Time slowly stepped into September.
In September, there was still a lingering aftertaste of summer in the Central Plains, but large areas in the northwest had already begun to enter late autumn.
The Protectorate General was located in the far - western part of the Dacheng territory. It had a vast expanse of land. In the north, it was bounded by the Altai Mountains, and inside, it contained the vast and continuous Tianshan Mountains. In the south, it was limited by the Kunlun Mountains, enclosing a fertile land for the entire Protectorate General.
Qin Huaiqiu led his troops out of the capital. They marched in haste all the way from the Hetao Corridor towards the Protectorate General. Due to the urgent military situation, Qin Huaiqiu generally only rested for three hours a day. Except for meal times, they were basically on the move.
Six days later, the army had reached Shuofang.
Shuofang was located on the Loess Plateau. Due to the extremely low precipitation this year because of the drought, many small riverbeds had dried up. There was very little water source on the way, and the muddy water of the Yellow River was difficult to drink. The army led by Qin Huaiqiu encountered their first problem - water shortage.
Fortunately, Wan Chengyan, the know - it - all, knew everything. He directly led a team of people to search for water sources. Although Wan Chengyan held the title of governor, in fact, he was like Qin Huaiqiu's military advisor. After four days of contact, Qin Huaiqiu was really impressed by this man.
Wan Chengyan was from Yongzhou. He joined the army at the age of fourteen. Since he knew astronomy above and geography below, the soldiers privately called him "Little Zhuge". In the second year after joining the army, he was taken under Wu Qiuyang's command and had fought with him all over the place. Now he was twenty - six years old. Now Wu Qiuyang had assigned him to Qin Huaiqiu, which could be regarded as Wu Qiuyang's affirmation of Qin Huaiqiu.
Qin Huaiqiu naturally knew this, so he respected Wan Chengyan very much. He originally thought that Wan Chengyan would use his age or seniority to overbear him, but after these days of getting along, the two of them had the same views on military situation analysis and war layout. They were somewhat like friends regardless of age difference, and even had a feeling of mutual admiration.
Second Lieutenant Feng Zuo was a fierce and powerful general. Although he had rich battlefield experience, his mind was a bit impetuous. This evening, just as the army had set up their camps, Wan Chengyan led a small team to search for water sources nearby. As soon as he left, Feng Zuo strode quickly to Qin Huaiqiu's tent. He clasped his fists and said, "General, your subordinate Feng Zuo requests an audience."
Qin Huaiqiu had just spread out the map in the tent and was studying it. Hearing Feng Zuo's voice, he said, "Come in."
Feng Zuo lifted the curtain and walked in. He clasped his fists at Qin Huaiqiu and said, "General, after six days of forced march, the soldiers in the army are extremely exhausted and the morale is low. Your subordinate begs the general to let everyone have a good rest today and set off a little later tomorrow."
Qin Huaiqiu frowned. His eyes were fixed on the map. He pointed at the map with his hand and roughly calculated in his mind. Then he shook his head and said, "Our current marching speed is just right. If we set off late tomorrow, we may not be able to reach the Protectorate General."
Feng Zuo said, "But now the army has been on a long - distance march for a long time, and the water source is scarce. The morale has already begun to decline. In this situation, it is not appropriate for our army to fight against the coalition forces of Loulan and the Xiongnu, in the subordinate's opinion."
Qin Huaiqiu thought for a while and said, "What the second lieutenant said is very reasonable. To be honest with you, I've also been thinking about this matter. Now there are 150,000 troops in the Protectorate General, facing about 200,000 troops of the coalition forces of Loulan and the Xiongnu. According to the intelligence sent by Dou Yuan to the court last time, the enemy is preparing to attack the city. Although in a siege battle, generally a smaller number of troops defend and a larger number attack, this is the first battle of the Protectorate General. We cannot be passive. Otherwise, the confidence of the soldiers will be severely damaged."
Feng Zuo was stunned for a moment and said, "Then what does the general mean?"
