In June of the first year of Ping, General Ye Lixun led 20,000 soldiers from Wolf Mountain and Wuhe Prefecture to the north, and fought in the north of Jianman Mountain (also known as Greedy Mountain, now Sayan Ridge in the upper reaches of the Yenisei River in the Soviet Union). Yeli retreated for more than hundreds of miles, and the Qigu Khan Tuo Luo chased him with 80,000 soldiers and horses, and was ambushed in the Ahanshui (now the Abakan River), and was defeated in several battles. Ye Li followed the pursuit of thousands of miles, collected hundreds of thousands, and Luo and Bati ran to the west, nowhere to be found. Yeli followed more than 200,000 men and women with red hair, analyzed faces, and green eyes, and killed all the fake heterogeneous thieves, and the sword and water were red for thousands of miles. Tens of thousands of people with black hair and black eyes are descendants of Han Ling (Li Ling) and are compiled by them. The people of the desert Arctic West defended fiercely, and they also deterred the generals from being violent and did not dare to move.

----------- Introduction

"What does the great monk mean that the king wants to fight to the death with us?" Zeng Hua said with a little surprise.

"Yes, the great general, the king's reply is that he will never surrender, and he has already mobilized his troops and horses to prepare to march east out of Quci City, but it is said that he is still waiting for reinforcements from Wusun, so that they can go east together." Hui replied with his palms, the latter words should be the information he half-bought and half-sent to Zeng Hua, anyway, it is already a doomed thing for the Northern Mansion to be the main one in the Western Regions, and of course Hui will do a favor.

"Wusun's reinforcements?" Hearing this, Zeng Hua couldn't help but smile, where is the Wusun King Gui'a still capable of mobilizing reinforcements, he is now facing the more and more stable Jiang Nan and the 60,000 Mobei and Yueban coalition troops led by Hu Lawyers' Association, Dou Lin, and Wu Luolanto, the Mobei Sanying, and the pressure is no less than that faced by Qiuzi.

If Guia had a chance to live another twenty years, he would have understood. How honored he and Wusun are, the four people they faced this time will all be famous generals in Megatron Asia and Europe in the future. During the long journey to the west in China, thousands of national tribes and tens of millions of people trembled in fear as long as they heard the names of those famous generals of Beifu. With Wusun as a "small country", there are four such famous generals at once, and this kind of high-level treatment can be comparable to that of the Sassanid Empire and the Roman Empire.

Xiang Ze's idea is very good, since he has decided to fight a decisive battle with Beifu, then the more soldiers and horses he has, the better. So he also wanted to wait for the Wusun cavalry. Anyway, it also allowed the Turtle Coalition to make up for the disadvantage in numbers and morale. But after waiting for more than ten days. Guiana's letter was more vague than a letter, so that Xiang Ze gradually understood that Wusun was now also unable to protect himself.

"General, you can be reborn only by bathing in fire, and you can be fresh by washing, and it is a great merit for the general to lead the army to tidy up the Western Regions and calm the people." It seems that Megumi has already figured it out in her heart. So when he came up, he first praised Zeng Hua, completely confessing his heart in the tone of the conqueror, and then changed his words: "General, I don't know how Beifu will govern the Western Regions in the future?" ”

Speaking of this, Hui hurriedly added: "The poor monk didn't dare to inquire about the general's governance, nor did he dare to be suspicious of the general's intentions, but he just wanted to know where our Buddhism should go and how to cooperate with the army of Beifu to appease the people." ”

Zeng Hua certainly knew that Monk Hui wanted to know what attitude he would take towards Buddhism in the Western Regions. But this monk said so eloquently. The righteousness was awe-inspiring, and he nodded and replied immediately.

