Man Tanghong

A general with a wooden spear forcefully punched a hole in the body of the opposing captain, which shows the depth of his skills and the excellence of his martial arts.

Then the second pair, the third pair, the fourth pair...and so on.

Almost all are damaged.

Even when generals such as Yu Chigong, Cheng Yaojin, Xue Wanjun, Xue Wanche, Li Junxian, and Hou Junji ended up facing each other, they were damaged.

The one who was least injured was General Dingyuan, who had reached the fifth rank of Sanshi, and a finger was broken. The one who was most seriously injured was General Zhongwu, who had reached the fourth rank of Sanshi and was an earl. , and was almost stabbed to death by Xue Wanche.

Although Xue Wanjun threw a spear at the critical moment and knocked away Xue Wanche's wooden spear, Xue Wanche's wooden spear still pierced the side of the opponent's neck an inch deep.

The doctors in the army rushed to the stage immediately to start treatment, and had already carried the person off. Before leaving, they only left a message that they were not worried about their lives for the time being.

Whether his life was in danger and whether he could survive was guaranteed, but the doctors in the army had no guarantee.

"This competition has gone sour and must be stopped, otherwise people may die in the third or fourth round!"

Li Shimin didn't know when he appeared on the high platform, looking at the injured generals and commanders under the high platform, he said earnestly.

Li Yuanji nodded and agreed with Li Shimin's statement. Just as he was about to speak, he heard an urgent stop from the steps on the side of the platform, "No, it's finally interesting. It would be boring if you stopped me." .”

In the entire camp, there was only one person who dared to speak like this on a high platform in front of a powerful person and a legitimate prince, and that was the real owner of the camp, Li Shiji.

Li Shiji wore a suit of fish scale armor and a long sword at his waist. With an interesting smile on his face, he strode up to the high platform.

After giving a full salute to Li Yuanji and a half salute to Li Shimin, he said with a smile: "Don't you think that this is the time when this competition becomes more interesting?"

Li Shimin and Li Shiji were familiar with each other, but their friendship was not deep, so after hearing this, he just glanced at Li Shiji and ignored him. There was even a hint of dissatisfaction in his eyes.

Obviously, he couldn't stand Li Shiji's temperament of watching the excitement without taking it too seriously.

Although what Li Shiji said was true, the competition did become interesting at this time, but the war was imminent, and losing troops and generals at this time was not a good thing for Datang.

So he felt that Li Shiji had no regard for the overall situation.

However, he has his own opinions, and Li Shiji also has his own opinions.

After Li Shiji noticed his dissatisfaction, he continued with a smile: "Your Highness, don't you think that if we let the soldiers compete at this time, the loser will use all his strength to fight the enemy after he goes to the battlefield? Fight?"

This is called knowing shame and then being brave.

On the Goguryeo battlefield in later generations, Mr. Peng used this method, and then inspired the strongest infantry regiment on the surface.

Now Li Shiji obviously wants to use the same method.

With the martial nature of the people of the Tang Dynasty, if they really lost to others in public, especially to someone with a lower status than themselves, they would definitely fight desperately on the battlefield, defend their dignity with their lives, and use their military exploits to win. Prove that you are worthy of your current status and status.

"Is it difficult to fight the Western Turks?"

Li Yuanji did not rush to answer Li Shiji's question, but asked Li Shiji instead.

If the Western Turks were easy to fight, Li Shiji would not use this method to encourage the generals to die.

After all, the remaining generals are basically prestigious in the military, and some of them have very high status. In order not to be looked down upon by others, in order to prove that they are worthy of their superior status, they really He will risk his life to compete with his opponent.

Therefore, in the next competition, there is a high possibility of casualties.

After the second round of competition, there were fifty winners left in the field.

In a two-to-two competition, nearly 20 people would most likely be seriously injured or killed, and the winner might also suffer varying degrees of minor or serious injuries.

If these people lie down and have no way to go to the battlefield, then half of the army here may be paralyzed.

Until they recover from their injuries, or until generals from other places arrive, Datang will have to temporarily slow down its campaign to conquer the Western Turks.

Therefore, the Western Turks must be difficult to fight. Li Shiji felt that there might be a few tough battles, so he chose to use this method to motivate the soldiers.

Li Shiji put away the smile on his face, nodded, then shook his head and said: "Yes and no..."

Li Shiji gave it away first, and then said with a solemn expression: "The Western Turks are actually more difficult to fight than we thought. Now Tong Yehu's uncle and Tong Yehu's son are in charge of their own affairs. No one obeys the other, and they are constantly conquering each other. There is no time to take care of us at all. So after our troops enter the Western Turks, we can march all the way to Dunhuang.

But after arriving at Dunhuang, we must divide our troops into three groups.

