Qinghai has long clouds and dark snow-capped mountains, and the lonely city looks at Yumen Pass from afar.

Yellow sand is worn with golden armor after hundreds of battles, and will never return until Loulan is destroyed.

In March of the second year of Jiye, a Sui army composed of 5,000 cavalry marched southwest on the edge of the vast sandy sea. This was the Dunhuang cavalry led by Su Dingfang, the general of the Sui Dynasty. Their target was Shanshan City, thousands of miles away.

In the fifth year of Daye, after defeating Tuyuhun, the Sui Dynasty occupied thousands of miles of land, thus establishing four counties including Heyuan, Xihai, Qiemo, and Shanshan, and sent troops and officials to garrison.

In the ninth year of Daye, the Yuan family was the first to rebel, but was quickly suppressed. Yuanshou committed suicide. However, the commander-in-chief Yuan Hongsi led 3,000 soldiers to flee westward, crossed Xihai County, and fled to Shanshan County. He used deception to kill the defenders and seized two thousand troops guarding Shanshan County and Qiemo County.

Yuan Hongsi was appointed as King of Shanshan. He took Shanshan and Qiemo as the foundation, prepared troops and waited for the opportunity to return to the Central Plains. However, the Shanshan area was sparsely populated and insufficient food made it difficult for him to develop. After four years, his army was only 6,000.

At this time, news of Li Gui's defeat came. The Tang army was confronting the Western Qin army and was unable to look west. Yuan Hongsi realized that the time had come, and his first goal was Yiwu County in the north. When winter was coming, he decided to take Yiwu County after the spring next year.

But what Yuan Hongsi did not expect was that in the early winter of this year, a huge change occurred in Dunhuang County. A Sui army rushed thousands of miles to occupy Dunhuang County, while his Shanshan County became the prey of the Sui army.

The road that the Sui army took was Yumen Road. It set out from Yangguan, passed through the northern edge of the Sansha Desert to Puchanghai, and then headed south along the Qiemo River from Puchanghai to Shanshan City.

They had marched for more than ten days and gradually arrived at Puchanghai. It was mid-spring and it was the time of strong wind. At noon that day, the army had been leaving for nearly three hours. The soldiers were a little tired.

At this time, a soldier pointed to the south and shouted to Su Dingfang: "Look at General, look, the sky over there has become dark!"

Su Dingfang looked at the scene intently and his face changed drastically. They had the same experience a few days ago. It was a sandstorm, causing more than 20 soldiers to die of being submerged in sand. He whipped his horse and shouted to the soldiers: "Tell the three armies. Accelerate the march!"

Without his orders, five thousand cavalrymen beat their war horses and ran hard, on the boundless desert Gobi. This 5,000 cavalry seemed extremely small in front of nature. Twenty miles away, the sky was as dark as ink. A sandstorm that shook the sky was rushing towards them.

...........

Puchanghai is today's Lop Nur. In the Sui Dynasty, it was still a large lake with vast water surface and lush water and grass. It was also the most important resting place on the southern line of the Silk Road. After passing through the vast Gobi Desert and the vast sand sea, tired businessmen saw endless water surface here, seagulls chirping above their heads, and green water plants whispered in the wind. All of this would wash away the fatigue of businessmen and travel. Let them rectify their spirits and set off on the road again.

After losing more than a hundred people, the five thousand Sui cavalry finally escaped from the swallowing of the sandstorm and arrived at this refreshing blue sea.

The soldiers jumped off their horses, shouted and ran towards the lake, and the war horses were also excited and ran wildly. The blue color of the water of life was so strong that it melted the five thousand soldiers and war horses.

...........

The cavalry rested in Puchanghai for two days and marched south along the Qiemo River. This section of the road became much lighter. The Qiemo River originated from Kunlun Mountain and flowed through Qiemo County and Shanshan County. Finally, it was injected into Puchanghai.

The spring flood just passed, and the river water flowed gurgling. The river water was very shallow, and the deepest part was only at the waist. The river water was cold and clear, and the water flowed rapidly. On both sides were dense poplar forests, stretching for hundreds of miles. They were nourished by the river water and grew particularly thick and lush.

After walking for three more days, on that evening, the cavalry team stopped to rest in a poplar forest. It was not far from Shanshan City, and it was about thirty miles away.

Shanshan City is not near the Qiemo River. It is still separated from the Qiemo River by a Gobi Desert about 30 miles wide. At this time, five thousand Sui cavalry were on the northwest of this Gobi Desert. By passing through the Gobi Desert, you can reach Shanshan City.

As night fell, the sky was filled with stars and the stars were shining brightly. Su Dingfang stood on a mound, staring into the distance. After nearly twenty days of trekking, he actually knew nothing about the situation in Shanshan City.

He only knew that Yuan Hongsi occupied Qiemo County and Shanshan County. According to the merchants, there were about five or six thousand troops. As for how the army was stationed, how equipment was, how many cavalry and infantry there were, he knew nothing about it.

Su Dingfang sighed. This did not conform to the combat method of the Sui army's intelligence-first battle, but he did not want to alert the enemy. The plan he thought of now was to occupy Shanshan City first and then respond to the situation.

"Go and find the guide!"

