Daqin Engineering Corps

If you want to send [-] troops to Loulan, how much food and drinking water do you need to bring?

In addition, there are arrows, artillery, ammunition... How many camels do these need?

How much fodder and water do you need to bring with you when you take your horses on the road?

These are not ignorance, but after detailed calculations, I found out that it is simply unrealistic to attack Gushi... I am afraid that all the camels of the Yuezhi would not be enough for 3 people to march.

Fortunately, the set strategy was to attack Loulan.

So the Qin army sharply reduced its strength to eleven thousand, and the extra thousand were Pulei cavalry who were familiar with the terrain.

It was not ready until [-] camels were collected from Yuezhi.

Chapter 4 Hydration Points

Even so, Qin Jun's trip was light and simple, removing many dispensable equipment.

For example, spearmen and sword and shield soldiers originally carried a bow and several quiveres with them, but now they are all abolished and replaced with dry food and water.

Except for the reconnaissance cavalry, all the cavalry dismounted and walked, and those on horseback were water bags filled with water.

One of the reasons for doing this is to consider that it is unlikely to encounter Hun cavalry in the early stage.

And even if they encounter the Huns cavalry, they are prepared. Once the cavalry receives a warning from the cavalry, they only need to loosen the water bag on the horse's back and turn it over to the ground, and then they can mount their horses and fight.

On the other hand, the first thing the horse troops consume is the supplies carried by the horses, so the horses will be "liberated" in a short time.

Dry food is mainly what is called "naan" in Yueshi, and Qin people call it "Hubing", which means cake made by Hu people.

Hubing should be said to be the best and most convenient food for long-distance travel in the desert and Gobi where water is scarce.

On the one hand, it can be stored for a long time and is convenient to carry.

At the same time, it also contains a certain amount of water... Fried flour is also easy to carry and is small in size, but it is completely dry fried. Obviously, it needs to consume a lot of water if it is used as dry food, and it is extremely difficult to swallow when there is no water.

More importantly, the nutrition of Hubing is more comprehensive. When making it, not only oil, eggs, sugar, salt and other raw materials are used, but also some "Siyadan" is sprinkled on the surface.

The so-called "Si Yadan" is the unique black grass seed in the Western Regions, which is very similar to black sesame.

Shen Bing believes that this is mainly to supplement vitamins.

Finally, we will catch up with [-] "Altai sheep" unique to the Western Regions.

This kind of sheep is unique to the Western Regions. Its advantages are strong limbs and muscular development. It can not only travel long distances, but also endure hunger and thirst, cold and heat, and strong disease resistance.

They encountered some hay on the road so that they could survive by gnawing on it. If they starved to death, they could use it as food to supplement the army ration that night.

After making these preparations, the army set off in mighty strength.

The first few days were fine, although there was no water but weeds were occasionally seen on the road.

From the third day on, there was endless yellow sand, and the temperature rose as soon as the sun was hot, and it was like an iron pot under the feet.

According to Jing's introduction, this desert is called "Kumtag", which means "sand mountain".

This name is apt, because as far as the eye can see, there are mountain peaks made of sand. The Qin army circled around the foot of the mountain, and sometimes had to climb over the mountain...so on the map, the distance between Shazhou and Loulan It doesn't look that far, but it's actually much farther.

There were no surprises or dangers along the way, but when marching No. 13 days to reach the first water supply point, they found that the place had been poisoned by the Huns. The water was full of white-bellied fish, and some drinking water around them died of poisoning. animal.

This was already expected by Qin Jun.

Because this battle is for water sources, including the Qin army's capture of Loulan.

The Xiongnu wanted to make the Qin army unable to attack the city as much as possible, so of course they had to prevent the Qin army from replenishing water.

Li Yan asked Shen Bing worriedly:

"General, if the second hydration point you mentioned is also poisoned by the Huns..."

This is the shortcoming of attacking Loulan,

Everything has advantages and disadvantages. Although attacking Loulan can make the supply line safer and face fewer enemies, the problem is that the march and supply line are too long... [-] miles.

Qin Jun has tried all kinds of methods, but the water he can carry can only last for [-] days, which is still calculated based on the minimum ration.

Calculated by fifty miles per day, this amount of water is just enough to allow Qin Jun to walk out of the desert.

But what about after getting out of the desert?

Can the water-deficient Qin army capture Loulan immediately?

Or would the Qin army, who was exhausted at that time and knew that there was not enough drinking water, still have the ability to capture Loulan?

If not, what is waiting for the Qin army is likely to be annihilated, even if it has artillery.

So it is very important to have a water replenishment point on the way.

This is not only a matter of physical fitness, but also a matter of the morale of the Qin army.

Shen Bing was also a little worried, so he called for him.

Shen Bing didn't ask the nonsense that he was not sure whether the second water replenishment point was safe, because he couldn't be sure either.

He just said that the second water supply point is relatively hidden, and not many people even know about it in the Western Regions. Dig deep into it and can't find it at all.

But at this time, the Xiongnu had fully grasped the aunt and Loulan, especially Loulan... Loulan was closer to the water supply point, and the people must know more.

What if the Xiongnu knew about this water supply point from the people in Loulan?

Can't be sure of this.

So Shen Bing directly ordered:

"You immediately take Pu Leijun to the second water supply point to check the situation!"

"If the Huns don't find out, they will protect them around. Otherwise, they will return immediately!"

He answered yes, and led a thousand horses with water and food, and set off.

After Yu and his party left, Shen Bing thought about it, and asked Ren to catch up with him, and confessed:

"Secret report!"

Although there were only two words, Jiang understood the meaning behind it.

