Zeng Hua pointed to the city immersed in twilight in front of him and said to Zeng Zhuo beside him: "Where is Isfahan City, an important city in central Persia. It is said to have existed more than 1,000 years ago during the Persian Midi Kingdom, and was later expanded during the Achaemenid Dynasty to become an important town in the Persian hinterland. ”

"Due to its geographical location, Isfahan has been a battleground for soldiers since ancient times, and Isfahan means a place of assembly in Persian. It used to be the jewel of Achaemenid beauty, like Persepolis, but now, only Isfahan is left in Persia. Persepolis had long since been reduced to ruins after Alexander the Great of Macedon's crusade, like a magnificent and magnificent dream on the vast land of the Persian Plateau.

It is said that Alexander the Great used 10,000 mules and 5,000 camels to take away the treasures of Persepolis in order to plunder them. Then a fire was set ablaze, and the fine columns, capitals, and beams made of Lebanese cedar soon burst into flames, the roof fell, and soot and debris fell to the ground like a thunderstorm. After the fire, only the pillars, door frames and sculptures carved in stone remain intact. Persepolis was destroyed by a fire. ”

Dressed in a white soap coat and wrapped in a white turban, Zeng Hua now looks like a knowledgeable scholar, his hair and beard are all gone, only those eyes are still wise, but there are many more vicissitudes and emotion.

"Grandfather, you know a lot, even the professors of Chinese studies don't know as much." Zeng Zhuo turned his head and replied.

Zeng Hua looked at the grandson in front of him. The eyes are full of kindness and doting. Zeng Zhuo is Zeng Wei's eldest son, who just turned 20 this year and has just graduated from the Chang'an Army Military Academy, and now follows Zeng Hua as a trainee officer.

Zeng Hua knew that Zeng Zhuo's attention was still on the stone cannon fire and oil bombs that flew towards Isfahan City like a meteor. The young man, who is also a hot-blooded young officer, naturally yearns for the battlefield very much, and the scene of hundreds of stone cannons bombarded together by the Huaxia Army is even more boiling, of course, it will deeply attract Zeng Zhuo.

"Ugly", Zeng Hua called Zeng Zhuo's nickname, and it can be seen from here that Zeng Hua loves Zeng Zhuo. Because Zeng Hua has never called Zeng Wen, Zeng Wei and other children like this, "You have been following me on the western expedition for a year." What do you think? ”

When Zeng Zhuo heard this, his expression was obviously shocked, and he immediately straightened up in the saddle and said, "Grandfather, this year has really opened my eyes. Download the beautiful girl, especially in the battle of Neshapur, grandfather, you attacked Mulu in the north and surrounded Herat in the south, so that Zamaspu honestly divided the troops, and the 150,000 Khorasan defenders were divided into three ways, and finally we were divided into three ways. ”

Fight in the city of Neshapur. Zeng Hua first sent Cao Yan to lead the combined forces of Tocharian and Kushan to besiege Herat, bluffing, forcing Zamaspu to divide his troops to Herat, and then personally led a large army to besiege Mulu City, forcing Zamaspu to divide his troops to reinforce him. But he was ambushed again and again on the road by Zeng Wen, and his troops were lost. When the defenders of Khorasan were almost divided, they conquered Mulu in one fell swoop, and then conquered Neshapur, and the city of Herat surrendered after knowing that it was an isolated city, and the Khorasan defense line was thus breached. Sitting in the second line of defense, Xue Tixi did not dare to attack easily, so he had to shrink his forces. Waiting for reinforcements from Ctesiphon from Ptysphon I.

However, at this time, the initiative of the war was already in the hands of the Chinese, and the herdsmen of Zhaozhou took the battalion as a unit, crossed the eastern part of the Alborz Mountains, and went deep into the Persian plateau, wantonly destroying and plundering. Xue Tissi, who was attacked on his back, could only retreat step by step, until he retreated to Boskobat. However, it still could not stop the advance of the 250,000 Chinese army.

The winter of the fifteenth year of China. An army of 270,000 men led by BCI rushed to Boskobat in the snow and wind, and gathered with the 100,000 men of Xerosis. This move by BCS I can be seen as an all-or-nothing gamble. Because the Persian army on the western defense line was also in a hurry, the Romans and the Chinese who had come out of nowhere joined forces and seriously threatened the rich Mesopotamia.

