On the second day of August, Song Yang had just finished the iron ship project, when the news from Ganzhou came back.
The person who came with the news was Song Han, the king of Fangzhou.
Song Yang asked Wei Nan to investigate the actual situation in Ganzhou. King Fangzhou was worried and came to act as a lobbyist for his brother himself.
"Ah Yang, Longyou's side is sincerely loyal to you, you see..."
"Uncle Wang, don't worry. I know about this. Just write a letter and come all the way."
"Haha. Uncle Wang didn't want to stop by to see you and have some drinks with Lao Qi."
"Okay, Uncle Wang, don't worry about the Longyou Road matter. I'll let you know when I finalize it."
"That's okay. You go ahead and get busy, I'll go find Lao Qi."
With Song Yang's words, the king of Fangzhou felt relieved.
He was always worried that Song Yang had objections to his brother. If he refused to accept Song Xi's power, Song Xi and the others would definitely be thrown into the street if there was a fight.
Now that Song Yang has said this, Song Xi's personal safety should at least be ensured.
After sending Song Han away, Song Yang met the messenger.
This person is a close aide of Wei Nan, and he came with a letter written by Wei Nan.
Song Yang opened the letter, and the situation of Longyou Road and the Western Regions emerged vividly on the page.
Song Yang has done several major things in succession this year.
After Luo Xin was eliminated, the border troops were annexed, and the Japanese pirates were wiped out, the entire Dagan was basically restored to unity.
Now only remote areas such as Longyou Road are left.
Song Xi, the king of Ganzhou, can be said to be the largest separatist force in Daqian.
If Song Yang was determined to unify the world, he would definitely use troops against Longyou Road.
Song Rui has talked to his father many times about this matter.
Song Xi didn't care too much before. Even if Luo Xin was destroyed, Song Xi just thought Song Yang was very powerful.
Until the border army was annexed by Song Yang.
Song Xi knew he had to make a choice.
The total strength of the frontier army was higher than that of the Zhengxi Army. However, the frontier army was divided into four and were not subordinate to each other, so it did not form a powerful force.
But even so, the Border Army is a military group that cannot be underestimated.
Song Yang was able to directly integrate the border army, and the four generals of the border army accepted Song Yang's reform plan, which shows that the four generals of the border army absolutely obeyed Song Yang.
Only then did Song Xi realize that the situation was no longer optimistic for him.
Moreover, the border troops suppressed Daqianbei and also controlled the northern hinterland of Longyou Road.
If Song Yang bypasses Longyou from behind, Song Xi will immediately become the turtle in the urn.
Finally, under the constant persuasion of Song Han and Song Rui, the formal side fell.
Song Xi finally decided to fall in love with Song Yang.
He can only make his own decision on this matter now, General Zhengxi has no time to care about him.
He sent a letter to the Western Regions, but Song Hui only said that he should be loyal to Daqian, and there was no other nonsense.
Because Song Hui's mind was completely focused on the war with the Xiongnu.
Since last year, the Huns have been invading the Western Regions.
Frictions between the two sides are becoming more and more frequent.
In March of this year, Suiye City, which had just been fortified, was besieged and stormed by the Huns.
The Suiye City was taken back the year before last, and Song Hui specially reinforced it. As a result, the Huns spent a lot of money and used a large number of catapults to attack the city crazily.
In the end, the defenders were no longer able to defeat ten times the enemy, so they had to abandon Broken Leaf City and besiege the city.
As a result, they were chased and intercepted by the Huns on the road.
Fortunately, General Song Hui sent someone to respond in time, otherwise the 5,000 defenders of Suiye City would have been completely annihilated.
The Huns used all their strength this time, using almost all the power at their disposal.
They divided into several armies and marched eastward at the same time.
Due to the shortage of personnel, Song Hui's main force was also held back and was unable to rescue various places.
By April, Suiye, Xiuxunzhou, and the west of Kumi were all occupied by the Huns.
