Chai Jia and Tuoba Sijian teamed up to carry out a large-scale sweep of the entire Anxi throughout September, more than 200,000 troops cooperated with the National Guard to grate the entire northwest of Anxi like a grate, except for the side of Blackwater City, the entire Shuanghe Governor's Mansion was trembling with the shock of the Tiance army, and because Tuoba Siji swept to the shore of Lake Atami before, the Turgish tribe in Shuanghe even became the focus of the attack, and those large and small tribes who refused to surrender were ruthlessly exterminated in this military operation. In order to pursue speed, the generals of the corps such as Shi Jian and Hamoud let the civil affairs side take over the winter deployment as soon as possible, and the rebellious tribes did not ask any questions about the rebellion, and directly exterminated the rebel strength, and the remaining tribes and tribes were even directly escorted by the National Guard to several large cities in the rear in the name of prisoners of war for long winter labor. The cabinet used the train to bring a large number of factories and machines from the west side of the river, and opened textile mills, meat processing factories and some mining factories in the northwest according to local conditions, most of these factories can be completed indoors except mining, so this large number of prisoners of war in addition to braving the cold to build roads in winter is to build factories and pave special roads in the newly opened or exclusive industrial parks outside the city, so as to drive the surrounding major military towns to gradually return to normal. Moreover, the railway on the other side of the sandbank is also moving along the northern route of the Silk Road to Jiaohe City. Zhang Quanfu picked up the useless desert sand control method that was thoughtful last time, and even a few of them were transferred to the Ministry of Water Resources and Environmental Protection to be responsible for the sand control work of the desert railway line. For those places where water sources could not be found, a grid of sand barriers was built with grass stalks and tree branches to intercept the erosion of quicksand on the railway line. Relying on these methods, the Northwest Railway Line began to pass through Yizhou with difficulty from the sandbank, and gradually arrived at Jiaohe City, thus relying on military means to drive the railway to continue to extend forward, and the new Silk Road gradually formed a transportation line across the entire Tang Empire, from the distant Bohai Bay, Tianjin Port, all the way through the northern land, through the entire northern economic belt, to Lingzhou, and then crossed the Helan Mountain into the Hexi Corridor, connecting the oasis grasslands in the northwest to reach the sandbank, and then gradually extended to the hinterland of Gaochang, The next step will be to start from Jiaohe City and continue west along the Silk Road. Under the requirements of strong military transportation, Datang took advantage of the vigorous development of the internal economy to continue to expand the market, and forcefully used prisoners of war and countless railway workers to open up this transportation channel. Now, with the imminent reunification of Anxi, the northwest, which has restored normal order, is gradually digesting a large number of newly produced industrial products in the hinterland, thus promoting the development of the hinterland market again. Moreover, the northwest is rich in natural resources, and a large number of mineral resources have begun to be transported to many urban areas in the northern industrial belt under the gradual exploration of the Ministry of Land and Resources, adding a fire to the economic development. It is precisely because of so many promoting effects that the development pace of the Yelu family among the six major families operating northwest commerce and trade has gradually caught up with the others, and even the speed is getting faster and faster, which is not inferior to the big family such as the Xu family and the Murong family to expand maritime trade, and it has also driven countless large and small industrial and commercial owners in Guanzhong and Hexi to develop together.

Because of this, the cabinet turned a blind eye to the difficulty and cost of the construction of the Northwest Railway, and instead allocated huge sums of money to increase support for the development of the Northwest Railway after the Eastern Expeditionary Army captured a huge treasury and transported it back to China. Even according to the ambition of the Railway Division, the plan is that wherever the army hits, the railway should be repaired, although Li Xuanqing finally blocked this radical plan, but according to the new strategic plan sent by the General Staff to the Western Expeditionary Army, the Ministry of National Defense and the General Staff have taken advantage of the winter to issue the latest order for troop transfer, the two behemoths of the personal guard battalion and the directly subordinate battalion converged, and the heavy cavalry battalion stationed in Hexi had received orders one after another, and immediately after the arrival of the Western Expeditionary Army's transfer order at the front, it would immediately go to the northwest front to replace the Modao battalion. The 11th Corps and the 19th Corps of Tuoba Siji. Even the General Staff asked the headquarters of the Western Expeditionary Army to transfer the Seventh Corps to the grassland for renovation in the winter if necessary. The three central garrison corps of the Tiance Army were transferred to the northwest together, so that the generals of the entire Tiance Army at the corps level were speculating that a large-scale march into the northwest was only afraid that it was really necessary to recover all the territories under the protection of the capital of Anxi back then. That huge land is so vast that it is even about the same as the current territory of the Tang Dynasty.

