Northern Dynasties

Chapter 8 Alang's mighty
Shayuan is located in the east of the Guanzhong Plain, a sand dune meadow between Nanluo River and Wei River in Dali County.Dali County, now named Wu Township, is the seat of the state government of Huazhou.

The troops retreating from Tongguan didn't need to pass through Shayuan. After crossing the river in Weinan, they could go straight to Huazhou.However, during the trip, several Hui received a military order, ordering him to lead his troops to temporarily station in Shayuan, waiting for reorganization and resettlement.

Therefore, Li Tai also had the honor to visit the site of the East-West Wei War with the army, and feel the grandeur of the army fighting back then.

When they came to Shayuan, Pan Guangli had already been operating here, and it was very lively.

When the team arrived at the sand garden, their spirits subsided somewhat, and the atmosphere among the ranks became much more active. People kept hearing people talking about the battle at the sand garden.

"It was here at the time that our township soldiers picked up more than a dozen leaders of the bandit army and were given a lot of cattle, sheep and silk. At the end of the year, the whole town was full of the smell of stewed meat, and everyone was dressed in new clothes..."

Someone in Li Tai's team actually participated in the Battle of Shayuan a few years ago. Li Tai recruited him here. He was a strong Han soldier in his twenties named Liu Sanzhu. He was originally taciturn, but when he came When it came to the sand garden, the battlefield in the early years, it became obviously much more active.

"Sanzhuo, you were only in your teens back then, and you actually had the guts to join the war?"

Li Tai looked at the strong man and asked with a smile of interest.The Battle of Shayuan took place in 537 AD, six years ago.

"Well, at that time, there was a master who is as big as he is now, so how dare he join the war... The bandit army suddenly crossed the river from Pujin, bypassed Dali City and then crossed Luoshui. It’s not only the violence in Hebei, but now it’s storming into Guanzhong..."

Speaking of the old panic, Liu Sanzhuo still had lingering fears, but soon became excited again: "Everyone fled into the wilderness under the leadership of the old folks, and after hiding for a few days, they heard that the Eastern Bandit was defeated. , and the village king Bie came to summon troops, and all the young and strong villagers followed, and they were collected all the way along the Luoshui River, those weapons, staffs, cattle and horses really got fatter for a while!"

Dali City is the state city of Huazhou and the seat of Wuxiang County.It's just that the names of the administrative divisions of the Western Wei Dynasty changed frequently, and the villagers still used to call them.

It turned out that it was just a wave of smooth sailing with the main force, but these words also revealed a few pieces of information.The first is naturally that Yuwentai has done a good job in the united front work. Most of the people in the pass are resistant to the invasion of Gao Huan's army. The second is that the villages in Guanzhong are martial arts, and as long as the townspeople recruit troops, they will actively apply.

Although Gao Huan and Yu Wentai were both born in Beizhen, but because of their different power structures, their styles are also different.

Although the Mutiny of the Six Towns at the end of the Northern Wei Dynasty was called an uprising, it did a lot of evil, especially the damage to Hebei that lasted for several years, which also made people in other regions feel cold. repel.

Gao Huan took the six towns as the basis for his fortune, and of course he must also pay attention to safeguarding the interests of the six towns.Just before the Battle of Shayuan broke out, the history books also vividly recorded a story of him conniving with the powerful and lawless Six Towns.

Yuwentai was not the case. At the beginning of his entry into the pass, he paid attention to uniting the masses because of his weak force. He did not flaunt the Xianbei style, and also let some Guanlong tyrants take refuge one after another.

The harmonious relationship with Guanlong Haoqiang is also one of the reasons why Yu Wentai was able to succeed as the leader after He Bayue's death.

Guanzhong was called Tianfu in ancient times, but since the Wei and Jin Dynasties, it has been full of miscellaneous Hus, and there are still many Di, Qiang and Huns. They have guarded the land for hundreds of years, and the folk customs are also sturdy and brave. If they are effectively unified, they will not be inferior to the so-called Six Towns. The confidant of the country.

Today's sand garden is not worthy of its name, the sand dunes are gone, and the trees are shady.There is also a large area of ​​pasture that is enclosed for grazing cattle and horses.

After the Battle of Shayuan, Yu Wentai ordered all the soldiers who participated in the battle to plant a tree. After several years, not only the prevention and control of soil erosion was very effective, but also became a resort for many veterans of the Western Army to go to Burma.

Among the camps, there are many old soldiers wandering in the forest, shouting excitedly from time to time: "I planted this tree, but I didn't expect it to be so thick and close!"

There are also tears of old soldiers: "Back then, I persuaded my brother to plant a long-lived tree, but planted a crooked willow... The tree is still there, but there are no people. In my lifetime, I will call the thief's blood to pay for it!"

Hearing and witnessing all kinds of life, Li Tai also gradually understood why Yu Wentai ordered the defeated soldiers to come to the sand garden to garrison.

He didn't know if Yu Wentai had read the biography of Huan Wen in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, or if he had heard the phrase "How can a man be so embarrassing as a tree is like this".

However, the feelings contained in the tree planting in Shayuan are much more magnificent than Huan Wen's emotions back then. The most brilliant victory since the founding of the Western Wei Dynasty was recorded here, and the cohesion and encouragement of the morale of the army is undoubtedly worth a thousand words.

Especially for those old soldiers who had been fighting for a while, when they returned to their hometown, they felt a lot of emotion in their hearts, and the haze of Mangshan's defeat was greatly dispelled.

