Let’s go back to the campaign to conquer the west in the eleventh year of Yanxing. In February, Guan Yu set out from Chang’an and marched westward along the Weishui River. In March, the army went to Long, and then changed its route from Zhang County to Taoshui, all the way to the back of Didao City.
, rest here for a while. At this time, Ma Chao, Han Ji, Song Gu and other Longyou generals also led the people from the three towns to meet and discuss matters related to the westward expedition with Guan Yu. For a time, Longyou's horse race was completed.
The waves were flowing, and soldiers gathered together. The local people said that this was a grand occasion that had not happened in the past two hundred years since Shizu pacified Weixiao.
But such a huge military operation also caused a large-scale commotion among the Qiang and Di in Longshang. Although Chen Chong greatly defeated the Qiang rebellion in the ninth year of Yanxing's war, he did not damage the foundation. When he learned that the Han army was coming with a large army,
All the Qiang in Longshang are waiting in strict formation, such as Wuwei Xiitu Hu, Tianshui Chengji Di, Longxi Huhan Qiang, Zhangye Di Chihu and other Xirong people, all led their troops to the area of Cangsong and Luanniao, plus some who went south
The number of the Xianbei tribe in the west has exceeded 100,000.
The momentum of these rebels was astonishing and they moved quickly. Wuwei was soon cut off, and all news west of Guzang was cut off. Qingqi often went to the river to inquire about the situation. As the subsequent troops continued to move south, it was gradually revealed that they wanted to intercept the Han army.
Intentions south of the river.
Guan Yu immediately used Ma Chao as the guide and Wang Gai as the vanguard, and successfully seized the Weiyin Ferry before the Qiang Di arrived, and then the army calmly crossed the river. At this time, in front of them were mountains with gray and white rocks, even though there was a piece of land in the middle.
A forest of fir and pine trees lifted up to cover up the air can't hide the desolate atmosphere. This is a scene that is extremely rare for people in Guanzhong and Guandong.
The Han people continued to walk westward, and after climbing over Shangda Mountain, Loufang Mountain, and Daqing Mountain, they finally walked out of the vast mountains and came to a long and narrow flat land called Baishijing. The Yiqiang who led the way said that after walking here,
You can see the prosperous oasis in Cangsong Guzang area. These words cheered up the Han people, but before they could be happy, the scouts in front reported the news that Qiang cavalry appeared in front.
So a temporary field battle broke out. Although this was a battlefield carefully selected by the Qiang people, the narrow terrain was to prevent the Han army from spreading out their lines and taking advantage of the formation. However, the Han army had to cross the river for many days, and they had no idea about this field battle.
He was well prepared. Governor Guan Yu took center stage, and the two garrison cavalry divisions led the main battle. He also ordered the guard Zhao Yun to lead 400 fine cavalry in a detour through the mountains. As a result, the Han army in front was as motionless as a mountain, and Zhao Yun from the side was like a divine soldier descending from the sky.
Generally, the Qiang people were able to penetrate the right flank of the rebel army, and the Qiang people were immediately defeated and hurriedly withdrew to the north.
Then Guan Yu sent Xu Huang and Ma Dai to lead the tigers and warriors, and the two armies of light chariots took turns to pursue them. They pursued them all the way to Cangsong City and defeated the rebel army. Afterwards, they counted the battlefield and found that more than ten thousand people had been killed in this battle.
The tribes of Qiang and Di were emboldened, and countless people surrendered.
By this time, the Han army finally arrived at Guzang City, and it was already May. The temperature was gradually rising as usual, but the scene in Liangzhou gave people a very different feeling.
This was the first time for the sergeants of the Han army to see the vast desert yellow sand in Liangzhou. Here, there is a clear boundary between the desert and the foothills. On one side, it is full of life, and on the other side, it is empty and silent, as if life and death are intertwined.
The distance to death is only this line. But the Han people have to walk along this gentle and desolate boundary. Needless to say, this kind of walking is naturally difficult, and coupled with the most vicious sunlight of the year, this
As a result, the sergeants seemed to be sleepwalking, and their souls seemed to be exposed. So each of them had to prepare three bottles of water every day, but this greatly slowed down the march until the end of May and early June.
, they were able to pass through Zhangye County. By the time the Han people arrived in Dunhuang, it was already the eighth day of July that year.
