The army under Li Chengyi has arrived here, and Li Xiang's guard team has also followed. The reason why Li Xiang is waiting here is to let Li Chengyi separate the new recruits under his command. This city is specially used for training troops.
Li Xiang had already made plans on the way. The cities around the Caspian Sea are dense, but their combat effectiveness is not strong, so these new recruits can be used to carry out the tasks. They received three and a half months of military training around Chang'an City, and then another month and a half of adaptive training in the Western Regions. They were not idle on the way. Their training time can be said to be the longest in the entire army. In this case, you should be allowed to take part in the first battle.
"Zhang Buli."
At Li Xiang's call, a young general in a white robe came out from the crowd. He was also the youngest son of the famous Tang Dynasty general Zhang Baoxiang, Zhang Bulun.
Speaking of Zhang Baoxiang, there are not many records about him in official history, but there are many records about him in unofficial history. The biggest thing he did was to bring back Empress Xiao of the Sui Dynasty.
When General Li Jing led his troops to defeat the Turks, Empress Xiao happened to be in Jie Li Khan's tent. After Zhang Baoxiang learned about this, he immediately took control of her. Li Shimin was also very interested in Empress Xiao. All emperors have their own things to do, so Zhang Baoxiang also knew very well what to do.
In the 21st century, Li Xiang knew about this story. After arriving in the Tang Dynasty, he specially asked someone to find out about it. It was indeed similar to the legend. Since then, Zhang Baoxiang has not appeared in the army because of this incident, so he has been idle at home most of the time. This time the empire expanded its territory, and he also wanted his children to benefit from it, so he mentioned this matter to Li Shimin with his old face. Li Shimin was a little bit wrong back then, so he sent Zhang Buliang to Li Xiang's military camp.
This can be regarded as taking care of his old ministers. If it were not for Zhang Baoxiang, how could he have realized his dream back then? Now that it can be done like this, Li Shimin is also very satisfied. Moreover, no matter how well Zhang Baoxiang performs in the military camp, he can still be stationed in Jiangnan and play a role in stabilizing Jiangnan.
When Li Chengyi looked at this kid, his eyes were filled with envy. You kid now has the opportunity to train. I didn’t have such an opportunity to train back then. I could directly lead people to fight against the most ferocious army. At least now you can still exchange fire with these second- and third-tier armies to see what is going on.
"Mo will be here."
Zhang Ruoshi quickly got off his horse and knelt in front of Li Xiang.
"You have five thousand soldiers in your barracks. They have undergone the most rigorous training. Now that this city has been thoroughly investigated, there are approximately thirty thousand of them. How long will it take you to capture this city?"
Li Xiang pointed at the city in front of him and said that although there were many people in the city, the city wall was not built high, only seven or eight meters at most, and most of it was made of adobe, with not many brick and stone structures at all, so it should be a little easier to attack.
"Your Highness, if we have the support of General Li's artillery, it will only take half a day at most. If we rely on ourselves, it will take another half a day."
Zhang Ruoshi said in a very conventional manner that in those days, for the Tang Dynasty soldiers to fight, it was completely different whether they had artillery or not. If they had artillery, even if the city wall was doubled in height, it would not be difficult for them. But if they did not have artillery, they might not be able to break in even if they added half a day.
"Don't you have your own artillery? Everyone knows that General Li Chengyi's artillery is the elite of the Tang Dynasty. Elite troops must be used where they are needed most, not casually. Use your own artillery to attack."
Li Xiang had equipped each army with artillery, but would they truly be effective in a real fight? That would have to be seen on the battlefield. Li Chengyi's artillery could find its target within the second round. Even the enemy soldiers remarked that their shells seemed to have eyes, specifically targeting our crowded areas. Every time a shell landed, it claimed dozens of lives. We tried to run as far as possible, but we couldn't outrun their shells.
"I will obey your orders."
Zhang Ruoshi also wanted to fight in this way. All the troops would be under his command. No matter how powerful Li Chengyi's army was, it would not be under his control. He also wanted to be able to lead an independent army personally like Li Chengyi and gallop beyond the Great Wall.
When His Royal Highness the Crown Prince attacked Tuyuhun for the first time, he also led an army to kill many people. If you want to become a famous general, you must have the ability to lead troops alone. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has already said in front of them that when we attack the Arab Empire in the future, we must divide our troops into many groups. The Arab Empire will not engage in a decisive battle with us again. We will attack them from multiple directions, and this is how we can achieve the final victory.
So it was time to test which of these young generals had the ability. As long as you had the ability to lead troops, Li Xiang would definitely give you this opportunity and let you prove yourself on the battlefield. Whether you were a mule or a horse, you could make great achievements and earn a good life for your descendants. That all depended on your ability.
When Zhang Ruoshi was about to set off with his army, Li Xiang gave Li Chengyi another look. Li Chengyi also understood his role, which was to be a nanny for these young generals. His army was waiting five hundred meters behind. If there was nothing happening in front, we would just come to watch the fun, but if there was something wrong, Li Chengyi's army would rush up immediately.
Although Li Xiang specifically tested these young generals, soldiers only have one life. If anything goes wrong, it would be a shame to their families, so Li Xiang also had to buy insurance. Li Chengyi and his men were the insurance bought by Li Xiang.
Seeing the Tang army advancing slowly to the beat of drums, the soldiers on the city were dumbfounded. They had never seen such an attack method before. They had heard that the Tang army was different from the armies of other countries. But they stopped just because they were so far away from the city wall. Are they all sick?
The Arab army on the city wall had already prepared themselves. They were not going out of the city to fight. Although attacking was a fine tradition of the Arab Empire, they wanted to hide for a while at this moment.
