The film and television world begins with the battle for the throne in Kowloon

Chapter 1175: The Gentlemen of Hongwen Hall (Part )
"Master Changsun, please don't be too anxious."

The chief official was also terrified, but he gritted his teeth and said, "This matter was reported by the King of Qi alone. He is far away in Licheng, Qizhou, on the south bank of the Yellow River, and may not have a clear understanding of the war on the front line. Maybe he heard some words from the defeated soldiers and reported it."

"Perhaps things are not that bad. Even if something happens to Duke Ying, don't we still have Duke Lu? I think it won't be long before his memorial arrives. We should still take his words as the standard and not trust the King of Qi."

Zhang Sun Wuji nodded as if he had grabbed a life-saving straw and said, "You are right. Go and invite Lord Xiao and Lord Cen to come and discuss this together."

"Yes, sir." The person in charge hurried out of the room.

After a while, Xiao Yu, Cen Wenben, Liu Bo, Ma Zhou, Zhang Xuansu, and Chu Suiliang heard the news and rushed over. After reading the military report, everyone's face changed drastically, and they looked at each other in bewilderment, and no one could speak for a while.

They couldn't believe that the situation, which was apparently so good, suddenly took a turn for the worse and led to such a serious defeat.

Changsun Wuji's public housing was not big and was crowded with people at this time.

The flames of the charcoal stove in the room were red, and the heat was rolling, but everyone felt as if they were in the wilderness in the cold winter, feeling cold all over and not feeling any warmth. The atmosphere in the room was extremely heavy, as if the air was frozen, and only the heavy breathing of everyone was echoing.

Everyone knew that a corner of the Tang Dynasty's sky had collapsed.

Such a tragic failure happened at the beginning of the new year. How should they explain to the emperor, the officials and the people? Everyone is celebrating the New Year at this time and they haven't even celebrated the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.

One hundred thousand cavalry?
These were 100,000 cavalrymen, which could defeat a million infantrymen in the Central Plains, but they were wiped out just like that. Changsun Wuji was especially clear that, on the surface, they were just infantrymen on horseback, but in reality, they were well-trained elite cavalrymen.

Every one of them is a brave soldier picked from hundreds, well-trained and fully equipped. Even if they are not as good as the Flying Tigers, they are not much worse. How could they just die on the battlefield?

Everyone present was thinking about how to explain to the emperor, but Changsun Wuji was wondering how big a tsunami would be caused if the nobles got to know about it.

No.
Although this army was handed over to Cheng Yaojin and Li Ji, the generals were all sons of noble families or their family generals and warriors, and they had absolute control over this army. In the event of a defeat, they would be the first to know, and it might even be faster than the military report from the court.

Changsun Wuji knew that this army was the foundation of the Guanlong nobles. Now that half of them had been lost, how could they accept it?

I'm afraid it won't be long before I'll be held accountable.

It's already difficult to deal with the emperor, and it's even harder to explain to the nobles. This is really a matter of life and death.

"how can that be possible?"

Zhang Xuansu muttered to himself, "Both sides are cavalry. If we can't win, can't we just run away? How did we get surrounded by the Turks? This is Hebei, our hinterland. We have the best information, the best time, the best location, and the best people."

"The Turks fought in a foreign land, not in the vast desert. How could we be ambushed by the Turks?"

Seeing no one responding, Ma Zhou had to say, "Master Xiao, you should know that the Turks are a nation on horseback. Both men and women have grown up on horseback since childhood. After living there for a long time, they have long since become one with the war horses."

"We are just frontier soldiers from the north, not formally trained cavalry."

"It's not that infantry can immediately become cavalry just by riding a horse. I think the problem lies in changing their combat habits."

Chu Suiliang felt that what Ma Zhou said made sense. After thinking for a while, he also said, "Yes, infantrymen riding on horses may not even be able to sit steadily, let alone fight against the wolf-like and ferocious Turks."

"Although I have never seen Turkic cavalry, I have been to the Imperial Army training ground. Just a few dozen cavalrymen charging at me is like a mountain pressing down on my head. That kind of overwhelming power is enough to make people tremble with fear even from a distance, and their legs tremble so much that they cannot stand."

"Not to mention facing a charge of 200,000 cavalrymen. What a terrifying force that is. I'm afraid they can't even keep their horses steady, and they can't even use their usual combat power. If we had known this would happen, we might as well have let them dismount and form a battle formation."

"If we had used infantry to fight them, perhaps we wouldn't have been defeated so badly?"

The two men did not understand the real situation, and they used common sense to infer that, and as they sang and shouted, they seemed to have found the reason for their defeat.

Zhang Xuansu nodded subconsciously after hearing this, stroking his beard and said, "It's possible. The Central Command has mobilized the infantry guarding the north this time, and it seems that they are not good at horse fighting."

Xiao Yu and Cen Wenben looked at each other, and doubt flashed in their eyes.

