sweeping the world

Chapter 1067 Before the Great War
The Western Expeditionary Army of the Han Empire came to Jilongpo and did not continue to advance westward. The reason is that the current force is not suitable for marching, and there are still "outsiders" around. Threat of back instability.

In fact, there is another factor, and that is Xigao Che.

The Hunnites survived in name only in a great war, and the Alans in their country fled to the Aral Sea to join the Alan tribe there.The descendants of the Northern Huns followed Aditya Batra, and they didn't want to continue fighting with the Han people. I heard that the people in the west were relatively weak, and they returned to their origin as a whole tribe.

Hunnit, which exists in name only, is out of the game no matter how you look at it, and the next target of the Han Empire is Xigaoche.

As an enemy of the Han Empire, Xigaoche appeared on the stage in the ninth year of Yuanshuo. As the countries and tribes that opposed the Han Empire were wiped out, Xigaoche survived until now because of the distance and the swampy sea.

The Han Empire had already invaded the territory of Hunnit, and it no longer needed to cross the swamp area with a length of about [-] miles to attack Xigaoche.Under this premise, the Huns, who were not weak, were so vulnerable to the Han Empire, so Xigaoche chose to give up their habitat and migrate westward.

The Junjishan Captain's Department was established, initially to guard against the Xigaoche and Rouran tribal alliances, and of course to monitor the Western Regions.

The Rouran tribal alliance was eliminated, and the Western Regions returned to Zhuxia's arms. The remaining duties of the Junjishan Captain's Department were to target Xigaoche.

Originally, the Han people didn't know that Junji Mountain was a swampy area spanning [-] miles to the west and northwest, and they didn't know that they could only march there in the short summer. There is no need to exist anymore.

Junji Mountain was chosen as the military unit for the formation of the first firearms division at the back of the school lieutenant's department. As a school lieutenant's department, they seemed a bit redundant. On the premise of not abolishing it, Junji Mountain is also an important strategic place. Choose here It is quite appropriate to build a firearms division.

In the 14th year of Yuanshuo, the Han people explored three iron mines and one copper mine in Junji Mountain, and even explored one saltpeter mine.

There are three iron mines, and one is a super-large iron mine. After mining, it is smelted. It is found that the ore of this super-large iron mine is very good.

At that time, the prime minister's office came up with a suggestion, considering that the Han Empire would inevitably move westward in the future, is it necessary to use the resources on Junji Mountain to build an industrial zone on the spot?

Considering the distance between Chang'an and the Persian Sassanid, and the fact that Chang'an's resources are transported from various places, the amount of resources that will be needed for the Western Expedition in the future should be built in front of an industrial zone.

In the 15th year of Yuanshuo, the fourth firearms construction base was completed in Junji Mountain, and started production after a year and a half of construction.

So far, although Junji Mountain is still unable to produce finished firearms and bronze cannons, it mainly produces parts and components, and it is possible to maintain the equipment of the frontline troops.

In fact, there is only one industrial zone in Chang'an that has a complete production line for manufacturing firearms, and the other three are artificially restricted.

There was only one factory capable of manufacturing gunpowder before Yuanshuo 15 years ago, and it was in the Qinling Mountains.In the 17th year of Yuanshuo, it increased to six. The reason is naturally that with the formation of the army and the installation of firearms, the need for gunpowder will continue to increase. If there are no more gunpowder production factories, the firearms can only be used as stabbing guns. .

Junji Mountain is no longer considered an overseas territory, but the vast grasslands are regarded as part of the mainland.

The General's Office had previously proposed a proposal to build a firearms and gunpowder manufacturing factory in Asan Continent, but their discussion was rejected only when they reached Menxia Province.

The production method of gunpowder has always been strictly protected by the Han Empire, and the secrecy is far higher than the production methods of flintlock guns and bronze cannons.

If there is no gunpowder, even if countries make flintlock guns and bronze cannons, what is the use?

Xie An now has more than 8000 firearms troops, and the number of bronze cannons of various calibers has reached an astonishing 480.

Bronze cannons used in land warfare, counting the gunners and support personnel, regardless of the size of the caliber, require at least ten people to serve each one, and more personnel are required as the caliber increases.For example, a 180mm caliber for land warfare requires two Shi to serve it.

