Outside the newly built polo ground outside Youzhou North City, vendors gathered, shouting and selling, driving cars and selling pulp. The polo ground was filled with cheers, and countless spectators were cheering for the two polo teams in the stadium.
"I never thought that the soldiers under Duke Wu could play polo so well!"
In the stands of the stadium, Lu Chengye was filled with admiration.
Wu Huaiyu had previously proposed to hold a polo match. The wealthy and powerful merchants of the eight states of Youfu, as well as the tribes attached to it, as well as the border troops guarding the border, plus the newly transferred officers and soldiers, and the newly formed local armed cavalry
, local groups, plus various states and counties, all formed a team to compete together.
Of course, everyone should not neglect Wu Shaobao's proposal. Although some people think that Wu Shaobao is a bit unprofessional, they are willing to agree, especially the six famous families in Youzhou. Although most of them are passed down by Confucian classics, the men from the north of Youyan are also capable of civility and martial arts.
, are willing to show it to Wu Shaobao.
But the result was surprising. The teams sent by the six famous families were quickly eliminated. Up to now, the fight has basically become a civil war among the military.
Of course, what's even more surprising is that the polo match has become more and more lively. Now the stadium is as lively as a temple fair, forming an increasingly lively market.
Of course, the remaining teams are all of extraordinary strength.
There are two teams on the field today. One is the Qingyi Army from Northern Yanzhou, which is claimed to be the local frontier guarding force. The other is Wu Huaiyu's new military force in Youzhou, which is actually the Chinese Army of the East Route Army of the Northern Expedition next year.
The name of the Qingyi Army comes from the Qingyi River in North Yanzhou. After the Northern Qi Dynasty, the emperor divided the land of East Yanzhou and set up Beiyanzhou. In the Northern Zhou Dynasty, the name of Beiyanzhou was changed to Yanzhou. In the seventh year of Wude in the Tang Dynasty, Pinggao opened the way and divided Youzhou into Huairong County.
Settling Northern Youzhou, restoring the old name of Northern Qi Dynasty, garrisoning troops here, Wu Huaiyu was now ordered to strengthen the border defense of Youzhou, reorganize the troops, and upgrade the original Qingyi Fort to the Qingyi Army.
Su Lie, the governor of the state, also led the Qing Yi army envoy.
The original Qingyi Army, plus some border troops, were integrated and transferred to Baiyun Fort further north to establish the Guang Border Army.
Therefore, the Qingyi Army and the Jinglue Army facing each other today are advertised on the surface as the original border guard army. In fact, the Qingyi Army is now three thousand elite light cavalry formed by selecting and deploying elite cavalry.
In fact, under the Youzhou Governor's Mansion, there are many military towns with various names, which are false and true, and Wu Huaiyu publicizes them in various ways. Anyway, in Wu Huaiyu's propaganda, the Youzhou Governor's Mansion has jurisdiction over the military and administration of eight states, and has hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers under his command.
Among them, there are also 18,000 regiments for practicing martial arts and 36,000 rural soldiers.
The various numbers are scary.
The military ranks are: Jinglue Army, Weiwu Army, Qingyi Army, Jingsai Army, Hengyang Army, Peiping Army, Gaoyang Army, Tangxing Army, Henghai Army, Lulong Army, Guangbian Army, Zhenyuan Army, Xiongwu Army, and Yongfeng Army
, Yongtai Army, Yongning Army, Longshan Army, Miyun Army and other eighteen armies.
Below the army level there are Shouchuo, Yuguan Shouchuo, Beikou Shouchuo, Flood Shouchuo, Yancheng Shouchuo, Jimen Shouchuo, Yanjun Shouchuo, Wulu Shouchuo, Huaiyuan Shouchuo and so on.
Under the guard, there is also a city, a fortress, a fence, a town, a garrison, and a beacon.
According to external propaganda, each army has a minimum of 6,000 and a maximum of 12,000. The number of each garrison and capture ranges from 1,000 to 6,000. The number of forts and garrisons also ranges from 1,800 to 30,000.
In addition, there are also the city walls and disciples with Fan Hu inside.
Of course, in reality, most of them are bluffs.
