"Xu Duwei, are there still Gaochang and other fine works in Dunhuang and Yiwu now?"

"Of course, since we took this place, there has been a steady stream of enemy spies. Although we pursued it many times, it was difficult to clean it up completely. Xu Ye said with a murderous aura.

Wei Zilin smiled faintly and said, "In this way, the defenders in our cities from all over the city went out of the city to chase and suppress the horse thieves, in their opinion, it is also a very normal transfer?" I don't think we're going to go west. ”

Xu Ye nodded and said, "Of course, it may have been very careful at first. But now, they all think that we are now busy securing the place and dealing with the counterattack of the Liangzhou army in the east, and they don't think that we will make any offensive moves. After all, in the eyes of Gaochang and other countries, we just seized the land of these three prefectures from the Liangzhou army and attacked the Yong army. ”

"That being the case, then turn the passive into the active, and we will sneak attack Shanshan and not the two countries." Wei Zilin said coldly.

"Sneak attack?"

"Sneak attack! These two countries are different from Gaochang and other countries, although they are independent countries, but the land they occupy is the territory of the former Great Yan Empire. In the past, in order to stabilize the rule of the west, the Great Yan Empire also relocated many Han people. Moreover, the land of these two countries is not large, and there are not many soldiers and civilians. Under the sneak attack, they must not be able to resist it. The supporters behind them are also unable to support them in time. When our army occupies this place and the other countries get the news, it will be a foregone conclusion. ”

Xu Ye pondered for a while and said, "In this way, it is also an excellent way." In the name of clearing out the horse thieves, he transferred the troops in each city, and then assembled, and marched day and night, and went straight to the rebel lands of Shanshan and Jiwei, and took the two rebel countries that ceded the land and stood on their own in one fell swoop. ”

"However, if you want to completely level the two countries, you need at least 10,000 cavalry. However, there are fewer defenders left! The guards of the two provinces on the west side...... Especially Yiwu, this place is not far from Gaochang Kingdom, once Gaochang Kingdom hears that the defenders of the three northwestern provinces are insufficient to attack, then ......" Xu Ye is still a little worried about the safety of the three northwestern provinces.

Wei Zilin smiled: "It's okay! Isn't there still 15,000 new soldiers, although they are useless, but they can still wear our armor and deter the enemy. In addition, General Xue Qinglan will also return to the land of Yiwu to sit in person, and Gao Changguo will not dare to act rashly when he learns that the commander of our Great Zhao Army has come to Yiwu in person. In this battle, it depends on you, Xu Duwei, you are the most familiar with the situation here, and only you can complete the best sneak attack. ”

Xu Ye was not ambiguous, and said in a deep voice: "In this case, then turn the passive into the active and sneak attack the two places." ”

…………

"My lord, the officials of the Yanzhou army began to report on their duties in Youzhou City, and the southern princes also weakened the trend of the great war because of this, and they all seem to suspect that we have a deeper relationship with the Yanzhou army."

Zhao Xun said with a smile: "Of course they will be suspicious, and besides, they will be afraid, afraid that we will follow the Yanzhou army to the south." The Yanzhou army has now penetrated deep into the southern Central Plains, and can attack the Xuzhou army, the Qi army, and the Tang army at any time, how can they not worry? ”

Pei Yi said: "Do you need to make any countermeasures?" ”

Zhao Xun shook his head and said: "There is no need to do more, the more abnormal behaviors there are, the bigger the loopholes." This makes it elusive and makes it harder for them to see clearly. ”

"By the way, have all the grain and grass materials prepared for the Liangzhou operation started to be transported? There won't be any problems, right? ”

Situ Liang said with a smile: "There is no problem, the direct sneak attack of the defenders of Yanju Mansion has relieved a lot of pressure for our offensive operations." Originally, I thought that I would have to fight hard for more than ten days, but I didn't think about it, and without a single casualty, I took this important place in the north of Liangzhou. And the three northwestern provinces are now under our control. However, the three provinces in the northwest are the weak places of Liangzhou, and it is necessary to do everything possible to open up the connection with Xiazhou. ”

Zhao Xun nodded and said, "It's okay, let the army of Yanju Mansion march to the southwest now, and strive to get in touch with Wei Zilin and them as quickly as possible." In addition, if people spread the news in Liangzhou, the governor of Liangzhou wanted to contact the countries of the Western Regions, and at the cost of betraying Liangzhou, let the countries of the Western Regions send troops to resist our army. ”

