I, the prince, only want to be deposed.

Chapter 410 Father, I want to keep the enemy at bay
"Let's wait until we defeat the master first."

Liu Ju smiled mysteriously, then stood up and gestured on the map,
"Since General Zhao intends to be the vanguard, let him lead the charge in this attack on Gushi. I will stay in the rear to support General Zhao."

"But I still want to remind General Zhao not to underestimate the enemy. Although we have the support of General Zuo from Gushi Kingdom, and the advantage is ours, we still have to be careful of the enemy's false surrender."

"And Gushi is the gateway for the Xiongnu to enter the Western Regions. It occupies the gap in the Tianshan Mountains south of the Junggar Basin and is also a major transportation route on the northern route of the Western Regions trade route. We also need to prevent the Xiongnu from coming to rescue us."

"So it's best for General Zhao to divide his troops and guard the gap in Tianshan Mountain first, so that we can be sure of safety."

Because of the special geographical location of the State of Gushi, it has always been a battleground between the Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu.

Since the first time Zhao Po Nu conquered the Kingdom of Gushi in history, that is, after this time, the Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu fought the "Five Battles for Gushi". This tug-of-war continued until the reign of Emperor Xuan of Han several decades later, when it ended with the victory of the Han Dynasty.

Since then, the Han Dynasty finally realized its strategic goal of "protecting the northern road and setting up a protectorate", declaring the complete end of the Xiongnu's rule in the Western Regions.

"May I ask your Highness, if General Zuo of Gushi really pretends to surrender, or if the Xiongnu really sends troops to rescue, how should I deal with it?"

Zhao Po Nu's state of mind also changed very quickly. When he heard Liu Ju starting to instruct on the precautions for this battle, the expression on his face became extremely serious and he nodded slightly.

Liu Ju smiled and said:

"General Zhao, don't worry. Send out scouts three hundred miles to the northeast to investigate the enemy situation. If you find that the Xiongnu are coming to rescue, immediately lead the troops back through the gap in the Tianshan Mountains and defend it from there before making a final decision."

"And this is only a small probability event."

"Since the Battle of Mobei, the Xiongnu have been frightened by our Han army and dare not easily challenge the edge of the Han army. Even if they are entrusted by Gu Shi to come to rescue, most of them are just symbolic or probing. How dare they send a large army?"

Historically, after Zhao Po Nu conquered Loulan and attacked Gushi, the Huns never sent troops to rescue.

However, Liu Ju would not become overconfident and completely ignore the existence of the Huns.

After all, in history, when Zhao Po Nu attacked the Kingdom of Gushi, he still adopted the tactic of a thousand-mile surprise attack that bypassed the Kingdom of Yanqi, the Kingdom of Shan and the Kingdom of Yuli. The Kingdom of Gushi had no time to prepare, let alone the Huns.

But this time, Liu Ju organized the three kingdoms of Yanqi, Shan and Yuli to send troops to attack Gushi together. It was natural that Gushi was not unprepared for such a massive battle. Since General Zuo had sent the letter of surrender, it was possible that the king of Gushi would also send people to ask the Xiongnu for help.

of course.

Just as Liu Ju said, at this stage, the psychological shadow left by the Battle of Mobei has not yet dissipated, and the Huns are still a little timid. Even if the Gushi Kingdom asks for help, they may not dare to come to support after learning that the Han army is in such a state this time. At most, they will make some symbolic or tentative actions.

This is also proven in history books.

Previously, Zhao Po Nu and Gongsun He each led 20,000 cavalrymen deep into the desert to coordinate the situation on the Korean Peninsula, and the Huns avoided fighting.

Later, before the Fengshan ceremony, Emperor Liu Che personally led 180,000 cavalrymen into the desert and lined up in a row, humiliating the Huns by saying, "Come if you dare to fight, and get out if you don't dare to fight." The Huns swallowed their anger and dared not make any move during the ceremony.

This is already evident.

The Huns really began to challenge the Han Dynasty again about ten years later, when Zhao Po Nu, Li Ling and Li Guangli successively lost battles and the Han Dynasty suffered heavy losses.

In fact, Liu Ju knew it clearly in his heart.

If it is discovered that the Huns' coming to rescue is only a symbolic or tentative action, and Zhao Po Nu immediately leads his troops back to the gap in the Tianshan Mountains to defend it, it will somewhat affect morale and delay the progress of conquering Gushi.

But this is more in line with Liu Ju's interests and the interests of the Han Dynasty.

He was not afraid of the Xiongnu coming, but only afraid that they would not come. There is a saying called "nurturing the enemy to protect oneself".

If the Huns had not come and conquered the Kingdom of Gushi, Liu Che would have achieved the strategic goal of this trip and would basically have to issue an edict ordering them to return to the court. In this case, Liu Ju would have to find an excuse to delay, and it had to be a very legitimate excuse. Otherwise, even if he did not want to go back, the accompanying generals would have to obey the edict and return home to accept the rewards.

As a result, he, whose foundation in the Western Region was unstable, became a commander without troops and had to start all over again.

When the Huns saw that the Han Dynasty left after the battle, they would immediately reach out to the Western Regions again and overthrow the little influence that the Han Dynasty had finally established in the Western Regions.

that's the truth.

Historically, after the war ended and the Han army withdrew, the King of Loulan was captured and taken to Chang'an. After Emperor Liu Che took him to experience the prosperity of Chang'an, he mercifully released him and only asked him to send a prince as a hostage.

As a result, the King of Loulan sent his second son to the Han Dynasty when he returned, but sent his eldest son to the Xiongnu.

However, King Gushi was not captured. It was said that his royal city was breached by Zhao Po Nu and others, but he did not even receive a letter of surrender. As soon as the Han army withdrew, King Gushi returned to the royal city and continued to serve as the eyes and ears of the Xiongnu and rob and kill Han envoys.

So when Li Guangli was ordered to attack Dayuan for the first time, the Western Regions were still vassal states of the Xiongnu, and no country supported the Han Dynasty. The small countries along the way each tightly guarded their own cities and did not supply food to the Han army.

By the time the Han army finally reached the city of Yudu in Dayuan, tens of thousands of people had starved to death, thirsty, and disease, leaving only a few thousand. They were defeated in one battle and had to return in defeat. Many more died on the way back, and by the time they returned to Dunhuang, only one-tenth of the troops were left.

So, there was a battle between Loulan and Gushi in history.

Although it seemed that the Han army displayed its power and achieved the goal of establishing Liu Che's authority, in fact it was of no use at all and was simply a waste of time and money.

Liu Ju naturally would not let this happen again.

He had reasons to stay in the Western Regions, and he also had the responsibility to ensure that the Han Dynasty's money and food were spent where it counted. In his opinion, this was his unshirkable duty.

"So what if General Zuo, the master of my aunt, pretends to surrender?"

Zhao Po Nu asked again.

"First, cut off all the retreat routes of the Gushi Kingdom. When the enemy is at the gates of the city, if the Gushi General Zuo does not support our army in assassinating the Gushi King and surrendering the city, immediately order the entire army to attack."

Liu Ju's eyes turned cold and he said seriously,
"After the city is captured, all members of the royal family will be slaughtered, leaving no one alive."

"Also, if we find any trace of the Huns, even if there is only one scout, after we break into the city, we will still kill all of the royal family of Gushi and leave no future troubles."

"Eh?"

Zhao Po Nu was a little slow to react.

General Zuo pretended to surrender and slaughtered all the royal family of Gushi?

If we find traces of the Huns, should we kill all the royal family of Gushi?

What is the logic?

Why are the Gushi royal family always the ones who are slaughtered?

(End of this chapter)