"Yes, armor made of iron, including the Mingguang Armor." Li Ke nodded. There are not many iron weapons in the Middle East such as Sasanian Persia. Of course, as an empire that has lasted for hundreds of years, Sasanian Persia has no shortage of armor. The problem is, now Sasanian Persia was not killed by Arabia on the peninsula, and then lost a lot of armor.
Overall, the iron-making technology in the West is far lower than that of the Tang Dynasty, let alone the Tang Dynasty after Li Ke's improvement. The two sides are so different, they can't even compare with the Tang Dynasty before. , so Sasanian Persia has armored cavalry troops similar to the Xuanjia Army, but they are actually not many in number.
"In this case, have you ever thought about a question?" Li Shimin frowned.
"what is the problem?"
"According to your idea, since you want to consume the effective strength of Arabia by selling weapons to Persia, then you know that the Arabs you are talking about, that is, the food is more powerful than Persian soldiers! Weapons and equipment are important, but winning the war It doesn’t mean that crushing with weapons and equipment will definitely lead to victory.”
"Under such circumstances, once we provide them with weapons and equipment and arm them, but they still lose the battle, this means that the enemy will get more weapons and equipment, and Persia will be wiped out faster." Li Shimin He spoke.
As an emperor who fought on horseback, Li Shimin knew very well that weapons and equipment were important, but not absolute. Morale and other aspects were also important.
Li Ke nodded. As expected of his father, he was really tricky when looking at the problem. Li Ke indeed ignored this problem. Thinking about the combat effectiveness of the camel army after being armed in later generations... it is still difficult to describe.
This is indeed a problem, but if this opportunity is missed, it will be difficult to stop the rise of Arabia.
The most critical Battle of Qadishiya will start in October of this year’s Tang Dynasty calendar (November of the Gregorian calendar).
"How about it? Are you still selling it?" Li Shimin looked at Li Ke and asked.
"Otherwise, we will drag the Western Turks into the water?" Li Ke suddenly raised his head and asked.
"Huh?" Li Shimin looked at Li Ke.
"Arabia is already at war with the Byzantine Empire. If they defeat the Byzantine Empire and take Sasanian Persia at this time, they will have a full border with the Western Turks. If the Khan has a little vision, it should be normal to intervene at this time. Right?" Li Ke said.
"In the seventh year of Zhenguan, I sent Liu Shan, the young minister of Honglu Temple, to the Western Turks to consecrate Nishu as the Xili Bidulu Khan of the Western Turks. In the eighth year of Zhenguan, Nishu died of illness and his younger brother Tongeshe succeeded to the throne. Last year, Tong Geshe offered 500 horses and asked for marriage, but I refused."
"If you want them to join the war at this time, the other party may not join the war." Li Shimin looked at Li Ke and said.
Li Ke scratched his head a little. Is Datang so strong at this time? The Western Turks were not good. He had forgotten that the Western Turks were actually in constant civil strife at this time and did not dare to provoke the Tang Dynasty.
Seeing Li Ke scratching his head, Li Shimin suddenly felt a little happy. I thought you could solve everything, but not now, right?
A civil strife in the Western Turks is good for the Tang Dynasty. From the beginning of the civil strife in the Western Turks until the Tang Dynasty was free to deal with it, the Western Turks did not rise again. Therefore, the Western Turks in this period were just It looks like a country with a vast territory, but in fact, it is relatively weak.
Since the death of Tong Yehu Khan, the Western Turks no longer have a strong khan who can order the various tribes. Each tribe almost fights on its own. Although there is no civil war yet, this is also related to the Western Turks' competition for land. It doesn't matter if the demand is small.
At this time, in fact, even if Li Ke wanted to let Tong Eshe participate in the war against Arabia, the other party may not be willing. Because he can only control so many Western Turkic troops. If he participates in foreign wars at this time, what will happen if the tribes who do not follow him directly rebel?
"Father, do you support my strategy?" Li Ke pondered for a long time, then raised his head and asked.
"Will my support be useful?" Li Shimin felt helpless.
"Of course, if you support me, there will be a way." Li Ke thought for a while, and then said with a serious face.
"Then I support you, what can you do?" Li Shimin said directly without saying anything. In fact, Persia and Dashi have nothing to do with the Tang Dynasty, so Li Shimin naturally agreed happily. If you say Goguryeo It is impossible for him to agree to the matter between them.
The main reason is that Li Ke is so capable, who knows what he can do.
"Go by sea!" Li Ke took a deep breath and said!
"Sea route? Sea route is also possible, but the sea road from Datang to Sasanian Persia will take at least five to six months. Are you sure you can make it in time?" Li Shimin looked at Li Ke strangely and asked.
The Guangzhou Port of the Tang Dynasty has now become the first port of the Tang Dynasty. With the continuous development of the Maritime Silk Road, the land Silk Road of the Tang Dynasty has actually begun to turn from prosperity to decline, although the sea-going ships of this era are still flat-bottomed. It is a sea-going ship, but its cargo capacity is not comparable to that of a land caravan.
Carrying hundreds of tons of cargo for even five months in this era is enough for them to earn high profits.
"There's enough time." Li Ke was very confident.
The reason why it took 5-6 months from Guangzhou Port in this era to the Persian Gulf in later generations was because the sea ships in this era all walked close to the coast, so the entire journey was more than 20,000 miles long, and the speed was natural It was slow, and we had to constantly replenish supplies along the way and trade with the kingdoms along the way. Oh, by the way, ships generally do not move forward if there is no moonlight at night.
This kind of time is naturally long. If we go straight to the Persian Gulf and only replenish supplies along the way, we can get there in about three months.
But Li Ke has something better in his hands now! A pointed-bottomed sailboat that has been proven by modern science! The emergence of modern triangle sails allows sailboats to sail against the wind. Together with the pointed bottom shape of the ship, this means that the speed of the ship is much faster than the hard sails of the Tang Dynasty!
More importantly, the ancients did not have nautical charts and could only rely on the shore, but Li Ke had them! He has a complete chart of the entire sea area. This chart alone is a valuable piece of information. He even has meteorological information!
The most important thing is that Li Ke can directly provide finished products for sextants and telescopes used in maritime navigation.
As a fleet with a special mission, it is appropriate to provide finished products directly.
The steady improvement of the underlying technology is extremely important, but the finished product must be produced when it is time to produce it.
