Chapter 154: On the Verge of Eruption

Indeed, this southern incursion by the Tujue was purely an act of revenge to settle the old score from their disastrous defeat beneath the walls of Yanmen Commandery. To put it another way, it was a face-saving maneuver undertaken by the Illig Khagan to salvage his crumbling authority and standing among the Tujue people. The fact that he allied with Liang Shidu to jointly attack Li Wenyuan further corroborated this, demonstrating that he could no longer afford another defeat against the Han Chinese. Another failure facing the Hans would cost him far more than just his position as Khagan; it could very well cost him his most precious life amid the internal power struggles of the Tujue.

It had to be said that the timing chosen by the Illig Khagan was exceptionally clever. Li Wenyuan's adventurous military campaign could be considered half-failed the moment the Illig Khagan successfully suppressed his internal rebellions and external threats. After all, Li Wenyuan had merely calculated that equipping his army with advanced firearms would result in an overwhelming, crushing advantage when facing Tujue cavalry.

Yet, unexpectedly, the Western Tujue had managed to levy such a vast number of troops from their vassal states during this period, plunging the army participating in the western expedition into a quagmire. Unable to decide the outcome in the short term, the main army found itself deadlocked on the grasslands with the Western Tujue, having to search for an opportunity to crush the enemy's main force before they could detach any troops to return for reinforcement.

Consequently, the only forces available across the entire Western Regions to fend off the foreign invasion were the Seventh Legion and the local militias scattered throughout various localities. A defensive wall, ordered to be repaired by Emperor Yang Guang shortly after his ascension to the throne, stood like a natural chasm between the Western Regions and the Eastern Tujue, capable of holding off the Tujue for some time by utilizing the terrain. Furthermore, due to the specialized nature of the Great Wall garrison forces, Li Wenyuan had not drawn any troops from them for his western expedition. Thus, faced with the Tujue's military intentions of breaching the Great Wall to push directly south, the garrison forces—equipped with advanced firearms, fire-dragons, and other formidable siege-defense weaponry—should have been fully capable of repelling the Tujue attempts to capture the Wall and press southward.

According to the simulations run by Li Wenyuan's staff corps, the Tujue were likely to suffer heavy losses when assaulting the Great Wall defense line, prompting them to shift their offensive focus from breaching the Wall to bypassing it in order to raid the interior heartland. In bypassing the Great Wall, the Tujue faced two alternative choices: the first was to march west through the territory of the Western Tujue—who were currently overwhelmed with their own troubles—and, passing through Dunhuang Commandery, turn southeast along the Qilian Mountains to attack the Western Regions from the direction of Zhangye Commandery. However, this route carried the risk of being intercepted by the Western Regions army urgently pulled back from the frontline as they passed through Dunhuang Commandery. Therefore, upon the advice of Shi Shuhuxi, the eldest son of a man well-versed in strategy, the Eastern Tujue would undoubtedly choose the more conservative yet far safer eastern route strategy.

The so-called eastern route strategy involved bypassing the Great Wall to the east, joining forces with Liang Shidu's army advancing from the east, and jointly invading Wuwei Commandery. Consequently, the final recommendation derived from the staff corps' simulation was to transfer the Seventh Legion, which was stationed across the various commanderies of the Western Regions, to Wuwei Commandery to deploy defensively facing Liang Shidu's side. At the same time, to ensure absolute safety, all militia forces throughout the commanderies of the Western Regions were to be fully mobilized to cope with any impending raids.

Upon receiving the staff corps' recommendations, Li Wenyuan deeply agreed with them. He immediately issued a transfer order commanding the Seventh Legion, previously stationed dispersedly across the Western Regions, to concentrate instantly and march into Wuwei Commandery to establish defensive positions facing Liang Shidu. Subsequently, official dispatches were sent to the various commanderies of the Western Regions instructing them to muster their respective militias into a state of combat readiness. Finally, a separate directive was issued to Li Wen, informing him that the Seventh Legion, under the command of General Wang Ping, had already assembled and would arrive in Wuwei Commandery shortly. It instructed him to properly coordinate the relationship between the army and the local populace while securing logistical support for the troops. Furthermore, as an extra precaution, Li Wenyuan specifically sent back Zhuang Fudi, his personal Chief of Staff, to Wuwei Commandery to assist Wang Ping with the defense.

Upon receiving Li Wenyuan's orders, Wang Ping was overjoyed and immediately gathered all his scattered subordinates, racing without pause toward Wuwei Commandery. Of the eight legions comprising the Western Regions army, seven had been successively drawn into the war against the Western Tujue. Only his Seventh Legion, ever since its formation and establishment, had never participated in a single battle.

Not even conflicts against domestic bandits and roving outlaws had fallen to their lot once, which deeply disappointed Wang Ping, who had aspired since childhood to join the military and desperately longed to slaughter enemies before opposing battle lines. Disappointment aside, however, Wang Ping had not neglected his primary duties. Every day, aside from handling official business, he conscientiously and diligently drilled his troops, never slackening for a single day. Now, this sharp blade he had honed for nearly a year was finally awaiting its long-overdue moment to be drawn from its scabbard. How could his heart fail to be thrilled?

It was not only the Seventh Legion under Wang Ping that sprang into a flurry of activity upon receiving Li Wenyuan's transfer order; the various commanderies of the Western Regions, upon receiving the documents from Li Wenyuan, also plunged into methodical preparations: vast quantities of armor, weaponry, military rations, and supplies were loaded onto carriages, sent out onto the official highways, and transported toward Wuwei Commandery. Within the Eagle-Flying Garrisons of each commandery city, reserves of officers of specified numbers were also drawn in accordance with regulations, leading auxiliary troops serving as local reinforcements alongside the supply carriages toward Wuwei Commandery to support the impending battles.

Liang Shidu, who had been enfeoffed as the Dadulabika Khagan, had just completed the assembly of his subordinate forces and was now receiving the liaison envoy sent by the Eastern Tujue within the commandery governor's official residence in Lingwu Commandery.

"How has the Great Khan's health been of late?" Liang Shidu led the Tujue envoy into the room, seated him, and spoke eagerly.

"Recently, the Khagan pacified disturbances among some minor internal tribes and simultaneously smashed the incursions of the Shiwei and the arrogant Goguryeo people from the east. Naturally, his mood has been immensely joyful of late. Yet, the matter that has continuously lingered in the Khagan's mind is that single battle beneath the walls of Yanmen Commandery, which frequently startles him awake from nightmares. If Your Highness is truly sincere, we hope you will exert greater effort in the upcoming war against Li Wenyuan, crushing Li Wenyuan's army at the earliest possible moment to resolve a stubborn affliction that has long plagued the Great Khan's mind," the Eastern Tujue envoy stated bluntly and mercilessly, getting straight to the point.

"Yes, yes, yes. I must trouble you to return and inform the Great Khan that I will surely annihilate Li Wenyuan's army beneath the walls of Wuwei Commandery, assisting the Great Khan in utterly eradicating Li Wenyuan's influence in the Western Regions," Liang Shidu suppressed a flicker of displeasure in his heart, forcing out what he considered to be his most flattering smile as he spoke.