Grain and grass was the most important thing in ancient wars, and the actual loss was far greater than grain and grass.

Everyone has heard a saying: "the grain and grass come first, but the soldiers and horses have not moved." It can be said that grain and grass are the most important factors in a war. Because most ancient wars took a long time, whoever can persist in the end will be the winner, and grain and grass are the key to maintaining the combat effectiveness of soldiers.

If there is insufficient food and grass, soldiers will have no strength to fight on an empty stomach, and may even trigger a mutiny. But you should know that in fact, most of the grain and grass in ancient wars were consumed halfway. Why did most of the grain and grass in ancient wars be consumed halfway?

There were many uncertain factors in ancient marching and fighting. Ancient science and technology were very underdeveloped, so when the war broke out, food was transported from all over the country to the front line for support. However, in the process of transporting grain and grass, someone needs to escort, which is the so-called grain protection team.

These escort teams themselves will also consume food and grass, and the number of escort players will increase when they are transported in large quantities, and then they will consume a lot of food and grass along the way.

I don't think there will be much left at the front. For example, during the Qin Shihuang period, food and grass were sent to the frontline workers who built the Great Wall. It is said that the grain and grass often sent to the front is only one-tenth of that at the time of departure, and most of the rest is basically consumed by the people who deliver meals on the road.

So if we want to wage a war, we must first predict the duration of the war. It is also necessary to calculate the total amount of grain and grass needed according to the size of the troops dispatched. In case the war is delayed, it is necessary to constantly replenish food and grass.

If there is a long-term battle, there must be a lot of food and grass. An army of 40 thousand people needs about 420 thousand tons of grain a year, and now it is about 25 thousand tons.

This number is huge. It must be very hard and tiring for soldiers to fight a bloody battle every day, and male soldiers have a large appetite, so fighting really consumes food, and it is absolutely impossible to lack food.

One of the three famous battles in the Three Kingdoms period: "Guandu Battle" Cao Cao just destroyed Yuan Shao's Wu Chao grain depot and turned defeat into victory in one fell swoop.

In ancient times, there were no efficient means of transportation, and most of them needed mule-horse rickshaws to transport food. Sometimes people even have to carry it on their shoulders. In this case, it often takes a long time to transport grain and grass to the front.

And if the front line is in Bashu, northwest of China, the road is extremely difficult, and transporting grain will become more troublesome.

On the way to deliver food, the person in charge of delivering food should also eat, otherwise it will starve to death halfway, the food will stay on the way, and the mules and horses delivering food will also consume forage.

In addition, they may encounter some extreme weather, which leads to moldy food on the way and may consume some food.

Coupled with extreme situations such as getting lost and bandits, there will be further losses of grain, which is why most of the grain and grass were consumed in the middle of the war.