Chapter Thirty-Three: The Great War is Imminent

  Watching a group of fierce little kittens, Du He touched his chin without a mustache, feeling somewhat embarrassed.

  "What's wrong!" Li Jingye had felt that Du He was strange from the beginning, as if he was waiting for something.

  "It's not that these soldiers are all arrogant, the new commander has to put up with their attitude. But the ones in front of me are as gentle as kittens." Du He pulled Li Jingye's arm and whispered.

  Li Jingye's face showed some embarrassment, when he first took office as the left Weiwei Zhonglang general, he had been bullied by the soldiers under his command, but fortunately, his archery skills had subdued them, otherwise, he would have been shamed by the soldiers.

  Li Jingye explained in a low voice.

  Du He finally understood.

  They were not ordinary soldiers, but rather the most elite among them, belonging to Li Ji's oldest and most seasoned troops, who had followed him through countless battles and were the crème de la crème of his army.

  When he took office as the Left Weiwei Zhonglang General, all the previous Left Weiwei Zhonglang Generals were let go in shame. This was because the military ability of those who held the position of Left Weiwei Zhonglang General was not even comparable to that of the traveling generals and team leaders among them, and they did not have the ability to intimidate these veteran soldiers at all.

  But Du He was different, perhaps it was a coincidence that when he rushed into the palace to save Princess Chang Le, the day happened to be the turn of the Feathered Forest Army to be on duty, and most of the guards along the way were from Li Ji's Feathered Forest Army.

  Du He alone hugged a burden, under heavy siege, in and out with no one's territory.

  Especially at Yong'an Gate, the general who was defending Yong'an Gate that day was Wang Dezheng, and Du He directly jumped over his head.

  For these elite among the elite, Du He's actions were equivalent to slapping them in the face twice, a great humiliation, but at the same time, they secretly admired the extraordinary skills he had shown.

  They cannot forget that humiliation, which also means they cannot forget Du He's heroic bearing when he was surrounded by them.

  The strong will always be respected in the army.

  When Du He came to lead them, these proud old soldiers all cheered.

  Because Du He had already gained their recognition, although he was young, the strength he showed had already intimidated them.

  These three fires had been put out by Du He long ago, only at that time he was not in office.

  Knowing the reason, Du He's doubts in his heart all disappeared. He said loudly: "Everyone continues to practice as usual. I will take a look at your strength today."

  At his command, a thousand soldiers took their positions and returned to their respective training grounds according to their professions.

  They were expert mounted archers, riding back and forth on the right side of the drill ground, sometimes galloping, sometimes shooting arrows while bending their bows, sometimes shooting upwards into the air, displaying extremely excellent horseback archery skills.

  Infantrymen, martial cavalrymen, archers and crossbowmen were all training in the field, each movement and gesture showcasing the grandeur of the Tang Imperial Guard.

  "We, the Great Tang, are indeed as mighty as our reputation!" Du He stood on the school platform, secretly admiring and joyful. The soldiers before his eyes were even more impressive than Du Ruhui's personal troops.

  Li Jingye said with a sour tone: "This is natural, these soldiers are the strongest among my grandfather's troops, second only to his personal guards and the thousands of soldiers he personally led. I had my eyes on this battalion back then, but Grandfather said I was too rigid and lacked flexibility in using troops, so I wasn't suitable to command them. Who would have thought that Grandfather would give them to you!"

  Du He heard this and felt grateful to have a good superior, warmly patted Li Jingye's shoulder and smiled: "Don't be depressed, I'll take care of you from now on."

  Looking at these brave and skilled soldiers, Du He's mind also came alive, unfolding his training for the Feathered Forest Army.

  He first invited Luo Tong to the army as scheduled, originally planning to give him a small soldier and let him climb up with his own strength. After all, he himself had not been in office for long and it was not good to directly promote his confidants.

  However, this move did not gain the consent of the military officers. The name of Luo Tong Xiao Ba Wang spread throughout Chang'an. In their team, whoever had the strength would hold a high position. Coincidentally, the position of Right Lang General was vacant. After Luo Tong showed sufficient martial value, he became the Right Lang General in the army without hesitation.

  Du He applied the training methods he and Fan Yuanchen had sorted out in the army, and for these strong soldiers, heavy running was not considered training at all. However, continuous standing jump, push-up, pull-up, single barbell and other strength and explosive power exercises were still very helpful.

  Especially on these old soldiers' bodies, it has an unexpectedly good effect.

  Veterans have a characteristic, which is being strong-willed. Because they are elite, they possess a very strong desire to compete.

  For example, Old Soldier A did 300 push-ups in one breath, with the best results in the whole army. The other old soldiers were not convinced, so they trained behind each other's backs, determined to fight for victory.

  Others, such as continuous standing jumps, pull-ups, and single bars, are the same. They all strive to be the best, train with all their might, and don't stop until they're exhausted. Each one is eager to compete, regardless of time.

  In just a short month's time, this group of old soldiers' strength had actually improved significantly.

  The most obvious is the archer, and what the archers value most is arm strength. A month of hard training in push-ups, pull-ups, and single bars has allowed their arm strength to grow to new heights. In the past, they could only shoot 270-280 steps with strong arms, but after a month of practice, they actually shot an additional 20-30 steps, which is quite a significant improvement.

  There were also cavalry, the Tang Dynasty's cavalry was equipped with two kinds of weapons, one was a long spear and the other was a horse knife, which was a battle knife suitable for cavalry to slash. The long spear was used to stab during charging, and the horse knife was used to chop during close combat.

  Due to the increase in arm strength and explosive power, the cavalry who used to charge with lances could previously pierce two suits of armor, but now they can pierce two and a half, or even three suits of armor.

  The infantry and cavalry of Yue have also been strengthened significantly.

  Such effectiveness was beyond the wildest dreams of these veteran soldiers.

  In ancient times, the training methods for soldiers were mostly focused on their formation, killing skills and tacit cooperation with each other, without requiring too much individual strength, after all, a single soldier's role is not significant on the battlefield.

  So there is almost no way to exercise their respective strengths, and the only equipment is stone locks. However, stone locks are obviously not as convenient and effective as continuous standing jumps, push-ups, and pull-ups. Therefore, when they first accepted this kind of practice, their strength was significantly improved.

  This new way of training troops made even the old general Li Ji sigh in admiration, and he petitioned to Li Shimin with the hope that it could be widely promoted.

  For this reason, Li Shimin specially summoned Du He and scolded him, saying that he had such a good thing but kept it private and did not tell him early.

  Du He said with a wronged expression, like a resentful wife.

  "You little scamp, I don't know what kind of strange things you have in that head of yours, but they're quite useful. One day, I'll crack open your skull and take a look!" Li Shimin said with a smile.

  Du He hastily made a frightened expression.

  "Alright, stop pretending! Let's talk about the serious matter. As you expected, the Tibetans have defeated the Party Items, White Lan and Tuyuhun. I estimate that they will soon launch an attack." Li Shimin's expression turned solemn, attaching great importance to this battle.

  Du He smiled and said, "The Tubo people live on the plateau, they are used to the cold there, so they fear heat! The autumn is high and refreshing, it's the best time to send troops, within ten days, there must be a strange movement."

  Just then, Xizhou Governor Han Wei sent word that the Tubo army was approaching Xizhou!

  The great war is coming!

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