Chapter 2771: On the Silk Road, the Five Warlords of the Western Regions
There were many big battles during the Conquest of Sui Dynasty, especially in the early stage. Due to Li Jing's proper planning, it was basically a favorable situation, and he won every battle, and all of them were won easily.
It was not until 100,000 Tibetan troops arrived for reinforcements, and Yang Guang issued an order to relieve the Qiang and recruited 100,000 Qiang troops, that there were some disturbances in the Qin-Sui war, and the major battles were basically concentrated in the later stages.
[Battle 8, Battle of Huangyuan (defending the city)
Qin army 25,000 VS Tubo army 100,000
Result: The Qin army was defeated (note: they voluntarily abandoned the city), killing 7,000 enemies and damaging 7,000 themselves;
Battle 9, Former Battle of Buffalo Mountain (Field Battle)
Qin Army 65,000 VS Sui Tuqiang Allied Army 180,000
Result: No winner or loser, 35,000 enemy killed, 20,000 self-loss;
Battle 10, Battle of Huangyuan Road (field battle)
Qin Army 50,000 (actual investment: 3,000) VS Tubo Army: 40,000 (actual investment: 30,000)
Result: The Qin army won, killing ten thousand enemies and losing four hundred;
Battle 11, Later Battle of Buffalo Mountain (Field Battle)
Qin Army 85,000 VS Sui Tuqiang Allied Army 200,000
Result: The Qin army won, killing 65,000 enemies, damaging 15,000 themselves, and capturing 120,000 prisoners;
Battle 12, Battle of Yushu (surprise attack)
Qin's army of 20,000 VS Tubo's army of 30,000
Result: The Qin army was victorious, killing 6,000 enemies, damaging 500, and taking 24,000 prisoners;
Battle 13, Battle of Martial Power (Strong Attack, Fake Surrender)
Qin army 60,000 vs Sui army 20,000
Result: The Qin army won, killing 5,000 enemies, damaging 10,000 themselves, and capturing 10,000 prisoners;
Battle 14, Battle of Daxing (siege, ambush)
Qin army 63,000 vs Sui army 50,000
Result: The Qin army won, killing 28,000 enemies, damaging 1,500, capturing 7,000, and surrendering 15,000;
Battle 15, a battle to show off your beauty (defense, field battle)
The Qin army of 70,000 VS the Sui and Qiang coalition forces of 100,000;
Result: The Qin army won, killing 55,000 enemies and damaging 35,000 themselves;
Battle 16, Yumen Pass Pursuit (Pursuit)
The Qin army had 15,000 troops VS the Sui and Qiang coalition forces had 50,000 troops;
Result: The Qin army was victorious, killing 8,000 enemies, capturing 20,000, and losing 2,000 to itself;
According to statistics, in the 'Battle of Qin and Sui', a total of 240,000 enemies were wiped out, 213,500 were captured, and 102,400 self-inflicted losses were incurred. After deducting casualties, a total of 3,511 summoning points were awarded.
The host had a total of 6215 summoning points before the war, and the current host has a total of 9726 summoning points. 】
The 300,000 soldiers led by Li Jing defeated the Sui and Qin troops. In just two months, they achieved a record of wiping out 450,000 enemies (250,000 Sui troops, 100,000 Qiang and Tubo troops). 240,000 were killed directly, and another 210,000 were captured.
In this single battle, the Great Qin completely defeated the Sui Kingdom and the Qiang people, and also greatly damaged the vitality of the Tubo Kingdom. There was no force in the land of Kansai that could challenge the Great Qin.
Such results are not without glory, but the Qin army also paid a heavy price, losing nearly 100,000 troops, accounting for one-third of the total army.
Although after treatment, nearly half of them can recover and return to the army.
But the treatment of injuries and illnesses, pensions for soldiers killed in battle, and the resettlement of 210,000 prisoners of war are undoubtedly a huge expense.
After the Qin army captured Liangzhou and Haizhou, although it gained a lot of seizures, it was obviously not enough to make up for these expenses. And before Liangzhou and Haizhou were completely digested, it was impossible to be self-sufficient. In the end, the Qin court would definitely have to Come to post money.
