There is no doubt that the Han Empire failed to invade xigaoche this time.
Xigaoche probably expected that after the Han Empire beat Rouran and donggaoche, they would move westward. They migrated the tribes in the East. As a result, the Han army went hundreds of miles away and didn't find a medium-sized tribe, but just destroyed some small tribes.
"Their preparation time must be very long." Li Tan pondered for a moment and continued, "otherwise, with the vast grassland, there is no convenient contact method, and it is impossible to achieve this."
Xigaoche can evacuate the vast majority of tribes in time, which also shows that xigaoche is a relatively stable social system, at least there is an efficient ruling class, otherwise some things can't be done.
"Withdraw." Doua kept staring at the mountain map and said, "the ice and snow have shown signs of melting."
According to some gentle nobles, the plain inhabited by xigaoche is covered with ice and snow from mid autumn to winter and until late spring. After the ice and snow begin to melt, it will enter the long rainy season. About the middle of summer, it will be muddy and even form swamps.
"What a pity." Li Tan was more or less unwilling: "come here, but less than 5000 people were destroyed, and there were not many livestock."
It's time to withdraw. They sent troops from September of the 13th year of Yuanshuo. At present, it is May of the 14th year of Yuanshuo. They spend most of their time in ice and snow. As time goes on, the situation of non combat casualties becomes more and more serious.
If you can achieve good results by entering the West high vehicle, it is not a disastrous non combat damage. In fact, it is not unacceptable. The key is that they go deep into the West high vehicle and only achieve some results. It is of little significance to continue.
"This is a ghost place..." Li Tan has a general understanding of the local situation: "it starts snowing in the middle of autumn and needs to thaw in the late spring of the next year. After the ice and snow melt, a large area of swamp will be formed..."
Most of the territory of xigaoche is in western Siberia of modern Russia. The local latitude is high, the temperature is low, the evaporation is weak, and the precipitation is greater than the evaporation. Another is that there is a thick frozen soil layer under the ground, the surface water is not easy to infiltrate, the groundwater level is high, the terrain is low-lying and the drainage is not smooth. It is true that it is a ghost place.
The Han army came in the snowfall season. The ground had a thick layer of snow, and even formed an icy surface.
If the Han army came in summer, the scenery would be very beautiful, but it would just look at the beautiful scenery. If you really wanted to enter, you would see wetlands everywhere, and swamps would block the way.
It is said that the Huns retreated westward. When they came to central Siberia in modern Russia, it happened to be summer, and they were blocked by the swamps.
It was because the Huns couldn't get away that they turned south and approached the western regions again. Otherwise, there would be no event of Chen Tangyi's banner and cutting the head of Zhizhi branch, and the sentence "the Ming Dynasty will kill the strong Han although it is far away" would not appear.
Perhaps it is because this area is a ghost place that there are not many xigaoche tribes to inhabit. It is not that the ruling class of xigaoche has much binding force on the following tribes, waiting to notice that the Han army is coming before moving those tribes.
For the Han Army, the trouble of invading xigaoche this time was the natural environment and wild animals.
"The bears in this place are bigger than those on our side."
"That's right!"
"Stand up close to three meters, even the fiercest warrior can't fight it hand to hand."
"It's said that four strong men worked together to kill a bear."
The people who speak are sorting out the fur. In fact, the most are the fur of lynx and squirrel. The number of tigers, brown bears, leopards, wolves, Wolverines, sable and red foxes is also extremely large.
No matter what kind of beast it is, ordinary people will be afraid if they are right. Ordinary troops will be troublesome to kill, but it's really not too easy if elite troops come to kill.
Most of the furs they were dealing with were full of holes, which were hit by a large number of arrows.
The value of fur with too much damage is low, the price of intact fur will be high, and it will have different values due to different varieties.
The Han army was in a state of war. Naturally, they wouldn't go hunting deliberately. However, even if they didn't hunt deliberately, they only killed when they met them. Look at the fur piled up and being classified. There was no shortage of killing.
On this day, Liu Shen was hanging around the camp with Julian and kexie Yas.
As they walked, they came to the fur pile. When they saw the pile of fur piled up like a hill, Liu Shen didn't have much special feeling, but Julian and keshias looked straight.
"How many!" Keshias saw many kinds of fur and read some categories: "are there so many tigers and bears in this place?"
Julian's eyes kept looking at the Striped fur. Seeing that the quantity was so large, he subconsciously swallowed his saliva.
Europa does not have such an animal as a tiger. If you want to hunt wild tigers, you can't talk about it. If you really want to experience it, you have to go to West Asia or South Asia.
It is precisely because Europa does not have such animals as tigers. They will be happy and even proud if they can get a tiger skin. On the one hand, it proves that they have been to Asia, on the other hand, even if they have not been to Asia in person, the tentacles of the family have extended to Asia, which is a manifestation of strength.
"It's big!" Keshias looked at it and said, "it's at least 30 centimeters bigger than the largest tiger on our side."
Of course, there is an animal such as tiger in the Persian habitat, but it is West Asian tiger according to its category.
The tiger body of West Asia will be shorter. The maximum weight of adult male West Asian tiger can reach about 480 kg. Because the body is shorter and has that weight, it will look fat.
The average weight of adult male Siberian tigers is 600 kg, with a body length of about 2.6 meters, a shoulder height of about 1.1 meters and a tail length of more than 1 meter; The average weight of an adult female tiger is about 320 kg, the body length is about 1.7 meters, the shoulder height is about 0.8 meters, and the tail length is about 0.8 meters.
If we put the Siberian tiger and the Siamese tiger together, we can really easily distinguish the physical differences, and we will never mistake which one comes from where.
