The Rise of the European Emperor

No wonder, though. You know, the Crimean Khanate is a country that specializes in robbery, and the whole country is a soldier. Moreover, the whole country of the Crimean Khanate is not to prevent the invasion of foreign enemies, but to rob other countries.

Therefore, when Jamahan returned to his country and conveyed his intention to acquire Marin, the Crimean Khanate, who saw the money-eyed Khanate, did not hesitate to touch thousands of Tatar cavalry and launched a campaign against the Cossack villages in the Zaporozhye region. attacked.

Although because of the Cossack's resistance, it brought some losses. However, in the face of the high price of 40 gold coins per Cossack, the Crimean Khanate, who was accustomed to poverty, felt that it was worth it. What's more, including the war horses captured by the Cossack villages can also be exchanged for 20 gold coins at Marin. In this way, for every captive Cossack, you can exchange 60 gold coins with Marin. Then, 2,000 Cossacks can be exchanged for 120,000 gold coins.

What is the concept of 120,000 gold coins? In the original history, Sigismund I only spent 15,000 gold coins to induce the Crimean Khanate and its original ally, the Grand Duchy of Moscow, to fight against each other. 120,000 gold coins can basically make the Crimean Khanate crazy.

Although it is said that now the Crimean Khanate sells 10,000 cattle to Marin every year, it can be exchanged for 80,000 gold coins. Selling 2,000 Eastern European Mongolian horses to Marin can also exchange for 40,000 gold coins. However, who would think that the money is too little? Moreover, selling cows and horses also requires raising the cows and horses. Is it worthwhile? How can there be a quick way to grab it directly? Therefore, the robber-like Khanate of Crimea took the big list of Marin without hesitation...

This time, the escort of the 2,000-household Cossack team of more than 8,000 people was still Jamahan who came last time. In addition to the huge population team, it is the same huge team of cattle and horses.

Marin looked at the size of the animals and felt something was wrong:

"No, Mr. Jamahan, I don't want so many animals! Didn't the 10,000 cattle and 2,000 war horses be delivered last time?"

Even if each Cossack is equipped with one warhorse, there are 2,000 warhorses. The number of horses that Jamahan brought this time was tens of thousands, which made Marin feel very wrong.

Jamahan said nonchalantly:

"Grand Duke, these horses are not all sold to you, most of them are rations for this long journey!"

"What? You take horses as rations?" Marin was taken aback. You know, horse meat is not good. In addition, horses are so powerful that it is a waste to kill them and eat them. Unless it is a disabled horse or an old man too old for hard labor, he will kill for meat.

"Hahaha..." Jamahan laughed.

He then explained to Marin:

"Grand Duke, you misunderstood. When I said rations, I didn't mean killing horses to eat meat, but horse milk! These slaves always have to eat along the way, right? But we don't have so much money to buy food for them. Therefore, we can only Follow the tradition of my great Mongol Empire - drink mare's milk!"

"In our Mongolian daily life, eating beef and mutton is not the mainstream. Drinking horse's milk and goat's milk, or eating cheese is the mainstream. Of course, if there is tea, it is better to make milk tea. As for mutton and beef, although it is often eaten, But not every day."

"Like the army of our greatest ancestor, Genghis Khan, when the army was on a westward expedition, generally each warrior would bring three horses. Among them, one was a nursing mare. Its function is to provide the warriors of the expedition with Horse's milk is used as food. Otherwise, the invincible Mongolian cavalry will not be able to go on an expedition!"

"It turned out to be like this!" Marin was amazed, and admired the Mongolian cavalry's coquettish operation.

It is true that when a large army goes on an expedition, if the army of the Han nationality transports military rations across thousands of miles, it will not be overwhelmed by the national strength, and it will also have a great impact on the maneuverability of the army. How cumbersome is the food truck? Sometimes the army ran too fast and had to stop and wait for the baggage. Not only that, the baggage units could easily become the target of enemy light cavalry attacks. Once the grain cart is hijacked or burned, the army is over.

