In Shanglin Garden, Wei Qing, who came on horseback, caught up with Li Yunze who was hunting. "The residence of the champion has been arranged, and he can move in when he comes back."
"Thank you for your hard work, Marquis Changping."
Li Yunze, who was dressed in hunting clothes, raised the hunting bow in his hand and said with a smile, "I will say thank you on behalf of Huo Qubing."
"Your Majesty has asked me to do it." Wei Qing saluted and responded, "I just don't know when the champion will come back?"
"It's not clear yet, it depends on what he wants." Li Yunze responded casually, "The general will be away, and you will not accept your orders. The army goes out to fight, and the winner will make his own decision when to return."
"His Majesty."
Wei Qing, who has always been steady, is also a little anxious. "The army has been out for a long time, traveling thousands of miles and fighting continuously. Since the land in Hexi has been pacified, what are you waiting for if you don't retreat?"
"Oh, there are not many ferocious beasts in Shanglin Garden today." Li Yunze looked around and said, "I can't even see a single tiger."
Wei Qing was also speechless. Of course he understood that the emperor was tacitly allowing Huo Qubing to continue fighting.
But as the acting Grand Governor of the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion, he couldn't just watch.
"His Majesty."
Wei Qing emphasized his tone and said, "At this time, the goal of the war has been achieved and a complete victory has been achieved. Why continue to fight? The soldiers are not cattle and horses, how can they not rest and recuperate? They have traveled thousands of miles, let alone humans, horses.
I can't stand it. Your Majesty, please don't spoil him too much!"
With Wei Qing's military attainments and experience, he could naturally see that Huo Qubing still wanted to continue the fight.
It is rare to send troops once, and they are like wild horses that have lost their reins. They will not come back until they are fully satisfied.
But the main force of the Xiongnu on the right has been defeated. If there is a target worthy of dispatching the army, the only thing left is to chase and kill King Youxian.
However, the battle report clearly stated that King Youxian had already fled to the North Tianshan Mountains.
My God, according to the news brought back by Zhang Qian and the confessions of the Huns who surrendered to the Han Dynasty, the North Tianshan Mountains are really the end of the world.
If we really wanted to pursue them, we would not only have to climb over the mountains, but also cross the terrifying vast sea, and then pursue them all the way.
As a rough estimate, this journey will start at least three thousand miles!
There were no trucks, no trains, no planes. He simply relied on horseback riding to cross such a complex terrain and fly to a place three thousand miles away in a short time, looking for King Youxian who didn't know whether he was still there.
It was easy to find King Youxian, but if King Youxian ran away again, the Han army would not be able to find the Huns' tribe even if they wanted to prey on the enemy.
"Your Majesty." Wei Qing persuaded again, "It's okay to go back and rest first, and wait until the Xiuyi Guard's spies find the specific location of King Youxian's headquarters before attacking."
"Who is that?" Li Yunze shouted to Sima Xiangru who was in a daze, "Go to the forest and drive out the wild beasts!"
Sima Xiangru raised his hand and pointed at himself blankly, "Me?"
"Yes, it's you." Li Yunze waved his hand impatiently, "Go quickly!"
Sima Xiangru's scalp was numb, but there was nothing he could do. He had to do things for the emperor as he was receiving the emperor's salary.
Moreover, a big man is good at martial arts. If he dares to say something like, "I'm afraid if I can't do it," he will never be able to raise his head in this life.
In fact, all the officials around him were envious of Sima Xiangru. He could drive wild beasts away for the emperor. This was something only the emperor's status as an eagle dog was qualified to do.
They also wanted to be the emperor's eagle dog, but it was a pity that the emperor didn't call them.
"His Majesty!"
Wei Qing was really anxious, "The soldiers and horses that Huo Qubing took away were all elites supported by the Han Dynasty with the whole country. How could they be thrown away so easily?"
The Han's national power has been greatly enhanced in recent years, but even so, the number of cavalry supported by the entire country's strength does not exceed one hundred thousand.
Don’t talk about anything else, just talk about eating.
A Han cavalry is equipped with five horses as standard equipment.
A riding horse is used for transportation, a war horse is used for riding in battle, and three pack horses are used to transport weapons, armor, water, food and feed.
A horse needs to eat at least five people's rations on a normal day, but when they need to work hard during wartime, it can easily eat and drink enough for a day to consume ten people's rations.
In other words, to support 100,000 cavalry, the amount of food eaten in one day alone would be as much as 2.5 million kilograms of food!
Some people say that it is okay to eat grass and there is no need to wait for food.
This is indeed true, but just like people can survive by eating grain, eating grass is also alive.
Humans need to eat meat to be strong, and horses need to eat fine grains to become taller, stronger and have endurance. When needed, they can run and run far.
Although the Han Dynasty popularized alfalfa on a large scale, the main rations for feeding horses were grain and bean cakes... Bean cakes were usually only eaten during wartime, and they could only be eaten in a few days on weekdays.
After all, bean cakes contain expensive materials such as salt, sugar, and even spices, and the yield of soybeans is not high, so they are very precious.
Alfalfa and the like are mainly used to feed cattle and sheep.
This is just food and training for horses, as well as a three-piece set of high bridge saddles, horseshoes and stirrups, and even horse armor.
There is no stainless steel in Dahan. These things are easily damaged and require constant maintenance or even updating.
Coupled with the high consumption of cavalry, even if the Han Dynasty used the entire country to support them, it would not be able to raise 100,000 cavalry.
What Huo Qubing took away this time was the most elite group of Han cavalry.
His battle report clearly stated that tens of thousands of horses were lost simply due to the forced march along the way and the attrition on the battlefield.
