As the saying goes, know yourself and the enemy, and you can fight a hundred battles without danger.
That's why when the two armies are fighting, they use all possible means to find out the enemy's strength.
This is like sending out scouts to spy on the enemy's troops and the amount of food and grass. It's like setting up cloud chariots and archery towers in front of the formation to observe the enemy's formation.
But when manpower is limited, how many miles can we see clearly and how far can we see with only the naked eye?
It lasted a mile or two until it reached the sky.
That's why we can look at the clouds and smoke from a distance to estimate the strength of the enemy's troops, and we can listen to the sound of the enemy's troops and tell whether they are walking or riding.
But with this thing, why bother?
Just find an open and high place seven or eight miles away, and you will know it by looking at it.
Especially when two armies are fighting, no matter what the formation is, whether it is strong in the front and weak in the back, or weak in the front and strong in the back, or where there are more soldiers and where there are fewer soldiers, where there are cavalry and where there are infantry.
, you can see clearly with just a few glances.
In shock, Yuan Yuan and Yang Shu suddenly realized.
After retreating to Hedong, Cui Yanbo was not depressed. Instead, he was high-spirited and wanted to avenge his previous humiliation.
Although it was an initial defeat, there were still 70,000 to 80,000 remaining soldiers in hand, and most of them were from the imperial army, which was quite tough. The state soldiers were frightened by a single defeat, and the county soldiers were comparable.
Even though the firearms in the West Sea are treacherous and indestructible, I dare not defeat them. However, as long as we camp step by step and defend to the death, we can at least stop Li Liang to the west of the river.
However, everything backfired: no matter where Cui Yanbo formed an array or where he ambush, no matter how well prepared or how rigorously arranged, Li Liang could always find Cui Yanbo's weaknesses and win in a single battle.
It's like having your heavenly eyes opened, or being able to pinch and calculate!
And this was on the premise that Li Liang rarely used firearms.
Over time, after repeated battles and defeats, Cui Yanbo's iron-clad nerves could not withstand such ravages. Therefore, when he heard that Xihai was coming for reinforcements and received Yuan Yao's order to retreat to Longdong, Cui Yanbo made a decisive decision and retreated.
Arrive at Chencang.
Although he was defeated, Cui Yanbo still grudges: not to mention that it was just the unknown Huangfu who gave up to Li Liang, but even if it were Li Chengzhi who suddenly appeared and is now famous all over the world, he would never be so bad.
, you still can’t win one out of ten battles?
Moreover, he had never believed in the theory of ghosts and gods, and concluded that there must be something fishy in it. However, he had no clue at the moment and could not figure it out.
Later, when a delegation entered the customs, they learned that Gao Zhao, Yang Shu, and Yuan Yuan were among them, so they came here because of their reputation.
In terms of being good at fighting, these three people are not as good as him, but they are better because they have many contacts with Li Chengzhi and know him deeply. Therefore, Cui Yanbo made a special trip to Longguan to ask for advice.
It's a pity that these three people knew what was going on and didn't know why, so they let him run away in vain.
Until now, when I see this telescope again, whether it is Gao Zhao, Yang Shu or Yuan Yuan, I know where the strange thing comes from.
As Li Chengzhi said, although this thing can only be seen for ten miles at most, it is only a big river. How far can it be at its widest?
The terrain in Longxi is steep and the river runs from south to north, so it is very deep but not wide. The widest part of the river bank is in Guanyin County (today's Jingyuan, Gansu Province), which is only two miles.
Moreover, there are mostly shoals on both sides of the bank, but no dense forests. At most, there are only a few small ridges. Li Liang only needs to build a cloud tower on the west bank to have a panoramic view of the military situation on the east bank.
Cui Yanbo had an ambush behind the mountain ridge, and Li Liang had already known it clearly. As long as he took the right medicine and found the weak points to break it, how could Cui Yanbo be invincible?
