Chapter 103 The place where horses are produced - Hetao
Horse meat and whale meat are tumbling in the pot with dried vegetables. Spicy seasonings are added, and the aroma is slightly stimulating. / After a bowl of broth, my whole body feels relaxed, and it feels like there is a ball of fire in my belly.
Burning, warm feeling.
Even though the severe cold climate had a greater impact on the Ming army, the logistics of the Ming army were better than that of the Manchus. The cold-proof clothing, pants, shoes and hats, bedding, tents, and food and drink all made the soldiers satisfied. Undoubtedly, this
It was also a key factor in boosting the morale of the Ming army and maintaining its combat effectiveness.
For this point, the frontline generals including Hu Guozhu admired them greatly. Although not all of them knew the hard efforts made by the court, they also understood the difficulty of the General Staff ordering winter rest. When the war reached this level, supplies of supplies
It’s really not easy to support it until now!
This was the main reason why Zhu Yongxing was eager to mobilize troops south. Logistical pressure forced him to postpone his plan to continue attacking the Manchu Qing Dynasty. In fact, most people could see clearly that the Manchu Qing Dynasty, which had been beaten back to its original shape, had almost no chance of a comeback.
Possibly. Even without a big fight, just relying on blockade and siege, and continuous harassment in the three directions of western Liaoning, eastern Liaoning, and southern Liaoning would be enough to bring down the Manchu Qing and exhaust its last bit of strength.
Of course, this is not the best choice for military generals. After all, only by fighting and winning can you be promoted to a higher rank and become famous in history. Whether you are a founding hero or a famous general of the ZTE, there is always a famous person who follows Zhu Yongxing.
The head cannot escape.
After greeting each other, Hu Guozhu sat down in the seat vacated by an officer, clasped his hands on the fire, and said to Gao Dejie with a smile: "Old Gao, after this battle is over, I guess that tall horse will be here soon."
Gao Dejie laughed, shook his head with some regret, and said: "That's a stallion. I don't have a few years of experience, so I'm afraid I won't be able to ride it."
"It's just a royal horse, right?" Hu Guozhu nodded, pondered for a moment, and said, "Don't worry, maybe Long Live can give me a reward!"
"It's good to add favors and rewards." Gao Dejie thought for a while, then shook his head and said: "But I can only ride on the mighty and mighty horse. Who is willing to go into battle and charge?"
"That's true." Hu Guozhu suddenly nodded, smiled, and said: "It's better than nothing. It saves me drooling just looking at it."
"Well, I heard that they are big horses, but I don't know what they are like." Gao Dejie handed Hu Guozhu a bowl of hot soup, paused, and said: "Whether it is big horses or small horses, the cavalry will definitely expand. The Tartars
. Donglu, without a hundred thousand cavalry, I’m afraid we won’t be able to control them.”
"In the decades since Wenjing's rule, the country has gone from being unable to find even four horses of the same color to having hundreds of thousands of horses, and only then have the historical achievements of Wei Qing and Huo Qubing been achieved." Hu Guozhu said while thinking: "Now
The situation is much stronger than that of the Western Han Dynasty, but if we need one hundred thousand cavalry, we may have to wait several years."
Everyone knows that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty won a complete victory in counterattacking the Xiongnu, and he also had the heroic words of "Anyone who offends our powerful Han will be punished no matter how far away". But they don't know that the foundation for this is the accumulation of hardships by two generations of emperors.
War horses, what can you use to penetrate into the desert, and what can you use to seal a wolf in a coven.
Comparing the Western Han Dynasty with the current Ming Dynasty, they are naturally very different. Whether it is population, territory, productivity, or the level of leaders, the time it took for the Ming Dynasty to restore its demeanor as a powerful nation was greatly shortened. But what Hu Guozhu said is also true
Reason. The quality of the cavalry and the source of the horses are not like the infantry, which only requires a few months of training.
"If we can get a horse-producing land, maybe the time can be shortened." Gao Dejie paused and guessed: "Northwest, well, the army led by the King of Jin is also very powerful. Maybe they can take the Hetao and solve the problem in the Central Plains.
Horse trouble."
The most important horse-producing areas of the Central Plains Dynasty have always been the Hetao Plain and the Hexi Corridor. The Hexi Corridor is vast and sparsely populated and mostly ruled by foreigners, and focuses on the rich Hetao area. The Hetao area generally refers to the east of the Helan Mountains and the Luliang Mountains.
To the west, south of Yinshan Mountain and north of the Great Wall. Including the Yinchuan Plain (Ningxia Plain), the Ordos Plateau, and parts of the Loess Plateau. According to the current geographical division, they belong to Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, and Shaanxi.
Although China is huge, only the Hetao Plain area is an ideal horse-producing area that the Central Plains Dynasty can control. The Hetao is located in the northwest, with rich water and grass, and a cool climate that can be used to herd horses. However, due to irrigation by the Yellow River, there is sufficient water and the land is fertile for farming.
Mulberry trees are suitable for farming. The Han people can survive and reproduce here, and can rely on local production to maintain large-scale garrisons. Although the Hexi Corridor and the Mongolian Plateau can also produce horses, the climate is harsh, the water is scarce, and the sand is large, making it difficult for the Han people to survive.
, the army cannot be stationed for a long time.
Historically, if the Central Plains Dynasty gained the Hetao area, the Central Plains Dynasty's cavalry would be powerful and able to sweep across the desert. But once the Hetao area was lost, the horse farms in other areas of the Central Plains Dynasty would not be able to withstand the large number of cavalry needs, and the number of cavalry would be reduced.
Will be significantly reduced and weakened.
In the early Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty also occupied the Hetao area. And the Ming Dynasty's iron cavalry in the early Ming Dynasty was indeed very powerful. Xu Da conquered Mongolia in the north and divided Mongolia into three tribes: Tatar, Wala and Duoyan. Ming Chengzu Northern Expedition against the Tatars
Fighting to the Onan River. But later, the Tatar Dayan Khan gradually became stronger, and the Ming Dynasty gradually became weaker due to internal rebellion. They snatched this land from Chenghua to the Longqing Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty’s cavalry
It was also devastated by the loss of this important horse-producing land, and there were few strong cavalry units since Longqing.
Hu Guozhu also believed in this. Even if the Hetao area cannot be recovered, it is quite beneficial to use it as an important trade route for buying horses. The Hetao is connected to Qinghai, Gansu to the west, and Mongolia to the north. The Central Plains dynasties have always established horse markets here and northwest
Ethnic minorities trade horses. Before the mid-Tang Dynasty, silk was traded for horses, and after the mid-Tang Dynasty, tea was traded for horses. The Sichuan-Shaanxi Tea Horse Road is very famous. Although horses can now be traded with ethnic minorities in Qinghai-Tibet through Sichuan, horses
It is not easy to transship goods, and it is not as convenient as trading in the Hetao.
In fact, there is another point. In addition to horses, the Hetao Plain is also known as "strong people and many brave men." With the ancient training level and logistics supply level, most of them cannot afford to train cavalry from scratch. They directly recruit cavalry from the northwest and northern regions who are accustomed to riding horses.
The border residents formed an army directly after a little training. The Hetao Plain has always been a place where elite soldiers and generals were produced, such as Li Guang of Longxi, Lu Bu of Wuyuan, Zhang Liao of Yanmen, Zhejiajiang of Fuzhou, Zhongjiajiang, etc., all of whom are from this area near Hetao.
A great guy from the block.
But obviously, using troops in the northeast and northwest is indeed a test of the imperial court's organizational and financing capabilities, and a leader's ability to govern the country and smooth finances.
…………(To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature, the novel will be better and updated faster!