"Commander, fortunately, I am not dishonored. Hammud had already decided to surrender, and had given an account of the number and defense of the Uighur troops in Jiaohe City and Xizhou, as well as some specific matters concerning the royal court. On April 19, the fourth year of the Apocalypse, when the frontal corps of the Tiance Army was advancing towards Jiaohe City, Liu Xuan found Wan Yi and explained in detail how he persuaded Hammud to surrender, and handed the record of the conversation to Wan Yi and said: "Hammoud said that he had suggested that the Uighur court block all the oases and roads east of Xizhou, and if necessary, set up ambushes near various water sources or simply poison them, so as to ensure that our army could not obtain a stable supply of water during the march. ”

"This guy's trick is poisonous enough, if their royal court really has such courage and courage, then it will only be a great threat to our army." Wan Yi swept the records in his hand and said as he walked with Liu Xuan, "Is there any news from the Flying Eagle Brigade?" Didn't Su Xiaohu lead the team to enter the activities around Jiaohe City before? "After the merger of the headquarters of the Flying Eagle Brigade and the Third Brigade, Su Xiaohu trained and organized in Shazhou, in addition to sending two brigades to follow Xue Yang to Hexi to prepare to go to Tibet, most of the main forces under his own leadership entered the hinterland of the Gaochang Uighurs in the main force of the Western Expeditionary Army one step ahead, originally planning to explore the terrain of this generation in advance and see if he could kill the important generals of the other side before the battle, so as to prepare for the front of the army to sweep. That's why Wan Yi asked this question, if the Uighur royal court really adopted this method of clearing the wilderness, then the Flying Eagle Brigade of more than 3,000 people should not be unaware, after all, the northwest side is completely different from the interior of the Central Plains, most of them are deserts, or grassland areas, and cities and population gathering places can only rely on water sources to gather, so if the other party adopts this method, it will definitely show its feet, then Su Xiaohu will not be without news.

However, Liu Xuan shook his head and said: "At present, there is no important news from the Flying Eagle Brigade, but I have already asked Xuanyingwei to inform him, and in addition to Xuanyingwei's side will screen various water sources in front of the army to rule out the possibility of poisoning the other party, in addition, General Chai has sent an elite team with guides and some captives of the Uighur army to find those hidden water sources that are unknown to everyone, so as to ensure that our army can still have enough water supply after the water sources of the oases in front are poisoned." ”

"These are not enough, although our army is nominally a surprise attack on Jiaohe City this time, but the 100,000-strong army is marching forward with great fanfare, and the army led by Jiamu has fled into Xizhou before, so the Uighur royal court must be prepared for our march to the west, and they will carry out Hamoud's advice." Wan Yi said with a solemn expression: "The water source of the Northwest Expedition is the most important supply base, so in addition to the methods you mentioned, it is also necessary to urgently send a message to the Flying Eagle Brigade, so that they can put down the task in their hands and go all out to ensure that the oasis in front is not destroyed by the Uighurs, and also notify the logistics personnel to immediately transport water from the rear to the front line, our 100,000 army must not be careless, and we must be prepared for emergencies." "The more Wan Yi thinks about it, the more he feels that Hammoud's trick is poisonous enough, this is definitely a lose-lose fight, once the water source is destroyed, then it is not only the Tiance Army that is unlucky, but also those people who survive in the oasis suffer from the pond fish, so Wan Yi continued while letting Liu Xuan record: "At the same time, the whole army is ordered that from now on, the water source of the oasis along the line must be checked by the army doctor before drinking, and at the same time prepare water utensils to carry clean water, and tell the soldiers to reduce the daily drinking water by half, starting with us, Make sure you can't cut off the water before you arrive at Jiaohe City. ”

"Don't worry, I'll arrange it right away." Liu Xuan's face also became ugly, and he hurriedly went from Wan Yi's side to convey the general's orders to the troops, and began to use Xuan Yingwei's emergency contact means to find the Flying Eagle Brigade, so that Su Xiaohu could screen and intercept the possible actions of the Uighurs as soon as possible.

Although the Uighur court did not adopt Hammud's suggestion at first, it began to perceive the intentions of the Tiance army when Wan Yi's army bypassed Xizhou and urgently marched towards Jiaohe City, but it was too late at this time, and the strategy of the Tiance army had been converted into a yang plan at this time, although the Uighurs knew that the other party's idea was to besiege the location of the Jiaohe City royal court. But there was still no way, so he could only mobilize his army around the other party's baton and rush to the vicinity of Jiaohe City to fight a decisive battle with the Tiance army. It was only then that the Uighur leadership remembered Hamoud's previous proposal and eagerly began to drop poison within a radius of several dozen miles around the Tiance army camp. But at that time, the Tiance army had already been prepared, and most of the men and horses sent out to poison and destroy the water source were strangled by the solemn Flying Eagle Brigade, although some of the people who escaped by luck destroyed several river sources and underground springs, but at this time, Hamoud, who had really taken refuge, took the Tiance army to find another water source, which also opened another epoch-making project in the northwest region to promote and popularize in advance, and this matter will not be mentioned for the time being.

