Chapter 312 Anxi Strategy (II)

August is early autumn, and the summer weather in the Western Regions has faded, and it has become cooler in the morning and night. Dewdrops condensed on the grass leaves, and the north wind gradually rises. The herdsmen began to turn the dried grass into haystacks to prepare food for the cattle and sheep for winter.

The sky became bluer, and the smell of absinthe and wheat poles floated on the prairie. On the flat grassland, no matter which direction you look, there are piles of haystacks everywhere. An eagle flew up from the haystack and soared slowly in the high sky. In the distance, a herder's tent rose up and a wisp of green cooking smoke rose.

An army of tens of thousands of people marched in the wilderness, and each soldier rode his horse. In the Western Regions, both infantry and Modao Army used horses to transport horses and then dismounted during combat.

Zhang Huanxing was in the middle of the team. He rode on his horse and marched slowly, looking at all things in Kucha with interest, the herdsmen's tents, women's clothes, horse types, and the snow-capped mountains and rivers in the distance. It should be said that everything here is no different from the scenery he saw along the way, but because it is in Kucha, it feels a little more special.

A black city ahead was vaguely visible. After a full ten days of march, they finally arrived at the end of the trip, Kucha.

At this time, yellow dust rolled in the distance, and a team of hundreds of cavalrymen was rushing towards this side. The main generals who arrived in Kucha early came to welcome the arrival of the governor.

The first person was burly and tall, with a heroic appearance. It was Wang Siyu, the chief general of Kucha. Next to him was Xin Lang, followed by dozens of commander generals and some civilian officials.

Wang Siyu had already seen Zhang Huan. He turned over and dismounted, quickly stepped forward and knelt down on one knee and said, "I will meet the governor!"

Zhang Huan also got off the horse. He quickly helped his beloved general up and smiled approvingly: "Your raid on Kucha this time was as expected, but you did better than I thought."

Wang Siyu smiled modestly and said, "The Governor has given me a reward. This is the life of the soldiers and the result of the Governor's careful preparations over the past few years. I just happened to the right time."

Zhang Huan nodded, and he patted Xin Lang on the shoulder and smiled: "The Battle of Yanqi is the first time you actually commanded the battle, and you won a complete victory. It's not simple!"

Xin Lang also bowed and said, "I am ashamed. If the 500 warriors captured by Zhang Sancheng were not defending the castle, Jie Gangas was attacked from both sides, I am afraid his subordinate would not be his opponent."

When Zhang Huan heard Zhang Sancheng's arrest, his face turned solemn. He had heard about this. Five hundred extremely ordinary Tang soldiers, the highest commander, were just a lieutenant. They resisted the attack of tens of thousands of Uighur soldiers, fought to the death without retreating. In the end, almost all of them were killed in battle. Only twenty people survived with injuries. In the end, only eight people survived. The battle of Zhang Sancheng was shocking and mourning.

At this time, Xin Lang pulled a young officer from behind and introduced to Zhang Huan: "He is the last team leader, named Guan Ying."

He hurriedly winked at Guan Ying and said, "This is the governor of our Western Liang Army. You won't go up to see you."

Guan Ying was a humble soldier a month ago. He never thought of seeing the highest leader of the Western Liang Army, the second-largest person in the Tang Dynasty. He showed excitement in his eyes and went forward and half-kneeled to salute: "I am in charge of the governor!"

"Hurry and don't give me a gift!" Zhang Huan hurriedly helped him up and looked him up and down, and saw that he was very thin, like a child compared to Wang Siyu next to him, but such a thin soldier could take death as if he was home and serve the country with death.

Zhang Huan nodded slowly. He suddenly remembered something and asked with a smile: "I remember the scout who found the whereabouts of Geluo people in Pulei County. It seemed that he was named Guan Ying. This name is the same as Guanyin. I remember very clearly that there is also a Sun Mu people, but are you?"

Guan Ying straightened his waist and replied loudly: "The Governor remembers it well, it's a humble position."

