Chapter 158: Shocking the Western Regions

Seeing that Zhang Mai agreed to him, Xue Fu said again: "In addition, Xue Fu has another request."

"explain."

Xue Fu said: "I hope the main force of the army can retreat 150 miles away, and it is best to retreat to the three-way intersection west of the Geluoling Pass. And within a month, I hope to act independently, and the special envoys and generals do not restrict me."

All the generals started to scold and shouted, "What are you saying? You have not yet fought a war, so you asked us to retreat?" Someone even said, "Do you want to coax us away so that we can surrender to the enemy?"

Xue Fu didn't speak or get angry, just looked at Zhang Mai.

Zhang Mai said, "Okay, I promise you."

All the generals were a little surprised, and Li Bin also felt that it might not be appropriate. Zhang Mai said, "I believe Xue Fu will not let me down." He ordered his troops to retreat to the Sancha Road intersection west of the Geluoling Pass. Here, you can go east to the Geluoling Pass to enter Shule, to the north to reach Yihei, and to the west, you can go to the misunderstanding.

The generals did not trust Xue Fu, and some even advised Zhang Mai to arrange a military supervisor for him. Zhang Mai said, "Isn't Xue Suding there?"

"But Xue Suding is also from Ningyuan Country, so it is hard to guarantee that there is no collusion in secret."

Zhang Mai said: "If Xue Suding also colluded with Xue Fu, and both of them had bad intentions, do you think I could control them by arranging someone? I think the military supervisor arranged would probably kill them first. Needless to say, when Xue Fu and I were still in the hostile camp, they were already thinking that the other party was friends, let alone now we are fighting for the same ideal and the same cause. I believe he will not let me down."

Despite the dissuasion of the generals, he withdrew his siege against Ejihan and led his troops back east. Li Shengtian came to ask why. Zhang Mai said: "Our military rations cannot be received. Shule is 300 miles from the Geluoling Pass, and there are 300 miles from the Geluoling Pass. Tens of thousands of troops are stationed at the city of Ejihan. The food is 600 miles away. The consumption is too great. It is better to retreat to the mountain pass area first, which is close to Shule, so it is easier to replenish supplies."

Li Shengtian sighed: "I didn't expect Shule to be so cramped."

Zhang Mai said: "There is no way. Although we won all the major battles in Shule, the money and food consumption are too serious. Now the Protectorate is in a very difficult situation. If you can save a little, just save a little."

When Li Shengtian heard that he was pitiful, he couldn't bear it, so he sent an envoy back to his country and ordered the country to raise another 30,000 stones of grain and 30,000 sheep, and rushed to Shule to deliver it.

Zhang Mai was overjoyed and thought, "Li Shengtian is really a good person. It seems that my big brother is not in vain."

After Li Shengtian passed the order, he sighed and said, "It's just that our military power is so powerful that we have already surrounded the traffic, but it's a pity that we have to withdraw because of military rations."

Zhang Mai smiled and said, "It doesn't matter. I have left a side army and asked them to be responsible for conquering Ejihan. Let's just wait for the good news at the Geluoling Pass."

"Particular division?" Li Shengtian had this question in his mind, so he secretly observed. After the troops were in the middle of the journey, he found that a unit had left. Li Shengtian quietly rode his horse to see that the unit was about four or five thousand, all dressed in old clothes, carrying variegated weapons and riding a bad horse. After returning to the army, he couldn't help but shake his head and said to the important minister Ma Jirong: "Brother Zhang is good at everything, but he is too strong. He obviously had to withdraw his troops, but he couldn't get over it, so he left the weakest unit and put a guise on his face. How could he attack a strong city if there were thousands of people like that?"

The city was panicked when the Tang army besieged the city, but the Tang army suddenly withdrew after a few days of siege. Nori was both happy and shocked and sent a detective cavalry to inquire and found that the Tang army retreated to the Geluoling Pass, three hundred miles away. At the same time, people who had been prisoners of the Tang army fled to Ejihan, which brought a lot of news.

Nori personally transferred these people to ask, and then he realized that after the main force of the Tang army advanced westward, the internal emptiness was empty, and tens of thousands of prisoners who were demoted to slaves within Shule took the opportunity to stir up trouble. Now Shule is already full of war. Nori interrogated several people separately, and they all agreed, so he believed that the information was not false and was secretly glad.

Two days later, news came from the northeast, but it was Uighur Khan Arslan who heard that the coalition forces were defeated and personally led a 100,000 army, which had already advanced to Yaer.

