Hanhou

In June of the fifth year of Yuanguang, the Han army ended the Battle of Mobei, leaving [-] auxiliary soldiers to pursue the remaining Xiongnu. The army was ordered to turn westward and pursue the Xiongnu headquarters led by Yizhixie.

When the team passed through Loulan City, they happened to meet the funeral of the Loulan royal family.

According to the tradition, the people of Loulan cut down the ancient wood that three people embraced, and erected a ring at the selected location to build a mausoleum, which symbolizes the most primitive worship.

The king and princess of Loulan were buried together surrounded by ancient trees. The tombs of several princes and princesses are not far away from each other.

Because the royal family of Loulan was massacred by the Yueshi cavalry, and the direct blood line did not survive, the Loulan Kingdom was temporarily ruled by the prime minister.When the funeral is over, envoys will be sent to welcome the distant relatives of the royal family back according to the rules set by the former king, and inherit the Loulan throne.

The Han army came from the east and met the procession returning from the funeral.

Hearing the thunderous sound of horseshoes, horrible memories came to mind, thinking that the robbers had arrived again, all the people in Loulan panicked, yelled and turned to run for their lives.The utensils made of gold and silver were ignored, and they were all thrown on the ground, scattered in all directions.

When the black-armored cavalry crossed the horizon and recognized the flying Han cavalry, the Loulan nobles were the first to react, quickly passed the crowd, crossed their hands in front of their chests, and bowed respectfully.

With them taking the lead, the flustered Loulan people gradually calmed down, followed by bending over to the ground.

Wei Qing and Zhao Puonu arrived first, and when they saw the Loulan people who seemed to be scared out of their wits, they didn't dare to lift their heads, and then saw the city that was obviously on fire not far away, and most of the city walls collapsed. what happened.

Loulan's geographical location is superior, and it happens to be stuck on the east-west business road. In order to deal with various forces, the nobles here are familiar with multiple languages.

In recent years, more and more Han merchants have traveled to the Western Regions, and the number of nobles who can speak Chinese and write Chinese characters has also increased.

When Wei Qing questioned him, a nobleman about forty years old in a dark robe stepped forward and said, "It's the Huns, the Yue clan, and the desert bandits!"

There were two lootings and another fire. The wealth in Loulan City was almost looted, and most of the buildings were destroyed.The houses of many people, including noble officials, were burned down, and they are now living in tents.

Due to the lack of defense forces, fearing that the Yueshi cavalry and robbers would turn back again, Loulan City was in fear. Many local residents packed their bags and were ready to leave.

If Prime Minister Loulan hadn't been very clever and good at soothing people's hearts, maybe Loulan would soon become an empty city.

After hearing the man's complaint, Wei Qing and Zhao Puonu quickly rode back and reported everything that happened in Loulan to Zhao Jia.

"The Xiongnu, the Yuezhi, and the desert bandits."

Zhao Jia rode on the horse, bent the whip with one hand, and knocked on the palm of his hand.

Wei Yue patted the black horse's neck, looked at the dilapidated Loulan city, and said, "Aduo, King Zuoguli's troops should have been heading west, so it's unusual to appear in Loulan, and I'm afraid there is another reason."

According to the confessions of the captives captured in Mobei, Yi Zhixie was determined to move westward, and to avoid being discovered by the Han army, he acted very quickly.If there is a shortage of supplies, in order to avoid side effects, the target of the looting should be the caravan, and they should not go to great lengths to loot Loulan.

Doing so can certainly gain a lot of wealth, but it will expose the direction of the army and even slow down the progress, which is not worth the gain.

"A reason?"

Zhao Jia stopped tapping and narrowed his eyes slightly.

Wei Yue's expression moved slightly, and he ordered the Loulan people to be brought close to the army, and asked himself if there were any abnormalities in the city on the day of the tragedy.

Everyone racked their brains, but did not give any useful clues.

Just as the two were about to give up and continue heading west, a Loulan herdsman who had his entire arm cut off but survived said, "General, that day the Huns entered the city pretending to be a Wuhuan caravan. Leave in a hurry."

"Half a day?"

A thought flashed in Zhao Jia's mind, and he wanted to continue digging, but the herdsmen couldn't give any more useful information.

However, based on the existing clues, Zhao Jia and Wei Yue can roughly deduce that there are three reasons for the Xiongnu to do this: either they are looking for things, or they are looking for people, or Yi Zhixie is in urgent need of supplies, they cannot find a caravan, and they have no choice. Don't take risks.

"Which one should it be?" Zhao Jia asked Wei Yue.

"We can't make a conclusion for the time being." Wei Yue shook his head and said, "Keep chasing after him and capture the Xiongnu cavalry, and the truth will come to light."

"indeed."

After the two discussed, the army continued to chase west without stopping.

Before departure, due to the request of Prime Minister Loulan, five hundred auxiliary soldiers were left behind to temporarily guard the city.

If these 500 people are out of the sight of the Han army, will they guard themselves?

Anyone with a brain would never seek death like this.

From Shuofang to Monan, from Monan to Mobei, and then from Mobei to the Western Regions, these auxiliary soldiers became more and more aware of the strength and ferocity of the Han army.The Xiongnu were so beaten that they couldn't resist, so they could only turn around and run away. If they were replaced by themselves, they would definitely chop melons and vegetables without any effort.

The most important thing is that with Wei Yue and Zhao Jia two fierce gods pressing on their heads, the surrendered Hu Qi competed with each other honestly, and dared not cross the line at all.Now that he is assigned to guard Loulan, he has to compete to perform, and never dare to violate the law and obey the law, so as not to lose his life when the army returns.

