It is said that it snows heavily in Taihang in October. Autumn has just begun here and it is about to snow in the mountains.
The same is true for the Liaodong region and the Western Region today. The cold current blowing from Siberia will begin to sweep through these places, and a long and cold winter is coming. Even the strongest bears have to quickly find a lot of food to prepare themselves to hibernate through the long winter.
Bears in this era were not yet protected animals. They were everywhere in the mountains, just like the wild dogs running around in the city.
The same is true for all kinds of tigers and wolves. They migrate around following their hunting targets in forests, grasslands and deserts.
The cavalry of the Tang Dynasty stationed at the border have also entered a busy period at this time. There is food in the garrison to enable them to survive the cold winter.
The soldiers of the Tang Dynasty had dried meat, special military rations, and bamboo shoots that were rarely seen before and could only be enjoyed by princes and nobles.
This kind of thing could only be a legend before. Now, under Li Mingda's policy of comprehensively popularizing various food preparations and optimizing military logistics, their food has become more abundant.
In this era, soldiers stationed at the frontier were mostly just for a bite of food. Now, it is not just for food, but also for responsibility and honor.
The Tang Dynasty was less than a hundred years old, and it was currently under the rule of the third emperor. If it were in the previous dynasties, society would have just stabilized, and was still in the process of reproducing and recovering from the trauma caused by the end of the civil war.
now
Wei Yan sat on his horse and took out a rag to wipe the dried blood on his sword. Not far behind him, some Tang soldiers were cleaning the battlefield.
The grassland and desert are a nomadic culture. When they find that the tribes are short of supplies for the winter, their first thought is not trade but plunder.
On the border with the Tang Dynasty, after several years of war, the tribes in black clothes and food had not surrendered to the people of the Tang Dynasty under the banner of the Holy Emperor Li Mingda of the Tang Dynasty. They still followed their past customs and habits.
If there is an alliance between the two sides, there may not be the possibility of thousands of cavalry coming to harass and plunder. However, the irreconcilable contradiction between the Tang Dynasty and the Black-clothed Dashi makes it impossible for the two sides to become allies.
The big food in black believe in their true god, and the Tang Dynasty can only have one supreme belief - Mingzun Holy Emperor
The first contact between the two parties ended in nothing. According to the original history, it is still the era of white clothes at most. Today's white clothes have directly transitioned to black clothes, which can be said to be an advance notice stage.
Abul Abbasili was originally supposed to be their actual behind-the-scenes ruler for nearly a hundred years, because communication with the Tang Dynasty was fruitless, and he acquiesced to the tribe to do what they had always done in the past in order to survive.
But even though he asked the traders on the Silk Road and sent a caravan to inquire about it, he only got vague information about the power of the Tang Dynasty.
He knew that the Tang Dynasty was powerful. After all, anyone who knew a little bit about history knew what the Tang Dynasty meant in a certain era. It was an ancient and powerful empire in the East. If it were not for some reasons, perhaps the entire Mediterranean would have planted the flag of the Tang Dynasty.
Rather than allowing those tribes to cause trouble, it is more of a temptation. No one likes to have a group of troops under them who obey them on the surface but are restless in their hearts.
'General, the battlefield inventory has been completed, 2084 enemy troops were killed, 905 people were captured, 1200 horses were intact, 1600 horses were slightly injured, and 625 horses were seriously injured and could not be treated. '
After hearing the report from his subordinates, Wei Yan inserted his sword into the scabbard; "How are our casualties?"
"130 were killed and 400 were slightly injured, some of whom were injured by falling horses."
The casualty ratio was close to one. Wei Yan nodded and was satisfied. After all, his armor was much better than that of his opponent. Some of the casualties were caused by cavalry fighting and trampled by falling horses. This kind of stampede is unavoidable in large-scale cavalry fighting.
"Report the casualties to General Zhao, and bring our Pao Ze's body to the camp. As for them, let's gather in the capital as usual, so that those people know how sharp the Tang Dynasty's horizontal sword is."
"promise"
Wei Yan's words were fierce, which was the style of the general that the border soldiers liked most. To defend the enemy at the border, relying solely on words and so-called kindness is tantamount to beating a dog with a meat bun. Only by using real swords and real guns, and maiming and beating those ambitious people to death, can Xiao Xiao be intimidated, and this is the foundation for peace in the future.
As two major countries in the Cold War era and half enemies, war and friction on the border are the most normal thing.
On their way back to the camp, Wei Yan's army encountered a caravan of several hundred people heading to the west to resell porcelain and silk.
Since the flag of the Tang Dynasty was planted in this land, the caravans from the Western Regions that have been coming and going since the Han Dynasty have become more and more regular. Coupled with Li Mingda's various policies, the large and small real caravans supported by Caravans pretending to be bound for the Mediterranean and Europe kept popping up like a blowout.
Compared with the previous few months and half a year when no team was seen, now every ten days and a half there will be a team of hundreds of people departing from Chang'an City to the New Roman Empire, Egypt, Byzantium and other places for targeted sales.
They are completely accustomed to the caravans that come this week all year round. They know that the cold winter is coming, and in order to leave here as soon as possible, they just politely greet Wei Yan and the others.
"Hello, General, we are the XXX caravan. We have official official approval. We are going to XX..."
The official approval document was naturally ordered by Li Mingda. In order to regulate these businessmen, he would save money by making some films and using parchment that was basically incomprehensible and saying that this was some kind of diplomatic document to defraud money.
It is not unheard of in history. Some fleets would collect a few coconuts, catch some lobsters and abalones and say they were tributes, and deceive some ignorant people who knew how to study hard.
In fact, those guys are pirates or wanted criminals who committed trouble in Europe and came out to find a place to take over.
Li Mingda used to like to use the keyboard to criticize these people when he had nothing to do. But after he came to power, he thought about it. In addition to his inherent stupidity, he also blamed the limitations of the lack of information in the era.
After all, there are many people who have been reading books all their lives and have never gone far from their homes. There are too many people who have never seen the sea or coconuts in their lives.
If you want to make Datang stronger, you need to continue to develop, develop technology, and develop this mysterious power that comes out of nowhere.
After checking the caravan according to standard procedures and confirming that there was nothing wrong with the other party, Wei Yan waved the caravan to continue on its way.
As the commander of the Royal Palace Guards and a confidant of Li Mingda, a high-ranking official in the Tang Dynasty, how could he not know what was going on in these caravans?
The caravan and the army passed by each other. Among the caravans, some merchant guards had inexplicable lights flashing in their eyes.
To be continued