Not all of them died. Many of the horses had broken legs, cracked hooves, sweating and other reasons and could no longer be used.
If we talk about the loss of war horses, we can also make up for them by capturing them.
But the loss of thousands of elite cavalry made Wei Qing heartbroken.
The cavalry in the army all come from good families. In addition to eating and drinking every day, they also train and exercise. They are true professional soldiers and the most elite.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! The big man invested too much in them and really did not dare to lose too much.
Moreover, Wei Qing also knew that Huo Qubing was playing tricks on the court.
The battle report only stated the number of dead soldiers, which we dare not lie about, but it did not mention the number of wounded.
Wei Qing, who had led troops in battles himself, knew very well that after a battle, the number of sick and wounded would definitely be more than the number of casualties.
He really couldn't bear to look at Huo Qubing's prodigal behavior.
If he really had to go three or four thousand miles this time, or march in a hurry, just the number of stragglers and sick people would be enough to make him dizzy.
"His Majesty."
Wei Qing simply stepped forward and grabbed the reins of Li Yunze's horse, "Your Majesty, please issue an edict to order Huo Qubing's master to return to the court."
Li Yunze smiled, "If I didn't know who you are, I would have thought you were jealous of Huo Qubing's illustrious martial arts."
As soon as these words came out, everyone around them subconsciously looked away. After all, it was really meaningful to say such words from the emperor's mouth.
In fact, Li Yunze meant it literally.
"That's too late."
He waved the hand holding the hunting bow, and took out a sharp arrow from the quiver with the other hand. "Judging from the time, Huo Qubing had set out a few days ago. They were on a forced march, and specifically
No one knows which way to go, and even if I want to issue an edict, I can't find anyone."
Different from the dense population in Middle-earth where there is one village for ten miles, one town for fifty miles, and one county for one hundred miles, in the vast land of the prairie that spans thousands of miles from east to west, north to south, if you want to find a constantly moving army, that is to find a needle in a haystack.
, unless there is a satellite phone.
Moreover, Li Yunze wholeheartedly supported Huo Qubing in continuing his fight.
The reason is very simple. The reason why the entire country has been used to support this elite cavalry is to use it in situations like this.
If they are not used, what is the point of raising them?
After spending so much material, wouldn't it be better to give it to the Han people to eat and drink.
Once a soldier goes to the battlefield, he must be prepared to die on the battlefield.
Wei Qing fell silent, loosened the reins and remained silent.
He suddenly felt that he had not been on the battlefield for many years, and it seemed that there had been an inexplicable change in his mentality.
This was not the case when I was leading troops in battle.
After a moment of silence, Wei Qing saluted Li Yunze and said, "Your Majesty, please lead the troops out of the fortress!"
"Don't be impatient."
Li Yunze smiled, pointed his bow and arrow at the woods not far away, "I will definitely let you go."
The sound of horse hooves sounded, and Sima Xiangru rushed out of the woods shouting, "There are tigers!"
A tiger followed closely behind and rushed out of the woods.
But as soon as he came out, he noticed that the outside was densely packed with terrifying upright apes. He subconsciously stopped his paws, let out a low growl, and prepared to turn around and run away.
Wild animals are different from animals in captivity.
Captive animals are so courageous that they dare to roar at anyone they see on the road, and even dare to bite them, causing trouble for their owners.
But wild animals have keen intuition, know what not to mess with, and know how to avoid trouble.
It's a pity that this tiger didn't look at the almanac when he went out today. Just as he was about to turn around and run away, Li Yunze's sharp arrow arrived over there.
The sharp arrow made a sound of piercing the air, accurately hit the tiger's right eye, and penetrated directly into the brain. There was no doubt that he was dead.
"Pack it up." Amid cheers and cheers from all around, Li Yunze hung up his hunting bow and said, "We will eat roasted tiger meat later in the evening. Remember to leave the tiger whip to me!"
At the same time, Huo Qubing, thousands of miles away, was also busy hunting.
Not long ago, they walked out of the huge vast sea (Tengger Desert) and came all the way to the vast lake in front of them.
The Han soldiers, who had been tortured in the vast sea, cheered and prepared to improve their food and have a good rest.
Wei Qing felt that Huo Qubing was not considerate of the sergeants. This was true on the battlefield, but it was completely different on ordinary days.
At least at this moment, he didn't say 'fill the kettle and keep on going'.
He tacitly allowed the soldiers to rest for the night by the lake. After all, it was too uncomfortable when they crossed the vast sea before.
It was hot during the day and cold at night, making many soldiers sick and unable to move, and even more of the delicate horses died.
Moreover, there was no wood in the desert and there was no way to make a fire for cooking. This was even more uncomfortable for the Han soldiers who were used to eating hot food.
After eating the cheese that tasted great and the dried meat that was as hard as a stone, the Han soldiers couldn't wait to improve their food.
Even Huo Qubing took a bow and arrow and shot a few wild geese and swans that were stupidly staying on the shore.
Well, wild geese are quite delicious.
After leaving the wild geese to be handled by his personal guards, Huo Qubing sat on the shore of the lake and called the Huns guide to ask, "Where is this place?"
This person couldn't speak Chinese very well, and he stuttered and couldn't speak clearly.
Huo Qubing waved his hand impatiently, "Speak in Xiongnu language."
The guide felt as if he had been granted amnesty and immediately spit out the place name "Juyan."
The translation in this era was similar to that in later generations, it was directly transliteration.
"Juyan?"
Huo Qubing, who was dangling a piece of dead grass in his hand, nodded, "Then this place will be called Ju Yanze from now on."