Chapter 377: Journey to Longyou
The next morning, Xiao Xia led two thousand cavalrymen to Longyou.

Guzang County and Huangshui County are actually separated by only the Qilian Mountains, with a straight-line distance of no more than 300 miles. However, they must go around Jincheng County and then turn west to Xiping County, which is exactly a triangle. They have to take the other two sides to reach the third point.

As for Dadouba Valley, it is closer to Tuyuhun, but farther away from Huangshui County, so it is better to go through Jincheng County.

However, the two thousand troops led by Xiao Xia were all cavalry. Each man had three horses. They set out lightly and marched day and night. It took them only three days to complete the journey that would have taken ten days by cart and they arrived at Huangshui County.

At this time, 60,000 troops gathered in Huangshui County, and Li Jing, the commander of the Eastern Army, also arrived in Huangshui County. In fact, there was also a southern line, which was the source area of ​​the Jiuqu Yellow River. There were basically no Tuyuhun troops here, but there were Dangxiang people. In order to prevent the Dangxiang people from suddenly launching an attack and seizing territory, an army had to be deployed in the Jiuqu area to ensure the Sui Dynasty’s control over the Jiuqu area.

This task was naturally given to Changsun Sheng, the deputy governor of Shanzhou. That is why, even though there was a famous general like Changsun Sheng in Longyou, Li Jing was appointed as the commander of the Eastern Army. This is the reason. Changsun Sheng was appointed as the commander of the Southern Route and would lead an army of 20,000 to station in Jiuqu to monitor the movements of the Dangxiang people.

When Xiao Xia arrived in Huangshui County, he immediately met with Generals Li Jing, Changsun Sheng and Zhang Xutuo.

“See His Royal Highness the King of Chu!”

The three bowed and saluted. Xiao Xia waved his hand and said, “Generals, you are welcome. Please take a seat!”

Li Jing is still the governor of Youzhou. He went to Beijing this time to pay homage to the new emperor, report on his work, and then accept the appointment as the Grand Commander of Youzhou. When he heard that the court was going to use military force against Tuyuhun again, Li Jing immediately volunteered to fight.

However, it was the first time that Li Jing had come into contact with Xiao Xia. Along the way, he was very worried that if such a young prince were to command the overall situation, it would lead to a complete loss in the end, just like Yang Jun who was greedy for merit and advanced recklessly, and finally his troops were trapped in Queshu Valley and the entire army was destroyed.

It seemed that Xiao Xia was even younger than Yang Jun, and he was really worried.

During the past two days, Li Jing talked with Chang Sun Sheng, who highly praised Xiao Xia and listed his many battles. Only then did Li Jing realize that Xiao Xia had been through hundreds of battles, especially when it came to the fight against Tuyuhun. Xiao Xia was the one with the most say, which made Li Jing’s heart full of expectations again.

Xiao Xia said to Li Jing: “When we conquered Tuyuhun before, we only taught them a lesson and warned them not to covet the Hehuang Valley. In the words of the previous emperor, we persuaded them with the kingly way. But the facts have proved that Tuyuhun is still ready to make a move. Not only Tuyuhun, but other foreign tribes have never understood the kingly way. They only obey the tyrant and believe in the law of the jungle.”

“Law of the jungle?” Li Jing and Zhang Xutuo were both stunned.

“The law of the jungle is that the strong prey on the weak, and it’s a matter of life and death.”

At this point, Xiao Xia smiled and said, “Of course, we need to analyze the specific situation, and we also need to consider the country’s ability to bear and the necessity of war. The reason why I strongly oppose retaining the Tuyuhun royal court is because Tuyuhun is too close to Guanzhong. Once something happens in the eastern part of the Sui Dynasty, the court needs to go all out, and Tuyuhun will become a worry.

Tuyuhun will certainly take advantage of the emptiness of Longyou and Guanzhong to invade. The only way to prevent such a wolf from being tyrannized in the future is to completely destroy it while we are strong, leaving no trouble for our descendants. “

Li Jing and Zhang Xutuo nodded repeatedly. They were both warriors and quite agreed with Xiao Xia’s law of the jungle. Li Jing said slowly, “Your Highness is right. Those who follow the law first will control others, and those who act later will be controlled by others. The evil wolf next to our bed must be killed as soon as possible!”

Xiao Xia smiled again and said, “If you want to do your work well, you must first sharpen your tools. This time when we attack Tuyuhun, we must first start with intelligence. We must know ourselves and the enemy. Of course, it is not easy to know ourselves and the enemy in detail, but we must at least understand the outline. I have previously asked some Sogdians who have been doing business in Tuyuhun for a long time, and I have a general understanding of the situation.”

