Xiao Ruxun pointed at a spot on the map. The generals went forward to take a look and were all shocked.
"Guihua City?!"
Li Rusong shouted in a low voice. The generals looked at each other and were speechless.
"That's right, Guihua City. This time, I will not only recover Datong, but I will also attack Guihua City! I will exterminate the Tumers! Not only that! I will also exterminate the tribes that worked with the Tumers to attack Datong! I will let these barbarians know! Plundering and Daming is a temporary pleasure, but they will have to pay the price. "
In fact, Xiao Ruxun wanted to say more than that. His real goal was to occupy Guihua City and rebuild the northern defense system that the Ming Dynasty had gradually abandoned after Yongle and Xuande. He even wanted to attack Hetao and restore Zhu Yuanzhang's defense system, especially the Dongsheng Garrison.
The Dongsheng Garrison was an important garrison that Zhu Yuanzhang had set up in the northeast corner of Hetao. In the early Ming Dynasty's northern defense, it was the only garrison that could control the entire Hetao. It was located east of the surrendered city built by Zhang Renyuan in the Tang Dynasty.
The Dongsheng Garrison served as a link between Liaodong in the east and Gansu in the west. From Dongsheng to the east were Datong, Xinghe, Kaiping, Daning, and Liaodong. From Dongsheng to the west were Ningxia, Lanzhou, Zhuanglang, Liangzhou, Shandan, and Gansu.
Mount Helan, Gansu Beishan and Hetao were all under the control of this line of defense. This allowed the Ming Dynasty's northern border defense to be connected from point to surface, from east to west, in coordination with each other. As a result, the entire northern border defense was steadily pushed several hundred li north of the Great Wall.
This line of defense was completely different from the Nine Border Strategic Towns of today. It was an aggressive strategic defense. It allowed the Ming Dynasty to have enough strategic depth in the northern war zone and gave the Ming government enough time to react.
Even if the Northern Barbarians were to break through this line of defense, the Ming Army would still have enough time to build a second line of defense on the Great Wall. They could use the sturdiness of the Great Wall to block the Northern Barbarians outside the Great Wall. The distance of a few hundred miles was enough for the Ming government to organize a defensive force. Most importantly, the main production areas and populated areas were all within the protection of the Great Wall.
Defending against the enemy outside the country meant that the flames of war would not burn within the country. There were people and production within the country. Once it was destroyed, the losses would be unpredictable. Moreover, after the war, the government would need to organize other forces to restore production. The productivity of an agricultural country was very fragile. It was easy to destroy, but it was very difficult to restore.
Going back and forth like this would take more than a year of time and endless energy. The money and resources needed for post-war recovery were far more than the money needed for a simple battle. This business was especially not worth it. Therefore, if they could defend against the enemy outside the country's gates, that would be the most strategic and most economical choice.
However, some people just could not see it. They kept shrinking the line of defense. They thought that shrinking the line of defense to a place closer to the country would cost less money. The money needed for transportation would also be less. This way, the country's finances would be easier. They would need less military funds, and they could suppress the power of the military.
Therefore, Daming's territory shrank and shrank, and shrank and shrank.
In the end, the literate government shrank the huge strategic territory of the country from the Hongwu and Yongle periods to the size of the unified Qin Dynasty during the Jiajing and Wanli periods.
The defense posts in Liaodong, the northwest, and the defense posts near the Yin Mountains in the north were all abandoned. The entire country's northern defense line shrank on a large scale. It became a passive defensive tactic that relied solely on the Great Wall to defend.
The border was where the people lived. Every time there was a war, the people would always be displaced and suffer greatly. The production and economy at the border suffered greatly and could not recover in a short period of time. They still had to continue to be supplied from the mainland.
The combat effectiveness of the military was getting worse, and the status of the military was deteriorating. The military fields were largely taken over, and the system of defense posts was basically destroyed. The arrangements left by Zhu Yuanzhang regarding the military were completely ruined. The strategic posture of the Ming Dynasty had completely turned into a passive state. These were all things that Xiao Ruxun did not want to see.
He knew that even if he fought his way to the original location of Dongsheng Wei, to Guihua City, which was now Hohhot, to the Yuyu Lake that Lan Yu had once reached, and even to the Wolf Storey Mountain and Yanran Mountain that Huo Qubing and Dou Xian had reached, he still would not be able to fight for a change in the national policy of the Daming Empire, which was led by the literate government.
They only wanted to live a stable life, make money in a stable way, annex land in a stable way, and fight to the death in a stable way. It would be best if all the enemies in the world were dead, leaving only the people and land in the Daming Empire. Then, they could continue to fight happily.
However, they had never considered the price they had to pay for their so-called stability. If you retreated, the enemy would only take an inch, and they would take a mile. Only by making the enemy feel afraid would they treat you cautiously.
Therefore, when Xiao Ruxun killed 3,000 Northern Barbarians in the battle of Ningxia and built a fortress outside the Great Wall, the Ningxia Barbarians were so frightened that they did not dare to invade for three years. When dealing with them, they could not back down. They could only deal with them ruthlessly.
Of course, the good thing about the Ming government was that they would never compromise with the barbarians in the north. They had a very tough attitude towards the Mongolian tribes. No one would say that it was bad for the army to kill as many of their people were killed. In any case, as long as the Mongolians did not see it, they would not say anything. This was the advantage that the Ming government had over the Song.
Naturally, to the Ming government, the less trouble, the better. It would be best if the two sides did not fight. If they started fighting, they would definitely need money. If they wanted money, they would start bickering and fighting. It would be very annoying, so it was better not to fight.
This kind of thinking not only made the civil officials believe in it, but it also affected the military officials. They felt that it was enough to do their job and defend well. There was no need to attack beyond the Great Wall. What was the point of fighting like Ma Fang every day and year? What was the point of fighting until the grassland was in chaos?
Didn't it still end up like this?
Two Han's had sealed Wolf Juxu and Shi Yanran, but so what? Did the Hu people die out?
Daming's Taizu had gone on eight northern expeditions, and Emperor Chengzu had gone on five expeditions to the north. He had even sealed Wolf Juxu. So what? Didn't the Northern Barbarians still go south every year?
Those who talked about expansion did not even consider whether the land was good for Daming or not. What was the use of a place that could not grow food? Not only was it cold, but it was also very expensive. There was no profit to be made from fighting. Every year, who knew how much money had to be spent to maintain it. Did they really think that Daming was so rich?
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