Chapter 281 Traveling across the Western Regions and breaking the city alone!
Chapter 281: Breaking the city alone!

In the city of Ulei,

"All the countries in the Western Regions have their own kings and people. They are scattered across a vast expanse of land, blocked by the desert, and thousands of miles away from the Central Plains..."

"Whenever the Han Dynasty was strong, it would lead its army across the desert. All other nations were intimidated by the might of the Han Dynasty and had to submit. They could be called the loyal dogs of the Han Dynasty."

The bonfire is burning,

The veterans spoke in a leisurely manner, as if they were telling a story.

Many generals around were listening.

The old soldiers who once served in the Western Region Chief Secretary’s Mansion were their predecessors.

It’s just that their era has come to an end, and if future generations want to start a new chapter, the experiences and lessons of the older generation are very important.

"Generals, we know that you want to expand your territory and recover the Western Regions, but at least stop at Wulei City and don't go any further."

"Kucha is a big country in the Western Regions, with 20,000 soldiers, and it also has a vassal state, Gumo, which also has 5,000 soldiers."

"The generals only brought 40,000 soldiers. It will be no problem to defeat Qiuci, but Wusun and Dayuan will not sit idly by. Wusun is a big country with 100,000 cavalry. After the Xiongnu, it was once controlled by the Han Dynasty."

"The Wusun people naturally know that they are no match for the Han people, but they are only willing to be an ally of the Han people, not a subordinate."

"Not to mention Dayuan, which is rich in thousand-mile horses. It has more than 70 cities and 60,000 soldiers."

"The reason why we have come all the way here is actually to report the news. Qiuci has learned that the Han army is coming again and has asked Wusun and Dayuan for help."

"When we arrived, Wusun had not yet responded, but Dayuan had already agreed to send 20,000 troops to help!"

"In this case, even if you generals can conquer Qiuci, you will certainly lose your vitality and it will be difficult for you to move further west. But what about Dayuan?"

"Dayuan is a vassal state of Kushan. The Kushans must have sent troops on their own initiative. Today's Kushans are the Great Yuezhi that were driven out of Liangzhou by the Xiongnu. They are now in their heyday and can be said to be a behemoth..."

The Kushan Xihou, one of the five Xihou of the Yuezhi, eliminated the other Xihou, unified the five tribes, and established the Kushan Empire.

Yes, the Empire.

The territory stretches from the Iranian border in the west to the middle reaches of the Ganges in the east, from the Syr Darya and Pamir Mountains in the north to the Nabada River in the south, and the population has long exceeded 10 million...

In later generations, it was considered one of the four great powers, along with the Han Dynasty, Rome, and Parthia.

When the Han Dynasty was prosperous, it naturally crushed the Kushan Empire. But in today's chaotic times, I'm afraid its population is even smaller than that of the Kushan Empire!
When everyone was in doubt,

Then Liu Wu said slowly:
"Ban Dingyuan, who gave up his pen to join the army, fought against the Kushans when he was managing the Western Regions."

"The Kushans sent out an army of 70,000, claiming to have an army of 100,000, but were defeated by Ban Chao. Since then, they have never dared to interfere in the Western Regions again."

In the second year of Yongyuan, when Dou Xian launched his second military campaign against the Northern Huns, Ban Chao, who had unified the southern route of the Western Regions, was also actively preparing for war and attacking Qiuci.

However, the Kushans' sudden intervention disrupted Ban Chao's plan.

The reason was that under the mediation of the great diplomat Ban Chao, the Kushans had given Ban Chao great help.

Later, taking advantage of this favor, the Kushan king made an excessive request to marry a Han Dynasty princess.

The Great Yuezhi are no longer the poor and weak young people next door to the Han people. The barbaric and useless Hu people who once lived in the mountains of Liangzhou have established a huge empire.

After all, the Han people saw what happened when the Huns bullied and humiliated them and forced them to leave their homes.

