Chapter 53 Preparing for War
"Qilang, I heard that you got a BMW recently."

After the meeting, Wang Zhongsi kept Li Xuan.

The news spread quickly, and Li Xuan led his horse out of the city every day, and all the soldiers and officials in Huile City saw him.

"I was lucky enough to get a good horse in the horse market. It looks like a wild horse that was bred with a good horse. Now I have tamed it. If you like horses, I can give it to you."

Li Xuan knew that Wang Zhongsi would never want his BMW.

"Qilang, oh Qilang! A fine horse should be in the hands of a brave general. How can I take away someone's love!"

Wang Zhongsi knew that Li Xuan was not sincere, so he laughed and scolded him.

Since becoming the head coach, he can no longer charge into battle like a fierce general.

This time he led his army out of Yinshan and swept westward. It was the commander who had to be in charge and command the direction of the overall situation.

Zhang Qiqiu crossed the Yellow River from Mingsha and marched along the Helan Mountains, which was more like a detachment.

Among the left wing of the Turks, there were dozens of large tribes, distributed west of the Helan Mountains, northeast of the Lang Mountains, along the Hunyi River (now the Wengjin River), around the Yudujun Mountain (now the Hangai Mountain), as well as around the Juyan Lake, the Dule River (now the Tula River), the Xian'e River (now the Selenge River), the Ekun River (now the Orkhon River), and the Yantelebo (now the Khuvsgul Lake).

Among them were some tribes, including some small tribes, and the Tang army could not waste national strength and manpower to search for them.

If the main force of the left wing of the Turks is defeated and the royal court is destroyed, the remaining small and medium-sized tribes will be like trees without roots and water without a source.

"Then I will ride on my horse and make contributions to the country. If there is a chance to attack the Turkic tent, the king must remember me. I have the courage to ride into the forest of swords and spears, and I also have the ambition to lead warriors to capture the Khan."

Li Xuan smiled slightly and said to Wang Zhongsi.

"When I was young, I was just like you. I was eager to fight and showed my bravery. I wanted to emulate the story of Huo Qubing. But you are younger than I was at that time. I know I can't stop you. You have to judge the situation and do what you can."

When Wang Zhongsi saw Li Xuan, he thought of himself in the past. He jumped on his horse, raised his sword, and rushed into the crowd, braving the arrows.

He knew that the bravery of a general could inspire the courage of his soldiers.

The commander charges forward without retreating, and the soldiers are not afraid of death, and they can often achieve brilliant achievements.

But the disadvantage is obvious. Once the main general dies in battle, the army is at risk of collapse.

Wang Zhongsi still hoped that Li Xuan could restrain himself.

"I will definitely keep Marshal Wang's teachings in mind."

Wang Zhongsi's father died in battle, and Li Xuan didn't want to talk much about this.

"In fact, this battle is not a good opportunity. Basmith Khan has just established the Khanate, and his desires are growing. If we can wait for two or three years, he will surely have a war with the Turkic Khan. By then, our Tang Dynasty can reap the benefits. But the saint's will has come, and I wrote a letter not long ago, but it cannot be changed." Wang Zhongsi sighed.

"Facing the Turkic people who are on the verge of collapse, with the help of the Huihe and the Karluk, our Tang Dynasty will not suffer too much loss. Especially the Huihe, they will definitely do their best to establish the Khanate."

Li Xuan comforted Wang Zhongsi, and he lamented that Wang Zhongsi was indeed a famous general who could see things so clearly.

Historically, one year later, Basmith Khan defeated the Turkic royal court and killed Usumish Khan.

Although the Turkic nobles immediately established a new Khan, the Turks had already made matters worse, and Wang Zhongsi easily subdued the Zuo Xiang.

"Yes! Li Guangbi, the chief military officer under my command, is a resourceful general. I will send him to follow the army in the direction of Mingsha. You can explain anything to him."

