From then on, the Xu family, who only wanted military merit and not silver, every time they broke through a city or camp, they began to secretly seize the weapons and gold. Countless Li Yang officials criticized them for stuffing their own pockets. This was not an unjust accusation. Of course, Xu Xiao never denied this. Especially at the end of the Battle of the Western Wall, Xu Xiao made a rebellious move. It was precisely because of this that most of the incense between the Xu and Zhao families died. Xu Xiao issued a secret order to his subordinate, Cavalry General Xu Pu, and his two adopted sons, Chen Zhibao and Yuan Zuozong. The three of them worked together and successfully allowed the Xu family to secretly gather ten thousand soldiers and horses. They took the lead in breaking through West Chu's capital before the Li Yang selected candidates. Afterwards, they wantonly searched for all the treasures and gold that could be carried away in chests. Xu Xiao's famous sentence, "Shit tastes good, but it doesn't taste good," came from after the plundering. When the Li Yang military sent an envoy to denounce him, Lame Xu got straight to the point. "The things are already in my stomach. If you want them, I can only give you shit. Do you want to eat it?" It was said that when the old emperor, Zhao Li, heard this report, he was so angry that he didn't know whether to laugh or cry. In the end, Xu Xiao just symbolically spat out some spoils of war to the imperial army and left the matter unsettled.
After being granted the title of King and vassal of the Northwest Border, Xu Xiao's obsession with weapons and horses could be said to have become even more intense. Rather than saying that the Beiliang cavalry was the best in the world, it was better to say that the army and horses were the best in the world.
In these twenty years, the smuggling of ironware to the Beimang grasslands and the endless border of Li Yang never stopped despite repeated prohibitions. The two Beiliang border armies, who enjoyed half of the country's taxes, constantly made small movements that were extremely difficult to stop. It wasn't until Chen Zhibao temporarily served as the former Minister of War and Gu Jiantang left the capital to personally oversee the north that the two most powerful generals in the military worked closely together on this matter that they succeeded. Even in the Beiliang Frontier Army, which had strict military law, there were still several captains with real power who were beheaded on the spot because of this. The implications were broad, from the generals inside the pass to the generals with real power outside the pass, to the captains of the pass, and finally to the Big and Small Beacons. Often, close to a hundred heads would fall in one incident.
The grassland cavalry had never lacked horses, but they lacked armor. After the Old Lady ascended the throne, Beimang's outlook had changed greatly. Borrowing the momentum of Hong Jia's rush to the north, the entire country, from top to bottom, from the iron smelting technique to the military equipment, was the same. However, there were some things that were deeply ingrained in the nomads. Even after twenty years of influence, it was still difficult to change. For example, the Qiang cavalry that was destroyed in the northwest of Liuzhou, the famous Beimang Southern Dynasty's Qiang cavalry, and the Rouran cavalry that Hong Jingyan led, were known as the "most important border cavalry". With the Old Lady's foresight and the importance of the Southern Dynasty's Xijing Imperial Court, how could she not have the foundation and courage to equip ten thousand Qiang cavalry with good equipment? However, the Qiang cavalry maintained the light cavalry path of leather armor, fast horses, short knives, and short spears. This couldn't be simply seen as a sectarian bias of the Beimang cavalry. It was more of the times that made heroes.
The sound of the hooves of the Beimang cavalry became louder and louder. Added to the natural echo of the corridor, and the roar of the Beimang after they thought that victory was in their grasp, it was like a thunderclap on the ground. The momentum was extremely majestic.
Xie Xibian suddenly opened his eyes and pulled out the cold knife at his waist. He shouted angrily, "Formation! Barricade the horse! "
This time, using the infantry formation to stop the fifty thousand Beimang cavalry, Xie Xibian had the right to distribute five thousand bows and crossbows from the Liuzhou Provincial Governor's Mansion. He also asked for eight hundred horse lances and a thousand Mo knives from the Liangzhou Border Army.