And the Mongolian cavalry is indeed very coquettish,

Bringing a mare that is breastfeeding is a very straightforward solution to all problems.

Of course, it is also possible to bring ewes. However, the ewe ran too slowly to keep up with the marching speed of the cavalry. Therefore, a large army expedition, with a milk-producing mare is the best choice.

...

Marin, including many people in later generations, always thought that the Mongolian cavalry marched west and brought three horses in order to travel faster. But in fact, one of the three horses was a milk-producing mare and served as food for the cavalry. Of course, there are times when a mare is changed, but it never tires the mare. Otherwise, it will definitely affect milk production. Moreover, if it is just to hurry, the transfer of two horses is enough.

Of course, only the Mongolian cavalry can use this trick. Because Mongolian horses are resistant to roughage. Even if they travel for a long time, Mongolian horses only need to graze. What do you bring, mare, what is eaten is grass, and what is squeezed is milk, which can be used as army ration.

However, drinking mare's milk alone is definitely not enough. Therefore, when the Mongolian cavalry was on the march, they would also plunder the grain of the villages along the way, or the livestock of the nomadic tribes, in order to obtain grain and meat, and comprehensively supplement their nutrition. But when passing through some barren lands in Central Asia, it was all supported by mare's milk.

European horses obviously cannot do this, because once European horses are running, they are especially fed with concentrate. Therefore, a large army operation, like the Han army, requires a strong supply line. Even, each horse needs several times more food than a soldier... Therefore, it is difficult for Europe to gather a large-scale cavalry team...

The descendants of the Golden Horde, such as the Crimean Khanate, inherited the characteristics of the Mongolian cavalry, and the war horses are also a mixed breed of Mongolian horses and Eastern European native horses, which have the advantage of Mongolian horses being resistant to rough feeding. Therefore, the Tatar cavalry of the Crimean Khanate also had the habit of using mare to provide mare milk.

The most important thing is that mare's milk is cheap! For the Crimean Tatars living in the steppe, food is expensive. Horse milk is easy to obtain.

Food prices in Europe have always been very expensive. If they lived by eating food, the Tatars who had no money to buy food would have starved to death long ago.

Therefore, nomads generally focus on dairy products. Of these, goat milk is the most common source of dairy products. Moreover, sheep are more resistant to roughage than horses and basically never need concentrate.

However, when the army was on its way, the sheep couldn't keep up with the army. Therefore, mare's milk is used instead of goat's milk.

But this kind of coquettish operation can only be done by horses that are resistant to roughage, led by Mongolian horses. Otherwise, changing to a mare that needs to be fed with concentrate during lactation will definitely not be a source of food for the cavalry on long-distance raids. Because that kind of mare has to bring a lot of food with the army...

...

After listening to Jamahan's explanation, Marin's eyes only lit up. So he said to Jama Khan:

"I want to buy a mare! I want all the maes you brought, 10 gold coins each!"

Jamahan was stunned for a moment and said:

"These mares are not war horses, they are all galloping horses, they only have the ability to provide mare milk!"

For Crimean Tatars, mare's milk is the cheapest food, and food is expensive. Moreover, before, Marin only bought warhorse-class Eastern European Mongolian horses from the Crimean Khanate, and never bought a horse.

Marin had become fascinated by the prospect of maes supplying mare's milk for military supplies, so he said without hesitation:

"In the future, I will also need a horse, but only a mare!"

"Okay, no problem!" Jamahan happily agreed. After all, horses are a rarity to Marin, and to the Crimean Tatars, they are Chinese cabbage. Besides, they don't have enough mares, so they can grab someone else's!

The Cossacks around the Crimean Khanate, as well as the nearby Kazan Khanate, Astrakhan Khanate, and Nogai Khanate, are countries of Mongolian descent, and there is no shortage of Eastern European Mongolian horses that are resistant to roughage. Just grab some, or exchange it at a low price, and you can exchange gold coins with Marin...