Wei Yan, who was waiting at the border, was shocked when he received the report. Goguryeo was nothing more than a small country in his eyes, and he dared to openly confront the Han Dynasty. But because he was reprimanded by Ma Yun in dealing with the affairs of the Hebei Shi clan, this time Wei Yan did not dare to be self-conscious, and sent someone to report the situation here to Chang'an.

Ma Yun was also unexpectedly surprised by such a result, and once again convened the ministers in the side hall to discuss. Some guards have long hung up a large map and set up a large sand table, which are the masterpieces of the Foreign Intelligence Department and the Research Institute. The courtiers gathered around the map and the sand table in amazement, but there was a lot of discussion about whether to send troops to attack Goguryeo.

Some people advocate resolutely implementing Liu Xin's policy of "those who offend our Han will be punished even if they are far away", and some people are worried that the Han will be overwhelmed by the use of troops everywhere, and the national and civil strength will be overwhelmed, and it should be pacified first.

Ma Yun knew that although Goryeo was small, it was a difficult bone to gnaw. In history, Yang Guang's three expeditions to Goryeo were all defeated, and even Li Shimin, Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, who was known as a generation of Ming monarchs, once returned with a feather.

However, seeing this map, Ma Yun had confidence. At this time, Goryeo had not yet been unified, and Goguryeo and later Goryeo were not the same country. If you don't take advantage of the current use of troops, and wait for them to grow slowly in the future, they will eventually become a big disaster, so I couldn't help waving my hand to stop the discussion of the ministers, and said: "Goguryeo sheltered the rebellion of the Han Dynasty and killed the Han envoys without permission. And how can you convince the people? ”

Tian Feng arched his hand and said: "Qi Yu Niangniang, Goguryeo offended Tianwei, and it should be asked!" It's just that now that my Han has used troops in Daqin, Wusun, and Guishan at the same time, and at this time, I am afraid that I will not be able to catch it, and I will also be suspected of being poor. ”

Over the years, although the Han Dynasty has become increasingly wealthy, it has been constantly fighting internally and externally, and has never had the opportunity to recuperate. Fighting a war is an extremely expensive affair, and countless amounts of food and wages are lost every day, as well as the pensions of the wounded and wounded soldiers and their families, all of which are ultimately borne by the common people. Over time, the people will be overwhelmed, and it will inevitably provoke civil revolt.

In this regard, the later Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty is the best example. He built the Grand Canal, built the eastern capital of Luoyang, created the imperial examination system, conquered Tuguhun in the west, and conquered Goryeo three times. However, in the end, due to the abuse of people's power, the world was in turmoil, which led to the demise of the Sui Dynasty.

Ma Yun came from later generations, of course, she understood these truths, and she also understood Tian Feng's worries. But she also knows that now that the world has been decided, it is necessary to show softness internally and be tough externally to unite people's hearts. At this time, if you do not crusade against Goguryeo, you will not only be despised by the Goguryeo people, but also make the people mistakenly believe that the imperial court has reached the end of the crossbow. From this point of view, no matter how difficult it is, this battle must be fought.

However, the concerns of Tian Feng and some other ministers are also worth paying attention to. Ma Yun pondered for a long time, and suddenly said: "Whether we fight or not, let's listen to the opinions of the people in the world." Mr. Yuan Hao, you write an article to record the ins and outs of this incident clearly, publish it in the Dahan Express, and see the reaction of the people before making a decision! ”

If Liu Xin was here, she would definitely order troops without hesitation, but Ma Yun was more delicate, she wanted to use the power of public opinion to win the support of the people first. Those who win the hearts of the people win the world, and in foreign conquests, with the support of the people, they will also be invincible.

At this time, Liu Xin, who was far away in Syria, also knew about what was happening in the rear, but he couldn't teach a class. This time, he was not fighting for a city or a place, but to completely overthrow the Great Qin regime. Such a behemoth as the Great Qin Empire fell under the iron hooves of the Han army, who else would dare to offend the Han Dynasty easily? This war may kill many people, but it can win the opportunity for the Han to develop peacefully for decades or even hundreds of years, and it is definitely worth it.

However, Caracalla did not take revenge as Liu Xin had hoped, and after more than half a month, the border of the Syrian province was still peaceful, and the secret agents of the Foreign Intelligence Department in Rome did not find any signs of frequent movements of the Great Qin army.

In fact, Caracalla was extremely shocked when he learned the news of the annihilation of his six legions, and he wanted to send troops to exterminate these Han Chinese from afar, but he was restrained by Gaita.

Caracalla originally had sixteen legions, but six legions were lost in this battle, including the Macedonian legion, which was extremely strong in combat, and even the commander of the Macedonian legion was killed by the Han Chinese. Although Gaita also lost two legions, neither of them was the main legion. In the past, he had twice as many troops as Gaita, but now he was five to three. If he rashly sent troops to take revenge, in case of another defeat, the balance of power between him and Gaita was likely to change as a result, so he had to be cautious.

Not counting the garrisons of the provinces, the Qin army still had 800,000 people, but it was distributed over an extremely wide area, and it was not easy to assemble them. Moreover, they are subordinate to Caracalla and Gaita, respectively, and it is difficult for them to work together. This also greatly weakened the combat effectiveness of the Qin army.

