Shao Shude had just arrived in Kucha when he received the news.
He left Yanqi on April 17th and arrived at Tiemenguan on the night of the 20th. He sent an envoy here to quickly go to Khotan, ordering him to lead 30,000 horse and infantry soldiers and carry more grain and grass to Shule.
There was some hesitation when issuing this order, because Khotan and the Uighurs were actually not very easy to deal with.
When the latter was at its strongest, its territory in the southeast reached Ruoqiang, almost half-encircling Khotan, and it was not without friction. As long as the Khotan soldiers appeared in Shule, a war would inevitably occur.
If Khotan were to go north along the Yuhe River, cross the desert, and rush to join Qiuci like last time, it would be a bit wasteful - the Tibetans came down from the mountains and attacked the four towns in the west of Tang'an, basically crossing the desert.
After Shao Shude thought carefully, he simply ordered the Khotan army to march directly into Shule and join forces with Wang Shi to attack it.
This order shows that Shao Shude has made up his mind. Whether your Uighurs are in civil strife or not, I will fight them. What can you do?
When he checked into Guan Xi Guan Yi, Shao Shude also saw a stone carving, which was "Sutie Guan Xi Guan" by Cen Shen.
Cen Shen followed Gao Xianzhi to the west and left many poems along the way. For example, "Yinshan Qixiguan" west of Gaochang, to this poem "Sutieguanxiguan" and "Titiemenguanlou" all reflect the
This reflects his strong ambition to make progress: "My husband is not rich in his thirties, but An Neng keeps pens and inkstones all day long."
Of course, Cen Shen did not find wealth in the Western Regions in the end. Just like when he was defeated in Chang'an when he was nineteen years old, when he returned to his hometown through Tongguan, "he came and went in common clothes; he was ashamed to meet the officials in Guan City, so he returned back to his old way."
Mood.
This time, tens of thousands of soldiers and horses from Daxia swarmed southward, and more than 200,000 soldiers from Hexi transferred supplies day and night, doing their best to provide supplies. Such a scene could not end up like Cen Shen's return without success.
On the 21st, we continued to move forward, passing by Yushu Shouchu City (today's Kuerchu Township, Korla City), Yulin Shouchuo City (today's Yeyungou Township, Luntai County), and Longquan Shouchuo City (today's Yangxia, Luntai County).
Town), Dongyi secluded Shouchuo City (to the west of today's Luntai County), Xiyi secluded Shouchuo City (to the east of today's Yakra Town, Kuqa City), Chi'an Shouchuo City (to the east of today's Yaha Town, Kuqa City), in
We arrived at Kucha Town on the fifth day of May.
The journey spans hundreds of miles and passes through many cities, but most of them are in a semi-ruined state. Even this one has been roughly repaired, and the original appearance is even worse.
The Western Regions were trapped in Tibet for more than a hundred years, and there was no communication. The Central Plains had no idea what was going on here. It was completely blank. Now it seems that the local situation is quite chaotic. The Tubo and Uighurs are going back and forth, and no one is serious about running the business.
There is only destruction.
While resting on the way, Shao Shude saw the farmland and field ridges cultivated by the Tang people around the city. Nowadays, most of them are overgrown with weeds and no one cares about them. When entering the city, he even picked up Kaiyuan Tongbao and copper coins cast by the Qiuci Kingdom, which were hidden in the
There are rust stains in the corners.
No one even found the copper coins, which shows that this place is really lonely and there are not many people around.
These six major shouchu cities were all attached to Kucha Town in the Tang Dynasty. They were scattered like a string of pearls between Kucha and Yanqi, serving as a supplement between the two major military towns.
Shao Shude left a thousand soldiers to garrison in each of the six major cities, and helped them chop down trees, harvest firewood, and harvest weeds for storage. When the masters transferred grain, a part of each garrison city could be left as a temporary transit warehouse.
On the sixth night of the Lunar New Year, as the messenger reported the news of the mutiny in Shule, Shao Shude knew that the opportunity for war was ripe.
****
"The further we go, the more powerless we feel." Shao Shude put down the military report and said: "In the past, Gao Xianzhi led an army of 70,000, divided into two groups, and started westward. At that time, there were still three towns in Qiuci, Yanqi, and Shule.