Shen Bing worried that the second water supply point would also be destroyed by the Huns, which would affect morale.

The result is that whatever you worry about comes.

Just as Shen Bing and his party were heading towards Loulan, Jiang sent a messenger to deliver the secret letter to Shen Bing himself.

It turned out that the second water replenishment point was also discovered by the Huns, and the Huns ordered people to seal the water replenishment valley with rocks.

Shen Bing just glanced at it, then nodded to the messenger and ordered:

"Very good, then go back and tell the captain to guard the water source, and don't let the Huns do anything wrong!"

The messenger was puzzled for a while, but under Shen Bing's gaze, he still responded, and then returned the same way.

Li Yan asked:

"General, is there something wrong with the water supply?"

Shen Bing replied:

"I only encountered a small number of Huns, but luckily the captain has repelled them!"

"You immediately send a thousand soldiers to respond."

Li Yan responded, and then assigned a thousand infantry to search for Ji's troops.

At the same time, Shen Bing ordered with great fanfare:

"The water supply point is under the control of our army, and our army has no worries about water supply!"

"Hurry up and take down Loulan with all your strength!"

The soldiers responded loudly and moved towards Loulan confidently.

Shen Bing may be lying to them, but sometimes he has to do it on the battlefield, because it is not a good thing to let them know the truth at this time.

What's more, Shen Bing believes that the water carried by the Qin army is enough...

The desert is hot during the day and cold at night. As long as you make arrangements to avoid marching during the hottest time and march for a few more hours at night, you will have more supplies when you arrive at Loulan.

At that time, it will depend on how long the Loulan city wall can last under the artillery of the Qin army.

Chapter 4 Nineteen Reinforcements

The so-called full set of acting, Shen Bing then sent someone to send a letter to Jiang, explaining it so and so.

Then, waiting for a group of Pu Lei troops to return to the army just before the Qin army arrived at Loulan, he patted the water bag on the horse's back and shouted:

"I have already brought back drinking water, let me wait a few days for the happy attack on Loulan!"

For a while, the soldiers of the Qin army burst into cheers, and their morale increased a bit.

Li Yan didn't see anything wrong, but Wang Ben felt that something was wrong, he leaned close to Shen Bing and said in a low voice:

"General, that water..."

Shen Bing glared at Wang Ben, and then Wang Ben understood.

Wang Ben read it right, the water bags in the row were not actually filled with water, but filled with weeds and looked swollen.

The reason why Wang Ben was able to see the problem was because he found that the lips of Ke Xingxing were thirsty, chapped and wilting, as if they had returned from carrying water.

Fortunately, most of the soldiers of the Qin army were not so careful. If someone stepped forward to check, they might show their feet.

Shen Bing's estimation was correct, because the Qin army rushed overnight to reduce water consumption, so that the Qin army arrived in Loulan one day earlier.

Loulan is well known to modern people because of the excavation of a nearly square ancient city with a side length of more than 300 meters in modern times.

But Loulan at this time is not the location where the ancient city was unearthed...

Just like Yuezhi and Wusun migrated with the war, Loulan also migrated, but its migration was due to the depletion of water sources and had to change its route and move south.

The Loulan City that appeared in front of Shen Bing at this time seemed to be somewhat similar to the unearthed one. The city wall was also a square with a width of more than [-] meters.

More than three hundred meters... If it is placed in the Central Plains, it can be said to be a village rather than a city. It is no wonder that the Huns can only station [-] troops here.

Seeing the Qin army approaching from afar, the Loulan City head blew horns and ignited wolf smoke.

Then the whole of Loulan became tense. The Xiongnu who were walking in the distance hurried to Loulan, and two other teams of about 2000 people each left the city and spread out to the two wings.

From this point of view, the Xiongnu's defense tactics have improved again, knowing that the defense of the city cannot be defended and "combined offense and defense".

For example, in Loulan at this time, if the Xiongnu concentrated all 1 people in the city, then the Qin army could safely block and surround the city gate, without having to worry about the other side or even night raids... The Huns were all captured. Sealed in the city, Qin Jun will soon be able to find out if there is any movement.

But if [-] are left to defend the city and the other [-] leave the city...it will put a lot of pressure on the Qin army.

Because I don’t know when, the four thousand Huns will suddenly appear behind the Qin army and launch an attack, or when the Qin army is climbing the wooden ladder to attack the city, the Huns will suddenly kill the Qin army from the flanks to the inside and outside.

It can be seen from this that the Huns are planning a protracted war.

Wang Ben seemed to be aware of this too, and he said to Shen Bing:

"The Huns may have reinforcements, and they should be on their way!"

Shen Bing nodded in agreement.

Although the Xiongnu's division of troops outside the city has the function of "combining offense and defense", it has a weakness, that is, once it is blocked by the Qin army, it cannot be supplied, especially water.

Of course the Huns cavalry knew this, but they still divided their troops outside the city and did not bring much supplies.

Then there are only two possibilities, one is that there is a water source outside the city, and the other is that there are reinforcements.

It is almost impossible to have water outside the city.

Jiang and the others are no strangers to this area, and they know that there are water-scarce deserts around Loulan... Even Loulan doesn't have much water, only a small oasis.

This is also the reason why Loulan had to abandon the original city and move.

So there is only one possibility left: the Huns have reinforcements with a lot of supplies, and they will arrive in the next few days.

Shen Bing and Wang Ben guessed right, the Xiongnu did have reinforcements.

This is what the Huns did when they found out that the Qin army was going to the southern line.

Qin Jun's move to take Loulan on the south line was unexpected by Xun Yun, and even by Mao Dun Shanyu.