After the blockade of the grassland began, in less than half a month, a large number of grassland tribes began to unite.

It was the Ming Dynasty that forced them to unite.

When the nine-border blockade was launched, the first and greatest impact was suffered by the Northern Yuan Dynasty.

Most of the grassland territories currently controlled by the Northern Yuan Dynasty basically cover the borders of the Ming Dynasty, and the people here are extremely dependent on the Ming Dynasty.

Unlike U-Tsang, which is the Western Region, the border between the Northern Yuan Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty was directly under the jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty.

At this point, it becomes extremely troublesome.

In fact, it is very difficult to completely close the blockade of the grassland. Smugglers can still enter the Western Regions and then enter the grassland from the Western Regions.

But this requires taking a detour through the Eastern Chagatai Khanate. Simply put, the distance is at least nearly three thousand miles.

Three thousand miles, and having to take a detour through U-Tsang in the Western Regions and the Eastern Chagatai Khanate, which smuggler would be so stupid?

Therefore, it is difficult for the Northern Yuan Dynasty to feel the danger at present.

In just half a month, an army of 200,000 gathered and marched south to attack the Ming Dynasty.

Liaodong Town.

It starts from Fenghuang City in the east and ends at Shanhaiguan in the west, and is 1,950 miles long.

Liaodong Town has the largest number of troops among the nine frontiers and is also the largest place built by the imperial court.

This is the front line in the fight against the grassland.

There is a complete defense system of the Liaodong Town Great Wall here.

The Liaodong Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty disappeared in the pre-Manchu period and is now an important defensive fortification against the grassland.

The city defense system of Liaodong Town is divided into five levels: town city, road city, defense city, fort city and fort city. There are two town cities, Liaoyang City and Guangning City.

There are five garrison cities under the town, namely the east, south, west, north and center, which are the road cities.

Each city was responsible for 25 guards, each with a full staff of 5,600 people. Some guards had their own defensive fortresses, such as the famous Ningyuan Fortress. There were 127 guards under the guard, and the city they relied on was called the fortress, which was relatively small in scale.

The lowest level is the fortress, also called the Taibao, of which there are 107.

There are currently a total of about 200,000 troops in Liaodong Town.

It is because this place is too important and the soldiers and generals are the most powerful, so it is impossible for anyone to control it.

Even temporary restrictions would be lifted immediately after the war.

…

"This time, the Northern Yuan Dynasty came with great force. At the beginning, they had 200,000 cavalrymen. It seems that they really want to take over Liaodong Town."

Zhu Yuanzhang said with a bit of disdain in his tone.

Zhu Ying said: "This will definitely deal a huge blow to the grassland. It is also a lesson for the grassland. We will see how it will develop in the future."

"But my grandson speculates that the Northern Yuan Dynasty will definitely surrender to our Ming Dynasty in order to survive this cold winter."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded, and then said: "I think so, but he has such a ruthless ambition, we will never agree to surrender."

"According to the current situation, we only need to consume the Northern Yuan Dynasty for two or three years to severely damage its vitality, and then destroy the Northern Yuan Dynasty. It should be a piece of cake."

Zhu Yuanzhang's tone was a little cold.

The Mongolian grasslands have always been a concern for him, as can be seen from the nine border guards of the Ming Dynasty.

It can be said that in the Nine Frontiers, nearly half of the Ming Dynasty’s combat power was deployed there.

Countless labor is spent every year on repairing the various defensive fortifications on the nine borders.

So two hundred thousand cavalrymen does sound scary, but can cavalrymen attack a city?

The Ming Liaodong Great Wall, in particular, was a complete nightmare for the grassland cavalry.

The Ming Liaodong Great Wall is actually not that high. In many places it is just a two-meter-high mound of earth.

Basically, you can just put up a ladder and get through.

But the defensive function of the Great Wall is not against people, but against horses.

Can the Mongols without horses still compete with the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty?

It was during the time when Zhu Yuanzhang and his eldest grandson were chatting.

The Northern Yuan Dynasty's attack on the Ming Dynasty began.

The Mongols were naturally not fools. They would not use cavalry to attack the Great Wall. Instead, they would drive a large number of slaves to destroy the Great Wall's fortifications in advance.

As long as there is a gap in the Great Wall's fortifications, a large number of cavalry will be able to pass through quickly.

