The majestic golden eagle flies in the blue sky, cruising on the top of the mountains, looking down at the earth, its brown and yellow wings shining brightly in the sun, its sharp eagle eyes searching for prey, and with a loud roar that shakes the sky, it flaps its wings straight down, With lightning power, it pounces on the hare foraging among the licorice grass.
This was obviously an experienced "hunter". He moved like thunder and could kill with one blow. Although the rabbit was agile, it could not escape its bad luck and lost its life.
The golden eagle grabbed its prey, fluttered its wings, hovered under the sky for a while, and swept over the mountains wantonly, looking for its owner.
In the wilderness at the southern foot of the Tianshan Mountains, King Wei Liu Min was hunting with Yang Yanzhao. There were dozens of horses in the group, high-spirited and lightly dressed. When he heard the happy cry of the golden eagle, Liu Min stopped his horse and smiled to the left and right: "Listen to this sound. , it seems that my eagle has gained something.”
The golden eagle flapped its wings and headed straight towards Liu Min and his group. The accompanying eagle slave quickly dismounted his horse to greet them. However, the big eagle came with great force. Even with the eagle slave's strength, he was almost overturned. He took several steps back before he could stabilize himself. Body.
The golden eagle didn't pay attention to the embarrassment of the eagle slave. It flapped its wings proudly and called out to Liu Min. Looking at the rabbit carcass discarded in front of him, Liu Min smiled and said, "What a eagle!"
This eagle was given to Liu Min by his fourth brother Liu Fang. He has raised it for many years and loves it very much. He rode his horse forward, gently stroked the Eagle's strong wings, and said almost lovingly: "This is the Eagle's prey. Prepare it and feed it!"
"Yes!" Eagle Slave obeyed respectfully.
"This eagle is so majestic and soaring thousands of miles, just like His Highness at this moment!" Yang Yanzhao said a small compliment from behind.
Liu Min chuckled, turned the horse's head, rode the horse and held the bow, and said to Yang Yanzhao: "Brother Yuan Xian, we can't fall behind. Let's compete today to see who can hunt more!"
"Your Highness is so elegant, I will accompany you to the end!" Yang Yanzhao smiled heartily.
Liu Min was fond of hunting, but since the Western Expedition, there had been no wild hunting for several months. This time, he took advantage of the easing of the war between Han and Heilongjiang and the situation to calm down.
They were very happy. When the sun was setting, the group returned with full load and headed towards Wuchi City at the southern foot of Tianshan Mountain. I don't know whether he deliberately showed humility, but Liu Min won and hunted one more yellow sheep than Yang Yanzhao.
Walking slowly along the Tuoshigan River, the group's figures were reflected in the clear river water. Liu Min couldn't see the fatigue. He looked around at the surrounding mountains, rivers, forests and soil, and couldn't help but sigh: "This place is deserted, but there are many products. , marching westward, a lot of the land occupied is suitable for cultivation. If it can be developed and utilized properly, it can be enough to raise tens of thousands of troops!"
"Yes!" Yang Yanzhao, who was standing by, nodded when he heard the words: "To the west of the Moman, there is no lack of fertile plains, dense mountains and forests, and two rivers. It is also a geomantic treasure land. It can be called the Central Plains, but it is sparsely populated and slightly lacking."
After two months of hard work, the Western Expedition army had made a huge breakthrough. Although huge sacrifices were made in the Battle of Kucha, it was finally defeated due to the determined will of the Han general.
The Battle of Kucha was very difficult and the scene was very cruel. The battlefield was like a meat grinder, which was rare in all the wars of the Han Dynasty. In terms of scale, it is nothing, but in the history of war, it has extraordinary significance.
This was when the Han Dynasty began to use gunpowder on a large scale. A large number of war weapons powered by gunpowder appeared on the battlefield and achieved outstanding results. The Han army's final victory also benefited from the concentrated use of gunpowder.
No matter how strong a city is, it will be difficult to sustain it for a long time under the powerful explosive power of gunpowder. The pattern of war has quietly begun to undergo some subtle changes.
After Kucha fell, the black Khan's commander Aliaman, with the support of the cavalry, only took in a few hundred people and fled westward in panic. The more than 20,000 Kucha defenders were completely wiped out. Under the retaliatory treatment of the Han army, no one was left behind. None of the prisoners survived.
The red-eyed Han army even planned to massacre more than 30,000 civilians gathered in the city, but Liu Min retained a trace of reason, or perhaps out of mercy for the winner, did not kill him in the end.
Even so, the treatment of the civilians in Kucha City did not show mercy. In order to appease the military morale, those who came to the city to participate in the defense of the city were also singled out and killed one by one. The rest were all demoted to hard labor, while the women were All rewards are given to soldiers. In the Western Region, manpower is still too scarce.
