On March 15, the fourth year of the Apocalypse, when the Central Plains returned to the earth in the early stage of the Spring Return, the Flying Eagle and the General Staff Western Expeditionary Army Headquarters jointly arranged for more than five months, and all the strategic plans for the anti-Tang alliance advocated by Cao Rengui surfaced. After Xue Yang's Third Corps led the army to cross the snowy plateau and the Kunlun Mountains for thousands of miles, and entered Khotan, cooperated with Xuanyingwei to completely eliminate all the anti-Tang forces in Khotan, the whole plan began to center along the sandbar where Wang Houchun was located, and put all the large and small forces in Anxi on the chessboard of the Tiance Army. And in fact, when Cao Rengui led his army to besiege Shazhou City without knowing that his back had quietly changed color in Khotan, the Tang Dynasty's control of Anxi had already begun, and the anti-Tang alliance in the Western Regions, represented by the two Uighurs, had unconsciously begun to move around the baton of the Tiance Army, even if they were not careless in Yizhou, they had no chance of winning this battle. Wang Houchun still did not use Wan Yi's rear hand deployed in Suzhou at the most critical moment, which shows that the two highest-ranking generals of the Northwest Tiance Army have laid the most solid foundation for this battle from two aspects: one positive and one negative. And Cao Rengui was captured by Xue Yang near Shicheng with his troops, which also means that the initiator of the anti-Tang alliance has also become the final mourner, and the defeat of the Guiyi Army and Cao Rengui has made the anti-Tang alliance lose the strength to contain the strength and energy of the Tiance Army from the Southern Silk Road, that is to say, after the Tiance Army opened up to Khotan, it already had the basis for outflanking the two Uighurs from the east and west, and the strategic position of the two sides was completely rewritten, and the attack and defense were changed. After the Battle of Shazhou, regardless of the Uighurs' next moves, the Celestial Army would move into a strategic offensive. However, with the support of endless materials and manpower at the end of the Tang Dynasty's economic recovery, the anti-Tang forces in Anxi, represented by the Uighurs, began to decline day by day.

On the Shazhou side, Wang Houchun gathered the forces of all parties and re-occupied the vast Anxi area between the surrounding area of Boxian Town and Khotan, which Xue Yang had not spent much energy in order to save time in the early stage, and urgently dispatched three National Guard battalions in the rear to cooperate with the civil affairs officials prepared by Tuoba Sizhi to receive it. After repairing for three days, the Modao battalion began to pull out the camp and set off to rush back to Yizhou, preparing to participate in the subsequent siege battle.

"Minister." Xue Yang stood in front of Wang Houchun and saluted respectfully, with a trace of excitement and indescribable excitement on his face. Xue Yangneng benefited from Wang Houchun's trust and decentralization of power to him back then, and after he was transferred from Yuanzhou to the Central Plains to serve as the general system of the Cangzhou Corps, he handed over the third battalion in his hand to the most elite elite troops that are now as famous as today's army. It is precisely because of this that Xue Yang has repeatedly performed miraculous feats in the many major battles that have recovered Jiangnan and marched into the southwest, and has become the most outstanding young general trained by the Tiance Army since its formation.

"It's hard work, this time I ran more than 10,000 miles." Wang Houchun patted Xue Yang's shoulder, and the two said as they walked: "The war in the northwest is about to end, I think you are going to the Tibetan plateau again, right?" "When Wang Houchun came to the northwest, the General Staff was actually already planning a campaign to enter Tibet. And Xue Yang's Third Corps was almost the first choice to enter Tibet because it was stationed on the border between the southwest and Tibet all the year round. If it weren't for the fact that this 10,000-mile rush cavalry corps could not be qualified for mountain marching, and could only transfer the third battalion, the fastest infantry and the best at marching and fighting on the plateau, perhaps Xue Yang would have been in Tibet.

"It is Xue Yang's honor to be able to cooperate with the minister. Will the minister return to the General Staff after this war? Xue Yang nodded, in front of his old boss, he was not the general system of the Third Corps, but he became a slightly nervous subordinate, but after the Battle of Shazhou, Wang Houchun's mission has also been completed, and the Western Expeditionary Army can be handed over to Wan Yi's command, and it is easy to add a commander to order multiple doors, although the Tiance Army does not have much faction under Li Xuanqing's integration, Wang Houchun and Wan Yi themselves are also very good personal friends, but after all, everyone has a different understanding of tactics and command style, Therefore, after Wang Houchun gave detailed play to the general staff of the battle situation on Shazhou, Li Xuanqing had actually asked Xu Tianxiang to order Wang Houchun to immediately return to the general staff to assist Yang Tiancheng in planning the upcoming joint operation of sea and land to recover Liuqiu.

