Chapter 362 Lu Zhi doesn’t want to start an internal fight
On the 23rd day of the first month of the third year of Zhenguan, Dong Zhuo and Zhao Qi led troops to raid the King's City in front of Cheshi.
It was said to be a royal city, but in fact it was just a masonry and earthen city with little defense. The Han army's cavalry roared in and quickly killed all the troops in the city. They went straight to the palace and killed the king of the Hou Kingdom and his royal family.
All captured and tied up.
After that, without caring about anything else, they took all these people outside the city and beheaded them directly. Within an hour, Che Shihou's country was wiped out.
Then Dong Zhuo sent people to Dunhuang to tell Zhang Fei and asked him to send people to take over the post-war affairs of Che Shi's country. At the same time, he also sent a large number of captured trophies back to Luoyang to let Liu Bei know about their treatment of Che Shi.
By the way, I told Liu Bei the reason why the Hou Kingdom went to war, saying that the Han army won another battle.
Then, he had the heads of the royal family behind the chariot division processed, and sent a small group of cavalry to take the banner of the Han envoys and these heads to set off first to "pass on the head" to the country he was going to.
.
The purpose of this was naturally to let the rulers of these countries know the consequences of disrespecting the Han envoys, and to give them a little bit of a deterrent to the big Han.
Walking all the way to fight is a bit unsightly and expensive. Dong Zhuo felt that he was patrolling the Western Regions instead of going out to fight in the Western Regions. If he really wanted to go all the way to fight, he would somewhat disrespect the profession of "Han Envoy" and it was also a bit unfair.
I have too much respect for Zhang Fei, who is almost going crazy with his thirst for war.
Dong Zhuo is now Da Honglu and Luoyang Two Thousand Stones. He does not rely on military merit for promotion, but relies on political performance. If he forces military merit, he will easily offend Zhang Fei.
Given the relationship between Zhang Fei and Liu Bei, offending Zhang Fei was not a good choice, so Dong Zhuo felt that he had to be more restrained and not go into war unscrupulously.
So it can reduce a little trouble. There is no need for the army to use military means to solve things that can be solved with a head. Taking the initiative to give in after seeing the head is the best outcome. Hello, I am good, everyone.
If we really get to a country where even the sight of a head makes you feel numb, then it’s time for Zhang Fei to take action, and that’s not the time for Dong Zhuo to take action.
The first team roared away. Dong Zhuo and Zhao Qi rested for a while in the Cheshihou Kingdom until Zhang Fei personally led his troops to the Cheshihou Kingdom.
"Is it going to be destroyed now?"
Zhang Fei felt very depressed when he looked at the King's City behind the chariot with the flag of the Han army and the prisoners who looked like they were deflated.
Dong Zhuo and Zhao Qi achieved military success in destroying an entire country in the blink of an eye, while he, as a general, received no credit and gained nothing. This felt very unpleasant.
Although this is not a big country with great combat effectiveness and scale, and it is indeed not difficult to destroy it, it is still a military achievement to destroy a country.
Zhang Fei felt that he should replace Zhao Qi and personally lead people to follow Dong Zhuo all the way?
In this way, if there is a war, we can fight it in time, right?
So Zhang Fei told Dong Zhuo this idea, and Dong Zhuo was very depressed after hearing this.
"General Zhang, under your Majesty's order, I came to inspect the Western Regions and promote the country's prestige. It is not for the purpose of fighting. I can only say that there are people who are ignorant and insult the majesty of the Han Dynasty. As an envoy of the Han Dynasty, of course I cannot tolerate it, but the purpose of this trip
The purpose is to allow the countries in the Western Regions to send envoys to pay tribute and restore the power of the Han clan leader, not to destroy the country."
Zhang Fei patted Dong Zhuo's shoulder.
"Old Dong, I understand what you mean. How can I not understand? But the problem is that I am afraid that some people are ignorant, just like this King of Car Masters. How can he not know about the envoys of the Han Dynasty? He just owes
Beat him up, seek death, what can you do? Then at this time, my role will come into play.
