Chapter 1784: Evaluation <<<
Yeh Lu Shen Xuan's words exposed a huge problem that the Liao army now had to face.
When Xiao Tiannan heard this, his expression also became serious. He said: "Now the army has only enough rations to last for four days. Once these rations are completely consumed··· we will have to kill war horses to eat. Although we have some reserves and some injured horses from previous battles can still be eaten, the problem is that horses eat grass. If all the war horses starve, it will have a huge impact on our army's combat effectiveness."
The high cost of cavalry is largely attributable to the horses themselves.
War horses are far more valuable than humans. Under the same conditions, the cost of raising a warhorse would be twice or even more than that of a soldier. That's why the Liao army grew up on horseback and knew the temperament of horses like the back of their hand, which allowed them to reduce the expense to about one and a half soldiers per horse.
Even if the Liao army were familiar with their horses, horses would still need to eat grass when they were hungry. This is nature. While humans could survive by killing injured or reserve horses for food, in this freezing weather, the horses could only watch helplessly as they starved.
Four days...
Yelü Shenxuan let out a breath and said in a deep voice, "Strike while the iron is hot, either live or... go mad."
Xiao Tiannan let out a soft sigh and said no more.
In fact, both he and Yelü Shenxuan knew very well that in such an environment, confronting the Qin army head-on was not a wise choice.
But these hundreds of thousands of Liao troops had no way back, and Yelu Shenxuan was the same.
Perhaps Yelü Shenxuan should have anticipated the current situation when he made the decision to pursue at Yueya Guan.

But Yelu Shenxuan actually at that time... already had no choice.
The ruler of the Langting Liao Kingdom is in imminent danger, at any moment he could return to the embrace of Changshengtian. Yelu Shenxuan cannot rush back immediately, and all he can do now is swallow the entire Gansu-Shaanxi region. After next year's spring when he ascends the throne, he will use Yueya Pass as a base to annex the northern part of Qin state along the Yellow River.
Only in this way can Yelü Shenxuan firmly secure his throne.
Perhaps, Yelü Shenxuan could also choose to return to the Wolf Court immediately to take over. But if he did so, he would need a long time to sort out the domestic contradictions. By the time he truly grasped the power and made a comeback, what kind of scene would this Qin state be?
To put it bluntly, Yelü Shenxuan didn't want to wait and give the Qin state a chance to recover.
Xiao Tiannan suddenly asked, "Prince, are you afraid of Li Chen?"
This seemingly nonsensical question caused a flicker of worry to cross Yelü Shenxuan's eyes. He turned to look at Xiao Tiannan seriously and said, "Li Chen is an extremely talented, ambitious, and capable person. He is the most outstanding peer I have ever met. Even if he were born on the grasslands, he would be my most formidable enemy on my path to ascension."
Although he had already had an idea in his heart, when he heard Yelv Shenxuan give Li Chen such a high evaluation, Xiao Tiannan couldn't help but be somewhat shocked.
To know, the one speaking these words is Yelü Shénxuán, the most outstanding crown prince in the history of the steppe for hundreds of years. He was the undisputed heir apparent, and none of his dozens of brothers even dared to vie for the throne with him. Even the most remote tribes on the steppe chanted the name of Yelü Shénxuán.