Destiny Only Han

Chapter 820 Liu Ying: Concentrated power can penetrate stubborn stones...

Port Arish.

Many dark-skinned Egyptians rowed their reed boats to and fro between the port and the sea, collecting the corpses of the Romans who died in battle.

In fact, they didn't want to care about it.

After all, for the Egyptians in Arish City, the Seleucids were invaders, and the Romans were also not a good thing, no matter which side it was, it would be better to die!

But helpless, the Han people gave too much...

Every time they fished out a Roman corpse from the sea and transported it to the desert south of the city to bury it, they would get a big spoonful of mustard!
The kind that is fresh, crispy, sweet and spicy!

Although Arish City is surrounded by deserts, the fact that a city can be built here means that there is no shortage of water resources, especially fresh water resources, so the Egyptians in the city actually do not lack edible vegetables.

But their special thirst for mustard lies in the spices!
You know, limited by the traffic conditions at this time, even the most common peppercorns and star anise in the Han Dynasty are almost equivalent to gold in Egypt, thousands of miles away, not to mention that there is a lot of salt in mustard, and Peppers never seen before by the Egyptians.

Salty and spicy, it has been an artifact for the poor since ancient times!
Therefore, except for those Arish people who had to take care of the shops or workshops, other men and women who could move all rushed to the port, scrambling to participate in the clean-up of the battlefield.

On Arish's simple city wall, the three giants of the Expeditionary Army stood holding on to the railing, with satisfied smiles on their faces.

People here don't know what a disease is, but they know it in their hearts.

Now that the army is gathered in this small city, if the corpses of the Romans are allowed to float in the water, it will inevitably have a certain impact on the water source in the city, and the disease will also spread indirectly to the city through rats, and then infect the military camp outside the city.

Well, although the Egyptians regarded cats as gods, and there were no less than a thousand wild cats in the city of Arish, cats were also indirect hosts of the disease.

Therefore, throwing the corpse into the dry and hot desert can curb the reproduction of germs to a certain extent.

The most important thing is that the desert looks desolate, but in fact there are many wild animals, especially the iron-like stomachs, and there are countless scavengers who are not worried about being infected by bacteria.

Like vultures.

So within three days, thousands of corpses will turn into bones, and then be weathered in the desert, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, and disappear completely in this world.

But after seeing the busy scene of the whole people for a while, Xu An showed a look of joy and worry on his face.

When it comes to arranging troops and commanding in battle, he is not as capable as Mrs. Fan, and he is not as good as Chong Zhong when he leads troops to charge and kill ten times. Therefore, he took the initiative to serve as the logistics that the two guys avoided. .

Therefore, Xu An's joy lies in the fact that he can use a small amount of sweetness to win a wave of goodwill among the Egyptians, and at the same time find out their bottom line, which is convenient for future governance and large-scale recruitment of them to join the logistics support ranks.

The worry is that the reserves of military resources are almost unable to keep up with consumption.

There are about 5 soldiers in the Southern Expedition to Egypt. If the navy and logistics workers are included, the total number may be close to [-].

You must know that this is [-] mouths. In this era when food is the main food and non-staple food, that is, meat, egg and milk, a healthy soldier eats about five catties of food every day!
For example, it is recorded in "Book of Songs Volume 86" that there are 48 soldiers and [-] hu of rice per year.

One dendrobium is ten liters, and 48 dendrobium is 480 million liters, which is equivalent to six to seven liters per person per day.

"Liang Shu Jiang Ge Biography" describes that in the late Liang Dynasty of the Southern Dynasty, Jiang Ge, the general of Zhenbei, was captured by the army of the Northern Wei Dynasty and was abused by them.

After all, it is recorded in "Pei's Notes on the Three Kingdoms: Zhuge Liang's Biography" that Zhuge Liang ate three liters of rice every day when he was seriously ill. Sima Yi was very happy after knowing this, and even directly said "he is about to die".

In other words, three liters of food a day is just to maintain life, and it is definitely not a normal person's appetite.

Calculated in this way, the 40 Han and Seleucid coalition forces inside and outside the city of Arish eat [-] catties of food every day, which is equivalent to the cargo capacity of two hundred-ton king cars!

And this does not include the consumption of wine and meat, salt, pickles and horses!
So every time he thought of this, the sadness on Xu An's face became even worse.

