When Wang Qian mobilized his troops and generals on Yulin Road and made great efforts to prepare for a "separate advance and combined attack" against the rebel Li Jiqian, thousands of miles away, a national war was in full swing.
In fact, Li Jiqian's rebellion was just a small incident, and its bad impact was only to clarify the conflicts between Hu and Han in the northwest region, and it could not really have much impact on the imperial court.
The reason why he took the matter seriously was because Emperor Liu was concerned and had to express his views from top to bottom. In the eyes of many people in power, Li Ni was just suffering from scabies and could not achieve anything.
Even from the perspective of Yulin Road, the small rebellion against Li Jiqian did not go all out. Although the local officers and soldiers noticed that he was slipping, they did not take it seriously. In the eyes of many people, as long as they were determined to advance,
If it was suppressed, then Li Jiqian would only end up dead.
In contrast, the war that took place in Anxi was even more eye-catching. After all, this was a war with the purpose of destroying the country. It was another time for the Han Dynasty to implement the contraction strategy after the Kaibao Northern Expedition for more than ten years.
Launch external expansion.
Even if we only look at the scale of the troops sent, it can still leave a mark in the war history of the Han Dynasty. From the time Emperor Liu issued an edict to conquer the Black Khan in the winter of the 20th year of Kaibao to the late spring of this year, a full five months passed.
, after preparations were completed, under the command of Wei King Liu Min, the Han Dynasty officially launched the third Western Expedition.
In the past twenty years, the Han Dynasty had launched two Western expeditions. The first was in the first year of Kaibao. At that time, the imperial court had just unified the world and the south had been restored. Emperor Liu was especially enterprising and considered himself invincible.
, Looking at the whole world, Khitan is not yet in sight, so his eyes naturally turn to the northwest, and there is no room for a single corner to be missing.
The Han army, which had not yet emerged from the war years, was at its peak. It was commanded by Chai Rong and assisted by Wang Yansheng and Guo Jin. Although there were minor setbacks, it was still devastating. Not only did it destroy the Ganzhou Uighurs, it also allowed the Cao family of the rebel army to
Return to the embrace of the Central Plains, restore the Hexi Corridor, and reach Yumen and Yangguan in the west.
The second time was in the eighth year of Kaibao's reign. The imperial court launched a large-scale Northern Expedition, led by Guo Jin. However, that Western Expedition was part of the entire Kaibao Northern Expedition. Guo Jin was the main general and led a partial division to advance into the Western Regions, aiming to
Destroy the Khitan army entrenched in the Western Region.
As a result, the goal was also successfully achieved, not only wiping out the Khitans and basically restoring the Gaochang Uighur jurisdiction, but also repelling the Black Khan's intrusion to the west, successfully preserving the victory.
The nature of this third Western Expedition, to be honest, is mixed with some complicated things. It is not only a manifestation of the pioneering and enterprising spirit of the Han Dynasty, but also has the upright reason of regaining the old land of China. However, combined with the 20 years of turmoil in Kaibao,
This inevitably gives people the impression that Emperor Liu was overjoyed with his achievements and vented his personal anger.
There were not many people in the upper echelons of the imperial court who supported the conflict. After all, the conflict with the Black Khan was "defeated" by the Han Dynasty. Even if a large amount of evidence could be found to prove the justice of the Western Expedition, some conservatives would inevitably launch an unreasonable expedition.
thoughts.
Of course, some are conservative and some are radical. For the generals who participated in the Western Expedition, it was a rare opportunity to make contributions. In recent years, the navy has continued to rise, and by bullying the natives of Nanyang, it has gained a lot of wealth for the empire.
.
Faced with such a situation, how could Ma Bujun, who was the master of the matter, not look at it with envy, but looking around, it seemed that there was not much room for him to use it.
The remnants of the Khitan in Mobei can barely be called an opponent, but after all, they are too far away and difficult to fight. It coincides with the conflict between Han and Black, which gives the generals who are eager to make achievements a goal and direction to vent their ambitions.
At least for the Han army in the northwest of Changshu, they witnessed the prosperity and revival of the Silk Road with their own eyes and have been maintaining it, and they themselves have gained a lot of benefits from it.
Even if they only focus on this point, it is still worth their while to teach that Yelang a lesson for being arrogant and ignorant of the so-called Black Khanate.
In this Western Expedition, in addition to King Liu Min of Wei who was in command with the honor of a prince, the consort Yang Yanzhao was the deputy commander. At the same time, Guo Yi was the camp capital Yuhou, Wang Shenjun was the camp formation envoy, Xiang Deming was the camp food envoy, and Murong
Jiye became the envoy of the trench formation......
