If I let you stay in Lingnan, how could you become the crown prince of the Tang Dynasty?

Chapter 100: The bandits surrendered and became the extra-official citizens of the Tang Dynasty
In Shanzhou City, Li An was reorganizing the defense.

When Chai Shao heard that Li An had taken Shanzhou, he immediately sent thousands of infantrymen to assist Li An in defending it.

The uncle had never expected that his nephew would actually capture Shanzhou in one fell swoop. He was so delighted that he completely forgot that Li An was going to chop off his head with the imperial sword.

With these thousands of infantrymen, the defense of Shanzhou was guaranteed.

Moreover, there were already many Tang soldiers and civilians in Shanzhou City. These people became prisoners when Fushun captured Shanzhou and were used by Fushun as hard labor slaves. When Li An took Shanzhou, the Tuyuhun defenders had no time to take them away or slaughter them, so they all remained in the city.

At this time, these people were used by Li An to strengthen the city's defenses, and he instantly incorporated the young people into the army to defend the city.

After Shanzhou was stabilized, Li An handed over all trivial matters to Feng Lang and Xue Rengui, and sat alone in the room to study the map of Tuyuhun.

Suddenly a soldier came to report:
"Your Highness, there are many people outside the city seeking refuge. They appear to be horse thieves from the grasslands!"

Li An couldn't help but be slightly stunned when he heard this.

There were many horse thieves in the Hexi Corridor and the plateau where Tuyuhun and the Tang Dynasty bordered each other, most of whom were Tang people, but there were also some people from the Western Regions and even Tuyuhun natives, so the composition was very complex.

These people were originally citizens of the Tang Dynasty. Because their places of residence were looted and burned by the Tuyuhun or Turks, they could no longer live there. They could only wander around and make a living by stealing horses and plundering, but they rarely attacked the Tang Dynasty.

When Li An heard the report, he immediately walked out of the room and went to the top of the city wall.

However, there were many men on horseback outside the city gate. There seemed to be at least one or two thousand of them, and each of them looked very strong. Most of them were dressed as Tang people, and there were also many people dressed in the clothes of Western Hu people, and even dressed in the clothes of Tuyuhun and Turks.

"Your Highness!"

A big man with a full beard walked to the foot of the city and shouted:
"We are all Tang people. We had nowhere to go after our villages were plundered and burned by the Tuyuhun Turks, so we became horse thieves here!"

"Now we have heard that Your Highness has recaptured Shanzhou and has made the Tuyuhun people flee, so we are all coming to you! As long as you take us in, we are willing to serve Your Highness and defeat the Tuyuhun people together!"

Li An hesitated for a moment, then turned to look at Feng Lang:

"Yuan Fang... No! Xiao Feng, what do you think?"

Feng Lang thought for a moment and said:
"Many of these horse thieves are Tang people. They have nowhere to go because their livelihoods were robbed by Tuyuhun and Turks. They can only make a living as horse thieves. They never attack the Tang Dynasty, and they are basically good at riding and shooting. They are a useful force!"

"The Tang Dynasty is now concentrating its forces to deal with the Turks. We have limited forces at hand. If we can recruit these people, and they are familiar with the terrain of Tuyuhun, it would be a good opportunity to attack Tuyuhun in the future!"

Li An nodded:

"Xiao Feng, what you said makes sense. Then you will be responsible for recruiting them! But..."

Li An glanced at the bearded man below:
"I want you to divide these people into centuries, and then select some loyal and eloquent soldiers from the Hussar Guards and cavalry to serve as political commissars among these people."

"political commissar?"

Feng Lang couldn't help but be stunned.

His Highness seemed to have said another word he didn't understand.

Li An frowned and thought for a while, then said:
"If you don't want to call me political commissar, then call me envoy!"

"Remember, the role of the messenger is not only to quickly convey my orders to them, but also to spread the power of the Tang army and find out their secrets. I want you to understand their origins in the shortest possible time and keep abreast of their psychology and movements!"

Feng Lang respectfully accepted the order, and then selected some eloquent and loyal soldiers from the Cavalry Guards and the Tang Cavalry, then turned around and ordered the city gates to be opened, and all the horse thieves were welcomed in. Soon, the bearded man was brought in front of Li An.

After seeing Li An, the bearded man immediately bowed down:
"I, Xu Jiang, pay my respects to Your Highness!"

When Li An heard his name, he couldn't help but feel moved.

This guy is really a bit like the Xu Jiang I knew in my previous life.

But I don’t know if this guy likes to bury people!
"Although you are horse thieves, you are forced to do so, and you never infringe upon the people of the Tang Dynasty!"

Li An smiled slightly and motioned Xu Jiang to stand up:

"But since you have joined the Tang army, you must obey military orders. I will organize you into cavalry, with General Feng as the commander, and you will be the deputy commander."

"Thank you, Your Highness!"

Xu Jiang thanked him and stood up.

Li An said again:

"Also, I will divide you into many teams of one hundred men, each with a centurion. In addition, I will send some heralds, who can also command the teams, and their positions are equivalent to deputy centurions!"

Xu Jiang scratched his head, not quite understanding the role of the messenger. He thought that Li An had just planted some of his own people in the team, so he nodded without raising any objections.

"I will obey your highness' orders!"

"Your Highness, our Tang Dynasty has already defeated Tuyuhun. When will we march westward to defeat these Tuyuhun people?"

Li An smiled faintly and did not answer. Instead, he asked:
"You have been in Tuyuhun for many years, so you should know the situation there. Tell me everything!"

Xu Jiang immediately walked to the Tuyuhun map on the table and said:
"Your Highness, Tuyuhun is a vast country with few people. The people are nomadic and wander around. The main cities are Fushiqi and Fuhan."

"If the Tang Dynasty wants to use military force against the Tuyuhun people, military strength is not a problem. The only thing we can worry about is that the plateau is high and the air is thin. The Tang people often cannot adapt to this place. Many people even find it difficult to breathe, so it is difficult to attack!"

Li An nodded.

What Xu Jiang was talking about was exactly the altitude sickness that troubled many Tang people!

Tuyuhun was located in the area from the present-day Qinghai Lake to the Hexi Corridor. The terrain was extremely high and the air was very thin. Ordinary Tang people would have altitude sickness if they arrived here, often with difficulty breathing and weakness in their limbs. Not to mention fighting, it would be a problem whether they could even exercise normally.

Although the more than 2,000 soldiers around Li An had arrived in Shanzhou for some time and had adapted to the climate here, there should be no problem in going to Tuyuhun. However, if other soldiers were to be mobilized here, it would definitely take a long time to adapt.

Xu Jiang seemed to see Li An's worry, and suddenly pointed to a place in Tuyuhun and said:

"Your Highness, don't worry. We in the Tang Dynasty still have many people in Dayichuan who can be used to attack Tuyuhun!"

The Dafeichuan he mentioned is located in the Qieji grassland to the south of today's Qinghai Lake, between the Nanshan Mountains and the Ola Mountains. There are many mountains and the terrain is tortuous. Many Tang people who were captured and looted by Tuyuhun were unwilling to be enslaved, so they hid in the mountains inside the Dafeichuan.

"We still have several thousand of our people there. If Your Highness attacks Tuyuhun, you can use these people!"

(End of this chapter)