"Big brother, are you worried about the Heavenly Sect?" Outside the Qianqiu Hall in Chang'an, Li Xuanqing watched Ruyan and Xiao Tianqi slowly walk towards the Furong Garden from the top of the Qujiang River in a painting boat, his face was calm like water, and Qiaoxi next to him walked over and sat beside him and asked. In Chang'an in July and August, it was already autumn, and some of the trees in the palace had begun to lose their leaves, but Li Xuanqing suddenly did not see it, and his mind drifted to the distant northwest desert.

"Others don't know, but you and I have both experienced it, we laid down the northwest in addition to recovering the homeland that haunted the soul, and also to guide our Chinese nation to go out and forge ahead. I don't hope that the northwest will become the source of the turmoil in the Tang Dynasty in the future, and consume the vitality of China out of thin air, otherwise I am afraid that we will become sinners of the nation. Li Xuanqing didn't joke, if the northwest became a battlefield where various religions fought endlessly because of the issue of the Heavenly Sect, then the trajectory of the Chinese nation that relied on Li Xuanqing and the two forcibly pulled back was afraid that it would return to the starting point again.

"So big brother, has you thought of any good ways these days?" Qiaoxi also remembered the pit in the later generations, isn't it in the west of today's Anxi? It was the home of three empires in a row, and it was the world's largest empire in the industrial age. And the most important point is that under the inheritance of generations of stubborn and extreme forces, terrorism has also originated here and then spread to all parts of the world, becoming one of the important factors in the turmoil of that world. At present, if the industrial scale established by his husband and wife falls into this pit a thousand years in advance, then I am afraid that I don't know how to die.

And the most terrible thing is that the Chinese nation itself does not like foreign expansion, if once it falls into this pit, then I am afraid that future generations will really propose to abandon the northwest. Is this even the idea of Di Renjie, the famous minister of Wu Zetian's era? And once the northwest is abandoned and the resources of this place are lost, what place should be expected to support the industrial age of the Chinese nation in the future?

"Don't worry, big brother, aren't there still Uighurs to support you? And once Anxi is recovered by us, we can take the way to drive the Tianfang Sect to the west, and then rely on the strong development of the mainland, it will soon radiate to the northwest, as long as the living standards of the people improve, then the culture of our Tang Dynasty will also be popularized in the Western Regions again, I believe that our Chinese civilization has been inherited for thousands of years, plus the insights of future generations brought by you and me, we can definitely not fall behind in the cultural confrontation. Qiaoxi leaned on Li Xuanqing and rubbed Li Xuanqing while recounting his thoughts: "So big brother don't worry, but shouldn't we prepare in advance?" Set up a special department to respond? ”

Li Xuanqing knew the method that Qiao Xi said, even if the Heavenly Fang Sect was a flood beast, it still had a way to resist it, and maybe it could even lead them to harm Europe. So Li Xuanqing patted Qiaoxi's fragrant shoulder, shook his head and said, "It's not necessary to set up a special department to deal with it for the time being." But coincidentally, do you say that the Uighurs have been infiltrated now? Anyway, Li Xuanqing's memory has been blurred a lot since he crossed over to the present, and he can't remember exactly when the Uighurs, that is, Anxi, were eroded by the Heavenly Sect, but according to the current strange situation on the front line, it is not clear that the Uighurs have really been infiltrated, at least some of them should have been infiltrated, otherwise the Celestial Sect would not have appeared on the sandbank unscrupulously. For this kind of strange regime, it cannot be inferred according to common sense, the Uighurs themselves have no cultural background, and when they encounter the Heavenly Sect again, they cannot stop it except for the leader's own courage. This is basically verified from the integration of the Han nationality after the successive ethnic minorities entered the Central Plains, and in the face of the dominant culture, those nomads have no power to resist. Therefore, Li Xuanqing can be sure that the Uighurs have little room to fight back against the cultural erosion of the Tianfang Sect.

Qiaoxi immediately understood, and said, "If that's the case, big brother, you have to go and remind them in advance, otherwise you will definitely suffer." And after thinking for a while, he said: "If this is the case, I will instruct them to make a batch of the latest machinery developed by the industrial group and send it to Hexi, so that the progress of the project may be faster." ”

Li Xuanqing nodded and said: "Don't worry about the things on the front line for the time being, Tiancheng, Houchun and Xiaosi have all passed, so many people are enough to deal with all emergencies." Even if the Uighurs were instigated by the Celestial Sect, there would be no problem. ”

