Ying Zheng and King Xiqiang each led their teams along the Yangguan Road. The shouts of killing from the north became weaker and weaker, and they gradually became inaudible.
Except for stopping to refresh and refresh during meals, the team was on the road the rest of the time.
At night, after the camp was set up, Ying Zheng asked the entire army to rest their horses and feed them more food and grass.
As soon as it got light, he urged the team to move on.
Finally, in the afternoon of the next day, the team arrived at Yangguan.
The Loulan defenders guarding the city had received the news in advance and directly opened the city gate to welcome the team in.
Ying Zheng asked his general to quickly send people to Loulan City to report the news to King Loulan.
After taking a short rest, he took Meng Tian and King Xiqiang to take the first step, with the Huben army following closely behind, and the Xiqiang army guarding the pass, ready to respond to Xu Wan's army at any time.
After another day's journey, Loulan Royal City finally appeared in front of him. Ying Zheng had no time to sigh and went straight to the palace.
King Loulan, who received the news in advance, brought people to greet him early.
"Hahaha!" King Loulan laughed, "What wind brought King Qin to my place?"
Ying Zheng was so angry in his heart, and the fight was raging outside. How could King Loulan not know that he was still hiding here for a while?
"I ran away for my life, you wouldn't just die without saving me, would you?"
King Loulan suddenly suppressed his smile and said angrily: "Who is so bold as to dare to touch my God of Wealth?"
Ying Zheng was both angry and funny. He felt that this guy was so real and he knew that he was his God of Wealth.
King Xiqiang said: "You old man only knows how to drink and eat meat in the palace. The Yueshi have already attacked. Didn't you notice at all?"
King Loulan rolled his eyes at him and said angrily: "You old guy, just panic. They made some changes. How could I not respond to them? Now a hundred thousand troops have gathered at Yumen Pass, ready for action at any time."
"Since you know everything, why are you still watching us being hunted outside the customs?"
"You are walking through Yangguan. How can anyone chase you?" King Loulan argued, "Besides, I have sent all the people out. If they sneak attack the city gate, then Loulan will be in danger."
Ying Zheng knew that the matter had nothing to do with him, so he smoothed things over and said, "You two, stop arguing. The military situation is urgent now. Let's sit down and have a good discussion."
Although King Loulan said he was tough, he also knew that the situation was urgent, so he let them go to the inner study.
Ying Zheng didn't waste much time and said directly: "Now the Yuezhi army is approaching, and its former army has already fought with my Jiayuguan garrison. I don't know how the battle will be at the moment. I ordered Xu Wan to retreat to Jiayuguan if he can't defeat them. .”
"Although Jiayuguan is well fortified after reconstruction, it cannot withstand several times the enemy's force. If Jiayuguan is lost, where will their next target be, King Loulan?"
A few simple words directly stopped King Loulan from asking.
If Jiayuguan is lost, where else can the next target be? Of course it is Yumen Pass. This is something that everyone knows very well.
Before King Loulan could speak, Ying Zheng continued: "The purpose of the Yuezhi this time is obvious. They want to capture the three major passes of Jiayuguan, Yumenguan and Yangguan, completely occupy the buffer area in between, and cut off two important trade routes. Official way."
"In this way, if the Central Plains wants to trade with the Western Regions again, it must be controlled by the Yueshi. No matter what, they will have to collect a layer of taxes."
"I don't expect him to be able to reach the mainland of our Great Qin, and our Great Qin's goods should be priced at the same price. As for the Western Regions, they will always be choked by the Yueshi."
"At that time, whether our Great Qin will be damaged or the Western Region will suffer, King Loulan, you can make the calculation yourself."
King Loulan took in a breath of cold air, frowning and feeling disturbed.
He originally thought that the Yuezhi just sent out troops to plunder some caravans, and that as long as he set up a formation, he could frighten the Yuezhi and make them have scruples. However, he did not expect that this time the Yuezhi came out in full force and was already fighting with the Qin army. One place.
"In King Qin's opinion, what should we do now?" He thought for a while and then asked.
