Big man: I am the Champion Marquis!

Huo Xian did not dare to boast that he was much better than some famous generals in history, but one thing was certain, that is, when it came to marching, he was more experienced than most of them.

The main thing is that he traveled far and a lot, and the scale of the army was basically 50,000, which shows his experience.

Going to fight the Xiongnu was a small matter, and going to fight in the Western Regions was nothing. Simply fighting Dayuan was an absolute test, and leading tens of thousands of troops across the Pamir Mountains was a great test.

So there is no need to be humble. Marching now is not difficult for him at all.

Even though it was winter, it was still much easier than going to Dayuan in previous years. What's more, we were bringing elite soldiers with us, with better numbers and more reliable logistical support.

Moreover, we are now in the territory of the Han Dynasty, so we don’t have to worry too much about many things. It is very safe.

At this stage, it can't even be called a march, it can only be considered as hurrying on the road, and Huo Xian acted very relaxed.

Even though we are heading north now, and it seems to be getting more and more difficult as we get further and further north, it is not to the point where we can't move forward, nor is it to the point where it feels unbearable.

Shuofang County is located in the northwest of the Yellow River, so Huo Xian can revisit his old place.

Because the northwest of Shuofang County is the Yinshan Mountains, after crossing the Yinshan Mountains, you will enter the Inner Mongolia Plateau. When the Han Dynasty wanted to send troops across the Yinshan Mountains to attack the Xiongnu, there were several routes through Dingxiang, Yunzhong, Wuyuan, Shuofang, etc.

When attacking through Shuofang County, the main passage across Yinshan Mountain was Jilushai.

This made Huo Xian even more adept at it. After all, he took the Jilushai route when he went on his first expedition, so this route was more familiar to him.

"My Lord, the snow is unlikely to stop falling." Liu Mo suggested, "I would suggest that we go into the city and rest first, otherwise the soldiers will be exhausted."

Huo Xian readily followed suit and said with a smile, "We are not afraid of snow, but the snow is getting heavier. Send the cavalry to the county town first and clear a place for us to rest."

When the army enters the small county, they will overcome their difficulties together.

It is naturally impossible for Huo Xian and others to requisition all the houses, but the local people also need to vacate some space for people to set up camp.

To be more precise, the army will basically not enter the city, not even the county town. They will camp directly outside the city, and then they will have to collect some supplies, such as firewood for heating.

Since Huo Xian's military order had been issued, the others naturally began to execute it. There was no time to delay at all.

Wei Deng took off his scarf and said to Huo Xian, "Xian'er, the snow outside the pass is just heavier. I'm not afraid of snow, but I don't like the wind right now."

"That's nothing!" Huo Xian said with great authority, "When I went to the Western Regions, I realized how powerful the wind was. I'll let my cousin go into the city first and take a nice hot bath to relieve my fatigue."

Wei Deng naturally had no objection. Most of the time, they would set up camp in the wilderness during the march, so they naturally couldn't expect any good protection at that time.

But now we have the conditions to enter the city, so we should relax when we should, and don't put ourselves in a difficult position.

Wei Deng said, "I don't know how long this snow will last. I'm afraid many roads will be closed."

"Most of us are cavalry, which is better." Huo Xian said, "When I went on my first expedition, my uncle said that cavalry should be in the front in the snow, walking on the snow first to clear the way for the troops behind."

Wei Deng just smiled at this time. He naturally knew these theoretical knowledge, but whether he could implement them well in an actual march was another matter.

"Generally speaking, the soldiers are fine, not many are sick." Wei Deng said business, "I also looked carefully, except for a few who stayed behind to recuperate, the others can keep up."

Huo Xian was naturally very satisfied with this. Marching basically meant that there would be non-combat casualties, especially when marching long distances or in bad weather. Some things could not be avoided.

Fortunately, everything was well prepared, and now they were in the territory of the Han Dynasty, which saved Huo Xian a lot of trouble.

