The grassland currently ruled by the Han State is probably a little bit further out of Inner Mongolia in the later Celestial Empire, and the territory is not completely controlled, and there are still some "blank" areas with some uncontrolled tribes.

The grassland is too big and too wide, especially there are no obvious landmarks, only relying on the stars, the sun and the moon to identify the direction, or with the compass as a tool, really don't expect the route to be so accurate, a little deviation on the map, the actual walk may be more than ten miles, and the range of ten miles should be how big, it is not difficult to hide some people at all.

In the era when cavalry was dominant, it was actually not how capable the cavalry really was, but that they could fight whenever they wanted, and if they wanted to escape, they were far more mobile than the infantry. Militarily, the deterrent power of cavalry has never been placed on the frontal battlefield, but because of their excellent mobility, they can take advantage of people's inattention to be ruthless, and they can quickly withdraw after an attack.

The most frustrating thing about the nomads is not how powerful they are on the frontal battlefield, it is usually difficult for the agrarian peoples with the infantry as the main force to find them, and then it is difficult to find opportunities for a decisive battle with the main force of the nomads.

If you look at the history books, you will find that when the nomads fought with the Central Plains Dynasty, even if the pure cavalry group had fought head-to-head, it could be calculated that the agrarian nation with the infantry as the main force won the most victories, that is, even if the cavalry troops were defeated, the losses were quite limited, but as long as the Central Plains Dynasty with the infantry as the main force failed, it would be a heavy defeat.

"We controlled part of the steppe on the premise that they [the nomads] were moving south."

The reason why Liu Yan thinks that this is a good era is that the nomadic tribes on the grassland have all gone south, and when they go to the Central Plains, they will lose the biggest advantage of the nomads.

The nomadic tribes that are more capable of fighting and the most aggressive go south, and those who stay on the grassland basically belong to the group that is not enterprising, and in fact those who are left behind are mostly old, weak, sick and disabled, and the biggest difficulty in controlling the grassland is not to eliminate or capture them in the battle, but how to find them.

"The Hulu we dealt with are fundamentally different from the Hulu we dealt with with by the Han Dynasty."

At the beginning of the Western Han Dynasty, the Huns were still in the semi-stone age, they rarely had iron tools, and melee weapons were indispensable for some stone axes, stone spears, maces, etc., and the arrows of the arrows were either bones or stones, but they still suppressed the Western Han Dynasty that had just been established.

Until the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, in fact, the nomads on the grassland did not enter the complete Iron Age, that is, the number of metal weapons in the hands of the soldiers increased, and the forces in the Central Plains were able to form an advantage over the nomads.

Without joking, arrows of bone or stone have a certain killing effect on those who are not wearing armor, and they should be blind to those wearing leather armor and iron armor.

From the Western Han Dynasty to the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Han Empire fought wars with the nomads on the grasslands, and it was always the Han army that was harassed by the nomadic cavalry or cut off the supply line, resulting in food and ordnance that could not keep up, or was trapped, or retreated, or surrendered.

The Han Empire will be suppressed by the Xiongnu Empire, because the Han Empire is blind to the mobility of the Xiongnu Empire's cavalry troops, even if they know where they are, they will be long gone when they chase them, and more often the pursuing troops will be intercepted or ambushed by the enemy who occupies the advantage of mobility.

The nomads after the Western Jin Dynasty, they fundamentally completed their evolution, and finally entered the era of large-scale use of iron tools. That is when they finally entered the Central Plains, and while gaining territory, they also had enough labor and production capacity, not to mention that they had armor and cavalry, but the number of cavalry was pitiful, and it was only the Yuting Wang Guards who could afford to be equipped with iron weapons.

Liu Yan seems to have read an article somewhere, the nomads mastered the complete set of smelting technology in the Wuhu Chaohua period, and that tribe was the Khitan after the division of Yuwen Xianbei.

The Khitan inherited the inheritance of the Tuoba Dynasty on the grassland, and then picked up the territory left by Murong Xianbei after he went south to the Central Plains, during which he obtained a considerable number of Han slaves. Their comprehensive mastery of smelting technology was obtained from Goguryeo, and the Khitan became the first nomadic people to master a complete set of smelting technology.