Using bronze cannons on land is not about installing, fixing, loading, and firing. Each bronze cannon also needs special logistics support personnel, such as transporting gunpowder and shells, performing maintenance and maintenance, and so on.

That's just people, the smallest caliber 75mm bronze cannon requires two mules and horses; the largest caliber 220mm bronze cannon requires six mules and horses.This is not a spare animal power, which shows how laborious it is to move the bronze cannon on land.

The flintlock troops are better, mainly because the riflemen don't need people to serve them, but a huge logistics force is still indispensable.

The firearms division has not yet been fully staffed, but there are more than 8000 soldiers, but there are nearly [-] auxiliary personnel. The reason is that once a more sophisticated weapon fails, it is really not like a knife or gun that has a gap and can be used after repairing or polishing. , What is needed is professional maintenance.

Xie An, who was inspecting the firearms division's camp, saw Xie Ai walking quickly and stood where he was.

"General." Xie Ai said with a salute: "The scouts reported that the Persians have sent out a partial division. Based on the route of the march, it is inferred that they are going to Jidoruo."

The two armies, separated by 120 miles, have a large number of eyes watching each other anytime, anywhere, but they cannot escape the other's peeping if there is a little trouble.

"As expected." Xie An was not too surprised by this: "What is Chang Shi's opinion?"

"The scouts also reported that the enemy army has moved to clean up the camp, presumably it is to support the partial division." Xie Ai did not hesitate too much, and suggested: "The enemy's partial division to Ji Duoluo is beneficial to the big man, so you don't need to react. The enemy's army is advancing eastward, but our army has to express it."

The fact that the Western Expeditionary Army did not continue westward does not mean that the Persians will not respond to any movement.

"So..." Xie An had a plan long ago, but because of his personality, he would communicate with Xie Ai. Seeing that Xie Ai had expressed his opinion, he nodded and said, "Then send the Habayashi army to fight."

There were only two troops with special numbers in the Han Empire, the Huben Army and the Habayashi Army.

In the early days, the Huben Army, as a heavy cavalry, had a strong sense of presence, and indeed showed their value on the battlefield, but as gunpowder was thrown into the war, they became passive.

The Habayashi Army was the first mixed unit of cavalry, cavalry archers and light cavalry in the Han Empire, and it was also the first standing army unit with more than 5000 personnel.

Like the Huben Army, the Habayashi Army served as the main force in the early days and would appear on all major battlefields.

Unlike the Huben Army, even if the Han Army began to use gunpowder, the Yulin Army was still active in various battlefields, but it was no longer the absolute main force.

Li Jun, who received the military order, showed an overjoyed expression, and said to the visitor: "Please reply to the general, Habayashi will definitely not disappoint the general."

As the Zhonglang general of the Habayashi Army, Li Jun, like other generals with cold weapons, felt a lot of pressure from the emergence of firearms troops. What is a little consoling is that compared with infantry, their cavalry-based legion , Even if firearms appear, they still have their own uses.

"Wings for the country, like a forest!"

Shouting slogans, the knights led the horses and galloped out from the shaft gate, followed by a pack horse and another auxiliary horse.

The current full strength of the Habayashi Army is 3 people. Xie An's military order is to let the Habayashi Army fight alone to deal with the nearly 15 Persian troops that have already moved.

The Habayashi Army who left the camp began to gather according to their own types of troops, and soon divided into camps of cavalry, cavalry, light cavalry, and trains, and then the light cavalry took the lead and headed west.

Although they are cavalry, they are equipped with a huge number of carriages.

Of course, the cavalry's supply team also needs to have a high enough movement speed. They carry related things for the combat troops, including combat materials and living materials, and they will also carry materials needed for setting up camp.

An army is never that simple.There are too many details. If a general has poor coordination ability and does not have a qualified assistant, the army will fall apart in minutes, and then it will fall apart.

The movement of the Habayashi Army to pull out the battalion must be seen by the Persian scouts.

What follows will be another chase and escape among the scouts. It depends on whether the Persian scout who discovered the information returns, and the news will be known to the rear.

