Chidao is not just a simple road. From the beginning of its construction, this road was planned to be used for the march of the army.
Therefore, hundreds of post stations were set up along the road to supply the army with food, grass, drinking water, and temporary rest.
The inns are also set up in places with leeward water and large ones can accommodate tens of thousands of people, while small ones can accommodate thousands of people.
Therefore, Li Jing's army is destined to advance in batches, because there are too many people to gather in one place to rest.
The resting place of each legion has been planned in advance, and the station officials will prepare everything to welcome the army. After all, it is November now, and they are marching from the northern border of Sui Dynasty. There must be a place to rest at night. You can't survive it in the countryside.
Marching can be divided into normal marching and emergency marching. The army starting from Guanzhong has plenty of time and will never march at night. It cannot exhaust all the energy of the soldiers on the way.
But Li Jing set an example and led his 6,000 cavalry troops, all wearing armor, to march at night so that the army could adapt to the dangerous environment in the future. A night march would require two or three days of rest. After all, marching with armor is very difficult. Tired, although the armor made of refined steel is not only several times stronger than before, but also lighter, which greatly reduces the burden of the soldiers.
Every soldier with refined ordnance regards his armor as a treasure and cleans it frequently.
"Good horse, good saddle, good armor, good sword." Yang Yuanqing took off his armor and wiped it carefully in the barracks, as if he was touching his beloved woman.
Pei Xingyan laughed at the side and said, "Isn't Dalang good at using two spears? Why did he use a horse spear this time?"
"Spears, spears, spears, all kinds of techniques and methods are already complete for me," Yang Yuanqing said proudly, "As long as they are long weapons, I am good at them all."
After saying that, Yang Yuanqing raised his head and said, "Please take your position in the army."
Pei Xingyan laughed: "Okay, General Yang."
The two of them are responsible for Li Jing's two thousand heavy cavalry, and each of them receives one thousand. Why are they two? Because the fighting style of heavy cavalry is quite special, and both of them have studied military books and know how to use them, because they have such books at home.
Pei Xingyan is the prototype of Pei Yuanqing. The author of "Shuo Tang" and "Xing Tang Biography" wrote Pei Yuanqing so awesomely because Pei Xingyan himself was very awesome.
This kid is also a big thorn in the capital. He is quite capable of fighting. His reputation is not as good as that of Yu Wenhuaji and Yang Xuanting, but he is still among the best of the generation below them.
The weapon he makes good use of is not an eight-sided plum blossom silver hammer, and his mount is not a jade lion that illuminates the night. The outfit he wears is no different from other armored mounts.
The main weapon is a horse-drawn horse. On the saddle are hung a horizontal knife, a short crossbow, an arrow pot, a whetstone (whetstone), a large boat (untying awl), a lasso, and a round shield. He wears a felt hat, felt clothes, and leggings. , and also bring twenty pieces of Hu cakes and two buckets of rice (about 7 kilograms).
As for Pei Xingyan's horse, it is naturally the Gaochang Longju, which is hard to buy for a lot of money. It is the standard equipment of the aristocratic family.
This 2,000-strong heavy cavalry is a horse troop, and its ability to charge into battle is terrifying.
According to Li Jing, an infantry regiment of 30,000 people can charge into the formation.
The bonfire in the barracks was constantly being filled with firewood. Li Jing did not chat with others, but opened the map to study, holding a branch in his hand and drawing on the ground.
Xiao Shilian walked in from outside, holding a letter in his hand and handed it to Li Jing.
"Letter from the Grand Steward."
There is only one general manager at the moment, and that is Yu Wenshu.
After Li Jing opened the letter and read it, he smiled, put the letter aside and said:
"The Grand Controller doesn't want me to lead the cavalry to support his east wing, but His Majesty has already agreed, so I don't have to listen to his general orders."
Yuwen Jingli had already arranged Li Jing's arrangements and sent someone to submit it to the emperor who was still in Luoyang. The matter was also brought to the court for discussion. There were few objections and the majority were in favor, so Yang Guang agreed. .
But Yu Wenshu was not happy, so he wrote to Li Jing privately, hoping that he would stay on the West Road according to his old plan.
Yu Wen Jingli frowned and said: "There are some complaints from the East Route Army about the General Manager's arrangement. After all, you are obviously distrustful of the East Route Army by doing this. Manager Jing (Jing Yuanheng) made the most noise, but Manager Wei (Jing Yuanheng) made the most noise. Wei Xuan) didn’t say anything.”
Li Jing said with a smile: "The Chief Guard knows the army well. The west road and the east road are two completely different geographical situations. Our west road is relatively safe, but the east road is crisscrossed by mountains and the terrain is steep, which will cause the army to be extremely scattered. They We don’t have many cavalry, less than 30,000, so we can’t find many people to stay close to the main force to take care of them. The chief guard should be happy to have my help.”
During the Sui Dynasty's expedition, the total cavalry force was 200,000, but only 100,000 were delivered to the 11th Route Pioneer Army. Li Jing took 15,000, Wei Xuan took 28,000, and Duan Wenzhen from the north took another two. Thirty thousand people, the rest are in the hands of Yu Wenshu and Yu Zhongwen, which is just over 30,000.
War horses eat fine food, which is a mixture of grass, beans, millet, sorghum, and wheat bran. They eat better than humans. Moreover, war horses have to be fed when they are almost idle, so the fine food is definitely not enough. Food must be given priority to the vanguard army.
The main force is to attack Pyongyang, and the siege must be infantry. But the problem is that those guarding Pyongyang must be Goguryeo's most elite armored cavalry, and the heavy cavalry is used to charge into the formation.
