....There are no less than 400,000 people who control strings in the Huns?!" Bailixian said in a lost voice... General, where do you start?"

"What?" Xiang Zhuang was a little uncertain and said, "Ziliang, did the Huns not have forty-hundred cavalry?"

"Of course not." Bailixian shook his feather fan and said, "I went deep into the north of the Mo twice and had a good understanding of the background of the Huns. Now the name of the Huns is Maodun. He is indeed a talented and magnificent hero. However, the population of the Huns is only 700,000 to 800,000, most of which are Fusen, and the maximum number of strong men is only 200,000. How can there be 400,000 string control men?"

After saying this, Bailixian said: "The Huns are composed of hundreds of tribes of all sizes. They graze water and grass, and they spread a wide area. Only in late autumn every year, when the Huns Chanyu checks cattle and sheep, they will temporarily gather in one place. Usually, even if it is the Huns Chanyu, it is already the limit to be able to summon 30,000 to 40,000 cavalry!"

"So that's how it is." Xiang Zhuang suddenly felt enlightened when he heard this.

The Baideng siege in history happened to happen in winter, which was after the Xiongnu Chanyu checked the cattle and sheep, so Maodun was able to exaggerate the power of the Xiongnu. However, it seems that Sima Qian still deliberately exaggerated the strength of the Xiongnu. As for the four types of cavalry in each direction, it was even more exaggerated.

And it's only early June, and there are still four or five months before late autumn.

In other words, if you go north to Jiuyuan now, you will face at most 30,000 to 40,000 cavalry and 40,000 cavalrymen.

Xiang Zhuang also said: "But even if there are only 30,000 to 40,000 Hun cavalry, our army is afraid that we will still lose." The Huns' iron smelting technology was very backward and the weapons were very primitive. This is unquestionable. This is also the main reason why the Huns were defeated by the Han Empire at their heyday.

In fact, there is always generational difference in agricultural civilization and nomadic civilization in science and technology, which is an indisputable fact.

The siege of Bai Dengshan can also prove this, because at that time, Liu Bang had only a few thousand Han cavalry under his command, while the Hun cavalry had at least more than 200,000 cavalry.

However, the Huns besieged thousands of cavalry with 200,000 cavalry, and the terrain of Baideng Mountain was not steep at all. However, the Huns attacked for seven days but failed to capture it. What does this mean? This shows that the Huns' attack ability was very weak and their attack ability was weak. The biggest reason must be the lack of sharp weapons, not the lack of brave warriors.

In fact, the Xiongnu lived in harsh and harsh conditions, and there was never a shortage of soldiers who were ready to die.

However, Xiang Zhuang would never underestimate the Huns' combat effectiveness just because of their primitive weapons.

In history, the Huns were able to cover the Han Empire like yin haze for a hundred years, but were defeated by the Han Empire. After moving westward, they caused great shock to Europe and directly led to the destruction of the ancient Roman Empire. There is no reason for the Huns to be backward in technology and primitive weapons. However, they also have a powerful weapon that surpasses the times...

That's the stirrup!

Whether stirrups were invented by the northern nomads or the Central Plains people has always been controversial in the later Chinese historical community. One view believes that stirrups must be used first by nomads, but another view believes that nomads are nations that live on horseback, so the use of stirrups is not urgent. On the contrary, the Central Plains people are more likely to invent stirrups in order to improve the combat effectiveness of cavalry.

Xiang Zhuang did not know about the controversy about stirrups, but he knew that in less than twenty years after Qin Shihuang's army swallowed up the six kingdoms and Liu Bang's old man established the Han Empire, the combat effectiveness of the Huns had been transformed. It was an indisputable fact that when méng Tian attacked the Huns in the north, the Huns seemed vulnerable, but when Baideng's siege, the Huns' military attacks were no longer able to resist by the Central Plains people. At least when the Central Plains people were fighting in the wild, the Central Plains people could never defeat the Huns.

This is certainly due to the regression of Central Plains civilization, the Han Empire, which had just been established, was completely incomparable to the Qin Empire at its peak, whether it was population, military system or military technology.

However, it is an indisputable fact that the strength of the Huns increased within twenty years.

The strength of the Huns suddenly soared, and there are only two possibilities: one is the increase in population and the increase in string control personnel: the other is the emergence of the weapons and equipment of the "revolutionary"!

In just twenty years, the population of the Huns could not have exploded, or even negative growth, because at that time it was Maodun who was the Shanyu and continued to fight against the powerful neighbors of Donghu and Yuezhi.

Then there is only one possibility left, which is the emergence of the weapons and equipment of the revolution!

The Huns were backward in technology and could not create a powerful tool like the ring-headed sword, but it was entirely possible to invent stirrups.

Stirrups are fully worthy of the title of "Revolutionary Weapons and Equipment". In the evolutionary history of cavalry, no weapon and equipment have ever been as simple as stirrups. Although it is simple, it has had a great impact on the combat effectiveness of cavalry, and even horseshoes cannot be compared, because horseshoes only improve the endurance of cavalry.

Of course, the Huns are probably using simple wooden stirrups now, even if they are wooden stirrups, they are enough to make the combat effectiveness of the Hun cavalry. Although Xiang Zhuang is brave and good at fighting, he will never be arrogant enough to think that his 20,000 infantry can beat the 30,000 to 40,000 Hun cavalry equipped with simple stirrups.