The big man remembered his miserable appearance.

He wanted to regain face and gain recognition from his original neighbors.

However, Ban Chao looked down on the Kushans and felt that they were unworthy, so he rejected them outright.

"The reason is that the King of Kushan wanted to marry a Han princess, but was rejected by Marquis Dingyuan. Marquis Dingyuan even held back the marriage proposal and refused to send it to the Central Plains..."

"The Kushans were furious and sent out 70,000 soldiers, claiming to have an army of 100,000, crossing the Pamir Plateau and marching in force. At that time, the coalition forces of the southern countries under the command of Marquis Dingyuan were terrified..."

"Marquis Dingyuan responded calmly and defeated the enemy in a few days. The Kushan commander Wang Xie sent an envoy to surrender. The Kushans were greatly shocked and offered tribute every year!"

"Gentlemen,"

"Ban Dingyuan is a hero of the Han Dynasty. Are you really afraid of the Kushans?!"

At that moment, Gao Shun, Taishi Ci, Zhou Yu, Chen Dao and others stood up one after another, expressing their ambitions and aspirations, all wanting to emulate Dingyuan Hou and so on...

……

After a long time, they returned to the countries in the Western Regions.

After all, the Kushans had already crossed the Pamir Mountains and were not considered part of the Western Regions.

If the Kushans come, they will have to cross the Pamir Plateau for an expedition...

"The ups and downs of the Western Regions are not that they are born to be against the Han Dynasty. It's just that they have their own kings and their own countries, and they are so far away from the Han Dynasty. When the Han army is strong, they will submit to it. When the Han army is weak, they will kill the chief secretary and attack the protector general..."

"After the fall of the Western Regions Chief Secretary's Office, we sought refuge under a small king of Kucha in order to survive. We lived among them for decades and finally saw through many things."

"In fact, they have never really belonged to the Han Dynasty. When the Han Dynasty came, they welcomed the Han Dynasty. When the Xiongnu came, they welcomed the Xiongnu. They just wanted to survive."

"Sometimes they are caught in the middle by big countries, and their countries are destroyed and their kings are captured at any time. The Xiongnu destroyed their country and captured their king. Then what?"

"The people are still there, the land is still there, the country is still there, so naturally there will be a new king."

"When the Han people come, they will rely on the Han people to attack the Xiongnu."

"If the Han Dynasty becomes weak one day, they will turn their butcher knives against it, and all the countries will work together to drive the Han Dynasty out of the Western Regions..."

"As I said before, they have their own country, their own king, and their own land. They have never been loyal to the Han Dynasty, nor have they ever belonged to the Han Dynasty. They only surrendered out of helplessness."

Outside the city the north wind howled,

The sky is full of stars.

"Gongjin, what do you think?"

Liu Wu looked at Zhou Yu again.

Zhou Yu was stunned for a moment, then asked, "What does the King of Chu want me to say?"

Zhou Gongjin's attitude made Liu Wu unhappy: "I want you, the future Protector General of the Western Regions, to talk about your views on this situation."

Protector General of the Western Regions!
Once these words were spoken,
The whole audience was shocked.

Not to mention the old soldiers, even the generals on the field were a little surprised. Protector General of the Western Regions?

Zhou Yu was quite speechless. Liu Wu spoke directly to him and put him on the rack. He had only conquered a small piece of the Western Regions, but he had already been given the title of Grand Protector in public.

Really...

After listening to this for so long, it was impossible for Zhou Yu not to have some thoughts: "The Western Regions are in turmoil because they have their own country on the land, and their country has their own king."

"If we want the Western Region to stop repeating itself, the first priority is to make sure that there is no king in the country, and secondly, to make sure that there is no country on the land."

Liu Wu: "Tell me more."

"If they are to leave their king without him, we should first slaughter their old king, and then we, the Han, should establish their new king."

It's a cliché, but in fact, the Han Dynasty has always done this.