Pei Yi stroked his palms and smiled: "If it is only the three northwestern provinces, the military and civilians in Liangzhou will not care much. But with Liangzhou as the target, these soldiers and civilians cannot remain indifferent. Inside, it creates chaos, and outside, it disintegrates the Liangzhou army's defense. ”

"What about Situ Lei? What are they doing now? Our message should have caused him a lot of trouble. Now that our army has entered Liangzhou, it is time for him to respond. ”

Situ Liang said in a deep voice: "Our message has indeed brought trouble to Situ Lei, who is in Chengdu Mansion. In addition to the removal of the governor of Liangzhou, the governor of Yongzhou, that is, Situ Lei's eldest son, was also replaced, and it is said that now Situ Lei's eldest son, Situ Hao, who is nominally the most qualified to inherit the throne, has been summoned by Situ Lei to Chengdu Mansion and followed by him. The rest of the Ningyi governors, who stayed behind in Chang'an, were also replaced by Situ Lei. ”

Although this move eliminated the possible division caused by the rumors, it also caused waves in the states under Situ Lei's rule. Now, the new King Yong has become a matter of concern to all the martial arts under the rule of King Yong. In addition, according to the Shadow Division and the Eagle Eye Division, the new governors of the states are also changing the personnel originally installed by the governors. It seems that this Situ Lei is preparing to set up a new King Yong. ”

Situ Lei did not react much to the battle situation in Liangzhou. Perhaps, for Situ Lei, this land of Liangzhou does not bring him much benefit. And the countries of the Western Regions to the west are a pressure on him. Situ Lei only asked the army to deploy around Chang'an, so as not to cut off the connection between Yongzhou and Yizhou, and the rest did not mean to send troops to Liangzhou. Or, determining the new King Yong is the first thing for King Yong. ”

Pei Yi said: "I just don't know which of Situ Lei's sons will be established as the new King of Yong, if he can do something in it, it would be the best." ”

Situ Liang said with a smile: "No matter who he is on the throne, it is good news for us, which shows that Situ Lei is really up to time." Without Situ Lei, what are his sons afraid of? They were far worse than Situ Lei. ”

Pei Yi smiled: "That's right, this is good news for us." It was also good news for the other princes, especially the Qi army. ”

…………

After some transfers, nearly 10,000 elite cavalry of the Zhao army in Yiwu and Dunhuang were transferred out of the county towns one by one. In their place of training in the great camps of the cities were 10,000 new soldiers and 5,000 soldiers who had been newly recruited.

And the 10,000 cavalry of the Zhao army assembled a hundred miles west of Dunhuang, finished their equipment, and headed westward.

Shanshan, and not two places, located in the west of Dunhuang, since ancient times is the Central Plains into the Western Regions bridgehead. Therefore, in all dynasties, the Central Plains Dynasty will send troops here to rule here. However, often when the Central Plains is in turmoil or weak, it will lose contact with the Central Plains court and be occupied by foreigners.

If the Zhao army wants to take Liangzhou, it will naturally destroy the trade route between the Central Plains and the Western Regions, and it is impossible to let the countries of the Western Regions mess with the borders. And the two places of this rebellion are naturally the first to be captured by the Zhao army.

This time, Xu Ye, who was more familiar with the west, was the main one, with a total of 10,000 Zhao cavalry, marching westward on this boundless Gobi Desert, day and night, wanting to sneak attack the two places.

Although the soldiers under his command were not his old troops, Zhao Jun's military discipline and Su zhì made these soldiers very satisfactory to Xu Ye. And Xu Ye also lives up to everyone's expectations, his leading style is strict and orderly, everything is reasonable and orderly, and meticulous. Therefore, despite the fact that the Gobi Desert is surrounded by hundreds of miles, the camping place is still full of spears and barbs, thistles are everywhere, and even watchtowers have been erected, patrols have been dispatched, the banners in the camp are clear, the troops of each battalion are neat and orderly, the horses and roads are clearly distinguished, and everything is arranged in an orderly manner, even if it is only for the night, every detail must be done.

