At dusk, less than fifteen miles away from the east gate of Guangning City, is the east camp of Long Rui Army City.
When Long Rui's army entered Guangning City, it only had a few thousand troops. After the Guangning army was incorporated, its strength reached 7,000, and nearly 1,000 troops were transferred to Geng Shao to garrison at Yuguan. The remaining 6,000 troops were originally stationed in the city.
, and a temporary barracks was also set up in the city.
In the beginning, because of the need to stabilize order in the city, it was naturally difficult to mobilize these six thousand troops out of the city.
However, as the situation in the city completely returned to normal, Yuwen Chengchao and Qin Xiao proposed before Qin Xiao entered the capital that a camp should be set up outside the city, and only some soldiers and horses should be stationed in the city to guard it.
The reason is actually very simple. Originally, there were only 2,000 Guangning troops stationed in the city, and the barracks built were only enough to accommodate 2,000 soldiers and horses. Now that there are suddenly several times more people and horses, the barracks in the city must not be able to accommodate them. To build barracks,
It will also require a lot of effort, and it is not easy to find an open space in the city to build a barracks.
The most important thing is that even if a barracks is built in the city to give the soldiers a place to live, there is no place to train the soldiers.
Qin Xiao and Yuwen Chengchao both had a common wish, which was to one day lead their troops back to Xiling and return Xiling to the Tang Dynasty.
Both of them also knew that the biggest enemy in regaining Xiling was not Li Tuo and his like, but the Wutuo people behind Li Tuo.
In the future duel with the Wutuo people, cavalry is indispensable.
Therefore, when he went out to train troops, he was training cavalry. Because of this, Qin Xiao would not hesitate to take risks alone and go to the Zhenyu tribe to find war horses.
Long Ruijun still has enough war horses on hand. Zhen Yubu has kept his promise and the first batch of 7,000 war horses has been sent to Songyang Grassland. After taking control of Husu Grassland, he also got more than 2,000 war horses. In addition to the original
The few horses he owns and the capture from the Liaodong Army now amount to tens of thousands of horses.
Although most of the war horses are at Songyang Pasture, and Gu Baiyi trains his cavalry day and night with the assistance of Jiang Xiaochun, Lu Xiaolou and other cavalry generals, Yuwen Chengchao naturally will not let his thousands of soldiers only train infantry skills.
When Qin Xiao returned to Beijing, he had obtained Qin Xiao's permission in advance. Not only could he mobilize war horses from Husu Pasture, but he also mobilized thousands of war horses from Gu Baiyi, just to prepare his soldiers to start training cavalry.
Shooting Kung Fu.
Training cavalry naturally requires an open space, which is definitely not available in the city, so he searched around outside Guangning City and chose an open area near the lake to build a barracks here.
Although the barracks had not yet been fully completed, after Yuwen Chengchao returned to the army this time, he directly sent the returning soldiers and horses to the barracks in the east of the city. Thousands of Liaodong soldiers who had surrendered also entered the camp for reorganization.
Only two thousand soldiers are left to garrison the city at all times, and they rotate every seven days.
At the cavalry training ground, dozens of cavalrymen were lined up, looking at the flags erected in front of them and eager to try.
Lieutenant Yuwen has issued a military order. Starting today, an elite cavalry battalion will be formed. The number does not need to be too large, but the most elite cavalry must be selected. If selected to enter the cavalry battalion, not only will the food be better than other soldiers
It will be rich, and the salary will be much higher.
The criteria for preliminary selection are actually very simple. Any soldier who is good at riding can participate in the selection. Thirty horsemen form a team. They give orders together and ride their horses at the same time. The first three soldiers to reach the flag can be directly selected into the cavalry battalion.
Even so, among the thousands of soldiers, less than 600 actually participated in the selection.
Half of them were soldiers from Liaodong who had just returned, and the rest were from the original Guangning Army. The actual soldiers brought from the pass were only about a hundred who were good at riding horses.
Yuwen Chengchao was not surprised.
