Go back a month ago.

Nishikawa domestic.

Tired footsteps, trampling between the jungles, the embarrassed figure walked with difficulty.

Zhao Changqing wiped the water droplets oozing from the forest mist on his face, stopped slightly in place, and took a breath.

Even if you have been mentally prepared for this, when you really embark on this road, you will know what it means to be a country surrounded by mountains that is famous all over the world.

Even these people from the southwest, who were also born in the mountains, faced with the heavy mountains and mountains, it was quite difficult to walk.

"Although the losses are a bit big, the good thing is that everything is almost over."

Zhao Changqing muttered, looked back at the long dragon behind him that was composed of human figures and could not be seen, and couldn't help but smile on his face.

It's been a month since I entered the mountains.

In the past month, they have crossed plateaus, crossed streams, climbed over mountains, and entered grasslands, during which they have faced many natural dangers, nor how many poisonous insects and beasts they have faced, and how many terrible dangers they have encountered.

The number of people who died on this arduous road is even more unknown.

But it's all worth it.

Because through this mountain, further on, there is a plain.

And that plain was the purpose of their trip.

Thinking of this, Zhao Changqing rubbed his face, cheered up, and then moved up again, moving forward with the flow of people.

After walking for more than an hour, the dense forest after piece seemed to be invisible.

But this is clearly an illusion.

Because he walked through a jungle again, and after taking another step forward, the strong sunlight shone down, dispelling the shadows of the dense forest.

Looking ahead, I saw a vast plain at the foot of the mountain.

The plain was like the sea, and there was no end in sight.

Seeing this scene, Zhao Changqing, who had been walking the mountain road for a month, suddenly confirmed in his heart that he had finally arrived at his destination.

The other companions beside him seemed to realize this, and many of the people who walked out of the mountain ridge were already crying with excitement, tears of joy and happiness.

Bursts of cheer appeared at the intersection of mountains and plains.

Looking back at the past and looking at the excited companions, Zhao Changqing just smiled and didn't stop blaming them.

As a person who has also experienced it firsthand, he knows very well what these companions have experienced in the mountains for more than a month.

This difficulty of crossing mountains and mountains, even himself, an innate grandmaster, felt quite tired and hard, and he was a little unbearable.

And most of the soldiers in the team are ordinary people, which is even more difficult to endure.

In order to traverse the mountain road that will be thousands of miles in a circuitous way, many people have paid the price of their lives and have fallen forever on the way of the past.

"Your Highness."

vaguely recalling his previous experience, a soft cry came from his ears, which brought Zhao Changqing's thoughts back to reality.

Turning his head, a general wearing pitch-black iron armor and a helmet with a resolute face was saluting him.

"General Flower."

Zhao Changqing nodded at the general, a smile on his face.

The general in front of him, named Hua Kaiyun, is a famous veteran of his Nanzhao Kingdom, although he is over sixty years old, he is still old and strong. In the past few decades, I don't know how much he has made great contributions to his father, and he is the real pillar of the country.

This is his own leading troops to the expedition, Hua Kaiyun is a specially arranged deputy, along the way in terms of army management, thanks to the help of this old general.

And the old general also lived up to his heavy responsibility, not only took care of the march in an orderly manner, but also took this opportunity to teach Zhao Changqing his decades of experience in marching and fighting, and he did not hide any personal secrets.

In the face of such a loyal and loyal minister, like a teacher, Zhao Changqing naturally had great respect in his heart.

"Your Highness, now that the army has left the mountains, there should be the Xichuan Plain in front, and we have entered the hinterland of Xichuan. However, it is not clear exactly where it is located. ”

Hua Kaiyun fulfilled the duties of his deputy and teacher, and said to Zhao Changqing at this time: "Lao Chen suggests, don't act rashly first, send a few spies to find out the surrounding situation, and then make other decisions."

The army marched in the mountains for more than a month, the soldiers were very tired, and the various departments also lost a lot of manpower, in fact, they also needed to count the losses.

It's just the right time to take this opportunity to trim up one or two. Wait to recuperate, and then break the enemy in one fell swoop. ”

Hearing this proposal, Zhao Changqing just smiled and nodded: "Don't let the old general do everything." ”

Hua Kai ran a salute: "The old minister obeys." ”

Then he went down and got ready.

