The great man will live forever

Chapter 3 A Giant Leap For Humanity
"drive!"

It was already night, and the 800 cavalry were marching on the vast grassland under the moonlight with a few weak torches.

Grassland is often accompanied by desert, which is half heaven and half hell. Walking through the grassland is the desert, and walking through the desert is the grassland.

The temperature difference between day and night in the desert is huge. During the day, the horses' hooves can be boiled if you don't care. Therefore, most people march when it is cold at night. When they run, they will naturally feel warmer.

Moreover, on the grassland, you can basically run casually, with your eyes closed, and it is endless and flat. Even if you fall, there will be grass or sand on the ground, and you will basically not be injured.

At this time, Zhao Ponu said with some worry: "General, we have traveled more than 200 miles and are far away from the army. If we encounter the main force of the Xiongnu, I am afraid that the entire army will be annihilated."

This Zhao Ponu was originally a Han, but he lived in the Xiongnu area since he was a child. When he grew up, he returned to the Han Dynasty to join the army. He was familiar with the terrain of the southern desert of the Xiongnu. Now he is a military prince and manages 400 people.

He and Liu Han were Huo Qubing's right-hand men.

Huo Qubing was a little unhappy. After walking around for a few days, he didn't even see a shadow of the Huns. He went from being excited at the beginning to being depressed now, "What, are you afraid?"

Zhao Ponu shook his head quickly, "No!"

"What about you, Brother Liu, don't you also want to back down?"

Huo Qubing looked at Liu Han who looked unhappy and asked.

At this time, Liu Han wrapped his clothes tightly. Although he felt a little warmer when he ran, he was still slightly cold.

He turned to look at Huo Qubing and said firmly: "Where can we retreat? Keep walking. We will definitely succeed in the battle. We will find the main force of the Huns and defeat them."

"Then why do you look so sad?"

"My legs hurt. I used to ride horses a lot, but these days I have been riding a lot and I don't get off the horse very much. My legs are sore. And the food I eat these days makes me want to vomit."

Liu Han stuck out his tongue and complained. If he hadn't been hungry, the dog wouldn't have eaten the military rations.

Isn't it painful? Let alone riding a horse. Even riding a motorcycle for hundreds of kilometers in the future will still make your butt hurt.

The first few days were fine, but now he feels pain in both legs, especially the inner thighs, which are itchy and painful. The key is that he is not eating well.

When he talked about this food, he felt filled with grief and anger. The five grains of China include "rice, millet, millet, wheat, and bean sprouts." However, because the early economic and cultural center was in the Yellow River Basin, and the main producing areas of rice were in the south, rice cultivation was limited in the north. Therefore, the staple food of the early army was mainly millet and wheat.

Although the staple food was passable, the non-staple food was appalling.

In the military camp, fresh meat and fresh vegetables are quite scarce, and ordinary soldiers basically have no chance to eat them. The ordinary soldiers only have two kinds of non-staple food all year round - miso and pickles, and they often have problems with eating them.

There were only two kinds of food and grass in the military camp, meal and glutinous rice, which are equivalent to today's fried rice and noodles.

The general method is to fry the grains and then mash them for easy transportation. When eating, grab a handful of dry food and then bring it down with hot water.

Liu Han, who was used to eating all kinds of delicacies in later generations, eating this was like eating pig food.

Before going on the expedition, he was actually living a good life. After all, his brother was a prince, and he was considered a royal family member. He got along well with Huo Qubing, so the two almost became sworn brothers. There was basically no shortage of meat every day, and he even made some fresh recipes himself. , although it is not as good as that of later generations, it is still barely palatable.

During this expedition, food plummeted. If he hadn't been training hard since childhood, most people would have been unable to bear it.

Huo Qubing smiled, "I'm in pain too, why don't you take a rest?"

Liu Han sighed and said: "Let's go on our way. Take a rest when you have a fever. Only by enduring hardship can you become a master."

He wanted to finish it early and go back.

