Xue Shao's marching speed was extremely fast, thanks to the fact that he used his "position convenience" during the Northern Expedition to leave a large number of war horses for the Luoshui army.

In fact, when marching normally, cavalry rarely really rides horses, because the horse's physical strength is also limited, and even if the horse's feet are nailed, it is easy to wear out and even destroy the horse's hooves after a long journey. Therefore, the war horses in the army are much more expensive than the human gold, and they not only eat better than people, but also need the careful service of the soldiers. They can't be allowed to get sick, they can't fight, they can't be abused, they can't be lost.

The Luoshui army is extremely powerful, and one of the most important manifestations is that their horses are equipped with a very high rate. The Vietnamese cavalry has three horses per capita, the armed cavalry has two horses per capita, and even the infantry and logistics firehead troops have more than one horse per capita. In today's era of cold weapons, the number of war horses means that the mobility of the troops is strong enough.

The superiority of "military nobility and speed" in the era of cold weapons can completely rise to the strategic height. The reason why the Tibetan and Turkic cavalry were difficult was that their cavalry units were ready to go, and they completely occupied the initiative on the battlefield.

From Luoyang to Taozhou for more than 2,000 miles, it would take a month to walk according to the normal marching speed of the Great Zhou army. However, Xue Shao only took eight days to reach the territory of the Lingzhou Metropolitan Governor's Mansion, and the average daily marching speed was as high as more than 200 miles, which stunned Di Renjie. Lou Shide's logistics troops, which had set off from Chang'an a few days earlier than Xue Shao, had just arrived in Gyeongju and were already hundreds of miles behind Xue Shao.

Di Renjie asked, how could Xue Gong come so quickly? Such a speed of marching may drag down the army, so how can you fight again?

Xue Shao said, the military situation is like fire, I can only hurry. Now I am going to rest for a few days to recuperate, during which I will recruit 50,000 troops and collect grain and grass, and ask Di Gong to help me!

As a local parent official, Di Renjie knows very well what the current situation of Helong's economy and people's livelihood is after the last Turkic attack on Lingzhou. Although there has been a great improvement, the people are still living in great pain. Under such circumstances, it is necessary to recruit 50,000 young and strong laborers from Helong, which is simply to add insult to injury.

But what can be done, if Xue Shao loses this battle, the entire Helong will once again fall into the chaos of war. After weighing the two phases, Di Renjie thought that it was better to let Helong's young man break the cauldron and follow Xue Shao into battle. Let them rely on their own strength to protect their loved ones and defend their homeland.

Driven by such thoughts, Di Renjie used all his skills and began to help Xue Shao recruit grain and grass and recruit soldiers.

The progress of things is much beyond Di Renjie's expectations.

The people of Helong heard that Xue Shao led Wang Shi to arrive in Lingzhou, and wanted to recruit troops to pay grain to resist Tibet. Those who have horses have horses and knives, and those who have no horses and knives must gather a military uniform and a few buckets of military rations, and then come to join the army.

This is a scene that can only be seen occasionally during the Zhenguan period of the Tang Dynasty in the previous dynasty. At that time, the Tang Dynasty was still a government military system, and the people were soldiers in their spare time for agriculture and war, and they were obliged to serve the country by preparing their own military rations and military uniforms. Now the government military system has gradually collapsed, but in times of war, the country has to spend a lot of money and food to recruit soldiers to participate in the war.

In this expedition of Xue Shao, the imperial court also prepared a large amount of money and grain for conscription. Some were sent to Hebei, with little success. There is also a part of it in the hands of Lou Shide, and it is still slowly escorted from the rear.

However, these impoverished and devastated people in Helong did not ask about military salaries or returns, but only regarded themselves as government soldiers, and rushed to join the army.

At the conscription site, Di Renjie, who was sixty years old, was so moved that he burst into tears, bowing to the people and reluctant to get up.

It was not easy for several old people who sent their sons to join the army to persuade Di Renjie and said to him: "Di Gong is a good official, he gives us clothes and food, and he is kind to his parents." Xue Gong is a good general, without him, we people would have no idea where to bury our bones. For the people of Helong, Xue Gong's grace is like reconstruction. Now when the time has come for Di Gong and Xue Gong to use us, if we don't think about the grace and do our best to serve, how is it different from livestock? ”

"Yes!" And the people joined together.

Di Renjie, who is rich in five cars, once again burst into tears because of these simple and straightforward words from the people.

At this time, Xue Shao came.

The golden armor and red robe strode into the clouds, and as soon as he appeared, the recruitment scene was suddenly boiling. Several old people took the lead, and the people fell to the ground and cheered loudly.

This scene was really a bit unexpected by Xue Shao. He hurriedly stepped forward to help the old people first, and then said to the young men who came to join the army: "Xue has no talent and no virtue, and he doesn't dare to accept the gifts of the villagers." In fact, I want to affirm to the villagers that this battle is unpredictable, and there will be many people who will never come back after going to the battlefield. Whoever is the only son in the family, or who has no marriage and no heirs, do not join the army. ”

"Xue Gong, what are you talking about!" An old man shouted excitedly, "A rich and noble person like you is not afraid of life and death to go to the country, how can a man in Helong be greedy for life and seeds?" ”

"Yes!"

"There are no bad seeds in Helong!"

"We will voluntarily follow Xue Gong, whether we live or die, we will fight to the end!"

"Life or death, fight to the end!"