However, the key to the war was still in the east, and as long as the frontal attack of the Chinese in the east was repulsed, the war in the other directions would be easily resolved, so he insisted on leading his army eastward despite the advice of his ministers. Moreover, he took away 270,000 elite soldiers, which is almost the entire family of the Persian Empire.

After several battles, the Persian army could not take advantage of it at all. Fighting frontal positional battles, the Huaxia crossbow battalion and the sharpshooter battalion can pour more than a dozen forces to destroy the poetry arrow in one minute; the Tiger Spear Battalion, which rushes forward like tiger claws and wolf teeth; The unstoppable Modao team, coupled with the exploration army like a giant hammer of the gods, always made the Persian army rout and retreat. Fighting guerrilla warfare in the field, tens of thousands of whistles came, coming and going like the wind Zhaozhou soldiers were the most headache opponents of the Persian army, they not only looted the materials within a radius of thousands of miles and became the material supply of the Chinese army, but also often attacked the detectives and spies of the Persian army, so that the Persians became blind, and even attacked the Persian army's grain supply line in groups, so that the Persian army often starved and fed.

From the winter of the 15th year of Huaxia to the summer of the 16th year of Huaxia, after more than a dozen battles, the more than 300,000 troops of BC I were quickly reduced to less than 250,000, and finally retreated to the city of Isfahan.

On the Chinese side, after more than a dozen fierce battles, 250,000 troops were quickly reduced to less than 200,000, and Zeng Hua also stayed on the front line of Neishapur and Herat for 50,000 years to maintain the supply line from Zhaozhou and Tocharo.

However, in the spring of the sixteenth year of China, 60,000 cavalry from the four counties of Zhaozhou went south, adding a powerful force to the western expeditionary army of China, so that the total number of troops was not inferior to that of the Persians. In the past 20 years, Zeng Hua has migrated more than 800,000 herdsmen to the four counties of Zhaozhou, including Xianbei, Rouran, Eile, and Turkic. In addition, there are more than 100,000 herdsmen such as Xixu Ya and Zhai who originally lived here, plus more than 400,000 Western Xiongnu who moved back to the east, the total number of people exceeded 1.3 million, and the composition of the prefecture soldiers also exceeded 200,000, which did not include the elite box army under the jurisdiction of the Zhaowu Governor, the Xianbei army, the Turkic army, the Yueban army, the Ele army, the Rouran army, and the Xiongnu army (these box armies are generally based on the three compartments as an army, originally a single clan as the army, and then began to mix the various ethnic groups, and there is only a name left, taking the West Road West Expeditionary Army led by Zeng Mu as an example, Less than half of the main Xianbei army is the original Xianbei people. It is also divided into three categories: eastern, central and western, and the rest are mixed Turkic and Xiongnu. ）。 Zeng Hua asked these cavalry to rotate south in batches as a ground arm for the eastern and western expeditionary forces. However, this time it was the main force of the Zhaozhou Xiang Army, which was dominated by the Eile Army, the Xiongnu Army, and the Turkic Army, because Zeng Hua knew that the time for a decisive battle was approaching.

Before arriving at the city of Isfahan, Zeng Hua ordered to ask the Persians for directions with stone cannons and oil bombs according to the custom, so this scene appeared in front of him. However, for Zeng Zhuo, this expedition to the west was not as exciting as he imagined, because in the eyes of this hot-blooded young man, the war should swallow thousands of miles like a tiger, and cross thousands of miles like the wind, which can move forward slowly like the previous half a year. Step by step, where is there "the wind and dust of the Great Plains, the red flag is half rolled out of the gate." The former army fought in Taohebei at night, and it has been reported that it has captured Gu Hun. "Earth Legend?

Zeng Hua heard a little taste from Zeng Zhuo's words, so he said with a smile: "Ugly, what do you say is the purpose of our western expedition?" ”

Zeng Zhuo was stunned. He hurriedly replied, "Grandfather, aren't we going to destroy Persia on this expedition to the west?" Collated and published in ωар.ㄧбΚ.Сn"

"Destroy the Persian state?" Zeng Hua shook his head, turned his head to look at Isfahan in the distance, and continued: "The history of Persia has been more than a thousand years, and its civilization was once extremely brilliant, it has its own people, its own customs, and its own religion and beliefs. Conquering it is easier said than done! ”

Zeng Hua had studied World History before and knew that in the history of another world, the Persians were finally "conquered" by the Arabs who shouted Allah, but in the end, these victors were inevitably "Persianized". Why? And not because of the Arabs relative to the Persians. It is too far behind in terms of both spiritual and material civilization.

