***
Don't you see,
Walking along the snowy sea, the vast yellow sand stretches into the sky.
Don't you see,
The long clouds from Qinghai darken the snow-capped mountains, and the lonely city looks towards Yumen Pass in the distance.
After reading these poems, you cannot help but admire the poet. With just a few words, he has vividly described the vast and bitter cold scene of the Western Regions.
Yumen Pass has long been abandoned, and it is now a vast desert wasteland desolate by history.
The scene of "smoke and dust flying in the west of Jinshan, and the Han generals marching westward" has not been seen for a thousand years since the heyday of the Tang Dynasty.
Li Dingguo, who had traveled all the way west from Lanzhou and crossed the 2,000-mile Hexi Corridor, was now standing on the collapsed Yumen Pass, feeling the painful sand blowing in his face. He held the hilt of his knife in his hand, squinting his eyes, looking at the yellow sand outside the pass and directly at the horizon, with an inexplicable torrent surging in his heart.
History is so heavy here.
The thunderous shouts, the rain-like horse hooves, and the gushing blood were all buried in the endless yellow sand, but they echoed and stirred again and again when the storm came.
Those pages of heroic history, like dead poplar trees, are exposed in the wilderness, immortal for thousands of years, silently telling of endless sadness.
Going west through Yangguan Pass is such an easy, yet difficult step. Over the past thousands of years, those generals who have taken this step have all gone down in history.
Li Dingguo thought that those Han generals who left must be lonely.
Because, a thousand years have passed, a full thousand years, and the iron hooves of the Han army have never set foot on the land of the Western Regions again.
"I see no ancients in front of me, and no future generations behind me. Thinking of the vastness of the universe, I am alone and shed tears!" Li Dingguo sighed deeply.
Zhang Yuan, a personal soldier beside him, asked with a longing look: "General, what is Tianshan like? I have heard the story of General Xue Rengui. The storyteller said that the general conquered Tianshan with three arrows and the warriors sang to enter the Han Pass. This excited me the most. General, will we send troops to the Western Regions? Will we go to Tianshan?"
A strong wind blew, and yellow sand flew all over the sky. Li Dingguo looked west through the vast yellow sand and answered calmly and affirmatively: "Yes! With your majesty's broad mind, you will accommodate the Western Regions sooner or later."
At this moment, from the horizon outside the pass, several horsemen galloped over, raising dust like a flying yellow dragon.
The Qin scouts in black armor rushed to the foot of the abandoned pass and saw Li Dingguo at the pass. They immediately shouted: "General, we just learned that the Junggar tribe has broken through the Yarkand city, and Abdullah Khan is leading a small number of troops to escape to Yumen Pass. Sengge, the fifth son of Junggar Batur Khan, is leading his troops to hunt down Abdullah..."
This news immediately caused a commotion among the Qin army around Li Dingguo.
Abdullah Khan of Yarkand believed in the Black Mountain sect of Islam, while his son Yalevas believed in the White Mountain sect of Yalevas Naqshbandi religion, and the father and son were not on good terms.
Abdullah Khan was very dissatisfied with his son who opposed him and wanted to deprive him of his power. Yalewa was unwilling to surrender, and with the instigation of his subordinates, Yalewa, who was stationed in Hami, borrowed troops from the Junggar tribe north of the Tianshan Mountains in November last year. The son attacked the father.
Batur Hun Taiji (Hun Taiji is a title among the Mongolian royal family) of the Dzungar tribe can be said to be a man of great talent and strategy. He integrated the western Mongolia through the "Mongol Oirats Code" and formed an alliance with the Jasaktu Khan, one of the three major Mongolian tribes in the northern desert. Even Gushri Khan of the Gushut tribe who ruled Tibet recognized his position as the leader of the alliance.
In the 12th year of Chongzhen, he took advantage of the civil strife in the Yarkand Khanate and launched an attack on the Yarkand Khanate, attempting to occupy the entire Western Regions.
Unfortunately, the hasty uprising did not receive support from other western Mongolian tribes and suffered a setback.
This time, Prince Yaolewa of Yarkand took the initiative to come to borrow troops, and Batur Khan had obtained the position of leader of the various tribes in Western Mongolia, so how could he miss this opportunity
In the name of helping Yalewa, he led an army to attack Abdullah Khan. With Yalewa as his guide, the Dzungar army was unstoppable and swept across the entire Yarkand Khanate in a few months.
At this moment, Li Dingguo had to make an important decision immediately. Abraha Khan of Yarkand fled to Yumen Pass. Should he save him or not
The pros and cons involved are extremely complex and significant.
