Chapter Ninety-Two: The Sound of the East and the West (I)

The arrival of 8,000 troops in the Tang Dynasty could not hide it if they wanted to.

Li Wei sent a large number of scouts to Khorasan and Sestan, and Salem also sent scouts to the river. This is the basic common sense of marching and fighting, but the scale and degree of attention are different.

When they arrived at Zhezhicheng, the Tang emperor began to integrate his army. It is also basic common sense, it is a multinational coalition army, although the generals of the Tang Dynasty have trained, it is not trained in one area, it is divided into nine regions for training, plus 8,000 Tang Dynasty troops entered, it must be coordinated and reorganized for a short time, otherwise the combat effectiveness will be affected during the war.

I also have this problem in my own hands.

The emperor of the Tang Dynasty personally marched in person, and Salem did not dare to support it, so he transferred a large number of Persian puppet troops to support, and at the same time fed back the situation to the rear.

These armies also have to undergo some basic reorganization, otherwise they will not be able to go to war.

Salem was very sensible and did not advance the battlefield to the north bank of the Wuhu River, which is the territory of the river region, if it was just a union of the countries in the river, he would not hesitate to cross the Wuhu River and take the initiative to attack. However, the arrival of the Tang Dynasty army increased the variables, so it chose a safe way of fighting.

In addition, in the upcoming war, there is an important factor to consider, the Wuhu River!

When the Wuhu River reaches the lower reaches, the water is gentle and easy to cross.

In addition, there is terrain. The deepest part of the Wuhu River is not in the lower reaches, but in the middle reaches, and when it reaches the lower reaches, because of the lack of rain, the evaporation of the sun, and the irrigation of farmland, the river is not deep. Of course, you also need a ship to cross it. But downstream, there are flat oases and the Gobi Desert on both sides. There are only a small number of hills, which are not only small in number, but also not high, and almost half of the area can be used as a crossing point for river crossing. There is no danger to be kept.

At the same time, the flat terrain makes the arrangement of the armies of both sides clear at a glance.

Therefore, before Salem found out the details of the Tang army, he chose to be in Henan, wanting to control the initiative in his hands. Looking at the map, Salem began to give orders, and asked his number one general, Buzarif, to lead 10,000 men to the Wuhu River first, before that, five military camps had been set up in the Wuhu River, totaling more than 12,000 people. Then he repeatedly instructed Buzarif not to be greedy for merit, plus patrols, once the Tang Dynasty army began to cross the river, this is easier to see, immediately prepare trebuchets to throw into the river, and then form a second bow and crossbow defense line from the shore, and then use trenches and fences for the third line of defense.

But in addition to the Tang Dynasty army rushing to Peiken City, there was also a powerful Tang Dynasty army in the city of Bind. It is possible that the main direction of attack of the Tang Dynasty army is Moufu City, and it is not ruled out that the main direction of attack of the Tang Dynasty army is Jiling City, and if you get Jiling City, you will be able to join several Persian rebels in Jiling City, and it may even shake the entire Sestan region, endangering the rule of Da Shi in Sindh. And the Tang Army's fanfare this time has become a feint to attract his main force.

Before the details of the Tang Dynasty army were known, Salem sent another heavy general, Surim, to lead another 10,000 troops to Gabro City for reinforcements.

The battle did not start and seemed to be moving in the direction of attrition.

Fighting a war of attrition, Salem was not afraid, in terms of bravery, the Tang Dynasty army seemed to be very brave when I heard it, and in Atami and in Ilishui, both battles achieved brilliant results. But against that group of stragglers, he can do the same. And his army is all veterans of many battles, battle-hardened, and loyal believers, who have not been at war, but privately estimate that they will be above the Tang Dynasty army. Either the remaining army, the largest in number, its own Persian puppet army, the Tang Dynasty's Hezhong and Tocharian coalition armies, is believed to be on par. The rest is the Wuhu River.

The Wuhu River is easy to cross, and if you want to cross it, the Tang Dynasty army can't stop it, and if the Tang Dynasty army wants to cross it, you can't stop it. Therefore, every time they launched an attack on the Hanzhong region, they crossed through the middle and lower reaches of the Wuhu River and then launched an attack on the countries in the river. This is caused by the fact that the difference between the advantages and disadvantages is too large. If it is not big, as the party that crosses the river, it is always the one who is vulnerable to blows. It was also the reason why he planted his army on the south bank.

