Sweep the World

The grassland area currently ruled by Han is probably a little bit further outside of Inner Mongolia of the later celestial dynasty. The territory is not completely controlled, and there are still some "blank" areas with some uncontrolled tribes.

The grassland is too big and wide, especially there are no obvious landmarks. It only depends on the stars, the sun and the moon to identify the direction, or with the compass as a tool, really don’t expect how accurate the route can be. There is a little bit on the map. Deviation, the actual walking may be more than ten miles away, how big the range of ten miles should be, it is not difficult to hide some people at all.

In the era when the cavalry dominated the roost, it wasn't actually how capable the cavalry was, it was that they were able to fight as much as they wanted, and the mobility of the infantry was much higher than that of the infantry. Military deterrence of cavalry has not always been placed on the frontal battlefield. It is their excellent mobility that can be used when people are not paying attention, and they can be quickly withdrawn after an attack.

The most entangled part of nomads is not how powerful they are on the frontal battlefield. Farming peoples usually dominated by infantry can hardly find them, and even if they want to engage in decisive battles with the main forces of nomads, it is difficult to find opportunities.

If you look at the history books, you will find that when the nomads were at war with the Central Plains dynasty, even if the pure cavalry group had fought head-on, it could be counted that the infantry-based farming nation won the most times, even the cavalry unit. The loss of defeat is also quite limited, but as long as the Central Plains dynasty, which is dominated by infantry, fails, it will be a heavy loss.

"We control a part of the grassland, based on the premise that they (the nomads) will go southward."

The reason why Liu Yan feels that this is a good time is that the nomadic tribes on the grassland should go south. When they go to the Central Plains, they lose the greatest advantage of the nomads. They don’t have the grassland as a cover, so it’s not looking for a bad place. People can't find it in hiding.

The group of nomadic tribes that are more able to fight and are the most aggressive go south. Those who stay on the grassland are basically those who are not enterprising. In fact, most of them are left behind. The most difficult thing to control the grassland is not fighting. In destroying or capturing them, how to find them.

"The Hulu we dealt with is fundamentally different from the Hulu we dealt with before the Han."

At the beginning of the Western Han Dynasty, the Huns were still in the Semi-Stone Age. They rarely possessed iron weapons, and their melee weapons were stone axes, stone spears, maces and the like. The rise of the Western Han Dynasty.

Until the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, in fact, the nomads on the grasslands did not enter the complete Iron Age, that is, the number of metal weapons in the hands of soldiers has increased. The forces of the Central Plains can form an advantage over the nomads, except for the previous Han army to the nomads. In addition to the lesson of sufficient impression, it is a comprehensive lead in weapons and equipment.

Without joking at all, the arrowheads are arrows of bones or stones, which have a certain killing effect on people without armor, and those who wear leather and iron armor should be blinded.

From the Western Han Dynasty to the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Han Empire fought against the nomads on the grasslands. The Han army has always been harassed by the nomads’ cavalry or cut off the supply line, causing food shortages or weapons that cannot keep up, or being trapped or retreating. Or surrender, other than that, there is really no example of troops with the "army" as the unit being wiped out in a battle.

The Han Empire will be suppressed by the Hun Empire. It is the Han Empire’s blindness to the mobility of the Huns’ cavalry forces. Even if they know where they are, they will be gone after the chase. More often, the chasing troops will be occupied instead. The enemy's mobility superiority intercepts or ambushes.

The nomads after the Western Jin Dynasty have fundamentally completed their evolution, and finally they have been in line with the times and entered the era of large-scale use of ironware. That was when they finally entered the Central Plains and gained the territory, they also had enough labor and production capacity. Before, they didn’t even have armour and equipment, but the number of assault cavalry was pitiful. Only Yu Ting Wang Weijun could afford ironware.

Liu Yan seems to have read an article where the nomads mastered a complete set of smelting techniques that took place during the Wu Huluohua period, and that tribe was the Khitan after the split of Yuwen Xianbei.

