Hawke looked at the two people who didn't know why, and explained: "In the depths of the grassland, there are several major tribes that divide the grassland, one of which is the Arata tribe, and Shinar is the son of the leader of the Arata tribe. ”

"It stands to reason that people from a big tribe like them should disdain to mess with horse thieves."

Zhou Tong and Huck both jumped in their hearts when they heard this, they were both smart people, and they quickly reflected it.

Zhou Daodao: "On the premise of disdain, but still robbing grain with horse thieves, it may mean that the other party has to do this." ”

Huck continued, "And the reason why I had to do it was probably because the previous snowstorm made the Arata tribe not feel good, right?" ”

Zhou Tong nodded, "There is not enough food, so we must come out to rob the grain, otherwise, someone in the tribe will starve to death." ”

Hawke likewise: "It's more than that. The big tribe that was supposed to be located in the depths of the steppe has appeared here at this moment, which already shows that those big tribes are migrating south, and now the people of the Aratha tribe have appeared, but what about the other tribes? ”

Hearing this, Zhou Tong and Huck turned solemn in an instant.

If the people of those tribes were united, it would probably be a big threat to Great Xia!

They had limited understanding of things on the grassland before, so they naturally didn't notice it, but after hearing Hawke's words, it undoubtedly made Zhou Tong and Huck see the signs.

Needless to say, write an urgent message directly and send it to Great Xia City.

In addition to reporting the hidden dangers of the grassland tribes, the casualties here naturally have to be reported.

From the Blue Wolf Tribe to Great Xia City, it can be said that the road is long, coupled with the bad weather, the hindrance of wind and snow along the way, and by the time the emergency report is sent to Great Xia City, it will be ten days later.

After reading the battle report, Xia Qi once again made a lot of joy in his heart, and it disappeared in an instant.

"Tsk!"

In the office hall, looking at Xia Qi's gloomy face, in the hearts of everyone present, something must have happened again.

Zhang Liang stiffened his head and asked Xia Qi, "Your Majesty, has something happened?" ”

"See for yourself."

Zhang Liang took the urgent report, and after seeing the contents, his face changed.

Xia Qi looked at Zhang Liang and said, "Xuan Xiong, White Wolf, Pan and others entered the hall to discuss matters. ”

Xia Qi reported several names, among which Xiong was the head of the guards of the Great Xia Palace, Pan was responsible for defending the Great Xia City, and the white wolf was the leader of the Central Army, and the three of them were all henchmen of Xia Qi's henchmen.

The main hall where the office hall is located is divided into two floors, the inner floor is the office, and the outside is used to discuss political affairs with the courtiers.

After learning that Xia Qi was going to see them, a group of people did not dare to delay, and hurriedly put down the official business at hand and walked in the palace of Xia Qi.

The military generals were divided into two rows, and after everyone arrived, Xia Qi handed over the urgent report to everyone to circulate.

"Okay, let's tell me what you think? Zhang Liang, you come first. ”

Zhang Liang was the first of these people to see this urgent report, and now it is understandable that he is named by Xia Qi.

Zhang Liang organized the language for a while, and then said: "Back to Your Majesty, according to what General Hawke said in this urgent message, those big tribes who originally stayed in the depths of the prairie have migrated south because of the blith. The current strength of a nest of Great Xia is not a concern at all for one or two, but if they are united, I am afraid that they can make up tens of thousands of cavalry. ”

Speaking of this, Zhang Liang paused. When the others heard this number, their hearts also jumped in unison.

That's tens of thousands of cavalry, not infantry, and it's also a big threat to the current Great Xia.

Xia Qi's face was also not very good-looking, if those big tribes were really united like Hawke, whether it was to loot the grain transportation team of Great Xia or directly invade Great Xia, this was not what Xia Qi wanted to see.

"The food sent to the two steppe cities must be transported, but in this climate where the infantry cannot be mobilized, the number of cavalry on the other side still exceeds ours. This ......"

