The guards had no choice but to protect Ma Chao and Sima Yi, and retreated to the direction of Mashhad while fighting, Ma Chao was not worried about his subordinates, this kind of unorganized chaotic battle, the Han army would not suffer.

After all, the Han army could operate on the scale of a company and platoon, and the command system was far more flexible than that of the Kushans.

After a fierce battle in the middle of the night, at dawn the two sides retreated, leaving behind only a devastated battlefield, and the corpses of dead soldiers and mounts, as well as the constant wailing of wounded soldiers.

The quality of individual soldiers of the Han army is higher than that of the Kushan army, so the corpses on the battlefield, it can be seen from the military uniform that the Han army is significantly less than the Kushan army, but the casualties of the Central Asian allies are not small.

Ma Chao and Sote coincidentally sent representatives, and the two sides agreed to retreat ten miles each, and then send an unarmed force to clean up the battlefield, treat the wounded, and bury the bodies.

After a night of fierce fighting, the Han army suffered about 8,000 casualties, the Central Asian Allied army suffered nearly 20,000 casualties, and the Kushan army suffered about 35,000 casualties.

In close combat, the leather armor of the Han army is obviously not as good as the armor of the Kushan people, especially the killing of grenades, which is not the leather armor that can protect well.

Moreover, the lethal effect of lead bullets is significantly higher than that of copper-shelled bullets, but in terms of range and accuracy, there is also an armor-piercing effect that the rifles of the Han army have an advantage.

After seeing the casualty statistics on his side, Sot led the army to retreat backwards in great strides, until he retreated to Akcha, holding on to and waiting for reinforcements.

He has the number of fourteen divisions in his hands, but after deducting the more than 30,000 casualties, there are still about twelve divisions and regiments, which are similar to the Han army.

He sent messengers and carrier pigeons, both at the same time, and sent a letter of urging to the king of the waves.

The Guishan spies lurking in the Western Regions also sent back the news as soon as possible, and Lu Bu, the founding emperor of the Han Empire, personally led a large army to the west.

I heard that the Han army dispatched hundreds of thousands of troops, and even the servant troops of various tribes in the grassland, who had never participated in foreign wars, came from afar.

The king of Porcho was really anxious, and he sent envoys to the various local provinces and governorates to supervise their troops, and at the same time he personally led his own guards to Khorasan.

The legions of the relatively close provinces of Sogdia, Kabul, Kunduz, and Gandhara were notified that they did not need to assemble and marched to the Khorasan border.

However, Guishan did not have such a complete highway system as the Han Dynasty, and only one imperial road was relatively smooth, connecting some important cities and provinces, while the army in some remote areas could only trek slowly.

Ma Chao always liked to take the initiative to attack, so he sent his cavalry, whether it was the Han army or the Central Asian Allied army, to frequently attack the rear depth of the Kushan army.

As a result, the logistics and transportation of the Kushan Empire were very tight, and in the end, they could only send a thousand-strong escort team to escort grain and grass.

However, the situation was soon improved, after all, the Kushan Empire was relatively close to the battlefield, and the armies of various provinces were coming to the front line one after another, making this passage more and more secure.

The king of Bo Tiao, still in time for the end of December, arrived at the front, and he first listened to the reports of Sot and Osidmos, and learned about the latest situation of the Han army.

When he heard that the Han army did not have a greater advantage in other aspects except for the obvious superiority in artillery, the self-confidence of Prince Bo began to swell again.

He was determined to expand the results of the battle before Lü Bu's army arrived, and he supplemented the strength of six divisions with Sote, asking him to take the initiative to attack and annihilate as much of the current Han advance as possible.

Although Sauter was not confident in defeating the Han army, he also believed that it was the right choice to attack the Han army with superior forces before Lü Bu arrived.

He bypassed the front of Mashhad, which was defended by the Han army, and instead marched to Sistan in the southwest, which was beyond the expectations of Ma Chao and Sima Yi.

Sistan is located southwest of Khorasan, separated by the province of Herat of the Kushan Empire.

Sistan's territory is not as large as Khorasan's, so as soon as Sot launched an attack, he directly threatened the city of Zaranji, the capital of Sistan.

Sistan immediately recalled the reinforcements sent to Khorasan and asked for reinforcements from the Han army.

In Sima Yi's opinion, this Kushan Empire acted illogically, and Khorasan opened up a new battlefield before the winner or loser was decided, which is really incomprehensible.

But if you can't understand it, you can't understand it, Sistan is an important ally, and reinforcements still have to be sent.

Ma Chao authorized Zhang Xiu to command the Han army that went to Sistan for reinforcements, and there was no need to rush to victory, as long as he could hold out until Lu Bu's army arrived.

Zhang Xiu's command style was much calmer than Ma Chao's, and he took Haotian's 1st Division, the 3rd Western Regions Division, and Haotian's 4th Division to support Sistan.

Along the way, he was not in a hurry, but cautiously sent reconnaissance troops out to reconnoitre.

Sure enough, on the border between Herat Province and Sistan, a large number of Kushan troops were found ambushed in their path.

Zhang Xiu did not rush to retreat, let alone throw himself into the net, but looked for favorable terrain in situ, began to dig fortifications as quickly as possible, and waited for reinforcements, and the messenger and carrier pigeon had already set off at the same time.

Ambushing around a canyon in front of him was Sauter's legion, but unfortunately the vigilant Zhang Xiu did not enter his ambush circle, but held on to the spot.

Finding that his ambush had been recognized, Saute had no choice but to give up the ambush and take the initiative to surround it instead, but in this way, the geographical advantage was on Zhang Xiu's side.

However, Sauter was not discouraged, he had ten divisions in his hands, while the Han army only had three divisions, and he had an absolute advantage in strength.

The two regular divisions of the Haotian Army of the Han Army had artillery battalions, and Sote was also reinforced by thirty artillery pieces, and he did not suffer a loss.

This time he made up his mind that he would use a pile of people and consume the Han army.

The battle was fierce from the beginning, and the hastily dug fortifications of the Han army, which were not deep enough or strong enough, were not strong enough to withstand the artillery attacks of the Kushan, and many sections were destroyed, which did not provide much protection for the Han soldiers.

However, the two divisions of the Haotian Army are both first-class divisions, with very complete equipment and personnel, and they have experienced a lot of actual battles, so there is no need to worry about the morale of the army at all.

In between the attacks of the Kushan army, they constantly strengthened their fortifications.

Sot was also out of the way, and even at night, he did not stop attacking the Han army.

The Han army once again proved the necessity of their ideological education, and their tenacious fighting spirit, brave style, and fearless performance made the Guishan people fearful.

Each time they attacked, they had to pay twice or even three times as many casualties as the Han army.

Moreover, the rear-loading rifles of the Han army can be shot in a lying position, which minimizes the impact area and reduces casualties.

The end of the artillery bombardment between the two sides also ended in the victory of the Han army, so by the second day of the battle, the artillery advantage on the battlefield was already obvious on the side of the Han army.

The attacking Kushan Imperial Army often had to charge against Han artillery, and then was shot by Han rifles from outside their range.