You said, instead of sending people back to me if you encounter trouble, I will take people to prepare and rush on the road. This time, if something happens in the middle, a month or two will pass. During this period, you
If I encounter any danger and no one is alive, and His Majesty asks, what should I do? What do you think?"
Dong Zhuo blinked, but he didn't jump out of Zhang Fei's logic.
"Ah, this..."
"Okay, okay, old Dong, don't say anything anymore. This time, I will accompany you! I will escort you all the way to Dawan. I want to see who else dares to despise the Han envoy!"
"But you can't mobilize the army to fight without the permission of the Privy Council. Moreover, you are the commander-in-chief of the entire army. If you leave your post without permission, what will you do if His Majesty gets angry?"
"………………"
Zhang Fei suddenly felt aggrieved.
But Dong Zhuo really hit the mark on the rules he least dared to break.
Dong Zhuo didn't say anything else, and pulled Zhao Qi away quickly, leaving Zhang Fei with a complicated expression behind the scenes to lead troops to clean up the battlefield, sort out post-war affairs, and wait for the court report.
As the commander-in-chief of the army, he no longer has his own freedom.
Zhang Fei failed to follow him, but Dong Zhuo and Zhao Qi followed the previously planned route to Cheshiqian Country.
Cheshiqianguo and Cheshihouguo were originally one country, but when the Ban family was running the Western Regions, Cheshiguo also split. The north was controlled by the Northern Huns and became Cheshihou, and the south was controlled by the Han Empire.
The forces took control and became a state of Cheshi. They were hostile to each other and often fought wars.
Later, the forces of the Eastern Han Empire successfully defeated the forces of the Northern Xiongnu, so the Cheshi Hou Kingdom lost its backer and was conquered by the Han Empire, and became a vassal state of the Han Empire.
Compared with the complicated experience of the Che Shi Hou Kingdom, the Che Shi Qian Kingdom is a bit clearer. It was the loser of the Han Empire from the beginning.
Not to mention that the entire Che Shi Hou Wang family had been played by Dong Zhuo and Zhao Qi. Looking at the processed heads of that large family, which had very distinct appearances, the King of Che Shi Qian still dared to say
what?
As soon as he heard that the Han envoy was coming, he went out of the city to greet the Han envoy in person. He used his bad qualities to the extreme, fearing that Dong Zhuo would be dissatisfied. Even the thousand Han cavalry became his guests and immediately
Serve them hot meals and delicious drinks, treat them to a feast, and then ask them why they came.
Knowing that Dong Zhuo came to inspect the Western Regions and promote the country's prestige, the king of Che Shiqian was very depressed.
You said that you, the old man, came to patrol the Western Regions to promote the national prestige, so just promote it. As for using so many heads to promote the national prestige?
Of course, he didn't dare to say such things. He could only say good things, saying that the Han Dynasty had cut off contact with their country for more than ten years. The whole country was eager for the return of the Han Empire. The whole country was eagerly waiting for it.
The edict of the Emperor of the Han Dynasty was sent here so that these wanderers could find their true hometown.
This king seems to be quite good at sinology, and he still has some ink in his belly. At least he has more literary talent than Dong Zhuo, a gangster who made his fortune by killing people.
So Dong Zhuo was very happy after hearing his flattering words. He laughed and praised him, and by the way, he severely scolded the idiots in Che Shi's former country.
Later, after reaching the news of sending people to Luoyang to pay tribute, Dong Zhuo and Zhao Qi soon stayed and headed south to the Moshan Kingdom.
However, before setting off, the king of the Cheshiqian Kingdom told Dong Zhuo that the Moshan Kingdom, as well as the Weixu Kingdom and Yuli Kingdom they were going to were actually now similar to the vassal states of the Yanqi Kingdom.
