Will the army continue to pursue westward, and if so, which way? No decision was made in this deliberation, and if the pursuit continued thousands of miles away from the original national border, it was likely to face a shortage of food and grass, which was too risky for an army of more than 30,000 people.

Among the ministers of civil and military affairs, except for Xu Yan, no one dared to suggest that Zhao Junsheng continue to lead the troops himself, only Xu Yan suggested continuing to pursue, but he could not bypass the fundamental problem of insufficient food and grass.

After the military meeting, the ministers and generals left separately, Zhao Junsheng walked out of the camp tent to the river, from the melting snow of Yanran Mountain and the rain gathered by the river through various places to flow here relatively gently, here is close to the edge of the desert, the riverbed is relatively high, basically you can wade through the water on horseback.

Zhao Junsheng had no intention of appreciating the sunset in the desert at all, he walked by the river with his hands behind his back, and a trace of river breeze on the river surface brought some coolness to his face.

Zhao Ping followed and arched his hand: "Father, it's time to eat in the camp!" ”

Zhao Junsheng didn't look back, still walked forward, and asked, "Are you hungry?" When you're hungry, go eat first! ”

Zhao Ping hurriedly said: "The sons are not hungry, and the father and the emperor don't eat, how can the sons eat first?" ”

Zhao Junsheng turned to face the river and stood still, and asked, "Ping'er, do you think that the father should lead the troops to continue to pursue and kill Tuhe Zhen, the Rouran Khan, or should he give an order to the class teacher?" ”

Zhao Ping was a little hesitant, he didn't want to say it, if he didn't say it well, it would cause irreparable losses, which would have a fatal impact on his future.

"Erchen, Erchen don't know!"

Zhao Junsheng turned his head to look at Zhao Ping, turned his head and still looked at the river, "Do you not know how to choose, or don't you dare to say?" Or maybe you don't want to get yourself in trouble? ”

"This ······" Zhao Ping couldn't avoid it now, so he could only stubbornly say: "Erchen felt that he should pursue, but he couldn't find a reason to convince himself, and his son just thought that if he didn't continue himself, it would be a pity to let Tuhe Zhen escape!" But if you want to continue the pursuit, you must solve the problem of grain and grass, and at this time, it is too late to send people to Chang'an to deliver grain and grass, so ······"

Zhao Junsheng took what he said and continued: "So the class teacher is the best and safest choice, right? ”

“······ Be! Zhao Ping lowered his head.

Zhao Junsheng breathed a sigh of relief, turned around and walked back, and said as he walked, "Do you know why my father has been chasing Tuhezhen and not letting go?" After all, Rou Ran's vitality has been greatly damaged, and at least for more than ten or two years, he will not dare to provoke me again, we don't have to take risks, and it is okay to let them go! ”

Zhao Ping bowed down and said, "Please also ask my father to solve his doubts!" ”

Zhao Junsheng said: "Whether it is the Huns in the past, or the current Rouran people, including the Xianbei people who once dominated the Mobei, they have a common characteristic, that is, they have no fixed place, erratic, and fast action!" They were grazing in the area of Junji Mountain this year, maybe they won't be there next year, but they will go to Zhuoyi Mountain!

For another example, the Khan of Rouran Datan has moved to the Khan's court many times, since he became the khan, the position of the Khan's court has often changed every three or five years, although this is to find new grazing places with abundant water and grass, so that the old grazing land can rest and rest, and it is not without the consideration of preventing the raids of other tribes! If there is a tribe to rebel and lead the troops to a sneak attack, it is likely to pounce on the air, and several generations of emperors of the Northern Wei Dynasty have encountered the situation of fighting Rouran!

During the Han Dynasty, in view of the characteristics of the Northern Xiongnu, Dou Xian formulated a long-range attack, first encircled and then annihilated, and pursued the combat strategy, this strategy once implemented it received miraculous results, after several blows, the Northern Xiongnu could not hold on, and some of the heavy losses had to move westward, and a small part of the collapse was absorbed by other tribes!

The Rouran people are slightly different from the Huns, but they have the common characteristics of the nomadic people, this northern expedition to Rouran, the father is to make some modifications to Dou Xian's strategy, and the Northern Wei Dynasty actually borrowed from Dou Xian's strategy to deal with the Rouran people!

Therefore, either you don't fight, or you will fight so that the Rouran people will never be able to turn over, which is also the reason why the father wants to continue to chase!

Father believed that Tuga's army must have been experiencing a shortage of food and grass at this time, and had to kill horses to solve the problem of hunger, thirst and hunger among the generals, and they were also sleepy and tired, and they were even more difficult than us, after all, they were fleeing for their lives, and our army was in much better condition than theirs! ”

Zhao Ping said: "Erchen understands his father's painstaking efforts, but if the grain and grass problem is not solved, it will always be a major matter in everyone's hearts!" ”

"I have my own plans for this matter!"