Speaking of this, Zhang Liang had already felt an obvious headache, and after sorting out his thoughts, he silently raised two fingers.

"There are only two ways that Weichen can think of at the moment, but neither of them is a good solution."

"Say it quickly."

After getting Xia Qi's permission, I saw Zhang Liang speak slowly.

"The first way is to change the route of grain transportation and divide the troops at the same time. Transporting grain. The movement of the large number of grain transport teams is too great to be discovered. Under this premise, the number of horsemen was reduced to two or three hundred horsemen in a team, and the grain transportation route was changed at the same time. Although it greatly affects the efficiency of grain transportation, this method can at least make the movement of the grain transportation team more concealed and relatively safe. At the same time, even if a grain transport team is unlucky and is discovered by the steppe people, the losses will not be too heavy. ”

After saying the first method, Zhang Liang breathed a sigh of relief, and at the same time confirmed Xia Qi's reaction.

I saw that Xia Qi, who was sitting on the main seat at this time, was full of thoughts, obviously thinking about the method that Zhang Liang had just said.

"The decline in efficiency will cause many people in the two steppe cities to starve to death due to lack of food, and besides, if the cavalry of two or three hundred and one teams encounters those steppe people of the big tribes, I am afraid that they have no chance of winning, and even have the risk of being besieged and killed."

Xia Qi saw the flaws of this method very thoroughly, just like Zhang Liang said at the beginning, this is indeed not a good strategy, it can only be said to be a method.

After thinking about it for a while, Xia Qi decided to listen to Zhang Liang's second method first, and then make a decision.

"What's the second option?"

"Wei Chen's second plan is to temporarily abandon the two grassland cities and transfer all the people and resources in the city to Great Xia."

As soon as this method was spoken, it directly shocked everyone in the council hall, and the minister of the engineering department immediately couldn't sit still.

The grassland city is the internal name of Great Xia, but it is actually two tribes.

Because the grass in a pasture is limited, they have to live in water and grass, and in such a situation, they can't, at least not settle now.

In such a situation, their camp wall was nothing more than a low wall of timber, and the living quarters were also tents, so that the purpose of this was naturally not to waste too much time when changing the pasture.

But to move them to the interior of Great Xia, is it necessary to choose a location? Do you want to build cities and houses?

The two tribes add up to tens of thousands of people, which is a big project.

Moreover, the main task of the two tribes was to provide war horses for Bactria .

Under this premise, they will not stay in the interior of Great Xia for a long time, that is, if the city is built in time, it may also be abandoned in the future.

"Your Majesty, the minister thinks it's inappropriate!"

As he spoke, the head of the engineering department stood up.

"The total population of the two grassland cities combined, there are tens of thousands of people! Isn't the transfer of all things something that can be done? And now that the snow is closed, how can the people who died of cold, disease, and starvation along the way be appeased? What if you are attacked by horse thieves in the middle of the road and there are a lot of casualties? ”

And in the process, a lot of discontent will accumulate among the people. Moreover, even if the transfer is successful, the resettlement of these people is a big problem. I don't know if Secretary-General Zhang has ever considered these. ”

The old minister crackled and said a lot, in short, whoever adds the amount of work to their engineering department is his enemy.

"Compared with the task of transporting food, which may last for two or three months at risk, the large-scale transfer of people may cost people and money in the short term, and may even cause casualties. But there are cavalry escorts along the way, and mammoths in front of them to open the way, and it can be transferred in a month at most. ”

Faced with the cross-examination of the Minister of Engineering, Zhang Liang began to explain unhurriedly.

"Once the transfer is successful, my cavalry troops in Great Xia will no longer need to be tired of transporting food, which is equivalent to escaping. At that time, according to the equipment advantage of my Great Xia cavalry, coupled with the well-trained, even against the more numerous steppe cavalry, there is a great chance of victory. ”

These two suggestions, to be honest, Xia Qi didn't agree very much.

