The great man will live forever

Chapter 162 The Farthest Journey

The Kingdom of Dawan is located in today's Fergana Basin, and is actually no longer within the narrow scope of the Western Region.

But in the eyes of the Han Dynasty people, who had almost no knowledge of world geography, it seemed to be no different from the places they had already touched.

This was the longest-distance campaign ever conducted by the Han Dynasty, even surpassing the vast sea that Huo Qubing and Liu Han once reached. You must know that the straight-line distance from Chang'an to Lake Baikal is about 2220 kilometers, and including detours, it is up to 3000 kilometers.

The capital of Dayuan Kingdom is Ershi City, 4000 kilometers away from Chang'an. It has 30 households, 6 people, and [-] soldiers. Although its combat effectiveness is not strong, it cannot be defeated without tens of thousands of people.

Dayuan is 31 miles eastward to the Governor's Office, 510 miles north to Kangju Beitian City, and 690 miles southwest to Dayuezhi.

It borders Kangju to the north and Dayuezhi to the south. The land customs, species and folk customs in the country are the same as those of Dayuezhi and Anxi.

The people of Dawan use grapes to make wine, and the rich store wine worth tens of thousands of dan, which lasts for decades. The people there like to drink wine, and the horses eat alfalfa.

This trip to Dawan, one round trip and various detours, directly exceeds 4 kilometers. What is the concept? You must know that the circumference of the earth is only more than [-] kilometers, which is one-quarter of the circumference of the earth. This is China's furthest journey except for Genghis Khan.

Due to Zhao Ponu's victory over Loulan, Gushi and other small countries in the Western Regions, the Han Dynasty despised Dawan. I destroyed the country with only 700 people. The Western Regions were too easy to fight. They thought that Dawan and the small city-states in the Tarim Basin were Just as easy to conquer.

In addition, those Han envoys who surrendered to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty took the opportunity to brag to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, saying that the expedition could bring huge potential benefits to the Han Dynasty.

These envoys, who had endured the suffering of food shortages in the West, downplayed the huge difficulties of the expedition, or even never mentioned it. Anyway, the Han Dynasty has almost never lost in foreign battles. Failure to win can only be attributed to the poor ability of your generals.

In such blind optimism, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent his carefully cultivated relative Li Guangli to go on an expedition. Although he was just an ordinary talent from the market, he was promoted to heaven because of his sister, Mrs. Li, and his nephew, the King of Changyi.

Now he has become a powerful tool supported by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to divide Liu Han's power, and he has also become a powerful leader in the Western Regions.

Due to the war against the Xiongnu for many years and the extensive construction of palaces by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty over the years, the Han Dynasty actually felt that its national power was being overstretched.

Therefore, the troops led by Li Guangli were said to be tens of thousands, but in fact they were just tens of thousands of criminals and 6000 Hu vassal cavalry collected.

This was also the usual routine used by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty in his later foreign expeditions. He hoped to obtain unexpected gains with a smaller force.

However, this small-scale cavalry achieved a great victory, and only Huo Qubing could do it. There was only one Huo Qubing in the Han Dynasty.

This journey has not been smooth. In Li Guangli's estimation, due to the long distance, the siege will probably be carried out in the coming summer.Therefore, the Han army chose to set out in the autumn of 104 BC and march through the southern foot of the Tianshan Mountains.

In this year, a severe locust plague occurred in Guandong of the Han Dynasty. The locusts even infested the Tuntian District of Hexi Province. This was one of the reasons why Liu Ju repeatedly persuaded Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty not to build the Jianzhang Palace. This locust plague made it difficult for Li Guangli's Western Expeditionary Army to Get effective logistical supplies.

The Han army could only defeat the enemy because of food. This was Huo Qubing's common practice, but Li Guangli was never Huo Qubing, and the countries in the Western Regions were not the Huns. The house leaked and it rained all night. This winter, the entire northwest region was covered with rain and snow, and the cold winter rain Snow fell on the advancing Han army.

"It's too cold!" It seemed as if the Han army was shivering in the wind and snow and marching hard.

"I'm so hungry!"

"Do you still have water? Give me a little drink."

……

It can be said that the Han army was tired, hungry and thirsty along the way, and their morale was extremely low.

"General, what should we do?" Seeing the low morale in the army, Li Guangli's soldiers were very worried.

"Let everyone be patient. When we get to Quli, if he doesn't give us food, I will beat him."

So, everyone could only endure it and finally reached Quli Country.

"General, they closed the city gates and refused to give us food."

"What, that's unreasonable, hit me!"

