In the spring of the eleventh year of Xingping, Ban Zhi led 6,000 troops from Yecheng to Liangzhou.

Gao Shun's order was to move all the people in the eastern part of the Western Regions inward, and the Han people would occupy the eastern part of the Western Regions, and then it would be the inherent territory of the Han people, and in the first phase, half of the population would be moved back first, and then all of them would be moved to the interior after they were familiar with the local environment and climate; Of course, Gao Shun is very interested in the Loulan beauties in his memory, since he is fortunate to come to this world, he can't miss the mystery of history, so Ban Zhi will move all the Loulan people inward, and there can be no one left.

When Ban Zhi arrived in Zhangye, his strategy clashed with several local generals.

Han Sui, in particular, was eager to make meritorious contributions and hoped to advance westward from the simplest southern route first.

At that time, there were two roads to Central Asia through the Western Regions, and Ban Zhi determined the northern route, while Han Sui hoped to start from the southern route, the southern route was no longer threatening, and the Xiongnu and Xianbei people had retreated to the northern route and further north areas, making it easier to enter the Western Regions and make advance preparations for espionage and intelligence.

Ban Zhi believes that only by occupying the territory of the northern line can he resist the barbarians and ensure the safety of the trade routes, and the southern roads are naturally smooth, and the local people can be slowly managed.

After the scuffle, the number of countries in the Western Regions was greatly reduced at this time, but it was more complicated than when there were 36 countries at the beginning.

So, after Xu Rong and Cheng Wu discussed, they decided to divide the troops into two ways.

Han Sui's son-in-law Yan Xing succeeded Han Sui, leading 3,000 cavalry and Cao Ren to follow Ban Zhi on the northern road; Han Sui led 7,000 people from his headquarters to take the south road.

Han Sui was extremely supportive of this plan, he is now fifty-five years old, this may be the last time he will lead an expedition, and if he does not succeed, he will become a benevolent.

Ban Zhi handed over Gao Shun's order to Han Sui, and moved all the people of Loulan inward, and Loulan would become Han land from then on; This is the expansion of the territory, and Han Suizi is very happy.

There are more than 5,000 households and more than 10,000 people in Loulan City, and some Han people stay in the local area to engage in farming and workshops.

In 77 B.C., the Western Han Dynasty warrior Fu Jiezi killed the king of Loulan and renamed his country Shanshanguo, and moved to govern the mud city (Ruoqiang City), Loulan City was only a city under the jurisdiction of Shanshanguo.

Loulan City is thousands of miles away from Yangguan and 600 miles away from Huni City.

Han Sui intended to occupy Loulan City, relocate its people, use Loulan City as an advance base, and advance westward along the southern line; To this end, he ordered his cronies, the military Sima Cheng Gongying, to lead 4,000 soldiers to be responsible for the transportation of baggage; He personally led 3,000 cavalry to set off in advance.

In order to ensure sufficient material supply, Xu Rong equipped each officer and soldier with three good horses, one on horse, two to carry materials, basically transferred all the war horses and camels in Liangzhou, and requisitioned and sent people to transport materials to Yangguan and Yumen Pass in Dunhuang County as the advance base for the expedition.

Ban Zhi and Han Sui were very grateful to Xu Rong and Cheng Wu for such cooperation.

In August, the two armies set off at the same time, and the most pressure became Xu Rong and Cheng Wu, who became the heroes behind the scenes.

The first to achieve the results was Han Sui, he led 3,000 cavalry, carried by war horses, the speed was very fast, the daily journey was more than 100 miles, under the guidance of the guide, along the ancient road to the west, through the dangerous white dragon pile, less than ten days to reach Loulan City; He first used a small force to deceive the city gate, and after occupying the city gate, the rear team came to cover up and successfully defeated the 2,000 defenders of Loulan City.

With the captured horses and camels, a hundred soldiers were sent to escort the five hundred Loulan people back to Yangguan.

After Cheng Gongying arrived, he escorted the remaining Loulan people back; Cheng Gongying returned to Yangguan and transported grain and baggage to Loulan City again.

With the grain brought in twice, plus the seizures in Loulan City, it was enough to ensure the rations of the 7,000 army for a year; The reason why the Loulan people were urgently relocated was also to save food.

