At the end of Qin, I became a son of the plane

Chapter 676: The Defeat of the Rebel Army
On April 53, the 4rd year of the Han calendar, at the Yanzhou Military Governor's Office, the new recruits camp.

"Sha, Sha, Sha." Countless soldiers from Daqinzhou were training in the camp, speaking Chinese with a strange accent. The subject they were training at this time was bayonet skills.

Rifles began to become popular in the world, and various cold weapons in countries around the world began to quickly withdraw from the battlefield, but close-range combat with cold weapons has never been eliminated, so the value of bayonet skills in actual combat has increased rapidly. Among them, the bayonet skills of the Huns are even more famous in the world, and most of the Huns' enemies fell under their bayonets. To a certain extent, it is precisely because the Huns' bayonet skills are invincible in the world that this has greatly accelerated the popularization of bayonets. Even the bayonet training of the Han army is based on the Huns' bayonet skills.

The Allied forces also attached great importance to bayonet training, second only to firearms training.

The morale of these soldiers was extremely high, and everyone trained very seriously. Every time they shouted, they burst out the energy from their dantian and thrust out with all their strength, as if there was really an enemy in front of them.

The reason why the morale of these soldiers is so high and their training is so serious is very simple. The treatment they receive from the Han people is sufficient, even more generous than they could have imagined.

The civilization level of Daqinzhou was low and it was still in the slavery period. All countries were mainly composed of citizen armies who did not want salaries. Of course, in return, they had the right to massacre cities and sell the defeated as slaves in order to obtain spoils of war.

Under the advocacy of the Han Dynasty, the countries in Daqinzhou abolished slavery, and they also reflected on the injustice of the coating policy. The economic foundation for forming a citizen army collapsed.

Countries began to recruit soldiers, but due to tradition, the salaries of recruited soldiers in various countries were still not high. The Han Dynasty has taken the path of combining conscripts with standing army. The standing army not only has various welfare benefits, but also the salary is above average in the Han Dynasty.

After joining the Allied Forces, the welfare benefits of the Daqinzhou soldiers were beyond imagination. From the time they entered the recruit camp, all their food, clothing and other expenses were taken care of by the Allied Forces Command, and their treatment was directly extended to the same level as that of the Han soldiers.

When these soldiers entered the camp, they were first given clothes, including spring and autumn uniforms, winter uniforms, combat uniforms, rubber shoes, rain boots, cotton-padded clothes, and quilts. A backpack was filled with all the clothes. Many Daqinzhou soldiers had never worn new clothes in their entire lives when they entered the barracks, and they wore most of the clothes in one day.

The food treatment includes meat for three meals a day, and a combination of meat and vegetables. Since the animal husbandry in Yanzhou Governor's Office is extremely developed, beef and mutton have become the daily must-eat dishes for these soldiers. The balanced nutrition makes these soldiers' bodies swell up like balloons. When they arrive at the Han recruit camp, they generally gain more than ten kilograms of weight in a month.

The soldiers' salaries were also fully raised. In non-wartime, they earned 5000 Han coins per month, which doubled in wartime.

In Egypt, with food and accommodation included, the salary for a worker was only 200 coins. In Carthage and Rome, the salary was relatively higher, about 300 to 400 coins. That is to say, their current salary is more than ten or twenty times higher than that in their hometown, and even thirty or forty times higher during wartime.

In the coalition forces, their monthly income is equivalent to one or two years' income in the past. With such high welfare benefits, the morale of these soldiers is naturally high.

"Beep, beep, beep! Rest for ten minutes!" Captain Zhang Yu shouted.

The soldiers in the recruit camp finally relaxed and looked for shady areas to rest.

"When are we going to fight the Huns?" asked the Greek soldier John.

"I'm afraid it won't be that early. We need at least three months of training in the new recruit camp to teach us the Han army's commands, and we also need tactical coordination training. Then we need to march from the governor's office to the front line. It will take at least half a year of training." Macedonian soldier Cyrus then whispered, "The Han people think our fighting power is too poor and we are no match for the Huns. The generals above are arguing about the battle every day."

John said: "I hope this war can last longer, so that I can earn enough money for my retirement."

"I have the same idea, but it's not just for the sake of making money. It's too good to eat meat every day. I'm now worried about how to survive when I return to my hometown?" This is also the common idea of ​​a large number of coalition soldiers.

Daqinzhou was influenced by the Han Dynasty. In the era when slavery had not been completely abolished, it was directly pulled into the era of industrialization by the Han Dynasty. It seemed that productivity was growing rapidly, but it was not a good thing for the people at the bottom of Daqinzhou. The profits would rise and be divided, and they were squeezed even more cruelly. Under the strong leadership of the Han Dynasty, slavery was abolished, and they finally didn't have to worry about being slaves, but became craftsmen in the free market without spending money.

