"Good news, Your Majesty, great victory, Wu Sizang has won."

The left privy envoy Wang Qian excitedly entered the palace and won it, and Wu Sizang's unexpected victory made the upcoming western expedition have an unexpectedly good start. When the imperial court took Wu Sizang, not only would it no longer worry about the threat of Wu Sizang's Heshuote flank during the westward expedition. On the contrary, the imperial court took Usizang, and in turn it could flank and threaten Dzungaria, and even directly contact the Yarkand Khanate.

Liu Jun had already gotten the news from Jinyiwei's secret report on flying pigeons, and he knew everything that happened to Wu Sizang. At this time, he was looking at the sand table, thinking about a completely different new situation.

"I already know it, and that's good news. Well, there is also good news, Ma Wannian has just fought another battle with Ahom, expanding the land for hundreds of miles, and won the northernmost cities of Ahom, and now, the southern mountains of Wusizang and the northern part of central and southern Myanmar have been connected together, and now there is only a Naga mountain range, as long as we build a road through the mountains here to break through the last 200 miles of barriers, then the plain of the imperial court in the south of the mountain will be as stable as Mount Tai, and then the supply problem of Wusizang will be solved. ”

"That's a joy to be had." Wang Qian couldn't help laughing when he heard it, and he couldn't care about the loss of honor in front of the king. He turned and walked over to the Emperor and looked at the intricately made sand table. The imperial court has achieved a series of great victories in the Indochina Peninsula, and now it has wiped out the main forces of Annam and Donghu, leaving only a few scattered soldiers to fight Yongping. In addition, the imperial court's control over the Malacca Peninsula has been strengthened, and now the three kingdoms of Nanzhang, Ayutthaya, and Chenla and their small feudal states have been encircled in a net, and as long as the imperial court continues to use troops, these places will be suppressed and conquered.

It is gratifying that the imperial court has now made such progress on the western continent.

The military is a group of warmongers, and for the military, fighting a war can reflect their value, not to mention that they are almost invincible now, and those indigenous states in the south are really not a match for them. With the professional elite army of cannons, muskets, and artillery, it is really not difficult to fight those natives who are still driving elephants with swords and arrows. The only problem is that the stalls are too large, and they are fighting many wars at the same time, and they are facing the problem of supply and transportation.

"Your Majesty, since we have gained a foothold on the north bank of the Brahmaputra River in Shannan, I think we can send a fleet from the sea to bombard Bengal, if we can occupy the coast, establish a port base fortress, and then go up the river, we can completely destroy these small princely states on the west side of the mountains such as Bengal and Ahom, and then we can go west to compete with the Mughal Empire."

Liu Jun took out two cigars from the cigar box next to him, cut them with scissors, and handed one to Wang Qian.

"You can't be a fat man in one bite, and you can't eat hot tofu in a hurry. This South Asian subcontinent is not the South Seas, there is also the hidden dragon and crouching tiger, the Mughal Empire in the north, the Jinyiwei has also collected a lot of their intelligence, you should also know that they are now in the time of strength, and even the Ahom Dynasty, which we have just won a battle, is not simple. The Mughals are so strong, they have already attacked thirteen times with a large army, and they have returned thirteen times in vain, and these Dai people are still very strong. We were able to lay down the Northeast this time, and it was also an opportunity to get it while the two tigers were fighting, and Ahom will definitely come back to this field in the future. I estimate that there will be more battles in the future, and there will be many battles. If you want to destroy them immediately, it is unrealistic, after all, the imperial court still has to take care of other directions, and over there, it is impossible to invest more troops, so for the time being, it is better to stabilize the territory that it occupies now. ”

Liu Jun saw the situation very clearly.

Bite off more than you can chew.

The richness of the South Asian subcontinent is not boastful, and if it can be conquered and colonized, it will be a very good supplier of raw materials in the future, and even the best place to sell goods, after all, it has a large population.

However, the imperial court has not even settled Nanyang and Zhongnan, not to mention that there is still a tiger in the northwest to challenge the Han Dynasty.

The Mughals and Ahom in the South Asian subcontinent are all local powerhouses, and they can't defeat the Great Han, but a local army against the Great Han can still withstand it.

"But it's feasible to send a fleet to the Bay of Bengal as you said, don't think about swallowing Bengal in one go, first seize one or two good harbors to build a military port fortress, and develop it little by little."