Nori was overjoyed and said to his subordinates: "After all, the Tang Kou's foundation is not solid. If they stick to the Geluoling Pass to deal with internal problems, they might not have caused so much trouble. Now they are in internal and external troubles. I don't think they can pass this level!" He rushed to send envoys to Bukhara to request reinforcements, saying: "Now Kuba has been opened. As long as the army arrives, Ejihan can officially merge into Saman."

After a few days, small groups of troops continued to run to the vicinity of Ejihan to request entry into the city. These troops were worn out and had mixed weapons, such as herders and rebels. Nori refused to open the city gate lightly and sent people to ask. Those troops said, "General Kuba General Asil took advantage of Zhang Mai's departure from Shule, climbed up and called, gathered people to resist the Tang people. Now he has reached the Geluoling Pass and is fighting fiercely with the Tang army."

Norri had also heard of Asil's name and knew that he was one of Kuba's two major war generals. Eujihan's predecessor, Leismak Disi, once mentioned to him that this person was very loyal, brave and good at fighting, but was a bit too pedantic.

"Loyal, pedantic and good at fighting..."

That is a dreamy general. There is only one kind of person in the world who blames such generals, that is, he already has his master - like Valdan.

A few days later, a cavalry came, usually with bad horses with bad clothes and dust on their faces, but the number was two or three thousand. More than a dozen small troops who arrived outside the city had already seen them hugged and shouted: "General Asil! General Asil!"

The general in charge was Xue Fu. He approached the city gate and asked to enter the city. Norri sent people who knew Asil to climb to the city and looked around, saying, "That's right, it's General Asil!" He even recognized that the soldiers next to him were all figures in the Hu coalition.

Then Nori sent people out of the city and asked Xue Fu why he came. Xue Fu said: "After the main force of the Tang Kou left, I started a crime in the rear and seized some weapons and horses. I wanted to seize Shule City, but Tang Kou was cunning and could not do what he wanted, so I had to lead his troops out of the Geluoling Pass. After a big battle at the mountain pass, more than half of the casualties were killed or injured, and we got here. Now we are exhausted. If Leyce can open the city to accommodate, thousands of our soldiers will be grateful. I hope Leyce can allow us to enter the city and resist the Tang Kou together."

When Valdan was able to capture Ejihan, it was mainly because of Xue Fu's courage and good fighting skills. When Mark Diesi was going to clean up the city, Xue Fu once said to dissuade him. Therefore, Ejihan, both old residents and newcomers, had a good impression of him and said, "If General Asil enters, then Ejihan will definitely be safe."

Nori had no doubts anymore and sent someone to Xue Fu, "After entering the city, you have to obey my orders."

Xue Fu said: "If Leis is willing to accept us, we will die."

Nori was overjoyed and opened the city gate. He went to the city gate to greet him in person. He smiled and said, "I have heard that General Asil is invincible, and I only saw the real person today."

Xue Fu smiled slightly and said, "I have changed my surname back to the Han surname, Xue, and Fu."

Norrice: "What?"

Xue Fu smiled lightly, clamped his legs, rushed over, lifted Nori, and at the same time, his generals rushed forward and occupied the city gate. The few-traceeded defenders panicked and didn't know how to react. Xue Fu shouted: "I have now joined the Tang Dynasty and are granted the title of Chief Commander. The soldiers in the city listened to it - surrender to avoid death, and those who do not surrender were killed!"

Nori was stunned: "What did you say? Aren't you Asil? The Tang army is now in trouble with internal and external affairs, and the army has retreated, why are you..."

"Whatever internal and external troubles are used to deceive you." Xue Fu smiled faintly: "As for the retreat of the army... If our main force does not retreat, I am afraid you will not be fooled easily!"

Seeing that Nori was captured, the defenders were immediately in chaos. Xue Fu took Nori and rushed to Leis Mansion. Xue Suding, Ma Humeng, Ma Shun, Wuliji and others led their troops out to kill the defenders in the city and captured various strongholds.

When the news of the defeat of the Hu coalition forces came, the entire Ejihan was already in a panic. When the Tang army sieges the city, the city was even more frightened. At that time, the battle and surrender were already on the front line, but Nori insisted on resisting, which made the Tang army spend some more effort. At this time, seeing that Nori was captured and the city gate was taken away, the defenders in the city had no intention of fighting since then and surrendered one after another. In just one day, Ejihan was pacified.

