In Shule City, Li Shengtian was having a banquet with the generals. For the Khotan Kingdom, this was an unprecedented victory.
The Jin army not only captured the city of Shule, but also captured alive the queen of Bugrahan Saktu and the governor of Shule, Ittihad.
At the same time, most of the seven thousand Askars left by Saktu in Shule City were killed or injured, and the rest either escaped or were captured, especially the eight or nine thousand divine warriors, who had harassed the Khotan Jin Kingdom in recent years.
, happened to be served in one pot.
These days, most of the vendettas in Shule City occur among converted believers and divine warriors. Everyone, including the believers of the three religions in Shule City, hates these divine warriors.
Askar may still have a chance to survive if he is caught, but these divine warriors from Baghdad, Isfahan, Samarkand and other places will almost die if they are caught.
However, after more than ten days of vendetta, and the Xicheng was blown up by Zhang Zhao, the entire Shule City might not be able to recover for even a year and a half.
The only ones that are relatively intact now are the East City, which has commercial functions, and the West City, where believers of the three religions live together. The North City was even killed and no one was around.
After three rounds of wine and five dishes, the atmosphere in the hall had reached its peak of excitement. Li Shengtian walked to the center and raised a jade bowl. The jade bowl was filled with the finest grape wine, with a color like blood and a rich aroma.
"My loyal Amozhi! The descendants of King Nanta! The brave generals! Today we captured Shule and moved away the boulders of the Kara Khanate that were pressing on our heads.
But Bragg Khan Saktu, who deserted us and went to the Persians, was not completely defeated. He has now led his army to Lower Atush in the north. What do you think we should do?"
Amozhi originally meant the chief minister, and was also the original surname of the Pei family of King Shule. However, with the destruction of the Shule Kingdom by the Pei family, Amozhi gradually evolved to refer to the feudal lord who occupied one side.
As soon as Li Shengtian finished speaking, the generals and civil servants attending the banquet fell to their knees on the ground, and Governor Pei, who was of Pei family blood, cupped his hands.
"Emperor, since the battle of Esksaburg, I have not made any achievements. Shule City was also conquered by Fengtian County Duke in a bloody battle. Now Prague Khan Saktu dares to station troops in Atush, so let us
Attack! I am willing to kill this thief for the Emperor's formation!"
"What Governor Pei said is right. I have long wanted to defeat Karakhan for the emperor. Now we have been repairing for more than ten days, and our morale is high. It's time to go north to decide the outcome in a battle!" Another Khotanian general came out.
Please give me your life.
Li Shengtian nodded with satisfaction. He deliberately held this banquet after Zhang Zhao left, just to stimulate the generals to the west.
The Fengtian County Government has made such a great contribution and went north without sparing any effort. How dare you stay in Shule City?
And this is indeed useful, because in this battle, the Jin Kingdom of Khotan has the upper hand. If Saktu is defeated, all the sacred lands near Shule will belong to Khotan.
Originally, the combat effectiveness of the Khotan army was superior to that of Karakhan, and the city of Shulejian was not there. Everyone felt that the chance of victory was great, so the fighting spirit was very high.
....
Zhang Zhao was no longer in Shule City for a long time. The day after talking with Li Shengtian, Zhang Zhao didn't even have time to go to Monk Daozhen to inquire about the descendants of the Anxi Army. He left the city directly because according to the news from the scouts sent by Li Shengtian
, Prague Khan Saktu has returned with his army overnight and is stationed in Lower Artush.
Although Zhang Zhao had doubts about how Saktu was able to cross the Naryn River and return to Lower Artush with a large number of soldiers in April, he was still keenly aware that something was wrong.
The Khotan army, including Li Shengtian, believed that without Shule, there was nothing to worry about.
But Zhang Zhao didn't think so. This was a ruthless man who single-handedly brought the Tianfang Sect into the Western Regions and made it grow stronger.
In the end, if the Liao Kingdom had not acquiesced to several nomadic Khitan tribes to cooperate with the Gaochang Uighurs in fighting, Saktuji's descendants might have even swallowed up the Gaochang Uighurs.
How could such a person who can be called the Green Taizu not have two brushes?
I'm afraid Saktu is far more powerful than Li Shengtian and others thought!
"Your Majesty! Fifteen miles ahead is Lower Atush. The banner of the thief chief Saktu is found at the top of the city. There are heavily armored soldiers patrolling the city. They are very similar to the Ghulam Guards of Saktu!"
Lower Atush was the city of Atush in later generations, and it was only about 90 kilometers away from Shule. This Saktu was really bold. Shule had already been captured, and he actually dared to come to Lower Atush.
Zhang Zhao smiled coldly. Sometimes he was so bold that he could become famous throughout the ages like Li Shuo's visit to Caizhou on a snowy night. He could also run into an iron plate and have his legs broken.