[Ding dong, after testing, the Battle of Buffalo Mountain includes: the Battle of Buffalo Mountain before and after, and the Battle of Yushu. These three battles are all one battle, involving a total force of 400,000, exceeding the battle standard of 200,000 people;
According to statistics, in the Battle of Buffalo Mountain, a total of 106,000 enemies were wiped out, 144,000 were captured, and 35,000 were lost;
The battle loss ratio in this battle is 7.1:1, rating: S, reward: a gold random summon card. 】
[Ding dong, after testing, the Battle of Xianmei includes: the Battle of Xianmei City, the Battle of Xianmei, and the Battle of Wuwei. These three battles are all one battle, involving a total force of 200,000 people;
According to statistics, in the Battle of Showing Beauty, a total of 60,000 enemies were wiped out, 10,000 were captured, and 40,000 were lost;
The battle loss ratio in this battle is 1.75:1, rating: C, reward: a bronze random summoning card. 】
Although there were many battles in the Battle of the Sui Dynasty, there were only two major battles that could form the standard of battles, namely Bison Mountain and Xianmei. However, these two battles also caused the greatest casualties.
After dozens of battles in the Sui Dynasty, the Qin army suffered a cumulative casualty of 100,000 troops, but the casualties in these two battles alone reached 75,000, accounting for three-quarters of the total casualties.
This shows how tragic the Battle of Buffalo Mountain and the Battle of Xianmei were.
[Ding dong, Great Qin has successively occupied six counties of Jincheng, Wuwei, Zhangye, Dunhuang, Jiuquan, and Zhangye, and completely occupied 10 counties and 128 counties of Liangzhou, one of the thirteen states of the Han Dynasty. Reward: a golden summoning card, 1 random attribute point;]
[Ding dong, Da Qin has successively occupied seven counties: Xining, Haidong, Haibei, Hainan, Huangnan, Guoluo, and Yushu. It completely controls 7 counties and 73 counties in Haizhou among the sixteen states of China. Reward: a golden summoning card with random attributes. Click 1 point;]
[The current host has: 9726 summoning points, 2 random attribute points, two gold summoning cards, one gold random summoning card, and one bronze random summoning card;]
In the battle against the Sui Dynasty, Qin won a complete victory and gained two new states and thirteen counties, as well as an additional 1.8 million people.
Of course, for Da Qin, the increase in territory and population was secondary. The biggest gain was actually opening up the Silk Road.
The Sui Dynasty belonged to the six counties of Liangzhou. Except for Jincheng and Wuwei, the other four counties were extremely barren, and the seven counties of Haizhou were not very wealthy.
In such a barren land, it stands to reason that raising an army of 150,000 people is the limit. However, under the extreme expansion of the Sui State's army, it could support an army of 300,000 people.
How did Yang Guang support his 300,000 troops? Naturally it is the Silk Road.
The Sui State was barren, with insufficient resources and limited commercial potential. It was unable to maximize the benefits of the Silk Road. However, just developing a part of it had already increased its fiscal revenue and made it the little tyrant of Kansai.
Da Qin had eleven states and was dozens of times stronger than Sui in terms of resources, population, and commerce.
If Great Qin were to dominate the Silk Road, with Great Qin's strong national power and huge market, the value of this golden trade route would explode dozens of times its previous value.
Therefore, the Qin army has only two things to do next. One is to sort out and digest the two states of Lianghai, and the other is to prepare for the development of the Silk Road and trade with the Western Regions and the Far West countries.
Li Jing also knew that the value of the Silk Road was immeasurable, so he planned to directly launch a great purge to digest the two Lianghai states as quickly as possible, so as to open the Silk Road without any worries. However, he did not expect that the plan would be blocked by Luoyang before it even started. Wang Meng stopped.
Li Jing thinks like a military general, so he adopts the simplest and most efficient method. But governing a big country is like cooking a small one. It is really satisfying to kill such a big person, but what will the Central Plains forces think if they know about it?
