The Golden Family, rising from the Western Regions

Chapter 36: The Prototype of the New Army
Which age group is most easily motivated?
It’s undoubtedly the young people!

They are young and inexperienced, full of hope for the future, and eager to accomplish great things in this turbulent world.

They act impulsively and are fearless. Once they set their minds on something, they can easily get carried away and do anything without considering the consequences.

They have not yet been influenced by worldly habits or the pros and cons of the adult world.

They are energetic, passionate, and don't have so many worries. In many aspects, they don't care about details like adults and don't think carefully before making decisions.

Therefore, when Li Xiao was selecting the troops to follow him to attack Houzhai, he chose all young people under the age of 20.

Li Xiao believed that even though the individual combat effectiveness of such a group of young people might not be as good as that of adults, once their combined power was released, the damage caused would be quite terrible.

And this group of young people will also be the prototype of the future new army that Li Xiao envisions!

After Li Xiao finished the mobilization meeting for the 124 young cavalrymen, everyone started to eat breakfast!

Or boiled horse meat in salt water!
After a night of fighting, with so many undealt corpses around, some of the teenagers couldn't even eat anything.

Even vomiting!
Li Xiao did not force anyone in this situation, but just asked someone to cook a few pots of millet porridge.

Then, he held a meeting with these young people while eating!
Before that was a mobilization meeting, and what comes next is the real combat meeting!

More than 120 people may sound like a lot, but in reality, they are just a big circle!
Everyone ate while listening to Li Xiao speak!

"Hou's camp is about forty miles away from us. With three horses per person, we can arrive in about half an hour!" Li Xiao said in a deep voice.

"Everyone, rest in the morning, set off in the afternoon, capture Houzhai before dusk, and rest in Houzhai at night!"

In this battle, the spoils of the Four-Fort Allied Forces were astonishing.

Including more than 50,000 sheep, more than 2,000 cattle and more than 7,000 horses, as well as a large number of other copper coins, sheepskins, cloth, daily necessities, etc.

Therefore, the Four-Fort Allied Forces had no shortage of horses.

We even have to worry about where to raise so many cattle and sheep after bringing them back to the village!
After arranging the time, Li Xiao continued to talk about tactics!

"There are about six or seven hundred people in Houzhai, and more than a hundred of them have the surname Hou!"

"Like our forts, the Houzhai is surrounded by trenches and battlements."

"Therefore, forcibly attacking Houzhai is definitely not a wise choice. I will not do that, and I will not test the lives of our brothers."

Li Xiao said this to reassure those young people who were not familiar with him!

He showed that he was not a cruel and ruthless commander. Since he was taking them to fight, he would definitely try his best to bring them back safely.

"To attack Houzhai, we must use wits and strategies. I already have an idea. We'll discuss it after we get to Houzhai~"

"Now there is another important matter, and that is the issue of the team owner!"

After Li Xiao finished chewing the horse meat in big mouthfuls, he wiped the grease off his hands on the ground, looked at everyone and said.

"There are one hundred and twenty-five of us!"

"There are too many people, and it is impossible to convey orders directly to each of you during the battle." Li Xiao said softly.

"So, I plan to temporarily divide us into five teams."

"The people from Hexi Fort are divided into two teams, and I will personally be the leader of one team!"

"The people from the other three forts will each be considered a team, and you will nominate yourselves as team leaders!"

Li Xiao’s intention was very simple, which was to organize the originally scattered people and divide them into five small teams.

Everyone immediately understood what was going on, and began to discuss it with the people in their own fort.

Four team leaders were quickly selected!
The team leader of Hedongbao is naturally Luo Meng, and the team leader of Tazhai is Aunt Li Xiao’s son, named Zhao Dabao.

As for the leader of Gushan Castle, he is naturally Li Xiao’s uncle’s cousin, named Qin Xiong!

When we arrived at Hexi Fort, there was no surprise. It was Dahu!
From their identities, we can see why these people were elected.

After all, in this feudal era, the castle lords had very high authority in their respective castles.

This authority and status can also be passed on to the next generation.

Children like Li Xiao have enjoyed higher prestige among their peers since they were born.

Therefore, when everyone was electing a team leader, no one could compete with them!
"Okay, that's it for the team leader. After dinner, everyone go back and rest. We'll gather here in the afternoon."

"One last thing!"

