"This..." Huo Luchi didn't understand what Mu Huali was talking about at all.
So he took the exquisite porcelain bowl from the rider and poured it into the kumis. The kumis was very fresh and frothy, and the skin bag containing the kumis had two layers, the inner and the outer. The gap between the two layers contained the kumiss that had not yet melted.
Ice cubes. It is undoubtedly a pleasure to drink such a cool drink after a long journey.
After the Mongolian army established a huge foundation in the Western Regions, it also absorbed many systems and cultures of the big countries in the Western Regions. The Mongolian generals who returned from the Western Regions had a higher level of style and enjoyment, and their lives were very different from the original life of eating hair and drinking blood.
Just like this double skin bag for holding ice cubes, it is a good thing that has been passed down by Khwarizm for hundreds of years. In the early years when Khwarizm was still weak, two-layered lead molds were made, filled with ice cubes, and then shipped.
, and then transported long distance to Baghdad as a tribute to Wasig, the ninth caliph of the Abbasid Dynasty.
For hundreds of years, this custom of using ice cubes to insure fruits and drinks has been passed down, and the lead molds used to transport ice cubes gradually turned into skin bags under the influence of nomads.
When the Mongolian army marched long distances, they were accustomed to drinking goat's milk and mare's milk to maintain their strength. The mare's milk was stored in a sealed leather bag for a few days and then naturally fermented. Some of the milk that was not tightly sealed and caused rancidity was discarded, and the rest was mare's milk. This kind of
The taste of this simple fermentation product is really hard to describe, but when combined with the ice storage method of the Khwarizm people, it suddenly became an indispensable good thing for the Mongolian nobles.
After taking a few sips of kumiss, Mu Huali threw the porcelain bowl back, looked at the village where he was, and sighed with satisfaction.
"This should be the last village within hundreds of miles around?"
At this time, another person climbed up the mountain road and heard what Mu Huali said. The person immediately said loudly: "Yes. According to your instructions, we will continuously attack the village in the shortest time and kill all the people in this area...
Therefore, we have used all the precious iron artillery!"
There is a hint of anger in these words?
Before the Western Expedition, Mu Hua was a member of Wanhu who shouldered important responsibilities. During the Western Expedition, his status and power continued to increase, almost on a par with the Great Khans. As the classes within the Mongolian army became increasingly clear, ordinary people
When Qianhu Nayan saw Mu Huali, he could only kowtow.
Who dares to be so bold and speak like this?
The Batuers surrounding Mu Huali turned around together and saw the visitor with an unhappy face. It turned out to be Mu Huali's old subordinate, the powerful Qianhu Yeli Yasi who was responsible for staying on the grassland.
When Mu Huali first led Wuduo, Yeli Yasi was Mu Huali's capable subordinate. He followed Mu Huali to capture Dading Prefecture in Beijing and Daxing Prefecture in Zhongdu. Later, Mu Huali participated in the Western Expedition.
, he liked Yeli Yasi's quick mind, so he left him to garrison in his hometown.
It's a pity that Yeli Yasi can't compete with the members of the Golden Family. In the past few years, the clan's interests have been robbed a lot. Even the money tree he specially ran, the negotiation place for trading with the Central Plains, fell into Belgutai's hands. So.
He has always looked angry in the past few months.
In order to prevent the anger in his heart from being suppressed and causing trouble, Mu Huali transferred him back to his side for action after returning to the grassland. But Yeli Yasi was not happy at the moment, not because of the losses at that time.
He strode up to Mu Huali, gritted his teeth and asked, "It doesn't matter if we just leave the thirty or so villages in the mountains alone. When our army passes by, the people in the villages will not fight any more than they do everywhere on the grassland." The burrowing yellow rat is bolder..."
"They are just a group of thieves. Of course they are no match for us. This trip is to let the surrendered people see blood and get used to killing people."
"But we have spent a whole two hundred iron artillery here! How many do we have in total? This thing can be used to capture the strongest city wall, why are they all wasted! This is letting the most ferocious hunting dogs eat carrion. !”
Yeli Yasi asked in a low voice. Because he was so excited, his saliva sprayed into Mu Huali's ears.
Seeing his furious appearance, the Batuers hurriedly gathered around him, preparing to capture him.
