Now that the Banner is invading the empire on a large scale, the demand for weapons is very huge, and although some can be looted from the empire, it is not enough to meet the consumption of a million cavalry. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

Zhao Hu didn't think that Mu Qi could win, as long as the upper echelons of the empire did not destroy the city walls and do some idiotic actions to help the enemy, Mu Qi would not win even if he had more weapons and cavalry.

The strength of a country is not determined by the size of the army alone, but by the logistics of maintaining the army.

The empire has a powerful weapon workshop, a huge food base, and a smooth logistics supply mechanism, maybe the empire will be caught off guard by the attack at first, but when it reacts, it has an army with endless supplies, and it can easily drive the banner out of the empire.

As for the counteroffensive shepherd...... This Zhao Hu didn't dare to think about it.

The steppes are too large, and it's easy to get lost if you don't know the terrain, so don't try to destroy all the shepherds unless you send ten legions to march together.

But in this way, the pressure of supplies was enough to collapse the empire.

Although he understood the importance of logistics in the past, Zhao Hu, who had been a logistics second lieutenant for a while, really understood that logistics is an important key to determining victory or defeat, especially in a confrontation tug-of-war in which the combat effectiveness of the two sides is comparable, logistics is even more important.

As for the reason for Muqi's invasion of the empire, after looking at the life of the herdsmen in the gathering place, and listening to the nagging of Captain Jingxiong, you can understand that it is because of the lack of materials and the harsh environment of the grassland.

Think about it, on the prairie, there is no shortage of anything but food and fresh water.

And whether there is a shortage of food depends on the face of the sky, the weather is good, of course, it is boundless, the weather is bad, and starving people to death is something that happens every second.

Just like the captain said, don't look at the spring here now, it has not yet penetrated into the grassland, but the deeper it is, the colder it is, and the goose feathers and snow are several meters deep.

Suddenly, Zhao Hu couldn't help but think of the word "self-destruction of the city wall", and even more so of the Weiss merchant group dressed up by the imperial people.

According to the dialogue between them, it is obviously not as simple as selling weapons, and ninety percent is a rebellion of the empire selling information to Mu Qi.

But, so what?

Don't say that you are in the grassland, that is, in the empire, who will believe what a little ensign says?

It's better to leave these things out of your control.

Although he knew that the upcoming heavy snow would be troublesome, Zhao Hu did not dare to stay here.

He believed that the pursuers of the wooden flag were behind him, and these pursuers would definitely follow the trajectory of the car, and there was no way to leave such traces, because there was no way to hide them.

However, entering this gathering place and leaving should confuse the pursuers for a while, after all, there are too many traces of carriages coming in and out here.

If you stay here for the winter and are approached, you probably won't be served in a nest before you can figure out what's going on.

Don't say that the crystal flag won't help the wooden flag, it's completely impossible!

In order not to be destroyed, you can only leave as soon as possible, and find a place where no one can spend the winter when the snow falls, so that after the snow falls, the pursuers will lose the clues to follow them, and they should be able to be safe for a while.

However, there is a great need for maps and arrows, one to avoid getting lost, and the other to kill the enemy, both of which are indispensable things.

Thinking of these, Zhao Hu couldn't help but turn the topic to this aspect.

"Akio-sama, I wonder if I can borrow a map? You also know the importance of maps to a merchant group, and we stumbled to find the gathering place of your banner this time with the help of rudimentary maps obtained from other merchant groups.

"I heard you say that heavy snow is coming, and if you go in the wrong direction on the way back, then it's over, I wonder if you can help?"

Geralt and the others on the side immediately shut up and quietly waited for Captain Wan's reply, and Captain Wan also felt that the atmosphere was a little tense, but he didn't care.

This is something about the fate of the merchant group, nervousness is inevitable, he smiled.

"Lord Zhao Hu, I understand your feelings, but I'm very sorry, the map of the Muqi is related to the life and death of the entire Muqi, and it is absolutely impossible for outsiders to read it, even inside the Muqi, it is also at the level of a commander or above to watch the map, and those are still simple.

"The real complete map can only be viewed by the flag owner, even my own brother of the flag owner has not seen it, so I'm very sorry."

Zhao Hu and the others sighed, although disappointed, they could understand it.

In any faction, the map of that faction is an extremely important confidential document, and even its own people cannot know it in detail, let alone outsiders.

When Zhao Hu was about to ask the consultant guide, he didn't know if Captain Wan didn't want to lose his business or wanted to help, so he spoke.

"But ......"

As soon as these two words came out, Zhao Hu and the others immediately had their eyes lit up and their ears pricked up.

There seems to be hope.

