It was raining, and it was dripping, and it didn't stop.

Du Zhongxiao said to Chen Xiliang, who came to see him off: "I have been in the Western Regions for a few months, and these days, the affairs of Shengzhou will be handed over to you." Now that the military and the government have been separated, you don't have to take care of military affairs, as long as you can manage the civil affairs of Shengzhou. ”

Chen Xi nodded yes and arched his hand: "The festival commander will go early and return early, I wish everything well!" ”

Du Zhongxiao said with a smile: "This expedition to the Western Regions, although I am not as ambitious as when I entered the Hequ Road, I now have an army of 100,000 in my hands, which is not comparable to that time." Gao Chang has never sent envoys to call him a minister, so he had to subdue him, and there was no way to do it. ”

After speaking, he said to Bao Zheng and Chen Xu on the other side: "After I leave, the affairs of Hequ Road will be handed over to the two of you for the time being!" ”

Bao Zheng arched his hand: "The court has a life, and the festival commander will go as much as possible." This road affairs have their own punishment for me and Chen Tiju. Although the Western Regions are large, there are not many soldiers to fight, and as long as you are careful, you will not lose. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "How many people can lead the troops to fight, and they can keep their hearts?" When I go to the Western Regions, I just hope that everything will go well, not for a big victory, and just occupy Gaochang. As long as Gaochang is occupied, the Uighurs lose their center and are divided into several parts. ”

The Uighurs were not very stable state power, and the lower part was divided into several parts. To the east is Yizhou, to the south is Yanqi, to the north is Beiting, to the west is Zhangbali and Yangji Bali, and the core is Gaochang and Jiaohezhou. This area was later called the Turpan Basin, which was the core area of Gaochang at this time, and it was also the place where the north-south trade routes converged.

The Silk Road began in the Han Dynasty and was at its peak in the Tang Dynasty, and basically declined after the Anshi Rebellion. Now the Black Khan merchants entered the Central Plains after entering Qinzhou through Tibet, and the scale of the caravan was very small compared with the Tang Dynasty, and it did not have a great impact on the Song Dynasty. With the prosperity of sea routes, most of the foreign goods needed by the Song Dynasty were obtained through sea trade, and there was basically no demand for the Silk Road in the Western Regions.

When the overland Silk Road flourished, there were various powerful states along the way, and when they fell, these forces also declined. Now with railways, it is possible to trade goods over long distances, each with its own advantages compared to the sea route. Du Zhongxiao didn't know if the Silk Road in the Western Regions would flourish again after the railway was repaired, and what kind of impact it would have on the world. I just feel that the opportunity now is to be done.

Bidding farewell to everyone, Du Zhongxiao boarded the train to the west and headed for Hezhou. The forward of Zhang Qi's department had already set off, and Du Zhongxiao took the staff of the Shuai Mansion to Hezhou to meet Zhang Qi and go all the way to Yizhou. This went to Yizhou, and 100,000 troops came out to attack Gaochang.

After capturing Gaochang, it was necessary to build a railway to connect Yizhou, and then capture Zhangbali and Yangji Bali to open a trade route. As for what to do in the future, Du Zhongxiao didn't know, he should have left Hequ Road at that time.

It's the hottest time of the year, and it's even starting to get cooler. Outside the car window, lush and green, in the light rain, people mistakenly think that they have returned to the days in Suizhou. There were herds of cattle grazing leisurely, and men grazing under tents, lazily stilted.

Fu Bi sat opposite Du Zhongxiao, looked at the scenery outside, and said: "Here in Shengzhou, a hundred flowers bloom in summer, and it doesn't look like a barren place outside the plug. If the population is large enough, cattle and sheep are everywhere, and the fields of rice, wheat and mulberry are planted everywhere, it is really a good place. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Yes, there is Yin Mountain in the north to block the cold wind, and the Yellow River flows through, which is indeed a good place." ”

The two of them were talking, and the train crossed the river and Qingjun, all the way forward, and the outside was desolate. There is still grass on the ground on both sides of the road, but it is very sparse, and there are no cattle or sheep to be seen. All the way to the west, the more you go, the more desolate it becomes.

On the second day, the train arrived in Hezhou, and Zhang Qi and others waited at the station early. greeted Du Zhongxiao and others down, and crossed the Yellow River on the same day and arrived on the other side. Zhizhou picked up Du Zhongxiao and others in the official restaurant, and he didn't say anything all night, and took the train to Juyan the next day.

As soon as the train came out of Wolf Mountain, I no longer saw the scenery of Shengzhou, and there were mostly deserts on both sides of the road. Although there is also green, it is not full of greenery, but mixed with yellow sand, and vegetation appears intermittently.

Du Zhongxiao said to Fu Bi: "It's so desolate here, it's not easy to even graze cattle. Except for the station, there are no people for hundreds of miles. After the war is over in the future, this place is not suitable for people to live in, and there is no way to camp if you want to camp a field. ”

Fu Bi said: "It is precisely because of this that although the terrain in this area is flat, there are no villages and towns, and there are no tribes. If it weren't for the railway, no one would have come at all. The railway to the Western Regions is actually better to take the southern route. It's just that the party project is not leveled and cannot be built. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "If you take the south road, it will be a pity for Juyan." It is located right in the middle of Hezhou and Yizhou, with abundant water and grass, and it is a dead place without a rail connection. With the railway from the Central Plains to the Western Regions, the population will inevitably gather on both sides of the railway, and it will no longer be the same as before. ”

Fu Bi said: "That's what the marshal said. Juyan is not only an east-west road, but also a junction from several counties in Hexi to Saiwai, and it is only because the party has closed the trade route that it has declined. With the railway, it will be prosperous. ”

