It was ten days later that Jiegan Jiasi got the news that Zhang Huan had left Xingxing Gorge, angry, anxious, anxious, helpless, all kinds of emotions alternated in the heart of the Hui coach, he had already understood that Zhang Huan had actually arrived at Xingxing Gorge a long time ago, otherwise he would not have pinched the timing so coincidentally, and when he confronted the Tubo army, he suddenly attacked.

On the one hand, he immediately sent people back to Mobei to ask the khan for assistance, on the other hand, he tried his best to block the news as much as possible, so that the soldiers would know that the back road had been broken, and he only hoped that Zhang Huan's march would be slower and slower.

But things did not develop as he thought, and in the following half a month, one news after another came to him like a meteor: the Tang army went south; The Tang army captured Puchang County, and the defenders of Puchang were all killed; The Tang army approached Gaochang, and the defenders surrendered.

Especially the last news, so that Jiegan Garth was almost about to withdraw overnight, just when he discussed countermeasures with his generals, an unexpected news came, Zhang Huan's army left Gaochang and went north, returned to Beiting, Jiegan Garth after a night of confusion, finally reacted, this must be the Qarluq troops. ****

In Anxi, the confrontation between the Hui army and the Tubo army, in the north court is the contest between the Tang army and the Qarluqs, and in the south of Tocharo, tens of thousands of the Great Food Army who have not yet withdrawn are eyeing the tiger.

The interests of the Turgish, the Baifu Turks, the Shatuo, and the vital interests of hundreds of large and small ethnic groups are also intertwined.

The Hui army and the Tubo army were still facing off between Yanqi and Qiuzi, and no one was willing to take action easily, but in contrast, the war in Beiting was much more direct and swift.

Mid to late June, this is the hottest time of the year, the scorching sun is shining on the earth, and midsummer is the hardest day, and the summer heat is oppressive. The heat was relentless, and the dry wind swept violently across the land of the Western Regions.

At dusk on this day, Zhang Huan's army finally arrived in Yiwu, and it took more than 20 days from the beginning of June to Gaochang to return to Yiwu on June 25. The Don army almost walked in a circle and returned,

Igo County is also the seat of the county seat of Igo County. The county seat is narrow. The walls are thin and low, and there are only a few hundred homes in the county, most of which are scattered around. Grazing for a living, Zhang Huandi's base is set up on a lakeside about three miles southeast of the county, thousands of tents are set up on the green grassy pasture, there is no edge in sight, stretching for more than ten miles, among them, the camp after placing grain and grass materials is surrounded by a circle of camp fences, and heavy troops are stationed here. The Tang Army marched thousands of miles to fight, and logistics support directly determined the outcome of the war.

Just as the army began to return to the camp, Zhang Huan suddenly found that there were carriages parked densely outside the fence of the rear camp, and it seemed that he had just arrived. **

The soldiers also followed. Moment. Zhang Huan came to the back camp, where many soldiers were already watching. Talking and talking, when they saw the governor coming, all the soldiers dodged out of the way.

Zhang Chang saw clearly when he got closer, each cart was covered with a thick coarse cloth, and this kind of carriage was about four zhang long, two zhang wide, and two zhang high, and the general carriage only had two wheels, but it had six wheels, the wheels were wide and thick, and it was very suitable for driving in the grassland or desert, and there were as many as a thousand cars.

Zhang Huan couldn't help but be surprised and delighted, this turned out to be his secret weapon: the Thunderbolt chariot arrived, everyone may still have a little impression, when it was still in Wuwei, that is, at the same time when the use of gunpowder was discovered, a craftsman invented a bulky carriage for the placement of small stones, because it was not practical, it was almost abandoned, but Zhang Huan encouraged the craftsman to continue to develop, after three years, nearly 100 craftsmen painstaking research, a new chariot came out. ^^^^

The main body of the chariot is made of hard walnut wood, covered with a layer of iron, the chariot is divided into two parts, one part is semi-open, on which is installed a small stone or a thirty-round repeater, and the other part is a closed box, two feet and five feet long, which can carry twenty crossbowmen, on both sides of the carriage and in front of each distribution of two rows of twelve round holes, this is a ventilation hole, but also a shooting hole, the carriage is driven by six wheels, each car is pulled by nine horses.