Obviously, Saktu still didn't pay attention to the Khotanese army. Of course, it may be that the capital was destroyed, all the treasures were lost, and the queen was kidnapped, and he was a little anxious.
Of course, Zhang Zhao was actually making a surprise. Saktu wanted to defeat Khotan and regain Shule as soon as possible. Zhang Zhao was afraid that Saktu would assess the situation and then gather his troops and run away.
We must know that there are hundreds of thousands of Geluolu tribes that have surrendered to Saktu in the Qihe Basin and Ili Basin. If Saktu is allowed to take his Gulam Guards and Iqta cavalry to Qihe,
Once the river basin is gone, Shule will be very busy from now on.
"It's getting late today, so we'll camp here and notify the officers at the first level to come to my camp immediately!" Zhang Zhao immediately issued an order to Wu Yuan'er.
After a while, dozens of officers poured into the temporary camp. Zhang Zhaoke was now generous. This was the support he received after Li Shengtian revealed his true feelings and had a long talk.
At present, Zhang Zhao has a total of fifty-two Shandu soldiers in his hands. The number of casualties in the battle to break the city of Shule a dozen days ago was far smaller than Zhang Zhao imagined. Not only did Wang Tongtong survive, but only seven died in the battle.
People, the most killed were Li Shengtian's palace guards, a total of forty or fifty people were killed.
After all, they were all soldiers wearing two or three layers of heavy armor. In the era without muskets, it was not so easy to die. Compared to Karakhan's Askar and the God Warriors, hundreds of people died in battle. The verdict was clear, but
The injured would not recover for a while, so Zhang Zhao only brought fifty-two people with him.
In addition, his small Youyi Army cavalry had almost no casualties, including ten armored cavalry and twelve elite light cavalry.
The second part of the supplement comes from the Yue cavalry of the Guiyi army given to him by Cao Yuanxin. This Yue cavalry was the dowry of Cao Yuanxin's marriage to Khotan twenty-one years ago.
At that time, in order to show the strength of Cao's Guiyi Army, these hundred Yue cavalry were carefully selected from the Guiyi Army, especially the Dadan Cavalry, which was actually a group of fifty people.
These Zubu Dadan tribes who surrendered to the Guiyi Army were the predecessors of the Mongolian Tatars. They originally lived in the Bingzhou area of Monan.
Twenty or thirty years ago, Li Keyong and his son gathered tens of thousands of them into the Central Plains. There were many Dadan cavalry in the famous Shatuo Ya'er Army.
The group that returned to the rebel army was a tribe that did not want to follow Li Keyong into the Central Plains and chose to move westward.
After they migrated to the grasslands north of Guasha and converted to Han Tantric Buddhism, they accepted the rule of the Guiyi Army Jiefu.
These Dadan people are the best light cavalry. After being equipped with the sophisticated armor of the Guiyi Army, they have become a cavalry team that the Guiyi Army relies heavily on. In several battles with the Ganzhou Uighurs, the Guiyi Army relied on the Dadan people to cross the cavalry to carry out search and cover.
task.
After Cao Yuanxin settled in Khotan, the Yueqi of one hundred people multiplied over the past twenty years and indeed had a population of 433.
Just hearing that Cao Yuanxin was so familiar with this number, he knew their importance, and Cao Yuanxin also looked at them differently.
Zhang Zhao selected 300 elites from them to form a new Youyi army, with Bai Congxin as the captain of Zhechong and Hu Cile from Dadan as the captain of Guoyi.
Since then, Zhang Zhao's cavalry team has finally formed. Three hundred elite light cavalry equipped with buckle-style chain mail, armed with long spears, sophisticated horn bows, and close combat hammers are enough to undertake tasks such as cover and search.
In addition to these 322 cavalry, Zhang Zhao also had one more cavalry, and it was also an armored cavalry, with a number of about 150 cavalry, with Li Ruotai as the captain.
That's right, this Li Ruotai is the second brother of his aunt Li Ruoliu who rolled into the same bed as Zhang Zhao.
This is also the secret why the descendants of Yuchi Sheng, headed by Li Ruoyu, have been able to maintain their status in Khotan.
From Li Ruoyu to Li Ruotai and Li Ruohai, these three brothers are actually the few warriors in Khotan who can play heavy armored cavalry.
Don't underestimate this ability. The weight of a man and a horse weighs at least a hundred pounds, and the weight of the knight himself is even more terrifying.
With such a heavy load, it is definitely not an easy task to be able to shoot from a distance, stab in close combat, and charge while charging.
In addition to the knight's own martial arts, it also requires an extreme tacit understanding between the knight and the horse. The horse can understand the meaning of each movement of the knight, and the knight knows how to save the horse's energy.
