Starting in Saarhu, it is a bit difficult to make a comeback.

Chapter 248 Marching into Yarkand (please subscribe for monthly tickets)

Li Xianzhong frowned when he heard that Dashun's cavalry appeared around Qinghai Lake.

I originally thought that Li Zicheng's men were only dominating the Western Regions, but now they have appeared near Qinghai Lake. This is clearly a provocation to me.

However, his second son was really shameless. He only led 800 cavalry to pursue the enemy when the situation of the enemy was unknown.

After learning that the old coach Xiong Tingbi had sent a large number of troops to respond, Li Xianzhong immediately felt relieved.

There are 5 Chinese soldiers and horses here, plus no less than Mongolian troops who came to join the alliance. Even if Li Zicheng had ten courages, he would not dare to lead the main force to die!

It was expected that they were just a group of stragglers who came over to investigate.

At this time, the 800 riders led by Li Shizu had already reached a hundred miles west of Qinghai Lake after galloping continuously for a day and night.

A young officer said: "Second Prince, the matter is indeed not that simple. The captives confessed. The reason why the Dashun Army ventured deep into the vicinity of Qinghai Lake this time was to capture Yarkand Khan King Abdullah. "

At this time, Zheng Sen, who was next to Li Shizu, said: "Abdullah must have heard that His Majesty had an alliance with the Mobei Mongolian tribes in Qinghai, so he came to ask for help. Their destination must be our East Ker Temple. 's camp."

Zheng Sen is the eldest son of Zheng Zhilong. He has been staying with brother Li Shizu as a companion since he was five years old.

Although he is not small, he is actually only 12 years old this year, even two years younger than Li Shizu.

The 800 cavalry Li Shizu brought out this time were his own Yulin Guards, many of whom were the children of Chinese nobles.

Many people are on the battlefield for the first time and have no combat experience.

However, most of these people are the children of generals. They have received military training since childhood, and their military literacy is not bad.

Moreover, Li Xianzhong knew that this expedition was very dangerous, so he specially selected 400 people from his personal guard camp to protect Li Shizu.

Otherwise, they would only have a group of pure recruits under their command, and Li Shizu and Zheng Sen would not dare to take risks with them.

This time he attacked without authorization and would definitely be punished by his father when he returned. Now he could only hope to make great achievements so that his merits could be exonerated.

Li Shizu said: "Now that we know the opponent's destination, we must find Abdullah before the enemy and defeat the Dashun army chasing them."

These Habayashi guards, who were on the battlefield for the first time, seemed very excited.

Nowadays, there are not many wars in China, and this use of troops in the Western Region is a rare opportunity for them.

They shouted in unison: "I am willing to listen to the second prince's order!"

Li Shizu and others analyzed that the north of Qinghai is China's "Seven Guards of Guanxi" and the south is Uzang.

It was absolutely impossible for Abdullah to take the north and south routes. He could only take the original Duogan Division and Xuanwei Division.

In fact, there are only a few roads. They went westward along the south bank of Qinghai Lake without finding any target, so Abdullah must have taken the north bank of Qinghai Lake.

So soon they searched all the way to the north shore of Qinghai Lake.

It was not only Li Shizu and others who came to this conclusion, but also Tian Jianxiu who was ordered to arrest Abdullah.

Although the Dashun Army finally completely captured the Yarkand Khanate after several years of fighting, its rule was not stable.

I saw Tian Jianxiu saying to a man in a white leather robe: "Dear King Abdullah Khan, Emperor Li Zicheng of Dashun is working with the Kazakh Khanate to deal with Yarkant's mortal enemy Junggar. At this time, you suddenly It’s too dangerous to leave the Khanate, so just come back with me!”

Abdullah was also a hero of his generation. He led the Turpan army to send troops to Yarkand, once again unified the Eastern Chagatai Khanate and made Hami surrender.

He appointed his younger brother Sulitang as Turpan Aqimu and gave him direct administrative jurisdiction over Turpan.

Then, he sent troops to the Ili Valley, defeated the Junggar Khanate army in the Gonnas Grassland, and regained control of the Ili Valley and Lake Balkhash. After a series of wars, the Yarkand Khanate reunited Tashkent and Fergan and penetrated its power into Central Asia.

It's a pity that the appearance of Li Zicheng ruined his great cause of ZTE.

Although on the surface Li Zicheng only annexed the Turpan Khanate in the east, Yarkand is now completely controlled by Li Zicheng.

It is only a matter of time before Li Zicheng tears off his disguise.

That's why he decided to take the risk and come to Qinghai to ask for help from the Chinese Emperor Li Xianzhong.

It's a pity that Tian Mixiu caught up with him in the end.

Tian Jianxiu did not embarrass the Khan too much. After all, keeping him was still useful, so he had Abdullah taken to a tent and imprisoned.

