As the sun set, the Yueshi herdsmen, under the supervision of the Qin army, began to gather the cattle and sheep grazing on the grassland.
Smoke was rising from everywhere in the camps in the distance.
The Qin soldiers from the fortress began to light fires to boil water and bury cauldrons to make rice.
With Helan Mountain at its back, there is no shortage of wood for fuel. There is the Yellow River rushing in the distance, streams are crisscrossing the land, and there is no shortage of drinking water. It is a good place to camp.
In the center of the Qin army's camp, there is the commander's tent under the black banner.
Zhao Tuo knelt down on the carpet, stared at the two things on the wooden table in front of him, and sighed slightly.
"Technology without technical content is indeed easy to be copied."
This is a stirrup and a high bridge saddle made of wood and leather by the Yuezhi people.
Although the two saddles and stirrups made by the Yuezhi appear rough and crude due to the materials and rush production time, there are not many problems with the shape and they are barely usable.
Zhao Tuo's face returned to calmness and he was not too surprised.
When he invented the stirrup, he knew this day would come.
Stirrups and high bridge saddles are both very simple in principle and shape. The focus of their invention is on the concept rather than the difficulty in manufacturing.
Normal people can roughly understand the purpose and manufacturing methods of these things as long as they look at them a few times. As long as they are used on the battlefield, there is basically no way for the enemy to escape alive.
Of these three things, except that horseshoes are relatively hidden and require certain smelting skills to make, stirrups and high saddles can be replaced with other materials. Even the simplest rope loop stirrup can be made with a piece of hemp rope. It is very simple to make. No one has invented it before, and it is very likely that no one can think of it.
Now that the three treasures of cavalry have been learned by Xiu Mihou and others, the Qin army also won the Battle of Helan, which is considered worthwhile.
Although once these things spread, it is very likely that the grassland people will equip them to improve their combat effectiveness, making it more difficult for the Qin army to fight them in the future, but Zhao Tuo is not too worried.
Because stirrups and high bridge saddles, the bonus for nomads is far less than that for farming people.
Going from zero to one is always harder than going from one to two.
Moreover, these two things are only auxiliary equipment. The real advantage of the Qin army comes from all-round technological crushing.
Among the three treasures of cavalry, horseshoes, which can protect horseshoes and enable war horses to run long distances, are not something that current grassland herders can come up with.
Not to mention, Qin Jun is still researching more powerful technology.
For example, just yesterday, a thousand elite cavalry came from Xianyang. They brought a letter sent to Zhao Tuo's family and a military artifact made by the Shaofu.
Zhao Tuo lowered his head.
On the wooden table, next to the rough stirrups made by the Yuezhi people, there is also a delicate copper cylinder.
A faint smile appeared on Zhao Tuo's lips.
When the barbarians in the frontier were still trying their best to imitate the old technology of the Qin Empire.
The Qin army has already used more powerful new equipment.
"The leakage of the stirrups is something that is expected, but it's Sugatha that makes me a little unexpected."
Zhao Tuo shook his head slightly and thought of the Kushan coup that Li Shiqi and others told about.
As the eldest son of Xihou, Lajia Gu was originally the man most likely to become the new Xihou after Guishan Xihou was captured by the Qin army.
As a result, Lajia Gu was trapped and killed in a felt tent by his sister Sugasha less than a day after returning to Helan. It was so stupid that people were speechless.
After Sujiasha killed her brother, she immediately won over Xumi Xihou and took control of the entire Kushan tribe in a short period of time in the name of supporting her younger brother.
After learning about Sujatha's series of operations, Zhao Tuo was quite surprised and felt that this woman was really unusual.
And according to the Yuezhi people, after Sujiasha came to power, she actually persuaded the Marquis of Xiumi and the Kushan tribe to evacuate together, return to Hexi, and give up the fight for Henan with the Qin army.
"This woman is smarter than Lajia Gu or even Odoga, and her vision is much better."
Zhao Tuo praised in a low voice and gave Sugatha a high look.
If the Qin army did not attack with cavalry, but should focus on stability and focus on foot and cavalry to approach Helan.