Cyrus whispered, "It is not impossible to continue our current life. The Han Dynasty values ​​military merit. As long as we perform well in the allied forces, we can get a household registration in the Yanzhou Governor's Office, even if we don't get the Han Dynasty's household registration. At least we can get 500 acres of land."

These words inspired the soldiers around. Countries like Carthage and Rome still had a lot of wasteland to be developed, but the soldiers here were from Greece, Macedonia, Pergamon and other countries with a population of hundreds of thousands. These countries had small land areas, and because they were the source of the Qinzhou civilization and had a high level of development, these small countries did not have any wasteland to develop for their people. At the same time, these small countries lacked national strength, so they had no way to expand outward.

Most of the soldiers who came to the Yanzhou Governor's Mansion this time were civilians who were transformed from slaves in recent years. They usually rented land from nobles or worked in cities. They could be said to be the people living at the bottom of their own country.

Then John laughed sarcastically, "Those dirty thieves must be regretting their actions now. They ate the Han people's salary but didn't follow the Han people's rules."

Even though many people were fed by the Allies, it was still difficult to avoid all kinds of bad habits of stealing and cheating. However, the Allies did not tolerate these people. Once caught, they would be beaten and sent back, and then new soldiers would be recruited.

This policy greatly deterred the other soldiers from Daqinzhou. Staying here for a month was equivalent to earning a year's money. With such good treatment, they didn't want to go back in disgrace.

"Beep, beep, beep! Continue training!" Captain Zhang Yu shouted.

In an instant, the soldiers lined up according to their groups for training, and the shouts of killing echoed throughout the recruit camp again.

Yanzhou Governor's Mansion, meeting room.

The new leader of the allied forces, Zhou Yafu, had a sad face at this time. He had just arrived at the governor's office when he received bad news. The Seleucid army brought 5 troops to attack the Xiongnu army, but was defeated by the Xiongnu. More than 2 soldiers died on the battlefield, more than 1 soldiers were captured by the Xiongnu, and only more than soldiers escaped.

After this battle, the Seleucid military force was severely damaged by the Huns, and the Huns took advantage of the power of the Seleucid nobles to invade the Seleucid land on a large scale.

Zhou Yafu looked at Liu Ruyi with a sullen face and said, "Are you going to welcome me like this? You know the fighting power of the Xiongnu and the Seleucid rebels best. Why don't you dissuade the rebels from acting rashly?"

In Zhou Yafu's original plan, Seleucus's rebel army would be the main force on the battlefield. But now, before he could bring the allied forces to the battlefield, his main force had been crippled by the Huns.

Liu Ruyi could only helplessly say: "I have tried to persuade the rebel generals, but they didn't listen."

All of this is about money. Jia Yi said that the military expenses for forming the allied forces should all be paid by the Seleucid Empire. At that time, the rebels occupied most of the Seleucid territory, and they were in high spirits. Although there was a strong enemy, the Huns, they also had the Han Dynasty as their golden thigh, so the rebels were not afraid of the Huns. The rebels also felt that it was no problem for them to bear the military expenses. The allied forces were going to help them fight the brutal Huns, so it was not their responsibility to pay the military expenses. But there was a difference in concepts. Because of the long-term war, the Seleucid Empire's industrialization process has never been smooth. Even now, it is still an agricultural country, and the concept of wealth between agricultural countries and industrial countries is completely different.

They thought that even if they had to spend two or three times more military funds, it was worth it to defeat the powerful enemy, the Xiongnu. They never expected that the efficiency of the allied forces' spending would be so high, not two or three times as much as they thought, but more than ten times. Spending money like flowing water is not enough to describe the efficiency of the allied forces, but spending money like a waterfall.

Starting from February, the Emperor of Han Dynasty proposed to form a coalition army, and the armies of all parties in Qinzhou quickly gathered in the Governor's Office of Yanzhou. But just in April, the Seleucid Empire received a military expenditure bill of 23 billion. This figure frightened all the leaders of the rebel army. The monthly expenditure was more than 10 billion coins, and this was only during the training period. If they really fought with the Huns for a year or so, the military expenditure bill would not exceed tens of billions of coins.

With such a huge military expenditure, the leaders of the rebel army felt that even if they sold the Seleucid Empire, they would not be able to repay the debt. The leaders of the rebel army wanted to save the country rather than sell it out. If they really wanted to sell out the country, why not surrender to the Huns, so that the war would be eliminated.