After dinner, Zhao Junsheng once again ordered to summon the ministers and generals to the tent, and after everyone arrived, he directly ordered: "The army will make a fire to make food tomorrow, and continue to pursue Rouran Khan Tuhe Zhen to the west!" ”

Dongfang Chen hurriedly stood up and said, "How does Your Majesty solve the problem of insufficient grain and grass? ”

Zhao Junsheng said: "Let's search the area of two hundred miles west of Yanran Mountain and the surroundings of Jinwei Mountain, is half a month enough?" The remaining half a month's grain and grass is enough for us to go to the Western Regions and return to Chang'an via the Western Regions! ”

The ministers only came back to their senses this time, and looked at the map again, yes, the area around Jinwei Mountain is not far from the Western Regions, and the army only needs to cross Jinwei Mountain and go south for a few days to enter the Western Regions, Gaochang and Yiwu are both towns that can carry out large-scale supplies, and the Western Regions are the territory of the Great Qian, and the Great Qian's army can enter at any time without anyone's consent.

This time there was no more objection.

In the early morning of the next day, the officers and men of the cadres had eaten a full meal, fed the horses with horse feed and water, and then assembled and set off.

Zhao Junsheng did not lead his troops along the river through the desert and desert to the West Sea, but chose a relatively safe road, along the edge of the desert to the southwest march, this has to go around an arc route, the distance is much farther than along the river directly through the desert and desert, but it is safer, after all, the cadres have never been to this area, they are not familiar with the climate of the desert in this area, and they may encounter many uncertain factors if they rush through the desert.

In order to ensure the safety of the entire army as much as possible, Zhao Junsheng had to slow down the march, only walking seventy or eighty miles a day, and sent more detective cavalry and scout posts around the army, and several scout teams were sent to the front, and the farthest one scout team was more than 30 miles in front of the main team, and there were several scout teams behind it, so that the news of the reconnaissance came from the front in time.

Six days later, the main force of the cadre army reached the southeastern shore of the West Sea.

On a high tomb, Zhao Junsheng stopped and looked at the big lake in front of him, which was the West Sea.

After the scouts in front came to report, Nayan Dama came to report to Zhao Junsheng: "Your Majesty, the scouts have explored, this West Sea is a freshwater lake, there is no end in sight, it seems that the area is not small, the scouts have already searched and reconnoitred along the lake, and the news will be sent one after another!" ”

Zhao Junsheng looked at the lake below and said, "Since it is a freshwater lake, and the lake is rich in water and grass, it is impossible that there are no tribes grazing and living here!" Ordered the soldiers to rest where they were, and here we await the results of the scouts' investigation! ”

An hour and a half had passed, and a scout from the northwest came galloping along the shore of the lake toward the rest of the army.

"Your Majesty, I found a tribe twenty miles away on the right side of the West Sea, and they have a total of more than 2,000 tents! According to our investigation, almost all of the women and children in this tribe are old, weak, women and children, and it is almost impossible for such a tribe to survive according to common sense, and such a situation can only be a possibility! ”

Zhao Junsheng said: "Tell your judgment!" ”

"Yes, the only possibility is that the young men of this tribe went to war, or that the Rouran Khan Tuhe Zhen once brought people to this tribe and took away the young men of the clan!"

Zhao Junsheng's eyes flashed when he heard this, and he shouted: "Herald! ”

"In!"

"Command the whole army, get on your horse and go!"

After the army set out, it walked for an hour and arrived at the Rouran tribe mentioned in the scout's report, and under the order of Zhao Junsheng, the cadres and soldiers surrounded the entire tribe's camp.

The old and infirm women and children of the tribe were driven to the middle clearing, and there were more than 4,000 people, all old and frail old people, women and children.

When Zhao Junsheng came over on a horse, the situation had already been clarified by Na Yan, and he reported to Zhao Junsheng: "Your Majesty, the minister has interrogated, this tribe is another species of the Xiongnu, and they have lived here for hundreds of years, their surname is Ashina, and the current leader is called Ashina Jin!" ”

"Another race of the Huns, surnamed Ashina?" Zhao Junsheng asked in surprise, but he was muttering in his heart, this tribe can't be the ancestor of the Tujue people, right?

Na Yan replied, "Yes! They confessed that they were attached to the Rouran people, because there was a lot of gold and iron ore nearby, and because they were good at casting weapons, so the Rouran people asked them to build weapons for the Rouran soldiers! ”

Zhao Junsheng said in his heart that this is right, there is a saying in later generations that Tujue was a small tribe attached to the Rouran people at the beginning, and was responsible for building weapons for the Rouran people, and was a full-time blacksmith for the Rouran people. In the middle of the sixth century, there was a man named Ashina Tumen among the Tujue, who was a man of great talent, and he and his younger brother Muromi, the brothers joined forces to develop Tujue into a strong country and established the Tujue Khanate, which was the founding monarch of the Tujue Khanate, Ili Khan.

Zhao Junsheng asked, "Have the Rouran people ever been here?" ”

"I've been here, they said that two days ago, Rouran Khan Tuhezhen came here with more than 2,000 people, and they only rested for half a day, and they took away the patriarch of this tribe, Ashina Jin, and the two thousand young warriors in the clan!"

Zhao Junsheng asked, "Where did you go?" ”

"River clouds two hundred miles to the northwest!"

Zhao Junsheng's eyes swept over those old and weak women and children, and ordered: "Pei Guangyuan! ”

"The minister is here!" Pei Guangyuan stood up and hugged his fists in agreement.

"Our army needs to replenish food, and this matter is entrusted to you, give you two thousand men! The main force of the brigade will go first, and your department will quickly follow! After Zhao Junsheng finished speaking, he ordered the army to march.