Time flies to February of the following year, and the warm breath of early spring spreads throughout the Hexi Corridor with the southeast wind. On the south road of Suzhou near the Qilian Mountains, a team composed of 5,000 camels and 6,000 carts is marching mightily.
Return to Ganzhou.
Ten days ago, when the team headed west to Shazhou, it was loaded with food and other supplies, and the team was escorted by 3,000 cavalry.
In fact, such large transportation teams appeared many times on the road to Shazhou after last year's autumn harvest. However, they were interrupted due to the onset of winter. As the ice and snow melted, the teams reappeared.
The soldiers and horses were not moved, but the food and grass were sent first. This was the Hexi Army's preparation for the westward expedition.
At the same time, five thousand Shazhou Tang troops, led by the military envoy Yao Jin, were building a board-walled camp covering an area of hundreds of hectares on the south bank of Puchanghai. Like Shazhou, the camp in Puchanghai also belonged to the Tang army.
The transit place, and the most important transit point, was chosen at Puchanghai because water transportation can be carried out from here through the Chihe River and the Qiemo River, which greatly reduces the burden of land transportation.
The camp is about to be built. The wooden walls are already two feet high and six feet thick. People can even stand on them. The soldiers are busy putting the finishing touches on it.
Yao Jin was discussing the distance between the guard towers with several generals. There was an extreme lack of trees and wood here, and the guard towers were also made of stone, a bit like a fort.
"Fifty steps to one is too dense, there is no need."
Yao Jin said to several generals: "First of all, we need to understand where the enemy will come from. The Tubo people must have come along the Qiemo River. It is impossible to march in the desert. So we only need to set up beacons along the Qiemo River.
Just report the message in time, instead of surrounding the camp and building a sentry tower every fifty steps. Resources are limited, and we must use them in useful places."
Yao Jin's words were the final decision. Everyone no longer insisted, and instead of building beacons along the Qiemo River, the sentry towers that originally surrounded the camp were built, and then more than a dozen sentry towers were built appropriately.
At the same time, the first batch of three thousand shi of grain, transported by a thousand camels, also arrived at Puchanghai Camp.
.........
Zhangye, the day to set off for Anxi has finally arrived.
Xue Tao once again packed her husband's luggage. She had gotten used to it in the past few years, and it took at least half a year to go there, but her two-year-old daughter Xiaowei was not used to it. She was bargaining on her father's back, asking him to take her with him.
Walk.
"I can ride a horse with daddy! If daddy puts me in a bag and carries me on his back, I will be very good!"
God knows where she learned so many methods.
"Dad promised me to take me to Chang'an to play. I want to go!" Xiaowei shook her father's arm desperately.
Guo Song patted her little head and said with a smile: "This time dad is not going to Chang'an, but to Anxi, a place far, far away. When dad goes to Chang'an next time, he will definitely take you there."
"I don't want to go to Chang'an anymore, I want to go to Anxi!" The little guy started whimpering and crying.
Guo Song quickly picked up his daughter and coaxed her: "There is a big bad wolf where daddy goes. It will eat Xiao Wei, so daddy can't take you there. If you are eaten by the big bad wolf, Xiaowei will never see you again."
Daddy is gone."
Xiaowei showed fear in her eyes and asked to become weaker.
"Daddy wants to protect Xiaowei."
At this time, Xue Tao walked in and said with a smile: "I tell stories about the big bad wolf all day long to scare children. How can there be so many big bad wolves?"
Guo Song winked at his wife anxiously and explained: "Why not? The roads in the Snowy Mountains are full of wild wolves. I have encountered them several times."
Xue Tao ignored her husband and smiled at her daughter: "Don't listen to your father's nonsense. There is no such thing as a big bad wolf."
"There is no big bad wolf. I want to go to Anxi with daddy."
"Don't go!"
Xue Tao was rude and rejected his daughter's request.
Xiaowei's little mouth became deflated, and she cried loudly, "Wow!"
When Guo Song hurriedly tried to comfort his daughter, Xue Tao's eyes widened, "Don't cry, let's go! Mom will teach you how to draw."
Xiaowei's crying slowly stopped, she sobbed and wiped her tears, and followed her mother obediently.
Guo Song was dumbfounded. One thing fell after another. He had no way to deal with his daughter, but his wife stopped his daughter from drinking with such a casual word.
Watching his daughter holding her mother's hand and jumping away, Guo Song could only shake his head with a wry smile.
........
Early the next morning, 20,000 Tang troops who were about to go on an expedition gathered in the camp. This was the 20,000 Tang troops who were about to march westward, including the most elite Modao Army and Heavy Crossbow Army in the Hexi Army. After the war, 10,000 troops
They will stay in Anxi. Of course, they will not always guard Anxi, but will implement a rotation system.
On the high platform, Guo Song, wearing armor, was making the final mobilization of 20,000 troops.
