Li Jiangyao half-assedly became the unofficial Protector-General, and the Zhenjiang Army also ushered in its third major adjustment.
Because all the major vassal states in Western Xinjiang decided to return to the Holy Tang Dynasty, and the governor of Turkic Western Xinjiang, Gema Khan, was beaten by Li Jiangyao so much that he did not dare to leave Zijin Pass. Therefore, the territory controlled by the Zhenjiang Army at this time almost covered The entire ghost desert in Western Xinjiang.
In order to further enhance the combat power, in addition to the previous four main forces of Gale, Fiery, Thunder, and Shenhua, as well as the newly formed Fifth Army of Stone and Sixth Army of Raging Waves, the entire army has also added soldiers provided by royal families from various countries. The Seventh Army of Heavy Rain.
Not long after, with the cooperation of the kings, the Intelligence Department of the Zhenjiang Army began to attack with all its strength, and successfully instigated the rebellion of the Western Xinjiang warriors scattered in seven Turkic military towns. The officers and soldiers launched uprisings one after another. Some drove the Yakuts away directly, and some simply annihilated the Turks on the spot, and then the entire regiment and battalion surrendered to Li Jiangyao.
More and more troops came to join the army, and the Eighth Army of Zhenjiang, codenamed "Cold Wave", was successfully formed.
In the spring of 826 in the Holy Tang Calendar, Li Jiangyao and his comrades finally saw the hope of victory after nearly six years of bloody struggle.
The scale of the Zhenjiang Army reached a new peak. It had eight armies under its command, with a total of 350,000 elite soldiers and generals, and essentially regained control of the Ghost Desert in Western Xinjiang.
The whole territory was recovered, leaving only two places - Zijin Pass and Shengyuguan.
Gema Khan, who was hiding in Zijin Pass, was now even more desperate. Bad news kept coming from all over Western Xinjiang, especially the fall of seven military towns one after another, which really made his head feel as big as a bucket.
It is not an exaggeration to use the term "animal in a cage" to describe the current situation of Gema.
Although the Yakut troops in some military towns responded extremely quickly, they escaped one after another to Zijin Pass before being killed by the angry Xijiang people, thereby preserving their strength, and the number of troops in Gema's hands gradually increased to 40,000.
However, this slight change in strength is of no help to the bad situation. It can even be said that the situation is worse than before.
The size of the Xinjiang Army continued to expand, and its combat power also increased day by day. At this time, the countries in Western Xinjiang turned against each other one after another and returned to the Shengtang camp. In this way, Gema Khan's plan to escape back to the Yakut grasslands of the Western Continent was Also completely shattered.
Now, staying here would be like sitting and waiting for death, but he couldn't leave even if he wanted to. He was always in fear and panic all day long.
What makes Ge Ma even more depressed is that Li Jiangyao seems to have forgotten him.
Since the Zhenjiang Second Army and the Fourth Army withdrew, there has been no movement at Zijin Pass for such a long time.
Gema's psychology is also quite contradictory.
If the other party comes, he will be afraid in his heart; if the other party does not come, he will feel that he has no sense of existence and will be completely ignored by the enemy.
The reason why he is so entangled is not because Gema is petty, but because he has some plans secretly. Gema Khan, who has always been good at calculations, wanted to negotiate with Li Jiangyao this time.
Judging from the current situation, Gema is convinced that it is absolutely impossible to re-control Western Xinjiang, and staying in Zijin Pass is a dead end. Whether it was Li Jiangyao or Ashina Zhijin, he couldn't stand anyone coming to him.
Therefore, for the present plan, it is best to return to the Yakutia steppe as soon as possible, and take advantage of the opportunity when the main Turkic forces remain in the Central Plains to regain their strength in the Western Continent. Maybe there will be some unexpected gains.
What's more, once Li Jiangyao really blocks the retreat of the Eastern Expedition Army, Ashina Zhijin's situation will become very bad. Instead of finishing with the Khan, it is better to return home early and make arrangements in advance.
However, he had a good idea, but it was even more difficult to implement it.
Two to three hundred thousand soldiers were squatting on the road, staring at them. Gema really didn't have the guts to just rush past.
Since it is impossible to forcefully leave Western Xinjiang with military power, the only trick Gema can think of is to bribe Li Jiangyao and exchange road rights.
Gema Khan believes that he still has bargaining chips. For example, the astonishing wealth he collected from Western Xinjiang, and another example, the control of Zijin Pass... In short, as long as both parties can sit down and talk, everything will be easy to handle.
But Li Jiangyao seemed to see Gema's thoughts, but just ignored him.
Gema Khan couldn't help but feel a little bitter. He also knows very well that negotiation is like doing business, whoever makes the first offer will be passive. If the Zhenjiang Army's troops suppress the border, it will be easier to handle, because it shows that Li Jiangyao has the intention to seize Zijin Pass. In this way, Gema can use "hand over Yumen Pass without bloodshed" as a condition to exchange for a way out for himself.
But on the other hand, if Li Jiangyao doesn't care about Zijin Pass at all, but you take the initiative to come to him and mention it, it will only become a pitiful joke. Not only will it fail to achieve its purpose, but it will also allow the other party to find out about your The bottom line is, completely passive.
