Strictly speaking, Fanyang Camp is not a military camp. It should be Fanyang, the collective name for the forts on the Daan Mountain defense line. Starting from Daan Mountain, the forts stretch southward, with Fanyang Military City as the backbone support, and then eastward, crossing Huliangshui
, arrived at Gu'an, covering the western and southern lines of Youzhou.
Dozens of large and small forts are dotted on this line of defense, built on key points of the terrain, guarding all the large and small passages in and out of Youzhou from these two directions. The largest fort is undoubtedly Fanyang Military City.
There are thousands of troops garrisoned, and the smallest one only serves as a beacon and can only accommodate a group of warning soldiers. Therefore, Fanyang Camp does not have a parade ground large enough to accommodate tens of thousands of troops.
Since the change of ownership of Youzhou in the second year of Tianfu, the area where Fanyang Camp is located has become the hinterland of the Lulong Army. More than two years of peace have revitalized this land. As the government management became smoother again, everywhere
As the people who fled gradually returned, the abandoned farmland was ripened again, and farmers shed their spring sweat and looked forward to the autumn harvest.
There are neat wheat seedlings everywhere in the field ridges, showing light green in the warm sunshine of spring. On the newly reclaimed land, the wheat straw and hay accumulated last year are burning, and green smoke curls up towards the washing blue sky.
drift.
In such a peaceful pastoral scene, groups of soldiers are carefully walking on the ridges of the fields, crossing the cultivated fields, and heading towards the Da'an Mountains in the north. The General Administration of Military Staff issued a strict order prohibiting soldiers from trampling on the fields, let alone wheat seedlings, even for wheat seedlings.
Trampling on the soil is also not allowed.
Hundreds of cadets from Fanyang Military Academy, led by more than a dozen instructors, also walked through the fields. They were awakened by the sound of assembly horns in the middle of the night, and then walked out of the military academy with torches, joining countless people who were also heading towards Daan Mountain.
Amid the fire dragon, until the sky was full of light, I saw the silhouette of Da'an Mountain in the distance.
After walking for another half an hour, we finally walked out of the crowds of fields and villages and entered the grassland at the southern foot of Da'an Mountain. Here is the field school military field of Fanyang Camp, the horse breeding ground and training ground for the Fanyang garrison cavalry unit, and also the
A synthetic training ground of Lu Longjun.
After passing three sentries, under the guidance of the temporary supervisor, the military academy cadets went up to a high slope. The southern edge of the high slope, which is a section adjacent to the grassland, was dug into a three-foot-high cliff by manpower. Standing on the high slope
On the slope, you can have an unobstructed view of the grassland. More than ten spacious tents with ventilation from all sides have been set up on the slope. Several tents in the middle have set up mobile tables modified by Xi Che. A huge sand table has been placed on the table. Li Cunxu
As I passed by, I glanced over and saw that the sand table was faintly the landform of Da'an Mountain where I am now.
Li Cunxu followed the trainees into a tent at the east end, and sat cross-legged under the instructor's order. The location on the high slope was very good, and with the man-made excavation, the view was excellent. Li Cunxu looked at the grassland down the slope and saw
Dozens of small military formations have gathered on the east side, and these small military formations in turn formed two larger military formations.
Groups of soldiers arrived one after another from all directions in the west. Under the guidance of busy guides, they entered the designated positions. Later, more soldiers came to join, filling the empty spaces in the two military formations and then expanding...
Because they were far apart, the commands of the entire team of officers from each capital unit continued to be heard. Although they could not be heard clearly, Li Cunxu, who had received training at the military academy for almost two months, could understand just by the pitch of the last word of the command.
What are these passwords?
The so-called number of people exceeds 10,000. The mountains and plains are full of mountains and plains. The two new armies participating in this combined exercise, the Dingzhou Army and the Guizhou Army, have a total of 13,000 people. After all the personnel are gathered, the east side of the grassland at the southern foot of Da'an Mountain has already stood.
The army was full of troops, with many banners and horses like clouds. Looking from the high slope, it seemed to be endless. Even though Li Cunxu had been fighting for a long time and was used to seeing big scenes, he felt that the lineup of more than 10,000 people was not necessary at all.
Our Hedong Army is missing tens of thousands of people.
At the beginning of noon (11 a.m.), like water splashing in a pan, a thunderous cheer suddenly sounded, rolling and roaring in front of Daan Mountain. Thousands of people shouted in unison up and down the slope, and everyone's eyes were on
They all turned to the west side of the foothills.
