In the autumn of the 25th year of Xuanping, the Fifth Army stationed in the northwest, as usual, went out to fight with the Tatars as usual!
The Empire and the Tatars have always been in a state of war. The Fifth Army stationed in the northwest has always been at war with the Tatars. They basically save up food, grass and ammunition for more than half a year, and then fight a war at the appropriate time.
The strength of the Tatars in the Western Regions can be as short as ten days and a half, or as long as one or two months before they return to Gansu with a large amount of loot.
Basically, the main force of the Tatars would not put up too strong a resistance. They would often flee when they saw the Tang Dynasty's army leaving the fortress, and would not come back until the Tang Dynasty returned.
This kind of thing has been going on for several years, and everyone is used to it. Even if there are some minor accidents occasionally, they are limited to minor accidents.
This small accident naturally has no impact on the overall strategy of both sides, but for the two frontline officers Ying Yikang and Bi Zhi'an, this small accident has a great impact.
Because this little accident just happened to them!
In the autumn of the 25th year of Xuanping, the Fifth Army of the Tang Dynasty, stationed in the northwest, dispatched two cavalry divisions, a divisional cavalry regiment and a temporary mixed brigade reinforced with a large number of carriages and other means of transportation to fight in the fortress.
The main force in the northwest battle is naturally based on cavalry. The main force in the Fifth Army is also cavalry, with three cavalry divisions.
As for the infantry unit, there are three infantry divisions, which is not too few. However, among these three infantry divisions, there is only one main field infantry division, which is the Sixth Infantry Division. The other two infantry divisions are mainly for defense.
Second Division of the mission.
The temporary brigade that performs outbound operations is led by Brigadier General Ge Yongsheng, deputy commander of the 6th Infantry Division, and has the 18th Infantry Regiment, an infantry battalion of the Guards, an artillery battalion, a supply battalion and other auxiliary units.
The number of troops reached more than 9,000.
This kind of mixed force with a scale of 1,000 people has also been the favorite temporary mixed organization of the Tang Dynasty Army in recent years, because directly dispatching a division would have too many tens of thousands of troops, but if only one regiment is dispatched,
, and there are not enough auxiliary troops. If the auxiliary troops are strengthened, the number of casual troops will be seven to eight thousand.
For this reason, there are even calls within the Army. The limited fixed establishment is no longer suitable for war. They want to change the organization of the infantry division and increase the original three infantry regiments to four infantry regiments.
At the same time, the number of troops in each infantry regiment is reduced, and then the two regiments form an infantry brigade. During the war, if the division's artillery and cavalry are directly assigned to the infantry brigade, then it will be a mixed brigade of 1,000 people.
However, this change was too big, and the army's top brass was hesitant, so it was delayed.
The main force in this temporary mixed brigade is naturally the 18th Infantry Regiment, which is Ying Yikang's infantry regiment.
When fighting outside the fortress, most of the time it was easy. Anyway, the main task of these infantrymen was to follow the cavalry, maintain the logistics line, and cover their rear.
Originally, there was no big battle to be fought, but on the way back, because there were too many trophies captured, the marching speed was too slow, and as a result, the Tatar cavalry overtook them.
As a result, Ying Yikang led the 18th Infantry Regiment and had a fight with the Tatar cavalry!
Then, the Tatars were killed, and Ying Yikang was seriously injured. His right arm was hit by a Tatar matchlock gun, and he was eventually forced to have his leg amputated.
As a result, Bi Zhi'an went smoothly and made great contributions. After the war, he was rewarded for his merits and was recommended to enter the Royal Academy without taking the exam.
This reward is much better than being directly promoted to Army Major.
If you are directly promoted to Army Young Master, then you will basically have no chance to attend the Royal Academy in the future, and don't expect to continue to be promoted to a general officer in the future. At most, you will end up as a colonel.
However, those who can enter the Royal Academy will have to study for three years before being awarded the rank of Army Major upon graduation. However, there is no ceiling in the future. As long as they have achieved military exploits, they have a great possibility of becoming a general.
This little splash gave Bi Zhian the opportunity to enter the Royal Academy.
At the same time, Ying Yikang lost an arm, and he is still recuperating in the military hospital of the Fifth Army.
His superiors originally wanted him to return to Jinling. After all, he had lost an arm and was no longer suitable to fight on the front line. However, Ying Yikang did not agree. He insisted on staying on the northwest front line to fight.
He wanted to get back the arm he lost outside the wall thousands of times!
Ying Yikang still stayed in the northwest, but Bi Zhi'an had already rushed back to Jinling City and enrolled in the Army Branch of Imperial Academy.
After returning to Jinling City, his father did not have the same stern face as when he returned to Fusang last year. Instead, he was quite happy because Bi Zhi'an got the extremely precious opportunity to enter the Royal Academy.
