In the next two days, the Chinese army was busy building forts and recruiting cavalry from the tribes.

On the third day, everything was prepared and a regiment was left to garrison the fort. Liao Danian and three freed slaves acted as guides and translators for the army, and the army gathered together to embark on the western expedition again.

Starting from the Hami River Valley, we headed west along the mountains. There were occasional nomads in the oases along the route. When they saw the smoke and dust of the advancing army, they fled early.

After walking for seven days, we finally arrived at a large oasis. A few of the guides whispered a few words, and Liao Danian reported back, "Sir, we have arrived at Turpan, and further ahead is the city of Turpan."

Wan Jun said, "Soldiers need to be quick. Launch an attack immediately before the enemy is ready!"

Li Dingguo slapped the horse's butt and said, "Leave it to me!" and led the men to ride away.

Wan Jun said to Zhang Huang, "Leave the Chinese army to Li Chixin to cover the rear supply camp. Let's go forward and have a look together!"

Zhang Huangyan rode his horse and followed Wan Jun. After walking forward for a while, he heard the Chinese army gathering in formation in the distance.

Wan Jun said, "I don't know much about Turpan. I only know that Turpan's raisins are very good."

Zhang Huang said, "Turpan had only one name in the Ming Dynasty, called Turpan Khanate. It captured Hami several times, and finally the court had to annex the Seven Guards of Guanxi."

Wan Jun sighed, "It would be a sin to hand over such a land of thousands of miles to a foreign race."

Zhang Huangyan also sighed, "Well, it is recorded in the book that in the Tang Dynasty, this place was originally called Xizhou and belonged to Gaochang County. It was mainly populated by Han people. Later, the Central Plains was in chaos and the northwest was no longer owned by the Han family. What a pity!"

While they were talking, the two of them saw a large city in the distance, which was made of loess and boulders. It looked tall and heavy. Outside the city, Li Dingguo was organizing an army and horse attack, and gunfire sounded from time to time.

Wan Jun said, "There's no need to be sad. It's hard to say what happened in the past. Who can say for sure what will happen in the future!"

Riding their horses and standing behind the formation, all the troops set their sights on attacking the city. Li Dingguo was directing the attack in the formation, "Put the 900 cavalry from Hami on the left wing. They are not needed here."

"Front, the frontal attack is too slow. What are you doing?"

The soldiers who were attacking from the front advanced to the bottom of the city and were shooting at the enemies on the wall. The soldiers on the city kept firing bows and arrows from above, blocking the Chinese army's attack.

Li Dingguo watched for a while and saw soldiers falling to the ground after being hit by arrows. He said angrily, "What do you do for food?"

A leader of the regiment organizing the attack said, "General, the enemy is too cunning. He just showed his head and shot an arrow and then evaded it."

Li Dingguo said, "Do you understand fire suppression? What you are holding are muskets, not fire sticks. Let the soldiers work as a team to suppress the archers on the opposite side!"

After saying this, Li Dingguo suddenly realized something and looked towards the top of the city for a while, "Yes, I said something is wrong. There is something wrong with the density of the enemy's bows and arrows."

Sun Shoufa, who was standing by, asked in confusion, "What's wrong?"

Li Dingguo said, "Look, how many archers have the enemy deployed on the city wall?"

Sun Shoufa said, "In my opinion, it's probably less than a thousand, seven or eight hundred at most."

Li Dingguo said, "The Qiang people are different from us. They have been nomadic since they were young. They mount horses, shoot and dismount, and fight on foot. There should be all the defensive forces on the city wall."

Sun Shoufa's eyes lit up, "Is the enemy's defense in the city empty?"

Li Dingguo nodded and said, "It's very possible. We'll know after a try. General Sun, you lead people to besiege other city gates."

Sun Shoufa responded, quickly led the people away, and left from other places.

direction of attack.