More than 300 horses riding uniformly red horses galloped up the high slope. The knights on the horses were wearing golden bright armor, a red douhui, and a phoenix-winged helmet on their head, with two long wild goose feathers stuck on the helmet.
It was dazzling under the sunlight. A member of the cavalry was dressed in military uniform, a general in bright yellow brocade robes, with a snow-white Dawan horse on his crotch, and a long sword with a golden scabbard hanging on his waist, with a dragon pattern and jade on the scabbard——
Who is Li Chengzhong if not the King of Yan?
The instructor shouted: "Everyone stand up - salute!"
Li Cunxu quickly stood up with the crowd, raised his arms across his chest, and looked at the galloping cavalry.
The cavalry wind swept up the high slope, and Li Chengzhong dismounted his horse with a graceful posture. A sergeant had already rushed forward to take the reins of the horse. Li Chengzhong threw the whip behind him again, and surrounded by several generals, he swung towards the curtain in the middle.
He walked to the tent, nodding to the sergeants along the way.
After Li Chengzhong and others entered the tent, the entire wilderness immediately became quiet, and it was so solemn that it made people palpitate.
An officer hurried out from the curtain, holding an iron tube made of thin iron sheet - Li Cunxu had seen it in the military academy. Lu Longjun called this object a "trumpet", which could carry the voice farther. The officer
Standing on the south edge of the high slope with a loudspeaker, he shouted solemnly down below: "The review has begun, all military honor guards——"
The officer's order was passed down: "The review begins——"
"——Every military honor guard!"
Dozens of large drums beat in unison on both sides of the hillside, dense and violent, and then gradually unified into a familiar rhythm. Amidst the sound of the drums, horns and flutes played bright and lively tunes, which lifted people's spirits.
Groups of sergeants were separated from the huge military formation at the foot of the hillside. They passed the high slope with neat steps. When they reached the bottom of the high slope, they changed from march to goose. The sergeants greeted the people on the high slope and shouted "Lulong Wan" in unison.
Victory! The King of Yan will be victorious! The Tang Dynasty will be victorious!" Thousands of people were like one, as if controlled by some strange force, they were majestic and majestic, indescribable.
Li Chengzhong came out of the curtain and stood on the south edge of the high slope. There was no one within five steps behind him, so he looked down alone... Suddenly, his right arm slowly raised,
The palms of the hands were brought together, slowly but firmly stretched forward, pointing diagonally at the sky, seeming to be calling out to the sergeants on review, and also seemed to...
Li Cunxu looked at Li Chengzhong's frozen figure at that moment. Hot blood suddenly swam all over his body, and then rushed to the top of his head. His face turned red, and excitement filled his chest. The other person's forward-pointing arm seemed to be saluting the sky. His body
Standing in the sunlight, like a god!
It was an exciting day. Tens of thousands of Lulong officers and soldiers saw Li Chengzhong's outstanding heroic appearance on a high slope. This gesture later became Li Chengzhong's unique symbol, and every sergeant could see it countless times in his sleep.
It is so inspiring that it makes people unable to breathe for a long time. In the years of war, this posture summoned countless soldiers to rush to the battlefield without hesitation, launching a fierce attack on the enemy, and for the leader they respected and loved in their hearts.
He threw his head and shed his blood, and he did not hesitate to wrap his body in horse leather.
Many years later, Li Cunxu, who was the secret envoy of the Left Privy Council, still remembered this scene. He gave an emotional speech to the Privy Council officials: "From that moment on, I understood that my future no longer belongs to me..."
Many years later, when Guo Chongtao, the Great Protector of Anxi, led his army across Congling, he told his generals about this moment: "From that time on, I believed that the Tang Dynasty would be victorious because... God blessed the Tang Dynasty.
…”
Everyone has their own memories in their hearts. Li Chengzhong’s subconscious actions left a deep impression on the cadets of the new eighth batch of Fanyang Military Academy. In addition to the scene of reviewing the army, the cadets were also shocked by the evening lecture at Fanyang Military Academy.
In class, Li Chengzhong taught them the first lesson. The name of this lesson was - The World!
When Lieutenant Li Cheng pulled down the curtain on the back panel, what appeared in front of everyone was a map outlined with light ink lines.
"I believe you can all see that this is not a map of Hebei Province, nor a map of Hedong Province, nor a map of Guan Nei or other places. To be precise, this is a map of the world - of course, this is not what we often call the world.
So, how does the world we know compare with the real world?"
Li Chengzhong's words immediately attracted hundreds of students in the hall. Everyone moved their buttocks off the stools, hunched forward and stretched their necks forward desperately, wishing that their eyeballs could be bigger.
