Mansur, Abu Muslim, and Ziyad had begun to study the Tang dynasty's Concealed Yuan Crossbows and repeating crossbows, and they were rather surprised by the level of craftsmanship of the Tang dynasty's weapons. Although these weapons were relatively simple in structure and had nothing special about them, the weapons that their craftsmen had imitated were only similar in appearance to the weapons of the Tang dynasty, but their performance was greatly reduced. This made them feel very helpless.
In truth, this was a problem of craftsmanship. The power of a crossbow mainly came from the two arms of the bow, and the arms of the Tang dynasty were of even higher quality. They were advanced composite bows, but Mansur's craftsmen could only make them for show. They could not make composite bows, and they certainly did not understand the principles behind composite bows. Thus, the crossbows they made were much weaker.
The problem of craftsmanship was the result of a long period of accumulation, not something that could be accomplished overnight. It was clearly impossible to raise the level of craftsmanship in a short period of time. Without a long period of accumulation, it was impossible to make any technological progress.
The Hua Xia Empire of the future had the largest population, and the common people were extremely enthusiastic about their work, but they were always lacking when it came to the core technology. This was because technology needed to be accumulated step by step, and if the gap was too large, it would be very difficult to catch up.
Now, the problem was right in front of them. They had captured very few Tang dynasty crossbows, and the imitations were simply not up to standard. They could not equip the army, so their soldiers could only use their outdated weapons. In their struggle against Altik, it was inevitable that they would suffer losses.
"Caliph, can you have the craftsmen think of a way to have them make crossbows that are on par with the Tang dynasty's? This way, our soldiers will be able to fight much more effectively."
Ziyad suggested.
Abu Muslim nodded in agreement. He felt that this was a very good idea, and the only way to solve the problem at its root.
Mansur helplessly shook his head. "It's not that easy. I've already ordered the craftsmen to do their best to improve it, but they can't seem to find a good way. They've improved it many times, but the result is still the same. Moreover, the war is imminent. Even if they can imitate it, there won't be enough time to equip the army."
Abu Muslim sighed and said, "Caliph, the weapons produced by the Tang dynasty are much better than ours. If our soldiers can't have such weapons, we will definitely be at a great disadvantage in the war, and our soldiers will definitely suffer heavy losses."
Mansur said, "I naturally understand this situation, but our weapons truly are inferior to Altik's in many aspects, especially when it comes to crossbows. Their crossbows are all provided by the Tang dynasty, and this poses an enormous threat to our army. But this war still has to be fought. The peninsula is such a vast piece of land that we can't easily give it up. We absolutely can't give it up. Otherwise, we will become criminals of the Apus dynasty."
"Don't worry, Caliph. As long as the Tang dynasty doesn't directly interfere, we can still win. Although Altik's soldiers have expanded to one hundred thousand, the majority of them are new recruits who have never fought a hard battle before. Even if they have better weapons, they still won't necessarily be able to win.
I have confidence in them, "Abu Muslim said.
"Fine! I urgently called all of you back so that we could open up the situation in the south. However, Abdullah hasn't been eliminated, so we can't send all of our soldiers to the southwest. Leave fifty thousand soldiers in Khorasan to prevent Abdullah from attacking King City. "
Mansur said.
Ziyad felt that it would be difficult to open up the situation in the south if there were fewer soldiers, so he suggested, "Caliph, the external threat is great. Under such circumstances, we shouldn't fight among ourselves. We should get in touch with Abdullah as soon as possible and have a temporary truce with him. Only in this way can we wholeheartedly resist the threat of Altik."
Mansur frowned and pondered for a long time without replying. Although he understood this logic, he also understood that Mansur was his enemy. Moreover, he was an enemy who had completely shed all pretenses of cordiality. Thus, how could he lower himself to negotiate with Abdullah? Even if he negotiated, how could he trust Abdullah? If Abdullah verbally agreed to a truce, but in the end, stabbed him in the back at a critical moment, then he would be in deep trouble.
