The Battle of Hexi is imminent.

Whether it is from the perspective of smooth trade routes or from the perspective of military strategy, Qin has to fight hard.

Li Yuan has made up his mind.

Of course, the final decision to send troops still needs to go through a formal court meeting. At this court meeting, for the first time, different voices emerged within the Qin State.

The outside of the soil must first be settled inside.

This is the opinion of old-school soldiers such as Zhang Han and Xin Sheng, represented by conservatives. They believe that when there are still powerful enemies like the Western Chu in Guandong, they should send troops to the Hexi Corridor to confront the Huns who come and go without a trace on the grassland.

, if the army is surrounded and annihilated by the enemy, the foundation of Qin will be shaken.

This view of Zhang Han and others was also endorsed by Li Si, Wang Li and others, and formed a force in the court that opposed sending troops to Hexi.

Corresponding to the conservative forces, there are those young officials and generals, Bai Guangji and Li Zhongxiang, who are fighting alone in the Western Regions, facing enemies that are a hundred or even a thousand times their size. They watch helplessly as their brothers are surrounded by the enemy and then fight to the death.

, young generals like Luo Jia, Cao Xin, and Feng Xuan have long been unable to hold back.

Li Yuan's eyes were clear.

After becoming a father for the first time, his horizons seemed to have broadened a lot, and many unsolved mysteries in history were answered through the collection of information from all parties.

This parchment written by Bai and Li sent back an important signal, that is, one day in the future, after Mao Dun has completely pacified the resistance forces in the Western Regions, his troops will immediately move south.

, at that time, Li Yuan will face the same choice as Liu Bang during the Battle of Baideng.

If they choose to fight, it is unknown whether the Qin army can achieve the same results as during the civil war when facing the unfamiliar Huns.

If it chooses to avoid war, then Qin will have no choice but to bow to the Huns and admit its mistakes like the Western Han Dynasty in history. It will also select a princess to marry the Huns and send them the wine, cotton wool, silk, grain and other condolences that the Huns urgently need.

Such a result is definitely not what Li Yuan wants.

The iron bones of the Qin Dynasty did not allow him to do this, and the soul from the time traveler did not allow him to surrender to another barbarian king when he had a strong military force. In that case, even if he finally won the supreme status, he would not be able to do so.

It will leave a disgraceful mark in the history books.

Finally, with Li Yuan's insistence, the State of Qin issued a mobilization order to go to Hexi. A new round of war was about to begin.

At the same time, due to the strength of the Huns, Wang Li's army in the Jiuyuan area had to stay in the north. In the Guandong area, the Qin army also faced increasing oppression from the Chu army. Han Xin's army in Zhao area,

Jiang and Chongqing's troops in Sanchuan County cannot move, and Feng Xuan's troops in Nanjun area also have the responsibility of guarding the Hanzhong gate, and they cannot move lightly.

Due to the unstable situation on the eastern border of Qin, these armies were unable to mobilize to the western front. Li Yuan finally decided to appoint Han Xin as the general of the Eastern Route Army and Jiang Yu as the deputy general to unified command the Qin army on the eastern front. Appointments

Wang Li was appointed as the general of the North Route Army, and Su Jiao was appointed as the deputy general, commanding the Qin cavalry in Jiuyuan and Yunzhong counties. Wang Shang was appointed as the general of the South Route Army. Feng Xuan was appointed as the deputy general, commanding Nanjun, Nanyang County, Ba and Shu.

The Qin army.

Without using these battle-hardened main forces, the Qin Army's Western Expedition Force consisted of 60,000 soldiers. It was mainly composed of Luo Jia's 30,000 cavalry, Cao Xin's 5,000 Yuezhi infantry, and 20,000 soldiers commanded by veteran generals Zhang Han and Xin Sheng.

It was composed of newly recruited baggage troops, plus five thousand infantry and cavalry from the central army led by Gan Yong.

After the battle between Qin and Zhao, Gan Yong could have led an army to fight alone like Wang Shang, Cao Xin and others, but when Li Yuan asked for his opinion, this rising star in the Qin army refused.

At the same time, in this Western Expeditionary Army, what is surprising is that the two veteran generals Zhang Han and Xin Sheng came out again.

Although during the court meeting, they had reservations about Li Yuan's insistence on the western expedition, after the expedition was decided, Zhang Han and Xin Sheng showed the demeanor of veteran generals.

"Marquis Wu, although I am not an honest man, I still have the strength to fight for ten battles. The land west of Hexi is vast and sparsely populated, and the Xiongnu cavalry come and go to control the situation. The safety of the baggage must be carefully guarded. Therefore, Han has asked me to take over.

Twenty thousand new soldiers were stationed at the rear, thinking that Marquis Wu would set up a drum formation." Zhang Han stood in the court hall and shouted to the general.

"Old man Zhang, you are not old yet, how can Xin survive in this world?" Before Zhang Han finished speaking, another Qin army veteran, Xin Sheng, was also full of morale.

Judging from their age, Zhang Han and Xin Sheng are both in their sixties, and their originally gray beards have turned completely white. The Qin army's repeated victories in the past few years have made these two old guys unable to sit still any longer.

"Marquis Wu, in this battle to open up the territory, the former Emperor of the Qing Dynasty sent General Meng Tian to lead an army of 200,000 to drive the Xiongnu north of Hetao. Today our army is out of the fortress again. If the two of us can stand in this life,

In a foreign land, even closing your eyes is enough." Seeing Li Yuan's delay in responding, the two veteran generals Zhang and Xin shed tears of excitement and asked the general urgently.

