Wang Fei also went to the caravan station to visit Su Sanniang and Ashina Wenxia, and also met a familiar merchant near the Ruyiju station.

Back in the barracks, Wang Fei remembered that the tall merchant was the first person to lie down when the big food scout sneaked into Tingzhou City.

The profit-seeking nature of businessmen made Wang Fei deeply feel that some of the classic expositions in Capital are indeed "universally applicable". However, it is precisely because of these risk-taking businessmen that the entire human society can continue to communicate and develop.

Since the crossing, Wang Fei found that although Datang was "heavy on agriculture", it was not too "repressive on business", so Datang's business and trade exchanges were very prosperous, which made him particularly gratified......

The neighing of horses interrupted Wang Fei's reverie, and when he looked up, it turned out to be outside the gate of the camp, and a Tang army scout was hurriedly whipping his horse and galloping towards the camp.

When the army was marching or encamping, hundreds of scouts would be sent to spy and guard in all directions. Therefore, from time to time, light cavalry from the scout battalion would gallop in and gather all kinds of information into Du Huan's military tent. After this information is sorted out by Du Huan, it will be recorded in the book, and then submitted to Wang Zhengjian and others in a timely manner.

Wang Fei was helping Du Huan process the transcription information just now. If it was just a simple writing job, it would not be too difficult for him. In his previous life, Wang Fei knew most of the traditional Chinese characters and could write some of them. After crossing over, he fused the memories of the two lives, and his writing skills far exceeded the average of a ten-year-old boy.

However, the content of the information involves the organization, communication, coordination, and other aspects of the expedition, which is quite challenging for small white-collar workers who have not participated in any military activities in addition to military training.

Through participating in the study, Wang Fei found that organizing the march of the army is indeed a very complicated and boring work. Not to mention anything else, military rations alone require advance preparations and coordination of various forces.

The soldiers and horses of Beiting marched west from Tingzhou, not on the North Silk Road, which was often taken by caravans, but on the Yinshan Road, which was further north. That is, from Tingzhou to the northwest, through the Alashan Pass to Yibohai, and then turn southeast to Gongyue City. Then head southwest from Gongyue City to Shattered Leaf City. The army used Shattered Leaf City as a forward base, and from there, it marched west along the Suye River Valley to conquer the Stone Kingdom.

The reason why the march was so tortuous and did not choose the closer North Silk Road was that the terrain from Tingzhou directly west over the mountain pass of the Green Mountains to Gongyue City was too cramped and treacherous. The passage of a caravan of hundreds of people is not a big problem, but it is not suitable for the passage of tens of thousands of troops. The whole process of Yinshan Road is basically a plain with a flat river, and the only mountain area, Alashan Pass, is much more open than other valleys, which is more suitable for the Beiting soldiers and horses marching with baggage and equipment.

The terrain of Yinshan Road is flat, but such a long and circuitous march route greatly increases the burden of supplies along the way.

Before leaving the Alashan Pass, the military towns and guards under the jurisdiction of the Beiting Protectorate were densely packed along the way. Before the army set out on the expedition, the Beiting Protectorate had already transported a large amount of military rations in advance and hoarded them, so that they could continue to supply the army.

After leaving the Alashan Pass and arriving at Yibohai, it entered the range of activities of the Gelulu tribe and the Shatuo scattered tribes, and since then there has been no military town or garrison of the Tang Army that can be used as a military station.

Therefore, from Yisohai to Broken Leaf City, the supply of the army, in addition to its own part, also relied on the hundreds of thousands of sheep provided by the Qarlu and Shatuo tribes to supplement it.

Such a complicated organization and coordination work basically falls on the shoulders of Du Huan alone. Wang Fei felt tired just by playing, while Du Huan was able to talk and laugh, and arranged all affairs in an orderly manner, which made Wang Fei extremely admired.

The reason why Wang Fei was allowed to participate in such heavy military affairs was specially arranged by Wang Zhengjian. Although there was an edict from the sage that allowed Wang Fei to accompany the army, Wang Zhengjian still hoped that he would be able to participate in military affairs so as not to be seen as a burden.

Wang Fei himself also hoped to be able to master the skills and knowledge of marching and arranging formations, so he learned with special care by Du Huan's side.

In addition to assisting Du Huan in handling paperwork, Wang Fei also has to practice riding and archery every morning, and practice with Ashina Wenxia; In the evening, he also writes down what he sees, hears, thinks and feels in his diary to accumulate experience.

In front of Du Huan's tent, the scouts who were galloping like the wind turned over and dismounted, and hurriedly ran into the military tent.

Wang Fei, who was moving his muscles and bones and sobering his mind, was used to seeing such a scene, and he was not too surprised.

After discovering that he had begun to become so accustomed to the affairs of the march, Wang Fei counted on his fingers and was surprised to find that before he knew it, there had been more than thirty days of such a full and busy day.

The soldiers and horses of Beiting were officially launched on the seventh day of the third month and left Tingzhou City.

When starting from Tingzhou City, the army was mighty, with a total of 20,000 soldiers and horses. Among them were 10,000 Beiting troops and 10,000 Shatuo troops who came from the shores of Pu Sea.

The soldiers and horses of the North Court are composed of a mixture of many arms, including 3,000 cavalry, including 1,000 heavy cavalry and 2,000 light cavalry; 4,500 infantry, including 1,000 swordsmen, 1,000 heavily armed sword and shield men, and 2,500 crossbowmen; The 2,500 baggage troops, including an engineer battalion composed of 500 specially trained soldiers, were proposed by Wang Fei to be responsible for the assembly and operation of siege equipment, and Zhao Dazhui was also incorporated into it to be responsible for technical guidance.