After the Qin Dynasty destroyed the three kingdoms of Wei, Song and Ming, would it also launch a great purge against the Central Plains forces like it did to the two Lianghai states?
The Qin Dynasty has not yet destroyed the three kingdoms of Wei, Song, and Ming, so it naturally has to worry about some influence. Even if it is to not overly stimulate the Central Plains forces, it cannot arbitrarily kill everyone in Liangzhou.
Moreover, due to Yang Guang's saucy maneuvers and Da Qin's propaganda, the Sui Kingdom had lost all people's hearts. Da Qin could easily gain people's hearts and minds. There was no need to use such drastic measures as the Great Purge. At most, it would only take a little more time.
Under Wang Meng's intervention, although Li Jing stopped the purge operation, he intensified the investigation of the remnants of the Sui State in order to strengthen Qin's control over the two states of Lianghai.
In addition, Li Jing also made the following redeployments and arrangements for the 200,000 Qin troops in the two states of Lianghai:
Meng Tian led an army of 60,000 to guard the seven counties of Haizhou;
Li Maozhen and Xu Rong each led 10,000 troops to guard Yumen Pass and Yang Pass;
Long Qie led an army of 40,000 to guard the four counties of Xiliang;
Li Mu led an army of 30,000 men back to aid Hanzhong.
As for Li Jing himself, he personally led an army of 50,000 to Daxing and presided over the sorting and digestion of Lianghai and Lizhou, as well as the training and integration of 210,000 prisoners of war.
Before Li Jing attacked the Sui Dynasty, he had predicted various possible scenarios, but he did not expect that Yang Guang would be crazy enough to issue an order to relieve the Qiang. This move also escalated the scale of the Qin-Sui war. The total number of troops dispatched by the Sui side It actually reached four to five million, and the Qin army captured a full 210,000 prisoners alone.
The Qin army suffered over 100,000 casualties in this battle. Although nearly half of them could return to the army after recovering from their injuries, this process would obviously take a long time, and Li Jing obviously could not wait any longer.
Two hundred thousand Qin troops are enough to guard the two states of Lianghai, but the current strength of Guanzhong and Hanzhong in the rear is not sufficient, while the Shu army is still confronting Da Qin in Hanzhong.
Therefore, it is imperative to recruit the surrendered troops and make up for the vacancies caused by battle losses.
After some discussion, Li Jing and his men decided to reorganize 210,000 prisoners of war into an army of 150,000. While restoring the pre-war establishment, they also had an additional 50,000 troops.
In addition, after the wounded soldiers return, the Qin Dynasty will have an army of 400,000 in Yongliang, which is enough to defend Yongliang and simultaneously attack Shu.
But as soon as this army expansion plan was submitted, it was collectively rejected by Wang Meng and the six ministers.
The senior officials of the imperial court, headed by Prime Minister Wang Meng, believe that the Qin Dynasty's current focus is on the Eastern Front. All the country's resource mobilization must focus on the destruction of the Wei, Song, and Ming Dynasties. Too many resources cannot be wasted on the Western Front, and Li Jing fought on the Western Front. Although it is beautiful, it cannot change the national policy of Qin.
Wang Meng only allowed the Yongliang Qin Army to restore its pre-war establishment, and did not allow Li Jing to waste resources on additional expansion. Therefore, Li Jing had no choice but to give up the army expansion plan, and the number of 21 prisoners of war was reduced from 150,000 to 100,000.
However, after the wounded soldiers recover and return, Great Qin will have an army of 350,000 in Yongliang, which can be regarded as a disguised expansion of the army by 50,000.
While Li Jing was in full swing rectifying the two states of Hailiang and recruiting prisoners of war, the situation in the Western Regions changed dramatically.
The fact that Yang Shuang could personally lead his army to pick up Gao Huan was enough to show that the Western Region Allied Forces were defeated, and they were defeated miserably.
Even with the famous general Wang Ben present, the anti-Sui coalition forces of the fifteen countries in the Western Regions were still defeated by the coalition forces of Yang Ji and Li Sanjia.
