After three days of intense preparations, in the early morning of the eighth day of the seventh month of the 10th year of Baoda, Wuping's deputy military envoys Liu Jiangsheng and Luo Erhu acted as the vanguard, leading 10,000 light cavalry to advance westward along the Jiashan Trail. The horse army commander Chai Kewu led a group of Thousands of soldiers and horses headed south to Chenzhou. Wuping Jiedushi Li Yuan led the main force of about 20,000 soldiers and horses and marched westward along the official road.
With the experience of the last Western Expedition, Li Yuan knew the disadvantages of fighting on two fronts. Since he chose to conquer Xizhou first to solve his worries, it would be difficult for the army to return in a short time. If the city of Tanzhou in the south is defeated, once the Han army learns that Wuping's army has marched out to the west, they will definitely take advantage of the emptiness to move north. However, there are only 20,000 newly recruited soldiers left in Langzhou city, so the 10,000 soldiers from Lin Sichang and Wumu Special Qin Division who were sent earlier will join the army. It becomes particularly important.
Originally, the purpose of this elite army was to use cavalry to harass the Han army outside Tanzhou City and delay the siege. However, this time they are shouldering a more difficult task. The army has received a death order from the commander Li Yuan. , is to try every means to defend the Yiyang defense line to prevent the Han army from moving north before Wuping's army returns.
Langzhou is Li Yuan's base camp, and there must be no mistakes. Otherwise, not only will the gains outweigh the losses, but the consequences will be unimaginable.
In addition to paying close attention to the movements of the Han army in the south, Li Yuan also made serious considerations and preparations for the upcoming battle of Xizhou, the surrounding terrain, the march route, and the deployment of soldiers.
There are lessons from the past. In the past, King Ma Xifan of Chu was defeated in the Youshui River. He fought for two years until peace was negotiated before he finally saw the top of Xizhou City. Li Yuan never wanted to make the same mistake again. Last time, Li Yuan only led his army to Linyuan City. As for the situation of continuing to advance westward, the soldiers were almost at a loss.
This time, thanks to Peng Shiyu, the young master of Xizhou, as a guide, he had the upper hand in drawing the terrain map and choosing the march route.
According to the topographic map drawn by Peng Shiyu, after advancing westward, it is almost all deep mountains and dense forests, scattered with various wild tigers and beasts. If you are not careful, you may encounter poisonous miasma pools, and you must beware of the Dongxi barbarians who take advantage of the terrain. They Naturally, he can flexibly shuttle among them, and may appear in secret at any time to deliver a fatal blow to Wu Pingjun.
Li Yuan knew in his heart that the soldiers under his command did not have the ability to travel freely through the mountains and forests, so he could only place all his hopes on the march route chosen by Peng Shiyu. He also equipped the entire army with medical officers to accompany them, bringing with them a large amount of water and soil medicine. In order to minimize the casualties along the way, we can arrive at the foot of Xizhou City as soon as possible and enter the most ideal fighting state - siege the city.
If Tian Hongyou ordered to defend Xizhou City, Li Yuan would not be afraid at all. The Tang Army was already good at siege tactics. This trip brought 150 new trebuchets. Based on the model drawings of the last battle of Shouzhou, the structure was improved and tested again. Its power cannot be underestimated. watch for.
If the Dongxi barbarians dare to go out of the city to engage in battle, they will be playing into Li Yuan's hands. Li Yuan has already made timely adjustments to the personnel configuration of the Wuping Army. These barbarians who only have simple leather armor will have to eat them first. A set of fine cavalry charges into the formation, just to test the combat effectiveness of the Wuping Army after reorganizing the army.
Since the expansion of the army, Li Yuan has been thinking about how to improve the combat effectiveness of the Wuping Army almost every day. In addition to setting up arms supervision to develop new ordnance and equipment, it also focuses on the reasonable distribution of arms.
Take the current 60,000 soldiers and horses of Wuping Army as an example. Among them are 30,000 Langzhou soldiers who were originally under Liu Yan. Although they are veterans who have experienced hundreds of battles, according to the original military training tradition of Chu State, they are almost all infantry soldiers. Although this elite army was very powerful in the Chu land in the past, it was always restricted by the natural shortcomings of Chu's young horses. Although it was good at attacking and defending cities, it was very easy to be defeated by the surging cavalry once it entered the field. It is completely inconsistent with Li Yuan's idea.
On the contrary, looking at the imperial army of the Southern Tang Dynasty, the left wing of the Holy Guard Army under Li Yuan during the previous Western Expedition had about 20,000 soldiers and horses, of which there were 5,000 cavalry and the rest were infantry. The ratio between the two was roughly four to one. This is Much more reasonable. But as a cavalryman, the most important thing is the war horse. Although the number of war horses in the Southern Tang Dynasty is considered to be the richest among the ten countries, they cannot escape the limitations of the times, and they like to use the so-called "big horses".
