Using lamp oil to keep his men warm was something they really didn't know what to say. They had never heard of it before. The history before the Tang Dynasty was not short, and many generals in the military camps were educated. When they saw the lamp oil being brought, they wanted to kneel down and kowtow to Li Xiang three times.
No one knew better than them how much the rain had affected the soldiers' morale. If it continued, I'm afraid desertions would appear in our army.
We didn't have much ability to deal with the enemy troops in the mountains. Instead, we often fell ill because of the humid weather. If this continues, some low-level officers, including those at the lower levels, would also have a lot of resentment.
The reason why they have not appeared yet is because of the previous achievements of the Tang army and the daily training that gave them a strong will, which enabled them to persist for such a long time. If it were replaced by the army of another country, although it cannot be said to be a mess now, it is not far away.
That night, there were fires in the houses of each small unit. This was an extremely luxurious thing. They could do it when it just started to rain, but now it was no longer possible. However, just when they thought it was impossible, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince brought them fire.
The soldiers happily brought their beds to the fire and slowly heated them. They could finally sleep on dry beds tonight and no longer had to squeeze out water at night.
Of course, Li Xiang also issued strict orders that every small unit must keep the doors or windows open, because the burning of lamp oil will produce a large amount of harmful gases. If the door is closed, many people may feel uncomfortable at night.
Everyone was given enough lamp oil. No matter if they were performing tasks on the front line or in the military camp in the rear, as long as they had a brazier, they could immediately have a fire. Although it was an extremely humid environment, when everyone saw the flames, they felt warm in their hearts.
Fire cannot solve all problems, but it gives them hope. At least when facing this humid weather, they are not without any solution. We can use fire to do many things. When the fire burns in each tent, the air inside becomes much drier. It turns out that many people have said that they don’t actually need to drink water all day. Just breathing to filter out the moisture in the air is enough.
Of course, the most important thing is that the soldiers' mentality has changed. When they woke up the next morning, many soldiers had smiles on their faces. Although it was still raining heavily outside, they didn't care much. After returning, they were still wet all over, but the fire in the tent would not stop, so they could take off their clothes and dry them, and then put on dry clothes.
Of course, many soldiers also understood that such an environment could only be achieved by spending money. Ordinary people went to bed directly at night and could not afford to light a lamp because the price of lamp oil was too expensive. Whether using candles or lamp oil, it was not something a family could afford.
Although life is a little better now, everyone still goes to bed very early at night. The military camp actually uses this thing for heating and other things. You can imagine how much money our Highness has spent. So these people remember it in their hearts. In their hearts, they still have the original idea that as long as our Highness comes, even if God dislikes me, I can get things done.
A day and a half after Li Xiang arrived, training in the military camp began again. Previously, they could not go to training because their clothes were wet. Now Li Xiang gave everyone two sets of clean military uniforms. Of course, all of them were exchanged from the system, so each soldier had four sets of clothes, which was enough for replacement.
What's more, letting them train outside in such heavy rain is also training their fighting spirit. In the upcoming rainy season, the whole of Vietnam may experience such weather. If they cannot adapt, how can we fight?
The surrounding Vietnamese spies were actually watching the joke. They themselves had a hard time living with such continuous rain. Although they had lived here for generations, they also hated such weather. But they did not expect that the Tang army would be so magnanimous and ignite the fire for them with lamp oil. This was something that all Vietnamese people had not expected. If you, the Tang Dynasty, did this, we really have no way to deal with it.
Huge quantities of lamp oil were shipped in from the north every day, and Vietnamese spies hoped to find someone to destroy it. The problem was that it was pouring rain, making reconnaissance impossible, let alone fighting. Yet, the Tang army had managed to bring all this stuff here, and it was unknown how they managed to get it across such a long distance across the border. Furthermore, wouldn't collecting so much lamp oil cause hardship for the locals?
In fact, these things were less than five kilometers north of the military camp. Long San brought more than a thousand soldiers under his command to transport them here. Their task was to run to this place every day, then Li Xiang would exchange them, and then they would take them back to the military camp. Later, more vehicles went there, and one trip could take five or six days.
As for the things that the Vietnamese couldn't understand, did Li Xiang have to run over to explain them? Including many Tang soldiers, they didn't understand either.
Seeing that the military camp was on the right track, Li Xiang called his men over and said, "We have to do some serious work."
Recruiting vassal troops?
When Li Xiang put forward his opinion, the two generals present were all confused. If we occupy all these places, for example, Goguryeo and Fuso, we can set up a vassal army and they will listen to us.
But we're still at war with the enemy. How could they possibly listen to us? We do hold most of Vietnam's territory, and the civilians have surrendered, but most of that surrender is fake. They're still waiting for the southern court to reclaim their lost territory. If you recruit them into the army, you'll have to watch them every day! It would probably cost us even more effort.