As attacks began in other directions, the number of bows and arrows on the front became increasingly sparse. The Chinese army suppressed the archers on the city wall, approached the city wall and blew open the city gate, and large groups of troops quickly rushed into the city.

In less than a quarter of an hour, the bright red flag of the Chinese Army fluttered at the top of the city. Li Dingguo came to Wanjun and said, "Führer, Turpan City has been captured."

Wan Jun praised, "Dingguo is really capable of fighting, and we won it in less than an hour."

Li Dingguo said, "The head of state is ridiculous. The defense in this city is empty, and the total number of troops is only one thousand."

Wan Jun asked curiously, "At the beginning, Hami defended the enemy with only two thousand troops. Now there are even fewer troops in Turpan City. Where are their soldiers?"

Li Dingguo said, "I am also thinking about this issue and what I can learn from the prisoners' mouths."

Everyone rode into the city of Turpan. Zhang Huangyan looked around all the way, with a sad look on his face, "I think all the people living here were Han people. Now that I look at it, it has been wiped out. There is no trace of the Han people in the Central Plains."

Wan Jun said, "Not to mention Turpan, which is thousands of miles away. When the army was in Hami, it only took a hundred years for the Ming army to withdraw there. How can there be any trace of the Ming Dynasty?"

After entering the city, I discovered that the city of Turpan was very dilapidated, with low-rise houses everywhere. Even the only residence of the thousand-household garrison official was only a pitiful three-room earthen house.

Soon Li Dingguo came over with Liao Danian, "Head of State, I have already asked clearly."

Wan Jun said, "Tell me quickly, what's going on?"

Liao Danian said, "According to the prisoners' account, the name of the king of the Yarkand Khanate is Abdullah. All the troops in the east have been transferred and they are fighting in the west."

Wan Jun said, "Who to fight?"

Liao Danian said, "Why fight against Baishan? Baishan and the Junggar Khanate invaded the northwest. They all went to the northwest to fight."

Wan Jun asked doubtfully, "Aren't you going to fight Heshuote?"

Liao Danian said, "We are also fighting Heshuote, we are all fighting, let's fight together!"

Wan Jun was helpless, "I can't remember exactly what the fighting was like. Anyway, for decades, the north and the south attacked each other and fought fiercely."

Liao Danian said, "It is said that the Yarkand Khanate is very powerful. Its territory reaches to the north of What Lake and Feigana Valley, and it has a standing force of 70,000."

Li Dingguo said, "What should we do?"

Wan Jun said, "Follow the plan, attack Qiuci, and slowly manage the Western Region."

Li Dingguo Road, "When will we set off?"

Wan Jun said, "It's already mid-August. Time can't be delayed any longer. Leave five regiments to garrison in the city and set off in two days! In addition, we will recruit men with families in the city to add to the auxiliary army!"

Two days later, the Chinese army recruited 3,000 people in Turpan City, and together with the army set foot on the road to Kucha again.

Qiuci City is located in the south of the Tianshan Mountains. It was one of the four towns of the Anxi Protectorate during the Tang Dynasty. It was also the last city that the Anxi Army held firm during the Tibetan attack.

From Turpan to the west, you can see deserts and high mountains everywhere. The Tianshan Mountains are covered with pure white snow. Along the way, wolves sometimes accompany people from afar, making it extremely desolate and terrifying.

After walking for more than ten days, a cold wind blew by this day, and white crystals floated in the sky. Wanjun seemed to have an illusion that this was snow from the Tianshan Mountains blown down by the wind.

Unexpectedly, the crystals soon turned into snowflakes, and the snowflakes became like peach petals, getting bigger and bigger as they fell.

Wan Jun said, "When we were in Yumen, the weather was still very hot. Now it's only more than a month, how come it's snowing heavily?"

Zhang Huangyan said from the side, "The head of state does not know something. There is an ancient poem saying, 'The north wind blows and the white grass breaks on the ground.

