A thousand-year-old family that began with the Battle of Makino

Chapter 318 The rise of the Han Dynasty, long-distance love, determination

After deciding on a strategy with Bai Zhi, Ban Chao led hundreds of cavalry towards Shule City on the next day.

The enemy spies wandering around Wuji City immediately passed the news to the rebels.

When Ban Chao and his party were not far from Shule City, a mountain full of enemy cavalry appeared behind a sand dune. This was a coalition of Shule rebels and the Shache Kingdom, with a total of more than 2,000 people.

Ban Chao reined in his horse and said: "Send the order to the sand dunes on the right and hold on to the ground."

Under Ban Chao's order, hundreds of cavalrymen ran up the sand dunes nearby.

As soon as Ban Chao's troops gained a foothold, the entire sand dune was surrounded by enemy troops.

"Ban Chao, you have no way out. Surrender quickly. As long as you are willing to surrender, I can ask the king to save your life. What good is the Han Dynasty? As long as you are willing to declare your independence from the Han Dynasty and help King Shache dominate the Western Regions. Money, beauty, and power are all available, so why are you still hesitating?”

Ban Chao slapped his horse and stood in front of the battle: "Stop, you treacherous guy. The big man will liberate you from the clutches of the Huns, quell the war between you, do business with you, and help you resist the aggression of the great powers."

But what have you done? You surrendered to the Kucha Kingdom. The traitor who killed the Protector Chen Mu. No matter whether it is Buddha or God, you will not forgive your actions. The only blind end left for you is to go to hell. That’s all. "

"Ban Chao, no matter what you say, it can't change the result that you are surrounded by us. Your big men have abandoned you and the countries in the Western Regions.

Otherwise, how come they haven't conveyed information to the Western Regions for many years, and even sent envoys and abolished the Protectorate. This proves that the Han Dynasty has given up on us. Can't we save ourselves by ourselves?

Are we still going to suffer the consequences and wait for fruitless rescue? Isn't this too absurd? Since ancient times, the law of the jungle has been the rule in the desert. If we are not strong, we will only be annexed by the Qiuci Kingdom and the people will become slaves.

Our country, Shule, occupies the largest oasis in the Western Region. It should be the most powerful country. We have the opportunity to challenge big countries such as Qiuci and Dawan, but you have repeatedly blocked it. Sure enough, foreigners are the most unbelievable. . "

The rebel captain in Shule went out to fight angrily and cursed.

Ban Chao occupied a high place and noticed that the sky was filled with yellow sand in the distance. This was the result of the march of most of the troops. Knowing that reinforcements had arrived, he laughed and said:
"Fan Chen, you said that the Han Dynasty has given up on the Western Region, but if you look behind you, what is that?"

When Fan Chen heard this, he turned around and looked behind him. He saw a group of cavalry in red armor galloping towards him with a sky full of yellow sand. On a flag that was constantly being beaten by the wind, the word "汉" was clearly printed on it. .

Ban Chao drew out the straight knife from his waist and said to the brothers of all ethnic groups behind him: "Brothers, the reinforcements of the Han Dynasty have arrived. The Western Region will eventually return to the arms of the Han Dynasty. Come with me!"

Then he took the lead and rushed down the sand dune.

From a distance, Bai Zhi saw hundreds of cavalry led by Ban Chao charging into the enemy formation at the bottom of the sand dune. He was so angry that he shouted: "Soldiers, for the sake of the big man, follow me to dig the formation!"

"Awe!" "Awe!" "Awe!"

Soon, the red sky flooded the chaotic enemy troops, and the battle was won by the Han army without any suspense.

During the battle, Ban Chao cut off the head of Fan Chen, the rebel general of Shule, with one sword. Bai Zhi bent his bow and took an arrow, and shot a general of the Shache Kingdom off his horse. However, the general of the Shache Kingdom saw that the situation was not good and ran away. , and some soldiers followed him and ran towards the Shache Kingdom.

