Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 360
Li Kuangwei led his troops to the Tiancheng Army, and Liu Rengong, who acted as a vanguard, advanced to the Qingsai Army west of the Tiancheng Army, and met Shuofang Army Rangers, and stopped there.

The Tiancheng Army is located in today's Tianzhen County, Datong.

The Sai army of the Qing Dynasty was originally in Weizhou. During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong, Wang Zhongsi moved here to the north to "strengthen the country's power", and it was in the south of Yanggao County in today's Datong.

Youzhou Town had just won a big victory over Hedong, and its morale was high, so it chased all the way from Weizhou.Because he heard that Li Keyong was rectifying his troops and retreating halfway, he slowed down all of a sudden.

The habit of the old Fan Town soldiers!

When others threaten them, they can cheer up and fight bravely.But once the enemy retreats and the threat is lifted, they will look passive and sabotage again. Only the commander in chief can reward them to drive them forward, but the combat effectiveness is not the same as when they defended their homeland before.

Facing Liu Rengong was the Ranger of the Tianzhu Army.

Shao Shude had already led his troops to the south, Tianzhu army guarded the left flank, and the rangers scattered far away, so they quickly spotted Liu Rengong's troops.

The news was reported immediately and handed over to Shao Shude's carriage.

He still attaches great importance to this matter, because it is related to one of the achievements of this dispatch of troops.

Helian Duo now has two "fathers", who will he vote for?This is a problem.

"Dafa Ranger, find out how many troops have come to Youzhou Town." Shao Shude ordered Xia Sanmu, who had been promoted to Marquis of the Iron Forest Army Capital, and ordered.

Xia Sanmu took the order and left.

The soldiers and horses in Hedong have already figured it out.There are 5 to 1 people in the city of Yunzhou, and there should be a group on the East Road, but not as many as Yunzhou, with [-] dead, maybe only more than [-].

After hearing that Yang Yue led his troops out of Shanyang Pass, Li Keyong sent troops to reinforce Shuozhou, which was occupied by him, according to the investigation of sentry cavalry.

It is not clear who the general is, nor how many troops there are. Most likely it is 2 to [-] people. Counting the soldiers and horses guarding Shuozhou, it is almost [-].

In this battle, Li Keyong actually mobilized 9 or [-] people. For Hedong, he did his best.

With 13 soldiers in Shuofang, what are the odds of winning against the 9 or [-] troops in Shanghedong?

Shao Shude couldn't be sure, because only 13 government troops out of the [-] army can be trusted, and the other combat effectiveness will drop a little or even a lot.

I don't know what the quality of the 9 or [-] people in Hedong is.Perhaps there are only [-] Yamen troops, and the rest are Fan soldiers, state soldiers, county town soldiers, and even united soldiers. But when marching and fighting, you have to consider the enemy stronger, otherwise you will suffer a big loss.

Of course, it doesn't make much sense to pursue the strength of Hedong's troops now, because Li Keyong has already started to retreat and will not come back in a short time.

The Shuofang army also tacitly did not push too hard, lest it would not be worthwhile to fight again.

What if we lose?Soldiers are fierce and wars are dangerous, and there is no sure victory on the battlefield.

Shao Shude had emptied his family, and Li Keyong was going northward with all his strength. Now the decisive battle is just to beat the wolf with a stick.

Li Ke's voluntary retreat is probably the most acceptable thing for all parties.He still has a lot of troubles to deal with in the future, so he may not be interested in going north again.

As for the strength of Youzhou's reinforcements, Li Keyong should be counted.Of course he wouldn't tell Shuofang Jun, he could only find out by himself.

Regardless of the fact that we were all on the same front before, the envoy from Youzhou just spent more than 3000 catties of silver to buy [-] horses from Xiazhou, but Li Kuangwei refused to disclose the number of reinforcements, which shows that he has a lot of ideas.

In this world, there are no so-called "teammates" to trust. Everyone is on guard, and teammates may turn against each other at any time.

On the ninth day of April, Shao Shude arrived at Yanchang City, forty miles north of Yunzhou City.

"The criminal general Shen Xin pays homage to the King of Lingwu County." The Wansheng Army sent Shen Xin to surrender, trembling.

Trapped in Yanchang City for so long, the water is almost exhausted, the reinforcements have been repulsed, breaking out is a dead end, and the only way is to surrender.

Along with Shen Xin, there were 300 infantrymen and more than [-] cavalry soldiers from the Wansheng Army who surrendered. At this time, they were all disarmed, turned in their weapons, and were guarded by people from the Silver Spear Capital.

Shao Shude had learned before that there were more than 4000 people in the Wansheng Army, and the armor rate reached [-]%, that is, more than [-] pairs of armors, of which more than [-] were iron armors, and the rest were leather armors, which is quite good.

