sweeping the world

Chapter 771 I Can't Hold It Anymore (Thanks Qianmiaozi for the reward)
The Han army launched an offensive. At that moment, the war became a big drama of scrambling to surrender and hugging the thighs of the Han fathers. The Han army basically encountered no decent resistance, and it took only seven days to fully control Bailongdui.

"It's both unreasonable and expected." Xi Min has been very busy recently, so busy that he has obvious bags under his eyes due to lack of sleep, but his spirit is extremely excited: "We don't need to do it ourselves, Qiuci and those who want to fight to the end All of them were attacked by the people from the Western Regions. Our troops are just going to finish them off."

Xie An was already standing at the head of the original Protectorate's Mansion established during the Western Jin Dynasty.

The Western Han, Eastern Han, Cao Wei, and Western Jin all established the Protectorate in the Western Regions. In fact, the Protectorate in the Western Han Dynasty did not have many garrisons, but the Protectorate in the Eastern Han Dynasty had a well-organized Han army. It's a title.

The city of Haitou was established during the period of Emperor Yuan of the Eastern Han Dynasty. It was completed around 60 BC. It was originally a city in Loulan that had not been renamed Shanshan. It was taken over by the Han people after Zhizhi was wiped out. Since taking over, it has become the main garrison location of the Protectorate.

There was a period of more than 60 years from about [-] BC to [-] AD. The Haitou City that Xie An saw was definitely not the one from the Han Yuan Dynasty. It may have been moved and the city was built by people from behind. Repeatedly built or repaired.

It must be said that the city of Haitou is really not big. It has a square wall as a defensive chain. There is a gate on each of the four sides. The height of the city wall is about two feet and the width is one foot. Most of the land is rammed earth. The structure near the city gate is built with gravel mixed with soil.

What is different from the cities in Zhu Xia's hometown is that the city towers in Zhu Xia's hometown have eaves-style roofs, while the cities on Haitou side are built with shacks, so there is no way to call them city towers. They can only be called towers. Call it Chengtou.

Haitou is located to the west of Puchanghai, exactly in the middle of Beihe River and Anuta Dashui. Standing on the east side of the city and looking eastward, you can see the salt field in the form of a mine field, but looking inward, it is irregular Messy houses.

Puchanghai was originally the largest salt-producing area in the Western Regions. After the Han army captured it in the Western Han Dynasty, it was simply named Yanze.The Western Han Dynasty took over salt and iron as the central control. Puchanghai's salt production was officially sold to countries in the Western Regions, and even provided to Xiliang and Longxi, etc., which created a lot of wealth for the Western Han Central.

During the Cao Wei period, Cao Wei spent part of his energy in the Western Regions for a while while fighting for hegemony with Shu Han and Soochow.The reason is that there are not many salt-producing lands controlled by Cao Wei, and the importance of the salt-producing land in Puchanghai is highlighted. During Cao Pi's period, he did not spend less time in order to maintain the stability of Xiliang, but later made wedding dresses for Sima's family.

"We have found Le stones in Duhu Well, Julucang Well, and Shaxi Well. According to the steles, we also dug out some warehouses buried underground, and found solidified salt layers." The places Xi Yin said have a lot of history The meaning is basically the immediate garrison point for the Han army to expand westward. It originally existed as a source of water for the army, but was later changed to a salt storage place: "The enemy army did not effectively resist, and the salt production facilities in Puchanghai were not damaged much."

Xie An nodded slightly as a response to know.

There was no shortage of salt in the Han Dynasty. After the sun-dried salt method was developed, there were really not too many salt fields in coastal areas. At one time, there were so many that they had to fish a lot of seafood to consume them.

Different from the previous dynasties, the Han Kingdom under Liu Yan’s rule had a stable supply of salt even if it was inland, and because salt was so easy to produce, the price of salt was also very low, resulting in Pickling has become a common thing, and on the other hand, it ensures that there is no shortage of meat on the Han people's table.

In the era before refrigerators, the difficulty in eating meat was due to the difficulty of preserving it. Whether it was raised or hunted, if it was not eaten quickly after slaughter, it would be wasted.There aren't many ways to preserve meat, and marinating, marinating, and drying are some of the few options.Natural air drying depends on the local climate, it must be cold enough to dry, or it will rot.Salt is the first thing to pickle and make sauce. Pickling consumes the most salt, while sauce consumes oil, spices, and Chinese herbal medicines.

In today's Han Dynasty, eating sea salt has become the most affordable way. The inland areas used to eat rock salt, and sometimes even rock salt was not available.

