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Youzhou is the most important town in Hebei and the largest city in this land. Since the Sui and Tang Dynasties, due to the gradual strengthening of its military functions, this important town can be called a large military fortress, second to none in terms of defensive power. By the Tianbao period, Youzhou
At its peak, there were 90,000 elite soldiers and more than 100,000 auxiliary soldiers, with civilians working inside. One-fifth of the Tang Dynasty's armies were gathered in one city, which can be called a military miracle of this era.
The city wall, which stretches for more than thirty miles, is four feet high and is made of huge green stones. The city head can accommodate three carriages running parallel to each other. It is thick and spacious. On the city wall, there are shooting poles, wood laundering machines, boiling oil pans, and nail boards.
, giant crossbows, turning forks and other large defensive equipment are all available.
Eight city gates protrude from the city wall, two each from east to west, north and south, all five or six feet high. They stand majestically on the Wen Yushui Plain. Looking from below, they almost touch the sky and the earth. Each city gate is covered with copper.
It is made of iron and wood, with either an outer bastion or an inner urn city, and is very tightly guarded.
Outside the city, there is a moat that is three feet wide and more than ten feet deep. The water is drawn from the Wuding River, connected to the Yongji Canal, and tightly surrounds Youzhou.
When Zhao Yuanping came from the north, the first thing he saw was Tongtianmen on the west side of the north of Youzhou. The suspension bridge outside Tongtianmen had already been raised high, the city walls were covered with sergeants, and the flags of generals and subordinates at all levels were flying at the top of the city. Look.
They went up and were heavily guarded. Seeing no opportunity to take advantage, Zhao Yuanping immediately turned around, walked around the northwest corner of Youzhou, and observed the Qingjin Gate on the west side one by one, showing the west gate.
Zhao Yuan was born in Youzhou and grew up in Youzhou. He was very familiar with this city. But today, when he thought about it from another perspective and looked at it from the perspective of an attacker, he suddenly felt strange. He looked left and right.
, all feel that if they simply attack hard, there will be no way to attack.
Youzhou was too big, and after half a circle, the war horse also showed signs of fatigue. Zhao Yuanping waved his hand to his men to rest on the spot, and looked at Zhang Xiaohua beside him.
Zhao Yuanping met Zhang Xiaohua in Yong'an. According to Zhang Xiaohua, he had been waiting for the army in Yong'an for many days. When the two met, they were both a little surprised and embarrassed. They always maintained a business-like way of getting along.
Even when talking about official business, there is very little nonsense.
Zhao Yuanping had a vague fear of Zhang Xiaohua. This fear came from the deepest part of his heart, and sometimes he couldn't even explain it clearly. Although he was now the chief officer of the first battalion, he commanded thousands of cavalry, regardless of official position or rank.
They all had a higher class than Zhang Xiaohua, but during the Liucheng Incident in the summer of the third year of Guanghua, Zhao Yuanping was involved in the Rong Ge rebellion case. At that time, he was interrogated by Zhang Xiaohua for three days. Although he was not punished, Zhang Xiaohua
The fatigue interrogation method that was carried out still left a deep memory on Zhao Yuanping, so much so that even two years later, there is still an indelible shadow in his heart.
Compared to Zhao Yuanping, Zhang Xiaohua's mentality is better. Although the person he was interrogated in the past has become the current general and has a higher military rank than himself, they belong to two systems. It is difficult for them to have entanglements with each other.
Even if Zhao Yuanping retaliates, there is no such way! So after a moment of embarrassment, Zhang Xiaohua gradually calmed down. If there will be any connection between the two in the future, then the most likely situation is that Zhao Yuanping committed another crime. Even so,
It is Zhao Yuanping who needs to be afraid, not Zhang Xiaohua.
Zhang Xiaohua went south with Wu Kui Camp from Yong'an, and has been following Zhao Yuanping all this time. He is also an out-and-out Youzhou native, born and raised here. Looking at the tall Youzhou city wall in front of him, he feels the same way in his heart.
, indescribable.
He was originally a gangster in the streets of Youzhou. He earned a living by fighting and acting like a gangster. He was confused all day long and had no idea about how to make a living. He never thought about what he would eat to fill his stomach the next day. Later, his elder brother Liu Ba, who took the lead, was fighting with
Zhang Jiusheng was defeated in the battle, left Youzhou, went to Liucheng to make another living, and joined the Yingzhou Army.
Zhang Xiaohua also came to Liucheng at Liu Ba's call and became a member of the Yingzhou secret spy system. From then on, Zhang Xiaohua felt that her life had completely changed, and she no longer had to worry about eating and dressing. In fact, these things in the past
The big things in Zhang Xiaohua's eyes are now trivial matters. The real change is that he has found the meaning of life and the goal of his efforts.
What he does is still those low-level activities that he was familiar with in the past, but the consequences and goals of doing things have undergone earth-shaking changes. He no longer has to worry about those trivial things. What he is busy with every day now is related to the future of others and the victory of the army.
Negative, the change of hands of the city involves the life and death of countless people! Every morning when he wakes up, Zhang Xiaohua has a clear goal. What to do today and what to do tomorrow. After completion, there will be rewards or promotions, and there will be criticism after failure.
and punishment.
Zhang Xiaohua felt that such a tense, fulfilling and fulfilling life was quite good. Although he had made mistakes, behaved badly, and behaved ugly in the past, Zhang Xiaohua had also done great things and was personally praised by Governor Li.
Yingzhou, no, the whole of Hebei, is spreading the beautiful story of "Seventy-two martyrs captured Xijing". You know, Zhang Xiaohua is one of them! Today, Zhang Xiaohua is already a soldier in the Operations Department of the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics, and his subordinates
With so much power in his hands, one word can determine life or death. If we look at the rogue self in the past, what kind of life would that be? If we let him go back to the past, it would be better to kill him directly!