The so-called Youzhou Administrative Army with 12,000 men actually only has 4,000 troops, but Mo Dao Shou, heavy cavalry, and light cavalry have been transferred out and are stationed separately for training.
The Qingyi army numbered 10,000 people, but in fact it only had 3,000 light cavalry.
The Guangbian military number was 6,000, but in fact there were only 300 frontier troops.
The real situation is that Wu Huaiyu reorganized the original border guard troops under the Youzhou Governor's Mansion, which numbered about ten thousand people, and the number did not change. It was just that some new troops with Fan Hu and some voluntary service were added to the city walls.
The government soldiers and the sons of local powerful men, together with the newly formed armed cavalry and local regiments, formed a border defense regiment of about 20,000 people.
They are mainly scattered in the defense forts along the Great Wall line in the north, and are under the command of the Dudu Mansion.
The troops brought by Wu Huaiyu from Chang'an, plus the soldiers and horses mobilized in Hebei and Henan provinces, now only have 9,000 people gathered, and the plan is to gather 20,000 people.
These nine thousand people and three thousand elite cavalry were organized into the light cavalry of the Qingyi Army.
One thousand were organized into the Youzhou Assault Cavalry, with the military name Jingsai Army, which was a heavy cavalry unit. The other two thousand were organized into the Modao Army, with the military name Lulong Army, which was equivalent to heavy infantry.
However, if the Jingsai and Lulong armies want to form an army and form a fighting force, they still need time to train. Even the Mo Dao and heavy armor have not yet been deployed in place.
Only the Qingyi army is currently in place.
The remaining 3,000 people were organized into the Military Army.
There is also a group of troops, which are the descendants of Wu Huaiyu and the three hundred imperial guards sent by the emperor, plus the descendants sent by the father-in-law's family, the old uncle's family, the adoptive father's family, and Li Tu Diji.
The governor's Yabing troops numbered one thousand people.
Therefore, the actual number of people in Youzhou today is 30,000.
It is claimed to the outside world that there are 100,000 elites, and more than 50,000 are trained in the martial arts regiment, known as 180,000.
Each number is announced to the public and has a distinct look.
Of course, there are not many people who are qualified to know the actual situation, including Lu Chengye, who is now appointed as the governor's military officer. Lu Wulang does not know the inside story. He only knows that there are many soldiers in Youzhou, including frontier troops, government troops, Beijing troops, and regiment training.
, Chengbang, there are many different kinds of children. I feel that the published quantity is watery, but I don’t know that there is so much water.
After all, while Wu Huaiyu announced the number and quantity of the additional troops stationed in Youzhou, he also ordered strict confidentiality. Anyone who dared to secretly spy on the military situation would be held accountable.
The bluff was not only to intimidate Xi, Khitan, and Goguryeo, but also to put pressure on Tuli Khan. It could also confuse and deceive Jieli Khan. Of course, it also shocked the powerful nobles and nobles in Youzhou.
In the Youzhou Polo League, Wu Huaiyu's troops, whose numbers were announced, sent polo teams to the battle, and they all played well.
Even the military envoys and guardian envoys took the lead in showing up, which made people feel very real.
Lu Wulang was amazed that with the arrival of Wu Shaobao, Youzhou's border defense strength had greatly increased, but he didn't know that there was too much water.
The Jinglue, Qingyi, Jingsai, Lulong, and Youzhou Ya soldiers totaled only 10,000 people. Among the 20,000 people in the border defense corps, only 10,000 were sent from the mainland to guard the border. The other half were from Tuanjie Township.
Soldiers, near Fanhu City.
Although the Tang Dynasty now states that there are many soldiers in the frontier, claiming to be 600,000 to 700,000, in normal times, only about one third of them remain on the frontier and guard the border. Most of them are stationed in the capital and are actually guarding the border.
There are only about 100,000 people, divided into various ways, and the number is not large.
Although Youzhou is the main border defense area of Hebei Province, it is only allocated with more than 10,000 people.
Now that Wu Huaiyu has added so many troops, they are actually commanded through several systems, such as the border defense corps, which is commanded through the governor's office, and the Lulongjingsai armies are not affiliated with the border army. This is actually done in advance for
The marching troops preparing for next year's Eastern Expedition belong to the Heng'an Dao marching camp, which is still kept secret. Wu Huaidao commands these troops as the general manager of the Hen'an Dao marching camp.