Gongyue City in the north of Tianshan Mountain, Yinshan Prefecture Dudu's Mansion, Puyan Dudu's Mansion and other places were also defeated by the Huns.
Half of the territory of the entire Anxi Protectorate was lost.
Veteran Song Hui has now placed his base camp in Shule Town, and his defensive forces have also been reduced to Shule Town, Gumo Prefecture, and Qiuci.
Fortunately, the defense line was closed, and the situation was finally stabilized temporarily.
The Xiongnu attack was extremely powerful this time, mainly because they swept the entire Central Asia region in the past few years.
Almost all the countries in Central Asia were occupied by the Huns, and the populations of those countries became vassals of the Huns.
The Xiongnu army was like a snowball, growing stronger all the way.
By the time they sent out their troops, the Huns had assembled a super army of nearly 700,000 people.
An army of 700,000 marched eastward, and after a series of battles, they indeed took away a large area of ​​territory in the Western Region from Daqian.
After many battles, the Western Expeditionary Army also suffered considerable losses, and now only has 50,000 to 60,000 elite soldiers.
It is simply not enough to defend such a large area in the Western Region, so the defense line can only be continuously tightened.
As for horses, although there have been major additions in recent years, the number is only a little over 40,000.
This was enough to drain the family's wealth. Almost all the horses that the tribes in the Western Regions could sell were bought by Song Hui.
But it still can't be compared with the Huns. For the Huns, 700,000 people are basically 500,000 horses!
Ten times the difference!
The situation is extremely difficult.
At the end of May, the Huns marched eastward again.
The army surrounded Shule Town, and Song Hui led the defenders to fight back.
In addition, Loulan, Shule, and Big and Little Bolu continued to harass the Xiongnu flanks.
Finally, the Huns were temporarily repelled.
The current information we have is up to the end of May, when Song Hui was strengthening the defense of basic towns.
The Western Region is too far away, and no updated news has been sent back yet.
In order to support the war in the Western Regions, Song Xi had sent a lot of supplies to the Western Regions, but now he could no longer carry them anymore.
This was one of the reasons why he turned to Song Yang, hoping to get Song Yang's support.
In Wei Nan's letter, the investigation of Longyou Road is very comprehensive, the changes and development of the form are clear, and there are also some analysis and annotations of his own.
In addition to military developments, there are also basic civil and economic situations.
Originally, Longyou Road was still on the verge of barely being self-sufficient. Although the people's lives were not as good as before the natural disaster, they could still meet the basic needs of food and clothing.
Because of the two years of war, life that had improved slightly began to become difficult again.
In order to resist the Huns, Song Xi imposed two additional taxes.
The common people knew that it was for the war in the Western Regions, and basically had no complaints.
All ethnic groups in the Western Regions basically support Dagan more.
After all, the Huns were violent in character. If the Western Regions were occupied by the Huns, it would not only be a matter of paying taxes, but also losing personal freedom.
For example, people from small countries in Central Asia are now slaves of the Huns.
Therefore, the tribes in Shule, Qiuci, Big and Little Bolu and other places also sent people to help Song Hui resist the Huns' attack.
Overall, although the Western Region is in danger, it can barely hold on under the defense of the military and civilians.
However, when winter comes, the passage between the Western Region and Longyou Road will become more difficult, and supplies will be more difficult at that time.
Whether the Western Regions can still endure it is unclear.
Song Yang quickly read the contents of the letter.
After reading it, Song Yang frowned and put the letter on the table.
After sinking for a moment, Song Yang immediately sent people to find the old master, Yu Ming, Fang Zhe and other civil and military officials.
"The people in the Western Regions can use their support, and I intend to support the Western Expedition Army in their war against the Huns."
"The Western Region is also a part of Daqian. It cannot fall into the hands of the Huns. The lost territory must be regained every inch!"
