In particular, the application of this force to military research has yielded remarkable results, and many bottleneck-like problems have been viewed and considered from different angles with the participation of more people, and breakthroughs have been made.

For example, rear-loading artillery and artillery control and retreat technology have brought revolutionary changes to the development of artillery.

The rate of fire, range, and gun power have all increased significantly, just as the rear rifle replaced the front-loading smoothbore gun.

Military production has also benefited a lot, military workshops have been replaced by large and small military factories, and many military factories, in times of overcapacity, can even produce civilian products in order to obtain more profits.

Because many smaller military factories have already been sold to private individuals, since they are private transactions, then military orders need to be won by themselves, rather than having fixed orders like state-owned military factories.

And when they can't get orders for military products, they have to produce some civilian goods to survive better.

For example, those who produce sabers can produce kitchen knives, those who produce spears can also produce hoes, and so on.

The largest military operation of the Han army in Central Asia, the military operation against the state of Xiancai, the main force has been replaced by the army of Kangju and the army of Wusun, and the Haotian army only performs some of these important tasks, providing military guidance and weapons and equipment.

Although the state of Xiang Cai is more capable of conquest and warfare, and his tactics are more flexible, after all, the population does not have an advantage.

Moreover, the Han army and the armies of the two allied countries were quite ruthless against them, and there was a sense of cutting down the grass and eradicating the roots, although the soldiers of the Xiancai people were brave and good at fighting, but their old and weak women and children could not be as erratic as them.

The Han army captured and killed hundreds of thousands of old and weak women and children in the Xiangcai Kingdom, which can be regarded as cutting off the future of the Xiangcai people from the root.

Therefore, the Xiancai people are getting weaker and weaker and farther and farther, and the Haotian Army is no longer worth investing too much energy in them, not to mention that recently, the Kushan Empire has been preparing to move.

The firearms technology of the Kushan Empire has advanced by leaps and bounds in the past two years, and they have reloaded all the standing legions with muskets at any cost.

The Kushan Empire under the rule of King Porpo had reached an unprecedented unity, and he began to be unwilling to be lonely again, and he set his eyes on Khorasan.

The Kushan Empire has always been famous for its cavalry, and after the independence of the three important horse-producing provinces of Sistan, Khorasan, and Khorezm, the standing cavalry of the empire could not be supplemented by these excellent war horses, and their combat effectiveness declined.

Of course, he knew that Khorasan was a member of the Central Asian Alliance, just like Khorezm, and if he did something against Khorasan, the Han Empire would definitely send troops to intervene.

However, he felt that he also had a large number of firearms, whether it was muskets or artillery, and there was no longer a big gap between hot and cold weapons with the Han Empire.

And he also got information that the Han Empire had formed an alliance with the Rest Empire, although this alliance was mainly aimed at the Roman Empire far west, but I heard that there were also provisions against him.

Therefore, he spared no effort to support the stubborn resistance of the Han Cai people and the Han army, although he did not dare to supply them with such obvious weapons as firearms, but cold weapons and armor were still enough.

He thought that in the past two years, the Haotian army of the Han Dynasty had been held back by the Xiancai people, and the other Han troops were busy opening up their Silk Road and garrisoning troops along the road, and their energy was not on the side of Central Asia, and his opportunity had come.

He sent two of his most trusted generals, Soter and Osidemos, and equipped them with the most powerful legion of the Kushan Empire, the First Legion of the Imperial Standing Army, with six standing divisions.

The 1st Infantry Division of Bactria, the 1st Cavalry Division of Rawalpin, and the 2nd Cavalry Division of Rawalpin, all of which had made great achievements in the Great War between the two countries in the past, had all been reloaded with muskets.

There were also the 1st Punjab Infantry Division, the 1st Sogdian Infantry Division, and the Herat Cavalry Division, all of which also had half of their troops reloaded with muskets, but also retained half of the hoplites and spear-wielding camel cavalry.

Rawalpindi's cavalry division, this time without the naked archers, all the mounted cavalry became musket-mounted cavalry, and the protection was not reduced, except that the spears were replaced with muskets.

The Kushan people's firearms technology has advanced rapidly, and their current flintlock pistols are at the same level as the Han army's flintlock pistols, and they are also equipped with a small number of front-loading rifled guns, and they have also begun to train their own snipers, who are called marksmen.

The Bactrian infantry of Osidmos also wore slatted armor, and some of them were responsible for carrying a newly developed large shield that could be propped up on the ground, and the musketeers could hide behind the large shield and shoot as if they were carrying a mobile trench.

Although the mobility is greatly limited, the safety is significantly improved.

The most important thing is that the king of Boti equipped Thort's legion with an artillery battalion of eighteen guns, which is one of the few artillery pieces in the Kushan Empire, and they all have their own special artillery carriages, which are not mobile.

They launched a surprise attack on Khorasan before dawn.

Khorasan's army was dominated by cavalry, with only a small portion of the King's Guard equipped with muskets, although the troops below were armed with grenades.

Although it was successfully attacked by the Kushan people, in the follow-up breakthrough operation, the Khorasan cavalry still gave the Kushan people a lot of damage, and the grenade was very useful in close combat.

After all, not all Kushan troops wore heavy armor, and the fragments of grenades could still cause great damage to the Kushan army, which had weak protection.

However, the Kushan army gained the initiative on the battlefield after dawn, and they advanced all the way north, occupying the few fertile fields in southern Khorasan.

The capital of Khorasan is called Mashhad, which is located in the northern part of the territory, several hundred miles from the southern border.

When he received the news of the Kushan invasion, the first reaction of the king of Khorasan was to immediately release carrier pigeons to ask for help from the Han army in Guishan City.

Then take advantage of the desert terrain of central Khorasan to deal with the enemy in the form of cavalry, delay time, and hold out until the reinforcements of the Han army arrive.

After receiving the flying pigeon from Khorasan, Zhang Liao did not dare to slack off, and immediately summoned Ma Chao, Sima Yi and Fa Zheng, who was temporarily living in Guishan City, to convene an emergency military meeting.

Several people circulated a letter from the king of Khorasan asking for help, which briefly introduced the composition of the Kushan Empire's army, and when they saw the names of Sot and Osidmos, everyone couldn't help but smile, it turned out that they were still old acquaintances.

Zhang Liao looked at several people, although it was an inquiring look, but the desire in his eyes betrayed him.