Back to the Warring States Period as Zhao Kuo

After listening to Zhao Kuo's words, Wang Jian nodded slowly, and a sense of responsibility suddenly surged in his heart.

I have to say that something like a sense of responsibility can really make people feel ups and downs, and even make people willing to work hard for it.

After bidding farewell to Zhao Kuo, Wang Jian left the tent briskly.

At this moment, it was completely dark outside, and the stars in the night sky were twinkling.

Wang Jian looked at the starry sky above his head, showed a smile, and whispered something to himself.

"Perhaps, such a fate is really better than that of the Great Qin Kingdom."

Wang Jian walked away briskly.

Chapter 1129 Establishment of the Four Counties of Hexi

After the pursuit that lasted for two days ended, the war that broke out suddenly and ended quickly also reached the stage of final statistics of the battle results.

After statistics, except for the more than 2 cavalry of the Guishuang tribe who surrendered before the battle, more than 13 of the remaining 8 Yuezhi soldiers and horses were either captured or beheaded. He fled the battlefield and disappeared.

Zhao Kuo also gave corresponding instructions on this.

"Don't bother with them, as long as they don't continue to hinder my westward expedition.

But remember to issue a notice to persuade them to surrender on the grassland. As long as they are willing to surrender, I can also let the past go. "

In Zhao Kuo's view, these Yuezhi people must have lost all their hearts by themselves, and they probably dare not continue to do right with the soldiers and horses of the Han Dynasty.

Therefore, under such circumstances, Zhao Kuo felt that there was no need to continue to expend huge efforts to hunt down and kill these remnants of Yuezhi's defeated generals, but instead focused more on the matter of continuing the Western Expedition.

In any case, defeating the Yuezhi this time was definitely a good start, and it also fully proved the power of the Musketeers.

But Li Mu also raised one point, that is, the shortcomings of Musketeers.

"To tell you the truth, I think the musketeer is easy to use, but the bullets are consumed too quickly. It would be great if there were enough bullets."

The consumption of bullets is a very huge problem that musketeers have to face. After all, everyone knows that if there are no bullets, this so-called musket is actually a fire stick.

Now when Zhao Kuo set off this time, he brought a total of 1,000 million rounds of ammunition. These 1,000 million rounds of ammunition sounded quite a lot, but if calculated according to 1 musketeers, each musketeer's The bullets that can be obtained are only 1000 rounds.

In the past war with the Yuezhi people alone, the Musketeers of the Han Kingdom had already consumed nearly 100 million rounds of ammunition. This was because Zhao Kuo had foreseen that the order given to Li Mu must save ammunition. , otherwise the consumption will be even higher.

After hearing Li Mu's complaint, Zhao Kuo couldn't help laughing, and said to Li Mu: "How to say this problem, there is no good way to solve it.

However, as long as we continue to expand our country in the future, we can fight wars around our country, so our supply routes will not be too much of a problem. "

Take the war of the Han Kingdom this time as an example. The goal of the Han Kingdom's war this time is to just conquer the Western Regions.

Under such a premise, then these 1,000 million rounds of ammunition are definitely enough.

After conquering the Western Regions and hearing about the comrades in the Western Regions, the Han Kingdom will continue to use the Western Regions as a starting base and head towards Central Asia.

Just slowly conquering the past step by step, expanding the territory step by step, and obtaining more logistics bases step by step, the final result is that the Great Han Kingdom can avoid the shortcoming of the difficulty in supplying Musketeers to the greatest extent.

In fact, in essence, the supply difficulty of musketeers is almost the same as that of infantry, because infantry also needs food and grass supplies when they are fighting outside, so the food and grass supplies can be shipped along with ammunition.

Therefore, the problem of supply actually only needs to be viewed from the perspective of infantry.

Hearing this, Li Mu couldn't help scratching his head, and said with some helplessness, "We are clearly 15 Han cavalry, but unexpectedly we need to use infantry thinking to solve this supply problem."

Zhao Kuo couldn't help laughing after hearing Li Mu's words, and said, "Why are you so narrow-minded?

Even without Musketeers, wouldn't we be able to win this war?

