Song Dynasty: Yuan Dynasty, you didn't expect this, did you? I'm still alive.

The seventeenth year of Cheng'an (1415).

Zhao Xi's ten-year plan—launched.

This emperor, known for his benevolence, reigned for seventeen years and never launched a war.

The people of the Song Dynasty were used to it and thought that this man would probably be a peaceful emperor for life, passing on the wealth accumulated by Emperor Jingwu Ling to the next generation intact.

Then everyone realized they were wrong. Terribly wrong.

Zhao Xi was unwilling to start a war, but if the war had to be fought, he would give it his all and not let the Song people who participated in the war die in vain.

If it remains silent, it will be silent until it bursts forth, and when it does, it will tear a hole in the sky.

As soon as the imperial edict was issued, the entire war machine of the Great Song Dynasty roared into action. The commotion was like a giant beast that had been sleeping for more than ten years suddenly turning over, causing the entire Indian and Pacific Oceans to tremble.

First, look in the northwest direction.

The Protectorate of the Western Regions dispatched 50,000 dragon cavalry and 100,000 iron cavalry, setting off from the Ili River Valley and advancing along the Hexi Corridor towards Guanzhong.

With 150,000 cavalrymen, the total number of mouths to feed was nearly 300,000. The amount of hay to feed the horses every day could be piled up into a mountain.

On the grasslands from Yili to Gansu, the sound of horses' hooves shook the ground, and wild rabbits and foxes along the way moved their entire families away, creating a chaotic scene.

Let's look at the sea again.

The White Tiger Fleet and the Black Tortoise Fleet were simultaneously deployed to the South China Sea, with four Shenlong ships leading the way—ironclad behemoths with a displacement of nearly 10,000 tons, whose black smoke billowing from their smokestacks could blot out half the sky.

Following behind were thirty Qinglong ships, each with fifty cannons; sixty Yinglong ships, each with twenty cannons; and countless smaller boats.

An old fisherman from Luzon stood on the shore, squinting as he counted for a long time. Even after his eyes were blurry, he still couldn't count them all. He turned to his grandson and said, "My dear grandson, I've been fishing all my life, and this is the first time I've ever seen so many iron lumps swimming on the surface of the sea."

This is not enough.

The imperial court directly requisitioned two "Great Eastern" cruise ships—with a displacement of 20,000 tons, which in this era was the kind of ship that was "theoretically possible to build, but not widely believed."

When this thing is placed in the sea, the surrounding ships automatically lower themselves, like a group of small sampans circling around two whales.

As many of the inexperienced soldiers lined up to board the ship, many craned their necks, their heads aching, and muttered, "Is this a ship or an island?"

On the army front, fifty infantry battalions, totaling 500,000 men, were mobilized from the mainland.

The entire crew was equipped with the Xuanji Needle Gun, and every hundred men were equipped with one Lin Tejia Machine Gun—the "Namo Great Compassionate Guanyin Bodhisattva Machine Gun" invented by the compassionate Taoist Master Lin, which could fire two hundred bullets per minute.

In addition, five artillery battalions were equipped with 1,500 cannons of various types, from the Shenwei General Cannon to the new breech-loading rifled cannons, and the shells alone filled dozens of ships.

That's still not enough.

Six hundred thousand servants were drawn from Southeast Asia, India, and Persia to join the army. Indians, Persians, Turks, and people of all kinds gathered together, shouting "Long live the Great Khan" in all sorts of accents. The scene was as lively as a world expo.

The total number is approximately 1.4 million.

One million four hundred thousand.

What does this number mean?

Emperor Jingwu Ling, Zhao Yu, the Wuzong Emperor who spent his life in war and whose KDA exceeded 100 million, reigned for fifty years, conquering countless countries in the south and north, but he had never mobilized so many people at the same time.

Moreover, he had a backup plan.

Australia has mobilized another 400,000 reservists, who will undergo a year of training and be ready to fill in at any time.

If one wave doesn't subside, just push another wave; there are still people at home anyway.

The commander-in-chief was Zhao Xi himself, and the deputy commander-in-chief was Cui Du, the Minister of War.

When Cui Du received the appointment, his hands trembled for the time it takes to brew a cup of tea—not because he was afraid, but because he was excited.

He served as Minister of War for more than a decade, writing "Strategies for Conquering the Ming" every day until he could recite them from memory. Today, he can finally put them to use.

His wife said that he was talking to himself in the study that night, looking at a map, from 9 PM to 5 AM, and even the family dog ​​was afraid to go in.

The military food supply system has also developed over the decades.

The rations for soldiers were fairly normal—rice, wheat, millet, with some pickled vegetables, salted fish, bean products, and cured meat, which was enough to "fill one's stomach."

But the Song army's rations were different.

The canned meat, sealed in tinplate, comes in three flavors: braised beef, luncheon meat, and dace with black bean sauce, available on a rotating basis. Soldiers can simply pry it open with their bayonets and eat it—it's outrageously convenient.

Beef jerky, dried meat, compressed biscuits—hard enough to be used as bricks, but a small piece can last half a day.

Chocolate candies are high in calories and quickly replenish energy.

Dehydrated vegetables and instant rice and noodles can be made into a hot meal with just a splash of hot water. In the wild, a sip of hot soup can instantly boost morale.

Beverages include Coca-Cola, coffee, tea, sake, beer, and fruit wine, rationed per person.

As for snacks, chocolates, fruit candies, and milk candies were stuffed into the compartments of the pack. When tired from fighting, one could be taken out and popped into the mouth, the sweetness exploding on the tongue and sweeping away fatigue.

Salt, sugar, spices, and other seasonings were plentiful—the Song army's cooking squads made a delicious aroma wherever they went.

The treatment of officers is different.

Those who came from civil service backgrounds were allowed to have their own cooks and set up private kitchens.

What does this mean?

This means that while the front lines are engulfed in gunfire, a counselor is leisurely enjoying a steamed sea bass, carefully prepared by his private chef, with a glass of wine and dessert afterwards, all in his tent.

When the imperial edict reached the Xinxiang Stock Exchange, military stocks went wild.

The market, which had been stagnant for over a decade, suddenly started jumping up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

The trading hall was packed with people. New stock investors rushed in, holding up banknotes, their eyes fixed on the stock charts, their pupils reflecting the red numbers.

The veteran stock investor stood in the corner, his expression a fascinating mix of emotions—half of it saying "I told you so," and the other half thinking, "Why didn't I buy more?"

Someone squatted at the entrance of the stock exchange, holding their head and muttering, "Seventeen years of silence, then a stunning debut... Official, you're ruthless, you really are ruthless..."

One hundred and thirty-five years.

From the day the Holy Ancestor Emperor boarded a ship in Fuzhou to migrate south, five generations have been forced to leave their homes, and five generations have endured humiliation and waiting.

Those old men who wielded whips like rain in the plantations of Southeast Asia, those young men who worried anxiously outside the coal mines of Australia, those overseers who supervised the work under the scorching sun of India—they may not be able to explain exactly what "Central Plains" was like, but they all knew that there was a land to the north, the place where their ancestors came from.

Now, it's time to go back.

The clarion call for the Northern Expedition has been sounded.

From Yili to Manila, from Java to Xinxiang, from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean, the entire empire beat in unison.

The roar of steam engines, the thunder of horses' hooves, the crashing of waves, and the whistling of cannonballs—all come together in one sentence.

Return to the old capital.