Chapter 1994: Anxi at the Crossroads

It was the fifth month, the summer heat blazing, Anxi, the Outer City.

After several years of development, this city, nestled beneath the northern slopes of the Tianshan Mountains and on the southern shore of the Zhuhai (Lake Issyk-Kul), had already become the most important city under Anxi's governance—bar none.

Backed by mountains and facing water, with a pleasant climate and lush water and pasture, it possessed uniquely favorable geographic conditions, from which agriculture and animal husbandry flourished. As the first great city seized when the western expedition thrust into the heartland of the Kara-Khanids, it had been liberated early, and public order was better; in terms of stability, it was even higher than Suyab, which served as Anxi's provisional capital, after all, the "cleaning" had been more thorough.

At the same time, over these years, driven by the "Western Expedition Faction," a trend of westward migration had formed in the northwest of the Great Han, and it was no small stir. The scale of immigrants—guided by the government and spontaneously organized by the people—had already exceeded two hundred fifty thousand in total. Of course, most of them were various Hu peoples; although Han remained the majority, their proportion was not particularly high.

And whether Hu or Han, after arriving in Anxi, the first choice of dwelling place was, without question, the Outer City. Those farmers and herders neither wished to go farther, and upon seeing those fertile lands and waters, their legs refused to move on.

Population is the foundation of all prosperity and development. The arrival of large numbers of "Han settlers" changed the local demographic structure and brought culture and technology. In just seven or eight years, the Outer City became Anxi's most reliable great rear base—the most populous, the most economically developed, with the greatest agricultural and pastoral output.

By now, it even supplied nearly half of the Anxi army's military provisions. The basin south of the Zhuhai, centered on the Outer City, was Anxi's most important granary at present, and even uniquely so.

The influx of large numbers of outsiders naturally could not avoid ethnic conflicts; public security could not be called good, and brawling was the norm—everyone had taken on a savage temperament. But it was precisely in this kind of wild development that order was gradually established, and the Anxi Protectorate's rule over the region gradually took shape and solidified. The past seven or eight years had been a process of consolidating the foundation of governance.

But likewise, in all that time, only one Outer City had been born. Even the scattered small towns and minor cities along the southern shore of the Zhuhai frequently saw disturbances. As for Suyab, Liu Min's "religion-eradication purge" back then had been carried out thoroughly, but the aftereffects were gradually surfacing. As Anxi's capital, it had been plagued by constant unrest for years; attacks on the Han army and Han settlers occurred repeatedly, and no matter how harsh the measures, resistance had never subsided.

In fact, the years-long pacification campaign around Suyab gave the senior leadership of the Anxi Protectorate, headed by Liu Min, more headaches than the continued western expedition itself. After the Battle of Talas, the Islamic coalition lost again and again, scattering like loose sand. Had the Han army's spearhead pressed on at that time, not to mention Samarkand, even Bukhara, the capital of the Samanid Empire, might not have been beyond taking.

But the western expedition also had its limits. With Han army tactics, pushing several hundred li beyond Talas was itself a breakthrough of historical limits, and the unstable rear was a drag on their westward advance. Choosing to halt and rest the troops back then had been a matter of no alternative.

Since the second western expedition began, under conditions of being far from the Great Han's great rear base and facing difficult supply lines, the Anxi army's operational style had undergone enormous changes compared to traditional Han army tactics—the proportion of cavalry had further increased, and mobile operational capability had been greatly strengthened. But dependence on logistics had not been much reduced, so an unstable rear and insecure supply lines created enormous constraints on front-line operations.

Don't be fooled by the considerable territory Anxi now occupied; the areas where actual governance had been established were only the great cities and the small towns and key passes along the transport routes. And even that portion—the so-called governance—was extremely limited and fragile.

Northeast of Suyab was still the territory of the Turgesh tribes; the Han army only controlled the region through a few towns, maintaining basic tax relations. As for west of Suyab, apart from cities like Talas being under control, even basic governance relations were merely symbolic.

In short, lacking a "mass" foundation—apart from the Han army, all were foreign peoples—and as for the subjugated vassals, trust itself was a major problem. These problems grew more severe with time; resistance erupted constantly across the region, with disturbances unending and turmoil ceaseless.

In the past, there had been strong support from the imperial court, with He-Long cooperating fully. But since this spring, the court had changed course, and the western expedition policy had completely reversed, naturally triggering a chain reaction on Anxi's side.

To be fair, without the court's support, no matter how formidable the Anxi army, its foothold in this foreign-filled land beyond the frontier was not secure. Although the court's reforms were gradual and limited support continued, the cessation of direct transfusion was inevitable—and that impact on Anxi was enormous, even fatal.

Over the past few months, the atmosphere among Anxi's upper echelons had been extremely grave. Garrisons everywhere had raised their alert levels, and the senior leadership of the Anxi Protectorate, headed by Liu Min, had held several meetings to discuss the current situation and future development of Anxi.

They were all basically aware that Anxi stood at a historical crossroads, and the direction taken next would directly decide the fate of Anxi's three hundred thousand soldiers and civilians.

In an atmosphere that could barely be called "moistening things silently," a column followed the Shanyuan Post Road, from east to west, heading toward the Outer City.

The column was considerable in size—at a rough glance, several hundred people—dressed in Han clothing, speaking the Han language, with "Han" banners fluttering in the wind, large and small carts fully loaded, filling the rough and uneven dirt road. This was a supply train, and also the last batch of military aid raised by the government, coming from Hexi.

The man leading the column was of no low status—Yang Fu, Deputy Commander of the Ganzhou troops, a former subordinate of Wang Ming, the previous Hexi Administration Commissioner. This was his third time leading a convoy to deliver supplies to Anxi.

From Hexi to Anxi was a journey of several thousand li, and this escort work was anything but easy. Setting aside the difficulties of transport, there were all kinds of accidents and dangers; each round trip took roughly half a year to a full year, and leaving in spring and returning in winter was nothing particularly surprising.

The only thing to be grateful for was that the deadlines were set relatively leniently; otherwise, over these years, the number of clerks and soldiers who overstayed and fled would have been beyond counting. Compared to the previous two times, this time Yang Fu was full of drive, simply because he had received clear notice: once this escort mission was completed and he returned to Ganzhou, he, the Deputy Commander, would be promoted to the full position.

Therefore, on this westward journey, Yang Fu was especially cautious, fearing some accident might occur. Fortunately, the road had been eventful but safe, and once he successfully crossed the Tianshan and entered the Zhuhai basin, his mood relaxed considerably.

The Outer City was already in sight—could Suyab be far behind? Suyab was essentially the terminal station for the court's western aid supplies.