However, such indicators do not address the root cause. Sooner or later, the new king will become like the old king. As time goes by, his loyalty to the Han Dynasty will fade. At the slightest disturbance, he will no longer be under the control of the Han Dynasty...

"After establishing a new king, you can issue a decree of favor..."

Extension of Favor Order?!

Liu Wu's eyes suddenly lit up. This Zhou Gongjin really had something. "And then?"

Zhou Yu continued, "If this continues, in two or three generations at most, the big country will become a small country, and the small country will become a small city..."

"There will no longer be a country of their own in their land, and the king of their country will no longer be a king."

"Teach them to submit soldiers and pay taxes, but only to lighten the taxes. The country is uneasy, so to reassure them, you can allow their king to serve in the Protectorate, and then the Protectorate will grow stronger day by day..."

Liu Wu looked at Zhou Yu with a somewhat confused look in his eyes.

This Zhou Gongjin really has no interest in being the Protector-General of the Western Regions. It turns out that he wants to be the King of the Western Regions.

No wonder,
In history, there is such a saying that Zhou Yu was killed by Sun Quan because Zhou Yu was determined to lead his troops into Sichuan, and Jiangdong and Bashu were separated by Liu Bei in Jingzhou...

Once Zhou Yu entered Sichuan, he could no longer be controlled by Sun Zhongmou.

Some people analyzed that Zhou Yu wanted to go to Sichuan to establish himself. Anyway, he had high aspirations, so it was reasonable!
However, he does have some knowledge and can absorb the essence of history before the Han Dynasty.

Liu Wu: "And then?" Zhou Yu cupped his hands and said, "That's all I have to say. There is nothing more to say."

Liu Wu: "Then..."

"Then, we can send all the most vicious criminals from the Han Dynasty to the Western Regions, three to five thousand per year, to fill the military population of the Protectorate General of the Western Regions."

"After that, we can send all the criminals and their families to migrate to the Western Regions to promote culture and lay the foundation for China..."

"If this is really possible, the entire Western Region will be transformed in less than fifty years."

This is the essence that Liu Wu absorbed from the history after the Han Dynasty. For example, the development of the southern country began with the migration of many great families from the Central Plains to the south.

For example, a certain country exiled criminals to Australia Island.

For example, a certain country sent armed prisoners to develop the Far East...

Zhou Gongjin was stunned.

This……

He is such a smart man, how could he not see the mystery?

"good!"

"Great!" Zhou Yu clapped his hands in admiration.

The Western Regions are extremely vast. Although the environment is far inferior to that of the Central Plains, in this era, it is much better than those places in Lingnan.

Decades later, the vast Western Regions became entirely part of the Han territory, and the man who accomplished all this was Zhou Yu, Zhou Gongjin!

At this point, in Zhou Yu's mind, the importance of this Protector of the Western Regions far exceeded that of the Grand Commander of Jiangdong...

……

The next day,

Dawn!

Hooray! ~
The map was spread out,
The generals discussed the matter.

Canglanglang! ~
The long sword is unsheathed,

Here, Liu Wu pointed to a city about four hundred miles away from Wulei City, Yancheng!

Yancheng, the capital of Qiuci!
"No matter what, we must capture Yancheng and capture its king this time to intimidate Wusun and Dayuan!"

"Kucha has two waves of reinforcements. One of them, from its vassal state Gumo, can send out a maximum of 5,000 men."

"The second one is Dayuan, which has about 20,000 people."

"Speed ​​is of the essence in war. What I mean is that before they join forces with Qiuci, we should launch a surprise attack on them by surprise..."

There is no doubt that the fighting effectiveness of the Kucha soldiers is far inferior to that of the Han soldiers.

Moreover, there are only 20,000 people in Qiuci.

The only confidence he relied on was reinforcements.

If the reinforcements of Qiuci were eliminated before the war started, one can imagine how great a psychological impact it would have on Qiuci, and then it would be easy to capture Yancheng.