At the beginning of October of the fourth year of the Apocalypse, when Wan Yi received the new strategic tasks and troop transfers from the General Staff, Wan Yi arranged for the three main corps that needed to be renovated to withdraw one after another and start stationing and repairing nearby, and on the other hand, asked the Seventh Corps to immediately take over the Modao battalion and arrive in Andijan before the arrival of winter, and instructed Us'er to march into Broken Leaf City.

"Two marshals, to be honest, none of our staff officers think it's a good idea to recover the broken leaves in winter." Liu Xuan was a little opposed to this order, so he said with a wry smile while preparing to write an order for Wan Yi: "I heard before that it seems to have begun to snow on the Atami side, and after the Seventh Corps went to Andijan to take over the Modao battalion, I am afraid that it will be almost mid-October, and this is really a veritable cold winter in the northwest, and I am afraid that even if Wusi'er can win after the first battle, I am afraid that there will be a lot of losses." And speaking of which, I remembered that our heavy firearms mechanical crossbows were not very effective in the cold winter, simply put, the non-combat damage was relatively large, and I heard from the artillery that their commander-in-chief Su He had personally come to Anxi to prepare to see what the specific problems were. If we can't pull the mechanical crossbow to the front line at that time, let's fight this battle in someone's lair, I said, two marshals, do you see that Wu Si'er is not pleasing to him? ”

Liu Xuan's witty words made Wan Yi and Gao Siji laugh dumbly, and the latter shook his head and said: "It's not enough to send him, but I don't plan to let him complete this task alone, so you add a sentence to the order, let Hammud lead the Uighur Corps to set off at the right time and form the Northwest Front Command of the Western Expeditionary Army with the Seventh Corps, and Hammoud will have full authority to command the two corps to act in unison, and take Broken Leaf City for me before the end of October." After Gao Siji's words were finished, Wan Yi followed: "Because Hammud's side is temporarily serving as Shule's city defense force, the time to send troops is relatively late, and it will be necessary to wait until Tuoba Siji leads the army back from Hot Spring Pass before leaving." ”

Liu Xuan saw that Wan Yi and Gao Siji had the same mind and knew that they were afraid that the two had already been combined, so he no longer insisted on his opinion, and turned around and began to arrange the withdrawal order of the various units that had been renovated by the returning army, and some of the troops did not need to go through Shule to withdraw directly to Yanqi and other places, and immediately retreated to the Central Plains after the arrival of the rotating army.

As soon as Liu Xuan left, Gao Siji and Wan Yi began to stare at Broken Leaf City while discussing with each other about the affairs of Broken Leaf City. The two of them made such a deployment, in fact, there was also the intelligence basis of the previous Xuan Yingwei. Shattered Leaf City is different from Shule, where the city left behind by the Anxi army has already been destroyed in the previous wars. At that time, the Broken Leaf City was the seat of the Anxi Metropolitan Protector for a period of time, and the city built was of course not inferior to Shule Yanqi and other places, but it was precisely because it was the Anxi Metropolitan Protectorate, so it was also the first to bear the brunt of the turmoil of the year, after several wars, the city of that year was no longer there, only the ruins remained, and the fields and pastures left by the Han army had already been occupied by the Turgish. It's just that the Turkishes are typical nomads and don't know how to farm, so there is nothing left but the grasslands now. According to the news from Xuanyingwei, the center of the Turgish people has always been on the Shuanghe side, and although the Atami area is rich in water and grass, and cattle and sheep are everywhere, it has not been developed except for the last few years, so the foundation of the Turgish in the local area is relatively not solid. It's just that I'm afraid that there won't be a single Han person in Broken Leaf City today. After a hundred years of killing and oppression, the local Han people either changed their faces and became other ethnic groups, or they fled from Broken Leaf to other places. In fact, in addition to the Turkish, the majority of Broken Leaf City is now the Samanid and the blonde and blue-eyed tribes of the Celestial Sect, and even other nomadic tribes from the northern Qarluq.

Thinking that there was a holy place where poetry and immortals were born back then, but now it is difficult to find even a Han person, Wan Yi was depressed, and even the Flying Eagle Brigade went to a local place called Han Monument Valley, where according to the evidence found by the Flying Eagle Brigade, it was actually the place where the Han Xuanding Hu Monument was erected, but now it has become a prison for the Tuqi Shi people to raise slaves, and there is no Han person to be found there, nor can there be a person who speaks Tang Yan.

