"Your Highness, it will take at least seven days..."
Chang Sun Ze had just received a pigeon message from Su Dingfang, so he naturally knew where these people had gone. The troops they brought back needed to rest. The army in Samar Khan had already been prepared, but they also needed to fight along the way from there. There were many cities of the Arab Empire in the middle. If we leave it alone, our rear would be in trouble.
Many modern people ask, why do we have to capture cities one by one? Some cities take a long time to capture, so it is better to simply surround them and bypass them. This is fine for one or two cities, but if there are many cities, and you bypass them all, it means that your rear transportation lines are extremely dangerous.
In such a situation, no matter how you maintain your transportation lines, if there is a problem in any link, the army in the city will come out to attack directly, which will not be a good thing for your men. At that time, you will have difficulties in attacking in the front and the supplies in the rear cannot be transported, which may lead to a large-scale defeat.
You can't rely on luck in anything. Maybe when facing your large army, your enemies don't have much idea of resistance and don't have much combat effectiveness. But when your large army passes by and only some second-line transport teams are left, those people will immediately become powerful. If they can't defeat your first-line army, how can they defeat your transport team?
"Then we'll stay here for the time being and investigate the surrounding area. We'll find a way to capture the smaller cities and keep a close watch on the larger ones."
Li Xiang saw that the city was quite large and had a large population. It would be a pity to give up on it. Judging from the surrounding situation, this city should be ranked at the top. If he gave up on this city and attacked other cities, it would be like picking up sesame seeds and losing watermelons. What's more, there were not many resistance fighters in this city, so it was very suitable for the brothers to rest and recuperate.
They also came from the core area of the Arab Empire. They had been on the road for nearly a month and had not had a good rest. Now was a good time. Only one-tenth of the people needed to maintain their combat effectiveness, and the rest could find a place to have a good rest.
"Your Highness is wise."
These generals are also deeply rooted among the soldiers. Even though they clamor about fighting every day, they don't want to continue fighting without enough rest time. For them, they must see the current situation clearly. If you can't see it clearly, then our lives will be really difficult.
Take the current situation for example. Many people's bodies have reached their limits, but for the honor of the Tang Empire and the safety of their own army, they can only grit their teeth and hold on. Now they have a chance to rest, which is also very good.
Li Xiang also often told his subordinates not to think that your army is an iron army, nor to think that your army does not need any form of rest. The combat effectiveness displayed on the surface does not represent their current physical condition. That is because their nerves are tense, so they will not show their fatigue, but if you give them a chance, they will immediately be surrounded by this feeling of fatigue.
In other words, even though they can still fight now, their bodies have reached a limit. If they are not allowed to rest, it may cause lifelong effects on their bodies. When these people return to the rear, they will find that their bodies will have various problems. In this case, even if they want to treat it, they cannot.
Therefore, all generals who lead troops must have a scale in their heads and record their subordinates at all times to see where their limits are. Don't wait until they reach the limit before making adjustments. When they are about to reach the limit, you can start making adjustments.
It's like a spring. If you stretch it to its limit, it will most likely break. But if you loosen it a little when it's about to reach its limit, things will be better. Alternating between tightening and loosening will allow the army to hold on better and give us more combat effectiveness.
"The people around here have behaved well. Tell our brothers not to overdo anything. Also, tell the previous administrators of this city to make a large number of houses available to us. If they want to rest, they can find a place on their own. Open all four city gates. If they want to go to other cities, let them leave as soon as possible."
Li Xiang's behavior surprised those around him. Human resources are one of the most important resources in the world. Isn't that what you taught us in the past? Every time they attacked a city, many people were ready to kill, but Li Xiang stopped them and allowed them to preserve the labor force. How could they let this labor leave now?
But these people soon realized that the soldiers under our command were extremely tired and there were not many of them. It was really difficult to watch over this big city with hundreds of thousands of people. We have made preparations to let the soldiers rest, so we cannot let them continue to remain on alert.
After seeing that the people around him understood, Li Xiang no longer had the energy to waste with them. Li Xiang was very tired during this period. After walking in the desert for more than a month, no matter how strong your body is, it will suffer certain injuries. So in the next seven days, Li Xiang planned to relax himself, and the same went for the soldiers below.
When they heard that they could leave the city, the people left with their families. Of course, you can only take your rations and personal clothes. As for other valuables, I'm sorry, we can guarantee the safety of your lives, but we have never said that we can guarantee the safety of your lives and property, so you don't need to take the money with you.
The local people didn't dare say anything about the Tang army's confiscation of money. Previously, they had only taken money from government warehouses and the wealthy, but now they were taking it from ordinary people too. But what good was all this money if it meant saving their lives? If the people weren't there, then there was no point in keeping it here. They might as well just hand it over and make the most of it to seek refuge with friends and family elsewhere.