Although they defeated the sneak attack of the Roman fleet at this moment, the Roman fleet was still cruising on the sea, almost blocking the outgoing route of Arish Port.

In other words, in this state, the Han and Seleucid coalition forces will not be able to obtain supplies by water, and can only rely on horse-drawn carts to transport supplies by land!
As for land transportation, the loss is basically more than half!
Even today's Seleucus is almost the same size as the later Ottoman Turkey, but even if there is a mountain of gold and silver, it cannot withstand such a large consumption!
So, they had to think of something else.

Xu An looked at Chong Zhong, who was born in the distance, and asked: "You have enough experience in fighting at sea. Is there any way to defeat the Roman fleet and keep the sea transportation lines open?"

Chongzhong thought for a while: "Unless our fleet can come... Even if only two of the earliest 'Weiyuan' class warships come, it will be enough to wipe out the hundreds of small sampans of the Romans..."

"Small sampan?" Mrs. Fan laughed: "Don't be embarrassed, their five-row boat is not small! Even if it is placed in a domestic inland river cargo ship, it can be considered a big boat, right? "

Xu An also nodded and said:
"Exactly."

"How can a ship that can accommodate hundreds of sailors be called a small sampan? Your Majesty said in the article "Several Issues Concerning Overseas Exploration" that we must despise the enemy strategically and attach importance to the enemy tactically. With big ships and giant cannons in hand, they treat the native barbarians like chickens and dogs..."

"Okay, my fault." Chong Zhong scratched his chin, but his face still had a bit of contempt: "The canal is blocked, and the isthmus is too long, so it is impossible to sail by land, so relying on Seleucid alone A large navy is not enough to break the Roman blockade!"

"After all, they have not been defeated once or twice before. I don't think they can create a miracle this time..."

Fan Kang agreed and said:
"I don't think so either. Even if the Macedonian and Greek navies joined the Seleucid navy to fight together, I'm afraid the result would be the same..."

"And I learned from Antiochus IV that these hundreds of Roman ships are not all of their water power. When the Romans and the Carthaginians fought successively before, they built a thousand ships. Such a battleship!"

"Although many ships have been damaged, there are still at least seven or eight hundred of them!"

"So, unless our fleet sails into the Mediterranean Sea, don't expect to defeat the Roman fleet in a naval battle..."

Xu An was a little depressed when he heard this.

After all, according to the laws of the Han Dynasty, except for those knights who have special edicts and can equip no more than twenty four-pound guns, the rest of the overseas dispatched troops of the Han Kingdom are even prohibited from possessing muskets!
Anyway, relying on plate armor and well-made long knives and crossbows, the Han army is enough to present an overwhelming trend of cutting melons and vegetables when facing any barbarian army!

Therefore, in the Eastern Mediterranean today, the twenty small cannons of the Black Sail Knights are not enough to reverse the naval disadvantage between Seleucus and Rome, and the roads here are not enough to support the heavy artillery of the Han Navy for land transportation... …

So, he, the logistics manager, is difficult...

On the other side, Fan Huan and Chong Zhong looked at each other, smiled and approached Xu An and asked, "Are you worried about the food and grass for the army?"

Xu An nodded heavily.

Fan Kang asked again:

"The emperor's cousin said that when the holy ancestor closed the door of your room, he would always open a window for you... So, why don't you think differently?"

Xu An was silent for a while, and asked, "Which way of thinking?"

Mrs. Fan smiled: "Since Arish Port can't get out, why don't you bring in food from another place... Well, it's not land transportation, it's also water transportation!"

Xu An asked impatiently: "From where? Come on, what's the point? If it's really useful, I'll let you have the twins!"

"Really? Hey, I'm not a lecherous person, really... In the words of the emperor's cousin, I'm just a child... I'm just kind-hearted, and I don't want to see those beautiful girls suffer..." Mrs. Fan was very angry He said something hypocritically, and then continued, amidst the contempt of the Han soldiers behind him:

"Go west from here, and then turn south not far away, which is the place called Suez by the Egyptians, which is close to the sea. The canal His Majesty mentioned is from here to start digging north..."

Xu An's eyes lit up: "You mean to let our army capture there, and then transfer food from the port there?"

