I, the prince, only want to be deposed.

Chapter 414 Do we still have to provide them with care in their old age and till the end of their lives?

After Liu Ju entered the city, he again set three rules and regulations, which quickly stabilized the leaderless order in the city.

Different from Zhao Po Nu's "Xiongnu Army".

The Han army was worthy of being called a benevolent and righteous army. Not only did they maintain strict military discipline in the city and never burned, killed or looted, they even took the initiative to open their warehouses and release grain to help the slaves who had lost their masters and had no food to eat.

The granaries that were opened were naturally the granaries of the kings, princes and nobles of Gu Shi’s country, and the granaries that were stored were naturally the grain of the ministers and prominent families.

The remaining ones naturally all belonged to the Han army, which could be said to have taken the strategy of "borrowing flowers to offer to Buddha" to the extreme, and also gained a very good reputation among the people of Gushi, at least alleviating the panic of the people to a certain extent.

Then, Liu Ju received the report from the scout:

"We have discovered the Xiongnu army 300 miles from Yanran Mountain, raising the flag of the Right Sun King. There are about 20,000 of them!"

When the generals learned of this, they immediately came to Liu Ju's tent to discuss countermeasures, not daring to be careless in the slightest.

After all, the people who returned this time were the Huns, whose fighting power was incomparable to the armies of the small countries in the Western Regions, and they also had 20,000 people.

You must know that although the Han army had more than 30,000 soldiers and horses leaving Yumen Pass this time, 30,000 of them were county and state soldiers who were not very useful, and there were only a few thousand real cavalry. The only ones that could be called elite were the 3,000 cavalry that Liu Ju handed over to Zhao Po Nu this time.

Even though now with the blessing of double stirrups, the cavalry's combat effectiveness has been improved and training has become simpler, and they should be able to gather a few thousand in a short period of time, the number is still quite a distance away from the 20,000 cavalry of King You Rizhu.

"Your Highness, this battle is very disadvantageous to our army. It is better for us to retreat to the gap in Tianshan Mountain and hold it with the help of the terrain."

Sima Qian was the first to put forward his own ideas.

"Anyway, the Kingdom of Gushi has been conquered by our army, and all the royal ministers have been killed. As long as our army moves all the people of Gushi into the gap in the Tianshan Mountains before the Xiongnu arrives, and transports all the supplies and food in Gushi away, when the Xiongnu arrive, they will only get an empty city that is useless."

"What the military supervisor Sima said makes sense."

The others nodded in agreement, and Wang Hui added,
"Gushi Royal City is just like Loulan Royal City. It is just an isolated city. If you are not careful, you may be surrounded. It will be even more difficult to escape after the city is broken."

"The terrain of the Tianshan Gap is more favorable to our army. At least we can attack or defend without any worries."

"The Xiongnu have captured a useless empty city, and it is difficult for them to break through the gap in the Tianshan Mountains to expand their victory. If they remain in this stalemate for a while, they will have problems with food and grass supply, and will eventually have to retreat in disappointment. By then, the Gushi Kingdom will still be in the hands of our Han army. This is a good strategy to retreat in order to advance."

While talking, several people kept wiping the sweat off their faces.

The Kingdom of Gushi is too hot, even hotter than the Kingdom of Loulan.

This place is located in the heart of the Turpan Basin. This place is not only the place with the highest temperature in the Celestial Empire in summer now, but also in the future. It is also the lowest place in the Celestial Empire, more than 100 meters below sea level. The famous Flaming Mountain is in this area, which is a truly barren land.

There is also very little rainfall in this area.

The reason why Jiaohe City, the royal capital of the Gushi Kingdom, existed was because the snow on the northern mountains melted to form a river, and an oasis was formed here.

The location of Jiaohe City is also very interesting.

This city was built on a willow-shaped platform, which was more than 30 meters higher than the surrounding area. The snow from the northern mountains melted and flowed through here, then split and flowed around the city. Therefore, the Gushiwang City was named Jiaohe City, and the river was also called Jiaohe.

Such a strange terrain.

Jiaohe City was given a natural city wall of at least 30 meters, and there was also a natural moat under the city, making Jiaohe City a naturally impregnable and difficult to impregnate city.