"We need to take the initiative." Ying Zheng said, "You leave 20,000 people to guard Yumen Pass, send the rest to fight against the Yuezhi army, and then send messengers to pass the news to Jingjue. Jingjue will definitely send reinforcements to help me."
Of course King Loulan knew King Qin's identity in Jingjue, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that Queen Jingjue brought her whole family to rescue Ying Zheng.
The King of Xiqiang also followed up and said: "I have also sent news to the elders of my clan. They are also rushing here. I believe that together, we will be able to take care of the Yueshi this time. Maybe, it will be better. It can expand your territory a lot."
Now that things have happened, King Loulan has no reason to shirk, so he slapped the case and cursed: "Then do it, I have long disliked the Yuezhi."
Immediately afterwards, King Loulan issued a military order, ordering the Yumen Pass garrison to divide 80,000 troops, march east from Yumen Pass to meet the enemy, and first rescue Xu Wan from danger.
After calling in Loulan's reinforcements, Ying Zheng breathed a sigh of relief.
King Xiqiang said: "How about you go to Jingjue first to ask for help, and leave it to us to deal with the Yuezhi here."
Ying Zheng shook his head: "Let the thumb go back first. I have to guard here. After all, the Huns have also joined in. I want to see what Man Shanyu means."
"The Huns are here too?" King Loulan was startled and seemed a little scared.
"A small team has arrived," Ying Zheng said, "But according to my analysis, the Yuezhi must have been instigated by the Huns, so they were so bold this time."
King Loulan said: "Everyone says that your Qin army is brave, but I think it would be safer for you to mobilize the local army."
"The news has been sent back," Ying Zheng said, "It's just that the time may not come in time. Winter is about to come, and my team is not very good at fighting in cold weather."
"Then let's fight a few times, and then see what King Yuezhi wants. If it doesn't work, make peace." King Loulan said.
Ying Zheng nodded: "Let's take a look at the situation first. What I'm most concerned about right now is the situation on Xu Wan's side. Why don't we rush to Yumen Pass now."
King Loulan said: "Beware of the Yuezhi's surprise attack from the Tianshan Mountains in the north. Besides, I have to wait here for news about Wu Chan. You can go to Yumen Pass first, and I will arrive soon."
I don't know if it was because he was afraid or something else, but the reason was pretty good.
Ying Zheng couldn't force it, so he repaired it all night and led his troops back to Yumen Pass early the next morning.
The King of Xiqiang also sent a message to his men who stayed in Yangguan, telling them to go straight to Yumen Pass.
When we arrived at Yumen Pass the next day, Loulan's detective had already brought back the news.
That day, Xu Wan led his subordinates to fight with the Yuezhi's former army, and each suffered nearly half casualties, so he led the remaining troops back to Jiayuguan.
The Yuezhi army has regrouped and has arrived in front of Jiayuguan, preparing to attack the city with all its strength.
Loulan's 80,000-strong army has already set off, led by the second elder of Loulan, and is now marching on the official road.
There was no news from the Qiang people, and they probably hadn't arrived at Jiayuguan yet.
It seems that whose hand Jiayuguan falls is the key to this battle.
If it is captured by the Yuezhi people, it will be extremely difficult to recapture it with the current strength of the Qin army.
Moreover, the Yuezhi can defend the territory according to the danger, and can only recapture it if their troops are much stronger than theirs.
After a brief thought, Ying Zheng ordered to quickly catch up with the Loulan army in front, join the guard of the Western Qiang King, and relieve the siege of Jiayuguan.
After running around for a while, it was night again and the team simply set up camp.
King Xiqiang pulled Ying Zheng over and said, "Do you really trust the Loulan Army? Why don't you wait for Jingjue?"
From a personal point of view, Ying Zheng certainly trusts Jing Jue's team more, but the journey is too far. It seems that Thumb has not reached Jing Jue at this time. To solve the siege of Jiayuguan, he can only rely on the Loulan army in front. "It's too late," Ying Zheng said, "Although I don't know much about the Loulan Army's combat power, as long as it can act as a deterrent, I believe the Yuezhi Army will not dare to attack the city with all its strength."
