When Wang Jian spoke loudly, the eyes of the protector Zhao Hai happened to look at the father and son who were standing together and whispering. Wang Jian was recommended by Changping Jun Xiong Qi as a general, and Zhao Hai kept a close eye on his every move. Fortunately, the Qin army is not a protector responsibility system, but a general responsibility system, although Zhao Hai strongly opposed the retreat at the beginning of this year, and even agreed to remove Wang Qian's military power, he finally compromised.

Wang Jian didn't see Zhao Hai's gaze, and after he finished speaking, he looked at the strategists who were still arguing fiercely. 400,000 people went out to fight nearly 1,000 miles ago, and how the logistics should be supported is certainly not something that can be determined in a few hours. He yawned and walked to the sleeping tent at the back of the shogunate, and after breakfast the next day, Liu Chi and others came to report with red eyes.

"If there is no horse, this ......" Liu Chi glanced at Wang Ao beside him, Wang Ao also had a pair of red eyes, he didn't speak, and let Liu Chi speak with a straight face. This battle is not ......"

Before he could hear the word clearly, Wang Jian coughed and asked: "With 400,000 people, how much do you need corn every day, how much do you need dry firewood, and how much do you need to dig weed?" ”

"In winter, each person needs three stones of millet per month, in order to facilitate transportation, you can lick ......it first," Liu Chi was heartfelt, and replied that the corn eaten by the soldiers was in accordance with military law. The military law says that it is monthly, and suddenly it is converted to daily, and he can't count it for a while.

Liu Chi stammered, the law behind him had been calculated, and he quickly wrote it on the wooden tree and handed it to him. Liu Chi glanced at Mu Yu and said, "The soldier eats more than three and a half catties of rice sauce every day. ”

"More than three and a half pounds a day?" Wang Jian half-squinted his eyes and repeated, "So the whole army ......"

"So the whole army ......" another piece of wood was handed over, and Liu Chi replied again: "400,000 people need more than 1.42 million catties of rice sauce every day." After answering, he looked at the next piece of wood, and said: "The four-wheeled cart can carry 4,000 catties, and this needs 360 four-wheeled carts." In winter, it is not from the official road, so each cart needs four horses or four servant oxen, so it needs 1,440 horses and oxen. ”

Liu Chi made all the questions clear without waiting for Wang Jian to ask, Wang Jian nodded and asked again: "What about dry firewood?" ”

"Each pawn needs six catties of dry firewood every day......" Liu Chi still looked at Mu Chu and replied.

"Six pounds?!" Wang Qian's eyes widened when he heard this, before the retreat, he had never paid attention to the dry firewood in the army. Dry firewood is collected along the way, which is also one of the permanent duties of the auxiliary staff. Going deep into the enemy country, the most convenient way to collect firewood is to demolish the house, which is where the Yuejia army's 'freezing to death does not demolish the house' comes from. The daily consumption of dry firewood is already more than corn, and hundreds of thousands of troops march in winter, the more dry firewood is needed.

"General Yu: Yes, the winter is very cold, and you have to have three catties of dry firewood." It was Liu Chi who gave the calculation just now, and now it is the grain officer who comes out to explain. "Even if there are three catties of dry firewood, I am worried that it is insufficient, if there is another catty of charcoal......"

"Three catties is too much, how can you add another catty of charcoal?" Wang Jian shook his head, and he turned to ask: "The Jing people chase me, it seems that there is hot food, but I don't see Jing people making fires, why is this?" ”

When they were close, the coalition army and the Qin army were only twenty miles, and twenty miles were within the horizon of Lu Lijing. Compared with the cold Qin soldiers, Wang Jian had seen the Chu soldiers holding hot rice soup many times, and he still didn't know the reason until today.

"This Jing people use mirage." Wang Ao is very clear about this. "The Jing people put the rice sauce and meat soup in a small iron box, and the small iron box was placed in a large iron box. Put mirage in the large iron box, fill it with water when eating, and the small box will be hot for a while......"

"Really?!" Not to mention Wang Qian, even Liu Chi and these strategists were surprised when they heard this.

Mirage is not a magical thing, "Zhou Li: Qiu Guan Si Kou" said: "The red hair clan takes the wall of the house, attacks it with mirage, sprinkles poison with ash, and removes its raccoon insects in every crevice house." In addition to insect repellent, mirage is also added when the silk is burned.

But this is the first time it has been used to heat rice soup. The phenomenon of mirage and aquatic heat is still known to the ancients, and Tao Hongjing of the Han Dynasty once recorded in the "Shennong's Materia Medica": "Now the stone is born in the near mountain, blue and white, and the stove is burned. If the sex is intense, people drink it with alcohol, and they will have abdominal pain and diarrhea. ’

"The soldiers of Qi once ate Jing people's rice soup, so they know it." Wang Ao's news was from the Guoweifu, and the news from the Guoweifu was inquired from the Qi State. The Qi people, who have not eaten meat a few times a year, still remember the big iron box of the Chu army, and many people keep the iron box as a eating utensil, but when they talk about it, their eyebrows will fly.

"The same can be true of our army!" Wang Ben listened and drooled. It's a blessing to think about the fact that you can eat hot food without lighting a fire in the cold winter of the bone.

"Our army ......" Wang Ao's eyes blinked slightly, and said: "The king is quite concerned about this matter, and he expects that it will be next year." ”

"Next year? Why not this year? "Wang Ben is in a hurry to grab Wang Ao." In winter, the rice sauce is raw and cold, and it can't be cooked without firewood, and it can only be swallowed when it is warmed in the mouth, do you know, do you know how many soldiers there are......"

Many soldiers died in the rapid retreat, and many of Wang's personal guards also died. None of them died in battle, but froze to death.

