When Zhou Dewei led the Right Shenji Battalion and the Right Shenwei Army to Shazhou, it was already mid-February of the thirteenth year of Qianning.

Liu Kui had planned to launch an offensive in early February, but in the end it was delayed until mid-February when additional reinforcements from the imperial court arrived.

However, seeing that the Right Shenwei Army and the Right Shenji Battalion had traveled a long distance and the army was not good, Liu Kui had no choice but to let the two armies rest for five days and adapt to the environment of the Western Regions, and then the army set out, but this was already late February.

In fact, except for the Right Shenji Battalion and the Right Shenwei Army, the Anxi army has already been assembled.

The 25,000 troops of the Right Shence Army and the 10,000 cavalry of the Zhongyun Department were in Datun City; The Left Shence Army is in Yizhou.

The 28,000 people of the Right Shenji Battalion and the Right Shenwei Army (the Right Shenwei Army was not fully staffed, only 18,000 people) followed the 20,000 Anxi Border Army and 10,000 tribal cavalry, a total of 58,000 people, and went to Yizhou under the leadership of Liu Kui.

As for the 30,000 Khotanese troops, it was in Khotan.

Seeing that Liu Kui had gathered nearly 90,000 people in the direction of Yizhou and gathered on the front line of Yizhou, Zhang Lian couldn't help but ask, "Daduhu, how many Uighur troops are we facing this time?" ”

"How many? It probably adds up to more than 200,000 people. Liu Kui said in a deep voice.

"So much?" Zhang Lian swallowed.

"Zhang Juma may not know that the Uighurs in Xizhou have a population of nearly one million, and with the habit of nomads all soldiers, there are more than 200,000 adult men in this million population, so it is not impossible to gather an army of 200,000 this time." Zhong Wei on the side explained.

"Two hundred thousand? Can we fight? Zhang Lian was a little weak, perhaps because he felt that his performance was a little poor, so he quickly straightened his body.

"Governor of Qin, in the previous two wars, my Tang Dynasty won a total of nearly 100,000 people, and the Uighurs can still get so many people?" Zhou Dewei obviously didn't believe it.

"If it were only the Western Uighurs, even if the age was relaxed, there would be a maximum of 200,000 people. However, the Zhou commanders may not have known that the nine Uhus to the west of the Western Uighurs were once part of the Uighur Khanate.

According to the information we have received, the Uighurs from Xizhou may have moved from the nine surnamed Uhu to reinforcements, but the specific number is not large, and there are tens of thousands. Zhong Wei said.

"Nine surnamed Wuhu?" Zhou Dewei was not clear about the situation in the Western Regions, "Even if the nine surnamed Wuhu participated in the war, the Uighurs of Qiuzi and Yanqi could not participate in the war, right?"

As a result, we don't really face many Uighurs head-on. ”

"Commander Zhou is right!" Liu Kui nodded, "According to Ponduhu's estimates, the Uighur army we faced was around 150,000, but the elite suffered a lot of losses in the previous battle, and we had a great chance of victory. ”

"Dadu Hu, then how are we going to fight this time? We have an army of 90,000, so we can't just spread it out like this, right? Ding Hui on the side said.

"Of course not." Liu Kui shook his head.

Wan Baichuan stood up and hugged his fists, "Dadu Hu, the last general is willing to lead the Zuo Shence army to fight the vanguard!" ”

"The great protector of the capital, the last general is also willing to make the vanguard position!" Zhong Wei is also interested in pioneers.

Liu Kui glanced at the two of them and thought for a while, "General Wan is the vanguard, but he can only lead fifteen thousand people, and the rest will be handed over to Bendu." ”

"The last general commands!" Wan Baichuan did not refuse.

"Zhong Dudu, you lead your 20,000 state soldiers as the left wing!"

"The last general commands!" Zhong Wei replied helplessly.

"Shang Dudu, the 10,000 tribal cavalry you led is the right wing."

Shang Guangming nodded and responded.

