On the occasion of rebirth Zhou Sui

Chapter 484 Army Reorganization

On September 27 of the second year of Zhenyuan (AD 607), the Chinese and Foreign Affairs Office in charge of the military affairs of the Eastern Sui Dynasty issued a royal order to summon cavalry soldiers stationed in various places to come to Jinyang for a grand martial arts performance.

One is naturally to select elites and add them to the army in front of the tent, so as to maintain the combat effectiveness of the army in front of the tent as one of the three ace cavalry in the Eastern Sui Dynasty.

Secondly, it is also necessary to eliminate some old and weak people and convert them into infantry to free up troops and horses.

During the previous trip out of the fortress, although Cui Che followed Liu Fang's reminder and conserved horse power as much as possible, a large number of traveling troops and horses still fell tired on the way.

Most of the livestock captured by Cui Che were cattle and sheep, with very few horses.

Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty once said: "The only strength of the Turks is riding and shooting."

But this does not mean that the Turks only have a single military type.

In fact, because horses, unlike cattle and sheep, had little economic value in ancient times, not every Turkic herdsman would raise a horse.

In the Turkic army, infantry did occupy a certain proportion.

For example, during the reign of Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty, when the Turks were restored to their kingdom, there was a clear record that two-thirds of the country was made up of cavalry and one-third was made up of infantry.

For Qimin Khan, the war with Dulan Khan for the position of Great Khan was the top priority. How could he leave too many cavalry for Ashina Duji who stayed behind.

Therefore, among the 30,000 Tiele infantry and cavalry who were successively annihilated by Cui Che, infantry accounted for the vast majority.

Cui Che's Northern Expedition captured more than 100,000 Tiele people and a large number of livestock, destroyed Qimin Khan's attempt to unify the Eastern Turks, gained the dependence of Dulan Khan, and once again spread his power across the north.

Although a large number of troops and horses were lost, it was not a loss from any perspective.

It's just that the captured Tiele tribesmen and livestock are long-term benefits and cannot be immediately transformed into national power for the time being.

The 1,500 cavalry lost by the army in front of the account can be easily replaced.

Cui Che started his career in Youzhou and has been in the south of the desert for twenty years. The most important thing he lacks is elite knights.

But the replacement of war horses and infantry horses is a difficult problem.

Cui Che had previously arranged for Zhang Wansui to preside over the horse administration and provided him with the greatest support, even sending missions thousands of miles away to introduce excellent horse breeds to foreign lands.

But building a horse administration and breeding military horses does not happen overnight.

Cui Che thought for a long time and decided to send another envoy to Kumo Xi to visit King Xi Ahui Lusu and purchase some military horses from him.

At the same time, Cui Che also decided to take advantage of the opportunity of the martial arts performance to eliminate some old and weak cavalry.

Maintain the size of the cavalry at around 80,000, and expand the infantry accordingly to 120,000.

Among the 80,000 cavalry, Cui Che planned to save the army in front of the tent. The Boling cavalry and the Silver Saddle Khitan were changed from one person and three horses to one person and five horses, so as to reduce the loss of military horses during the long-distance attack.

Among them, the Boling Cavalry force was expanded to five thousand, and the source of troops was no longer limited to Boling's children, but also faced the entire Sanhe Cavalry, and elite knights were also selected from this grand martial arts performance.

As for the remaining 50,000 cavalry, Cui Che completely deprived them of the ability to travel long distances and did not provide them with horses for transportation. When they went on an expedition, they would lead the horses with the infantry.

In addition to being unable to travel long distances, cavalry can still play its role on the battlefield.

It's just that the plan is good, but how can a noble cavalry be willing to become an infantryman?

One month after the military order was issued, cavalrymen from various ministries gathered in Jinyang one after another. Many people regarded this as a war rather than a military exercise.

As a result, the soldiers used excessive force. Even though Cui Che used thick cloth to wrap the head of the pole as a weapon, hundreds of people were killed in accidents, and countless others were injured.

Fortunately, Cui Che always treated the soldiers equally, and there was no distinction between infantry and cavalry. Moreover, Cui Che's prestige in the army was so important that the tens of thousands of cavalry who were converted to infantry finally accepted it calmly.

This result.

But another problem Cui Che faced was acquiring the horses of the cavalry.

Most of the 80,000 knights who followed Cui Che in Youzhou brought their own horses. When Cui Che was the governor of Youzhou, he also acted as a middleman between the grassland tribes and Youzhou soldiers, forcing them to trade with the grassland tribes.

The army horses were then sold to Yan local warriors, and then such a large cavalry force was gathered in Youzhou.

If he really had to rely on his own supply, how could he have the financial resources to purchase so many troops and horses for the soldiers.

Now since they want to deprive them of their horses, they naturally have to pay.

But fortunately, this was only an advance payment, and the horses purchased from the other cavalry were not given to the Qianjie Army, Boling Cavalry and Silver Saddle Khitans in vain.

It happened that this group of people followed Cui Che to fight in the fortress and received a large reward, so they were not short of money.

After Cui Che purchased the horses, he then sold the horses to the Zhangqian Xiaojie Army and other three cavalrymen.

After reorganizing the troops, Cui Che redeployed military forces in various places.

His rule in Hedong and Henan was already stable. For example, Qin Qiong, the governor of Puzhou, Li Jing, the governor of Luozhou, and Mai Tiezhang, the governor of Daizhou, etc., also gradually restored the military system in various places. Cui Che no longer needed to send soldiers to assist them in guarding.

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So he placed all 200,000 soldiers around Jinyang, not only to defend the capital, but also to facilitate his concentration on sending troops to Guanlong in the coming year.

Cui Che did not relax when the military was rearranged, and Cui Che reinvested his energy in government affairs.

The first one to bear the brunt was naturally the construction of Shuozhou Palace.

When Cui Che returned to Jinyang, it was already late September. Autumn harvests had been completed in various places in Hedong, and the people had also reached their leisure time.

In accordance with the previous agreement with Wei Zheng, Cui Che mobilized the first batch of 30,000 civilians from Hedong to go north.

It's just that when Cui Che recruited civilian husbands, he specifically asked the governors of various prefectures and counties to select men who were poor and unable to marry.

He settled more than 60,000 women and children in Shuozhou, but he only had more than 10,000 men and women.

As we all know, His Highness the King of Yan hates the idea of ​​women living in solitude. It is best for these unmarried young men to go north to build the palace and settle down in Shuozhou. With their help, they will be responsible for supervising the construction of the palace and at the same time taking charge of the Tiele tribe. Wei Zheng can also better educate the Tiele people.

After the first batch of 30,000 civilian husbands went north, Cui Che was already organizing the recruitment of the second batch of 20,000 civilian husbands.

These civilians may be full of complaints at first, but when they get there, they will understand Cui Che's good intentions.

As for the beautiful women donated by various tribes in the grassland, Prince Yan's palace naturally couldn't accommodate them, so Cui Che arranged them all in Jinyang Palace.

As for the concubines left behind by Yang Liang, Cui Che chose the most beautiful among them to stay in the palace.

If the remaining people are willing to remarry, they are allowed to be free. For those who are unwilling to remarry, Cui Che also builds a nunnery to support them.

(End of chapter)