In the Southern Song Dynasty, I competed with Mongolia for the world

Chapter 501 Preparations before the Expedition
The village chiefs are basically people from the Song Dynasty. Baozheng has Tubo and Xixia people who took refuge in the early days. The chief Baozheng can be someone who immigrated first.

Depending on the grassland and water source conditions, the area occupied by each reserve is also different.

In the Northern Song Dynasty, it took about 30 to 50 acres of grassland to raise a war horse, while in the Mongols' time, it took about 30 to 40 acres of grassland.

The Taibei Province of the Song Army occupies a huge area, and horses can be raised everywhere. However, the main horse breeding land of the Song Army is not nearby yet, and has been placed in the former Guanshan (that is, near the north of Datong).

There were only 20,000 war horses raised in the entire northern Taipei, which were rotated by the Song army. Not enough were transported from Ningxia Province, the former Xixia territory, where the main war horses were raised.

Meng Gong mainly raises cattle and sheep in northern Thailand, especially sheep.

There are about 50,000 households in Northern Tai Province, of which 40,000 households each raise 30 sheep and two cows. The other 10,000 households mainly cultivate rye, and then each household raises three war horses. Rye straw can also be used As feed.

At the same time, 30,000 of the 100,000 Song troops stationed in the army participated in the herding and guarding. They were jointly managed by specialized herding stations and raised 500,000 sheep.

The entire Northern Tai Province raises nearly two million animals annually, including about 100,000 cattle, 20,000 war horses, and is self-sufficient in rye.

When the immigrants came in the early stage, there were few people and few sheep. First, the local garrison and the people were not enough, so they had to transport support from Ningxia. Then there were more and more immigrants, and the people raised more and more. By this time, Li Liang went out. , the number of sheep raised this year is expected to reach 1.8 million. Even if some of them die, it will not be a problem to produce 1.5 million sheep annually.

Li Zongwang thought that the man named Liu did not look like a Han, but looked like a Khitan or Xixia person. Yes, this person used to be a Xixia person, but now he is considered a Song Dynasty person.

Li Zongwang followed his father to Changchun City when he was ten years old in the eighth year of Baoqing. At that time, the Changchun Army was newly organized by the imperial court. He then followed his father to station in various places, and finally came to Taibei City. He is now a young man in his early twenties.

Regarding the preferential treatment for land reclamation officers, Li Zongwang did not serve as a soldier, but was the corps leader (ten-man captain) of the Hundred Houses of Jinyi Guards in Taibei Prefecture. There were not many Jinyi Guards in Taibei Prefecture. They mainly participated in drawing maps with the military sentries and riding around to determine the sentinels. Picture accuracy.

As Li Liang ran, he observed the herdsmen around him. Houses, cattle and sheep could be seen everywhere on the grassland, and it looked like a prosperous scene.

"If we use common people, we need at least a thousand households."

They went out in turns. Last time, Li Zongwang followed the military sentry to Lake Baikal, which was thousands of miles away. He drew a map of dozens of miles north of Lake Baikal. He went out for more than half a year before returning. After returning, he could rest. There is no need to increase the value for three months.

"The imperial court requires that we expand planting of 50,000 acres of soybeans next year. How many manpower are needed at least?" Li Liang asked as he ran.

This will be winter, and the cattle and sheep mainly rely on the hay and processed straw feed saved in the past to survive the winter. The Song Army learned all its experience from the Mongolian Army, and even has more advanced feed processing technology than the Mongolian Army. Whether it is war horses or cattle Sheep are better raised than Mongolians.

The two of them led a group of people all the way east. Not long after, they saw a group of people on horseback waiting for them. When they got closer, Li Zongwang saw that their clothes did not look like soldiers, but were all official clothes.

The man surnamed Liu said: "If we use sergeants, we need at least one general and three thousand people."

"Judge Liu (an official under Qunmu Station in Song Dynasty)"

The face of the man named Liu changed slightly. After thinking about it, four battalions amounted to about 2,000 people.

The two parties said hello, and then rode north together.

"General Li."

There are now 250,000 people in the local area. If the cattle and sheep are divided evenly, there will only be a few heads per person, which is just enough.

Li Liang said solemnly: "I can only give you four battalions."

He sighed and said: "That's okay, brothers, please work hard, but you can't lack the cattle and tools -"

Of course, the imperial court continues to immigrate and expand its scale, and will raise more and more cattle, sheep and war horses in the future.

"Driving" the war horse galloping, his son Li Zongwang at his side followed quickly.

He had nothing to do today, so he went out with his father.

Today, after Li Liang went out, he went directly to Ulaanbaatar. There is a small iron ore factory there, and there is also a huge sheep pasture, which is personally managed by the Imperial Herding Office. The herders are all the former Xixia Herding Office. His people and their descendants are rich in experience and have tens of thousands of cattle and sheep.

One of the advantages the Song army had over the Mongols here was that they used more tools, making farming easier and less labor-intensive.