In this battle, the Han army beheaded thousands and captured hundreds.

Bai Zhi followed Ban Chao. This was not the time to talk. Ban Chao looked down at the hundreds of prisoners kneeling on the ground and said coldly:

"Listen, there are already very few people in the Western Regions. I don't want to commit any more crimes, but I want you to go back to your hometown and tell others that the Han Dynasty has returned to the Western Regions. Let your country decide whether you want the Han Dynasty or the Han Dynasty. Huns.”

When these prisoners heard that Ban Chao would not kill them, they all knelt down and said gratefully: "Thank you very much, Squad Leader Shi Rao."

Then one by one they left their weapons and led their horses away.

Ban Chao looked at Bai Zhi and said, "Brother Bai Zhi, this is not a place to reminisce about the past. How about we reminisce about the past when we settle down?"

Bai Zhi smiled and said, "As it should be."

Then, with Ban Chao as the leader and Bai Zhi as the deputy, he led more than a thousand people and marched towards Shule City, the capital of Shule Kingdom.

When he arrived at Shule City, Ban Chao held up the head of Shule rebel general Fan Chen, persuaded the Shule defenders to surrender, entered the palace and rescued Shule Wang Zhong who was under house arrest. Shule Kingdom once again returned to the embrace of the Han Dynasty.

At Bai Zhi's residence, Ban Chao came to look for him with a jar after finishing handling the follow-up matters.

"Brother Bai Zhi!"

As soon as he entered the door, he saw Bai Zhi practicing martial arts with his entourage.

When Bai Zhi saw Ban Chao coming, he asked his entourage to step back, put on his clothes, and went with Ban Chao to sit on the stone bench in the courtyard.

Ban Chao raised the jar in his hand and said: "This is a specialty of the Western Regions. The wine is not as good as the Han Dynasty Huadiao, but it tastes really good and is not easy to get drunk. Now you and I shouldn't drink in the military, but this wine Whether you're drunk or not, it's most suitable to use as a drink."

"Thank you, Brother Zhongsheng. Have you finished talking to King Shule?"

"That's almost it. He is still willing to respect the big man. After all, Shule is a small country and there is a powerful Dawan to the west. Only with the blessing of the big man can he survive. How dare he betray lightly? Even before, he only dared You push a captain to come out, but you don't dare to express your opinion." Bai Zhi smiled and said: "It's human nature, by the way, your family asked me to bring you something."

Bai Zhi went into the house and took out the gift from Ban Zhao.

Ban Chao opened it and saw that it was a writing brush. He was delighted and moved at the same time: "This is a gift from my little sister. How could my elder brother be so meticulous?"

After sighing for a while, Ban Chao saw Bai Zhi holding a sachet in trance.

Ban Chao stretched his head and took a look, and the line of words outside the sachet appeared in front of him. It was the handwriting of the little sister.

"Humph!"

Bai Zhi came back to his senses, looked at the somewhat annoyed Ban Chao, then looked at the sachet in his hand, awkwardly put him into his arms, and diligently poured wine for Ban Chao.

"Brother, ah, no, brother Zhong Sheng, calm down, I didn't do anything extraordinary. Zhao Mei and I are in love."

Ban Chao stared at Bai Zhi, making Bai Zhi feel uncomfortable, and then sighed: "You kid, you are pretty good, you can be considered top-notch in terms of ability and family background, but since you chose my kid Sister, why did you follow me to the Western Region? Aren't you sorry for my little sister?"

Bai Zhitan smiled and said: "Brother Zhongsheng, don't worry, I will definitely go back and marry Zhaomei. When the Western Region is determined, I will apply to return to the country. By then, I will be successful and famous, so I can marry a talented woman like Zhaomei. Don't let her Being wronged is not.”

"Then who knows when the Western Region will be pacified? If there is no peace for ten years, wouldn't you be delaying Ban Zhao until he is an old man?"

Bai Zhi chuckled: "So, it depends on you, how capable your Ban Zhongsheng is."