Fortunately, Zhang Xiu, the governor of Dunhuang, was well prepared. As early as the beginning of the year, he had sent envoys to contact the countries in the Western Regions to inquire about the news. Only then did he learn that in the twenty years since news had been cut off, the situation among the countries in the Western Regions had been turned upside down. A few decades ago, the most noteworthy thing in the Western Regions was the Kushan Kingdom. When Dingyuan Hou Banchao was guarding the Western Regions, the Kushan Kingdom was at its peak, and he once led an army of 70,000 to compete with the country for vassal states. But things are different now, probably
Due to the civil strife in the country, Kushan's power has shrunk one after another. The vassal country Kangju and Dawan under his command have been freed from restraint, and their power has retreated to the south of Congling, unable to interfere in the Western Region.
With the imperial court and Kushan shrinking one after another, more than thirty countries within the former Western Region Protectorate have restarted their war for hegemony. Today, most of the small countries have been reduced to Shanshan, Khotan, Qiuci, Shule, and Che
It was a vassal of the five kingdoms, and counting the Wusun Kingdom, which was subordinate to the Protector when Emperor Zhongzong was the emperor, and acted independently after the Emperor Shizu, there are now six major powers in the Western Region.
Therefore, Zhang Xiu sent envoys to these six countries respectively to inform the country of the new establishment of Shazhou and the reopening of the governorate. Among them, the Cheshi Kingdom was the weakest among the six countries. It had been close to the Han for a long time and was closest to Dunhuang. He received the news.
After that, he immediately sent a hundred envoys to Dunhuang to express his willingness to be the vanguard of the country. The Yanqi Kingdom under Kucha also took the initiative to send its prince as a hostage. Among the other countries, Shanshan, Khotan, and Shule used Kucha.
The reason for blocking traffic was that it was difficult to meet, but in fact they wanted to wait and see how the situation would change. Only Kucha and Wusun clearly showed hostility and refused to allow the envoys to go abroad.
After Guan Yu and Zhang Xiu discussed the situation, they felt overjoyed. He said to his generals: "Wusun is a big country in the Western Regions. It has been dissatisfied for a long time. It is said that it has 700,000 citizens and more than 100,000 troops. It is established on the shadow side of Beishan. It is quite
The geographical advantage is advantageous. If our army wants to attack, it will indeed be a difficult situation. But now that I am fighting the Kucha country first, will it have to climb over the mountains to save it? It will be easy to defeat!"
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So the army passed Yumen Pass and officially entered the land called the Western Regions.
Welcomed by the king of chariots, the Han army first entered Jiaohe City (today's Turpan). After a short rest, Guan Yu marched to Yanqinanhe City (today's Korla) in the same month. At this time, because the weather turned cold, the Han army marched
The speed increased, and within twenty days, they marched thousands of miles among unfamiliar sand mountains and oases, but Yanqi's envoy told them that they were still 600 miles away from Takancheng (today's Kuqa), the capital of Qiuci. The Han army
Only then did they realize that the vastness of the Western Region was far beyond their imagination.
But they did not complain about this. After all, when they came along the road, they saw the snow-capped white mountains in the summer, saw the salt lakes with colorful halos in the flat yellow sand, and even tasted the drinks in the country that only the dignitaries could drink.
The grapes and wine made them feel as if they were being cared for by martyrs, and they became more courageous.
In August, Bai Bo, the king of Qiuci, was delighted to see the Han army coming from far away, so he bribed Shule, Dayuan, Kangju and other countries with heavy sums of money, and also forcibly conquered twelve vassal states, with 180,000 people stationed in Yancheng, trying to
The Han army blocked the border, and Guan Yu led his troops to garrison in Wulei. The two sides then faced off in the hometown of Luntai, and repeatedly sent camps to test the situation.
During this month, although there was no major battle between the two sides, there were as many as ten battles involving less than 1,000 men, with both sides winning and losing. Because the Western Regions are rich in copper and iron, the Allied Forces in the Western Regions had a high armor rate, no less than the Han army.
In addition, he had been under the influence of Xianbei, Kushan and the Han Dynasty for many years, and most of the soldiers were also proficient in bow and horse, which was quite difficult to deal with. Zhu Hao had also seen using a leather rope as a noose to use a horse to throw people, and he succeeded five times out of ten.
Drag the Han soldiers back into the formation and stab them to death with random spears.