The Khitan inherited the inheritance of the Tuoba Dynasty on the grassland, and then picked up the land left by Murong Xianbei after he went south to the Central Plains. During this period, he obtained a considerable number of Han slaves. They fully mastered the smelting technology but obtained it from Goguryeo. Since then, the Khitan has become the first nomad that can master a complete set of smelting technology.

In fact, the Five Huohua phases are really important for the nomads. They completed their first entry into the Central Plains in this era and taught the nomads behind them a precious lesson.

To say that it is spiritual wealth to inform the nomads behind that they can also enter the Central Plains. The first rule of the Central Plains also left a considerable amount of heritage. From that moment on, the nomadic society began to have the shadow of farming people, such as the military. System and some technology.

It was the first time that nomads were able to rule the Central Plains. After this, any overlord who ruled the grasslands had a goal. That goal was no longer an unattainable dream. It was that they could really get in and become the master of the Central Plains. From then on, the nomads regarded the Central Plains as a place of mere robbery. It was a small goal to grab a run, and it was the big goal to get in and rule the Central Plains.

What's the opposite? It’s that the Central Plains Dynasty has never been able to own the grassland, even if it occupied a part of the grassland for a certain period of time, but it really didn’t understand what benefits the grassland can bring. Instead, it invested huge military expenditures to maintain possession and often gave up on its own. The control of the grassland retracted.

"In the widow generation, we must complete the rule of the grassland." When Liu Yan spoke, he stretched out a hand and compared it with a drawing gesture: "A lot of talented people once said that there will be no future troubles. The widow will do it."

The rule of the Han country over the grassland is based on blood. Every time there are formed cavalry or scouts of the Han army on the grassland. Only if they are willing to become a part of the Han country and accept management can they live on the grassland. Go down. It must be said that blood is very useful on the grasslands, forcing the unwilling tribes to flee far away, unable to escape and not wanting to die, they can only be digested by the Han.

"Big Han's operating income in the grassland is huge." Li Tan is in charge of military affairs in northern Xinjiang. There is nothing wrong with Li Tan. Because the army plays an extremely important role, he also has a clear understanding of other things: "The grassland is providing a steady stream of meat to the hinterland. , And also developed textiles."

The most important thing is weaving. Wool was considered to be of no value before. Shepherd herding sheep was purely for dairy products and meat. Waiting for the creation of wool weaving is to open the door to a new century.

Nomads are not naturally poor and vicious. In fact, they have so many means of survival. The income of grazing is far more unstable than farming. After a rinderpest, sheep plague, and horse plague, a huge tribe will The food needed to survive is directly lost. If you don't want to starve to death, then of course it is to grab, and there is only one method of grabbing.

In contrast, even if farming is a natural disaster, the resistance of the farming people is far higher than that of the nomads. At least the farming people can still have grain reserves, and there is no saying that there is no such thing as a grain reserve for the nomads. In addition, the farming people also know that in addition to serious food, some plants can also survive, and there are many ways to survive, and brutal methods are not the first choice. This is also one of the reasons why the farming people are considered relatively moderate.

Within the grasslands ruled by the Han, pastoralism is no longer purely for dairy products or meat. Shepherds pay more attention to the benefits of stalking the wool, or the sustainable benefits, instead of killing and eating the meat. It is the sheep that can grow again after being shaved, generating benefits again and again.

From the northwest to the grassland, you need to pass another mountain before entering Junji Mountain. That mountain used to be of considerable significance to certain nomads, and its name was Khan Mountain.

Khan Mountain was where Li Ling was defeated and surrendered in the Western Han Dynasty. After surrendering, Li Ling became the right sage king of the Xiongnu and became a tribe of the Xiongnu following the Han army who was forced to surrender. For a long time, the place where Li Ling trained troops for the Huns was near Khan Mountain, and Wei Lu, the tribe of the Changshui Hu who originally served in the Han army and surrendered to the Huns, was a neighbor.

Time is passing, and even tragic or tragic past events will become talkative. For Liu Yan who visited here, what he learned was the remnant foundations of some buildings left behind during the Li Ling period.

Drought and locust plagues have not yet affected this area. Looking around from the high ground, you can see some scenes of sheep grazing. If it is more poetic and picturesque, a group of white sheep wandering around may be conceivable. What are the white clouds floating one after another.

