It was early September, and the air in the Western Regions was filled with a bleak chill.

The north wind began to whistle in the wilderness, and the river began to enter a dry season.

Even the once surging Jishishui Nanhe River can now be wading through some river sections.

Li Guangli's army began to cross the river about 600 miles away from the Loulan Kingdom, preparing to enter the heart of the Western Regions, the area on the northern foot of the Tianshan Mountains.

In order to make everything go smoothly, Li Guangli personally led his own guards and commanded the troops forward.

At this time, he stood on a small hill on the south bank of Jishishui, looking at the situation on the other side of the river. In his sight, the Han infantrymen were crossing the river one by one. They would establish camps on the other side of the river as advances and provide cover for the subsequent army.

So far, everything went smoothly, and the three Han lieutenants passed the plan and showed the water in succession.

Now, they are less than three hundred miles away from Luntaisai.

If the Han army followed the normal marching speed, the Han army would see the outline of the Luntai city wall four days later.

This also means that the Han army is very likely to usher in the first battle with the Huns.

Li Guangli was not very happy. He frowned and looked worried. The pressure in his heart became stronger and stronger as time passed!

Because the scout investigation situation is not very optimistic.

The main force of the Huns had withdrawn from the Luntai area, retreated into the territory of Yuli and Kucha, and could withdraw from the northern foot of the Tianshan Mountains to the hinterland of the Western Regions at any time.

If this is the case, then Li Guangli's plan to annihilate the main force of the Huns will fail.

Although, it may be possible to occupy and control the entire Yuli and Kucha on the northern foot of the Tianshan Mountains without any effort, and connect this area with Loulan, thus allowing the Han Dynasty to obtain a stable and reliable depth in the Western Regions.

But this constitutes a direct conflict with Li Guangli's own interests!

Especially yesterday, he had already learned the news that the matter on Lingju was over.

The two Qiang people turned against each other, killed the Yuezhi people and other Qiang people, and then took the captives and the chopped heads, and happily went to Lingju to exchange for rewards.

The general Zhao Xindi, who stayed in Lingju, wanted to stop him, but was retorted by Fan Mingyou.

In the face of the emperor's clear edict, Zhao Xindi had no choice but to bow his head and acquiesce, thus making the war come to an end.

But the Lingju war sank, leaving Li Guangli with no way out.

If Luntai cannot achieve results, then his status will definitely plummet from now on.

In the Han Dynasty, veterans who were replaced by newcomers had the chance of rising again, which was no less than starting over.

And the trouble is that no one will give him a chance!

Newcomers won’t, and no one else will!

This world is so realistic. Everyone can give it icing on the cake, and no one can go to help in time.

It is human nature to hold high and step on low!

Thinking of this, Li Guangli's brows became even more tight.

He was afraid that the Huns would run away, so he gave up the entire northern foot of the Tianshan Mountains, left Kucha and Wei Li, ran to the basin in the hinterland of the Western Regions, and curled up like they did in the past.

If he couldn't beat it, he curled up his head and curled himself up like a turtle in the protection of mountains, rivers and deserts.

Even if the Han army has three heads and six arms, there is nothing we can do about it.

Although, theoretically, the possibility of the Huns making such a choice is extremely low.

Because the Western Regions are not the northern desert.

The desert north is full of deserts, Gobi, plateau, and permafrost. The Han army will take it for nothing and will be returned to the Huns sooner or later.

But the Western Regions are different.

Loulan, Cheshi, Pulei countries are all semi-agricultural and semi-nomadic areas.

The Loulan Kingdom gradually transformed into a farming city-state kingdom.

Like Kucha, Weili, and Yanshe, they are traditional farming areas in the Western Regions.

If the Huns gave up these territory, the Han family would take root in these places, then build cities, fortresses, post roads, and build border walls according to the direction of mountains, rivers and rivers.

In this way, the Huns' abandonment was equivalent to sending a piece of fat into the mouth of the Han family.

It is no less than giving up the entire northern foot of the Tianshan Mountains!

If Li Guangli had seen such an opportunity in the past, he would have laughed so hard that his teeth would have fallen out of his head.

But now, he can't be happy no matter how hard he is!

In the general's military achievements, it is important to expand the territory, but what is more important is the number of beheadings!

This is the most intuitive and objective criterion of judgment!

For example, Wei Qing, Huo Qubing, the previous generation of Gemini, why do people have higher evaluations of Huo Qubing?

Didn’t Huo Qubing beat Wei Qing?

It's also normal now.