They realized that their Seleucid Empire could not afford such a luxurious army as the Han Dynasty's. Even though Liu Ruyi said that the military expenditure was so exaggerated because of the pre-war material preparations, and that after the war materials were fully prepared, the military expenditure would be only a quarter of what it is now, they could not afford even a quarter.

After discussing, the leaders of the rebel army thought that the best way to solve their current predicament was to eliminate the Huns themselves, and at the very least, to drive the Huns out of the territory of the Seleucid Empire. In this way, they could end the war in advance, recover some war supplies, and reduce losses.

It happened that at that time the rebel army captured Antioch and Damascus with great force, and swept over most of the Seleucid Empire. The morale of the rebel army was at its highest. Everyone from top to bottom felt that the rebel army had the strength to fight the Huns, but the Huns only had 3 soldiers in the Seleucid Empire, and the rebel army believed that they could defeat the Huns by sending 5 soldiers.

Even though Liu Ruyi kept persuading them, the leaders of the rebel army were still full of confidence. They would not listen to Liu Ruyi's persuasion and directly sent Liu Ruyi to the Yanzhou Governor's Mansion to purchase military equipment and supplies for the rebel army. However, as soon as he arrived at the Governor's Mansion, the news of the rebel army's defeat quickly came, so he had no choice but to come for help.

Zhou Yafu looked at the map of the Seleucid Empire and asked seriously, "How many troops does the rebel army have?"

Liu Ruyi said: "Including those who escaped, there are about 3 people. They are now stationed in Antioch and Damascus. These two cities are the most populous cities in the Seleucid Empire. If they were captured by the Huns, the Seleucid Empire would be destroyed."

Li Ji sneered: "As long as the Han Dynasty does not want the Seleucid Empire to perish, even if the Huns capture Antioch and Damascus, the Seleucid Empire will not perish. We, the allied forces, were established to recover the territory of the Seleucid Empire."

Zhou Yafu pondered for a moment and asked, "You established the rebel army, how is their fighting capacity?"

Liu Ruyi thought for a moment and said, "The lives of the Seleucid people have always been hard. Although they boasted that they enjoyed a period of prosperity under the leadership of Antiochus III decades ago, and even dominated the Mediterranean, the foundation of the Seleucid Empire was a slavery country. Even in their so-called prosperity, there were slave rebellions every year, and there were also lords who fought for their lives. The Parthian Empire, which was destroyed by the Huns a few years ago, was split from the Seleucid Empire."

Liu Ruyi then tapped his forehead and smiled bitterly, "After the Age of Exploration, the lives of the people of Seleucid became even worse. From what I have seen, the average height of the people of Seleucid is six feet. Due to the lack of food, most citizens are pale and thin, and a large number of civilians starve to death every year. It was only during my absence that agriculture was developed, and the rebel soldiers were able to have a few full meals. Their physical fitness is generally not as good as that of the young people of our Han Dynasty, but because of the war, their combat experience and fighting will are not bad. In addition to my teachings in the past few years, they are roughly the combat effectiveness of the second-class county soldiers of our Han Dynasty."

Fan Kang hesitated and said, "With the fighting power of second-class county soldiers, they shouldn't be defeated so quickly, right? I don't believe that the fighting power of the Xiongnu is stronger than the standing army of our Han Dynasty."

Liu Ruyi said helplessly: "The combat effectiveness of the Seleucid soldiers may not be as good as that of our Han soldiers, but their fighting spirit is not inferior to that of our Han soldiers. It's just that most of the rebel generals don't have much combat experience, and most of the officers can't even be considered qualified. They have let down the Seleucid soldiers."

The Seleucid soldiers were originally civilians who were oppressed by the nobles. They had a deep hatred for the nobles. After the land was evenly distributed, the rebel soldiers generally understood why they should fight, so there was no doubt about their fighting will. However, the rebel leaders were generally of low birth, and they had little experience in commanding battles, most of which were experiences of defeat. For this defeat, the rebel leaders had to bear most of the responsibility.

Zhou Yafu said angrily: "What have you done in Seleucid Capital all these years? Just watch those unqualified generals waste the soldiers you trained. You should bear half the responsibility for the deaths of the rebel soldiers."

Li Ji immediately said: "Now is not the time to talk about this. Let's think about how to deal with the current war situation. If we continue to let the Huns attack, the entire Seleucid Empire will be conquered by Junchen."

Then Li Ji pointed to the map of the Seleucid Empire and said, "If the Huns capture Antioch, they will open up the way to attack the countries in Asia Minor. At that time, the Greek soldiers, Macedonian soldiers, and Parma soldiers will worry about the safety of their own countries and leave the coalition to defend their own countries. If they capture Damascus, the Huns will use Damascus as a base and directly block our coalition forces outside the Seleucid Empire.