After all, it was the first big country the Han army encountered during its westward expedition, so they had to be cautious.

"Gao Shun led 5,000 cavalrymen, Taishi Ci led 5,000 Liangzhou cavalrymen, and Ma Chao led 5,000 Liangzhou cavalrymen, a total of 15,000 cavalrymen."

"I will go with you, each with three horses, day and night, to get ahead and bypass Yancheng. We will attack them by surprise and cut off their rear support!"

The military order has been issued.

"Yes!" the three generals said in unison.

Then he retreated, quickly led his troops out of the camp, and went ahead.

"The remaining generals, each lead your troops and march out today!"

Boom! ~
The whole city of Ulei was shaken.

Except for Lu Meng who led two thousand Danyang soldiers to guard Wulei City, the rest of the troops all broke camp and headed further west!
……

Three days later,
On the road between Yancheng and Gumo, about a hundred miles away from Yancheng, 4,000 Gumo soldiers were attacked by the vanguard of the Han cavalry. Before they were beheaded, 3,000 were captured.

……

Five days later,
Under the city of Gumo, 20,000 Dayuan cavalrymen set up camp. King Gumo went out of the city to comfort them and supply them with horse feed and military rations.

that night,

Gao Shun's troops arrived and attacked the camp at night, breaking into it and killing their way through the Dayuan camp thirteen times in one night. The Dayuan camp was in chaos, with the army howling and in disarray.

An hour later,

Taishi Ci's troops arrived and joined in the strangulation!

After Ma Chao arrived, he immediately launched a siege...

Tianming,

inventory,

A total of 8,000 people were killed and more than 10,000 were captured.

He obtained 15,000 military horses.

Ma Chao wanted to show off the might of the Han army, so he piled up human heads outside the city of Gumo to make a memorial.

King Gu Mo was greatly frightened, and the people in the city were terrified and left the city to accept the surrender!
……

Eight days later,
Most of the Han army arrived in Yancheng!

Set up camp...

Later, when Liu Wu led the generals and hundreds of cavalry to investigate the east gate of Yancheng, which had already covered the entire city, something unexpected happened!
Because Liu Wu discovered that the capital of the Kingdom of Qiuci, Yancheng, seemed to be smaller than an ordinary small county town in the Central Plains...

Further exploration,
Only then did I discover the city gate...

After all, it was my first time in the Western Regions, and I thought that Qiuci, a big country in the Western Regions that even had vassal states, would be of a higher level. But who would have thought that it was almost the same as that small country with only a few thousand soldiers.

"Chen Dao, take two thousand soldiers from our army and block the north gate."

"Gongjin, take two thousand of our troops and go block the west gate."

"Lü Meng, take two thousand of our troops and seal the South Gate..."

"Gan Ning, hurry up and gather 5,000 Liangzhou cavalry. I'll be waiting for you here!"

The military order has been issued.

All the generals took orders and left.

About three incense sticks' time passed, when the other three generals had already arrived at their positions, and then Gan Ning came back.

The truth was that his own troops were all Shanyue soldiers before, and he had never commanded the Liangzhou cavalry, so it took some time.

At this time, Liu Wu was putting on armor.

Gan Ning was a little confused.

In a moment,

Liu Wu, who was already in armor, spoke up: "Xingba, do you still remember how I captured Xiling City?"

How could Gan Ning not remember it? That was the first time he met Liu Wu, and the impression was too deep: "The moonlight was bright that night, and I could see clearly. The King of Chu charged alone and broke the city with one halberd. Xiling was captured!"

Put on your helmet,

Picking up his Fang Tian Hua Ji again, Liu Wu began to ride his horse forward...

The King of Chu did not turn around. Gan Ning only heard:

"Twenty breaths later, bring people to follow!"

　Two chapters combined into one, sorry for the delay,

　　
　
(End of this chapter)