Everyone laughed for a while, and the atmosphere became much more relaxed.

However, Zhuang Yan also pointed out a problem later, that is, the vast area of ​​the northwest and the Western Regions. Judging from the current strength of the Ming Dynasty, it is not difficult to defeat the Qing army by taking down Lanzhou, but it is not so easy to completely eliminate the Qing Dynasty.

After all, the area of ​​the Western Regions is too large, and the entire Western Regions is comparable to that of Mongolia. If some areas are added, they are even larger than Mongolia.

The terrain of the Western Regions is also very complex, with snow-capped mountains, basins, deserts, hills... It took nearly three years before and after the Ming Dynasty took Liaodong, and adopted a step-by-step tactic. In addition, it continued to immigrate to Liaodong to enrich the Liaodong area, which made the Qing Dynasty in Liaodong retreat without any retreat. In the end, Prince Yi took all his bets in this dilemma.

In terms of area, the Western Regions are even more than Liaodong and the terrain is more complex. Compared with Liaodong, the Western Regions are more widespread and sparsely populated. In addition, there are not many Han people in the Western Regions. Before the Qing Dynasty, the Western Regions were mixed with Mongolians and other ethnic groups, and there were many tribes. Therefore, from these aspects, it was not easy for the Ming Dynasty to achieve strategic goals.

"How are the cavalry?" Zhu Yicheng asked.

Zhuang Yan's General Staff Department was the most familiar with this situation and immediately reported it on the spot.

The Ming Dynasty started with the army and the navy. Now the Ming army, including the navy, can be said to be extremely powerful. Especially with the latter, the scale and importance of the navy are no less than that of the army.

However, as a branch of the army, that is, the cavalry unit, the Ming Dynasty had its innate shortcomings. The Central Plains did not produce horses, so the Ming Dynasty's cavalry could not form a scale from the beginning and was only used as auxiliary operations.

It was not until the Mongolian Ortai surrendered to the Ming Dynasty that the Ming Dynasty obtained the source of war horses from Mongolia. In fact, the cavalry of the Ming Dynasty was far behind the Xinming cavalry. You should know that Xinming is vast and sparsely populated, and it was originally suitable for raising horses. Moreover, Western countries brought horses there after discovering the New World. After more than a hundred years of reproduction, there was no shortage of horses in Xinming. Although those horses were not as hard-working as Mongolian horses, they were excellent war horses as cavalrymen.

Unfortunately, there is a vast sea between Xinming and the local area. The war horses that are not short of Xinming cannot be delivered to the local area of ​​Daming by sea. Otherwise, there would be no difficulty in forming the local cavalry troops in the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, except for a few Western war horses, the majority of the cavalry troops in the Ming Dynasty are still Mongolian horses. In addition, the time is too short, and the cavalry troops have not yet fully formed the main force of the army.

This can be reflected in the Liaodong Battle and the Mongolian Battle. Although the Ming cavalry troops participated in these two battles, they were only used as auxiliary operations. Especially in the Mongolian Battle, due to the small number of cavalry in the Ming Dynasty, the troops pursuing Prince Yi were still dominated by the Mongols, which is a pity.

After solving Mongolia and Liaodong, the Ming Dynasty's strategic goals moved to the northwest. The northwest operations were very similar to Mongolian operations. It was difficult to achieve the best results by relying solely on infantry. From this point of view, in the Northwest War, the Ming Dynasty's cavalry had to change from auxiliary operations to main operations.

"The Northwest Army now has two cavalry units, most of which are cavalry that have just been transferred from Mongolia and Liaodong. These cavalry have experienced the battle between Mongolia and Liaodong. Although they are not as good as the cavalry of the Mongols and even the Qing Dynasty in terms of cavalry, our army still has an advantage in terms of equipment by making up for the advantages of equipment."

Zhuang Yan reported it carefully. Before he finished speaking, Ma Gongcheng, who was standing beside him, frowned: "The cavalry of the two divisions seems to be a little less. Isn't there a cavalry of one division in the east? Why not transfer it?"

The first division of the Ming Dynasty's cavalry division had about 8,000-10,000 people, and the number of war horses was twice that of the number, which was about 20,000 war horses. The cavalry of the two divisions was equivalent to 40,000 war horses, plus the number of cavalry less than 20,000.

In addition to the number of cavalry and war horses, the cavalry also has light and portable firearms, including the new three-eyed muskets used by the cavalry, the Folang machine cannon, the infantry muskets, etc. From these aspects, the cavalry of the Ming Dynasty was not weak, and even had extremely strong combat power.

But only two cavalry divisions seemed to be a little less in the opinion of the success of the horse. You should know that the territory of the Western Regions was too large. It would be difficult to encircle and eliminate the Qing Dynasty in the Western Regions without cavalry as a motive power.

In many aspects of combat in the Western Regions, infantry cannot be used to fight, and cavalry is the top priority. This is also the reason why Ma Gong was slightly dissatisfied with only two divisions of cavalry.

"Master Ma, don't be anxious, listen to me." Zhuang Yan smiled and continued, "The cavalry troops stationed in the northeast cannot move for the time being. Once the war in the northwest begins, this unit needs to cooperate with the military control of the infantry in Mongolia and Liaodong to avoid any accidents. But don't worry, according to the strategic deployment of the Northwest planned by the General Staff, the Northwest War will start at the earliest in April next year, so we still have half a year to prepare."

Zhuang Yan said confidently: "In the Battle of Korqin, we obtained 100,000 horses from Korqin's Ming Dynasty. Although these horses cannot be all war horses, there will be no problem in selecting 30,000 to 40,000 war horses. In addition, Ortai can provide about 20,000 war horses, so from this point of view, it is enough for us to form another three to four cavalry divisions in the Ming Dynasty. Now the new cavalry division is in progress, and it will be completed by March next year."

Hearing this, Ma Gongcheng's expression eased. If this is the case, there would be no problem. The Ming Dynasty, as long as it had four to five cavalry divisions and infantry, could completely suppress the Qing army, and at the same time, it could use the cavalry's maneuverability to complete the encirclement and cutting and complete annihilation of the Qing army.

"What is the reaction between the Junggar Khan and the Lazang Khan?" Pan Mengyuan suddenly asked.

Zhuang Yan couldn't answer this question for a while, so he turned his attention to Jiang Jin.

Jiang Jin sighed lightly and shook his head slowly: "The progress is not very smooth. Although the Junggar Khanate and the Lazang Khan have a grudge between the Qing Dynasty, especially the former, I wish I could destroy the Qing Dynasty to avenge the deep hatred before. Unfortunately, since the contact has not yet been made clear, and I am still waiting and watching for the time being."

The Northwest Strategy is not only the only opponent of the Qing Dynasty, but in fact the Junggar Khan and Lazang Khan are also potential opponents of the Ming Dynasty. According to Zhu Yicheng's idea, after solving the Northwest Manchu Qing Dynasty, the next goal is the Junggar Khan and Lazang Khan. How can others sleep soundly on the side of the bed?

But at present, the Ming Dynasty will not attack the Junggar Khanate and Lazang Khan for the time being. Not only that, it will also win over the other side to prevent the two forces from joining together with the Qing Dynasty from affecting the Northwest strategy.
Chapter completed!