Chapter 5: Dispatching troops and the inside story
"Commander, so far the three courtyards have completed seventy-three sets of vests. Counting the twenty-four that have been completed before, there are a total of ninety-seven sets." In the hunting ground in the north of Xiazhou City, Song Ju, the general judge, was in progress.
Report.
"It's already the first month, and all the generals and assistants are still busy with their work. It's really hard, and the master craftsmen of the three courtyards are also working very hard. Mr. Assistant, the master craftsmen each received three pieces of Suizhou silk as a reward, and the apprentices also have two
Pike Ling." Shao Shude said.
"Thank you, Commander-in-Chief, for the reward." Song Ju said happily.
The vests have been distributed, not to the Iron Cavalry Army, which Shao Shude trusts the most and has the best record, but to the Leopard Cavalry City.
The cavalry army's tactics have been fixed, which is the light cavalry harassment tactic. There are three thousand cavalry in total. Oretsugu is well versed in the tactics of the light cavalry, so there is no need to change it.
Shao Shude even transferred two thousand cavalry from the Leopard Cavalry capital and merged them into the Iron Cavalry Army to strengthen its strength. It became the largest cavalry group in the Dingnan Army and the ace main force of the Western Expedition.
There are still a thousand men in the Leopard Cavalry. Yang Hongwang is appointed as the ten generals, Zhe Congyun and Wang Chong are appointed as the deputy generals. The first batch of vests are given to the most elite ninety-seven people. In the following days, they will train hard in Xiazhou to cooperate.
Learn how to charge in line like an infantryman.
This is a very difficult tactical action that requires a long period of training, and both the man and the horse must be familiar with each other, otherwise the effect will be greatly reduced.
People who have not received vests should also practice. It is better to let people wait for equipment than to let equipment wait for people. Marshal Shao still understands this truth. Moreover, who said that ordinary cavalry cannot charge in a wall? It just looks like they have no equipment.
The iron cavalry is just so scary.
"We have a vest, but we still need a good horse..." Shao Shude looked at the horses in the stables of the hunting ground and said with a wry smile.
He had already sent all the horses to the ranch for breeding. Now the horses he rides are all ordinary ones. But it is not easy to find war horses suitable for cavalry. At the moment, he is actually making do with Qinghai Cong.
Quite helpless.
"Commander, we have to go to the Western Regions to find good horses." Song Ju said: "Qinghai Cong is already the best in the country, and now we can only make do with it."
Shao Shude agreed. At least his horse was better than Li Ke's, with higher shoulders, slightly faster speed, and very good endurance, but he still wanted something better.
In fact, there are some tall horses in the Yinchuan Ranch where horse administration is being carried out. But Shao Shude is reluctant to take them and use them. Instead, he tells them to continue breeding and produce good horses with stable genetic traits. Sometimes some very tall horses will be born by chance.
, just like two parents of average height will give birth to a tall child, but this trait may not be inherited stably, which is a headache.
The sons of the Zhe, Yang, and Wang families all led their horses to join the army at first. The horses were pretty good, but Shao Shude had too high a vision and felt it was not suitable. The so-called Iron Buddha Tu built by Jin Wushu in later generations mostly had horses that were not very good either.
But at this time, no tall horses were bred in Europe, and the best horses in the world should still be found in the Western Regions and Central Asia.
You can't just go to the Western Regions just for a good horse, right?
Perhaps we can only wait until Lanzhou is conquered to see if we can contact more Hu merchants and let them think of a solution.
"Let the production of vests be as it is, just increase it slowly." Shao Shude said to Song Ju: "What regulations do you have for infantry armor? Have they been finalized?"
"The warlike armor mentioned by the commander is not easy to make." Song Ju glanced at Shao Shude and said cautiously: "If you don't forge it with fire, it will take a lot of time."
"Get one out first and let me see it. The Liangzhou horses on the other side of the Qilian Mountains can carry heavy loads. The cavalry are wearing warlock armor, and the war horses are also wearing vests. If you charge like this, you will be invincible." Shao Shude ordered.
"As commanded."
It is said that cavalry cannot charge into a well-defended infantry formation. This is generally true, but there is actually another way.
The Liao people once used it when dealing with the Bianliang Forbidden Army. At that time, they used light cavalry to attack the Song army's infantry formation in turns.
Formed the infantry formation of the elite founding soldiers of the Song Army.