This is not the first time that Zhang Xiaohua has returned to Youzhou. In fact, he has returned many times, but this is the first time that he has returned to Youzhou openly and appeared here as an attacker.
Youzhou, I’m back, are you still my home?
Zhang Xiaohua, who was caught in the inner turmoil, did not notice Zhao Yuanping's gaze. Zhao Yuanping could only cough dryly and continued to say awkwardly: "Well, that... Zhang Canjun, look..."
Zhang Xiaohua suddenly woke up, took a deep breath, regained his composure, and smiled at Zhao Yuanping: "Commander Zhao, don't be anxious, the army has arrived, Liu Zheng is ready, and we can launch it as soon as the army arrives. We are here.
Let’s take a rest first and let the soldiers recuperate their strength.”
Although Zhao Yuanping was anxious, he had no choice but to attack the city with a thousand cavalry. It was just a joke, so everything had to be listened to by Zhang Shenjun.
The Wukui camp stopped under the Xianxi Gate and rested on the spot across the moat. The soldiers took the thick bean cakes from the horses, broke them in the palms of their hands, and fed the horses bit by bit. After feeding one horse, they fed the other.
, after both horses were fed, he took out his own dry food to fill his stomach.
It is winter now, and we are inside the pass. There is no hay that can be seen everywhere outside the pass, so the feeding of war horses is very particular. Since preparations for entering the pass last year, Yingzhou has collected and stored a large amount of beans, ground them and steamed them into cakes.
The cost of making feed for cavalry horses is quite high. Fortunately, such bean cakes are only distributed to real cavalry troops, and only those horses used for charging can be eaten.
If they also eat it, then Yingzhou will not be able to supply it no matter what.
Zhao Yuanping's horses were taken care of by his own bodyguards, so he didn't have to take care of them himself. So while munching on noodles and dried meat, he looked anxiously to the north, hoping that Gao Mingxun's Yalu camp would arrive soon, but also afraid that
That guy came to attack me, feeling conflicted and complicated inside.
According to the establishment of the Yingzhou Army, after becoming the commander of the first battalion, Zhao Yuanping finally had a personal guard. But unlike other armies, the personal guards assigned to each battalion of the Yingzhou Army were not personal guards in the true sense of this era, because they
Not to be transferred with the battalion command. In other words, if Zhao Yuanping is transferred to another battalion in the future, or is promoted, this personal guard will not leave with him and will still belong to Wukai Battalion.
There are two such personal guards in Wukui Camp. They belong to the officer class. They are grade nine Peirong captains and have gained military experience in the battalion. Their task is to take care of the daily life of the battalion command and battalion instructors one-on-one.
, and also serves as the messenger of the battalion headquarters.
With the gradual formalization and improvement of Bailangshan Military Academy, the enrollment of the military academy is also different from the past. In the past, only those soldiers who had made meritorious service were recruited. Now, some soldiers who have not been on the battlefield but have studied are slowly being recruited.
, knowledgeable young people, their training period is half a year, and will be extended to one year in the future. These young scholars who have just graduated from Bailangshan Military Academy will be awarded military positions experienced by the Jiupin Battalion, and the combat troops of the battalions below
, first serve as a "personal guard" for the battalion command and battalion education. This is the "internship observation" system led by Li Chengzhong.
Similar to the establishment of the "internship observation" system, the "decentralization of the command system" system has also been promoted throughout the army. The so-called "decentralization of the command system system" means that the headquarters is decentralized to the battalion level and operates in each battalion.
A headquarters is established in the army. In addition to battalion command and battalion education, a battalion is also equipped with a deputy commander and a Yuhou.
The battalion commander is in charge of military affairs and operations, the battalion education is in charge of propaganda, military law and merit examinations, the deputy commander is in charge of daily training, and the Ying Yuhou is in charge of military staff. The command and education are both the seventh-grade Zhiguo Xiaowei, the deputy commander and the Ying Yuhou
They are the captains under the command of Yi from the seventh rank. The above four are the four major officers in a battalion.
In addition to the above-mentioned four officers, the battalion headquarters is also equipped with a military information officer, a clerical recorder, two escorts and two experience officers, each in charge of a stall and accompanying the painting.
Such a system can not only effectively increase the proportion of officers and soldiers in the army and improve the army's expansion capabilities, but also allow each battalion's combat troops to be more capable, flexible and stable in undertaking combat tasks on their own.
Zhao Yuanping's partner is a Khitan named An Shu. He was once a nobleman of the Wukui tribe. He received intensive training because of his literacy in Chinese characters. After graduating from the Bailangshan Military Academy, he served as an officer at all levels and eventually became an indoctrinator in the Wukui camp.
After An Shu inspected the dining situation of the troops, he drove his horse to Zhao Yuanping and asked, "Old Zhao, when will this wait? If we wait any longer, Gao will catch up."
Zhao Yuanping smiled bitterly: "Where can I find a way? Zhang Canjun just said wait, so we'll just wait."
The sky was getting dark, and the sound of horse hooves suddenly sounded in the darkness. A cavalry galloped forward and shouted to the alert soldiers: "I have experience in delivering orders in Yalu Camp. May I ask where Commander Zhao is?"
Zhao Yuanping and An Shu looked at each other with helplessness in their eyes. Zhao Yuanping had no choice but to ask about his experience in delivering orders. It turned out that Gao Mingxun had already arrived with his troops and was resting outside the Qingjin Gate in the north, so he sent someone
Come and get in touch.
Just as Yaluying's messenger experience had left, several riders arrived from the other direction. They saw Zhang Xiaohua, who was sitting on the ground resting and staring for a moment, suddenly jumped up and shouted excitedly: "A certain family