The place that General Sima and his men wanted to capture this time was the vassal state of the Tang Dynasty in the Black Sea coastal area today. The Ali Dynasty had already captured the area around the Caspian Sea and was able to support the war. So Li Xiang made a decision to let the young general Sima Jun lead the army to attack the area around the Black Sea.
Cheng Chumo led an army of 40,000 and was on standby in the rear, ready to provide support at any time if anything happened. According to Li Xiang, if General Sima did not request assistance, this guy could be allowed to take control of the front line.
Everyone is very clear about Li Xiang's approach. From the time Li Xiang started the war to now, he has basically implemented this tactic: a young general is followed by an older general. Although Cheng Chumo is not very old now, he has also proved his strength on the battlefield. So now you can retreat to the second line and let the Tang Dynasty have more generals who can stand on their own.
Of course, you only have this one or two chances. If you fail to seize the opportunity, then in the next period of time, Li Xiang may transfer you back to the heartland of the Tang Empire. It will be basically impossible for you to get another chance to lead troops there.
Regarding Li Xiang's choice, both the generals on the front line and in the rear thought it was a very normal thing. As the saying goes, there is no order without rules. If you are always given opportunities, it would be unfair to other generals. Everyone must have the same opportunities. Therefore, General Sima attached great importance to this opportunity and was determined to conquer all the areas along the Black Sea.
General Sima rode on a tall horse and looked at his 20,000 elite troops. Among them, there were only 10,000 real Tang people. The other 10,000 people included 5,000 Gaochang people and 5,000 Tuyuhun people. This special army formed the main force of the attack.
The Gaochang Army and the Tuyuhun Army were among the first to surrender to the Tang Dynasty, and the Tang Dynasty court treated them very well. Now, compared with the Tang soldiers, they can get 85% of the treatment of the Tang soldiers. This is also the highest ranking among the entire Tang Dynasty vassal army. If you are still not satisfied, then I can only say that you are a bit greedy.
Looking at their weapons and equipment, they are the same as those of the Tang Dynasty army. The difference is that the distribution of ammunition must be subject to the control of the Tang Dynasty officers in the army. It is impossible to take as much as you want. The last lock must be tightened. If they find something wrong, the Tang Dynasty soldiers would rather ignite the gunpowder than let it fall into their hands.
Fortunately, the brainwashing work in the army has been done well in recent years, and these people have no intention of resisting. They all regard themselves as people of the Tang Dynasty. Although their nationalities are different, as long as you serve the court, what should be recorded for you will be recorded for you, and you can also make your family live a better life through your own efforts.
This was the promise Li Xiang made to them. Now it seems that this promise was quite good. At least these people can live a decent life. If they were discriminated against too much within the army, they would not be able to contribute much to the Tang army.
"Set up camp and rest, and send out scouts to the surrounding areas."
They saw that it was almost dark and they had arrived much earlier than expected, so there was no need to keep running forward. In addition to the 20,000 troops, they had to meet up with another army on the way forward. That army consisted of 3,000 Xueyantuo cavalry and 3,000 Fuso infantry.
If we run too fast, we might not be able to meet up with those people.
Some people were actually opposed to the appearance of so many state personnel in the army. Li Xiang also had some doubts at the beginning. After all, the Anshi Rebellion was still in their minds. Although the war was unlikely to happen because of Li Xiang's appearance, then again, if there were too many outsiders in the army, it would not be of any benefit to us.
However, Li Xiang had a great empire in mind. Since these people had already joined the Tang Empire, they could not be allowed to rest on their laurels. They had to participate in the war. So after evaluation, Li Xiang decided that as long as the 10,000 pure Tang troops under General Sima could suppress the surrounding vassal armies, then these vassal armies could be sent to the battlefield.
War is cruel, especially in the era of cold weapons. If all of them were our people, the losses in each war would be too great. Pushing these vassal troops forward is also a way to reduce our losses. They can't survive in the country. As long as they are given a chance, these people are willing to do anything.
When we were recruiting soldiers, we told you very clearly that swords and knives have no eyes on the battlefield. After you receive the resettlement fee from the Tang Dynasty court, you must work hard for the Tang Dynasty court. If you don't even have this awareness, not only will you not be able to survive in the army, but even if you want to survive in your original place, it will not be so easy.
After receiving the general's order, his troops quickly set up camp. In the past, some generals wanted to save trouble by letting the vassal army do these trivial tasks for the Tang army, but when Li Xiang found out, he was immediately criticized by them. Although it can save our energy, it will cause serious division of the army.
So from then on, everyone completed their own tasks. Of course, the necessary vigilance was still necessary. There were also a large number of Tang Dynasty officers within the vassal army. Their task was to control the ten people under their command. If you can't even accomplish this task, then there is no need for you to develop in the army.
These officers in the ordinary army are all equipped with the highest level armor, crossbows and muskets. If they find that some people are not doing well, they can be executed immediately without reporting to the emperor. This is also one of the ways to quickly control the troops in various places.
Although the Gaochang army and the Tuyuhun army surrendered relatively early and have been relatively obedient during this period, you still have to be on guard against some things. You should not have the intention to harm others, but you must be on guard against others. If you are too confident, what if these people really want to hurt you and you are not even prepared, wouldn’t that be a big loss?