Open up territory and expand territory.

It is the dream of every Qin people.

Regardless of whether they are old or young, the Qin army has the aura to fight for their lives against the Xiongnu who are like ferocious wolves.

——.

In the sixth year of the Qin and Xin calendar years, the first month of the year is spring.

Longxi County, Didao.

After a long period of silence, this bridgehead city on the western border of Qin State became busy again, with various Qin armies gathering here, waiting for the order to go out.

The first one to arrive here was Luo Jia's 30,000 cavalry troops who had been stationed in Longxi. After nearly three years of recuperation and Luo Jia's full training, the Qin cavalry's combat effectiveness was able to compete with the Huns' cavalry.

After Luo Jia learned of the order to march westward to the Hexi Corridor, he clapped his hands excitedly and was overjoyed. Over the years, as one of the few generals in the Qin army, he had to stay in Longxi because of the situation in the western region. As a result, many battles were ended.

He was not able to participate, but now, he finally has a chance to play.

In fact, Luo Jia has not made any achievements in Longxi in the past two years. You must know that the Qin army could not even defend Longxi, and the Huns broke through the Great Wall and entered the hinterland of Guanzhong. Now, the area of ​​Jincheng in Hexi close to Longxi has been occupied.

The Qin army completely occupied it, and Jincheng on the other side of the river even became a forward base for the Qin army's attack.

The sixth day of the first lunar month.

Li Yuan personally led the army to Didao, and the Qin army immediately swore an oath of surrender. At this meeting, Li Yuan's mobilization order made the Qin army officers and soldiers excited.

"Generals of the Great Qin, you are the pride of the Great Qin and the warriors of the Great Qin. Today, you are going to embark on the expeditionary battlefield to cut off the right arm of the Huns and open the left arm of the Great Qin. You are going to fight against the brutal plundering of the Huns.

Our Huns fight desperately to avenge those brothers and sisters who died tragically at the hands of the Huns. Are you all ready?"

"No, no, no!" Li Yuan was answered by the chorus of 60,000 soldiers shouting in unison, with their veins exposed and the faces of the soldiers eager to prove themselves on the battlefield.

"You must understand that Hexi is not Guanzhong, nor the warm Guandong, but the cold, icy and snowy north. Our enemy there is not only the Huns, but also the evil God. Perhaps, one day, you

You have to break the ice and take a sip of the bone-breaking snow water. One day, you will hug your shoulders and hide in the snow and shiver. One day, you will bleed your blood and lie in the glacier to die slowly. Are you ready?

Are you ready?"

Li Yuan's voice was like a deep and powerful war song. As he narrated this, the Qin army officers seemed to see scenes of brutal killings on the battlefield.

"No, no, no, no no!"

"Da Qin, Da Qin, Da Qin!"

"Jiujiu, the old Qin, will restore our rivers and mountains. We will not bleed dry, and we will not stop fighting until we die."

"There is the great Qin in the west, which is rising like the sun. The country has been hated for a hundred years, and the sea is difficult to calm down. The world is in turmoil, how can there be peace? Qin has sharp men, who can compete with him for supremacy!"

The bursts of war songs and the shouts of 60,000 soldiers made the sky in Didao change color, made the rushing river seem to have stopped, and made the nomadic aliens on the grassland all change color.

After taking the oath.

The Qin army, with Luo Jia leading a cavalry of 20,000 people as the vanguard, set out from Jincheng and headed towards Gaizang City, the home of the Huns in Hexi, to kill the generals. At the same time, Li Yuan's central army also moved forward to Jincheng, accompanying Qin

The army marched westward step by step.

While the Qin army was attacking westward, the envoys sent by Li Yuan also arrived at Loulan first, and met here with Bai Guangji and Li Zhongxiang's envoys who stayed here.

In a letter to Bai and Li, Li Yuan asked them to persuade King Loulan to kill the Xiongnu envoys, and then raise troops from Yanze to respond to the Qin State's Western Expedition to attack the Xiongnu's important strongholds in the Hexi area: Dunhuang and Lingju, and finally achieve an alliance with the Qin Dynasty.

The strategic intention of the army to join forces in Gaizang City.

This strategic concept is very generous in terms of ambition. After the Hexi Corridor was captured by the Huns, it quickly became an important source of funds for the Xiongnu Great Chanyu Maodun. Merchants traveling between the Western Regions and the Qin State wanted to

After passing here, you must pay a large amount of passing fees to the Huns.

It was with these rewards that Mao Dun was able to defeat other tribes that resisted him in a short period of time and unify the grassland tribes. Now, the Qin army will attack Hexi. For Qin and the Xiongnu, it is a decision that will determine their future strength or decline.

The Battle of Guanjian.

For the Loulan people entrenched in the Yanze area, they also faced a dilemma. On the one hand, they could not bear the exploitation by the Huns and longed for the Silk Road to be reopened so that the Loulan Kingdom could continue to absorb the nutrients of the Silk Road;

On the other hand, they were worried that the Qin army would not be able to defeat the Huns' cavalry. If the flanking attack on the Huns failed, Loulan, which faced the Huns' cavalry alone, would most likely be destroyed by the Huns.

Whether to cling to life or seize the opportunity to resist desperately, the situation in Loulan has become increasingly strange. It is also very difficult for Bai Guangji and Li Zhongxiang's Qin delegation to complete the task of convincing the King of Loulan. (To be continued...
Chapter completed!