Fighting cavalry with infantry often puts one on the defensive, especially with hundreds of thousands of foot soldiers.
In the worst-case scenario, they would have to rely entirely on cavalry, with the Great Qian army stationed outside Helan Mountain to engage in a decisive battle.
With infantry and cavalry cooperating, after attacking Helan Mountain, a portion could remain to defend it, while the main army could advance into Qilian Mountain and Yanzhi Mountain, or even reclaim all the Hetao region.
Fortunately, although the Great Qian nation had limited cavalry, it had a large number of reserve soldiers who trained with spare warhorses of the regular cavalry.
Otherwise, the soldiers of Yanzhou would not have been able to quickly assemble a cavalry force of twenty thousand using captured warhorses.
As a general of the White Robe Army, Lu Changhe rose and cupped his fists, "We are prepared!"
The cavalry of the Great Qian was now equipped like never before. Apart from the White Robe Army, most cavalry units were equipped with cotton armor and powerful bows and crossbows.
In a head-on confrontation, Great Qian cavalry could fight two to one.
Against three to one, it would be difficult for units other than the White Robe Army.
The barbarians also had their elite forces. If they were fighting the barbarian elite cavalry, the White Robe Army could contend one against two under normal circumstances, but fighting one against three would still be a challenge.
Unless Liang Xiao personally led the charge in his capacity as General Tian.
Deep within the Shuofang military camp, the eminent monk Hong Xiu was feeding Bai Ye Feiying, ready for any situation. The number of Shadow Guards responsible for security around him had already reached nearly two hundred.
Among these Shadow Guards who had been serving Liang Xiao, half were waiting for the Great Qian to capture Helan Mountain so they could search for the treasures left by the Dongye clan.
None of the generals present showed any fear, which highly pleased Liang Xiao and Lu Yi.
However, Liang Xiao remained uneasy and reminded them, "This expedition is crucial for the nation's fate. Transmit an order to the entire army: do not seek personal glory, strictly obey military orders, and those who violate them will be punished according to military law!"
The generals acknowledged the order, and Liang Xiao then assigned them their respective tasks.
Only when the military camp was left with Liang Xiao and Lu Yi did Liang Xiao take out a list.
The two men looked at the list and smiled knowingly.
This list was the inventory of supplies for the northern troops, including the number of arrows.
"Five million arrows and five million crossbow bolts. This is an unprecedented quantity. Is it enough?" Lu Yi sighed.
"Including what might be recovered from the battlefield, it is certainly enough to take Helan Mountain, Qilian Mountain, and Yanzhi Mountain. However, to advance deep into the desert, it will depend on the outcome of the decisive battle at Helan Mountain. The key to this battle is actually the arrows. Without sufficient arrows, we cannot deter the barbarian cavalry," Liang Xiao replied.
For a unit to reduce casualties, a large number of archers and crossbowmen were needed; they could not rely solely on melee troops. Even cavalry often carried bows and crossbows.
In ancient battlefields, the cost of arrows was astonishing.
The cost of a single arrow exceeded seventy wen, and a single crossbow bolt exceeded sixty wen!
A "middle-class" person in the Great Qian, meaning a citizen living a relatively comfortable life, such as a teacher or a craftsman, earned about sixty to eighty wen per day.
A common laborer would have to work for two to three days to afford a single arrow...
The most critical and time-consuming part of an arrow was not the arrowhead, but the shaft itself. Besides sourcing the material, in an era of low productivity, even the most common wooden arrow shaft required a section of wood to be shaved into a shaft along its grain.
After shaving, it needed to be fired, straightened, and painted to ensure the shaft's straightness and durability. It then had to be sorted to ensure that arrows in the same batch had similar weights, lengths, and flexibility. Everything relied on manual labor.
The craftsmanship of bamboo arrows was no less complicated than that of ordinary wooden arrows; in fact, it was even more intricate.
Throughout history, in any era, the manufacture of the arrow shaft was the key to crafting an arrow, far more troublesome than the arrowhead.
The total of ten million arrows for bows and crossbows alone exceeded six hundred and fifty million qian, equivalent to approximately six hundred and fifty thousand taels of silver for the Great Qian.
In the battle of Yanzhou, the Great Qian soldiers fired nearly a million arrows, crushing the barbarian will to fight!