He couldn't help but think of Sun Muren, his eyes were gloomy, he lowered his head and said shamelessly: "The humble vocation was just a lucky person to survive. The ones who really made great contributions were Sun Muren and Wang Tingjiang. If their deaths had inspired my fighting spirit, I might have retreated."

Zhang Huan pressed his thin shoulders and stared into his eyes and said, "I will remember them and will give me some care to every brother who died in battle, so that they can rest in peace. You don't have to blame yourself. Everyone will be afraid in the face of death, including me, but we always need a spirit when we live. Even if we die, death is worth it."

Speaking of this, Zhang Huan glanced at everyone again and said loudly: "This Western Expedition, more than 13,000 people have been killed. I have reported to the court that the Anxi Martyrs' Temple will be established in Chang'an to commemorate the soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the country after regaining Anxi and Beiting."

When everyone heard this, they knelt down and shouted: "The soldiers are grateful for the heart of the governor!"

Zhang Huan sighed and waved to everyone, "Get up! Don't thank me, the Xiliang Army was founded by me. How can I have no feelings for my brothers?"

．

．

．

．

．

．

．

．

It was almost noon at this time. Zhang Huan ordered the army to be stationed outside the city. Under the escort of more than a thousand personal soldiers, he entered Kucha City. Kucha City was much larger than Gaochang Ancient City. It was once the capital of the ancient Kucha Kingdom and an important transit station on the Silk Road. Trade was prosperous for a while. In addition, it has been the location of the Anxi Protectorate for a hundred years, so the style of the Tang Dynasty can be seen everywhere in the buildings in the city.

The population of Kucha City is about 50,000, most of them are local natives, followed by Turks and Han people. The roads are quite straight and neat, and the roads are covered with various shops and houses. Due to the influence of the war, most of them have been closed, but there are still many adventurers walking on the streets with camels.

The most important street in Kucha City is called Tianshan Street. It extends straight from the north gate to the south gate, which is obviously imitating Zhuque Street. The Kucha Royal Palace and the Anxi Jiedushi Office are located on both sides of the road in the middle. After Tubo captured Anxi, the Kucha King led some members of the royal family to exile to Chang'an. Currently, the royal palace is Kongguanzhong. Chisong Dezan lived here not long ago. Now Zhang Huan's residence is also arranged in the Kucha Royal Palace.

The Kucha Royal Palace is obviously much more majestic than the Gaochang Royal Palace. The white jade foundation alone is more than two meters high. When you walk into the high gate, the palace is magnificent and cleaned very neatly. Expensive Tang Dynasty porcelain can be seen everywhere, and the light is bright, without any darkness and humidity. The window is full of various precious flowers and trees, full of green.

Zhang Huan walked around and nodded slightly. Although he did not want to live here, before officially taking over power, Wang Siyu was still the supreme commander of Anxi. Zhang Huan was just a VIP. Zhang Huan was very careful at this point. In the future, Wang Siyu would serve as the military envoy of the four towns of Anxi. He did not want to be too overwhelming in the future.

Of course, this is not the main reason why Zhang Huan did not want to lead the battle against the Uighurs. The main reason was that the court had abnormal movements. A few months ago, Cui Qinggong was convicted of massacre of the people and was deprived of the title of Prince of Ruyang, all his posts were removed, and he was expelled from the cabinet. At the same time, Cui Xiaofu was convicted of Zhejiang West Observation Envoy Han Qing and the subordinate of the Secretariat to Pingzhang, and replaced Cui Qinggong's position in the cabinet. An intelligence sent from Chang'an showed that because of the failure of Luo King Li Qiu into the cabinet, he strongly encouraged the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty to interfere in the government affairs behind his back, which made the conflict between Cui Xiaofu and Li Yao become more and more acute. This information was two months ago. He had a strong premonition that something big had happened in Chang'an.

Therefore, he must arrange military affairs in advance, and once necessary, he will return to Chang'an immediately.

After lunch, Zhang Huan slept again. When he woke up, it was already dusk. The golden sunset shot in from the window. Zhang Huan lay on an extremely wide bed with a soft silk quilt under his body. In front of him was a magnificent roof and four walls. A huge light green tassel tent was dragged down from the hall, completely covering the big bed. He had not enjoyed this way for a long time. For a moment, he felt as if he was in a dream.