On the other hand, the more than 1,000 prisoners of war released by the Han army tirelessly told their companions about the experience of the disastrous, especially the fierce hand-to-hand combat with the Han infantry, which often woke up these warriors who survived the catastrophe in their dreams, and also greatly shook the morale of the Qin army. For the first time, the confident faces of the soldiers of the Qin army, who had always won all battles, showed timidity.

Caracalla gathered his henchmen and finally decided to continue to follow the strategy offered by Lu Yi, and to lay a heavy army in the three provinces of Thrace, Mercia, and Macedonia, blocking the Han army on the other side of the strait between the provinces of Macedonia and Asia. The Han army came from afar, and it was difficult to supply, and when its food was exhausted and the troops retreated, the Qin army could win a complete victory.

Liu Xin also understands the principle of the labor expedition and the quick victory. Since the Qin army did not move, he had no choice but to take the initiative to attack. Liu Xin's original battle plan was to annihilate the living forces of the Qin army on the border, and then take advantage of the situation to attack Rome. The capture of Rome, the capital of the Great Qin Empire, meant that the Han army had won a complete victory in this war.

As for the vast territory of the Great Qin Empire, Liu Xin has never thought of anything wrong, and from the very beginning, he did not intend to fight one province at a time.

After all, the Han Dynasty is thousands of miles away, and even if it occupies the entire territory of Daqin, the language, customs, ethnicities, and food are different, and it is difficult for the imperial court to maintain effective rule here.

It is conceivable that decades or even more than a decade later, local aristocrats, radicals and even ordinary people may rise up to rebel against the imperial court. This area was larger than the Han Dynasty itself, and the Han army was exhausted by the successive rebellions, which eventually dragged the entire dynasty into decline. This is not the result that Liu Xin wants.

But the Great Qin army couldn't come, and Liu Xin could only fight it. The main force of the Qin army still exists, and then selectively attack Rome as a key point, and the Han army that penetrates into the territory of Great Qin will fall into the encirclement of the Qin army if they are not careful, and even be made dumplings by others.

The retreat was unwilling, and the march was too risky, and when he was in a dilemma, Liu Xin suddenly came up with a new countermeasure. He immediately issued a decree declaring the provinces of Asia Minor and Syria, which had been occupied by the Han army, to be autonomous and independent from the Great Qin Empire as two new states.

In fact, a long time ago, the Great Qin Empire only expanded to its current size after countless foreign wars in the little area around Rome. In many places, there are still some people who have a deep affection for their homeland.

On the third day of Liu Xin's decree, the descendants of the Syrian king who had been exiled among the people were elected. Liu Xin also did not distinguish between authenticity and immediately held a grand coronation ceremony for him, recognizing him as the new king of Syria.

The province of Asia Minor was not originally an independent state, and its indigenous people were independent tribes. Liu Xin gathered the chiefs of these tribes and asked them to elect a trustworthy chief as king.

At the same time, with the exception of some strategic locations and transportation arteries that remained under the control of the Han army, other towns and villages were handed over to the two emerging states.

Immediately afterwards, Liu Xin concentrated all 110,000 light cavalry from the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 6th armies to the south, attacked the Arab provinces adjacent to the Kingdom of Syria, and issued a proclamation ordering the Arab governor Horik to become independent. As soon as Horrick declared independence, the Han dynasty recognized him as king. Who knows, Horrick was afraid of the prestige of the Great Qin army, did not dare to follow Liu Xin's orders, and organized an army to resist the attack of the Han army.

The Great Qin armies in this area were all annihilated in Asia Minor, and there were no formal armies in the Arab provinces, so Horik hastily armed hundreds of thousands of freemen and slaves and drove to the front, only to be surrounded by Han troops on the border. The Han cavalry did not engage them, but only fired with bows and crossbows.

It is a pity that these Qin recruits are untrained, although they also hold large shields and spears, but they are shot into hedgehogs before they can rush in front of the Han army. After a period of panic, the Qin army began to scatter and flee. However, they were surrounded by Han cavalry on all sides, and no matter how powerful their two legs were, they couldn't outrun on four legs. The desperate Qin army did not know the direction and scurried around, so that they trampled on each other. Of the more than 100,000 survivors, there are only a few dozen, and more than half of them have trampled to death by themselves.

After the battle, the Han army did not clean up the battlefield, and directly set fire to the corpses, and the fire burned for a whole day and a night, and the scorching smell could be heard for dozens of miles, which made the local people tremble.

A day later, the Han army occupied the entire Arab province. Horik, who had resisted, was hanged in public, and the nobles and all the local people who participated in the war had their property and food confiscated, and their wives and daughters were used as slaves.

These methods are extremely cruel and inhumane. But time is pressing, and Liu Xin must further attack the confidence of the Great Qin people psychologically as soon as possible, and there is only unscrupulous means.

After the capture of the Arab provinces, Liu Xin also declared the province to be autonomous, but for a time no new king was elected. But the Han army could not wait, and the front of the army had already pointed directly at the province of Egypt.