Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 216 Deploying troops and the inside story

"Marshal, so far the three courtyards have completed 73 pairs of vests, counting the 24 pairs that have been completed before, a total of 97 pairs." In the hunting ground in the north of Xiazhou City, the general judge Song Ju is reporting.

"It's already the first month, and the officers and assistants of the general office are still busy with various things. It's really hard work, and the master craftsmen of the third courtyard are also very hard. Each of the assistants and master craftsmen should receive three bolts of Suizhou silk as a reward, and there are also two apprentices. Pig can lead." Shao Shude said.

"Thank you, Marshal, for the reward." Song Juxi said.

The vests had already been distributed, not to Shao Shude's most trusted cavalry army with the best record, but to Leopard Cavalry.

The tactics of the cavalry army have been fixed, that is, the harassing tactics of the light cavalry, with a total of [-] cavalry. Zhe Siyu is well versed in the tactical essentials of the light cavalry, so there is no need to change it.

Shao Shude even transferred [-] cavalry from the Leopard Cavalry City to join the Iron Cavalry Army to increase its strength, making it the largest cavalry group in the Dingnan Army and the main force of the Western Expedition.

There are still a thousand people left in the Leopard Cavalry. Yang Hongwang is the ten generals, and Zhe Congyun and Wang Chong are the deputy generals.The first batch of vests was given to the most elite 97 people. In the next few days, they will practice hard in Xiazhou and learn how to charge in a row like infantry.

This is a very difficult tactical action that requires long-term training, and both humans and horses must be familiar with each other, otherwise the effect will be greatly reduced.

People who haven't received the vests still have to practice. It's better to let people wait for the equipment than to let the equipment wait for others. Marshal Shao still understands this truth.Moreover, who said that ordinary cavalry cannot charge on the wall?It's just that it doesn't look as scary as the armored cavalry.

"With the vest, there is still a shortage of good horses..." Shao Shude looked at the horses in the stables of the hunting ground and said with a wry smile.

He had sent all the horses to the ranch for breeding.Now the ones I ride are all ordinary goods.However, it is not easy to find war horses suitable for armored cavalry. Right now, they are all making do with Qinghai Cong, which is quite helpless.

"Marshal, I have to go to the Western Regions to find a good horse." Song Ju said, "Qinghai Cong is already the best in the country, so we can only make do with it now."

Shao Shude agreed.At least his horse is better than the one used by Li Ke, with shoulder height, speed slightly higher, and endurance is also very good, but he still wants a better one.

In fact, the Yinchuan Ranch, which is engaged in horse management, has some tall horses.But Shao Shude was reluctant to take it over and use it. Instead, he told them to continue to breed, and must produce good horses with stable genetic traits—sometimes some very tall horses would be born by accident, just like two parents of average height would give birth to a tall horse. It is the same as a child, but this trait may not be stable and inherited, which is a headache.

The children of Zhe, Yang, and Wang all brought their horses into the army at the beginning.Those horses are also pretty good, but Shao Shude's vision is too high, and he still thinks it's not suitable.Most of the horses in the so-called Iron Buddha of the later Jin Wushu were not very good, but at this time Europe had not bred tall horses, and the best horses in the world should still be in the Western Regions and Central Asia, so what the hell.

You can't just go to the Western Regions for the sake of a good horse, right?
Perhaps, we can only wait until Lanzhou is conquered to see if we can get in touch with more Hu merchants and let them find a way.

"Let's just increase the production of vests like this, just increase it slowly." Shao Shude said to Song Ju: "What kind of regulations do you guys have for infantry armor, have you settled it?"

"It's not easy to forge the wart armor that the commander mentioned." Song Ju glanced at Shao Shude, and said cautiously: "If you don't forge it with fire, it will take a lot of time."

"Put one out first, let someone have a look. The Liangzhou horses on the Qilian Mountain side can carry heavy loads, the cavalry wears wart armor, and the war horses also wear vests. If you charge like this, you will be invincible." Shao Shude ordered.

"As ordered."

It is said that cavalry cannot rush into a well-guarded infantry formation. Generally speaking, it is correct, but there is actually another way.

The Liao people once used it when dealing with the Bianliang Forbidden Army.At that time, they used light cavalry to attack the infantry formation of the Song army in turn, "violently attacking a corner", that is, staring at a corner of the infantry formation and beating fiercely, regardless of casualties, and finally smashed the infantry formation of the founding elite soldiers of the Song army.