"That's true. I hope Xu Wan can hold on for a day or two longer."
At this time, the situation in Jiayuguan was indeed quite tense.
Xu Wan had repulsed two attacks by the Yuezhi during the day. Finally, after dark, the Yuezhi army withdrew, and the Qin army finally breathed a sigh of relief.
A few days ago, they blocked the Yuezhi's former army on the Yumen Pass Road and lost nearly 20,000 people. After returning to Jiayuguan, fortunately they were supplemented by the Suzhou garrison, which gave them more confidence.
While inspecting the city defense, Xu Wan adjusted the organizational structure and replenished the soldiers guarding the city.
The morale of the Qin army is pretty good, because there is news that the King of Qin has entered Yangguan, and I believe he will bring reinforcements to relieve the siege soon.
As soon as it dawned, the Yuezhi army outside the city began to become active, and the Qin army hurriedly prepared to fight.
Thanks to the reconstruction of Jiayuguan in recent years, the defenses were several times stronger than before, and the Yuezhi army was mostly cavalry and was not good at this kind of siege warfare.
After attacking twice more, the Yuezhi army stopped and seemed to be studying countermeasures.
After noon, the Yuezhi army did not attack the city. Instead, they divided into two teams, went up the hillsides on both sides, and began to cut down trees.
The vacated space was replenished by the Yuezhi Central Army.
The Yuezhi troops on those hillsides simply processed the cut wood and made it into a wooden tower. A long wooden bridge was fixed on the front end of the wooden tower.
When Xu Wan saw it, he thought something was wrong!
The wooden tower is higher than the city wall, and the wooden bridge can be built on the edge of the city wall. In this case, the Yuezhi army can charge over from above.
It would be easy to deal with one or two, but the problem is that all the Yuezhi troops on the hillside are making such wooden towers. In the blink of an eye, more than a hundred wooden towers have been formed.
Xu Wan broke into a cold sweat and quickly ordered his sergeants to prepare rockets and hammers. He also ordered people to prepare some grease and distribute it to various parts of the city wall.
The Yuezhi army on the hillside began to move towards the city wall carrying the wooden tower. The Qin army was also prepared to fight to the death.
Hearing a deep horn sound from the Yuezhi military formation, the warriors from the front army shouted and rushed towards the city wall carrying the wooden tower.
When they got closer, Xu Wan ordered to fire arrows.
However, relying on the cover of the wooden tower, the effectiveness of the arrow feathers is greatly reduced. Even if one is accidentally shot, another one will follow immediately.
All the wooden towers were basically placed not far from the city wall. The soldiers on the top of the wooden towers untied the ropes, and the wooden bridge was built on the city wall.
Hearing just an order, the Yuezhi's former troops screamed and climbed to the top of the wooden tower. Those who reached the top first rushed towards the city wall brandishing their sabers.
How could the Qin army sit still and wait for death? The ones with bows and arrows kept firing ignited rockets, the ones with machetes chopped down the wooden bridge, and the ones with sledgehammers tried to break it.
Some wooden bridges were broken, so the Yuezhi people replaced them with another piece of wood and continued to charge forward.
The Yuezhi sergeant in the middle of the wooden tower also kept firing arrows at the city wall to suppress the Qin army's counterattack.
At first, not too many people rushed to the city wall, and they were all taken care of by the Qin army. However, as more and more Yuezhi people rushed to the city wall, the Qin army began to become passive.
In the large tent of the Yuezhi Central Army, King Guishang looked at the battlefield directly in front of him and said coldly: "Huh, so what about King Qin? You go on your Yangguan Road, and I'll go on my single-plank bridge. Let's see who of us can laugh. To the end.”
The setting sun reflected the blood all over the city walls, making people unable to open their eyes.
Xu Wan, who was fighting on the tower, kept waving the sword in his hand. He was panting and his arms were numb.
Could it be that the big thing is over?
But at this moment, a trumpet sound suddenly sounded outside the east gate of Jiayuguan, and the leader shouted loudly: "Don't be afraid, General Xu, the Xiqiang Army is coming!"
