I saw some book friends in the comments wondering whether Liangzhou could donate 30,000 horses. I would like to explain it to you here.
First of all, Liangzhou can definitely afford it. After all, there is a Hanyang grass beach between Qilian Mountain and Yanzhi Mountain in Zhangye County, Liangzhou.
Even in the Ming Dynasty, Hanyang Grassland still had 13.37 million acres of grassland.
Huo Qubing captured Dacaotan and established the Shandan Military Horse Farm, which is also the largest military horse farm in the world today.
Moreover, Liangzhou is not only the Hanyang Grassland.
Pastures with rich water and grass, including Huangyangchuan, Huahaizi Paidai Lake, and Baiyangrong, are all within the territory of Liangzhou, and the Western Regions are also under the control of Qianliang.
When many people mention Liangzhou, their first impression is that it is barren, but that is only relative to the farming civilization. Don't forget, the Huns lost their Hexi Corridor, and that's why they had that tragic song.
Regarding the environmental carrying capacity of livestock breeding in Hexi, that is, Liangzhou, I can take the Northern Wei Dynasty as an example. I am familiar with this dynasty.
"Book of the Northern Wei Dynasty: Shihuo Zhi": Shizu (Tuoba Tao) unified the Wan Dynasty and established Qin and Long. Hexi was regarded as pasture land because of its good water and grass. The livestock production is booming, with more than two million horses, nearly half of the camels, and countless cattle and sheep.
Yes, there are more than 2 million horses, more than 1 million camels, and countless cattle and sheep.
Of course, the situation in the Northern Wei Dynasty was a bit special, because Tuoba Tao went out to attack Rouran from time to time and plundered people and livestock, so he accumulated such amazing data.
Liangzhou is not Jiangnan or the Central Plains. It is surrounded by high-quality pastures such as Hanyang Grassland, Huangyangchuan River, Huahaizi Paidai Lake, and Paoyangrong. How could it not be able to produce 30,000 horses?
In ancient times, the constraints in Liangzhou were always the lack of population and arable land, rather than the lack of livestock and pasture.
As for some book friends who wonder about the wear and tear of military horses after Huan Xi returned to Guanzhong, horses actually have worse endurance than humans. Under long-term, high-intensity rapid marches, it is normal for large-scale deaths and injuries to occur.
During the Han-Hungarian Mobei War, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty allocated 100,000 cavalry to Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, and also gave them an additional 140,000 horses to carry heavy loads.
Because when cavalry undertakes mobility tasks, they ride on horseback. If one horse carries people, there must be another horse to carry armor, weapons, and food.
After the Battle of Mobei, when those army horses returned to the Central Plains, there were only less than 30,000 horses left.
If you still don’t understand why there is a large-scale loss of military horses after a long-distance attack, you can think back to how the marathon came about.
In 490 BC, the Greeks defeated the Persians and won the Battle of Marathon. The Greek soldier Pheidipodes ran back to Athens from Marathon, announced the victory and then fell to the ground and died.
Let’s just say this much, maybe the explanation is a bit incomplete.
If you have any questions in the future, you can continue to ask me in the comments. Personal attacks are declined. Brothers are really paying attention to your comments. Please take care of the newcomers.
If the explanation is short, I will write it in the author's words. If it is eight or nine hundred words like this, I will open a separate chapter and try my best to answer everyone's doubts.
Good night.