Either attack from the direction of Tochar, you are the defending side, there is a risk of the city wall, and you are also dominant. Thinking of this, he mobilized his army with peace of mind in Moufu City.

But as soon as Buzarif left the city, the scouts sent back the news. The rhythm of the Tang Dynasty army suddenly became faster, they just arrived in Peiken City, the various armies did not meet, the troops were divided into three roads and suddenly went south, 20,000 Tang troops in the middle, 5,000 Tang troops on the left and right, and soon arrived at the Wuhu River, and then cut down trees and made rafts.

This change in rhythm made Salem feel very uncomfortable, and he had to lead 30,000 troops from Moufu City to the front line first.

……

Listening to the scout's report, Xue Ne said in convincing: "Your Majesty, everything is under your control. ”

Li Wei is in the Chinese army. Another general, Li Jinxing, continued to stay in Peiken City to dispatch.

It was remarkable in the Tang Dynasty, and the emperor personally went into battle. But the Great Food was not surprised, the previous generations of caliphs, the one who had not been in battle. After listening to Xue Ne's words, Li Wei said, "General Xue, don't underestimate it, this person fights bravely, similar to your father, and he can't come out until he fights." ”

Salem's military talent is still very good, and the Persian rebels from all walks of life make him unable to raise his head. If this situation continues, if he does not come in person, he may be able to suppress the various rebels instigated by the Ninirvana Division in a year or two.

Li Wei said that it was similar, it was not Salem that reached the height of Xue Rengui, and it was estimated that Xue Rengui, Salem, and Wang Zhan, the three of them have similar combat styles, but Salem is only above Wang Zhan, but it is possible that he is under Xue Rengui.

Li Wei also pondered Salem's shortcomings.

He didn't expect that he really dared to start a war with their big cannibals, and he still stayed in the policy impression of the Tang Dynasty before, and his attack was to give him some time to prepare, but it was considered from a strategic point of view, and the preparation was not sufficient. This is the first point in your favor.

Secondly, Salem attaches great importance to intelligence work, but not enough attention.

For example, Wuhu River, he has not been here once, and through various intelligence, he definitely knows more about Wuhu River than Salem. Including the flow of water in the Wuhu River, the terrain of various places, and even it is known that it has a three-month ice period every year. Because the terrain is high in the east and low in the west, the humid air from the Mediterranean Sea hits the high mountains, and the rainy period in the middle and upper reaches is long, and the rainfall may be more than ten times that of the downstream. There are also almost all situations such as the signal period, width, tributaries of the Wuhu River, as well as the mountains, oases, cities, checkpoints, temperatures, and production on both sides.

Not only the Wuhu River, but also all the terrain of the Khorasan and Sestan regions, as well as the situation of the generals of the Great Eclipse, I know a rough idea. Salem, on the other hand, could only know that they were attacking from two directions. Others, such as the situation of the generals in their own army, do not know anything.

It's the Wuhu River, he has been here, but he hasn't been here, but he may not be familiar with it.

This is the second point in favor.

The Great Cannibal was almost invincible on land, with the exception of having the Byzantines defeat them with Greek fire at sea, and there has not been a single major defeat in these decades. Of course, it leads to the full confidence of the soldiers, and the religious factor makes the soldiers very fanatical and combat-effective when fighting. But they never really fought with the Tang army, and many of the Great Eaters still believed that the Tang Dynasty was the same as the Turks and Tocharians in the East, and that they would have a sense of contempt.

This is the third point in favor.

Salem was brave and won many battles with less. He didn't dare to support the Tang Army, and he would win more with less. Therefore, more than 100,000 corps will be mobilized to fight. According to the information heard by the scouts, it was never on his resume.

That is, the experience of commanding an army to defeat a large corps. This is also very important, Pei Xingjian has analyzed the three generals of the Tang Dynasty, Xue Rengui and Salem, this kind of light marching style, is not suitable for commanding a large-scale army, the number is less than 50,000, but can play his style. Li Wei recalled Xue Rengui's life, and it was indeed the case.

Pei Xingjian himself can't do it, he can only use the crowd to create a momentum, and when the real decisive battle comes, there will not be many soldiers to apply. can dispatch a large corps to fight, only Liu Renliang can barely do it. Either Li Wei himself can make up, and this kind of making up is not his talent, but his status. The status allows the generals to submit, so that they can advance and retreat consistently.