The Han people in Loulan are not among the internal migrants, and according to statistics, there are about 300 households and more than 1,500 people; Han then set it up as Loulan County, with jurisdiction over three townships, 100 households in each township, elected the head of the township by himself, and continued to carry out tuntian on the bank of the Peacock River.

Cheng Gongying was eager to make meritorious contributions and applied to Han Sui to fight in the mud city.

With Loulan City as a base, it was much easier to march into Huni City, but he could advance along the river, and he only needed to carry food, so Han Sui approved his application.

One person and three horses, in only three days, Cheng Gongying rushed to Yixun City, one hundred and sixty miles east of the city of Huni, where the Han people of Juntun lived, the original 40 households, has developed into a small village of more than 300 people.

With the arrival of the Han army, the villagers burst into tears of excitement, and the court had forgotten them for too long.

Cheng Gongying was also very excited, the villagers not only provided detailed information about the mud city, but they also offered to be a guide.

The combat effectiveness of the local officers and soldiers was extremely low, and Cheng Gongying only took half a month to connect the cities of Humudcheng, Jimo, and Xiaowan to unify the eastern part of the southern front.

Han Sui was very happy, according to his understanding of Gao Shun, he had previously asked the Qiang tribe to offer beauties, and this time he was out on the expedition, so he privately asked each city to select 100 beauties and send them to Yecheng.

Later, envoys were sent to Shache, Kumi, Yuzhen and other countries in the west to open up the southern route and resume trade.

When the Han Dynasty army came, the western countries did not dare to slack off, and immediately sent envoys to the Han Dynasty, but they all went to Yecheng, not Changsha County, where the imperial court was located.

The first half of the journey of Panzhi on the northern route was relatively smooth, but the second half met with strong resistance.

At this time, the Cheshi country was divided into the front of the Che Division and the rear of the Che Division, the front of the Che Division has been controlled by the Han people, and the strength has weakened, and the rear of the Che Division, after absorbing a large number of Qiang people, Xiongnu and Xianbei people, the strength is much stronger, the west is connected with Wusun, the northwest is connected with the Xiongnu, and the northeast is connected with Xianbei.

First, it was stationed in Yihe Duwei City, which was called Yiwulu City at that time, where there were hundreds of Han people in Tuntian, which saved a lot of logistical baggage, and there was no danger as Bailongdui along the way; Ban Zhi set this place as Yiwulu County, changed the people to the common people, and left Cao Ren to garrison to protect the rear road of the army and the turnover of baggage; Not far north of this place is the Xianbei boundary, which has to be guarded against.

Then the army continued to march west to Wuji Captain City, when the city of Gaochang City, there are still school captains stationed here, Ban Zhi replaced the existing school captain, the existing school captain was changed to Gaochang County Magistrate, the nearly 1,000 Han people who were reclaimed were changed to ordinary people, and those who were willing to join the army were selected to continue to serve in the army.

The county magistrate provided Ban Zhi with detailed information on Che Shiguo and Jiaohe City, and Ban Zhi consulted with everyone to formulate a detailed attack plan, and with the cooperation of the county magistrate, he made full preparations for the attack on Jiaohe City.

Jiaohe City is the capital of the former Cheshi country, built on the earth cliff in the middle of the Yarnaiz ditch, the ditch water is diverted at the north end of the earth cliff, and the confluence at the south end, so the Han Dynasty called this place Jiaohe City, and the river water is the natural moat.

The widest part of the east and west of the city is about 300 meters, and the east side and the south end of the city each reserve a junction that extends to the bottom of the cliff, which is the city gate, and outside the gate is the ramp that follows the cliff up and down.

The outer side of the castle complex is not surrounded by walls, except for a section of intermittent earthen wall on the lower southwest cliff. In the center of the complex there is a street about 350 meters long from north to south and about 10 meters wide; At the north end of the street is the highest temple in the city, and there are alleys at the south and east ends of the street leading to the outside of the city; To facilitate defense, the avenue was flanked by high, thick earthen walls, and there was no gateway to the street; The vertical and horizontal alleys branching off from the main street divide the complex into several districts, and only on the sides of the alleys do there are courtyard portals; To the north of the west of Chuo-dori is the area where temples are concentrated, and to the east of Chuo-dori is a residential area.

In October, Ban Zhi led his army to set out and began to attack Jiaohe City in the former Cheshi State.