"Daduhu, what about us?" Zhang Lian hurriedly said.

"The Right Shenji Battalion and the Right Shenwei Army, who were not familiar with the Uighur warfare, took the position of commander of the Chinese army, and the Pontus Protectorate personally assumed the post of commander."

It's not that Liu Kui doesn't want to hand over the post of commander to Zhou Dewei or Ding Hui, but neither of them is familiar with the combat methods of the Western Regions, so he rashly handed over the command to the two, which may bring hidden dangers.

"The last general commands!"

Zhou Dewei and Ding Hui both nodded, but they didn't object.

"Now that we all know what we're doing, let's go ahead and prepare? General Wanda, since you are the vanguard, then lead the army to set off as soon as possible, and I hope you can bring good news to Pontusho. ”

Liu Kui is also cultivating Wan Baichuan as a successor, after all, he can't stay in the Anxi Metropolitan Protectorate for a few years, and he also needs to choose a successor.

At present, there are three people he is considering, namely Xu Shiren, Wan Baichuan and Zhong Wei, each with its own advantages and disadvantages.

In the end, whether to choose one of these three people to take over, or to retransfer people from Chang'an, it is all up to the saint to decide.

However, he did not recommend that someone who was not familiar with the affairs of the Western Regions be transferred to take over the post of Grand Protector of the Anxi Metropolitan Protectorate.

"Please rest assured, the last general will definitely clear the way for the army!"

Wan Baichuan clenched his fists and said seriously.

。。。。。。

Wan Baichuan led the vanguard troops from Nazhi City.

If you want to reach Xizhou City from Nazhi City to the west, you must pass through the Guigukou Shelter Station.

Ghost Valley is called Ghost Valley because it is a canyon, and because it is windy and like a ghost screaming.

And the shelter is a post station located at the mouth of the Guigu Valley.

Shelter was originally a post station set up in the early Tang Dynasty, almost deserted, during the reign of the Uighurs in Xizhou, this post station was also restored, and a new small city was built on the basis of the shelter station, also called Shelter Station.

In the years before the war between the Tang Dynasty and the Uighurs in Xizhou, the shelter became a place where business travelers had to stop, and it was also prosperous.

However, after the Tang Dynasty captured Yizhou and other cities, the shelter became the forefront of the confrontation between the two sides, and the business travelers were gone.

The Western Uighurs had previously stationed several thousand men here to guard the Tang army in the direction of Yizhou.

The previous defeat at Puchanghai greatly damaged the vitality of the Xizhou Uighurs, and the Tang army was even under the city of Xizhou for a time, which brought a great shock to the Xizhou Uighurs.

When Wan Baichuan led his army to a place twenty miles east of the Shelter, he learned that the Uighurs stationed at the Shelter had retreated.

However, the news of the Tang army's westward march still spread, and soon the news of the Tang army was obtained in Xizhou City.

。。。。。。

At this time, in the palace of the Xizhou City, the nobles and leaders of the Uighurs in Xizhou were basically gathered here.

In addition to the noble chieftains of the Western Uighurs, there were also some strangers who dressed somewhat in the same way as the Western Uighurs, but also somewhat differently. These were nine people with the surname Uhu from the western side of the Western Uighurs, and even people from Qarluq.

Earlier, Qarluq also belonged to the Nine Surnames Uhu, belonged to one of the Tiele tribes, and spoke Turkic.

Later, however, Qarluq became powerful and joined forces with the Uighur Khanate that had migrated westward to form the present-day Qarakhanid dynasty.

So Qarluq also became part of the Qarakhanid dynasty.

However, because the Qarluqs contributed to the strength of the Qarakhanid Dynasty, the Qarluqs in the Seven Rivers Valley became a semi-autonomous region of the Qarakhanid Dynasty and enjoyed a part of autonomy.

In general, Qarluq has some ties to the Western Uighurs.

As for the appearance of Qarluq's people in Xizhou, it was not expected by the Anxi Metropolitan Protectorate.