Because of this, Ge Ma seemed particularly anxious, and even found it difficult to accept the fact that Li Jiangyao would not attack him. However, things are unpredictable. It didn't take long before an unexpected situation completely changed Gema's original thoughts: Regardless of whether Li Jiangyao came or not, he had to take the initiative to come to the door.
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The unexpected situation that caused Gemar Khan to change his mind was also quite funny.
Since the Turkic Eastern Expedition army occupied the imperial capital and the Guanzhong area and advanced further into the Central Plains, the food-producing places in the Holy Tang Dynasty fell into the hands of the Turks one by one, and the problem of food and grass supply was gradually alleviated. In this way, from Western Xinjiang forward The pressure on transporting supplies along the line has also been reduced a lot.
However, reducing pressure does not mean there is no pressure. Western Xinjiang still needs to regularly supply grain and grass to the front line.
However, the fatal problem is that some time ago, Li Jiangyao led his army to counterattack. He first drove Gema into Zijin Pass, then drove away the Duke of Belen who came for reinforcements, and finally captured Ulan City. From then on, the food and grass supply There is no way to send it eastward.
As time went by, this situation naturally aroused the vigilance of the Turkic headquarters: What happened in the place behind them?
In order to clarify the situation, Ashina Zhijin sent a special envoy, Yalim, the Prime Minister of the Turkic Empire, to go to Western Xinjiang to meet Gema and understand the whole story.
Although everyone was a little confused about the status of Xijiang, no one was so nervous that they felt uneasy. After all, the war against Shengtang was progressing very smoothly. Although the army suffered a lot of casualties, the morale of the entire army was extremely high. Everyone's attention was focused on the front line, hoping to achieve a more glorious victory in the future. At the same time, as the rear area of the Western Xinjiang Ghost Desert, the Yakut Army and the Western Xinjiang Reorganized Army can be regarded as the most powerful force on that land. It is impossible for anyone to pose a threat to Gema Khan.
Mostly because Western Xinjiang is really being squeezed dry, the normal supply of grain, grass and military supplies has been delayed.
In view of such considerations, Prime Minister Yalimu was also in a very relaxed mood.
Along the way, all he was thinking about was: After finally getting a good job and escaping from the cruel battlefield, how should he relax and have a good time in Western Xinjiang?
A team of dozens of special envoys hurried forward while touring the scenery. They stopped and stopped for more than 20 days before entering the territory of Liangzhou.
After arriving in Liangzhou Prefecture, logically, they should continue along the Silk Road trade route and enter Western Xinjiang from the northern line of Zijin Pass, which is the shortest route. However, Yalimu decided to change the route temporarily and took Shengyuguan in the south.
The reason behind it was simple. His nephew was an officer of the Second Golden Army and was currently commanding the garrison at Shengyuguan, so Yalimu wanted to go to the southern route and visit his nephew along the way.
The special envoy set out from Liangzhou Prefecture and headed southwest. It took seven or eight days to reach Shengyuguan.
When Yalimu saw his nephew here, he couldn't help but encourage and praise him. Then he took out several treasures snatched from the imperial palace and gave them to his nephew as gifts. At the reception banquet, he asked his nephew if he knew why there was no military supplies in Western Xinjiang to be sent to the front line.
Regarding this issue, his nephew was not very clear about it. He only vaguely listened to the discussions of travelers going to and from Shengyuguan, saying that the Zhenjiang Army was fighting fiercely with Gema Khan. The nephew kindly reminded Yalimu that something big must have happened in Western Xinjiang. If possible, try not to go deep into the hinterland easily.
Yalimu was somewhat dissatisfied with his nephew's words.
He is the special envoy of the Turkic Khan. The purpose of this trip is to find out the actual situation in the Ghost Desert of Western Xinjiang. What's the point of standing still at Shengyuguan? Moreover, no matter how powerful the Xinjiang Army is, it will only be a local disturbance at most. It may make Gema a little confused, but it will definitely not turn the whole Western Xinjiang upside down.
So Yalimu rested for three days in Shengyuguan, and then led his men to continue heading west. His nephew was a little worried and sent a hundred cavalry to escort them to Ulan City, the seat of the Governor-General of Western Xinjiang.
After entering Western Xinjiang, Yalimu became more and more puzzled as he walked.
Whenever his team passed through towns and villages along the way, the local residents almost always looked at them with a look of surprise and pity.
That look seemed to say: Are these Turks tired of living? !
Although Yalimu sensed something was wrong, the Turkic army's previous victories in consecutive battles also made the Prime Minister underestimate the enemy and become arrogant. The judgment that "the situation is different" in front of him did not prompt Yalimu to turn around and go back. On the contrary, He was ordered to rush on his way as soon as possible, arrive at the Governor's Palace of Western Xinjiang as soon as possible, and find Gema Khan to find out the whole story.
In this way, the special envoy team galloped all the way, bypassing towns and villages, and went straight to Ulan.
Ten days later, the Turkic Khan's most trusted prime minister, Lord Yalim, who had always been known for his calmness, crashed into the territory of Xu Youchang's First Army without thinking.
Looking at the Zhenjiang military flag erected at the top of Wulan City, and then looking at the malicious smiles on the faces of the Shengtang soldiers around him, Yalimu was completely confused: "Did you make a mistake? Is this wrong? Where is Ma Khan? I'm here to find him. Who are you? Can you please stop tying the rope so tightly? It hurts!"