This area is close to the territory of Xigaoche, and the locusts in Xigaoche are raging. Waiting for the food to be eaten there is cleaned up. If there are no accidents, there will soon be overwhelming locusts in the area.

"We have cleared a gap of more than two hundred miles away from a hundred miles north of this place." In order to give Liu Yan a more intuitive impression, Li Tan took out a chapter of a schematic diagram. He pointed to the picture and continued: "From here to here, when you are ready, it will ignite and burn out a scorched land about five miles wide."

Liu Yan knew about this in advance, or was an order issued by him himself.

The locust plague in Xigaoche is really exaggerated. The intelligence sent back by the spies repeatedly used the adjective "no grass can grow". No one knows whether burning a piece of scorched land can prevent the locusts from going south, but you have to try it anyway.

Han will not allow the withdrawal of troops or people from the grasslands to happen. Once you withdraw, wanting to come back is more than trouble, and there may be costs. However, if the locusts are infested, they can’t be retreated, or else to keep people in the grassland is to let them die.

"How far is Yu Jiulu Bati from here?" Liu Yan got the answer, pondered for a while and asked, "When will I be ready over there?"

Clearing out a blank area is not an easy task. Enough livestock have been mobilized to graze, and huge manpower needs to be used to carefully clear it. It has been three or four months, but the completion of the project is still far away.

"You can't let Yu Jiulü Bati discover what we did for." Liu Yan is not sure whether it is useful or not. As long as there is one in ten thousand feasibility, people in Rouran shouldn't let Rouran learn: "Yujiu After Lu Bati came over, he set off immediately."

Rouran is now in a vague position between an ally and a non-ally for Han. Han needs Rouran to find Donggao Che, Tuoba Remnant, and Murong Remnant not happy, and he is wary of Rouran itself. That’s because The rule of Han in the grasslands still appears weak.

Yu Jiulü Bati was Rouran's ruler at any rate, and he had to be forced to a certain amount before he could bring only a thousand cavalry into the Han realm. The Rouran under his rule was also affected by the locust plague. The border between the west and Xigaoche was not ravaged by dense locusts, but too many Dingling people were attacking the border of Rouran.

Of course, Rouran was definitely frightened by the locust plague that occurred in Xigaoche. She didn't know how afraid she was that the place where she lived would turn into a scene of the Dingling people.

The Han country has done research on Yu Jiulu Bati's adventure into the Han realm. There must be some deepening relationships. More often, he personally asked Liu Yan for help.

Liu Yan met Yu Jiulü Bati at Khan Mountain, and it was the first time for the two to face each other.

Yu Jiulü Bati must have been taught in advance...or what kind of way he should be restricted to meet Liu Yan, but he doesn’t know if he can’t remember it or didn’t take it seriously. After the conversation, it's not unreasonable to say that it sounds nice~www.wuxiamtl.com~ to say that it sounds bad is pretty unreasonable.

"Is the widow’s ears okay?" Liu Yan wondered if he had heard it wrong just now: "At least 200,000 stones of plant food, no less than 200,000 sheep and 20,000 cows; 20,000 bows and 50,000 swords. , 50,000 guns..." He couldn't read it anymore, looked at Yu Jiulü Bati with a look like an idiot, then looked at Li Tan and asked: "The widow army is defeated by Rouran. Already about to be captured?"

Inside the military tent was the sound of a weapon. One of them was staring at Yu Jiulü Bati. If Liu Yan allowed it, he should pounce on the corpse.

The Rouran people in the tent were more tragic. Except for Yu Jiulu Bati who could bring in weapons, the rest of Rouran were disarmed. They looked at the Han who suddenly became fierce with fear, as if they didn't understand what was going on.

Yu Jiulu Bati didn't seem to understand either. He looked at Liu Yan in a puzzled manner, and said puzzledly: "We are allies. Isn't it normal to ask allies for help when in trouble?"

At that moment, Liu Yan finally knew why the rest of the nomads called Rouran people "creepy people", whether they had low intelligence and only rely on force to fight wars, no tricks, more defeats and less victories... The Han people don't know much about it, but like A bug that can't think, seems right.