If Liu Ju had not used the same strategy this time to kill the royal family and noble ministers of Gushi from within and without, the Gushi Kingdom would have been left leaderless.

If the Han army wanted to capture the city, but did not want to suffer too many casualties, they could only surround it without attacking, cut off the transportation to and from Jiaohe City, and fight with its internal strength.

Even so, the price to pay will not be small.

After all, in the hottest place in the whole Celestial Empire, stationing troops and besieging the city, even if there is a Jiaohe River and there is no need to worry about the water source, the transportation of supplies will still require a huge loss. Even Liu Che is probably unwilling to bear such a cost. Before seeing Jiaohe City.

Liu Ju also had doubts about whether Zhao Po Nu had conquered the Kingdom of Gu Shi in history.

And after seeing Jiaohe City.

Liu Ju was already certain that Zhao Po Nu definitely did not capture Gushi City, or at least he definitely did not capture Jiaohe City.

This is also the reason why the historical records of the raid on Loulan are extremely detailed, and the related rewards are also recorded in great detail, while the attack on the Gushi Kingdom is only recorded as "defeated Gushi", and no one was rewarded for it.

Most likely it was after Zhao Po Nu, Li Guangli and others arrived at the city.

Seeing that it was difficult to achieve results by forceful attack, he submitted a memorial to Emperor Liu Che to explain the situation. Emperor Liu Che was unwilling to rely on internal strength to besiege the city, and was also worried that the Huns would come to rescue, so he decided to withdraw his troops.

It happened that the King of Gushi was guarding an isolated city without supplies and had his own concerns, so he sent envoys to negotiate peace and surrender.

Neither side wanted to encircle the enemy, and the other did not want to waste time, so each side used the "spiritual victory method" to quickly end the war.

Otherwise, if things really get serious.

The Battle of Gushi could have had the same effect as Li Guangli's first expedition to Dayuan. At least for the Han Dynasty, the cost and impact should not be underestimated.

Therefore, it was absolutely impossible for Liu Ju to give up such a bridgehead with such a great geographical advantage and hand it over to the Huns.

These generals only had their eyes on Gu Shi. In fact, with the current result, they had already successfully completed the strategic goal of Liu Che's trip and could go back to report and receive their rewards.

But Liu Ju saw further than Liu Che. He needed this bridgehead, and the Han Dynasty needed it even more.

Otherwise, if the Huns took over the city, the Han Dynasty would have to pay a heavy price if it wanted to capture it again.

The Huns could also use this as a base at any time to move south across the gap in the Tianshan Mountains, regain control of the countries in the Western Regions, and block the trade routes to the Western Regions.

You must know that there is no water source or oasis within a hundred miles of the gap in the Tianshan Mountains, so it is not suitable for farming, and naturally it is not possible to station troops for a long time.

Once Jiaohe City was surrendered, even if the Han army could temporarily stop King Youriju at the gap in the Tianshan Mountains, they would eventually have to withdraw to Loulan, which would be tantamount to handing over the gap in the Tianshan Mountains and the three kingdoms of Yanqi, Shanguo and Yuli to the Xiongnu.

In this way, the previous efforts to attack Gu Shi became "like a fight".

The Han Dynasty's ambition to open up a trade route to the Western Regions naturally came to nothing, and Emperor Liu Che was ultimately unable to achieve it.

However, Liu Ju did not refute Sima Qian and Wang Hui, but just nodded:

"You two are right. Then let's have a notice posted immediately, announcing that the Xiongnu are leading an army of 20,000 and that the Han army will be withdrawing soon. Let the people of Gushi fend for themselves."

"Your Highness, are you not going to move them into the gap in Tianshan Mountain?"

Everyone looked puzzled again.

According to the Han Dynasty's previous practice, after conquering a city, if the local people were difficult to control or had difficulty in resettling them, they would usually be moved to the interior rather than left to fend for themselves. This was Liu Che's "benevolence."

"Don't you need money and food to migrate so many people?"

Liu Ju asked back,

"As the saying goes, a pinch of rice is a token of gratitude, a pinch of rice is a token of resentment. Our Han has already saved them from the Xiongnu once, and some of them have even received relief and escaped from slavery. We have done so much for them, but I don't know if they are truly grateful. Do we still have to provide for their retirement and see them to the end of their lives?"

(End of this chapter)