A camp with thousands of people is still very conspicuous on the vast Qinghai Plateau.

Li Shizu and others soon discovered their traces. Fortunately, they chased all the way west. Now Tian Jianxiu and others are almost back to Yarkant.

The experienced Yulin Camp veterans quickly and smoothly eliminated the sentries outside the camp.

Suddenly, the Shun army felt the earth trembling continuously, and then the cavalry from the Yulin camp broke into their camp from all directions.

These cavalrymen killed Dashun's soldiers and set fire to the tents in the camp.

Tian Jianxiu secretly thought that something was wrong. The Chinese cavalry must have discovered their traces.

The camp was in chaos at this time, with fires and people shouting everywhere.

Tian Jianxiu quickly ordered Abdullah to be taken away, but the tent where Abdullah was held was already on fire, and Abdullah himself was missing among the rebels.

In the dark night, Tian Jianxiu couldn't figure out the number of Chinese troops. He felt that there were still thousands of people.

After all, he was now in Qinghai, which was not his own territory, and he did not dare to stay any longer.

So he quickly retreated to the Yarkand Khanate with hundreds of riders!

Just as they were congratulating themselves on escaping, they found hundreds of cavalry in armor blocking their way.

Only the 500 Yulin battalion was responsible for attacking the Chuangjun camp this time.

They would encounter the main force of China in the east. Li Shizu had long expected that the defeated army would take this route, so he led 300 cavalry to intercept and kill them.

Soon the Chinese army rushed towards the Dashun army on horseback.

The Dashun army, which was already disorganized, naturally could not withstand the surprise attack of the heavy armored cavalry, and was defeated in just a moment.

There were more than 2,000 invaders following Tian Jianxiu's attack this time. In this battle, except for a small number of cavalry who took advantage of the chaos to escape, most of them were wiped out by the Yulin camp.

This time the Yulin camp could be said to have achieved a complete victory. Not only did they annihilate more than 2,000 enemies with a small victory, but they also captured Li Zicheng's general Tian Jianxiu and Yarkand Khan King Abdullah.

As the news spread to the camp, many Chinese generals and the successor Mongolian Khan praised the second prince for his majesty back then.

Even Li Shizu himself couldn't help but feel a little proud. Although he violated military orders and sent troops without authorization this time, he gained a lot and was considered to have made a great contribution.

Your father will never punish yourself again, right?

However, Li Xianzhong's face was ashen and he looked very angry.

He asked sternly: "Governor Xiong, according to our Chinese military regulations, what is the crime for leading troops to attack without the approval of the commander?" Xiong Tingbi knew that Li Xianzhong was serious about it, so he said: "According to the law, I should be killed. But. The second prince has made great achievements in this attack, and according to military practice, his merits can be discounted!"

If Li Shizu was not the second prince of China, but just an ordinary young general, he would happily declare that the merits and demerits were equal, and even praise him.

But he is his own son. If today he can challenge the military order by virtue of his status as a prince.

Then tomorrow he may continue to challenge his eldest brother's throne with this identity.

Today he tasted the sweetness of advancing with light troops. If he continues to take risks like this in future battles, he will suffer big losses sooner or later.

Therefore, Li Xianzhong would never condone him, which would actually harm him.

Li Xianzhong said: "The order was given by Li Shizu, and everyone in Yulin Camp acted under the order. I forgive your mistakes and allow you to exchange your merits for your sins."

"But as the second prince of China, Li Shizu despised military regulations and had no father or king. Even his merits cannot completely offset his evil deeds."

"Originally, he should be killed according to the law, but I think he has achieved quite a lot this time. The merits and demerits are equal to the punishment and the punishment is 40 military sticks. There must be no mistake!"

Upon hearing that the second prince was to be beaten with 40 military sticks, Xiong Tingbi immediately panicked.

During this expedition, Queen Hazia specially sent a lot of gifts and asked her to take care of the second prince.

He knew Li Xianzhong's temper. His Majesty has always been very strict in managing the army. There is absolutely no way that these 40 army sticks were just for show.

He quickly said: "The second prince is underage now. According to the rules of the Chinese army, if a soldier under the age of 15 makes a mistake, the punishment can be reduced. Your Majesty, please give him a lighter sentence!"

Li Xianzhong said: "If the child is from an ordinary family and is under the age of fifteen, the punishment can indeed be reduced. However, Li Shizu is the second prince of China. I cannot let anyone say that he has engaged in malpractice for personal gain."

At this time, Zheng Sen, who was beside Li Shizu, quickly knelt down and said: "Your Majesty, the second prince's attack was all instigated by the last general. The last general is willing to accept the 40 military sticks for the second prince!"

Li Xianzhong glanced at Zheng Sen and said, "He is the commander-in-chief and you are the deputy-general. Even if he is instigated by you, he still has to bear the main responsibility!"

