Fu Zhu frowned and said, "Wei Chen is vain, Your Majesty wants to make peace with Great Qin?" ”

"You're guessing. Since I am a royal driver, how can I give up halfway? Liu Xin said with a smile, "You and the others are all wise and resourceful, and you should understand the principle of attacking the heart and attacking the city." If I don't let them go back, how will others know about my Han military might. Although our army was victorious, it came from afar, and it was not only the grain and grass that were difficult to supply, but also the source of soldiers. The Great Qin Empire has a population of 60 million, and no matter how many soldiers are lost, we can be replenished in time, but we can't. In this case, we can only make the Great Qin people feel afraid, even if the treatment of the army is good, they will not dare to become soldiers. ”

Fu Zhu suddenly realized, stroked his palm and smiled: "Your Majesty really has a clever plan, but the people of Great Qin don't dare to be soldiers, so let's kill one less and it will be much easier." ”

Zhang Fei slapped his thigh excitedly and said, "Then what are you waiting for?" Let's gather all the men and horses and go all the way to Rome! ”

Liu Xin waved his hand and said with a smile: "No, let's wait for them here!" ”

After this battle completely annihilated the eight legions of the Great Qin Empire, the Great Qin still had 800,000 horses, which was still twice the size of the Great Han Expeditionary Force. The most important thing is that Liu Xin has not been able to grasp the geographical situation in the territory of Great Qin so far, and if he rashly marches, he is likely to encounter an ambush by the Qin army. Therefore, he will return the favor with his own way, and set up ambushes in the provinces of Syria and Asia Minor, so that he can wait for his work.

Soon, the prisoners of war were escorted to the border of the Syrian province, and Zhang He personally read Liu Xin's decision to them, telling them that the Han army had raised troops to avenge the unprovoked massacre of the merchants by Caracalla. At the same time, it was reiterated that the Han had no intention of annexing the territory of the Great Qin, and it was really a helpless move for the soldiers to fight each other, and after the real culprit was caught and the merchants were avenged, the Han army would naturally withdraw to the mainland.

In the end, Zhang He not only ordered their release, but also distributed forty silver coins to each of them. These are all the currencies of Great Qin's own country, of course, they were all confiscated from the homes of the nobles and rich people in these two provinces, and now they are used for personal favors.

The Great Qin prisoners of war who thought they were going to die were quite surprised, and it turned out that the Han people were not as ferocious as they imagined. Although they were freed, the prisoners of war were not excited. Because the Great Qin Empire also had strict laws, they were likely to be severely punished by Caracalla and Gaita when they returned to China.

However, even if they wanted to lie in the prisoner of war camp now, the Han soldiers unsheathed their swords and wound their arrows, and sent them out of the country. After leaving Syria, the prisoners of war went to two places, one in Cappadocia and the other in Pontus. Regardless of the province they visited, they had to report to the local governor, and if they wanted to remain incognito, if they were caught, they would not only become slaves or gladiators, but also their families.

Because these people were soldiers, they reported to the governor and would still be incorporated into the barracks. At that time, they will inevitably tell the truth about what happened to them in Asia Minor Province, which will have some impact on other soldiers, so as to achieve Liu Xin's goal of attacking the heart.

After "sending" these prisoners of war, Liu Xin began to distribute troops, build fortifications in the provinces of Syria and Asia Minor, arrange troops, and make various meticulous preparations for the upcoming war.

However, it was said that Liu Yu, Bian Zhang, and Gao Ran followed the caravan of the shopkeeper Cui and successfully passed through the Uzberi fortress. By this time, the other goods they had transported had been exchanged for grain in Seoul. Originally, the shopkeeper Cui had already made a plan, and this trip to the business did not make a penny, and all the profits were exchanged for food and donated to the defenders of the Uzberi fortress, but his kindness was rejected by the defenders.

It turned out that the granaries of the Uzberi fortress were already filled with grain. Because the transportation from Chang'an to here is very convenient, and Liu Xin began to prepare a few months ago, what is lacking now is not food, but how to transport grain from Uzberi to the Han Concession in Parthia, and the thousands of miles from Uzberi to the Han Concession have become a bottleneck in the logistics supply of the Han army.

After listening to the explanation of the defenders of Uzbeli, the shopkeeper Cui suddenly felt that there was no way to serve the country. But I heard Gao Ran say: "Shopkeeper Cui, we want people now, we want cars and horses, it's better for good people to do it to the end and send the grain all the way to the concession!" ”

In fact, Gao Ran's westward journey is to serve in front of the army and show his strengths, if he only goes back to Uzbeli, then this trip is equivalent to coming in vain.

The Han military captain guarding the entrance of the fortress kindly reminded: "Although Dawan is also in the Han realm now, the battle ahead is tight and the situation is complicated, so it's better not to go." ”

Shopkeeper Cui has lived in Hebei for a long time, and he knows the prestige of Gao Lan, but he is not very worried about the safety on the road. However, the convoy is not his own, and he also has to ask the accompanying guys. All the guys were young people, and many of them wanted to join the army but failed for some reason, and at this time, they were all enthusiastic and agreed with Gao Lan's proposal.