Therefore, the main force of Yu Wenshu and Yu Zhongwen included nearly 40,000 elite siege infantry regiments, as well as 20,000 light cavalry regiments and 10,000 heavy cavalry regiments.
The purpose of the 10,000 heavy cavalry regiment is to rush into the formation, while the purpose of the light cavalry regiment is to harass, cover, sneak attack, reconnaissance, outflank, flank, and detour, mainly using its mobility.
The heavy infantry regiment of more than 40,000 people is the elite among the elite, basically coming from the left and right guards. It is equipped with the best large shields, strong bows, powerful crossbows, armor-piercing arrows, as well as catapults, ballistas and other siege vehicles. instrument.
Among them, there is also a 10,000-man Modao team and a 10,000-man bow and arrow team. These two corps are matched to specialize in heavy cavalry.
This is why the two armies of more than 200,000 people on the east and west sides are only to protect their 70,000 people, because the combination of these 70,000 soldiers is suitable for large-scale battles under any circumstances, and they are all strong and strong guards.
It is extremely difficult for such a large army to break the formation when it is deployed. The only shortcoming is that during the march, because it is heavy infantry, all the ordnance, armor, food, grass and baggage on the march are transported on military vehicles. , marching without armor.
Therefore, Li Jing saw the problem and would rather offend others to ensure that the army could reach Pyongyang smoothly. When the army spread out in the plains around Pyongyang, he would not have to worry about it.
"Over at the Chief of Guard, should we write a letter and ask him which generals he will send to cover the main force, so that we can cooperate more easily," Han Xiaoji said.
Li Jing smiled and said: "Xin, I sent someone to deliver it when I was in the capital. I should be able to wait for a reply at the next inn."
Yang Ming had previously arranged for five people, Su Lie, Pei Xingyan, Liang Shidu, Luo Yi, and Qin Shubao.
Among them, Su Lie and Pei Xingyan were originally the commanders of the leopard cavalry of the left and right Yiwei. Luo Yi and Liang Shi both recorded affairs and joined the army for the leopard cavalry of the left and right Xiaowei. They had already decided to join the army, but in the end they were deliberately manipulated by someone. changed.
Xiaoqi (belongs to the left and right Yiwei), Baoqi (belongs to the left and right Xiaowei), Xiongqu (belongs to the left and right Wuwei), Yulin (belongs to the left and right Tunwei), Shesheng (belongs to the left and right imperial guards), Yi (ci) Fei ( Belonging to the left and right guards), these are the six main military trumpets.
Yu Wenshu definitely didn't want Su Lie to be under his command, so he kicked Su Lie to Xue Shixiong. Now he belonged to Xue Shixiong's department of the Eastern Route Army. In name, Su Lie was still the commander of the Xiaoqi, but he went on an expedition under Xue Shixiong's command, and then He kicked Pei Xingyan into Li Jingbu.
It means that Yu Wenshu didn't change your position, but changed your place of work. After all, their military positions were requested by the prince and approved by the emperor. You can't change them, but he doesn't want to use them, so I'll change them for you. place.
Yu Wenshu is the general manager of the march, and he has this right to control the armies.
There were also changes in Luo Yi and Liang Division. Luo Yi would follow Duan Wenzhen to attack Buyeo City, while Liang Division became a general under Yu Zhongwen, responsible for commanding four thousand platoons of soldiers, that is, at the front. The spear infantry has a high probability of death in battle.
As for Qin Shubao, he has the support of Lai Huer. Yu Wenshu doesn't want to offend Lai Huer at this time, so he is still in Zuoyi Guard. However, Lai Huer's six most powerful sons are now under Wei Xuan's tent, commanding the five Qian Qingqi.
When I come to protect my children, I don’t want to take all my sons with me, otherwise if something happens, it will be a big deal that will end our relationship.
Three days later, Li Jing received a reply from Wei Xuan in Yinmayi. After reading the letter, Li Jing was overjoyed.
Wei Xuan was a very powerful person and he also had the overall situation in mind. He knew that the person who could work together with Li Jing would be the prince's best, so he divided Su Lie's 3,000 Qingqi and the 5,000 Qingqi from Lai. He was classified as the main flank cover and was responsible for cooperating with Li Jing.
The 30,000 troops led by Wei Xuan himself will also try to stay as close to the main march route as possible to prepare for support at any time.
On December 15th, Wei Yunqi, who was in Zhuo County, received a military intelligence report. Two armies of Goguryeo crossed the Liao River, one went to Xi, and all the way marched along the Liaoxi Corridor, approaching Linyu Pass.
These two roads will be the march roads that the Sui Dynasty will use to enter Goguryeo. They have taken precautions and plan to fight you first during your march.
"How many troops and horses are there?" Wei Yunqi asked the ranger scout.
The scout said: "It is difficult to investigate deeply. There are at least 3,000 cavalry along Xi's route, and I don't know how many there are at most. The Banghai Road is even more difficult to explore. Our scouts suffered serious losses and no detailed military reports have been brought back."
"Send another thousand scouts to investigate in two directions. We must clearly detect the enemy's troop deployment. It is best to see their numbers," Wei Yunqi said.
The scout said "yes" and took the order to leave.
Wei Baoluan on the side frowned and said, "I will report to Your Majesty immediately the military situation."
Wei Yun nodded, turned to a general beside him, and said in a deep voice:
"Immediately summon all the generals to discuss matters in the military room. Anyone who fails to show up for no reason will be killed!"
(End of chapter)
