I, Altria, only want to rule China.

However, although it was a pity, Leah could not wait for Morgan to finish making the flintlock rifle before sending troops, otherwise once Yumen Pass was broken, a large number of Rouran people would enter the country.

Moreover, even if the flintlock rifle was manufactured, it would still require some time to practice. In short, it would not be used on this trip to the Western Regions.

It was another half a month before Liya brought her army to Yumen Pass. It can be said that when Liya arrived at Yumen Pass, the defenders here had already fought with the Rouran.

When these Rouran people learned that Leah had arrived at Yumen Pass with an army of 10,000, they ran away without saying a word.

So this is where these Rouran people are shameless.

Once they broke through Yumen Pass, they would go south to plunder. Once the imperial army arrived, they would quickly flee and plunder other places.

Anyway, Yumen Pass is not the only place to enter the Central Plains. Many places in the north can lead to the land of China. There is no need to fight to the death at Yumen Pass.

The imperial court sent a large army to the border, but they traveled all the way and gained nothing, which was a waste of money and manpower.

Looking at the group of Rouran people running away, Liya didn't say much. After all, the monks can run away but the temples cannot. Even nomadic people have to graze, right?

"General Yu, it has been several months since we last met. You have worked hard this time. Fortunately, you were here to prevent the Rouran people from breaking through Yumen Pass and causing harm to the people inside the pass."

Liya looked at Yu Ming, whose face was covered in blood, and said gratefully

Yu Ming quickly said, "Guarding Yumen Pass is my duty. My lord, there is no need to be so polite."

As a subject, he receives salary from the emperor and should be loyal to the emperor.

Leah took another look at the soldiers guarding the pass. Originally, there were supposed to be 1000 defenders here, but now there are only a few hundred left, and all of them are injured.

Liya sighed, and then said loudly: "Today, I, the king, thank all the soldiers on behalf of all the people in the pass. For those who died in this battle, I will issue pensions to ensure that their families will have no worries about food and clothing for the rest of their lives. The surviving soldiers will also receive corresponding money and food rewards. Thank you all for your efforts!"

"Long live King Arthur, long live the Queen!"

"Long live King Arthur, long live the Queen!"

"Long live King Arthur, long live the Queen!"

After hearing Leah's words, the soldiers cheered loudly.

After calming the soldiers' hearts, Leah asked them to go back and rest first, and then asked the army she was leading to temporarily defend Yumen Pass for them.

She and Yu Ming came to the interior of the country. Liya asked Yu Ming about the situation of the Rouran people and the investigation of the Western Regions that she had asked Yu Ming to conduct some time ago.

Yu Ming told Liya what he knew so far.

From Yu Ming, Liya learned where these Rouran people came from. Although these Rouran people came from Mobei, not all of them were from Mobei. It can only be said that they have some relationship with Mobei, but not deeply.

From Yu Ming's words, Liya learned that the Rouran people were not united either.

The Rouran tribe was divided into several factions, each of which was ruled by a number of khans, equivalent to the Huns' Chanyu. These khans usually did not submit to each other.

The main nomadic range of the Rouran was roughly the entire territory of modern Mongolia and the Lake Baikal region of the Russian Federation. In the west, it could reach the western foothills of the Altai Mountains and in the east, it could reach the western bank of the Ergun River.

Of course, the core area is in present-day Mongolia. Sometimes the Khanate's influence could reach as far west as the ancient Western Regions, namely present-day Central Asia and Xinjiang, China, and its influence could reach as far south as the northern part of China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

The one currently attacking Yumen Pass is one of the forces from the Western Regions.

"In other words, these Rouran are just one of the tribes." After listening to Yu Ming's words, Liya had a new understanding of the Rouran tribe.

Before this, she had always thought that Rouran was a regime, but from Yu Ming's words, these Rouran were just scattered soldiers and no one had completely unified Rouran.

These Rouran people were the ones that had more contact with the countries in the Western Regions. Because of the indulgence of the countries in the Western Regions, this Rouran army encountered almost no obstruction before attacking Yumen Pass.