During the heyday of the Kingdom, the armor rate once reached [-]%, and the armor rate of the entire army was [-]%, which is the highest since ancient times.

After the mid-Tang Dynasty, the average armor rate of the troops in northern feudal towns remained at [-]%, and the ratio of leather armor to iron armor varied depending on the economic situation of each town.

But no matter which feudal town, iron armor is a high-value item, even the imperial court.

Decades ago, when Tubo invaded Shuofang, the imperial court gave Yanzhou 150 Mo knives and [-] sets of iron armor.

Ask Zhaoyi and Liu Zhen, and give the Heyang army two thousand Mo knives, three thousand bows, and one thousand armors.

Shuofang's current armored rate is about 20%, but the proportion of iron armor is much lower than that of the Hedong army. Only about 30% of the whole army is armored, and the Hedong army is at least [-]%. The elite is estimated to be higher.

The famous town of Hedong, the northern capital of Jinyang, has a solid foundation.

If you don't rely on cavalry, you really can't play with others, shit!
Of course, Marshal Shao is also very open about it.Li Keyong is relying on his capital, while Shuofang Army is slowly accumulating and rising, it depends on the trend.

During the previous Western Expeditions, many artisans were plundered, and the five capitals of Sui, Xia, Ling, Lan, and Wei were also established. In the future, the number of artisans will increase, and the folk blacksmith industry will also develop greatly. In a few years, Shall we see again?

"What is the crime of General Shen?" Shao Shude said gently: "When you go back, you will tell your brother-in-law that the Helian family in Yunzhou has always been loyal and brave. Every time the imperial court issued an edict, they would send troops to conscript. Why should they attack each other? It is better to stop the soldiers. Hebei Jiaofan Nizhen has no rules and regulations, and is always in trouble, so it is really appropriate to discuss it. Henan Xuanwu, brother's enmity, should also be discussed."

Shen Xin Wenyan was very surprised: "The King of Lingwu County is willing to let someone go back to Hedong?"

"Why not?" Shao Shude said with a smile: "I and the king of Longxi County are Xianghuo brothers. What can't be resolved? Let's go back to Hedong. Not only you, but also the soldiers and equipment can be brought back. Well, it's already time. It’s almost noon, you can have dinner before leaving.”

"The king of Lingwu County is so benevolent and righteous, I don't know what to say." Shen Xin said with a look of emotion on his face, "The name of the king's benevolence, righteousness and generosity will be spread throughout the river."

Trapped in Yanchang City like a hostage, and finally surrendered after running out of food, I thought the end would be miserable, but there is such a good thing in the end?The soldiers must have been very excited when they heard about it. Who wouldn't want to go back and reunite with their families?After surrendering, he was dispatched to a far away place, and he would never be able to return to Hedong for the rest of his life. If it weren't for the fact that he had no choice, who would want to do this?

"Does General Shen know how many troops Li Kuangwei brought? How many defenders did Weizhou have?" Shao Shude asked suddenly.

"Weizhou has been under the control of Youzhou for several years. Yan General Liu Rengong has about 4000 people under his command. This time, Li Kuangwei's reinforcements should be no less than [-] people, maybe [-] as well. "Shen Xin said happily.

Shao Shude was overjoyed when he heard the words, and immediately ordered meals to be prepared for Wan Sheng's soldiers. He invited Shen Xin to a banquet alone, and asked a lot of things about Hedong.

……

Near Shenduizha in the southwest of Yunzhou, Li Keyong climbed a high mountain to overlook the wilderness in the north.

In the field, a large group of cavalry is gathering.The flags are not clearly visible, but there are many horses and well-trained.

"Let Kang Jun come over." After watching for a while, Li Keyong said suddenly.

Kang Junli trotted all the way up the mountain, and as soon as he met him, he said: "Commander, why don't you leave? There are all soldiers of Shao Bandits behind. I don't know why they stopped, but who knows when they will go south again?"

Li Ke used only Yier and his cavalry troops around him, and these were the last two troops to leave.He was also quite courageous, he dared to stay and observe the strength of Shuofang's army.

"Emissary Kang, based on your experience of confronting Yi-Shao's bandits, where is his cavalry strong? Where is his weakness?" Li Ke looked carefully at the Shuofang cavalry that was almost everywhere. , asked.

"The armored cavalry is very strong. I rarely see such a thick horse lance. It reminds me of Yangkan in the Southern Dynasty." Kang Junli said without thinking. It seems that the iron harrier left a deep impression on him.

Yang Kan's ancestors served under Liu Yu, and later served as officials in the Northern Wei Dynasty.During the Southern Liang Dynasty, Yang Kan crossed the river and surrendered to Emperor Wu of Liang.

At that time, "Shaofu Zuoxin made two-edged lances", which were two feet and four feet long (about 5.88 meters) and one foot and three inches in circumference (circumference 0.32 meters).