This involved Gushri Khan of the Khoshut tribe, who actually ruled Tibet. Li Dingguo came with an important task. After arriving in the northwest, in addition to patrolling everywhere, he also constantly sent people to contact the Khoshut tribe, hoping to stabilize Gushri Khan first, and even provoke a fight between Gushri Khan and Dzungar.
But anyone who can occupy a region is not a simple master. It is nothing but a pipe dream for Li Dingguo to make a major breakthrough in just two months.
Because they had failed to stabilize Gushri Khan in Tibet, even though the fighting in the Western Regions was raging, the Qin army quickly sent troops to control the two islands of Guasha within the Yumen Pass, and then kept their troops in place, and never took the initiative to interfere in the fight between the two tigers in the Western Regions.
If Abdullah Khan is rescued, the Qin army will be able to achieve twice the result with half the effort when it sends troops to the Western Regions under his banner in the future.
But if they sent troops to rescue, they would immediately face a head-on clash with Western Mongolia.
Now the focus of the Qin Dynasty is the southwest and the south of the desert. Needless to say, the two great governors, Meng Ke and Ma Yongzhen, one in Liaodong and the other in Xuanda, are working hard to rectify the Mongolian desert.
At this time, Hexi was on the defensive in Qin's strategy.
Once this overall situation is broken, all of Daqin's strategies will likely have to be redeployed and the center of focus will shift dramatically.
Looking at the endless yellow sand outside the pass, Li Dingguo's mind was in a state of confusion at this moment. All the soldiers around him were looking at him, waiting for his decision.
***
In the domed palace of Yarkand, the tall and burly Batur Khan sat on a throne inlaid with gems and asked the dusty Zherjin: "Zasaktu Khan, are you sure that you can win?"
Zheerjin replied respectfully: "To Batur, when I came, our Khan and Qitat had already gained the upper hand and defeated Gunbu twice in a row. Princess Tuya also used a trick to rebel against Gunbu's general Kortai. I think Gunbu has been defeated now."
Batul said: "If that is possible, it would be great."
"So the leader of the alliance agrees to attack Hexi and attack Qin from both sides with our Khan?"
"Is this Tuya's plan?"
"This..." Zhe Erjin was a little embarrassed. It was not a glorious thing for a woman to make suggestions on such a big matter.
Batur did not ask any more questions, and said loudly: "Go back and tell Zasaktu Khan not to be always influenced by a woman, otherwise he will suffer a great loss sooner or later.
However, the means by which the Qin State annexed Khorchin is indeed worthy of our vigilance. If the Qin State is allowed to take its time, sooner or later the Mongols will have no place to stand. Let Qisaktu Khan send his troops south. After this Khan has cleared the remnants of Yarkand, he will join forces with Gushri Khan to attack Hexi.
Also, tell Zasaktu Khan that there is nothing to be afraid of Qin's firearms. Don't forget that we are the descendants of the Wolf God. As long as we act like wolves, we can use surprise attacks, night attacks, split our forces to lure the enemy, and use roundabout tactics to avoid the real and attack the fake, and then we can make the Qin army's firearms useless."
"Thank you for your guidance, leader."
There were still cries in the city of Yarkand. The Mongols would slaughter without mercy anyone who dared to resist. In order to prevent Muslims from gathering, mosques were destroyed and smoke and dust billowed.
One thousand two miles east of Yarkand City, there was also billowing dust. Batu Khan's most brave and warlike fifth son Sengge led three thousand cavalrymen and swept across the edge of the vast and desolate desert. The yellow dust raised filled the air, and their iron hooves were like thunder, full of murderous aura.
In front of them, Abdullah Khan was fleeing for his life, with only 400 people left by his side. Each of them had chapped lips and was pale with panic, like a dog that had lost its home. At this moment, the world was so big, but there was no place for him.
Sengge was like a wolf tracking its prey. He could always find his trail accurately and bite him again and again.
Bang! Another guard's horse beside Abraha Khan was exhausted and fell to the ground. Abraha Khan did not dare to stay for a moment and rode away in a cloud of dust.
The vultures that had been following them in the sky immediately swooped down in groups and pecked at the fallen men and horses.
As they got closer, Yumen Pass came into sight, and a ray of light finally appeared in Abraha Khan's cloudy eyes.
At this moment, the dust storm swept in from behind again. Sengge's men came up from the left rear like ghosts, and the momentum was thrilling... ... ...
..(To be continued..)
...