Li Shimin was also a little speechless about Li Ke's words, but thinking about the output of the steel plant, it seemed that this was indeed the case.
"Although people are the decisive factor in a war, in fact any tiny detail can affect the direction of the war, such as horseshoes." Li Ke said with a smile.
"This is true. Horseshoes have greatly reduced the loss of war horses, at least avoiding 80% of the loss of war horses." Li Shimin was very emotional. Such a small thing reduced the loss rate of Datang's war horses by 80%! You can imagine how effective it is.
Due to the special environment and special training, war horses actually put a lot of wear on the horses' hooves, and they need to go through a variety of terrains, which causes even greater wear and tear on the horses' hooves.
The reason why many war horses have to be retired is because the hoofs are severely worn. In fact, the age, temperament, etc. of the horses are far from reaching the retirement age.
And war horses that are retired for this reason have to be raised for at least one year before they can become draft horses.
Some war horses may not even be able to be used as pack horses due to the wear and tear of their hooves.
But horseshoes avoid this situation. Its material can even improve the war horse's combat capabilities even after the war horse adapts, greatly extending the service life of the war horse.
From this point of view, it is equivalent to hundreds of thousands or millions more war horses in the entire Tang Dynasty.
"Not only this, but actually from the birth of horseshoes to now, the craftsman department has been improving horseshoes. By comparing the horseshoes used by hundreds of thousands of war horses, they have calculated which parts of horseshoes are most likely to wear out and which parts are most easily worn. The shape needs improvement.”
"We even make subtle adjustments to the horseshoes according to the different ages of the horses, different hoof sizes, and different horse breeds."
"These things may seem to have little impact, but in fact if we strive for such excellence in every weapon and equipment, then our victory will be expanded to infinite extent." Li Ke said with a smile, " But the enemy can’t play like this.”
Li Shimin thought for a while, and indeed, the Turks didn't have that much iron at all. If they did, they would rather make it into armor and steel knives than horseshoes, because for them, the number of war horses is enough, but the iron is not enough. many.
However, Datang could take advantage of the low price of steel to continuously update some weapons and equipment.
"I suddenly understood what you were thinking. It turns out that the improvement of craftsmen has such a great impact on the entire country." Li Shimin sighed with emotion.
"Actually, Father, you have had this concept before, but you have ignored the most basic people before. After all, before the Tang Dynasty, I strictly prohibited the sale of iron tools to the surrounding nomadic tribes, but these wealthy families did not want to or deliberately ignored it. These craftsmen are just important.”
"But in fact, some of the secret recipes in the trading houses of some wealthy families are strictly restricted from being spread to outsiders. What we do is to actively stimulate the enthusiasm of these craftsmen, and then widen the technological gap between us and the surrounding ethnic minorities, so that we can Just crush them with absolute advantage."
"This strategy can also be used to deal with Xue Yantuo."
"Of course, if Zhenzhu Khan is willing to become a minister of the Tang Dynasty, as the first minister who truly belongs to the Tang Dynasty, the benefits he will receive are unprecedented, at least no worse than Jiang Quhu." Li Ke said with a smile. road.
"He won't." Li Shimin shook his head simply. Xue Yantuo's current land area and strength were no worse than those of the original Jie Li. How could Zhenzhu surrender completely?
"That's not necessarily true, Dad, do you know what is the biggest difference between the Tang Dynasty now and the Tang Dynasty in the past?" Li Ke asked with a smile.
"Since you asked that, it's definitely not an intuitive gap in technology, but in weapons and equipment." Li Shimin thought for a while and asked.
"You can say yes, you can say no." Li Ke shook his head, "Dad, let's not talk about the gap in combat effectiveness between the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty now and the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty in the past. Let me just say that in the past, the Tang Dynasty prepared for war, and then Start preparing food and fodder."
"But now in the Tang Dynasty, we have already started hoarding consumable weapons and equipment such as food and arrows in the borders around the Tang Dynasty. This is the biggest difference!"
"In other words, we used to prepare the logistics when we were preparing for battle, but now the logistics are already waiting there. As soon as the Tang army arrives, the logistics can catch up in an instant."
"The construction of several cities we have arranged in the Houtao area has been completed. Although only part of the city walls have been completed, large warehouses have been built in these cities."
"These warehouses began to store a large amount of food, arrows and other consumable materials, and they were all prepared for a big war."
"The continuous supply of supplies will make these cities rock-solid. The Turks will not be able to attack these cities because the food stored in the cities is enough for the soldiers defending the cities to hold on for more than a year!"
"These cities are our solid bridgeheads! In addition, Wuchuan, an important town in the Northern Wei Dynasty, is already under our control, and these towns have begun to be strengthened. We will build several important passes along the Yinshan Mountains City."
"What advantage will Xue Yantuo have over us then?" Li Ke asked with a smile.
Li Shimin finally understood what Li Ke meant. For the nomadic people, defense has always been the main focus of the past dynasties. Even if they attack, they have to attack because they can't bear the disturbance.
But now Datang's posture has completely turned into an offensive posture. In the past, dynasties were unable to rule the nomadic peoples because they could not station a large number of soldiers in the local area for a long time.
But the Tang Dynasty is different now. As long as there is no shortage of food and grass, it is completely possible to use money to rule these nomadic peoples.
In the long run, combined with Li Ke's policies to rule the herdsmen of Xizhou, it is only a matter of time before these herdsmen return. This is the fundamental solution to the nomadic people.
"At that time, if we attack from all directions, Goguryeo will be nothing more than a turtle in a urn?" Li Shimin understood Li Ke's strategy.
"This is almost the situation. When Goguryeo, Baekje, Silla, etc. all return, including Japan, we are also included in our layout."
"By then we will have no enemies in the hinterland of the Tang Dynasty, and the Baiyue land in the south of the Tang Dynasty will only be in our pocket. After taking Tianzhu, we will only have those enemies in the west."
"I heard that their so-called Pope tried to launch a Crusade. It is said that the east is their territory." Li Ke smiled. Although this happened more than three hundred years later, it does not hinder Li Ke's current Make arrangements for them.
The only thing is to find someone to encourage the Pope and let their entire Crusaders come out. Regardless of whether the Crusaders go eastward or not, as long as they go eastwards, the Tang Dynasty will destroy potential enemies. Is it reasonable?