Nowadays, in the military of the Tang Dynasty, no matter whether it is the army or the navy, if you want to become a general, even the lowest brigadier general, you must first attend the Royal Academy. It is basically impossible for an officer without this education experience to become a general.
However, it is very difficult to apply for the Royal Academy. Every year, many lieutenants compete to apply for the Imperial Academy, but the number of people admitted each year is not very large. For example, in the Army, when there are many years, two to three hundred people may be admitted, but sometimes
, which only admitted a hundred people.
Bi Zhian's grades in the martial arts academy were so poor back then that it was basically impossible to get into the imperial academy based on his own ability. The only chance he had of enrolling in the imperial academy was to make military exploits and gain admission without taking the exam.
Now, Bi Zhian has fulfilled his wish, and his father is also very happy. However, during the pleasant conversation with his father, Bi Zhian did not go into detail about his experience while serving in the Northwest.
Even if it is said, it is just to avoid the important and take the easy.
Because there are many things that he doesn't want to think about even in retrospect. War is more cruel than ordinary people imagine.
While he was making great military exploits, hundreds of soldiers died in the Western Regions and could never return home.
And he is far from being able to ignore the life and death of ordinary soldiers like Ying Yikang and others, and regard the soldiers under his command as just numbers.
For Ying Yikang and Bi Zhi'an, the twenty-fifth year of Xuanping was not peaceful, but for the huge Tang Empire, it was considered a very peaceful year.
Even for the situation in the northwest, there hasn't been much change.
It was common practice to fight outside the fortress, and the results were quite fruitful, but it still could not affect the situation of the empire and the Tatars in the Western Region.
This is not to say that the empire's garrison in the northwest cannot defeat the Tatars, but that the imperial army is holding its breath and preparing for a big move.
Nowadays, the top brass of the army regard the small fights as military training. They have no intention of occupying too much territory and will take it back after the fight is over.
They are waiting for the Northwest Railway to be officially opened to traffic. As long as the Northwest Railway is officially opened to traffic, then there will be plains to the west, and it will be more convenient to build railways. By then, it will be the time for the Tang Army to advance westward.
Right now, the main focus is on military training.
Anyway, now in the poor place in the Western Region, there is nothing you want, and it is not of much use if you occupy it. Instead, you need to divide your troops to garrison them one by one, which is a waste of troops.
The Imperial Army is preparing to hold back a big move and attack Central Asia in one go.
After the twenty-fifth year of Xuanping passed in peace, the empire finally ushered in a major event.
That is the arrival of the Portuguese mission!
To be more precise, this is the Portuguese peace mission!
The war between the Empire and the Portuguese has been going on for many years, but since the Empire conquered South Africa, the war between the two sides has basically been decided. Many of the Portuguese colonies along the Indian Ocean have been plundered one by one.
out.
The Portuguese colonies along the Indian Ocean coast are all gone, what the hell!
Therefore, the war between the two sides can actually be said to have ended after the Battle of South Africa.
After a stalemate for more than a year, the Portuguese saw that the colony was gone and could not be taken back. Even if they were unwilling, they had to hold their noses and admit this fact.
However, although the colony is gone, business must still continue!
In the past few years, after the trade between the Portuguese and the Tang Dynasty was cut off, the Tang Dynasty itself suffered considerable losses, but the losses of the Portuguese were even more severe. Seeing that the war was no longer winnable, they wanted nothing more
As long as we can continue to do business as a colony, that's fine.
This is also a major characteristic of the contemporary Portuguese overseas colonies, that is, they mainly focus on doing business. It is not that they have no interest in the colonies, but they are unable to do so.
Unlike the Spaniards, who wanted to establish colonies wherever they went, then immigrate and rule.
The Portuguese took the initiative to seek peace and expressed their willingness to recognize the empire's control of the Indian Ocean coastal areas. The only thing they asked for was that the two sides end the state of war and re-establish commercial exchanges.
In this regard, the colonial officials and garrison troops in Africa and India did not dare to make decisions without authorization, and immediately sent the peace mission to China.
In April of the 26th year of Xuanping, the Portuguese peace mission, escorted by the Imperial Navy, crossed the Indian Ocean and the Southeast Asia, and then arrived in Shanghai.
However, it is worth noting that after arriving in Shanghai, they were not allowed to go to Jinling City. Instead, they directly conducted relevant negotiations with the imperial diplomats in Shanghai.
In fact, it is not appropriate to call it a negotiation, because there is nothing to talk about at all. The empire's diplomatic style has always been to directly draw the line. If you agree, you will agree, and if you don't agree, get out.
I simply am too lazy to have repeated discussions with outsiders.
Therefore, this so-called negotiation only lasted three days, or to be more precise, one hour!