Because I was traveling lightly, I didn’t even bring enough military rations, let alone other supplies.
The so-called encampment is nothing more than surrounding the troops with the looted supplies. The prisoners were guarded in the middle, and the soldiers lit bonfires and cut up the flesh of the dead horses and roasted them.
Is horse meat poisonous?
Don't be ridiculous, there is horse meat sashimi in Japan, but it just smells too fishy.
Before they embraced Lamaism, the Mongols would also eat horse meat, but now everyone roasts and eats dead horses without any objection.
More importantly, horse meat is hot and dry, so eating it at night can keep you warm.
Wang Yuan came to Zhang Wei: "Is Sir Alex's injury okay?"
Hui'an Bo Zhang Wei quickly stood up and saluted: "I'm sorry, Master Wang, please don't call me a lord...hiss!"
"Stop talking." Wang Yuan soothed.
The right side of Zhang Wei's face was scratched with a machete. The wound was so deep that his cheekbones were visible. His ear was also cut in half horizontally. Now most of his face is tightly wrapped.
Eunuch Zhu Ying also narrowly escaped death. He fell off his horse in the second half of the charge and fainted on the spot. Fortunately, he had a helmet as a buffer, otherwise his brain would have burst. This shows the necessity of wearing a helmet when driving at high speed.
Zhu Ying said sadly: "Brother Wang, I will have no chance to fight in the future."
Wang Yuan smiled and said: "After the injury is healed, we will fight together on the battlefield. I will only lose two fingers on my left hand, so it won't be a problem!"
"Hey." Zhu Ying smiled sadly.
Although this dead eunuch was not trampled to death after falling off his horse, the ring finger and little finger of his left hand were trampled to pieces, and they were stepped on by his own cavalry.
As the commander-in-chief of the army, Wang Yuan went to comfort them one by one, otherwise the morale of the troops would become even lower.
After all, there were more than 8,000 cavalrymen, more than a thousand were killed in the battle, and hundreds more were injured.
Such a battle loss ratio is already very, very high for a makeshift and miscellaneous unit. If replaced by infantry, it is likely to collapse directly on the battlefield.
But the cavalry is not so easy to collapse, or in other words, there is no time for the cavalry to collapse!
The collapse of the cavalry mainly occurred in three periods:
First, before the battle, they fled directly due to fear of the enemy;
Second, in the process of back-and-forth testing and guerrilla warfare, one party was defeated due to low morale;
Third, after the hedging is over, it will collapse directly if it cannot hold on.
But no matter what, it is impossible to be defeated when hedging against the enemy.
Because as long as you enter the high-speed charge phase, the human body will secrete a large amount of adrenaline, putting the rider into a state of excitement, and cowards can turn into warriors in a short time - friends who often race cars should have experienced this.
The process of cavalry hedging and fighting is very short and ends in a few minutes. How can there be a chance for the cavalry to collapse during this period?
If Wang Yuan's side had not been attacked by friendly forces on both wings, it would definitely collapse after the confrontation. But once the friendly forces on both wings arrive, it will only be the enemy who collapses!
A cavalry battle is like this.
Either one of them tests each other and then escapes, with negligible casualties; or the two sides directly confront each other, causing huge casualties in a short period of time.
In flat open areas, there is no strategy at all.
Wang Yuan had already received news of the pursuing troops west of Chiting City. He had to return quickly to avoid the cavalry from Chiting City coming out and being flanked by the enemy from east to west.
After passing Chiting City, if the enemy dares to pursue him, then before the enemy has recovered his strength, he can directly turn around and fight back head-on. We cannot keep delaying, because Wang Yuan is escorting a large number of prisoners and trophies, and any delay will only make the enemy more vulnerable.
Recover your physical strength and look for opportunities to launch a surprise attack along the way.
I have no choice but to be reckless.
After Wang Yuan finished appeasing the leaders of the Han cavalry and the Mongolian cavalry, Zhang Zigao suddenly came over to find Wang Yuan.
"President Wang Zhi, I'm asking you a question that shouldn't be asked," Zhang Zigao said, "How do you plan to deal with the Turpan army?"
Wang Yuan thought for a moment and felt that there was nothing to hide, so he roughly said: "Loot, burn and kill, anger Mansu'er, and induce his army to take the initiative to attack. Relying on the Hami city as a defense, use infantry and firecrackers to defend the city, and the cavalry waits for opportunities.
Launch a decisive battle against the Turpan army."
Zhang Zigao asked: "How many fire gun soldiers are there?"
Wang Yuan did not answer.
Zhang Zigao said: "If the infantry can ensure that the city of Hami is not lost, then maybe we can hold back the Turpan army in Hami. President Wang secretly leads the cavalry to surprise the royal city of Turpan!"
"Surprise attack?" Wang Yuan suddenly became interested.
Zhang Zigao picked up a dead branch and drew a simple map on the ground: "I was born in Hami, and I also know something about the Western Regions. I like to study everything about the Western Regions in history books. During the Han and Tang Dynasties, there were a total of
Five routes. One is to take the Yangguan Road and pass Ruoqiang, which is the South Road. The second is to take the Yumen Pass and pass Loulan, which is the Loulan Road. The third is to take the Yumen Pass and go straight to Gaochang. This is the road that Tang Sanzang took to cross the Liusha River.
…”
"Wait a minute," Wang Yuan said in surprise, "Isn't Gaochang the current Turpan? Can you go directly through Yumen Pass?"
Zhang Zigao shook his head and said: "It was possible during the Han and Tang Dynasties, but it is no longer possible. Many small oases have turned into deserts."
Wang Yuan was suddenly speechless.
Zhang Zigao smiled and said: "The remaining two are Yidong Road and Yibei Road. They can both be called Yiwu Road. Yiwu is today's Hami area. Wang Zongzhi can start from Hami and go out through the northern mountain pass, along the
Go west along the Snowy Mountains, pass by Bali City (already abandoned), and go straight to Yangji Bali (Changji)!"
Yangjibali is a city in Turpan's rear area. After capturing this city, he captured a small city on the way, and the royal city of Turpan was exposed to Wang Yuan's iron hoof.
If Mansu'er dares to go out in full force, Wang Yuan can lead his troops to make a surprise attack in a detour, and they can kill the city behind Turpan!
The route given by Zhang Zigao, if marked according to the place names of later generations, would be: Hami - Barkol - Qitai - Urumqi - Turpan.
The whole journey is about 1,800 miles, which is definitely a journey of thousands of miles.
Wang Yuan himself couldn't even think of a long circle from the northern foot of Tianshan Mountain, let alone King Mansuer of Hami.
"I know." Wang Yuan was noncommittal and did not accept the suggestion directly.
Zhang Zigao was not discouraged, he just smiled and left with fists in his hands.
This guy's family has been ruined, and all he proposes are poisonous schemes. Once Wang Yuan succeeds in his attack, Turpan will definitely be destroyed. Even if Mansu'er's main force is still there, they can only flee north to compete with Xiaolie Tu for territory.
Scholars are terrible, especially those from barbarian lands!
As for whether this plan is feasible, it depends on whether Man Su'er will cooperate with him. Only when Man Su'er leads the main force eastward can Wang Yuan dare to attack thousands of miles away, otherwise he will be blocked in the hinterland of Turpan.
Mansuer could not launch military operations for the time being, because the Turpan nobles were already in internal strife, and he had to settle those nobles first.