Huo Qubing patted his shoulder and agreed: "Yes, your words are consistent with Mencius's. Therefore, when heaven is about to assign a great responsibility to a person, he must first strain his mind, work his muscles and bones, starve his body and skin, and deplete his body before he can do it. What he did was messed up, so he moved his heart and forbearance and benefited what he couldn't do. It's more or less the same!"

After Huo Qubing finished speaking, he continued: "The food here is naturally not as good as the food in Chang'an. It's okay. When we find the Xiongnu army, we will rob their cattle and sheep and eat meat every day."

When he said this, a trace of worry flashed in Huo Qubing's eyes, but it was invisible to others. He didn't have much food and grass at all, or in other words, he basically didn't bring any food and grass with him to the war, and all depended on robbing other people's food.

In ancient times, fighting was all about logistics. If the two armies were in a stalemate, it would depend on who could resist to the end. For example, in the Battle of Changping between Zhao and Qin, if Zhao had sufficient food and grass, then King Zhao and Ben would not ask Zhao Kuo to replace Lian. Quite, even if the Qin army is in vain, it will be in vain.

There is also an old saying that is even more popular: Before the three armies move, food and grass go first.

There were many failed wars because of the burning of grain and grass. The most famous one was the later Battle of Guandu. Cao Cao and Yuan Shao faced off. Cao Cao sent people to attack Wuchao at night and burned the grain. Yuan Shao's army was defeated, which laid the foundation for Cao Cao's unification of the north. .

But Huo Qubing was different. He used his troops flexibly, paid attention to strategies, and did not stick to ancient methods. He was good at long-distance raids, quick raids, large detours, large-scale penetrations, and annihilation battles.

Huo Qubing was good at riding and shooting when he was a boy. Emperor Wu liked him very much and made him his close minister.Emperor Wu also wanted to personally teach Huo Qubing's grandson and Wu Qi the art of war, but Huo Qubing declined on the grounds that "Gu Fanglue is too good at learning ancient war tactics."

This is a true genius, a peerless genius, there is only one in the ages. If hard work is useful, why do you need a genius?
Some people, after working hard all their lives, are not even qualified to look up to him.

Geniuses are so unreasonable. Sometimes they suspect that they do not belong to the human world. Some people in later generations said that he was a BUG. Later, God discovered it, so it repaired it and made patches, which led to his untimely death.Huo Qubing was more like a sharp knife. He was good at moving through enemy camps and didn't like to be restrained. He was not used to following you with a large amount of food and grass.

Therefore, he usually does not carry so much baggage with him in battles, which is why he conducts long-distance raids, quick raids, large detours, and large interlude operations.

In later generations, we can learn this essence. There is also a song that sings: "Without food and clothing, the enemy will come forward. Without guns or cannons, the enemy will make them for us."

As Huo Qubing said this, he seemed to notice something. He looked at something standing on Liu Han's thigh, which was a stirrup.

A stirrup is a flat-bottomed ring, fixed with a strap, suspended from a riding animal, mainly a horse, and hung on both sides of the saddle for the rider to place his feet and to assist the rider in getting up and down.

With stirrups, it is easier for the rider to sit firmly on the saddle and control the horse, so that he can free his hands and make various movements on the horse. This makes riding animals begin to play a more important role in transportation, communication and military affairs. effect.

"What is this thing? Why is it on both sides?"

"Da da!"

Huo Qubing also tapped the hilt of his sword, making a crisp sound.

"Iron?"

Liu Han smiled and said, "The stirrups I made are similar to cloth stirrups, but more practical."

This is a big killer weapon. He tried it first and then slowly took it out. After all, he was too young, only 16 years old. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty lived too long. If anything is as beautiful as the forest wind, it will be destroyed. He can I don’t want to be thought of as a monster.

However, with someone like Huo Qubing as your eldest brother, no matter how good or powerful he is, it is normal, after all, birds of a feather flock together!

The three-piece set of stirrups, saddle, and horseshoes was the regular equipment of the cavalry in later generations. At this time, the saddle was already available, and all that was needed was the stirrups and horseshoes.