By the time they arrived, the Yuezhi people had already disappeared. How could Zhao Tuo win a great Helan victory and conquer the entire Kushan tribe in one fell swoop.
"This woman has vision, courage, and good abilities."
"She should be following Xiumi Xihou in the northern grasslands now. Faced with the current situation, what choice will she make?"
…
It is about two hundred miles north of Helan Mountain.
On the grassland covered with felt tents, Yuezhi cavalry from the Shuangmi tribe shouted and rode horses from all directions to gather.
In the distance, herdsmen drove their cattle, sheep and horses to join together.
From time to time, the cries of children and women can be heard in the wilderness, and there is a feeling of sadness.
Sugatha stood on a hill and looked at the tens of thousands of Xiumi herdsmen in the distance with a calm expression.
Several fast horses galloped from a distance, ran to the foot of the mountain and stopped.
After a while, an old Yuezhi man in his fifties climbed up panting.
Yaguda.
The envoy of the Xiumi Department who had followed Sujatha to the Great Wall to visit the General of Qin was now following Sujatha.
He saluted Sujatha and said with a grimace: "My lady, the cavalry we sent to the north has returned. Sure enough, traces of the Qin people were found at the important crossing of the river."
"This Qin army should number tens of thousands and is very well-defended. Several of our warriors were shot dead by them. However, they did not continue to pursue them. It seems that they have no intention of going south for the time being. Perhaps they are guarding against those on the other side of the river. Huns."
Sujatha said calmly: "The fact that the Qin army is not moving south now does not mean that they will not move."
"When the Qin people finish dealing with the Kushan tribe, they will definitely go north to attack the Xiumi tribe. At that time, the Qin army in the north will go south to form a north-south pincer attack. There are tens of thousands of old and weak people in the Xiumi tribe, and 20,000 young and strong people. , It’s nothing more than fish meat under the Qin people’s sword.”
When the surrounding Yuezhi people heard this, their faces turned ashen.
Yaguda said in a trembling voice: "My lady, what should we do? Now the Qin army has occupied the grassland and blocked our way south. The north and east are where their partial divisions are. Do we have to go west into the quicksand desert?" ?”
Entering the quicksand desert?
Sugatha shook her head.
Let's not talk about whether they can cross the vast desert and return to Hexi. With the ability of the Qin general, it is impossible to let Xiumi's troops leave.
Tens of thousands of old, weak, women and children, plus a large number of cattle, sheep and horses, cannot go far in a day. I am afraid that before they enter the desert area, they will be chased and entangled by the Qin army's cavalry, and then the Qin army will approach and wipe them out. .
She turned her head to look south, her eyes full of fear.
Now that the Qin Army's partial divisions were discovered in the north, her previous guess was correct. All two partial divisions of the Qin Army were sent to block the road.
The Qin army's partial division in the south must have blocked the Yuezhi people's passage back to Hexi.
This is the trend to annihilate all three Yuezhi here.
"I wonder if Marquis Xiumi can escape back to Hexi."
Sugatha sighed quietly, and at the same time she was a little glad that she did not follow Xiumei Xihou.
There, it turned out to be a trap set by a hunter.
Rather than breaking through the blockade of the Qin army's partial division, Sujiasha now temporarily took over the Xiumi Department with the authorization of Marquis Xiumi and the help of his close associates.
This is a good bargaining chip for her.
But how to choose in the future, she still needs to wait for the arrival of news.
The waiting time was not long, a fast horse came from the south, bringing the news that Sugatha had been waiting for.
"My lady, Helan has been completely occupied by the Qin army, and all the people of the Kushan tribe have surrendered to the Qin army. The Qin people did not kill them, but allowed them to keep a certain amount of livestock and continue to graze on the grasslands."
"The Qin people also sent some Kushan tribesmen out, saying that as long as the tribes on the grassland surrendered to them, they could keep certain livestock properties."
"If you are an enemy of the Qin army, your head will be chopped off and fed to the wild wolves on the grassland."
Hear this.
Sugatha knew what she should choose.
(End of chapter)