Liu Shen is not so interested in this. In his opinion, it's just some fur. However, he was not foolish to see Julian and keshias salivating and offered to give it. It was the booty of the army, not his personal belongings.
Julian didn't know why he looked a little depressed. In fact, he was wondering, wondering how the more facing east, whether human or animal, the physique should be taller than the people in the west?
The average height of the Romans in ancient times was only about 1.57 meters, while the contemporary Romans grew to about 1.65 meters.
Around the Romans, the average height of the Gauls in ancient times was 1.75 meters, while that of the Germanic people was 1.78 meters. In terms of physique, it would not be easy for the Romans with an average height of only 1.57 meters to conquer the Gauls and suppress the Germanic people.
It was a cold weapon battle. The side with good physique must have more advantages. The Romans who completely lost their physique to the Gauls could completely conquer the Gauls. Either the Gauls were really too waste, or the Romans crushed the Gauls at the level of civilization.
At present, the level of civilization includes not only those in science and technology, but also organizational strength, tactics and methods of warfare. At this point, the Romans did win over the LULUs in an all-round way.
Similarly, the Romans can suppress the Germanic people because of the level of civilization. Otherwise, the Germanic people are not only taller than the Gauls, but also stronger than the Gauls.
It can be said that the Romans did not have any advantage in Europe in terms of physique. It can even be said that the Romans lost to any neighboring nation in terms of physique, but they became a well deserved overlord in Europe.
It is a kind of gain from the level of civilization, which can make up for the disadvantage of physique.
The Romans took the lead in civilization, won victories again and again, cultivated the self-confidence of the whole nation, and naturally became the overlord.
However, the Romans also had some experience after encountering the Persians. When the civilization level could not form the trend of rolling, there would be no destruction and decay in the confrontation. They could only consume again and again, so that the other party could not stand it first, and then they could pick the fruits of victory.
Julian of Xinsai subconsciously looked around, and his mood became more depressed. Standing next to him, Liu Shen has a height of more than one meter six at a young age. When he is an adult, he should be at least one meter nine. Is it normal to exceed two meters?
If the prince of a country is tall because of his excellent growth environment, it is only an example, but Julian saw that the Han army is generally 1.8 meters tall, and there is no lack of strong men who are up to two meters tall. If he stands next to a two meter tall Han man, his head happens to reach the Han man's chest and wants to look up 90 degrees from face to face.
"That..." Julian was extremely depressed and asked the question he wanted to ask for a long time: "what is the staple food of the Han people?"
"Staple food?" When asked, Liu Shen was stunned and replied, "the staple food in the Central Plains since ancient times is millet, beans and millet."
Julian has spent a lot of energy in recent years to understand the Han Empire, understand those names, and know what they are.
In fact, the Romans have been observing the eating habits of the Han people for a long time. They have also collected the seeds of plant foods from the Han people. Even the first trial planting has been carried out in many areas of Rome.
The idea of the Romans was very simple. They thought that the Han people were so tall, so they would learn from the Han people to eat the same food. They think that since the Han people can grow tall after eating those foods, it makes no sense for the Romans.
Of course, plant seeds can't grow by throwing them into the soil. It can even be said that the same seeds can't even germinate in different areas.
When the Roman candidates planted millet, beans and millet in Egypt, they found that even if the seeds could grow, they looked haggard, as if they would wither and die in the next moment.
Some seeds selected in Gaul showed good signs. Happy with the results of Roman observation, they began to sing and dance, cheering that the size of the next generation of Romans would "rub" up.
"Five years after Yuanshuo, the staple food in the Central Plains gradually changed to rice and wheat." Liu Shen didn't think about what Julian was going to do. What he knew was that there was no need to hide this information: "you haven't stayed in the big man for a long time, and didn't find this?"
Naturally, the Romans also collected rice, barley and wheat seeds in the Han Empire. They also took them back to Rome for trial planting. What they didn't understand was that the Han people ate some staple foods such as millet, beans and millet. Why did they suddenly change their staple food?
In addition, the Romans need to understand that, for example, after the Han people changed to eat other food, will the height of the Han people still be so tall?
"What we eat is similar to that of the Han people." Keshias had a little understanding of what Julian thought: "it's just that there are differences in cooking techniques."
The main food of Persians is rice and wheat, especially pot and rice. It should be said that the raw materials are really not much different from those of Han people. They also have many cooking techniques, especially some soup making, which are very similar to the Han people.
When Julian heard that his depressed mood had not improved, he doubted a little. He wondered why his ancestors had never thought of improving their eating habits. Even if they didn't meet the Han people, they might be able to improve their height by learning from the Persians!
Europeans make bread from wheat as their staple food. They really don't have any cooking skills. Anyway, they cook in white water.
In terms of height, whether ancient Persians or contemporary Persians, their average height has always been about 1.75 meters. Although there are few two meters tall, there are some, that is, most of them are thin.
In fact, few Han people are tall and strong. That's a problem caused by different eating habits. In short, Asians have different muscle fibers from Europeans because of their eating habits.
In fact, not only the Romans, but also the Persians are exploring the eating habits of the Han people. Many aristocrats in the two countries have fully adopted the eating habits of the Han people.
Similarly, it is not just the eating habits. It can be said that the Romans and Persians learn from the Han people in all aspects. Some other Romans and Persians even classify them and think that some things of the Han people must be learned.
Liu Shen seemed to think of something and said, "I heard you made a request to the etiquette department, hoping that the big man can provide teaching?"
Julian and kosias looked at each other subconsciously. They used to make a request to the Honglu hall. With the reform of the Han Empire, they changed from the Honglu hall to the ritual department. They were rejected again and again and were not discouraged.
"Maybe..." Liu Shen said with a smile, "I can convey it to my father."
This made Julian and keshias couldn't help showing great joy.