Datang New Order

As the saying goes, if you are not in charge of your family, you will not know the price of firewood, rice, oil and salt.Now that Li Chengzhong is truly in charge of the family, he knows how much effort and thought it takes to support a large family.

Food, clothing, oil and salt, training, and many other problems became more and more exposed with the arrival of winter, making Li Chengzhong and Feng Dao, the top military and political leaders of the Bailangshan Military Village, frown all day long.

Bailang Mountain is isolated fifty miles away from Yuguan, whether it is far or near, if it is normal day, the supply of supplies will naturally not be a problem.With the strength of one state in Pingzhou, when the Great Yan Emperor An Lushan started his family, he could supply one-third of the military use of the entire Anjia army, and the supply of nearly a thousand soldiers and civilians in a mere White Wolf Mountain is definitely not a problem. Even if most of the production in Pingzhou needs to be handed over to Youzhou, it is still more than enough to afford the White Wolf Mountain Military Village.

But the problem is this is in wartime.Even if the main force of the Khitan Pin Department was severely damaged before the army stronghold, the Khitan people's blockade of Bailang Mountain could not be broken. The reason is that the Khitan people changed their countermeasures.They no longer forcibly attacked Li Chengzhong's troops, but blocked the supply line to kill Li Chengzhong.Once the Khitan people resumed the traditional fighting methods of the grassland people, Li Chengzhong's Bailangshan military camp was in trouble.

With the prestige of a big victory, Li Chengzhong once tried to break through the blockade.He gathered all the troops capable of fighting at hand, more than 200 people formed a formation, and launched a siege to the Khitan rangers outside the mountain.Those Khitan rangers immediately ran away from Li Chengzhong's troops when they found out that Li Chengzhong's troops had come out of the mountain.On the grassland, how can infantry outrun cavalry?So Li Chengzhong could only look at the Khitan rangers hanging in the distance and call out.

Li Chengzhong led the troops to make a "ji" march outside Bailang Mountain Pass, as far as ten miles deep.Then, he discovered the Khitan cavalry gathered from all directions one after another.These cavalry gradually increased, but they did not take the initiative to attack, but followed Li Chengzhong's troops from a distance.The slow pressure gradually increased, making the soldiers under Li Chengzhong nervous.

When the number of Khitan cavalry increased to more than one hundred, Li Chengzhong immediately ordered to return to Bailang Mountain. This decision was very decisive and timely. When he returned to the mountain pass, he finally saw the big bearded man leading a large group of Khitan cavalry arrived. .There were about [-] Khitans following in front of them, and there were more than [-] riders who went around in a circle and waited behind Li Chengzhong's troops. retreat.

The two sides confronted each other for a while at the White Wolf Pass, and then Li Chengzhong ordered the whole team to return to the mountain.Li Chengzhong did not have the confidence to fight against the more than 200 cavalry of the Khitans with more than 500 infantry in his hands, even if more than 200 soldiers of the Khitans had been lost in front of the White Wolf Mountain Army Stronghold, he did not have the confidence.Fortunately, the Khitans on the opposite side were all light cavalry, and they had no way to rush forward in the face of the dense infantry spear formation, so they did not chase after Li Chengzhong's troops who were retreating.

During the whole process, there was no direct conflict between the two sides, and a total of one arrow was fired. This arrow was shot by Meng Xuxing when the two sides were confronting each other at the White Wolf Mountain Pass, and was used to check and determine the range.The Khitans didn't shoot arrows, and the shooting range of the riding bow was half shorter than that of the step bow. Through Meng Xuxing's arrows, the Khitans also estimated the impact distance they needed to shoot.

Although there was no battle this time, Li Chengzhong felt the pressure. He knew that the Khitans had begun to change their tactics. Once the Khitans used the correct tactics and blocked his supply line with cavalry on the grassland, it would herald the end of his good days. up.

Li Chengzhong began to taste the bitterness of being alone outside the customs.Everything has both positive and negative consequences, and Li Chengzhong chose to stand on the top of Bailang Mountain. …,

In terms of benefits, he led the army out of Pingzhou, went out of Yuguan, and left the restraint of the Pingzhou Army and Zhou Zhiyu, which made his dream of a small warlord take the first formal step, and his officers and soldiers also took the initial step. gathered in one place.Here, he has the final say on everything, and he has more space and a higher degree of freedom to realize his various ideas.