"Zheng Sen violated military orders and encouraged the general to send troops without authorization. According to the law, he should also receive 40 military sticks. However, considering that Zheng Sen is under 15 years old, it is reduced to half and he will be beaten with 20 military sticks!"

Now the soldiers enforcing military law were in a dilemma. One was the second prince of the Chinese Empire, and the other was the eldest son of Ryukyu Bo Zheng Zhilong.

What's more important is that they are still children, one is 14 years old and the other is only 12 years old, which is when they are growing up.

If you are asked to make a good or bad decision, how should you explain it?

In order to prevent his subordinates from hiding their secrets, Li Xianzhong personally imprisoned the prisoners.

But fortunately, these people are also veterans. Who dares to give them a real blow? If he really had to risk his life to finish off these 40 military sticks, even if the second prince was lucky enough to survive, he would probably be crippled.

As the stick fell, Li Shizu's pants quickly oozed a large amount of bright red.

Li Xianzhong was naturally aware of these people's techniques, which was called "hurting the skin but not the bones."

Looking at the blood, the injury was actually not serious, and there would be no root cause of the disease.

But after all, it was his precious son, how could he not feel sorry for him?

That night, Li Xianzhong personally brought the medicine box to give Li Shizu medicine.

Originally, Li Shizu felt a little aggrieved. Although he had violated military orders, he had made great contributions after all.

It is really unfair for my father to punish me like this.

But when he saw Li Xianzhong coming to apply medicine for himself, he knew that his father still cared about him, so he felt happy again.

Li Shizu said: "Father, my son disobeyed military orders and sent troops without authorization. Although he deserves to be punished, he also did it after careful consideration. The appearance of Dashun's cavalry in Qinghai is very abnormal. Something special must have happened."

"Now that Yarkand Khan King Abdullah has come to surrender, and Li Zicheng is leading the main force to conquer the Mongolian Junggar tribe, the country must be empty. This is a golden opportunity for us to send troops to regain the Western Regions!"

Li Xianzhong stroked Li Shizu's head and said: "My father has always made clear rewards and punishments. If we defeat the Yarkand Khanate this time, the first credit will be yours!"

The father and son chatted for a long time, but the next day Li Xianzhong asked Ngawang Lobsang to take the second prince back to Usizang to practice Buddhism on the grounds that the second prince was in a bad mood and needed to be restrained.

At this time, the Chechen Khan, Tushetu Khan, and Zasaktu Khan of the three Mongolian tribes in Transkarkha had also returned to Mobei.

According to Li Xianzhong's request, they sent troops to directly assist the Junggar Khanate and hold back the coalition forces between Li Zicheng and Kazakhs.

Song Xiance also sent over the defense plans of the Dashun Army in Yarkand and Turpan.

It seems that Li Zicheng has really developed a lot of power in the past few years. He led 30,000 people to the Western Regions. Originally, Li Xianzhong thought that it would be good if Li Zicheng could maintain this scale.

Unexpectedly, with the help of Li Yan and Song Xiance, he actually gathered 8 troops in the Western Regions.

Moreover, Li Zicheng only brought 2 horses northward this time, and the main force of his country did not participate in the expedition!

Now that he is stationed in Hami Guards, no matter how stupid Li Zicheng is, there is no way he would not be prepared for his own sneak attack.

The so-called "all the main forces are used" seems to be just an excuse for Abdullah to use his own hands to help him regain the throne.

The battle in the Western Regions was not so much about military strength as it was about logistics.

His 5 soldiers and horses were able to quickly gather at Xining Guard because they were all cavalry.

However, the supplies for the expedition to the Western Regions are still on the way.

In the past few years, the focus of the Chinese Empire was either to conquer the south or to deal with the Japanese. It indeed neglected the development of the northwest region.

The northwest region lacks a main road, and the road conditions beyond Fengxiang Prefecture are not even as good as those in the Monan region.

If he further invades the hinterland of the Western Region at this time, the supply line will first be stretched further and further.

Therefore, the Chinese army did not attack the heavily garrisoned Turpan, but only used the advantage of the cavalry to cut off Turpan's supplies.

This made Li Guo, the general of Turpan and Li Zicheng's nephew, confused.

Since ancient times, the Central Plains dynasty's expeditions to the Western Regions have always focused on a quick victory.

The Chinese army did the opposite and started a war of attrition with Dashun.

Li Guo led 20,000 elite troops to garrison, and had enough food for half a year. He didn't worry about running out of food for a while.

Just when the Dashun army was puzzled by Hua Xia's actions, Li Yan, who was left behind in the capital, received an urgent report.

A Chinese partial division attacked the Tianshan South Road from Uzang, and the Dashun army was caught off guard.

The important town of Khotan has been lost, and now the Chinese army is attacking the capital city of Shashache.

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(End of this chapter)