The Yanqi State was once a relatively powerful country with fighting capabilities. During the late Western Han Dynasty and the early Eastern Han Dynasty, the Yanqi State repeatedly opposed the forces of the Han Empire and killed many officials and troops of the Han Empire.
Later, when Ban Chao pacified the Western Regions, he led more than 60,000 coalition forces from various countries in the Western Regions to attack the Yanqi Kingdom, Weixu Kingdom and Yuli Kingdom, and won victory, and then the Yanqi Kingdom was pacified.
However, although the Yanqi Kingdom was pacified, it didn't take long before the Northern Xiongnu became powerful, and the Yanqi Kingdom fell back to the Northern Xiongnu and continued to oppose the Han Empire. The Han Empire suffered a lot from this country.
Later, the Yanqi Kingdom was severely hit, and it calmed down for a while. It became the younger brother of the Han Empire for a while. At the beginning of Liu Hong's accession to the throne, the Yanqi Kingdom also followed the officials of the Han Empire to conquer Shule Kingdom.
However, as the Han Empire weakened, its influence on the Yanqi Kingdom also gradually declined. After the Liangzhou Rebellion, the Yanqi Kingdom felt that it was in control again.
So the Yanqi Kingdom fought everywhere, taking advantage of its advantage in fighting, fighting various wars, and exerting influence on its former younger brothers Moshan Kingdom, Weixu Kingdom, and Yuli Kingdom, and turned them into vassal-like states again.
It exists like a country, which means that there are no tigers and monkeys in the mountains to dominate.
Therefore, what the king of Cheshiqian State meant was that if Dong Zhuo and the others wanted to exert influence on the three small countries of Moshan, Weixu and Yuli, they would definitely not be able to avoid Yanqi State, which had a population of more than 50,000 and claimed to the outside world.
There are 20,000 people capable of fighting. They are a fighting nation in the Western Regions and are very fierce.
Moreover, the Yanqi Kingdom has a mountainous border and dangerous terrain. It is easy for him to attack others, but it is often difficult for others to attack him. Otherwise, when Ban Chao faced the alliance of the Yanqi Kingdom and other three countries, he would not have needed to use more than 60,000 coalition troops in the entire Western Region to act.
Already.
The king of Che Shiqian hoped that Dong Zhuo and others would be more careful and not capsize in the ditch.
Dong Zhuo naturally listened to his good intentions.
When he was an official in the Western Regions, he had heard a lot about the strong backbone of the Yanqi Kingdom. Now that he saw that the Yanqi Kingdom had regained the posture of the Ban Chao era, he felt that this was probably not a matter that he, a thousand people, could solve.
After thinking about it, he felt that it was necessary to talk to Zhang Fei about this matter. Before he left, he asked Zhang Fei to go over the details in detail.
Zhang Fei naturally felt that there was nothing to be afraid of. How could a small country with a population of more than 50,000 people still need to worry?
Can 20,000 people fight?
I'm afraid it won't be all men, women, old and young!
How effective are these 20,000 people?
But having said that, Zhang Fei also realized that it would be a bit difficult to exert influence on these four countries that have vague signs of alliance at the same time with only Dong Zhuo and a thousand people.
Therefore, we cannot just rush forward rashly and ask them to surrender and pay tribute. We must at least let them see the strength of the Han army and carefully weigh their own importance.
The troops approved by the Privy Council for patrolling the Western Regions were in one battalion this time. Dong Zhuo and his deputy initially used a thousand men each. In other words, Zhang Fei could still use a thousand men in a short period of time.
Used by Dong Zhuo.
The Three Thousand Han Cavalry did have enough influence during the Western Han Dynasty or during Ban Chao and Ban Biao's era, and they could indeed mobilize the armies of the Western Regions to fight a grand proxy war with their small and large powers.
However, as time has passed, the influence left by the Ban family to the Han Empire has been almost worn away. The newly born Third Empire needs to reopen its situation in the Western Regions. A small-scale war may not be enough, but a series of larger-scale wars are also needed.
