Chapter 106: Stone Army

"That's right! Tubo has been harvesting the wheat of our Jishi Army for several years in a row, and they will definitely come again this year. As long as I make good arrangements, I will definitely make sure that Tubo will not return!"

Li Xuan nodded and said.

"However, the morale of the soldiers is low in the summer. Moreover, the Jishi army reported last year that the Tibetans surrounded the wheat fields with cavalry, one man with two horses, and scouts everywhere. Once our army arrives, they will definitely flee."

Huangfu Weiming was afraid that Li Xuan would mobilize so many troops and do useless work in vain.

"I am sure! Moreover, I am the deputy ambassador of Longyou Military Farm. Jishi Army is the most important military settlement area in Longyou, and we need to curb the arrogance of Tubo."

Li Xuan asked Huangfu Weiming for orders.

He already had a plan in mind to deal with the Tibetan wheat thieves.

"That's good! Qilang can transfer troops from the Lintao Army and give it a try. Even if you don't achieve any military merit, it doesn't matter. We will prepare for battle and look for opportunities in the fall."

Huangfu Weiming thought for a moment and agreed to Li Xuan's request.

As the commander-in-chief of the Longyou Army, he would have a share of any military merit, no matter which military commander obtained it.

Moreover, the Longyou Army had just suffered a defeat in Shibao City in the spring and needed a victory to boost morale.

"As ordered!"

Li Xuan felt relieved.

He also saw Huangfu Weiming's attitude towards him from this incident.

Today is the day when Li Xuan comes to Lintao Army to take office.

He needs all the troops in Longyou and Lintao to know him.

Xin Silian, deputy envoy of Lintao Army, was from the Xin family of Longyou, a family of generals with many members who were talented in commanding troops.

He had a son who served in the Lintao Army, and they were truly a pair of father and son soldiers fighting together in the battlefield.

All the soldiers left the city and gathered at the bank of the Huangshui River.

Xin Silian accompanied Li Xuan out of the city to review the soldiers.

After the setback at Shibao City in the spring, some new recruits appeared in the Lintao Army, and now the Lintao Army has a complete strength of 15,000 people.

The cavalry and infantry were divided into different armies, each with more than a dozen square formations, with fluttering flags and shining armor.

As the most elite army in Longyou, Lintao had 3,000 elite cavalry wearing bright armor, 4,000 light cavalry, and 1,000 heavy cavalry.

At the same time, there were a thousand heavily armored infantrymen armed with huge shields and spears among the infantry.

A thousand heavily armored warriors were marching forward.

One thousand crossbowmen.

One thousand archers.

The Sword and Axe Battalion consists of 500 people armed with Mo Dao, Chang Dao and Chang Axe.

The scout camp has 500 people.

The remaining three thousand were all spearmen.

In addition, there were 3,000 uncounted servants and men in the army.

Li Xuan, along with a group of Lintao army assistants, dressed in military uniforms, inspected the troops one by one.

Although it was the first time the soldiers saw Li Xuan, they had already heard of Li Xuan's reputation across the Hexi Corridor.

What's more, the news that Li Xuan won the wrestling match against Gao Xiuyan yesterday quickly spread throughout the Lintao army.

The soldiers did not object to Li Xuan as the new commander, mainly because Li Xuan was so famous for capturing the two khans alive. The generals in the army hoped that Li Xuan could lead them to establish meritorious service.

Moreover, Li Xuan was the military commander in chief. As long as Huangfu Weiming gave up his power, no one would dare to disobey.

After Li Xuan reviewed the troops, he said to Xin Silian, "The army is ready. I want to send a thousand strong crossbowmen, the swordmen from the sword and axe camp, a thousand elite cavalry, and a thousand light cavalry to the Jishi Army. General Xin, please make the arrangements!"

"Is it now, General?"

Xin Silian was stunned. Was the general going to lead his troops out on his first day in office, and in summer?
"That's right! The wheat in Jishi Army is almost ripe. We can't let them mistake the food of our Tang Dynasty for the wheat of Tubo." Li Xuan said slowly: "All the soldiers' weapons on this trip will be transported by war horses. We must hurry to Jishi Army."