The two of them were uneasy, and even felt a little bit sad about the death of a rabbit and a fox: with this strange thing, living ten miles away, you can see the enemy's movements clearly, and you don't know how much trouble you save and how much convenience you take advantage of.
, and looking at the West Sea, there are such things, or sharp weapons like artillery, how many more are hidden?
Even a famous general like Cui Yanbo was defeated again and again. If it were the two of them, how many rounds would they be able to survive?
For example, Gao Zhao was not only horrified, but also terrified.
Fortunately, he had the foresight and knew that he was no match for Li Chengzhi anyway, so he surrendered so simply. If he had made his oath to the court come true, wouldn't it be as simple as taking advantage of Li Chengzhi in the end?
With his vengeful nature, the whole Gao family might not even be able to survive.
Even now, Gao Ying was sent to Xihai to relieve Li Chengzhi's hatred, but he was the only one who died...
The three of them had different thoughts and remained silent, but their expressions were more ugly than the last.
When Liu Fang saw this thing for the first time, she was surprised and curious. She was even more delighted and couldn't put it down. But after playing with it for a while, she suddenly felt that there was silence around her, except for the summer wind blowing through the corner of the building and the sound of the pillars. She subconsciously turned her head.
.
I saw Gao Zhao, Yang Shu and Yuan Yuan, all with faces as dark as water and dumbfounded, as if they had been greatly frightened.
Liu Fang was just unskilled in military affairs, not stupid, so he just didn't think about the connection of this thing. But seeing the expressions of these three people as if they were dead parents, he thought a little and suddenly realized.
His expression changed even more, as if he had seen a ghost in the daytime.
Li Chengzhi naturally knew why these people were like this, and laughed loudly: "This thing is just a small thing... If the soldiers are not strong, the horses are not strong, the food is insufficient, the armor is not strong, and the spears are not good, then you can really see thousands of miles away.
What’s the use?”
As he spoke, he turned around again and pointed to the south: "Today, I invite you to climb up to this pavilion. It's just because the barracks is vast, and even if you are immersed in it, it's just like walking on a horse and watching flowers. That's why I invite you to climb up.
Only with the power of the mirror can we get a glimpse of the whole picture..."
Li Chengzhi actually dared to open the military camp to outsiders?
If it had been before, Yuan Yuan would have been overjoyed, just like the pillow Li Chengzhi had given him as soon as he fell asleep.
But when he looked at the bronze mirror in his hand, he felt his mouth was bitter, and his heart was shaking as if a disaster was imminent.
Can Li Chengzhi be so stupid and have such good intentions?
Just because he is confident and not afraid of the court knowing...
Even so, Yuan Yuan still braced himself and raised the bronze mirror. He was comforting himself and secretly muttered: "If God wants him to die, he will be driven crazy. Li Chengzhi is so arrogant, he is not far from death."
That’s it…”
However, after just one glance, he seemed to be frozen again.
About six or seven miles away, roughly in the southeast corner of Zhenyi City, by the Ruishui River, there is a large open space. It is like a hole cut out of the green carpet, which is extremely conspicuous.
The surrounding area is surrounded by stronghold walls, and every half mile or so there is an archery tower, from which the soldiers watching can naturally see clearly.
After watching for a while, Yuan Yuan made a rough calculation and realized that the camp had at least 20,000 acres. In addition to 60% of the school grounds, the remaining 40% was used to garrison troops, which could be as few as 200,000.
Li Chengzhi naturally did not ask them to see the school grounds, but the soldiers who were practicing in the school grounds.
There are not many, only more than 30,000 at most. At this time, they are divided into six departments, each of which is training. Two of them are cavalry, and they are riding horses in the field.
Before the Song and Yuan Dynasties, most cavalry were used as surprise troops, not the main force. Regardless of Han or Hu, their fighting methods were similar and nothing surprising. Moreover, what they practiced at this time was only riding, shooting, and slashing, which was not interesting.
Yuan Yuan focused on the four infantry.
Each unit is about five thousand, all wearing full armor, and marching in square formations in the school grounds.