Now the Chinese people are shouting that the Holy Lord is coming from the East, and their Holy Religion has thousands of civilizations in China as the foundation. However, it was still difficult to shake the national character of the Persians in a short time.

"When we fight the Persians, it's like two lions fighting, so to speak, they're evenly matched, and as long as one side doesn't fall, we can't say who is the winner. Therefore, whether it is cavalry harassment or the capture of the city, it is a temporary pain for the Persians, and if there is an opportunity, the Persians will recover. ”

"Grandfather, what are we going to do? Destroy the Persians' sheep as much as possible? Zeng Zhuo pondered for a moment and looked up and asked, he knew when to recognize the county.

"For us in China, the east is the sea, which is where the Chinese navy gallops, while the west is where our army is crisscrossed. We must lead the Chinese people to the west under various names and banners, to explore the unknown vast continent, to conquer many countries, and to obtain endless wealth. Speaking of this, Zeng Hua asked Zeng Zhuo solemnly, "Do you understand?" ”

"I see, my father told me about the Northern threat you told him before." Zeng Zhuo nodded and replied solemnly. This idea and argument is known to only a few people in the Chinese kingdom because it is very important. Zeng Wei can tell Zeng Zhuo that the meaning is naturally self-evident, and he also knows that Zeng Zhuo is a person who knows the severity.

"Ugly, Persia is a transit point and passage to the Western world, but it's too far away for us to occupy it, so we must find a way to make it our sphere of influence." Zeng Hua continued.

"Oh, I see, so we're going to wipe out the Persian army as much as possible."

"No, Ugly, we are going to destroy the army of the Emperor of the Persian Empire as much as possible." Zeng Hua blinked and corrected.

Zeng Zhuo couldn't help but be stunned, thought for a while and replied with a smile: "Grandfather, I really understand." Zeng Hua nodded with satisfaction, turned to Isfahan City and said: "Your seventh uncle should be connected with the Romans, and he is slaughtering all sides in Mesopotamia, seriously threatening the hinterland of the Persian Empire, so the enemy land of Bez, is more anxious than us, and wants to fight a decisive battle with us in order to end this war." But I just don't give him this opportunity, I just want to be steady, step by step, and make him more anxious. Only when he shows his flaws will it be the time for the decisive battle. ”

Speaking of this, Zeng Hua turned to Zeng Zhuo and said, "Ah Chou, you have to remember that in addition to courage and wisdom, calmness and patience are also the qualities that a general should have. First of all, you have to learn to wait for the opportunity to break the enemy's territory in the chaos of war, then you have to learn to find opportunities in the chaos, and finally you have to learn to create opportunities. ”

"Grandfather, I see." Zeng Zhuo nodded effortfully and replied.

Looking at his face, which was three points similar to himself, Zeng Hua's heart couldn't help but move, and many past events suddenly poured out from the bottom of his heart.

Seeing Zeng Hua's expression change, he was stunned for a moment, Zeng Zhuo couldn't help but ask, "Grandfather, what's wrong with you?" ”

Hearing Zeng Zhuo's voice, Zeng Hua suddenly came to his senses, smiled and replied: "It's nothing, it's just that when I saw you young, I suddenly remembered the past, and I slowly remembered a lot of the past." ”

For some reason, Zeng Hua rarely talks about the past with his family, so Zeng Zhuo took the opportunity to say: "Grandfather, can you tell me about your past, everyone has legends about your heroic deeds, can you tell me about it yourself?" ”

"When I was your age, I was also a hot-blooded young man." Zeng Hua didn't finish his words, when he was as old as Zeng Zhuo, he was indeed a hot-blooded young man, but he was in another world.

"Fate is always so surprising and unexpected, but this is the most attractive thing about fate. I don't know if history made me, or if I made history. Zeng Hua thought for a while before continuing.

When Zeng Zhuo heard this, although he didn't listen to his grandfather tell about the glorious past, he could deeply experience a kind of insight into history but still lost in history.