After capturing Qiuci, the Han army rested on the spot for half a month, repaired the city defenses, replenished food and equipment, and stabilized the vast area east of Qiuci, and then led the army to continue westward, advancing towards the Moman area at the southern foot of the Tianshan Mountains.
The Black Khans maintained their tenacity. Although they suffered a disastrous defeat and suffered a great decline in morale, they did not fall into complete collapse. The Han army's rest in Kucha also gave them some time to adjust, even if it was very short.
Aliaman gathered all the troops of Black Khan south of Tianshan in Moman City, and gathered 10,000 domestic reinforcements, supplemented by more than 10,000 remaining cavalry, and then recruited strong men from the local area to completely They resorted to militarism and reluctantly organized an army of more than 40,000 people.
However, even if these more than 40,000 troops cannot be said to be a mob, their combat effectiveness is definitely not as good as the more than 20,000 defenders of Kucha City. The fall of Qiuci was a huge blow to Hei Khan, especially the casualties of a large number of elite soldiers, which was very debilitating.
When faced with the menacing Han army's westward advance again, perhaps it was the shadow of Qiuci's failure that made Black Khan coach Aliaman's judgment erroneous.
They no longer dared to defend the city and were passively beaten. Their strategy of using Cheng Cheng to defend Qiuci and using cavalry to control the enemy was completely seen through by the Han army and basically failed. The powerful city combat capabilities of the Han army also clearly told the Black Khans that they could not defeat the Han army by defending the city, and would only make themselves passive.
However, Qiuci City, which has been in operation for many years and is famous for its solidity, cannot withstand the attack of the Han army, let alone a small city like Moman. Therefore, this time, Aliaman chose to lead all the troops, take the initiative, and march eastward to meet the Han army.
Compared with urban warfare, the Black Khan's army is better at field warfare, and among the 40,000 troops organized regardless of the consequences, the most guaranteed combat strength is the more than 10,000 Black Khan cavalry.
No matter what considerations he made, Aliaman's almost desperate decision was in line with the wishes of the Han general. The Black Khans lost confidence in defense, and they also cast a shadow on the bloody battle in Kucha.
The two sides fought in the town of Bash, more than a hundred miles east of Moman City. In this battle, the two sides set up their positions and actively attacked each other. The Black Khan army adopted their most accustomed tactics and used what they were best at. The volunteers, mainly YSL believers, charged wildly, with the standing army behind them, supplemented by cavalry roving and assaulting.
The Han army responded tit for tat and also used their infantry and cavalry tactics. What is more interesting is that both sides launched an ambush at the same time, each sending their elite cavalry to surround the enemy's rear.
On the Han army's side, King Liu Min of Wei personally led five thousand cavalry, which circled for dozens of miles and attacked the rear of the Black Khan army. In the end, a big melee broke out.
When the battle reached a stalemate, the shortcomings of the Black Khan Army's weak follow-up were magnified. The Han Army relied on more elite soldiers, better command, and efficient organization to win the Battle of Bash.
The defeated Black Khan army collapsed for hundreds of miles. Except for a small number of cavalry who escaped, the rest either died or surrendered. Coach Aliaman failed to escape this time and was killed in the chaos when he was defeated.
What is even more tragic is that the entire army of three thousand heavy cavalry was wiped out. This was the Guards Army supported by Eight Assassins. It was the most elite army of the Black Khanate.
Of course, the Han army also suffered huge casualties in destroying this Black Khan's heavy cavalry. It can even be said that most of the casualties of the Han army's heavy cavalry in the Battle of Bash were caused by this Black Khan's heavy cavalry.
After achieving a decisive victory, under the command of Liu Min, the Han army took advantage of the situation to advance westward, sweeping across the southern foothills of the Tianshan Mountains and occupying the Tuoshigan River and Yunhuishui basins. The large and small towns, mainly Moman and Wuchi, were easily captured by the Han army, and the Black Khan army could no longer organize a strong resistance.
At this point, the Han army's western expedition lasted more than three months. At the cost of over 10,000 casualties, it expanded 800 miles of territory, wiped out more than 50,000 Black Khan troops, and restored all the old Uighur lands in Xizhou.
This also declares that under the attack of the Han army, the results of the Black Khanate's eastward expansion for more than 20 years were all vomited out at once. In the vast area south of the Tianshan Mountains, only Shule in the southwest foothills of the Black Khanate was left. area.
In the Shule area, after several troop deployments, the defense was almost non-existent. Even after the Black Khan defeated his troops in the Battle of Bashi, most of them did not choose to withdraw from Shule westward, but fled northward into Badaling, a key pass in the Tianshan Mountains.
(End of chapter)