Wang Zhongsi said this because he believed that Zhang Qiqiu had shortcomings in some aspects.

But Zhang Qiqiu was, after all, the "General Chu" appointed by the court. He had a very good relationship with the military supervisor Han Zhuang and had done no fault, so Wang Zhongsi could not say anything.

"The end will tell."

Li Xuan knew Li Guangbi's abilities best.

Although Li Guangbi's current position is relatively low, sooner or later he will stand out in the prosperous Tang Dynasty with many famous generals and become a rising star.

The two talked until noon, and Li Xuan asked Wang Zhongsi for his resignation.

He wanted to go back to Feng'an Military City and make preparations early.

Wang Zhongsi did not try to persuade Li Xuan to stay and asked the governor and judge to personally escort Li Xuan out of the city.

A day later, Li Xuan rode the Fire Cloud Horse back to Feng'an Military City.

He immediately ordered the military officers to take an inventory of the weapons and armor in the warehouse.

There is still nearly a month before the war, so there is plenty of time to prepare.

Feng'an City was a military city. The soldiers faced the Yellow River and yellow sand and had almost nowhere to go.

Li Xuan personally presided over the training of the cavalry.

Under Li Xuan's command, the cavalry had mastered the slow pace, fast pace, running and attacking pace very well. To a certain extent, they had achieved unity.

The Tang army's war horses had great endurance. If they followed Li Xuan's method and marched long distances, they could travel twenty-five to thirty miles every hour.

The Feng'an army had 1,800 cavalry, including 500 armored Tiaodang soldiers, 300 crossbowmen, and 1,000 light cavalry.

The armored Tiaodang Army can be used as both front-breaking infantry and cavalry to raid enemy formations.

For example, Li Shimin's black armor soldiers were a type of cavalry wearing iron armor. The horses were not equipped with armor, but they retained mobility.

At critical moments, the crossbowmen could also drop their crossbows and fight the enemy.

This is Li Xuan’s requirement for the cavalry.

As the war was about to begin, Li Xuan ordered the cavalry to rest once every five days and intensify training.

Li Xuan gave all the 300 pieces of silk awarded by the emperor to the cavalry, so that they had no complaints and were happy to do so.

They were all holding back their energy, ready to make great contributions in this battle.

Soon, more than half a month passed.

It’s a good day to rest.

Li Xuan led his men across the river and came to the place where he planted watermelons.

"General, what is this? It looks bigger than a melon."

Li Xuan specially brought along Wang Sili, Gao Kai, Ashina Fuwen and other generals.

New things always make people afraid.

The black and green patterns make it feel like a poison.

The watermelons are ripe, but no one dares to buy them here.

"This is also a melon, not the melon that came from the Western Regions. Let's call it a watermelon."

Li Xuan replied to the generals with a smile.

This era has melons. The melon in the melon field is not suitable for shoes, and the melon in the plum tree is not suitable for hats.

"General, is it edible?"

All the generals were curious about this.

"of course can."

As Li Xuan was speaking, he saw a watermelon weighing about ten pounds under his feet.

The shape of this watermelon is slightly different from that of later watermelons and is not very regular.

"Dong dong..."

Li Xuan knocked gently a few times, and judging from the sound, it should be cooked.

Just take it off.

"Crack!"

Under the gaze of the generals, Li Xuan pulled out the short knife he carried with him and slowly cut the watermelon.

"Not familiar?"

Li Xuan immediately thought that this was a greenhorn.

Because its flesh is almost yellow-white and its skin is very thick.

But the next second, Li Xuan felt strange. He smelled a strong aroma of watermelon, and the seeds seemed to be ripe.

Afterwards, Li Xuan found a watermelon that seemed ripe, cut it open, and found that the flesh was still yellow and white.

I cut a few more "ripe watermelons" and they were still the same as the first one.

"Could it be that this kind of watermelon seed can only produce this kind of watermelon?"

Li Xuan understood and stopped what he was doing.

(End of this chapter)