After leaving Li Guangli to Jiang Chong, Liu Tan quietly set out with his troops one night.
Originally, he didn't have to choose the night time, but Li Guangli's arrival basically disrupted the whole plan. He could only leave a while earlier, let everyone eat and warm up, and then leave.
Liu Tan, riding on his horse, looked at Huo Guang standing below and said with a smile: "Captain, go back. It's cold, don't freeze yourself."
In fact, it was not that cold at this time, but Huo Guang still felt that his whole body was not warm at all. He held the reins of the little white horse and wanted Liu Tan to stay.
He had many reasons, such as Liu Tan's poor riding skills, Liu Tan had never been on the battlefield, Liu Tan... Liu Tan didn't even have a piece of armor.
However, he knew that these were not reasons. The army was not on a forced march, so it didn't matter that Liu Tan was not a good rider, not to mention that he still had a car.
Huo Guang was simply worried. He was usually eloquent, but at this moment he was speechless. Finally, he could only say in a deep voice: "Your Highness, take care. I await your triumphant return."
Liu Tan flicked his whip, looked up at the city wall, which was now in good shape, turned his horse and said, "Move out!"
Liu Tan's little white horse was like the brightest star in the army. After Huo Guang and his men stood there to see him off, they turned around and climbed up the city wall again. He didn't let out a long sigh until he could no longer see Liu Tan. Turning around, he saw the calm and composed Captain Huo again.
Huo Guang raised his hand and said, "Everyone, go back and do what you need to do. Don't leak the news. If I catch you..."
Huo Guang's eyes and brows turned cold, which made everyone around him shudder and nodded.
Liu Tan thought Huo Guang was a gentleman as gentle as jade, but the people below him only thought he was scary.
At this moment, Liu Tan, who was riding on horseback, was suppressing his urge to look back. This feeling... seemed to be even heavier than when he was escorting the bride away from Chang'an.
He listened to the sound of horses' hooves and soldiers' footsteps behind him, and thought to himself, he didn't know how many people would be able to come back from this battle.
For a moment, he wondered if he had made a mistake. Should he return with his army? Could he really afford to sacrifice so many lives?
Just as he was beginning to waver, Li Buyan and Wei Buyi rode forward, half a step behind Liu Tan. Wei Buyi whispered, "Your Highness, why don't you get in the carriage?"
Liu Tan glanced at him and said, "Although my riding skills are not good, I can still handle it now."
Li Buyan also lowered his voice and said, "Your Highness, please don't misunderstand. That's not what we meant. The main reason is that you don't even have any armor on you, and we are worried..."
Liu Tan shook his head. "What's there to worry about? Our current location is very remote. Besides, we've brought most of our troops with us. If we encounter them, it's just a good opportunity to warm up."
Originally, Huo Guang did want to rush to make a piece of armor for Liu Tan, but these days a piece of armor consumes a lot of energy and money. Liu Tan is not short of money, but he is short of time. The most important thing is that it is obvious to the naked eye that even if this armor is rushed out, he will only wear it once at most.
Moreover, this time he would only stay in the middle tent to reassure everyone, and would not do anything else. The enemy would not be able to see him at all. If he encountered danger in the middle tent, it would mean that they had been defeated miserably, and by then they would probably not be able to come back alive even if they were wearing armor.
Of course, the most important reason is that the armor is heavy. In order to ensure his safety, Huo Guang will definitely use enough material. As a result, he can only barely stand up in the armor. Doesn't he have any face?
What? Why can soldiers do that? Nonsense, soldiers all wear leather armor!
Liu Tan insisted on not wearing armor or riding in a car, which made Wei Buyi and Li Buyan nervous. They stayed by his side, trying to protect Liu Tan if he encountered any danger.
Fortunately, the march was quite smooth. After arriving at the camping site that had been surveyed before as planned, Li Buyan and Wei Buyi finally breathed a sigh of relief.
It happened to be noon when they arrived. Liu Tan said, "Let everyone rest. We will send out the troops at midnight. You two should also go and get enough rest."
Li Buyan and Wei Buyi did not refuse, as they really needed to conserve their energy.
Because they were worried that the cooking smoke would be discovered by the robbers, everyone basically ate fried noodles. This was a simple dish that only required hot water. They had already boiled a lot of water at the previous camp and kept everyone warm with quilts. In addition, the weather was not cold, so the water was still warm when they arrived here, which was quite good.
The military camp was silent in broad daylight. However, in such silence, Liu Tan couldn't sleep. He looked at the sand table again and again, trying to find any flaws.