This is the fourth point of advantage.

Because of the orthodox debate of the caliphate, there was a serious split, and he was light and inexpensive in the Western Regions, and he almost did not let them pay taxes in Hezhong and Tocharo, and he led Hezhong, Tocharian and Persia to resist the invasion of the Great Cannibals, and the war of anti-aggression. At least in Khorasan, Sindh and Sestan there is much help for the righteous, and the great cannibalism is the unrighteous and unhelpful.

Morally, he is competent. This is the fifth point in favor.

The allocation of troops, the arrival of immigrants, I can't say that there are 30,000 or 40,000 troops, plus the temporarily formed government soldiers, can squeeze out nearly 90,000 Tang troops. But those new soldiers can't go to the front line to fight, unless at the end of the war, a group of them will be transferred to familiarize them.

The only ones who can really go to the battlefield are the ones brought from Qinghai and the thirty or forty thousand troops under Wang Fangyi, but there are other arrangements, and Broken Leaf City will also leave a group of people. In this way, at most, only 25,000 Tang troops could be dispatched. The number of troops in the Great Eclipse is close to nearly 60,000, and even if it is needed, it is possible to increase some troops one after another. Don't underestimate the big food soldiers, they have been on the battlefield for a long time, and they have religious fanaticism, and their combat effectiveness is not inferior to that of the Tang army. This is a weaker point.

You can see the auxiliary troops.

Salem mobilized a large number of Persian puppet troops, and the combat effectiveness of the soldiers was similar to that of the soldiers of the countries in the Transoxiana region. But they are Persians after all, and they have come to restore the country for the Persians, how will they feel in their hearts? However, the Hezhong army and the Tocharian army in their hands were anti-invasion, but they lacked effective generals to command them before, and they were not integrated together, becoming a group of rabble. Now I don't have to worry about the generals, if necessary, I can fight on four fronts at the same time. The integration was not ideal, but after months of training, it was better than before.

Thus, the forces were generally superior to the Great Cannibals.

This is the sixth point of advantage.

The Great Cannibals have been invincible and invincible all these years, but they always attack others, and few people attack them. The soldiers have rich combat experience, but the experience of defense is very little, and there are sometimes resistance in the occupied area, but that kind of resistance is the resistance of a group of rabble, and it does not bring a lot of defense experience to the Great Food Army. Besides, a fierce general like Salem, let him defend, undoubtedly let Zhang Fei embroider.

This is the seventh point.

The Great Food is powerful, but there are many enemies on all sides, and the Byzantines do not talk about it, and the internal uprisings do not stop. For example, in North Africa, the Berbers let the Great Food fool and assisted them in expelling the Byzantine army and the *** religion, but a few years later found that this was not the case and began to rebel. Even the captured Berber leader Kusella inexplicably fled, uniting the small Byzantine army still stationed in the west with his own tribe against the Arabs. These are fatal factors, as long as there is enough thrust, the Great Eclipse can collapse, of course, this thrust is strong, and Byzantium alone is not enough. So after learning all kinds of information, Li Wei changed his policy and launched an attack on Dashi.

This is the eighth point, and with these eight points, the battle is doomed.

In front of the Wuhu River, the southwest wind blew the smell of the fishy tide. Li Wei rode to the river, got off the war horse, and before the flood season in May, June and July, the Wuhu River came from the high mountain snow field, gushing with underground water, the water color was clear, and almost all of them were as blue as sea water.

The river is wide, about a kilometer wide, and from time to time waterfowl pass by, with a crisp song or two. Originally, there were also ships on the river, but when the big war came, all the ships stopped, making the Wuhu River very quiet.

I looked at the other side again.

The soldiers on the other side did not expect the Tang army to come so quickly, and they seemed very flustered, and continued to build a large camp under the shouts of various commanding generals.

Li Wei called Xin Chengsi and Xue Ne, and said, "You immediately gallop to the eastern front and support Luo Wucheng." ”

"Whoa."

"Xin Chenghei, although you are not very literate, so you can't command more troops, but you can also kill an earl with bravery."

"Yes!" Xin Chengji immediately straightened his waist and grinned. With the emperor's words, as long as you continue to work hard, you will be able to become the earl of the Tang Dynasty in the future. Just ask the entire Tang Dynasty, how many people have obtained the title of earl.