For example, the infantry of the Sword and Axe Battalion and the crossbowmen of the Strong Crossbow Battalion are definitely not good at riding.

Li Xuan planned to develop the entire Lintao Army into cavalry and mounted infantry.

At least one person has two horses.

This is the only way to support him in going deeper into Jiuqu.

"General, why do you need to bring the heavy sword and axe battalion?"

Xin Silian could understand bringing powerful crossbows, but he couldn't understand the sword and axe battalion's Modao soldiers leading the auxiliary battle formation.

"I want to try out the tactics of the Strange Swordsmen!"

Li Xuan also knew that the Modao soldiers might not be used, but the Modao generals had been found and the Modao team must be formed.

The heavy long axes and long swords were all sent to the battlefield as auxiliary soldiers. The sword soldiers also had to be re-selected.

Because Li Xuan discovered that the Lintao army's Modao soldiers were wearing leather armor, not heavy armor.

Wearing heavy armor and wielding a Mo Dao requires a stronger person.

Among the more than 70,000 soldiers in Longyou, we can definitely select 500 men with suitable strength and physique.

Xin Silian didn't ask any more questions and immediately selected soldiers and horses for Li Xuan.

After selecting the soldiers, Li Xuan returned to the city to say goodbye to Huangfu Weiming, crossed the Huangshui Bridge and advanced towards Ningsai County.

The only assistant officials on this trip were a military commander, a prosecutor, and a military commander. Xin Silian stayed in Huangshui City to train the troops as usual.

But Xin Silian ordered his son Xin Yunjing, who was a Lang Jiang, to follow Li Xuan.

Li Xuan knew that Xin Yunjing's fame would surpass Xin Silian in the future and that he would be a hero in quelling the Anshi Rebellion.

Xin Silian had several sons who were not yet adults, and historically, each of them had the ability to command troops.

In addition, the Xin family in Longyou is not just the Xin Silian branch.

Xin Silian had a nephew, Xin Jinggao, who served in the army in Shuofang and also had the potential to be a famous general.

It was three hundred miles from Huangshui City to Jishijun City, and it took Li Xuan five days to get there.

It was the end of May, and the wheat in this area would be ready for harvest in ten days at most. Li Xuan had to race against time.

"Meet General Lee!"

Xu Kuo, the envoy of Jishi Army, went out ten miles outside the Jishi Army City to welcome them.

He was very surprised to learn that Li Xuan had arrived suddenly. As far as he knew, Li Xuan had only been in office for a few days.

"General Xu, when the Tubo army was harvesting wheat in the garrison area last year, did the Jishi army resist?" Li Xuan asked Xu Kuo after letting him excuse himself.

"Each time the Tibetans send out cavalry, the number ranges from 5,000 to 10,000, and most of them ride on two horses. Our Jishi army only has a few hundred horses and is powerless to resist."

Xu Kuo answered Li Xuan quite helplessly.

According to the military system, Jishi had 7,000 officers and soldiers and 100 horses. This was a purely infantry-based defensive city.

Although the Jiedushi allocated hundreds of horses to the Jishi Army, it was still of no avail.

"Even if Tubo can ride two horses, they can't plunder much food each time!"

Li Xuan raised questions about this point.

When the Tubo people harvested wheat, they would first tie it up on the horses and then husk it after returning.

You can imagine the amount of wheat a horse can carry.

The Jishi military settlement area covers an area of ​​nearly 40,000 acres of land. Even ten miles away from the Jishi military city, you can already see endless waves of wheat.

"When the wheat was about to ripen, they came here every day. When they occupied a settlement, we couldn't get close at all. They must have a convoy behind them, with horses carrying wheat back and forth day and night."

Xu Kuo explained to Li Xuan.

"Are seven thousand soldiers just going to watch Tubo get food for free? Then why are they planting so much wheat this year?"

When Li Xuan heard this, he was immediately displeased.

How could Tubo be robbing?
It clearly feels like going back and forth to one's own home, no wonder this area is nicknamed "Tubo Maizhuang".

This is the greatest insult.

The seven thousand soldiers in the city could still hold on!

"We have 40,000 mu of wheat in our military settlements, and the Tubo took at most one-third of it. They don't dare to go deep into our Tang territory."