We only have a full 15 cavalry and a lot of explosives. "

For the current Great Han Kingdom, Musketeers are indeed an extremely rare and rare elite unit, but even without Musketeers, the Great Han Kingdom can still easily win this Western Expedition, but it may pay more Casualties only.

While Zhao Kuo and Li Mu were chatting, the cavalry of the Great Han Kingdom kept rolling forward.

After the victory of this war, the most powerful Yuezhi Kingdom in the entire Hexi Corridor has basically been declared destroyed, and Zhao Kuo also established 4 counties here, distributed from southeast to northwest.

Zhao Kuo had already thought of the names of these four counties, namely Dunhuang, Wuwei, Zhangye and Jiuquan.

It is said that there are 4 counties, but in fact it is just a small earthen city at present, but a part of the soldiers and horses are stationed here to protect the safety of various business people passing by along the way.

For the time being, the trade between the Central Plains and the Western Regions has not been fully opened up, so, for now, this area still belongs to a region that is rarely involved by Central Plains businessmen.

But Zhao Kuo, who is a traveler, knows very well that in a few years time, this place will become very lively and become a main artery for caravans.

Although the Hexi Corridor seems to be only a small part of the map, in fact, it took 10 days for Zhao Kuo to complete this journey without knowing it.

Guilu, the former Marquis of Guishuang, and now the general of the Han Dynasty, said to Zhao Kuo respectfully: "Your Majesty, after leaving this city of Dunhuang, it is divided into two roads, the north and the south. The south road is mainly a vast desert and the western regions. In various countries, there are some oases in the North Road, but overall it is still dominated by deserts."

Of course Zhao Kuo knew what Guilu meant. In fact, this is the difference between southern Xinjiang and northern Xinjiang.

Zhao Kuo thought for a while, then smiled and said to Li Mu beside him, "Do you want to go to the south or the north?"

Since the northern and southern borders are blocked by the Tianshan Mountains, it is said that Zhao Kuo had already decided on a strategy long ago, that is to divide his troops into two groups to take the southern border and the northern border respectively.

Li Mu quickly smiled and said, "Your Majesty, of course I want to go to Southern Xinjiang. After all, Southern Border is much larger than Northern Border in terms of territory."

In fact, Li Mu still has a sentence hidden in his heart, that is, from the map, the climate and geographical conditions in southern Xinjiang are obviously much worse than those in northern Xinjiang. Li Mu does not want Zhao Kuo to enter southern Xinjiang, because it may would represent a greater risk.

Zhao Kuo laughed and said, "Then it's decided, I will give you 6 soldiers and horses, and you can just sweep these Western Regions along the way.

But remember not to kill too many people, just kill some people, we have to leave some people for later officials to rule, understand? "

After Li Mu heard that Zhao Kuo agreed with his opinion, he immediately felt relieved, and said to Zhao Kuo with a smile: "Please rest assured, Your Majesty, I will kill at most [-] to [-]% of his population. Half of the people are there to obey His Majesty who will rule in the future."

Now that everyone has discussed it, it is from here that the formal division of troops begins.

Li Mu led 6 soldiers and horses to southern Xinjiang, while Zhao Kuo led the remaining 8 soldiers and horses to northern Xinjiang. As for the Musketeers, each of the two sides brought 5000 Musketeers.

Before leaving, Zhao Kuo took out the map and clicked in a river valley.

"This is the end point of my conquest of the Western Regions this time, and I will build a city here, and its name is Yili.

This will also be the central point of our Great Han Kingdom's rule over the Western Regions in the future, and it will also be the end point of our meeting this time, do you understand? "

Li Mu nodded to express his complete understanding.

The two sides officially divided their forces, Zhao Kuo headed northwest all the way, while Li Mu headed due west.

It is actually not an easy task for you to cross this Gobi.

But fortunately, Zhao Kuo had a large number of Yuezhi people who surrendered after all, and the captives served as guides to lead the way, so he crossed the Gobi very smoothly after a few days.

After crossing the Gobi, new roads emerged.

There are oases everywhere in the desert. Although these small oases are not enough to rest all the 8 troops, they can at least help the troops replenish part of their food and vital drinking water.

When marching in the desert, drinking water is actually the biggest problem.

