"Those Hu people have been defeated again and again recently, and their spirit has been lost, and their courage is no longer fat."

"Trouble!"

The number of envoys swelled again and again, and by the time they entered the Hetao area, the number had exceeded 90,000, and the number of armed men accompanying them had reached about 60,000. Later, with the addition of the 50,000 auxiliaries and second-line troops of the Wehrmacht transporting baggage, the total number of the envoys exceeded 140,000, and the military auxiliaries and second-line troops were all characters who could go into battle to kill the enemy, not civilians in the real sense, which meant that there were at least 100,000 people in the team who could fight.

Although it was a 100,000-strong army gathered by various small armed groups, it was also a large army, and there were only more than 3,000 Hu cavalry roaming around, so how could the envoy group dare to act rashly in the face of 100,000 combatable soldiers?

"The Hu people are no longer the Hu people they used to be. If they had noticed that we were in disarray, and that there were so many non-combatants and wagons loaded with goods, they would have tried to pounce on us and take a bite. Now, they didn't dare to connect us for nearly twenty miles, but they only dared to hang far away, fearing that we were driving in the direction of Junji Mountain. ”

"What then?"

"I have to think of something else."

The arrangement of the venue or the opportunity for the firearms to fight in the last battle has not yet been carried out, and the fact that the Hu people obviously do not dare to attack close is equivalent to losing operability, which is not due to an error in calculation, but to underestimate the subsequent impact of the recent imperial army on the suppression of the Hu people.

After the imperial army came out of the fortress, it has been winning great victories, constantly occupying large areas of territory from the steppe people, and eliminating more Hu tribes. In addition, with the annihilation of most of the army led by Touman, only a small part escaped, and the Hu people had developed a fear of the imperial military. The point of explanation is that the Hu people no longer have enough confidence in the face of the empire, and the aggressiveness of the Hu people has dropped lower and lower as the Hu people have been defeated again and again, and the Hu people no longer dare to engage in war easily.

"The terrain around is flat. The Hu people basically kept two horses alone, and as soon as our troops were slightly close to them, they immediately retreated and kept a distance, and it was difficult to ambush. ”

"So that's it?"

"Unless it's a light cavalry, maybe a chase can be fought, and it's hard for firearms to do anything in this situation."

"It seems that the limitations of the firearms have been exposed, and they are only suitable for positional warfare. It is not suitable for the tactics of high-speed maneuvering on the steppe. ”

Han Xin has basically given up the idea of letting the firearms soldiers fight, in fact, the firearms soldiers who use vans to travel are not weak, but they are really incomparable in speed compared to the cavalry.

At the beginning, it was a mistake for the Tai Wei and the General's Office to throw the firearms soldiers into the chase battle on the grassland, which was also a situation that only occurred if the Tai Wei Department and the General's Office did not understand the firearms soldiers.

"I guess it's not the fault of the Tai Lieutenant and the General's Mansion? They just put firearms soldiers on the grassland battlefield, and how to use them depends on how the front-line generals command. I'm thinking, those generals who are unfamiliar with firearms should not have a good idea of how to use this unit, but His Majesty didn't give special instructions? ”

"Your Majesty has a lot of opportunities every day, and there are so many things that need to be dealt with every day. How is it possible to keep an eye on a 5,000-strong army at all times? ”

"So, the generals don't know how to command the firearms troops, so they will throw the firearms soldiers to you, Your Majesty's only apprentice. When the time comes, if His Majesty asks, they will finally be able to have a talk. ”

The envoys had already walked more than 200 miles west after leaving Juyanze, and if they had another 30 or so miles, they would have truly entered the Western Regions.

In the past day or so, Liu Bang cooperated very much with Han Xin's deployment, and repeatedly revealed the so-called flaws to attract the Hu cavalry of more than 3,000 people to attack, but it was obvious that the Hu people did not want to provoke this team of more than 140,000 people from the beginning. So. No matter how good the drama is, without the cooperation of the other party, it is also a one-man show.

has been entering the realm of the Western Regions, Han Xin waited and waited for a news. The more than 3,000 Hu cavalry hanging far away were surrounded by more than 30,000 Wehrmacht cavalry from all directions, and after a day and a night of chasing battles between the two sides, the Wehrmacht killed more than 800 Hu cavalry and captured more than 1,200 Hu people.