It is conceivable that when light cavalry attacks, the losses will be considerable. If you charge with light cavalry first to consume the enemy's strength and arrows, then change gear and mount iron cavalry, and "attack a corner", what will be the effect?
"Commander, Kang Fojin is here." Seeing that the conversation between Shao Shude and Song Ju had come to an end, Chen Cheng came over and reported.
"Where is Kang Xianzhao?"
"We have arrived at Longxing Temple and are discussing the Tao with monk Zengren."
"On Tao..." Shao Shude smiled.
What a nonsense! I'm afraid I've been absent-minded for a long time and wanted to come to Xiazhou to see myself.
"Where are all the Yinshan Tibetan troops?"
"We have arrived at Tiandu Mountain." Chen Cheng replied: "The Han governor of Huizhou urgently reported that as soon as the Tibetan soldiers arrived, there were many cattle, sheep, horses and camels, and they were competing for pasture. It was the middle of winter, and there was insufficient forage. The Tibetan tribes in Huizhou were suffering terribly.
"Two conflicts broke out within ten days, resulting in more than ten casualties."
"The Yinshan tribe is still wild-tempered." Shao Shude shook his head and said, "It's not possible to let them solve it by themselves. Let's send some of them to Luoshan. Open the warehouse in Huizhou to store grain and bring out some grains and beans. Tell Han Jian,
In March, there will be a ship from Lingzhou to Huining Pass, so he doesn't have to worry about the consumption of military rations."
"As commanded."
Six thousand Yinshan Tibetan soldiers brought more than 200,000 cattle, sheep, horses and camels. Although Tiandu Mountain has lush vegetation, it will be the middle of winter. There are also nomadic tribes in the area, and it is normal for them to conflict with each other. At the same time, this also exposed a problem.
That was the first time that the Dingnan Army organized a large number of Tibetan soldiers to drive livestock into battle. There were organizational problems. In the future, we should learn from experience and try to arrange more rationally.
"The Tuoba tribe can also go south and ask Lingzhou to provide them with military supplies and wait near Huining Pass." Shao Shude added.
He stayed in an outhouse last night, and Miao'e and Tuoba Pu were not there to accompany him. Tuoba still cares about her tribe. There are nearly 20,000 people, men, women, old and young. Now they are going to rob the Tubo people.
Cattle, sheep and pasture.
The little girl was so worried that she burst into tears while nestling in her arms. However, when she learned that if the Wei, Min, He, Lin and other prefectures were conquered, the Tuoba tribe would be allocated grazing land, she burst into tears to laugh at this Tuoba girl.
It’s not as good as other women who can act and be so straightforward when begging for themselves.
Shao Shude had already received Yang Yue's suggestion. He was a little hesitant about his plan of advancing troops in two directions, one positive and one odd. It can only be said that he agreed cautiously.
However, the Fufuling clan of Minzhou has indeed lost their face by letting the Yunqu tribe come back, and its vassal tribes are still causing friction with Huizhou. It really can't be done without a crackdown.
But in this way, is the appetite for this invasion too big? Or is the original appetite too small? It is indeed a bit fussy to use 40,000 to 50,000 troops to attack only Lanzhou. Moreover, the Lanzhou tribes, and the Min,
Is there any connection between the Wei, He and Lin states?
The Dingnan Army has already recaptured Huizhou, and will attack Lanzhou next. Even fools know that they are interested in the old land of Helong. There should be a motive for joining forces between them.
Don't treat your enemies as fools!
"The five tribes of Yinshan and the Tuoba tribe have more than 10,000 troops. After the spring begins, we will send an order to Lingzhou Dangxiang. Each tribe will gather three to four thousand people, drive the cattle and sheep south, and gather in Huizhou. If you want to play, then play
A big one!" Shao Shude said: "Let's go and see Kang Fujin and see what he says this time."
The meeting with Kang Fojin was arranged at the Jiedushi Yamen, which was regarded as a public meeting. If Kang Xianzhao of Lingzhou received the news, he should be able to discern the political signal.
"I have met Prince Lingwu."
Before the meeting, Kang Fujin gave a set of exquisite Persian four-mirror armor as a gift. Shao Shude was still very interested in these Western products. He always insisted that maintaining an open attitude towards the outside world would help improve himself.
There are so many nations and countries in the world, and they always have their own advantages and strengths. It is the right way to learn from their good points and then turn them into your own.