With Fu Jiezi and Ban Chao's deeds of drilling through the Western Regions in front of them, everyone was originally quite confident in winning. However, after this battle, the generals became increasingly anxious and a little afraid. Tuoba Pigu suggested to Guan Yu:
"The bandit army is small and there are many soldiers, and the food and grass will not last long. How about we form separate camps and wait for the barbarians to attack!" But Huangfu Jianshou was extremely opposed, saying: "We have worked thousands of miles to come here.
Is there enough food and fodder? We have to fight quickly." For a time, there was a lot of discussion in the army, and it was difficult to unanimously agree.
Unexpectedly, the commander-in-chief Guan Yu stroked his beard and said: "Our army will win if we fight. Why not fight?" This surprised the Han generals. When they first entered Wulei, someone suggested to Guan Yu that he should immediately fight a decisive battle with the coalition forces of other countries.
But Guan Yu refused. Everyone thought he was being conservative, but unexpectedly he said radical words at this time.
Guan Yu saw that the generals were still confused, so he explained: "This month, small groups have been fighting, and there has been victory or defeat. It can only be seen that the soldiers of the Western Region are strong. However, during the war, most of the flags of one country are seen, and there are not many divisions advancing side by side. It can be seen that the divisions of the Western Region are
They are not united, and at most they are just the coalition forces to challenge Dong in the first year of Chuping. After our army was reorganized, the top and bottom were integrated, how could we fail in a joint battle with such a mob?"
Only then did everyone wake up, but some people had doubts and asked: "Then why didn't the princes join forces to fight earlier and are still killing time here?"
Guan Yu replied with a smile: "The Western Region is vast, and we are an expeditionary force. We must frighten all the countries in one battle before we can subdue the foreign barbarians. I will first show the enemy weakness, and then destroy it. This will strike fear into the hearts of all countries.
I dare not speak nonsense for ten years!" When he said this, he suddenly became heroic, showed his sword to everyone and said: "This is an unparalleled achievement, I hope you will leave your name with me!" All the generals were enthusiastic and agreed to the promise.
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So in the ninth month of September, the Han army sent envoys to the coalition forces to make an appointment for a battle the next day. After a month of fierce fighting, the coalition forces believed that they would win together, so they readily agreed. The two sides lined up in Luntai, and there were many coalition forces.
Like the vast sea, the Han army was more than four times larger, which boosted the morale of all countries. However, as soon as the war began, the situation evolved in the direction predicted by Guan Yu.
After the two sides marched with drums beating, the Han army ignored the northern and southern wings of the coalition forces and used their fine cavalry to get into the formation. Using light cavalry, they rushed straight into the Kucha Kingdom's central army. In one battle, they killed Chi Ruofen, the commander of the Kucha Kingdom. King Kucha and his son abandoned the formation.
He fled, which led to the collapse of the coalition's front. The Han army took advantage of the situation and fought again, beheading more than 40,000 people and forcing them to surrender. All countries fled one after another, without any intention of resisting.
In October, Guan Yu defeated Yancheng and marched to the foot of Targan City. King Bai Bohuan of Kucha came out of the city and surrendered, and the Kingdom of Kucha was officially pacified. After Kucha was destroyed, other countries in the Western Region except Wusun also sent hostages.
As a result, the Han army received 20,000 camels, 10,000 horses from the Western Regions, 10,000 pieces of fine armor, and more than 3,000 carts of gold and silver treasures. According to Yu Fan's calculations, this wealth was equivalent to the country's current three-year tax.
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At this point, the Han army successfully completed the campaign to conquer the west. When Guan Yu led his army back to the army, he passed by the Luntai battlefield again and asked Zhong Yao to write an inscription here. Zhong Yao happily agreed and wrote a poem on a huge stone: "On the March to the Army"
", the poem is as follows:
"The beacon in the west is in chaos, and hundreds of thousands are rampant.
The wind blows through the mountain array, and the bamboo sticks are noisy at the thin willow camp.
The sword flower does not fall in the cold, the bow and the moon are brighter than the dawn.
He actually took the quicksand land and built it into a city full of jade."
After finishing writing, Guan Yu was extremely satisfied and immediately ordered the stonemason to seal the stone at this moment, write down the names and dates of the generals accompanying the army, and at the end he carved four words: "Yongzhangwowu". He then sent a letter to Zhang Xiu, suggesting that he
When a city was built here, it was named Yuman City.