This section of the road is extremely difficult to walk, the speed of the train is slow, and it goes straight for two days and two nights before arriving at Juyan. The train stopped, Du Zhongxiao stood up and stretched, and said: "This road is really long, and you can't stay in Ju for two days before you can continue to Yizhou." At this time, the army has not yet been assembled, and it is right to wait here for two days. 100,000 troops arrived in Yizhou, I don't know what the Gaochang people will think. ”

Zhang Qi said with a smile: "The soldiers and horses have arrived, and it doesn't matter what they think. According to the news from Yizhou, General Zhao has ordered people to reoccupy the Guigukou Shelter Post and send soldiers and horses, but there is still no movement in Gaochang. ”

Fu Bi couldn't help but shake his head when he heard this: "These small border countries really don't know what to think. The imperial army has arrived, either fight, hurry up and gather troops and horses. Either or not, send an envoy immediately. As a result, there is no fight or harmony, so it is wasted! ”

Du Zhongxiao said with a smile: "Deputy envoy, in the past, there were at most 10,000 or 20,000 people, and it would take nearly a month to travel hundreds of miles. In the Western Regions, the vast local population is sparse, and the army cannot fight because of the food of the enemy. With Gaochang's strength, waiting for a few years is really nothing. It's just that I didn't expect that now with the railway, everything will be different. ”

Several people got off the train while talking, and Juyan's guards waited outside and hurriedly stepped forward to greet them.

Du Zhongxiao said: "The envoy still stays in the car, and the personnel can come over and take shifts." We stayed ashore and rested, and after two days the army marched westward. Write to Zhao Zi and ask him to wait in Yizhou. ”

Zhang Yu promised to arrange it himself, and Du Zhongxiao followed Juyan to enter Juyan City with Juyan Shoujiang.

At this time, the railway from Hezhou to Juyan was not open to the people, and all the troops were transported, and the military station was extremely busy. Li Fugui arrived here in advance and arranged everything. Zhang Sheng, the deputy envoy of Hequ Road, took people to Yizhou after the railway was opened.

The 100,000-strong army is distributed on the railway line that stretches for more than 4,000 miles, and several key areas are particularly dense. Since there was no threat, there were very few people left in Juyan by Zhao Zi's subordinates, and now they were replaced by Zhang Qi's troops.

Last time, the battalion Tianxiang army traveled from Suizhou to Hequ Road, relying on local railways to transport, and marched all the way on stuffy tanks. This time is different, the entire railway is an asset of the Economic Strategy Division, and the transportation is extremely busy. Different armies, armed with various weapons, assembled at the station in turn.

Du Zhongxiao and Fu Bi looked at each other for a while, and said, "This time I entered the Western Regions, I didn't bring heavy artillery, it's a pity to think about it." If there is heavy artillery, what is the use of the cities in the Western Regions? After a few rounds of heavy artillery bombardment, the walls should have collapsed. Without heavy artillery, it would take some effort to siege the city. ”

Fu Bi said: "Why should the festival marshal worry about this kind of thing? The Uighurs were originally nomadic in the desert, and they were not good at attacking cities, and they were also not good at defending cities. As long as they are defeated in the wild, will they still be able to hold the city? Watching the Khitan battle, we learned to cast artillery, but it was only the two armies inside and outside the city that fired at each other, and there was no other way. Ruzhou has been fighting for nearly a year, and no one can help anyone, and now they are still desperately casting cannons! ”

Du Zhongxiao said with a smile: "Although the gun is a murder weapon, the most important thing is to see how to use it. The current three armies of Hequ Road have been trained for two years, and I don't know what the effect is. It was the first time that the battalion and field troops fought like this on the battlefield, and the rest of the army did not know the details and unexpectedly achieved major results. The number of troops now is three or four times that of that time, and the enemy is not vicious, so I don't know how effective it will be. ”

Fu Bi said: "The news from Yizhou that Gao Chang only knows that the imperial army defeated the Khitan and the party, but he doesn't know how to fight. I heard that we use guns and cannons, but we don't know what guns look like and how to fight. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "If they are the same as the White Horse Supervisor and Military Division back then, what are the difficulties in this battle?" Our 100,000 army is fighting against 350,000 people in Gaochang, can we gather and annihilate it? ”

Zhang Qi said: "There are only 350,000 people in Gaochang, and the combat power is also average. When the party occupied Shazhou, they attacked Gaochang, and Gaochang was not their opponent at all. If it weren't for the long distance and the difficulty of attacking, maybe the party would have entered the Western Regions by now. ”

Du Zhongxiao said with a smile: "If that's the case, Gao Chang offered Juyan to ask for peace, and now we can't do it." To attack the party, it is still necessary to concentrate the army from Qinfeng Road and the railway to the Zhenrong army and directly attack Lingzhou. Attacking from the place where the team is located, it will not be able to hit the party's vital points. ”

Fu Bi listened and said: "Yes, the party is a big country, thousands of miles long, and if you don't hit the key points, it will last for a long time." ”

There is another reason why the party cannot occupy the Western Regions stably, and when it comes to Yizhou, there is no longer a party population. The limit of the party's westward direction is Guazhou and Shazhou, and then to the west, it is the labor expedition, which does not receive any support. With the strength of the party and the country, it is better to give up this kind of place.

The Song Dynasty was stronger than the party because it had a stable Central Plains as the backing, and as long as it was supported by the military, it could always expand westward. The huge manpower and material resources of the Central Plains, as long as the national strength can be transformed into military power, this era is almost invincible.