Li Xiao looked at everyone, especially at those strong and healthy young men.

He said in a deep voice, "This time we will bring 20 sets of heavy armor to the Houzhai. When we fight, we will temporarily form a small armored cavalry."

"Anyone who thinks they are strong enough to wear heavy armor, come to me later."

"After passing the test, you will become a heavy cavalryman!" The biggest gain of the Battle of Sanhe Fort, in addition to the tens of thousands of cattle, sheep and horses, is the thirty-six sets of heavy armor!

The armor-wearing rate of nomadic peoples is pitifully low, and most of them only use leather armor or a small amount of iron armor to protect important parts.

However, in the Battle of Beishan, a heavily armored cavalry unit appeared in the Karluk coalition army and swept across the entire battlefield, greatly shocking all the tribes in Jinzhou.

These nomadic people certainly know the benefits of armor. It’s not that they don’t want to wear it, but they don’t have it!

Most tribes cannot even gather a complete set of armor.

This is also true in these Han villages!
However, the Qarlugs had unknowingly managed to produce more than a hundred cavalrymen.

This caused panic among the many tribes in Jinzhou!

Fortunately, when clearing the Sanhe Fort battlefield not long ago, Li Xiao and others found a total of 36 sets of heavy armor.

Exactly one third!

I think the other dozens of sets of heavy armor should be in the other two tribes.

At that time, Li Xiao was also glad that he chose to attack at night.

The Qarlugs had no time to put on heavy armor. Otherwise, even if the Four Forts coalition won the battle, it would have been a tragic victory.

Armored cavalry, both men and horses are armored!
Almost all-round heavy armor protection!
The damage that ordinary bows, swords, and spears can cause to armored knights is negligible!
Apart from using blunt weapons such as maces, the best way is to use light cavalry to slowly wear down the heavy cavalry.

However, this method is almost ineffective when facing an enemy with a large number of light cavalry.

Therefore, once you have the protection of heavy armor, it is equivalent to having several more lives on the battlefield.

Faced with Li Xiao's words, these young people instantly became excited.

"Me, me, me, me~"

"I'll come~"

"I'll try too!"

Those young people who thought they were physically strong all showed ecstasy on their faces and surrounded Li Xiao.

Which man has not imagined himself wearing heavy armor? Safety aside, the most important thing is the majesty!

Li Xiao still underestimated the appeal of heavy armor to these young people.

For a moment, I was overwhelmed by the noise from all these people. At a glance, there were at least fifty people who signed up.

However, looking at the physiques of some of them, they may not be suitable to be heavy cavalry.

After all, wearing heavy armor and fighting for a long time is quite physically demanding.

And without enough strength, he couldn't even wield a spear.

"Okay, stop arguing for now~"

Li Xiao shouted loudly: "Use the simplest method to compete. Whoever can lift the heavier stone will win."

"Only select the twenty strongest people!"

"But I have to remind you that these heavy armors are only loaned to us temporarily."

"As for the final ownership, we will have to wait until you return to your respective forts before distributing it!" Li Xiao said loudly.

Just like those tens of thousands of beasts, these thirty-six sets of armor are naturally owned by the four-fort coalition forces.

Hexi Fort was the strongest, sent the most people, and killed the most enemies.

There must be a large number of them, probably about fifteen or sixteen!

Each of the other three castles can also get seven or eight pairs. Let's see how they quarrel then.

However, Li Xiao has already suggested to the old man and the other three castle lords that after these armors are divided, they should not be distributed.

Instead, it should be regarded as the public property of the village and belong to all the herdsmen in the village.

The strongest herdsmen were selected as users, but ownership remained in the fortress.

In this way, heavy armor can play its proper role instead of being a personal heirloom.

Finally, after a series of competitions, the twenty strongest people were selected.

But what surprised everyone was that Li Xiao, who was only fifteen years old, and Erhu, who was only thirteen years old, were also among these twenty people.

Let’s not talk about Li Xiao for now. After all, he was able to kill more than forty Qarlug people. He must be very powerful and is definitely a tough guy!
But unexpectedly, Erhu, despite being so young, is almost catching up with Li Xiao in strength and is stronger than most of the twenty people.

This made everyone sigh, they were indeed like dragon brothers and tiger brothers, their strength and bravery were inherited from the same lineage.

(End of this chapter)