The cavalry of the Beiting Army each had at least two war horses, the most elite scout battalion, and even one man and three horses or more. Infantry such as sword soldiers, sword and shield bearers, and crossbowmen also had a pack horse, which was used to carry armor and weapons. In the baggage camp, there were a large number of horse-drawn carts, mule carts, and ox carts, which were specially responsible for transporting grain and other goods.

The horseshoe, the oil fire and the core components of the counterweight stone thrower are all kept by the engineer battalion. Su Yeju had rushed to produce dozens of four-horse carriages before and provided them to the engineer battalion at cost price, which were specially used to load all kinds of heavy equipment.

In order to ensure that the secret weapon was not leaked, Wang Zhengjian not only ordered Wang Yong to lead the Beiting Ya soldiers to supervise and protect the engineer battalion, but also required that the horseshoes of all horses be unloaded first, and then re-nailed when they entered the state of imminent battle, even Ashina Wenxia's Qingmoqi was no exception.

The route taken by the Beiting Army is relatively flat on the Yinshan Road, and the speed of daily marching is not fast, and the horseshoes are not nailed for the time being, and the impact is not great.

However, Wang Fei also knows in his heart that once the technology is shown, there will inevitably be the possibility and risk of diffusion. After this battle, the easy-to-learn horseshoe will certainly be widely used.

Although the counterweight catapult is conspicuous, it is highly technical, and the craftsmen of the North Garden, who are involved in the production and assembly, only know one of the processes. For a while, it shouldn't be leaked. However, if someone obtains the drawings, or if a skilled craftsman works backwards from the actual thing, it will not be particularly difficult to reproduce them.

On the contrary, Greek fire, oil extraction technology and core recipes are indispensable. As long as the formula is tightly controlled, it should be possible to avoid leakage for a long time.

Wang Fei remembered that in the historical records of the previous life, until the fall of the Byzantine Empire, the Greek fire recipe was never revealed. The formula known to Wang Fei was calculated by scientists in the 20th century using modern science and technology based on historical records. Therefore, Wang Fei was confident that the secret of Greek fire would be kept as long as possible.

As for gunpowder and other sharp weapons, Wang Fei decided to study them slowly and was not in a hurry to throw them all. Good steel should be used on the edge of the knife and must not be wasted. Moreover, the butterfly effect of the crossing was unpredictable, and he did not dare to take too many risks.

Labor expeditions are complicated and complicated, and if the army is mixed in general, it is particularly prone to mistakes. Therefore, when the army marches, it must be divided into divisions.

In order to facilitate management, the Beiting Army was organized into three armies according to the "Li Jing's Art of War": among them, the Chinese army had 5,000 people, including 3,500 soldiers, 1,000 baggage soldiers and 500 engineers, which were led by the Beiting Protector Wang Zhengjian; Zuo Yu's army of 2,500 people, including 2,000 soldiers and 500 baggage soldiers, was led by Ashina Yang, the deputy capital of Beiting, and served as the vanguard of the army; There are 2,500 people in the right Yu waiting army, the same establishment as the left Yu waiting army, and it is led by Du Huan, the judge of the North Court, who is in charge of the palace.

Du Huan is in command of the Youyu Hou Army, and he still shoulders the heavy responsibility of the counselor military aircraft, and can be said to be the most tired person in the Tang Army camp. However, everyone also understands that this is Wang Duhu deliberately honing Judge Du and creating an opportunity for him to make meritorious contributions. It is estimated that after the Western Expedition, Judge Du's official rank may be upgraded again.

The Shatuo army was lightly cavalry, and the 10,000 clansmen were divided into 10,000 teams. Among them, five thousand-person teams were led by Shatuo Ye's Bone Protector, and two thousand-person teams were under the command of Zhu Xie, the prince of Shatuo. The remaining three thousand-strong troops were led by the three tribal chiefs of Shatuo.

The baggage of the Shatuo army is mainly the mares and cattle and sheep that accompany the army. The so-called Shatuo soldiers, who are warriors on horses and herdsmen when they dismount, are very handy at feeding livestock.

When 20,000 soldiers and horses marched to the sea of Yibo, 10,000 people had been waiting for several days on the shore of the sea.

Li Kun not only personally led 10,000 elite soldiers to participate in the war again, but also brought his eldest son Li Ji, who was seventeen years old.

Ashina Xiaoyun was taken aback when he first saw the red-haired and green-eyed soldiers among the Gregorian people.

Although there are a large number of Hu people and Hu Niang in Tingzhou City, most of them have high noses and deep eyes, and a few people may have blue eyes, but they have never had red hair and green eyes.

Wang Fei explained that the black-haired and black-eyed people in the Huangjiasi were the descendants of General Li Ling of the Han Dynasty, and those with red hair and green eyes came from the bitter cold land of the extreme north. According to historical records, General Li Ling was the grandson of Li Guang, a famous general in the early Han Dynasty, who led 5,000 infantry out of the fortress to conquer the Xiongnu, and was trapped by the Xiongnu Shan Yu with 80,000 cavalry. Li Ling led the troops to fight and retreat, fought hard for dozens of days, killed and wounded more than 10,000 Hun cavalry, retreated to a place more than 100 miles away from the border fortress, and was captured with no soldiers and arrows.