The 200,000 Luoshui army was at the foot of the mountain, and the momentum was extremely huge.

This was the first large-scale military exercise since Xue Shao took over the army. At the same time, it was also the first simulated combat drill conducted by this newly formed field king division.

In the era of cold weapons, soldiers' personal martial arts and actual combat ability are important, but the drills of military formations are even more important. Such a large-scale military exercise can enable Xue Shao and all the soldiers to enhance their understanding of each other, familiarize themselves with the changes in the military formation and the implementation of various tactics, so as to find their own role in this huge army.

Knowing what you have to do is very important in the military. Only by making everyone understand this can an army of tens of thousands of people be able to carry out orders and prohibitions. Otherwise, even if he has a strong personal combat ability, it will only be a vulnerable piece of loose sand.

Xue Shao's sudden decision to hold such a large-scale military exercise certainly had some political factors, but it was also very much in line with the current needs of this army, and he was not blindly engaged in it.

On the first day of the big military exercise, Prime Minister Cen Changqian came to inquire about the situation, but was stopped by the sergeant guarding the camp and did not let him in. Xue Shao later got a report on this matter, and as a result, he rewarded the captain who guarded the camp. Because the order of "strictly forbidden to enter and exit" was given by Xue Shao himself, the sergeant strictly abided by the military order and even dared not give the prime minister's face, which is very awesome, and this is exactly the effect that Xue Shao wants!

The next day, Xue Shao quietly relocated the headquarters of the Shuai Tent to the halfway point of the mountain, deep in the dense forest. Except for the deputies Li Duozuo, Xue Chuyu and the commander's marching staff and personal guard scouts, the others didn't know.

In the era of cold weapons without high-tech communication equipment, scouts were the eyes and ears of the commander. Xue Shao's move was to test on the spot whether his "eyes and ears" as a coach were good or not, and whether he could command a large-scale battle by relying on the scouts' back and forth to deliver news.

Xue Shao is on the mountainside of Pi Mountain, and a cat is six or seven days.

During this period, the scouts led by Wu Ming and Guo An transmitted military information to Xue Shao in a variety of different ways. There are traditional scouts flying horses, and there are also military intelligence reports transported by carrier pigeons, and all the documents are written with different versions of the Lantian secret code, which greatly tests the marching staff around Xue Shao. The marching order team led by Su Wei and Liu Youqiu, the marching officer, must accurately translate the secret code military newspaper in the shortest possible time, and at the same time, they must also write down the general's reply in different compilation methods and send it.

This kind of military intelligence transmission, even if someone who knows the "Lantian code" intercepts it, may not be able to decipher it in the first place. Unless they can be like Su Wei and others, they can memorize more than a dozen sets of Lantian passwords compiled by Xue Shao himself, and be familiar with the affairs of the army.

In fact, these traditional ways of sending letters are quite easy for Su Wei and others. Sometimes, Guo An and others would use a rhythmic way to turn off the lantern on the opposite hill to convey the military intelligence cipher, but it made them have a lot of trouble. Sometimes, Xue Shao would take advantage of their inattention, pretend to be careless and tap rhythmically on the table a few times, and then suddenly ask them what kind of order he had just given. Su Wei and the others were all scolded and punished at first, and then gradually developed a habit of paying attention to Xue Shao's every move, even if he coughed a few times in an uncomfortable throat, they would reflexively translate it into words. Even if the translation of those words does not make sense, they do not dare to have any slack and negligence.

Xue Shao wants this effect.

After a year or two of practice and application, the Lantian secret code finally took root in the army. Although the thing is small, the meaning is very heavy - this is Xue Shao's initiative and stunt, which indicates that he has begun to use modern knowledge to arm the army of the Tang Dynasty!

On the tenth day of the military exercise, Xue Shao was listening to Su Wei's report on the military situation he had translated as usual. Su Wei was obviously stunned when he picked up one of the military documents, and Xue Shaoyi raised his eyes to look at him, "Could it be that Xue Chuyu's Jumping Army failed to break through Dugu Yizhi's defense line in the Seventh District?" ”

"General, isn't it ......" Su Wei was very vigilant, hurriedly took two steps forward and got closer, and whispered: "This is a military document compiled with the thirteenth set of codebooks. ”

"Show me!" Xue Shao snatched it without hesitation.

There are regulations in the army that the thirteenth set of codebooks will generally not be used, unless it is "a change in the DPRK and an order from above".

Xue Shao picked it up and looked at it, obediently, the Empress Dowager Wu ran from the harem to the Luoshui camp to find Xue Shao, but the sergeant guarding the camp ruthlessly refused to let the Empress Dowager enter the camp. The Queen Mother neither forcibly broke in nor left immediately, but took her team of honor guards and camped on the bank of Luoshui nearby, saying that she was waiting for the general to return to the camp. By the way, it is also good to appreciate the military strength of the Tang Dynasty, and see how Xue Lang, who is famous, uses soldiers!

After reading the military report, Xue Shao couldn't help but secretly smiled bitterly, the military academy under his command can really be more serious, and even the Queen Mother's car dares to stop it - it's just a matter of stopping it, and he actually watched the Queen Mother wait next to the Luoshui camp for seven or eight days, and she didn't come to return!

This military report was still Li Duozuo, who pretended to be the enemy at the eastern foot of Pishan to fight against Xue Shao, and after his scouts learned about it, Li Duozuo used the thirteenth set of codebooks to report to Xue Shao privately.

After thinking for a while, Xue Shao ordered: Move the Shuai tent back to the Luoshui camp late this night. Ordered Xue Chuyu to lead the jumping army to open the way to guard.

