Chapter 179 Dunhuang Crisis
Su Ze smiled and said, "Why not just defeat the thieves who cut off the trade route?"
After hearing what Su Ze said, Madam An felt that he was too arrogant. If another Northern Wei official said this, she would probably think that the other party was ignorant and fearless, but for some reason, Su Ze's words made Madam An feel that it was somewhat credible.
Madam An continued, "Dunhuang is besieged by the Gaoche people, who are also supported by the Tuyuhun and the Hephthalites. The road from Liangzhou to Dunhuang has been cut off for half a year, and even the Yuan governor can't do anything about it."
It was indeed a very frustrating job for Yuan Yu, the governor of Liangzhou.
Dunhuang was originally a military town like the Six Garrisons. However, when Emperor Xiaowen reorganized Hezhou, he changed Dunhuang Town into Dunhuang County, which was under the jurisdiction of Liangzhou.
The current governor of Dunhuang County, Yuan Rong, is also a member of the Northern Wei royal family. He is the great-great-grandson of Emperor Mingyuan Tuoba Si and the son of Yuan Teng, the captain of the city gate.
From Yuan Rong's father's official position, we can tell that his family had declined, so he was sent to serve as a county governor in the westernmost territory of the empire.
Like Yuan Yu, the governor of Liangzhou who loved literature, the Northern Wei Dynasty liked to appoint useless royal family members to serve as high-ranking officials in the frontier areas. Yuan Rong, the prefect of Dunhuang County, loved Buddhism. He had no objection to the court sending him to Dunhuang, because the first thing he did after arriving in Dunhuang was to organize the continued excavation of Mogao Grottoes.
Letting Yuan Rong come to Dunhuang is like putting a mouse into a rice jar, where he will feel at home like a fish in water.
If Yuan Rong had excavated the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang in peacetime, it would have been a construction wonder and a cultural victory.
Anyway, the Mogao Grottoes have been excavated for hundreds of years since the Sixteen Kingdoms and Five Liang regimes, and Yuan Rong could not have excavated many caves.
But at this time, the construction of Mogao Grottoes again consumed the limited manpower of Dunhuang, which gave the Gaoche people, who had long coveted Hexi, an opportunity. They sent troops to cut off the road between Dunhuang and Zhangye, and 10,000 Gaoche troops besieged Dunhuang.
The only way for the Dunhuang prefect, who was a devout Buddhist, to deal with the siege of the army was to hide in his mansion and copy Buddhist scriptures, hoping that the Buddha would bring down divine punishment to eliminate the Gaoche people outside the city.
If it weren't for the Han Chinese nobles Linghu and Deng families in Dunhuang who insisted on defending the city, the people in Dunhuang were united, and the Gaoche people lacked siege equipment, Dunhuang would have fallen long ago.
Madam An added: "This time the Gaoche people came with great force. They occupied Hecang City and controlled Yumen, so the Yuan governor had no way to send troops."
Hecang City is a city near Yumen Pass, the most important pass in the Hexi Corridor. When Su Ze heard that the Gaoche people had controlled Yumen Pass, he understood why Yuan Yu was helpless.
Yumen Pass is the most important pass in the Hexi Corridor. This dangerous pass is located on the river and backed by mountains, and controls the main road from the Hexi Corridor to the Western Regions. If the army cannot go through Yumen Pass, it will have to detour through the desert for hundreds of miles, and the army will collapse before reaching Dunhuang City.
Also because they captured Yumen Pass this time, the Gaoche changed their previous style of robbing and running away, and set up camp near Dunhuang.
If Madam An had not been disappointed with the situation in Liangzhou, she would not have crossed the Dadouba Valley and taken the southern route of the Silk Road.
The soldiers under Su Ze are indeed elite, but what if the enemy does not fight you?
The enemy is hiding inside Yumen Pass. If you take a detour, they will attack your logistics. The Gaoche people are really like a single man blocking the pass from ten thousand.
Naturally, Su Ze would not explain his thoughts to Madam An. He just asked someone to take Madam An away, and then bought the cotton seeds from her at a high price as agreed, and then checked the military strength of Hezhou.
As winter passed and spring arrived, Su Ze took advantage of the slack season to complete the reorganization of the Hexi military forces.
Now he has 2,000 regular soldiers and 3,000 auxiliary soldiers. He also controls 1,000 county soldiers in each of the three cities of Linqiang, Xiping and Baohan.
Among the regular troops, the armored cavalry was expanded to 100 people, and each armored cavalry was equipped with one superior warhorse, three ordinary warhorses, and two auxiliary soldiers.
There were 800 Xiliang cavalrymen, each of whom was equipped with two to three war horses and one auxiliary soldier.
In addition, Su Ze was lucky enough to draw the [Han Crossbowman] series of soldiers. This type of long-range soldier requires two people to work together to pull the crossbow, and can have an unexpected killing effect when used together on the battlefield.
It’s a pity that the wood and bowstrings needed to make such a powerful crossbow are too difficult to collect. Currently, there are only a hundred people in total, including the summoned followers and trained crossbowmen under Su Ze.