After Li Ruotai arrived, Zhang Zhao also handed over his ten armored cavalry to him, which would be used as the final decisive force for Zhang Zhao's small army.
Liu Zaisheng wiped the sweat from his face. He had just gone personally to inquire about the enemy's situation outside Atushi City.
Now that Liu Zaisheng had been promoted to captain, the Khotan palace guards suffered heavy losses in the battle of Shule City, with hundreds of people lost, but Li Shengtian quickly replaced them.
Moreover, they were supplemented by a hundred Tubo people who came down from Qiangtang, and their fighting power was even stronger than that of the original palace guards.
The current military composition of Khotan, in addition to more than 6,000 people gathered by various Amo tribes and small feudal lords such as governors, its main force is the Shenwei Left Army, Shenwei Right Army and the Palace Guards.
Among them, the Shenwei Left Army has approximately 11,000 people, almost all of whom are heavy infantry, and are one of the core of the Khotan Infantry Army.
Most of the Shenwei Right Army was made up of cavalry, including various tribes that had surrendered to Khotan and those who were good at riding and shooting in the country. They numbered about 3,500 people.
Finally, there are 10,000 palace guards. These palace guards are the standing army of Khotan, and they are usually scattered in various cities or key passes.
Among them, there were five thousand people living in Khotan City, and two thousand of them were stationed in the royal city headed by Taihe Palace all year round.
However, the number of people is not fixed, but takes turns among these 10,000 people. However, there are exceptions. Liu Zaisheng is one of the palace guards who never have to go to other places and always guards the Taihua Palace. People like him are all Khotan Xunchen
There are about two hundred people selected by the noble families.
Zhang Zhao signaled Liu Zaisheng to sit down quickly and handed him a kettle.
Li Shengtian's uncle was quite capable. Almost all of Liu Zaisheng's five hundred palace guards were selected from the elite Khotan palace guards.
Except for the 400 flying cavalry of the palace guards that Li Shengtian kept to save his life, they were the most adept at fighting.
In addition to them, Master Zhitong led Shenjidu with 300 people, Shi Chongmin had more than 300 people with Jindu, and Li Qilang's brother Huitong, with more than 500 righteous followers, also followed Zhang Zhao to the front line.
Therefore, the number of people that Zhang Zhao can now command is no longer the same as the hundred men at the beginning, but almost 2,200.
Among them, the armor rate has reached more than 70%, and the core force of one thousand people is quite powerful in combat. If you include the thousands of civilians and thousands of mules and horses under the control of Zhang Zhong and Wu Yuan'er, he can already be called ten thousand people.
‘Dong dong dong!’ came the urgent sound of drums outside the camp. The so-called beating drums to gather generals refers to this thing. If the three drums cannot be used, the commander can kill people to establish his authority.
Of course, after Zhang Zhao looked around, no one dared to challenge his authority. From low-level officers like Duizheng to mid-level officers like Colonel Lieutenant, they had all arrived long ago and were obedient. No one dared to give me Zhang Zhao.
The Duke showed his disobedience.
Just kidding, Zhang Zhao's record is real, and he is also Li Shengtian's most trusted and beloved nephew. Khotan is such a big country, and there are really those who can't understand the situation without opening their eyes, and they can't get to the level of an officer.
Seeing that his cheap second uncle Li Ruotai had a serious and well-behaved look on his face, Zhang Zhao nodded with satisfaction. He spread out a piece of white paper produced in Xuancheng County on the desk, which was also the famous rice paper in later generations.
The paper was densely packed with words and pictures.
It's a pity that Zhang Zhao's careful preparations didn't have much effect, because there are only a dozen or so officers in the room who can read and read Chinese characters, and the rest of them are
They were all trying to pretend that I couldn't understand but were shocked.
"General, this seems to be a formation diagram?" The speaker was Li Ruotai. As a descendant of Yuchi Sheng, the king of Wudu County, he was certainly literate. Not only was he literate, he was also quite knowledgeable.
"That's right! This formation is called stacked formation, and it is a formation designed by someone based on the Karakhan army's characteristics of having more cavalry and less infantry. It uses infantry to defeat cavalry."
Formations are not as mysterious as those written in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, but they are indeed a very important part of war in the era of cold weapons and hot and cold weapons. Even to a certain extent, the three-three system of later republics can also be called formations.
.
The founder of the stacked formation was Wu Lin, a famous general and strategist in the early Southern Song Dynasty. When the Southern Song Dynasty faced the Jurchens of the Jin Kingdom with extremely fierce cavalry, Wu Lin made innovations and inventions based on the chariot-based cavalry tactical system of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and designed the
This set of stacks.
