Big man: I am the Champion Marquis!

Chapter 91 A smooth journey

From summer to winter, Huo Xian led the army on a continuous march, and the journey was not over yet.

The cold wind was raging outside, and Huo Xian was curled up in the tent, warming himself by the fire, studying something carefully.

"One nitrate, two sulfur, and three charcoal." Huo Xian muttered to himself, "I still haven't found the most optimal ratio, but it should be enough."

Chen Ju and others were watching carefully, they didn't know much else, but they had some simple knowledge about gunpowder.

Gunpowder existed in the Spring and Autumn Period, but it was invented by some alchemists accidentally. Nowadays, people only refine gunpowder when they are making elixirs.

The story of Qin Shi Huang seeking immortality is well-known, and Liu Che was no better. He sought elixirs from the people, recruited alchemists, and made elixirs himself. From then on, making elixirs became a trend and began to prevail.

Now seeing Huo Xian making gunpowder, Chen Ju and others subconsciously thought that the prince was refining elixir, and they expected that the prince could achieve immortality after refining it.

Zhao Anguo entered the tent in the snowy weather. Huo Xian cursed, "Close the curtain for me now! You have delayed my important event. I will never forgive you!"

Zhao Anguo smiled and said, "My Lord, you can't make the elixir. When you were in Chang'an, there were so many alchemists, but you didn't go to ask for advice. You had to come out of seclusion before you thought about making the elixir!"

It was no secret that the Marquis of Guanjun liked to make elixirs in his spare time during the march. However, no one in the army thought there was anything wrong with it, and the nobleman naturally had his own ideas.

In the past, the Grand Marshal and General Huoqi liked to play Cuju when he went on an expedition, so it’s no problem for the current Marquis Guanjun to like making pills.

"Have you settled your men?" Huo Xian stared at the crucible carefully and carefully added some saltpeter. "We don't have enough food to keep warm. Let's kill some more cattle and sheep."

"That's enough. We haven't marched these days. Let's wait until the snow stops." Zhao Anguo said as he sat by the fire. "Sir, we haven't even covered half of the distance yet, have we?"

Huo Xian said, "We have walked most of the way, but it will be difficult to travel further. It will probably be even more difficult after the beginning of spring next year, but we will definitely reach Dayuan before summer."

Suddenly, Ren An came running over excitedly and said, "General, General Ershi has conquered Luntai!"

Huo Xian raised his head and asked, "What did you say?"

"The messenger said that Luntai refused to provide baggage, and General Ershi was furious. He broke into the city within a few days." Ren An said happily and proudly, "We slaughtered them all."

Huo Xian frowned slightly, then said, "I see. Luntai was originally pro-Xiongnu, but now they know how powerful they are. The rest of Qiuci, Gumo, etc., should also know what's good for them now."

The fact that the Han Dynasty sent tens of thousands of troops this time was enough to scare some small countries in the Western Regions. Not only did they not dare to continue to be the eyes and ears of the Xiongnu, but they also had to provide some supplies for the Han army.

It is normal for Li Guangli to destroy the country of Luntai, which is so stupid.

"It's really interesting that I didn't fight in the first battle after leaving the retreat." Huo Xian couldn't help but complain, "Tell me, is it him, Li Guangli, who has good luck, or I, Huo Xian, who has bad luck?"

Chen Ju said proudly, "Of course, your reputation has spread throughout the Western Regions. Whenever you arrive in a city or a place, the king or the city lord will send you fine wine and food, and have beauties accompany you. General Ershi is just benefiting from this."

The others nodded in agreement and did not take Li Guangli's achievement seriously, as he had only destroyed a small country in the Western Regions.

Huo Xian opened his mouth and said, "Order Zhang Gui'an to go to Wusun and ask Wusun's ruler, Lie Jiaomi, to send troops to join me in conquering Dayuan."

Zhang Anguo was somewhat surprised and said, "Sir, Wusun was originally a great country in the Western Regions. I also heard that the former king of Wusun, Nan Doumi, was killed by the Yuezhi. The current Wusun king was originally raised by the Xiongnu Chanyu. Can he join us in attacking Dayuan?"

Ren An seized the opportunity to show off himself, "Young Lord, I have heard that Wusun admires the might of the Han Dynasty. They also offered thousands of horses as a betrothal gift to marry a Han relative. Wusun can help the Han Dynasty."

There is nothing wrong with saying this. Before this, the most important mission of Zhang Qian's mission to the Western Regions was to invite Wusun and Dayuezhi to join forces to attack the Xiongnu.

Although they failed to complete this strategic task, the divided Wusun, under Lie Jiaomi, knew that the Western Han Dynasty was actively establishing diplomatic relations with countries in the Western Regions, and therefore requested a marriage alliance with the Han Dynasty in order to seek support.

Princess Xijun had been married to Wusun for several years. After the Xiongnu learned of the marriage between Wusun and the Western Han Dynasty, they also sent a woman from the Chanyu to marry Liejiaomi, who made her the left lady.

Lie Jiaomi married into both the Han and Xiongnu families at the same time, which meant that he only established diplomatic relations with the Han and had not yet decided to break with the Xiongnu.

It seems to be hesitating, but sometimes small countries are like this. They dare not offend one side easily and can only keep wavering.

And those big countries will not just use military force blindly, they still need to fight for what they should fight for, especially countries like Wusun that have considerable strength in the Western Regions. Even if they cannot win them over, they will not push them to their mortal enemies.