In fact, the Wuhu Rebellion stage is really quite important for the nomads, who completed the first entry into the Central Plains in this era, and taught the following nomads a valuable lesson.

If it is said that it is a spiritual wealth to inform the later nomads that they can also enter the Central Plains, the first rule of the Central Plains also left a considerable legacy, and it was also from that moment that the nomadic society began to have the shadow of an agrarian people, such as the military system and some technologies.

It was the first time that the nomads were able to rule the Central Plains, giving any subsequent overlord who ruled the grasslands a goal, and that goal was no longer an unattainable dream, but they could really fight into it and become the masters of the Central Plains. From then on, the nomads regarded the Central Plains as no longer a simple place for robbery, and it was a small goal to grab a handful and run, and it was a big goal to kill and rule the Central Plains.

What is the opposite? It is that the Central Plains Dynasty has never been able to possess the grassland, even if it occupies a part of the grassland for a certain period of time, but it really does not understand what benefits the grassland can bring, but invests huge military expenditures in order to maintain the possession, and often gives up control of the grassland on its own and retreats.

"In the generation of widows, the domination of the steppe must be completed." When Liu Yan spoke, he stretched out a hand and made a gesture of stroke: "Many eloquent and strategic people have said that if there are no children and grandchildren in the future, the widow will do it." ”

The rule of the Han state over the grassland was based on blood, and there were cavalry or scout cavalry of the Han army sweeping the grassland at all times, and only those who were willing to become a part of the Han state and accept management could survive on the grassland. It has to be said that blood is very useful in the grasslands, forcing tribes who are unwilling to give in to flee far away, and those who can't escape and don't want to die can only be digested by the Han State.

"Dahan's operation in the grassland is very profitable." Li Tan was in charge of the military affairs of the northern frontier, and because the army played an incomparably large role, he also had a clear understanding of some other things: "The grassland provided a steady stream of meat to the hinterland, and also developed textiles. ”

The most important thing is actually weaving, before wool was considered to have no value, and the shepherds herded sheep simply for dairy products and meat, waiting for wool weaving to be created, that was to open the door to a new century.

Nomads are not naturally poor and vicious, in fact, there are so many means of survival, grazing is far more unstable than the income from farming, a rinderpest, sheep fever, horse plague down, an originally huge tribe directly lost the food needed to survive. If you don't want to starve to death, of course you want to rob it, and there is only one way to rob it.

Comparatively, even if there is a natural disaster in farming, the pressure resistance of the farming people is far higher than that of the nomads, at least the farming people can still have grain reserves, and the nomads do not have any grain reserves at all. In addition, the farming people also know that in addition to the proper food, some plants can also survive, and there are many ways to survive, and brutal methods are not the first choice. This is one of the reasons why the farming people are considered relatively mild.

Within the scope of the grasslands ruled by the Han Dynasty, shepherding was no longer just for dairy products or meat, and the herdsmen paid more attention to the benefits brought by wool picking, or sustainable benefits, not to kill and eat the meat, but to grow again after the sheep had shaved their hair, and to produce benefits again and again.

From the northwest to the grassland, you need to pass through another mountain before entering Junji Mountain. That mountain used to have a lot of significance for some nomads, and it was called the Ta Khan Mountain.

After surrendering, Li Ling became the right king of the Xiongnu, and became a tribe of the Xiongnu with the Han army that was forced to surrender. For a long time, the place where Li Ling trained troops for the Xiongnu was near the Bahan Mountain, and was a neighbor of Weilu, the tribe of the Changshuihu people who originally served the Han army and surrendered to the Xiongnu.

Time is passing, even in the tragic or tragic past will become a topic of conversation, for Liu Yan, who patrolled here, what he learned was the remnants of some buildings left behind in the Li Ling period.

The drought and locust plague have not affected the area for the time being, and if you look around from the high ground, you can see some sheep grazing, and if you are more poetic, flocks of white sheep are wandering, and you can imagine that white clouds are floating one after another.

This area is close to the territory of Xigaoche, and the locusts are raging in the territory of Xigaoche, and when what can be eaten there is gnawed away, if some accident happens, the place will soon be flooded with locusts.

