"How many soldiers and horses did the Huns have, and what is their combat power?

Can our existing army fight a quick victory, decide the outcome of a battle, and complete its work in a single battle? ”

Liu Ji rubbed his eyebrows, feeling that this strong enemy sleeping soundly on the side of the couch was very tricky.

The border between the Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu was long, from the north of Youzhou to Longxi, which was the field of Xiongnu iron cavalry activities;

If the army is piled up on the border all the year round and waits for the rabbit, with the current national strength, a large-scale war of attrition will definitely not be able to be fought, and the people in the border counties are already living in hardship, and then provoke a popular uprising, the gains outweigh the losses.

Moreover, if the deployment of troops is heavy on the outside for a long time, several vassal states will be even more impatient.

However, if the founding emperor swallowed his anger and allowed the border to be looted every now and then, it was by no means a proper sign of the prosperity of the country.

Many generals present, such as Fan Xu, Guan Ying and others, heard the emperor's question, they already straightened up, their hearts itched, and they were eager to try, just looking left and right, waiting for someone to answer.

For this question, Zhang Cang has already calculated, he said without thinking,

"Your Majesty just asked the strength of the Huns, and according to the minister's estimates, there are no less than 300,000 people on the grassland."

"Three...... Three hundred thousand? Are they all fine riders? ”

Except for Lu Pheasant, who had already known about it, everyone here gasped, and the hot tea in his hand seemed to have lost its temperature suddenly, and in this early summer weather, there was a little creepy.

Liu Ji was also in his heart, and couldn't help but stutter a little, "You, where did you get this number?" ”

"The minister has been stationed in Daidi for many years, and according to the information of the border people he has heard, he calculated it in his spare time.

According to the customs of the Xiongnu, a grand sacrifice is held somewhere in the hinterland of the grassland every autumn, and all the clansmen gather in one place, and the kings worship around the forest with their horses, so it is also called the dài forest conference.

The year before last, when the forest conference was held, it was said that the grand occasion was unprecedented, some said that 80,000 accounts were gone, and some said that more than 100,000 accounts were gone. According to the calculations of the ministers, there are always 100,000 accounts. ”

Because the Xiongnu people had no written language, information was transmitted only by language, from royal court orders to small grazing trivialities, all by word of mouth.

Although there are many gaps, as long as enough information is collected, and then given a space for left and right omission errors, the basic reality can always be deduced.

Zhang Cang is good at arithmetic, and these statistical work is not difficult for him.

"Every account in your mouth is a household, yes or no?

100,000 tents, 300,000 elite horsemen, can a family of five or six in each tent produce three warriors? ”

Shusun Tong asked in disbelief, the world of martial arts and killing in the grassland was really too far away from him, full of incomprehensible laws of survival.

"Yes, the Huns are integrated with the army and the people, and all the people are soldiers.

They have learned to ride horses and practice hunting since they were young, and each of them is one of ten, and the most powerful cavalry in Daijun can probably only fight with them.

What's more, the Hun women are shepherding sheep on horseback on weekdays, as long as the young child can walk, he can raise a small bow to shoot mice, and when he grows up to the horse's shoulder, he turns over and gets on the horse, and he is a warrior again.

These 300,000 soldiers do not count women and young children. ”

Lu Pheasant also secretly exclaimed, the gap in the strength of the Han and Hungarian cavalry at this moment was simply incomparable to that of the Tang Dynasty against the Turks in the previous generation.

It seems that the endurance and humiliation of the ministers in the early Han Dynasty is really a last resort, if they can fight, who is willing to endure it?

Seeing that everyone in the hall was a little deflated, Fan Hao was about to have a seizure again, his eyes were cracked, and he howled unconvinced with his throat,

"What about 300,000, what about riding and shooting, you also said it just now, the Huns are also people, they are all flesh and blood, and if they are cut down with a knife, they will still have a big scar.

