Neon Clothes and Iron Clothes

Chapter 133 The Great Army
The claw hoe fell, leaving only a white spot on the hard frozen soil.

"Hurry up, work quickly, don't stop until the work is done!"

The boy Quanyuan looked at the construction site expressionlessly, like a cold ice sculpture, no one dared to approach, no one dared to plead.Ever since Quan Gai Suwen left with his two younger brothers, he has become like this. He has kept his father's words in mind: for a predator, fear is the most useful weapon.

"Damn Lu! The Silla grain transport team has arrived, do you want to send troops to attack?" When Quan Yuan's boy was about to leave the construction site, an officer said out of breath.

The boy from Quanyuan didn't speak, he stared into the officer's eyes until the officer lowered his head: "No, just send scouts to watch!"

"Yes!"

The boy from Quanyuan ignored the officer, jumped on his horse, and headed towards the mansion. Of course he knew that this batch of military rations was of great importance, but he knew better that the most reliable army in the city had been taken away by his father, and he himself He is a defeated general, and if he suffers another defeat, it will be even more difficult to mobilize him.

"Father, you must win!"

"Based on the calculation of the campfire, there should be [-] soldiers under the command of President Su this time!" Panting heavily, He Bayong said excitedly, "I have never seen such a magnificent military camp!"

"It's a pity that there are not many cavalry, otherwise there would be no need to build so many fortifications!" Wang Wenzuo muttered in a voice that only he could hear clearly.As he said, the camp of the Tang army consists of six camps, each of which has a complete earth barrier, double-layer wooden walls, watchtowers, and three trenches. There are corridors connecting them, and a wall that is several kilometers long leads directly to the wharf beside the Datong River. In a farther place, you can vaguely see a series of continuous walls.Obviously, the Tang army spent so much effort building fortifications was definitely not for fun. As the attacking party, there was only one possibility—the cavalry was at a disadvantage, so field fortifications had to be used to ensure the safety of their own camps and supply lines.

"Sanlang, you should have fought a war just now, you smell this smell!" Cui Hongdu sniffed and whispered.

Wang Wenzuo did not speak. Although there were no dead bodies as far as his eyes could see, the air was filled with the smell of carrion crows, and the scorched fields and burnt villages that could be seen everywhere along the way told them that what happened here not long ago what.

"The people of Goguryeo are indeed our Tang Dynasty's strong opponents!" Cui Hongdu said in a low voice, "It seems that there must be many tough battles to come!"

"That's the opportunity for my good boy to make meritorious deeds!" He Bayong looked eager to try: "I heard that although the military discipline of Chief Su is strict, he promotes the meritorious officers very quickly, for example——"

"Shut up, someone is coming, order all teams to be alert!" Wang Wenzuo stopped He Bayong, and a group of cavalry was approaching him. Judging from the flags flying above their heads, they should belong to the patrol of the Tang army.

"Are you—?" The visitor reined in his horse, his helmet was a maroon Chinese character face, and he was watching Wang Wenzuo and his party vigilantly.

"This is Lieutenant Xuanjie of the Xiongjin Governor's Mansion, don't take Wang Wenzuo!" Wang Wenzuo took out the waist card and handed it to the visitor: "I was ordered by General Kim, the chief officer of the Shenqiu Road Army, to come to Pyongyang with the Silla army to escort food. Camp!"

"It turned out to be for food delivery! Good, good!" The visitor was overjoyed when he heard the words, and after checking that the waist card and amulet letter was correct, he handed it back to Wang Wenzuo: "The food team is still behind, right? You are finally here!"

"Well, we are the front team, and the chief manager is still behind!"

"Okay, okay!" The visitor turned his head: "Go back to the camp quickly, report the matter here to the general, and send troops to meet the food team!" He glanced at the soldiers behind Wang Wenzuo who were stringing their crossbows and drawing their knives out of their sheaths, and raised their heads. Thumbs up: "The good soldiers trained by Captain Wang are really as they should be. The Goguryeo people are really strong enemies!"

"Oh, why do you say that?" Wang Wenzuo paused for a moment: "By the way, I haven't asked about the official position of my brother, I'm rude!"

"Hehe, a certain family is also surnamed Wang and named Zhaotang, who is also a captain of Xuanjie just like you!"

"That's really a coincidence!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "Brother Wang, you just said that the Goguryeo people are also strong enemies. Could it be that the war went wrong a few days ago?"

"Hmm!" Wang Zhaotang pointed to the surrounding area: "Look at the villages and villages around here, do you know who burned them all?"

"Strong walls and clear fields, this should be from Goguryeo?" Wang Wenzuo replied after thinking for a while.

"Hehe!" Wang Zhaotang laughed dryly: "At first it was made by Goguryeo people, and then we made it!"

"It's not surprising that people in Goguryeo burned it, so why do we burn it? Isn't it good to keep it?"

"Hey!" Wang Zhaotang gave a wry smile: "It was the end of August when we arrived, and the autumn valley was about to climb. Everyone thought that the Goguryeo people would be surrounded in the city, and we would eat the autumn valley in the field, so we built a long fence and prepared a Harvest when the grain is ripe, and the Goguryeo people keep sending troops out of the city to set fires, trying to burn the houses outside the city with grain. But we came across the sea under fire. There are too few horses, and our territory is getting less and less , simply send someone to set fire to the outside."

"Well! No wonder Chief Su is so eager to urge the delivery of grain!" Wang Wenzuo nodded: "I didn't expect this situation under the Pyongyang city!"

"Yes! Now the key is that there are fewer horses. The less horses you have, the less you can enclose the territory. The smaller the territory, the less space to graze. It is difficult to go out to harvest food. There is no grass and no food. People can survive, mules and horses. I can't stand it!"

"Well, yes!" Wang Wenzuo also sighed.

"Actually, it's nothing, just wait a few more days!" Wang Zhaotang said with a smile: "The army on the North Road has cavalry from Khitan, Tie Le tribes, and Yingzhou Daying, as long as they arrive, it will be easy to defeat the cavalry of the Goguryeo people! "

According to the establishment of the Tang army at that time, not to mention the cavalry units, even the infantry units had a large number of mules and horses, which were used to carry supplies and armored battles, and even replaced the marching troops. They just dismounted when fighting. This is why the Tang army was able to go deep into the desert at the beginning of the Tang Dynasty. , Defeating Xue Yantuo, Turks, Tuyuhun, Khitan and other nomadic peoples in the plains.

But limited to the technical conditions at that time, the number of mules and horses in the Tang army who crossed the sea and expedition was greatly reduced. It was okay when facing Baekje, which was dominated by infantry, and faced the Goguryeo people who controlled a large area of ​​land in Liaodong and had a strong cavalry force. Therefore, we have to adopt the tactics of strict scouting and building fortifications for self-defense.

And the more this is the case, the less grazing land Tang Jun can control, and the less grazing land he controls, the thinner his mules and horses will be, falling into such a vicious circle, and there is only one way to break this cycle, that is to own The arrival of the North Road Tang Army with a powerful cavalry unit.

(End of this chapter)