There are many people, but this meeting has declined a lot."
Yang Yao thought for a while and understood the holy meaning.
The conquest of the Western Regions is, to some extent, similar to the conquest of Yunnan.
The road to Yunnan is not that far, but the mountains are rolling and difficult to walk. The transportation of materials consumes a lot of money, so we can only collect food locally.
The road in the Western Region is relatively flat, marching along rivers and oases. There is no shortage of water and a lot of forage can be replenished, but it is really too far, further than Yunnan.
Anyone who has fought in the war knows the hard work of transporting food and grass over long distances. The saint is going to repeat his old trick and collect food on the spot.
But he had no objections.
How many warriors are there who are soft-hearted? It is not uncommon in ancient times to collect food on the spot when marching and fighting. In comparison, the King of Daxia is already very disciplined.
There is only so much food, and it can only feed a certain number of people, so naturally the army should be given priority. There is nothing to say about this.
As for whether looting grain and grass will offend the local people, that's of course.
But this is how they fight with each other, and they have long been used to it - it sounds terrible, and there is no telling how much blood and tears are hidden behind the word "habit", but it is the fact.
"Send orders to Ba Saigan and Sunong that the Rehai Turks will invade Gumo Prefecture without any mistakes." Shao Shude issued the order.
The Rehai Turks are widely distributed, from Lake Yinseke, Yinli River Valley to Suiye, intersecting with the pastoral areas of the Geluolu people and crowded together.
Not all the Turks surrendered, and only 30,000 to 40,000 people finally surrendered. Others were still waiting and watching.
But it doesn't matter, we will conquer them one by one next, without leaving any hidden dangers.
"Send an order to Yang Liang and Ma Sixun. Each of them will lead three thousand soldiers and prepare more horses. They will march overnight to Gumo Prefecture. If the thieves surrender, they can levy their own food. If they don't surrender, they can do it easily."
"In addition, Yang Liang was appointed as the attack envoy of Gumo Prefecture to control the troops and horses of the various tribes."
Yang Liang stayed in Qiuci for several months, with more than 5,000 soldiers under his command, all of whom were mounted infantry.
Shao Shude was not worried about the Turks, fearing that they would be cunning and not do their best - which was almost inevitable - so he sent Yang Liang to lead 6,000 forbidden troops south to supervise the war.
Cui Miao quickly wrote the book and sent it out one by one.
"Where did Ogurchak escape to? Could he be controlling Gumo Prefecture?" Shao Shude asked.
"We haven't received the news yet." Yang Yao replied: "I estimate that he will try to capture Gumo Prefecture and use it as a basis to fight against Satu Ke. But at this moment, the various ministries in Gumo Prefecture may not listen.
If he can't do this, he will have no choice but to go back to Balasagon and persuade his old troops to support him."
"The more he runs, the lower his prestige becomes and the less he can control the situation." Shao Shude said: "If it weren't for the fact that he still has some value, I wouldn't even bother to care about his whereabouts. It would be better to let him go back to Balashagon to save those Turks.
The people, the Geluolu people, and the Uighurs were all dragged away by the Persians. Will anyone come over from the Bukhan side?"
"It's hard to say." Yang Yao said: "Satuk should be connected with that side. The Persians have a strong desire to promote the Creator, but they are unable to wipe out so many tribes, so they adopt a soft policy. I think that even though
There will not be too many soldiers and horses crossing the Congling Nanyuan to support Satuk. They are not ready yet, and they were also caught off guard by the chaos in Shule, and they could not summon so many hard-headed believers of the Creator at the same time."
Shao Shude nodded and said: "It doesn't matter. Just come, why are you afraid of him? Come one and kill one, come two and kill a pair. I want to see if the Creator can help when the knife cuts down the neck."
Half a point to him."
****
A strong wind suddenly blew in the surrounding areas.
Sand particles came towards me, hitting my face and straight into my mouth and nose.
The horses barked uneasily and became restless. Some even stood up and almost threw off the knight on the horse.
On the Gobi Desert, small pieces of sand are rolling on the ground.
In the Populus euphratica forest, the whistling sound of the wind is like the roar of ghosts.
