One thousand and forty-one The Battle of Heyin (3)
In the afternoon of that day, almost all the main force of the Han army under Zhidu entered the unknown highland.
Of course, now it has a name.
"Since this place is in the south of Heyin, and the hills in the north are slightly parallel to Heyin, then let's call it 'Jinan'!" Zhidu led Mo Daobing to a high hill and looked at the scenery of Heyin on the other side.
.
Thus, the name of Ji Nan was decided.
This is also in line with the values of Han scholars and officials.
The so-called vegetation has branches extending to the south.
When Zhidu stood on this hill, he discovered that this place was not only across the river from Heyin to the east.
Just go north, walk another hundred miles, and go deep into the Yangshan Mountains, and you can reach the Jiuyuan County of the old Zhao Kingdom.
Unfortunately, Zhao Zhijiuyuan County has long been buried by wind and sand.
Even the Jiuyuan counties and cities of Qin are probably only in ruins.
However, Zhi didn't have time to cherish the past and regret the present, because after standing here, he discovered that this section of the river was not frozen.
In other words, the scale of the freeze is too small.
The surging river rushed forward, heading towards Zengshan Pass where the Han army came.
Countless ice floes are mixed in the river water, rolling endlessly.
Even after a distance of more than ten miles, the sound of the rushing river and the sound of breaking ice can still be clearly heard.
Zhidu wore gloves, raised a pair of glazed telescopes made by Mo Yuan, and looked at the place from a distance.
Then, he saw cavalry in action on the other side of the river. Although he couldn't see the appearance of the people clearly, he could see these cavalry staring at the high platform across the river.
Zhidu put down the expensive glass telescope and put it away carefully.
This telescope is not cheap!
Just this one, the cost is close to 500 gold!
It took the painters of Moyuan a full year to gather together the colored glaze needed for more than ten sets of colored glaze telescopes.
Then, during the grinding and trial manufacturing process, most of it was lost.
Finally, only six pairs were made from the remaining ones.
One pair naturally belonged to the emperor, and the other five were all given to the general in this battle.
The pair here in Zhidu is currently the only six pairs of telescopes in the world.
Although the Mohists in Moyuan patted their chests and promised that in five years, even Sima Xiaowei of the Han family would be able to popularize this thing.
But Zhidu didn't really believe it.
How could this kind of glass, which is as pure and transparent as the sky, be easy to make?
This is a masterpiece that can only be produced by ghosts and gods.
Let alone five years, Zhi feels that in a hundred years, such colored glaze will be a luxury product and a treasure!
"Zhao Sima!" Put away the telescope, Zhidu called a cavalry Sima from the Thorny Gate Army, and ordered: "You immediately lead a hundred cavalry to investigate along the river. I believe that there must be someone who can cross the river.
Ice!"
Now, it is Yi Mao Day.
There were only two days left for the Han army to occupy Heyin.
In any case, the Han army must stationed in Heyin before Yiwei day, and complete its mission of attracting the power of the Xiongnu, creating a way for the main force of the Han army in the direction of Yunzhong to clean up the enemies in Ziling and Honghu fortress, and then advance to Dahe and go straight to Gaoque.
Create favorable conditions!
This is a task and mission that cannot be transferred due to the early departure of Yi Zong's troops or other objective conditions.
Soldiers have a duty to obey orders.
Now that the military order is issued, can the fighter plane be delayed for other reasons?
This is a major crime that will cause friendly forces to be trapped by the enemy and lead to the complete failure of the entire strategic deployment!
"No!" The Sima accepted the order with his hands, and then led his followers in the fighter plane towards the distant river.
In Zhidu's sight, they passed through a gap in the hills, passed through a canyon, went deep into the river, and then walked along the river.
"Report..."
At this time, a messenger with a command arrow came galloping over. He rushed to Zhidu and reported a sealed urgent military information to Zhidu: "General Chariot and Cavalry, urgent report!"
Zhidu took it and looked at it, then shook his head, picked up a pen and wrote some words on a piece of paper, sealed it, handed it to the messenger, and ordered: "Send it to General Chariot and Cavalry immediately!"
Ever since Ji Xin presented today’s world with the art of raising and training pigeons.