Xu Kuo said cautiously.

"Very good, at least 20,000 dan of grain, just handed over to someone else for nothing, and they are still enemies."

Li Xuan's words were full of dissatisfaction.

The Tang border troops were equipped with powerful bows and crossbows, and were fully equipped with armor. They had already mastered the tactic of using infantry to defeat cavalry.

It can be imagined that when the Tubo people were harvesting the Tang Dynasty's wheat, they were cursing the Tang army as cowards in their hearts.

"General, forgive me!"

Xu Kuo didn't dare to say much.

The Tubo people were harvesting wheat in the summer when morale was low, and the soldiers of the Ji Shi Army were unwilling to fight hard, so he had no choice.

They sought help from the surrounding areas, but whenever reinforcements came, the Tibetan cavalry retreated.

After the reinforcements left, the Tibetan cavalry came again.

If the Tang army encountered Tibetan cavalry while harvesting wheat, they would inevitably be attacked.

"Take me to Jishi Military City!"

Li Xuan asked Xu Kuo to lead the army to Ji Shi Army to make preparations early.

They came to the ferry crossing in front of Jishi Military City.

Jishi Military City is located south of the Yellow River.

Ningsai County had the natural barrier of the Yellow River to prevent the Tibetan cavalry from crossing.

There used to be a Yellow River Bridge here, but eventually due to strategic reasons, the bridge over the first bend of the Yellow River had to be demolished.

After the Tubo left, considering that building the Yellow River Bridge was time-consuming and labor-intensive, and that it could be destroyed at any time after being built, they stopped building it.

However, the Hongji Bridge, a bridge over the Yellow River, was built next to Hongji City in the Jiuqu area occupied by Tubo, so that Tubo could connect the road between Jiuqu and Qinghai Lake.

If the Tang army attacked Shibao City, Tubo could directly provide support from Jiuqu, through Hongji Bridge and across Chiling (today's Yueshan).

After crossing the bridge, Li Xuan ordered his soldiers to cross the river overnight.

The two thousand cavalrymen were the main force to pursue the Turkic cavalry, and Li Xuan wanted to hide them in the Jishi military city.

Even though the wheat still had more than ten days to mature, Li Xuan had already sent scouts across the wheat fields to patrol the border day and night.

If you spot Tibetan cavalry, come back and report immediately.

The Jishi Military City was built with rammed earth and was more than two meters high, with a wide moat. It was larger and larger than the Feng'an Military City.

When Li Xuan was crossing the river, he saw a tower standing outside the city, which was very conspicuous.

"General, this is the seven-story pagoda of the Pagoda of Buddha, which has been under construction for more than 40 years..."

Xu Kuo introduced the origins of Duofu Temple and the pagoda to Li Xuan.

A seven-story tower must be a Buddhist pagoda.

It is quite strange that a frontier military city has a pagoda and temple of this scale.

It turned out that it was established during the Wu Zetian era by a border general who believed in Buddhism.

This temple is located to the west of the military city. It is quite large and can be used to hide soldiers.

It was already sunset when Li Xuan entered the Jieshi military city.

Xu Kuo prepared a house for Li Xuan, asking him to rest for a night and discuss matters the next day.

On the second day, two thousand cavalrymen, one thousand crossbowmen, and two hundred sword-wielding warriors of the Lintao Army entered the city of Jishi and stationed there.

In the morning, after Li Xuan finished washing up, his personal guard Xue Cuo came to report to Li Xuan: "General, the soldiers of the Jishi Army seem to be quite resentful of our arrival."

"Why do you think so?"

The soldiers of Jishi Army should be happy that they are here to deal with the Tibetan cavalry. As long as they defeat the Tibetan cavalry once, the Tibetan cavalry will not dare to invade the border easily next year.

"It is said that the commander had promised his soldiers, but he did not fulfill his promise, so the soldiers of the Jishi Army had no morale."

Xue Cuo told Li Xuan the reason he had found out.

The morale of the soldiers in the Ji Shi Army was low because the commander was unable to handle rewards and punishments fairly.

So much so that the soldiers did not dare to fight desperately with the Tibetan cavalry.

(End of this chapter)