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In 197 AD, in the second year of Han Jian'an, in autumn and August, Liu Zhang sent troops to the Western Regions. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Liu Zhang ordered Li Yan to lead the Fifth Army of the New Army back to the town of Hanzhong; ordered Zhang Renfa to lead the Fourth Army of the New Army to sit in Liangzhou and obey Xu Shu's dispatch; ordered Zhang Ren to replace Li Yan and concurrently serve as the guard of Liangzhou; ordered Gan Ning to lead most of the flying army, stay in Liangzhou, and focus on the implementation of the absolute plan; Liu Zhang himself led Wei Yan, Pang Long, and Yang Qiu's new army, and led a large number of literati, artists, scholars, merchants, etc., more than 10,000 people, and a large team of men and horses to send troops to the Western Regions.

Liu Zhang took away all of the First Army of the New Army, as well as 500 Flying Army, and 3,000 cavalry of Yang Qiu after the reorganization. Liu Zhang reorganized Yang Qiu's thousands of Toucheng cavalry, leaving 6,000 people, and then divided these 6,000 people into two and incorporated them into the First Army of the New Army and the Fourth Army of the New Army respectively, and named the First Temporary Cavalry Brigade of the First Army and the First Temporary Cavalry Brigade of the Fourth Army.

The military system of the new army is 1,000 people for the school and 3,000 people for one brigade. The military commander of the brigade is a brigade general, with the rank of general.

The military system of the new army, the city, the school, the army, the marshal, and the thirty is the team, and the chief officer is the captain; 300 for the unification, the chief official for the capital; 3,000 for the brigade, and the chief officer for the brigade general; 30,000 is a group army, and the chief officer is the corps commander or palace commander.

Therefore, in the end, Yang Qiu's cavalry troops were left because whether it was Liangzhou or the Western Regions, the terrain was flat and the area was vast, which was suitable for cavalry galloping and was a natural place for cavalry. The cavalry under Liu Zhang were all flying troops, and the total number was less than 2,000. The flying army itself is trained to perform special military tasks, not according to cavalry standards, and it is impossible to use it as a cavalry. However, whether it is Liangzhou or the Western Regions, a certain number of cavalry is currently required, so Liu Zhang had to leave Yang Qiu's troops behind, and they were divided into two, three thousand in Liangzhou and three thousand in the Western Regions.

Liu Zhang's name of the cavalry was tentative, indicating that he still had great reservations about the cavalry, and he might withdraw it again at any time.

Liu Zhang's equipment for the cavalry was slightly different from that of the new army. In addition to the basic equipment of the new army, the cavalry was uniformly equipped with Han swords as melee weapons. In addition, in addition to helmet protection, the cavalry was equipped with a cuirass, which was similar to the plate armor of ancient Rome. Because the cavalry rode on a horse, the upper body did not need to be too flexible, so it was suitable for this type of plate armor. The cavalry's long-range weapons are uniformly equipped with strong crossbows, unlike the new army's strong crossbows and repeating crossbows. In addition, in order to increase the mobility of the cavalry, Liu Zhang fixed the personal travel clothes and sleeping clothes that the new army usually carried with him on horseback, and fixed them on the back of the horse with a strap, which was usually used as a saddle and used as a bedding when sleeping. Don't look at this small change, it greatly increases the mobility of the cavalry. Many people think that the mobility of cavalry lies in changing horses, but in fact it is not entirely correct, in fact, it lies in rest, and both men and horses need to rest. A good rest can ensure a good maneuverability.

On the whole, Liu Zhang's configuration of the cavalry was between the Hun cavalry and the Liangzhou iron cavalry.

Liu Zhang himself called it the light cavalry.

Liu Zhang's dispatch to the Western Regions this time was the largest use of troops by the Han Dynasty against the Western Regions since the Guangwu of the Han Dynasty, and it was also the highest standard. Since the establishment of the Eastern Han Dynasty, it has paid great attention to the Western Regions, and the Western Regions have three links and three uniques, and later even the Western Regions Protectorate has been reduced to the Western Regions Changshi Mansion. When Ban Yong established the Western Regions Changshi Mansion, he only brought 500 soldiers, which shows the importance of the imperial court. At that time, Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu simply ignored the countries of the Western Regions and asked the new imperial court to set up a capital protectorate in the Western Regions. Later, the countries of the Western Regions begged for it again and again, and sent protons, which restored the Western Regions Protectorate. Later, it was still cut off several times after several twists and turns. By the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, even the Western Regions Changshi Mansion had stopped.