With 3 soldiers, more than 12 auxiliary soldiers, and no less than [-] horses, a large black shadow is moving westward from a bird's-eye view from a high altitude.

This large black shadow is splitting itself. About [-] light cavalry and [-] archers left the formation, and they formed a group of every [-] light cavalry and [-] archers, and then formed two new black masses. Shadow, advancing westward at a very fast speed.

Li Jun personally led all the assault cavalry and the rest of the troops to march at a normal speed. They will soon distance themselves from the two separated troops, and then maintain a distance of about [-] miles until they collide with the enemy. till contact.

At a distance of 120 meters, the Sassanid army had been busy for six or seven hours before they were able to prepare all the things that should be taken away from the camp.

Before that, there was a group of [-] infantry who set out first. They were [-] heavy cavalry, [-] archers, and [-] ordinary cavalry, and the rest were infantry on foot.

Because of the mixed formation of infantry and cavalry, their marching speed was not fast, probably at a speed of about seven or eight miles per hour.

The overall appearance of this area is a barren surface, but it is not limited to deserts or Gobi. There are vegetation formed by weeds on the ground, but there are no forests. There are at most a dozen or so trees in one piece. More of a single tree.

Because the Persians are the hosts, they have a more comprehensive grasp of the terrain. The planned marching route is to be as close as possible to places with water sources. Otherwise, even if they carry water sources, there will be as many as [-] people walking a hundred miles away. Not to mention that they didn't die on the Han army, but a large number of people died of thirst.

After the Han army came over, the first thing they did was to draw maps. The maps were not so standard. The general terrain of mountains and rivers was drawn, and where there were water sources were also marked. The main reason was to pay more attention to the distribution of water sources. For the convenience of marching.

The two armies of the enemy and our own are both marching towards each other. If there is no change in speed and the night falls and the camps are not stopped, the vanguards of the two sides will probably come into contact after eight hours.

In this area, both the Han army and the Sassanid side sent out a large number of scouts. The two armies did not fight each other, but the fights between the teams were very frequent.

The Han army has made special statistics, and the number of damaged scouts has exceeded 70, of which [-] scouts are missing.

Persia also has statistics, but the data is not as clear as single digits for the Han army. Their own calculations show that more than [-] people were lost.

This is the empire. There are so many scouts lost before the war. If it is a small country, it is hard to say whether there are two thousand troops in the whole country, let alone such a number of scouts.

Time is passing, but at this time, Tiangong made a joke with the two marching troops.

"Why are there suddenly dark clouds?" Li Jun looked up at the sky, his eyes saw the light in the dark clouds, the next moment there was a flash of lightning, and then he heard thunder in his ears: "The whole army stops, and the engineers immediately build a camp! "

In terms of altitude, this area should be counted as a plateau.

The Han army is not so unfamiliar with the plateau climate, especially Li Jun, who has repeatedly participated in the Northern Expedition, is well aware of the horror of thunderstorms on the plateau.

In fact, even if there is no thunder and lightning, if it is only raining, the march will be terminated unless it is urgent.

In such a year, there is no quick-acting cold medicine after a cold in the rain, even if there are Chinese herbal medicines to cure the disease, it needs a slow process.

About 10 minutes apart, the two armies that were seventy or eighty miles apart stopped marching. Unless the scouts among them were in the fighting stage, they were rushing to find a place to hide from the rain.

The conditions of the scouts of the Han army are definitely superior to those of the Persian army. They will find a place with a gentler terrain, away from the trees to avoid being struck by lightning, and then take out the linen blanket from the package of the auxiliary horse and put it on first, and then take out the blanket with the tent Cover with the same fabric again.

God will not wait for the people on the ground to get ready to rain again. After the first drop of rain falls, the whole sky seems to be cracked, and it is pouring rain in an instant.

Li Jun's tent was of course one of the first ones to be set up. Standing on the side of the tent, he frowned and looked at the heavy and urgent rain: "This rain is really coming at an untimely time!"

you do not say?Obviously, he set out aggressively, but he had to stop halfway. If he was superstitious, he would think it would be a bad start.

(End of this chapter)