"Han Zhongliang's child is ruining the country!"

The Ministry of War, a cry of wretched sound came out, and Li Xiaogong slapped the table with a palm, and angrily swept the inkstone on the table with ink and ink.

The generals below also had their faces ashen, and everyone clenched their fists, and their faces were filled with deep sadness.

On the table, a bloody battle report was lying quietly on it.

On the 16th of August, the left Wuwei was surrounded by the Turkic vanguard and trapped ten miles outside the Wugong City. Niu Jinda led the entire army to build a defensive system overnight.

On August 17th, the captain Niu was promoted to the position of 300 cavalry and defeated the Turkic Husar tribe, killed more than 700 enemies, and beheaded the leader of the Husar tribe Alidei. Niu was promoted to the position of seriously injured and unconscious.

On the 17th of August, the Turks attacked the general attack, regardless of the damage, and rushed to the ring formation of the Zuo Wuwei. The horses and the corpses of the Turks filled the gully, broke through the temporary mud walls and deer antlers, rushed into the long spear formation, and the two sides entered a cruel hand-to-hand battle. At the time of You, the sun set, and the two sides could hardly distinguish their enemies and friends. The Turks called out the gold to withdraw their troops. At this point, the Zuo Wuwei got a chance to breathe. In this battle, the Zuo Wuwei died 2,000 people and about 1,600 people died in the Turks.

On August 18th, Han Zhongliang, the garrison of Wugong City, personally led 3,000 soldiers to respond to the left Wugu Guard in the moonlight, and was discovered by Turkic scouts. After Han Zhongliang left Wugong City, 1,500 Turkic cavalry cut off the retreat route of Han Zhongliang's troops back to Wugong City, and Han Zhongliang's troops were surrounded.

At the 18th of August, the sky was slightly bright, and Han Zhongliang's troops, who had no danger to rely on, were surrounded and killed by Turkic cavalry. Except for Han Zhongliang, the deceased guards, all 3,000 soldiers were massacred.

At the 18th of August, the Turkic cavalry after resting again surrounded and killed the Zuowu Guard. After three hours of bloody battle, General Niu Jindaliji was killed in battle, and the entire Zuowu Guard was killed in battle. No one surrendered.

On August 19th? The Wugong City, which lost the commander and 3,000 defenders, was destroyed, and the Turkic army entered the city? The tragic massacre began...

"Where is Han Zhongliang, I am going to kill him!"

Li Xiaogong supported his hands on the table? Gasping heavily? His face was ferocious, his red eyes wanted to choose people and devour him. Wugong City is not a border town, but in the heart of the Guanzhong Plain? It is the gateway to the west of Chang'an. Once Wugong City is broken? The entire north of the Wei River, the Gaoling area will be completely exposed to the iron hooves of the Turks.

The culprit that caused this crisis was the rash Han Zhongliang.

All the generals present wished they could eat raw meat!

"Returning to Lord Shangshu, Han Zhongliang was seriously injured after rushing out of the Turkic siege. After fleeing back to Chang'an, he is being treated in Zhongcaotang."

The person who spoke was Cheng Yaojin, the general of Zuotun Guard, who saw him gritting his teeth tightly. Zhang was angry. Many of the guards in Wugong City were his friends? Niu Jinda was even his friend. Now his friend is dead? He also sacrificed his life for his country? How could he not be angry?

Not only is he angry about the cruelty of the Turks? He even more angry about Han Zhongliang's stupidity. As an opponent, the Turks are understandable no matter what they do. If it were him, Cheng Yaojin, facing the unarmed herdsmen of the Turks, he would not show mercy. But you, Han Zhongliang, have directly destroyed the defenders in Wugong City because of this stupid behavior, and the people in Wugong City were massacred. This is no longer a simple judgment error that can be explained.

Fortunately, Cheng Yaojin has grown older and has become more and more capable of cultivating his heart. If it were the Wagang Army in the past, he would have taken up his two axes and rushed into Zhongcaotang, split Han Zhongliang into two sections, and avenged the 3,000 soldiers and the innocent people in Wugong City.