Emperor Wu of Liang "given him a horse and ordered him to test it."

So Yang Kan rode on the horse Ziliu, "holding the lance on the horse, and stabbing left and right, very cleverly", its power and power even frightened the onlookers to climb up the tree and broke the tree, so the lance got its name again. "Fold tree lance".

When Kang Junli said this, of course he did not mean that the iron harriers were all like cattle like Yang Kan, but that the horses they used were too heavy and powerful, and they could not be used by the brave and carefully selected soldiers in the army. .

"Is it necessary to set up armored cavalry in Hedong?" Li Keyong asked.

The cavalry in the east of the river were lightly armed with leather armor, while the heavy ones wore iron armor. However, horses had no armor, so they could not be regarded as armored cavalry.

And A is not the same as A.

Shao Shude was willing to spend a lot of money on the iron kite, and the sergeants wore cold-forged wart armor.

Last year, they were specially equipped with a curtain to protect the knight's face.

In this way, knights have helmets, face curtains, and wart armor, and horses have face curtains, chicken necks (to protect the horse's neck), horse body armor, rears (to protect the horse's buttocks), and parasites (to protect the horse's buttocks). It looks like an armored cavalry from the Northern and Southern Dynasties armed to the teeth - although in terms of armor thickness, it is not as good as that era.

This kind of equipment also existed in the early years of the Kingdom of China, but it became simpler and simpler after that, and it was no longer as spectacular as before.

The Northern and Southern Dynasties, it was really the golden age of armored cavalry, and it was also the age of pathological development.So much so that when generals, ministers, and princes are buried, they must be buried with armored cavalry equipment in their tombs. This love is deeply rooted in the bone marrow.

"Marshal, the armor worn by Shao thief knights, according to the torture of prisoners, is called 'Warth Armor'. It cannot enter arrows, knives and guns. It is extremely tough. Thousands of riders charged all the way, and they were invincible. All of them collapsed. If there is no armored cavalry in this battle, the general will surely defeat the Silver Spear City." Kang Junli said: "Therefore, the final general please equip armored cavalry to curb the trend of western thieves."

Li Keyong was noncommittal, and asked again: "Besides the Silver Spear Capital, have no other cavalry troops fought against each other?"

"Never."

"I heard that the Shao bandits have fine cavalry called 'Iron Cavalry', and they set up 'Tuqi' and 'Beiwei', and they have made great achievements. I don't know how the three armies of my own cavalry, flying cavalry, and rampage compare with them .”

Kang Junli thought for a while, but said nothing.

In his opinion, the two armies of Qinqi and Flying Cavalry are stronger than Shao Bandit's Silver Spear, but they are estimated to be about the same as the two armies of Tuqi and Beiwei.The Hengchong Army is actually the capital of Hengchong, with only [-] cavalry. It is currently led by Li Cunxiao, and has not gone north this time.

There are too few cavalry!Even if they are more elite, after a long tug-of-war, a little bit of consumption will be replenished?I'm afraid it's not getting weaker and weaker.

The horn sounded in the north.

Li Keyong and Kang Junli followed the prestige, and saw a large group of cavalry turned north and gathered in a valley.

After a long time, a large group of cavalry came again from the outskirts of the valley, heading east like thunder.

Li and Kang stared intently for a long time, seeing the passing cavalry one after another, as if there would never be an end.

There are those with iron armor, those who wear leather armor, and those who simply wear furs. There are always more than ten thousand riders of all kinds.

These people, Li Keyong knew very well, were monitoring the retreat of the Hedong army.

They didn't make any attacking gestures, they just watched the Hedong army leave, obviously they got Shao Shude's instruction.

A surveillance vanguard has more than ten thousand riders!If the gap between the cavalry armies of the two sides is not shortened, it will be too disadvantageous to fight the Shuofang army in the open and boundless north.

"When I go back this time, the most important thing is not to build armored cavalry, but to reorganize horse management." Li Keyong made up his mind, and said: "The Loufan pastoral supervisor is getting worse and worse, so he needs to clean it up. gone."

Kang Junli was a little surprised, why did the commander change his temper?
The sound of horseshoes sounded from the north, and a scout flew there.

The soldiers stopped him, and after careful questioning, he hurried up the hillside and said, "Commander Shao, the bandit Shao released Wan Shengjun, and asked the envoy Shen Jun to bring back a letter."

"Huh?" Li Ke raised his eyebrows, a little surprised, and asked, "Did King Lingwu say anything?"

"I don't know." The soldier replied.

It seems that we have to wait for Shen Xin to come back.

The righteous brother is watching off with soldiers, and is being released to captives, what kind of play is this?Li Ke had some guesses in his heart, but when he thought of Shao Shude preventing him from capturing the Datong Army, he felt a little unhappy.

"Let's go." Li Ke waved his hand and said, "There's nothing to see."

(End of this chapter)