But the Great Wall is a very complete defense system, with side walls, piers, and beacon towers.

It was impossible to hide the assembly of the grassland cavalry from the Ming soldiers.

Not to mention that the temporary general of Liaodong appointed this time was Lan Yu.

Lan Yu was very familiar with these old friends. When the beacon fire appeared, he immediately sent out a large army to intercept them.

When the grassland attacks the Great Wall, it will not just attack one place, but will destroy many locations at the same time.

The soldiers of the Ming Dynasty would begin to respond after being reminded by the beacon fires.

At this time, the role of artillery will actually be relatively small.

Because artillery moves too slowly, musketeers will still be the main force in the early stages of a war.

The war that has just begun is the first battle of the musketeers in the true sense.

Ever since the Gunpowder Department developed the matchlock, it has been working on mass production.

Zhu Ying also provided a lot of ideas in this regard, such as segmented assembly.

Last year, when the Gunpowder Department produced only one or two hundred muskets per month, the department continued to invest money in expansion. Now, there are twelve factories manufacturing muskets under the Gunpowder Department alone.

Currently, the production of matchlock guns in the Ming Dynasty has reached four thousand per month.

Nowadays, there are already 30,000 musketeers in Liaodong Town, and they are already using matchlock rifles.

In freezing cold weather, the matchlock gun will not be greatly disturbed.

After all, there is rarely any rain in Liaodong when winter comes. In addition, the weather is extremely cold, and many soldiers from the inland areas can't stand it.

The Northern Yuan cavalry also had to face the same situation.

In fact, large-scale wars will not occur in the winter on the grassland, but this year the Northern Yuan Dynasty had no way to deal with it.

If they didn't fight, more people would probably starve to death, and even the rule of the Northern Yuan Dynasty would be greatly challenged.

So as soon as he received the news, the current Khan of the Northern Yuan Dynasty, Elbek, launched an offensive against the Ming Dynasty without hesitation.

On a certain section of the city wall, looking at the dense crowd in the distance, the Ming soldiers on the wall appeared very calm.

These slaves who came running over were all ragged and skinny, looking no different from those who were going to die.

In fact, he was driven here to die by the Northern Yuan cavalry.

Behind the crowd was a dense mass of steppe cavalry, just watching.

"We are reluctant to practice with the matchlock guns in our hands on weekdays. After all, gunpowder is limited, and what we shoot out are all precious banknotes."

"Brothers, don't be vague today. Fight as much as you can. But I have to say this beforehand: don't shoot blindly. This is the best opportunity for you to practice your marksmanship."

"Aim at me one by one. Don't waste a single fire bomb."

The centurion roared loudly.

The supply of gunpowder in the army was extremely strict, and each centurion had his own quota.

Especially during combat, all these consumptions must be counted.

As the crowd got closer, the soldiers became nervous, but without receiving any orders, they just nervously took out their fire starters and prepared.

Although gunpowder has been granulated, there have also been some reforms to the formula.

But now the effective range of the matchlock gun is within a hundred steps, which means it can kill people within a hundred meters.

Generally speaking, the shooting will be controlled within 80 meters. If it is too far, the lethality will be very small.

The captain looked at the slaves who were getting closer and closer. These slaves were still very afraid of the black muzzles of the guns, but the crowd behind them meant they had no chance to retreat.

Even if they retreated, they would be ruthlessly slaughtered by the grassland cavalry. For these slaves, their only way out was to break down the low Great Wall in front of them.

As long as you rush forward, you will be free.

The honorable master would not care about them, and even the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty would not pay any attention to them.

After the war is over, they can stay directly on the Ming side.

The Ming army would provide them with a certain amount of food so that they would have the strength to migrate and resettle.

For a long time, the Ming Dynasty absorbed a considerable amount of population from the grassland, including slaves.

Therefore, those who rush forward will not die, but will survive.

"Hit me!"

Seeing that the slave army from the grassland had come within the shooting range, the captain shouted, and the musketeers on the city wall lit the fuse without hesitation and began shooting.

As a thick fog rose, crackling sounds continued, and a large number of slaves were shot and fell to the ground.

Within a range of eighty meters, the power of the matchlock gun may not kill someone with one shot, but it can still cause serious injuries.

