The substitute prince: Reported the emperor's brother at the beginning

Chapter 270 Just Cannon Fodder

Ning Yi led 40,000 infantrymen and 30,000 cavalrymen from the Beijing camp, marching north all the way to Hushan Pass.

Hushan Pass is now under martial law. After all, the barbarian army is about to arrive, so how can we relax here?

The soldiers and civilians in the entire city were very worried, but the commander of Shanhu Pass issued a death order, forbidding anyone to leave.

Finally, the tens of thousands of troops led by Ning Yi arrived, and the whole city breathed a sigh of relief. The entire Hushan Pass was finally safer.

As soon as Ning Yi arrived, he did not stop at all, and had no time to stop. He immediately began to arrange the defense of the entire Hushan Pass.

Similarly, the military rations that were delivered were immediately stored in the warehouse, and people were constantly urging the capital to send various military equipment and military supplies.

At present, Emperor Wu has ordered that the Ministry of Works in the entire capital city should rush to produce military equipment just to support Hushan Pass.

As for Ning Yi's request for at least one year's worth of food for the 200,000-strong army.

Emperor Wu did not refuse at all. Since he had received a lot of money and food from the aristocratic families last time, Emperor Wu had withheld most of it.

But Emperor Wu will not be stingy now, because once Hushan Pass is breached, the capital will be undefensible and the emperor will have to escape.

Once the emperor escapes, all the money and food will belong to the barbarians. Instead of that, it is better to hand it over to Ning Yi and let Lao Liu hold on for a while longer.

Emperor Wu was also a man of strategy.

Now at this critical moment, he immediately ordered the governors in various parts of the south to recruit new soldiers and continue training elite troops.

Even half of the summer grain was suppressed and left to local areas for use in recruiting new soldiers.

The autumn grain, which will be harvested in three months, is still chosen to be left to the local people.

They even regard the task of recruiting and training new soldiers as one of the important criteria for future promotion assessments.

He also sent many ministers and even trusted eunuchs to the south to prevent the governors in various parts of the south from corruption and delaying the recruitment of new soldiers.

Almost all the elite troops from the southern provinces have been withdrawn by Emperor Wu.

Now they can only start training again. Of course, it will take at least half a year for these new recruits to be trained.

If you want to go to the battlefield and win the war, it will take at least a year.

Emperor Wu did not ask Ning Yi to defeat the barbarians, as it would be almost impossible. After all, the barbarians had 200,000 elite soldiers, most of whom were cavalry.

If the troops Ning Yi took with him and the 50,000 garrison troops at Hushan Pass could defeat the barbarians, no one in the world would believe it.

But Emperor Wu felt that it was enough for Ning Yi to hold on for a year.

In order to encourage Ning Yi to persevere, he also secretly told Ning Yi that as long as he could persist for two years, it would be a great achievement.

You will be the successor in the future.

If you hold on for a year, you are still innocent and can retreat.

But if you fail to hold out for a year, it will be a grave crime and a disgrace to the royal family.

Ning Yi was extremely contemptuous of the old man. He thought the old man was a piece of shit. He wanted him to hold on longer, and he was still talking nonsense and fooling people with the idea of a successor.

I don't know how many times I've been fooled by this old guy, and he still does this to me.

However, Ning Yi also excitedly stated in person that he would persevere to the end and protect the last barrier of the Dawu Kingdom.

Hundreds of thousands of troops on the border could not hold out for more than a year before the border was breached and the army entered the country.

But you, Emperor Wu, actually asked me to lead only hundreds of thousands of ordinary soldiers to hold out for a year?

Although the barbarians broke through the border this time with only tens of thousands of cavalry and tens of thousands of surrendered soldiers.

But they still had more than 200,000 cavalrymen behind them, and an unknown number of forced soldiers who surrendered at the breached border.

With such a small number of troops at Hushan Pass, it's a good thing they can hold out for half a year. The old guy is really good at fooling people.

No wonder so many generals in the court refused to accept this task.

No wonder the Duke of Baoguo also said that without 200,000 elite troops, they would not be able to hold on.

These are not just the first wave of elite barbarians, there are also endless barbarian armies following behind.

Who can withstand this pressure?

No one wants to take on this hot potato.

Only then did Emperor Wu bring his son out.

If Hushan Pass could hold out for a year, Emperor Wu felt that even if his sixth son died in battle, it would be enough.

One year is enough for the southern provinces to train 100,000 elite troops using summer and autumn crops.

Hushan Pass is still there, and Emperor Wu can still sit in the capital, unbreakable.

If Hushan Pass was breached, he, the emperor, would have to flee back to the south, and the 100,000 elite troops in the south would be his capital.

A group of southern vassal kings still had to be obedient and honest, enough to be suppressed by the emperor's large number of elite troops.

Moreover, throughout the dynasties, the barbarians in the north would not move south after conquering the capital.

Even if we continue to move south, we will still be defeated.

Because once the capital is lost and the barbarians move south again, the vassal kings in the south will really fight to the death.

Even if Emperor Wu did not mobilize a single soldier, all the vassal kings had to send their elite troops to stop him.

They don't care if the border is breached or the capital is breached.

But the barbarians still moved south, they were still lazy and indifferent.

Then the barbarians will sweep away all the vassal kings along the way.

The princes are not fools. The barbarians don’t care whether they are princes or warlords. The barbarians only know that they are royal family members and have the possibility of turning things around.

Naturally, it will be uprooted.

By then, the emperor in the southernmost part will be the most stable.

All we have to do is wait until the barbarian wars stop and the imperial court recuperates. It will only take a few years.

Hundreds of thousands of troops can march north in a mighty force to recapture the capital and the border.

It's not like no one has ever done this before.

It even succeeded several times.

Unless the imperial court is too incompetent, the various vassal kings will attack each other.

Let the northern barbarians be defeated one by one.

Of course, the barbarians only attacked and occupied the south once, but were immediately defeated by the various armies and returned to the north.

But by that time, it was time for the imperial court to truly change the dynasty.

Ning Yi naturally knew the old man's idea, but he didn't care.

Stick to it for a year?

No problem, he has enough confidence to stick with it for a year.

Even though he only brought hundreds of thousands of ordinary soldiers, he believed that a year of fighting would not only reduce his military strength.

Instead, it will increase Ning Yi's actual military strength.

By then, it will not be so easy for you, the old emperor, to speak carelessly.

Of course, for this reason, Ning Yi also asked for this and that.

He also needs independent military power and cannot be arbitrarily assigned military supervisors by the old emperor.

He also made it clear that if the military supervisor gave orders inappropriately, he would quit as commander and let someone else take over.

Emperor Wu agreed to everything and gave him whatever he asked for.

He didn't send a military supervisor either. Anyway, he didn't expect many of Ning Yi's troops to survive.

Just think of them as cannon fodder specially prepared for resistance and his southern layout.

Otherwise, if he sent a military supervisor, he might not do his job. If Hushan Pass was breached in advance, the capital would be lost in advance, and his southern part would not be ready, and his reign as emperor would be almost over.

So now, Ning Yi not only has the final say in Hushan Pass, but also has to continuously request money, food and various supplies to stockpile.

We are also prepared to stay there for a long time.