Great Han Arrow God

Chapter 374 The Gap
Gongsun He is tall and energetic, with a loud voice and powerful gestures, which looks very contagious.

Seeing Liang Xiao, he was very polite, jumped off his horse from a long distance, and strode over.Liang Xiao didn't dare to be negligent, he quickly got off his horse, took a few steps to meet him, and bowed his hands in salute.Gongsun He is not an ordinary person, he is Wei Qing's eldest brother-in-law, and the future prime minister—even though he ended up very sad.But then again, in the court of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, how many prime ministers were not sad.

Of course, what made Liang Xiao even more afraid to be careless was that Gongsun He respected Longxi as a servant. This was out of the norm, and the emperor probably did it on purpose.

Although the journey was hard, Liang Xiao was not idle. He not only read the pile of bamboo slips written by Dongfang Shuo, but also thought a lot about it.A big man is no better than in the Western Regions, you can let him go.The court is a place where rules are respected, and Liu Che is an ambitious hero. If he moves, he will be blamed, so he has to deal with it carelessly.Think twice about every move you make.

The guardian of Longxi is Grand Servant Sun He, so of course he should pay attention to such a strange thing and think more about it.

"Mr. Liang, you are finally back." Gongsun He glanced at the mission in the distance, patted Liang Xiao's shoulder affectionately, and laughed heartily. "I often hear Zhongqing mentioning you, and he admires you very much."

Liang Xiao hurriedly said a few words modestly.Gongsun He took the initiative to mention Wei Qing, so it was natural to be close.Gongsun He was originally the Prince Sheren, and he has served in the army many times and has made great achievements. He is the emperor's confidant.Before he left Chang'an, he knew that Gongsun He Fengzhao had married Wei Qing's eldest sister, Wei Junru, who was the emperor's confidant.

"Thank you for saving my life, my lord." Liang Xiao said politely, leading the Dawan envoy and the proton to Gongsun He, and introduced the accompanying merchants to Gongsun He. "Everyone, this is an important minister next to my emperor, Gongsun He, one of the nine ministers, Gongsun Taifu."

The Dawan envoy did not dare to be negligent after hearing this, and hurriedly stepped forward to salute.The merchants were even more understanding, and they stepped forward to greet each other one by one, and handed over a generous meeting gift, thanking Gongsun He for his life-saving grace.They don't usually see senior officials like Jiuqing at all, so they naturally want to seize the opportunity to make friends at this moment.

Gongsun He accepted the gift calmly, and had his followers write down the merchant's name.However, he was even more enthusiastic about the knowledgeable Liang Xiao.Liang Xiao's introduction brought him a windfall.

"Do you know why Your Majesty asked me to come to Longxi?"

Liang Xiao cupped his hands. "I'm going to ask my lord to clarify my doubts."

Gongsun He smiled. "Last time you sent Li Shuyun back a lot of good stallions from Dawan. The emperor put these horses in Tianshui Muyuan. Naturally, I, the servant in charge of chariots and horses, will come and watch over them, lest they be robbed by the Huns."

Liang Xiao asked: "Since this is the case, why are there Huns west of the river? I have encountered several groups along the way. If the eunuchs hadn't rescued them in time, these envoys and merchants might have been taken captive by the Huns."

Gongsun He smiled wryly: "The disciples of Longxi have no intention of fighting, and I also have no intention of fighting. I am at a loss."

Liang Xiao thought about it. "How is General Li Guang now?"

Gongsun He laughed. "He is hunting in Chang'an."

Liang Xiao didn't say anything more.He understood the reason for Gongsun He's wry smile.From the Qiang people and the Xiaoyue people, he had already heard about Li Guang's achievements last year.According to common sense, for such a great contribution, even if he is not granted the title of Marquis, heavy rewards are unavoidable.Now that Li Guang is idle in Chang'an, the reward is naturally out of the question.He didn't even offer a reward, let alone the Longxi disciples who accompanied the army.In this way, the Longxi disciples don't have the energy to fight.

For them, the war has only two purposes: one is to protect their homeland, and the other is to reward them with titles.If there is no reward, it is enough to protect the homeland and organize yourself to prevent the Huns from succeeding. There is no need to wait for the government's dispatch and fight tirelessly.

It is of course much easier to defend the ground than to pursue it.What's more, the disciples of Longxi are irritable and violent, it's really impossible for them to hold back.In this way, the strength that Gongsun He can rely on is very limited.

In the Bianjun area, without the active support of local teenagers, it is impossible to have a strong fighting force.

Back in Didao, the governor of Longxi County, Gongsun He arranged for Liang Xiao to stay first, and then sent six hundred miles to report to the court urgently.

Liang Xiao himself was an envoy appointed by the imperial court, and he could accompany the Dawan mission directly to Beijing as usual.But Dawan is a big country in the Western Regions, Liang Xiao hoped that the imperial court could raise the level of reception of Dawan to show its importance.In addition, there were many good horses accompanying him, whether they should be handed over directly to the grand servant Sun He or stayed in Tianshui Muyuan, he also asked the emperor to issue an edict.

While waiting for the court documents, Liang Xiao spent most of his time chasing the invading Huns with Gongsun He.King Xiutu seemed to know his whereabouts, but it was too late. He was very annoyed and sent troops to harass him wantonly.

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"Your Majesty, Your Majesty..." Mei Gao walked quickly to the hall with a happy expression on his face.