Just as everyone was furious, outside the military department, the rainy fields walked quickly.

When the generals of the Ministry of War saw that it was Yu Huatian, the Sangmen Star, and they immediately shut up. Yu Huatian was worthy of his nickname as the Sangmen Star. They looked around with a gloomy face, and the temperature of the entire Ministry of War seemed to have dropped by a line.

"The prince ordered Han Zhongliang, the garrison of Wugong City, lost Wugong City, and killed tens of thousands of people. He ordered the Ministry of War to immediately remove all Han Zhongliang's military positions and throw them into death row. The crime is unforgivable, and immediately - die!"

After saying this, the entire Ministry of War quietly fell into the needle, and the generals' mood was extremely complicated.

Although everyone hates Han Zhongliang, Han Zhongliang is not a simple person. His father Han Shao served as the Taifu Shaoqing during the Sui Dynasty. His family members were spread throughout the Sui Dynasty officialdom. His mother even had a relationship with the Li family in Longxi. She was an absolute Guanlong noble.

Han Zhongliang was the Shaoqing of Dali at the beginning of Wude. He was ordered to revise the provisions of the laws and regulations with Lang Chuzhi and others in accordance with the Kaihuang Law. He thought it was convenient. In the ninth year of Wude, he was appointed as the Minister of Justice of the Ministry of Justice and the Chief Secretary of the General Office of Wugong. He rose all the way. If this matter was not done, in a few years, it would be almost certain that he would be promoted to the Minister of Justice of the Ministry of Justice. After that, he would be able to look at the position of the Secretariat of the Secretariat.

Such a big boss with a strong background, when he had already escaped back to Chang'an, the prince actually killed him and directly sentenced him to death. It was incredible.

You should know that although Li Xiaogong was promoted to the position of Minister of War by Li Chengdao, he was only one level higher than Han Zhongliang. Although he shouted to beat and kill him, saying that he wanted to kill Han Zhongliang. But he really dared to try Han Zhongliang's hair, and ensure that countless impeachment memorials would come up the next day.

"The Prince Order, Wugong City was broken, and Gaoling District north of the Wei River faced the encirclement of Jie Li's main force in the north and the western Turkic vanguard cavalry, and was in danger. The Ministry of War immediately began to retreat the Tang army in Gaoling District, shrink the defense circle across the line, and rely on the Wei River to carry out the second echelon defense."

"There are also the general of Zuotun Guard Cheng Yaojin and the general of Youyouwu Guard Qin Qiong immediately led their troops across the Wei River to cover the retreat of the Tang army in Gaoling District! There must be no mistakes."

After Yu Huatian finished speaking, he saw that no one answered, his eyes narrowed slightly, revealing a dangerous aura, and Li Xiaogong also turned to look at Cheng Yaojin and Qin Qiong.

Cheng Yaojin and Qin Qiong looked at each other and fell silent. Finally, Qin Qiong frowned and replied.

"The Ministry of War decided to send troops, how could the prince intervene at will..."

"General Qin, how dare you resist the crown prince's order?"

Yu Huatian's voice was cold, and his eyes wandered around Qin Qiong and Cheng Yaojin like a poisonous snake. But who are Qin Qiong and Cheng Yaojin? A powerful general in the world, who came out of the corpse and blood of King Li Shimin, would he be affected by Xiao Xiao Yu Huatian's murderous aura?

The two of them seemed to be unaware, and they didn't even raise their eyelids. They turned their heads to look at Li Xiaogong, waiting for the new Minister of War.

Li Xiaogong didn't say anything, and looked at the two of them with expressionless expression.

With six eyes facing each other, everyone in the room understood that the prince meant me, Li Xiaogong, and the head of the Ministry of War.

So what else can I say?

Moreover, there is nothing to question about the order to cover the retreat of the Tang army in Gaoling District. After the Tang Dynasty lost Wugong City, the main Turkic forces could march straight from Qingyang and arrive in Jingyang soon. The Turkic vanguards who captured Wugong City would also advance eastward, and the two Turkic forces would merge in Jingyang to form a single force.