Seeing the eager appearance of Zhao Hu and the others, Master Wan smiled and said, "However, you can go to a place to have a look." ”

"Where?"

"Leave the gathering place, walk up the river for about a kilometer, there is a temporary gathering place, there should be what you want, but be mentally prepared, it will cost a lot."

"Damn, I forgot that place!" Geralt slammed his head.

Zhao Hu asked, "What kind of place is that?" ”

Geralt looked at Captain Wan, hesitated.

"My lord, there is ......"

Captain Wan smiled: "Don't worry about our face, Lord Zhao Hu, in fact, it is a bazaar run by horse thieves in the prairie. ”

"Horse thieves?"

The people on Zhao Hu's side all widened their eyes with a look of disbelief.

What the steppe people hate most is not natural disasters, not wolf disasters, but horse thieves.

Horse thieves live entirely on looting, and they are frighteningly greedy, herdsmen and livestock, which are alive, are either killed or captured, and lifeless items such as herding bags are either burned or taken away, and the tribes that have been patronized by horse thieves are completely unappointed.

"Isn't it strange how we allowed the horse thieves' bazaar to be set up nearby?"

"There is no way to do it, although we hate horse thieves, although we are strong, but we cannot afford to offend the horse thieves of the whole grassland.

"Horse thieves have a regional range, and horse thieves outside the range cannot cross the boundary casually, otherwise the horse thieves within the range will attack these peers.

"But sometimes there is no limit, and that is to take revenge on the horse thieves for destroying the herding banner of the bazaar opened by the horse thieves, and the horse thieves of the whole steppe will attack the owner of this herding banner.

"So to avoid trouble, none of us will touch this horse thief market. Besides, this bazaar is the same as ours, when our bazaar is over, they will also end, and when the bazaar is opened, they will not look for trouble, but will do their best to maintain order, so why bother themselves? ”

"Can you get a map of such a horse pirate market?" Zhao Hu was a little puzzled.

"Don't underestimate the horse thieves, when it comes to the map of the horse thieves, it is the most detailed, you must know that they operate throughout the grassland." Most of the information on our maps was purchased from horse thieves.

"However, the map that we outsiders bought is only a sketch map, that is, the approximate location of the gathering place of each herdsman, and the general direction of important water sources.

"The more expensive the price, the more detailed it is, and it is said that the highest one, in addition to recording the gathering place of all the herds, there are also all the activity points of the wild horse herd, and even a small lake with an area of tens of meters.

"It's just that this is just a rumor, and the horse thieves themselves say that there can't be such a map."

Zhao Hu and the others immediately laughed.

You don't need a detailed map, just a map showing the gathering places of each herding flag and the major water sources.

This map is enough for these people to safely set out the prairie.

Although Zhao Hu and the others were eager to go to the horse thief market immediately, they were penniless, so they had to wait quietly for Dio's arrival.

Suddenly, a guide brought a group of merchants, and Zhao Hu and the others immediately politely gave up their seats and waited outside.

As soon as the squad leader came out, he sighed in a low voice.

"I really didn't expect that the horse thieves market could appear openly next to the gathering place of the herding banner."

"Hey, what's this, isn't it just a black market next to the local guards? It's not very common in the Empire. The squad leader laughed.

"Gerat, what kind of goods do you usually have in the Horse Thieves' Bazaar?" Zhao Hu asked.

"Everything they loot will be sold in the bazaar, not to mention horses and sheepskins, but also in the open, there are casinos, brothels, restaurants, and other facilities.

"It's much more lively than the market in Muqi." Geralt looked at his colleagues with a smile, he knew that these suffocated guys were starting to drool.

"Those shepherds actually allowed them to sell people next to the gathering place?" Zhao Hu was surprised.

Geralt said disdainfully, "What's so strange about this, didn't the captain say it?" They can't afford to mess with it. Actually, these are all lies, and the biggest patron of these horse thieves bazaars is usually the shepherd flag next to the bazaar.

"Most of the people who came in from horse thieves and stolen horses and sheepskins were sold cheaply to Muqi.

"These horse thieves are very shrewd, they all transport the things they have stolen from the east to the west to sell, because these are not the population and materials of the local herding flags, so those herding flags will not be awkward when they buy them, but they like the horse thieves bazaar that increases their strength in this way.

"The horse thieves can survive because the horse thieves weaken the opponent and strengthen themselves through the hands of the horse thieves, otherwise all the joint actions of the horse thieves can't eliminate the horse thieves in the entire grassland?"

"I see."

Zhao Hu and the others nodded suddenly in understanding, and not long after they chatted, Dio came back with more than twenty large carriages, accompanied by two or four hundred servants who arrived in the carriages.