After leaving Loulan City, the army followed the direction guided by the guide and prepared to enter the desert.

"There is an ancient city in the desert. It was built for a long time. I don't know who built it. There is a well in the city for the army to drink. If the Huns cross the desert, they must pass through this place."

The guide came from Mobei, and once went deep into the desert because of chasing wolves.

After hearing his narration, Zhao Jia drew a sketch by hand, and then released Xinying to send news to Li Danghu, Cao Shi and Han Yan on the other side.

On the second day after entering the desert, a gust of sandstorm suddenly blew, making people unable to stand still.In order to avoid accidents, the army had to temporarily stop, camp and rest in place, and wait for the sandstorm to pass before moving on.

When the wind weakened, the scouts searched along the dry waterway and found a strange mound half buried under the sand surrounded by stones.

After receiving the report, Zhao Jia came to check it in person, and saw that there was a piece of dead wood buried under the mound, which seemed to be broken off deliberately, and the sharp end pointed straight to the depths of the desert, as if to guide the direction, and a strange feeling arose in his heart.

According to the guide, the dead wood refers to the ancient city.

"Follow."

Before Zhao Jia could get an answer, Wei Yue stood up and slapped the yellow sand off her palms.

"It is necessary to go here, it may as well speed up."

Whether it is a trap or other reasons, no matter what the situation is, you must catch up and find out.

"it is good."

After resting overnight, the army continued to set off.

As the team got closer to the ancient city, three mounds of earth appeared one after another along the way, all of which were hastily piled up and half hidden under the yellow sand, but all of them pointed to the ruins of the ancient city.

After passing through a dry river bed, the guides and scouts who explored the road returned and found the ancient city where they found a large number of horseshoe prints and traces of people staying there.

"Fill the water bladder and keep chasing!"

The Huns were just ahead, Zhao Jia and Wei Yue ordered the whole army to speed up.

It's a pity that after leaving the ruins of the ancient city, the mound of earth guiding the way suddenly disappeared.The scouts accidentally found one, and the piled stones and dead wood had been artificially damaged.

As the team headed west, a small meandering river appeared in front of it, with many hoof prints left by the river.The experienced scouts quickly locked the target direction, and the Han army pursued all the way, and finally found a Hun cavalry two days later.

The cavalry was surrounded, and they didn't panic at all, as if they had expected this to happen a long time ago. Thousands of people rushed to the tens of thousands of troops, and they all regarded death as home.

Zhao Jia and Wei Yue immediately realized that something was wrong.

"This is a suspicious soldier!"

Knowing that they were being led astray, but based on the performance of these Huns, Yi Zhixie may not be far away. The two sent out more scouts, and at the same time released eagles to expand the search area, and did everything possible to search for the fleeing Hun army.

"Catch a few alive."

Zhao Jia whistled, Wei Qing and Zhao Ponu immediately rode forward, cooperated with each other, brandished the lasso ropes, and succeeded in trapping five or six Huns off their horses, dragging them one by one to Zhao Jia.

Time was running out, Zhao Jia stopped talking nonsense, and signaled to Xin Zhao, who got off his horse, pulled out the dagger at his waist, pierced the palm of a Hun cavalryman, and said coldly, "Which direction is Yizhi leaning, tell me!"

When the suspect soldiers under the Xiongnu were surrounded by the Han army, Yizhixie's troops were far away from the river, bypassed the mounds and jagged sandstones, and approached the edge of the desert.

The army was resting at a water source, Liu Ling wrapped Yizhi's slanted cloak, walked up to the doorman who was dragged all the way, covered in bloodstains, saw the other party dying, bent down, and handed the water bag to the doorman's mouth side.

"Why did you betray me?"

The doorman drank two sips of water, coughed a few times violently, raised his blood-smeared eyes, and said hoarsely: "My Lord knows it well."

"I don't know!" Liu Ling said angrily, "You advised my father and helped my father's great cause, and you have always been loyal. My brother and sister were sent to the border county, and they never left. You even gave up everything to help me escape to the Western Regions. Why? To leave clues to the Han army, why did you betray me!"

"I help the king to repay the kindness of my encounter, and following the prince and the lord is the righteousness of all subjects. However, I am a Han, and I bear the blood of the Han family. How can I join the barbarians of the barbarians!"

"Is it brother? Is it because of him?" Liu Ling asked angrily.

"My lord, the crown prince will sacrifice his life to fulfill you!" The doorman said angrily, "You are conceited and intelligent, thinking that you have exhausted all the tricks, but you have no half of the integrity of the Han family. You are not worthy of the name of the Han royal family, and you are not worthy of the blood of the great ancestor!"

"you?!"

Liu Ling was furious, and was about to say more, when Yi Zhixie came over at some point, pressed her shoulder, and said to the doorman: "I respect your righteousness, if you are willing to serve me, let the past go, I will make you king!"

The doorman laughed loudly, as if returning to the light, he had the strength to sit up, and said word by word: "I have already made it clear that people of the Han family will never be with the Huns!"

Yi Zhixie didn't see any anger, on the contrary, she praised the disciples quite a bit, and there was a bit of regret in her eyes.

The doorman smiled, blood suddenly gushed out of his mouth, and his clothes were instantly stained red.

With the last of his strength, the doorman faced the place of Han, bowed down and knelt down until he swallowed his last breath.

Yi Zhixie ordered people to collect the corpses of the disciples and bury them under the sandstone.

After the doormen were dragged away, Liu Ling looked at the scarlet remains on the sand, and felt confused for a while, accompanied by an inexplicable coolness, which lingered for a long time.