Xiao Xia spread out a map, and Li Jing and the other two were cheered up. As generals, they were very sensitive to maps. Once a map was taken out, there must be detailed intelligence.

“This is the West Sea, this is the Dayi River, this is Jishishan Mountain, and here is Chiling. The terrain should be clear at a glance!” Xiao Xia was talking to Li Jing and Zhang Xutuo who were next to him, and Chang Sun Sheng was already very familiar with it.

Li Jing and Zhang Xutuo nodded. They had done some homework before coming and could fully understand the map.

“Your Highness, please continue!”

Xiao Xia pointed to the cities marked on the map and said, “This is Fuqi City, the capital of Tuyuhun. This side is the twin cities of Heyuan, Chishui City and Jishi City, which are currently captured by the Dangxiang. To the west are Shanshan City and Qiemo City. Tuyuhun has always adhered to the characteristic of a cunning rabbit having three burrows. The original three burrows of a cunning rabbit were Fuqi City, Heyuan and Shanshan City. Once their main force was defeated near the West Sea, they would immediately retreat to Heyuan and Shanshan City.

Previously, I and fifty soldiers were captured as prisoners and moved southward. I never knew where they wanted to move us to. Now I know that we must be moved to Heyuan, either Chishui City or Jishi City.

In addition, Dayan Mangjiebo, the second son of Tuyuhun King Fuyun, has been stationed in Shanshan. It can be said that Shanshan is the second capital of Tuyuhun. If we think that Tuyuhun will be destroyed after occupying Fuqi City, we are totally wrong. Their elite troops are still in Shanshan City and Qiemo City. As long as we relax a little, they will come back. This is why we must go west to Shanshan and Qiemo. “

Chang Sun Sheng pondered for a moment and said, “In other words, Tuyuhun no longer has any power in the Heyuan area?”

“Yes! One of the three caves is missing. The two cities of Heyuan have been occupied by the Dangxiang, but they have taken Qiemo City as a new cave. In fact, it is still a cunning rabbit with three caves, Fuxi City, Shanshan City and Qiemo City. If you want to destroy Tuyuhun, these three cities cannot be let go.”

Chang Sun Sheng continued, “But the emperor said that he wanted to establish Heyuan County, but we only control the northern part of Heyuan now. The two most prosperous cities, Chishui and Jishi, have been occupied by the Tanguts. Does Your Highness have any plans?”

Xiao Xia said slowly: “In my plan, Heyuan County will be established last. After dealing with Tuyuhun, I will deal with Dangxiang. If possible, I will destroy Dangxiang together.”

Li Jing looked at the map carefully and said, “It’s a long way from Fuxi City to Shanshan City! It’s at least 1,500 miles. How are we going to get supplies?”

Xiao Xia smiled and said, “That’s right, it is indeed 1,500 miles. The distance along the way is basically Gobi Desert and alpine meadows, but the problem is that we can’t get supplies, and the other side has no supplies either, so how can they retreat? So it is impossible to have no supplies. The Sogdians told me that there are many small lakes along the way, and some small tribes live around the lakes. These small tribes should be their supply points.”

At this time, Zhang Xutuo spoke for the first time: “When the enemy retreats, they are likely to retreat with the supply tribe, and the pursuers behind will have no supplies.”

“General Zhang is absolutely right!”

Xiao Xia nodded and said, “We will indeed face the situation of withdrawing troops and supplies together, but since we have thought of this possibility, we will not make this mistake and we must find a way to solve it.”

“Your Highness, do you have any solution?” Zhang Xutuo asked.

Xiao Xia nodded, “I am considering attacking Shanshan from two directions. Look at the map. Shanshan is not far from Dunhuang. While our army is attacking Tuyuhun, another army should also set out from Dunhuang at the same time, take the southern Silk Road to reach Pulehai first, and then walk along the Qiemo River for about 200 miles to reach Shanshan City. It would be best if our army could capture Shanshan City first, and then give a head-on blow to the Tuyuhun army that has traveled a long distance.

On the other hand, after we occupy Fuqi City, we will continue to pursue westwards, so we must prepare sufficient supplies and camel teams in advance. The army will chase with supply camels. Even if the enemy’s supply point is withdrawn, we have our own supply team and can kill all the way west.”

Zhang Xutuo said happily: “Your Highness has spoken exactly what I am thinking, and it coincides with my considerations. You must bring enough medicine, otherwise the terrain is too high and the soldiers cannot withstand it!”

(End of this chapter)