I saw the soldiers advancing like a wall, with great momentum, and the formation was extremely neat.
Judging from the fact that their formation during the drill was quite skillful, even compared with the central army of the imperial court, they did not make too many concessions, so they were definitely not a new army.
That's not what surprised Yuan Yuan. Just because Li Chengzhi was famous for his skill in military training, it wouldn't be surprising no matter how neatly he trained.
What surprised him was how could there be so many soldiers left in the West Sea?
The generals in the West Sea are isolated from the inside and outside, sometimes in vain and sometimes in reality. However, the battle has been going on for nearly four months, and their general military strength has been fully explored by Yuan Yao, Xing Luan, Cui Yanbo and others.
Among them, Longxi is the strongest, with nearly 50,000 people, followed by Li Feng west of Langshan, with nearly 256,000. Again, Huangfu Rang, who has conquered Bogulu and is facing Xingluan across the river, should have less than two people.
Thousands, but at least more than 10,000.
Moreover, the Yuan Dynasty has discovered that Li Song, who is stationed in Dunhuang, has about 20,000 troops. As a result, there are already 100,000 troops fighting in the West Sea.
Based on various inquiries and estimates from Yuan Zhi, Yuan Yao, Xi Kangsheng, Xing Luan, Cui Yanbo, etc., it would only take one hundred thousand soldiers to lift up and down the Western Sea to reach the sky.
Then where did these thirty thousand come from?
Don't look at it. It's only 30,000 people. Compared with the huge imperial court that can easily recruit hundreds of thousands of troops, it seems to be nothing.
But don't forget that Huangfu Rang defeated Tuguhun and Cui Yanbo's 300,000 elite troops with only 30,000 troops. Now with only more than 10,000 troops, Xingluan, who has 50,000 troops under his command, is as fearful as a tiger.
Not to mention that at Gaoque and Jilu Pass, General Li Feng had 20,000 troops, but he forced Yuan Yao, who had nearly 200,000 troops, to throw a rat-proof weapon and did not dare to move without permission.
No matter where they are, there are actually one against ten. What's more, this is Li Chengzhi's home base. He needs armor and firearms. If he has to, even the old, weak, women and children can defend the city. So there are really 300,000 people.
If a large army comes to attack, there may not be a chance of victory.
For a moment, Yuan Yuan had many thoughts and his mind was in a state of confusion.
With a thought in his heart, he put down his telescope and asked suspiciously: "Could it be that you withdrew the Longxi army?"
"How is that possible?"
Li Chengzhi squinted and smiled and said, "The imperial court's detailed work is like crucian carp crossing the river, and there is an endless stream. I even doubt whether the Qilian Mountains are about to be filled up? And the withdrawal from Longxi must pass under the Qilian Mountains, so how can it be hidden from the imperial court?"
"
Yuan Yuan was stunned for a moment, his expression gloomy and uncertain.
Nearly 100,000 elite troops from Tuyuhun disappeared outside the South Gate. How could Fulianchou turn a blind eye and pretend to be deaf and dumb?
Therefore, even if the imperial court did not send detailed instructions, there would still be countless horsemen running under the Qilian Mountains to get a glimpse of the Western Sea.
And just as Li Chengzhi said, from front to back, we only saw more troops from the West Sea heading eastward, but we never saw a single one being withdrawn...
"Where did such a powerful army come from?"
Li Chengzhi laughed: "Of course I got it through practice!"
This is no lie.
No matter how bold and arrogant he is, he will never dare to suppress the barbarians without leaving a single soldier. Otherwise, if the court or Tuyuhun really wants to kill them on a whim, there is a risk that the old nest will be destroyed.
So when Zhang Jingzhi and Da Xichi were sent to assist Huangfu Rang, he started preparations and started training the new army again.
As for the supply of troops, there is certainly no shortage.
