Han Shizu

Chapter 1784 End and Begin

Eight Assassins, or Suiye City, as the intersection of the two main routes of the Central and Northern Silk Roads, has always been the place where merchants and envoys from east and west must pass. With this unique geographical advantage, it has never lacked the nourishment for development.

At the same time, because it is located in the Suiye River Valley and nourished by nearby snow water, the land is fertile, the climate is pleasant, and the products are abundant.

In the past few decades, the rise of the Black Khanate has also absorbed a lot of nutrients from it. In the construction of Suiye City, the Black Khanate has also paid more attention and spent a lot of money.

And it has been the capital of the Black Khanate in the past ten years.Initially, the Great Khan was stationed in Kashgar, which is close to the Western Regions and also adjacent to Khotan. It is very convenient whether he goes east or south. However, in the past 30 years, Hei Khan has focused his energy on going east. What is the result? , need not be repeated.

Because it is located in the south of the Tianshan Mountains, compared to the entire Black Khanate, Kashgar is actually a prominent part. When the national power is strong, it is a bridgehead for expansion. Once the situation is depressed, it will be difficult to guarantee security.

However, during the several expansions after the reunification, the Han Dynasty was too strong. When part of the attention was shifted to the Western Regions, the Black Khanate felt great pressure. After some difficult choices, Ali Musa Khan finally He made up his mind to move the capital to the north of the Eight Assassins.

With the arrival of Liu Min's westward expedition, the result also proved the foresight of the decision to move the capital back then. Otherwise, after the Battle of Kucha, the Han army would rush forward and sweep across Mobei, and the Heihan people, who were defeated and defeated, would have had to carry out a pre-emptive move. It's a battle to defend the country.

It's just that many things are unpredictable. Ali Musa values ​​​​the solid prosperity of the Eight Assassins and the barriers of mountains and rivers, but Yang Yanzhao's two-thousand-mile detour and sneak attack made his plans come to nothing. Not only the Eight Assassins have little resistance The land was recovered by the Han army, and the frontal battlefield collapsed. I also fell on the battlefield and died at the hands of an unknown soldier of the Khotan army.

The Suiye River rushes out of "Zhuhai" and turns to the northwest. Suiye City, a large city in the Western Regions, is located in the north of the mountains and the south of the river. However, the once prosperous and bustling city has become a bit more desolate in the winter wind. , if it weren't for the gathering of the army, I'm afraid it would be even more deserted.

In and out of the city, there are devastated scenes everywhere, and the damage caused by the war is huge and painful.Even if it is the lighthouse of human beings in the world and the representative of the most advanced civilization, in the process of external expansion, it is accompanied by bloody storms, and what it brings to conquered countries and tribes is also killing, death and fear.

Suiye City originally had a population of more than [-], which is not a small number, but now, there are only a little over [-]. After the city was broken, in order to suppress dissidents and control the city as soon as possible, Yang Yanzhao completely let go of his hands and feet, and used iron and blood to control the field. Coupled with the Turkic servants as minions and reasonable looting, the blood naturally shed more.

The city is full of scorpions, of course not for those black sweaters who died under the butcher's knife. The news of the queen's death also reached the Suiye Army, and Liu Min didn't need to take the initiative to mention it. Yang Yanzhao was fully prepared.

Among them, the honorable children of the upper class, who has not felt the love and teachings of the empress talisman, not to mention Yang Yanzhao is still the son-in-law of the dynasty, feeling deeply, with the most pious attitude, from thousands of miles away, to the deceased. The Empress sends her deepest condolences.

In the desolate cold wind, Liu Min led the army and entered Suiye City.Yang Yanzhao and a few Turkic people who surrendered under his command greeted him respectfully. Seeing Yang Yanzhao at the head of the crowd, Liu Min dismounted from his horse and walked forward without even caring about taking a closer look at Suiye City.

