Who would have thought that the Yuezhi army, which originally came to attack the city, would be surrounded by armies from several countries.
Perhaps before going on the expedition, King Kushan could not have expected such a consequence.
Just because he offended King Qin!
According to conventional wisdom, Xiqiang would not be so willing to give half of the Hexi Corridor to Qin, and even if they sent troops, they would definitely not be so active or quick.
Although the Xiongnu made peace with Qin, according to Touman Shanyu's personality, he would definitely not be so willing to give up his coveting of the Central Plains. If the King of Qin was trapped, Touman might be added to the trouble and the alliance would be terminated. , wash away the humiliation of the Huns.
As for Loulan?
Loulan's combat power was not high, not to mention that King Loulan was very timid. If he had not stayed at the pass and King Guishuang was busy unifying the Yuezhi, perhaps the Yuezhi would have defeated them long ago.
In fact, the most difficult country to deal with is the Qin State, but the mainland of Qin is too far away. The total number of defenders in the several cities here is only one hundred thousand, and nearly half of them have been lost.
But this time the Yuezhi came out in full force. Counting the 100,000 troops hidden in the rear by the Kushan King to escort the grain and grass, and the 150,000 people in front, the total number of the Yuezhi army reached 250,000.
Plus King Xiutu’s more than 30,000 people, what city can’t be taken?
But he never expected that King Qin would react so quickly and find so many helpers at the same time.
In the attack on Jiayuguan, more than 30,000 people were lost, and this was despite their overwhelming numerical advantage.
The problem is, even this failed to win Jiayuguan!
First, reinforcements from the Xiqiang came, disrupting the rhythm of the siege.
Later, King Zuo Xian of the Xiongnu captured King Xiutu in the south. It seems that King Xiutu is now in dire straits.
This expedition was originally based on the advice of King Xiutu and led the army south. However, they did not get any oil and water. Instead, they lost so many men and horses and wasted countless grain and grass.
If King Xiutu died, he would also be buried with the Yuezhi's undead souls.
King Kushan thought this and became more and more irritable.
At this moment, the detective horse behind reported back, and Loulan's army followed closely behind, always maintaining a distance of fifty miles.
"How many of them came?"
Tanma replied: "After the overall observation, we also checked the stoves they left behind. It is estimated that there are about 80,000 people, and there are several thousand Xiqiang people."
King Guishang thought for a moment and said: "More than 80,000 people dare to chase me. I must have destroyed this Loulan army, and the Yumen Pass will be empty. Send the order, and the whole army will camp on the spot, and send a few more people to the back." Investigate.”
Tan Ma took the order and retreated, and the army camped on the spot.
The King of Kushan also issued a royal order, ordering the rear army escorting grain and grass to join the central army and wait for the next instruction.
Now that we are going back to Yueshi, the importance of food and grass is no longer very important, which is completely different from when we set off for the expedition.
In the current situation, we must also concentrate our forces to eliminate the pursuers in one fell swoop. The rear army has become an ambush and can catch the Loulan army by surprise.
After waiting for a while, new news came from behind. The Loulan Army also stopped and set up camp forty miles away. It seemed that they did not want to attack the Yuezhi Army directly.
This is not easy to handle. Is it possible that the Loulan Army will follow us all the time? If they get to Yuezhi, aren't they looking for death?
Should we deal with them now, or let them follow us?
Several elders around him also held their own opinions. Some said to go back and destroy the Loulan Army, some said that they suspected it was a trap and returned to the Yueshi first. Some even suggested taking advantage of the emptiness of Yumen Pass to divide their troops to capture the pass.
King Kushan was also undecided for a moment.
Unknowingly, it had already fallen into the night, and the Yuezhi elder who was responsible for escorting the food and grass from behind finally arrived, but his expression was quite panicked.
"Your Majesty, something bad has happened!"
King Guishuang frowned: "Tell me slowly, what happened?"