"Dashuai, I'm afraid that the Broken Leaf City side will be much more difficult than the place where we are currently located if we want to be included in the territory in the future." Obviously, what Wan Yi was worried about, Gao Siji also thought of it, a place that completely removed the Han people, and it can even be said that it was easy to conquer without the influence of the Tang Dynasty, but if you want to return to the point where you were back then, I am afraid that the road you have to take is too difficult. This is the reason why the General Staff had come to an abrupt end if the plan for the recovery of Anxi had only been achieved in Shule. Although the east of Shule was occupied by the Uighurs, relying on the influence of the Tang Dynasty over the past hundred years and the indomitable efforts of a group of Han people in the northwest such as the Guiyi Army, those people did not forget the Tang Dynasty and did not forget the magnificent history of the Anxi capital. But after Shule, I am afraid that in addition to the occasional remnants of the vast desert, almost everyone has forgotten the year and forgotten the history of the invincible Anxi army in the Western Regions.

"I'm afraid that it's not the death of broken leaves, but the death of the entire northwest of the Tang Dynasty. Brother Si, let's start the westward expedition from now on to be regarded as the real beginning. This is the reason why the emperor and the General Staff transferred all the three central garrison battalions to the northwest. Wan Yi sighed and said with a solemn face.

"I remember hearing the old man say in the early years that when the envoys sent by Guo Xin, the capital of Anxi during the Great Calendar, returned to Chang'an, almost everyone in the Manchu Dynasty wept bitterly when they heard their stories, and even several major festivals around Chang'an also wrote to the emperor that he was ready to send a force to Anxi, but then there was no follow-up. Now that I think about it, if I had sent an army from the grassland to join the Hui people to fight together, maybe we would have been able to help the Anxi left-behind legions back then, so that they would not have suffered so much. Gao Siji was a little embarrassed, obviously feeling the situation back then. However, Wan Yi didn't think much that even if he sent troops to Anxi back then, it would be useless, as long as the Hexi Corridor was not opened for a day, the land passage between the mainland of Datang and Anxi would not be able to provide substantial support for the Anxi army. In fact, Guo Xin and Li Yuanzhong stuck to Anxi for decades, and they didn't want to go east to the Hexi Corridor, but in the face of the situation that all sides are foreign races and enemies, it is impossible for them to abandon the only remaining Han blood in the Western Regions and go east alone, which is also one of the reasons why Guo Xin finally fought alone in Qiuzi City, they not only had to fight, but also to protect the Han people in the northwest and protect the last symbol of the Tang Dynasty in the northwest, so they would be constrained everywhere, pinned down everywhere, and unable to really let go of the opponent.

"Dashuai, is there a mature plan?" Gao Siji saw Wan Yi's eyes staring at Shattered Leaf City, knowing that the other party was thinking about the entire overall plan for the next step, so he asked.

Wan Yi nodded and shook his head again: "There is a plan, but at present, I am afraid that it will be difficult to implement, and it is necessary to communicate with the cabinet in advance." After Wan Yi finished speaking, he stared at Gao Siji and said, "Brother Siji, where do you think the most important place for my Tang Dynasty to recover the northwest?" Or what should we start with as the fundamental strategy? ”

"What does Da Shuai mean-" Gao Siji saw Wan Yi staring at Broken Leaf City, and immediately understood: "Da Shuai means to re-erect the majesty of the Tang Dynasty in the northwest, and to erect the spirit of the Tang Dynasty and the civilization of the Tang Dynasty. I understand, Dashuai is ready to use force to promote Tang Yan, right? ”

"I also understood one thing from the last time the Flying Eagle Brigade came back to say the news of the Han Xuanding Hu Monument, the reason why the northwest was able to be led by the Anxi Metropolitan Protector of such a large land and tribe back then, the most important point is that the Tang dialect is passed in the northwest, or those large and small tribes yearn for the Tang Dynasty, so they spontaneously strive to learn Tang Yan." Wan Yi sighed and said with a wry smile: "At the beginning, the emperor asked the Ministry of Education to force the education of Tang dialect and Chinese characters in the major tribes, but when I got here, I deeply felt that this single language and Chinese characters have become the best weapon for the stability and inheritance of the Tang civilization in the northwest, and it is even more powerful and durable than the muskets and cannons in the hands of our soldiers." ”

"Tang Yan? Chinese character? Gao Siji muttered a few words in his mouth and then suddenly laughed and said: "Dashuai is really a word to wake up the dreamer, I think I have been learning Tang dialect and Chinese characters since I was a child, in addition to the dialect of the Shatuo clan, I have never thought it is a big deal, but Dashuai mentioned me at this time and suddenly found that I am afraid that the sharpest weapon in this world is language and writing, and nothing can change their inheritance and promotion of my Tang civilization." ”

"Okay, Brother Si, go and watch Liu Xuan mobilize the troops, I'll go to the deputy prime minister, talk to the cabinet in advance and let him prepare to report to the emperor, the northwest, our Datang will come back after all." Wan Yi smiled when he saw Gao Siji understand.