In the big tent of the Chinese army, Xu Yezheng held a meeting with more than a dozen captains, lieutenants and other officers to discuss the sneak attack. In the middle of the big tent, there is a map of the two western countries, these maps are still rummaged out of the Dunhuang Wenfu book, after all, these two places, in the past, were also the territory of Dayan. However, Xu Ye and a few guides living in the west are also familiar with the situation in the west.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is the important town on the front line of Shanshanguo, mainly Qingyuan Town, which resisted the counteroffensive of the Liangzhou Army in the past. It used to be a big town, but now it's the front line against us. In this town, there are more than 500 households, it is an important resting place for business travel, there are two thousand Shanshan garrisons in the town, there are beacon towers built by the imperial court in the past, and now they are used by the Shanshan army, from Qingyuan Town to Shanshan Guodu and are still three hundred miles apart, in the meantime, are the Gobi Desert, there are ten beacon towers in the middle, each beacon tower has five soldiers, and there are water storage wells in each beacon tower......"

The guide, who is also a businessman who travels between the east and the west, slowly tells everyone about the situation of Shanshanguo. Xu Ye supplemented it and added it to the military.

"Ladies and gentlemen, because we are going to attack the land of the two countries, we will not be left with too long in Shanshanguo. In addition, although we walk day and night, we may not be able to hide it for too long. Therefore, we must capture this Shanshan country in the shortest possible time, and then take it in one fell swoop, and restore the former two prefectures. Only by becoming an established fact can we avoid a protracted stalemate between the two places, and avoid allowing the Western Regions countries to lead the army to help. ”

Xu Ye glanced at everyone, and said in a loud voice: "Therefore, we only have five days at most, and we must take Shanshan Kingdom within five days, and then we will take advantage of the situation to the west, and then conquer the country, so that the western countries will not be able to react." ”

"Don't worry, my lord, this is a sneak attack battle, and the other party is unprepared, and we will definitely be able to break it in one fell swoop. My lord, just give the order! ”

Xu Ye nodded and said: "Very good, in Shanshan and Weiwei countries, foreign tribes live together, so our operation this time is not only to occupy the military, but also to stabilize the future rule." Therefore, all the powerful people in the two countries, especially the foreign powerful and those who have deep ties with the traitors of the two countries, will be killed! This is also our mission this time, as you should all understand. ”

Everyone was silent, and naturally understood the meaning, this time to capture the two places, it is not only the traitors and their clansmen who will be cleaned up......

Qingyuan Town is a town originally developed from an oasis, with a population of more than 500 households, but a garrison of 2,000 people, and is the gateway to Shanshanguo. Of course, at the beginning, there were only four or five hundred defenders here, but as the Zhao army entered the three northwestern provinces, the defenders here became more than two thousand. Clearly, they were on guard against the sudden arrival of their new neighbor.

At the forefront of Qingyuan Town, there is a beacon tower built by the imperial court in the past, and the defenders of Qingyuan Town can pass the beacon tower to transmit the alarm to Qingyuan Town, so if you want to take Qingyuan Town, you must first kill the beacon tower.

On the hill about 15 miles east of Qingyuan Town, there is the first beacon tower, which is made of huge stones, three zhang high, divided into three layers, below is raising horses, people live in the middle, and on the top is the beacon fire, and there are six Shanshanguo soldiers in the beacon tower.

At night, when there were no three clouds in the sky, the full moon cast a cold glow on the endless sea of yellow sand, and the beacon tower was bathed in the light of the silver moonlight, and it was unusually quiet.

At this time, dozens of black shadows quickly approached the beacon tower, most of them were hidden behind dozens of large stones within a hundred steps, only -- an unusually agile figure quickly approached the beacon tower, his body clinging to the stone wall of the beacon tower, and threw the rope violently upward, and the rope was accurately set on the female wall buttress on the top of the third floor, and he was like a light and sensitive ape, climbing the rope and quickly crawling upward.

After a while, the black shadow climbed into the top of the beacon tower, threw all the firewood, grass and wolf dung that lit the beacon fire off the beacon tower, waved his hand to the beacon tower, and in an instant, dozens of people rose up and swooped towards the beacon tower......

― An hour later, when the news that the beacon towers in the east and west had been taken reached Xu Ye's ears, Xu Ye also gave the order to attack: "Surround Qingyuan Town, annihilate all enemy troops, and no one is allowed to let go." Anyone who dares to resist will be killed! ”

The cavalry of the 10,000 Zhao army formed a fan-shape, overwhelmingly surrounded Qingyuan Town two miles away, wrapped in the night, and the sound of horses' hooves was like thunder, and they entered Qingyuan Town in an instant.