Zhang Liang's two proposals were both based on military affairs, but they did not take into account the large number of administrative problems brought about by them.

As the Minister of Works said.

How should tens of thousands of people be appeased in the two grassland cities, and how should they be resettled after the transfer?

At the same time, with such a big move, how to calculate the large consumption and loss of resources caused to Great Xia during this period?

After a large amount of resources are spent, the income cannot make ends meet, resulting in insufficient resources and unbalanced distribution, and how to deal with the impact on the cities, major departments and factories within Great Xia?

What if something unexpected happens, and emergency resources can't be mobilized?

Zhang Liang just said this thing, and the old minister's liver began to hurt.

Zhang Liang's method is indeed very good, but it will also bring big problems.

It is possible to win the battle in this way, but the internal affairs and production of Great Xia have collapsed!

After all, the volume of Great Xia is still a little small now.

The current Great Xia is, at best, equivalent to the slightly larger Fang State during the Shang Dynasty in China.

In the face of the quarrel between the two, the others are in a posture of "nothing to do with me".

"That's it!"

Xia Qi waved his hand and stopped the two who were still arguing.

"Give me a good idea of it!"

Surprisingly, Xia Qi finally chose the first plan.

Later, Xia Qi thought about it, in fact, for the current Great Xia, the first plan is the most advantageous choice.

Xia Qi ordered to step up the production of a batch of sleds, and then the original grain transportation team pulled and transported the grain.

At the same time, let the main combat strength of the cavalry team be concentrated in one place, and pretend to transport grain according to the original grain transportation route, so as to attract the attention of the steppe people, so as to make the real grain transportation team on the other side more safe.

In the case of ensuring food security and no longer need to be distracted to protect food, even if the large army encounters a large number of steppe cavalry, it is completely able to deal with it calmly.

Just when the Great Xia side was seriously preparing for sleds and food, on the grassland, after that battle, Shinar led his tribe's men and horses to part ways directly with those horse thieves.

After seeing the strength of the Great Xia cavalry, Shinar obviously knew in his heart that he could not count on the gang of horse thieves, in order to avoid the location of his tribe from being discovered, after leaving the battlefield, he deliberately took his men and horses to make a detour, and it took a lot of work to return to the Arata tribe.

"It's Shenar......"

"Shinal is back!"

Shinal's return ushered in the cheers of the tribal people, and now he carries the hope of the entire tribe.

And the leader of the Aratha tribe, who was Shinal's father, Alat, also hurried out of his tent to meet his proud son.

"Abba."

Shinar turned over and dismounted, and walked quickly in front of his father, while motioning to the men and horses accompanying him to put down the grain they had stolen from the Xia people.

The food he grabbed on this trip was not much, and for the Arata tribe, it can only be described as a drop in the bucket. If this continues, the few remaining cattle and sheep in the tribe will have to be killed and eaten for meat.

Alatat looked at his son, who was about to speak, and he patted Shinar on the shoulder with his big rough hand, and motioned, "Let's go, go back to the camp." ”

I have to say that compared to the young Shinal, Alat, who is accustomed to seeing strong winds and waves on the grassland, is really much calmer than him.

Back at the chief's tent, Shinar uttered all the words he had been holding back.

After listening to Alat, two slightly white thick eyebrows couldn't help frowning slightly.

"You really can't underestimate those Xia people......

"And Abba, what are we going to do next?"

Faced with his son's question, Arat thought for a while before slowly speaking.

"After you left the tribe, I sent a group of people to explore the surroundings and found traces of several other tribes, who should have migrated like us."

"The strength of those horse thieves, there is no hope, go back and find an opportunity to contact the people of those tribes."

"According to your description, with our strength alone, I am afraid it will be difficult to snatch enough food from the Xia people, and if we can unite with a few other big tribes, it will naturally be great."