Chapter 61 Striker
The army crossed the river day and night, and two days later, all the men and horses arrived at the gorge.

Zhang Qiqiu convened another marching meeting.

"Everyone, this time, General Li will lead his troops as the vanguard. The military clerks in the government office are familiar with the routes to Apodagan, Dulu, Kala, Yuledusi and other tribes, and will accompany the vanguard."

Zhang Qiqiu sat upright in the first seat and spoke to the generals.

Since ancient times, when an army marched deep into the enemy's territory, it would be divided into the front army, the middle army, and the rear army.

The vanguard of the front army is called the vanguard. As the eyes and ears of the main force, it is responsible for exploring the enemy's strengths and weaknesses, and is also responsible for building bridges, opening roads, luring the enemy deep into the territory, and expelling enemy scouts.

If the vanguard encounters a small group of enemies, they should chase them and capture them alive to interrogate them. If they encounter a large group of troops, they should immediately send scouts to inform the main force, and then form a battle array on the spot and wait for the main force to arrive.

When Li Shimin was pacifying the world, he liked to lead the Black Armor Army as the vanguard himself.

Therefore, the vanguard must be the elite of the army, commanded by a brave and fierce general.

Chen Huiguang of Feng'an Army was regarded as a fierce general. He was a rare general who could charge into battle.

Now Li Xuan has arrived to take over this important task.

The central army is composed mainly of infantry and cavalry. It makes decisions on decisive battles, encirclement and annihilation, surprise attacks, and ambushes against the enemy based on information transmitted by the front army.

The mission of the rear army is to protect the rear of the main force, that is, to guard the food and baggage roads. Civilians and craftsmen who repair weapons and armor are also among the rear army.

For thousands of years, generals have known the importance of food routes.

Therefore, the rear army will not only be guarded by county soldiers, but the main force will also have some elite troops to guard it.

At the same time, the army will keep a close eye on the enemy's main force. Once the majority of the enemy attacks the food supply route, the main force will respond immediately.

"I will report the enemy's every move to the central army."

Li Xuan stood up and bowed.

It is easiest for a forward to establish merit. Although it is risky, this is what Li Xuan hopes for.

"The rear army's food and grass passage is related to our army's lifeline. General Cui Zhan is in charge of it."

Zhang Qiqiu asked Cui Zhan to lead the infantry and cavalry to be responsible for food and fodder.

Cui Zhan, the commander of the left wing, and Cheng Gui, the commander of the right wing, both obeyed Wang Zhongsi's orders and were likely to disobey Zhang Qiqiu's orders at critical moments.

The most important heavy armored infantry, crossbow soldiers, heavy cavalry, Modao battalion, and Axe battalion were all subordinates of Cui Zhan and Cheng Gui.

Zhang Qiqiu needs to transfer one away first.

"I will obey my orders."

Although Cui Zhan was not convinced, the military order was as firm as a mountain.

Besides, we really need a general to command the rear army.

Cui Zhan originally thought it was Xiang Yujing, but he didn't expect it to be himself.

"General, I think the vanguard should be lightly equipped. I will boldly request another 500 horses and 200 carts to transport the goods and march quickly."

Li Xuan asked Zhang Qiqiu for instructions again.

If there are enough horses, it is best to have cavalry as the main force in the vanguard.

He also had 500 heavy infantrymen under his command. Li Xuan planned to order the heavy infantrymen to take off their armor and put them on the carts during the march.

Having more chariots, in addition to being able to carry more items, also allows heavy shields to be placed on the chariots, speeding up the mobility of the front army.

The Tang army had one horse pulling one cart, so there were 300 war horses left. Li Xuan prepared to form scouts.

"allow."

Zhang Qiqiu pondered for a moment and approved Li Xuan's application.

After discussing other matters of the advance, Zhang Qiqiu finally issued an order: "Tomorrow morning, General Li will lead the vanguard army to advance first. The main force will set out the day after tomorrow. The distance between the vanguard army and the central army will be 100 miles. When all the troops have left the gorge, General Cui will organize the rear army to provide protection for the main army."

"As ordered!"

All the generals responded in unison.

The next morning, Li Xuan met with Zhang Qiqiu and led his troops to the battle.

Half an hour before the expedition, Li Xuan ordered two hundred scouts under his command, each riding three horses, traveling light, carrying only dry food and water, to explore the front.