Trade in the Western Regions not only brought economic benefits, but also cultural benefits. The food, musical instruments, and clothing of the dynasty have been subject to varying degrees of foreign influence over the past two hundred years, and later generations have become their own things.
The Sogdians have also been active in the political, commercial and military circles, and it should be said that they have made a lot of contributions, except for An Lushan.
"Does Commander Zhang of the Guiyi Army know the inside story of Lanzhou?" After asking Kang Fojin to sit down, Shao Shude asked straight to the point.
Kang Fojin was a little surprised that Shao Shude was so frank, but he reacted quickly and immediately replied: "The Tubo tribes in Lanzhou were originally subordinates of Lun Kere, and later returned to Shangmaidservant, then to Tuoba Huaiguang, and to Zhuanglang
The tribes were headed by Tubo, Dangxiang, Tuhun and even the Han people. After Tuoba Huaiguang died, he surrendered to Shang Yanxin for a time, but Shang Yanxin did not really control Lanzhou. The tribes were ignorant and fell into the city of Lanzhou and transformed it
It is a pasture. The Han people in the two counties are engaged in farming, but they are divided into four tribes. Their hair is braided and they are regarded as slave tribes."
Shao Shude nodded and thought to himself.
It seems that compared to sixty years ago, the situation of the Han people in Lanzhou is much worse, and the situation has become deeper. If we wait another hundred years, by the time the Northern Song Dynasty captures Lanzhou, there will probably be no Han people left in the true sense.
The Tubo people are very clever at turning summer into barbarians.
"How many troops do the various tribes in Lanzhou have?"
"There are still more than 20,000 people."
There is some discrepancy with the figures found by the Tingwang Division! Shao Shude remained calm and continued to ask: "Is it worthy of fighting? Are the equipment well-equipped?"
"In the past, when Tubo was not in chaos, the army attacked everywhere and occupied a huge area. Every time they arrived, they collected craftsmen and sent them to various places. For example, when they fought with the Uighurs for Anxi, they captured thousands of craftsmen at once. The Han people
Yes, the Tibetan people also have them. In Lan, Shan, Min, Tao and other places, when I was doing business in the past, I also saw many Anxi craftsmen, and there should still be many, or even more, now," Kang Fojin said.
Shao Shude was not surprised by this. Tubo was not a purely nomadic tribe, they had established a formal political power. During the Anshi Rebellion in the past, the Helong prefectures fell one after another, and some city walls were demolished. A large number of tribes came over to nomadic, but the Tubo people still
Yamen were established and officials were recruited.
Those who are literate among the Han people can be promoted to Sheren and be awarded the red bronze seal. Those who are proficient in Turkic languages can also be promoted to the Sheren and be awarded the red bronze seal. This is a multi-ethnic empire that once ruled a vast area. Even if it collapses,
, but there should still be a lot of heritage in the local area, and the tribes that rule the local area should still implement the previous policies habitually, and they are still smarter than the ordinary ignorant tribes.
At the same time, this also opened up Shao Shude's thinking. I have always suffered from the shortage of craftsmen, and always keep my eyes on Guanzhong. In fact, there are many craftsmen in Hexi and even the Western Regions. Their skills are not necessarily bad. If they are recruited with a lot of money, they are willing to work for the Tubo and Uighurs.
Are you willing to serve others, or are you willing to serve yourself? In fact, you can try it!
"The Guiyi Army attacked Lanzhou once in the past. What happened after that? There was no communication between the imperial court and Hexi, and a lot of the information was not very clear."
"During the Dazhong period, the Guiyi Army engaged in battles with the Tubos in Longxi, Lanzhou, and briefly recaptured Lanzhou. However, the Guiyi Army only had 7,000 Tibetan and Han soldiers, and eventually retreated, and Lanzhou was again occupied by the Tubo." Kang Fujin's abbreviation.
said.
"It's a pity that there are too few soldiers." Shao Shude sighed: "If we have 20,000 elite soldiers, we can hold Lanzhou."
Kang Fojin smiled bitterly, Guasha had a sparse population and insufficient food, so he relied on doing business with the outside world to make up for military needs. At that time, the number of seven thousand soldiers was the limit. In the past thirty years, the Tibetan and Han people have been continuously gathered, and production was rewarded.
With only over 10,000 troops, they felt a lot of pressure when facing the Uighurs.
It’s not easy to protect yourself nowadays, let alone anything else!
If the Dingnan Army can capture Lanzhou, it will be a good thing for them, but we don't know when the Lingwu County King will send troops.