Gao Ran turned around and glanced at Liu Yu and Bian Zhang, the two teenagers, and said, "The future is dangerous and unpredictable, you two children don't go to join in this fun." ”

Liu Yu smiled and said: "I told you a long time ago, my two brothers went to the concession to join their relatives, how can there be any reason to give up halfway?" Don't worry, go this time, life and death have their own destiny, if anything goes wrong, you will definitely not be blamed! ”

All the guys also said in unison: "That's good! We also wish that life and death will be safe! ”

Shopkeeper Cui no longer hesitated, and said loudly: "The old man is already old, so I will accompany you to go crazy again!" ”

The captain guarding the pass was also very moved when he saw that these ordinary people had this desire to serve the country, and he arched his hand and said: "The road ahead is indeed not peaceful, and I can't help you if you are busy with anything else, you wait here, wait for me to ask General Zhang, and send a few shields to block bows and arrows on your way." ”

In addition to grain and grass, the Uzberi fortress also stored a large number of military supplies, armor and equipment, but offensive weapons such as swords, guns, bows and crossbows were strictly forbidden to be scattered among the people, and all he could do was send a few shields.

But seeing Liu Yu waving his hand again and again, he said: "Thank you for the kindness of the general, if we take a shield, the soldiers are not like soldiers, and the people are not like the people, but it will attract the attention of thieves, so it is better to dress up as a caravan." ”

If the caravan really encounters horse thieves, there are a few tags used in the army that can indeed play a good protective role, but Liu Yu is worried that Zhang Ren, the main general here, will hear the news and see through his hide.

Gao Ran was also worried about the same thing, not knowing if this General Zhang would know him, so he bothered to speak, and hurriedly said: "Yes! This truckload of grain is the best shield, let's hurry up and get on the road. ”

Out of the Uzberi fortress is the territory of Dawan. Now, the entire Dawan has been included in the rule of the Western Regions Protectorate, and its status is equivalent to that of Shanshan, Shule and other countries, but there is also one difference, that is, Dawan no longer has a king, but has become a county under the jurisdiction of the Western Regions Protectorate. It's just that now the imperial court is busy dealing with the war with Daqin, and the local officials of Dawan County have not yet had time to appoint, and they are temporarily under military control.

Along the way, you can see everywhere the teams that are building the road, these people were originally Dawan's soldiers, but now they are prisoners of war and have been transferred to do forced labor. It was precisely because these prisoners of war were not very professional and not very motivated that the road from Uzberi to the concession was built so slowly. However, Liu Xin had no other way, the concession was his first line of defense to block the southward advance of the Qin army, where a large number of castles and fortifications needed to be built, so the entire engineering corps was concentrated.

Of course, the fact that a large number of transport teams pass through from time to time is also a reason for the slow construction of roads. Now, there is a transportation team in front of the shopkeeper Cui. After Jia Xu's rectification, the spirit of these rearguard and transport units composed of the old army has been much better, but because they have not undergone rigorous training, the speed of march is still far less than that of the regular army.

Gao Lan couldn't wait, pointed to a small road next to him and said: "Shopkeeper Cui, I inquired with the locals just now, you can also lead to Guishan City from this road, anyway, there are not many of us, just take the small road!" ”

For these caravans engaged in long-distance trafficking, time is money, and it is common for them to take small roads and shortcuts, anyway, this is already the territory of the Han Dynasty, and it is common to see Han soldiers in black clothes and black armor going back and forth, even if there is danger, it should be after entering Kangju, everyone agreed without thinking about it, so the convoy folded onto the path.

The road was relatively quiet, and there were not many pedestrians or vehicles, but when they walked out of the area for more than ten miles, there was a sudden sound of horses' hooves in front of them, and a large group of cavalry galloped forward. This group of cavalry consisted of about five or six hundred people, dressed in white, not in the dress of the Han army.

Gao Ran suddenly became alert, pulled out the rod, and the other guys also clenched their waist knives and hid behind the grain cart, really using the grain cart as a shield as Gao Ran said.

The cavalry came quickly, and they could even see the other party's face clearly, with a high nose and deep eyes, and it was clear that they were not Han. The first of them didn't know what he had said, but the cavalry reined in their horses, drew their bows and arrows, and shot them in this direction.

Choosing this path was Gao Ran's suggestion, but he didn't want to meet a strong man, and he also proposed to refuse the shield sent by the captain, Gao Ran felt a little reluctant to go, and when he yelled, he braved the rain of arrows with a rod and a rod to meet him.

Although Gao Ran danced a rod like a windmill, and the arrows he shot fell to the ground one after another, but the rod was not the spear he was used to after all, he still felt that his shoulder sank, and he had already been hit by an arrow.