The last clouds of the day have dissipated, and the air is filled with a worrying sullenness, more than 20 days have passed since the last sunny day, and 150,000 riders are trapped in the grassland surrounded by mud and unable to extricate themselves. ☆→

The hardships and dangers did not force the Han army to stop, and after more than a dozen days and nights of pursuit, they finally caught a few greedy herdsmen who were far away from the tribe for grazing, and the information obtained from them did not make people feel reassuring.

The Northern Army temporarily camped, and Wei Qing held a military meeting to discuss the countermeasures for the invasion.

Du Wei Mirong said worriedly: "The Huns told us that it is very rare to have heavy rains like this year, and there has not been strange weather for at least thirty years, referring to the tradition of the Huns abandoning the old people to cause the loss of ethnic memory, this number is several times larger, the local wizard said that this year is a very terrible spring, and the heavy rain continues to fall so that the dry season of the grassland temporarily disappears, which is extremely unfavorable to our Northern Expedition." ”

"The face of the heavy rain and humidity is unprecedented, the firewood and grass for baking grain are wet, our grain and grass can not be dried or baked is mildew, it is expected that the edible grain and grass will be exhausted in another fifteen days, so we can only turn around and return to the border county to wait for the opportunity to re-enter the grassland." Du Wei first reminded.

Wei Qing's expression was solemn.

As we all know, the steppe nomads are cunning, the Huns have been accustomed to using the strategy of not engaging in battle to avoid the pursuit of the Han army since the times, and the wolves will never meet with the Han army until they have to, and now they do not meet to show that the Huns are not ready, once the two sides collide, it often means that the steppe wolves are ready to eat their prey.

Wei Qing and his colleagues knew very well that they could not let the Huns calmly prepare for war, especially in the grassland desert where the time and place were favorable. The Huns have a home advantage that is already very terrible, and if they are fully prepared to set up a perfect ambush array, there is really no way to survive.

Not everyone is lucky enough to encounter the siege of White Mountain. Not every general had a strong military force that the Huns feared, and Wei Qing believed that his military command ability was far inferior to that of the famous generals in the early Han Dynasty. The Xiongnu's military minister Shan Yu is not as good as his grandfather Mao Dun Shan Yu, but the difference in strength between the two sides is obvious, 150,000 to fight 300,000 is a problem of the times, it is really so good to win more with less Fan Xu, Chen Wu advocated the Northern Expedition of the Xiongnu and Wei Qing could not do it.

However, the Han army still has a great advantage, at least after 50 years of reversal of the situation between the Han and the Huns, the national strength of the Han family has doubled and the strength has become stronger and stronger, and the annual increase in population of 1.4 million has provided a steady stream of power for this huge empire, and the total population of the Xiongnu is only more than 4 million. The absolute difference in national strength between the two sides is in front of them, and there is no need to fight a large-scale battle at all, relying on small-scale military conflicts and confrontations, the Han army can drag the Huns to death.

The difficulty is that the emperor is unwilling to delay, the offensive strategy of quick success is the most difficult, the attack means that you must go deep into the unfamiliar grassland desert, look for the main force of the Xiongnu that may be found in the vast land, seize them and wait for the opportunity to launch a decisive battle and achieve a big victory, this probability value is no less than waking up and finding that you are the emperor's illegitimate son, almost unachievable slim probability.

"The expulsion of the Huns is the set goal given to us by His Majesty. It is wisest to turn around and retreat back to the border counties now and wait for the right time, but if we do so, we will lose the trust of the Son of Heaven, the great future, and the criticism of public opinion in Chang'an, and we can tell them that the rainy season on the grassland has disrupted the rhythm of our march. Heavy rain is falling, grain is mildew, and soldiers are sick. So we're just withdrawing? No, it doesn't make sense. ”

Wei Qing denied it.

He knows better than anyone. The retreat of the Han army was at great political risk, and the military order made a few months ago still echoed in my ears from time to time. Even if there would be no punishment for withdrawing to the border county, it would be an indelible shame in his career, and it would be an unacceptable blow to this young Han army.

The results of the deliberations could not satisfy everyone, and the difficulties were mainly concentrated in the need to not only defeat the Xiongnu but also ensure the precious military rations needed by the army, and the continuous torrential rains in the steppe desert made it more difficult for the border counties to supply grain and grass, and in the past, the cost of supplying one stone of grain required five stones of grain, and the cost of transportation in the rainy season had to be doubled.

The cost of transporting grain remains high and the grain route is too long to be protected by troops, and the continuous accumulation of logistical pressure is fed back to the army, which can easily cause the morale of the army to waver, and there are annoying water and soil adaptation and dysentery and cold disease that plague the young soldiers, who are just the descendants of ordinary Guanzhong or Kanto civilians, who have neither the vocational training that the children of military meritorious lords have received since childhood, nor the commendable physical fitness, and they have the courage to enter the grassland with full enthusiasm and less than two years of military training.