As for Li Tu Diji and other tribal soldiers with Fan Hu attached to them, Xi Qi and other tribal soldiers, Wu Huaiyu commanded them with the title of escorting Fan envoys.
The Youzhou United Army was recruited and led by the Youzhou Governor.
"The Qingyi Army really excelled today."
Lu Chengye is well-known in Hebei for his classics, poems, history and books, but he is also good at riding and shooting swords, and he is also a master at playing polo. He also has a polo team, but Lu Chengye's polo team met Su Lie as soon as they came out.
The Qingyi army was directly eliminated.
I was still a little unconvinced before, but in the past few days, after seeing how the Qingyi Army advanced all the way to the top four, and even today when they faced off against the Advocate Army, they were able to always have the upper hand, I was completely convinced.
In the past, Qingyi Zha was not well-known, but Su Lie became the governor and envoy of the Qingyi Army. After the Qingyi Army was expanded and promoted, he even became so good at playing polo.
"There is an old saying that is very good. A flock of sheep led by a lion can defeat a flock of lions led by a sheep." Huaiyu said with a smile, "Today's Qingyi army is not what it used to be. There is the governor Su who is also the leading envoy.
, there are also many Forbidden Army officers to assist in the leadership, and with the addition of many new elites, it will naturally become fierce!"
"The Qingyi army is too fierce. It seems that the Jinglue army may be defeated by them today." Lu Chengye sighed.
Huaiyu didn't take it seriously. The Jinglue Army was mainly infantry. It didn't matter that they couldn't beat the elite light cavalry of the Qingyi Army in playing polo. Besides, they had already made it all the way to the top four, which was not easy.
"There are really hidden dragons and crouching tigers under the command of the governor. In the past, we were the ones sitting in a well watching the sky."
The competition on the field was still fierce, and even Su Lie, the envoy of the Qingyi Army, stood on the sidelines and acted as a coach. To be honest, cavalry is very good at polo, but cavalry are not naturally good at polo.
This requires not only good equestrian skills, but also good ball skills. Moreover, this is a team game, and the most important thing is cooperation.
The Youzhou polo match uses the game system that Huaiyu had played in Shuofang and Chang'an before. It adopts a double-goal game. Each team has ten people and no goalkeeper. The two teams on the field wear different colors of clothes to distinguish them. They are called A and B two teams. Each game
The game is called the capital.
Hourglass timing is used, and goals scored are counted as chips. Each round is scored as one chip. The player with more chips within the specified time wins. If there is a tie, overtime will be used.
Players on the field have their own division of labor, center, forward, winger, winger, back, midfielder, midfielder, etc. Three substitutes can be used in each game, and seven substitutes are allowed to be reported before the game.
Compared with the recreational polo, this competition system is more standardized and the competition is more intense. It also specifically requires the wearing of rattan helmets and rattan armor for safety.
However, the fight can still be bloody and bloody, and some may even die accidentally, but the people of Tang Dynasty really love polo very much.
The fight was fierce on the court, and it was a joy to watch off the court.
Red flags were planted all around the stadium, military warriors beat cowhide drums to cheer, and the female prostitutes from the Youzhou Jiaofang band also sang and danced.
You can also place bets before the game.
"Captain, urgent military situation."
An Lushan, a young Hu man, sent a wax-sealed letter to Huaiyu. Wu Huaiyu opened it and glanced at it, "The eight villages behind the mountain refused to obey the order, refused to make households and equalize the people, and gathered people to form a village to fight..."
'
Huaiyu put away the letter and turned to ask Lu Chengye, "Does Wu Lang know the eight villages behind the mountain?"
"Yeah. I know."
The Shanhou area is very large. Broadly speaking, the northern end of Taihang Mountain and the area to the north of Jundu Mountain are called Shanhou, including the area between the Great Wall inside and outside Shanxi and Hebei provinces.
The eight villages behind the mountain that Wu Huaiyu is asking about now refer specifically to the eight large villages in Beiyan Prefecture, specifically between Xuanhua and Huailai in later generations.
"Who is the leader of the eight villages behind the mountain?"