After a moment, several soldiers led the leader up. The leader was an old man in his sixties, a Gaochang man named Su A. In Su Dingfang's words, they were a family five hundred years ago. Su A used to be a businessman and could speak fluent Chinese. After he was forty, he made a living in Puchanghai. He went to Shanshan City to sell sheep every year and knew everything about Shanshan City.

"General Su, it's already dark. Are you going to act?" Su A walked up and smiled.

Su Dingfang smiled and nodded, "I want to ask about the situation of the walls of Shanshan City first."

"General Su, although Shanshan City is known as the largest city in the south of the desert, it is actually not worth mentioning compared to the cities in the Sui Dynasty. The city walls are very short, probably ten feet tall! They are mainly for wolves protection, and they are earthen walls, not made of stones. There are several oasis there, with a wide population distribution, and there are not many people in the city, and there are only a thousand families, so the city is not big. After hundreds of years of history, the city has long been weathered and dilapidated."

Su Dingfang listened very attentively and asked again: "Can there be sentry towers or beacon towers nearby?"

Su A smiled: "There are a few beacon towers, but they are all beacon towers of the Han Dynasty and have long become mounds. Here you rarely think of enemies attacking, unless they are Tuyuhun people. However, Tuyuhun people have never been here since they were crippled by the Emperor of Sui Dynasty. Anyway, if it was a night attack, the defenders might regard you as wolves."

"How are their armor and equipment?"

"There is no difference from the Sui army. They were originally Sui army. If they were mingling with you in war, they would probably not be able to tell the difference between the enemy and me. By the way, it seems that your helmets are a little different."

Su Dingfang pondered for a moment, then bowed and said, "Thank you, my father-in-law."

At this time, several scouts rushed from a distance. Su Dingfang was overjoyed and urged his horse to meet him, "How is it, have you noticed?"

"Report to the general that the enemy's army is not entirely stationed in the city, most of them are stationed outside the city, as if they are preparing to set out tomorrow, and a lot of weapons and supplies are tied up."

"Where are there any camps or spears outside the military camp?"

"No, there are only a few hundred tents, and there is only a circle of baggage chariots surrounding the camp."

Although Su Dingfang knew that this was because there were not many spears as the camp sting, he was still very careful. After all, Yuan Hongsi served as the Youzhou general manager for many years and had rich representative experience. He could not be careless at all. Su Dingfang looked up at the night sky and turned to several personal soldiers and said, "Go to inform General Li, brothers, rest for another time before rising up."

...........

The night gradually became deeper, and no one was sleeping in the central army's large tent. He paced back and forth in the large tent with his hands behind his back, considering the next strategy. Seizing Yiwu County is undoubtedly the first step, the second step is to seize Dunhuang County, and then the third step, the fourth step.

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Yuan Hongsi is nearly sixty years old, with half of his hair, and his face has become particularly rough due to the erosion of wind and sand for several years. However, his burly body is still as straight as a green pine, his eyes are bright and sharp as an eagle, and his heart is as ambitious as twenty years ago.

There is a map on his commander's case. The Hexi region on the map has been completely painted red. That is his ambition. He took two years to occupy Hexi, then march towards Longyou and Guanzhong to realize the failed plan of the Yuan family, establish a new Wei Dynasty, expel Li Tang, eliminate Yang Yuanqing, compete for the Central Plains, and revitalize the glory of the Tuoba family.

Tomorrow is the day for him to rise up. He has been waiting for a long time on this day, and he is so excited that he can't fall asleep.

At this time, a soldier's report came from outside the tent, "Your Majesty, there seemed to be a pack of wolves appearing in the Gobi Desert, and a brother heard the howl of wolves."

It was common for wolves to appear near the military camp. Yuan Hongsi had already been used to it. He knew very well that it was the breath of the horses that attracted the wolves, so he waved his hand impatiently, "Catch more than a dozen horses out!"

This is a way to deal with wolves. Use single war horses to lead the wolves away. The wolves often chase more than a hundred miles away to kill the exhausted war horses, but it is difficult to come back.

The soldier agreed and turned around and left. Yuan Hongsi slowly rushed out of the battle knife, stared at the sharp blade, and waved his hand and slashed towards the east.

.........

At this time, the Sui army had appeared several miles away, and soldiers kept pretending to be wild wolves howling. This was also the way the guide Su A taught them. At night, the other party would see them, but it was difficult to tell whether it was a horse or a wolf pack.

At this time, more than a dozen horses rushed out of the camp and rushed to the south. Su A smiled at Su Dingfang and said, "They treat you as wolves, and let the horses attract you to chase you."

Su Dingfang urged his war horses to continue to move closer to the enemy camp. He also had rich experience and would not launch an attack until the enemy alarm bell rang.

The Sui army was getting closer and closer, less than three miles from the enemy camp. At this moment, the defenders finally discovered an abnormality, not the wolves, but the cavalry group.

"Do!Do!Do!"

The alarm sounded fiercely, and Su Dingfang pulled out his battle knife and shouted, "Kill!"

"Kill!" The Sui army suddenly launched, and five thousand iron cavalry rushed, waving their swords and spears, sweeping towards the enemy camp like a storm.

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Chapter completed!