Chapter Seventy-Eight: The Battle of the Gentlemen (Part II)

Li Wei was not in a hurry, and called the envoys of Kang Guo and Dongcao Guo and Cao Guo, as well as Dong'an, Mi, Shi, He and Zhongcao who had only arrived together today.

These countries are the largest and have the highest influence in the Hanzhong region. Since the Sui Dynasty, it has maintained good relations with the Central Plains, and this time when he heard of Li Wei's arrival, the king sent his royal brother Wen Goutong to meet him. Wen is Kangguo's national surname, which is a Han name, whether it was taken temporarily, Li Wei doesn't know.

The kingdom of Cao was precisely divided into Eastern Cao, Central Cao, and Western Cao, and surrounded the Kang Kingdom, and even its kings were sometimes from the princes of the Kang Kingdom. However, their relationship with Kang Guo is only an alliance, and they have become a country. Among them, the Western Cao State was the largest, and the Tang Dynasty also regarded the Western Cao State as the orthodoxy of the Cao State. Whether it's right or wrong, no one cares. If Li Wei hadn't come to the Western Regions, who would have cared about the intricate relationships between these small countries in the river. Dong'an, also known as the Drinking Khanate, was a small country. Anguo was the most suffering from the invasion of the Great Eclipse, but there were still 400 miles away from Xiaoanguo, and the messenger did not have time to arrive. There are other countries that have not been able to make it because of distance or other reasons.

Shiguo is very close to Broken Leaf City, produces good horses, is good at war, and has always had a harmonious relationship with the Tang Dynasty. In history, it was not until Gao Xianzhi's violent behavior in the Hezhong region that he defected to Da Shi. This was a staunch ally of the Tang Dynasty, and when Wang Fangyi pacified Ashina Chebo, he also sent some warriors to help. It didn't play a major role, but it was a little bit of a thought. In order to restrain the Western Turks, the Tang Dynasty specially set up the Dawan Governor's Mansion in Shiguo, which actually has nothing to do with Dawan in history, and its king is also a Turk. This is just to show respect for Shi Guo and put it on an equal footing with Kang Guo. Therefore, after Ashina Helu's army was defeated and fled to the city of Sulu in Shiguo, the city lord Inedagan escorted Helu.

Shi Guo, also known as Kashana Country, is close to the south of Kang State, and it is also a powerful country, and there is an important checkpoint, the Iron Gate. The song that the Turks dreamed of regaining their glory sang that hit the iron gate, and this is the place. The country of rice is less than a hundred miles southwest of Kangguo, and it was broken by the Great Food in the Yonghui period. In the third year of Xianqing, he took his land as the southern state of Nanmi, and awarded his Jun Zhaowu to open a clumsy history. This little king is still alive and has been miserable by the Great Cannibal, so he has infinite hopes for the Tang Dynasty and is a country that is very diligent in paying tribute. In addition, there are Dongmi Kingdom and Xiaoshi Kingdom, which are two smaller countries, which are also sandwiched in the second wave of envoys, because of the national strength, Li Wei expressed respect, but it does not make much sense in his strategy.

He Guo is in the northwest of Kangguo, which was specially summoned by Li Wei.

This country did not set up a feudal regime in the Tang Dynasty, so it regarded itself as a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty. Every time the envoy of the Tang Dynasty arrived, he scattered flowers to greet him, put musk on his face, and helped him to worship in the east. It is also a large grain-producing country, Yonghui once sent a messenger to speak, heard that the Tang Dynasty went to the west to beg, willing to lose grain to the army. The main reason is that they want to use the hand of the Tang Dynasty to restrain the Turks. However, after the Tang Dynasty was imprisoned in the middle of the river, there was no army, and it was mainly Turkic. In the past 20 years, disappointed, there has been no more tribute.

Li Wei personally sent someone to invite it, in addition to valuing its food, there was another reason. Religion!

The Hanzhong region is dominated by Zoroastrianism, and a very small number of people believe in Buddhism. Under the influence of the Great Eclipse, a small number of people gradually converted to Islam. For example, in Kangguo, women have gone out with black veils, which is exactly the custom of Islam. Those who are not averse to religion, whether it is Taoism, Buddhism, Islam, Zoroastrianism, or Catholicism, have the overall purpose of teaching the people to be good. There is only one premise, don't affect the normal development of the country, such as the extensive cultivation of temples, Li Wei definitely disagrees. It doesn't matter if you build temples, but are the hundreds of thousands of tax-exempt monks in the way of the country? Also, don't interfere in the regime like the West. In the end, don't run to the palace if you have nothing to do, and even pay tribute to Xiao Maruko to poison Zongzong and the emperor himself.

However, the popularization of Islam laid the best foundation for the Great Eclipse to attack the river. I don't know if this country was disappointed in the Tang Dynasty, and actually took the initiative to change the state religion from Zoroastrianism to Islam. Therefore, He Guo has become an important target for Li Wei. Religion has only been changed for a short time, and it has little influence on the people, so it has time to change it.

