Chapter 1175: Wind Rises in the Desert! [2]

Mid-March.

Gaochang Wall in the Western Regions.

This place is only a few dozen miles away from Jiaohecheng, the capital of the Cheshi Kingdom.

Since clearing out Dunhuang last year, Duan Yu had ordered the re-establishment of the Wuji Colonel's Office here.

In the third year of the Yuan era, after Ban Chao was appointed Protector of the Western Regions, he re-established the Wuji Colonel, leading 500 soldiers to be stationed here.

In the 17th year of Yongping of Emperor Ming of Han, Geng Gong was appointed Wuji Colonel.

In the third month of the 18th year of Yongping, the Northern Xiongnu defeated and killed the King of Cheshi, Ande, and then began to attack Geng Gong. At that time, Geng Gong had few soldiers and could not resist, so he began to retreat to Shule City.

Subsequently, the Northern Xiongnu continued to move south and killed the then Protector of the Western Regions, Chen Mu.

In the first month of the first year of Jianchu, Emperor Zhang of Han sent the Jiuquan Governor, Qin Peng, and the attendant, Wang Meng, to go beyond the border to rescue Geng Gong. At that time, only twenty-six people remained by Geng Gong's side.

Finally, after experiencing ten thousand difficulties, they returned to the Great Han. When they returned to the Great Han, there were only a dozen or so people left by Geng Gong's side.

Since then, the Great Han had severed its connection with the Western Regions, although later, Ban Chao's descendant, Ban Yong, had once again opened up the Western Regions passage.

It was just that by then, the national strength of the Great Han had weakened, and it had no ability to re-establish the Protectorate of the Western Regions.

It only nominally appointed Ban Yong as the Western Regions Changshi, not the Protector of the Western Regions.

Nominally, it still exercised the power of the Protectorate of the Western Regions, but in reality, the Western Regions were completely out of the control of the Great Han.

And in the past few decades, as time passed, the Great Han had almost severed its dealings with the Western Regions.

Among the various states in the Western Regions, the strongest, Wusun, also held the title of Protector of the Western Regions and began to exercise the functions of the Protectorate of the Western Regions, collecting taxes from various countries to strengthen itself.

Besides Wusun, the Northern Xiongnu, who were entrenched north of the Tianshan Mountains, also constantly exploited the various states in the Western Regions.

However, compared to the small amount of taxes collected by the Great Han when it established the Protectorate of the Western Regions, the taxes collected by both Wusun and the Northern Xiongnu were several times higher than when the Protectorate of the Western Regions existed.

At first, many small countries resisted.

But the national strength of Wusun was clearly not something these small countries could contend with.

After several small countries were destroyed, and Wusun's envoys brought the heads of these small countries' kings to the gates of the next small country, all voices of resistance came to an abrupt end.

As Wusun and the Northern Xiongnu constantly exploited them, Wusun and the Northern Xiongnu became increasingly powerful.

The remaining countries had less and less ability to resist.

Last year, Duan Yu ordered the reconstruction of the Protectorate of the Western Regions and re-enabled the abandoned Wuji Colonel's Office at Gaochang Wall.

However, currently, only the Protectorate of the Western Regions had been restarted in the Western Regions, and the Wuji Colonel's Office had not yet been established.

Xun You was now the Protector of the Western Regions, while Xi Zhicai was the Western Regions Changshi, temporarily acting as the Wuji Colonel.

Lu Bu led troops to be stationed at the Protectorate of the Western Regions, while Qu Yi led troops to be stationed at the Wuji Colonel's Office.

At this time, in the hall built of rammed loess at the Wuji Colonel's Office.

Duan Yu was sitting in the main seat, wearing a black robe.

Sitting below the hall were the generals and advisors who had accompanied Duan Yu on this trip.

Hua Xiong, Qu Yi, Huchuquan, Zhang Xiu, Zhao Yun, Zhao Feng, Ma Chao, Pang De, Hao Zhao, and Bai Lin, the son of the Old King of the White Horse Qiang.

Except for Hua Xiong, who was an old general, everyone in the room was a young-generation general from Liangzhou.

As the entire Liangzhou had fallen under his control, the gap in talent that Duan Yu needed was becoming increasingly large.

Zhang Liao, Zhang Xun, Li Jue, Guo Si, and Chen Qing'an, Gao Shun... these old generals all needed to be stationed in various commanderies in Liangzhou.

So this time, Duan Yu was prepared to cultivate the combat capabilities of the younger generation.

