Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 16 Heading to Zhangye
"Wow!"

In early May, when the goshawk flew across the blue sky, its eyes were always fixed on the vast earth.

On the lush Hexi land, a team was heading eastward like a long brown dragon.

More than ten miles ahead, behind, left and right of this long dragon, there were many horse-riding Tangqi scattered around.

Their presence allows the brothers in the long dragon to travel light and not have to march with armor.

"Sorry..."

The army horses were rustling, and Liu Jilong, who was on horseback, looked ahead at the Shazhou army more than ten miles away, then stopped and took a look around him.

On the vast grassland, the Tangqi spread out at intervals of ten miles and reported the situation in all directions to the central army in a timely manner.

After the battle of Fulu, the Shazhou army seized a lot of military horses and inferior horses.

Today, the 13th Regiment has changed from a mixed regiment of 70% infantry and 30% cavalry to a mixed regiment of half infantry and half cavalry.

More than a hundred cavalrymen acted as Tangqi during the march and as flanks during the battle, and the third group was only a part of them.

This was the seventh day of the army's march. During these days, the army marched forty miles a day, which was not a slow pace.

"At this rate, we will be able to reach Zhangye the day after tomorrow. It is estimated that the Tanmatang cavalry of the front army will be able to encounter the foreign bandits in Zhangye tomorrow."

Liu Jilong gave instructions while bending over to take out the water bag from the side of the saddle, opened it and took a sip.

It was already very hot in the Hexi Corridor in mid-May. As Tangqi, Liu Jilong and his men were all wearing armor, and the armor plates were burning hot under the sunlight.

Ordinary soldiers did not have the money to buy things like embroidered shirts, so they could only wrap cloth around their upper bodies to prevent the armor from getting too hot.

"This weather is too hot..."

Zhang Chang, who was stationed beside Liu Jilong, couldn't help but wipe his sweat, and the others also looked bitter.

The Hexi Corridor is hot in this season. According to Liu Jilong's experience in his previous life, the temperature outside in the wilderness at noon is at least 35 or 36 degrees.

With such temperatures and the abundant snow water resources of the Qilian Mountains, it is no wonder that the Hexi Corridor was covered with grasslands at that time.

"Let's go. We have to walk slowly like this for two more days."

Shaking the reins, Liu Jilong urged everyone to follow.

As time passed, when the sun was three fingers away from setting, the army in front began to stop and set up camp.

Seeing this, Liu Jilong and his men did not relax, but looked around vigilantly, waiting for the Tangqi from other regiments to take over.

This time, the Shazhou army went on an expedition to the east, with 1,500 infantrymen, 400 cavalrymen, and 1,800 civilian laborers, totaling 3,700 people.

Compared to the wars involving hundreds of thousands or millions of people recorded in history books, their number is clearly not enough.

However, in the Hexi Corridor, no force dares to guarantee that it can easily swallow up such a small number of people.

When the army was setting up camp, Zhang Yichao personally instructed the soldiers how to set up camp, while Zhang Huaishen, Li En, Suo Zhongyi, Wang Jingyi and others followed behind him.

Everyone is very proud of the current size of the army.

"Once we take over the two cities of Ganzhou and train them well, we will be able to have tens of thousands of soldiers!"

The person who spoke was Suo Zhongyi, a Sogdian, the head of one of the major families in Shazhou.

Since the Shazhou army marched eastward, twenty regiments have been set up in six cities including Dunhuang.

Together with the nine and a half regiments led by Zhang Yichao in the Eastern Expedition, the total number was twenty-nine and a half regiments, totaling 5,900 people.

Among these groups, Zhang Yichao can control nearly eleven and a half, the Suo family controls six, the Li family controls five, and other families like the Cao family and the Qinghe Zhang family each control seven.

Because of this, when Suo Zhongyi said this now, it was not simply because he was proud, but a test.

Facing his temptation, Zhang Yichao did not answer immediately. Instead, Li En, who was following behind Zhang Yichao, spoke up:

"It sounds good to have tens of thousands of soldiers, but it is not easy to maintain them. The armor alone would take four states several years to build."

"Haha, of course!" Suo Zhongyi seemed to be generous and straightforward, but he was cunning. He did not want to fight with Li En, so he said to Zhang Yichao: "Governor, if our army takes over Ganzhou, who will be the garrison commander of Ganzhou?"

Suo Zhongyi revealed his true thoughts, he wanted to seize the governance of Ganzhou.

His actions soon aroused public disgust.

Once Ganzhou, with more than 6,000 households, is taken over, it will surpass Shazhou and become the largest state in the Shazhou army.

After the cholera in Tubo, population is undoubtedly the greatest wealth of the Hexi land.

In this era, Hexi had no shortage of grasslands, rivers, or land; the only thing it lacked was people.

Only with enough people can we cultivate enough arable land, graze enough livestock, and produce enough goods to make a profit.

Taking control of Ganzhou can allow a family to rise rapidly.

Therefore, even though they disliked Suo Zhongyi, everyone still focused their attention on Zhang Yichao, trying to find out from his answer who Ganzhou would be handed over to.

Facing the gazes of the crowd, before Zhang Yichao could speak, the young and energetic Zhang Huaishen lost his temper and said:
"Ganzhou hasn't been taken yet. Is it interesting to discuss this now?"

"Haha... Captain Zhang, are you suspicious of the governor?" Suo Zhongyi looked honest:

"With the governor leading the army, it will be easy to capture the small Ganzhou."

"After we take it, Ganzhou will be the cornerstone for our army to advance eastward and retake Liangzhou. It must be handed over to a capable person to govern."

"Only in this way can we provide sufficient food, fodder and weapons for our army's eastern expedition..."

After Suo Zhongyi said this, everyone nodded, showing that they agreed with his statement.

"So..."

"Okay Huai Shen."

Zhang Huaishen wanted to say something but was interrupted by Zhang Yichao.

Zhang Yichao looked at the standing camp fence, turned around and said to everyone expressionlessly:

"I already have an idea about how to govern Ganzhou. Those who have made contributions in Zhangye and Shandan will be considered first."

"it is good!!"

Suo Zhongyi bowed quickly and said, "In that case, we must perform well in the next few days!"

There is no such thing as a quick start without a profit. Zhang Yichao knew very well that if he didn't make a promise, these people would not work hard, so he made such a promise.

"Everyone go your separate ways and have some rest early."

Zhang Yichao signaled everyone to leave, and those who got the answer also left with their own thoughts.

Watching them leave, Zhang Huaishen couldn't help but say, "Uncle, Ganzhou hasn't been taken yet, and this group of people..."

Zhang Yichao raised his hand to signal him to stop talking, and at the same time looked at him and said, "In the two battles to recapture Zhangye and Shandan, I want you to lead the troops first!"

"Yes!!" Zhang Huaishen's anger was calmed down at once because he saw what his uncle was thinking.

Since ancient times, the greatest achievements on the battlefield are nothing more than being the first to reach the top, killing the general, capturing the flag, and breaking through the enemy lines.

Among these four, the first one is the most difficult.

If he led the 13th Regiment to capture the two cities of Zhangye and Shandan first, the governance of Ganzhou would undoubtedly fall into his hands.

Although Zhang Huaishen is young, he is confident that he can govern Ganzhou well.

Seeing his excited look, Zhang Yichao couldn't help but remind him: "Regain your energy and have a good rest."

"Yes, nephew understands." Zhang Huaishen nodded, then walked towards the central military tent with Zhang Yichao.

At the same time, Liu Jilong was still feeding mosquitoes on the grassland at dusk...

(End of this chapter)