He was very clear about the level of soldiers he brought from the pass. Almost all of these more than a hundred people came from the remnants of Qingzhou. As for the others, most of them came from the Queen Mother Congregation. Before these people were incorporated into the Long Rui Army,
, in fact, they really deserve the title of a rabble. Although the Jiangnan Queen Mother Association was once a large number of people, there were very few who were actually trained. As for the elite soldiers who were good at riding and shooting, they were even rarer.
Although they received brief training after leaving the customs, it was only in the art of infantry fighting. Most of the soldiers had never even touched a saddle. Most of those who were actually selected to become cavalry stayed in the pasture and received regular training.
Cavalry training.
As for the Liaodong Army, the establishment was only 20,000, so the selection of each soldier was very strict. Not only were all of them strong and strong, but most of them had received simple riding and shooting training.
Among the Liaodong soldiers who surrendered, a very small number were originally cavalry, and their cavalry and shooting skills were certainly not comparable to those of ordinary soldiers.
After the first team of 30 knights were ready and given an order, the knights' riding skills already showed their equestrian skills. In a matter of seconds, seven or eight knights had left the others far behind.
These people were galloping on their horses and shouting loudly, like several arrows flying off the string.
After a few people reached the winning flag, someone was already observing closely and called aside the three cavalrymen who arrived first.
Dingfeng Novel
The cavalrymen who were left far behind were fine, and there was nothing to say about their inferior skills. However, the few who were defeated by a single step were actually very unconvinced. A man over forty years old got off his horse and looked expressionless.
It was ugly. When he saw that the three knights who had passed the test were all elated, he couldn't help but spit and cursed: "What's the air? Aren't they all defeated soldiers?"
In fact, everyone else also knew that the three knights who passed the border were Liaodong soldiers who had just surrendered to Long Rui's army.
Although the voice of the forty-year-old man was not very loud, it was enough for people around him to hear.
The three people were enjoying themselves, but their expressions changed when they heard this. One person obviously had a bad temper. He raised his finger and pointed at the forty-year-old man and said angrily: "What did you say? Say it again?"
"Just tell me, am I still afraid of you?" The forty-year-old man sneered: "Since I was young, I have fought from Qingzhou to Jiangnan, and from Jiangnan to Northeast China. What kind of battles have I not seen? I said you are surrendered after defeat.
Bing, is there something wrong?"
The Liaodong soldier also sneered: "What did I think he was from? It turned out to be the Qingzhou soldiers who rebelled back then? What you said is true. The Qingzhou soldiers rebelled from Qingzhou and were beaten by the imperial court. They fled to Jiangnan, where they were beaten again.
You abandoned your armor, by the way, when it came to surrendering your troops, you were much earlier than I was."
The forty-year-old man was furious and was about to rush forward. At this moment, he heard a voice shouting coldly: "Stop!"
Everyone followed the sound and saw Yu Wen Chengchao, who was wearing armor, walking over.
The Liaodong soldiers were nothing more than the Long Rui soldiers who came from the pass. They all knew the severity of Yuwen Chengchao and were in awe. The forty-year-old man immediately lowered his head.
However, everyone else saw that behind Yuwen Chengchao, a person came over, dressed in casual clothes, everyone recognized him, it was General Qin who came in person.
Qin Xiaowei was well-known and looked young, but everyone knew his abilities. When the general came to inspect the barracks in person, they all stood up straight.
However, some people felt that the general looked a little tired, with dark circles around his eyes, and seemed to lack sleep.
"Brothers, what's the point of quarreling?" Qin Xiao walked forward slowly, with a smile on his face, and said: "Victory and defeat are common matters for military strategists. Don't keep talking about the past. Speaking of which, I was just a child in Xiling before.
A jailer who serves the prisoners in the prison every day is not a glorious person. There is a saying, yes, it is said that a hero does not care about his origin, whether he is a hero or a coward. He never has to worry about his origin.
It just depends on whether you have real ability." He asked Yuwen Chengchao: "Do you have any wine?"
Yuwen Chengchao was startled and said: "Drinking is not allowed in the military camp, but...there are a few jars saved."
"Have someone bring it over." Qin Xiao ordered.
Yuwen Chengchao didn't know what Qin Xiao wanted to do, but under the watchful eyes of everyone, he naturally couldn't disobey Qin Xiao's order and immediately sent someone to get the wine.