"Xue Ne, your left side of this battle is crucial, and it will take a bloody battle to achieve the strategic goal. Last winter, your father took off only one mask in Yunzhou and sent 100,000 Turkic troops to Maleebai, hoping that you would also make a name for yourself like your father. ”

"Yes."

"Go ahead."

The two of them, with more than a dozen guards, left the middle camp and galloped towards the east camp.

This time, the Tang Dynasty army sent troops to three routes, the middle camp was led by Li Wei and Li Jinxing, the west road was led by Guo Yuanzhen, and the east road was led by Luo Wucheng. This is also an eclectic use of talents, and Li Wei's use of military exploits and talents to promote generals is quite similar to Liu Yu back then, and it also encourages the motivation of soldiers to make meritorious contributions.

There were few troops on the left and right, but the east road became the center of gravity of the battle, with few people, but almost half of them were Tang Dynasty troops, or soldiers brought from Qinghai. Li Wei was also afraid of insufficient combat effectiveness, so he transferred Xue Ne and Xin Chengsi to support.

……

Buzarif is also looking at the other side.

The Tang Dynasty army came so quickly, which was beyond his expectations. There are not many troops in their hands, only about 20,000 people, but fortunately, with the existence of the Wuhu River, the Tang Dynasty army has to build rafts and make small boats to give themselves time to breathe.

While asking for help from Moufu City, he dispatched various armies. The exact number of people is unknown, but it can be seen that the strength of the Tang army in the middle far exceeds the other two roads, so it concentrates its forces on the middle defense.

Another day passed, and the Tang Dynasty had already prepared many small boats and placed them on the banks of the Wuhu River, but the governor was about to arrive with reinforcements, and Buzarif breathed a sigh of relief.

Soon it was getting late again, and the three-way Tang army quickly rested.

Rushing for time, rushing all the way, and when I got here, I had to set up camp and build ships, and the soldiers were tired, so they had to rest early. Seeing this situation, Buzarif wanted to lead his troops to attack the opposite bank, but considering that the opponent was strong and lacked ships, he quickly carried the army across the opposite shore and dispelled this idea.

At the time of the third watch, he was sleeping soundly, and the guards woke up: "General, get up quickly." ”

Buzarif quickly got dressed and walked out of the tent. Many people also woke up and looked at the other side of the river, only to see people on the other side of the river shouting and neighing, and the lights were bright. Climbed a small dirt slope, continued to look, through the moonlight, you can faintly see the Tang Dynasty soldiers on the opposite side wearing armor one by one, pushing a large number of small boats into the river.

Knowing that there was such a big movement, and there was nothing to cover it, Tang Jun simply blew the horn.

Night attack?

Buzarif hurriedly shouted: "Assemble, assemble!" ”

More than 10,000 soldiers immediately hurriedly put on their armor and took up arms, and some pushed the trebuchets to the river. Dashi also has trebuchets, which are not as advanced as those of the Tang Dynasty, but have a better effect than the Tibetan trebuchet. Then there was a large group of soldiers, standing behind the trebuchet, raising their bows and crossbows, which was the second line of defense.

Li Wei was also looking, and he could see it clearly by the moonlight, although there were a large number of Persians mixed in it, but the whole march was very orderly, and Li Wei also looked at it. Although such an army is inferior to the Qinghai army, it can be regarded as a good army wherever it is placed.

It's no wonder that the Great Cannibal has expanded so rapidly over the years, and it should not be underestimated.

Seeing that all the big cannibals were up, with a wave of his hand, his subordinates retracted back to the camp, extinguished the torches, and began to sleep again.

Buzarif couldn't understand what the Tang Dynasty army was doing?

After waiting for a while, I saw that there was no movement, and my soldiers also had to rest. The order was given to return to the camp.

But as soon as he fell asleep, at half past four o'clock, the Tang Dynasty army blew the horn again.

I was so angry that I scolded my mother, but I couldn't guard against it and got up again.

On the third day, there was no incident during the day.

On the night of the third day, however, before the third watch, they were camping during the day, and had not slept well at night, and all the soldiers slept soundly, and the trumpets sounded again.

can't be unguarded, the big cannibal definitely doesn't have Sun Tzu's Art of War, but the way of using soldiers, true and false, false and real, commonplace, in case it is true? The more the Tang army did this, the more it showed that they wanted to cross the river immediately, but before crossing the river, they first exhausted their subordinates and lost confidence.

This time, all the soldiers have their eyes on the middle lane. But isn't that the case?