Your Majesty, you are afraid of the Huns, but I am not afraid!

I will bring my own army of 100,000 to chase into the desert, set foot on their lair, if defeated, I will come to see you! ”

Liu Ji was already bored, and was yelled at by Fan Xu, annoyed and angry, and slammed the five-color moire brocade screen on the side of the bed, and shouted at him,

"Fan Xu, you're going to rebel today! Shut up! ”

***

Everyone was frightened by the emperor's anger, and seeing that Fan Xu's chest was constantly rising and falling, his face showed unwillingness, and he opened his mouth to argue, Lu Pheasant suddenly said,

"Fan Xu, as a general, even if you are sincere and want to make contributions to Your Majesty, you can't be rash.

Let me ask you, have you ever been to Mobei? Are you familiar with the topography of the desert?

How many cavalry do we have at the moment that can match it, and how many fast horses do we have? And how many soldiers are willing to continue fighting?

Even if the soldiers sacrifice their lives, we have no counties and no tuntian in the desert, what should we do with grain, grass and supplies, and rely on falling from the sky? ”

Her voice is gentle, and her voice is not high, but she faintly reveals the aura of gold and stone, and she is loud.

Several veteran generals who have led troops all the year round, knowing that the queen asked the idea one by one, was speechless, and no longer followed Fan's noise, but just sighed.

The desert is different from the Central Plains, once the lone army goes deep, the military reserves, grain and grass supply, and halfway response must be carefully considered.

"Besides, yesterday Prime Minister Xiao Cheng said that after searching Luoyang City, he couldn't find four strong horses of the same color and height, and he could only take an ox cart to the court every day.

Your Majesty and I in the palace are trying to save as much as possible, and even the bronze case in front of each of you is also an old thing from the Qin period.

Fan Xu, you want to lead an army of 100,000 to attack, how will this military expenditure be conjured out of thin air? ”

Seeing that Liu Ji frequently bowed his head in agreement, Fan Hao also sighed heavily and sat down on the wooden table in frustration.

Lu Zhiru is like him, and finally understood what the queen meant, right now, what the country needs most is to be quiet and inactive, and rest with the people.

If you insist on fighting the Huns, I'm afraid you won't want to provoke the second Chen Sheng and Wu Guang!

Liu Jing saw the stitches and said,

"The minister has a plan, it has been written, please Your Majesty to read it-"

"Oh, yes, Liu Jing has a friendly strategy, I will listen to it with you."

Liu Ji glanced at Lu Pheasant beside him, and continued quietly,

"The meaning of harmony is that I will marry a princess in the past, and the princess is the best choice, and the daughter of the clan can also marry the Xiongnu Shan Yu as a Kundi, in exchange for peace in the border area.

What do you think? ”

Hearing this, several veterans from Pei County all shouted "no", and the rest of the people bowed their heads and said nothing, but they all turned their faces to look at Zhang Ao.

After all, Princess Yan, who has reached the age of marriage and is suitable for marriage, is not Princess Lu Yuan who is married to him?

Knowing that Liu Ji must have this temptation, Zhang Liang, who has always been silently observing, also followed everyone's gaze, curious about how Zhang Ao would react in this dilemma.

I saw that Zhang Ao's face instantly turned pale, raised his head and opened his mouth slightly to say something, but he pursed his mouth decisively, and continued to kneel meekly with only his eyes and nose and heart, as if this matter had nothing to do with him.

Zhang Liang sighed silently, he was still too smart, so smart that he showed his appearance and appearance, he tried his best to play a prince and king who had no other emotions except loyalty, but he was destined to hide from the eyes of the emperor.

Lu Pheasant stared at Zhang Ao, and then looked at Liu Jing,

"Liu Jing, what you mean is good, I just want to buy a few years of obscurity for my dynasty.

However, I have two plans, I think it is better than being close to relatives, one is to 'immigrate to the real side', and the other is to 'switch the city'. ”