"Your Majesty, let me go to Bengal, I am willing to preside over the war over there. Not much, just a detachment, I promise to take Bengal. ”

Liu Jun shook his head.

While it is important to seize territory and establish a foothold in Bangladesh, it is not yet a priority. Moreover, it is enough for only one commander of the detachment to be in charge, and there is no need for a dignified left privy envoy to go.

The Ahom Dynasty was relatively strong, and basically occupied most of the places in the northeast of India in later generations. This kingdom, and even some other surrounding princely states, are dominated by yellow people. The Ahom, in particular, were topped by the Dai people, themselves a country founded by the local conquests from Yunnan and Burma in the past. The upper class is the Dai people, and the ordinary people are brown people.

Even if the British later conquered the princely states of the northeast such as Ahom and incorporated them into the Indian colonies, and after World War II, India annexed these places as well, these people are still very different from the Indians in the west.

The people of these northeastern states are basically the same as the Chinese, and they all belong to the race.

Burma, Wusizang, and even Chinese Han culture are not small in this region, as long as the Han army can defeat the local dynasty, then it is not difficult to control this area, no more difficult than to control the Tusi in Burma or Yunnan.

Liu Jun pointed to the sand table, his finger first tapped at the location of Wusizang Lhasa, and then moved his finger to the west. From Lhasa in the former Tibet, to Shigatse in the latter Tibet, and further west is the Ali Plateau in northern Tibet.

This is a tortuous route, and there is a complex and difficult winding road between the former and later Tibet, which is the Nimu Gorge in the middle reaches of the Yajiang River. The terrain of the whole Tibetan region is more complex, and it is divided into five mountain ranges and valleys from north to south.

Out of Houzang, there is the Northern Tibetan Plateau, which is an even more inaccessible place, extremely desolate.

But from here, you can go directly to the Pamir Plateau controlled by Yarkand, and after crossing the Kunlun Mountains, you can reach the Tarim Basin, and go directly to Yarkand.

"The imperial court was also a casual idle man in Shannan, but he didn't want to gain so much now. Now that we have taken Wu Sizang, we will be of great help to the Western Expedition. We should take advantage of the good situation that has now opened up, immediately sell ordnance to Yarkand along this passage, send instructors, ally with them, help them equip and train their troops, create more trouble for the Dzungars, and reduce the difficulties for our westward expedition. ”

The situation of the Western Expedition is getting better and better, but Liu Jun is not careless.

Dzungaria was quite strong in history, fighting with the Manchu Qing Dynasty at its peak for decades. Dzungaria was founded a few years before the Jurchens entered the customs, and then when Kangxi arrived, the two powers finally fought a full-scale war, but it turned out that it was fought until the time of Qianlong, and finally destroyed Dzungaria, and fought for decades.

Kangxi personally conquered Dzungaria, but he could not say that he destroyed Dzungaria in a war.

Therefore, Liu Jun was not careless, the Han is strong, but there are still many unfavorable factors in the Western Expedition. The land expedition, separated by the desert Gobi Desert, faced with a powerful cavalry cluster, cannot tolerate the slightest negligence.

It's May.

The rainy season in Indochina has begun, and basically, the war in Indochina has entered a long period of recuperation. And the imperial court's westward expedition is about to begin, so that although the troops stationed in the Indochina Peninsula cannot be withdrawn, it is also a great pressure on the imperial court, especially those logistics and supply departments.

Whether it is the supply of food and grass, the supply of weapons, and the transportation, it has greatly reduced many pressures. If all the battlefields are really fighting at the same time, the front-line soldiers will have no problem, and the military factories in the rear can also deliver goods, but the pressure on transportation will be extremely great.

"Are all the ministries of the Western Expedition already in place, how is the Jiayuguan Advance Base being built, and is there sufficient reserves of grain, grass and ammunition?"

"Back to Your Majesty, except for Your Majesty's entourage, the rest of the ministries have been prepared, and the grain, grass and ordnance have also arrived at Jiayuguan. In addition, the Mongol princes of Mobei have also summoned their knights, warriors and servants to prepare for an attack. ”

Liu Jun nodded, "On the Mobei side, the grain, grass and equipment that should be given must be supplied in time, this time they are the flanks of the North Road, and the task is also very heavy, and they will be used as a containment cover for the first phase of their western expedition." ”

A westward expedition has been planned and prepared for more than half a year.