"Zhi is already making arrangements." Xi Min was talking about collecting some dead cattle, horses, and sheep after the war: "There is enough salt here in Puchanghai, so we won't waste that food."

Not only is food the most important thing for the people, but the army's demand for food is also a bottomless pit.Compared with the people, the army's food shortage can easily lead to collapse. However, Xie An knew that the number of troops under his command would be more than 20, and he had a clear understanding of how to reserve more food.

Haitou has now become a military city, with [-] standing army troops stationed inside, including another [-] standing army and the Western Region Corps, and the servant army is stationed around.

Since it is to be used as a military city, the messy building layout in Haitou City must not be retained. Currently, they are being demolished and flattened, and some of the new military buildings have also begun to be built.

It was already late autumn when they came out of Yangguan. If the current climate was not so hot, it would be the season of rain and snow in the Western Regions.

In the age without thermometers, it is naturally impossible to accurately measure the temperature. By the end of autumn, the temperature in Bailongdui should be about ten degrees. After winter, the temperature will be even lower. Xie An should consider the issue of winter.

Although winter was about to enter, Xie Anzhen had no intention of stopping military operations, and he had already asked Li Kuang to make preparations for the winter.

Three days later, Li Kuang will command a standing army of one division and [-] troops of the Western Regions Corps, and continue marching westward.Their goal is the border of Kucha, or the way of advancing both land and water.

Puchang Lake is a big lake, except for the Anuta Dashui in the south, the Beihe River in the north stretches very long to the west.

After the Beihe River extends westward for more than [-] miles, it will be connected with a river called Dunxiu River, which in turn connects to the Qin Sea. Xie An arranged for Li Kuang's troops to advance both by water and land, and to go west along the Beihe River. It has the intention of intimidating the Yanqi people.

Qin Hai is currently within the sphere of influence of the Yanqi people. The envoys sent by Xie An to Yanqi have not sent back any news, so it is necessary to intimidate the army. There is no doubt that they are forcing Yanqi to stand in line. If you want to be an enemy, you don't mind doing it right away.

That's right, Xie An didn't want to waste time on any long diplomatic relations at all. It was the Han army's easy capture of Bailongdui that gave him full confidence, and then he really didn't have so much time and spare time to make false claims with the Yanqi people.The sooner he settles the Western Regions and presents the victory report to the Central Committee, he will be able to be promoted to the general of Zhengxi sooner.After becoming General Zhengxi, he can justifiably plan to build an advance base, and then spy on Hunnitt in a friendly manner, making intelligence preparations for the future westward advance.

The Han Kingdom has been fighting on multiple fronts since it was not established. In the early days, it carried the pressure of Shijie Zhao and went to the Korean Peninsula to bully Goguryeo and Baekje. Later, it was simply Shijie Zhao, Murong Yan, and the small court of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Working together with Li's Chenghan, not to mention that Xie An felt that there was something wrong with fighting Qiuci and Yanqi at the same time, and no one at the top of the army had any concerns. Compared with those opponents in the past, Qiuci and Yanqi seemed to them They are two countries that can be easily dealt with.

Xie An withdrew his gaze from the salt fields outside the city and stared at Fan Jin, who was in charge of diplomatic relations: "Have you contacted the Wusun people?"

Wusun was the first country in the Western Regions to send an envoy to Han, and was received by Lu Yi.

According to Liu Yan's intention, Lu Yi agreed to Wusun's request to become a vassal state of Han again, but he did not confer any Wusun as Kunmi.

Not only one envoy from Wusun arrived in Chang'an, but seven in total, and each of them was so impatient to be recognized by Han, that is, to beg for the title of king for their tribal leaders.

Lu Yi's reply to the seven envoys was indifferent, saying that he didn't know Wusun's current situation, so it was difficult to decide who would become the king of Wusun.

Fan Jin gave an ugly smile and replied, "Not yet."

Xie Anyun nodded lightly and did not blame.

The Han army occupied Bailongdui, but there was still a thousand miles away from the Wusun people. If the Han people wanted to go to Wusun territory, they had to cross the border of Kucha or the border of Yanqi.If you take the Beihe River and turn to the Dunxi River to enter Qinhai, you can continue to enter the border of Wusun by water, but Qinhai is the territory of the Yanqi people.

The Dunxi River is also divided into the south and the north. People in the Western Regions divide it into the Xia Dunxi River and the Shang Dunxi River. The Xia Dunxi River connects the Beihe River and the Qinhai Sea, and the Shang Dunxi River can directly enter Wusun. The one at the border.