"Life or death, fight to the end!"

……

For a while, the people were boiling, and even Di Renjie and Xue Shao couldn't persuade them. The eight words "life and death regardless of the bloody battle to the end" have become the oath of Helong Qingzhuang to join the army. People in various townships and villages spontaneously made banners or banners, and these eight characters were written on them to encourage young people to join the army.

Ten days later, Lou Shide escorted the grain and grass to Lingzhou and joined Xue Shao. He was surprised to find that Xue Shao's men actually had 150,000 troops training day and night. The hundreds of miles of military camps seem to have risen from the ground overnight, and their momentum is like a flood!

Lou Shide is the deputy chief of the marching road, and the highest staff officer in charge of the army's Chinese affairs, "Marching Commander History". After seeing Xue Shao, he asked, "Where did Xue Shuai conjure up so many soldiers and horses?" ”

Xue Shao said to Lou Shide: "Originally, I only wanted to recruit 50,000 soldiers, but I didn't expect that there were too many people who came to join the army. I went to the Wucunjing selection and finally got a new army of 100,000. You helped me calculate, with our current food, grass and military salaries, can we afford to raise so many men and horses? ”

"Yes, I can afford it." Lou Shide said, "The imperial court attaches great importance to this battle, and the empress personally ordered me to act cheaply, get more grain and grass, and bring more gold and silk." Therefore, Lou Mou unceremoniously brought enough food, grass, money, and silk, and prepared for a protracted war in advance. ”

"That's good." Xue Shao nodded with satisfaction, "Now I'm going to bother Duke Lou and go do something for me first." ”

"Xue Shuai just gives the order, and Lou is willing to do the work of dogs and horses." Lou Shide hugged his fists very humbly and bowed.

Xue said: "I want you to open the army treasury and first give the 150,000 army three months' military salary in advance." In addition, most of the 100,000 people who came to join the army in Helong brought their own grain, rice, bedding, swords and even horses. I want you to compensate them according to the market price, and you can't treat any of the hot-blooded men who come to join the army! ”

"Yes. Subordinates go do it right away! Lou Shide bowed his hand, turned around and left.

Xue Shao looked at Lou Shide's tall back and couldn't help but smile.

As the deputy marshal and marching commander, Lou Shide can actually be on an equal footing with Xue Shao. But he has always had such a temper, and he is kind to everyone he talks to. There is such a legend about him in history, Lou Shide persuaded his brother not to quarrel with others, saying that even if other people's spit is on your face, you should not wave your sleeves to wipe it, just wait for the spit to dry yourself. This is the origin of the idiom "spit on one's own face", describing a person with a large stomach and very tolerable.

Legends are often exaggerated, but Lou Shide is indeed a humble gentleman with a great belly, stingy words, humble and cautious, and moody.

This humble gentleman with no temper had been stationed in Heyuan for many years with Heizhi Changyi, and Lou Shide was mainly responsible for Tuntian logistics. But in the battle of Baishuijian a few years ago, Lou Shide personally led the army to the battlefield, and took the lead in the battle with Tubo, killing countless people in eight battles and eight victories.

A humble gentleman does not mean that there is no blood.

Among the ministers of the Manchu Dynasty, Lou Shide, who was both civil and military, was the one Xue Shao respected the most. Because he is talented, capable, and virtuous.

Convince people with force, but their hearts are not convinced; Convince people with virtue and be convinced.

Xue Shao felt that his realm was actually inferior to Lou Shide. However, the war in front of us cannot be won by virtue of the realm of "morality", this is the moment of competition to "convince people with strength". Historical books once recorded that Wang Xiaojie and Lou Shide were almost wiped out in this battle, and they were almost defeated by Garqinling, and then both were demoted.

Now it was Xue Shao who took over the war, and it was time for him to play. He didn't want to prove anything, he just wanted to win the battle and let his people die a few less.

The fisherman Guo An's net had already been spread, and his scouts had even penetrated deep into the Qilian Mountains, just to find out all the movements of the Tubo people. Newly recruited soldiers and horses still need time to grind, and rushing into battle will only kill them. Xue Shao has been desperately rushing since he set off from Luoyang, hoping to buy a few more days to train his troops.

However, it is not difficult to imagine that with the rich experience of Garqinling, he will definitely not let go of any movement of the Great Zhou Dynasty before sending troops. Xue Shao led the army to Lingzhou and then recruited troops on the spot, and such a major event could not escape his ears and eyes.

Obviously, the Garqin Mausoleum did not intend to give Xue Shao too much time to prepare for the war. The 100,000 iron cavalry led by him personally also came very quickly, and now they have arrived in Qinghai and can go out of Qilian at any time to kill Taozhou.

The news of the scout's return, and the war letter sent to Xue Shao by the people sent by the Qinling Tomb, arrived almost at the same time.

The full name of the Lun Qin Ling is Gar Qin Ling Zanzhuo, and the "Great Comment" is his official position. The people of the Central Plains are more accustomed to calling him the Lunqin Tomb or simply the Garqin Tomb.

Xue Shao opened the war book in front of the generals and saw that the war book on Qinling was written in Chinese characters, just a few simple words.

But it was these simple words that made all the generals furious on the spot, and even people like Lou Shide who had recuperation were a little difficult to calm down.

"On Qinling's deception is too much!" The generals roared angrily, "Life or death, fight to the end!" ”

"Xue Shuai, let's send troops!"