Before he finished speaking, his brows were suddenly wrinkled together:
"However, if the grain of Seleucus is to be transported to the seaside first, then bypass the Anman Governor's Mansion, and then transport it to Suez, the detour is too far, isn't it?"

"And there is also a long distance of land transportation. After calculating the loss, it is better to directly land here!"

"Who said they want to eat their food?" Mrs. Fan shook his head and pointed at Chongzhong: "Ask him, the Black Sail Knights' residence, which is the Lishui (Irrawaddy River) settlement site in Jianli Country, needs more food every year." How much food is wasted?"

"The last time I went to their place, I saw that the slaves there were all eating polished rice!"

"It's the kind of rice that has been shelled, and what kind of rice bran is just used for poultry...so the slaves eat rice with fried tomatoes and leeks, which is better than what our domestic farmers eat. !"

Xu An looked at Chong Zhong who was staring up at the sky in a daze, and his eyes gradually widened: "Really? I want to be a slave... When I was in China, my favorite food was rice with eggs and tomatoes It's over...sprinkle some coriander, it's perfect!"

Chongzhong curled his lips in disdain:

"Correct me, what is eaten there is not eggs, but goose eggs and duck eggs... Do you know why no one in China eats them like that? It doesn't matter if it is duck eggs or goose eggs, the fishy batch is not as good as eggs at all, but that poor place There are a lot of snakes and water, so it is not very suitable for raising chickens, so a lot of ducks and geese are raised."

"Pick up some wool and send it back to the country every year to recover the cost of breeding. As for the duck eggs and goose eggs that no one eats, they can be regarded as improving food for slaves..."

"Well, recently there are only goose eggs. The main reason is that the nearby seawater drying salt field has been built, and the duck eggs are made into salted duck eggs and sold back to China. Only goose eggs are not eaten by anyone, and they cannot be sold at a high price, so they are reserved for slaves to eat. ..."

Xu An nodded: "Don't talk about that, I'll just ask you, is there enough food for us to consume here?"

Chong Zhong thought for a while, and said with certainty: "That shitty place is very hot, three crops a year, the last season's grain has not been eaten, and the next season's grain should be harvested, supplying tens of thousands of us to eat and drink No problem at all!"

Xu An asked again: "Send the report now, how long will it take to deliver it?"

Chong Zhong replied: "If everything goes by the way, there happens to be an empty cargo ship passing by the river mouth, and then the ship is loaded immediately, and the wind direction is also suitable, it will take about a month or two..."

Hearing this, Xu An became depressed again.

In a month or two, the war here should be over. When the Nile River Basin in Egypt is captured, the army's food needs will no longer be so urgent...

But Mrs. Fan said with a smile: "I have another way, which can immediately relieve our urgent need here!"

"any solution?"

"Say, don't listen?"

Not only Xu An, but even Chong Zhong had an urgent look on his face.

After all, as the head of the Black Sail Knights, he naturally had to find a way to gain some benefits for his subordinates.

The reason why they are so wasteful of food is that the Han Kingdom and the Sunga Dynasty signed a trade agreement, and they need to purchase a large amount of grain from Sunga every year. However, the cost of producing grain in the Jianli Kingdom is almost the same as that of Sunga, and they are not very competitive.

Besides, they have another biggest competitor.

That is the Nichinan Governor's Mansion that not only controls the Red River Delta, but also the Mekong River Delta and the coastal plain of the Indochina Peninsula and many other large production areas!
They also grow three crops a year, and they are closer to Han, the main grain consumer market, than they are.

Most importantly, Liu Xin is a royal family, who dares to compete with him?

Therefore, this opportunity should not be missed by Chongzhong!
Fan Kang laughed twice, lowered his voice and said:
"As you know, my family and the Daduhu of the Anman Dufu Mansion are good friends. When I sent him a message to say hello, he told me that the emperor's cousin had licensed a large amount of poisonous rice for him. He asked me Can you help him get some poor people who don't have enough to eat to work there..."

"So, why don't we find him and ask him to lend us the poisoned rice to meet our urgent needs, and then we can use the grain brought from Jian Lie to pay off the debt..."

Xu An patted Mrs. Fan on the shoulder suddenly:

"You still have a good brain!"

"This is a good way, I will report to His Majesty now!"

Chongzhong poured cold water on the side: "Don't be too busy, I have a question, where does the money to buy food come from?"

(End of this chapter)