

A soldier, only eighteen years old, stood ramrod straight, his throat convulsing, speaking nervously and stammering. He was chatting with soldiers in a tent when Xiao Ming walked in.

Xiao Ming patted his shoulder and said loudly, “War is about to begin. You might not return from the battlefield. Now is not the time for falsehoods.”

The young soldier, hearing this, nervously glanced at Lu Fei. He was a soldier under Lu Fei’s command.

Swallowing, the soldier said, “I want a wife.”

As his words fell, the generals laughed. Niu Ben said, “The Emperor can’t give you that, but when you return from war and achieve merit, people will probably be breaking down your door to propose marriage.”

The soldiers scratched their heads upon hearing this. He shouted loudly, “Yes, General!”

After chatting with other soldiers for a while, Xiao Ming continued to inspect other parts of the military camp.

After he left, the young soldier plopped down on the ground. He said, “I must tell my mother when I get back that I saw the Emperor, and the Emperor even patted my shoulder.”

The other soldiers also looked excited. One soldier said, “I didn’t expect the Emperor to be so approachable.”

While the soldiers were discussing, Xiao Ming visited five or six more tents. At noon, he ate with the soldiers in the same tent. This populist gesture greatly boosted the soldiers’ morale.

In the afternoon, he gathered with the generals in the General Staff Department to plan the next day’s battle.

According to the offensive plan, the main army would leave the city tomorrow and advance towards Pingzhou City. According to the intelligence from the hunter cavalry, the barbarians had already assembled one hundred and twenty thousand cavalry near Pingzhou, and over two hundred thousand slave soldiers had entered Pingzhou City.

“According to the intelligence provided by the secret guards, the total number of barbarian cavalry is three hundred and fifty thousand. After the Bashu battle, approximately two hundred and ninety thousand should remain. A portion of these two hundred and ninety thousand cavalry are also in the west, defending against the Ottoman Empire. Now, the barbarians have mobilized one hundred and twenty thousand cavalry to deploy in Pingzhou City. This must be the majority of the barbarian’s eastern cavalry forces,” Luo Quan analyzed.

Xiao Ming nodded. In this era, any country possessing over three hundred thousand cavalry was a terrifying prospect.

Because the expenditure for merely maintaining and supporting over three hundred thousand cavalry was enough to cripple finances. If not for the barbarians owning vast grasslands and raising horses in large herds, it would be impossible to develop cavalry to such a scale.

However, besides cavalry, the barbarians also had a large agricultural population. Besides slave soldiers, there were also barbarian infantry. Adding these up, the barbarian’s military strength was not to be underestimated.

“The number of barbarian cavalry in the west should be around one hundred thousand. So, there are still seventy thousand cavalry not mobilized. These cavalry should be the forces guarding the Golden Tent,” Niu Ben said.

Lu Fei then said, “And we, with the newly supplemented recruits, total one hundred and ten thousand men, of whom eighty thousand are infantry and thirty thousand are cavalry. Qi Guangyi commands thirty thousand cavalry, and Ye Qingyun commands thirty thousand infantry. Our total military strength is one hundred and seventy thousand men.”

“The numbers are disparate,” Xiao Ming narrowed his eyes. However, the number of a modern army could not be compared to that of a feudal army.

Looking at the General Staff Department’s sand table, he continued, “For us, the most threatening force is the barbarian cavalry. As long as we eliminate the barbarian cavalry, the other infantry are merely a rabble and cannot directly confront us.”

The generals also understood this principle. They exchanged glances and nodded.

After analyzing the strengths of both sides, Xiao Ming and the generals determined the enemy’s troop deployment on the sand table and formulated the next day’s marching plan before adjourning.

Early the next morning, as a red sun had just risen above the horizon, the Shanhai Pass city gate opened wide. Soldiers in green uniforms, carrying Conqueror Muskets and flintlock guns, marched valiantly and spiritedly towards Pingzhou City.