When Wan Yi and Liu Xuan urgently arranged this matter, the Modao Battalion and the Eleventh Corps had already arrived in Xizhou, and such a large-scale military operation naturally could not be concealed from Jiamu in Xizhou, but compared with Jiamu's urgent deployment of defense to prevent the Tiance Army from attacking the city on a large scale, Wan Yi at this time had already begun to mobilize the army to make a detour from the south of Xizhou, and bypassed the Xizhou defense center along the edge of the desert south of Xizhou and turned into the vicinity of Jiaohe City. Since Xizhou and even the vicinity of Jiaohe City rely on the snow water of the Tianshan Mountains as the main water source after melting, Wan Yi's previous practice of letting the soldiers of the whole army carry clean water has played a big role, which has basically been able to rely on the water source to camp in the northwest before, so there is no embarrassment of water shortage. But after surviving the journey without any oasis for three whole days, most of the Tiance army turned north again and turned north into the southern area of Jiaohe City, as it got closer and closer to the Tianshan Mountains, this narrow basin also began to have vitality, after April, the snow of the Tianshan Mountains melted one after another, and the desert gradually began to become a grassland to the north, and the tender green grass buds began to emerge gradually under the moisture of spring water, so that this basin really felt the breath of spring. And the Tiance army has also found a new water source for a long time, and the 100,000 army is almost cheering and drinking, with water there is vitality, which is a real empathy for all the soldiers of the 100,000 army.

After a day of good repair, the next day, that is, on the 23rd day of April in the fourth year of the Apocalypse, Wan Yi once again waved his army to the north to assault, and appeared in front of them before the Uighur royal court reacted. Jiaohe City is basically permeated with a peaceful atmosphere over the years because it is the royal court residence of the Uighurs of Gaochang, and many Uighur nobles have learned to settle down here, so the population of Jiaohe City, which can only accommodate 40,000 or 50,000 people, has skyrocketed to 70,000 or 80,000 in recent years, and there are many granges and pastures of Uighur nobles outside the city. In particular, in the north, near the foot of the Yumai Mountain of the Tianshan Mountains, there is a piece of Daze, which is the location of Lop Nur in later generations, which brought vitality and wealth to Xizhou and Jiaohe City, and also made this area a strategic place, as long as Gaochang was controlled, it was able to hold the eastern line of the Silk Road, and at the same time mastered this land rich in products. It is because of this place that the Uighurs of Gaochang have gradually become stronger, although they have been suppressed over the years, their strength cannot be underestimated, after all, the accumulation of a hundred years is there. This is also the reason why Wan Yi asked Liu Xuan to tell all the soldiers before the war that they must pay attention to capture and bring enough financial resources for the development of the empire after taking Jiaohe City.

"Commander, I have already put Halle and Hammoud back, and I have deliberately released Hammoud first as instructed, and let Halle see this scene." After arranging the camp, Liu Xuan found Wan Yi to report on his release of Hammoud and Halle. Because it is close to Jiaohe City, so the water source is abundant, when the Tiance army was camping, Liu Xuan deliberately set up the camp with Shi Jian and Chai Jia in a nearby place where the river passes, and just in case, Shi Jian also specially selected a lot of soldiers who can dig wells and began to prepare to dig wells nearby.

"Did Hammoud say anything?" Wan Yi nodded, he didn't care about Hal Wanyi, although the other party was also a good person among the Uighurs, but in terms of his temperament and ability, he was far from Hammud, but Haler was a prince and one of the high-ranking Uighurs, and at this time, letting him go back not only brought a signal to the Uighur court, but more importantly, it was to prepare for the complete recovery of Hammud. Wan Yi expected that Haller would definitely find a scapegoat in order to get rid of the responsibility for defeat, so Hammed, who was released with him, was the only candidate, and he couldn't help it. So almost at the moment when the two of them walked out of the camp of the Western Expeditionary Army, Liu Xuan contacted Xuanyingwei and secretly prepared for the two of them.