Since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty expelled the Xiongnu and established the four counties in Hexi, the Qilian Mountains have become the most important horse breeding area in the Central Plains dynasties. Longxi war horses are tall, strong in frame, have excellent endurance and load-bearing capacity, and are very suitable for building a powerful force. heavy riding. Gradually, the common understanding of the world is that the bigger the horse, the better. The price of war horses is based on the "tall" and "big" of the horse. For every inch taller, the price can be thousands more.
Therefore, the Longxi war horses, as well as the taller Jurchen war horses in later generations, are often extremely expensive.
In comparison, the short Khitan war horses and Goryeo war horses are naturally not the first choice of various countries. The price difference is more than five times, and the weak Sichuan horses and Yunnan horses produced in the south are even less popular.
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Although the Southern Tang Dynasty only had the land of the Yangtze and Huaihe Rivers, fortunately, commerce and trade was developed. Starting from the reign of Lieutenant Li Min, he spent a lot of money every year to purchase Longxi war horses to supplement the various armies of the Forbidden Army. On average, a Longxi war horse was consumed every day. With more than 25 pounds of concentrated feed, the expense of raising a horse is quite staggering.
Therefore, when Li Yuan was forming his private army, he had already made up his mind to use Khitan war horses.
The Khitan war horse is a typical grassland horse breed. The world only sees its short stature, but ignores its excellent adaptability. This kind of war horse can adapt to the harsh environment of the grassland. It has a strong frame and fur that is insulating. It can withstand severe cold, has a low center of gravity, high endurance, and is fast. It is also good at conserving energy, making it very suitable for long-distance attacks.
The Khitan horse is the ancestor of the Mongolian horse.
In an era when Genghis Khan, a ruthless man, had not yet appeared, Li Yuan made his choice without hesitation, and the most important thing was that Khitan war horses were cheap! Not only are they cheap, they are not picky about feed and are very easy to raise.
Over the years, Khitan merchants have traveled thousands of miles to Jianghuai by boat, and almost every time they returned disappointed. After Li Yuan asked his father-in-law Zhou Zong to purchase large quantities of goods on his behalf, these merchants went crazy with joy. Every time they made a move, they would make several purchases. Thousands of horses, and later even took the initiative to lower the price for fear of losing such a large customer.
But Zhou Zong always had a skeptical attitude towards his son-in-law's willingness to purchase these short war horses. Although he didn't say it, after all, he paid for it himself, and he had already regarded Li Yuan as a victim.
Since Yangzhou's merchant ships diverted along the Jiangxi route, Langzhou City has received a steady stream of Khitan war horses every month. Therefore, the number of war horses in the Wuping Army has increased sharply, and they no longer have to worry about the formation of cavalry.
Li Yuan also gradually changed the ratio of horse and infantry to two to one. These short war horses obviously could not be built into heavy cavalry like the Western Xia Iron Kites and the Jin State Iron Buddhas. They could only be formed into light cavalry or mounted archers. One person Two horses, winning by speed and quantity.
As for the world-famous "Mangu evil" tactics of the Mongolian cavalry, Li Yuan gave up completely after testing it for several rounds in the military camp and could not learn it at all.
The core of the tactics is also to rush into battle and pounce on the enemy, but the essence lies in the actor-level performance that follows. He rides on horseback and shoots thousands of arrows, then suddenly turns around and runs away, pretending to be scared and defeated. They rush into the traps they have arranged in advance, so they are also called "dog fighting" tactics or "pocket" tactics.
But the Mongols' riding and shooting skills could not be learned by the Han people in the Central Plains, let alone the southerners. Except for the Uimu special forces who were barely able to shoot while riding, the rest of the soldiers, including Li Yuan himself, could not do it at all. They had to rein in their horses and stop before they could draw the bow and shoot. The sight could not be guaranteed. It is conceivable that this "Mangu evil" How difficult is the strategy?
Therefore, Li Yuan could only learn from the actual situation and make breakthroughs in the tactics and weaponry of the cavalry, so as to achieve appropriate lengths and be prepared for both offense and defense. Charge with a long spear, supplemented by a horse-cutting sword. After the first kill, the long spear can be abandoned at the right time, and you can turn to the sword to kill the enemy, forming a weapon configuration that complements the near and far. From the soldiers to the war horses, everything is covered with light and hard cold With forged armor and equipment, you are not afraid of being surrounded and strangled by the enemy. Once you win, the cavalry archers will add additional pursuit and harvest.
This time, although Li Yuan gave priority to the armor and weapons produced by the weapons supervisor, Lin Sichang and Wumu Teqin's 10,000 soldiers were assigned to the army. As a result, a large number of cavalry in the army sent to Xizhou were still unable to be equipped with long guns and cold forged weapons in time. A, but fortunately the Khitan war horses can adapt to the harsh combat environment, and the opponent is the poorly equipped Dongxi barbarians, so Li Yuan is still full of confidence.