The emperor was very surprised when he saw it. "What's wrong?"

"Your Majesty, Daxing Temple has sent news that Liang Xiao has returned and has safely arrived in Longxi County. He also returned with Dawan Proton."

The emperor was overjoyed and couldn't help laughing out loud. "Okay, okay. He came back at just the right time. Dawan proton? So, two big countries west of Congling have surrendered, and the right arm of the Xiongnu will be broken. Meigao, you go to Daxing Temple immediately, and ask Wang Hui not to delay , immediately send someone to lead Liang Xiao into the pass."

"Wei!" Mei Gao responded, but did not leave.The emperor looked at him in surprise. "Why, is there anything else?"

Mei Gao smiled and said: "Your Majesty, Liang Xiao must have brought a lot of good things when he came back from the Western Regions. I want to act preemptively and blackmail him, lest he go to Chang'an and be surrounded by others. I don't have the right to be a minister." .”

The emperor was in a good mood, pointed at Mei Gao, and laughed. "Well, you are such a young child, you are so fond of profit and ungrateful. Liang Xiao came back thousands of miles away, but you only thought of blackmailing him. Well, I will grant your wish and send you to Longxi as an envoy."

Mei Gao turned and left.

The emperor rubbed Huo Qubing's little head vigorously. "Xiao Qubing, Liang Xiao is back, you have to listen carefully, you will be like him in the future, and spread the country's prestige thousands of miles away."

Huo Qubing grinned and broke away from the emperor. "Your Majesty, you hurt me."

-

"Master, stop chasing, stop chasing." Alpha yelled repeatedly.

Liang Xiao drew his bow fully and shot down the Huns who were desperately fleeing with one arrow. He said dissatisfiedly, "Why don't you chase them? I want to kill all these Huns."

"Ah Xiao, I can't chase any more." Tu Niu'er also caught up and grabbed Liang Xiao's rein. "Master Gongsun, they are all behind. If we chase again, we may be surrounded by the Huns like last time."

Liang Xiao looked back and couldn't help but feel ashamed.He was too happy to chase, and let his horse run wildly, but he forgot the gap between the two horses, and Gongsun He disappeared.

Now on the Longyou battlefield, depending on the strength of the horses, it can be divided into three levels:
Dawan horse and Yuezhi horse are the best war horses. They are tall, strong, fast, durable, and docile. They are the best choices whether they are riding horses or war horses.

The Xiongnu horse ranks second, with medium speed and good endurance, which is slightly inferior to Dawan horse and Yuezhi horse.But Xiongnu horses have a characteristic: they are not picky eaters. Unlike Dawan horses and Yuezhi horses, they must be fed with concentrate. Once the feed cannot keep up, the state will be greatly affected.If the Xiongnu horses are good, they will eat good ones. If they are not good, they can cope with them by gnawing on some pasture, and it will not affect their combat effectiveness in the short term.

The weakest are the mounts of the knights of the Han army. They are inferior to the Huns' horses in terms of speed and strength. When they are in good condition, they can barely draw a tie.When the state is not good, it is directly left behind by the Huns to eat ashes.

This is still a local war horse in Longxi, and the gap with the Xiongnu horse is not too obvious.If it is a horse from the Central Plains, it will be even worse.

Fortunately, the Han army knights have obvious advantages in weapons and equipment. When fighting the Huns head-on, they are not controlled by others. As long as they entangle the Huns, the Han army will have the upper hand.However, compared with Liang Xiao and others, the generals and soldiers of the Han army could not keep up.Whether it's horses or equipment, they are far behind Liang Xiao and the others.

It's no wonder that the knights and mercenaries around Liang Xiao are either nomads who grew up on horseback, or mercenaries who lived by fighting. Coupled with the iron armor, spears and swords that Liang Xiao spared no expense to equip, it can be said that They are the most well-equipped fighters in this era. Compared with those Longxi knights who rely on standard equipment to fight, they certainly have an advantage.

Because of the joining of Liang Xiao and others, the Han army finally had a clear overall advantage, but the gap in strength also caused a disconnect in tactics.Once Liang Xiao and the others charged with all their strength, the Longxi knights often couldn't keep up with the rhythm, leaving opportunities for the Huns.

Before that, Liang Xiao and the others were surrounded by the Huns because they rushed too hard. Thanks to Liang Xiao and the others' strong fighting power, the Huns couldn't bite them for a while, and Gongsun He arrived in time, so they didn't suffer serious injuries.

Liang Xiao reined in his horse, looked resentfully at the Huns fleeing far away, and spat.

Gongsun He led his troops to catch up, the mount was panting and sweating profusely.

"Liang Jun, please slow down." Gongsun He smiled wryly, "You make me feel like an old man. I can't breathe after running a few steps."

Liang Xiao smiled embarrassedly. "My lord was joking, I was reckless. My lord is not old, but my lord's mount is not good enough."

Gongsun He glanced at Liang Xiao and shook his head helplessly.

"Mr. Liang, there is no other way. If our Han army can equip good horses like yours, how can the Huns be so rampant? To tell you the truth, the biggest obstacle for the court to fight back against the Huns is the horses. Whether it is Quantity and quality are not enough to support your tactics. The number of registered horses in Taipu Temple is only 30, and even if one person has two horses, it can only supply 15 for the army, which is less than half of the Xiongnu."

Liang Xiao blushed, cupped his hands and said, "Your Excellency has taught me many times."
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(End of this chapter)