After Xue Fu seized Ejihan, he immediately sent someone to report the victory to Zhang Mai. After receiving the victory, Zhang Mai smiled at the generals and said, "How?" Guo Shiyong and others said one after another: "The special envoy knows the wisdom of others, no one can pass, and his subordinates admire him very much."

Zhang Mai laughed and said, "It's not a wise man, but I'm sure Xue Fu is a person who already agrees with our philosophy. We are partners, so we should trust each other." He first sent Guo Luofei to Ejihan to take over the city, and then invited Li Shengtian to say: "The general under my command has taken Ejihan and reported that a lot of food and grass has been stockpiled in the city, which is enough for the army to use for half a year. Let's set off now."

Li Shengtian was surprised to hear the news. He never expected that the ragged army that he regarded as a "guilt" could even capture the misunderstanding, and so quickly.

The army continued to advance westward, and this time it was moving fast. The vanguard arrived in Ejihan three days later. Li Shengtian believed that the city had already changed the Tang army flags at the top of the city. After entering the city, he saw that the city was calm. When Zhang Mai saw that only Guo Luo and Xue Suding came to greet him, he asked, "Where is Xue Fu?"

Guo Luo said: "When I arrived, he was no longer in the city."

Zhang Mai turned his head and looked at Xue Suding. Xue Suding said, "Xue Fu said that the special envoy gave him a month. Now the time is not yet up. After he handed over Ejihan to me, he brought two thousand people to seize Kuba."

Zhang Mai was also a little surprised at this moment. He had seen Kuba's dangerous situation and said, "Although Kuba is small, it is a fortress built on the mountain! He has only two thousand light cavalry, so I'm afraid he can't take it down. Aluo, you can lead the troops to reinforce him. Tell him, it doesn't matter whether Kuba is defeated or not. If he can't take it down, come back."

Before he finished speaking, several cavalry outside the city rushed forward, but Ma Shun ran straight to Zhang Mai, knelt down and reported: "Report to the special envoy, Kuba has been pacified. Wei Du Xue is now about to recruit the remnants from the old land of Dayuan, search for sweat-blooded BMWs, and ask the special envoy to send generals to Kuba to guard!"

The generals were shocked when they heard this, and the monarch and ministers of Khotan were even more shocked. Zhang Mai couldn't help but be stunned and asked, "How did he defeat Kuba?"

Ma Shun said: "We did not attack. When Saman saw our army's flag, he had already fled from afar. There were only some old sects of the jihadists left in the city. When Captain Xue stepped forward and shouted, they saw that it was Captain Xue, they all opened the gate of the mountain city to greet him."

Zhang Mai smiled and said to Guo Luo: "Zheng Wei has great vision!"

Li Shengtian and others could not understand this, so only Guo Luo, Xi Sheng and others understood that when they first started the army, Zheng Wei said: "Now the Western Regions are in chaos, and everyone is shocked by the power of our army. In less than a month, from east to Gaochang, west to Saman, south to India, north to Balashaguen, all of which will spread our army's reputation. The tribes and towns along the way will have the opportunity to surrender in one move!"

Xue Fu's advance was so smooth, in addition to his proper tactics, he also borrowed Zheng Wei's strategic trend in the general trend.

Since the rebellion of the Tang army, it has been a lot of effort to attack a city. It has never been like today. It is like marching thousands of miles away like entering a land of no one, and it is not easy to capture three cities.

After Kuba fell into his pocket, the situation of Ejihan was very different. Originally, Zhang Mai only planned to use it as a border town, but now with Kuba as a foreign defense, it became a hinterland that can be developed. The original strategy of the Tang army could also be repaired. Xue Fu went to the old land of Dayuan Kingdom in northwest of Kuba and recruited many residents of Ningyuan Kingdom to make up for the population losses in the Ejihan area. He also brought back 100 purebred sweat-blooded BMWs, 500 second-generation sweat-blooded BMWs and more than 3,000 hybrid horses, dedicated to Zhang Mai. He also brought a group of old herders who were good at taking care of sweat-blooded BMWs.

On the second day of June, when Xue Fu brought this group of people back to the rare fence, a cannon suddenly sounded a fire in the city. Xue Fu and others were stunned. However, they saw the chiefs and envoys of more than ten tribes walking out of the city and said in unison: "Welcome General Xue." However, they were all the surrounding tribes that had arrived in the past half month to surrender. Then, the generals of the Tang army walked out in two rows, and finally walked out a majestic sweat-blooded horse. Zhang Mai was sitting immediately.