The Shaofu specially trained dozens of pigeon breeders to professionally domesticate homing pigeons and use them in the military.
Of course, now, none of the homing pigeons trained by the Shaofu are mature.
Therefore, at this time, the carrier pigeons that the Han family could use were the more than thirty pigeons that Ji Xin dedicated to the emperor.
During this expedition, there were professional pigeon carriers on all three routes of the Han family who accompanied the army with carrier pigeons.
Relying on carrier pigeons, the three armies of the Han Army could always exchange battlefield intelligence as quickly as possible.
This is also the reason why Zhi Du was able to get the news only one day after Yi Zong left the fortress.
However, this homing pigeon also suffers from losses when used.
Especially outside the Great Wall, there are so many birds of prey.
So far, Zhi has lost three homing pigeons.
By the time this war ends, I'm afraid there will only be a few carrier pigeons available to the Han Dynasty.
However, what Yi Zong said in the letter made Zhidu feel a little bit confused.
"Unexpectedly, our army has to face so many enemies!" Zhidu sighed in his heart, feeling a little afraid of the future.
But even more exciting!
Yi Zong's letter didn't say much.
Basically just two pieces.
The first thing is to tell him that the enemies the Han army needs to face this time exceed by more than one-third the number expected before the war.
Before the war, based on reconnaissance and intelligence.
The Han army generally expected to attack the land between the rivers, including Yulinsai, Gaoque and other important places.
The Huns probably had hundreds of thousands of settlements, eight to ten thousand cavalry, and a total force of about fifty thousand.
Even if the Huns sent reinforcements from Munan and Hexi, their total strength would not exceed 60,000 within ten days.
It is comparable to the strength of the Han army out of the fortress.
But now, Yi Zong's intelligence shows that the Huns have not ten troops in the River Land, but fourteen thousand horses!
Among them, they even included the Ten Thousand Cavalry of his Zuo General's headquarters, the Ten Thousand Cavalry of Shan Yu's headquarters, as well as the Ten Thousand Cavalry of the Huyan clan, the Lan clan and the Xubu clan.
Just these absolute main forces of the Xiongnu Empire also exceeded 70,000 riders!
And every one of the Xiongnu's Ten Thousand Horsemen is an elite member of the Xiongnu Empire, and the combat power of each of them is not much worse than that of the Zhelan people.
During the decades of war between the Han and Huns, the Huns invaded with great force.
However, even in the largest one, when 140,000 cavalry went south to invade under the command of Lao Shang Shanyu, there were only five of the original 10,000 cavalry!
Many times when the Xiongnu invaded, one or two of their own troops would act as the main force, coercing their servants and slaves, and they would do so with great force.
And Wanqi, the headquarters of the Huns...
Zhidu took a deep breath, feeling a little frightened.
In recent years, the Han family's infiltration and intelligence investigation of the Xiongnu have become more and more detailed.
Therefore, the reality of the Xiongnu Empire has been clearly understood.
The Xiongnu Chanyu boasted that he controlled 400,000 strings.
But in fact, the towns and tribes under his rule were far more than that.
It's just that it's difficult for him to fully mobilize and mobilize.
After all, the Han army's 60,000 troops marched out of the fortress, draining the Han family's treasury and the strategic savings, manpower and material resources in the north.
For the same reason, the Huns simply could not organize an army of 400,000 people.
Even if you add the slaves, the handymen, and the servants, it is impossible to reach such a scale.
After all, you can imagine that 400,000 people are at least 800,000 horses and millions of livestock.
Livestock and people of this size are enough to turn into a moving natural disaster on the grassland that is more terrifying than locusts.
They will eat up all the grass on the road, even the grass roots in the soil.
They will drink up all the drinking water along the way and leave behind mountains of human and animal excrement.
Then, in the second year, wherever they pass, there will be no grass growing, and sand dunes or even deserts may even form!
Let the Huns never graze in these places again.
This is almost indistinguishable from suicide.
Therefore, in fact, when the number of troops reached one hundred thousand, even the Huns would find it difficult to bear it.
An army of 200,000 is almost the limit.
As for the story of the invasion of Nannan by 400,000 men like the Battle of Pingcheng, it is almost impossible to happen again.
Because the Huns no longer have such conditions.
This is also one of the theories of prediction and judgment before the war of the Han Dynasty.