Time passes slowly.

The scouts in the army were sent out to infiltrate the annex and find out the situation here.

However, according to the report, there are no villages within twenty miles of each other.

There are some ruins of the village, but they have long been abandoned and no one lives at all.

So after receiving this reward, Hua Kaiyun breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, but he did not embarrass his subordinates, who had worked extremely hard, and forced them to build a strong camp.

Since there are no people around, there is naturally no need to worry about the risk of exposure, let alone someone discovering their army and running to attack the camp.

Therefore, Hua Kaiyun only asked each department to set up tents on their own, light fires and stoves, and make repairs. It is to gather the generals of the various ministries and ask them to count their losses.

It's not easy to get through the mountains.

The route that their Nanzhao army traveled all the way through had not been walked by anyone before, and it was completely a road that was forced out of a wilderness.

At this time, although he successfully walked out, there were countless people who died in the mountains and forests along the way.

It's all the price of blazing that path.

And now it's time to take stock of how big the price really is.

After lunch, another half an afternoon passed, and after half a day of busyness, tents were set up on the plain like stars.

Countless figures shuttled through, busy sorting out various materials and equipment.

Zhao Changqing stood on the hillside, his eyes swept down, looking at everything in front of him, his heart was full of pride and ambition.

These countless soldiers are the capital of his achievements this time, and they are the basis for the victory of Nanzhao Kingdom. Now that the difficulties of the early stage of the journey have passed, it is time to harvest the fruits.

When he was thinking about it, Hua Kaiyun came over at this time, and after saluting, he reported: "Your Highness, after the inventory of the old ministers, the various departments have calculated the personnel and materials, and now there are 90,126 people left in the whole army, and in order to pass through the jungle, 8,231 people have been lost.

Moreover, there were many hardships and dangers during the period, and it was impossible to transfer materials, and a lot of grain and straw equipment were abandoned on the way.

Therefore, at this time, the army only had the last ten days' rations left, and many soldiers in various departments also threw armor and weapons in their hands, and only light soldiers such as swords were left in their hands.

Today's army strength is less than seventy percent of what it was in its heyday.

And if you don't hurry up and seize the cities of those Xichuan people and get supplies from them, then the remaining 90,000 troops will also be thrown here. ”

Hua Kaiyun reported a piece of data, and his expression was solemn.

The price of opening up a new road in the wilderness of the mountains and forests is really unexpected.

It was much higher than they had expected when they set off.

Therefore, after leaving the mountain, I found that my original preparations were not sufficient at all.

At this time, we had to face an urgent situation.

"More than 8,000 people were damaged, and there were so many casualties on the road?"

Listening to Hua Kaiyun's report, especially the casualty figures, Zhao Changqing frowned slightly, but quickly let go, and smiled: "But this is okay, there are 90,000 people left, which is enough to use." ”

He looked at Hua Kaiyun and said with relief: "And this time we will raid the rear of Xichuan, the old monk Jihui will not expect it at all." At this time, he is no longer in the country, and without him, the innate grandmaster, with the current weak national strength of the Xichuan Kingdom, he can't stop us at all.

Even if there are only ten days of military rations left, it will be more than enough to defeat the Xichuan Kingdom. ”

Between the words, Zhao Changqing was extremely confident.

The plan for this surprise attack on the Xichuan Kingdom was a decision made by him alone, with the consent of his father and the ministers in the country.

And in order to complete this surprise attack, Nanzhao not only spent a lot of money, but also borrowed from those Qiang people on the plateau.

He also raised a force of 100,000 soldiers and horses, all of whom were the elite of the country, composed of off-duty samurai, to complete this surprise attack with this elite army.

In addition, the leading general is also composed of him, a prince who already has innate strength, and Hua Kaiyun, a veteran of the country.

All aspects of preparation and configuration can be said to have reached the peak.

On the contrary.

On the side of the Xichuan Kingdom, those Dongyang people were still confused by the soldiers and horses composed of militia outside the capital of the Nanzhao Kingdom, and they used it to cover their ears and eyes, and they didn't know anything about this surprise attack.