Li Guangli knew that his competitors, with only two thousand Changshui lieutenants, the Feihu Army, the Wuheng lieutenants, Wu Hengyi and other miscellaneous soldiers, sealed wolf and resident Xushan, beheaded and captured tens of thousands of captives, seized millions of cattle and sheep, more than 100,000 war horses, and were infinitive.

To stabilize the status, you can only compare the equivalent number of beheadings.

At least, you must be beheaded and captured by more than 20,000 military achievements to compete with him!

Therefore, Li Guangli had to be anxious. He even wanted to arrive at Luntai immediately and block the main force of the Huns' escape route.

Unfortunately, he can't!

Because, by his side was Wang Mang, the Western Regions Protector who was sent by the emperor to "urge" him.

Wang Mang also held the emperor's edict in his hand, staring at the speed and distance of his army every day.

This made Li Guangli really helpless and very irritable, but he couldn't deal with it!

In the Han Dynasty, no one dared not to obey the emperor's decree, and no one dared to disobey the majesty of the emperor's envoy.

So the army could only move forward little by little.

Moreover, except for a scout of hundreds of people, all troops' activities are limited to a range of 300 miles.

The army was like chess pieces, moving every step, and more than 100,000 people, including the baggage, hugged them tightly.

So, ghosts and gods rush to the ground, and the Huns walked away with a look at the wind.

The scout reported that the Huns now not only gave up Luntai, but even Wei Li might even give up.

This made Li Guangli so anxious that he was about to have a heart attack.

Because Wei Li was an important town of the Xiongnu in the Western Regions, second only to Kucha, Yan She, and it was also the barrier of Yan She, where the Xiongnu Rizhu King's nest was located.

If the Huns even gave up Wei Li, it would almost be an announcement that they planned to withdraw from the entire northern foothills of the Tianshan Mountains before winter came, and only defended in a few key strategic areas.

Once the Huns did this, Li Guangli knew that his hard-working expedition might have no results.

He will bear all the crimes and responsibilities of Luntai's fall!

Things about Lingju will also be put on the list.

At that time, he may be charged with countless crimes on his head.

Whether you die or live depends on the emperor's mood and whether others are willing to let him go?

Li Guangli hates this kind of situation where fate cannot be independent!

From his two elder brothers who were executed for crimes, he knew that he had to control his own destiny and must not be manipulated and arranged by others at will, otherwise the fate would be unimaginable!

It doesn’t matter if you die, the whole family will have to be in trouble!

Even the ancestors were implicated and could not live in peace under the storm!

"General!" Li Guangli's confidant Li Duo rode his horse, turned over and dismounted, and bowed: "Bei Di County urgently reported!"

Li Guangli reached out to take the bamboo slips sent by Li Duo, took out the sealing mud, took out the notes, took a look, and his face suddenly changed!

There was only one sentence on the note - the Changshui Captain, and the Feihu Army was ordered to arrive in the north.

Although the words are short, the information revealed is extremely huge!

Everyone knows that Changshui Captain and Feihu Army are members of the Yingyang clan!

At least for the moment, the command of these two troops is directly under the unformed General Ying Yang's mansion.

In the future, they are likely to follow the General Yang of Ying and build an independent army and become the elite under his command.

Just like the elite cavalry under Li Guangli, they were all formed based on the original elite of the Northern Army.

In other words, these two troops suddenly appeared in Beidi County at this subtle and sensitive time point, which was equivalent to telling Li Guangli that the emperor's attitude was already a little impatient.

If you think about it carefully, that Your Majesty has always been such a person.

He is impatient and sometimes he is eager to achieve success!

When Li Ling's army was defeated in Junji Mountain, he was due to his constant urging and pressure.

If this is wrong, Li Ling's army may not go out of the frontier, and it is even more impossible for him to go deeper without war horses. Without the support of guides and intelligence, he crashed into the main encirclement of the Huns.

"Your Majesty, it's really..." Li Guangli pondered for a long time and finally sighed: "With good intentions, I can see Wanli clearly!"

He rolled up the note directly, crushed it, and threw it into the wind.

Now, he is in prisoner's dilemma.

In front, the main force of the Huns showed signs of retreating.

Behind, competitors were eyeing each other, and the emperor's envoy was even more supervised by the emperor.

Although Wang Mang has never interfered in his command these days, he even rarely said anything.

However, Li Guangli knew that if he dared to speed up the army and escape from the emperor's deployment, the imperial envoy might use the emperor's imperial edict to lift his military power or put him under house arrest.

Although it is unlikely, it is not impossible.

Even if not, Wang Mang returned to Beijing and made a small report, his impression of the emperor would probably fall to the bottom!