Previously, Liya planned to deal with Rouran and then attack the Western Regions. It seems that she has to deal with Rouran’s younger brothers in the Western Regions first. Otherwise, once she fights with Rouran, Rouran’s younger brothers will cut off her retreat, which will be very troublesome.

Soon, Leah had an idea

"General Yu, give me all the information you currently know about the Western Regions. I want to sort it out." Leah said.

Yu Ming took a booklet and said to Liya, "My Lord, we have recorded all the information we have collected about the countries in the Western Regions here. Please take a look."

"I'll take this for now. General Yu, you must have been very tired recently. Go down and have a rest first." Liya opened the booklet and took a look at it before saying to Yu Ming.

"I will take my leave now." Yu Ming nodded and went downstairs to rest.

After Yu Ming left, Liya flipped through the book and read it quietly. After finishing the book, Liya put it down and had an idea in her mind.

However, Liya still handed the booklet to Mulan and asked her to read it more. She still wanted Mulan to be able to stand on her own, as female generals were rare in Chinese history.

It is often said that women are as good as men.

This booklet does not actually contain much information about the countries in the Western Regions. It only gives a general introduction to the existence of these countries and their current locations, but does not provide any information on the relationships between these countries.

However, the Western Regions is so vast, and it is already very good that they can investigate all these in such a short time.

"My lord, are you planning to completely conquer the Western Regions this time?" After reading the booklet, Hua Mulan thought for a while and asked.

"Yes, but in Mulan's opinion, which country should we attack first?" asked Leah.

On the road to the Western Regions, thanks to the efforts of previous generations, there are now actually two roads, one leading to each country in the Western Regions.

But whether going north or south, we must first kill Loulan, who is blocking the door.

Hua Mulan thought for a while and said, "I think we should attack Shanshan first. Shanshan is the closest to us and is located at the throat. Whether it is the northern route to Luntai, Qiuci, Wusun, or the southern route to Yutian, Shache, and Shule, we have to transfer in Shanshan. We have to take Shanshan first and then take this place.

As supplies, the rear will be safe."

The Shanshan mentioned by Hua Mulan is Loulan, but now it has been renamed Shanshan.

Chapter 74 No Friends West of Yangguan

Upon hearing this, Leah nodded in agreement.

Although Shanshan is just a small country, its land area is actually as large as the two provinces of Zhejiang and Jiangsu in the south. Of course, although it is big, its population is not that large.

As long as they can take down Shanshan, then the rest will be much easier. So Shanshan cannot be avoided no matter what.

This person, Feng Shan, is actually very unlucky.

Although Shanshan has always been against the Han court, the situation in Shanshan is actually very complicated. It is simply a bloody history of a small country sandwiched between two superpowers.

Hundreds of years ago, after the Xiongnu drove the Dayuezhi to Central Asia, they conquered the thirty-six kingdoms in the Western Regions, forcing them to hand over grain, gold, ironware, and livestock every year, and to serve as the Xiongnu's eyes and ears and block the Han envoys.

It was not until the Han Dynasty opened up the Western Regions and opened up Hexi that Emperor Wu of Han realized that seizing the Western Regions and completely cutting off the right arm of the Xiongnu was a necessary condition for winning the war, and Loulan, which was closest to the Han Dynasty, was the first to bear the brunt.

Emperor Wu of Han sent Zhao Po Nu with 700 cavalrymen to attack Loulan. From then on, Loulan became a younger brother of the Xiongnu and the Han Dynasty.

In order to ensure the safety of Loulan, the King of Loulan had no choice but to send one prince each to the Chanyu Court and Chang'an as a hostage.

But something happened to Prince Loulan in the Han Dynasty. He committed a serious crime in Chang'an and was sentenced to castration by the court.

So the Loulan prince was dragged to the silkworm room and castrated! After the old king died, a new king had to ascend the throne, but as a hostage of the Han Dynasty, he became a eunuch. How could a eunuch return to the country to succeed to the throne?