The Mongols seldom built canals and did not dig wells. The Song army built canals, dug wells, and diverted water, so they could plant more fields with fewer people.

While they were talking, the two of them led people to a place. Li Liang also came to see how the soybeans were being planted. They haven't planted them yet. There were people from the herding station and the sergeants who were repairing water conservancy facilities and building ditches. The place was quite busy.

"How many months will it be tilled and when will it be harvested? How will the yield be?" Li Liang asked again at this time.

"Go back to the general. Plant from April to May and harvest in September. Is there a yield?"

"The output is about one stone, three buckets to one stone, five buckets." This output is only more than 100 kilograms.

Li Liang felt a little disappointed when he heard this: "Just that much?"

Judge Liu said that it was already relatively high. When the Mongols were there, the yield was about 100 kilograms per mu, which was less than a stone.

Song Jun was better in all aspects. The imperial court even had a university that specialized in this. After harvesting soybeans, Song Jun crushed the soybean roots and soil, mixed in a small amount of plant ash, kneaded them into small balls, and then wrapped them in straw for seed dressing the next year. It can effectively increase soybean yield. It is actually the original bacterial fertilizer, which was first thought up by people in Chengdu, Sichuan.

Li Liang heard this and turned to his son: "How much soybean material can be produced from 50,000 acres of soybeans? Can you calculate it?" He wanted to test his son.

Li Zongwang thought about it and seemed to be doing mental arithmetic. Judge Liu looked at the father and son calmly. Although he knew the output, Li Liang didn't ask him, so he naturally couldn't tell. Moreover, in his opinion, this mental arithmetic was relatively difficult. After all, ancient people had to use an abacus to calculate.

Unexpectedly, a moment later, Li Zongwang said: "About 60,000 to 65,000 dan."

Judge Liu's eyes lit up and he praised: "Master Li is really a genius."

Li Liang was very proud and showed off his son.

On the way back, Li Zongwang asked his father why the court would vigorously plant soybeans starting next year.

In the past few years, the imperial court mainly planted rye, and soybeans were still relatively small. But starting from next year, the imperial court will plant a large amount of soybeans.

Li Liang looked around and whispered to his son: The imperial court is going to march westward. In the future, it will bring hundreds of thousands of war horses and millions of cattle and sheep to the west. On the long journey, the war horses will need soybeans as concentrated feed.

So the imperial court now began to plant soybeans on a large scale. "The imperial court wants to march westward?" Li Zongwang also looked incredulous.

When Lu Wende led Li Liang and his 60,000 light cavalry to attack Harahe Forest for thousands of miles, they had to rely on the help of other Song troops from Xixia, otherwise they would not have succeeded.

Now the Song Army is about to march westward. It is said that the nearest main force of the Mongols is three to four thousand miles away from the Song Army, far exceeding the distance back then.

With so many soldiers and horses passing by, logistics is a problem.

"It's not a problem. The Mongols can conquer the West, and so can we. We can all learn what the Mongols can do, but the Mongols cannot learn what we can do."

In fact, the Mongolian army did not have so many cattle and sheep during the Western Expedition, but the Song army still prepared a large number of cattle and sheep to ensure logistics. Now Li Zongwang knows why the Song army has raised more cattle and sheep and less war horses in northern Thailand in recent years.

Calculated from Qianzhou in the far west of the Song Army to the Ishim River where the main force of the Mongolian army is located, the straight-line distance between the two sides is about 4,500 miles. The Sentinels of the Song Army have gone over to check it many times.

The distance is neither far nor close.

If the light cavalry carries dry food and each takes three horses in rotation, traveling two hundred miles a day, it will only take more than half a month to arrive.

In the past few years, the Song army's sentries have been constantly checking the route to see which way the army goes and there is no shortage of water. It would be better if there are other kingdoms' territories and people who can grab it.

After all, the current Song Army, like the Mongolian Army, can grab supplies along the way.

According to the final research of Meng Gong and the generals, most of the Song army could not move as fast as light cavalry, and there was no need to completely imitate the Mongols, each carrying three horses and only a small amount of dry food.

Because the Song Army was not in a hurry during the Western Expedition and could walk slowly along the way, they planned to complete this section of the road in more than two months, averaging about fifty to seventy miles per day, depending on the difficulty of the terrain.

No matter how many Song troops march westward, the Song troops only need to bring at most three months of food and grass. When they enter the territory of the Mongolian army, they will have a surplus of about ten to twenty days. In addition, they will loot everything from the countries along the way and the Mongolian army. Basically, survival will not be a problem. , the subsequent Song army will have logistics to keep up. If they can't get it from the front, there will be supplies from behind.

As long as the Song army enters the Mongolian territory, there will be more to grab, and supplies will not be a problem.

As for the Mongolian army coming to bring supplies? Other European countries are afraid, but the Song army is not.

After returning from Ulaanbaatar, Li Liang led people to an area north of Taibei City. The conditions here are quite good. To the west is the Orkhon River popular in Taibei City, and to the east is a freshwater lake of thousands of acres. The people of the Song Dynasty named it Menghe to commemorate Meng Gong who led troops to garrison in Harahe Forest. There are two jungles in the middle, totaling more than 15,000 acres.