On the secret test site, this carriage for the first time will be a gunpowder catapult 300 steps away, making an earth-shattering explosion, so it was named the Thunderbolt chariot by Zhang Huan, in the Central Plains offensive and defensive warfare, this carriage has little effect, but it is a sharp weapon against the nomads, the Han people's advanced weapons and mobility are effectively combined, in the Tang Army's westward expedition, it is the first time to enter the war. ^^

Just when Zhang Huan was extremely surprised by the arrival of the chariot, more than a dozen horsemen drove out of the logistics camp when they heard the news, and shouted from afar, "Dudu! ”

When a few people approached, Zhang Huan recognized that the first two people, one was Sima Luo Guangzheng of the Xiliang Army, and the other was Pei Mingyuan.

"Why are you here?" Zhang Huan laughed and jumped off the horse, stepped forward to punch each of them, and it was indeed a very gratifying thing to meet the old man in the distant Western Regions.

"I'm here to escort the Thunderbolt chariot and the grain." Luo Guangzheng rubbed his shoulder, which was beaten by Zhang Huan, and said with a wry smile.

"What about you?" Zhang Huan turned his head to look at Pei Mingyuan again and asked with a smile.

Pei Mingyuan took out a few letters from his arms and said, "I'm here to send you a letter." ”

After that, he looked around at the incomparably vast land and the magnificent sunset, and couldn't help but look up to the sky and laughed: "Look at my old wanderings by the way, it's been ten years, and it's still so open-minded here." ^^^^”

Zhang Huan naturally knew that there were other reasons for him to come, and he also broke it, so he pulled the two of them and smiled: "Go!" Let's have dinner tonight and tell me a good story about the Central Plains, it's only been a few months, and I feel like I'm going to become a Hu person. ”

In Zhang Huan's tent, the three of them replaced wine with tea and enjoyed a delicious dinner together: large pieces of roasted mutton, dipped in salt, a few fresh and delicious side dishes, and a plate of steamed buns.

"A () road march. Sleep in clothes, drink spring water, nibble on steamed buns and dried meat, or go back to the camp! Zhang Huan drank a cup of Mengding tea, his eyes narrowed with pleasure, and he couldn't help but sigh.

"You! It's self-inflicted. Pei Mingyuan pointed at him and smiled: "You don't have to come to the Western Regions to fight in person. Send his subordinates to the general, how can there be a dignified military secretary, and the head of the imperial court and cabinet will personally come to fight? ”

"Mingyuan. You don't understand the Governor's thoughts. Luo Guangzheng retorted to him: "Regain Anxi and Beiting." How many people dream of something, why don't men take Wu Hook and collect Guanshan Fifty Prefectures. After all, how many people can have this kind of opportunity? If the Governor does not seize this opportunity, I am afraid that it will be even more impossible in the future. ”

Zhang Huan nodded and smiled at Pei Mingyuan: "Did you hear that?" Luo Sima still understands me, but you are still my brother-in-law, just like a passer-by and a village woman. ”

"Am I vulgar?" Pei Mingyuan touched his nose and said with a faint smile: "If you know the news of the imperial court, I'm afraid you won't say that I am vulgar." ”

Sure enough, something is coming! Zhang Huan secretly thought, he put the teacup in his hand. ^^^^ "Just say it!" What really happened to the imperial court? ”

Pei Mingyuan took out a book of folds from his arms, handed it to Zhang Huan and said: "Guanzhong, Hedong, and the Central Plains have suffered a major drought that has not been encountered for decades, and more than 60 counties have no summer grain harvest, especially in Guanzhong, if the fields are cracked and starved for thousands of miles, millions of people in Hedong and Guanzhong have fled to Longyou and Shuzhong to eat, and even the Yellow River has been cut off. Governor. It's a serious situation! ”

Zhang Huan took the excerpt and hurriedly glanced at it, and it turned out to be written by Pei Jun: The official grain in Guanzhong is less than 100,000 stones. Hundreds of rivers in the east of the river were cut off, and it was extremely difficult for people and animals to drink water, Cui Qinggong indulged the soldiers to loot large households and destroy countless doors, and Wei Deqing led his troops to attack the official warehouse at night

At the end of the letter, Pei Jun asked Zhang Huan to give the court maximum help.

"How much food do we have?" Zhang Huan asked Pei Mingyuan with the excerpt.