"It's not very authentic. The Wehrmacht is clearly using us as bait, secretly arranging troops and waiting to clean up those Hu people. Yu Fanjun kept pouting as he spoke, "tsk" several times, and said: "It is really difficult to achieve total annihilation in the battle on the grassland, Rao is so well prepared." Nearly a thousand Hu people still escaped. ”

It is indeed difficult to achieve total annihilation on the grassland, after all, the terrain of the grassland is really too flat, and when an army sees the enemy, the enemy army naturally discovers them. No army would be stupid enough to stay where it was when it saw danger, especially when it was not superior in numbers, and what it would do was to immediately ride its horses and gallop wildly, so that the battles on the steppe were basically chase.

"Do you remember the captain you met in Juyanze last time?"

"You mean Cao Shen, right?"

"Well, that's him. He was escorting the captives over. ”

"Do what?"

"It is said that according to the order of Deputy Commander Xu, three or four thousand prisoners will be brought to you for disposal."

Han Xin was a little stunned when he heard this, and he didn't understand how the prisoners of war of the Wehrmacht could be handed over to him, the commander of the escort team of the envoy regiment, to deal with them, and how should he deal with those prisoners of war?

"I figured out that I wanted those prisoners of war to become targets for firearms?" Yu Fanjun smiled evilly: "We have all entered the realm of the Western Regions, and we should arrive in Wusun in one or two hundred miles." When you enter the territory of Wusun, the firearms will be out of your command, so why should you let the firearms show their faces before that? ”

Facts have proved that Yu Fanjun's guess was correct.

Cao Shen quickly caught up with the team of the envoys, and he immediately looked for Han Xin, and said plainly that those Hu prisoners of war were escorted over to serve as the object of the exercise.

What kind of drill method? It is to tell those prisoners of war that they need to fight against the army on the side of the empire, and if they win, they can live, and if they lose, they will be executed even if they are not killed on the spot.

"Except for the fact that the prisoners of war were desperate under our supervision, the other conditions were no different from real battlefield fighting." Cao Shen tried his best to explain, and finally smiled bitterly: "Your Majesty has great expectations for firearms soldiers. You are also one of the officers who have commanded the firearms exercises in advance, and the firearms soldiers cannot just be armed parades ~ without doing anything when they come to the outside of the Cyprus. ”

"The firearms soldiers will stay in Wusun, there should be many opportunities to participate in the defense of Wusun, that is the positional battle suitable for firearms soldiers, there is no shortage of such a time, right?" Han Shin's heart was resistant, and he let the firearms soldiers engage the supervised prisoners of war. No matter how good it is, isn't it all the same as killing prisoners? What can such a fight be meaningful.

"Firearms troops stationed in Wusun will have the opportunity to fight, but they have no experience in actual combat. It is better for them to see blood in this environment than to be in a hurry in the first battle, you say? Cao Shen was still smiling bitterly, he was unlucky enough to be arranged to escort prisoners of war on such an errand.

Killing prisoners ominously? Yes, the killing of prisoners is ominous. However, the Chinese culture is so magical, and the so-called killing of "prisoners" is not "auspicious". A captive is a prisoner of the same ethnic group under a civil war, and killing it will cause public opinion to attack, after all, no matter how hostile the state is, it cannot change the reputation damage caused by killing people of the same ethnic group who cannot resist, which is the so-called ominous.

Looking at the history of China from the beginning of Xia, there has never been any "ominous" statement about interracial warfare, and it has always been how many interracial prisoners of war have been caught. Either stay as a slave, or kill the military power. Or kill the sacrificial gods, almost the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties had the practice of large-scale execution of foreign prisoners of war, and no one stood up and said ominous stupid things about killing prisoners.

In fact, he began to be gentle with foreign races, and that was after the Wuhu Chaohua, when too many Hu people became the overlords of the Central Plains, and Confucian culture can be said to have undergone a big change. Otherwise, Confucianism, which adheres to the "distinction of Huayi" the most, should be the most exclusive to foreign races, where will there be so many rotten Confucians in the back who will stand up and discriminate and crooked, and even treat foreigners far more benevolently than their own people.

What Han Xin and Cao Shen are entangled with is not whether to kill or not to kill alien prisoners of war, but what kind of way to kill them. And it is obvious that because the emperor attached great importance to firearms. It doesn't seem so difficult to explain that the generals of the unified army outside the Cyprus are doing some confusing things.

