What shocked Liu Yansi the most was the use of horseshoes.

It is said that this is the strange idea of ​​the prince.

A semi-ringed barbed iron ring nailed into the horse's hooves makes the horse's hooves greatly protected during the long march, and the injury rate of the horse's hooves is greatly reduced.

You should know that among the reasons why war horses were damaged and had to be abandoned, 70% were caused by horse hooves. The invention of this horseshoe was almost perfect, which greatly improved the utilization rate of war horses.

Although horseshoes consume a lot of iron and labor hours, Liu Yansi knew it was very worth it.

Especially he felt that in the Xuzhou army, the use of iron materials was quite luxurious, because there was Xuzhou, the Iron Smelting Supervisor.

Whether it is arrowheads, long-headed horse lances, ring knives and even iron shields, they are very willing to use iron, but he also heard that this large-scale and large-scale dressing change, especially the use of iron, has only recently begun, which also means that Xuzhou either has strong financial resources or a sufficient supply of iron, but no matter what, it amazed Liu Yansi.

Whether it is the use of iron for arrowheads or the long head of horse lances, the iron material consumed is not a small amount. The large-scale use of ring knives and iron shields also made Liu Yansi even feel incredible.

You should know that this is not a problem with the first or two armies, but the entire army of the five towns of the Xuzhou General Administration Office must be fully equipped, but the Zibo Qing army has just reached the forefront.

Just the sword-ringed steel and the iron blades on the iron shield are covered with skin, the iron saplings consume more iron than the five armies in Pinglu Town.

Think about why Huaiyou dared to attack Qingzhou directly, I'm afraid he had the confidence to support him.

For warriors, what is more enjoyable than fighting without any scruples? There is no need to worry about not having enough arrows, no need to worry about insufficient weapons, no need to worry about not being able to keep up with food, grass and supplies. Which vassal can do this by fighting with a spirit?

The use of horseshoes is still a secret. At present, only the cavalry of the Ziqing Army has begun to nail horseshoes completely. The Wuning Army and the Tianping Army have just begun, and the Huai You Army and the Ping Lu Army and even the Ya Army have not had time to start.

Of course, this secret can't be hidden for long, but for the Hu people who used cavalry on a large scale in the north, such huge iron consumption may be another problem.

The iron material of the weapon is insufficient, and now it has added such a large expense. Moreover, the horseshoe is very exquisitely made, especially to ensure that it is nailed into the horseshoe and not fall off easily. It is not something that ordinary blacksmiths can do. This is also a problem for the Hu people.

It can be said that since entering the Xuzhou military system, all kinds of novel, weird and unexpected things have emerged one after another.

As the governor of the first army, he was naturally qualified to understand the situation of the infantry siege equipment.

Although he had not experienced the battle in Qingzhou City, he also heard from the remnants of Qingzhou City Guarding Army that these soldiers were unwilling to recall, such as the catapults with extraordinary range, the powerful heavy crossbow, and the Fire Dragon Cannon that was possessed by the fire demons. They were not pure magic weapons, but they were inseparable from magic. This also made Liu Yansi realize that the gap between the Pinglu Army and the Huai You Army was very different.

Only when he truly understands all this slowly revealed by the Xuzhou army, Liu Yansi's inner shock will slowly evolve into self-confidence.

Who can't fight with such a large army? How can one not win in one battle?

In contrast, Chai Yong's shock was naturally not as great as Liu Yansi, but with the increasingly powerful Daozangcai Official Academy, its increasingly powerful impact on the entire war, Chai Yong also realized that as this situation continued, the strength of the Xuzhou army was still growing.

Even if the loss is not small after each war, the Xuzhou army will recover at a faster speed. Whether it is Caizhou, Nanyang, or the Shatuo people or Khitans in the future, their recovery speed is definitely not as fast as the Xuzhou army.

Look at the grain fields in Anfeng, Huoqiu, the prosperous Tang Dynasty, the tea mountains in Huoshan, the porcelain kilns in Shouchun, and then look at the grain fields around Shaobi, the salt fields in Haizhou, the iron smelting farms and craftsmen in Xuzhou. Which vassal vassal has such strong financial resources to support it?

War is about fighting logistics, and money. Before the troops move, food and grass will go first. Everyone knows this principle. Without the support of money, who can last for how long?

*********************************

Yan Jiu bowed his waist with a calm expression and bowed, "General, when will he start?"

"Wait a little longer." There was still a hesitant expression on his face. Pang Yuan's former concise and calm expression was no longer visible, but instead he was filled with sorrow and sighing.

To be honest, Pang Yuan also knew that it was not very meaningful to lead his army back to Bianliang. These 20,000 troops would not play much role in the war with the Jin army. On the contrary, if you leave Songzhou, you will probably be occupied by Caizhou in the south or Xuzhou in the east in less than ten days.

But the commanders of the army under his command and the officers and soldiers below refused to agree.

