The river is wide, and the river flows eastward, day and night. Although the water is turbulent in some places, the big ship sails with full sails and it is very smooth. When you are on a boat, there is no feeling of bumps at all.

Tonight is the middle of the month, a round of the moon hanging in the sky, thousands of miles of rivers and waves are silvery, although the wind is a little cold, but under the full of freedom, the heart is churning, this is a little cold, no one feels that there is an obstacle.

Most of the knights of the Black Eagle Army have already rested in the cabin, and the fierce battle with the Loulan people is only the first time to test their edge in the land of the Western Regions. In the future, the real contest has not yet begun. However, through this battle, they have already built up great confidence. The Warrior Flyer, the only black eagle!

Yuan Thirteen sat quietly to the side, listening to Yuan Zhao talking. The triumphant return of the Black Hawk Army, with dozens of fighters wounded in battle, has been well cared for. He especially instructed his subordinates to visit the wounded area frequently, so that these people could recuperate well and strive for early recovery.

Looking at the few people sitting beside the little marquis in high spirits, Yuan Shisan's eyes were full of envy. He used to be from Xifengwei in the palace, and was sent to Yuan Zhao's side by Empress Dowager Dou to protect his safety. Their group of people can be regarded as the first to follow Yuan Zhao.

Yuan 13 felt lucky because Yuan Zhao handed over the fleet he had created with his own hands. From the first few ships, it has developed into a fleet of nearly 1,000 ships, and this process has taken nearly four or five years.

There are not many people who know the ultimate goal of Yuan Zhao's painstaking efforts to develop water transportation, and Yuan Thirteen is one of them. Yuan Zhao once confided in this clever young man some of his plans. The vast water system connected vertically and horizontally will be the main mode of transportation of the Han Empire in the future, whether it is political, economic or military, it will play a huge role. Therefore, Yuan Zhao hopes that he can do a good job, and perhaps, the first naval army of Dahan will be born in his hands.

Whenever he thought of this goal, Yuan Thirteen would tremble with excitement. As a big man, who doesn't want to make a meritorious career and worship the general. Xiao Houye's words will never be untargeted, since he has this goal, he will definitely achieve it sooner or later.

Commanding thousands of warships, crisscrossing the rivers and seas! This has become something that Yuan Thirteen dreams about every time he dreams. Therefore, at that time, listening to Cao Xiang and others analyzing the combat characteristics of the Loulan cavalry to Yuan Zhao, he listened very attentively.

Whether it is an exercise or an operation, it has become a common practice for the Black Hawk Army to analyze and summarize lessons learned after each time, so as to make up for their own shortcomings at any time.

However, compared to this time, Cao Xiang and Gongsun Rongnu exchanged opinions, and they both felt that they had not gained much experience. Although it was the first time to go to the Western Regions to fight, the opponent was too weak and vulnerable at all. It's far worse than the Huns.

Yuan Zhao listened to their analysis of this time, and nodded with a smile. In fact, what they said was not wrong, the combat power of the armies of the Western Regions countries would certainly not be the opponent of the Black Eagle Army.

In the original historical time and space, the biggest reason why the Han army in the western expedition fought so hard was not the problem of combat effectiveness, but the lack of supply of logistical support.

The vastness of the territory is the pride of a great empire, but sometimes, it can also become a shortcoming that restricts victory.

The distance between the Central Plains and the Western Regions is too far. Even the nearest countries such as Dayueshi and Loulan are separated from Chang'an by seven or eight thousand miles.

Eight thousand miles of clouds and moons! The expedition soldiers who went west out of Chang'an, embarked on a vast journey, walked out of the Yumen Pass, the swords, arrows and iron armor withstood the erosion of the northwest wind and sand, the water and soil were not adapted, and the men and horses were tired, and then waited until they walked through the Gobi Desert and went to the desperate region to fight with the enemy army who were waiting for work, and they also had to endure the intermittent logistics supply, and believed that the sharpness and combat effectiveness of the Han army had already lost most of it. In such a situation, it is really too difficult to achieve absolute victory!

Yuan Zhao, who is familiar with this history, whenever he thinks of this, and then looks back and sees Huo Quai, who is thinly dressed in the slight cold at the bow of the ship, he sighs heartfelt. Even under such circumstances, this genius can still win victory after victory, deter the countries of the Western Regions, open up the Hexi Corridor, and completely eliminate the Huns from this region. At the age of less than twenty, he achieved such a world-famous feat, Yuan Zhao asked himself, if he didn't have the advantage of a traverser, he would not be able to reach that height no matter what.

And after Huo Quai's untimely death, no one had such a ability. Later, Dawan and Han became enemies, and the emperor sent the general Li Guangli to lead more than 100,000 Han troops to the west again, but only a small Dawan country made these hundreds of thousands of troops lose one after another, and it was rare to achieve an inch. After several years of stalemate, the Han army was finally defeated.