"Since there is no problem at the front, isn't it time for the big brother to prepare for the wedding? Although according to the process passed down by the Department of Etiquette, the return of the emperor's concubine is not so troublesome, but the etiquette that should be taken still needs to be taken. Qiaoxi saw that there was no problem with Li Xuanqing's side and suddenly turned to this topic, and the word concubine made Li Xuanqing shudder, and couldn't help but turn his head to look at Qiaoxi and said: "I found that I seem to have done something wrong, what should I really not be a concubine." ”

"Big brother, I also have to think about it, Sister Feixue is alone, she has been following in our footsteps for so many years." Qiaoxi leaned on Li Xuanqing and broke his white and tender fingers and smiled seriously: "Okay, this matter is settled, I will take care of it, you can rest assured." ”

Looking at Qiaoxi's delicate face, Li Xuanqing also let go of the matter here, hugged Qiaoxi and stared at the map, and his mind suddenly drifted to the world of the golden iron horse in the northwest.

At this time, in the headquarters of the Western Expeditionary Army, Wan Yi was arranging for the forward troops to enter the boundary of Guazhou, but in the face of the iron bucket formation of the Shazhou and the Guazhou Guiyi Army, he gave up after thinking about it, and prepared to do his best to take Guazhou in advance, cut off the road for the Guiyi Army to advance eastward, and then pressure the main force of the Guiyi Army in the Shazhou area.

However, since Hu Xiaosi entered the sandbank, the accuracy and speed of Xuan Yingwei's news have improved a lot, although the Guiyi Army has very strict control over intelligence in the early stage, but in the face of Hu Xiaosi, an intelligence veteran, the information in hand is still transmitted to Wan Yi in time, but the information sent at this time is not Hu Xiaosi's handwriting, but Yang Tiancheng and the Flying Eagle Brigade. This group had already driven to the northwest border of the Guiyi Army, and happened to encounter the iron cavalry of the Gaochang Uighurs who had driven from Yizhou in the northwest. Facing the 100,000 elite Northwest Elite Cavalry, Yang Tiancheng retreated and hid in the desert, and then quickly sent a message to Wan Yi to get ready. After sending the information, Su Xiaohu's Flying Eagle Brigade immediately divided a team and galloped through the northern grasslands day and night to find Gao Siji's corps, which was the main purpose of Yang Tiancheng's trip.

In fact, it was this intelligence that made Wan Yi make up his mind, and the 200,000 army immediately set off from Suzhou, and the army attacked Guazhou, and the war burned to Guazhou on August 15, the third year of the Apocalypse, that is, the Mid-Autumn Festival. Guazhou has been an important military town in the northwest since ancient times, bearing the logistics of the northwest army entering and leaving Anxi, and it has always been a battleground for the use of troops in the northwest, so Wan Yi's trip was decided to use thunderous means to take Guazhou in one fell swoop, completely weakening the strength of the Guiyi army.

However, when Wan Yi had just arrived at the city of Guazhou, and had not even set up a large camp, Xuan Yingwei's hurried military intelligence came from the sandbank, and Zhang Chaofeng decided to ascend the throne as emperor in Shazhou on August 20, the third year of the Apocalypse, and established the "Jinshan Kingdom of the Western Han Dynasty", and at the same time announced an alliance with the Uighurs to jointly fight against the Tang Empire in the east.

"This Zhang Chaofeng, are you sure you're not crazy? At this time, when he ascended the throne and became the emperor, did he really think that our Datang would let him go? Originally, if you lose, you won't implicate your family, but now that it's okay, it is estimated that it will not only be a matter of death and annihilation. Tuoba Sijian sat in the big tent and shook his head as he looked at the information from Xuan Yingwei's side, he really couldn't figure this out.

"There's nothing wrong with Zhang Chaofeng's idea, it's just that the timing is wrong. To be precise, the time of our march interrupted all his deployments, and if he was given another year, then it was really possible for him to rely on the founding of the country to unite the hearts of the Han people in the northwest, integrate the northwest, and create a Jinshan country in the Western Han Dynasty. Wan Yi shook his head, he didn't want to delve into this point any further, anyway, if he called the emperor, he wouldn't fight, if he didn't call the emperor, wouldn't he fight? On the contrary, he frowned at the news from Yang Tiancheng, the Uighurs of Gaochang sent 100,000 troops, and Zhang Chaofeng's calculated move was really powerful, not only with the help of the hands of the Uighurs to achieve the goal of resisting the Tiance army, but also to take the opportunity to weaken the strength of the Uighurs. As long as this battle can be won, then his position can be consolidated in an instant.