"Rude!" The son was excited, and Wang Jian immediately reprimanded. After his son bowed his head, he said: "This matter has already been revealed to the king, and the king is very concerned. However, this year's attack is in the winter, I wonder why the mirage food has to wait for next year? ”

The freezing of soldiers in batches hurt morale, so even if Wang Jian knew that dry firewood was twice as much as rice sauce, he didn't dare to cut it by a cent. If the truth is spread, the soldiers will inevitably resent themselves. Because he didn't want to lead the soldiers to be resentful, Wang Jian asked Mirage Hot Food. He had seen the iron box in the hand of the Chu soldier, it was not big, so he could see that there was not much mirage in it.

"It's hard." Wang Ao answered this question with some regret, because this is still a secret of the National Governor's Mansion.

"Why is it difficult?" Wang Ben, who bowed his head, raised his head again, ignoring Lao Tzu's glare.

"Mirage, burn it with mirage." Wang Ao said. "Although our army has destroyed Zhao today, there is no good port along the coast of Zhao, so I must not mirage. There shall be no mirage, and there shall be no mirage. Rice soup can be mirage poured with water and heated, but what can be done without mirage? ”

Knowing that you may not be able to do it. Although there were archaeological discoveries of burning limestone to obtain lime from the Qijia culture in the upper reaches of the Yellow River (present-day Qijiaping, Guanghe, Gansu) a thousand years ago, it was in the upper reaches of the Yellow River. The Central Plains region did not begin to calcine limestone until the Han Dynasty, and the pre-Qin period was the calcination of shells, mainly in the Qi Kingdom. Even without the threat of the warship, it would be impossible for the Qin State to want a large amount of mirage in a short period of time.

"I see." Wang Jian sighed secretly, he looked at Liu Chi in disappointment, and asked, "How many trucks of dry firewood?" ”

"Dry firewood...... Liu Chi looked at the wooden tree in his hand, found the last number, and said: "Mirage ......, non, non!" Dry firewood, dry firewood requires 600 truckloads per day. ”

"Six hundred cars?" Wang Jian pondered this number, "Two thousand four hundred horses and cows?" ”

"General, yes." Liu Chi nodded again and again. What he was thinking about just now was mirage, and he was wrong.

"How many cars are there?" Wang Jian continued to ask.

"There were forty-five thousand horses and twenty-five thousand oxen in the army. Horses eat 32 catties a day, and cattle eat 80 catties a day, so ......, horse feed needs 360 carts a day, and cattle feed needs 500 carts a day. Liu Chi replied according to the numbers on the wooden coffin. It requires three thousand four hundred and forty oxen and horses. ”

"How much does it total?" Wang Jian tilted his head and sighed. This time there were fewer people than the last time, but because they had to bring their own dry firewood, they needed more logistical supplies than last time.

"A total of 1,820 cars," Liu Chi didn't look at Mu Chun this time, and calculated a number in his heart. One car is one ton, which is 1,820 tons. "Seven thousand two hundred and eighty horses and oxen."

"Seventy-two thousand and eighty horses in ten days?" Wang Jian smiled bitterly. He had only more than 70,000 horses in his hands, which could support a ten-day journey. And these ten days also include return, that is, more than 70,000 horses can only allow 400,000 men to advance for five days, and on the sixth day they will not be able to support it, because it is already beyond the limit of supply.

On the fifth day, even if the carriage traveled 90 miles a day (normally 60 miles), it was only 450 miles, and Linzi was still dozens of miles away. What he didn't notice was that the five days did not include the consumption of the horses themselves, if it was four horses and two royal hands, even if the daily loss rate of 32 catties (eight kilograms) per horse was reduced, the daily attrition rate was 3.4%, and the 10 days were 34%.

This means that one-third of the goods in the transportation process are consumed on the way to and from the journey, and only two-thirds of the materials are transported to the destination. Conversely, in order to receive 1,820 tons of supplies per day, the starting point would have to send out 2,757 tons, or 2,757 wagons, per day. Only in this way will the terminal receive 1,820 tons of supplies per day.

Two thousand seven hundred and fifty-seven carriages required eleven thousand and twenty-eight horses, and ten days or one hundred and twenty thousand two hundred and eighty horses. Combined with one-tenth of the reserve horses, it is about 120,000 horses. There must be 120,000 horses to support the Qin army in capturing Linzi, and there are now more than 70,000 horses in the army, and the State Captain's Mansion may be able to transfer another 40,000 or 50,000 horses. It is equivalent to relying on horses alone, and if the Qin army does not capture a large number of them, it can only stop at Linzi.

In the past, not to mention 120,000 horses, it was not a problem to double the number of horses and 240,000 horses, and 360,000 horses, but the problem was the road - there were too many carriages, and if the road was not wide enough, the carriages would crowd the whole road, causing the entire logistics to be paralyzed. Great Qin's obsession with the road was incomprehensible to other countries, just as they did not understand general mobilization and general warfare.

"What about a servant cow?" 120,000 horses were not enough, so Wang Jian could only ask about the cow instead.

"The servant ox can only travel 60 miles a day, and it needs to eat 80 catties a day." Liu Chi shook his head when he mentioned the servant cow. Cattle walk slowly and eat more, although cattle do not eat as long as they eat weed, and they are not as delicate as horses, but long-distance transportation of cattle is at a complete disadvantage.

There is no need for boats, no horse-drawn carts, and no food for the enemy, and only relying on servant oxen to support the logistics of the war, and the logistics can only be within 500 miles, and because of the inefficiency of the ox carts, the road surface is also very wide, but fortunately, this problem does not exist in the northern winter plains.