Conquering the Western Regions was undoubtedly an excellent opportunity.

This time, they would not only face the various states in the Western Regions but also the Northern Xiongnu.

Therefore, Duan Yu also brought his brother-in-law, Huchuquan.

Huchuquan led three thousand Xiongnu volunteers.

As for Bai Lin, the son of the Old King of the White Horse Qiang, it was also an accidental result when the Old King of the White Horse Qiang, Bai Long, came at the beginning of this year.

Planting mulberry trees and raising silkworms allowed the Qiang tribe to eat their fill.

But there was a surplus of labor.

Most of the work of planting mulberry trees and raising silkworms could be handled by women.

But the men of the Qiang tribe became addicted to the strong liquor developed and sold in Liangzhou.

They drank heavily at home all day long.

So the Old King of the White Horse Qiang, Bai Long, proposed to send some Qiang warriors to form volunteers to follow Duan Yu's command.

It just so happened that Duan Yu was preparing to use troops against the Western Regions, and the Qiang tribe, who were skilled in riding and shooting, were absolutely the best mercenaries.

So, Duan Yu let the Old King of the White Horse Qiang, Bai Long, go back to select warriors from the tribes.

A total of five thousand Qiang volunteers were selected from various tribes, led by Bai Lin, the son of the Old King of the White Horse Qiang, Bai Long.

Three thousand Xiongnu volunteers, five thousand Qiang volunteers, as well as the eight hundred Flying Bear Cavalry led by Hua Xiong, and five thousand elite Liangzhou cavalry.

There were nearly fifteen thousand cavalry on this trip.

Besides the fifteen thousand cavalry, there were also about twenty thousand infantry.

A total of thirty-five thousand people.

In addition, fifty thousand corvée laborers were conscripted to transport supplies, composed of the former Jizhou Huang Jin, with Guan Cheng, Guan Hai, and Chu Yan forming the logistics and supply camp.

Thirty-five thousand troops, a fifty-thousand-strong supply camp, and thousands of craftsmen, plus the two thousand people stationed at Gaochang Wall.

A full hundred thousand people.

This was also the largest-scale war Duan Yu had launched since he transmigrated, with the largest number of people, the largest scale, and covering the entire Western Regions.

As for the advisors, besides Jia Xu, Cheng Yu, Xun You, and Xi Zhicai, Duan Yu also brought Guo Jia, who had come to Liangzhou with him.

Although Guo Jia still seemed very young at this time, he did have the reputation of a genius.

With this lineup to deal with the entire Western Regions, Duan Yu could be considered to have spent his blood and capital this time.

It could also be considered a practical exercise for future multi-line operations.

At this time, Xun You was standing in front of a large hand-drawn map.

"According to intelligence, since the beginning of the year, Wusun has already gathered more than a dozen small countries to form a coalition army. Of course, nominally, it is not to attack the Protectorate of the Western Regions established by the Lord."

"Nominally, it is to punish some small countries that have disloyal intentions."

"The first purpose is deterrence, and the second purpose is to make preparations for war."

"Besides this, the Wusun state also sent envoys to the Northern Xiongnu, and the various tribes of the Northern Xiongnu should also be gathering troops now."

"They are just waiting for the ice and snow to melt completely before sending troops south."

"With the Lord's current military strength, it is not difficult to defeat the Wusun coalition army."

"The difficulty lies in how to conquer these various states in the Western Regions."

"If Wusun cannot be completely defeated, these small countries that have been enslaved by Wusun and the Northern Xiongnu for decades will likely not turn to the Lord for a while."

Duan Yu nodded as he listened.

He stroked the fur of Da Hei and Xiao Hei, who were lying to the side.

"I understand what Gongda means. This battle must not only be fought, but it must be fought fiercely."

"Let the various states in the Western Regions know how vulnerable Wusun and the Northern Xiongnu are in front of me!"

"Let them understand that those who submit will prosper, and those who resist will perish!"

Xun You nodded and said: "That's right."

"This is also the reason why Emperor Wu insisted on three expeditions to Dayuan, not hesitating to consume countless troops, money, and grain."

"Dayuan was arrogant back then, thinking that because they were in a remote place, the Great Han could do nothing about it."

Hearing the words of Xun You and Duan Yu, the many young generals in the hall began to rub their hands.

As military generals, fame should be taken on horseback.

Only by fighting and killing the enemy can one achieve merit and establish a career; this is what all military generals look forward to.

Especially the young-generation generals in Liangzhou who are eager to prove themselves. ===== CHAPTER 1177 =====