On the downside, White Wolf Mountain is too small, and this military village can't really carry his dream. Just feeding the nearly thousand mouths of his men who are waiting to be fed is enough to make him burn out.

The food problem has always been stuck in Li Chengzhong's mind, which caused him a lot of headaches.White Wolf Mountain is indeed a good place to spend the winter. Because it is located in the valley, it blocks the cold wind outside the pass like a knife in winter, and because of the geothermal hot springs in the back mountain, the whole army village is much warmer than outside the mountain. Say, to be too warm.In the acres of fields in the back mountain, the green seedlings have grown taller, but it will take three months to harvest, so there is no hope.The food supplies that Feng Dao brought from Yuguan last time were being digested by thousands of people at the same time, and they were gradually decreasing, and it was estimated that they would be exhausted in about [-] days.

In addition to the food problem, winter clothes and quilts are still not enough.Feng Dao mobilized the people in the mountains, and all the women and girls worked together to sew three hundred sets of winter clothes. The winter clothes were stuffed with Ula grass, a specialty outside the customs. Very comfortable.These winter clothes were given priority to the soldiers in the military camp, but the common people didn't have to wear them. Every time Li Chengzhong saw the common people shivering in thin clothes in the cold, he felt uncomfortable and couldn't bear to see them.

Also, salt consumption is a problem.Although Feng Daola's half-truckload of salt seemed to be a lot, most of it was used to marinate the game hunted by the hunters, so it was consumed very quickly, and it seemed that he had to go to Yuguan again to ask for it.

The above are the problems Li Chengzhong needs to face and solve this winter.

But at least, this is one. Although this is very low and the conditions are very strict, without this, Li Chengzhong cannot really take off.

After much deliberation, Li Chengzhong decided to go back to Yuguan in person.He was relieved that Feng Dao was in charge of the civil affairs in the White Wolf Mountain Military Village. As for the military affairs, he entrusted Jiang Miao, Zhang Xingzhong and Zhou Medao to jointly manage the affairs.The so-called co-management means that in normal times, each manages his own team well, and when encountering major issues, the three will discuss and decide together.If there is a disagreement in the discussion, it is resolved by a vote of three.

Li Chengzhong was not worried about the attack of the Khitans. Firstly, the Khitans had changed their tactics and mainly used cavalry to block supply lines. Secondly, the defensive facilities in the military camp had taken shape, so it should be no problem to resist the Khitans.What he was worried about was his subordinates attacking without authorization, so he talked to three of them one by one, especially Zhou Paidao. He specially gave this militant a lot of advice, until Zhou Paidao waved his hand impatiently and said: "Boss!" Don't worry, I know...don't bother me anymore, I've said it several times, I really know..." Then I left with peace of mind.

As for Li Chengzhong's decision to rush back to Yuguan alone, all the officers under him quit.Everyone ran to him and asked for orders to protect him back.But Li Chengzhong didn't want to take anyone with him. On the one hand, the officers under him were all responsible for military affairs, and their roles in the battle were very obvious. After much deliberation, it was not appropriate for anyone to leave. is a drag.

Without night blindness, there were very few officers who could keep up with Li Chengzhong at night, so everyone had no choice but to let Li Chengzhong go back to Yuguan alone.Moreover, if you ride a horse alone, you can cover fifty miles in one night, and there is no risk in fact. After thinking about it, everyone will not argue.

Taking advantage of the darkness, Li Chengzhong chose one of the strongest fast horses in the stable, put on a waist knife, and rode alone from the White Wolf Pass, heading towards Yuguan.More than 200 ears cut off from Khitan people's heads were tied behind the horse, which was to return to the horse to ask for credit.If you just ask Zhou Zhiyu for something, you will definitely not be able to open your mouth, and you will have the confidence to speak with your military exploits. …,

Li Chengzhong did not urge the horse to run wildly, and urging the horse to run wildly would not work. Not only would it cause great damage to the horse, but the horsepower would also be unbearable.So he trotted the horse all the way, and rested twice in the middle, even so, it only took more than two hours to reach Yuguan.