Along the way, they were basically the places that the Yue clan had just conquered, and these places naturally fell into the hands of Zhao Kuo and became the new territory of the Han Dynasty.

It's just that Zhao Kuo doesn't have the time and manpower to rule here, so basically a garrison is left in each stronghold, and then the army continues to move forward.

Fortunately, there are not many oases in the desert, so Zhao Kuo doesn't have to worry about the fact that too many troops will affect his combat effectiveness.

A few days later, Zhao Kuo led the army to a large oasis with a very desert style.

As a guide, Guilu respectfully said to Zhao Kuo: "Your Majesty, this is the stronghold of Wusun Kingdom in the south of the mountains. As long as you conquer this city and continue to cross the mountains, you will be able to reach Wusun." territory of the country."

In fact, Wusun was originally a nomadic tribe in the west of the Hexi Corridor. Later, they often broke out wars with the Yuezhi people because of the ranch, and the two sides forged hatred.

Among the two tribes, the Yuezhi was undoubtedly the stronger one, and Wusun could only struggle to support under the suppression of the Yuezhi.

Originally, Wusun had another ally, that is, the Xiongnu, the mortal enemy of the Yuezhi. Both sides attacked the Yueshi together, so that a relative balance could be maintained.

But what the Wusun people never expected was that the Huns were wiped out by Zhao Kuo's army led by Zhao Kuo a few years ago. In this way, the Wusun people lost their only ally and could no longer resist the Yuezhi's attack. To attack, we can only exit the Hexi Corridor and move westward.

The Yue clan would not let go of this opportunity to beat up the dog in the water. They chased after him all the way, not only beat up Wusun, but also conquered the Western Regions by the way.

Normally speaking, if this situation continues for a few more years, it is very likely that the entire Western Regions will be conquered by the Yuezhi people, but it is a pity that they have not waited for the Yuezhi people to complete this great cause. Kuo had already led the soldiers and horses of the Han Dynasty, and started the Western Expedition in a mighty way.

Now these former Yuezhi territories have all been occupied by Zhao Kuo, and the next thing Zhao Kuo has to face is the Wusun people who fled to the north of the Tianshan Mountains under the pursuit of the Yuezhi and have just established a new country.

Looking at the very simple city in front of him, Zhao Kuo searched on the map again, and finally determined this place.

"From now on, this place will be called Turpan."

Zhao Kuo issued such an order quite calmly.

On the city wall of Turpan, many Wusun soldiers had obviously gathered. They watched Zhao Kuo's army with vigilance, but no one knew whether they were panicking or not.

Zhao Kuo didn't talk nonsense, so he asked someone to write a letter of persuasion, and shot it into the city with a bow and arrow.

Wusun people also have their own characters. Their characters are similar to oracle bones. Zhao Kuo, who is twisted and crooked, can't understand them at all, but that doesn't matter. After all, as long as other people can understand and write well Just come out.

An hour later, the Wusun people responded, and they shot an arrow directly at Zhao Kuo's emperor's dragon flag.

Looking at the arrow that was far away from Zhao Kuolong's flag, Zhao Kuo shook his head and said calmly, "Since these Wusun people are so ignorant, let's start attacking the city."

After hearing Zhao Kuo's order, the soldiers of the Great Han Kingdom, who had been impatient for a long time, burst into cheers, and immediately rushed up on horseback.

The city walls of Turpan are not the same as the city walls of the Central Plains. After all, it does not have the architectural conditions of the Central Plains, nor does it have the architectural level of the Central Plains. Its city walls are quite low and can even be breached without explosives.

After about an hour of fighting, the Han cavalry successfully made a gap in a corner of the city wall amidst cheers, and then rushed into the city.

After seeing this scene, Zhao Kuo's whole heart can be said to have no waves, and he didn't even forget to yawn.

This has long been commonplace for Zhao Kuo.

Mao Sui, who was beside Zhao Kuo, also showed a smile, and said, "I didn't expect that this time the Western Expedition went so smoothly. It seems that His Majesty should be able to return to the court soon."

