The Populus euphratica forest and other forests on the shore of Yanze suffered a devastating disaster.
Huo Qubing returned here with the Han army that suddenly attacked the Northern Tianshan Mountains, escorting tens of thousands of prisoners and a huge number of livestock.
"It's just the vast sea."
Huo Qubing, who already had the relevant map route in his mind, pointed to the woods further away from the lake shore and said, "Cut them all and build rafts."
The Han army's capture in the Northern Tianshan Mountains was huge, too numerous to count.
But these cattle, sheep and horses are not industrial products in the modern world, just waiting to be transported.
These animals need to be fed, drank, and cared for, and require a lot of human hands to take care of them to survive.
Otherwise, they will die in large numbers soon.
Huo Qubing learned this knowledge when he was a student in the martial arts hall.
So after counting the spoils and preparing to retreat, he ordered without hesitation that almost all the sheep be slaughtered.
Huo Qubing was not satisfied with killing all the Xiongnu tribes and not even sparing the sheep.
It was because he knew very well that these sheep could not follow the Han army for thousands of miles without care.
If the sheep were left alive, it would most likely benefit the dispersed Huns, so they simply slaughtered them all.
As for why it’s not made into dried meat? Where did the Huns get so much salt?
Yes, there are indeed many salt lakes here, but these salts cannot be eaten directly because they contain a large number of impurities that can cause fatal effects.
Therefore, although there were many salt lakes on the territory of the Huns, they had no purification technology, so they could only beg for money from the big men with their golden rice bowls in hand.
Apart from getting salt from the Western Regions, the only other option was to smuggle it from the Han Dynasty.
In fact, the most common source of salt for Xiongnu herdsmen was animal blood.
Without salt, jerky cannot be made.
After slaughtering the largest number of sheep, they drove the captives, cattle and horses back home.
As for the lambs held in the arms of those Hun women, naturally no one cared.
"General."
Zhao Ponu stepped forward to join in the conversation, "Are we going to walk along the weak water?"
"Um."
Huo Qubing squatted on the ground, took the knotted branch and first drew a circle, "This is Ju Yanze."
Then he drew a curved line from north to south and went south. "This is weak water."
The branch clicked in the middle of the weak water. "This is Jiuquan County. As long as the people, cattle and horses are transported to Jiuquan County, it will be done."
"The general is really a great talent!"
Zhao Ponu said flattering words, but the expression on his face was obviously unnatural.
When Huo Qubing saw this, he threw away the branch in his hand and said, "If you have anything to say, just tell me!"
With the glorious victory, although Huo Qubing was still young, he had established a high enough prestige in the army.
After all, the entire right side of the Xiongnu was destroyed by him, and this kind of tactics of turning thousands of miles away, running wildly and making surprise attacks, which made people's blood boil, naturally established prestige in the army.
The sergeants in the Han Dynasty were very simple, and those who could lead them to win battles and receive military merit rewards were respected generals.
As for age, personality, appearance, etc., no one cares about it.
When it comes to heavy losses, the sergeants don't care.
When you go into battle to kill the enemy, you should be mentally prepared to be killed by the enemy.
This is how they fight for military success with their lives. It can only be said that their lives are not good.
Even a captain like Zhao Ponu was extremely respectful when facing Huo Qubing.
"General, we have been promoted by the general. We have made great achievements and have been rewarded generously by the emperor and given a title. We have discussed it and want to raise some money to give it to the general."
"Can."
Huo Qubing immediately responded, "Send it over as soon as you return to Chang'an City."
Zhao Ponu was stunned for a moment, then nodded and said, "Here."
Li Yunze was never stingy with rewards for military achievements. On the way back to the army, he met an envoy coming from Chang'an City.
In addition to Huo Qubing's natural title of marquis, more than ten of the captains under his command were granted the title of marquis. The others who were not granted the title of marquis could, at worst, get the title of Zuo Shu Zhang.
As for rewards, of course there is no need to say much.
Gold and money, cloth and satin were all poured out as if they were free of charge. From Huo Qubing to ordinary knights, everyone had a good harvest, and it was the kind of fame and fortune.
They carried their heads and traveled thousands of miles for this reason.
Zhao Ponu was a representative, representing a group of people who came to pay homage to the dock.
Their meaning is very simple, they want to continue to follow Huo Qubing in the future.
As for the reason, of course it's because Huo Qubing is so capable of beating a horse!
Huo Qubing also understood this, so he agreed without hesitation and quickly exposed this matter.
Then, we can get down to business.
"Put the military supplies and the women and children on the rafts." Huo Qubing signaled to Zhao Ponu, "The soldiers and horses were divided into two teams on the left and right, and marched on both sides of the bank. Drive the horses and cattle, and use ropes to drag the rafts forward. As long as they reach Jiuquan County, they will basically That’s it.”
Zhao Ponu immediately saluted, "Here!"
The Han army was very capable. In just a few days, the woods near Juyanze suffered another disaster after the last disaster.
This time, even the woods dozens of miles away from Juyanze were cut down.
As for the lack of ropes, there are ways to solve it.