Li Chengzhong used his pointer to point at a place near the sea in the east, and circled randomly around the bay that looked like a gap: "This is Hebei Road..." His pointer moved a little to the left, and then said to Li Cunxu
: "Yazi, this is the east of your river..."
The pointer continued to draw circles on the map, and Li Chengzhong continued to explain: "...This is Guannei, Longyou...Agu, this is the grassland where your Khitan is...Jiemuli, the habitat of your Turkic tribes is here...Chang'an is
Here, Luoyang is to the east of Chang'an...south of the Yellow River and north of the Yangtze River, this is Xuanwu's territory...south of the Yangtze River, here is Huainan, and further to the southeast, here is Wuyue...here is Tubo, which has the highest terrain in the world.
The reason why the Tang Dynasty has been unable to conquer Tubo is because they are located in a highland, which is too high for our people to adapt to... This is the Western Region, and it is not under our control now..."
After this circle, all the students listening to the class looked confused. Li Chengzhong certainly knew what they were confused about, so he smiled and said: "How about it? It seems that I have already talked about every place in the world, but why is there still something on the map?"
So many places?”
Scanning his eyes, Li Chengzhong took a deep breath and pointed the pointer at the map again: "This is Congling. Beyond Congling is the country established by the cannibals. They themselves called the Arab Empire. During the Tianbao period, the Tang Empire was at its peak
At that time, General Gao Xianzhi led his army to the west, and 30,000 Tang troops crossed the Congling Mountains - nearly 10,000 Geluolu people among them, and started the Tang Dynasty's expansion to the west. In fact, this was when the Tang Dynasty really set its sights on the world.
The first attempt... Under the city of Talas, General Gao Da fought against the Great Cannibal Alliance. It is believed that the Great Cannibal Alliance must have no less than 200,000 soldiers, including more than 90,000 soldiers. Just when General Gao Da was about to capture Talas
At that time, the Geluolu people escaped, and they exposed the back of General Gao to the cannibal... Some of you know the result of this battle, the Tang Dynasty failed..."
Most of the students had never heard of this old incident and were deeply attracted by it. When Li Chengzhong said that the Tang Dynasty was defeated, they couldn't help but look depressed. Even people like Li Cunxu who knew the outcome of the war couldn't help but feel sad about it again.
sigh.
"This was the Tang Dynasty's first attempt to move towards the world. Although it failed, it was not ready to stop. General Feng Changqing took over the command of the four towns in Anxi and spent a year and a half reorganizing the Anxi army.
He re-captured the Bodhisattva City of Dabolu. Just as he was preparing to march westward again, civil strife broke out in the Tang Dynasty. General Feng had no choice but to return to the army to help. From then on, the Tang Dynasty never returned to Congling..."
"The Arab Empire established by the Great Eater is to the west of our Tang Dynasty. Further to the west, there is the Great Qin, and further to the west, there are more countries...turning our eyes back again, to the south of Nanzhao is Annan,
To the west of Annan, this land is very fertile, with hundreds of tribes and countries. The rice here can be harvested twice a year, and there is no need to cultivate. If you sow the seeds, you will naturally get a harvest... Looking south from Arabia
Go down, I call this land Africa, there are countless tribes and empires... Across the sea, I call this land America, it is rich in gold..."
"Well, after talking so much, what I want to tell you is that the world is so big, but we only focus on our eyes. The feudal towns are fighting back and forth, and everyone wants to fight for power and profit. Why can't we look at the world? Why can't we look at the world?
The power is gathered together? Why is our knife always pointed at ourselves? Why can't we spread the glory outside?"
"I have always believed that our Tang Dynasty is the best empire in the world. We, China, are one of the best nations in the world. Our land is rich and beautiful. Our blood is naturally noble and graceful. Our swords and guns should be pointed to all directions in the world. Our
War horses should conquer all lands in the world!"
"This is my dream, and it has been the dream of the Li family of the Tang Dynasty since ancient times. I believe that it must be a dream shared by all the soldiers and civilians of the Tang Dynasty... I am convinced that my dream will also become your dream..."
"If one day, I order the army to go on an expedition, I hope that all of you here can use the swords and guns in your hands to spread the glory of the Tang Dynasty to the world. I also hope that you can work with me to build a world of peace and prosperity.
The true empire at its peak!"
At this moment, all the students, including Li Cunxu, Li Jician, Guo Chongtao, Qian Yuanguan, Wang Shiyue, Li Siye, Li Jitao, Zhou Shengmao, Jie Muli, etc., were filled with enthusiasm. (To be continued...)