On the official road in Guanzhong, a war horse was galloping with only one goal, the capital Chang'an.
Passing countless sentry posts along the way, no one dared to stop him.
The urgent letter from the Yizhou Mufu Bureau represents the most urgent matter!
All forces in the Qin State not only cannot interfere, but also provide help to the envoy so that he can reach Chang'an as soon as possible.
At the same time, in the Weiyang Palace in Chang'an City, Liu Zhang was holding a court meeting.
Cheng Gongying, the governor of Dunhuang County, sent word that Ma Chao and Fa Zheng led their troops to defeat the Kucha army, and they reached the capital of Kucha with unstoppable momentum.
This was exciting news, indicating that Ma Chao, Fazheng, had lived up to expectations and had made great achievements in the Western Regions.
But at this moment, Ma Chao and Fazheng's army lost news.
Since leaving Yumen Pass and entering the Western Regions, Fazheng has been in contact with Pan Feng, the guard of Yumen Pass, and Pan Feng will immediately report the information to Cheng Gongying, the governor of Dunhuang.
But just after defeating the Kucha army, Ma Chao and Fazheng completely lost their traces.
Cheng Gongying ordered Pan Feng to immediately send people to the Western Regions to search for him, but no trace of his whereabouts was found.
How could the 10,000-strong army suddenly disappear?
Cheng Gongying did not believe in evil and personally went to countries in the Western Regions that were friendly to the Han Dynasty to inquire about the situation.
After spending a lot of gold and silver, I got the news that it was Fa Zheng and Ma Chao was ambushed!
After the four kingdoms of Wusun, Kangju, Dayuan, and Dayueshi learned that the Han Dynasty was once again interfering in the Western Regions, they secretly united to prepare to fight the Qin army.
It happened that after the defeat of Kucha, they turned to Wusun in the north for help. The four countries immediately raised an army of 100,000 and attacked the capital of Kucha.
Ma Chao and Fazheng were completely unaware of this situation and were caught off guard and were immediately surrounded by a hundred thousand troops.
The geography of Kucha is different from that of Yongliang. Their capital is located in the middle of a river and desert.
So there are only two paths from front to back!
No one knows the specific circumstances of the battle. There have been rumors in the Western Regions that the Han army fled deep into the desert to avoid attacks.
However, one thing is certain. At present, Ma Chao and Fazheng's 10,000 cavalry have completely disappeared.
Chenggong Ying's letter mentioned that the armies of the four countries headed by Wusun were crushing the countries in the Western Regions and were heading towards Yumen Pass to kill!
Liu Zhang held a court meeting today to discuss how to deal with the Western Regions.
All the ministers had different ideas, and no one stood up to propose countermeasures.
Officials headed by the Yizhou clan were even more critical. At first, they strongly opposed Liu Zhang's current interference in the Western Regions.
As expected, not only did they fail to achieve results, but they seemed to have stung a hornet's nest and were about to encounter a crisis.
The Guanlong family had just been activated by Liu Zhang, and they were in the limelight for a while.
However, they were after Ma Chao and Fa Zheng's Western Expedition, so they had little say in this matter.
The entire Weiyang Palace was eerily silent!
Liu Zhang became angry when he saw this, and then roared angrily.
"Why, do you want Lonely to lead the army to fight against the four-nation coalition?"
"Hmph! Gu has been on the battlefield for a long time. Which part of Qin's land was not conquered by Gu?"
"How can I be afraid of a hundred thousand mobs!"
The ministers held their hands in succession to comfort Liu Zhang.
"Please Qin Gong calm down."
"Calm down your anger? How can you calm down? These savages are coming to your door!"
Liu Zhang roared again, his heart filled with anger.
When Han Sui and Ma Teng controlled Liangzhou, there was no change in these countries in the Western Regions.
Historically, three generations of Cao Cao, Cao Pi, and Cao Rui dominated Liangzhou, and countries in the Western Regions did not dare to make disservice.
Why do you rule Liangzhou by yourself, and these bitches can't sit still?
After cheating Ma Chao, the Dharma rectification is not yet complete. He dares to sweep across the Western Region and kill at Yumen Pass!
I really think Qin Gong Liu Zhang is made of clay!
"If I want to personally lead an army to conquer, I will definitely kill these bandits!"
After hearing Liu Zhang's decision, Shangshu Pushe Xunyou immediately stood up.
"No, Mr. Qin!"
Liu Zhang frowned, somewhat dissatisfied with Xun You's obstruction.
"Xun Shangshu, the enemy is coming. Is it possible that we have to sit back and wait for death?"
Xun You quickly bowed his hands and gave advice again.
"For Duke Qin, the armies have just been formed and are getting better. Elite veterans are helping to train new recruits. It is really not advisable to act rashly!"
"Kangju, Dawan and other countries are still on the west side of the border of the Western Region. They are more than a thousand miles away from Yumen Pass?"
"The daily consumption of food and fodder by a hundred thousand troops is so terrifying. How can those small countries afford it?"
"To show off at this time is just to plunder everywhere. Once there is no place to plunder, they won't even have the food to go back!"
"The Duke of Qin only needs to order General Pan Feng to guard Yumen Pass, and relying on natural dangers will be enough to resist the mob of the four countries!"
After hearing Xun You's words, Liu Zhang immediately became melancholy.
The statement that he wanted to fight in person just now was just a moment of anger.
Liu Zhang was angry that no one was willing to speak out, especially the Yizhou faction who had been given the position of Shangshutai and the newly promoted Guanlong faction.
At this time, Taishi Ci, the leader of the generals, also stood up.
"Informing Duke Qin, I am willing to lead the Northern Army's Wu Feng Battalion to defeat the enemy!"
After all, Ma Chao, Fazheng and the 10,000 Liangzhou Jingqi belonged to the Northern Army. If the commander-in-chief of the Northern Army didn't let them go, that would be a bit too much.
Taishi Ci had long wanted to make a request to send troops to attack the four-nation coalition, but Taishi Ci, who was familiar with the military strength of Guanzhong, really couldn't say it.
After half a year of replenishment, the military strength of each military region has not taken shape at all, and no effective combat power has been formed.
Especially because the Northern Army and the Chinese Army needed to snatch cavalry, progress was very slow.
Later general Zhao Yun even went to Liangzhou to recruit troops in person and has not returned yet!
The effective combat strength of the Northern Army is still the remaining 7,000 men of Wu Feng Camp.
After Xu Huang led his army away, the Imperial Guard only had more than 20,000 elite soldiers.
Today's Chang'an City has gathered all the elite soldiers and horses, and can only barely gather 30,000.
How can such a stretched force be used on a large scale?
Taishi Ci had no choice. He could not let Liu Zhang go to the west in person, so he could only ask for orders to go on Liu Zhang's behalf.
It happened that he also had an explanation for Ma Chao, Fazheng and the 10,000 cavalrymen.
The other ministers did not know Taishi Ci's true thoughts, and were quite shocked by the situation in front of them.
Taishi Ci and Xun You were Liu Zhang's most trusted generals and advisers respectively. At this moment, they actually put forward completely opposite opinions.
Liu Zhang suddenly became embarrassed. Originally, he wanted to get off the donkey, but with Xun You's advice, he took back what he had just said.
Unexpectedly, Taishi Ci suddenly stood up and caught Liu Zhang off guard!
However, Liu Zhang had already made up his mind that if he launched the Western Expedition, he must personally serve as the commander-in-chief.
Ma Chao and Fazheng were missing, which made Liu Zhang heartbroken.