"Just do as I ask. I know my limits." Huo Xian said with a smile, "I'm not inviting him to fight the Xiongnu. What's there to say? Just say that I'm inviting him. I hope the King of Wusun will send at least 3,000 cavalry to help."

After hearing what Huo Xian said, the others naturally had no choice. They didn't know the inside story of these major events, and it was not their turn to make the decision.

However, Ren An and Zhao Anguo also felt that this cavalry general was too bold. According to common sense, Wusun had not yet completely turned to the Han Dynasty, so how could they easily send troops? After all, Dayuan was also one of the powerful countries in the Western Regions. This was simply to make Wusun and Dayuan become enemies.

Besides, these matters were the responsibilities of the imperial court, and Huo Xian's invitation to the King of Wusun to send troops to help was somewhat beyond his authority.

However, Huo Xian was too lazy to explain. This time he was not simply going to attack Dayuan, but to make the Han Dynasty's power take root thoroughly in the land of the Western Regions.

Therefore, whether it was destroying Luntai or testing Wusun, this was something that had to be done. All of this was also for the purpose of further controlling the Western Regions, which was also one of the strategies formulated by the emperor.

Huo Xian was just an executor, just a little more radical in the execution process.

If the wind and snow are too strong, then we will set up camp. If the wind and snow are not too strong and the weather is clear, then the army will continue to advance.

After all, this expedition is to Dayuan. The journey is really long, so we must seize the time. Otherwise, it is very likely that we will cross the Pamir Plateau in summer and fight Dayuan in winter.

That's not possible. It seems that it would be much easier to cross the Pamir Plateau in summer, which is true. But after the war, it will be winter and the return journey may be heavy.

The time for attacking Dayuan must not exceed summer at the latest. This was also a series of plans made by Huo Xian before the expedition. The army had to strictly follow the marching speed when it was sent in two routes. Failure to meet the deadline would be a serious crime.

Huo Xian couldn't help but feel happy after receiving the supplies from the small countries in the Western Regions again. "Li Guangli has done a good thing. Now the countries in the Western Regions have behaved a lot better."

Zhao Anguo was surprised. "That's true. He also said that last year when General Ershi was on the march, all the countries along the way closed their gates, so the baggage was insufficient. In my opinion, he is still ignorant of military affairs."

Because of the reputation of Marquis Guanjun, the large army of the imperial court, and the fact that Li Guangli had just massacred an entire country, the countries in the Western Regions became more obedient.

Even though we are now in the traditional sphere of influence of the Xiongnu, this is indeed a more Xiongnu-friendly area.

But the result was still that when the Han army arrived, the countries in the Western Regions welcomed the army happily, presented baggage and so on, and did not dare to be negligent in the slightest.

Huo Xian thought it was a good thing and said, "This is a good thing for us. It's true that I like fighting wars, but fighting a small country in the Western Regions is not very interesting."

Zhao Anguo also said, "Now that we know what kind of country Loulan is that Aweng is fighting against, I always feel that it is not impressive enough. If it were me, I would definitely fight against a country with a population of tens of thousands."

The 36 states in the Western Regions sometimes feel like they are just making up the numbers. A country with a population of more than 10,000 dares to be called a country. This is simply unimaginable in the Han Dynasty.

But the reality is that this kind of situation is everywhere in the Western Regions. It is indeed a kingdom, although it is a small one.

"We have plenty of supplies now, which is much better than last year when General Ershi lost many soldiers along the way." Huo Xian was full of confidence. "When we reach Dayuan with a strong army, it will be a tough battle."

When the Han Dynasty fought against the Huns, it was a battle between tens of thousands of people and tens of thousands of people. The total number of people on both sides even exceeded 200,000. This was a large-scale battle.

But don't underestimate Dayuan. It is still possible to gather 10,000 or 20,000 soldiers. With the defense of the city walls, it may be possible to defeat the Han army that has traveled a long distance.

Last year, we defeated a group of scattered Han troops. This year, we may have a chance to defeat the seemingly strong Han army.

Defeating the Han army once gave Dayuan a lot of confidence. The so-called strength of the Han army might just be a rumor.

Although some factors such as weather and geography cannot be overcome, the expedition has been generally smooth since its launch, with no unnecessary losses.

Now the army has not suffered much loss and its combat effectiveness is still sufficiently guaranteed, which is enough to make people feel happy.

The army entered Dayuan in the best condition, which was what Huo Xian and others wanted to see. Because a war against Dayuan was a must.

In addition, it is also very likely that some wars that were not originally planned will break out.

Huo Xian and others continued to lead the army forward. Altitude sickness and other factors made many people uncomfortable, but fortunately the losses were not great and they were gradually overcome.

"After walking for more than half a year, we finally arrived!" Huo Xian was in a very good mood, "Congling, we have finally passed it!"

Zhao Anguo was a little tired and said, "Sir, the army's baggage is running low."

"It's okay, we'll be there soon." Huo Xian smiled and said, "Get ready to rest and get the men ready for battle. Yucheng City is right in front of us, we have to destroy it!"

Last year, Li Guangli was defeated in Yucheng City and had to turn back before reaching the capital of Dayuan.

And now, Huo Xian is about to take action against Yu Chengcheng. As a barrier for Dayuan, Yu Chengcheng must be taken!

(End of this chapter)