……

In 104 AD, Li Guang led his army to march westward, but along the way he encountered many difficulties from small armies in the Western Regions. These small countries had limited food reserves and could not produce excess food to supply the Han army.

Coupled with the Xiongnu's prior instigation and the poor image of the Han, all countries in the Western Regions advanced and retreated together, firmly closing their city gates and refusing to provide supplies to the Han.

Li Guangli was furious when he was forced to command the army to attack and destroy all small countries that dared to resist. However, this was extremely difficult. Once he captured the city, he would have food to eat. If he could not capture it for a few days, he would have to bite the bullet and move forward. I was always worried that my back would be cut off.After the team entered the Tarim Basin, they passed through Loulan-Yuli-Quli-Luntai-Qiuci-Wensu and other countries in the Western Region. It was like fighting all the way and making enemies on many sides.

It became more and more difficult as we walked, and there was often not enough food to eat.

"General, we don't have enough food again."

Li Guangli said helplessly: "Kill the cows and horses."

Thinking about how ambitious he was at the beginning, compared with generals like Wei Qing, Huo Qubing, and Liu Han, now he only felt pain and loss in his heart. He felt that he might fail. He was only halfway to the destination and had lost thousands of people.

"But without the oxen and horses, what will happen to those siege chariots and weapons?"

"No more."

He had to kill cattle and horses for food. Not only did the Han army become more passive after losing their animal power, but their chariots and siege weapons were also unable to be carried due to the loss of their animal power. Li Guangli could only throw these away cruelly.

Li Guangli was forced to place some of the wounded and sick at Gaochangbi near the chariot division, and left some troops to defend the back road, and then the remaining troops continued to advance.

This journey took more than half a year.

"General, we have arrived at Yucheng City in Dayuan Kingdom."

Looking at the city standing in front of them, the Han army burst into tears. It was not easy for them to walk this way. Thousands of them died because of the severe cold and wind. Thousands more died of exhaustion and starvation along the way. When they arrived, While here, Li Guangli only had 3673 people under his command.

Yucheng City is divided into two layers: inner wall and outer wall. The city wall is in the shape of a regular quadrilateral. The outer city has majestic and huge mud-brick towers, 12 on the north side, 20 on the east side, 6 on the south side, and magnificent arches. structure.

The inner city has three or four gates and is higher than the outer city. There is a huge circular building with a dome in the city.

The Han soldiers and horses were already exhausted and exhausted. After a short rest, Li Guangli ordered a fierce attack on Yucheng City.The soldiers leapt on their horses and brandished their swords, rushing to the city without thinking about their safety. As long as the city was captured, they could reach the capital of Dawan directly.

"kill!"

The Han army kept attacking, but the city walls were tall and they had no siege equipment. Moreover, many Han soldiers were criminals and had not fought many hard battles.

"boom!"

"Help!"

Yu Chengcheng's Dawan soldiers did not give in, and they shot arrows and threw stones outside the city. The Han soldiers and horses suffered heavy losses and were defeated.

Li Guangli reluctantly pulled out his sword and went into battle himself, "Attack again!"

"kill!"

Failed again, and he was escorted by several soldiers and fled back to the camp.

Seeing that half of the troops and horses were lost again, Li Guangli and the soldiers began to analyze.

"The Dawan army is waiting for work, and we are a tired army. Sun Tzu said in the Art of War: 'If ten are to surround an enemy, if five are to attack it, if it is doubled, fight it. If the enemy is doubled, it can be divided. If it is small, it can be defended. If it is weak, it can be defended." We only have 3000 people, and now there are only more than 1800 left. There are an estimated 7000 Dawan soldiers in the city, and I'm afraid we won't be able to defeat them."

"Yes, General, we don't have the equipment to attack the city, and there are only a few people. We might be annihilated."

A few people calculated that if they continue to fight hard, they may be in danger of being annihilated. They will not be able to capture a small border town, let alone attack the second division of the capital of Dawan...

what to do? 36 strategies are the best!
"Alas, I am ashamed of Your Majesty, please retreat."

In desperation, Li Guangli chose to withdraw his troops. Along the way, the Han army was displaced and suffered from hunger. After more than 20 days of arduous march, they finally returned to Dunhuang, an important border town of the Han Dynasty in 105 BC.

When he led the army, there were at least 6000 people. When he came back, there were only a few thousand people. There were 1800 people who came back from Dawan, plus the wounded placed near the chariot division and the escort of 2700 people in the rear, a total of 4500 people. Only about [-].

Various deaths resulted in only one-tenth remaining, and the defeat was so disastrous that it was almost impossible to watch.

(End of this chapter)