It was Zhao Zaili who guarded Yuguan. He was a little surprised when he saw Li Chengzhong. He asked Li Chengzhong's intentions, spread his hands together and said, "The soldiers and horse envoys have returned to the Pingzhou camp, and the recruitment of soldiers over there is very complicated. Mr. Li Lang Rest here for one night, and leave at dawn tomorrow."

Li Chengzhong shook his head. He didn't want to delay any longer, so he ate something to restore the horse's strength, then bid farewell to Zhao Zaili and continued to Pingzhou.There is an official road from Yuguan to Pingzhou, and the road is much easier to travel. It took more than two hours to cover eighty miles.When we arrived in Pingzhou, the sky was bright.

When he saw Zhou Zhiyu, the military envoy was eating, Li Chengzhong was not polite, took the porridge bowl, ate the porridge while nibbling on the noodles, and finished it in no time.

Li Chengzhong first reported the details of the last battle at the White Wolf Mountain Military Village, and then, carrying the bag unloaded from the horse, he handed the Khitan man's ear to Zhou Zhiyu for inspection.People who have never experienced bloody battles, if they saw so many ears at first glance, they would probably spit out everything they ate, but Zhou Zhiyu is a veteran general, so he took a closer look with interest, and then handed it over to him. Personal guard Zhang Long inspected.

Zhang Long is Zhou Zhiyu's most experienced personal guard, and he is especially sincere to him. Although he has not been officially canonized as an official position, he has fully assumed the responsibility of the entire Pingzhou military capital, and he even takes care of military affairs. Not a lot.Zhang Long finished the inspection and told Zhou Zhiyu: "The soldiers and horse envoys have a total of 270 and six right ears. There is nothing wrong with it."

Zhou Zhiyu and Li Chengzhong discussed some details of this battle in detail, and then he sighed: "Such a great achievement, how can we not reward it! Li Yuheng will stay in Yingzhou for a while, and I will go to the Governor Zhang today."

Li Chengzhong said: "Soldiers and horsemen, the matter of rewards can be discussed later, but the matter of food and salary needs more attention from the soldiers and horses." He took out the list of supplies after discussing with Feng Dao, and handed it to Zhou Zhiyu.

Fifty sets of swords and shields, fifty wooden spears, several leather helmets...

A hundred horses of cloth and a hundred catties of cotton...

One cart of salt, thirty catties of tea, one hundred catties of dried meat, three carts of various fruits and vegetables...

Grain Qianshi...

A few pens, inks, papers and inkstones...

Zhou Zhiyudao browsed through it carefully, and saw that there were many types of items listed above, and they were in great demand, so he frowned: "There are a lot of needs, and all the food and meat can be replenished for you from Daying. Discuss with Inspector Zhang. It’s just that there are so many things, how should they be transported? A cadre said that there are more Khitan riders outside the pass, and the worst is between Yuguan and Bailang Mountain. Although your department won the battle, it seems that it is not It’s not all done.”

Li Chengzhong honestly reported the current strength of the Khitan Pin Department one by one, and then said: "Soldiers and horsemen, if you want to transport these supplies, you need at least [-] soldiers to escort them. If you encounter the Khitan cavalry, you only need to form a formation and go." However, the Khitan cavalry are all light cavalry, so they dare not charge easily." He then explained all the methods he had thought about in forming the formation, how to connect the vehicles when encountering the Khitan cavalry, how to line up the infantry, and how many horses would be needed. Archers and how many spearmen have talked about it.

Zhou Zhiyu thought for a long time, then slowly said: "Where did you get this idea from?"

Li Chengzhong was embarrassed. His method was actually pieced together from the knowledge and hearsay before the time travel. At this moment, he could only say: "I figured it out by combining several battles with the Khitan people."

Zhou Zhiyu was a little surprised by this. This method of forming a car formation against Qingqi seems to be feasible. If he really came up with it, then this man in front of him is really a genius. This made Zhou Zhiyu more and more fond of Li Chengzhong Take it seriously.It's just that although the method is good, the soldiers under him are all newly recruited, and no matter how good the formation is, it needs to be fought by people. If it is really going to be blocked by the Khitan cavalry, Zhou Zhiyu doesn't have much confidence.He decided to consult with the governor Zhang Zaiji first, and then make a decision.