Not only these, but also the customs, races, productions, the number of people and soldiers, the attitude towards the Tang Dynasty, the contradictions and grievances between them, the terrain, minerals, climate, etc., all need to be understood. Therefore, it is a very cumbersome thing to come to the Hanzhong area this time. However, such careful consideration lays a solid foundation for the possibility of the future.

After these envoys arrived, Li Wei only said a few cold words and did not say much. He only said one word to all the messengers, if there is anything, I will talk about it when the fight is over.

They visited, with a very clear intention, wanting to use the Tang Dynasty to resist the threat of the Great Cannibals to them. But I suddenly believed and doubted in my heart, and when the battle was over and I saw the combat effectiveness of the Tang Dynasty army, I had the authority to talk like this.

These envoys came to him in fear, not because they were afraid of Li Wei, but because they were afraid that the Tang Dynasty army would be defeated and it would affect them.

Li Wei said: "Isn't the Great Eater Cavalry very powerful? ”

"yes." Almost in unison, more than half of the envoys could actually speak fluent Tang Dynasty dialect.

"Then can I send tens of thousands of troops to protect you on a regular basis?"

This question is all wilted.

The Tang Dynasty is just a fetter, nothing to do, you just need to pay tribute, and tribute is not blackmail, and the Tang Dynasty will have rich rewards. There are no taxes or food payments in normal times. Why do you often send tens of thousands of troops to protect yourself? Is it true that tens of thousands of troops fought without a pension? No supply, no wastage, no sacrifice?

What does the emperor of the Tang Dynasty mean by asking this? Is it necessary to change the policy of the Tang Dynasty?

Li Wei ignored their expressions and continued: "The Tang Dynasty can help you, but you must be strong yourself. Today I will demonstrate how the infantry can break the cavalry. ”

I want to test it myself, and I will show them by the way. Li Wei didn't have any thoughts about Hezhong for the time being, and the affairs of Tibet and the Turks were gone, so what energy did he have to really rule Hezhong? But they must maintain a certain combat effectiveness on their own, so as not to be swallowed up by the great food. In addition, the policy should also make some small changes, and there is no hurry to say it now, and they will not be able to listen to it until after this battle.

The other is religion.

The Great Cannibal once said three things to the conquered areas, either you pay us the Great Eater obediently (a very heavy tax), or you follow our religion, or you just wait for death. Because of the war with Byzantium, they are not currently of much interest in the river. At most, it is an invasion, taking people captive and looting property, and then going back. The same is true of religion. After Li Wei became the ruler of Hezhong, he planned to establish the authority of Zoroastrianism, but he could not manage it at the moment. Talk to them, convince them, get them to cooperate.

After finishing speaking, he waved his hand down, and Zhang Zhiyuan gave orders.

Became his herald, but it was also a kind of training.

With this order, Xue Ne, Xifenglei, Liu Dezheng, Yeqi Mingchuan, and Tuoba Po led 15,000 people to dismount. The generals who had brought the key training from the capital did not move, and let them still ride on their horses and continue to watch on the spot. There is still a battle, and this will have to wait for the Turks to lead a hundred men in pursuit after their respective defeats. In addition, Li Jinxing, Wang Fangyi and Guo Yuanzhen did not move, and were still riding on horses.

Fifteen thousand soldiers, under the command of their respective generals, pushed out small carts from the main battalion.

This is another important prop for an infantry to break the cavalry.

Li Ling's 5,000 Hun soldiers, and Liu Yu's terrifying Moon Array, all use cars as important props. Including Pei Xingjian's battle in Montenegro, he also relied on the cover of baggage vehicles. The car was made improvise, and some props were made.

Hook sickles and thick machetes, but thick axes were made in Luoyang, and in addition to these weapons, they also brought some improvised trebuchets and strong crossbows. The others are all conventional weapons, such as bows and arrows, lances, guns, improved horizontal knives, spears and shields, and guns.

Pushing a cart, everyone knows, set up a temporary city wall to block the impact of cavalry. However, these cars are very pitiful, because they are not only thin, but also very short. In addition, some spears were prepared, also sharpened from wood, which were intended to be projected as javelins. These spears were also pitiful, all of them were made of wood, not a single point of iron. Although he experienced a great defeat on his face, he went to the battlefield, at least the soldiers wore leather armor. Will these wooden spears work?

Not only that, but there were only 7,000 Tang Dynasty troops left on horseback. But more than 10,000 Tang Dynasty troops got off their horses, leaving a large number of empty horses in the rear, and had to send soldiers down to guard them.

The envoy of the Moon Department asked worriedly, "Your Majesty, is it too ......trusting?"

A big word is not easy to ask.

"I ask you, is it the iron spear that is expensive or this simple spear that is expensive?"

"It's ......" but even more skeptical, war can't be said to be expensive, it's better to wear rattan armor, so that bamboo bows and arrows and bamboo knives are the cheapest. But in that case, can we still win the war?

