"They look much stronger than before. Are these all the soldiers you trained?"
Li Xiang looked at the soldiers standing in neat rows in the distance, all carrying crossbows on their backs.
The most important thing in jungle combat is lightness. If they were asked to carry muskets, they would most likely be killed by the enemy before they could reload the ammunition after firing a shot. Therefore, when choosing weapons, Li Xiang thought it would be better to use a chain crossbow.
As for artillery, of course it is necessary to equip it, but marching in the mountains is extremely inconvenient, so Li Xiang still uses those crossbows.
Of course, if we land on enemy territory and the ground is flat, we can use naval warships to transport the artillery over, and then our new weapons will come in handy.
According to the investigation of Li Xiang's people, the equipment of various countries in Indochina Peninsula is loose, and even cannot reach the level before the Tang Dynasty. So if we want to occupy this place, war should not be a big problem. The only problem is how to govern it.
Li Xiang certainly understood what kind of people these countries had. If you wanted them to obey you, that would probably be unlikely. Historically, this region was an extremely difficult area to deal with, and wars had been going on in this area until the Qing Dynasty.
"In reply to Your Highness, it is the mountain combat troops that I trained."
Huo Qubing was exchanged from the system, and the system also teaches many modern combat methods, so Huo Qubing's answers tend to be somewhat modern.
At the beginning, Li Xiang only gave Huo Qubing 1,500 soldiers and asked him to go south secretly. He had been preparing for this war since then. Now Li Xiang has finally arrived, so Huo Qubing is also very excited.
You should know that Huo Qubing ranks very high among all the war gods in the system. He was sent to this place by Li Xiang for two or three years. He was already extremely anxious in his heart, but if Li Xiang didn't come, they would have to continue training. Now it has finally come to an end.
"How many people are there?"
Li Xiang is also an old man on the battlefield. Just by looking at the military posture of these people and the mental expressions on their faces, Li Xiang knows the general stage of their combat effectiveness. These people in front of him are no less capable than the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty who fought on the battlefield. Although they have not participated in a real war, Huo Qubing will definitely have a way to make them adapt.
"In reply to Your Highness, in addition to the 1,500 people we brought with us, there are currently a total of 20,000 people."
Huo Qubing said somewhat embarrassedly that if it were in the Guanzhong area or Hebei and Jiangnan, then recruiting soldiers would be a very easy thing. Just put up Li Xiang's sign and tens of thousands of people would come at any time.
But now this is Lingnan Road, and the surrounding area is almost deserted. Although some plains are inhabited, because there are few people and a lot of land, many people are unwilling to let their family members serve in the army.
During these three years, Huo Qubing trained and eliminated the surrounding bandits at the same time, which earned him a little reputation. If he didn't do this, no one would be willing to send their children to him, so their development was extremely slow.
"Are they all good at jungle warfare?"
The reason why Li Xiang trained this army was to make them adapt to jungle warfare. He had plenty of men capable of ordinary combat, but the Indochina Peninsula was full of subtropical dense forests. If they were not adapted to jungle warfare, it was unknown how many casualties there would be. Li Xiang did not want to let the Tang Dynasty pay such a price. The Indochina Peninsula was indeed important, but it could not be filled with human lives.
"Please rest assured, Your Highness. In this jungle, they are the true kings. No matter what tactics they employ, they will never be our opponents. Moreover, over the past two years, I have ordered them to train in small teams in Zhenla."
After hearing Huo Qubing's answer, Li Xiang immediately became interested. I asked you to train your troops well here, but you actually traveled thousands of miles to fight across the country. After all, you are a god of war and you are never idle.
"How did you train them?"
When Li Xiang said this, Huo Qubing felt a little embarrassed. This way of training could not be brought to the table. He saw that there were many followers behind Li Xiang.
"We asked them to pretend to be bandits and go to Zhenla to rob people. Many people there called us black bandits."
When Li Xiang leaned his ear over, Huo Qubing whispered to Li Xiang, who smiled speechlessly. However, he said the same thing again: If you are kind to the people of other countries, you will suffer in the future.
Although we are a bit ruthless now, we are also fighting for an outlet to the sea for our country. If we don't have this outlet to the sea, our future generations will be stuck in the Strait of Malacca. Li Xiang doesn't want this. The Tang Dynasty is now the most powerful country in the world, so we should take all the important places in the world into our own hands. Even if there are mistakes in the future, we will have room for remedy.
Li Xiang came from modern society. Because our country has suffered invasions for more than 100 years, it has been extremely difficult. We have to look ahead and behind every step we take, for fear that we will take a wrong step and have no room for regret.
But if we can seize a large number of strategic locations in the world at this time, even if we make mistakes in the future, we will have the opportunity to make amends and will not be controlled by others in everything.
"Arrange an opportunity for me to see the results of your training."
Even when facing Huo Qubing, Li Xiang would not let him talk about military strategy on paper. You must show some real ability. If you don't have real ability, the system general Li Xiang will not give you face.
"Giaozhou, about 50 miles southwest, is a city of Zhenla called Sangnu. It has a garrison of 3,000 and a population of 40,000. If Your Highness wishes to see it, I will lead my men to capture it."
There were no bandits around. According to Li Xiang's idea, of course he just needed to find a bandit's nest to try. Who knew that Huo Qubing was preparing to take over a city.
According to his thinking, they have been training for such a long time, and all those who used to be his subordinates have become generals. If he doesn't perform well now, how can he subdue them?
"You'd better give up this idea. Now is not the best time to start a war. When I return from Chang'an, you will have to fight even if you don't want to."
Now is really not the time to start a war!