"There are checkpoints established by the Yanqi people in Nandun Xishui." Xi Min didn't know if he was trying to excuse Fan Jin, and said, "Any ships that want to pass through Nandun Xishui to enter the Qinhai Sea need Yanqi people to let them go."

The pass through which the Nandun River enters the Qinhai Sea is called Iron Gate by the Yanqi people. In fact, it is not a gate made of iron at all. The name "Iron Gate" means "impregnable", but it is actually a gate. A water village across the river.

The Yanqi people knew the strategic value of the Beihe River, and they knew enough about the Beihe River entering the Qinhai Sea via Nandun Xishui, so they had very strict control over the Iron Gate.After all, there is a long mountain range (Kuluktag Mountain Range) in the south of their border. It is very dangerous to enter the Yanqi border from the southern part of the Western Regions and walk through the mountains. Basically, no one will go, and the army is not suitable for invading through the mountains.

The northwest of the Han Kingdom is naturally connected to the border of Yanqi, but it is not easy to enter the border of Yanqi directly from the northwest of the Han Kingdom. First, you have to pass through a Gobi area with a range of about ten miles, and then enter the desert area. After leaving the desert, it is directly facing the mountains (Tianshan).

Therefore, when the Han people expanded westward, they really couldn't just rush into the area currently occupied by Yanqi. Otherwise, when dealing with Cheshi (which is Yanqi's current eastern border), they wouldn't have to first enter the border of Shanshan and then turn around such a large area. Benn across the river (Beihe and Dunhe River) to fight.

Regardless of whether it was before or now, the north of Yumen Pass is a restricted area that is better not to go. The reason is naturally that the Gobi and desert block the way.It is difficult for Zhuxia to expand westward, not only because of the long distance of the road, but because it is really difficult to walk along the way, which also reflects the important value of the Hexi Corridor.

By the way, the Hexi in the pre-Qin period is not the same place as the Hexi after the Han Dynasty. The Hexi in the pre-Qin period refers to the area west of the southern part of the Yellow River between the modern Shanxi and Shanxi provinces. The Hexi in the Han Dynasty is Jiuquan in modern Gansu. , Zhangye, Wuwei and other places.

Xie Anhui asked the Wusun people, because after a few days, he has learned that the Shanshan people are completely muddy, and can be used as guides or labor force, but he will definitely deceive himself if he expects the Shanshan people to go to the battlefield.He didn't want the Han people to lose too much in the Western Regions, so they needed cannon fodder troops. On the premise that the Shanshan people couldn't do it, the importance of the Wusun people was highlighted.

Horse thieves?Xie An is not at ease with the horse thieves. There is no such thing as being unruly and unruly. The horse thieves are not bound by ethnicity or country. To put it bluntly, it is difficult to grasp any handle. How to control them has become a difficult problem. Unlike tribal or national control. Territory or family can prevent people from rebelling easily.

"They (the young and strong members of the Western Regions Corps) came to the Western Regions for many reasons, but there is no responsibility for expanding the land." Fan Jin told the truth: "The coalition forces from Bailongdui blocked the way before, and they can still calm down and fight. Battle. The coalition forces in Bailongdui were wiped out, and they wanted to rush into Huahua World."

Xie An can understand that although those young men are organized, they are really not a formal organization. They have no choice but to fight in formations and so on. Everyone wants to take off the reins and have fun as much as they want. He can suppress this. For a while, but if it goes on for a long time, it will definitely be a big trouble.

The border of Shanshan is to be built by Xie An as a forward base, so it is definitely not acceptable to rob the border of Shanshan, because this has already caused complaints, forcing him to let go while arranging for Li Kuang to advance westward. Make some openings and allow some people to leave the establishment by drawing lots.

There were 1 Han people who left Bailongdui. They did not leave in an organized manner. They went west on their own based on friendship or township party. The first place to have fun was to the west of the West Kunlun Mountains (called Nanshan in the Western Han Dynasty), that is, Qiemo people's gathering place.

Qiemo still exists as a country, a vassal state without diplomatic rights or independent war rights. It obeys Khotan and Qiuci on two boats and participates in the anti-Han coalition.Their sphere of influence is to the north of the West Kunlun Mountains, and is separated from the border of Shanshan by the upper reaches of the Aunta River. It is adjacent to Jingjue and Khotan to the west, and is connected to Qiuci to the north.

Most of those fleeing from Bailongdui were retreating to Qiemo territory, the group of Han Chinese who were allowed by Xie An to leave the army.

(End of this chapter)