Xue Fu was slightly shocked, jumped off his horse, knelt on one knee before the throne of sweat and blood, and said, "Enterprise, Xue Fu is back, and he will fulfill his mission." The soldiers, generals and herdsmen who followed him also dismounted and knelt down, shouting together: "See the Special Envoy."

Zhang Mai also jumped down quickly, helped him up and said, "We are friends and partners, so there is no need to give such a big gift. Look--"

When I pointed to the city gate, I saw three new Chinese characters engraved on it: Ningyuan City!

Zhang Mai said: "I hereby announce that I will be promoted to the Chief Commander Xue Fu as General of the Central Army. Ejihan will be renamed Ningyuan City from now on."

Xue Fu looked at the word "Ningyuan", and two tears couldn't help but seep out in his eyes, but for a moment he couldn't speak. Zhang Mai took his hand and smiled and said, "Let's go to the city to drink. Yutian just brought some top-quality wines. I happened to borrow flowers to offer Buddha, so I would like to reward you and wash your dust."

Before we knew it, a "fear of Tang Feng" blew away in the Western Regions.

Even Zhang Mai had not discovered that the "Tang Dynasty Threat Theory" rose overnight throughout the Western Regions.

Saman, Bukhara.

"What! Kuba fell too?"

"yes!"

Nesser II sat heavily on his throne.

It seems that it has miscalculated. I originally thought it was just a Ranger who won a surprise, but I didn't expect that the situation would change so much after a few months!

When news of Hassan being defeated and captured and tens of thousands of troops were wiped out, Nesser II, like the citizens of Bukhara, believed that it was a rumor of the enemy or a misinformation caused by some reason.

"A hundred thousand troops were defeated by a group of bandits? How could that be possible?"

During those days, this became the funniest joke in the streets and alleys of Bukhara.

But soon all kinds of unfavorable news came one after another. First, the famous Satuk Bograhan escaped from the Groling Mountain Pass, and then said to have fled back to Talas. It is said that behind him was the Tang Dynasty sent an army of 100,000 to chase him!

Then, within a month, Ejisan fell, and in less than five days, Kuba fell.

Neser II looked up vigilantly and asked his prime minister Bal Ami: "How is Sima?"

Xizhu is a border defense center that is very close to Kuba. If the distance between Ejihan and Kuba is about three to five days, then Kuba and Xizhu will arrive day and night! If Xizhu is also lost, then the vast and rich Hezhong area will completely open her seductive breasts to the Tang army.

"The Tang army's rangers have approached Xihu several times to peek, but there has not yet been a conflict." Ballahmi said: "We have 7,000 elite soldiers in Xihu, so we should be able to withstand a while - if we really want to enter the river if we join the Tang army."

"Seven thousand? Seven thousand is too little!" said Naisl II.

"My subordinates have already dispatched troops from Pingge, and the soldiers and generals in Baishui City will be dispatched at any time," said Balaami.

"You must defend Xizhe!" Naiser II said: "If there is a crisis, then just transfer troops from Samarkand! Xizhe's defense line must not be lost!"

If the major forces in the Western Regions had been overly contemptuous of the attitudes of the Tang army before, then now there is an overestimation of the Tang army's strength from fear.

Before Shule's offensive and defensive battle, Naiser II did not treat the Anxi Protectorate as a force that could threaten him. In his opinion, the capture of Shule by the Tang army was just an "accident" for Satuk Bograkhan. The biggest purpose of his arrangements for the East was not to kill the Tang army, but to not want Satuk to decline too much due to a "accident", so that Arslan took the opportunity to unify the Uighurs.

But war is always the most effective means to subvert people's concepts. The overall victory of Shule's offensive and defensive battles, coupled with the Tang army's successive capture of Ejihan and Kuba, was more convincing than the 1,000 eloquent debaters.

Many people dare not even doubt the propaganda that Tang Jun claims to be the "100,000 army". After all, this is an army that defeated the "200,000 army". I think it should have a stronger military force.

"Da Tang, Da Tang... has that monster really risen again?" Naiser II murmured.

Seeing that the prime minister had not retreated, he asked, "Is there anything else?"

Ballahami said: "Your Majesty, can we actually consider making peace with this Tang army? After all, before joining forces with Satuk, we had no old grudges with this Tang army. And this matter can actually be explained by a 'misunderstanding'. If you think about it carefully, we have never had direct contact with them before."

"But can this Tang army be trusted?"
To be continued...