After the team was stationed, several benefits left Shayuan and headed for Huazhou Bafu.

Li Tai and his party also received preferential treatment, enjoying an independent small camp on the west bank of Luoshui River, and did not mix with other troops.

Although Sha Yuan has a special meaning for the Western Wei army, he is not a veteran who entered the customs in the early years.

It's just that he was infected by the atmosphere of this camp, and his mood inevitably became heroic and majestic, and he became very interested in studying himself and the combat effectiveness of the trilogy.

This body is not a gentry dandy who doesn't work hard and doesn't distinguish between grains and grains. This is what makes Li Tai most satisfied.

As a soul who traveled through later generations, he didn't expect to become a brave general and soldier king, but since he had already joined the troubled times, he could have a certain fighting power as an individual, so he would naturally have more confidence when encountering danger.

After marching for many days, he has adapted a lot to this body. He seldom rode a horse at first, but he gradually mastered equestrian skills because of his body memory.And before several Hui left the camp, he brazenly begged for a horse spear.

Outside the reeds by the riverside, Li Tai galloped his horse while holding the lance, and precisely cut off the shaggy head on the end of the reed, and the followers around him clapped and cheered: "Alang is mighty!"

"This spear is still too light!"

Li Tai rode back, shaking his sore arms, and the memories and experiences naturally produced by the muscles of his arms were still unfinished.It can be seen that the predecessor is definitely not fond of playing around, and has indeed practiced various martial arts.

"Yes, this lance is too bad. It's a pity that Alang's old lance was left in Hengnong. That lance was made by Alang himself. If the situation was not critical at that time, he would not be willing to throw it away."

Li Zhusheng took the horse and weighed it in his hand, then shook his head and sighed.

Later generations talked about Ma Chan and gave them various prestige. They even exaggerated the craftsmanship of Ma Chan. It took three years to complete one shot.

In fact, as a cavalry weapon, there are not many myths about the horse lance. Compared with the spear, the lance is longer in length.The so-called one inch long is one inch strong, and in high-mobility cavalry combat, the advantages of long weapons are more obvious.

Before a large number of stirrups were equipped in the army, being able to gallop a horse while ensuring flexible control of long weapons was undoubtedly a top-notch elite soldier, and Ma Chan became synonymous with elite soldiers.After the popularization of stirrups, the flexibility of cavalry was enhanced, and the standard of using horses was also lowered.

Therefore, during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the horse lance had basically become one of the standard weapons for cavalry combat, and the term "槊" was flooded.It is roughly similar to the title of Tianwang, which was exclusive to the overlord of the Hu nationality in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, but it has become a term in praise of literary and artistic workers in later generations.

But in the final analysis, the horse lance is only a type of cavalry combat long weapon, and there is no essential difference in its manufacturing process, materials and spears. It cannot be said that it took three, five, or ten years to complete.

During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, there were frequent wars, and it was inevitable that many descendants of the aristocratic families would fill the battle formations. Naturally, the first choice was the cavalry weapon with natural advantages such as the horse lance.Therefore, such powerful sons as Gao Aocao are all famous for their lance skills.

These tyrants' families are well-off, so they naturally strive for perfection in their armour-staff rations.The level of their respective armaments is obviously not universally representative. It is up to people to be rich and thrifty. Even if you spend thirty or fifty years building a horse spear, starting in the Northern Zhou Dynasty and ruling the roost at the end of the Sui Dynasty, that is up to you.

However, it is obviously biased to argue that Ma Chan's aristocratization is based on this.

The horse lance given to Li Tai by several benefits is not a lance made by the so-called bamboo and wood craft in later generations, but a thick and hard wooden pole, weighing less than twenty catties, but Li Tai has already waved it once. It can be felt that the lethality should be good.

After all, the Western Army's rate of being armored is really not high, even if it is a general's private song, it is barely [-]%, and ordinary soldiers are even less.

Under such circumstances, Ma Chan's pursuit of the cumbersome craftsmanship of later generations is to make himself unhappy.Three years is enough time for a regime to establish and gain a firm foothold. As the main sharp weapon of the cavalry in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the horse lance has not yet been produced in the first batch. Isn't this a joke?

Therefore, regarding the cognition of Ma Chan, excellence and standard equipment should be treated differently.The development of weapons is included in the development of tactics and is part of the history of war. It would seem dogmatic to single out a special book about a certain weapon.

Li Tai practiced on his own, and let his subordinates take turns to fight, and their performances were also different.Some are barely able to ride a horse, some are good at equestrian skills, but with the addition of a horse, they are a little bit reluctant, and the best performers are those family members who followed him from Qinghe, Hebei.

After the rehearsal, those members from the Western Army who joined later looked a little embarrassed. Among them, the Han soldier Liu Sanzhu was the worst performer.

"I grew up in Wubi, the village, and I had no chance to learn equestrian skills... Please don't drive me away. Fighting the enemy in formation is not only skillful, but also courageous! Give me a knife, catch the right one and fight, I must be the one who survives!"

Liu Sanzhuo was the worst, ashamed and fearful, lying in front of Li Tai's feet and pleading tremblingly.

Li Tai bent down to support the strong soldier, patted the sand on his knees, and said with a smile: "It doesn't matter what happened in the past, if you enter our sect, you will be a new student. The day before yesterday is clumsy, tomorrow will be happy, who can predict it in advance? The world is uncertain, and the husband will not worry Whether it is meritorious or not, it is all in the future.”

(End of this chapter)