It's not like it was 30 years ago, but it's much better now. "This time, apart from the weapons carried by the Chang'an boy brought by Shen Long, the caravan did not bring any other weapons or iron weapons, and the number of people brought by Shen Long was not large, and in terms of armament alone, it did not provide much help to the Anxi Protectorate.

However, in the past 30 years, Guo Xin was alone in the Western Regions, relying only on those merchants who ventured through the Tibetan jurisdiction to come to the Western Regions to obtain a meager provision, and the rest had to be self-reliant, and at the same time, without the silk and porcelain from the Tang Dynasty, and without the benefits brought by the caravan, it was becoming more and more difficult for Guo Xin to subdue the various ministries in the Western Regions.

Now that the caravan of the Tang Dynasty has reappeared in the Western Regions, everything will be different, and the cities occupied by the Tang Dynasty, such as Qiuci and Xizhou, will surely become the trade centers of the Western Regions again, and the Anxi Protectorate will regain the capital to subdue the various departments of the Western Regions.

The garrison of the Tang Dynasty in the Western Regions was originally not much, how did the Anxi Protectorate rely on 20,000 soldiers and horses to rule this land that was not much better than the Tang Dynasty, Guo Xin, who had been in the Western Regions for more than 30 years, could not be clearer, relying on the goods sent by these Tang Dynasty merchants, he could use many means.

After sighing, Guo Xin remembered the old steward's name for Shen Long, and he turned his head to look at Shen Long, "Guard?" Yuan Zheng is this promoted? ”

"Dadu Protector!" Shen Long hurriedly got up and saluted, originally he was Guo Xin's pawn, without Guo Xin's order, he accepted the imperial court's edict to become the guard of the six cities, which was somewhat unruly, but this was also Shen Long's plan, the strategy he was going to perform was quite different from the original strategy of the Tang Dynasty in Anxi, if he couldn't lead an army alone, he would inevitably be constrained by Guo Xin or Yang Zhenggu and the generals of the Anxi and Beiting armies.

This is what Shen Long doesn't want to see, the situation in the Western Regions is becoming more and more critical, and there is really not much time to spend on internal struggles, so it is better to lead the troops outside to get the six cities well first, and set an example for Guo Xin and Yang Zhenggu, and with a solid case, it can better convince people.

This is not the reason for Guo Xin and Yang Zhenggu's personal ability, but the limitation of the vision of the times, Shen Long explained to Guo Xin, "After the last general returned to Chang'an, His Majesty and the important ministers of the court asked about the situation in the Western Regions, and the last general said frankly that now the connection between the Tang Dynasty and the Western Regions has been cut off, and the two armies of Anxi and Beiting can only be self-reliant, and the Western Regions only have the northern foot of the Tianshan Mountains and the Yili River for farming, if you want to gain a foothold in the Western Regions, these two places must account for one of them, and Juliucheng is not far from Qiuzi and Xizhou, which is one of the most suitable places, Perhaps His Majesty and the ministers felt that the last general was reasonable, so they awarded the last general the post of guarding the six cities. ”

"The imperial court has the wisdom of knowing people, Bendu has been protecting the Western Regions for many years, but he has not found that Yuan Zheng has this strength, which is really a mistake of Bendu Protection." Guo Xin not only did not complain about Shen Long, but also apologized solemnly, "Fortunately, the imperial court helped Bendu to make up for this omission, and now the six cities are still in the hands of Tubo, if Yuan Zheng has anything to help, you might as well say it directly." ”

Shen Long was greatly moved, perhaps this is the reason why this iron-blooded county king can still lead the remnants of the army to guard the Western Regions for decades after severing contact with the Tang Dynasty!

"Most of the generals under the command of the last general are recruits from Chang'an, and they have also experienced some hardships along the way to the west, and the kung fu of going into battle may be acceptable, but the geography of the Western Regions is not very clear, and it would be great if the Dadu Protector could send a few veterans who are familiar with the geographical situation around the six cities to go together." Shen Long didn't ask for reinforcements, but only a few guides.

"Isn't Yuan Zhengmo worried about me? Although the Anxi Protectorate is not as good as before, it is not a problem to send some soldiers and horses to help Yuan Zheng take Juliu City! "Guo Xin is a little puzzled, although Juliu City is small, it can't be taken by you with these recruits, right? After a lapse of thirty years, it was not easy for the Anxi Protectorate to get such a little manpower supplement from Chang'an, and it would be a pity if it was buried under the six cities of Juliu so easily.

"Now that the caravan has just arrived in Qiuzi, most of the guards are about to employ people." Shen Long explained.

"It doesn't matter, no matter how you want to use people, five hundred soldiers and horses can still be drawn, plus the recruits under Yuan Zheng, more than a thousand people are enough to take Juliu City! It's good to take this opportunity to let these sons and daughters see the skills of our Anxi soldiers, although our grades are older, but when it comes to fighting, they are still far behind! Guo Xin said.

"Haha, that's what most of the protectors said! This battle will make me wait for the vanguard. The white-haired soldiers around laughed, this laughter is of course proud of their own ability, but more of a care for their juniors, they finally saw their relatives, how can they bear to let them die in front of themselves?

"Grandpa, don't underestimate the child, the child was also a famous ranger in Chang'an in the past!" Some newcomers were not convinced, and the white-haired soldiers came out to compete with them on the spot, although these teenagers were young and strong, but their experience in battlefield fighting was far from enough, and most of them were easily solved by these white-haired soldiers.

However, there is no shame in losing to their elders, these teenagers took this opportunity to ask the white-haired soldiers for advice, Guo Xin and Shen Long nodded secretly when they saw it, these are good soldiers.

Shen Long stayed in Qiuci for a few days, and then led five hundred white-haired soldiers and more than a thousand Chang'an teenagers to Juliu City, Qiuci and Xizhou are in the south of the Tianshan Mountains, and Juliu City is in the north of the Tianshan Mountains, with a huge Tianshan Mountain in between, but fortunately, between Qiuci and Xizhou, there is still a road that can lead to the north of the Tianshan Mountains, and Yang Zhengu fled from Beiting to Xizhou through this road that day.

Yang Zhenggu also got the news, and squeezed out 300 people from the 2,000 people under his command to act with Shen Long, so the strength of the attack on Juliu City reached 2,000 people.

Two thousand people may not sound like much, but in the Western Regions, it can already be regarded as a large army, don't look at the history books, tens of thousands of soldiers, hundreds of thousands, but most of those are imaginary numbers, including the people who deliver grain and grass for the army; In a place like the Western Regions, where materials are scarce, sparsely populated, and roads are difficult, it is not easy to mobilize 2,000 people.

Moreover, Juliu City is located on the edge of the Tubo power, and the Tubo people did not arrange many defenders in the city, and it was more than enough for 2,000 soldiers and horses to take Juliu City.

From Yanqi Town to the north, under the guidance of the guide, they crossed the Tianshan Mountain Range, came to the northern foot of the Tianshan Mountain, and then passed to the east, Shen Long and they finally arrived outside the city of Juliu.

The Tibetan army in the city did not notice it, so they rested in the valley outside the city for the night, intending to attack tomorrow morning.

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