Chu and Han contend for the throne

Chapter 426
In the desert in early summer, the entire grassland is as green and tender as if it had been dyed, full of vitality.

A group of gazelles are happily gnawing on the fresh green grass by a small river, but even when they are enjoying the food, they do not let down their vigilance at all. From time to time, they will poke their heads out of the grass and scan vigilantly Surroundings, the surroundings seem to be peaceful, but in fact there are hidden dangers.

Suddenly, a faint sound came from the south.

The leading ram yelled, and the whole flock threw off its four hooves and rushed towards the north. However, before they had run two miles away, more than a hundred riders had already chased up from behind like a storm, and it was a group of Huns. , the leader of the Xiongnu was about eighteen or nineteen years old, tall and strong, very sturdy.

But when the Huns bent their bows and shot an arrow, the head sheep who were still running a hundred steps away fell to the ground in response. More than a hundred riders scattered in all directions, rounding up the sheep, but calmly drew their bows and shot them one by one.

In a short time, more than [-] gazelles were hunted down.

More than a hundred Huns on horseback carried their prey and ran forward for more than ten miles, and cowhide tents appeared on the river bend not far ahead. In the center of hundreds of cowhide tents, there was a There was a large round tent with a dome on the top, and the more than a hundred Xiongnu riders waded through the shallow river and galloped straight to the big tent with the dome.

Amid the hurried footsteps, instead of stopping the Hun warriors standing in front of the big dome tent, they bowed to the leading Hun young man one after another. Obviously, the young man's status among the Hun people was quite high.

After a while, the young man held the gazelle with one hand and entered the big tent with his head held high.

In the big dome tent, the Xiongnu Chanyu Modun was reclining on the brocade mat and taking a nap, and two Hun girls in animal skin robes were gently shaking their feather fans to drive away mosquitoes and flies for Modun. Although it was only early summer, the grassland Mosquitoes and flies have already bred, disturbing people, especially when Mao Dun was having a difficult decision in his mind at this time, it was even more annoying.

Hearing the sound of footsteps, Mao Dun opened his eyes slightly, and closed his eyes again when he saw that it was his eldest son, Ji Congee.

"Father, my son just killed a yellow sheep, and it is fat." Ji Porridge threw the yellow sheep weighing a hundred and ten catties on the ground, and then bowed to Mao Dun with his chest in his arms, saying respectfully, "How about the general?" Teacher, please come, how many cups shall we drink together?"

Mao Dun rubbed his aching temples, nodded and said: "Alright, you go and invite the military adviser."

Ji Porridge took the order to go, and after a short time, he led his uncle into Maodun's dome tent.

Mao Dun asked the uncle to say that Ji Porridge sat on the left and right, and ordered the warriors to wash the gazelle and prepare it for barbecue. Several Hun girls even presented several large cans of Central Plains liquor.

After drinking a few cups of white wine with the cooked beef, Mao Dun couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

Ji Porridge and Uncle Gong put down the wine glasses at the same time. They certainly knew why Modu was sighing, because at this time, a huge problem was plaguing Maodu, or the entire Huns. The choice will most likely determine the fate of the Huns for hundreds of years to come.

Thirteen years ago, the Xiongnu lost the Nine Plains War and lost Hetao. Maodun always wanted to make a comeback and regain the lush and lush Hetao. It is a pity that the Han Dynasty is powerful and has Yuezhi, Hunxie and Xiutu as its minions. However, although the Xiongnu had no less than 13 people in control, they still did not dare to act rashly.

However, not long ago, the opportunity Moton had dreamed of finally came!
Han Xin, the king of the Central Plains and South Korea, ordered his envoys to go deep into the desert and sent the information urgently needed by the Huns to Maodun. Only then did Maodun know that at this time, the two overlords of the Central Plains, Chu and Han, were in full-scale war. Xiangzhuang, the king of Chu, almost dispatched all the troops in the country, and there are only [-] Han troops left in Jiuyuan!

10,000+ Han army, and it is an infantry army, Maodun really doesn't pay much attention to it!

As soon as the news spread, the whole Xiongnu was immediately excited. Although the cattle, sheep and horses had just passed the winter and there was insufficient animal power, it was not a good time to use troops, but all the little Hun kings agreed that now is a good time to retake Hetao. Therefore, they all tried their best to encourage Maodun to call up an army and seize the opportunity to seize the Hetao grassland.

But at this moment, Uncle Gong said that he had a different opinion.

Unknowingly, Mao Dun's cold and quiet eyes fell on Uncle Shuo's face again, and asked: "Military Master, is it really not possible to use troops against Hetao now?"

The uncle sighed, and said, "Shanyu, I've already said what needs to be said."

Mao Dun shook the golden wine glass in his hand, and said quietly: "Ben Shanyu wants to listen to it again."

"Okay." The uncle nodded helplessly, and continued, "Compared with the Central Plains Dynasty, the biggest advantage of the Xiongnu is that they have a huge cavalry, but the biggest disadvantage is that the population is too small. The depleted source of soldiers, so one or two defeats are nothing to the Central Plains Dynasty, but to the Xiongnu, just one defeat is enough to destroy the entire Hun tribe!"

Mao Dun nodded silently. He knew that what Uncle Gong said was not alarming. The Xiongnu looked powerful, but they were also in danger. The Donghu in the east did not surrender completely. The Huns posed a great threat, and the Han Kingdom in the south was a serious threat to the Huns.

