I, the prince, only want to be deposed.

Chapter 377: "Circle Kick" Strategy

Liu Ju didn't know that Han Ling and Han Zeng were following the Han army.

The army continued to march in an orderly manner, and after more than two months, they finally arrived at Jiuquan County, which was close to Dunhuang County.

Liu Ju remembered the record about Loulan in the Book of Han, saying:

"Shanshan, originally named Loulan, is governed by the king in Yuni City, 1,600 miles from Yangguan Pass and 6,100 miles from Chang'an. It has 1,570 households, 14,100 people, and 2,912 soldiers."

Of course, this is a later record. Now the Kingdom of Loulan is still called Loulan.

It was not until the reign of Emperor Zhao of Han that the country was officially renamed Shanshan after Huo Guang ordered Fu Jiezi to assassinate its king. Before the "Book of Han", there was no such detailed record. There was only one name in the relevant historical books, and the specific situation was basically narrated orally by the envoys who were sent to the Western Regions.

Just like the envoy Wang Hui, the General of the Central Army on this trip.

During this period, in addition to carrying out the "Building Wood to Establish Trust" initiative, Liu Ju was also following Wu Qi's example of leading by example, eating and living with the Jianzhang cavalry every day.

With the blessing of full-level human attributes, the effect of such behavior is also very gratifying. He has established a relatively stable and friendly relationship with the Jianzhang cavalry under his command. This is enough for the time being. Things like Sun Wu's killing to gain prestige and Han Xin's using strategies to win people over are best used at specific times.

Liu Ju was not in a hurry about this. After all, the war was imminent and the opportunity would come soon.

Arriving at Jiuquan County meant that they were close to the gateway of the current Han Dynasty, and the only threshold between them and the Kingdom of Loulan was "Yangguan" or "Yumenguan".

As long as they cross this threshold, Liu Che will be out of reach.

Therefore, Liu Ju finally decided to stop pretending and come clean!
It is also time to call together the generals who have arrived this time to discuss the future war strategy and act in unison to win the first battle in the Western Regions. First, a solid stronghold should be established. Only in this way can one radiate one's influence and martial virtue to the entire Western Regions and even the Xiongnu Right Wise King's tribe north of the Tianshan Mountains.

……

Not long after, in the tent of the main general Zhao Po Nu.

Wang Hui, Sima Qian, Su Wu, and four captains who had led troops from the counties and border counties to join the group gathered together.

Liu Ju was the last one to enter the tent, followed closely by Guo Zhen holding a roll of sheepskin in his hand.

"Your Highness."

When they saw Liu Ju, everyone stood up and saluted.

Liu Ju returned the greeting with a smile, then turned around and nodded to Guo Zhen.

Guo Zhen understood and stepped forward, placing the sheepskin roll on the table in the center of the crowd. When he spread it out, it covered the map that Zhao Po Nu had originally laid out on it.

"This is……"

Zhao Po Nu and the others couldn't help but look suspicious.

This map of Zhao Po Nu was drawn based on the mission map provided by Wang Hui. Although the actual conditions and specific locations of many small countries are still unclear, this is the most detailed map they can find at present.

Since we are discussing war strategies, maps are indispensable.

What did Liu Ju bring, and why did he cover up the map?
With this in mind, seeing that Guo Zhen had already spread out the sheepskin completely, Zhao Po Nu and the others hurried over to see what was on the sheepskin that Liu Ju brought.

Then they suddenly discovered that at first glance, the sheepskin looked like a concentric circle similar to an oval.

When I looked more closely, I discovered that this elliptical concentric circle was actually a map.

The map not only marks the locations of Yangguan and Yumenguan at the easternmost end, but also marks the locations of Loulan Kingdom west of Yangguan and Gushi Kingdom northwest of Yumenguan.

In addition, there are the countries of Ruoqiang, Qiemo, Xiaowan, Jingjue, Ronglu, Qule, and Yumi along the southwest direction of Loulan, as well as the countries of Yanqi, Luntai, Qiuci, Wusun, Gumo, and Shule along the northwest direction.

These two lines just connect to form the small circle in the concentric circle of the ellipse.

The large ellipse outside is formed by the Tianshan Mountains in the north and the Kunlun Mountains in the south. It reaches Yangguan and Yumenguan in the east and Pamir Mountains in the west.

"That's all I know for now. As for which other small countries there are, we still need envoys who have been to the Western Regions to provide additional information, or we can conduct on-site investigations after entering the Western Regions."

As the crowd was watching, Liu Ju explained to himself,
"But the geographical location on my map should not be too different from the actual situation."

"For example, the empty space inside the small circle is a desert with no one in it. I would like to call it the Taklamakan Desert. It is a dead place that is difficult for human beings to cross at present. It should not be entered lightly."

"There is also an area outside the Great Circle. The area north of the Tianshan Mountains is the sphere of influence of the Right Wise King of the Xiongnu."

"And the area south of Kunlun Mountain should be the sphere of influence of the Qiang people. Although the Han Dynasty has wiped out 100,000 Qiang people in the Western Qiang War, those were only a few Western Qiang tribes close to the Han Dynasty. In this vast land that the Han Dynasty has not yet set foot on, there are still other Qiang tribes scattered around, and they will also become a major threat to the Han Dynasty..."

"Your Highness..."

At this point, Wang Hui, who was once the envoy, could not help but look at Liu Ju with a strange expression and asked suspiciously,
"Your Highness, why do you know so much about these places? Have you ever been to these places... or have you ever had in-depth exchanges with an envoy sent to the Western Regions?"

Anyone could see that the map Liu Ju brought out was more detailed and easier to understand than the map Wang Hui had drawn based on the intelligence from the previous Western Regions envoys and his own observations.

It’s not that Wang Hui couldn’t identify the small countries along the way.

He could even mark more and more details than Liu Ju, but his knowledge of macro-level geographical knowledge, such as the area north of the Tianshan Mountains, south of the Kunlun Mountains, the Taklamakan Desert in between, and the Pamir Mountains in the west, was quite limited.

What's more, their goal this time is to attack Loulan and Gushi.

Naturally, Wang Hui only drew the distribution of some countries and the topography of the land around Loulan and Gushi. He provided only a partial map, instead of directly drawing the entire Western Regions in a narrow sense like Liu Ju.

"I had some understanding."

Liu Ju nodded vaguely, then skipped the topic and said,
"I brought out this map today because I hope you can look further, not just to Loulan and Gushi, but to the entire Western Regions. I also want to give you a preview of my circle-kicking strategy."

"Circle kick?"

Everyone looked suspicious again, as this statement was also very novel.

"The so-called circle kick..."

Liu Ju stretched out his hand, drew a circle along the large oval outside the map, and nodded.
"As the name suggests, it's not a group of people surrounding and kicking someone, but I draw a circle and anyone who doesn't obey will be kicked."

(End of this chapter)