The remaining one thousand regular soldiers are light-armored archers. In fact, if Su Ze increases the number of soldiers at all costs, the number of light cavalry can be even greater.
Because in Hezhou, a semi-agricultural and semi-pastoral area, the Qiang tribes are natural light cavalry and they only need a little reorganization and training before they can go into battle.
During the Three Kingdoms period, Xiliang could easily mobilize a cavalry of tens of thousands of people. In fact, the number of elite soldiers was not large, and most of them were recruited Qiang cavalry.
However, Su Ze did not plan to mobilize these Qiang cavalry. Instead, he preferred to recruit and train his own soldiers from the settled tribes and Sanchang Village. The advantage of this was that although the soldiers would be trained slowly, they would be more disciplined and more loyal to Su Ze.
County soldiers are basically city defense soldiers such as archers. Most of them are farmers near the three cities. They are trained briefly during the slack season and are able to perform city defense tasks.
In addition, there are big drivers trained by the [Queyue Formation Master] and scouts for reconnaissance. Su Ze also trained a Mi Ni water brigade of less than 100 people on the Huangshui River, which is mainly used to deliver letters and transport supplies between the three cities of Huangshui.
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Outside Dunhuang City.
Yi Fu, the Left Wise King of Gaoche, was drinking with his generals.
Yi Fu was the younger brother of Gaoche King Mi'etu. The loose nature of the grassland regime meant that the grassland king had far less control than the Central Plains king.
The Gaoche split from the Rouran after becoming powerful. The same was true for the Tiele, Turks, and Uighurs. The next grassland empire always emerged from the previous one.
In order to prevent this from happening, the King of Gaoche had to send his brothers and sons to suppress the large tribes that had disloyal intentions. The Zuoxian King Yifu was in charge of these tribes in the western part of Gaoche.
However, the disadvantage of doing so is that once the prestige of the Gaoche King is reduced, those local powerful figures who have royal blood and soldiers will easily lead their troops to rebel against the royal court, and when a young Khan succeeds to the throne, he will also experience bloody massacres within the royal family.
This is also the reason why the grassland assembly system proposed by Su Ze was accepted by King Gaoche, because he was facing the same dilemma. In case of his death, King Gaoche also needed a system to pass the throne to his son, instead of his descendants being slaughtered by his younger brothers and his wife being occupied by his younger brothers.
The Zuoxian King Yifu was naturally dissatisfied with his brother's weakness. One of the reasons why he besieged Dunhuang was to prove to the Gaoche people that he was the real king.
If Yi Fu could capture Dunhuang, he could not only rob the countless treasures in the city, but also establish greater prestige and force his incompetent brother to give up the throne.
"Your Majesty, Dunhuang is already running out of food. As long as we besiege it until summer, Dunhuang will surrender!"
The Gaoche people lacked siege equipment, but Yifu dared to besiege Dunhuang because he knew that Dunhuang did not have enough food.
The war logic of the grassland people is completely different from that of the Central Plains, and the biggest variable in this difference lies in logistics.
When fighting in the Central Plains, the most important thing is the food supply.
Logistics support is something every general has to consider. This is also the key to victory in the Battle of Guandu, which was the burning of Chencang. Zhuge Liang's six expeditions to Qishan were all due to the cut-off of food supply and the lack of supply. However, nomadic peoples bring their livestock and even the entire tribe with them when they go to war, so they can often travel thousands of miles without worrying about supply issues.
If that doesn't work, just grab something nearby.
The biggest innovation brought about by King Wuling of Zhao in adopting the Hu clothing and horse riding and archery was not the use of cavalry. In fact, cavalry had been used in the Central Plains for a long time.
What was truly "Huized" was Zhao's logistics system.
The reason why Emperor Wu of Han, Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, were able to raid the Xiongnu royal court was because the logistics system of the Han cavalry had also been "Huized". Therefore, they were able to put aside the difficulties of food supply and march thousands of miles to Fenglangjuxu.
The spring plowing in Dunhuang has not been completed, and there is not much food in the city.
Yi Fu brought a large number of livestock, which they grazed directly near Dunhuang, turning farmland into pastures.
So Yi Fu actually brought as many as 30,000 to 40,000 Gaoche people with him, claiming to have 100,000 men. Of course, only 10,000 of them could actually fight on horseback, and they surrounded Dunhuang tightly.
For the Gaoche people, the only risk was that their livestock were all pregnant and would soon give birth to lambs. Driving the herds over long distances had caused many horses, cattle and sheep to have miscarriages. Yifu was equivalent to exchanging homes with the Northern Wei people. If they failed to capture Dunhuang before autumn, it would be the Gaoche people's turn to starve to death.
This time, Yi Fu and his entire family went together. He placed the main cavalry near Yumen Pass, while most of the tribe stayed near Dunhuang to graze. Because for the Northern Wei Dynasty, the only passage to rescue Dunhuang was Yumen. As long as Yumen Pass was blocked, Yi Fu could fight with the Dunhuang defenders until autumn.
But recently, Yifu's siege has encountered some minor troubles.
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"Kaesong will provide support!"