"Marshal, in this battle, we are afraid that we will not be able to concentrate the main force to fight a field battle while attacking the city." Liu Xuan walked in and handed Wan Yi two pieces of information with a wry smile: "This Zhang Chaofeng has already asked Cao Rengui to lead the army to attack from Shazhou, and he will be able to reach the city of Guazhou in a few days. And now the most important thing is that General Gao Siji's corps has not yet arrived. ”

"Then concentrate your forces to defeat him all the way." Tuoba Sizhi is also a person who knows the soldiers, and naturally understands that if the opponent's three-way troops and horses come out together, he is afraid that the situation will be reversed rapidly, so he immediately suggested: "Why don't we take Guazhou in one fell swoop while the main forces of the other party's two roads have not yet arrived?" ”

Tuoba Si's suggestion made Wan Yi and Liu Xuan fall silent, and the benefits of taking Guazhou were naturally obvious, but once the other party arrived at the city, he would inevitably encircle himself, which was tantamount to giving the initiative to the opponent, and the supply of the Tiance army was also a problem, once the continuous supply of supplies in the rear was cut off by the Guiyi army and the Uighur army, wouldn't it be in a situation of fighting alone? So Wan Yi shook his head and said: "Guazhou City is dead, and the siege must be put to the end, especially in this situation, once we occupy Guazhou, then wait until the other party's iron arm is encircled, if we cooperate with the Guiyi Army to run Guazhou for many years, I am afraid that we will not be able to hold it for a day." Therefore, I intend to concentrate the main forces to move to the northwest of Guazhou by surprise first, and first attack the Gaochang Uighurs. ”

"Hit the Qocho Uighurs first?" Liu Xuan and Tuoba Siji walked to Wan Yi's side at once, only to hear the other party pointing to the northwest of Guazhou and said: "The topography of Guazhou is high in the south and low in the north, the south is a plain formed by the confluence of high mountains, the water source is abundant, and the north is the Gobi zone, what can be replenished is the Jiuquan River encountered by the champion Hou Xizheng that year, as long as we take the westernmost source of the Jiuquan River before the Uighurs arrive, then the Uighurs must fight us in advance in order to supply, and then we can create a local military advantage." Before the main force of the Guiyi army and the Uighurs converged, he took down the Uighur brigade in one fell swoop. ”

"And the most important thing is that the Uighurs do not know the reality of our army from afar, and in the face of this battle, they must also want to test the strength of our army, whether it is to send part of the army to explore the way or the whole army to press the whole army to complete the battle, we have the means to drag the battle directly to the final decisive stage." Wan Yi's eyes were blazing, and he pointed to the map.

Tuoba Si Ji frowned a little and said, "What if the speed of the Guiyi Army is advanced? Wouldn't our army still have to face the joint forces of the other side? But before he finished speaking, Liu Xuan continued: "In this case, we will have a decisive battle in advance, wouldn't we return to the starting point?" ”

"War never allows you to fight when you're ready. I think that Hou Chun, who is in Guazhou City at this time, will definitely find a way to hold back the Guiyi Army. Moreover, Zhang Chaofeng would not be of the same mind as the Uighurs, he made it clear that he wanted to use our hands to consume the Uighurs, and vice versa. Wan Yi waved his hand and said, "You go and inform Houchun and tell him about our plan, and he will cooperate." By the way, let Xiao Si find a way to find out when the Anxi Uighurs will send troops, I don't want us to finally fight with the Gaochang Uighurs, and the other side has another hole card in his hand. ”

"Do you mean to worry about this Uighur?" Liu Xuan also noticed that Wan Yi's eyes were always fixed on the territory of the Uighurs.

"According to the information gathered by Xuan Yingwei before, the two Uighurs of Gaochang and Anxi are said to be of the same ancestry, but they have actually gone their own way for a hundred years. The Gaochang Uighurs occupied the northern route of the Tianshan Mountains of the Silk Road, and the strength of the Qianli grassland was stronger than that of the Anxi Uighurs, but in recent years, the Anxi Uighurs have developed rapidly, and the relationship with the western Khotanese has tended to ease and has been supported by the Khotans, and they have been able to gain a foothold in the southern part of the desert and develop and grow. The relationship between the two is not so much a relationship between the same clan as a competitive relationship. Therefore, I suspect that since the Guiyi army was able to obtain the support of the Uighurs of Gaochang, they must have reached an agreement with the Anxi Uighurs, but because the relationship between the two is there, the troops must have been sent one after the other, and they were all watching each other's jokes. Wan Yi nodded. In fact, Wan Yi's speculation is basically true, the two Uighurs of Anxi and Gaochang have been divided since they migrated to the Western Regions, and after a hundred years of their own development, there have been major wars, and now there is not much friendship between the same clans.

"In that case, we can use it and break each one." Tuoba Si thought about it, nodded, and expressed support for Wan Yi's idea.

"The chief of staff immediately summoned the troops, and the troops began to march to the source of the Jiuquan River tonight, where the Uighurs awaited." Wan Yi asked Liu Xuan to go out immediately to give orders.