It was only on the fifth day that Shen Bing learned that the reinforcements had been blocked by the Huns.
At that time, more than ten Yuezhi cavalry arrived at Loulan, and some of them were wounded by arrows... The Yuezhi had business dealings with Loulan and were familiar with the terrain. After running through the starry night, they finally arrived at Loulan.
A paper letter they gave to Shen Bing.
Paper is currently only produced in Zhongyuan, and once words are written on it, it is difficult to change and cannot be reused. You can tell whether it is true or false at a glance.
The letter was written by Wang He.
This Wang He was the captain who was left by Shen Bing in Chencheng when Shen Bing attacked Chu, pretending that the grain and grass were burned, and letting Lord Chang Ping leave. Because he could adapt to changes and handle matters appropriately, Shen Bing always kept him with him.
Wang He was in charge of the second batch of reinforcements and supply troops.
The letter reads:
"Our army is still more than 400 miles away from Loulan, and the Huns have more than 10,000 horses."
"I sincerely request the general to allow our army to fight and march slowly to Loulan!"
Shen Bing agreed without thinking, and asked the Yuezhi cavalry to bring the message back to the army so that Wang He could do it easily.
Shen Bing understood what Wang He meant.
Wang He's army was not the main force. They did not carry artillery. In addition to food and water, the camels and carriages carried crossbow arrows, and there were also several carts of medicine bags and shells for the artillery.
It is not difficult for them to survive in this situation, but the speed will be much slower than before.
Just like what Wang He said in his letter, we should fight and keep moving towards Loulan.
This is also the flaw of infantry against cavalry...because without the mobility and speed of cavalry, it is easy to be dragged by cavalry on the road.
Shen Bing did not send reinforcements.
Because he knew that attacking Gu Shi was the best reinforcement for Wang He.
The Qin army rested in Loulan for seven days and set off.
This time they set off with more confidence, because they had previously captured a war horse and sheep from the Xiongnu, which gave the Qin army a lot more livestock and food.
If food is in short supply, it is not a bad idea to use the extra war horses as food. Although it is a pity, it is better than dying of hunger at the hands of the enemy.
In addition, the Qin army replenished many crossbow arrows from the Xiongnu and Loulan.
Xiongnu and Loulan usually do not use crossbows but bows.
But the requirements for bows and arrows are much higher than those for crossbows... This is determined by the higher hit rate requirements of Xiongnu, Loulan, etc.
Bows and arrows are sharp weapons used by nomads for hunting, and more sophisticated production is a must.
In comparison, the Qin army, as a farming nation, rarely used bows and arrows for hunting. They talked about batch size, that is, tens of thousands of people holding crossbows and shooting volleys at the enemy.
Therefore, these captured arrows were directly cut into lengths and used as crossbow arrows, and hundreds of thousands of crossbow arrows were replenished within a few days.
These additions were important, because when the Qin army was short of artillery shells, the only thing the Qin army could use to fight the Huns' cavalry was crossbows and arrows.
And these hundreds of thousands of crossbow arrows are far from enough.
Because hundreds of thousands may sound like a lot, but the Qin army had 10,000 people, and each of them needed 300,000 crossbow arrows.
Therefore, Shen Bing left a thousand men in Loulan, ready to send newly made crossbows to the front line at any time.
Another reason why it is easier is that my uncle is more than five hundred miles away from Loulan.
And unlike the "Kumtag" desert, which is full of sand mountains, it only takes nine days for the Qin army with many war horses.
In fact, Jiutian is not needed, because the Qin army's purpose is to cross the river.
Jiaohe is between Gushi and Loulan...not in the middle but in the shape of a triangle. Jiaohe is more than two hundred miles away from Gushi, and Loulan is more than four hundred miles away from Jiaohe.
So it only took the Qin army about seven days to reach their destination.
In addition, there is drinking water in Jiaohe, so the Qin army can carry less supplies.
The problem of supplying the army often falls into a vicious cycle. For example, it takes about thirty days for the Qin army to set off from Shazhou to Loulan, so the Qin army needs to carry thirty days of dry food and water, and these thirty days of dry food and water will become The heavy burden makes the march very slow, and the slow march means it takes longer and requires more supplies...
Fortunately, these problems have been solved, and the Qin army successfully occupied Loulan and used it as an advance base.
In terms of artillery, Shen Bing only brought five of them, and they were all "explosive rounds."
Needless to say why, Shen Bing had no intention of attacking Gushi City in this battle, so there was no need to carry heavy solid bullets.
This point once puzzled Wang Ben and others.
Wang Ben said:
"General, the Qin army has always been good at attacking and defending cities but not at field battles. Why did they do the opposite this time?"
Li Yan also advised:
"General."
"Although there are only 10,000 Xiongnu in Jiaohe, it is easier to capture."
"But attacking Jiaohe seems to have little effect, because the Xiongnu can completely abandon Jiaohe, and we will still have to attack Gu Shi."
Li Yan is right. The advantage of the Huns' cavalry is that they will disperse as soon as they are beaten. If they cannot defeat them, they will run away. From this perspective, attacking Jiaohe is meaningless.
But Shen Bing asked back:
"Why should we attack my aunt?"
Wang Ben and others looked at each other, and after a while Wang Ben said:
"The general's intention is that we will only attack the oasis and not our master?"
Shen Bing nodded and asked:
"Why not?"
Wang Ben said:
"But if that's the case, how can we drive the Xiongnu out of Gushi?"
Shen Bing just smiled and asked without answering:
"If I capture Jiaohe, where can the Huns' 10,000 cavalry go?"
Everyone turned their attention to the map, and then Yan replied:
"If the river is not defended, these 10,000 cavalry troops will have no choice but to retreat to Gushi, because there is no oasis within a hundred miles that can accommodate 10,000 cavalry troops."
Shen Bing asked again:
"What if I wait to capture Thrall?"
Sar is the third largest oasis after Gushi City and Jiaohe. There are 5,000 Huns cavalry stationed there.
He answered without thinking:
"These five thousand cavalry can only retreat to my uncle."
"In addition, the flanks and supplies of the more than 10,000 Xiongnu cavalry that penetrate deep into the desert will be threatened."
Shen Bing nodded and then stopped talking.
Everyone didn't understand what Shen Bing meant for a moment, and they all felt a little confused.
After a while, Wang Ben suddenly realized it. He put his hands on his hands and smiled:
"This plan is very clever, my subordinates understand it."
"The water and grass in Gushi City is only enough for 30,000 cavalry."
"If we drive groups of Xiongnu cavalry to Gushi, the city of Gushi will soon fall into a dilemma of insufficient water and grass."
"When the time comes, we won't need to attack the city. The Huns will abandon the city due to lack of water and grass."
Everyone suddenly understood and nodded in agreement.
What Wang Ben said was exactly what Shen Bing thought.
The Qin army is indeed good at attacking and defending cities, but not good at field battles.
But as mentioned before, field battles in the Western Regions and field battles in the grasslands are two different things.
Although the Western Region also has vast and flat terrain, the desert is also suitable for cavalry combat.
But almost all military activities are carried out around oases over competition for water and grass.
Even so, can this field battle still be called a "field battle"?