At the end of May of the third year of the Apocalypse, the Western Expeditionary Group Army of the Tiance Army and the 200,000 Uighur allied troops outside Ganzhou City for most of the day, after dividing their troops to break through Ganzhou, the old nest of the Uighurs, caused great confusion among the Uighur troops on the front line, and they were out of control. Subsequently, the Uighur leader Pang Teqin decisively led his troops to break through to the west, and after a day and a night of uninterrupted pursuit, the Tiance army pursued to the border of Suzhou before slowly withdrawing its troops. Compared with the decisive breakthrough of the Uighurs, the 100,000 cavalry of the three tribes of the Tatars were almost completely annihilated, and after the eastern front was directly defeated by the heavy cavalry battalion, the Da Tan people in the middle line were also blocked, and then almost all of them were wiped out, only part of the cavalry against the Modao battalion escaped, and after entering the grassland, the Tiance army was invincible. At this point, the first phase of the Tiance Army's westward expedition was basically over, and Wan Yi's army entered Ganzhou and began to occupy the first stronghold in and out of Anxi.

At this time, the Guiyi army, which had been cowering aside to watch the excitement, suddenly sent troops to Shazhou, and the vanguard crossed the border of Suzhou to enter the Longjia territory when the Tiance army was in the middle of the Ganzhou War, and then joined forces with the fleeing Uighurs, so that the first hostile separatist force of the Western Expedition began to block the way of Wan Yi and others.

However, Wan Yi, who had completed the first phase of the task at this time, did not have the idea of entering Suzhou for the time being, but on the contrary, Zhang Sheng, who tried his best to absorb Han descendants in Suzhou to expand the Anxi camp, was transferred back to Ganzhou, making a look of rest and rest.

And with Ganzhou being taken, a team of red feather messengers Pegasus traveled through thousands of mountains and rivers from Ganzhou day and night towards the base camp Chang'an, and at the beginning of June of the third year of the Apocalypse, the General Staff and Xuan Yingwei received the battle report from the Anxi front at the same time, and the movement of the Guiyi Army was also sent to Chang'an Li Xuanqing's case by Wan Yi.

At the same time, the Yelu family also sent a piece of information to the Hexi side, which gave a great shock to the General Staff, and the Cao family in Guazhou, which had always been a balance between officials and businessmen, began to officially intervene in the high-level competition of the Guiyi Army.

"Is this Guiyi Army looking for death, isn't it obvious that they want to compete with the central power when they participate at this time?" In the Changqing Palace, Hu Xiaosi looked at the intelligence and said indignantly: "If you want me to see it, let's not think about how to disintegrate and persuade the Guiyi Army to do it anyway." These guys are used to being the emperor of the soil in the Western Regions, a group of rat-eyed people, it is not worth our hard work to persuade them, and they will go directly to the army to fight down, I want to see what they have in their heads. ”

Compared with Hu Xiaosi's anger, Xu Tianxiang was surprised by the information sent by the Yelu family, although Xuan Yingwei's investigation of the Cao family was already a member of the Guiyi Army, he had always been in control of commerce and trade, and his status in the Guiyi Army was not high. Could it be that the repeated turmoil of the Guiyi Army made these guys plan to participate in it?

"Your Majesty, I think the Guiyi Army's movement will be the Cao family's ghost in it? After all, Zhang Chaofeng, who is now in power, is a descendant of Zhang Yichao back then, so he can't be so ignorant of current affairs, right? Cen Tianshi hurried over to read the battle reports and intelligence sent from the front line, pondering for a while.

"The cabinet went to inform Tuoba Sizhi to rush to Ganzhou as soon as possible to take over the local affairs, and also informed the Yelu family that the Uighurs were originally their fellow clansmen, and let them take charge of pacifying the ordinary Uighurs in Ganzhou, and some of them would migrate to Hexi, and some of them would be resettled on the spot." After Li Xuanqing was silent for a long time, he suddenly asked Cen Tianshi to grasp the government affairs in the rear, so that several people present saw the signs, Yang Tiancheng and Wang Houchun glanced at each other, and said: "What does the emperor mean, we don't have to pay attention to the movements of the Guiyi Army?" ”

"It's not up to us to ignore it." Li Xuanqing was also depressed about the Guiyi Army, and originally thought that it should not be a problem to subdue the Guiyi Army, after all, he occupied the righteousness of the Central Dynasty, but he didn't expect it to be the current ending, but Li Xuanqing's words reminded Cen Tianshi of something, and said with a wry smile: "The emperor didn't say that the Zhang Yichao incident made the Guiyi Army suspicious of us today?" ”

"I don't think it's suspicious, but I don't believe us at all, after all, it was a fact that the Tang Dynasty court put Zhang Yichao under house arrest." Wang Houchun said: "Although we have put forward the guarantee conditions now, it is enough for these people to suffer some losses once." I think this should also be the Cao family's thoughts. ”

"That's not right, if the Cao family's mind is this, they can persuade Zhang Chaofeng to surrender to Cheng, in this case, Zhang Chaofeng, the leader of the Guiyi Army, will inevitably be summoned by us to Ruchao, wouldn't it be more convenient for this guy to come to power?" Wang Houchun's words couldn't dispel Hu Xiaosi's doubts.