"Caliph, fighting on two fronts is extremely disadvantageous for us, and we must do our utmost to prevent this from happening. Thus, we still need to negotiate with Abdullah. For the time being, we can coexist peacefully and give them the eastern and northern regions. Once we've dealt with Altik, we can deal with that old scoundrel."
Abu Muslim was also worried that Abdullah would stab him in the back. After all, they were mortal enemies.
Mansur frowned. "How could I not know the drawbacks of fighting on two fronts? But Abdullah definitely knows about Altik by now. How could he possibly be willing to negotiate with us?"
"Caliph, be careful. In the war in the north, Abdullah's main force has been severely damaged, and his fighting power has been reduced by more than half. He probably won't be able to attack us for the time being. As long as we show sincerity, he will obediently listen. This is better than not talking at all."
Abu Muslim said.
Mansur nodded. "Fine! I will find someone to handle the matter of the peace talks. Gather an army of one hundred thousand and set off in three days to attack Altik and recover our lost lands. "
Abu Muslim and Ziyad both guaranteed that they would complete this mission.
The main force of the Khorasan army was composed entirely of cavalry. Compared to infantry, cavalry was extremely flexible on the battlefield, making them excellent soldiers for fighting in the wilderness. But when it came to fortified cities, these soldiers had very little advantage.
This also meant that in a decisive battle in the wilderness, Altik's one hundred thousand recruits would be no match for Abu Muslim's one hundred thousand Khorasan cavalry. But if these soldiers were stationed in important cities, the advantage of the Khorasan cavalry would be largely nullified. In this way, victory would become extremely difficult.
In addition, although the mobility of cavalry was very powerful, the appetite of warhorses far exceeded that of humans. A hundred thousand warhorses placed a very high demand on the logistics. If they could not end the battle in a short period of time, it would create a huge pressure on the logistics and drag down the finances of the Mansur Group.
Abu Muslim's greatest fear at this time was that his opponent would use scorched earth tactics to gather all their provisions in the cities. If this happened, his one hundred thousand soldiers would suffer greatly. It would be fine if they could easily take the cities, but if they could not, or if they could not take the cities in the short term, they would have to rely on transportation from the rear, placing immense pressure on them.
And when Abu Muslim thought about the walls being filled with Tang dynasty crossbows and repeating crossbows, he couldn't help but shiver. These crossbows were far too powerful. In order to reduce casualties, he needed to equip his soldiers with enough shields. Even small shields would be fine, as long as they could block as many crossbows as possible.
Abu Muslim and Ziyad had three days to prepare. In order to reduce the number of casualties in the future battles, they had ordered the craftsmen of the Royal City to make more shields. At the very least, they had to equip each cavalry with a small shield. The large shields for the construction work had to be made during the construction work, or else they would not be easy to carry around.
While the soldiers of the Mansur Conglomerate were preparing, the recruits under Altik's command were naturally not idle. Under the guidance of a few officers from the Tang dynasty, these recruits had rapidly matured, all of them reaching the level that new recruits should have.
This was especially true for the Mounted Archery Division, which had been formed based on the suggestions of the Tang dynasty officers. It was an extremely important mobile force that could effectively restrain and wear down the Khorasan cavalry. It was certain to display its splendor in defensive battles.
The Mounted Archery Division had fewer soldiers, only ten thousand, and was unable to contend against the Khorasan cavalry. However, the Mounted Archery Division was more agile and faster, so it could harass and wear down the Khorasan cavalry.
Because large-scale movements were very inconvenient, the Mounted Archery Division was divided into ten groups. Each group of one thousand cavalry could also be divided into as many groups as needed, further increasing their flexibility.
The ten groups of Mounted Archery Division were distributed to different cities. Each city could have at most two groups, and each group had its own camp. During normal training, they were divided into groups of one hundred men. Too many people would make the training ground very chaotic.
Each group of one thousand men would be guided by two or three Tang dynasty soldiers to ensure that they were trained properly.
The physiques of the Arabs were very good, so learning how to ride a horse was no problem for them. Soon, they could control the horse very well. However, learning Mounted Archery Division was much more difficult than simply riding a horse.
