Wei Yan, who was waiting at the border, received the report and was shocked. In his eyes, Goguryeo was just a small country, but it dared to openly confront the Han. However, because he was reprimanded by Ma Yun when dealing with the nobles in Hebei, Wei Yan did not dare to take charge of his own affairs this time.
Send someone to report the situation here to Chang'an on Pegasus.
Ma Yun was not expecting such a result, so she once again convened the ministers in the side hall to discuss. The guards had already hung up a large map and laid out a large sand table. These were the masterpieces of the Foreign Affairs Office and the Research Institute.
The ministers gathered around the map and sand table and marveled, but they were still discussing whether to send troops to attack Goguryeo.
Some people advocate resolutely implementing Liu Xin's policy of "those who offend our Han will be punished no matter how far away" and raise troops to investigate the crime. Others are worried that the Han will use troops everywhere and the national and people's strength will be overwhelmed, so pacification should be the priority.
Ma Yun knew that although Goryeo was small, it was a hard nut to crack. In history, Yang Guang's three expeditions to Goryeo were all defeated. Even Emperor Taizong Li Shimin of the Tang Dynasty, who was known as a wise king, also came back defeated.
However, seeing this map, Ma Yun gained confidence. At this time, Goryeo had not yet been unified, and Goguryeo and the Goryeo of later generations were not the same country. If we did not use the army now, they would slowly grow stronger in the future and eventually become a big problem.
He waved his hand to stop the discussion of the ministers and said: "Goguryeo accepted the rebellious Han Dynasty and killed the Han envoys. If we don't attack them, how can I, the Han Dynasty, have any face? How can I convince the people?" [
Tian Feng raised his hands and said: "I'd like to report to you, Goguryeo has offended the power of Heaven and should be held accountable! But now I, the Han Dynasty, have sent troops to Daqin, Wusun, and Guishang at the same time. If I send troops to attack Goguryeo at this time, I'm afraid I won't be able to catch it, and there will be some
The suspicion of being a poor soldier."
Over the years, although the Han Dynasty has become increasingly wealthy, it has continued to fight internally and externally, and has never had the opportunity to recuperate. Warfare is an extremely expensive thing, and countless amounts of food and salary are lost every day, as well as pensions for casualties and their families.
In the end, the burden will be borne by the common people. Over time, the common people will be overwhelmed and it will inevitably lead to civil unrest.
In this regard, the later Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty is the best example. He built the Grand Canal, built Luoyang, the eastern capital, initiated the imperial examination system, conquered Tuyuhun in the west, and conquered Goryeo three times.
In the end, the abuse of people's power caused great chaos in the world and led to the demise of the Sui Dynasty.
Ma Yun, who came from a later generation, certainly understands these truths and understands Tian Feng's concerns. But she also knows that now that the world has begun to settle down, it is necessary to be soft internally and tough externally to unite people's hearts. If Goguryeo is not attacked at this time, not only will Goguryeo be attacked
People's contempt will also make the people mistakenly believe that the imperial court has reached the end of its war effort. From this point of view, no matter how difficult it is, this battle must be fought.
However, the concerns of Tian Feng and other ministers also deserve attention. Ma Yun pondered for a long time and suddenly said: "Whether we want to fight or not, we still listen to the opinions of the people in the world. Mr. Yuan Hao, please write a statement to explain this incident.
The whole story is clearly recorded and published in the Dahan Express to see the people's reaction before making a decision!"
If Liu Xin were here, she would definitely order troops to be sent out without hesitation, but Ma Yun has a more delicate mind. She wants to use the power of public opinion to win the support of the people first. Those who win the hearts and minds of the people win the world. In terms of foreign campaigns, having the hearts and minds of the people
support will also be detrimental.
At this time, Liu Xin, who was far away in Syria, also knew what was happening in the rear, but he could not take action. This expedition was not to fight for a city or a place, but to completely subvert the Qin regime. The Qin Empire was such a behemoth.
They all fell under the iron heel of the Han army. Who would dare to offend the Han easily? This war may kill many people, but it can give the Han the opportunity for peaceful development for decades or even hundreds of years. It is definitely worth it.
However, Caracalla did not take revenge as Liu Xin hoped. More than half a month had passed, and the border of the Syrian province was still peaceful. The foreign affairs department's spies in Rome did not find any signs of frequent mobilization of the Qin army.
In fact, after Caracalla learned the news that all six of his legions had been annihilated, he was extremely shocked and wanted to send troops immediately to destroy these Han Chinese from afar, but he was restrained by Geta.
Caracalla originally had sixteen legions, but six legions were lost in this battle, including the extremely powerful Macedonian legion. Even the commander of the Macedonian legion was killed by the Han. Although Geta also lost two
Legions, but they are not the main legion. In the past, his strength was twice that of Geta, but now it has become five to three. If he rashly sends out troops for revenge, if he is defeated again, the balance of power between him and Geta will be very big.
This may change the situation, so he has to be cautious.
Not counting the garrisons in various provinces, the Qin army still has 800,000 troops, but they are distributed over an extremely wide area, and it is not easy to assemble. Moreover, they are affiliated to Caracalla and Geta, which is also difficult to do.
to coordinate operations. This also greatly weakened the Qin army's combat effectiveness.