In addition, the Mongol cavalry of Monan will join the field army of the court as the main force of the three-way soldiers and horses, and the Mongol cavalry of Mobei will be an independent road, out of Jinshan in Mobei, threatening the Junggar Basin in the north, covering for the imperial court to seize Hami and Turpan in one fell swoop.

"Your Majesty, are our targets this time still Hami and Turpan?"

Liu Jun's young and sturdy hand tapped a few times on the positions of Hami and Turpan, and said in a very firm tone, "The battle plan is the most taboo to change the order at the moment, and this operation will not change the original plan." It is still to take Hami and Turpan first, and then leave part of the defense and reinforcement, in fact, part of the retreat to Jiayuguan, and so we build Hami and Turpan into a solid forward base, and reserve enough grain and grass equipment, then it can become an excellent springboard for us, everything is ready, the army and a half out of Jiayuguan, with Hami, Turpan as a springboard, straight to the capital in the Junggar Basin, after conquering, we will concoct according to the law as before, leave part, withdraw part, and wait for this new springboard to strengthen and stabilize, we jumped again, attacked. And so on and so on and so on and so forth, until we fought all the way to the shores of the Caspian Sea and the banks of the Volga River, and conquered every Mongol in Moxi. ”

Liu Jun's strategic plan is fortress tactics and frog jumping tactics. By seizing pieces of territory, and then building solid fortresses one after another, you will continue to jump forward. With each attack, the whole army attacked, and after capturing one target, it quickly withdrew to most of it, thus greatly reducing the logistical supply pressure on the front.

In this way, although it may actually take a long time, and there may be a few months between the two attacks, it can be attacked and defended. With these strong fortresses, you can attack and retreat and defend.

Even if every time the large army was withdrawn to the rear to rest, the imperial court did not have to worry about the Dzungars immediately counterattacking.

The last thing the Han army is afraid of is defensive warfare, especially defensive operations with fortresses. If the Dzungar people came stupidly to attack the city, then Liu Jun couldn't ask for it.

In fact, Liu Jun's tactics are also a little helpless, after all, the Western Regions, no more than the Central Plains, it is difficult to meet the local supply of a huge Han army's continuous operations, and the march is too fast, and the supply behind it cannot keep up. The number of troops sent is small, and it may be difficult to defeat the Dzungar army with a great advantage.

Therefore, Liu Jun finally thought of the historical practice of Tsarist Russia to conquer the Kazakh steppe, fortress tactics. Fight all the way, build the fortresses along the way, even if you are a prairie, but after having these forts, the grassland is also full of nails, and the cavalry that comes and goes like the wind will also be divided, and it will be difficult to cross and cross freely.

With these forts, the supply of grain, grass and ordnance has been solved, and even the supply routes are safe.

"We have to be mentally prepared, maybe this westward expedition will take three or five years."

"Three or five years?" Wang Qian was greatly surprised, he always felt that Dzungaria was only a part of the Mongols, and Dzungaria was only one of the Moxi Mongol Oirat Alliances in Mongolia, and in the past, it was not even as good as the northern Khalkha Mongols, or the Tumut and Chahar and Horqin in the south of the Mo.

And the imperial court conquered the south and north of the desert, and it didn't take much time, let alone effort.

The powerful Horqin was destroyed by the imperial court without much effort. Now that the imperial court is stronger, to fight a Dzungaria, and to prepare to fight for three or five years?

"Your Majesty overestimated Dzungaria, but the Heshuo Special Department has just been surrendered by us, and that is a right-hand man of Dzungaria."

"Never underestimate your enemies." Liu Jun said. "The Privy Council will check the pre-war preparations for the Western Expedition again, and if everything is ready, then choose an auspicious day and officially send troops to the Western Expedition in the middle of this month."

Liu Jun still insisted on driving the expedition in person, looking around, around the Han Dynasty, the most threatening was this Dzungar Khan Yuros. Batur Huntaiji.

Since the Han and Tang dynasties opened up and operated the Western Regions, the Sacred Han Dynasty will once again set foot in the Western Regions.

And this time, the Han will no longer stop at the Tianshan Mountains, nor will it stop at the Green Mountains, and the iron hooves of the Han will roll all the way to the west. The Ili River Valley, the Seven River Basin, the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains, and the middle of the river region, the Han Dynasty will move forward.

Liu Jun wants to personally gallop through these places, he wants to drink the Volga River, and rule Europa. (To be continued.) )