"The great monk is too worried. Although our northern province is dominated by holy religions, it will never destroy Buddhism and temples. It's just that there are thousands of Buddhist temples in the Western Regions. There are tens of thousands of Shamen, who do not work and are willing to be worshipped, which is too difficult for the people of the Western Regions to bear the burden of support. My northern government has always tried its best to relieve the people's worries, so most of these sand gates are to be returned to the world, and some Buddhist temples are to be closed, so that the people of the Western Regions can reduce exploitation. ”

Zeng Hua spoke even more righteously, and put the people of the Western Regions in his mouth when he opened and closed his mouth, as if it was because there were too many monks who did not work that the burden on the people of the Western Regions was extremely heavy.

Hui couldn't help but be stunned when he heard this, but quickly calmed down again and continued to bow his head to listen to Zeng Hua's answer. In the hearts of Hui and other Buddhist monks in the Western Regions, they had long expected that after Beifu occupied the Western Regions, Buddhism was destined to decline, but they just hoped that Zeng Hua and Beifu would not kill and promote the Holy Religion by force, which would really be a disaster for Buddhism. Since Zeng Hua said so righteously, it is estimated that it is not good to "black hands" on Buddhism.

"However, for the Buddhism lineage, my Beifu will still treat it kindly. We will select hundreds of Buddhist monks in the Western Regions and send them to Chang'an and other important places in the northern province, or give lectures in the university hall, or teach in the Buddhist college, and the rest of the Shamen monks will be separated one by one, and if they are willing to stay, they will continue to stay in the Buddhist temple, and we will allocate funds to support them, but the number is limited, and it must be strictly implemented in accordance with the laws of Buddhism and Taoism in the northern province. ”

Zeng Huadi's words made Hui understand a little that although Buddhism in the Western Regions will not perish, it will lose its propagation function from now on, and it can only do some academic research in the temple. According to the regulations of the Beifu Buddha and Taoist law, each place must determine the temple of the Buddha and the Tao and the monks and Taoists according to the proportion of the number of people, and without the approval of the government, even the county border can not be released, plus other restrictions, the Buddhism that flourished in the Western Regions will inevitably decline and give way to the holy religion that has occupied a certain position.

"As for the Buddhist scriptures in the Buddhist temples, all of them will be transported to Chang'an and other places, where the libraries of the universities and colleges are built very well, which is convenient for the preservation of Buddhist books, and I have a printing office in Xianyang, which can print thousands of books a day, and you monks can translate those Sanskrit, Brahmanic riddles and Lulu books into Chinese characters, and then spread to the world and future generations, which is also a great merit."

Hui has thoroughly understood that Beifu has regarded these Buddhist monks who are proficient in various languages as translators, and in the eyes of Zeng Hua and others, the greatest value of these monks is to translate the "Tianzhu civilization" into Chinese characters, so that the "academic community" in Beifu has a new window.

"Amitabha, good and good, I have received the great general's hard work, and the poor monk will go to persuade other fellow disciples to comply with the general's arrangement." In Hui's heart, this is already the best result, don't think that Zeng Hua sits there and politely talks to you and thinks that he is a great and good person, and half of his prestige is killed.

After sending Monk Hui out of the big tent, Zeng Hua asked the generals and staff members sitting around, "What do you think?" What are your opinions? ”

"General. Do you really allow the Buddhist scriptures to be shipped to Chang'an? Qian Fugui first rushed to speak. As a Buddhist, seeing that Zeng Hua did not burn the Buddhist temple scriptures, he still felt a little comforted in his heart, the Central Plains Dynasty has never been soft on dissident thoughts, and the burning of books and Confucianism is a typical example, and Qian Fugui understands that his lord is not a soft-hearted person.

"Yes, I have imposed restrictions on Buddhism. The rest is up to the missionaries of the Holy Church. The Western Regions will be my Northern Prefecture territory. I don't want a river of blood to be shed here. Forming a situation of non-death. Zeng Hua knew in his heart, how strong is Buddhism in the Western Regions? Later, when the Yijiao sect entered the east, it was quickly changed. With the cooperation of administrative means, if those holy religious missionaries cannot change the situation of Buddhism's superiority, they will also

Finish.