It was not that there were no stirrups at this time, but no one cared about them at all. In later generations, in the Han tombs in Xi'an, there were images of horses equipped with cloth stirrups when nobles went hunting, but they were extremely rare.

It is one-sided, just a rope, wound in a circle, just to make it easier to get on and off. Many of them are used by noble ladies or some noble ladies who are curious about riding horses. Of course, they also have to stand directly on the servants to get on the horse.

The first time hard metal stirrups appeared in China was during the Northern Wei Dynasty, hundreds of years later.

Zhao Ponu didn't understand, "What are you using this for? Liu Junhou has been riding horses for many years. He has been familiar with them since he was a child. Although he is not as good as a general, he is not bad, so why use this little girl's thing?"

In his eyes, this is what noble ladies use. For someone like him who is skilled in riding horses and can get on the horse immediately, it is simply unnecessary.

Why did the Western Han Dynasty not think of using stirrups, or even popularize them on a large scale? One reason was that they did not think of it, and another important reason was the sense of superiority.

Arrogance is a major obstacle to human success!

In an era without stirrups, being able to ride a horse proficiently required talent and rigorous training.Therefore, if a person masters and masters the technique of horse riding, he will naturally develop a sense of superiority.

Later generations of the Qing Dynasty, because of this sense of superiority, thought that they were in heaven, but they were beaten to pieces by guns and bullets.

Liu Han smiled and said nothing more. People are always trapped by their own shallow knowledge, and there are always very few people who can transcend history.

Huo Qubing was somewhat interested, but now that he was busy on his way, he did not continue to delve deeper.

"Come on, let's hurry up."

"drive!"

While talking, Huo Qubing beat his horse and walked in front.

Except for Liu Han, no one knew what a great invention this would be.

One small step for him, one giant leap for mankind. Many great beginnings originate from an inconspicuous little detail.

He smiled, a good laugh.

He suddenly thought of the classic words of later generations, Mingyue Da Da Da: "Many people ask why we look at history, and many people answer that we should use history as a guide. Now let me tell you, it is impossible to use history as a guide."

Because I discovered that in fact, history has not changed, technology has changed, clothes have changed, and diet has changed. This is all the shell, and nothing has changed inside. It is still the same as it was thousands of years ago. It keeps going around, and it is the same mistake that should be made. The crime will still be committed, and those who deserve to be killed will still be killed. Yue Fei will die, Yuan Chonghuan will die, and in another 1000 years, he will still die.

Everything happened because it happened for a reason, and those who can transcend history are called history as a mirror. However, we cannot transcend after all because of our own desires and weaknesses.

We all know all the mistakes, but we can never change them.What can be changed is called a shortcoming, and what cannot be changed is called a weakness.By the way, there are still people who can transcend history. We call such people saints. "

　"Mencius Tengwengong I": "Arboriculture of grains, the grains are ripe and cultivated by the people." Zhao Qi notes: "The grains are rice, millet, millet, wheat, and beetroot."

　　Rice, millet, millet, wheat, and beetroot refer to the five food crops, respectively: 1. Rice: refers to rice, which has two subspecies: indica rice and japonica rice. 2. Millet: refers to millet and millet, which is one of the oldest crops in my country. 3. Millet: Refers to millet, which grows drought-resistant and has many varieties. It is commonly known as "millet has five colors". There are white, red, yellow, black, orange and purple millet in various colors, as well as sticky millet. 4. Wheat: refers to wheat, including emmer wheat, emmer wheat, wild wheat, mountain wheat and other types. 5. Shu: Refers to the general name of beans. The ancient saying goes: "Shu is the strongest crop. In ancient times, it was called Shu, in Chinese it was called beans, and today it is called Shu. Shu is the general name of all beans. However, soybeans are called Shu, and beans are called beans. Miao is called Huo, and adzuki beans are called Pork." Grain refers to these crops, but not only these crops, but generally refers to food crops.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)