Chapter five hundred and thirty second Anxi military situation
In the end, Guo Song did not stay. After resting for two days in Shazhou, the army continued to march towards the Puchanghai camp. This time, 6,000 carts did not follow, but 5,000 camels carrying 20,000 shi of grain followed the Tang army towards the vast sand sea.
Go.
Guo Song led the army to take the northern route of the desert. This was their experience of crossing the sand sea many times. The northern end of the desert was only dozens of miles wide and could be crossed in basically one day without spending the night in the desert.
Then there are hundreds of miles of Gobi rocks, and the ancient Loulan country disappeared in this Gobi rocks.
Starting from Zhangye, the army has been walking for twelve days. The army is walking along the foot of Kuruktag Mountain. At the foot is a large alpine meadow. The ice and snow have begun to melt. The air is extremely cold and biting. The camels and war horses are drinking and gurgling.
The ice and snow melted in the water, and while nibbling on thick and juicy grass roots, groups of sika deer were seen in the distance from time to time.
They were walking on high ground. To the south were large bald mountains with exposed rock and soil. The landform was rugged, criss-crossed with ravines, and extremely desolate. A dozen small rivers had already shown signs of melting ice, but they were the last ones.
With a good guide, you can reach Puchang Sea by following them through desert mountains.
"Your Majesty! There is a castle over there." The soldier pointed at a military city in the distance and shouted.
The flag of the Anxi Army was planted on the castle, a yellow dragon flag, with three large black characters written below: Anxi Army.
This is a garrison built by Guo Song and the old prince Guo Xin together to provide supplies for the traveling caravans. Although the Tibetan army occupied Shule and cut off the southern route of the Silk Road.
However, merchants from various countries in Anxi still came to Zhangye in an endless stream, exchanging the silk, porcelain, tea and daily necessities they needed from Zhangye's Han merchants, and at the same time transporting jade, medicinal materials, sheepskins and other items from Anxi to Zhangye.
The establishment of this fort has brought great convenience to merchants. They can get food and fresh water here. Seeing the fort during the long and boring journey is like seeing life in the cold winter, which brings great convenience to the merchants.
They brought great spiritual comfort.
At this time, the general of the garrison came to pay tribute to Guo Song, "Zhou Yuan, the humble general of the Anxi Army, meets the Jiedushi!"
"General Zhou, please excuse me!"
Guo Song asked with a smile: "When was the fort established?"
"Reporting to the envoy, it was the autumn of last year. There are currently seventy brothers in total,"
"Then did the Tibetan army show up?"
Zhou Yuan shook his head, "So far, no Tibetan troops have appeared, but horse bandits appeared last summer, and we rescued a caravan that was chased by horse bandits."
Guo Song was startled, "There are still horse bandits in Anxi?"
"It didn't happen before. It just appeared in the past few years. We have always suspected that they were horse bandits disguised as Shatuo people."
It is very possible that the Shatuo people have done this kind of thing in the Hexi Corridor.
After appeasing the garrison soldiers, Guo Song led the army to turn around and go south. There was a small river next to the fort. It took another day and a half to walk along this small river to reach Puchanghai. In this way, they walked a total of ten years from Zhangye to Puchanghai.
five days.
By the time we arrived at Puchanghai, it was already late February, and spring had begun to enter in Anxi. The lake water melted, tender grass quietly grew, large white waterbirds soared on the lake, and groups of newly born fawns also began to jump around and look for food on the grassland.
.
Twenty thousand troops entered the board-walled military camp that was built not long ago. The originally deserted camp suddenly became lively. 3,500 tents had been set up in advance, including soldier camps, warehouse camps,
Logistics battalion, wounded soldier battalion, etc.
Guo Song had no time to rest, so he inspected the vast camp accompanied by dozens of generals.
Lang General Pei Xin was the chief general of the soldiers left behind in Shazhou. After Guo Song's main army entered, he also wanted to lead his army back to Shazhou.
"Considering that the Tibetan cavalry may use rockets to attack the camp at night, all the tents are one hundred and fifty steps away from the camp wall. Their rockets do not have such a long range, unless they bring in trebuchets, but that is unlikely.
"
There were not many sentry towers in Guo Song, so he pondered for a moment and asked: "Is the distance between the sentry towers too far? There will be a blind spot in the middle that cannot be seen from both sides."
"Envoy Qi, we have also considered this problem. Our solution is to build thirty beacons along the Qiemo River and at the foot of the mountain. As long as the Tibetan army comes, they can only walk along the Qiemo River. We
We can detect the opponent immediately, so if a small group of cavalry comes around, there is actually no need to be afraid."
Guo Song nodded, this method is not bad. He knows the situation here very well. When the Tibetan army comes, they really have to walk along the Qiemo River. To the south is the Altyn Mountains and to the north is the vast desert. They cannot bear it. More importantly,
There are also a large number of sentries patrolling the perimeter.