Riding a horse only required good control of the horse. Archery was not difficult either. However, if one were to ride a horse and shoot arrows at the same time, it would be much more difficult.
This required hard training and many skills. In order to protect themselves, the horses could not stop when shooting arrows. Otherwise, it would be easy for the enemy cavalry to catch up with them. In this case, it would be very troublesome.
After a short period of training, the Mounted Archery Division was considered qualified. However, their fighting strength was indeed not strong. It was not difficult to count on them to harass the enemy, but it was very difficult to count on them to wipe out the enemy or play a big role.
Altik had a lot of government affairs to deal with, such as the governance of the occupied cities, the development of the cities abandoned by Osman, and various internal problems of the 100,000 soldiers. In particular, the mess left by Osman was very troublesome. Because all the wealth in the cities had been plundered by Osman, it was inevitable that the cities would be in chaos. There were many things to deal with.
However, no matter how many government affairs there were, Altik had to take time to inspect the troops. Because the troops were his core strength, the Mounted Archery Division was naturally on the list of inspection.
"My Lord, this 100-man group is the best among all the Mounted Archery Division. They are elite soldiers personally selected by the generals of the Tang dynasty. Their fighting strength is very strong. If all the Mounted Archery Division soldiers are so good, we can fight against the Khorasan cavalry in the wild."
One of the subordinates said happily.
Altik said, "Is that so? That's great. Then what are we waiting for? Let's get started! "
The one hundred Mounted Archery Division soldiers mounted their warhorses and rode to the nearby practice ground in orderly formation, moving as they fired arrows at the target area.
"Good, very good. To be able to hit the target at such a fast speed is truly not simple!"
Altik gave a pertinent evaluation.
"My Lord, the Tang dynasty once used the Mounted Archery Division tactic, and the results were very good. Without losing a single soldier, they were able to annihilate several hundred enemy soldiers and utterly routed the enemy!"
One of the subordinates said.
Altik was even more delighted as he hurriedly said, "Oh, is that so? If Mounted Archery Division can be so formidable, then it must be practiced properly. According to reliable intelligence, Abu Muslim's main force has already returned to the Khorasan and will probably attack us very soon. Our army must make ample preparations to send Abu Muslim back in defeat. "
"My Lord, be at ease. With the support of the Tang dynasty, we will definitely deal a heavy blow to Abu Muslim."
The subordinate excitedly said.
"Don't get careless. Fortify the cities, every city in the north. Pile up as much defensive equipment as you can on the walls. Increase the training of the Mounted Archery Division soldiers as well."
Altik said.
"Yes, my Lord. We know what to do."
The subordinate replied.
One could say that Altik's soldiers were urgently mobilizing. They were preparing for battle with all their might, striving to defeat the Khorasan cavalry that was about to arrive.
The five northern cities were an important pillar of defense against the Khorasan cavalry. Each city had an army of more than ten thousand soldiers. Maia City, in the center, had thirty thousand soldiers, and they were the most elite force. Archeng, in the north, was facing greater pressure and had twenty thousand soldiers. As for Zhubai, in the south, Jiaofu, and Rafha, in the east, each had around ten thousand soldiers. The rest of the soldiers were scattered across the western and southern parts of the peninsula. Almost every city had one or two hundred soldiers, with the largest having four or five hundred. Moreover, the majority of these soldiers were temporarily recruited from the local cities and had very low fighting power.
Ten thousand Mounted Archers had been scattered across the five northern cities, and two thousand-man squads had even been stationed in the hidden villages of the north. Moreover, they had been deployed in a scattered manner.
After all, one thousand soldiers was a very large force, and the demands on logistics were extremely high. No single village could bear this pressure, and only by continuing to deploy them separately could they provide enough supplies for the soldiers.
The five cities in the north were all within a hundred miles of each other. They could play a very good role, making the enemy not dare to attack a city with ease. When necessary, they could even support each other. Of course, they would use a small number of cavalry to support each other.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