At a command from Linghu Qiu, the defender of Dunhuang City, the infantry in Dunhuang City immediately rushed out of the city gate, scared off the pursuing Gaoche people, and then went into the city to meet a group of cavalry driving livestock.
Before the Gaoche cavalry had assembled, the gates of Dunhuang were closed again, and the Gaoche generals responsible for besieging Dunhuang had to give up.
This is the third time this has happened this month.
Those who broke through the encirclement of the Gaoche people and escorted the livestock into the city were all Han people who came from the Western Regions to support Dunhuang.
Merchants from the Nine Surnames of Zhaowu purchased livestock, and the Ganliang West Army escorted the livestock to break through the encirclement of the Gaoche people, and only then were these precious foods delivered into the city.
On average, for every livestock sent into Dunhuang City, a soldier from the Ganliang West Army was sacrificed.
However, in order to support Dunhuang, the Ganliangxi Army in the Western Regions are gathering near Dunhuang!
Dunhuang is the westernmost city in the entire Northern Wei Dynasty and is also the flag of the Han Dynasty shining in the Western Regions!
It’s a pity that there are too few Ganliangxi Army near Dunhuang. Faced with tens of thousands of Gaoche people, they can only use this kind of moth-to-flame action to support Dunhuang.
Linghu Qiu's eyes became moist as he looked at the Ganliang West Army soldiers covered in blood. They were such good men and should not have died in such a place.
Linghu Qiu looked towards the county governor's mansion again. Yuan Rong, the county governor of Dunhuang, had been hiding in the county governor's mansion copying Buddhist scriptures ever since the Gaoche people surrounded the city.
A few days ago, he asked the people in the city to build a Buddhist temple on a high place in the county governor's mansion, and summoned monks from all over the city to chant scriptures and pray in the temple.
There were bursts of bell sounds in the Buddhist temple, and Linghu Qiu let out a long sigh. The food in Dunhuang City had begun to be in short supply, and the support from the Han people in the Western Regions was just giving some hope to the defenders and civilians in the city. This amount of livestock was not enough for the soldiers and civilians in Dunhuang City to eat for a day.
Linghu Qiu wanted to stop the Ganliang West Army from committing suicide, but he also knew that for the defenders in desperate situations, hope was the most important thing. Without hope, Dunhuang City would be lost.
Linghu Qiu was a noble family in Hexi. He was very clear about the situation in Liangzhou. Yumen was cut off. Unless the court sent a large army, Liangzhou's military strength would be unable to lift the siege of Dunhuang.
However, by the time the Luoyang army arrived at Dunhuang, it was already autumn, and Dunhuang had already fallen by then.
And will the imperial court really send troops?
In recent years, the court has become increasingly lax about the defense of the northwest. When the Tuyuhun people captured Xiping, the court did not respond at all. In the end, it was the newly appointed General Huqiang Su Ze who recaptured Xiping City.
It’s a pity that the brave and warlike General Su Ze who protected the Qiang was in Hezhou.
Linghu Qiu was thinking wildly that even if Su Ze was in Liangzhou, it would be impossible for him to break through Yumen to support Dunhuang.
I can only continue to endure.
Looking at the soldiers who were smiling because of the livestock entering the city, Linghu Qiu could only force a smile. For the defenders of the besieged city, hope is the most important thing, nothing else.
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"General Su is going to lead his troops to inspect Xihai County?"
Gao Ren, the governor of Hezhou who had already moved the office to Xiping, looked at Su Ze in surprise.
Su Ze nodded and said, "The defense of the three cities of Huangshui will be handed over to Gao Biejia. My chief historian Su Chao is in Baohan City, so the Tuyuhun people should not launch a large-scale attack during this period."
Gao Ren was a little confused. Why did Su Ze want to inspect Xihai County at this time and take away his two thousand regular soldiers and three thousand auxiliary soldiers? Was he really going to inspect Xihai County?
It was also said that Su Ze was going to lead his troops to Xihai County to build a city?
Gao Ren couldn't guess what Su Ze was thinking, but he had no reason to object.
Su Ze's prestige in Hezhou far exceeds that of Li Shizhe, the Hezhou governor who has no presence in Jincheng. The Gao family is not Su Ze's direct descendant, but just a local tyrant who is close to Su Ze. Su Ze will not discuss real military secrets with him.
Moreover, there was news in Hezhou that Su Ze wanted to build a city in the West Sea, and it was possible that he would lead troops to protect the city.
However, on this "tour", Su Ze took away the livestock and dry food that he had accumulated for a winter, which made Gao Ren a little uneasy. Was Su Ze going to attack Tuyuhun?
This small number of people can’t defeat the plateau!
Su Ze entrusted the overall situation to Gao Ren, and left Murong Shaozong in Xiping City and Su Cho in Baohan City. He took Hou Jing and a group of his cronies and rode towards Qinghai Lake.
There will be 10,000 updates tomorrow.
I have been writing in a daze recently, so I have made some minor changes to the previous article. You can update and read it again. The modified plot will not affect the following article.
The easter egg chapter is the Hexi map.
(End of this chapter)