Late Tang

Suddenly, it was late autumn in a blink of an eye.

The rustling autumn wind passed by the side of Guo Tao, who was wearing a half-length armor, his breath condensed into a cloud of white mist, reflected in the red light of his rising sun, which was slightly astringent but also somewhat On a strong, serious cheek.

The surrounding morning mist was like billowing silver waves. Under the sunlight, the soldiers' armors, swords and spears shone brightly.In the ever-strengthening and extending morning light, the silver waves spread to all directions, the sky gradually became brighter, and the frost and dew on the ground shone brightly under the red sun, crystal clear, dawn came, and a new day began again.

The diffuse white mist gradually melted away, and the heroic appearance of the soldiers was gradually revealed. Among the thousands of troops, there were generals wearing capes and soldiers holding spears. With the order of the King of Qin, countless soldiers left their hometowns and barracks, and gathered one after another. here we go.

In front of this huge camp is a tower built of stones, and behind the tower are black rock bricks, which is the Yanshan section of the Great Wall.The entire Great Wall is like a giant dragon winding and circling over the high and undulating Yanshan Mountains.

A few days later, on that day, when His Royal Highness the King of Qin stepped up to the tower to inspect the division of the Northern Expedition, the shouts of the soldiers of the three armies still rang in Guo Tao's ears.

At the military parade that day, Guo Tao and his companions, the young soldiers of the Reserve First Army, shouted the slogan "Long live my king" in the middle of the military parade with excitement and enthusiasm. It still echoes to this day.At the beginning, he couldn't remember who shouted the slogan first, but he was sure that no one had discussed and arranged this matter beforehand.Some young soldiers couldn't help but yelled the first sentence, and soon someone followed suit.After Guo Tao heard it, he quickly followed suit. Not only did he yell himself, but he also asked his thousand brothers in the front of the First Army to yell together. In the end, the entire Boys Army recruited a total of six soldiers to join the army. The [-] young soldiers of the army shouted 'Long live my king' together!

Then, on the plain under the Great Wall, countless swords and guns waved in the air, and the 15 troops gathered here cheered in unison.Army formations shouted one after another, and finally the entire army fell into frenzied shouting.

The shouts of "long live" came one after another, and the roar in the field went straight to Yunxiao.

Afterwards, the Northern Expedition camp commanded verbal reprimands for the young soldiers who were the first to speak out against the etiquette system, but in fact there was no actual punishment.On the contrary, three days later, early this morning, the battalion issued a military order, which specially commended the young army officers, including Guo Tao, for their outstanding performance with the army this time, and gave them promotions and awards.

Guo Tao, the front-commander of the First Army of the Junior Reserve Army, was specially promoted to be the deputy commander and front-commander of the Sixth Army of the Juvenile Reserve Cavalry Army.Not only was he promoted from the commanding envoy to the military and horse envoy rank in Duzhi, but he was also promoted from the infantry commander to the cavalry deputy commander and commander. This step is an important step.Although, this is just a job in the Youth Army.

In this Northern Expedition, a total of 3 personnel were selected from various military academies and scout schools, and six armies were formed to accompany the army to participate in the Northern Expedition.This is also an important actual combat test. These young soldiers are only thirteen or fourteen years old, and the elders are only seventeen or eighteen years old.I have been training and studying in the military academy for two or three years, and this is the first time I have participated in combat.Although the camp may not really put them into the battlefield, it is also an extremely rare opportunity.

The [-] youth army formed a separate army, only a few instructors and officers were dispatched by the General Staff Council, and the rest were young soldiers serving at various levels.But no matter what, this group of people is also the stars of the future. If they can be promoted to deputy commanders in the youth army today, and officially enter the war army when they become adults, it will never be low.

Guo Tao was holding a scimitar in his hand. The snow pattern on the black blade immediately revealed that it was a very expensive Damascus scimitar.Because this knife is made of Utz steel, it is extremely rare, and what is even more rare is its forging process. Although the Qin Army Armory Workshop has already had this casting process, the output still cannot be increased.Every Damascus knife is a high-quality product, and Qin Junzhong early stipulated that Damascus knives were designated as honored swords, and only soldiers who received honors could be given permission to wear them.