"General, are you really willing to let Buddhist scriptures be translated and distributed in Chang'an?" Qian Fugui continued to ask.

"Yes, in the eyes of you Buddhists. Those books are indeed Buddhist scriptures, but in the eyes of others, the meaning of those books is very different. Zeng Hua replied affirmatively.

Qian Fugui understood what Zeng Huadi meant, but he still made a big salute and said, "Thank you for the general's magnanimity." ”

After Qian Fugui sat back in his position, Zhang couldn't wait to ask: "General, will the Qiuzi coalition army really fight a decisive battle with my western expeditionary army?" ”

Indeed, the Qiuzi coalition army had only 60,000 men, and the Western Expeditionary Army was in addition to the remaining troops in Gaochang and other places. And a hundred thousand. In terms of numbers alone, it has a great advantage, does King Qiuzi really dare to fight a decisive battle with the Western Expeditionary Army? This is a question on the minds of many people.

"Why not?" Zeng Hua stood up and walked to the map in the middle of the big tent to answer his subordinates' questions.

"Did you find out? The countries of the Western Regions, from Gaochang through Qiuci to Shule, have a common characteristic, that is, they are bordered by the Tianshan Mountains in the north and the desert in the south. They can only cling to the rivers that flow down the Tianshan Mountains, and their activities are centered on a series of oases. You see, are they squeezed into a long and narrow place, like in a long canyon? Zeng Hua pointed to the map and said.

Everyone took a closer look, and sure enough, it was so.

"In fact, the east exit of this canyon is Tiemen Pass and Gaochang City, and the west side is Shule City, but we seized the opportunity and not only occupied Gaochang, but also fortunately got Tiemen Pass. In this way, the terrain of the middle road is in my hands, so that Qiuzi and other countries will fall into a dilemma, defend the city, I am afraid it will become the second Wuyi city, go out of the city and retreat, in this narrow space they can not maneuver and expand, it is very easy to be caught up by our army or ambushed by the Qiang cavalry. ”

Speaking of this, Zeng Hua recalled and said: "Since the fourth year of Yonghe, after I led the Qiang cavalry to train on the southern road, the countries of the Western Regions have fully appreciated the elusiveness of the Qiang cavalry. In contrast, a decisive battle with our army is a helpless choice. ”

Zeng Hua put down the long rod in his hand, and then said with a smile: "You look at the decisive battles in history, many of them are clear advantages and disadvantages, but why would the inferior side choose this road with more evil and less auspicious? Because that's forced. If you don't choose a decisive battle, there is only a dead end, and if you choose a decisive battle, there may be a chance, and there are many examples in history of the weak defeating the strong.

"I understand," Cao Yan was the first to comprehend, "the general's strategic layout for the Western Regions may have started in the fourth year of Yonghe, and the activities of the Qiang cavalry for several years have made them a very deterrent division. And this time, the general first used two cavalry to make it impossible to concentrate the forces of the Western Regions, and then we could concentrate our superior forces to directly attack the middle road. Once the middle road is successful, whether it is Wusun on the north road or the countries that are gasping for breath on the south road, they are all facing a situation of being flanked from the front and back, and the situation is even more unfavorable. ”

Zeng Hua didn't answer this question, but just moved on to another topic, "Strategically and tactically, there are few soldiers and few soldiers have a small way of playing, and because the few soldiers are weak, it is necessary to change the disadvantage with a positive change in tactics and gain local advantages; There are many soldiers and there are many soldiers to play the style, and because the number of soldiers is strong, as long as the strategy is appropriate, it does not matter if the tactics are conservative at all. However, both methods of fighting with more troops and fewer soldiers have the same purpose, that is, to firmly grasp the initiative on the battlefield in their own hands through strategic layout and tactical means. In fact, this western expedition, from the moment we occupied the Iron Gate Pass, the victory already belonged to us. ”

The generals glanced at each other, exchanged their joy, and then arched their hands and said in unison: "I thank the general for his teachings." ”

"It's not my teachings, no matter how clever I am, I can only provide a general idea, and this whole plan is the discretion of the Privy Council Staff. The husband is the victor without a fight, and he has to count a lot; The temple is not victorious without a fight, and it is considered to be less. This is where the Privy Council Staff Division comes in. Zeng Hua smiled and waved his hand and said, but he was not very modest.