Their relatives were all in Bianzhou and Huazhou. When they learned that the Jin army had won consecutive victories in the west and had approached Guancheng, no one could sit still.

Even Pang Yuan did not compete with such a huge force, and could not even protect his family and relatives, so he would be useless to treat this soldier.

If only a few people are like this, they are not afraid, but if most people have such an attitude, if Pang Yuan refuses to follow, he will probably only become a lonely person.

Besides, Pang Yuan is also concerned about his family, and he also needs to go back to understand the situation and attitude of his family.

The debate in the court became more and more intense. Almost every two days there would be an order coming to Songzhou, but almost every order was contradictory, which made Pang Yuan at a loss. In the end, he had to choose to accept the order to return to the army.

You can take a waterway to return to Bianzhou from Songzhou, but recently there are few ships transported on the canal, and even local ships in Songzhou are also in short supply. Some ships went to Bianliang to run business. Because there were too many gentry and merchants going to Xuzhou and Shouzhou, it was obvious that even some giants and merchants in Songzhou began to transfer quietly, which made Pang Yuan sigh speechless.

How can there be a complete egg under the nest? If Bianzhou is not protected, how can Songzhou survive alone? This is another reason why Pang Yuan decided to return to his army.

"General, there is no need to wait any longer, there is no point in waiting." Yan Jiu suppressed his inner anxiety and said calmly.

People from Yunzhou informed him through the servants in the mansion that the Xuzhou army had set out to attack and had now approached Yucheng.

If the Tianxing Left Army did not set out, the Xuzhou army would either continue to advance and be noticed by the Tianxing Left Army, or they would have to stop.

But staying in Yucheng is also risky. Such a huge army cannot be kept unaware of it for long. Moreover, the scouts also discovered that the Caizhou army in the south was also advancing towards Songzhou quickly, and it was almost as fast as the valley was ripe, and the speed was no slower than that of the Xuzhou army.

"Where is Jun Luo and the others?" Pang Yuan held his forehead with one hand and sighed sadly.

"Xu Chengjun left the mansion and has not returned yet." Yan Jiu replied.

Pang Yuan stood up, paced back and forth, and sighed, "Well, please recruit commanders from various army!"

"General, won't you stay in one army?" Yan Jiu asked immediately.

"Don't stay." Pang Yuan gritted his teeth and then said: "What's the point of leaving one or two armies? Should I leave it as a gift to Caizhou and Xuzhou? Let's go!"

Yan Jiu finally breathed a sigh of relief and bowed again, "The subordinate will arrange the order immediately."

Several steps out of the flower hall, Yan Jiu made a gesture to a servant hiding beside the corner ear room. The other party saw Yan Jiu's gesture and nodded slightly.

When Yan Jiu went to order the commanders of each army, the servant had already slipped out of the corner gate and crawled into a house not far from the commander's mansion. Soon, a horse ran out of the back gate of the house, changed a horse at the city gate, and left the city and headed east.

An hour later, the commander's army in the mansion dispersed, and the commanders of each army returned to the army and began to issue orders, and the entire Songzhou City began to become restless.

At this time, a cavalry from the South Gate quietly came out and headed south.

************************************

A faint sweat oozed out from the forehead. Yuan Wuwei looked ahead and breathed out a breath of turbid air.

Gushu City is right in front of them, and the travelers on the roadside were already scared and fled into the wilderness. Anyone who saw such a large army appeared, and it was obviously not the Liang army, should know what was going on.

Gushu was the old county of Han, the capital of the Shang Dynasty. It was a strategic location in the Spring and Autumn Period. It was called Gushu, with a fertile field of hundreds of miles, and it produced grain and wheat. Duke Huan of Lu, Duke Shang of Song and Duke Xuan of Yan once met here, so it became famous.

They set out from Yongcheng, and the scouts from Xuzhou also obtained news that the Ziqing Army stationed in Xiaoxian had disappeared two days ago, which made Yuan Wuwei and Yuan Wuwei very nervous, and they were always worried that the Xuzhou army would take the initiative to march towards Songzhou.

Of course, there are two aspects of worry. One is that the Xuzhou army will take the lead, and the other is that the worry will stimulate the Tianxing Left Army, who is about to return to the army, and it will be a dilemma.

If the Ziqing Army was only stationed in Xiaoxian, Yuan Wuwei would naturally be sure to enter Songzhou before the Ziqing Army. However, the Ziqing Army disappeared for two days in advance, and most of them had already sneaked into Songzhou, but they didn't know where the other party was hiding.

Pang Yuan had long been confused and had no intention of sending scouts to monitor the dynamics from Xuzhou and Caizhou. Even if he found out, he would find it difficult to deal with it, so he simply had no choice but to care about it.

If there is no speculation, the Zibo Qing army should be hiding in the Moshan area. There is not much hiding area from Xiaoxian to Dangshan. In addition to Moshan, Moshan is also quite far from Songcheng. Yuan Wuwei calculated that as long as his side speeds up his journey, he should be able to enter the city before the other party.
Chapter completed!