Northern Dynasties Imperial Industry

Luochuan, located along the Luoshui River, has become increasingly prosperous in recent years. In addition to the Shifo Temple, which has great influence among the Jihu tribe, there is also a large-scale Luochuan City in the territory, which attracts a large number of people from various states in northern Shaanxi to engage in business and trade here every year.

Even in the cold winter when the water flow dries up, Luochuan City, as the largest commercial goods distribution center in northern Shaanxi, still gathers a large number of people and goods, and its prosperity is not inferior to that of several large cities in Guanzhong.

Luochuan Fangcheng in Luochuan is also one of the military centers in the region. Thousands of armored soldiers are stationed daily. It is also a transshipment center for war horses and various materials in the pastoral areas of northern Shaanxi. It also plays an important role in the military system of the Western Wei Dynasty. .

Luochuan Fangcheng was also one of the three defense cities built by Li Tai when he served as the governor of the three defense cities. The position of governor of the three defense cities was the beginning of Li Tai leaving the Bafu and getting involved in the local military power. His life history also has important meaning.

So when he led his troops north along the Luoshui River again and saw the familiar yet unfamiliar scenery along the Luoshui River, he was filled with sadness. Especially when the team entered Luochuan and saw the dipu warehouses built along the Luoshui River, as well as the endless flow of traveling caravans coming and going, Li Tai felt particularly deep in his heart.

Looking back at the past, due to the neglect of control by the overlords, the wandering of the territory, and the many robbers and bullies who occupied the territory to cause trouble, the territory was desolate, which was completely different from the prosperous and lively scene in front of us. Two worlds, Li Tai is also very proud to have brought about and promoted this series of changes.

"I would like to welcome Master Lang to inspect Beizhou!"

Outside Luochuan Fangcheng, in addition to Dugu Bin, the governor of Xihe County who returned first to prepare supplies, there was also guard Li Dao and other generals and commanders here to welcome Li Tai's arrival.

Li Tai saw these familiar faces that he had not seen for a long time, and a heartfelt smile appeared on his face. He stepped forward, his eyes passed over everyone's faces one by one, and he said in a deep voice: "I will go forward with you all." We were ordered to go to Beizhou to promote governance, but the business framework was initially established but was transferred to another place. Fortunately, you all stayed and worked hard, so that the old camp rules were not lost, and Hu Huang Beizhou returned to its old place with a new lease of life. , the scenery is charming, thanks to all of you!”

As he spoke, Li Tai raised his arms and cupped his fists, intending to bow to everyone.

However, when everyone saw this, they all leaned down to worship. Li Dao even said in a deep voice: "The servants have no talents at all. They are all fighting men. They can kill people, but they are incompetent in governing. Fortunately, the master chose him as his subordinate." , Give more good advice. Beizhou's benevolent Lord Julang created it, and the servants are just following the previous orders and abiding by the rules. The current prosperity of Beizhou is beyond the expectations of the servants. "

Among them, a middle-aged man said excitedly: "I am a native of Beizhou, and I know the differences between this town best. In the past, this place was desolate and haunted by ghosts. Now it is prosperous and happy, and the people are all grateful to Master Lang for his reconstruction!" "

Li Tai glanced at the middle-aged man twice, recalled it briefly in his mind, and said with a smile: "You are Lu Chuan. You refused to go south with me back then, and you just wanted to stay in the hometown. How is your life now?"

When the governor general Lu Chuan heard Li Tai call out his name, his expression suddenly became more and more excited, and he bowed deeply again and said: "I am a lazy old man who cannot be helped. He clings to his hometown. It is difficult to achieve great things. Now that we are married, we have a family." I already have two children..."

Hearing Lu Chuan introduce his current life situation, Li Tai was also happy for him. This Lu Chuan was a countryman whom he accidentally rescued when he first entered northern Shaanxi and fought against Jihu. At that time, his family was massacred by Jihu. After joining Li Tai's command, he worked hard to avenge Hu, and now he has reorganized his family. And it is really gratifying to have children of my own.

After a conversation, everyone surrounded Li Tai and entered the city. After reminiscing about old times, the joy of meeting old friends gradually subsided. When Li Tai asked about the war preparations here, the atmosphere gradually became solemn.

In order to maintain the stability of the situation in Guanzhong, Li Tai did not make a big announcement about the deployment of troops in Guanzhong. He only sent troops one after another in the name of inspecting Beizhou. As for the military supplies required for this battle, part of them will be transported from Shannan Road, and the other part will be raised in the states in northern Shaanxi.

Although Li Tai can now be said to be a veteran on the battlefield and has rich experience in commanding troops, this attack on the Turks is the first time he has gone out to fight, and it is also the first foreign war since he came to power in the DPRK. The target he wants to fight The Turks are still such a powerful opponent, so there is a lot of pressure in his heart.

In order to maintain the mobility of the troops, all cavalry troops were used for this battle. They were all veterans who were skilled in bow and horse skills and experienced in combat. Among them were many sergeants who had joined Li Tai's command in Longshang in the early years.