Qin Huaiqiu waved to him, motioning him to come closer. He drew a line on the map in the Tianshan area north of the Protectorate General and said, "Kucha is located inside the Tianshan Mountains, but Loulan and the Xiongnu have never set foot in this area. Presumably they are not very familiar with this place. I'm going to lead 10,000 troops to march through the hinterland of the Tianshan Mountains and directly bypass to the back of Kucha City, giving them a surprise attack."
Feng Zuo's eyes lit up, but then he became dejected again and said, "General, you're joking. With our current marching speed, we can only reach the Protectorate General tomorrow. It will take at least half a day more to bypass through the depths of the Tianshan Mountains to reach Kucha."
Qin Huaiqiu nodded and said, "Yes, so let the soldiers have a good rest tonight. Tomorrow, we'll march all night to bypass and reach Kucha."
Feng Zuo added, "But how does the general know that the enemy will start attacking the city tomorrow?"
Just as he finished speaking, there was a sudden and urgent chirping of a bird outside the tent. Qin Huaiqiu smiled and said to Feng Zuo, "Don't we know now?"
Feng Zuo scratched his head and asked in confusion, "General?"
Qin Huaiqiu waved to him and said, "Come with me."
Qin Huaiqiu walked out of the tent. He looked up at the sky, then put two fingers between his lips and suddenly whistled.
The chirping of the bird came from somewhere in the sky again. After a while, a pure - white carrier pigeon flapped its wings and flew over. Qin Huaiqiu stretched out his hand, and the pigeon slowed down in mid - air and then landed on his hand.
"What is this...?" Feng Zuo pointed at the pigeon. This pigeon seemed different from ordinary carrier pigeons. Although its feathers were white all over, there was a faint scarlet color in them.
"The 'Ruby' of the Qin family." Qin Huaiqiu said. He reached out and took out a small note from the tiny bamboo tube on the pigeon's ankle.
He took a look at it and then smiled and said, "Sure enough."
Feng Zuo was stunned and said, "General, what does this mean?"
Qin Huaiqiu handed the note to him. Feng Zuo reached out and took it. On the note, it clearly stated the current situation and troop deployment in Kucha City, as well as the analysis and speculation of the enemy's siege works.
"This is Nie Rong's intelligence, and these words are also in Nie Rong's handwriting." Qin Huaiqiu winked at Feng Zuo and said, "Don't underestimate the intelligence network of the Qin family."
Feng Zuo was extremely happy and said, "Does this mean that the general has been communicating with General Nie in recent days? Then this plan will surely succeed!"
Qin Huaiqiu smiled and patted him on the shoulder and said, "Second Lieutenant Feng, now go and inform the soldiers quickly. Let them have a good rest tonight. We'll set off at noon tomorrow and march all night to attack Kucha City directly."
Feng Zuo responded, clasped his fists and said, "Yes! Your subordinate obeys the order!"
Just then, Wan Chengyan lifted the curtain and walked in. He clasped his fists at Qin Huaiqiu and said, "Report to the general. Your subordinate has led people to find the water source. We are currently arranging people to fetch water."
"Good!" Qin Huaiqiu said happily. "How far is it from here?"
Wan Chengyan said, "It's about one li away from here, but..." Wan Chengyan frowned suddenly when he said this.
Qin Huaiqiu asked, "What's wrong?"
Wan Chengyan glanced at Qin Huaiqiu and said, "The Loess Plateau is drought - stricken. There has been little precipitation this year. The water source I found is just a remaining deep pool of a tributary of the Yellow River. Its reserve is not very large. It may not be enough for 10,000 troops."
Qin Huaiqiu frowned and said, "What if we use it sparingly? We'll leave the Loess Plateau tomorrow and head for the Tianshan Mountains. There will be much more water there than here."
Wan Chengyan said, "It's not impossible to use it sparingly, but there are some trouble - makers in the army. They said that Deputy General Qin Lan, as a woman, wastes water and supplies. They led some people to shout in front of Deputy General Qin Lan's tent. Now they have surrounded an open space, and several people are shouting that they want to fight her."