Liu Zhang's dispatch to the Western Regions this time was also an unprecedented large-scale operation in the entire history of the Han Dynasty, and only the two expeditions of Dawan during the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty could be compared.

It is said that back then, Zhang Qian returned from the Western Regions with honors and dedicated a BMW to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was shocked when he saw it, but Zhang Qian said, this is nothing, there are better horses, Dawan in the Western Regions is said to have a horse called a sweat and blood BMW, and the horse is the real BMW. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty couldn't bear it anymore when he heard this, and immediately sent envoys with a large amount of gold and silver property, and even forged a golden horse out of gold, asking Dawan for a bloody horse. As a result, the envoy worked hard, traveled thousands of miles, and finally arrived in Dawan, Dawan monarchs and ministers saw that there were so many treasures, and as a result, they saw that they were interested in money, killed the Han envoy, and lost their wealth. When the news reached Chang'an, Liu Che was furious, so he appointed Li Guangli as the general of the second division and sent more than 20,000 troops to expedition to Dawan. As a result, due to the long distance, the grain and grass could not be provided, and finally the Han army was defeated. In the end, the straw bag general Li Guangli fled back to Dunhuang with only a few hundred men.

When Liu Che heard the report, he was angry, this was a rare big defeat and a rare shame since he ascended the throne.

So he ordered Li Guangli not to enter the customs, and ordered Sang Hongyang to be in charge of military supplies, transfer 100,000 military horses, 100,000 cattle and camels to transport materials, and at the same time 500,000 sheep were transported to Dunhuang as meat for the army, and as for the 200,000 troops mobilized, and even specially sent a few water conservancy experts to accompany them.

Li Guangli's re-enquest of Dawan is not the first time that the situation is comparable. More than 200,000 troops, tens of thousands of people transporting heavy loads, marched in the desert like an unstoppable torrent.

The Han army that went out to Dawan for the second time, this time in one go, slaughtered Luntai, destroyed Yucheng, and then came to Dawan City and attacked the city without water. Although the soldiers and civilians in the city resisted desperately, after the waterway was cut off, the morale dropped greatly, so the Dawan nobles in the city launched a rebellion, tied up the king of Dawan and the king of Yucheng, who fled to take refuge, and sent them to the Han army, asking for surrender. This is the famous Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty in history.

After the war, the prestige of the Han Dynasty in the Western Regions was high, and the countries of the Western Regions did not dare to act rashly for decades, and later generations of Ban Chao and others sent envoys to the Western Regions, and a few people and horses could subdue a country, and even the envoys of the Han Dynasty could depose their monarchs at any time, and dispatch the armies of several countries to attack the hostile countries, all of which did not dare to disobey.

However, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty made two expeditions to Dawan, but in fact, the expedition of the laborer cost a huge amount of money, and it cannot even be said to be a successful example. Because the last Dawan City did not break the city and surrender, Li Guangli was worthy of being a straw bag general, and he did not break through Dawan City in the end. If it is an ordinary general with some backbone, it is impossible to accept Dawan's surrender, and he has suffered two shames and humiliations before, first killing the envoy, and then defeating the army, two shameful humiliations, how can he still accept the surrender of the other party, it must be to break the city and slaughter the city, rather than simply killing the king.

"If the teacher is just rebuilding order in the Western Regions, there is no need to send a large army, right? The road to the Western Regions is far away, and the grain is probably insufficient, and most of our army is dispatched, for fear of repeating the mistakes of the second division general when Emperor Wu was in power. ”

On the way west, Pang Long voiced his worries.

In fact, when Liu Zhang first sent troops to Liangzhou, he had already learned a lesson, if the supply of grain and grass can't keep up, the more soldiers you bring, the more serious the problem. (To be continued.) )