The equipment of the generals is also luxurious. In addition to Li Yunxin and Yang Zhong who set off first, there are also two generals, Yu Wengui and Li Xian, who are very familiar with border affairs. There were also several generals such as He Ruodun and Shi Jing who had been transferred back from Shannan Road, including Wu Mingche who was transferred from the Southern Dynasty. They were also arranged by Li Tai in the army for the purpose of allowing them to see the world and gain experience.

Because the journey to the fortress was far away and had many variables, and because he had no experience fighting Turks before, Li Tai did not know what kind of situation he would face after the battle, so he tried his best to be fully prepared before setting off.

In this battle, one person and two horses are the most basic, so in addition to tens of thousands of soldiers, there are more than 20,000 horses. Even if we adhere to the principle of quick victory, it will take at least ten days to get to and from the Loop, and In order to be more secure, it is necessary to prepare at least a month's worth of food and fodder for the army.

People's rations are not bad. The military ration cakes Li Tai ordered to make have improved year by year. Now they have a suitable taste of salty and sweet. They are easy to store and transport. They are most suitable for use in such long-distance battles. Thirty kilograms Each soldier carried two heavy grain cakes, which was enough to sustain a month's consumption.

To be on the safe side, Li Tai also arranged to bring an additional 10,000 cards, enough to sustain consumption for forty-five days. Of course, these grain cakes were all Shannan's previous reserves, and the Guanzhong government treasury was empty, so it was difficult to provide them again.

Compared with human rations, horse feed is more troublesome. The most important point in cavalry combat is that it is better to lose to people than to horses. If a war horse cannot maintain its power and condition due to lack of diet, the consequences will be absolutely disastrous.

The war horse's feed is divided into millet and hay. When it travels the whole journey, it will consume one bucket of millet and two kilos of hay every day. More than 20,000 war horses plus rationed pack horses consume more than a thousand shi of grain and tens of thousands of fodder every day, so horse feed accounts for a very high proportion of the baggage. Regardless of the quantity, the volume alone makes it difficult to transport.

Therefore, when cavalry goes out to fight, they must set up sufficient supply points along the way and store enough grain and grass supplies. Such supply lines did not exist in the previous Western Wei Dynasty.

In order to ensure that the needed grain and grass could be received in time, Li Tai arranged for Dugu Bin to return first to raise grain and grass supplies, and the effects of all aspects of the previous construction in northern Shaanxi were reflected.

Although the Chinese and foreign government's previous Eastern Expedition also plundered the treasury of the states in northern Shaanxi, they could still be purchased on the market. Previously, in order to exchange the cloth and silk of the Shangyuan folks for supplies, Li Tai established a set of regulations for selling goods in the official market in northern Shaanxi. Later, he continued to carry forward this model after arriving in Mianbei.

Moreover, a series of reclamation work in northern Shaanxi, centered on Kulichuan, served the purpose of opening up China. Although Li Tai left here before, related work has been carried out, and the supplies of the armies in Xiazhou, Suizhou and other places have also relied on Kaizhongfa.

At this time, Dugu Bin talked about the relevant war preparations, and he was quite confident: "Now the fodder collected in Tongwan City has reached more than one million, and it is still being transported from various places. By mid-March, it is expected to reach Around three million. The remaining materials have also been supplemented..."

There are already many official and private herders in the states in northern Shaanxi, and stockpiling fodder is also a common practice among the people. In late winter and early spring, some old materials are burned into ash to increase soil fertility.

Due to the existence of Kaizhong and Guanshi in northern Shaanxi, although the order was only issued for ten days, a considerable amount of supplies had already been gathered. Without these early constructions, Li Tai's ten thousand elite cavalry would not even dare to leave the pass, let alone rush to fight the Turks outside the Great Wall.

The only regret is that these materials can only be transported as far as Tongwan City in Xiazhou, and further north there is no stable stronghold for the Western Wei Dynasty. From Xiazhou to the Hetao area, it is still six to seven hundred miles away. Even if the cavalry brigade attacks at full speed, it will take several days.

In addition to the most basic military supplies such as grain and grass, the bows, arrows, armor, swords, felt tents, military uniforms, and various marching tools needed for this battle were also replenished in Luochuan. Li Tai stayed here for another two days, and then led his troops directly to Xiazhou.

When Li Tai arrived at Tongwan City, Yu Wengui, who had arrived first, had arranged for Youyi to explore several alternative marching routes.

Although there is still a vast space from Tongwan City to the north to the Hetao Plain, this area is mostly barren land, a large area of ​​barren land. In later generations, the Tang Dynasty once established Liuhu Prefecture here to accommodate the Turkic descendants. However, even those Turkic survivors could not stand the harsh environment and frequently revolted. This shows that the environment was really harsh.

However, in order to avoid being noticed by the Turkic scouts in advance, the safest way for the army is to advance through the edges of these inaccessible moraine. Therefore, as long as there is surface water that can barely sustain the consumption of people and horses along the way, there is no need to worry too much about other factors.

So after Li Tai and his party had eaten and drank as much as they could in Xiazhou, they rode their horses against the wind and sand into the barren moraine in the north of Xiazhou, and marched hard towards their destination.