Seeing this, Yang Yanzhao also came up to meet him, the two approached and hugged each other fiercely, Liu Min beat Yang Yanzhao's back hard twice, and said in his mouth: "Yuan Xian, you have worked hard!"

Hearing this, Yang Yanzhao also felt something: "Your Highness, you have worked hard!"

At this moment and this scene, there is not much to say, and no amount of words can explain the surging emotions in the hearts of the two.

After embracing for a long time, the two let go and stood under the city. Witnessed by the three armies, the two laughed at the same time. The laughter contained countless emotions. Seeing each other's mourning clothes, they both showed a little suppressed grief The meaning is not only the collapse of the empress, but also the soldiers who died since the Second Western Expedition.

In this war against the Black Khanate, although the Great Han won a complete victory and basically wiped out the main force of the Black Khanate, the Black Khan was killed in battle and captured a large amount of urban land in the Black Khanate, including the enemy capital. It can be said that the Black Khanate has been defeated and collapsed Yes, this is even worse than Hei Khan being bullied by the Saman dynasty and losing Talas decades ago.

But corresponding to the glorious victory, it was a heavy price. Only the Southern Route Army led by Liu Min had directly killed more than 4000 people in more than a dozen battles. of.

Due to the tension of the war and the inability to fully guarantee medical treatment, many wounded soldiers could not receive medical treatment and died of their injuries.

The ashes of the first batch of cremated soldiers have already been shipped back to the country. At least there is still a chance for the fallen leaves to return to their roots, giving their families something to think about, and it is even more cruel for those soldiers whose bones were buried in other places or even with no bones left.

As for Liu Min's casualties in the past two years of his western expedition, the number is even greater. The number of casualties has already exceeded [-]. Expansion has never been talked about in words. Those achievements and land were exchanged with the lives and blood of the great Han soldiers. .

After invading the territory of Heihan, whether it was Liu Min or Yang Yanzhao, they deliberately indulged the soldiers under their command, and even violated some military disciplines. Among them, they not only let the soldiers vent their anger, but also searched for wealth in the shortest time to make up for it. deficit caused by expansion.

For the Western Expedition, there is already a lot of domestic support, but if the court and soldiers cannot see the benefits, it will be difficult to persist for a long time.Some of the benefits obtained in the Black Khan's country were fed back to the court, and some were distributed as rewards and pensions to the soldiers to calm the hearts of the soldiers.

Serving as a soldier to eat food and make a fortune in battle is the fundamental reason why the soldiers of the Han Dynasty are willing to follow the expedition. Talking about fame and great careers really doesn't mean much to ordinary soldiers.

Of course, this is contrary to the military and political principles that the Han Dynasty has always adhered to, especially the reward policy. However, the central court, which is seven or eight thousand miles away, wants to fully control the Western Expedition Army, which is itself whimsical and even nonsense. This is also the inevitable impact of expansion.

What the imperial court can really do is to control the logistics lifeline of the garrisoned army and the appointment of generals, but even so, it is unpredictable how effective it will be.

For the conquered Black Khans, they will inevitably face greater public security problems in the later period of rule, which is predictable.There are always advantages and disadvantages in everything, take the advantages and bear the disadvantages, Liu Min naturally chose to take care of the soldiers of the Western Expedition first.

After the army settled in, Liu Min had time to observe Suiye and came out to watch Suiye City with the generals of the two armies, condescendingly, and enjoy the scenery.

Standing for a long time, looking at the Suiye River flowing in front of the city, Liu Min suddenly waved his arms, pointed to his feet, and said with emotion and firmness: "Suiye, since Emperor Wu of the former Han Dynasty, has been the father of my great Han Xituo. Ji, after thousands of years, our descendants have returned to our hometown again, we people, we must not fall into the mighty virtue of our ancestors, this should not be just the end, but the beginning!"

Liu Min's words were eloquent and full of pride, and it was obvious that the intention of the Western Expedition had not stopped.However, the generals who followed him had different expressions upon hearing this.

(End of this chapter)