The Great Elder of Yuezhi gasped and said: "We have just received news from the palace that the Xiongnu's Great Chanyu has arrived at the border with his army. The target seems to be the palace itself, so I divided 50,000 troops to relieve the siege, and the rest Brought it back."
"What!?" King Guishuang was shocked and said, "The Huns... The Xiongnu Great Chanyu is here?"
The Yuezhi elder nodded and said: "It's absolutely true. It's the news sent back by the young master. I'm afraid it has been handed over to me now."
Snapped! ! …
King Kushan slapped his thigh anxiously and shouted loudly: "Touman! You are such a villain, you actually stabbed me in the back!"
"Come here, give me the order. The whole army must return to the palace quickly to support the palace. No one is allowed to delay. Anyone who disobeys the order will be killed!"
There is no need to fight this time. Who dares to delay anymore when their hometown has been raided?
In an instant, the Yuezhi army set up camp and set up camp and traveled all night. Because they were in such a hurry, they forgot to take many things.
But how far can you go if you travel at night?
The Loulan Army did not pursue them, but upon inspection the next morning, they found that the distance between the two sides was only about thirty miles.
The second elder of Loulan ordered the whole army to pursue them quickly. The King of Xiqiang received the news that the elder of Xiqiang would arrive soon with his army, so he stayed there with his guards and waited.
The Loulan Army did not rush in. While they kept following, they sent out a large number of detective horses to inquire about the news from the Yuezhi Palace.
The anxious King of Kushan received news not from his wife and children in the harem, but from the defeated soldiers who had gone to the mainland to rescue him.
The 50,000-strong army was ambushed and beaten by an ambush before even entering the border, leaving only a few thousand men. Because they were marching at night, it was not easy to escape.
Fortunately, the Yuezhi army is also brave, otherwise none of them would be able to escape.
As for the number of Huns in ambush, they should be no less than twice as many as them.
Could it be that Touman did not attack the palace, but ambush all the troops in front?
According to the leader who escaped, the Huns army behind them stopped pursuing them and seemed to be heading towards the Yuezhi Palace.
After learning the news, King Kushan became even more anxious. If the palace had not been attacked yet, it would be too late to rescue him now.
Moreover, the Xiongnu army had just experienced a fierce battle and was getting tired. If we don’t pursue them now, when will we wait?
Regardless of the fatigue of the army during the night march, King Kushan ordered the entire army to pursue the Xiongnu ambush in front!
The army moved out again and began to pursue the Huns army in front at full speed.
However, after running continuously, the war horses could no longer bear it, and they fell behind one after another.
The King of Kushan didn't care anymore and ordered those who could change horses to change horses and continue running, and those who couldn't find horses to follow them as much as possible.
However, after chasing for a whole day, not even a shadow of the Xiongnu was seen, and even the scouting horse sent out before did not come back to report the news.
what's the situation?
Dark night has come again, seeming to suppress the mood of all the Yuezhi people. The weather has become colder. Although there is no snow, the north wind has picked up, bringing with it a frightening chill.
The King of Guishuang did not dare to pursue anymore. Firstly, the team could not run anymore, and secondly, he was afraid of encountering an ambush again.
After setting up camp, he once again sent a large number of exploration horses to explore the Yuezhi Palace and the Jingjue ambush, but ignored the Loulan Army who was chasing them closely behind.
The Loulan Army had already closed the gap between the two sides, and now they still maintain a distance of about fifty miles.
At this time, the King of Xiqiang also waited for the Qin army led by the Great Elder of Xiqiang and Meng Tian, as well as the Xiongnu warriors of King Zuoxian of the Xiongnu.
Suddenly, the force chasing the Yuezhi army increased sharply, and the number of them was almost equal.
King Xiqiang did not follow Loulan's army, but led the team to the west-north direction, making an extra detour towards the Yuezhi Palace.
————————
At the same time, Ying Zheng had also arrived at Loulan Palace.
King Loulan shook his head and sighed: "What a pity, that old Guishang ran too fast and couldn't stop him."