Next to Guo Tao, a few older people in the front of the Sixth Army, about seventeen or eighteen years old, were also very interested, looking enviously at the newly awarded saber in his hand.This time, Daxingying rewarded the young officers, and Guo Tao was one of them. Not only was he rewarded and promoted, but he was also awarded a Huben Medal.This is a sixth-class special medal that is one level higher than the Eight Riders Medal. Even if it is only the lowest of the sixth class, it is not a big deal.There are two types of medals in the Qin Army, one is commemorative medals. After each battle, the soldiers who participated in the battle can get a commemorative medal for that battle, which is very honorable.And the other kind of medals are eight knights and six special medals. These medals are usually extremely difficult to obtain. Glory to the nobility.

Guo Tao is only 14 years old this year. He is still a young officer in the reserve army, but he has already won the Huben Medal, which is envied by countless soldiers and generals. noble.

"This saber is so beautiful, An Lan, lend it to us and wear it for a few days."

An Lan is Guo Tao's name. Boys usually have the crown in their twenties. However, in today's era, with frequent wars, men have to bear many responsibilities earlier, and now early marriage is also advocated.Generally, before getting married, you need to add crowns and pick characters.This also makes the age of crowning more and more advanced now. The royal prince can be crowned at the age of 12, and the children of princes and ministers have also begun to crown at fifteen.The same is true for the folks. Guo Tao and others are orphans and young soldiers. Therefore, these young soldiers usually start to be crowned around the age of 15, and then they are bestowed by the teachers.

Guo Tao is only fourteen this year, and he has not yet reached the age of coronation, but this time, he was rewarded, received a medal, and even together with the other 18 honored youths, he was personally bestowed by the King of Qin. The name is An Lan, and even the King of Qin presided over the collective coronation ceremony for [-] of them.

"This is the honorary sword bestowed by the King of Qin. When the sword is around, he never leaves his body." Guo Tao is not a stingy person. On the contrary, he is usually very generous in the army. Now he has been promoted to deputy army leader.Even if this is just a temporary military position in the reserve army, it is inseparable from his ability and character.

Guo Tao replied with a light smile, looking at the looming Great Wall in the distance.

After the military parade, the vanguard of the 15 troops assembled here has already left the camp and left the customs first. There were 15 troops, [-] reserve youth troops, and another [-] elite soldiers and cavalry. In addition, [-] township soldiers were mobilized, including [-] cavalry.The entire Northern Expedition had [-] cavalry and [-] infantry.However, for the [-] young army, this time it was more of an experience and experience. They were more responsible for accompanying the army as auxiliary soldiers, escorting the supplies and watching the battle.

The first army to leave the day before yesterday was Guo Chongtao, the former general of Shatuo who had just arrived not long ago. He is now the current leader of the Xiaowu army. He has two thousand Shatuo Qingqi and one thousand Han cavalry under his command. Like Liu Rengong Dingwu Army, who also has two thousand Uyghur cavalry and one thousand Han cavalry, they are relatively strong troops in the Zhuxiang army.This time Guo Chongtao and Liu Rengong took the initiative to invite Ying, and even the former generals of Lulong also volunteered to fight.But in the end, Lu Long's Sixth Army was transferred to Jianghuai, Shandong, and only Guo Chongtao and Liu Rengong were included in the Northern Expedition.Guo Chongtao was among the first to go out of the customs, as the pioneer team to explore the way.

Guo Tao's elder brother, Guo Wei, had just been promoted and transferred to the middle of the Xiaowu Army, where he served as the deputy commander and head of the middle chamber of the Xiaowu Army.Guo Tao's second brother, Guo Wei, is currently stationed in Xuzhou. In the battle of Xuzhou, he did not perform well and made military achievements. Now he has been promoted to battalion commander and leads [-] infantry.

The three brothers of the Guo family performed very well in the army. The eldest brother became the deputy commander of the army. The last time he was knighted, he was named the founder of the county. The second brother also won a flying knight medal and became a knight. Even he, too Huben Medal, became a knight.Just thinking that the three brothers are all in the army, far away from their parents and sisters at home, he can't help feeling a little depressed.

This time during the Northern Expedition, the King of Qin wanted to eliminate the Khitans in one fell swoop.But the Khitans were not weak either. Just after the civil strife ended, they destroyed the Yinshan Tatars and Xixi.Now that Dongxi has been conquered, and the Mobei Shiwei Tatars, plus the Khitans have united with the Shatuo people and the towns in Hebei, this is not an enemy to be underestimated.According to the battle report, the Khitans now have 20 elite string cavalry, and they can also be soldiers of the whole people, and they can arm up to 50 cavalry.In addition, the Xi clan and Mobei Shiwei have become vassals of the Khitan, and the two clans can also support [-] cavalry for the Khitan.