As for the domestic defense force in Xichuan, Nanzhao has also explored it clearly, at most there are only 20,000 people, and the militia accounts for the majority.

With this strength, facing the 90,000 soldiers and horses led by a congenital grandmaster, Zhao Changqing really didn't know, what did the other party want to win?

With his strength, to attack these cities that are in the rear of Xichuan Kingdom and defend the void, even if he is alone, he can defeat them in half a day.

Not to mention that there are only ten days of military rations.

Even if there are only three days of military rations left, as long as you can find a city in Xichuan Kingdom, you will be able to get supplies quickly.

This is the self-confidence that comes with strength.

"With His Royal Highness here, there will be no mistakes in this surprise attack."

Hua Kaiyun looked at the confident face of the young man in front of him, and couldn't help but be infected, and his face, which had been stiff, showed a hint of a smile, and then nodded.

For the eldest prince in front of him, Hua Kaiyun was extremely satisfied.

The other party is not only young, but also extremely talented and powerful.

At the age of twenty-six, he has already broken through the innate in martial arts cultivation and ranks among the grandmasters of the world. made their innate grandmaster of the Nanzhao Kingdom officially break through to the number of three, which is stronger than the other two major powers of the Southwest.

And all kinds of talent endowments are not different.

Just like this detour to the mountains and the strategy of attacking the rear of the Xichuan Kingdom, it was proposed by the great prince.

Although this plan seems to be a bit risky, when it was first proposed, many people opposed it. But judging from the actual results at this time, this risky strategy is indeed very effective.

Now they can unconsciously touch the rear hinterland of Xichuan Kingdom, and they all rely on this strategy to help.

"Those Dongyang people invaded our southwest Yi on a large scale, and Dachanghe and Dali suffered setbacks one after another, lost their troops and lost their land, and were embarrassed, which simply lost the face of our Yi people.

Even my Nanzhao Kingdom has soldiers and horses from the Xichuan Kingdom, invaded the Jianchuan Kingdom, seized the territory of the Mosome Kingdom, and is still fighting the Jianchuan Army there.

At present, the situation in China's southwest Zhuyi can be described as dangerous.

In the face of the invasion of the Dongyang people, if they do not react, I am afraid that they will not follow in the footsteps of those Yue, Miao, Qiang, and Barbarians, and gradually be defeated by those Dongyang people, and take away the homeland where the ancestors lived and lived, and the clansmen will also be enslaved. ”

Although Zhao Changqing was quite happy that his plan could be recognized, the situation facing the entire Southwest Yi now did make the prince of Nanzhao feel worried.

The reason why he wanted to take the risk of a surprise attack this time was to recover the decline and make countermeasures against the invasion of the Dongyang people.

I saw that Zhao Changqing became more and more agitated as he spoke: "In such a situation, as the descendants of the Great God of Black Feather, we will never allow such a situation to occur."

Didn't those Dongyang people want to invade our southwestern Zhuyi?

This prince wants to let them know that Kou can go, and I can also go.

If they can come and fight my southwestern rulers, then my southwestern rulers can also come and fight them.

Now the old monk of Jihui is dragged in Xiangcheng, surrounded by the 150,000 army of Jianchuan, and he can't get out at all.

Such a God-given opportunity just allowed this prince to steal his hometown, so that he could taste what it was like for his country to be invaded?

The thousands of miles of Xichuan Plain in front of me, from today onwards, will belong to my Nanzhao Kingdom. ”

As soon as Zhao Changqing's words fell, he stretched out his hand and faced the vast plain in front of him, as if he wanted to embrace all this into his arms.

Except for the vicinity of the three major lakes of Kunhai, Erhai and Lihai, there are almost no decent plains, all of which are mountainous areas.

Therefore, even after thousands of years of development, their three major Yi countries still can't support much population. The Three Kingdoms are almost seven counties, and when the population was at its most prosperous, it did not exceed 10 million.

The Xichuan Plain in front of you has a vast area of more than 2,000 miles, which is not inferior to the three seas in the southwest, and even surpasses it.

If you can occupy this land and operate it for another hundred years, then the national strength of Nanzhao will definitely usher in a leap forward, and it will not be a problem to double.