Under such circumstances, once the Xiongnu suffered a decisive defeat, the Han army might be out of reach, but wolves such as Donghu and Yueshi would definitely swarm up and gnaw the Xiongnu to nothing.

Uncle Gong paused, and then analyzed: "The population advantage of the Central Plains Dynasty over the Xiongnu is absolutely irreversible, because the grasslands cannot support too many people, but the fertile Central Plains are enough to support hundreds of millions of people! Therefore, Shan Yu What should be done is to ensure the advantage of the cavalry as much as possible in order to form a strong military suppression of the Central Plains Dynasty. It is possible to compete with the Central Plains Dynasty, if not, the Xiongnu is not the opponent of the Central Plains Dynasty at all."

"That's why I, the Huns, must take back the Hetao." Ji Porridge waved his big iron fist vigorously, and said with great momentum, "Only when the Hetao is taken back, can we feed more tribesmen, only by feeding more tribesmen , in order to cultivate more Hun warriors, and with more Hun warriors, it will be able to form a military suppression of the Central Plains dynasty.”

"No." The uncle waved his hand and said, "The strength of the cavalry is not only in the number, but also in whether the bows and arrows are excellent, and whether the sword is sharp." After saying this, the uncle said again, "The Battle of Hexi, In the Battle of Jiuyuan and even the previous Battle of Baiyu Mountain Pass, our cavalry of the Xiongnu and the cavalry of the Han Army confronted each other several times, and each time they defeated the few with more numbers, but they still lost in the end. Have you ever thought about this, King Zuoxian? And what is it for?"

Ji Porridge is the eldest son of Maodun Shanyu, and according to the family rules, he was named Zuo Xianwang after he came of age.

Ji Porridge had just grown up, and he didn't have a deep impression of the more than ten years of Han-Hungarian battles. He said disapprovingly: "The reason why our big Huns were all defeated in the three Han-Hungarian wars more than ten years ago was not because the cavalry was weak, but because the cavalry was weak. Because the Han army has a large number of infantry, otherwise, how can the Han army cavalry be the opponent of my Xiongnu cavalry?"

"King Zuo Xian, you only saw the appearance." Uncle Gong waved his hand and said, "In the three Han-Hungarian wars more than ten years ago, the reason why the Huns were defeated was not because the Han army had a huge infantry to help them fight, but because Because the Han army has incomparably sharp bows, crossbows, swords and halberds, although we Hun warriors are brave and good at fighting, our flesh and blood can't stop the piercing of sharp arrows and spears, so we were defeated."

After all, the uncle said that he got up and took down an iron tire bow from the weapon rack in the big tent, and said: "Let's just say that this bow is regarded as a treasure by Shan Yu, but in the Central Plains, it is just an ordinary school captain's equipment." It’s just an iron tire bow! The cavalry bows used by our Xiongnu warriors can only shoot fifty paces away, but the cavalry bows of the Han cavalry can shoot two hundred paces away!”

"Also, the feathered arrows used by the cavalry of the Han army are all goose feather arrows with three-edged iron clusters, while my Xiongnu warriors only use reed stem arrows with bronze arrowheads. The bronze is soft, and even [-] steps away. It is not enough to shoot through leather armor, but the Han army's goose feather arrows with triangular iron clusters can shoot through our mounts at a distance of a hundred paces!"

"Besides, the cavalry of the Han army are all equipped with sharp double-edged swords. I heard that another overlord of the Central Plains, the cavalry of Chu State has even used the ring-shoulders that are sharper than the double-edged swords, but our Xiongnu's What about the warriors? To this day, they still use bronze daggers, and many warriors don’t even have bronze daggers, so they can only fight with horse forks.”

"It is precisely because our Xiongnu's iron smelting and weapon manufacturing technology is too backward that it has led to the loss of cavalry advantages. Therefore, the most urgent task is to enter the Yanzhao Han land to plunder the local artisans and population while the countries in the Central Plains are fighting each other. Instead of competing with the Han army for the Hetao grassland."

"As long as the population and craftsmen of Yanzhao and Han land are taken back to the desert, I dare say that within ten years, our Xiongnu's iron smelting and weapon manufacturing technology will undergo a qualitative leap. By then, our 40 cavalry will With excellent bows and sharp iron weapons, the cavalry of the Central Plains will no longer be a match for my cavalry of the Huns!"

"In this way, there is no need for the Huns to send troops to snatch it. The Central Plains Dynasty will voluntarily abandon the Hetao under the pressure of the Huns, and instead shrink to the inner Great Wall, using the Great Wall to resist the front of our Huns' cavalry. And this, It is the highest state of military use mentioned in Sun Tzu's Art of War - to subdue the enemy's soldiers without fighting!"

"So, wouldn't it be hundreds of times better than spending a lot of manpower and material resources to snatch Hetao from the Han army?"

After a pause, the uncle finally said: "More importantly, once the Huns send troops, it will definitely affect the structure of the entire Central Plains. The demise of Han is likely to be advanced, and the unification process of Chu will also be accelerated. That is to say, Chu State, which has unified the Central Plains, will recover its vitality in a shorter period of time, and turn to use troops against us, the Huns."

(End of this chapter)