The emperor who got the battle report was furious, and ordered the envoy to hold the sword of the Son of Heaven to order the guards of Yumen Pass, and dare to let the Western Expedition army enter Yumen Pass with one soldier and one pawn, and immediately behead! The final ending was very tragic, the general Li Guangli defected to the Huns in fear of crime, and hundreds of thousands of Han athletes buried their bones in the yellow sand, and their souls could not return to their hometown!

Huo Quzhi's face turned red, because, after hearing her inadvertently coughing lightly, Yuan Zhao draped a white fox fur fur on her body and wrapped it tightly. Fortunately, no one saw the shyness on her face in the night. Although she didn't understand why Yuan Zhao's expression had become a little solemn, she felt extremely warm.

"I won't allow this to happen again......."

In the moonlight, she heard what seemed to be a low murmur from her master. Some didn't hear clearly, and when she was about to ask, a small clay pot with his body temperature was already stuffed into her palm, and then the hands patted her shoulder.

"Pay attention to your own body. You are born with a cold nature, this pot of wine is brought by me from Chang'an, and medicinal herbs are added to it, and you can drink a few sips occasionally, which is good for your body. ”

She held the small pot in her palm tightly, shrunk into the fox fur, her eyes were shining, her heart was happy, but there was a little loss.

"Master...... I care so much about myself! But why didn't he stop patting his head? What is a pat on the shoulder......! ”

Yuan Zhao naturally wouldn't know the sensitive girl's mind. This time he came thousands of miles, which made him more determined to develop waterway shipping. As long as this waterway is unblocked, in the future, the army can march westward, and the troops can be divided into two routes, all the way out of Yumen Pass, all the way on the water, and along the river upstream. At the same time, it can also better ensure the transportation of heavy grain and grass.

He said his idea a little, and Cao Xiang and Gongsun Rongnu had already high-five and loudly agreed. The two of them deeply understand the benefits of this. Thousands of miles away, a thousand Black Eagle soldiers and horses, comfortably resting on the ship, recuperating, after arriving at the place, it can be said that they can immediately be full of energy into the battle, this way of fighting, is simply too powerful!

Listening to them happily talking about praise, Yuan Zhao smiled slightly wryly. Under the existing conditions, this was already the best he could think of. Taking advantage of the convenience of the river system, there is certainly no problem in the east and west, but in the future, the Xiongnu in the north will not play a big role.

"Yuanhou, do you say that after going back this time, His Majesty the Emperor and the imperial court will really make up their minds to go west?"

Cao Xiang's eyes were eager, this was the first time he had led the troops to fight as a main general, and the victory he had achieved had already made him ecstatic in his heart. As the thousand-mile horse expected by the Cao family, he has always been thinking about reviving the achievements of his ancestors and dare not forget it.

Not only him, but Gongsun Rongnu was more urgent than him in his heart. This brave warrior is just a civilian family, he has only grown from an ordinary sergeant in the cavalry battalion to a member of the Black Hawk Army today, he is considered to be the oldest among the cadres, and the mood to make contributions is of course more eager than anyone else.

Seeing the two of them looking at him expectantly, Yuan Zhao made an affirmative gesture. Since he has brought them hope, these truly brave people, he will never let them down.

"Of course, that's for sure. Opening up the Hexi Corridor, cutting off the flanks of the Huns, and opening up exchanges with the countries of the Western Regions is a national policy set by His Majesty the Emperor a long time ago. As for when it will start, it will depend on the results of the Han mission this time. And now it seems that the start is very good! ”

Speaking of this, Yuan Zhao raised the wine jug in his hand and motioned for everyone to drink. Then he smiled and looked at Zhang Qian, who had been listening quietly on the side.

"The first time you go on an embassy, you can achieve so many results, Brother Zhang is a natural diplomat! Hehe! Come, take a sip. ”

Hearing Yuan Zhao's praise, Zhang Qian was overjoyed. He didn't say a word, raised the wine jug in his hand and touched it with Yuan Zhao, raised his neck, and knocked half a pot of spirits into his stomach, laughing, very bold.

"Yuanhou is really a confidant! I think that at the beginning, the reason why I took the initiative to invite Ying to travel west was because I listened to Yuanhou's explanation of the scenery of the Western Regions and wanted to come and see it. Understanding the world's scenery and traveling all over the world is not only my personal ambition, but also my father's last wish. Speaking of it now, I would like to thank Yuanhou for fulfilling Zhang's first start. ”

"Brother Zhang is polite! It's amazing that you can have such ambition! If you want to do such a thing, you have to have great perseverance and bravery, and since Brother Zhang dares to try, Yuan Zhao will definitely help you in the future, and you will definitely achieve what you want. ”

Yuan Zhao rarely said such a guarantee to people, he actually valued Zhang Qian so much! This made everyone look at Zhang Qian with envy in their eyes.

In addition to Cao Xiang, Gongsun Rongnu, Huo Quzhi, and Zhang Qian, there was also a fat man listening with a smile, it was Nie Yi. When he saw Yuan Zhao's eyes turn, he was shocked in his heart, Brother Yuan was finally about to talk about what he could do!

"Uncle Nie, now, do you know what my purpose is for asking you to follow this trip? Hehe! ”