The Huns have the nobles of the Seleucid Empire as their lackeys. If they really gain a foothold in the Seleucid Empire, the Huns will have the advantage of time, place and people in this battle. At that time, the Allies will have to form a larger army to deal with the Huns, and the Global Alliance will pay a greater price. What the Allies have to do now is to keep Antioch and Damascus, so that we can keep two logistics points in the Seleucid Empire. "

Zhou Yafu frowned as he looked at the map. What Li Ji said was really possible. Antioch and Damascus were the two gateways of the Seleucid Empire. They could attack Asia Minor to the north and Egypt to the south. These two cities were the logistics bases for the Seleucid Empire to expand outward when its military power was strong. And when its strength was weak, they were the two gateways for the Seleucid Empire to resist foreign enemies.

Even during the most prosperous period of the Romans in history, they still failed to conquer the Seleucid Empire. Unfortunately, the Seleucid Empire was unlucky. It not only encountered the heyday of the Romans, but also the heyday of the Parthians. Under the attack of the powerful Rome and Parthia, the Seleucid Empire struggled for hundreds of years. Finally, in 63 BC, the Roman general Pompey conquered the capital Antioch, and the Seleucid Kingdom was destroyed and merged into a province of Rome.

Zhou Yafu said calmly: "The allied forces lacked time to get to know each other. Although we may appear to be large in number, our actual combat effectiveness may not even be as good as that of the rebels. If we don't train the allied soldiers well, even if we lead the troops to support them, we will most likely be defeated by the Huns."

After three months, soldiers from various countries began to gather in the Yanzhou Governor's Office. Rome sent a legion of more than 100 people. The Carthaginians were not to be outdone. They sent a legion of more than 5000 people and 12000 transport ships to assist the coalition in transporting supplies. Egypt sent a battalion of 5000 people, followed by small countries such as Macedonia, Greece, and Pergamon. They sent troops ranging from thousands to 52000. Greece and other nine countries in Asia Minor sent a total of people. The Arabs living in the Yanzhou Governor's Office summoned cavalry to fight for the allies, plus the two battalions of more than soldiers sent by the Han Dynasty. Now there are allied soldiers in the Yanzhou Governor's Office.

Originally, with the addition of the Seleucid Empire, the allied forces had a hundred thousand troops. As long as the allied forces were trained and integrated, Zhou Yafu was confident that he could defeat the Xiongnu. But all this was premised on him having time to integrate.

Not to mention the combat effectiveness of the soldiers from Daqinzhou, the entire coalition army consisted of 15 countries, including the Han Dynasty. Zhou Yafu felt a headache when he thought that the army he commanded spoke languages. Among them were some small countries, and it took armies of three or four countries to form a battalion of soldiers. He couldn't even imagine how much strength such an army could exert on the battlefield.

Therefore, the Allied soldiers not only need to train military skills in the new recruit camp, but also learn Chinese, which is an important task. Not to mention learning the daily language of the Han people, but they must learn some professional military instructions, and all this takes time. But now the reckless military actions of the Seleucid rebels have put the Allied forces in a passive position.

Zhou Yafu felt unhappy when he thought of this. These were the soldiers of the Han Dynasty who shed blood and sacrificed their lives for the Seleucid Empire, but these rebel leaders actually hindered the Han Dynasty. Such a useless military leader was really terrible. It was estimated that there would never be such a rubbish leader in future history.

Liu Ruyi said: "We can send some reinforcements to garrison first. As long as the allies give the rebels confidence, with the solidity of Antioch and Damascus, it will not be a problem to defend these two cities. The allies can use Antioch and Damascus to wear down the morale of the Huns. The general will train the troops in the governor's office. When the general's troops are trained, the allies and the rebels will cooperate with each other to annihilate the Huns and keep Junchen in the Seleucid Empire."

Zhou Yafu thought for a moment and said, "I will send at most one battalion of soldiers to support the rebels. The core of this allied force is our Han army, so I must keep at least one battalion of soldiers in the Governor's Office."

Fan Kang thought for a moment and said, "General, you can send the 5000 Arab cavalry to support the Seleucids. The Huns have now penetrated thousands of miles into the Seleucid Empire. Our army can move forward and attack the Huns' supply lines."

Zhou Yafu thought for a moment and said, "Liu Ruyi, Fan Kang, you bring 1 soldiers to support the rebels, mainly to defend Antioch and Damascus, and to attack the Huns' logistics line as a supplement."

"promise!"

(End of this chapter)