This formation can be regarded as a great invention in Chinese military history. Wu Lin relied on this formation to defend most of Shaanxi for the Southern Song Dynasty, thereby preserving the wealthy land of Sichuan and preventing the further expansion of the Jurchen Jin Kingdom.
Historically, stacked formations were used throughout the Southern Song Dynasty, and were still used in the Ming Dynasty. The nine-into-ten chain formation used by the green battalions in the mid-Manchu Qing Dynasty was also an improved version of this stacked formation.
Li Ruotai squinted his eyes for a long time and took a high look at this man who didn't know whether he was an eldest nephew or a cheap brother-in-law.
No matter what the formation is, those who can design the formation have been upgraded from the so-called brave generals to commanders.
But the more he watched, the more frightened Li Ruotai became. As Zhang Zhao explained, he saw how this stacked formation worked.
This formation first arranges several rows of spearmen and horsemen in front of the formation to serve as city walls, followed by strong archers with more than eight dou, ordinary archers with less than eight dou, and finally the divine arm archers.
At the same time, there are phalanxes on the left and right wings to protect the main formation, and the main formation is surrounded by Juma. It is almost the concept of using Juma to form a city wall, and all the soldiers of the main formation are framed inside.
Behind the square formations on the left and right wings, on the left and right sides of the formation, there were two more cavalrymen.
"The essence of this formation is defensive counterattack!" Zhang Zhao said a word that did not exist in this era. He pointed to the formation drawn on the rice paper and talked.
"When meeting the enemy, first place the resisting horses in front of the formation, and the spearmen in the front row squat on the ground. When the enemy is seventy steps away, the strong archers with eight or more steps will take one shot. When the enemy is sixty steps away, the archers with eight or less will fire
After that, he knelt on one knee and fired arrows one after another. When the enemy was close to fifty steps, the divine arm archer fired arrows again!
The enemy was under continuous strikes from bows and crossbows, and as the Karakhan army looked upon it, its formation and morale would inevitably decline rapidly.
If there is still a strong charge, the spearmen will stand up to meet the enemy, and the bows and crossbows will fire thousands of arrows again. If they are still not defeated, the archers will switch to Mo Dao and big sticks to hit them, and the divine arm archers will kill them accurately.
Repeat this way until the enemy's morale collapses and they are exhausted, the light cavalry on the left and right wings will come out to drive the enemy together, and finally the armored cavalry will stand out and fight!"
This thing is actually a Nassau phalanx from the cold weapon period, with elite crossbowmen serving as musketeers, long gunners to protect the formation, and a bit of cavalry mixed in for harvesting purposes after defeating the enemy.
However, since the continuity and destructive power of crossbows cannot be compared with that of muskets and cannons, the crossbowmen in the formation must also have the ability to fight hand-to-hand, or, as in the Southern Song Dynasty, several stacked formations must be arranged to cover each other.
But coincidentally, the soldiers in the Tang Dynasty were not like those after the Northern and Southern Song Dynasty. The crossbowmen could not fight in close combat and the hand-to-hand soldiers could not shoot arrows, so they just met the requirements.
"But General, please forgive me for speaking frankly. Although this formation is exquisite, the placement of the horses is not appropriate.
All of our troops are blocked in the formation by horseback. If the situation is unfavorable, they will be like turtles in a urn with no way to escape. Secondly, this formation mostly uses bows and crossbows, so I’m afraid we don’t have that many arrows to use!”
Zhang Zhao looked at Li Ruotai, who was frowning. This man was indeed quite capable. The two problems he pointed out were the initial puzzling aspects of the stacked formation.
Uh! No, the Southern Song Dynasty did not have the latter problem, because the country's economy was developed during the Southern Song Dynasty, and the Song army had a tradition of relying on crossbows, so the consumption of crossbows was nothing at all.
But it was indeed a problem in Khotan because the cost of arrows, especially arrow shafts, was very high at this time.
There were no machine tools in ancient times, so the round arrow shafts had to be cut out manually, and then they had to be heated, straightened, painted, and finally the ones of the same material and length had to be selected together.
The cost of an arrow shaft in Khotan is approximately equivalent to two days of living expenses for two adult men, which can be called a sky-high price.
Therefore, Li Ruotai's problem is very realistic. In this battle, arrows are raining down like rain. If he cannot win, not to mention the casualties, he will lose money and lose people.
But this also just shows that in Anxi now, the powerful Tang Army and Tubo Army are not behind them. Even if the Kara Khanate seems to be powerful in attacking the east and the west, in fact it is just a relatively capable fighter among the rookies. In the final analysis, it is still
You're a noob, you can't even use a qualified bow and arrow in a battle, most of the time you have to rely on close combat.
Thinking of this, Zhang Zhao became a little more confident about his next plan.