Chapter 3321 Chapter 3323 [Gathering beasts and adjusting birds]

"Yong Huang, as my eldest son, you must do a good job this time and never let me down." Xiang Nan said to Yong Huang.

 “Yes, Huang Ama.” Yong Huang nodded.

"Zhang Ge Lao, Liu Zhongtang, Gao Shangshu, Fu Heng, Ne Qin, I will leave the affairs of the court to you." Xiang Nan also told Zhang Tingyu, Liu Tongxun, Gao Bin, Fu Heng, Ne Qin and others.

“I (minions) will do my best and never let down the emperor’s favor.” Several Manchu and Han ministers also saluted together.

Xiang Nan then led an army to the Western Regions, of which 30,000 troops set off from the capital, and the other 70,000 troops set off from Quancheng, Fengtian, Tianfu, Hankou and other places.

In addition, various tribes in Mongolia and the Yu family also sent troops and horses to assist.

 After sixteen days of trekking, the army arrived at Yumen Pass, and then marched westward together.

"The yellow sand will wear golden armor in a hundred battles. If Loulan is not destroyed, it will never be returned. This time, I will go on a personal expedition and vow to work together with you. I will not destroy Junggar and I will never return." Xiang Nan swore.

“I will definitely sacrifice my life to serve the Emperor as hard as I can.” All the generals said in unison.

Xiang Nan nodded and then ordered the army to set off.

 This is not the first time he has gone out of Yumen Pass. Not to mention that people often travel to the Western Regions in the real world, even in ancient times they often went to Yumen Pass.

In "The Legend of Heaven and Dragon Sword", the six major factions besieged Guangmingding, and they set out from Yumen Pass to capture the Kunlun Mountains; in the world of "The Eight Parts of the Sky", he is the master of the Eagle Palace in Piaomiao Peak, and has lived in the Western Regions for decades...

 Hence, he cannot say that he knows the geographical environment of the Western Regions thoroughly, but at least he knows everything about it. Therefore, under his leadership, the army went straight to Zhenyuan City, which was later known as Hami City, without making any detours.

The army marched straight in and arrived at Zhenyuan City in a few days. But they saw that Zhenyuan City had become an empty city. Not only had the population, livestock, and soldiers been wiped out, but even the wells were blocked with stones.

"Where has Zhungeer's army gone?" All the generals were deeply confused. If they delayed in a decisive battle and led an army of 100,000 in circles in the Western Region, it would be troublesome.

 Because the Jungar Khanate is so big, the Western Regions, the West Sea, the western part of the Mongolian Plateau, Kazakhstan, etc. are all under its control. At that time, its power and territory were so powerful that it ranked among the top ten countries in the world.

Therefore, if Jungar hides his army and people and does not start a decisive battle with the Qing army, but drags them around in the Western Regions, it will be very detrimental to the Qing army.

Logistics supply is a problem. The amount of food and grass consumed by a hundred thousand troops every day is an astronomical figure. Once the war continues for a long time, the food, grass and military pay will bring down a country.

Just like the United States, the world's most powerful country, after invading South Vietnam, Afghanistan and other countries, it could not withstand the consumption and was forced to withdraw.

 Secondly, Jungar's army has not always been able to retreat. It is likely to set up an ambush somewhere and launch a sudden attack when the Qing army reveals its flaws.

Zungar has an army of 300,000, and he is also capable of forging firearms. They invented a small cannon that was carried on a camel. It was light in weight, had a fast rate of fire, and was very lethal.

 There is also a kind of medium-sized artillery, which can be pushed by people and horses. It is more powerful than that kind of small cannon. It's just that they don't have the technology to cast heavy artillery.

 But in terms of firearms, they are only a little behind the Qing Dynasty and cannot be underestimated. Therefore, if they launch an attack rashly, they can cause a lot of trouble to the Qing army.

 That’s why it’s troublesome.

 …

"Your Majesty, I propose that the army be repaired in Zhenyuan City and send several lines of forward troops to conduct sentinels to find out the whereabouts of Jungar's main force." General Yue Zhongqi said to Xiang Nan.

Yue Zhongqi is said to be the 21st grandson of Yue Fei and a well-known military general in the mid-Qing Dynasty. In the last year of Kangxi, Zhungar invaded Uzang, and Yue Zhongqi led his army to advance into Luoxue and defeated Galdan; in the first year of Yongzheng, Nian Gengyao advanced to the West Sea and quelled the rebellion of Luobuzang Danjin in the Heshuote tribe; in the third year of Yongzheng, He was appointed governor of Sichuan and Shaanxi, and later sent troops to Ili. In the tenth year of Yongzheng's reign, Galdan raided Zhenyuan City and robbed countless mules and horses, and Yue Zhongqi failed to deal with it well. Yongzheng reprimanded him, deprived him of his official position, and kept him under house arrest.

After Xiang Nan came to the throne, he released Yue Zhongqi and became the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu. Now he was conducting the expedition in person. He knew that Yue Zhongqi was well versed in military matters and had led troops to the Western Regions many times, so he took him with him.

"It doesn't have to be like this, I have a way." Xiang Nan said, and then ordered people to throw some cattle and sheep offal outside the city.

After a while, dozens of birds of prey came over smelling the fishy smell and ate the offal of the cattle and sheep together. Among them are golden eagles, peregrine falcons, goshawks, vultures, etc.

Xiang Nan then walked over and saw that the birds of prey seemed not to have seen him. They were not afraid at all and did not take off immediately.

After Xiang Nan got closer, he began to draw talismans and recite incantations out of thin air. In a short time, more than a dozen raptors had been tamed by him.

 “Go, help me find the whereabouts of the army~” Xiang Nan ordered these birds.

These birds then let out a chirp and flew into the sky one after another. In an instant, they scattered in all directions and flew away without a trace.

All the soldiers looked at it from the top of the city, and they all felt that the scene in front of them was magical and unbelievable.

 It is incredible that Xiang Nan has the secret to control birds.

 …

 One day later, a bird flew back and told Xiang Nan that he had found the location of the army.

After Xiang Nan got the news, he divined a hexagram by himself and got a division hexagram with ascending Kun and descending Kan. "Book of Changes" says, "Zhen, the father-in-law is auspicious, and there is no blame."

  Meaning that the use of soldiers is a dangerous and dangerous battle, and the use of soldiers is a last resort for sages, but it can resolve conflicts smoothly and without hindrance, because it conforms to the situation and has a good reputation, so it can turn disaster into good fortune.

 So it can be seen that this is a lucky hexagram.

Xiang Nan immediately summoned a large army, led by Qinniao, and headed for the location of Jungar's army.

 The army marched for two days, and Xiang Nan kept sending out bird sentries to investigate. Finally, the news was received that Jungar's army was ambushing in a desert called Devil City.

That piece of Gobi is located a hundred miles west of Zhenyuan City, tightly blocking the main road from Zhenyuan City to Ili.

The Jungar army set up an ambush there. Once the Qing army went to Ili, they would take the opportunity to attack and kill, first cutting off the Qing army's food routes, and then harassing the Qing army's rear.

As a result, the 100,000 Qing troops had no supplies and could only become ghosts in the Western Regions.

Such a plan is not unwise.

But they underestimated Xiang Nan's power after all. Who would have thought that he could gather animals and control birds, turning all the birds in the sky into his sentinels, which could monitor the movements of Jungar's army in real time.

In this way, their ambush was discovered one by one by Xiang Nan, and it was naturally more difficult to win by surprise.

 Xiang Nan personally led the army into four groups, surrounded the Devil's City, and then fired a salvo of hundreds of artillery pieces.

 (End of this chapter)