"Starting today, I will go on an expedition to Anxi with you. This is an expedition to defend the glory of the Tang Dynasty soldiers. Countless of our predecessors also set out from here to expedition to that distant land. Since the Han Dynasty, we have established
After becoming the Protector of Anxi, countless soldiers died there and were buried in a foreign land. But now, the foundation they bought with their blood is about to be destroyed. Then we have the responsibility to stand up and re-erect the monuments established by our predecessors. We must
Let the world know, let the old Tang army in Anxi know that there is still an army in the Tang Dynasty that has not forgotten Anxi, and they are here!"
The 20,000-strong army and a steady stream of logistical baggage teams left Zhangye and marched westward. The soldiers were all riding on horseback. The team stretched for more than ten miles, followed by the baggage team heading north in the middle. The baggage team had just returned from Shazhou.
5,000 camels and 6,000 carts, they once again worked tirelessly to follow the Tang army westward.
They can transport 100,000 shi of grain at one time. They have already transported 300,000 shi of grain to Shazhou before. But this time heading west, 5,000 camels will transport Shazhou's grain to Puchanghai, and the carts will return to Zhangye.
, the vast desert, a large vehicle cannot travel.
"Your Majesty, the news from Shazhou is that the Shatuo people seem to be on the verge of making a move." Li Bing, the military envoy, whispered.
Guo Song pondered for a while and said: "It's not surprising that after the death of Geluolu Khan, a battle broke out between his sons. They have withdrawn from Jinshan. Both the Shatuo people and the Uighur people have no worries. The first to bear the brunt is
The Sijie tribe is in danger, they have occupied too much fertile grassland, how can the Uighurs let them go?"
"The subordinates are more concerned about Shatuo. Do they think that the Tang Dynasty has also split?"
Guo Song smiled faintly, "If Zhu Si had not proclaimed himself emperor, the Tang Dynasty would have indeed split. Since ancient times, as long as there is civil strife in the Central Plains, the surrounding nomads will inevitably invade. The two Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties have left too many lessons, from Turks to Uighurs
Then there are Tubo, Shatuo, and maybe Dangxiang in the future. They all have the nature of wolves. Once they find an opportunity to take advantage of, they will never give up the opportunity."
"So you think that Shatuo will definitely tear up the armistice agreement and invade Shazhou?"
Guo Song nodded, "This is inevitable, but I believe we are already prepared!"
........
When Guo Song's Western Expeditionary Army arrived in Shazhou, Yao Jin had already led the fortification team back to Shazhou, leaving a thousand people guarding Puchanghai.
Guo Song ordered the army to camp on the spot, and he and Yao Jin entered Dunhuang City.
"I have received accurate information from the Sogdian merchants. The Council of Elders in Shatuo has agreed to mobilize troops. Now we are waiting for the Khan of Shatuo to approve the dispatch of troops."
Guo Song asked: "Do you have enough troops? Do you want me to leave part of the army to support you?"
Yao Jin shook his head, "The humble army has enough troops. Twelve thousand troops are more than enough to guard Dunhuang City, not to mention we have powerful weapons to defend the city."
"I'm mainly worried about the local soldiers. I didn't see enough of them the year before last."
"They have made great progress in the past two years and have trained very hard. Especially in the past two months, the morale of the soldiers has been high in order to defend their homeland."
"Let's do this! I'd better send eight thousand cavalry over and wait at the border of Suzhou. Once Dunhuang is in need, they will immediately come to support."
The two of them talked and walked into Dunhuang City. Dunhuang City was built with large wall bricks, two feet and five feet high. It was tall and strong. It also had only two gates in the north and south. The perimeter of the city wall was about thirty miles. The city walls were full of people.
Looking at the soldiers on duty, we could see that they were not regular Hexi troops, but Shazhou Regiment training troops. However, all the soldiers stood up straight and had firm eyes.
At this time, Guo Song unexpectedly saw Yang Jun, who was now serving as the firearms camp general. He led 500 soldiers to help Shazhou. He was leading a group of soldiers to measure the distance on the top of the city.
Guo Song walked over. Yang Jun saw the coach coming and quickly knelt down on one knee to salute. Guo Song smiled and asked, "What are you measuring?"
"Reporting to the envoy, the height and throwing distance of each city are different, so we need to master the timing of throwing, and then draw a red mark on the match rope."
"Would a matchlock be this accurate?"
"In case you don't know, the thing we are most confident about is the match rope. After testing it for thousands of times, we have a relatively accurate grasp of the explosion point."
Yang Jun's iron shell fire mine has not yet been developed. It is too difficult and has not been successful even once, but the war waits for no one.
They changed their minds and developed a large-scale porcelain canister mine. The wall of the canister was made up to an inch thick. It was huge and looked like a gas can. It would not break even if it was thrown from the city. Then, the gunpowder was mixed with a large amount of quenching poison.
Iron nails are equally powerful when they explode, and can even blow up city gates to pieces, and the poison-quenched iron nails are extremely lethal.
Guo Song nodded slightly and said: "When you say this, even I want to stay and see with my own eyes the first use of firearms in war!"