From the above recruitment, we can see that this Western Expedition was special compared to the past. The main generals and key positions of the Western Expedition were all outstanding talents of the younger generation, and all of them had extraordinary backgrounds.
Not to mention Liu Min and Yang Yanzhao, the principal and deputy commanders, Guo Yi is the youngest son of Guo Wei, Duke of Xing, Wang Shenjun is the eldest son of the late Duke Quanbin of Pingnan, Xiang Deming is the eldest son of Xiang Xun, Duke of Wen, and Murong Jiye is Duke of Luan
The grandson of Murong Yanchao and the son of Murong Chengtai, the then commander of the capital of Gyeonggi Province.
The only one who can be regarded as a veteran general is probably Kang Baoyi, who is worshiped as the governor of the camp. Of course, strictly speaking, this man is also a second-generation general. He just joined the army earlier and followed his father Kang Zaiyu to conquer the east and west when he was young.
, during his military career of nearly thirty years, from north to south, and from south to north, he repeatedly made military exploits and suffered dozens of wounds. In terms of prestige alone, no one in the Western Expedition could beat him. Emperor Liu used Kang to protect his descendants.
The main purpose is to let him support Liu Min and Yang Yanzhao.
Obviously, as the veteran generals further aged and withered, some young and middle-aged generals gradually came to the forefront, and the new generation of Zhuguoliang of the Han Empire also rose in the historical wave.
A total of more than 50,000 troops were mobilized for this Western Expedition. Most of the frontier troops in Anxi and Hexi were mobilized for regiment training. It is not that more troops cannot be recruited, but the logistical pressure is a bit high. No matter how many more troops there are, a breakthrough will be achieved.
The supporting capacity of the two places.
Although Anxi has a vast territory, it has only been returned to the Han Dynasty for ten years. In the past, the Uighurs, Khitans, Black Khans, Han Dynasties, and even the Khotan Kingdom in the south had a ten-year tug-of-war on this land.
After repeated destruction, it was basically reduced to ruins. During the period of Gaochang's victory, 80% of the millions of tribesmen were lost.
It was not until the Han army marched westward that they achieved rare peace. However, ten years was simply not enough for a new generation to grow up, and restoration and reconstruction were far away. By the 21st year of Kaibao, the population under Anxi's jurisdiction was less than 20.
Fifty thousand, many of which were brought by merchants who were popular and traveled between east and west.
Therefore, Anxi, which is exhausted, cannot support a major war at all. Young and middle-aged labor is scarce. Pule has spent a lot of time on the defense of Gaochang, and has just provided more than 5,000 men to the army as auxiliary soldiers. Real support
The army heading west must rely on Hexi.
Of the 50,000-strong army, more than 20,000 are cavalry. To defeat the Black Khan, they still have to complement each other. To a certain extent, the role of cavalry is even more important.
For this reason, the imperial court also specially allocated three thousand heavy armored cavalry to participate in the battle, which was to target Black Khan's heavy guard cavalry. Of course, it also included tens of thousands of servants from various ethnic groups.
It has to be said that recruiting an army of servants to fight is indeed a cost-saving method. Firstly, the combat power is guaranteed to a certain extent, and secondly, the cost is less than that of officers and soldiers. The court only needs to provide some money, food and weapons, which is enough to make them happy.
King Liu Min of Wei even directly promised the servant army composed of Tubo, Uighur, and Liugu tribesmen to suppress the black Khan and let them plunder. The court would only take half of the goods obtained, so as to stimulate their fighting spirit and make them work hard.
This agreement was indeed in line with the wishes of the servant army. In the past, the imperial court recruited troops to fight, mainly for domestic battlefields. Especially during the Northern Expedition, tens of thousands of armed cavalry were used. But at that time, the imperial court
There are strict rules and regulations in place. After all, the land of the Han Dynasty cannot be allowed to wreak havoc at will.
But the Black Khanate is different. Although it can be said that it is the inherent territory of the Han Dynasty since ancient times, practical factors must be taken into consideration. It is difficult for mere party members to be stable, let alone the Black Khanate, which has been established for a long time and has a cultural tradition that is completely different from China.
If you want to conquer the Black Khan and regain your homeland, you need to destroy it from top to bottom, from the inside out, and then consolidate it. In this process, there are some things that are not suitable for the Han army that emphasizes discipline.
