sweeping the world

Chapter 963 The Rising Star

The more than [-] grassland people who were surrounded were not all young and strong.

According to the characteristics of the grassland "army", unless it is an absolute elite, it is impossible for them to be all young and strong, mixed with many old and young women and children, but don't think that these old and weak women and children are all dragging their feet.

The old and weak women and children of the nomadic people are no less ferocious than the young and strong, just because of their physical disadvantages they do not have more fighting power than the young and strong.

Under normal circumstances, when nomads invade farming peoples and plunder villages, a small number of young and strong bring most of the old and weak women and children. Strong hands are few.

Dou'a's Junjishan school lieutenant went to take the surrender, and the prairie people who fell into despair and thought they would die actually let out cheers, as if what they wanted to do was not a surrender, but a glorious acceptance of liberation.

Prairie people do not reject surrender. Believing in serving the strong has always been a common denominator of prairie people. The disputes between tribes on the prairie have never stopped. After a defeat, it is their habit to join the winning tribe and continue to live. They will even become powerful because of it. One party is happy.

With the decline of the Xiongnu, the Han people were respected as the strongest in the known world, and it became a glorious thing for the grassland people to submit to the Central Plains dynasty.

About two to three hundred years ago, being selected to go to the Central Plains Dynasty to become a soldier became the greatest desire of the grassland warriors. By the way, the tribes on the grassland also felt that it was normal to submit to the Central Plains Dynasty, and it was abnormal to oppose the Central Plains Dynasty. .

It's just that the historical process was interrupted when Sima Jin's room was reached, and Zhu Xia's spine was also interrupted with the "clothes and hats crossing south".

The entry of nomadic ethnic groups into the Central Plains temporarily made the grassland people forget the horror of the Han people. Only a few old people still remember the "tradition" of submitting to the Central Plains Dynasty.

After the Han Empire decided to wipe out the disobedient ministers in the northern border, Li Tan led a standing army, together with the grassland frontier army and Junjishan Xiaowei's department, a total of [-] troops attacked.

The war started when Junji Mountain’s lieutenants were the first to enter the battlefield. They rushed to the Rouran king’s camp in Qionglong Ridge with light equipment. Yu Jiulubati did not expect that the Han army in Junji Mountain would suddenly launch an attack, causing Qionglong to attack. Ling had no defense at all.

During the First World War, Yu Jiulu Bati took the lead in fleeing without knowing the military situation. The Rouran people in Qionglong Ridge were also panicked and did not put up effective resistance. meet.

It was about the time when Yu Jiulubati called on all the tribes in Rouran to gather troops. Li Tan led a standing army to break into the territory of the Rouran tribal alliance.

Li Tan did not gather the entire standing army together to fight, but divided it into several troops to attack various Rouran tribes.

The Rouran king's tent in Qionglong Ridge was attacked by the Han army without any preparation, and the rest of the Rouran tribe was even more unprepared.

In just one and a half months, the Han army wiped out all the tribes in Rouran in Monan, killing more than 17 enemies and capturing [-] prisoners of war.

As the price of victory, the Han army only suffered less than a thousand casualties, which is a real victory.

Yu Jiuluba Ti assembled a part of the Rouran cavalry, headed east to the territory of Donggaoche, and at the same time sent people to the Rouran tribe in Mobei to gather troops and horses.

Around the time when Liu Yan ordered the firearms troops to go to northern Xinjiang to participate in the war, Rouran and Donggaoche formally formed an alliance.

When the war in Monan was in full swing, Lu Tai, the general of the Han Empire who conquered the east, also launched an offensive against the remnants of Tuoba and Murong.

As in the past, the two remnants of the Xianbei only made a small resistance and immediately retreated to the northerly area. The general's shogunate who conquered the East only achieved the result of killing more than [-] enemies and capturing more than [-] prisoners.

"The enemy army blocked at the bend of the river is the majority of grassland people that Monan can find." Xi Yin is not familiar with Zhong Xing, but only knows that Zhong Xing is a very senior old man in the Han army: " Among them are the Rouran people, the Chile people, the Qigu people... the tribes coming here are very mixed."

Zhong Xing was the commander of this firearms unit. There were only about 7000 riflemen and artillerymen combined, but his official title was General Zhonglang.

7000 people are in the army system of counties and counties. If they die, a military marquis will be the commander, and the standing army will be the school lieutenant.

The formation of only 7000 people is matched with a Zhonglang general, which has already shown the special nature of the firearms unit, and anyone can see how much attention is paid to it.