Go all the way to the southwest, pass Sansha, Shanshan, cross Qiemo, go straight into Khotan, and then continue westward along the desert.

Although we will encounter many small countries in the Western Regions along the way, none of them are strong. We, the Tang Dynasty, only need to send out a partial force.

Go all the way west, enter Yanqi, pass Qiuci, and directly attack the Sanmi Mountain where the Western Turks Royal Court is located. Then go west to Suiye, go south to Shule, join the first army, march west again, and sweep away the remaining Western Turks. territory.

Finally, we have to go northwest, enter Gaochang, defeat Xueyantuo, and level the northwest of the Western Turks.

The first two routes were fine, and the enemies we encountered along the way were not strong. Even if we encountered Tong Yehu's uncle and son, our Tang Dynasty could still fight them even with only 4000 or [-] people.

The real trouble is the last road, and the people we have to face on the last road are not the people of the Western Turks, but the people who escaped from the Eastern Turks, that is, Ashina Sher.

At present, Ashina Sheer has recovered all the Xueyantuo tribes and led his troops to capture all the Western Turkic territories north of Qishan.

During this period, he also discovered several generals with outstanding abilities, the most powerful of whom was a guy named Qibi Heli.

It is said that this person led the battle to defeat Gaochang.

And they captured the entire territory of Gaochang with less than 500 men.

If we encounter them, we will have to fight at least two tough battles.

Therefore, the last road is the most troublesome. We must invest more troops and more manpower and material resources on this road. "

There is another thing Li Shiji didn't mention, and that is energy.

Different from the Turks, the Western Turks have a wider territory and more complex terrain. There are not only mountains, ditches, hills and hills, but also two large deserts.

It is precisely with the blessing of these two large deserts that the territory of the Western Turks has become larger than that of the Turks.

In this way, Datang had to face a longer front line. If it marched in three directions, the front line would be three.

Although this is a test for the soldiers, the soldiers have already gained some experience in fighting on the grasslands in Turks, so they can overcome even if there are difficulties.

This is also a test for the logistics and baggage transportation. Although Datang's logistics and baggage transportation team has been continuously strengthened, it can supply military supplies on three fronts at once, and each front is thousands of miles long. With Datang's current situation Judging from the transportation capacity of the logistics baggage team, it is simply impossible.

Therefore, the Tang Dynasty had to increase the number of logistics teams, reduce the number of soldiers and horses, inspire the soldiers to be willing to die, and also make the soldiers mentally prepared for long-term operations.

Increasing the number of logistics baggage teams and reducing the number of soldiers and horses can reduce the demand for baggage of the three armies and inspire the soldiers to be willing to die. This is to improve the combat efficiency of the soldiers. As long as the soldiers can attack cities and seize territory quickly enough, Fast, defeating the enemy quickly enough, without giving the enemy a chance to react and resist desperately, the soldiers can capture a large number of cattle, sheep and horses for military supplies.As long as the soldiers capture the Western Turks in the shortest possible time and end the war as soon as possible, the cost of the Tang Dynasty will be reduced exponentially, and the demand and dependence on various military supplies will not be so great.

As for preparing the soldiers for a long-term battle, that is the worst plan.

After all, there is no turning back. The conquest of the Western Turks has already begun. It is impossible to leave halfway through the conquest. The entire Western Turks must be captured and brought under the rule of the Tang Dynasty to end.

If the soldiers cannot capture the entire Western Turks at an extremely fast speed, they must be prepared for a long-term battle.

"So you want them to continue to compete, on the one hand, so that some of them can learn their shame and become brave, and on the other hand, you can eliminate some of the unqualified people among them, and then help the civilians transport the luggage?"

After Li Yuanji understood Li Shiji's strategy of using troops, he also guessed the specific reason why Li Shiji asked the generals to compete with each other.

Li Shiji's purpose was not only to arouse the soldiers' desire to die and improve their combat efficiency, but also to streamline the troops and horses, so that troops and horses that were not suitable for interspersing among the enemies and playing large depths could be used for transportation.

In this way, elite soldiers can be gathered together to make small-scale advances, which will not only increase their mobility but also increase their destructiveness.

After all, if tens of thousands of soldiers and horses attack one place at the same time, tens of thousands of soldiers and horses will move very slowly. After attacking one, they will attack another, and they will defend in time.

Thousands of soldiers and horses are different. If they are all cavalry, they will be very fast. After breaking through one place, they can immediately move to another place without giving the other place time to react. The place that can be conquered It will be doubled or even more, tactics can be changed flexibly, and the demand for baggage will be reduced.

The remaining non-elite soldiers engaged in transportation will also reduce the pressure on transportation and assist the elite soldiers in combat when necessary.

In this way, there is no need to add more troops here, nor to add too many baggage teams.