After the first row of musketeers finished shooting, the second and third rows took turns.

Three-stage shooting has become a necessary item in the current musketeer training.

The soldiers still seemed a little unfamiliar in the beginning, but as time went on, they became more and more proficient.

"Sir, the Ming army's muskets are too powerful. Our slaves can't get through them at all."

"If this continues, even if all the slaves go over, I'm afraid they won't be able to break through the defenses of the Great Wall."

The grassland general who heard the report shouted loudly and then raised the scimitar in his hand.

Dozens of grassland cavalrymen took the order and began to attack the Great Wall.

Seeing this, the captains of the Ming Dynasty laughed and said, "Brothers, the opportunity has come. Whoever can defeat a Mongolian Tartar will get the credit."

The musketeers under his command became excited immediately after hearing this.

The slave army is called an army, but in fact they are just some miserable people. These people will not be counted in the military merits.

But the grassland cavalry is different. Every grassland cavalry has been trained since childhood. As long as one is captured, it is a considerable gain for a sergeant.

The grassland cavalry that roared up were naturally not intending to attack the Great Wall, but to interfere with the musketeers on the Great Wall.

The effective range of the Mongolian soft bow is about the same as that of the matchlock gun, which is about 80 meters.

But the Ming army was standing there aiming, while the grassland cavalry needed to shoot arrows on horseback, so accuracy was very difficult to control.

There were gaps in the Great Wall as cover, and the Ming army also had helmets as protection.

To shoot a Ming soldier directly in the face is obviously a matter of luck.

However, the grassland cavalry's main purpose was to interfere with the Ming army's muskets, and all they had to do was launch a projectile.

Obviously, the interference of cavalry on musketeers did have a certain effect.

Under the interference of the grassland cavalry, the slave army began to increase in number under the city wall.

Those who didn't have tools just threw the wood with their hands, while some just brought hoes and started digging.

The city walls here are not made of piled up stones like those in the city. As long as a hole is dug, a gap can be made.

But a gap can obviously be filled with human lives.

As the first echelon of slave soldiers approached the city wall, the second echelon came on the scene.

The second echelon of slave soldiers were the real soldiers. They carried ladders and long swords and climbed the walls directly.

What followed was a battle of cold weapons.

The Musketeer will retreat a certain distance.

Then he started using bows and arrows.

Even if it was a matchlock gun, it was impossible to use it all the time. Firstly, the gunpowder on the body was limited, and secondly, the matchlock gun needed to be cleaned.

And every musketeer carries a bow and arrow.

However, at a distance of about ten meters, there is basically no need for preparation, just draw the bow and shoot.

The beginning of a tug-of-war means that the battle has reached a fever pitch.

But this was not friendly to the Northern Yuan army.

Even though there were a large number of slave troops, the casualty ratio was very different.

Killing one Ming soldier meant the death of perhaps a dozen or even dozens of slave soldiers.

Although it didn't matter how many slave soldiers died to the Northern Yuan Dynasty, if they all died, only the cavalry would be able to take to the battlefield.

Scenes like this can be seen everywhere along the Liaodong border.

After all, some sections of the Great Wall were captured by the Northern Yuan Dynasty.

It is just a matter of capturing it. Even if a gap is opened, there will still be a large number of Ming troops waiting behind.

Especially the Ming cavalry.

As the gap appeared, Ming cavalry also arrived.

The massacre between the Ming cavalry and the slave army was completely an asymmetric one.

After just a few rounds of charge, the slave army was completely defeated.

Some smart slaves immediately prostrated themselves on the ground and begged for forgiveness from the Ming army.

For these slave armies, there would usually be corresponding Ming troops to receive them.

After that, they lived within the territory of the Ming Dynasty.

However, after initially entering the Ming Dynasty, one will not enjoy the Ming Dynasty household registration, but will work for a certain number of years in the form of labor. If the performance is good, he will be granted the Ming Dynasty household registration and will be considered a Ming Dynasty citizen from then on.

The Ming Dynasty is now prosperous, especially in terms of food, so these slaves are still very at ease.

After a day's war, these slave soldiers recruited by the Ming army would be responsible for repairing the Great Wall's fortifications.

It's a hard life. They were the ones who pushed down the gap in the Great Wall, and they were also the ones who repaired it later.