"We've cleared a strip of more than two hundred miles north of here." In order to give Liu Yan a more intuitive impression, Li Tan came up with a chapter diagram. Pointing to the picture, he continued: "From here to here, when you are ready, you will light a fire and burn out a strip of scorched earth about five miles wide. ”

Liu Yan knew about this matter in advance, or was it an order signed by him personally.

The locust plague in Xigaoche is really too exaggerated, and the information sent back by the spies repeatedly uses the adjective "not an inch of grass grows", and no one knows whether the use of fire to burn a scorched earth belt can stop the locusts from moving south, but no one knows how to try it.

The Han State will not allow the withdrawal of troops or the evacuation of the people from the grassland, and once they withdraw, it will not only be troublesome to come back, but may also have a price. But if they don't retreat under the ravages of locusts, they can't do it, or they will die if they stay in the grassland.

"How far is Yu Jiu Lu Bati from here?" Liu Yan got the answer, pondered for a while and asked, "When will it be ready over there?" ”

It is not an easy task to clear a blank area, and it has been three or four months since enough livestock have been mobilized to gnaw on it, and it is still necessary to use a huge amount of manpower to carefully clear it, but it is still far from the completion of the project.

"We can't let Yu Jiu Lu Bati find out what we are doing this for." Liu Yan wasn't sure if it would be useful to do that, as long as there was a one-ten-thousandth feasibility, he shouldn't let Rouran people learn it: "After Yu Jiulu came over, he set off immediately." ”

Rouran is now a vague position between allies and non-allies for the Han State, and the Han State needs Rouran to find the remnants of Donggaoche, Tuoba and Murong unpleasant, and it is also wary of Rouran, that is because the rule of the Han State in the grassland is still weak.

Yu Jiulu Bati is a Rouran ruler after all, and he has to be forced to a certain extent to do something that only brings a thousand cavalry into the Han realm. His rule of Rouran was also affected by the locust plague, and the territory bordering Xigaoche in the west was not infested with dense locusts, but there were too many Ding Ling people who were attacking the border of Rouran.

Of course, Rou Ran was definitely frightened by the locust plague that occurred in Xigaoche, and she didn't know how afraid she was that the place where she lived would become the scene of Ding Lingren.

The Han Kingdom has done research on Yu Jiulu's adventure into the Han realm, and there must be something to deepen the relationship, and more often he personally asked Liu Yan for help.

Liu Yan met Yu Jiulu Bati in Bahan Mountain, and it was the first time for the two to face each other.

Yu Jiu Lubati must have been taught beforehand...... Or what kind of way should the constraints be used to meet Liu Yan, but he doesn't know whether he can't remember it or doesn't take it seriously, the interview process is not the same, and after being able to talk, he can talk to the point if it sounds good, and it is unreasonable to say that it is unreasonable.

"There's nothing wrong with the widow's ears, right?" Liu Yan wondered if he had heard it wrong: "At least 200,000 stone of plant-based grain, no less than 200,000 sheep and 20,000 cattle; 20,000 bows, 50,000 swords, 50,000 guns......", he couldn't read it anymore, and looked at Yu Jiulu Bati with a gaze like an idiot, and then looked at Li Tan and asked: "The army of the widows has been defeated by Rouran, and the capital is about to be captured?" ”

Inside the military tent was the sound of a blade being drawn, and one of them was staring at Yu Jiulu Bati with fierce eyes, if Liu Yan allowed it, he should have pounced on it and shattered the corpse.

The Rouran people in the tent were more tragic, except for Yu Jiulu Bati who could bring weapons in, the rest of the Rouran people were disarmed, and they looked at the Han people who suddenly became fierce in horror, as if they didn't understand what was happening.

Yu Jiulu Bati didn't seem to understand, he looked at Liu Yan in confusion, and said suspiciously: "We are allies, isn't it normal to ask allies for help when we are in trouble?" ”

At that moment, Liu Yan finally knew why the rest of the nomads called the Rouran people "worm people", whether it was low intelligence, fighting only by force, without strategy, and losing more than victory...... The Han people don't know much about it yet, but they are like insects that can't think, and they don't seem to be wrong.