Only by fighting can the pattern of [Father of the Western Regions] be finally established.
To allow so many small countries in the Western Region to call each other "Dad", what is definitely needed is to use force at the level of annihilation against any country.
Now, the Third Reich has not proven that it has that level of military force. Zhang Fei, who has the ability of a general, is fully aware of this fact.
Zhang Fei realized that if the Yanqi Kingdom had no idea, the two thousand people might be able to get things done, but if the Yanqi Kingdom made up its mind to be an enemy of the Han Empire and wanted to be the monkey overlord, the two thousand Han army would probably
It's hard to be useful.
But marching and fighting requires more than just superior force. Proper use of strategy and diplomacy is also very meaningful.
In these years, Zhang Fei was not only training soldiers, but also doing his best to understand the history and current situation of some countries in the Western Regions. Although he didn't know much, Zhang Fei was aware of the survival status of the countries in the Western Regions in the cracks of big powers and forces.
understand.
After thinking for a moment, Zhang Fei had an idea.
"I have an idea. Don't go to Yanqi State first. Go to Moshan State, Weixu State and Yuli State first, and let these three countries surrender to the Han Dynasty first. Yanqi State is warlike, tyrannical and ungrateful. I think the three countries are intimidated by Yanqi State.
Because of their power, they were forced to follow the Yanqi Kingdom, rather than sincerely wanting to follow the Yanqi Kingdom.
If the Han Dynasty returns to the Western Regions, these three countries will definitely not be willing to continue to follow Yanqi Kingdom, and they will definitely have more ideas, so you can take this opportunity to cut off the arms of Yanqi Kingdom first. Later, if Yanqi Kingdom knows the stakes,
It would be best if you actively surrender and don't go against the big man.
If the Yanqi Kingdom is ignorant and insists on going against the Han Dynasty, you have two thousand cavalry, plus the armies of the three countries, you should be able to fight against the Yanqi Kingdom for a while. During this period, I will send people to Luoyang to report this to Your Majesty.
To solve the problem, strive to get the right to act expediently, send more troops to the Western Region, and strive to destroy them in one battle!"
Seeing that Zhang Fei had sketched out this action plan that sounded very feasible in a short time, Dong Zhuo was amazed. He felt that this rough-looking man was not just a guy who could only use force. It seemed that he was also capable of using force.
Have some brains?
What surprised him even more was the captain Zhao Qi.
Regarding Zhang Fei's plan, Zhao Qi put forward some opinions.
"Although your suggestion is very good, I think there is one thing that I have to guard against."
"where?"
"Although the Moshan, Weixu and Yuli kingdoms were most likely frightened by Yanqi's force and were forced to follow them, no one can guarantee that when the Han envoys arrive, they will immediately abandon Yanqi and choose to follow the Han."
Zhao Qi said slowly: "The soldiers and horses of the Han Dynasty are thousands of miles away, and the soldiers and horses of the Yanqi Kingdom are right in front of us. Although the Han Dynasty is powerful, the Yanqi Kingdom is definitely not an opponent, but there are still a few people who are threatening their lives right in front of us.
Can it be ignored? The Yanqi Kingdom cannot destroy the Han Dynasty, but it can still threaten the Three Kingdoms.
I think that if you want to persuade the Three Kingdoms to abandon the Yanqi Kingdom and follow the Han Dynasty, you must at least make the Three Kingdoms believe that the Han Dynasty has the strength to protect them from the Yanqi Kingdom. This is exactly what we do not have at the moment. Therefore, we must take a safe approach.
, maybe we should wait until the army sets off from Dunhuang, and then go to the Three Kingdoms to lobby."
After Zhao Qi finished speaking, Zhang Fei fell into deep thought, while Dong Zhuo looked at Zhao Qi in surprise.
Is this what a captain can say?
Is this the kind of insight a captain can have?
Moreover, could a subordinate captain actually raise objections to the general's strategy and refute the general's views?