On 15 May, three days later than originally planned, 100,000 soldiers of the Shence Army held a swearing-in meeting at the campus of Beicheng University in Chengdu. This pledge meeting was actually the second large-scale troop assembly at the Beicheng University campus. The last time was when An Lushan rebelled and approached Chang'an. At that time, the Jiannan Army led by Wang Yuan was awarded the title of the Forbidden Army of the Shence Army, and a pledge meeting was held here, and troops were sent to reinforce Chang'an to receive Xuanzong. But in fact, that time the troops returned halfway to nothing. The speed of the fall of Chang'an was beyond expectations, so Wang Yuan could only lead a small number of soldiers and horses to Maweipo to meet Xuanzong after receiving the news, and then retreated to the land of Jiannan.

But this time the situation was completely different, the last time was a passive dispatch of troops, and this time Wang Yuan had already carefully planned the departure of this army. This is a journey to change the situation in the world, so there is no possibility of turning back this time. Although nominally Wang Yuan did not raise the banner of rebellion, because Wang Yuan would never openly raise the banner of rebellion, in fact, this expedition was the first shot of this rebellion.

Depending on the situation, the composition and combat power of the soldiers and horses are also very different. If it is said that the Shence Army was still in constant change. The victory in the battle was mainly due to the wisdom of the generals and the sharp siege weapons such as the Shenwei cannon. Then today's Shence Army is not the same as it was back then.

In terms of the quality of the soldiers, most of the 100,000 soldiers and horses of that year were newly recruited, and Wang Yuan used the old and new interspersed establishment at that time, which solved the problem of the combat effectiveness of some new recruits, but in fact, there were still many problems exposed in actual combat. And now the Shence Army has experienced a great baptism to quell the rebellion in the city of An Lushan. From the east to the west, from the north to the south, those recruits have already transformed into elite soldiers one by one, and a large number of middle and low-level generals who have been promoted from ordinary soldiers have emerged, and they have already formed quite strong combat effectiveness.

In terms of equipment, the individual weapons of the Shence Army have not changed much, but they have made a lot of improvements. Previously, some of the weapons and armor of soldiers and horses were being redressed, and at this time, the redress has basically been completed. Some of the more than 1,000 individual soldiers who were equipped in advance.** were only equipped on Wang Yuan's hundreds of personal guards, and they couldn't see anything. The only thing that changed dramatically was the appearance of dozens of carts tightly wrapped in tarpaulins in the artillery barracks. Those low-key things that are not good-looking, and most of them don't know what they are, are the latest iron cannons to be cast and named Tiger Squat.

Originally, Wang Yuan did not plan to rush to use the Tiger Squat Cannon, because the Tiger Squat Cannon was not yet large-scale, and the battle would focus on fighting the Hui people, so this cannon did not play a big role. But Wang Yuan later decided to bring thirty tiger squat cannons for actual combat. Because after all, the Tiger Squat Cannon needs to be tested in actual combat, and it is also necessary to train the gunners who fire the Tiger Squat Cannon to explore the effect and limit of its use, so at Liu Dehai's suggestion, he carried 30 Tiger Squat Guns as a tool for training in battle. He carried a full amount of 2,500 iron bullets to attack the thirty tiger squat cannons to use. After these shells are fired, these thirty tiger squat cannons are actually useless, but at least they can train thousands of gunners. This kind of gun does not have an aiming device, and it depends on the gunner's exploration and experience, and it cannot be achieved without paying some tuition.

In addition to the Tiger Squat Cannon, the main large-scale equipment of the Shence Army Artillery Battalion is still the Shenwei Cannon. Although this cannon is bulky, it is not very useful for fortified cities. However, the characteristics of the thunderbolt landing and exploding made it useful. It can also be used as a special means on the field battlefield, so of course the Shence Army can't do without them.

In terms of the structure of the troops, the structure of the troops of the Shence Army at this time is more optimized. The cavalry strength of the Shence Army has accounted for about half of the number. This period was the era of strong and invincible cavalry, and the number and combat power of cavalry largely determined the success or failure of the battle. Of course, this kind of law does not work here in the Shence Army, because Wang Yuan has developed this kind of big killing weapon, which is far ahead of the trend of the times. But with the accumulation of a large amount of funds and raw materials required in advance, even Wang Yuan can only be equipped with more than 1,000 ** and 30 tiger squat cannons. Therefore, cavalry will definitely be the first branch of Wang Yuan's development. Among the more than 50,000 cavalry, the heavy cavalry reached more than 10,000. This is also the limit of what Wang Yuan can do.

The infantry of the Shence Army is actually not infantry in the traditional sense, Wang Yuan has always emphasized that the whole army wears a bow, in fact, there is an idea of ending the battle before the formation, so he abandoned some of the practices of too detailed troops. I can't tell if this kind of abandonment of subdivision will bring benefits or disadvantages, but at least in the Shence Army, Wang Yuan didn't see any big negative impact. Perhaps this is precisely the drawbacks that are covered up under the overall strong strength. But Wang Yuan still insisted on the comprehensiveness of this kind of soldier. Of course, he had to turn the 10,000 artillery battalion soldiers into a fine class of troops who were good at designing and aiming, because this kind of army was so important that Wang Yuan could give up the most basic functions of a soldier and concentrate on the operation of the artillery battalion. Others don't know, but Wang Yuan knows, everything in the future is in the hands of who will have ferocious long-range weapons. Wang Yuan knew that after his invention, the Fuhuo Fang would be improved very quickly. Even if you keep it a secret, it will inevitably spread soon. There will be more skilled craftsmen who will make it more terrifying, and there will be more powerful firearms born. Rather than that, it's better to be one step ahead of others and have more control than others.

