Two flowers bloom, one on each side.
Thousands of miles away in the west of the Western Region, amazing changes are also taking place!
The capital of Dawan Kingdom, Guishan City is being besieged by a large army.
And the number of this army is over 50,000!
The first two generals are none other than Pingbei General Ma Chao and Northern Army Military Advisor Fazheng!
Yes, these two people are not dead.
After being besieged on three sides by the allied forces of the Kucha State, Fazheng had to go south and escape into the desert to escape.
The cavalry of the Han army were all composed of elite cavalry from Liangzhou, and they never hesitated to obey Ma Chao's orders.
Even in the endless desert, there is still no fear.
But for the Western Region Allied Forces, entering the desert is tantamount to suicide.
Especially after the Han cavalry completely entered the hinterland of the desert, the generals of Kucha almost acquiesced in the demise of this army.
Even the people from the Western Regions who live in Yancheng, the capital of Qiuci State, do not dare to escape into the desert easily.
The desert is like the sea, it is easy to lose direction.
The weather is also unpredictable, and as long as you encounter a storm, you will definitely have a narrow escape!
The facts were just as expected by the generals of the Kucha Kingdom. After Fa Zheng and Ma Chao led the army to escape into the desert, they quickly lost their way.
No matter how frugal they were, after three days, the army was completely cut off from food and water.
People can survive without food, but without water, they cannot survive at all.
This situation is even more severe in the desert!
After cutting off the water source, Ma Chao once gave up hope.
Unexpectedly, the countries in the Western Regions, which he regarded as rotten fish, would force him deep into the desert, where he would eventually be buried.
As a general, Ma Chao can't help but feel depressed and demoralized, let alone an army of 10,000?
If there was no way out, these 10,000 cavalrymen would have fled in all directions.
The only one in the entire Western Expedition army who did not give up hope was Fa Zheng.
Liu Zhang's words before leaving are still in my ears, and Fazheng's personal praise of Haikou before leaving for the expedition has never been forgotten.
It is true that we are facing difficulties now, but it is not a reason to give up on ourselves.
Fa Zheng has always believed that he will be able to break out of the desert and lead the army to liberate the Western Regions!
This is not arrogance, everything happens for a reason.
Fa Zheng had read geography books about the Western Regions.
In Liu Zhang's impression, he didn't know much about the deserts in the Western Regions. It was all hearsay from his previous life.
Therefore, I pessimistically believe that Ma Chao and Fa Zheng are in danger.
But this is not the case!
During the Han Dynasty, there was a river named Khotan River in the desert of the Western Regions.
This river almost crosses the entire southern part of the Western Region, and borders the Congling River to the east.
Before Fa Zheng went on the expedition, he had read a lot of information about the Western Regions, so he naturally understood these situations very well.
The Khotan River is directly south of them. As long as they keep running, they will be able to find it.
After finding the Khotan River, the water source problem can be solved.
Then follow the Khotan River to the west to find the Congling River, and then you can reach the vicinity of Yarkand.
All supplies will be replenished by then!
Fazheng told Ma Chao about this at the beginning, and Ma Chao also led his army southward with great interest.
But as time went by, the soldiers fought for three days and ran for hundreds of miles without seeing any trace of the river.
Because we were too far into the desert, our direction was completely lost, and we couldn't even go back the way we came.
Unable to advance and retreat, and under internal and external troubles, Ma Chao gradually lost confidence and patience.
Fortunately, Ma Chao did not blame everything on Fa Zheng, and the two did not cause quarrels or conflicts because of their desperate situation.
But a negative attitude cannot be reversed.
In Ma Chao's words, he didn't want to die on the run, he wanted to die in a comfortable way.
Fa Zheng naturally would not give up easily. He endured the thirst and continued to persuade him with sincerity.
Perhaps it was this persistence that moved Ma Chao and made the army take action again.
However, with the food and water sources cut off, the war horse's physical strength was also much weaker than before.
Compared with the previous march of hundreds of miles a day, the speed of the army dropped sharply.
Fortunately, there is always a way out!
Just when the entire army was about to completely collapse on the fifth day, a heavy rain fell from the sky.
This rain not only saved Ma Chao, Fa Zheng and 10,000 troops, but also gave them hope of life!
Even God is helping them, so how can the Lord give up so easily?
Sudden courage seems to bring good luck.
On that day, Ma Chao and Fazheng found Khotan River in a daze.
With river water and fish as supplements, the 10,000-strong army regained its vitality.
The bad luck of Ma Chao, Fazheng and others seemed to have ended completely, and they reached the Congling River very smoothly.
After several days of marching, we finally arrived in Yarkand.
The Kingdom of Yarkand was not one of those small countries with a population of only a few hundred. At its peak, the population was close to 20,000, and it once had 5,000 soldiers.
It is one of the most powerful countries in the entire Western Region.
However, Yarkand overestimated its capabilities and insisted on disobeying the Han Dynasty, and suffered heavy losses when Ban Chao took charge of the Western Regions.
During World War I, more than 5,000 people were killed.
After this battle, Yarkand was completely subordinated to the Han Dynasty and came under the jurisdiction of the Changshi Mansion of the Western Regions.
Due to its remote location and the interruption of the Silk Road, news about Yarkand is extremely limited.
In the eyes of King Shache, the Han Dynasty was still as powerful as when Ban Chao's thirty-six people ruled the Western Regions.
Therefore, when he saw the Han army's 10,000 cavalry, he almost fainted from fright.
It is true that these ten thousand cavalry were driven into the desert by the Qiuci Kingdom, but they could still completely destroy the Shache Kingdom with ease!
King Shache did not dare to neglect and hurriedly went out of the city to greet him.
In the nearly hundred years since being massacred by Ban Chao, Yarkand has never offended a big man.
Therefore, King Yarkand was not worried that the Han army was coming to investigate.
If the other party has no ill intentions and cannot leave the city, it will undoubtedly bring disaster.
Facts have proved that King Shache is a smart man. If he doesn't take the initiative, Ma Chao will definitely attack.
The cities of the Shache Kingdom cannot be compared with the cities of the Han Dynasty.
It sounds like a city, but there are no decent walls at all.
Even if he leads the cavalry, there is no pressure to attack the city.
Fazheng naturally had no ill intentions towards a country like Yarkand, which was close to the Han Dynasty.
If he hadn't been forced by the situation, he wouldn't have taken a detour here.
After a simple exchange, Fazheng made his request.
Support food and grass!
Even though he was extremely reluctant, the King of Yarkand did not dare to disobey him in the slightest, so he had to obediently offer up the food and grass.
Although Yarkand is a small country with few people, it still has a lot of food reserves!
There was no difficulty in supplying ten thousand people.
After confirming that there was no problem with the food, Ma Chao and his 10,000 cavalry finally ate the food they had not seen for a long time.
Although fish meat is good, it is still not comparable to grains!
After the army had a full meal, their appearance took on a new look again!
The morale that had been lost before was completely restored, and the military morale was further condensed.
After this ordeal, it seems that the Qin army has become more elite.
Just when the Qin army was resting, Fazheng received an important piece of news from King Shache.