With everyone present, Song Yang passed through Wei Nan's letter.
When there was no conclusion yet on whether to accept Song Xi's surrender, Song Yang directly stated his position.
The Huns must be driven back and the restoration of the territorial integrity of Daqian must be the top priority.
"Your Majesty, I am willing to lead troops to conquer the Western Regions!" Yu Ming immediately expressed his stance.
"The veteran agrees to send troops."
The old master looked at Song Yang and expressed his attitude.
Song Yang pressed his hands and said: "The Huns must fight, but we must be well prepared if we want to send troops."
"This time I will go to Ganzhou in person. Didn't the King of Ganzhou invite me to go? Then go there and see the actual situation there. As for whether to go to the Western Regions, it depends on the actual situation."
"However, the grain, grass, ordnance and other support must be packed now and transported to Liangzhou for preparation. This way, if necessary, it can be transported to the Western Regions at any time."
"With food, grass and ordnance, the battle at General Song Hui's side will be easier to fight."
Song Yang wanted to go to the Western Regions, but the Western Regions were too far away, and it would take more than three months to do nothing.
Shen Xiaowan is already eight months old and will give birth in a month.
This time they were twins, and Song Yang was worried.
If I just go to Zhangye, Ganzhou, I can come back in a month at most, and I can still catch up with Shen Xiaowan's delivery.
That's why Song Yang made the above arrangement.
"In addition, the purpose of going to Longyou Road this time is to take back the political power. There are many things that need to be done. Lao Fang also needs to make preparations. When the time comes, you'd better go with me to take over everything that needs to be done. Receive it."
Song Yang looked at Fang Zhe again and gave instructions on the handover of government affairs.
Fang Zhe immediately said that he would make preparations and hand over the matter to Ganzhou when the time comes.
"Uncle Wang, I want to go this time too," Song Chengwang volunteered.
Song Yang looked at him and asked, "Are you not at home with your little girlfriend anymore?"
"Um...can you replace Yu Hua? Yu Hua is pretty good, you know." Song Chengwang looked at Song Yang with pleading eyes.
Song Yang curled his lips and said, "It's okay to go, but don't blame Uncle Wang for not reminding you. The wind and sand are very strong in that place in the Western Regions. A girl from Yuhua will suffer a lot if she goes to a place like that."
"Uh...then...I'll ask her again. If she doesn't want to go, I'll go by myself." Song Chengwang thought for a while and said.
He didn't go on the Northern Expedition last time, and this time he really wanted to get addicted to it.
"Okay. You can decide this yourself. Tell me when you decide within three days." Song Yang could only say.
He valued this eldest nephew very much. If he wanted to go to the Western Regions to exercise, he would not stop him.
This matter was finally decided upon, and Yu Ming and Fang Zhe went back to do the specific deployment of troops and generals and preparations.
There are a lot of things that need to be prepared for the expedition to the Western Regions. It would be good to be able to set off within half a month at the earliest.
When Song Yang was preparing to go to Ganzhou.
The far western region, Shule Town.
Xu Wei stood at the top of the city, looking at the Huns army blocking the sky and the sun in the distance, with a solemn expression.
The Huns prepared more catapults and sufficient siege equipment this time.
Shule Town really may not be able to be defended this time.
"Thankfully the general has withdrawn to Qiuci! Otherwise it would have been dangerous this time!" Xu Wei said soberly.
Some time ago, when the Huns besieged Shule for the first time, Song Hui was in the city.
The defenders were determined to die and with the cooperation of all tribes, they managed to repel the Huns.
Afterwards, several generals said they would not let Song Hui stay in Shule Town.
As long as the old general is still there, the Western Conquest Army will be there.
This is the consensus of everyone, they will not let the old general put himself in danger.
Finally, at the unanimous request of all the generals, Song Hui withdrew to Qiuci in the rear.
But this time, the Xiongnu troops were overwhelming and Shule Town was in danger.