Domestic film and television dramas have always been a major offender when it comes to bows, crossbows, and arrows, with scenes of covering fire at the slightest provocation, leading audiences to believe that military archery requires no precision.
Throughout history, in actual battlefields, covering fire was a rare occurrence. Archers placed great emphasis on accuracy; if a shot could not guarantee a hit, they would rather not fire.
In ancient times, arrows were extremely expensive, involving labor and materials. No nation could withstand the consumption of prolonged covering volleys.
Famous generals of all dynasties imposed strict requirements on their soldiers' archery.
Qi Jiguang, the "God of War" of the Ming Dynasty, recorded in his *Manual of Practical Military Matters* (Ji Xiao Xin Shu): "When shooting arrows at the enemy, one must be bold, steady, poised, and brief in motion, and then none will miss, and no one can evade. This description cannot fully capture the essence: draw the bow, but do not fully draw it, and do not loose it carelessly. Stand with a balanced stance, and the posture itself will become perilous. Wait until they are within a few dozen paces, when you are certain that your shot will hit the enemy, and will kill them...
The gist of it is that archers needed to ensure accuracy and range, never firing carelessly. Once fired, the shot had to be a hit to maximize the value of the archer, as reckless shooting would only put their own side in a precarious position.
These ten million arrows could not be produced by the Armaments Bureau alone. Following Liang Xiao's advice, Xiao Qing had notified the entire nation six months prior to send all stored arrows to the northern region for inventory, leaving only essential quantities locally.
According to the estimations of Liang Xiao, Wang Canghai, Lu Yi, and others, the Great Qian was already facing internal and external troubles. Suppressing the noble families was ineffective; they had to cripple the barbarians and reclaim Helan Mountain first to awe the surrounding tribes!
Otherwise, if neighboring countries attacked simultaneously, the Great Qian, forced to divide its forces and fight on multiple fronts, would face unimaginable consequences.
At that time, even the Great Liang nation, sharing the same ancestry, might take advantage of the situation!
For this battle, Xiao Qing, Wang Canghai, and the Shadow Guard units worked day and night to ensure that the northern region had such a large quantity of weaponry.
The barbarians also possessed a large number of arrows, otherwise, their cavalry would not have such a significant advantage.
Hitting fast-moving targets like cavalry was far more difficult than hitting infantry.
The Great Qian soldiers were now heavily armored, marching and fighting in heavy armor, which consumed a great deal of stamina. If the Great Qian soldiers did not have enough arrows as a deterrent, they could easily be worn down by the barbarian iron cavalry.
These supplies, including arrows, longbows, divine-arm crossbows, cotton armor, infantry armor, Mo blades... the critical quantities were known only to Liang Xiao, Xiao Qing, and the four Grand Advisors. The lists were locked in steel boxes and delivered to Liang Xiao by captains of the Shadow Guard to ensure no seventh person knew.
Even those responsible for inventorying the supplies, such as Mu Hong, did so in a decentralized manner, with each person accounting for only a portion, for fear that the barbarians might discover the Great Qian's true strength.
The former Minister of War, Du Gu Qun, and the Vice Minister of War, Du Gu Yuncheng, did not even know the exact number of troops stationed in the northern region, let alone the quantities of these supplies, only that it was "hundreds of thousands." This was the result of Xiao Qing and Wang Canghai's efforts to supervise and suppress Du Gu Qun.
The two men then held a secret consultation and finally decided on a strategy.
The next day, Liang Xiao personally announced to the entire army that he would remain in Shuofang with one hundred thousand Yanzhou troops, while the remaining Yanzhou elites would march with Marshal Lu Yi to Helan Mountain. After ensuring the safety of the northern region, they would then proceed to reinforce Helan Mountain.
After a brief moment of shock, the soldiers expressed only regret, not dissent.
Lu Yi personally arranged for the generals to mobilize the troops, numbering close to two hundred thousand.
Concurrently, the barbarian forces stationed in Helan Mountain received intelligence from spies in Shuofang.
The Great Qian was preparing to deploy three hundred thousand troops!
"The two marshals indeed predicted this. The Great Qian always likes to put on a show; in reality, they only have one hundred and twenty to one hundred and fifty thousand!"
In the military tent, the Left Virtuous King frowned as he looked at the intelligence brought by the spy. "And Liang Xiao is actually planning to remain in Shuofang?"