Yang Liang just opened his mouth and poured a mouthful of sand. He could only keep silent and kept vomiting.
The sound of swords being unsheathed was heard in front of them. The dozens of sergeants leading the way led their horses, squinting their eyes and watching the enemy cavalry appearing on the hillside with vigilance.
"Ignore them and keep moving forward." Yang Liang covered his face with his hands and said loudly.
"Ignore them and move on." The sergeants passed the command back one by one.
With the sound of horseshoes and the sound of camel bells, thousands of soldiers walked firmly on the valley floor, marching forward bravely.
The brave warriors from the Central Plains have been to the icy snowfields, stayed in the gentle water towns, climbed over the dangerous peaks of the majestic mountains, stepped on the green grass, and now they are walking in the Western Regions where the sand and rocks are flying. Their expressions
Indifferent, as if life and death don't matter, whether it's one's own or the enemy's.
The bandit cavalry kept appearing at the front, rear, left and right. Looking at this troop with high morale and excellent armor and stomach, they hesitated and did not dare to approach.
Behind them, the silent snow-capped mountains stood tall, which was the pure holy land in the hearts of the Tibetan people.
Perhaps they did not allow the warriors of the Central Plains to be arrogant near their holy land. After a long confrontation, a group of enemy riders rushed over with the wind.
They shot the arrow on their horse and missed it, but the wind and sand were so strong that they didn't know where it drifted.
"Haha! Coward!" The warriors from the Central Plains stopped and laughed loudly.
After laughing, there was a continuous sound of bah-bah. The wind and sand became stronger, and my mouth was full of yellow sand.
After the thief finished shooting the arrow, he rode back again and watched from a distance.
"Ignore them and move on." The command sounded.
"Dongdong!" On the carriage, drums rumbled, echoing in the mountains.
The warriors led the horses and marched forward with long swords in their hands.
The strange howling in the wind gradually became smaller.
The sound of horse hooves sounded again, and dozens of thieves increased their horse speed for the second time and rushed over diagonally.
Just when they raised their horned bows and wanted to repeat their old trick, a group of cavalry suddenly rushed out of the marching group.
The Qinghai Cong Shenjun under Ma Sixun's crotch was extremely fast, as fast as lightning, and rushed to a few steps away.
"Poof!" Ma Shan directly picked up a person and threw him into the yellow sand in the sky.
"If you dare to get close, you will die!" Ma Sixun yelled. Ma Shan deflected a shot from the side. When he saw a thief riding towards him, he pulled back and swept the thief off his horse.
More than a hundred riders followed him closely, shouting loudly.
"You must die!" After stabbing the thief into the chest, he immediately gave up the weapon, pulled out the mace from the sheath, and smashed it head on.
The head is broken like a watermelon.
"You have to die too!" He pinched the horse's belly, identified a person, and chased after him.
The black Qinghai Cong was breathing heavily, but the speed was surprisingly fast. Under the horrified eyes of the thief, the iron mace hit the unshielded head again.
The thief fell helplessly off his horse, and his heavy body fell into the dust and smoke with a muffled sound.
"Whoosh!" In the wind and sand, an arrow hit Ma Sixun's shoulder like an accident.
He roared angrily, turned his horse's head, and gave chase.
The enemy rider also turned his horse's head and fled backwards. While fleeing, he turned back to shoot.
The first arrow failed.
The black lightning keeps getting closer.
The second arrow was blown away by the wind and sand and flew away far away.
Black Lightning has already rushed several positions behind.
The thief was sweating profusely and hurriedly took out the third arrow.
"You have to die!" Ma Sixun raised his mace high.
Black Lightning's breathing became more and more rapid, and his hair was covered in sweat, but the carefully selected excellent genes made it incredibly fast.
In just a few steps, you will arrive in an instant.
"Poof!" Another watermelon was smashed.
White and red splashed out, Ma Sixun was covered in blood and laughed.
"Good brother!" He patted the horse that had slowed down, still not satisfied.
This kind of war horse has poor endurance, but it is tall. The moment it breaks out, the speed it can charge is jaw-dropping.
The thieves dispersed in a hurry, not daring to come close to harass them again.
"Ignore them and move on." The command sounded for the fourth time.
The huge crowd moved forward again, seemingly unstoppable.