If the Tang army did not want to have a war between Jingyang City and the Turks that determine the destiny of the two dynasties, the Weishui River would be the most suitable natural defense line for the Tang army to defend.

In order to defend against the raids of the Turkic cavalry and allow the Tang army in Gaoling District to retreat smoothly, they must have a strong general who will take control of the banks of the Wei River to resist the attack of the Turks.

The reason why Li Chengdao now wants to send two powerful generals is that if only one member is sent, then this defensive force can only defend passively. Once they take the initiative to attack, no one can protect the retreating force.

Maybe you would say why not let the retreating troops distribute some of their own people to prevent the Turkic attack?

That would be even more miserable. At that time, the fight and retreat would turn into a one-sided defeat. God would really not be able to save the Tang army. The retreating troops had no morale and would never be able to participate in the battle. Their only mission was to evacuate to the south of the Wei River and then reorganize the army.

However, such a retreat method will be very dangerous to the Zuo Tun Guard and the Right Wu Guard. First of all, the two guards must retreat until the last moment. If there are too many Turkic cavalry attacking, once the two guards are surrounded by the Turks before boarding the ship, there will be a vast Wei River behind them, and there will be no chance to escape.

As for getting on the boat, they were surrounded by the main Turkic force. Don’t you let the boat drive away first? Would you let the enemy steal the boat and cross the river?

So after receiving the order from Li Chengdao, Cheng Yaojin and Qin Qiong subconsciously hesitated for a moment. Both of them and Niu Jinda were from the King of Qin. Now Niu Jinda is dead, and the two are sent to perform such dangerous tasks, which makes people doubt the motives of the Eastern Palace...

But no matter how suspicious it is, can the two of them resist? The answer is no.

You may be unruly if you don’t listen to the prince’s order, but now Li Xiaogong is obviously standing on the side of the East Palace. Can you still not listen to the orders of the immediate superior?

Believe it or not, the prince directly ordered the Dongchang to arrest him! At that time, it would not be you, Cheng Yaojin and Qin Qiong, who died. You two families may be imprisoned from top to bottom. The reasons are all ready-made. Under the general mobilization order, the Secretariat has the power to command all the manpower, material resources and financial resources used in the war.

And who is the person in charge of the Secretariat now?

When Pei Ji and Dou Wei were dead, there was no Secretariat Order in the Secretariat, and Li Chengdao had officially entered the Secretariat!

"The last one will receive orders!"

"The last one will receive orders!"

Cheng Yaojin and Qin Qiong both received the order, their eyes gradually became firm, and they walked outwards--since there was no choice, they could only try their best to complete it!

They just covered the retreat. The two followed the Qin King to fight south and north, defeated Song Jinggang, destroyed Wang Shichong, killed Dou Jiande, and defeated Liu Heita... countless battles of all sizes, with the point of the army being invincible, and they were invincible in the battle. What could be feared by the two killing gods!

...

Cheng Yaojin and Qin Qiong had already gone down to send troops, and at this time, Li Chengdao listened to Yu Shixian's report expressionlessly.

"Your Highness, after Wugong City was massacred, the Turks were escorting a group of surviving Wugong City people to Jingyang, with about 20,000 or 30,000 people..."

Yu Shixian reported carefully, looking at Li Chengdao from time to time, as if she wanted to figure out what Li Chengdao's inner thoughts from the latter's expression.

But she was disappointed. After hearing the news, Li Chengdao narrowed his eyes slightly, and his face was still expressionless, and Gu Jingbubo was not.

"According to past experience, the Turks are very likely to escort these civilians as vanguards, give them some weapons from the Tang troops, and force them to attack the city. Some of them don't even give them weapons, so they can come empty-handed. The Turks will have supervising troops behind these people. If the people are unwilling to come forward, they will be shot and killed on the spot!"

"But if we don't stop them, these human troops will follow the instructions of the Turks to clear obstacles and build cloud ladders to attack the city... The Turks don't care about their lives at all, just to let these Tang people consume the morale and arrows of our army."

"According to past experience, some elite Turkic soldiers would mingle among these prisoners. If our army dared to open the city gate to save these people, or could not bear to kill them, the Turkic cavalry would come from behind. These elite Turkic soldiers who were mingled among the people would take advantage of the chaos and wait for an opportunity to open the city gate."

