After the New Year's Day celebration, the war machines of the Tang Dynasty were fully operational. Prime Minister Liu Youqiu also took off from the affairs of the Political Affairs Hall and was fully responsible for the relevant matters of the saint's Western Expedition.

Since the Tubo invaded Qinghai during the reign of Emperor Gaozong, the Tang Dynasty had to set up heavy troops in Longyou to defend and defend. This time, since the emperor wanted to personally lead the expedition and solve the problem on this side once and for all, the entire war plan of the Tang Dynasty was also extremely huge. Just preparing to invest in this war, the army planned to have 200,000 troops.

In the war plan made by the Privy Council, the 200,000 troops that would be invested in the war were mainly divided into three aspects.

First of all, there are naturally the original troops in Longyou and surrounding areas. Since the Kaiyuan period, the imperial court's military investment in Longyou has continued to increase. So far, the number of troops in Liangzhou, Shanzhou, Hezhou and Taozhou in Longyou alone has reached more than 100,000.

Although the more than 100,000 garrisons included a considerable number of the peasant soldiers who opened the border to farm, not all of them were elite front-line armored soldiers, these military soldiers were not completely without combat effectiveness. They could also be armed and put into battle when needed.

In addition to the troops that were already stationed in the Longyou prefectures, the court would have to organize and raise nearly 100,000 troops. Although the scale of this military recruitment was quite large, it was not difficult for the current organizational ability of the court. Especially after the martial arts exercise in Mount Li last year, the states in the world always had military preparations and the court dispatched them deeply.

However, although the court had such organizational power, it did not intend to dispatch 100,000 troops from the central government. The elite troops in the central government were only 30,000. Moreover, these 30,000 troops would not be devoted to the front line of combat without any need, but were just a guardian army to protect the safety of the saints.

As for the lack of people, they must be recruited from the surrounding barbarians. The number of people and horses sent by the Huhu represents the rank and status they each have in the new banish order of the Kaiyuan New Year of the Tang Dynasty.

In the past few years, due to frequent chaos between the two imperial guards, the Central Imperial Guards have almost been demolished and rebuilt since the Kaiyuan period. The pattern of internal guards and Beijing camps formed today has brought the standing troops of the Central Imperial Guards back to the level of more than 100,000 again.

This time, the imperial court sent troops to protect the saints and participate in a series of wars in regaining Qinghai, and there was another important significance, that is, to show the strong combat effectiveness of the central imperial guards to the border towns, thereby restoring the central court's deterrence to local border states.

After all, in the past few years, turmoil in the court has occurred one after another, and major reforms have occurred in which the government military system has been completely abolished. Today, the central imperial guards can still maintain a few percent of their combat effectiveness, which is a doubt that many people in the world cannot help but feel.

Therefore, Liu Youqiu, who was in charge of the selection of soldiers, did not directly draw troops from the imperial guards, but instead gathered with generals such as the inner guards and the Jingying to select the best from the full range of advantages of the soldiers' physical fitness, military skills, and morality.

The collapse of the Tang Dynasty's military system was not short-term. From the middle and late periods of Emperor Gaozong, the selection of Long March athletes began to make up for the lack of military soldiers. In the new Kaiyuan Dynasty, a large-scale military exercise was launched. Therefore, the court naturally accumulated a wealth of military selection rules and traditions. Various selection standards and processes such as being able to defeat armor, being able to bear weights, and being skilled in archery and horse skills have also evolved to extremely mature.

The standards for selecting soldiers in the army are extremely strict, far beyond ordinary people's ability to achieve them. For example, the five stone bows, arrows penetrate heavy armor, spears, swords and halberds are used flexibly, and they are called fierce and righteous men. They control galloping horses, stand and ride freely, cross the city and walk without leaving any traces, and are called a nimble man. They travel back and forth for 300 miles, go out and return at night, and are called a nimble man. They carry 630 kilograms and walk fifty steps, and are called a nimble man.

Such types not only exceed the cognition of ordinary people, but even the ones that can be achieved in the army are elite people selected from a hundred.

In addition to the selection of imperial guards such as the inner guards and the Jingying, the court also specially opened up channels for the people to enlist in courage and resolutely. Most of the young and middle-aged people who have ambitions and achievements and are confident in their own skills can join the recruitment and selection.

The people of the Tang Dynasty were martial. Generally speaking, there were great movements in the border court, and there were always many people who bravely applied for the recruitment and enlistment among the people. For example, the famous general Xue Rengui took the initiative to join the Rong brigade when Emperor Taizong Li Shimin fought in Goguryeo and made his mark in this war, with the courage to win the army.

This time the saint was about to personally conquer Qinghai, and the people's enthusiasm for response was extremely high. Almost at the same time as the imperial decree was announced, the young and strong people in Fangli rushed into the recruitment locations of the two counties and governments in Chang'an Wannian. These two Fang areas were overcrowded for a time, forcing the government to choose the recruitment locations in the suburbs outside the city.