But, looking at it now, I still underestimated the Huns!
Think about it, from Yulinsai to the south, the land surrounded by the Yin Mountains covers an area of thousands of miles.
It is almost equivalent to the total of at least four major counties of the Han family!
Such a vast land could support more than half a million Huns nomads.
Even if you draw one out of five, you can gather 100,000 troops!
What's more, Yi Zong's intelligence showed that the top leaders of the Huns, Zuo Dangtu and Zuo Danghu Lantuoxin, mobilized their respective headquarters forces here before the war.
He also brought with him ten thousand cavalry from another great Xiongnu nobleman, the Lan family, to come to the rescue!
"More than fourteen Wanqi!" Zhi Du thought about the content of Yi Zong's intelligence and couldn't help but cursed: "Damn it! Damn it! Yi Di really can't believe it!"
How could such a large-scale mobilization of Xiongnu troops be hidden from the Han family's clueless ears and eyes buried inside the Xiongnu?
Therefore, this incident actually proves that this person is playing tricks!
Fortunately...
"Fourteen thousand riders?" Zhidu snorted coldly.
Within today's Han army, some proud soldiers proudly shouted the slogan "One Han serves as three barbarians".
As for the Huben Guards, the Yulin Guards and the Xiliu Camp, they claim that they can "do ten barbarians in one summer."
Although this is a bit exaggerated, it also reflects some facts.
Except for the elites from the Xiongnu headquarters and ace thugs like Zhelan, the Han army was crushed regardless of their skills, tactics, firepower or physical fitness!
Even the elite of the Xiongnu headquarters were better than the Han army in riding and equestrian skills in front of the main force of the Han army.
but……
In front of horseshoes, stirrups and saddles, these so-called bow-guides are just scum!
Cavalry with horseshoes and cavalry without horseshoes are completely different arms in terms of mobility and flexibility.
What's more, the Han army also had the ability to shoot and aim freely on horseback.
Moreover, no matter what kind of cavalry, it is impossible to get any benefits in front of the Han army's invincible cuirassier array!
According to Zhidu's assessment, this army under Zhidu could at least defeat 30,000 Huns cavalry in front without falling behind.
but……
Thinking about the other thing mentioned in the Uprising Letter, Zhi couldn't get any happier.
Yi Zong asked Zhidu to go north after occupying Heyin and capture the old city of Jiuyuan County of Qin and Zhao.
At least we should make a posture of heading north.
Does anyone know why this is?
The answer is simple. The Xiongnu's strength in the Hejian Land greatly exceeded the number estimated by the Han army before the war.
No matter whether it is Zhi Du, Yi Zong or Cheng Bu Shi, the pressure they are facing is greatly increasing.
Therefore, Yi Zong's troops needed Zhidu to make sacrifices to attract more Xiongnu troops.
This allowed Yi Zong to occupy a vast area on the south bank of the river and clean up the Xiongnu forces, creating favorable conditions and reducing pressure.
but……
"There are not enough troops..." Zhidu sighed.
Of course he also wanted to help Yi Zong.
But, it’s beyond my power!
His entire army's combat strength was only over 15,000 men.
Among them, there are about 9,000 cavalry and less than 10,000.
The rest are infantry, and recruits account for as much as 30%.
What's more, Zhidu also sent troops to protect his supply lines to prevent Huns from attacking his supply lines from the flanks.
This means that Zhidu must allocate at least a quarter of his strength to protect his supply lines.
The remaining army, even if everything went well, captured Heyin without any damage.
However, Heyin also needs protection.
If you want to keep Heyin, you must keep at least three thousand cavalry.
In this way, the actual troops he can use are only a few thousand.
This also includes infantry.
When heading north to the ancient city of Jiuyuan, Zhi is likely to face enemies from Yiliang, Jiuyuan, Gaoque and even Ziling.
It was attacked from almost three sides.
So, this is not realistic.
But Zhi couldn't ignore Yi Zong's request.
Because strategically speaking, the real key to determining the outcome of this war is Yi Zong and his main force of the Chinese army.
In order to win, it is bearable to pay some sacrifices and costs.
"Call all the military captains!" Zhidu issued the order: "Discuss the matter of going north immediately!" (~^~)