Tens of thousands of Hun women were mobilized to make straw ropes and dismantle the tent leather to make a large number of ropes on site.
So many people and animals gathered here, and they all depended on Ju Yanze for food, drink and diarrhea.
Not only were the woods and grasses affected, they were almost wiped out. Moreover, those Han soldiers who ate mutton until they vomited, in order to improve their food, made bird nets and fishing nets, which almost wiped out the birds that lived here and the big fish in the lakes, causing A catastrophic ecological disaster.
Fortunately, there are no environmentalists in this era, let alone protecting wild animals.
Everything in the world is prepared for human beings and can be requested anytime and anywhere.
When the mighty team finally moved along both sides of the weak water, the huge Juyanze shore was almost completely bare and turned into an open space.
In the past, the flocks of waterbirds, the big fish swimming everywhere in the water, the dense grass on the shore, the once continuous tracts of Populus euphratica forests, etc., etc., are almost gone.
There was nothing left except bonfires everywhere, excrement everywhere, debris everywhere, and ashes everywhere.
Ju Yanze, who was once full of vitality, was almost dead after being beaten back and forth by the Han army twice. It would not take three, five, seven, eight years to recover.
Therefore, military stationing is the most serious damage to the environment.
The journey south along the weak water was very slow. After all, it was necessary to drag the wooden raft forward, which was naturally inferior to the rapid march of one thousand miles in six days in the past.
However, this also gave the Han army soldiers more time to relax and repair.
During the day, they took care of the cattle and horses slowly, and at night they boarded the rafts in batches. Under the cover of night, there was a low hum that was intoxicating.
Anyway, every night, the rafts on the weak water rippled fiercely, and the water splashed everywhere.
A little care of the cattle and horses is enough. Anyway, there are abundant aquatic plants on both sides of the weak water. You can eat grass along the way. The places you pass by are really eaten clean, as if they have been swept by a lawnmower.
On the way, they also met an envoy who was taking a boat from Jiuquan County and going down the river.
The envoy brought Li Yunze's order, asking them to place all the spoils of war there after arriving in Jiuquan County, and then return to Chang'an City, where the emperor would hold a grand celebration for them. This is a brilliant victory.
The fleet from Jiuquan County also arrived, bringing food, wine, oil, salt and other supplies to the army.
The Han army didn't care about meat, they would have vomited it long ago.
But the fine wine made the soldiers salivate with greed.
The wine seized from the Huns had been drunk long ago, and most of it went into the bellies of the captains and officers.
Some were so addicted to alcohol that they even had the audacity to steal highly sterilized alcohol from military doctors and drink it.
Although he was beaten half to death by the marching method, he still shouted happily.
Now I can finally drink, and I can still drink openly. I drank so much that night that there were even fewer people on the raft.
Finally, we arrived at Jiuquan County along Weishui. Huo Qubing asked the county guard to "build more boats and rafts. Weishui is a very useful waterway."
Facing the general who returned with a great victory, the county guard naturally responded.
Huo Qubing actually paid more attention to Juyanze, which was an excellent water source and could be used as an advance base to move north, west, and east.
It would be even better if a fortress could be built here.
Huo Qubing, who had military affairs in mind, embarked on a journey back to Chang'an City.
The officers and soldiers of the army noticed the change in the general's mood, and no one dared to come forward to cause trouble.
Fortunately, this is the victorious squadron, and it is on a land that the Han Dynasty has begun to control. There is no big thing that needs to bother the general, and the captains of each department can arrange it themselves.
Huo Qubing's mentality is actually very simple, that is, he doesn't want to go back.
Compared to socializing with many royal relatives and nobles in Chang'an City, Huo Qubing preferred to gallop on the vast prairie. The kind of joy and happiness that Chang'an City could not provide at any cost.
He even had a strange feeling, as if he was born to gallop across the prairie and fight against the Huns.
These emotional changes continued all the way to the outskirts of Chang'an City.
Li Yunze personally brought the royal family, nobles, civil and military officials to the Weihe River Bridge to greet him.
The scene was naturally filled with gongs and drums and flags fluttering.
The large number of people who came spontaneously cheered for the soldiers who returned victoriously. They looked at the captured prisoners and taunted them. They counted the countless trophies and drooled with envy.
The eyes of a group of young and strong men were shining, wishing they could be drafted into the army right now to fight for the emperor and conquer all the unruly ministers in the world.
Li Yunze fulfilled his bet and personally stepped forward to lead Huo Qubing's horse.
This kind of honor makes everyone go crazy with envy.
The subsequent process is simple. Take the loot and valuable prisoners to the high temple to offer sacrifices to the ancestors of heaven and earth.
After that, he went to the Xuanshi Hall to award rewards to all the captains and commanders.
The rewards have all been decided long ago, now it’s just a matter of going through the process.
As for the rewards for the soldiers, they are naturally given in their respective military camps.
As the general, Huo Qubing received great glory.
His title was achieved in one step, and he was awarded the highest level of Chehou, and the title was the unique Champion.
Since ancient times, titles have been based on land.
Huo Qubing's Champion Hou was the first to break this convention, and he still had such a title that made people's blood boil.
Champion, champion the three armies!