The court also attached great importance to the recruitment of the imperial guards and the people this time, and specially formulated a title of "Jingbian Jian" for this purpose. Any athlete who can be selected in this recruitment will be awarded a reward.

While the selection of soldiers in the court was in full swing, the relevant military supplies were also busy mobilizing.

Emperor Taizong of Tang once said in the past year that I am the one who deserves ten, but only the armor is strong and the soldiers are powerful. Of course, Taizong has a sense of modesty. Even if he put aside various objective factors on the battlefield, his tactical and strategic talents are also the first-class level in the world.

However, this sentence also summarizes the reasons for the Tang army's strength, the strong combat power of individual soldiers and the excellent weapons and equipment together formed the powerful combat power of the Tang army.

Although the imperial court dispatched only 30,000 troops directly this time, the various military supplies dispatched were huge. Putting aside the most basic food and grass, more than 80,000 collars were used for various types of armor, battle robes and other protective gears. This does not include the equipment that was transferred to the Longyou army not long ago.

As for various types of armies such as swords, bows and crossbows, they are basically rationed according to the number of large troops one to one-to-one five. Moreover, since the opponent of this battle also has a good level of armor defense, relatively high-end armies such as armor-shooting arrows are even more rationed, and this item alone uses a 300,000 inventory.

In addition, there are also fine-grained cowhide shields with 50,000 faces, 20,000 horse spears, and 8,000 wicked swords. And other miscellaneous species are even more numerous.

This is the case in terms of mechanical use, and the number of animal power such as cattle, horses, donkeys and other animals is even more amazing. After several years of rest, the Longyou Herds Supervision has recovered and has reached a reserve of more than 200,000 horses. Despite this, the court still drew more than 50,000 war horses from other herds supervision, and all of them were mobilized to Chang'an at the beginning of the new year.

The animal power of other pack horses, donkeys and other transportation supplies was more than several times the number of war horses. For a moment, looking west from Chang'an, the roads were full of chariots and horses.

While Chang'an City was still busy preparing for the expedition, the saint had already left Chang'an City and went from behind to Xianyang to pay homage to the imperial tomb, begging the former kings to bless this expedition to restore the might of the Tang Dynasty.

There are many rituals in it that are not repeated. When the king and his ministers return to Chang'an again, the time has reached the end of January. At this time, various military preparations in Chang'an City are approaching the end of the year.

A total of 30,000 elite strong troops have been stationed in the west of Chang'an City, waiting for the emperor to come and review at any time. The large army supplies raised have also begun to be transported, and the baggage team is constantly moving westward.

Before Li Tong could deeply understand such a grand scene of golden swords and iron horses, he first met the team of court officials who came to greet and complain on the north bank of the Wei River.

"In this conquest plan, the army has not yet gone west, and the treasury has been searched for more than half. Especially the arsenals such as Hedong and Weinan have been exhausted, and eight out of ten are exhausted..."

Yao Yuanchong, the prime minister who was responsible for staying in Chang'an, looked solemn, held the book he had just sorted out and reported to the saints about the current savings situation of the court to the saints.

Of course, Yao Yuanchong did not report these things to complain. After all, he had predicted similar situations long ago when discussing and discussing them. However, seeing that the savings of several years of rest and rest spewing out in such a short time, he was really not in a good mood.

While listening to Yao Yuanchong's report, Li Tong carefully read the plan with his hand. To be honest, his heart also felt a little painful. However, the rest for several years was to fight bravely. The war was the fundamental national strength. If all kinds of military supplies were just hoarded, they would be just a bunch of dead objects.

"The Beidu military weapon supervisor still needs to strengthen its development. After a few years of savings, the funds will only be a battle. Now the government and the country are brave enough to be brave enough to be strong. You must never damage the national morale by such disturbance!"

In terms of basic money, grain and materials, the situation can still be maintained, but the emergencies of various military materials are an urgent problem that needs to be solved.

Since the Taishang period, Li Tong had already built armored soldiers in Weinan. By the Kaiyuan period, this scale expanded to Hedong. However, there have been consumption in the border areas over the years. In addition, the foundation he inherited was too thin. The Qinghai battle alone almost emptied the imperial court's arsenal savings over the past few years, which shows how much the war consumed national strength.

When Yao Yuanchong heard this advice, his face felt bitter again. However, before he could speak, Li Tong continued, "It is not easy to restore the prestige of the country. But the old rulers and ministers have accumulated strength for several years, and the country's family can overcome the enemy and make the country strong. Now that we are in this position, even if we do not want to be superior to the emperor, we should also strive to keep our predecessors and avoid laughing at the back."

Although he said this, Li Tong was already thinking in his mind that in the next battle, in addition to achieving the strategic goal of regaining Qinghai, he also had to try his best to ensure that there were enough benefits to return.

After all, he was not as awesome as Emperor Yang of Sui and had a strong family background, and could squander all plans at any cost. This time, the imperial court paid such a great price for the Western Expedition, so he really had to take all the Tubo Zanpu shit out of the land to ensure the healthy and orderly development of the Tang Dynasty's national strength.
Chapter completed!