After Yu Shixian finished speaking, Li Chengdao nodded and waved her to go down. Then Xu Houzhao came in with a stack of thick reports.

"Xu Houzhao, have the iron high-bridge saddles and stirrups been fully equipped with various cavalry units?"

As soon as Xu Houzhao came in, Li Chengdao couldn't wait to ask.

"When you go back to Your Highness, the hydraulic stamping technology used in both saddles and stirrups is very efficient. After the general mobilization, the saddle factory and stirrups were fully produced. Because the materials and labor were sufficient, plus the previous inventory, the total number of iron high-bridge saddles has reached 30,000 sets, and the stirrups have been in stock. All of them have been equipped with cavalry in Chang'an City. The remaining ones have been sent from the eight major water systems to various military installations in batches. There are experienced assembly workers accompanying you, so Your Highness doesn't have to worry."

Seeing that Li Chengdao's expression was a little wrong, Xu Houzhao stopped talking and went straight to the topic.

"good!"

Li Chengdao clenched his fist and hit the palm of his hand hard.

"Come here, I will give Li Xiaogong the order to order all the Tang army cavalry to be familiar with the riding and shooting in mobile warfare after being equipped with new iron high-bridge saddles and stirrups! I will only give him ten days in ten days!"

Li Chengdao stood up, a ray of light flashed through his eyes, and his whole aura climbed up.

In the era without saddle stirrups, cavalry needed to ride on the back of naked horses, and only grasp the reins or horse's hair and clamp the belly with their legs so that they would not fall when the horses were speeding. However, this method is very unreliable. First of all, long-term riding is easy to get tired, and it is difficult to use bows and arrows effectively on the running horse's back. In close combat, riders cannot use swords and spears as they wish, chop or assassinate, and the impact of weapons on both sides will cause the rider to slide off the horse at any time.

Therefore, in this period, the cavalry was not only superior in speed, but their combat effectiveness was far inferior to that of down-to-earth infantry. Therefore, after the cavalry arrived at their destination, they often dismounted as infantry and put them on the battlefield. This was the case with the Macedonian cavalry of the Alexander era.

Bows and arrows are the most important combat weapons of the Turkish and Tang cavalry, and their use is severely restricted by horse harness. When there is no saddle, it is extremely difficult to shoot arrows on a galloping horse, because the rider must clamp the horse's belly with both legs and maintain balance, while pulling the bow with both arms and trying to make the shot arrow hit the target. Even for the nomadic peoples who have lived on horseback since childhood, this combat method is very inefficient and difficult to implement. At this time, the best way is to stop the horse and shoot archery or simply dismount and fire.

Therefore, the Turks invented the original pure wooden saddle and stirrups made of leather and hemp fiber (or just a "strip"). Since whether the Turks originally grazed the ground or the areas they passed along the way were mostly savannas and deserts, there were a lack of trees, which limited the number of wooden saddles, and only for nobles and combat soldiers. At the same time, when insufficient wood is needed to be used to make saddles and bows, it is unlikely to improve the production of wooden double stirrups. As for the metals mainly used to make weapons, it is even more lacking, and it is even more impossible to use them to make stirrups.

When the saddle is put into use, it gives the rider a longitudinal stabilization effect so that it can shoot arrows forward while speeding, but due to the lack of stirrups in the horizontal direction, there is no effective support, and it is still easy to fall when shooting arrows in the left and right directions or even when turning backwards. This is very dangerous.

To sum up, it is very expensive to cultivate a qualified cavalry. Even for the Turks who grew up on horseback, many people can only afford very simple primitive saddles, and stirrups are only equipped with very few generals.

The battle of these Turkic cavalry has also become very dangerous. They not only have to face the enemy, but also have to pay attention to themselves. If they accidentally fall off the horse, they will really become a box.

Li Chengdao keenly grasped this point, and after the Xuanwu Gate Incident, he began to stock up on a large amount of stirrups and saddles to secretly prepare for the next battle.
Chapter completed!