"The problem is here, if we didn't wave the army to fight over, then the Cao family must have this mind, but if the army has arrived in Ganzhou today, as long as Suzhou is taken, then it will directly clash with the Guiyi army, and looking at our posture, it is obviously towards Anxi, and more than a dozen states such as Shazhou and Guazhou occupied by the Guiyi army are the only way, so the Cao family can't use the trick of borrowing a knife to kill people this time. So instead of being persuaded by us, it is better to fight a battle at least have a chance. Cen Tianshi's words made Li Xuanqing startled, and suddenly remembered something, and directly ordered: "Xuan Yingwei immediately sent a special person to Ganzhou, secretly interspersed in Guazhou, and found a way to find a way to find out the movements of the Cao family as soon as possible, and told Wan Yi that the Cao family may be playing with a knife to kill people." ”

"Borrowing a knife to kill someone?" Xu Tianxiang couldn't sit still when he heard this, so he hurriedly stood up and asked, "What does the emperor mean, is it possible that the Cao family will bring in the Gaochang Uighurs to intervene?" Isn't this playing with fire and self-immolation? You must know that the strength of the Gaochang Uighurs is not at all something that their Guiyi army can resist, is it possible that his Cao family is crazy to lure wolves into the house? ”

"I just felt uneasy. The General Staff immediately ordered Li Tianyi and Qian Ning in Lingzhou to immediately enter Hexi, and then the military supplies and troops escorted by the logistics department set off together to form a second route reinforcement army under Wan Yi's control. Tell him not to worry about the front-line negotiations when necessary, and go directly to war to take the Guiyi army. Otherwise, I am afraid that the entire Anxi will move, and the pressure we face will increase suddenly. Li Xuanqing's words made everyone feel the thorniness of the Cao family, as a family in charge of the trade in the territory of the Guiyi Army, it must be inextricably linked with Gaochang and the Anxi Uighurs, but I am afraid that when the time comes, I will really be able to mobilize their troops and horses to the east.

"If this is the case, I am afraid that Zhang Chaofeng will be bad, the main force of the Guiyi Army will go east, and the rear will definitely be empty, in case the Cao family and the Gaochang Uighurs have any deals, I am afraid that in an instant, none of the high-level leaders of the Guiyi Army in Guazhou will be able to escape. The Cao family will inevitably follow the foreign forces to the throne in one fell swoop. Hu Xiaosi thought down Li Xuanqing's train of thought, and suddenly couldn't sit still.

"Your Majesty, in this case, I am afraid that the situation in Anxi will be disrupted by the Cao family, and the plan for the western expedition we made before will be changed accordingly. Faced with the fire of the entire Anxi Uighurs at once, I am afraid that the Western Expedition Group Army will not be able to withstand the pressure at that time, after all, these two parts together are only afraid of hundreds of thousands of people. Wang Houchun was a little worried: "The Cao family must have leaked all of our plans to recover Anxi, even if Wan Yi stopped his army in Ganzhou at that time, it would make the Uighurs feel the pressure of the army, so they will join forces against us." ”

"Let Chen Fan send three corps from the north to concentrate on training, and if necessary, march directly from the grassland, so that he can attack their flanks from the grassland when the Gaochang Uighurs advance eastward, and relieve the pressure on Wan Yi." Li Xuanqing said the plan for the third reinforcement he had thought of before.

"Go and inform the Logistics Department and the National Guard that the main company has been built, and the railway must be repaired to Liangzhou by the end of June." The change in the situation at the front made everyone present feel a sense of urgency. Li Xuanqing's words once again reminded everyone that the Northwest Expedition relied not on troops, but on logistics. To be honest, even if the current strength of the front line is smooth logistics, it will be enough to fight Anxi, and it will take a little longer, after all, the war potential of the Central Plains is far stronger than that of Anxi, and the Anxi army was so strong back then, wasn't it because it lost the support of the Central Plains and was finally eaten away by the Tubo people little by little?

"Please rest assured, the emperor will let the Ministry of Construction send a special person to Helan Mountain after I will ensure that it will be opened to Liangzhou before the end of the month, and the follow-up railway will also transport materials to Hexi as soon as possible after Helan Mountain is opened." In fact, many railway lines in Hexi have already been laid, but it is too difficult to transport these steel rails, cement and other materials from the mainland, and the limited road and transportation resources have to give way to the transportation of strategic materials, so it will be much slower. At the same time, even the railway line from Fengzhou to Tianjin, which started late, has now been laid to the city of Dongshou.