Mu Huali waved the guard away. He and Yeli Yasi had known each other for many years, so it was unlikely that they would fall out over this kind of thing. Mu Huali also understood Yeli Yasi's emotions.
The level of civilization development of the nomadic peoples on the grasslands is indeed lagging behind that of the regimes outside the grasslands. After the rise of the Mongols, they clearly realized this, so when they attacked everywhere, they attached great importance to absorbing advanced knowledge that could be used for The knowledge of war is put to my use. This is what is called "relying on the horse power of the north and using the skills of the Central Plains".
At the beginning of the war between Mongolia and the Jin Kingdom, before attacking the three prefectures of Chang, Huan and Fu, the Mongols first captured Dongsheng Prefecture and Yunnei Prefecture to the north of Datong Prefecture in order to gather the craftsmen there. Later, they invaded the Central Plains and then Jin officers who knew how to make siege equipment were promoted several times to general managers and marshals.
When Mu Huali was in Dadingfu, Beijing, he also relied on the Han armed forces active in the area to urgently manufacture many equipment.
These equipment did not play the expected role in the subsequent battle with Ding Haijun. First, because the offensive and defensive momentum of the two sides were different, Ding Haijun was full of fierce men, and they were able to attack the Mongolian army all the way; second, , when it comes to the advantages of weapons and equipment, the gunpowder weapons of the Ding Navy are unstoppable. Compared with this, the gadgets that the Mongols put together in a hurry are worthless.
However, the failure of the expedition to the Central Plains also gave the Mongols some insights. Relying on the instinct of conquerors, they discovered the great value of gunpowder weapons and constantly tried to realize it during the Western Expedition.
Such an attempt is very difficult.
It is difficult for the rude and arrogant Mongolian nobles to become leaders in technological research; the small number of Han craftsmen who follow the army are responsible for a huge amount of weapon repair and maintenance work, and they have to strive for living conditions that allow them to survive, and it is difficult for them to emerge from sudden emergencies. Inspiration for your imagination.
It was delayed for a long time. It was not until a group of craftsmen plundered from the Xia Kingdom were transferred from a certain place and some of the party members' sharp weapons "fire caltrops" were returned that progress in this area gradually appeared.
After the army returned to the grassland, the Qianhu Nayan who stayed in the grassland generally lacked confidence in attacking the Central Plains. The Great Khan specially gathered them and showed them the power of iron artillery. He told them that the Mongols also had the sharp weapons that the Han people in the Central Plains had.
Yeli Yasi was present at the time. He witnessed with his own eyes an iron weapon the size of a water jar exploded. Dozens of slaves in armor bleed from their orifices and fell to the ground dead. He also witnessed larger jars explode. The fence made of stacked thick timbers is in a state of dislocation.
Yeligasi was delighted by this and felt that the situation was about to be reversed.
But not long after, Mu Huali told him privately that too many processes were in the hands of aliens with ulterior motives. The manufacturing, transportation and storage of such weapons were very difficult for the grassland regime. 2 currently made This batch is almost completely out of control in terms of quality. It is very likely that the previous iron artillery burst out with huge power, while the next iron artillery can only emit a puff of black smoke. Not to mention that the stable supply of iron materials and gunpowder has never been achieved. .
All Muhuali could do was to take advantage of the opportunity that the Mongolian Uluses began to build the grassland capital and try to reproduce many of the processes that the Central Plains people were accustomed to. During this period, Yeligas contributed the few Han craftsmen on hand. .But after all, it is not a day's work, it is a year's work. It requires a long period of concentration and management.
Until now, the number of usable iron artillery pieces in the hands of the Mongolian army is still very small. The total number of iron artillery pieces in the hands of Mu Huali is only two to three hundred.
This powerful weapon is so precious that both its manufacture and use must be under strict supervision. That's why Mu Huali personally went south with the so-called gunner army.
Yeli Yasi originally thought that after his vanguard swept across the mountainous area, he would continue to advance, using the iron artillery in his hands to break through an important pass and clear the way for the subsequent army to break into the Central Plains. Who knew that they had not left the mountainous area yet? Just for a group of ant-like thieves, just for a handful of shabby villages, Mu Huali depleted all his most important family assets?
How to fight the next battle?
Those passes built by the Han people in the Central Plains are all made of iron walnuts. Are they really going to cost human lives?