They knew that the Guanlong nobles must have sent out elite troops this time. Changsun Wuji's external statements were just a lie.

If they really wanted to use mounted infantry, how could they dare to let them face the Turks directly? As far as they knew, the 500,000 infantry around Hebei were all on the defensive. Qi Wang Li You also stayed in Qizhou and did not move, just supplying logistics and food. Cheng Yaojin and Li Ji, two veterans who had been through many battles, led 100,000 cavalrymen without hesitation.

They also split into two groups and encircled Texas.

If these cavalrymen were really weak, they would not be so confident. Their confidence meant that the fighting power of these cavalrymen was not weak, at least not inferior to that of the Turks.

They did not take the so-called good news seriously.

The Turks did not wantonly kill or burn people, but were busy going deep into the countryside to divide the land. The people in these cities were all locals. The few Turks would not stick to their posts, and they would naturally return once the Tang army arrived. They were not conquered by force at all.

The people didn't know this, and it was the Kaiyuan period of the new dynasty.

More good news could also dilute the gloom of Hebei's fall, boost morale, and calm people's hearts, so the court just let it go.

Who could have thought that the good situation would suddenly go downhill, and such a tragic incident would happen, and even the deputy commander Li Ji did not give an explanation. Not to mention Li Ji's military career, even since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, there has never been such a serious defeat!
What was lost was the foundation of the Guanlong clan. Although the two men looked solemn on the surface, they were actually secretly happy in their hearts.

Among the three major aristocratic circles in the Tang Dynasty, Guanlong is the strongest, followed by Hebei, and their Jiangnan gentry is the weakest.

When the Turks moved south, the Hebei clans were the first to be hit and suffered a devastating blow. Their momentum was gone. The dominance of Guanlong would only become stronger. The Hebei clans had been in contact with the Jiangnan clans during this period, secretly showing goodwill.

There are signs of them uniting to fight against the Guanlong clans.

Now, more than half of the Guanlong cavalry was lost, which was undoubtedly a heavy blow. This was a relief for the Hebei and Jiangnan nobles who depended on them. From this point of view, this defeat was a good thing for both of them.

After calming down from the shock of the sudden change and figuring it all out, Cen Wenben agreed, "Master Ma and Master Chu are right. It is better for mounted infantry to form a battle formation to resist the enemy than for mounted infantry to fight against cavalry."

"The Duke of England was careless this time. It seems that the previous victories made them underestimate the Turks. As the saying goes, "A proud army will be defeated."

Xiao Yu also reacted, stroking his beard and said, "Yes, yes, the Duke of Ying has become more and more famous in recent years. He probably looked down on Shi Luodie, who has been a puppet for more than ten years. He never expected that he would fall into the hands of this useless person."

"Alas, a lifetime of wisdom is ruined in an instant!"

Changsun Wuji remained silent, his mind was in a mess at this moment.

The nonsense these people talked about was absurd and unrealistic. He no longer had the energy to guess their little thoughts. He knew in his heart that the strength of the Longxi Flying Cavalry was not inferior to that of the Turks. With their cavalry equipment, their real combat power was even better than that of the Turks.

Even Li Gudu, the patriarch of the Longxi Li clan, said that the Longxi Flying Cavalry could fight two Turks with one. Otherwise, they would not have been able to kill 70,000 to 80,000 enemies in a surprise attack, but they ended up with the whole army annihilated.

What exactly is the problem?
Could it be that these people have been hiding for too long, and have the ability to fight but not the will to fight, and when the real battle comes, their shortcomings that were not usually discovered are exposed.

Yes
Zhang Sun Wuji thought he had found the root of the matter. He also understood the principle of talking about war on paper. No matter how well trained an army is, how complete its equipment is, or how good its war horses are, without the test of blood and fire on the battlefield, everything is empty.

The real battlefield is unimaginable.

Imagine an army that has never seen blood, facing prairie wolves as ferocious as wolves and tigers, coming at them in droves. The murderous aura of annihilation is enough to scare away this group of self-righteous young men from aristocratic families.

The Longxi Flying Cavalry cost a huge amount of money and enjoyed the best treatment.

The most fatal thing is that they have not experienced the real battlefield in order to hide behind the scenes. Since the chaos at the end of the Sui Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty has been pacified for 30 years. The first batch of brave soldiers may have retired long ago, and now they have been replaced two or three times.

The best time for a soldier is between the ages of 20 and 30.

This age is the time when the body is the strongest and the mind is the most stable. In order to maintain the combat effectiveness of the army, it is necessary to replace it every ten years. In a peaceful environment, it is impossible for the nobles to go out and fight wars specifically to train their strength.

Over time, only the form is visible, but the spirit is gone.

"oops"

After figuring out everything, Changsun Wuji sighed and said, "Why didn't I think of this? Instead of letting them go, it would be better to transfer the cavalry from Liaozhou to the south, maybe this result would not happen."

(End of this chapter)