The Mo knife was popular in the Southern Tang during the Spring and Autumn Period. It weighed more than fifty catties and was made of fine iron. Only the best soldiers in the army could wield it. In the past, the Southern Tang border had sixteen towns and more than seventy thousand soldiers and horses. There were only about two thousand Mo knife soldiers. They were so strong that they were once hailed as the King of White Blades. It was believed that if they could gather ten thousand Mo knives to guard the country's gate, they could stop a hundred thousand invading cavalry. After the first famous general in the old Southern Tang, Gu Da Zu, followed the then Heir of Beiliang, Hsu Fengnian, into Beiliang, in addition to being the deputy commander of the infantry, with the full support of the young feudal lord, he earnestly asked Gu Da Zu to help the Mohist Jizi create a new type of Mo knife so that it could be given to the Beiliang Border Army in the future. Compared to the fifty catties Mo knife of the Southern Tang soldiers in history, because the men of Beiliang were more robust and had greater strength, the well-deserved Zhanmadao of Beiliang was heavier. The Mohist Jizi, Song Changsui, jokingly named it "Knife 60". It was a pity that they started to make it before the first Liang Mang War. Until now, they had only tried their best to make a thousand of them. Moreover, it was difficult to use them on the battlefield outside Liangzhou Pass. Then, Xie Xibian asked for all of them.
Other than that, there were also the thousand long lances. These lances were more expensive to make than the Mo knife. The degree of rarity was enough to make people speechless. Only the son of a military family could use a horse lance. This was an iron law since the birth of the horse lance. First, no matter if it was a horse lance or a horse lance, it was extremely long and difficult to use. Ordinary cavalry using it would be like drawing legs on a snake. Second, it took a long time to make. It was said that it took at least three years to make a lance. It had always been the number one hobby of the cavalry of the Central Plains. It was even harder to find than a good horse that was worth thousands of gold.
The young feudal lord personally ordered the eight hundred lances. It was a number that almost took all of the Xu family's wealth to gather. If it were not for the fact that the Beiliang military law did not allow cavalry to use lances because of their status, and that Xu Xiao, who was used to living a hard life and was afraid of being poor, had the intention to wantonly collect lances from the military depot during the later stages of the Spring and Autumn War, it would be wishful thinking.
In the corridor, the Liuzhou infantry formed by the monk soldiers of Mount Lantuo blocked the horse.
At the very front were the lances pointing outwards, the cold light was like snow.
Three hundred people formed a horizontal line, forming three rows.
The first row held lances and knelt, their lances slanted forward. The second row held their lances flat and pointed forward. The third row held their lances on the shoulders of the soldiers in front, also slanted forward.
In front of the three rows of lances, there were actually two rows of sturdy monk soldiers holding their huge shields with their hands and shoulders.
After the lances, there were four rows of tall monk soldiers with two hundred people in each row, holding Mo Swords that could kill eight hundred horses.
The battle was imminent. The eight hundred people sat on the ground to rest. Even when the Beimang cavalry blew the horn to charge, without the order of the general, the eight hundred Mo Swordsmen still could not get up. They had to save as much strength as possible.
Once the lances and horses were all killed, the eight hundred Mo Swordsmen would charge forward like a wall.
Great Ancestor Gu once said that in front of the Mo Sword of Southern Tang, men and horses would be crushed!
After this, there were two thousand Liuzhou border soldiers and three thousand monks from Mount Lantuo, equipped with five thousand bows and crossbows.
When the infantry formation faced the enemy cavalry, the first to stop the cavalry charge was actually the five thousand archers at the back of the formation.
After Xie Xibian gave the order to stop the horse, he did not continue to stop at the back of the infantry formation.
Instead, he walked behind the archers and took down the shield hanging from the saddle. Then, he held a blade in one hand and a shield in the other, standing at the front of the infantry formation formed by the remaining monk soldiers.
The Beimang cavalry roared like thunder, and the Liuzhou infantry formation was as silent as a mountain.
Life and death were decided in this unknown corridor.
In the history books of the future, whether it was heavily exaggerated or lightly described, without exception, they would conclude this battle with 'six battles and six defeats'.
The fierceness of the battle could not be described in more words!
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