The light cavalry attacked, and it is conceivable that the loss was not small.If you use the light cavalry to charge first, consume the enemy's strength and arrows, and then change to the iron cavalry, "violently attack a corner", I don't know what the effect will be?
"Commander, Confort Gold is here." Seeing that the conversation between Shao Shude and Song Ju had come to an end, Chen Cheng walked over and reported.

"Where is Kang Xianzhao?"

"I've arrived at Longxing Temple, and I'm discussing the Tao with Master Zengren."

"On Tao..." Shao Shude smiled.

Talk about a fart!I am afraid that he has been absent-minded for a long time, and wants to come to Xiazhou to see himself.

"Where are all the people from the Yinshan tribe?"

"We've arrived at Tiandu Mountain." Chen Cheng replied, "The governor of Huizhou Han sent an urgent report. As soon as the Fan soldiers arrived, there were a lot of cattle, sheep, horses and camels, and they were scrambling for pastures. It was the middle of winter, and there was not enough fodder. All the Fan tribes in Huizhou were miserable It is said that two conflicts broke out in ten days, and more than ten people were killed or injured."

"The Tibetan people in Yinshan are still wild." Shao Shude shook his head and said, "Let them solve it by themselves. If it's impossible, send some to Luoshan. Huizhou will open a warehouse to release grain and bring out some miscellaneous grains and beans. Tell Han Jian, In March, there will be a tank boat from Lingzhou to Huining Pass, so he doesn't have to worry about the consumption of military rations."

"As ordered."

The [-] Yinshan Fan soldiers brought more than [-] cattle, sheep, horses and camels.Although Tiandu Mountain is lush with vegetation, it will be the middle of winter. There are also nomadic tribes in the area, and it is normal for them to conflict with each other.At the same time, this also exposed a problem, that is, it was the first time that the Dingnan Army organized a large number of aboriginal soldiers to drive livestock to fight. There was a problem with the organization. In the future, we should learn from experience and try to arrange it more reasonably.

"The Tuoba tribe can also go south, let Lingzhou send them military supplies, and stand by near Huining Pass." Shao Shude said again.

He stayed in the outer house last night, accompanied by Miao'e and Tuobapu.Miss Tuoba is still very concerned about her own tribe. There are nearly 2 people, including men, women, and children. Now they are going to rob the Tubo people of their cattle, sheep, and pastures.

The little girl was very worried, and she burst into tears when she was nestled in her arms, but when she learned that if Wei, Min, He, Lin and other prefectures were conquered, Tuoba would be allocated grasslands, she laughed again—this Tuoba Miss, I am not as good at acting as other women, and I am so straightforward when begging myself.

Shao Shude has already received Yang Yue's suggestion.He was a little hesitant about his plan of advancing troops in two directions, one positive and one odd, so it can only be said that he cautiously agreed.

However, the Fufuling family in Minzhou did sweep their own face by letting Qubu come back, and their vassal tribes were still in conflict with Huizhou, so it would be impossible not to beat them.

Just in this way, isn't the appetite for this attack too great?Or the original appetite is too small?It is indeed a bit of a big deal to use [-] to [-] soldiers and horses to fight only one Lanzhou.And is there any connection between the tribes in Lanzhou and Min, Wei, He, and Linzhou?
The Dingnan army has recovered Huizhou, and if they attack Lanzhou next, all fools know that they are interested in the old land of Helong.There should also be a motive for joining forces between them.

Don't take your enemies for fools!
"Yinshan Five Divisions and Tuoba Division, that's more than 1 soldiers. After the spring, an order will be sent to Lingzhou Dangxiang, and each department will gather three to 4000 people, drive cattle and sheep south, and gather in Huizhou. If you want to play, just play a game." Take the big one!" Shao Shude said: "Let's go, go see Kang Fujin and see what he has to say this time."

The meeting with Kang Fujin was arranged in the Jiedu Shiya, which was regarded as a public meeting.If Kang Xianzhao of Lingzhou receives the news, he should be able to discern the political signals in it.

"Meet the King of Lingwu County."

Before the meeting, Kang Fujin gave a set of exquisite Persian armor as a gift.Shao Shude is still very interested in these Western Region commodities.He has always insisted that maintaining an open attitude to the outside world can help improve himself.There are so many ethnic groups and countries in the world, and they always have their own advantages and strengths. It is the right way to learn from their good points and turn them into our own.