"It's snowing in August in Hu Tian. This place is very different from the Central Plains. Snowing in August is a common thing."

Wan Jun was a little embarrassed for a moment. I also liked Cen Shen's song "Song of White Snow to Send Magistrate Wu Back to the Capital". There is a line in the poem that says, "Send you off at the east gate of Luntai, and the road to the Tianshan Mountains will be covered with snow when you go."

Where the army is now, due to its high latitude, snowfall in August is not a surprise.

Wan Jun said, "I wonder where the Luntai written by Cen Shen is now?"

Zhang Huang said, "Luntai is two hundred miles east of Kuqa. It will take about three or four days to walk."

Wan Jun said, "When it snows heavily, the speed of the troops and horses will be affected. We only need to walk for a few more days."

At this time, Li Dingguo called a horse to report, "It's snowing heavily. The approach has been affected. The march has been slowed down and there is a lot of blood. Our soldiers need more clothes."

Wan Jun said, "order the whole army to camp on the spot, distribute the clothes you brought with you, and rest for half a day."

The army camped in the snow, collected their clothes and rested for half a day. It snowed heavily in the evening, and the snowflakes became bigger and bigger. There was a faint rustling sound when it fell on the ground.

Wan Jun couldn't help but worry and said, "After all, I didn't expect that it would start to snow heavily in August."

Zhang Huang said, "Don't worry, Head of State. We are not far from Kucha now. It takes six or seven days at most."

Li Dingguo also advised, "Yes, with the heavy snow, our army will not be afraid of lack of water along the road, and the army's movements will be more concealed. I like to march in snow the most."

Wan Jun nodded and said, "Yes, I have not forgotten that when Dingguo braved the heavy snow to attack for more than a hundred miles and captured the Zhongwei City at dawn, the old traitor Hong Chengchou was still dreaming and became the leader of our army.

captive."

Li Dingguo smiled and said, "Don't dare, don't dare, the head of state was the leader at that time, it was all the result of the head of state."

Zhang Huangyan said in disbelief, "Hong Chengchou? Didn't the Hu people's announcement say that he died of illness..."

Wan Jun laughed and said, "You believe that nonsense?"

Li Dingguo said, "You don't know something. Hong Chengchou was caught by the head of state and insisted that the three armies can seize the commander, but ordinary men cannot seize the will. He must be loyal to the Hu people. He was locked in a stable and starved for five or six days. Later he thought

He surrendered, but the head of state had no intention of surrendering him. Later, he was so hungry that he couldn't bear it and choked to death after swallowing horse dung in the stable."

Zhang Huangyan laughed loudly when he heard this, "Hahaha, okay, okay, this old traitor, this end is the most suitable for him."

Wan Jun said, "Without him, I hate traitors the most in my life!"

Li Dingguo and Zhang Huangyan said together, "Yes, yes, I would rather be a Han ghost who died in battle than live as a traitor."

Wan Jun glanced at the two men and said, "After taking Kucha City, I want to re-establish the Anxi Protectorate. In the future, the army will re-manage the Western Region, and the northwest to Lake Balkhash will be under our control."

The two of them said happily, "Of course that would be great, recreating the grand scene of the Han and Tang Dynasties!"

Wan Jun said, "When the time comes, I want you to be the Protector of Anxi."

"I?"

Looking at Wan Jun's eyes, Zhang Huangyan said in disbelief, "I'm just a soldier now."

Wan Jun said, "That's enough. I know your talent, learning, and temperament. You are the only one who can guard Qiuci and run the Western Region!"

Zhang Huang said, "Führer, how can I compare with General Li?"

Wan Jun said with a smile, "You two are both talented people. I have my own plans to establish the country, so there is no need to refuse!"

Zhang Huangyan glanced at Li Dingguo, bowed his head and said, "The head of state loves you so much, and Zhang Huangyan can't repay him by being crushed to pieces!"
Chapter completed!