The generals have long been accustomed to Xue Shao's tricky style of "three holes of cunning rabbits", and it is common for the commander to temporarily change the command headquarters. So no one was suspicious, and that night Xue Shao and his party quietly returned to the Luoshui camp like ghosts.

The big military exercises continued.

Early in the morning, Xue Shao changed into a formal general's court uniform and came to Wu Zetian's Luoshui Xingyuan to pay a visit.

When he arrived here, Xue Shaoton's eyes lit up!

Ho! - Hundreds of female soldiers, training marches and archers in a decent manner!

"What's going on?" Xue Shao asked left and right.

The colonel who led the way said that after living here for a day or two, Empress Dowager Wu had nothing to do and called more than 200 palace maids from the harem to start practicing marches, riding horses and bows, and went to the foothills of Bishan Mountain outside the military exercise area many times to shoot and hunt, and gained a lot!

Xue Shao couldn't help but be happy, thinking that I had forgotten that Wu Zetian was also a fierce woman with a very strong feminine style when she was young, and things like bending bows on horses, riding and hunting were commonplace for her.

In other words, Wu Zetian advocates martial arts, which is "like-minded" with Xue Shao.

Xue Shao and his entourage were only five or six people, and when they walked twenty or thirty steps away from the line, a team of white-clothed shooters and riders rushed out of it, and asked with great majesty: "Who is coming?" ”

Xue Shao and the others all laughed.

The women were very strict, "Hugh is playful, hurry up and answer." If you make a mistake when you are young, you will be punished as a spy! ”

"Ahem!" Xue Shao coughed dryly, clenched his fists and said: "Xue Shao, the general of the right guard, heard that the Empress Dowager Wu is here, and he has come to show goodwill to the friendly army." ”

"You're Xue Concubine?" The palace maid who asked the question bent down a little, opened her eyes and looked at Xue Shao carefully several times, and suddenly smiled, "It's quite handsome!" ”

The other palace maids all laughed.

"How can you frolic in the midst of the ranks?" Xue Shao deliberately kept a straight face, "Aren't you afraid that I will tell the Queen Mother and take the military to punish your crimes?" ”

"Xue Juma, don't scare us, let alone bully us!" The palace maid smiled, "Count it out, we are also your disciples and grandchildren!" ”

"How?" Xue Shao asked puzzled.

The palace maid replied: "After the queen mother called us, she specially invited Linlang to be our commander and be responsible for training us. The Queen Mother said that in the future, we will act as female soldiers in the inner court and serve the Queen Mother closely. If you behave well, you can also be promoted to a female court official - whether this is good or not, it is up to the female soldier to lead Linlang! Linlang is not only Xue Yuma's attendant, but also one of the twenty classes of swords trained by Xue Shao. Counting it up, aren't we the disciples and grandchildren of Xue Fuma? ”

Xue Shao laughed, this little girl can really climb relatives - then again, Wu Zetian would actually think of inviting Linlang to help her train female soldiers. I am afraid that the actual role of this female soldier is far less than the meaning of "closeness" and "trust" that she conveyed to me.

"Gossip and rest, bother Your Excellency to pass on the Queen Mother on your behalf, just say, Xue Shao asks to see."

"Xue Suma later, I'll go right away!"

After a while, the shooters went and returned, and asked Xue Shao to come in to meet the Queen Mother.

Everyone else stayed, and Xue Shao entered Wu Zetian's line alone. The furnishings here look like a barracks, but all you see are women, not even a single eunuch. Those who shoot children and palace maids are like real soldiers, and there is a clear division of labor, some are practicing patrols, and some are chopping wood, carrying water, cooking and laundry.

Xue Shao is like entering the country of daughters, and in addition to the novelty, he also feels that Wu Zetian is a pioneer of the "feminist movement". She never forgets to prove with her actions that women can also do some of the jobs of men. In addition to these female soldiers in front of her, she began to form a "female bureaucratic system" in the inner court more than ten years ago. Today, "female officials" can work in places such as the palace in a grand manner, and often go out of the palace as official palace envoys to handle some government affairs. Although they do not have a clear enough identity to be compared with the officials of the outer court, their political influence has long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

Looking at these female soldiers in front of him, Xue Shao thought to himself, who could have predicted that in the next few years, these women would appear like female officers and play a vital historical role?

Seeing Wu Zetian later, Xue Shao was even more taken aback, or it was more accurate to say that his eyes lit up again.

Wu Zetian, who is nearly sixty years old, is actually wearing a hunting suit and is shooting arrows in person on the school grounds!

"Good!"

An arrow hit the bull's-eye, and the female soldiers applauded loudly.

Wu Zetian laughed heartily, and turned his head to see Xue Shao, "Oh, Xue Lang is here!" ”

"Meet ......"

Without waiting for Xue Shao to finish his salute, Wu Zetian interrupted him with a straight smile, "Today's private gathering, there is no need to be conventional-I have heard for a long time that Xue Lang is outstanding in martial arts and skilled in bows and horses, so why don't I wait for the woman to open her eyes, how about it?" ”

"Yes, yes! Please Xue Horse, call me and wait for the bow technique! The group of palace maids who shot children joined excitedly, laughing and chattering, all without the restraint and depression in the palace on weekdays.

There was originally a trace of dark cloud in Xue Shao's heart, but it was instantly dispelled by their laughter. He couldn't help but be a little impressed by Wu Zetian, but he didn't expect Wu Zetian, who was dominating the political arena, to have such a vivid and vivid side in private!