The Mongolian army built Harahelin City here because they also took a fancy to this jungle. However, when building the city, they used a lot of big trees. Later, the Song army came to expand it, and then rebuilt Zhaozhou, Fuzhou, and Many wooden houses were built, and in just three years, about one-tenth of more than 10,000 acres of jungle was cut down.

When Li Zongwang came here with his father for the first time, he saw a circle of wooden fences surrounding the river, and then connected with hemp ropes to circle the pastures.

A large number of cattle and sheep were walking around among them, and further away there were wooden plank sheds made of wood. These wooden plank sheds were relatively simple, covered with oil-soaked cow and sheep skins to protect them from rain and provide insulation. The main functions are to put hay bales and cattle.

Li Liang pointed to the front and said to his son: "After winter, there will be snow on the grassland, and herdsmen will use straw bales to raise cattle and sheep."

Straw bales are green grass harvested in summer. They are tied into bales and can generally be kept for one to two days. The Mongolian army would also bring them as fodder when they marched long distances, but they would definitely also bring bean feed. Bean feed is the most useful for war horses. , fighting on the battlefield cannot be without beans.

The Mongols here mainly raised cattle and yaks for meat. After the Song army came, they brought in buffaloes to be used as farm cattle. Buffaloes are not as cold-resistant as cattle, so they need cowsheds to keep warm in the winter.

"In your opinion, based on the standard of three thousand men per general, if our army has to march for more than two months and carry three months of food and grass, how should we carry it while minimizing the baggage and carriages?" At this time, Li Jun began to examine his son.

His son did not join the army and only served as a Jinyiwei. However, Li Liang felt that Jinyiwei's rise was limited and there was nothing much to do here. In other parts of the Song Dynasty, Jinyiwei had the responsibility of supervising local officials. There were not many local officials here. They were on the front line and with the army. It has almost the same function. He hopes that his son will become a military attaché in the future.

"Bring artillery and trebuchets?" Li Zongwang asked his father.

Li Liang thought for a while and said: "It is said that many kingdoms in the west have just entered feudalism not long ago. Not to mention the low castles, a large number of castles are made of wood. We mainly want to defeat the Mongolian army in the wild. The other kingdoms are vulnerable ”

"The governor (Meng Gong) means that each general will bring up to two artillery pieces, or he may not bring them."

It is difficult for artillery to travel thousands of miles. The Song Army may bring a new type of all-copper artillery. This new type of artillery is lighter and can shoot farther, but it will not bring too many.

Assuming that a Song army general with 3,000 men and two artillery pieces would only have 30,000 men with 10 artillery pieces, and 100,000 men with 30 artillery pieces, which is quite a few.

Moreover, Li Liang may not be able to carry two gates with one general, but maybe two generals can carry two gates.

Anyway, the Song army's western expedition certainly didn't bring many artillery.

There are not many artillery, but there are few carriages to pull the artillery, and there are many horses to carry grain and grass.

Li Zongwang said: "With such a small number of artillery, the transportation of artillery and horses can basically be ignored."

According to Li Liang, the standard for a general is more than 3,000 people, even if there are 3,000 people.

Now the Song army's expedition is similar to that of the Mongols. The 3,000 men are basically 6,000 war horses. If the distance is long, they may bring 7,000 to 8,000 war horses. This time the journey is very long. It is estimated that the manpower will bring three, that is, 9,000 war horses. .

The Song army usually set out in summer and autumn. The horses, cattle and sheep along the way could eat grass, so they brought less fodder, but they did need to bring bean fodder.

"A war horse needs at least one kilogram of soybean feed every day when it goes on an expedition. If there is no fighting in the early stage, let's save on eating soybean feed once every three days. A war horse needs ten kilograms of soybean feed in one month, and it must carry at least thirty kilograms of soybean feed in three months."

When the Mongolian army goes on an expedition, they may not necessarily bring a large amount of beans, let alone ensure that their horses have enough to eat every day.

Those who can eat grass should eat grass as much as possible. Usually before the battle, they will add some beans to make the war horses more energetic. They may eat them together with some beans in a handful of grass.

Li Zongwang said that a horse carrying thirty kilograms of bean feed is already quite a lot.

You also need to bring some fodder, as not all fodder is available along the road.

Just the food and grass needed by a war horse requires at least 60 kilograms of food for three months to meet the basic needs.

Of course, Li Zongwang did not consider that the Song Army was surrounded. If it was surrounded somewhere, the food and grass would definitely not be enough, because he believed that no army in the world could surround the Song Army.

The Song Army did not bring much rice, grain, meat and dried meat for three months. Thirty kilograms was enough. They drank more porridge, ate more meat, and brought a small amount of dried meat. In addition, they brought twenty kilograms of dried vegetables and fruits. Then they took a large number of sheep on the road. , which is why they only guarantee fifty to seventy miles per day.

(End of this chapter)