"The Chile people and the Qigu people are a branch of the Dingling people, right?" Zhong Xing was curious at first, since they were called the coalition army, why there was no Gaoche army: "How many of them have come?"

"There are 3000 chariots in Xigao, and only [-] troops from Donggao." Xi Yin had to introduce the battle process before the arrival of the firearms troops. The man ran away in embarrassment with his tail between his legs."

Xi Yin said so much, just to let Zhong Xing understand that they can actually annihilate the enemy army. It took so much effort and many twists and turns to give the firearms troops a perfect battlefield. I hope Zhong Xing will not Forget about that.

The Han Empire now had an established firearms force, and no one else became the commander of this firearms force, but Zhong Xing was selected. It can be seen that Zhong Xing is at least a figure in the heart of the emperor.

There is also competition within the army, and in many cases the competition is even very fierce. When waiting to compete vigorously, whether you have an impression on the emperor's side, and how deep the impression is, is definitely a key thing.

Zhong Xing became the commander of the first firearms unit, and the military will change his outfits one after another. As the first person to command the actual combat of the firearms unit, how blind must he be to not see that he is a rising star? A new military star?

Although the average age of the generals in the first echelon is only 40 years old, which seems to be the most golden age, but don't forget that people are over [-], because of the relationship between learning and experience, basically nothing will happen In the face of major changes, it may be difficult to get familiar with the new tactics and apply them flexibly.

When the army acquires new weapons and adopts new tactics, it is destined that the commander of the first firearms unit will rise to prominence immediately. Who will give up if such a person can be owed a favor?

"There is no enemy in a battle within a radius of three hundred miles." Xi Min walked to the bottom of the map of mountains and rivers, pointing to the southwest position of the North Sea (Lake Baikal, now called Bajini Dashui by the Hu people): "Rou Ran can Khan Yujiulubati and the leader of Donggaoche, Afulijian, have a combined force of about [-] troops stationed here."

Donggaoche only has a leader and no Shanyu or Khan. The leader is a white-skinned Dingling, but not all Dinglings in the tribe, the largest number is actually the Chile, and the Dingling is the second most populous in the tribe. There are Qigu people, Wu people, Luo people and other tribes.

Qigu people, Wu people, and Luo people are regarded as miscellaneous people, and the fact that their names are handed down from generation to generation means that their tribe is on the rise. Otherwise, any country will not call out their names individually, but will only use miscellaneous people to summarize them.

Zhong Xing did not appear domineering because he was valued, on the contrary, he knew exactly what position he should have.He decided to only wear his ears, and he would follow orders if Li Tan had any arrangements.

"General Zhengdong led his army to pursue this vast forest, and lost the traces of the two Xianbei remnants." Xi Yin's hand crossed a river system marked as Wanshui: "It is reported that there is a river here. Unknown cavalry, they are also approaching the North Sea."

The Monan area is now completely owned by the Han Empire, and bridgeheads have also been established in the place called Mobei, but in the northeast, only a small number of military forts have been built along the main rivers.

It’s not that the Han Empire didn’t pay much attention to the Northeast region of Mobei, it’s because it’s a season of ice and snow all year round, and at the same time, the ecology there is an environment where there are many trees among the mountains and rivers. It is also difficult to ensure that you will not get lost in the woods.

"This is a forest with an area of ​​more than [-] miles, showing a long shape." Li Tan said for the first time: "Your Majesty named it the Xing'an Mountains, and it is divided into two parts, the Great Xing'an Mountains in the west, and the Lesser Xing'an Mountains in the east."

What the Han Empire knew best was the part of the Xiaoxing’an Mountains. The reason was that it had long ago dispatched the Tuntian Corps to the southwestern area of ​​the Xiaoxing’an Mountains. Later, it moved 60 million slaves from the three countries of the peninsula to reclaim wasteland. Build a grain-producing area.

It has been seven or eight years since the Tuoba Remnant and the Murong Remnant retreated to the Xing'an Mountains area. At the beginning, the two remnants combined should have more than 25 people, but only one year later, there were less than [-] people left.

The fact that the two remnants of Xianbei lost so many people in just one year was not all because of the continuous pursuit of the Han army, but because the local climate was indeed very harsh, and there were countless beasts in the forest.

The surviving Xianbei people are the most tenacious group of people. They have survived the early life and death period, and they can be regarded as crossing mountains and ridges to the plains behind Xing'an Mountains. Throughout the year, winter, spring and most of autumn are permafrost covered with ice and snow.