When the Chang'an base camp was discussing how to deal with the overall battle situation caused by the Guiyi Army's eastward advance, Wan Yi, who was on the front line, was in a hurry for the first time, and all the high-level generals notified the matter and studied countermeasures. For Wan Yi and others, taking Ganzhou means that the first phase of the mission has ended, and they can rest in place. The plan for the Western Expedition was originally completed in stages, at least the first stage did not destroy the follow-up plan, but the unexpected entry of the Guiyi Army meant that the second phase of the strategic task was much more difficult to carry out. Wan Yi also thought of the situation that was guessing at the base camp, so after saying that the Guiyi Army was advancing eastward, the entire tent became extremely quiet. Chief of Staff Liu Xuan spread out a large battle map and marked the movements of the Guiyi Army and said: "According to Xuan Yingwei's intelligence, as of today, that is, May 29, the Guiyi Army has gathered nearly 100,000 troops to enter Suzhou, accompanied by the remnants of the Longjia Army that were scattered by General Shi at Yumen Pass. In view of the fact that the Long family was originally a force that broke away from the Guiyi army, and under the pressure of our army, the two are likely to merge, if we add the Uighur fleeing people, I am afraid that our army in Suzhou will face no less than 200,000 opponents, and this is not counting the follow-up men and horses of the Guiyi army. According to Xuan Yingwei's investigation, the regular troops of the Guiyi Army should be around 150,000, but there are still a lot of mercenaries in the territory, and these people are outlaws who can make them obey their orders if they are paid. Our army has just experienced a major battle, there are many casualties, and the soldiers are tired and in urgent need of rest, and we cannot do anything to deal with the confluence of the other side in the short term. ”

Liu Xuan's words made Xue Wanli and the others change their faces, a few days ago in the battle of Ganzhou, although the frontal corps was not broken through, but in the face of the impact of the 200,000 army, thousands of people were killed in the frontline position, these people were injured by arrows when the Uighur cavalry rushed to the front of the formation, plus part of the position was broken in by the cavalry, the Tiance army of 150,000 after such a long period of consumption only 130,000 people left, and they were all tired.

"I have informed the deputy prime minister to come to Ganzhou as soon as possible to take over the government affairs, and the logistics department will also send supplies, and increase the configuration of mechanical crossbows and artillery, so it will be relatively easy for us to fight in the future." Wan Yi waved his hand and said: "And according to the plan of the General Staff, after the completion of the first phase of the task, the second route reinforcements from Lingzhou will also enter Hexi to join us." So you don't have to worry, the purpose of my convening today is not to say this, but to return to the righteous army's eastward march for fear that it will lead to a change in our entire plan for the westward expedition, so don't leave Ganzhou until the order from the General Staff comes down. After Wan Yi said this, he looked at Su Xiaohu and said: "Except for the Flying Eagle Brigade, you will enter Suzhou immediately after you replenish, and the combat mission and goal will be determined by yourself, and you can play freely while cooperating with Xuan Yingwei, without scruples, but there is one point, during the period when our army has not left Ganzhou, no spies from Suzhou are allowed to enter Ganzhou, and the news must be completely blocked." ”

Originally, Wan Yi's words made Su Xiaohu smile, for a special combat team like them, deciding that the combat goal is the favorite task, unrestrained and free, but the last sentence obviously made Su Xiaohu hear a different meaning, and immediately understood Wan Yi's thoughts, and hurriedly nodded and took the order.

After instructing Su Xiaohu, Wan Yi began to assign other generals tasks, Liu Xuan and Li Lisan, two staff officers, took over the government affairs of Ganzhou before Tuoba thought about the future, although Ganzhou was killed by the army and the blood flowed, but it was finally taken, and compared to more than 100,000 people, it still needs to be appeased. When Tuoba Siji was still dealing with government affairs near Huqiu Pass, he could only teach them to collect military supplies and money and food.

Wan Yi's side decisively stopped, and the speed of the base camp was also very fast, the General Staff immediately notified Qian Ning and Li Tianyi to lead their troops into Hexi, and Chen Fan also received an order a few days later, mobilizing three corps headed by Liu Baoliang and Gao Siji to quickly assemble in Fengzhou, mobilize materials and training personnel to prepare for the expedition. The order sent to the northwest in the morning was conveyed to Tuoba Sizhi and Wan Yi day and night, and the latest orders and the General Staff's judgment on the battle situation and response plan were all sent to the front line.

In Hexi Province, with the arrival of the second army of the Tiance Army, the people of Liangzhou once again gathered outside the city to bid farewell to the soldiers of the Han family who went on an expedition outside the Saiwai, and the tune of Yangguan Sandi moved the soldiers of the Tiance Army to sing war songs and embark on the journey. As they moved away, the Northwest War was once again gaining momentum.

"Big brother, how about we go to Lingzhou tomorrow?" When Li Xuanqing looked at the northwest, Qiaoxi walked over and said softly. Hearing Qiaoxi's soft voice, Li Xuanqing turned around and smiled, and said, "We won't fail this time." ”