Guo Song arranged for the army to be stationed. He led 3,000 cavalry and 1,000 camels, and carried 4,000 shi of grain to Kucha City.
Seven days later, the team arrived at Kucha City. Lou Wenda, an official from Anxi Jiedu Prefecture who joined the army, heard about Guo Song's arrival and personally led the entire city's soldiers and civilians to greet Guo Song outside the city.
After Guo Xin died of illness, Lou Wenda is currently in charge of Anxi. Everyone seems to have lost their backbone and spent a year in fear. Especially since Lou Wenda is a civil servant, he is really unable to shoulder this heavy responsibility.
The arrival of Guo Song undoubtedly brought hope to everyone. They had already received news that the imperial court appointed Guo Song to concurrently serve as the Protector of Anxi and Beiting. Guo Song became the new backbone that the soldiers and people of Anxi looked forward to day and night.
"After the old prince died of illness, everyone's hearts gradually lost. There were calls to abandon Anxi and return to Hexi. However, everyone was reluctant to give up the foundation they had worked for for many years. I heard that a civil war broke out in the Central Plains, so there were no calls to return to the Central Plains.
We were so active before, but everyone is confused and don’t know where Anxi should go?”
Guo Song listened quietly to Lou Wenda's narration. He smiled and said, "Does Lou Canjun know how many troops I brought this time? Let me tell you, I brought 20,000 troops and stationed them in Puchanghai."
Lou Wenda was surprised and happy at the same time, "Is Guo Shijun going to be stationed in Anxi permanently?"
Guo Song said calmly: "Why don't you say that I want to annihilate the Tibetan army, completely drive out the Tibetan herdsmen, and restore the Anxi Jiedu Prefecture?"
"Ah! Is there going to be a war with Tubo?"
"In fact, the Hexi Army has already started a war with the Tubo Army in Longyou. We have annihilated more than 10,000 Tubo troops and retaken Longyou. Now it is Anxi's turn. I have been waiting for this day for ten years."
Lou Wenda couldn't help but burst into tears and said: "We have been looking forward to this day for decades."
"I need to know about the situation in Tibet now."
"Your Majesty, please come to the city and have a detailed discussion!"
Walking outside Qiuci City, tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians burst into cheers. Everyone was extremely excited. They finally looked forward to a new coach, and this coach was second only to the old prince in their hearts. He was the one who could truly lead them out.
The leader of the dilemma.
Guo Song waved to everyone and asked the soldiers to carry four thousand stones of wheat from the camels. The cheers resounded in the sky. For the extremely sleepy Anxi Army soldiers and their families, nothing was more precious than food.
Looking at the grey-haired veterans, they were already old ten years ago, and now they are even older. The old people who should have spent their old age at home are still guarding the country's borders with weapons, and even the spears in their hands are almost ready.
Being turned into their crutch, Guo Song felt sad and sad, and finally couldn't help but burst into tears.
In the lobby of Anxi Jiedu Mansion, Lou Wenda hung up a huge map of Anxi. He pointed at the map with a wooden pole and said: "Currently we still have four thousand troops stationed in the three towns of Anxi, Yanji and Yutian, and Qiuci
There are 2,000 garrison troops, Yanji and Yutian each have 1,000 troops. The town of Shule has been given to Tibet. Tibet currently has 5,000 troops in Shule, 2,000 troops in Xiaobolu and Dabolu, and 2,000 troops in Qie.
There are 1,000 garrison troops in Mocheng, and there are actually 10,000 garrison troops in Anxi.
This is just the garrison and their supplies. After they occupied Shule Town, they accelerated their occupation of oasis pastures in various places. It can be said that most of the oases in Anxi were occupied by them. At least 50,000 Tubo herdsmen grazed in Anxi to feed these people.
Ten thousand troops.”
"What is the attitude of the countries in Anxi?" Guo Song asked.
"The countries in Anxi are now realizing the horror of Tubo. Although they do not have to pay taxes to Tubo, their pastures have been occupied by Tibetan herdsmen. They can only live on the edge of the oasis. It can be said that there are many complaints. Last autumn, King Qiuci for the first time in many years
I came to visit once and wanted to discuss with the Tang army the plan to fight Tibet. I told them that you will come this spring, and I estimate that all the countries in Anxi will come to pay homage to the envoy."
Guo Song nodded, "I want to meet them. We must redistribute post-war benefits. At least the Anxi Army will be able to be self-sufficient in food in the future, and the elderly and children will no longer have to suffer from hunger."
Lou Wenda was overjoyed, "When will I send someone to notify them?"
Guo Song pondered for a moment and said: "We'll wait until the battle in the final city is over!"
"I understand the humble position!"
Guo Song said to him again: "From today on, Lou Canjun will officially serve as the governor of Anxi Jiedu Prefecture."