"My subordinates understand!"

After all, Xiang Ze did not wait for Wusun's reinforcements, and the Western Expeditionary Army first conquered Wulei City, and then approached Yancheng, and handed the sharp knife directly to the neck of Qiuzi Kingdom. After receiving the military report, Xiang Ze calculated for a while, and understood that once the Beifu army poured through Yancheng, the hinterland of Quci City and Qiuci Kingdom would really be in no danger to defend, and they would be directly exposed to the iron hooves of the Beifu army.

So Xiang Ze made up his mind and ordered Bai Chun to lead 30,000 Qiuzi troops to Yancheng first, and fight against the 20,000 horses led by Cao Yan, the vanguard of the Beifu Western Expeditionary Army.

Because the back is their homeland, the Qiuzi soldiers who fought against the water share the same hatred, under the leadership of the famous general Bai Chun, all of them bravely moved forward, several bloody battles, Cao Yan actually did not take advantage of it at all, in order to avoid unnecessary losses, he had to lead the army to retreat slowly.

After Bai Chun backed Yancheng and forced back Cao Yan's forward army, he began to counterattack and sent a small force to attack the grain route of the Beifu army.

However, the Beifu West Expeditionary Army drove cattle and sheep westward, and "collected" grain, grass, cattle and sheep from various countries along the way, as long as they occupied the oasis, the requirements for logistics grain and grass were not high. Although Bai Chun's more than a dozen attacks burned part of the grain and grass materials of the Beifu Army, the impact on Cao Yan's department was not great.

However, Zeng Hua did not dare to take it lightly, in addition to sending thousands of light horsemen to patrol the grain road and strengthen the guard, he also released the civilian hunting regiment. These small units of veterans, hunters, shepherds, and other people of all kinds were not to be underestimated, and they were skilled in small-scale ambushes and sneak attacks, taking the heads of Qiuzi officers and soldiers as prey, and taking them to the military camp of the Western Expedition in Beifu in exchange for a lot of money.

After a month of small-scale fighting, the Qiuzi army could not withstand the head hunting of the Beifu Chasseur Corps, and no longer dared to send troops to attack the grain road in Beifu.

On September 24 of the first year of Shengping, Xiang Ze did three days of Buddhist work in the Borosin Temple of Quci City, and after praying for the blessing of the Buddha, he finally led 30,000 Shule coalition troops, plus 10,000 last batch of men from all over Qiuzi, and 10,000 reinforcements squeezed out by Wusun Guo, a total of more than 50,000 people, marched to Yancheng, gathering Bai Chun's 30,000 soldiers and horses.

After Cao Yan learned the news, he immediately reported to Zeng Hua: "The enemy chieftain of Qiuzi led most of his former division to gather his former division, this is the best opportunity to annihilate his army, please lead the army to the west and wipe out the main force of the Qiuzi coalition army in one fell swoop." ”

After Zeng Hua received Cao Yan's report, he felt that this kid could go out of the division, and he had fully comprehended his combat intentions. Previously, he was reluctant to lead the army to fight with Bai Chun's Qiuzi pioneers, because Bai Chun's subordinates were all composed of Qiuzi or his subjects, and their belief in protecting their families and defending the country made them extremely combative. Defeating them is not a problem, but the price to pay is too great to be necessary. Now that Xiang Ze has led the coalition army to arrive, this coalition army composed of several countries, although there are more people, but their hearts are not aligned, and it is easier to deal with.

On September 30, the 100,000 troops of the Western Expeditionary Army of Beifu and the 80,000 troops of the Qiuzi Coalition Army confronted each other 60 miles east of Yancheng, and a decisive battle to determine the fate of the countries in the Western Regions was about to begin.