In fact, 20,000 Chu infantry may not even be able to defeat 5,000 Hun cavalry!

The reason is very simple, because the Huns' cavalry traveled like wind and as fast as lightning. The Chu army could not catch up with it, and could not attack the Huns. However, the Huns could launch endless attacks on the Chu army at any time and anywhere. This was like a wolf's nose on the grassland. Even if they could not bite the large prey at once, they could drag you down little by little and waste you to death...

Faced with Xiang Zhuang's questions, Bailixian spread his hands and smiled: "General, can you beat the Huns? Let's not talk about whether you can beat the Huns. The problem now is that there is no need for our army to fight with the Huns?"

Xiang Zhuang frowned and said, "Ziliang, Jiuyuan County has been occupied by the Huns. If we go north to Jiuyuan, how can we not conflict with the Huns?" Bailixian said in surprise: "Where does the General know that Jiuyuan has been occupied by the Huns?" "What?" Xiang Zhuang was not very sure, and asked, "Isn't that the case?" "Of course not." Bailixian said, "Jiuyuan County has a natural danger of Gaoque, and a Great Wall that stretches for thousands of miles to protect the northern border. How can the Huns Hu cavalry go south to herd their horses?" After saying this, Bailixian said, "I will not hide it from the General. I just returned from traveling from Jiuyuan more than a month ago. Jiuyuan County to the Umbrella is still under the control of the old Qin people." "Old Qin people?" Wei Liao stood up suddenly and said anxiously, "There are Qin troops in Jiuyuan?!"

The Qin Empire pursued a strict farming and war system, and the strong men of the whole country served the people in their spare time and soldiers in war. Therefore, wherever there are old Qin people, there are Qin troops!

Baili Xian nodded and said, "At the beginning of the First Emperor, General Méng led an army of 300,000 to attack the Huns in the north, and all the land in Henan were captured. The First Emperor also recruited hundreds of thousands of households from Guanzhong to recruit hundreds of thousands of households to fill the border and set up 34 counties! The riots broke out, and Wang Li led 200,000 elite troops to move south. In the following three or four years, the military and civilians in Guandong were dispersed, but the old Qin people stayed."

Wei Liaoji's face turned red and said anxiously: "How many old Qin people and how many Qin troops are there?" Baili Xian said: "There are more than 30,000 old Qin people and more than 5,000 Qin troops, but they are all cavalry." "God's will, what will the will of heaven!" Wei Liaoji was moved inexplicably, and immediately said to Xiang Zhuang, "General, these five thousand Qin iron cavalry are gifts from God to Great Chu, and the revival of Great Chu is hopeless!"

Xiang Zhuang was also moved and turned his anticipated eyes to Bailixian.

Bailixian shook his feather fan and said splendidly: "This old Qin people were led by General Méngtian's fake son, and they were friends with Méng and Bian. They were willing to enter the subway alone for the general and lobby for the troops to surrender.

"Good!" Xiang Zhuang was overjoyed when he heard this and said happily, "If you get help from me, why worry about the great Chu going to rise?"

Xiang Zhuang cannot be unhappy. If he could really get the five thousand Qin cavalry of Méng, it would be really a big Chu. With these five thousand Qin cavalry, he would no longer have to worry about the followers and killings of the Han cavalry. This time he went to Yunzhong, Yanmen, Dai County, Shanggu, Aries, Lin Hu, Lou Fan and other small

Needless to say, the tribe is not afraid even the Huns!

With the support of the five thousand Qin Iron Cavalry, Xiang Zhuang even had greater ambitions in his heart.

If the large amount of corn, silk, and cloth stored in the Xianyang royal palace, granaries and treasury are stored,

Jewelry and jewelry are loaded into the truck and transported to Jiuyuan along the straight road. So can we use the supplies that the Hu people urgently need to exchange for a large number of cattle and sheep, especially horses, from the hands of small tribes such as Aries, Lin Hu, Lou Fan, etc.?

If there are enough horses, then after several months of high-intensity training, can you train all your 20,000 infantry into cavalry? Also, in a few months, it will be enough for the blacksmith to match each war horse with stirrups. If you create enough ring-headed swords, you are afraid that even the small-scale Hun cavalry will retreat?

Of course, Xiang Zhuang would never be arrogant enough to think that he could permanently occupy Henan with this little strength.

Xiang Zhuang knew very well that unless a large-scale human plague or horse plague suddenly broke out in the grasslands in the northern desert, the Huns' large-scale southward movement was inevitable. The Huns may not be as powerful as recorded in historical books, but it is more than enough to reoccupy Henan with abundant water and grass, which is probably irreversible by no one.

What's more, even though the Chu army blocked the Huns' troops with the natural danger of Gaoque and the Great Wall, Liu Bang in Guanzhong would never give up. He was caught in the middle of the two great men of Liu Bang. Even if Xiang Zhuang was a time traveler, even if he had the ability to reach the sky, he would probably not be able to resist it. Therefore, such a stupid thing as defending Henan Province to the end is absolutely impossible.

However, it is perfectly possible to create a cavalry before the Huns marched south.
Chapter completed!