Now that there are some wounded soldiers, they will basically be sent to the nearest town, where they will receive some basic treatment and catch up with the main army as soon as they recover.

If we really reach the grassland, it is inevitable that we will get injured or sick during the march. At that time, we will basically find a relatively safe place to settle down and send auxiliary soldiers to take care of them.

It seems that there is a certain degree of protection, but to be realistic, such protection is only the most basic, and most of the time the wounded soldiers have to take care of themselves.

It would be difficult to catch up with the army after recovering from the illness, and being in a foreign country, you might encounter the enemy, which would be very dangerous.

Wei Deng also continued, "It seems that there is no problem with the baggage now, but the weather is not very good, so the consumption is a bit high."

Huo Xian also understood these principles and sighed helplessly, "The weather is not good. We have to rest more often. But there is no need to worry. We have fewer people and more food."

This can be considered a preferential treatment for Huo Xian. When he went on an expedition, he basically carried more baggage and his equipment was obviously better than that of ordinary troops.

Of course, this was only aimed at some of Huo Xian's trusted troops. The logistics support of the entire army still followed the military system of the Han Dynasty. It was impossible that the treatment of more than 100,000 people would be higher just because Huo Xian was the main general.

After all, even if Liu Che was willing to do so, given the current national strength of the Han Dynasty, it would not be able to support a significant increase in treatment. Only a small number of people could have such conditions.

Even looking at the current situation, it is because Huo Xian is leading the Yulin Army and the Qimen Army.

If there were really too many soldiers, the situation would not be like it is now. At that time, it would be impossible even to enter the county town.

With few people, it can be considered a "light and simple" trip, which will not be a big burden on the local area. If a large army really marches, don't expect small counties to be able to support the temporary stationing of the army.

Wei Deng briefly reported the military situation and then left. Although he was Wei Qing's son and Huo Shan's cousin, he obviously knew his limits when in the army.

Now that the army has set out and we are now in the army, military rank must be respected, and Huo Xian is the undisputed commander-in-chief.

Huo Xian was in a good mood and asked, "Have you received any military reports?"

"Of course there are." Liu Mo replied immediately, "But they are just some routine military reports, nothing particularly urgent."

Huo Xian naturally believed Liu Mo's answer, not because Liu Mo had read the contents of the military newspaper, or because of his outstanding military talent.

The simple thing is that military reports also have priorities, and urgent military reports will definitely be specially indicated. And some routine military intelligence reports sent to Huo Xian are just delivered.

Even so, Huo Xian still took the military report and read and studied it carefully. "Wintering." Looking at Zhao Po Nu's military report, Huo Xian said worriedly, "This winter will not be easy. The preparations have been very thorough, but now it's a bit tight."

It was still because of the bad weather and the fact that the Han Dynasty's national strength was not as strong as before, so even though a lot of preparations had been made in advance, it still did not seem to be absolutely sufficient now.

There is no other way. On the one hand, we have to overcome the situation, and on the other hand, we have to seek supplies as much as possible. We have to grit our teeth and get through this difficult winter.

Liu Mo asked with concern, "Sir, is there not enough supplies in Shoujiang City?"

"Not really. In the end, there are just too many people." Huo Xian said with a smile, "I thought there was enough grass, but now it seems we still need to lose weight."

Liu Mo became worried. "Is the warhorse losing weight?"

This is a big deal. The reason for choosing to fight the Huns in the spring is that the Han Dynasty has silage, which can reduce the amount of fat loss of war horses during the winter.

Now, if the war horses lose weight, it means that the horsepower of the war horses will be affected. When the war really starts in winter, the advantage of the Han cavalry may be weakened.

"I'm not too worried. Although our horses will lose weight, they are much stronger than the Xiongnu's." Huo Xian was not particularly worried and said with a smile, "If we lose 10% or 20%, the Xiongnu will lose 40%."

Even with silage and even though Zhao Po Nu and others had stored a lot of hay in the summer and autumn, it was only barely enough now to prevent the Han Dynasty's war horses from losing too much weight.