Li Wei asked again: "What if the war is at a critical time and there are not enough weapons?" ”

"But ......" is what it says, this simple spear can be made from local materials anytime and anywhere, as long as there are trees, you can make as many as you want, but can it be lethal? Moreover, in the steppe battles, almost everyone is on horseback, and this spear throwing is even more pitiful. And these spears are thicker and longer than regular spears, and some people doubt that the Tang Dynasty soldiers had the arm strength to let it be projected.

On the contrary, the envoys of these countries in the river were interested.

They were in a similar situation to the Tang Dynasty, with many countries that were half-farming and half-pastoral, and the arms were also mixed in foot. But the tactics of the Tang Dynasty can't be learned, especially the Mo knife class with huge lethality, and even the Mo knife can't be made, how can such a class be established?

However, the Tang Dynasty emperor's tactics this time were a complete subversion of the previous Tang Dynasty tactics, and it seemed that they were relatively easy to learn.

At this moment, the sound of trumpets was heard from the east and west. One is long and the other is short, it is to report peace.

Influenced by Pei Xingjian, Li Wei came here to inquire about the weather.

Because of the influence of the Mediterranean Sea in the Qihe area, the west wind often blows in summer, and according to some proverbs of local old farmers who are familiar with the weather, Li Wei observed the weather. According to these proverbs, the weather has been normal for about the last two days, that is, the wind direction does not change easily.

I don't know if Zhu Yuanzhang and Chen Youliang fought in Poyang Lake in later generations, Zhu Yuanzhang used fire to attack with the help of the change of wind direction, and whether he used rough methods to observe the weather. But it is a very important part of the war.

The location chosen by Li Wei was not only a battle of gentlemen, but a temptation to pour out of the nest and annihilate it in one fell swoop. So I chose this open area. But there is a fatal weakness, close to the desert area, although it is the Gobi desert area, there is very little dust, tens of thousands of cavalry running in, will inevitably raise a lot of dust. You can't observe whether the wind is strong or small, and you can't judge whether you can use the wind. But as long as the wind blows, it can roll up dust and fog, and it can also attract the sight of soldiers.

This is the link that Li Wei is most worried about.

As a result, many scouts were sent early in the morning to inspect the situation on both sides.

However, Ashina Jar did not take advantage of it.

Riding on the horse, Li Wei couldn't help laughing and said, "It's really a little hairy child." ”

Very contemptuous tone, at such a level, you still want to fight with your own army?

Not only Li Wei smiled, but Wang Fangyi also smiled. At last night's military meeting, Li Wei deliberately said about this and also took some preventive measures. The noodle man didn't do that, which added to the ease of today's victory.

Of course, in the final analysis, it was only after seeing the new defeat of the throat, the great loss of strength, and the lack of confidence of the soldiers that they dared to take out this tactic for drills.

Hearing the sound of the horn to report safety, Li Wei made another gesture, and Zhang Zhiyuan issued another order. Some of the soldiers took out sacks from the camp, and no one could see what was in them. First, they were sent to two trenches. And then to the soldiers behind the wall of the car.

This array of cloth is also very strange, each trench is nearly eighty meters apart, and the second trench is seventy or eighty meters away from the car wall. The middle is separated by more than 100 meters. That is to say, the soldiers of the first trench were reluctantly protected within the range of the bow and arrow.

It's really reluctant, except for some powerful horned bows and crossbows, it can't reach a range of more than 100 meters at all.

And so far in the Tang Dynasty, all the steps have been tepid, not like a big war is coming. Instead, *** is a drill.

Not only the Tang Dynasty army, but also Ashina Yuer also sent scouts, although it was a battle of gentlemen, they were still afraid of the intrigues of the Tang Dynasty. The scouts came back to report that there was not a single ambush within a radius of dozens of miles. Either they ran into the scouts of the Tang Dynasty and there were some fierce battles. The aftermath of the fierce battle also frustrated the pharyngeal scouts.

Li Wei used scouts not only to spy on news, but also to prevent small-scale exchanges when scouts met. Scouts have the upper hand in the fight, and they can have the confidence and strength to probe more carefully. As a result, the scouts sent were almost the most ferocious soldiers. As soon as the scouts of the two armies met, the consequences of the battle can be imagined. The pharyngeal scout was killed badly.

But this fight was only a small battle, and the death of dozens of people did not affect the overall situation. I also got the news that I needed.

Since the Tang army had no other ambushes, the three armies were ordered to advance slowly. Maintain horsepower and save it for decisive battles. Therefore, the troops of the pharyngeal surface are also slowly soaring. It seems that the two parties are gentle and elegant, like a pair of lovers, with affection, and there is no sign of war at all.

Gentleman's War!

At least now, there has been almost no such modest campaign in history.

The noodle swallower has arrived. In the distance, I saw a large black shadow, revealing his figure in the dust.

Li Wei shouted: "Raise the flag." ”

A large banner with the word "Huang" written on it was raised. The meaning is clear, and he said to the pharyngeal face, the emperor of the Tang Dynasty is here, fire at me.

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