"Is there any news about the Eagle Brigade?" Wan Yi thought for a moment and suddenly asked. He can't afford not to pay attention to this matter, the place he currently occupies is east of Jiaohe City, in addition to the embarrassing situation of Jiaohe City and Xizhou, the most important thing is that the basic water source near the entire Jiaohe City is in the north, that is to say, if the other party controls the upstream water source, it will be a catastrophe for the Tiance Army, and it is even possible to fight a battle between the two sides for the water source, and if it is not good, the Seventh Corps will be used.

"There has been news that I have sent a message for the entire Flying Eagle Brigade to go north to ambush, and if the Uighur army tries to intercept our upper reaches, it will face a blow from the entire Flying Eagle Brigade." Liu Xuan nodded and said, "The upper reaches of the two rivers on which our current water source depends have all been guarded by the Flying Eagle Brigade, and they will not be allowed to touch it and release poison." Liu Xuan was also afraid of what Hammud said before, so he naturally wouldn't let go of this matter.

"Contact Zhao Si, let him find out the specific information in Jiaohe City at this time, since you want to implement the plan to besiege the city and send reinforcements, then you can't talk about it if you don't besiege the city, let Shi Jian and Chai Jia come over." Wan Yi was very satisfied with Liu Xuan's almost all-encompassing arrangement, this young man had grown very much in the past year or so in the northwest with him, and had become a qualified staff officer.

Liu Xuan quickly went to find Shi Jian and Chai Jia, and when he came to the Shuai Tent, he also brought information from the Xuanying Guard. Because Zhao Si's side set off early, he arrived in the Daze area north of Jiaohe City earlier than Wan Yi's headquarters soldiers and horses who made a detour, so he knew the basic situation in the city very well, and Zhao Si almost ordered the secret guards in the city to send the latest information when Wan Yi's side just appeared near Jiaohe City, even including the emergency deployment made by the Uighurs in the face of Wan Yi's brigade.

"Marshal, there are still more than 50,000 royal court guards in this city, if we divide our troops to besiege the city, wouldn't we give the other party a chance to counterattack?" Shi Jian smiled bitterly: "I don't agree with the division of troops to besiege the city. However, before he finished speaking, Chai Jia beside him shook his head and said: "If we carry out the siege of Jiaohe City, we must besiege Jiaohe City, and only by making the Uighur royal court feel that Jiaohe City is precarious and unable to break through on a large scale can we order them to mobilize all the troops and horses to gallop to help Jiaohe City, so as to be able to give the mop general and the deputy marshal a chance." ”

Liu Xuan agreed with Chai Jia's analysis, but before he could speak, Wan Yi said directly: "You have missed one link, that is, the Xizhou Jiamu and the remaining Gaochang Uighurs behind us will definitely attack our back when we attack Jiaohe City, because they are close, so they already know the news of our coming to Jiaohe City in advance, so we are no longer besieging the city to send reinforcements, but destroying the Jiamu Department while attacking the city, or the best case is to force Jiamu to withdraw to the Anxi Uighur station." ”

Wan Yi's self-talk also made the other three people present understand the other party's intentions, so Liu Xuan was puzzled: "According to the meaning of the marshal, I am going to transfer General Tuoba back, or inform General Tuoba to ambush them when Jiamu leads the army to attack us?" However, it is too difficult to make Jiamu know the difficulties and retreat, as far as I know, Jiamu Ke is a general, and he is naturally very aware of the current delicate situation in the Uighur territory of Gaochang, so he will definitely not withdraw unless the Uighur court of Anxi sends an order. ”

"Go and inform Zhao Si and ask him to think of a way to see if he can mobilize the Uighur court of Anxi to find a way to transfer Jiamu back, and if not, then defeat Jiamu. Go to summon Tuoba Siji and ask him to find an ambush near the southeast of the main force, I estimate that Jiamu will arrive in Jiaohe City in three days at the earliest, and in order not to give the other party a chance to discover us, we will start tomorrow morning The Modao Battalion and the 11th Corps will divide into two routes and attack Jiaohe City from the southeast and southeast. Remember, you two, don't really rush into the city, make them feel the pressure. After thinking about it, Wan Yi began to issue military orders, and Shi Jian and Chai Jia naturally understood the mystery of the tactics of besieging the city and sending reinforcements, so the specific details did not need Wan Yi to make special arrangements, so after issuing the military order, he continued: "The chief of staff personally led 20,000 elites to cruise in the northwest and kill the opponent's large-scale personnel out of the city, to create a false impression, that is, although we can't drain the water around Jiaohe City, it is definitely impossible for them to go out of the city on a large scale. In this way, the people of the Uighur royal court will be able to defend the city to the death, and then mobilize their troops and horses to surround and annihilate us. ”