Therefore, the Loulan people had no choice but to bring back the prince who was held hostage by the Xiongnu. As the influence of the Han Dynasty's expedition to Dayuan was still there, the new king did not dare to act rashly and still sent his two sons to continue dancing in front of the two dynasties.

Then, within a few years, the King of Loulan died again. Coincidentally, the Han Dynasty withdrew from the Western Regions due to internal rebellion, so the Huns regained control of the north and south routes. The hostage who grew up in the Huns returned to Loulan and continued to be king.

The result was that two generations of Loulan kings grew up under the influence of the Huns, so it was inevitable that their butts would be crooked.

Then he refused the request to enter the court to meet the Han emperor, and then started a "one-sided" policy, and began to serve the Huns wholeheartedly.

The result was that they opposed the Han Dynasty in every way and snatched away all the tributes that the Han Dynasty gave to other countries in the Western Regions. They were obviously just a small country, but they kept playing fence-sitter. It is no wonder that the Han Dynasty wanted to kill them.

At that time, various poems about Loulan emerged, all of which expressed the desire to eliminate them as soon as possible.

But for Loulan, it was also very unfair. It was just a small country. If it did not listen to the Han Dynasty, it would be bullied by the Huns. If it did not listen to the Huns, it would be beaten by the Han Dynasty. It was simply unlucky for Loulan.

Finally, in order to solve this problem, the Han Dynasty sent diplomatic missions to the Western Regions, stationed troops in the Western Regions, and established the Western Regions Protectorate.

Of course, if the dynasty is stable, there will not be too many problems in the Western Regions. Once problems arise within the dynasty, the garrison in the Western Regions will be withdrawn immediately, which will ultimately lead to the problems in the Western Regions never being solved.

In short, for more than 2000 years, the Western Regions have been repeatedly jumping back and forth with the Central Plains of China. It was not until the Qing Dynasty that it was completely stabilized.

Finally, when New China was founded, the Western Regions were completely stabilized. It can be said that without the efforts of several generations of people, Xinjiang might have had nothing to do with China.

That's why Leah wanted to lead the troops to take back the Western Regions. The longer the Western Regions are separated from China, the more unstable it will be. Only by taking it back as soon as possible can it be quickly stabilized.

Moreover, the Western Regions is also an important place for trade with Europe. The glass, soap and other things made by Leah cannot be sold except to the Central Plains. If the Western Regions are not opened up, these things cannot be sold.

So no matter what, she had to conquer the Western Regions.

Hua Mulan thought for a moment and said, "But according to the information given by General Yu, Shanshan Capital is 600 miles away from Yumen Pass, and the barrier west of Yumen Pass has been abandoned for a long time. The desert is slow to march, and it will take us at least half a month to arrive. The road to the Western Region is difficult, and I am afraid that many soldiers will not adapt to the climate and die in the army...

Liya tapped the table with her finger. "In fact, I have thought about this problem. If we only take a few people with us to kill the main culprit and replace Shanshan with a prince who is closer to us, the cost will be much lower... But this is only a temporary solution, and we can only be like the Han Dynasty, unable to fully control the Western Regions."

And what if Liya wants to carry out reforms in the future? She has no people in the Western Regions, and there is no army stationed there. The nobles in the Western Regions will only pretend to obey her, and then she will have to lead the army to fight again?

This kind of waste of time and money is enough only once, so it is better to prevent future troubles now.

In fact, whenever the countries in the Western Regions encountered the Chinese army attacking them, they hardly put up much resistance.

For hundreds of years, these guys have been accustomed to being fence-sitters. Once the Han army attacked them, they would surrender directly. Once the Han army left, they would surrender to the Huns. Although the Huns are now the Rouran, it has become a habit for them.

In fact, Leah knew clearly that if she led her army there, she would hardly encounter any decent resistance.

After all, in the Western Regions, a country with a population of more than 100,000 is considered a big country. It is almost impossible for these big countries to gather an army of 10,000 to fight against them.

Soon, under Leah's insistence, it was decided to destroy Zhongshan first and then attack other countries.