Ban Chao was speechless for a moment and had no choice but to take a swig of wine.

"By the way, I haven't told you yet that I have already gotten married in the Western Region. Because of the long distance, I didn't have the chance to tell my family that my son was born."

Bai Zhi looked at Ban Chao dumbfounded: "You, you, you..., this, this, this..."

Ban Chao sighed: "Not only me, but many officials from the Protectorate have already settled in the Western Regions. Otherwise, how can we gain the trust of the people in the Western Regions and calm the hearts of the Han people who come here.

So I said, you want to go back to Dahan, and this is the right time. If the war changes, or if there is a problem on the southern road, the communication route is cut off, or if there are changes in the country, we will probably be trapped in the Western Region, trapped for ten years. It's possible in decades or twenty years.

At that time, if you go back, think about the result. "

Bai Zhi fell silent for a moment. What Ban Chao said was right and very realistic. By then, if Ban Zhao hadn't married someone or hadn't been waiting for him, no matter which one it was, the harm to Ban Zhao would be great. biggest.

Bai Zhi felt a little depressed and took a sip of wine. The mellow wine immediately stimulated his taste buds and made his blood flow faster.

"By the way, I am Bai Zhi, and my surname is Bai. In the history of the Bai family, there has never been a precedent for giving up. I will never allow this to happen."

Then Bai Zhi looked at Ban Chao firmly: "Brother Zhong Sheng, for me and for Ban Zhao, I ask you to help me for five years, at most five years. In these five years, I will definitely use all my strength to help you calm down." Western Region.

Five years later, no matter what the outcome is, I will return to Luoyang, and no one can stop me, not even Your Majesty. If it goes well, I will come back to help you. If it doesn't go well, please give me a letter to Zhaomei. With her talent, if you find another one, I believe she will not be worse than me. "

Ban Chao patted Bai Zhi on the shoulder and said nothing more.

Bai Zhi's eyes became colder and firmer.

The news that the Han Dynasty sent reinforcements to support Ban Chao soon spread from the Battle of Shule. The Shache Kingdom immediately reduced its defense lines and stopped sending troops to attack cities and seize territory. Some other small countries immediately sent envoys to contact Ban Chao.

In the entire Western Region, apart from Yarkand, only the Qiuci and Yanqi Kingdoms, which were closest to the Xiongnu, remained. Among them, Qiuci State is the largest country in the Western Region, with nearly 20,000 troops at its disposal.

As long as Kucha is taken care of, the entire Western Region can be decided, and the original corruption of the Western Region started with the rebellion of Kucha.

Therefore, Ban Chao set his sights on Kucha again, relying on their current military strength to try to capture Kucha. It was a bit whimsical, but he thought of the Wusun Kingdom to the north of Kucha.

Wusun has a strong military force. If Wusun is willing to help him and the Han Dynasty, Qiuci can be captured easily. As for Yarkand, it is between Shule and Khotan. It is like a fruit in the hand and can be taken at any time. Take action.

So he immediately wrote to the court: "Wusun is a big country with one hundred thousand archers, so Emperor Wu married Princess Xijun to King Wusun. It was not until Emperor Xiaoxuan that it finally worked.

Now King Wusun is close to the Han Dynasty, so I think that we can send envoys to appease Wusun and cooperate with him, so that the Western Regions can be conquered and the Xiongnu can be conquered. "

Because it was an official document, it was transmitted quickly. In just five months, Liu Jin saw the petition, looked at the map and considered it, and agreed to Ban Chao's suggestion.

He ordered the appointment of Ban Chao as the commander-in-chief of the army, allowing the use of flags and instruments such as drums and banners to show the majesty of the Han Dynasty. He also promoted Bai Zhi to the rank of military commander, as Ban Chao's deputy.

In addition, Wei Hou Li Yi and others were sent to escort the Wusun envoy, and the people of Kunmi and below were given brocade and silk to show the friendship of the Han Dynasty.

(End of this chapter)