On the other hand, the more than a thousand prisoners of war who were released by the Han army took the trouble to tell their companions the experience of the tragic defeat, especially the fierce hand-to-hand battle with the Han army's infantry, which often made these warriors who survived the disaster feel confused.
Waking up from the dream also greatly shaken the morale of the Qin army. The confident faces of the Qin army soldiers, who had always been victorious in every battle, showed timidity for the first time.
Caracalla summoned his confidants to discuss, and finally decided to continue to follow the strategy of Yi Xian and wait for work. He deployed heavy troops in the three provinces of Thrace, Mercia, and Macedonia to block the Han army in the strait between the provinces of Macedonia and Asia.
On the other side, the Han army came from afar and had difficulty in supplying supplies. When the Han army ran out of food and retreated, the Qin army could send troops to An to kill them, and they would win a complete victory.
Liu Xin also understood the principle of spending time on expeditions and fighting quickly. Since the Qin army stood still, he had no choice but to take the initiative. Liu Xin's original battle plan was to annihilate the Qin army's effective forces at the border, and then take advantage of the opportunity to attack Rome and capture the Qin Empire.
The capital city of Rome means that the Han army has achieved a complete victory in this war.
As for the vast territory of the Qin Empire, Liu Xin had never had any intention of conquering it province by province. From the beginning, he had no intention of conquering it province by province.
The so-called beyond reach means that after all, the Han Dynasty is thousands of miles away from here. Today, when communication and transportation are extremely backward, even if it occupied the entire territory of Qin Dynasty, with different languages, customs, races, and foods, it would be difficult for the imperial court to maintain effective rule here.
It is conceivable that in a few decades or even just a dozen years, local nobles, radicals and even ordinary people may rise up in rebellion against the imperial court. This area is wider than the Han Dynasty itself, and the successive rebellions have exhausted the Han army.
, ultimately dragging the entire dynasty into decline. This is not the result Liu Xin wants.
However, the Qin army could not come over, so Liu Xin had no choice but to fight it. The main force of the Qin army was still there, and if they selectively attacked the key point of Rome, the Han army that penetrated deep into the Qin territory would fall into a tight siege by the Qin army if they were not careful, or even be surrounded by others.
Had dumplings.
Unwilling to retreat and marching forward was too risky, Liu Xin suddenly came up with a new strategy. He immediately issued an imperial edict declaring that the provinces of Asia Minor and Syria occupied by the Han army would implement autonomy and become independent from the Qin Empire.
, became two new countries.[
In fact, the Great Qin Empire a long time ago only had a small area around Rome. After several foreign wars, it expanded to its current size. In many places, some people still have deep feelings for their motherland.
On the third day after Liu Xin's imperial edict was promulgated, someone cited the descendants of the Syrian king who were living among the people. Liu Xin did not distinguish the authenticity and immediately held a grand coronation ceremony for him, recognizing him as the new king of Syria.
The province of Asia Minor was not an independent country. The aborigines there were independent tribes. Liu Xin summoned the chiefs of these tribes and asked them to elect a trustworthy chief as their king.
At the same time, except for some strategic locations and transportation routes that were still controlled by the Han army, other towns and villages were handed over to these two emerging countries.
Immediately afterwards, Liu Xin gathered all 110,000 light cavalry from the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 6th legions to go south and invaded the Arabian province adjacent to the Kingdom of Syria. He issued a proclamation and ordered the Arabian province to
Governor Horik became independent. As long as Horik declared independence, the Han Dynasty would recognize him as the king. Unexpectedly, Horik was intimidated by the reputation of the Qin army and did not dare to obey Liu Xin's orders and organized an army to resist the Han army's attack.
.
All the Qin legions in this area were completely wiped out in Asia Minor, and there was no formal army in the Arabian provinces. Horik hurriedly armed hundreds of thousands of free people and slaves and headed to the front line. As a result, they were surrounded by the Han army at the border. The Han army
The cavalry did not engage them in battle, but only fired with bows and crossbows.
Unfortunately, these new recruits of the Qin army were untrained. Although they were armed with large shields and spears, they were shot into hedgehogs before they could reach the Han army. After a panic, the Qin army began to flee in all directions. However, they were surrounded by Han cavalry on all sides.
Surrounded, no matter how powerful their two legs were, they could not outrun four legs. The desperate Qin army did not know the direction and ran around, trampling on each other. There were only a few dozen survivors among more than 100,000 people, and most of them were
He wanted to trample him to death, and almost every family in the entire Arabian province paid filial piety.
After the battle, the Han army did not clean up the battlefield, but directly set fire to the corpses. The fire burned for a whole day and night, and the scorching smell could be heard for dozens of miles, which frightened the local people.
One day later, the Han army occupied the entire Arabian Province. Horik, who raised troops to resist, was hanged in public. The nobles and all local people who participated in the war had their property and food confiscated, and their wives and daughters were made slaves.
These methods are extremely cruel and inhumane. However, time is running out, and Liu Xin must further psychologically undermine the confidence of the Qin people as soon as possible, and he has no choice but to resort to any means.
After capturing the Arabian province, Liu Xin also declared the province to be autonomous, but he had not elected a new king for a while. However, the Han army could not wait any longer, and its troops were already heading towards the Egyptian province.