The 10,000-strong army first rested at Yumen Pass for two days, and then Leah led the army to set off for Xianshan.

The weather today is just average, but there are signs that it will change. The soldiers of Yumen Pass stand on both sides of the Silk Road, holding spears and halberds, watching Leah and the others leave.

Yu Ming wanted to go, but Liya asked him to stay. After all, no one knew whether the Rouran would come back, so the important task of guarding Yumen Pass could only be handed over to him.

Not only that, Leah also left her some grenades just in case.

To go to Shanshan, one has to pass through two large deserts, one is Sanlongsha and the other is Bailongdui. Both are hundreds of miles long and it takes more than ten days to walk out of them. Then you can reach Lop Nur, which is rich in water and grass. This is also the most dangerous part of the journey.

In fact, Leah had done a lot of preparation for this trip to the Western Regions.

In addition, she had traveled this route to the Western Regions before and knew that there was a big temperature difference between day and night in the desert, so she had already prepared a lot of supplies for this.

The most important point is that she brought Merlin with her. If there is a real shortage of supplies, she can use this guy as a locker and run back and forth between the Western Regions and Xiliang. Anyway, this guy has fast feet and can't be wasted!

Chapter 75: I will never return until I conquer the Western Regions

Soldiers marching during the day had to wear felt hats to protect themselves from the sun to avoid heatstroke and dizziness.

At night, they had to wear thick felt hats learned from the Rouran people, hide in felt tents, and wrap themselves in rough wool blankets to resist the cold wind sweeping across the desert.

In addition, you should prepare two sets of clothes, summer and winter. You should also pay more attention to your feet. The hemp shoes and hemp shoes that people in the Central Plains usually wear should not be worn too often.

During the day, the sand is hot enough to fry eggs, and the friction is very strong, so a pair of shoes will wear out after a few days of walking.

They also had to use the "Luodi" that was also introduced to the Central Plains from the Hu people, that is, high-top leather shoes.

These boots are more suitable for riding and trekking on sandy ground. They are wear-resistant and the boot shaft reaches up to the shin, so sand cannot enter.

In addition to these common clothes, they also brought plenty of armor and weapons. Liya also spent a lot of money on this operation, and each person had a set of iron armor!

Finally, he brought a cartload of food crops.

Fortunately, they don’t have to carry any arrows, otherwise it would be even more troublesome. Now that they have things like grenades, it saves a lot of trouble.

In fact, these things were originally made to defeat the Rouran, but they are now used in the Western Regions.

A day later, the army had moved away from Yumen Pass and entered the desolate frontier, like a lone boat entering the sea.

The endless yellow sea of ​​sand rolled up and down, with towering sand dunes rising one after another, like a million-strong army blocking their advance.

But where the desert met the sky, Leah seemed to see a city.

But it was fleeting, the weather changed, the wind started to blow

The endless yellow sand covered the sky and the sun. Countless yellow sands hit the faces of the soldiers, making them feel extremely painful.

But looking at the phantom in the distance, Leah felt her heart beating and her blood burning, just because she thought of that line of poetry.

"The yellow sand wears golden armor in a hundred battles."

"I will not return until I conquer Loulan!"

This trip is not only to conquer Shanshan, but also to conquer the entire Western Region. She will not simply return if she does not take back the entire Western Region!

On the first day of leaving Yumen Pass, Leah chose to send a hot air balloon to lead the way.

A group of people were tied with ropes below, and the people on the hot air balloon used telescopes to find the direction for everyone. At night, Leah found a small lake and chose to spend the night there.

Although the soldiers were covered with sheepskin blankets, they still felt cold.

By the next morning, after a night of wind and sand, the original small lake was almost buried by the wind and sand, leaving only a shallow puddle.

However, the signs of life here have not completely disappeared. Next to a low-lying sandy area, you can still see a large area of ​​reeds, licorice, white calamus and other plants.

There is also an abandoned post station and a large and deep well next to the post station. The water drawn from the well is different from the salty water in the lake, but is surprisingly sweet.