Therefore, Li Guangli could only endure the sorrow in his heart and did not even dare to express any thoughts, so as not to fall into Wang Mang's ears and spread to the emperor, becoming a "resentful villain" and a "resentful relative" who was arrogant because of favor.

These two labels are equal to: seeking death in the Han Dynasty!

Forcibly suppressing the manic feelings in his heart, Li Guangli ordered Li Duo in a deep voice: "Go and invite the Protector of the King. I want to discuss military affairs with the Protector!"

"No!" Li Duogong retreated.

Half an hour later, Wang Mang brought Chang Hui and others to Li Guangli in vain.

"God of General Ershi!" Wang Mang saluted: "I don't know what the general wants to call me?"

"Please come forward..." Li Guangli invited with a smile.

Wang Mang walked forward and came around Li Guangli. Li Guangli turned around and looked at the other side of the Nanhe River in the distance, and said with great emotion: "I led my army to Dayuan at Taichu Middle School to expedition to Dayuan. When crossing this Nanhe River, the army was winding and the Huns were terrifying. However, Luntai and other anti-Han are arrogant and arrogant. They often intercepted my baggage and killed my envoys!"

"So, when I returned to the army, I decisively ordered the army to cross the Nanhe River, destroy Luntai, defeat Kucha, Weili, and shock the Western Regions!"

That was the highlight of Li Guangli’s life!

Although the two attacks on Dayuan were tortuous, the result was bright. The Han army, across more than 10,000 miles, pressed a great country with tens of thousands of armor to the ground, forcing it to kill the king and surrender, and pledged the prince, taking the Han emperor as the sect leader and paying tribute on time.

A large number of gold, pearls, jade and gems were seized, and tens of thousands of prisoners of war were captured, making outstanding contributions to the prosperity of Huajie and Liuxiang in Chang'an. To date, there are still Hu Ji who was brought back in Huajie and Liuxiang. On the way back, he even killed chickens to warn monkeys, slaughtered Luntai, defeated Kucha and Wei Li, which scared the Western Regions countries to kneel on the ground and called their father, sent their princes to Chang'an, and bowed to the Han emperor.

Unfortunately, since then, Li Guangli has begun Mercury retrograde.

Every time it was a little bit short, and it ended up failing.

The Battle of Tianshan and the Battle of Yuwushui are the third large-scale attack.

As the saying goes: Things can only be done three times.

If there is no benefit this time, Li Guangli knows that no one will give him another chance!

So, my mood was naturally sighing and my emotions were twisted and turned.

Wang Mang looked at Li Guangli's expression and wisely chose to remain silent and listen quietly.

I heard Li Guangli say, "Now, there is another chance, and it appears!"

Li Guangli pointed to the front and said, "The scout reported that the main force of the Huns had completely withdrawn from the Luntai area and retreated to Wei Li and Kucha. Although there was a military strategy: Don't hide your troops when you return to the army, but our army's elite cavalry is like clouds. If you send cavalry across the Nanhe River at this time and block them and kill them all the way, you will definitely get something!"

He turned around, looked at Wang Mang, and asked, "What if the unknown protectors think?"

Wang Mang listened with a expressionless face, but shook his head firmly: "The emperor has an imperial edict that the general's march speed should not exceed 60 miles per day, and the distance between the front and rear of the army should not exceed 300 miles. This is Your Majesty's strict order. I dare not disobey it. I hope the general will observe clearly!"

Unlike Li Guangli, Wang Mang has no performance pressure.

His mission and purpose are only for one thing - to obey and execute the orders of the emperor and achieve victory.

As for how many beheads are there? How big is the result of the battle?

Does it matter?

It doesn't matter!

Moreover, from the situation, as long as the Han army continues to maintain, the Huns will be forced into a dead end bit by bit!

At that time, they would choose to give up the entire northern foot of the Tianshan Mountains, including Luntai, Weili, and Kucha, and retract into the hinterland of the Western Regions and the vast basin south of the Tianshan Mountains.

Maybe, choose to fight the main force of the Han army somewhere!

As for these two choices, no matter which Huns choose, Wang Mang is happy to see.

Li Guangli's proposal looks good although it looks good.

But, there may be accidents.

For Wang Mang, even if the chance is small, it should be avoided!

This is also the character he has trained in the court for many years.

Don't take risks, don't make progress, be faithful to your mission, and strictly implement it.

And this is what the emperor wants.

When Li Guangli heard this, his face became gloomy and he felt a little bored with Wang Mang's attitude of not getting into the air.

But there is no way, Wang Mang is not an ordinary person to control.
Chapter completed!