Trade in the Western Regions not only benefits economically, but also culturally.Over the past 200 years, the food, musical instruments, and clothing of the country have been influenced to varying degrees by foreign influences, and later generations have become their own things.The Sogdians have also been active in the political, commercial and military circles. It should be said that they have made a lot of contributions, except for Anlu Mountain.

"Does Zhang Shuai of the Guiyi Army know the inside story of Lanzhou?" After asking Kang Fujin to sit down, Shao Shude asked straight to the point.

Kang Fujin was a little surprised by Shao Shude's straightforwardness, but he reacted quickly, and immediately replied: "The Tubo tribes in Lanzhou were originally subordinates who were concerned about fear of heat, and then returned to Shangmai and Tuoba Huaiguang. The Ministry is headed by Tubo, Dangxiang, Tuhun and even Han people. After Tuoba Huaiguang died, he once surrendered to Shang Yanxin, but Shang Yanxin did not really control Lanzhou. The ignorance of the tribes fell into the outline of Lanzhou and turned it into It is a pasture. The Han people in the two counties used farming as their occupation, but they were organized into four tribes, with braided hair on the left lapel, and served as slave tribes."

Shao Shude nodded while thinking secretly.

It seems that compared with 60 years ago, the situation of the Han people in Lanzhou is much worse, and they have become more alienated.If we wait another hundred years, when the Northern Song Dynasty captures Lanzhou, I am afraid that there will be no Han people in the true sense.

Turning Xia into Hu, the Tubo people played very well.

"How many soldiers are there in Lanzhou?"

"There are still more than 2 people."

There are some discrepancies with the figures obtained by the Department of Hearing and Hearing!Shao Shude remained calm, and continued to ask: "Are you ready for battle? Are the equipment excellent?"

"In the past when Tubo was not in chaos, the army attacked everywhere and occupied a large area. Every time they went to a place, they collected craftsmen and sent them to various places. For example, when they fought against the Uighurs for Anxi, thousands of craftsmen were captured at one time. The Han people There are, and the Fan people also have them. In Lan, Shan, Min, Tao and other places, when doing business in the past, I also saw many Anxi craftsmen, and there should be many, or even more." Kang Fujin said.

Shao Shude was not surprised by this.Tubo is not a pure nomadic tribe, they established a formal regime.During the Anshi Rebellion in the past, the Helong prefectures fell for the second time, and the walls of some places were demolished, and a large number of tribes came to nomad, but the Tubo people still set up yamen and recruited officials.

Those who are literate in the Han people will make up for their family members and give them red copper to sue their bodies.Those who are proficient in Turkic language can also make up for the family, and give red copper to sue.This is a multi-ethnic empire that once ruled a vast area. Even if it collapses, there should still be a lot of heritage in the local area. The tribes ruling the local area should still implement the previous policies habitually, and they are still smarter than ordinary ignorant tribes. .

At the same time, this also opened up Shao Shude's thinking.I have always been suffering from the lack of craftsmen, and I always keep my eyes on Guanzhong. In fact, there are many craftsmen in Hexi and even the Western Regions.Their skills may not be too bad. If they are recruited with a lot of money, are they willing to serve the Tibetans and Uyghurs, or are they willing to serve themselves?In fact, you can try it!
"The Guiyi army attacked Lanzhou once in the past. What happened afterwards? The imperial court and Hexi have no information, and many information are not very clear."

"During the Dazhong period, the Guiyi Army was engaged. The Li family of Longxi fought against Tubo in He and Lan, and briefly regained Lanzhou. However, the Guiyi Army had only [-] Han soldiers from the Han Dynasty, and finally retreated. Lanzhou was once again occupied by Tubo." Confucian Brief said.

"Unfortunately, there are too few soldiers." Shao Shude sighed: "If there are [-] elite soldiers, they should be able to defend Lanzhou."

Kang Fujin smiled wryly. Gua and Sha are sparsely populated, and there is a shortage of food. They rely on doing business with the outside world to make up for military supplies.At that time, seven thousand soldiers was already the limit.In the past 30 years, they have continuously recruited the Tibetan and Han people and rewarded production, so they have more than 1 soldiers, and they feel a lot of pressure when facing the Uighurs.

It is not easy to protect oneself now, let alone others!
It would be a good thing for them if the Dingnan army could capture Lanzhou, but they don't know when the King of Lingwu will send troops.

(End of this chapter)