"Since the deputy commander has an order, we will naturally carry it out." Yu Fanjun had nothing to worry about, and repeatedly looked at Han Messenger, and said to Cao Shen: "Please also ask Captain Cao to arrange it." ”

Cao Shen didn't have anything to arrange, and there were already higher-level generals who had made some arrangements before he came.

In fact, Han Xin's promise is the best, if Han Xin does not agree, the Wehrmacht will not only have a way to let the firearms soldiers fight those prisoners of war in the good area, but it will only make people more criticized.

After that, the majority of the legation continued to move forward, with 5,000 firearms and 2,000 cavalry of the Guards, 500 grenadiers, and a 1st colonel of Wehrmacht cavalry, and 3,000 or 4,000 prisoners of war.

In today's China, the height of northerners is basically about one meter eight, or even more than two meters is not too unusual, the so-called north refers to Qin, Zhao, Yan and the Central Plains. The height of the Chinese south of the Yangtze River will be lower, generally 1.7 to 1.8 meters, but few people will exceed two meters.

What about the steppe Hu people? The difference in their height is relatively large, there are more than 1.7 meters but not many, generally between 1.5 meters and 1.6 meters.

Nearly 4,000 prisoners of war were escorted and huddled in a pile, their dirty faces were terrified, and their height of at most 1.7 meters could only be in an upward posture in front of the imperial soldiers, who were generally more than 1.8 meters, and secretly observed with anxiety on their faces.

"These dwarf winter melons, if they fight hand-to-hand, one of our people can beat five of them!" Liu Bang deliberately stayed, and he was raising his hand to point at the Hu prisoners of war: "It won't be to match the war horse, right?" That's a bit too extravagant! ”

Cao participated in Liu Bang's old acquaintance, and the two also did some things together in Pei County that were not good for public, but the later encounters made the two embark on different paths, but now they are both nobles of the empire, Liu Bang is a third-class baron of the empire, and Cao Shen is a fifth-class baron of the empire.

"How can it be, no matter how many of our war horses we have, we will let them fight with firearms on foot." Cao Shen said a few words to the soldiers next to him, and then asked Liu Bang: "Brother Liu, when you come back from this trip, at least you are an earl, right?" ”

"Ah, yes, but not the Founding Earl." Liu Bang actually didn't want to be an envoy in his heart, but His Majesty had an order, and no matter how unwilling he was, he had to do it. He looked Cao Shen up and down, "hehe" laughed a few times, and said: "There are more than 800 nobles in the empire, 661 are lords, and there are only 139 nobles above the baron, and you are also the fifth-class baron of the founding of the empire." It's a good situation! ”

Cao Shen naturally has his opportunities, but they are all fought the battlefield, and he has experienced no less than 100 battles of all sizes, and he has not fought hard battles, so he is one of the many captains in the empire who can be knighted for his merits.

"There is such a layer of identity, after this grassland war, how many levels will the title be promoted?" Liu Bang was a little frowning, what he said was that Cao Shen caught up with Lu Pheasant, one of the concubines in the palace. In fact, this is also one of the things he envies Cao Shen the most, because not everyone can connect with the people in Miyagi.

Cao Shen was frowning, everything he had earned was earned on the battlefield, but no matter who appreciated it. He said, "The empire has a law. ”

"I know, I understand, but at least there will be more advantages in all aspects, such as connections." Liu Bang still frowned, and said with a smile: "I have received some news, after a while, you will be promoted to become a general, and at that time, the command will be two captains and 10,000 troops." ”

The two of them were chatting around here, and they didn't seem to be chatting so pleasantly. On the other side, some people from the Wehrmacht came to the carriage, loaded with some weapons used by the Hu people, and about a kilometer away from the Hu people, groups of musketeers were lining up.

"Want to live? Wait a minute, and you will only survive by defeating those Imperial soldiers, whether you use weapons or fists, teeth, or whatever! ”

The prisoners of war listened quietly, it was not the first time they had heard such news from the soldiers of the Empire, but not many people believed the truth.

On the side of the firearms soldiers, the officers are also making the necessary explanations, and what they need to do is to kill any visible Hu people, but not by means of execution, but by using the firearms they have learned to use the tactics of war to slaughter all the aliens in the competition.

"I know what you're thinking, and I think it's dishonorable to deal with a bunch of prisoners of war. But I'm telling you very clearly, those prisoners of war will only survive if they defeat you, so they will be countless times crazier than usual, and if you don't do it right, you will most likely be slaughtered! (To be continued.) )