Suddenly, the earth-shattering shouts and screams accompanied by exclamations and screams resounded through Qingyuan Town, and in the night, it spread far and wide. However, the beacon tower more than ten miles to the west has been taken by the Zhao army, so the root of the news here cannot be detected by the rear.

"Who are you? Dare ......"

"Kill ......"

"Knock open the door of the house, and kill him!" A group of non-commissioned officers stood in front of a mansion, and the officers shouted.

…………

Three days later, after the cavalry of the 8,000 Zhao army broke through the three cities, they appeared outside Shanshan City, the capital of Shanshan State. At this time, Shanshan had not yet received news.

Night slowly fell, the eight thousand Zhao cavalry slowly stopped marching, looking at Shanshan City ten miles away from a distance, under the bright moonlight, Shanshan City was exceptionally clear.

"My lord, I didn't expect that we had killed here, and they didn't even know about it?"

Xu Ye smiled and said, "This operation, thanks to the cavalry, otherwise, where would it be so fast?" It's not that they didn't report it, but they didn't have us as quickly. Besides, our scouts are constantly dealing with enemies that may appear along the way, how will they know that we are coming? ”

"Our men have already infiltrated the city, and the three armies are ordered not to slack off, and are ready to charge at any time!"

The night is getting deeper, the noisy and lively scene of Shanshan City has disappeared, Wan Lai is silent, almost everyone has fallen asleep, the streets and alleys have become extraordinarily quiet, and under the moonlight, the former Shanshan Mansion City has revealed its dilapidated and old side. Although this place was founded by the people of the Western Regions, it still cannot be erased, and it was once the image and trace of the border city of Dayan.

A group of patrol soldiers faded away, and a group of dark shadows appeared from the night, "It's okay, the patrol is gone, their next patrol will be at least half an hour later." Let's get moving! ”

With a few screams, the city gate, which was not wide and thick, finally slowly opened a crack. Then, a rocket took off into the air, flashing a flash of fire in the sky......

"Charge!" Seeing the firelight, Xu Ye's face froze, and he ordered sharply.

Suddenly, a rumbling sound like thunder began to resound in the night sky. Immediately woke up the entire Shanshan City, so that the originally quiet night suddenly became lively.

"What's going on? What's going on here? Su Dun, the king of Shanshan Kingdom, who was awakened, turned over and exclaimed.

"Report ...... King Qiyu, Zhao Jun...... Zhao Jun has entered the city! ”

"What? Zhao Jun entered the city? How can it be? How did they end up here? Come on, pull this guy who lied about the military intelligence down and cut it down! ”

"King, it's true, more than 10,000 troops of the Zhao army have already entered the city!" The herald shouted.

Sutun was a little sober, listened attentively, and suddenly turned pale. The earth-shattering shouting outside couldn't be faked, "How is it possible?" Why is there no news from Qingyuan Town and Guhe City? Why did Zhao Jun suddenly appear here? Damn, this king is going to kill the bastard in charge of intelligence......"

"No need, he has been killed by our army!" A rough voice came from outside the house.

"Who is it?"

Suddenly, a team of soldiers covered in blood rushed in, slashing the guards in the house with several knives, and suddenly the blood was in the sky, filling the entire inner room. And the princess, who was still lying on the bed, had already been frightened into a coma.

"This general is the captain of the Zhao army, and he is also the commander of the Zhao army this time! Now, all of your Shanshan country has been taken by our Zhao army, and most of the nine cities under your rule have also been captured by our army. Now, there are two paths before you, either surrender to us and cooperate with our army to take over the remaining cities. Or, Ben will hang your head above the city gates! Say, how to choose. Xu Ye looked at Su Dun, who was trembling, and said coldly.

Su Dun said in a trembling voice: "You and I don't have any grudges, why did your army attack our borders?" ”

Xu Ye's face turned cold, and he said sharply: "Your country? You are just a traitor who took advantage of Dayan's weakness to stand on your own, and you are also worthy of talking to us about the country? It seems that you are not willing to surrender anymore. Come on, pull him out, skull! ”

"Wait...... I surrender, surrender ......" Su Dun immediately said in a hurry when he saw that the two Zhao soldiers were about to come and kill him.

"Very well, go out and let the defenders of the city surrender!"