After pacifying Yu Zhong and Yuan Li in Guanzhong and defeating Chang Yizhi of Nanliang, Li Chengzhi stole a total of 40,000 men from the Qin and Liang states, of whom 70% were defeated.
After giving Li Chengzhi's instructions, Li Shiliang and Li Liang selected 60% of them and reorganized them into the new army, and then practiced vigorously day and night. By now, the number of Xihai troops was nearly 30,000.
After that, Gao Zhao raised his troops, and the six towns were in chaos. The East Three Towns and the West Three Towns fought fiercely. At that time, Li Chengzhi took advantage of the fight between clams and cranes to take over the defeated troops and chaos among the people. There were 20,000 people who were good at fighting.
The Zhenjun surrendered to the West Sea.
That is the part that was handed over to Da Xi to reconstruct and reorganize the Hongshan Mountain in the north of Mount Li.
At this point, the number of troops in Xihai has exceeded 50,000.
However, only 60%, that is, 30,000, were standing soldiers, and the remaining 20,000 were militiamen. They were only intensively trained for three months, and then sent to various fields to prepare military supplies.
After that, Luo Jian and Yuan Zhi were good at making suggestions and wanted to jointly attack the West Sea, but they did not want to end up making wedding clothes for Li Chengzhi.
Not to mention the 100,000 civilians, these two men had more than 100,000 troops. They were defeated in the first battle and 80% of them were captured.
Li Chengzhi selected 60% of them and prepared 50,000 new troops. Lin Lin called out, and this is where the 100,000 troops currently fighting outside came from.
Apart from this, there is no need to count the civilian households. Now they are only captured from front to back, but there are still a full 50,000 soldiers who have been incorporated into the military register in Xihai.
However, all of them were sent to work as civilian households, and were given Hu girls as wives. They either helped in various fields, cultivated fields in various counties, and many of them grazed cattle in the north of the mountain.
But now it is a critical moment of life and death, and Li Chengzhi is not a stubborn person, how can he not know how to adapt?
These soldiers have been in the army and have experienced battles, so they can get twice the result with half the effort when preparing. Xihai has always treated the soldiers very well. Once they join the army, they will have money and food to take care of, and the young and old in the family will be given special attention, regardless of women.
Young and old, just one person can support the whole family, so the morale is very high.
In this way, after only training for more than two months, there was considerable improvement.
That's why Li Chengzhi suddenly had the idea to let Liu Fang and others take a look, which dissuaded the imperial court from thinking that the West Sea was empty and wanted to take advantage of it.
But don’t want to hit the mark?
Yuan Yuan's eyes were red, and he wanted to argue a few words, but he didn't know where to start.
Liu Fang and Yang Shu, on the other hand, were completely disappointed.
The imperial court's plan this time is nothing more than to conclude that all the troops in the West Sea have been sent out and the nest is empty. If it adopts a posture of death and destruction, it may not be able to make Li Chengzhi look forward and backward, and use the same weapon as the rat.
With this threat and the promise of huge profits, there is a high probability that Li Chengzhi will be forced to suspend his troops and retreat to Hexi.
If we go one step further, if we are more courageous, we will withdraw all the southern troops stationed in the Huaihe River and intimidating Nanliang. In all likelihood, we will be able to attack Huanglong directly and complete the battle.
But now that we see the 30,000 troops outside Zhenyi City, the imperial court's strategy of delaying the war to seek peace, or its strategy of attacking in the east and attacking in the west, is just like a joke.
The entire Southern Army was only worth a hundred thousand. And they had to travel thousands of miles to work hard for the enemy, so how could they be Li Chengzhi's opponent?
How about driving a tiger to swallow a feather from a wolf?
The more they thought about it, the more uneasy they became, and the more they thought about it, the more irritated they became. Liu Fang and Yuan Yuan couldn't be excited about such an open and honest opportunity to spy on the situation of the Western Navy, and they felt that the telescope in their hands was as heavy as a stone.
Observing the expressions of several people, Li Chengzhi smiled and said nothing: It was just an appetizer, but it was so full?