"Governor! General Wang asked for a visit." Outside the bedroom, a personal soldier reported loudly that Gao Chang's palace caused his voice to echo.

"Let him wait for me in the side hall."

Zhang Huan jumped up from the bed, feeling refreshed all over his body, and there was still the sweetness after waking up in his mouth. He stretched his waist long, put on his outer robe, and walked towards the side hall with great energy.

This side palace is where the King of Kucha handled official duties in the past. The books were well preserved. Most of them were historical books from the Central Plains and were not destroyed by the Tubo people. It can be seen that Chisong Dezan was also a well-known book. He also had an annotation bookmarks written by him in many books. For example, in the discussion on the Battle of Changping in Records of the Grand Historian, he wrote in a beautiful word: "Changping trapped Zhao soldiers for 400,000 yuan, which was the strategy that the King of Qin had planned for a long time. He pretended to be Bai Qi. The death of Bai Qi the next day was caused by this, and the King of Qin silenced his mouth."

Not only was the books not destroyed, but all the other furniture was as they were, and they were not changed to the Tubo style. However, unlike the Tang Dynasty, there were no wooden couches, and there were no soft mats here, but chairs. At this moment, Wang Siyu "sitted" on a chair waiting, and next to him were Xin Lang and two other old men, one was an officer and the other was an old monk.

Seeing Zhang Huan come in, Wang Siyu immediately stood up and bowed and said, "I'm disturbing the governor's rest."

Zhang Huan smiled and waved his hand, "Military affairs are of great importance, don't be polite."

As he said that, he glanced at the two old men and asked with a smile: "What are these two?"

The old general stood up and bowed, "I am the original Shule guardian Luyang, please see Shangshu Zhang."

Zhang Huan was solemn and immediately bowed to him, saying, "It turns out to be the Old General Lu. You have been alone in Anxi for decades. You are Zhang Huan's seniors. You are polite here."

Luyang sighed, then smiled with relief: "There are talents in the country and the rise of your young and handsome men that allowed us and other veterans to see the hope of the Tang Dynasty. Although I am old, I am willing to work hard for Zhang Shangshu."

Zhang Huan was overjoyed. With him here, he would get Shule twice the result in half. At this time, the old monk next to him also stood up and clasped his hands and said, "I am a monk, Bodhidun, give tribute to Mr. Zhang."

When Zhang Huan saw him speak fluent Chinese, he was a little surprised. Wang Siyu next to him smiled and said, "This master was also an official of the Tang Dynasty, commonly known as Che Fengchao. Have you heard of the governor?"

Zhang Huan was surprised. He read some miscellaneous notes when he was studying, and it seemed that there was a record of this person. He hesitated and asked: "Is it the Master the envoy who followed Zhang Taoguang to the Western Regions on the order of Emperor Xuanzong and did not return?"

Bodhidun nodded slowly, "I didn't expect that Shangshu Zhang would know the old case. I lived in the Jiandura Kingdom. After I recovered from the illness, I became a monk. I wish to imitate Master Xuanzang to bring the Buddhist scriptures of India back to the Central Plains. I returned from Tochar last month."

‘Tocharo?’ Zhang Huan glanced at Wang Siyu, and he suddenly realized something and said with a smile: “Master, is it that I want to tell me about Dashi?”

Bodhidharma even gave a thumbs up and praised him sincerely: "Zhang Shangshu is indeed very knowledgeable and can actually see Dashi. It's not simple!"

He pondered for a moment and said, "When my monk left Tochar, the big food had already been in Shihan's 100,000 soldiers, threatening the way of Tubo. Once the Tubo army was defeated this time, it is probably difficult for them to return to the country. I hope the governor understands the situation of Tubo."

"The reason why Dashi refused to leave Tochar is probably not just because of defending against Tubo!" Zhang Huan shrugged his shoulders gently and smiled faintly: "I think their real reason is that they are afraid that the Tang army will cross the Pamir Mountains and continue to move westward."

．

．

．

．

．

．

．

．

．

．
Chapter completed!