If we can overcome it a little, it won't be that difficult to accept. When spring comes, the Han army's war horses can still guarantee a decent combat effectiveness, at least it will be enough.

The Huns were obviously not so optimistic.

The Han Dynasty is under great pressure now, but the Huns are even more stressed.

This is a competition of the ability to withstand pressure. No matter which side can’t hold on first, it means the coming of a catastrophe.

This can also be regarded as a process of one side gaining while the other loses. Although the Han army's advantage seems to have become smaller, it still holds a certain initiative.

The initiative is still in their hands, which is obviously enough for Huo Xian.

Huo Xian continued to read the military newspaper attentively. He needed to understand a series of situations of the army, and some information also needed to be mastered and updated in a timely manner.

These are what he should do. After all, these troops are under his command.

Although it is winter now and the speed of information transmission cannot be very timely, it is still important to grasp the military intelligence as early as possible.

Liu Mo brought the barbecue and said, "My Lord, it's time to eat."

Huo Xian nodded and asked, "How are the arrangements for the soldiers going?"

"It's all arranged. We have no shortage of military rations, so how can we let them starve?" Liu Mo said with a smile, "The tents have been built, and we have arranged for firewood and heating."

It seems that Huo Xian does not need to worry too much about these things. After all, the soldiers and generals who go on the expedition are elite soldiers and the quality of the middle and low-level officers is also relatively outstanding.

This is naturally an advantage, especially during the march, as it allows Huo Xian to worry less about many things.

Liu Mo continued, "After hearing that the Lord has arrived, some people want to come and pay a visit. But we all know the Lord's temper, and he definitely doesn't want those people to disturb him."

Huo Xian did not refute this, and said with a smile, "That's good, it saves a lot of trouble."

Not to mention the locals, even in Chang'an, there were many people who wanted to get closer to Huo Xian. If there was an opportunity, he would definitely take it, and if there was no opportunity, he would try to create some.

Huo Xian had seen this kind of situation many times. Not only did he know how to deal with it, but his subordinates also understood how to arrange it.

There is no need to worry about offending anyone. After all, Huo Xian's status is high enough and he doesn't need to care about some social etiquette.

When in Chang'an, Huo Shan didn't care about offending some powerful people. Even the three dukes and nine ministers or some marquises would not necessarily give him much face.

When it comes to local counties, even the prefects were nothing worthy of respect in front of Huo Xian, so there was no need to worry about offending anyone.

Zhao Hexi also walked into the tent and said, "Sir, I have someone bring back the military reports from previous years."

Huo Xian said, "Have the clerk carefully check to see if there is any warning information about the Xiongnu moving south."

Although they were still some distance away from the border, Huo Xian's preparations were still very detailed and he would not miss any clues.

The purpose of taking these local county military reports is actually to better find some routes of the Huns' southward migration, or to see if there is any information about the Huns' military strength when they migrated south.

In the final analysis, the situation of the Huns was different. Many times, the Huns were just a general term, and there were many tribes within them, which would occasionally attack each other.

Only by having more information in hand can we better deal with a possible war.

By figuring out the possible divisions of power among the Huns, we can have a chance to defeat them one by one, or recruit them for our own use.

Huo Xian was quite generous, and it was not that he would never accept the Xiongnu. There were many Xiongnu who had surrendered to the Han Dynasty, and their treatment would not be bad or discriminated against.

As long as you can serve the Han Dynasty, you can be considered a citizen of the Han Dynasty and deserve recognition.

The same applies to the military. It would be best if the Huns who surrendered to the Han army could contribute and help the Han army defeat the Huns.

It can be said that Huo Xian’s requirements are really not high, and his methods are relatively flexible.

Because he was a pragmatist, as long as it could help him defeat the Huns, many things would naturally become easy to negotiate.

If those people cannot serve the Han army, or if they want to fight against the Han army, then they will naturally not be merciful. (End of this chapter)