Li Xuan required that these scouts, each with three horses, must have a reconnaissance range of more than one hundred to one hundred and twenty miles.

Scouts only carry bows and swords for self-defense. If they encounter an enemy, they must immediately turn their horses around and are not allowed to take the initiative in fighting.

If you encounter a large enemy force, ride back at full speed to report.

As long as the scout brings back the news, it is a great achievement.

Li Xuan first headed towards the Apodagan tribe.

The military clerk showed Li Xuan the way and told him what to pay attention to along the way.

With a large number of carriages and horses and orderly organization, Li Xuan marched fifty miles on the first day.

The next day, the army advanced 60 li. The messenger told Li Xuan that the distance between the front army and the central army was 80 li.

In other words, the main force only traveled thirty miles a day.

Li Xuan used the front army as a fulcrum, striving to allow scouts to run further and provide useful information to the main army.

On the third day, Li Xuan slowed down his march and kept a distance of about one hundred miles from the central army.

If anything unexpected happens, the Tang cavalry can provide support within half a day.

Li Xuan was not arrogant enough to advance alone.

"General, we have discovered several groups of Turkish cavalry, each group has about fifty riders, and they seem to be trying to get around to the rear of our army."

In the afternoon, the scout came to report.

At this time, Li Xuan had already passed the southern foot of the Helan Mountains.

"Team 51, this is not a scout."

Li Xuan looked thoughtful.

"General, are you planning to go around to the rear of our army and disrupt our food supply?"

Wang Sili said on the side.

"It's very likely. Our scouts have already spotted five or six groups, and there are definitely more than that. If the Turks are divided into dozens or even hundreds of groups and attack our food and supplies from different places, it will cause great trouble to our army."

Li Xuan nodded, and then ordered the messenger to inform Zhang Qiqiu of the news.

At dusk, Zhang Qiqiu received the news.

But he only ordered Hun Shizhi to send two thousand cavalry to hunt these small Turkic light cavalry groups in the surrounding areas.

The Turkic squad traveled lightly, and when they saw the organized Tang cavalry, they turned around and ran away.

Soon after, they discovered that the Tang army did not have many cavalrymen, so they looked for an opportunity to break through the defense line.

Three more days passed.

As the battle line lengthened, the food routes also became longer and longer.

Nearly 100,000 laborers certainly cannot be gathered together.

Divided into dozens of teams on the field.

The distance between the beginning and the end is a hundred miles.

Hundreds of Turkic light cavalry teams took advantage of every opportunity, and dozens of them avoided the Tang army's inspections and approached the grain route.

In addition to the county soldiers, each wave of laborers and craftsmen was guarded by elite Tang troops.

It would be difficult to cause damage to the Tang army's food supply route by charging with only fifty cavalrymen.

But the Turkic cavalry used the sound of trumpets to gather together the Turkic light cavalry that had crossed the outer defense line.

There were more than 200 light cavalrymen, who gathered in several places in a short time.

Being able to sneak attack behind enemy lines showed that they were not afraid of death. Even though their strength was still a little insufficient, these Turkic light cavalry resolutely chose to attack.

In the boundless wilderness, a grain transport team formed a long queue.

"Boom!"

When the defending Tang general learned that the Turkic cavalry was attacking, he asked for help from the surrounding areas while ordering the Tang army to form a battle formation and draw their bows and arrows.

"Don't worry about the Tang army, kill these Tang army civilians, use three rounds of horse archery, and start charging."

The leader of the Turkic cavalry said with red eyes.

Fighting against the Tang army's cavalry and archery would only waste time. When the Tang army's reinforcements arrived, they would not be able to escape.

Killing these civilians is also their achievement.

More than 200 cavalrymen bypassed the hundreds of border troops and county soldiers in formation.

Kill the civilians hiding behind the car.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa..."

When they were several dozen steps away, the Turkic cavalry shot arrows.

"Pfft..."

More than a dozen civilians who had not hidden well were shot by the Turkic cavalry, and their blood stained the food.

The other civilians were very frightened. Although they were mentally prepared when they heard the imperial summons, they did not expect it to come so soon.

The second round of arrows took the lives of several civilians again.

The surviving laborers could only hide behind the grain carts and tremble in fear.

(End of this chapter)