Zhao Kuo laughed, and said, "Actually, to be honest, these small countries in the Western Regions are really ignored at all, but it is still impossible to make a decision whether the Western Expedition this time will go well or not. "

The reason why Zhao Kuo said this is because he knew that in the farther west of the Western Regions, which is often called Central Asia, there was once a conqueror from the West named Alexander the farthest reached, and it was also Greece. And the easternmost point where the light of the Macedonian Ming shines.

Zhao Kuo really wanted to know, after decades of Alexander the Great's death, what is the level of his successors who are still in Central Asia?

Chapter 1130 The Eastern Governor of the Seleucid Empire

After conquering the city, a small episode happened.

A Wusun prisoner who seemed to be the leader of the city was escorted to Zhao Kuo.

The Wusun prisoner didn't show any panicked expression, instead he said a few murmurs to Zhao Kuo in a high-spirited way.

Zhao Kuo said curiously to the people around him: "What did he say, translate it for me to listen to."

Guilu, who was right next to Zhao Kuo, hesitated for a moment, and said: "Your Majesty, he said that their Wusun country is the most powerful country in this generation, let us not provoke them, it is best to be honest Let them go, otherwise, when their king leads the western army, it will be our death."

Guilu originally thought that Zhao Kuo would be very angry after hearing these words, but what he didn't expect was that Zhao Kuo laughed instead after hearing these words.

"This guy is really interesting, then ask him again, are his so-called Western allies from the Seleucid Empire?"

Guilu was stunned for a moment, but he was still very quick, and translated everything according to Zhao Kuo's intentions to the Wusun man.

The Wusun people were obviously stunned for a moment after listening, but immediately continued to speak arrogantly. The translation of his words was that since Zhao Kuo already knew the strength of the Seleucid Empire, he should obediently withdraw from this city .

Zhao Kuo was thoughtful after listening to the Wusun man.

Although the Alexander Empire was a great empire spanning three continents, Asia, Europe and Africa, its existence was actually quite short. After the death of the founder Alexander the Great, the country quickly split and fell into civil war. In the end, Split into several new countries.

Among these new countries, the only one that occupied Central Asia was the Seleucid Empire.

Judging from Zhao Kuo's historical knowledge, this should be the most powerful period of the Seleucid Empire.

During this period, the Seleucid Empire not only successfully controlled the entire Central Asia, but also tried to extend its tentacles into the Western Regions.

Judging from the current reaction of the Wusun man, it is obvious that the attempts made by the Seleucid Empire have achieved some relative results.

Zhao Kuo withdrew his thoughts, waved his hand lightly and said: "Pull this ignorant guy out and chop it up. As for the Wusun people in this city, also kill some of them, and leave a few captives to go back as envoys." Send a message to their Wusun King.

Let’s just say that the Zhen who destroyed the Yuezhi has already arrived, and they are given half a month to surrender, otherwise this Wusun will become synonymous with history in the future. "

For Zhao Kuo, this time to conquer the Western Regions, he originally wanted to see what the successors of Alexander were like now.

From the perspective of strength, the countries established by these successors of Alexander the Great were Zhao Kuo's strongest opponents in the process of conquering Central Asia and West Asia.

Of course, this so-called strength is actually only relative. For Zhao Kuo, he feels that there is no country in this era that can truly defeat the army of the Han Dynasty in a head-to-head war.

Yes, there is no way, who made the army of the Han Dynasty so powerful.

Zhao Kuo's notice was quickly sent back to Wusun State along with the released prisoners.

At this time, the Wusun Kingdom was actually under the pursuit of the Yuezhi people, and it had just established its foundation here not long ago. Therefore, when the Wusun King heard the news, he immediately panicked and called a large number of people worriedly. The subordinates began to discuss how to deal with this threat?

In the beginning, Wusun's ministers were actually quite active, but when they heard that it was the Han Kingdom that had destroyed the Yuezhi Kingdom, they suddenly felt like a cock that had been slapped. I am speechless.

The matter is also very simple, just here, why did Wusun country move all the way from its original home in the Hexi Corridor to the Western Regions? Wasn't it because of being beaten up by the Yuezhi people all the way?

Now that the Yuezhi people have been destroyed by the Han Dynasty, can the Wusun people still have any power to fight back when facing such a fierce spirit?