"I guess the emperor's order is already on the way. However, it will have to wait for the civil affairs officials arranged by the cabinet and the deputy prime minister to be in place. Wang Houchun took Xue Yang towards Tuoba Siji's residence, and said with a smile: "Zhang Sheng has already started to attack on Khotan's side, and I need to wait until they finish changing clothes to replace Xu Ying before leaving." "On the Khotanese side, although Xu Ying relied on the strength of the mountain camp to block the secret guard, temporarily maintain the internal stability of Khotan, and also isolate the revenge of the Safarid Dynasty, but half of March has passed, and it is difficult to guarantee that the other party will not take action. Therefore, the immediate priority of the Western Expeditionary Army was to take Yizhou and completely sweep away the Uighurs of Gaochang. Wang Houchun, on the other hand, needed to integrate the forces of the southern front as soon as possible, and hold Khotan while the main force of the Tiance Army on the northern front let go of the battle, and protect this advancing outpost in Anxi.

"Khotan has established a separate province, and the deputy prime minister is already arranging manpower, and the vast area near Boxian Town will become Anxi Province, but it needs to wait until the later territory is complete." Wang Houchun smiled: "Do you plan to wait for Xu Ying to come back to Hexi together or not wait for him?" "Xu Ying is estimated to have no way to withdraw from the protection of secrets in the short term, at least until Wang Houchun fully assesses the true combat strength of the Anxi Corps, Xu Ying's mountain battalion is the only elite unit of the Tiance Army in Khotan.

"I listen to the minister." Xue Yang also knew that Wang Houchun didn't really ask for his own intentions, and the decision on when Xu Ying's side would return to the building was not in his own hands, although the Third Corps might be dismantled because of this, but in the face of the interests of the empire, this was not a problem.

"The climate in Tibet is comparable to that in the northwest, and it can even be said to be worse, you have been running non-stop for almost more than a month, withdraw to Hexi for a little rest, and the specific arrangements will always contact you directly when the time comes." Wang Houchun nodded and pulled Xue Yang into Tuoba Siji's residence, and when he saw that the deputy prime minister had just walked out of the courtyard, he immediately smiled and said, "The deputy prime minister is well, I've been tired these days."

"Come less, you won't bring Xue Yang here, I'll tell me these nonsense, right?" Tuoba Si Ji rolled his eyes at Wang Houchun, these days, he is engaged in civil affairs and follows Wang Houchun and they supervise the war in Shazhou City every day, which is not easy to win, and it is necessary to arrange manpower with Yang Yi in time to take over the huge territory of the army, especially on the side of Khotan, but the big country in the Western Regions with a radius of nearly a thousand miles has been forced into his own hands, although the cabinet has transferred a large number of officials, in order to ensure the needs of the front line, almost all the adjutants at the state and county level on the Hexi side have been sent over, But Tuoba still felt a headache. Only then did he discuss with Yang Yi that the two ministries would be jointly signed first, and then slowly transformed, and as soon as he came out, he was ridiculed by this guy, so he rolled his eyes and rolled back. At this moment, Wang Houchun is the most idle person, he doesn't want to ask about the military arrangements near the sandbank, the Modao Battalion has returned to the front line, with Xue Yang here, the Third Corps will handle the follow-up chores by itself, and the commander of the Flying Eagle Brigade, Su Xiaohu, is here, so naturally Wang Houchun doesn't need to worry about it, Xuan Yingwei's side has always been independent of the military and political system. That's why this deputy head of the war department has the leisure to bring his old subordinates down to his own place.

"Nonsense, I'm here to do business with you, what about Yang Yi? Before I came, the guards told me that he was with you. Wang Houchun didn't mean to be angry at all about Tuoba Si's eyes, but said seriously that he was down to business, and asked where Yang Yi was. This time, Tuoba Si was stunned, and hurriedly asked the guards around him to find Yang Yi and take the two to the main hall.

"For the sake of you having something to say, come and taste this Dongting tea brought to me by the Murong family." Tuoba Sijian poured a cup of tea for the two of them and said with a smile: "This Junshan silver needle was fried by the tea factory built by the emperor before the queen, and it took me a lot of effort to get it, and today it is cheaper for you." ”

Wang Houchun is not so obsessed with tea, but good tea is still based on the principle of drinking if you can, so after taking Xue Yang to drink a cup of beauty that is not polite at all, he put down the tea cup and coughed and smiled: "Deputy Prime Minister, your tea has been drunk, I will talk about the situation and talk about the matter in Khotan." Yang Yi is here, sit down. As soon as Wang Houchun opened his mouth, he saw Yang Yi hurrying to arrive, and immediately smiled: "It just so happens that this matter is good after Xue Yang has not yet settled." ”