Ying Zheng smiled and said: "If we block him, we may not be able to win. You must know that we do not have the advantage in numbers, and my soldiers guarding the city are also in urgent need of repair." "Then we just let him run away?" King Loulan asked doubtfully, "If I let him recover and you are not here, what will he do if he comes to deal with me again?"
"Why, are you afraid now?" Ying Zheng said angrily, "If you had sent troops to hold him back earlier, how could you have let him run away so quickly, even if you sent some men to intercept and kill his scouting horses."
King Loulan knew that he had missed a good opportunity, and it was hard to defend himself.
"But fortunately, Touman Shanyu can help you solve the problem." Ying Zheng added, "It is indeed beyond my expectation that he can personally lead an army to raid the Yuezhi's hometown."
King Loulan said: "It would be great if the Yueshi could be eradicated this time, but one thing is, don't let the Xiongnu take the opportunity to attack again."
Ying Zheng laughed and said, "I'm here to help you, but you're still on guard against me. Touman is looking at my face this time, so naturally he won't embarrass my friend."
After a pause, he suppressed a smile, looked at King Loulan and said, "Unless you don't want to be my friend."
King Loulan glared: "Where are you talking about, you want soldiers to give you soldiers, and you want horses to give you horses, and you are saying that I am not sincere?"
"Forget it, let's not mention what happened before." Ying Zheng said, "This time I will completely solve the problem of the Yuezhi, and I will not let the Xiongnu invade your territory. But you want to carve up the territory of the Yuezhi, it seems. It’s unlikely, at most it will require a vacuum area.”
"As long as the Yueshi are solved, then everything will be done." King Loulan said.
"We'll see what happens. I have to talk to Touman," Ying Zheng said, "But I have something good to throw at you."
"Which good thing?"
Ying Zheng smiled and said, "Let's wait until I come back from Jingjue. I'm not sure yet whether it's appropriate or not."
While the two were talking, a scouting horse reported outside the palace. The Jingjue army was approaching Loulan City, led by Queen Jingjue herself. It was still thirty miles away.
When Ying Zheng heard this, he was so anxious that he hurried out of the palace, got on his horse and galloped away.
The more urgent I feel, the more I feel that time passes too slowly. Although my figure is flying, my heart has long since drifted to Jingjue Camp.
Finally, a large camp suddenly appeared in front of us. The elite guards guarding the city just wanted to intercept it, but they didn't have time.
"Who is it?" a guard shouted looking at the back.
"It seems to be our Lord." The other one replied.
"Fortunately it's not the enemy..."
Zhehuai, who was outside the main tent of the Chinese army, had already seen Ying Zheng running over. Just as he was about to enter to report, Ying Zheng already shouted: "Wuchan, I'm here to pick you up."
Wu Chan in the tent was already troubled with his thoughts and had been pacing inside the tent. Upon hearing this shout, he quickly jumped out.
Their eyes met, as if they were connected by a bolt of lightning, and their longing for each other was like a torrent that burst a dam, rushing along this lightning and colliding with each other.
The next moment, the chests of two people collided.
Ying Zheng held Wu Chan tightly in his arms, no longer ignoring the snickers of the maids and guards next to him, and no longer afraid of the dazzling light of the sun. It seemed that at this moment, he was holding the whole world in his arms.
But just as the two were sharing their tenderness, a baby's cry suddenly sounded in the Chinese army tent.
Ying Zheng was suddenly stunned.
Wu Chan pushed him away gently, took his hand and said, "Husband, come with me."
When Wu Chan pulled him closer to the tent, he saw a maid holding a baby in her arms.
"This is our daughter, she is over one year old."
daughter?
Ying Zheng's mind went blank and he asked in disbelief: "Why have I never heard you mention it in your letters?"
Wu Chan smiled and said, "I don't want to give you a surprise."
They have been separated for more than two years, and my daughter is more than one year old...
There seems to be no difference.
Ying Zheng stepped forward quickly and picked up the baby girl: "My little princess, daddy is here to pick you up."
The little princess was not afraid of this strange man. Instead, she opened her mouth and smiled at him.