Such a great opportunity, Zhao Changqing, who has already achieved many things at a young age and has great ambitions, how could he let it go?

Now the Dongyang countries have invaded the southwest of the country, perhaps in the eyes of many people, it is the disaster of the entire southwest of the country.

But in Zhao Changqing's heart, this is a golden opportunity that belongs to him and to Nanzhaoguo.

Because according to the original situation in the southwest region, even if Nanzhao Kingdom has such a congenital as him, it is impossible to defeat or annex the other two Yi States before there is no overwhelming gap in strength.

Even if Nanzhao is too strong, it will attract the other two parties to join forces to contain it, and there will be no future at all.

But now the situation in the southwest has been broken.

The Dongyang people, a more powerful enemy, came in, and immediately held the hands and feet of Dachanghe and Dali, and also held the hands and feet of those Dongyang people, so that they had no time to care.

And in this situation.

What Nanzhao had to deal with was only a weak country with a population of less than one million.

Originally, with the strength of Xichuan Kingdom, with all his might, he was able to make up 100,000 soldiers and horses. Coupled with the fact that the lord of the country is an innate grandmaster, and with the help of some allies of the Xichuan Kingdom, the aggressiveness may not be enough, but the defense is also more than enough.

With the strength of the Nanzhao Kingdom, it is not so simple to defeat such a Xichuan Kingdom, and it is even impossible.

But now, once the Dongyang countries jointly attacked the southwest, there were countless gaps in the encirclement near the Nanzhao Kingdom.

Dachanghe and Dali, Zhao Changqing didn't want to move them.

First, although these two families are down, there are still two innate grandmasters left in the country, and they can also pull out more than a dozen or hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses, which is not so easy to deal with.

And after beating them, the Dongyang people will undoubtedly drive straight into the land of Nanzhao without any obstruction.

Rather than this, it is better to keep these two countries as a barrier to block the attack of the Dongyang people.

On the contrary, it is Nishikawa Province.

Now that Jihui's old monk, I don't know if it's really Lao Hutu, even the 30,000 soldiers and horses under his command dare to come and get involved in this mess.

Now that he has been besieged by Xiangcheng and lost contact with the country, he really deserves it.

But it just so happened that Xichuan was empty in the country, giving himself the opportunity to take advantage of the void.

'This time, it is necessary to break the Xichuan Kingdom and seize these two thousand miles of foundation for my Nanzhao. ’

Zhao Changqing looked into the distance, as if through the plain, he saw the cities that surrendered under him and planted the banner of Nanzhao.

"Your Highness, the scout is here to report, thirty miles northeast of the front, there is a county seat of Xichuan Kingdom."

At this moment, a guard hurriedly walked over and said a few words to Hua Kaiyun, and then the veteran immediately came to report.

"Really? So quickly, I found the city of Nishikawa Country. ”

Zhao Changqing came back to his senses from his distant thoughts, still with that habitual smile on his face, and then ordered: "Since this is the case, then the army will set off, first select an elite, and follow me to attack this city." ”

After speaking, he looked at Hua Kaiyun and said, "Old general, I will take a group of men and horses to set off first, and most of the remaining men and horses will be followed by the old general." The back road of the army was entrusted to the old general. ”

When the flowers bloomed, he said solemnly: "Your Highness, rest assured, these will be handed over to the old minister." There are ministers, and the army will not be allowed to enter and lose. ”

Hearing this, Zhao Changqing nodded slightly.

For this veteran who has fought for his country for decades, he believes in the other party's ability and will never let himself down.

Therefore, after getting the promise, he tidied up his clothes, then turned over and stepped on the war horse, followed by dozens of guards, and waved his horsewhip and said: "Go!" ”

In front of him, an army that was already fully equipped and wearing armor heard the command, and instantly rushed out, turning into a black long dragon, heading towards the northeast.

On June 17, the fifth year of Shenwu, the army of Nanzhao took advantage of the plateau, crossed the mountains and mountains, and attacked Xichuan by surprise.

The garrison of Xichuan Kingdom was empty, and in the face of the menacing Nanzhao army, it was powerless to stop it.

In just half a month, even the second mansion and the national capital Jinguancheng were also fallen.

All of a sudden, Xichuan was already worried about the loss of the country.