Usually this kind of young army is the most difficult to maintain morale, when the wind is smooth, the momentum can not be inferior to any elite division, once it suffers a setback, it will fall into a low and negative mood, the middle and high level of the Han army are also aware of this problem, and have been emphasizing that the Xiongnu must be attacked in the north, and the same is true, beheadings and trophies are a panacea to boost morale, and it is a hundred tried-and-done.

The Han army's solution to the pressure of grain and grass was to sweep the grassland, fight when it encountered the Xiongnu tribe, hunt when it encountered wild sheep and cattle in the grassland, and never be soft when it saw anything.

This hand is quite ruthless, the custom of the steppe tribes has always been that they never hunt in the spring, after a year of hard work wild animals are tired, they will desperately eat to replenish their strength and take advantage of the warm season to enter the mating period, as soon as possible in the summer season to give birth to their young

Breeding populations, so the grassland animals of this season are emaciated, or pot-bellied and waiting to give birth.

The Han people obviously also know this law, the agricultural civilization is not simply relying on farming to eat, almost every family has participated in the hunting operations in Luli, of course, they also know that hunting and fishing are not allowed throughout the spring and even the beginning of summer, but the desert grassland is not the actual control area of the Han people, and there is no need to be polite to the murderous and cunning Huns, just like they robbed the Han people's grain, burned the Han people's houses, and plundered the wives and daughters of the Han people.

On the sixth day after the end of the short rainy season, the temperature also rose to the standard range of spring, and the Han soldiers who had been gradually liberated from soil and water and dysentery were gradually liberated from the soil and water and dysentery on six sunny days in succession.

Relying on the opportunity that the main force of the Xiongnu was not active nearby, the 50,000 Han cavalry dispersed into ten scattered nets, which were kept within 40 miles apart and swept from east to west, and the 30,000 chariots of the Han army followed behind, unloading the big yellow crossbow on the chariot as a temporary transport vehicle for transporting war booty.

In just half a month, only wild yellow sheep were killed, nearly 10,000 bison and wild deer were killed, hares, pheasants and other small animals were countless, and several wandering wild horses were caught along the way, which seemed to be deliberately free-range horses by nearby large tribes, all of which were cheaper for the Han army.

Although there was no Xiongnu tribe in the vicinity of the Han army for 200 miles, it was their own pasture after all, and the herdsmen of the tribe who cared about the grassland sent the eagle in the tribe to let the eagle fly high in the sky to act as their eyes, monitoring every move of the Han army from afar.

Knowing that the pasture was ruined, the Xiongnu tribesmen were immediately angry.

"Da Danyu, the Han people are deliberately insulting us! They killed all our cattle and sheep to force us Huns to death, and we can't watch the Han people attack! ”

"The cattle and sheep in the pasture are gone, and the cattle and sheep raised by the tribe cannot be easily slaughtered.

"After the summer, the cattle and sheep raised have to be fat, and we all rely on eating the cattle and sheep scattered on the grassland.

The little king of the Xiongnu tribe gathered together and complained about the Han people's excess, many small tribes belonged to the pasture is not big, and they don't know how to eat in the summer when they are tossed by the Han army, and the survival crisis of a big blue is imminent, even the big Xiongnu nobles have to take care of the opinions of the little king of the tribe before thinking twice.

The military minister slashed the boning knife in his hand, and the lamb chops hanging with the meat pieces were broken into two in response, and the fine iron sharp knife from the Han Dynasty Seiko shone with a cold cold light, just like the Xiongnu Shan Yu's fierce eyes were aggressive.

"Mr. Zhao, what do you suggest?"

Hundreds of eyes were aimed at the middle-aged man on the right hand, he was wearing an inconspicuous leather robe, his skin was dark from the strong wind in Saibei, and his body and bones were thicker after drinking mare's milk and eating mutton all year round, Zhao Shi wiped off the grease on the blade with a handkerchief, and said unhurriedly: "In my opinion, this is definitely not the best time. ”

The military minister Shan Yu paused slightly, his eyes flashed with a terrifying cold light: "Tell me why you still can't do it, this Shan Yu agrees with your strategy and let the Han army go 300 miles and 300 miles, the Han army goes deep into the grassland and is getting far away from the Han border, according to your strategy, the Han army's supply is difficult, and the army's heart is shaken, it can be a battle, only to cut off the back road to the Han army, what are you waiting for?" ”

"For the generals should judge the situation and take advantage of the situation, the sudden heavy rain blocked the pace of the Han army, they calmly thought in the rain and realized the threat, changed the strategy and sent the cavalry to hunt wantonly, at this time if the Huns have any abnormal movements, they will be quickly discovered by the Han cavalry, the plan to lose the suddenness is no longer appropriate, in the face of the Han army waiting for the victory or defeat is unpredictable, it is better to wait for the opportunity to move."

"When?"

Zhao Shi responded: "When the Han army relaxes its vigilance and loses patience, and when the Han army is sleepy and tired, it is the time for my Great Huns to show their skills." (To be continued, please search, the novel is better and faster!)