That's not all, in fact, the biggest change is the command system of the Shence Army. The Shence Army, headed by Wang Yuan and Gao Xianzhi, has many experienced generals from top to bottom. Li Mi, Liu Dehai, Song Jiangong, Liu Jun and others have all grown into handsome talents who are in charge of their own affairs. Not to mention the large number of middle and high-ranking generals who have emerged in actual combat in the army. The generals in the army were forced by Wang Yuan to participate in systematic study when they had free time in the army, and Wang Yuan, Gao Xianzhi, and others also taught the art of war in this kind of study, so that with the combination of theory and practice, it was easier for these generals to understand the combat intentions and become more handy in command.

And so on, so many differences make this Divine Army have a big gap between the current Divine Army and the previous Divine Army. Although there are only 130,000 soldiers and horses in this army, they actually have extremely strong combat effectiveness. And this expedition is facing the same powerful Grassland Wolf Hui people, which is the ultimate test of the combat power of the Shence Army.

There is no sensationalism and encouragement that is too right, there are not too many slogans and shouts, and this time the pledge meeting is actually very low-key. It was low-key like an ordinary troop move. The various units only symbolically passed in front of the high platform, and then drove north along the avenue north of the school grounds. First the cavalry, then the infantry, and finally the army of heavy grain and grass. 100,000 soldiers and horses walked in a low-key manner within three hours, and even many people in Chengdu did not know until the evening that the Shence Army had set out for the battle. It was only after seeing that the number of soldiers and horses in the city had plummeted.

On 25 May, 10 days after the army marched, it arrived at Gyeongju, a city in the northeast of Longyou Province, for rest. On the day of arrival, Li Heng, who had already arrived in Ningzhou in the south with 60,000 soldiers and horses, sent someone to meet Wang Yuan. All of this was actually arranged. On May 15, when Wang Yuan sent his troops, he received the news that Li Mao refused to allow Xuanzong to enter Beijing, and even got the news that Li Mao had killed Yan Zhenqing and sent his head to Lishan Palace, which frightened Xuanzong into being bedridden. In fact, Wang Yuan had a premonition of all this, and he was not too surprised when he got the news, but he was sorry for Yan Zhenqing. On the night he got the news, Wang Yuan wandered alone in the back house for a long time, drank a lot of wine, wrote a sacrificial text, and burned it, which can be regarded as a past acquaintance.

After that, Wang Yuan immediately sent a letter to Li Hui, Li Pu and others, and told Li Hui about the incident. Of course, Li Heng knew what this meant, so he sent troops to Ningzhou according to Wang Yuan's arrangement, waiting for the arrival of Wang Yuan's army.

In the city of Gyeongju, soldiers and horses come and go, and it is a busy scene before the war. In the Yamen of Gyeongju, Wang Yuan met with Li Heng, the king of Feng, who had been waiting for Wang Yuan here, and Li Pu, the king of Yi, who came with him. After greeting politely, Li Heng spoke.

"Wang Xiangguo, your soldiers and horses are really majestic and majestic, King Yi and I just watched the soldiers and horses of the Shence Army enter the city, and we were all stunned. Look at our 60,000 soldiers and horses, it's really shabby. Wang Xiangguo, do you want to fight with us when you send out the whole army this time? With a force like yours, won't Li Mao's soldiers and horses be destroyed? Li Heng laughed.

"Yes, Wang Xiangguo assisted King Feng to directly seize the throne, and what tricks did he do, so that we trained on the Gobi Desert for half a year. I knew that you had so many soldiers and horses, so strong, why did we bother to do that? Xiangguo took the pretext of supporting King Feng or any of us, didn't he directly take Chang'an and get rid of Li Mao. Li Pu echoed with a big grin.

Wang Yuan frowned, and said in a deep voice: "Two princes, please be careful when you speak, don't talk about it." As I said earlier, I can't directly participate in the battle for the throne of your Li family, otherwise the balance will be upset. ”

"Hey, Wang Xiangguo, sometimes I really can't guess what you're thinking? Since you support this king, and you are hated by Li Mao because of this, why don't you directly send troops to help me seize the throne? I really don't understand. Li Heng sighed.

Wang Yuan smiled and said: "Lord Feng, sometimes it's much happier to not understand than to understand, and there are many things that don't need to be investigated." ”

Li Heng said: "That's it, this king doesn't guess anymore, what should I do next?" Sangkook gave a word. Our 60,000-strong army has all arrived in Ningzhou, and as long as you say you can start, we will immediately attack Chang'an. ”

Wang Yuan waved his hand and said: "Don't be impatient, you now have enough reasons to send troops, what you have to do now is to write your crusade document, and wait for my order You can raise your arms and shout to crusade against Li Mao, who usurped the throne and was unfilial." But I'm afraid it will take a while, because my soldiers and horses will have to act first, and then you. ”

Li Heng nodded and said, "I understand that your soldiers and horses will attract the Hui cavalry to leave Chang'an and give us the opportunity to attack Chang'an." Don't hide it from Xiangguo, I ordered someone to write the text. Just waiting for us and other princes to jointly announce to the world and launch a crusade against Li Mao. ”

Wang Yuan smiled: "The text has been written? Can you bring? Can you give me a sneak peek? ”

Li Heng smiled and said, "Do you still need to bring it?" I've memorized it all. I'll recite this to Xiangguo? ”