Now there are less than 100,000 people left in the 255,500-nation coalition, and among them, five more nations have been beaten to the point of annihilation.
However, the strength of the coalition forces of Yang Ji and the three families has increased, and now it has expanded to 150,000.
Wang Ben commanded an allied force of 250,000, but could not defeat the 70,000 troops assembled by Yang Shuang. This was a huge blow to him. In addition, he was shot by Yang Shuang with an arrow in the final decisive battle. Due to the serious injury and depression, he couldn't even get sick.
After Yang Shuang rescued Gao Huan, he did not continue to conquer the Western Regions for two reasons:
One is that he doesn't dare. After all, 200,000 Qin troops are still waiting in Lianghai and Lizhou. If Yang Shuang gives up without seeing a good outcome, he will be asking for death if he summons Li Jing.
Second, what the Sui Kingdom needs most right now is not expansion, but stabilizing the unstable internal people and electing a new Sui King.
Although Yang Shuang is the Yang clan with the most military power and is logically the best candidate to become the Sui king, generals such as Gao Huan, Wei Xiaokuan, Yu Wenxian, Changsun Song, Gao Gao, and Gao Changgong also have military power, so they may not be able to succeed. Willing to continue serving the Yang family.
Yang Shuang obviously knew this. If he was not careful now, the Sui Kingdom might split, so he was naturally cautious. He made various promises and actively delegated power in exchange for the generals' support for him.
After some efforts from Yang Shuang, Wei Xiaokuan and Changsun Song decided to support Yang Shuang.
Yu Wenxian had offended Yang Shuang before and was unwilling to work for him, so he led his troops to seek refuge with Yu Wentai, who was temporarily attached to Ji Chang.
Yu Wentai shone brightly in the Western Region War. His troops quickly expanded to 15,000. Coupled with Yu Wenxian's 5,000 troops, the total strength reached 20,000. He was considered a small warlord in the Western Regions, so he decided Break away from Ji Chang and seek development on your own.
As for Gao Huan, he was rescued by Yang Shuang this time and returned to the Western Region. Yang Shuang was kind to him. Logically speaking, he should support Yang Shuang, but he had his own ambitions, so he was conflicted deep inside.
Under the instigation of Qin's spies, Gao Huan's ambition finally prevailed and he chose to lead an army of 15,000 to become independent and develop on his own in the Western Regions.
Gao Huan also wanted to win over Gao Changgong, Gao Gao and Gao Jineng, but only Gao Changgong and Gao Jineng chose to follow him, while Gao Gao still chose to be loyal to the Sui Kingdom.
As for Yelv Shilu, Yelv Xiuge, Yelu Xiezhen and the remnants of the 3,000 Qiang army who fled into the Western Regions with Gao Huan, they decided to go to Tubo to join Yelu Deguang after learning that Yelu Deguang had defected to the Tubo Kingdom.
Yang Shuang tried his best, but despite the Qin's instigation, it was still difficult to prevent the Sui Kingdom from splitting.
In the end, the Sui Kingdom's power in the Western Regions was divided into three, with Yang Shuang, Gao Huan, and Yu Wentai each occupying one, and the strongest among them was naturally Yang Shuang.
After Li Siyuan went through the Western Region War, the power under his command expanded rapidly, second only to Yang Shuang after the split.
Ji Chang's power actually expanded faster than Li Siyuan, but due to Yuwentai's betrayal, he was overtaken by Li Siyuan, ranking third among the Han warlords in the Western Regions.
Rebellious boy Yu Wentai and newcomer Gao Huan ranked fourth and fifth respectively.
In addition to Yang Shuang, Li Siyuan, Ji Chang, Yu Wentai, and Gao Huan, these five warlord forces who fled from the Central Plains into the Western Regions, there are also many forces in the Western Regions such as the Great Qin and the ten native countries.
The small Western Region has actually gathered sixteen large and small forces. This fully shows how chaotic the situation in the Western Region is. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is a small regional Warring States.
The next chapter officially returns to the Eastern Front
(End of chapter)