But in fact, if he could see it, he would not stay in the middle tent.
This wait lasted until midnight. Before the troops set out, the army began to prepare quickly. People held straw in their mouths and horses held gags in their mouths to prevent them from talking or making any sound.
Because it was a surprise attack, in order to avoid being seen by the enemy, the first group to be dispatched were infantry, followed by light cavalry, heavy cavalry and cloud chariots.
The first batch of infantrymen dispatched had a unique skill - they used the flying hook to perfection.
This group of infantry was designed to quickly climb the city walls, striving to kill all the guards on the walls when the enemy was least prepared, not giving the enemy archers time to react, minimizing the damage caused by the archers to their own side, and if there was a chance, they would also open the city gates.
It can be predicted that this group of people will definitely suffer the highest casualties. Liu Tan once inquired about it and found that for those people used in sneak attacks, it would be good if one out of ten could return to the enemy, and sometimes the entire army would be wiped out.
The moment Liu Tan knew about it, he was a little reluctant to use this method, but was suppressed by Huo Guang. In the end, he could only promise to take good care of the families of these people. After this battle, if someone could come back alive and in good health, he would give a reward. If they were alive but disabled, he would recruit them. If they died, he would protect their families.
To be honest, these are the only people he can manage, because they only add up to a hundred people, and he can still support them. If it is expanded to the entire army, even Liu Tan will feel pressured.
He originally thought that no one would be willing to die, but what he didn't expect was that after knowing the conditions, some soldiers almost fought with their comrades in order to get this spot!
Later, Liu Tan realized that these people just wanted to take a chance. They had suffered too much at the border and dreamed of returning home to the Central Plains. Although this was a life-threatening job, what if they survived? Or even if they died, they could still find a good way out for their families.
When Liu Tan found out about this, he was silent for a long time and didn't say anything until the end. The bitter cold at the border had not been solved until later generations. This land was too vast and the population was sparse, so this was basically the only way.
Before going to the battle, Liu Tan looked at the soldiers standing there ready to go, and felt a murderous aura coming towards him.
It was not until this moment that he realized that this was a battle-hardened army stationed at the border all year round.
He took a deep breath, feeling the tension and solemnity before the battle began, and said in a deep voice: "I've said everything I need to say before, and I won't waste any more time. So I wish everyone...prosperity in military affairs!"
After he finished speaking, the fully armed Li Buyan and Wei Buyi beside him made a gesture to set off, bowed to Liu Tan, and then mounted their horses and turned around.
Liu Tan did not stand there like Huo Guang, for he was afraid that he would not be able to control himself and call everyone back.
Huo Guang couldn't stop him, but he could really stop these people.
Sitting in the middle tent, Miao Rui had changed the water in Liu Tan's hand several times from hot to cold.
Even the refreshments had been taken away twice because they had gotten cold. In the end, Liu Tan simply said, "No need for more. I have no appetite."
Waiting might be more nerve-wracking than facing the battlefield. After all, humans are good at imagination. Liu Tan even began to estimate where everyone was going on the sand table.
In fact, how could he estimate it? He didn't even know the travel speed. There were no records of this in those days, and he had no experience, so he didn't even ask before setting off.
This is really not okay.
Liu Tan thought to himself, if you don't care, nothing will happen. Once you care, there will be loopholes everywhere. The military management is too loose and there are too many loopholes.
He was thinking wildly about the military planning for future generations. Of course, he had never been a soldier, but he liked to pay attention to military affairs. If that didn't work out, he could still use military training as a reference.
We must reform in the future.
No, no, no, he can't just arbitrarily reform the military. How can he touch this thing? If he interferes too much, there will be trouble.
While Liu Tan was daydreaming, he had already inserted the small red flag representing his own soldiers into the building representing the palace of the robbery king!
As soon as he got in, he heard someone outside the tent shouting, "Report, Your Highness, our army has already reached the enemy's city wall!"
Liu Tan couldn't help but stand up excitedly. In the previous rehearsal, this section was actually the most difficult. As long as they could get onto the city wall, they would at least have a 30% chance of success!
Miao Rui saw that Liu Tan finally had a smile on his face, and he quickly said, "Go back and report back!"
The messenger took the order and left. Liu Tan was about to say something to Miao Rui when he heard someone outside shout, "Report!"
Liu Tan was a little surprised: "The city gate is open so soon?"
Just as he was wondering, the messenger outside said hurriedly, "Your Highness, the scouts report that a large number of unidentified cavalry have appeared in the northeast!"
Northeast?
The smile on Liu Tan's face froze instantly: "Hun!"
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