"What's your name?" Qin Xiao asked the forty-year-old man.
"Jiang Yang!"
"Jiang Yang!" Qin Xiao smiled slightly, turned to look at the Liaodong soldier who had an argument with Jiang Yang and said, "What about you?"
The Liaodong soldier bowed and said: "Hu Daoquan!"
Qin Xiao smiled and said: "Hu Daoquan, you passed the selection today, congratulations." He turned to Jiang Yang and said: "Jiang Yang, Hu Daoquan, today I want to personally arrange a big event, but I need the help of two people. I wonder if you two can help?
"
Hu Daoquan and Jiang Yang looked at each other, neither understanding what Qin Xiao meant. However, the general asked for help. How could they refuse? At the same time, they held up their hands and said, "But it depends on the general's orders."
"So, do you agree?" Qin Xiao said with a smile: "A man must keep his word and never keep his word."
Others were also surprised, wondering what kind of medicine the general was selling in his gourd.
After a while, someone brought a jar of wine and a wine bowl.
Qin Xiao took the wine bowl and asked someone to pour half a bowl of wine. Then he said to the two of them: "I see that the two of you are about the same age. Jiang Yang seems to be a few years older. Today I want to make a decision and make the two of you righteous."
We have just agreed to marry Jinlan and become brothers of the opposite sex, so you shouldn't reject me, right?"
As soon as this statement came out, not only Hu Daoquan and Jiang Yang were shocked, but also Yu Wen Chengchao and other people around them were also extremely surprised.
"What? You won't give me this face?" Qin Xiao's face darkened and he said: "If you join the Long Rui Army, you are your brother. From now on, no matter what your previous background, we are all our own family members. In fact, whether we are sworn brothers or not,
You two should be brothers, but today I had a whim and just wanted to make you two sworn brothers. I just hope that you two will give me this thin noodles? If you two have no objection, cut off your fingers and take blood, drink blood wine, and form a blood-based sworn brotherhood."
The arm holding the wine bowl stretched out and shined in front of Jiang Yang.
Jiang Yang really didn't expect that the general would show up like this. In full view of everyone, he had his words first. Even if he hated Hu Daoquan, he couldn't go back on his words.
He thought for a while, and finally without much hesitation, he pulled out the knife from his waist, cut his finger, and dropped a drop of blood into the wine. Qin Xiao nodded slightly and looked at Hu Daoquan. Hu Daoquan only thought that this matter was a bit unbelievable, but everything
Everyone was looking at him, but he could only step forward and cut his fingers to bleed.
Qin Xiao then took the wine bowl and said with a smile: "I don't need to teach you how to sworn sworn brothers. Come on, shake hands first."
Even if the two were reluctant, they had to reach out and hold each other, and then they knelt down together and swore an oath in unison. Qin Xiao then smiled and asked the two to stand up, and then let them drink from the bowl.
After drinking the blood wine, he smiled and said: "From now on, you two are blood brothers. Jiang Yang, although you were not selected today, I will make an exception and let you join the cavalry camp.
The sworn brothers form together." He turned to Yuwen Cheng and said, "Lieutenant Yuwen, make an exception, do you think it's okay?"
Yu Wencheng said: "Since it was the general who spoke in person, it is only this time and will not be repeated next time."
"Thank you very much." Qin Xiao nodded with a smile, then his face became stern, and he said in a cold voice: "Hu Daoquan, Jiang Yang, listen carefully. From now on, your two brothers will live and die together, and they will share wealth and honor on the battlefield.
I should not say it. If one of them encounters an accident on the battlefield, I will definitely punish the other person severely. The crime is that he failed to take good care of his sworn brothers. I have discussed the new cavalry battalion with Lieutenant Yuwen.
Okay, let’s name it Fire Armored Dragon Knight. No matter how many people are selected, the Fire Armored Dragon Knight must advance and retreat as if they were one person, regardless of each other, sharing life and death.”
Yuwen Chengchao turned around and said in a deep voice: "Show the flag!"
A flag was quickly raised and fluttered in the wind. On one side of the flag was embroidered the fiery red character "Tang" with a dragon and a snake, and on the other side was embroidered a flame, which seemed to be burning.