Pei Mingyuan thought for a while and said: "This year's harvest in Longyou is good, and the grain in Shuzhong has also had a bumper harvest, when I came, I have collected 5 million stone of grain, Lin Jiuhan is in Changsha Tuntian, this year there is 500,000 stone of grain, which can support Xiangyang, plus the original grain storage, so that there should be 15 million stone of grain in Longyou's official warehouse." ^^

Zhang Huan pondered for a moment and then asked Luo Guangzheng: "With 200,000 troops, in the past six months, how much food do I need to spend on this western expedition?" ”

"The military rations are about three million stones, but considering the cost of the journey, it is estimated that the subordinates will need at least five million stones." Zhang Huan nodded, and asked Pei Mingyuan again, "Hu Changshi has taken action?" ”

Pei Mingyuan bowed slightly and said: "Hu Changshi has urgently dispatched millions of stone of grain to support Chang'an, and another 500,000 stone of grain to help the victims. ”

Zhang Huan paced slowly in the tent with his hands behind his back, he knew that this was actually an extremely rare opportunity, and he could use this as a condition to coerce the imperial court to build a sacrificial hall for his biological father in the Taimiao, if it was a few months ago, he would definitely make such a request, but after several months of Anxi battle, his state of mind has undergone subtle changes, and he has not taken these conditions so seriously, how about setting up a big hall, what if he doesn't set up a big hall?

The key is the hearts of the people, only those who win the hearts of the people can win the world, as long as he Zhang Huan has absolute strength, everything will come naturally. **

Thinking of this, Zhang Huan wrote a letter and handed it to Pei Mingyuan: "During my absence from Longyou, all the military and political decisions within my sphere of influence were made by Hu Yong, Du Mei, He Lou Wuji and the two of you, a total of five people agreed to make decisions, and more than half of them can be implemented, you don't have to ask me about everything, but there is a principle that the five of you must remember for me." ”

Pei Mingyuan and Luo Guangzheng stood up together, bowed down and said, "Please command!" ”

Zhang Huan looked into the eyes of the two and said word by word: "The founder of the country is people-oriented." ”

Early the next morning, Pei Mingyuan and Luo Guangzheng left Yiwu and returned to the east, Zhang Huan did not go to see them off, he came to a training ground three miles away from the barracks before dawn, and today, he was going to test his Thunderbolt chariot here.

The training ground covers an area of dozens of hectares and is surrounded by mountains on three sides, and nearly 1,000 sentries patrol the mountains and miles away, prohibiting anyone from approaching it.

The training ground has been arranged, thousands of straw men and grass horses on both sides, simulating the enemy's cavalry group, this experiment has a total of 10 chariots and 1,000 cavalry to participate in the battle, each chariot is equipped with 25 people according to the standard, including two horsemen, 20 crossbowmen in the car, and three stone operators.

As the sky gradually brightened, a round of burning morning sun rose from the distant horizon, and Zhang Huan stood on a hill on the side, followed by dozens of senior officers.

"Let's get started!" Zhang Huan gave the order to start.

With a red flag waved, almost everyone's eyes were fixed on the entrance of the distant col, gradually, a slight sound of horses' hooves faintly came from afar, as the sound became louder and louder, more and more vibrating, began to have rolling yellow dust appeared, suddenly, at the entrance of the col suddenly appeared a black pressure team, hooves like thunder, is rushing to this side.

Getting closer and closer, Zhang Huan had already seen the formation clearly, ten chariots in the middle, like ten huge black worms, and a thousand cavalry guards on the periphery, rushing to a hundred steps away from the straw men and horses.

The arrows in the chariot rained down, and the dense crossbow arrows were woven into a net of arrows, which shot over the top of the cavalry and shot at the grass men and horses, and they were instantly full of arrows, boom! With a sound on the ground, several black porcelain balls flew out of the carriage, crossed an arc, and fell into the straw men and horses two hundred steps away, and suddenly exploded, in the valley, the explosion sound was even more earth-shattering, and a red flame suddenly engulfed hundreds of straw people and horses.

However, the horses of the thousand-man pro-army were also frightened, neighing and running in all directions, and many cavalrymen also fell from their horses and were injured, which was an accident.

On the hill, Zhang Huan shook his head gently, he felt that it was not very suitable for the chariot to cooperate with the cavalry team, not to mention that the war horse was frightened, and the arrows were easy to injure his own people by mistake, so he might need to change his thinking.