In Yuanyang City, in the county government office, a sand table three feet long and two feet wide stood in the hall.
This is a sand table made by Zhao Jun based on the map presented by Kan Yu's family. The terrain of the Hetao is clearly visible at a glance, with mountains, rivers and rivers distributed on it. However, it is not very accurate due to the proportion. Even so, it is much easier to use than a flat map. Even ordinary soldiers can understand it and know which places are more likely to be ambushed.
"I didn't expect that your Kanyu family even has a map north of Yinshan Mountain." Zhao Kuo said to the middle-aged man next to him with a smile.
The Kanyu family is equivalent to the ancient Feng Shui master. The origins of geographers are very old and can be traced back to the Yan and Huang dynasties. Mountain doctors know everything about fortune-telling, and everything can be attributed to Kanyu. However, as hundreds of schools of thought continued to emerge, the witch-doctors branched off, and the fortune tellers became independent. The Kanyu family retained only the earth, elephant, and hydrology lineage.
The person next to Zhao Kuo is Wang Jia, one of the only three remaining descendants of the Kanyu family, and the sacrificial wine of the Geography and Hydrology Branch of Handan College.
"My ancestors liked to travel to famous mountains and rivers, and they liked to draw everything they saw. After our ancestors passed away, our descendants compiled and preserved them into books, which were passed down from generation to generation. Hundreds of years have passed, although there are inevitably some errors in them, but It shouldn't be too big." Wang Jia said with his hands in hand.
"With this map, I am more confident about destroying the Xiongnu." Zhao Kuo said with his fists.
"What is the king's plan?" Le Yi asked.
Zhao Kuo pointed at two places on the sand table with his finger, and then said confidently: "If I guessed correctly, this is where the Xiongnu headquarters is stationed, and this is where Loufan is stationed. The rest are where the Huns are stationed. place."
"Why is the king so sure?" Lian Po asked curiously.
"The strength of Xiongba and Loufan is about the same, both have 50,000 soldiers. Even if there are still some soldiers left in the tribe, the total number will not exceed 100,000. Otherwise, they will not be suppressed by the Xiongnu and Donghu. The Hu people can only shrink a corner. All the people are soldiers, numbering in the hundreds of thousands, and adult men generally account for about a quarter of the total number of tribes. In other words, the total population of the two tribes will not exceed 400,000 at most. The number of widows is estimated to be between 300,000 and 400,000."
"Hongbao is to the north of Dai County, and Loufan is closer to Shanggu County. There is only one pasture nearby that can support 300,000 people, but there is another one. The two pastures are very close to each other. If they are added together, If so, it would be enough to feed 300,000 people. Therefore, the place near Shanggu County must be the place where Lou Fan is stationed, and the remaining place is where Huo Lei is stationed."
The generals looked at Zhao Kuo in surprise. No one expected that this method could be used to deduce the population of Xiu Rui and Lou Fan, and by the way, the residences of the two clans.
"The few remaining pastures were occupied by the Xiongnu. The Xiongnu had an army of 200,000. Including the army that has not yet appeared, it is estimated to be around 300,000. Based on the calculation of all the people being soldiers, the population of the Xiongnu is between 1.2 million and 1.2 million. Between one and a half million. Among them, Shanyu’s tribe accounts for about one-third of the Xiongnu population.”
"In addition, I heard that whenever the Xiongnu fought a war, the Chanyu would order the tribes to move together or close to each other. In this way, each tribe only needs to leave a small number of soldiers to defend the strong enemy. , and can also serve as hostages for each other. It is not certain whether the Huns will migrate now, but they will definitely migrate before the decisive battle."
"There is not a single grassland in the entire grassland that can support a million people. However, if there are several grasslands, it is possible." Then Zhao Kuo pointed to several of the grasslands, "These grasslands are not far away from each other." Recently, the distance is only more than ten miles. Although there are hills in the middle, the cavalry can arrive in a short time, and it is a thousand miles away from the Great Wall. It is very safe for the Xiongnu and can be used as a rear area."
Originally, everyone thought that the Xiongnu base camp could be anywhere, and there was no place to look for it. After Zhao Kuo said this, everyone suddenly felt that the Xiongnu base camp could only be there, and it was impossible to find it anywhere else.
"As long as you are more than 50% sure, you can give it a try." Le Yi said firmly.
When leading troops to fight, nothing is 100% certain. If you can achieve more than a 50% chance of victory, you can use all your strength. Even if you fail, you can withdraw. And in Le Yi's opinion, the possibility of the Huns stationed in the place mentioned by Zhao Kuo is as high as 80%.
"In this battle, the Xiongnu will be completely destroyed." Zhao Kuo hammered the edge of the sand table with his fist and said in a deep voice.
"Why does the king value the Xiongnu so much?" Li Mu was a little confused, and everyone looked at Zhao Kuo.
In terms of strength, the Huns were not Zhao's opponents. Although they posed a threat to Zhao, they were not a big threat. Unlike Xiongnu and Loufan, who were always thinking about regaining their lost territory. On the grassland, the Xiongnu was not without opponents, and Donghu was more powerful than him. The raccoons, Loufan, raccoons, and Xiuhun are also its enemies.
Moreover, the Xiongnu was one of the few barbarians on the grassland who had good relations with Zhao. Sixty years ago, the Xiongnu sent a large army to attack Qin together with Zhao, Wei, Han, Yan, and Qi.
Zhao Kuo has always been talking about Donghu, Loufan and other Hu people with disdain and an indifferent attitude, and he didn't take it to heart at all.
Only when talking about the Xiongnu, he was extremely solemn, and even this expedition had the intention of using himself as bait.
Everyone was really confused.
"..." Zhao Kuo was stunned, not knowing how to explain.
Could it be said that in history, the Xiongnu will soon have two great chanyus, Touman and Maodun, who will bring the Xiongnu to its peak and become the first empire in history to unify the grasslands, suppressing the Central Plains for nearly a hundred years?
As a result, the Central Plains could only be forced to make peace and marry Chinese daughters outside the Great Wall.
The problem is that these things are completely invisible. Zhao Kuo has no evidence to prove it, and it is impossible for these things to happen again in this world.
After a while, Zhao Kuo could only say, "Everyone, think about what the strength of the Huns was sixty years ago. Back then, they were inferior to Lin Hu and Lou Fan, and were suppressed to the north of Yin Mountain, let alone He. Compared with the Donghu. Now, the Xiongnu has become the second largest tribe on the grassland, second only to the Donghu in strength. With this growth rate, which Hu people can compare?"
"Sixty years ago, the Huns were obedient to our Zhao State. What about now? While the main force of our Zhao State is in the south, go south and capture the Hetao of our Zhao State. If you cannot destroy the Huns now, just imagine what will happen sixty years later. , can you still guarantee that you can defeat the Huns?"
"If it hadn't been for the king's reminder, the general would not have discovered that the Xiongnu's strength had grown to what it is today." Yan Zhou thought about it carefully and suddenly felt a little scared.
In recent years, both he and Li Mu have fought against the Huns. The reason for shrinking the defense line was not because they could not defeat the Huns, but because all the forces of the Zhao State were in the south at that time, and the logistics in Wuyuan and other places were seriously insufficient, let alone salaries. Even the basic living security cannot be provided. Yanzhou had no choice but to give up and retreat to Jiuyuan City.
"Everyone, go down first and act according to the plan." Zhao Kuo said.
"No." The generals bowed and bowed, then retreated.