It can be said that the Khitan people have always dared to challenge the King of Qin, that is because in Mobei and Liaodong, they are indeed local snakes and have extremely strong influence.It's just that the Khitan people didn't have a strong center in the past, and because of internal strife, they couldn't challenge the King of Qin.But now, the more they fought, the stronger they became.The eldest brother went out first as a striker, and stayed in a Shatuo army, and the Khitan and Shatuo people were allies. Guo Tao was really worried about his eldest brother.The sister-in-law gave birth to a son and a daughter for the eldest brother, and the two little nephews and nieces are so cute...

"This time we have to perform well, show our skills, and win a medal, and a medal." Several other teenagers couldn't help but said, their Sixth Army is the only cavalry unit among the [-] youth army , a full five thousand young cavalry, this is definitely a big deal.As long as they can seize the opportunity, it is indeed possible for them to establish military exploits.

At the beginning of October in the sixth year of Tang Qianfu, Qin Wang Li Jing assembled an army of 15 troops under Shanhaiguan to attack Khitan in the north.

Li Jing has a lot of soldiers at his disposal. In addition to guarding against Jianghuai and Hebei, Li Jing can recruit another 30 soldiers and horses to attack Khitan on a large scale.However, Li Jing did not do this. Historically, the more soldiers and horses there are, the more they will be mobilized.In the end, it will be easier for flaws to appear. Either the logistics will drag the army, or the various armies cannot be closely mobilized, and finally they are defeated by the enemy one by one.

In particular, this battle is an expedition to Khitan outside the Great Wall. Khitan is still a nomadic grassland tribe. On the vast grassland, supplies are the biggest problem.The more soldiers and horses, the more disadvantageous the action.When Yang Guang conquered Liao, he mobilized more than 100 million soldiers and horses at a time, but he was defeated in the end.The famous Battle of Feishui in the Eastern Jin Dynasty and the Battle of Chibi in the late Han Dynasty were all like this. When an army of more than 50 fought, it was rare to win.

Li Jing only used 15 horses this time, including the [-] youth army and some township troops as auxiliary soldiers.What Li Jing really used to fight were the [-] cavalry and tens of thousands of elite infantry.It seems that there are fewer troops to deal with hundreds of thousands of Khitans in this battle, but Li Jing insisted on his battle plan.This time, although Li Jing shouted on the surface that he wanted to fight the Khitan decisively, he would destroy them once and for all.But Li Jing knew it well, it was very difficult to do.In fact, the real purpose of Li Jing's dispatch of troops this time was not Khitan, but Dongxi and Mobei Shiwei who had returned to Khitan.

The branches and leaves are removed first, and the trunk is cut last.

War is always a contest of deceit. Li Jing's rumors that he wants to go straight to Huanglong and go deep into the grassland to fight the Khitan are just to confuse the audience. The real purpose is to win Xi.Xi is just north of Yanjing, and now Li Jing regards Yanjing as the political and military center of the Qin Dynasty, but although there are three barriers in Yanshan Mountains, Junduguan, Shanhaiguan, and Lulongsai, the defense is still a bit weak , lack of strategic depth.

Especially with Chengde in the south, Li Keyong in the west, Khitan and Xi in the north, the situation in Yanjing is not good.

To stabilize Hebei, Youzhou is very important.To stabilize Youzhou, the first thing to bear the brunt is to strengthen the depth of the Yanshan Mountains.

In the three directions of south, west and north, Li Jing directly aimed at Xi in the north.He is the weakest of the enemies around Yanjing, if you want to pinch a stick, you have to choose the soft one.

"Come on, can we really take Xi down this time?" He Yu, the deputy commander in the front compartment, asked Guo Tao.

Guo Tao nodded, his eyes were full of light, "The Khitan people thought we were going to find him this time. According to the Khitan people's practice in fighting the Central Plains, they will definitely move the tribes back immediately after they know it, and increase our logistical burden. At the same time , they will definitely send cavalry to hide in a certain place, and wait to sneak attack and ambush us at the critical moment. If they miss one hit, they will flee far away again. This is the usual tactic used by the Khitan people, and even the entire grassland tribe, to fight against the Central Plains. But this time we don't go directly to them, we want to fight Xi, so what kind of result do you think will happen?"

The other teenagers nodded involuntarily, and said humanely: "Then what if Li Keyong and Wang Jingchong take advantage of our Northern Expedition to suddenly attack Li Quanzhong, or attack Hebei?"

A smile flashed across Guo Tao's lips, and he stroked Xun Dao with his hand, and said lightly: "I'm afraid they won't come!" (To be continued.)