A few years later, 25 combat and non-combat casualties were repeatedly killed and injured. Waiting for the Han Empire to launch another large-scale offensive this time, the two Xianbei remnants would flee without even thinking about it. Apart from being unable to beat the Han army, It also has a lot to do with the fact that they have less than 10 people left.

"The Tuoba tribe has decided to surrender to the big man." Li Tan said the news that no one will be surprised, and the most important thing is the latter: "They will serve as internal support after our army launches a new attack."

If we want to say which tribe among the barbarians will have the most comfortable life after the rise of the Han people again, then it is undoubtedly the Tuoba Xianbei tribe.

Of course, it’s not because there is Tuoba Xiu among Liu Yan’s four concubines, nor is it entirely due to Liu Yan’s hope that Tuoba Xianbei will independently Chineseize. It’s the above factors plus Tuoba Xianbei’s clear understanding of the situation and his choice to cooperate. , the Tuoba Xianbei tribe was regarded as a model, and received the best treatment in terms of resettlement.

After Li Tan said so much, he only wanted to express one meaning, that is, there will be no accidents at all in the war in the northern border, and the Han Empire must win the final victory.

Victory is inevitable, but who gains what credit is undecided.

The war in the northern border may be the last war that can be called a major war in the Han Empire in the past ten years. If the nomadic alliances in the northern border are resolved, not only will the northern border of the Han Empire no longer be threatened, it should be said that the surrounding areas of the Han Empire will be There is no longer a threat, and the importance of the military is bound to decline.

The last feast in ten years, those who have not been granted a title but want to be a title, don't want to wait another ten years, they must seize the opportunity.

People who have been granted a title also want to make their resume look better.

In a war that must be won, they not only need to win, but also fight well in order to submit a satisfactory answer to the entire country.

"Our department will join forces with General Zhengdong's department at the Zhuogen River (Selenge River)." Xi Min pointed to a large river system whose source is the North Sea, but which is thousands of miles long to the south. The meeting place is 150 miles away from the south of the grassland coalition: "What needs to be done is to force the enemy to fight a decisive battle before the snow season, eliminate the enemy in the northeast at one time, and wipe out their tribes. Then, send troops to the west Come on, prepare to invade Xigaoche!"

He said it very clearly, and no one had any doubts, so Li Tan asked the irrelevant people to step down.

"Together." Li Tan left Zhong Xing alone, and ordered someone to prepare a wedding banquet. After sitting down, he said, "How do you feel about leading the Firearms Army?"

"I would also like to thank the general for creating the opportunity." Zhong Xing raised his glass and invited to drink: "The general is free to drink, and the last general will drink up!"

The war here is over, and there are no enemy troops within a radius of three hundred miles. Naturally, rewards are needed after the army wins. Not only the generals can drink, but the soldiers can also drink in batches. There is no prohibition on alcohol.

"How do you feel about it..." Zhong Xing poured himself another glass of wine, and said with real emotion: "The times have changed too much, no matter how brave a warrior is, he can't resist a bullet."

A warrior can swing his weapon to smash the arrows when faced with archers' archery, but if he is asked to chop the bullets with a knife, he will definitely not be able to do it. It is really difficult to survive in the army just relying on pure bravery .

"Yong Zeng sighed a long time ago." When Li Tan was in Chang'an, he often heard Ran Min's sad spring and autumn, and said with a smile: "Watching the volley today, it is overwhelming. I guessed again and again when watching, if the enemy The army horses are not frightened, is there a way to deal with the formation of rifle soldiers?"

"Yes." Zhong Xing replied without even thinking about it: "The riflemen are organized into four horizontal and vertical lines. It is best to have horse repelling and fences. If there is no effect, the effect is slightly worse. After repeated exercises, it will be possible. Against the cavalry."

Li Tan imagined it in his mind, and concluded that it was probably a hollow phalanx in the shape of the word "口". He didn't really believe that this formation alone could effectively resist the cavalry.

Armies armed with cold weapons lined up in dense square formations against cavalry. There were examples of success and failure, but they were usually beaten passively.

"A large number of riflemen formed a hollow square formation, and each hollow square formation was within shooting distance of each other, forming a full hollow square formation..." Zhong Xing said a series of terms, and then concluded: "The enemy cavalry rushed in, They are shot in all directions, even if they can break through a few hollow phalanxes, they will still be defeated."

Li Tan understood in an instant, isn't it the scattered arrow array that Zhu Xia is best at?It's just that the weapons in the hands of the soldiers have become muskets.

(End of this chapter)