"First of all, regardless of whether Cao Rengui will be subdued by us or not, the Guiyi Army has been swept into the dust of history by us since then, and the last feudal town of the Han people in the northwest who deviated from my Tang Dynasty has disappeared, which means that my Datang will completely unify the hearts of the people in the next time." Wang Houchun talked about civil affairs at this moment, and before Tuoba Sizhi could react, he continued: "And after the early combing, in fact, the area near Boxian Town has been continuously attacked by the Flying Eagle Brigade for more than a month, and basically those dissident elements have been swept away, and the rest rely on the National Guard to maintain order, and your civil affairs have been able to slowly deploy and incorporate them into the territory of the empire." The focus I want to talk about today is Khotan, which is also the most important place on the Northwest-Central and South-Central Silk Road. ”

"Because after the Battle of Shazhou, the position between us and the Uighurs has been reversed, originally we were in a strategic disadvantageous position because of the long logistics line and the labor expedition, but at this time, after the troops were annihilated by us on a large scale, we have slowly turned the situation back, especially Khotan was taken by us, although it may be necessary to face the attack of the Saffar Dynasty and the Samanid Dynasty, but after occupying Khotan, we actually occupy the active position of the entire Anxi strategy. As long as we maintain an army of about 50,000 people in Khotan, we will be able to deter the surrounding tribes and make them dare not move, so that the main force of our Western Expeditionary Army can safely sweep all the way from Yizhou to Shule and complete the strategic task of outflanking the east and west. Therefore, how to maintain a stable Khotan is very important. Wang Houchun said the change in the strategic position of the two sides brought about by the fading strength of the enemy and us after the Battle of Shazhou, and pointed to the position of Khotan, and said with a serious expression: "Now there is a battalion of elite troops in Khotan, plus 50,000 people in the Anxi Corps led by Zhang Sheng, the strength is enough, but the Anxi Corps has just been formed, and it has not yet been redressed. However, compared with military politics, civil affairs is the most complicated and difficult. Wang Houchun did not continue to talk about the military and political affairs, in fact, the political pattern of the separation of the military and the government was established by Li Xuanqing so far, the people of the military and political systems basically will not interfere in each other's affairs, and even if they help, they will only assist, and will not play a leading role. However, Wang Houchun talked about the civil affairs of Khotan at this time, and also brought Xue Yang over, and immediately let Tuoba Sizhi understand what the other party meant. Because Xue Yang and Qin Kong, who was about to return, were both people who had an intuitive understanding of the internal situation in Khotan, their opinions would have important reference value for the next Tuoba Sizhi to sort out and settle in Khotan.

"Qin Kong's side still needs to wait for a while, and they have something on the Xuanying Guard's side that can't come over for the time being." Wang Houchun mentioned Qin Kong and then turned his head and said, "Xue Yang, tell me what you know." "Qin Kong's side needs to arrange secret guards in advance to collect intelligence from places such as Safar and Saman and arrange a network of secret guards, so he can't come in a short time.

Xue Yang nodded, and began to talk about the specific situation in Khotan, and focused on the influence of Wuxin and others in Khotan before and Li Yang's solution to Wuxin and others, and reported that he had explained to Zhang Sheng before setting off to solve the matter of dividing the internal army in Khotan.

"Therefore, I suggest that after the National Guard is stationed, find a way to convert all the remaining Khotanese troops that have not been divided and dispersed into construction corps on the spot, on the one hand, to collect the young and middle-aged population living in Khotan, and on the other hand, to control these people and quickly carry out reforms to prevent them from being used by others." After Xue Yang introduced the basic situation, he saw Wang Houchun nodding and continued: "As long as we control the population, we will be able to stabilize the situation in Khotan. After all, compared with other places, Buddhism is prevalent in Khotan, so the ordinary people are not as aggressive as other tribes, and the Tang Yan is that Khotan is more widely passed, and the identification with my Tang Dynasty is also stronger than that of other tribes, at least our Tiance army walked on the streets of the capital of Khotan, and those people were not surprised. ”

"I have already informed the base camp to properly deal with Wuxin and his party, and it is best for the cabinet to organize the establishment of the religious association that the emperor said last time, and let Wuxin and their Buddhist people preside over it." After listening to Xue Yang's introduction and suggestions, Tuoba Si said thoughtfully.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of this." Yang Yi still didn't say anything as always, but there was still a trace of inexplicable brilliance in his eyes. He is a descendant of the Anxi Army, and he is about to enter Anxi at this time, even if Yang Yi is not as persistent as Shi Jian, but he is still inexplicably fascinated by the achievements of his ancestors back then.