In Yizhou City, Du Zhongxiao's temporary management department was the command center for the attack on Gaochang. Zhang Sheng, who was in charge of the position, returned to the city and joined Du Zhongxiao and others to discuss the first battle with Gaochang.

Zhang Sheng pointed to the map on the table and said, "After passing Guigukou, there is no people within dozens of miles. The first city to enter Gaochang is Puchang City. The city is not big and the city is not very strong. The cannons we brought should be able to break through. After passing Puchang, along the south of the Flame Mountain, and then passing Baozhuang and Liuzhong, you can reach the foot of Gaochang City. Baozhuang and Liuzhong are similar to Puchang City, both are small cities, so there is no need to make too many arrangements. Only Gaochang is the important place left by the previous dynasty. The city is tall and the city is dense. Moreover, it is the starting point of the Khitan commercial road, with many wealthy merchants in the city."

Du Zhongxiao said: "That is to say, as long as you pass Guigukou, you can go straight into Gaochang? Since several small cities cannot stop artillery, you can send a small group of troops to surround and attack first, and the large troops behind can go straight forward. In this battle, occupying Gaochang City is the top priority, and the rest are all details."

Fu Bi said: "After passing Guigukou to Gaochang, it is nearly 400 miles away, not close. To ensure the 400 miles of supplies, at least 10,000 or 20,000 people must be at least 10,000 or 20,000 people, and there are sufficient livestock. In this way, there are only 50,000 or 60,000 troops able to participate in the besiege of Gaochang."

Du Zhongxiao smiled and said, "Where can we use so many people! There are less than 10,000 people in Gaochang City. Even if they are temporarily recruited, they are only 20,000 to 30,000 people. Gaochang's main force is in Gaochang City and Jiaohe Prefecture, and the rest are on the Yanqi front line. This time we suddenly marched, and the troops on the Yanqi front line must not have time to call back, and the intelligence did not report them to transfer back to Gaochang. For ten thousand people, 30,000 people are enough, and the rest of the troops will do other things. This time, except for the troops attacking Puchang, Baozhuang and Liuzhong, all the cannons will be included in the siege troops."

When Fu Bi was transferred to Hequ Road, he had no direct understanding of the combat effectiveness of the army. After hearing this, he kept silent.

Zhang Ke said: "Jie Shuai wants to use 30,000 people to attack Gaochang, but I don't know who they use?"

Du Zhongxiao said: "Your troops have 50,000 people. In addition to capturing the cities around Gaochang, they will also send troops to occupy Baishui City and seal the way of rescue from Beiting and Zhangbali. Then send another group to the south to seal the road for Yanqi to return to help. Zhao Zi's 30,000 people surrounded Gaochang."

When Zhang Ji heard that Zhao Zi's troops attacked Gaochang, he was a little disappointed, so he sang the promise with his hands crossed.

Du Zhongxiao said: "In this battle with Gaochang, it is very likely that the important battle is not to fight in Gaochang City, but to appease the people outside. Most of the Uighurs in Gaochang are in the army, and the rest of the races are the people. The most important thing is that the people should be stable during the war, and do not let the people organize themselves and become enemies with the army from the court. The 50,000 people from Zhang Ji's troops are the key to whether we can seize the Gaochang area as quickly as possible."

After hearing this, Zhang Ji crossed his hands and whispered loudly: "Don't worry, the last general will fulfill his mission!"

Du Zhongxiao said: "You have worked hard these days. You have brought your troops to carefully formulate a combat plan and handed it over to the General Secretary. Xizhou is also known as Twenty-Two Cities, which means there are twenty-two cities around Gaochang. Of course, these cities can only be considered fortresses in the mainland, and the real big cities are only Gaochang and Jiaohezhou City. Cracking Gaochang at the fastest speed and the people in the rest of the area is our combat target this time. Tens of thousands of troops come, and it is considered victory if you complete the task without making any mistakes."

The generals sang promise together with their hands.

Du Zhongxiao said: "There are no more than 30,000 soldiers in Gaochang. Except for Gaochang and Yanqi, there are not many soldiers and horses in other places. This time we attacked Gaochang and isolated Yanqi, which was to attack the weak with strong attacks and could not give the enemy a chance to turn over. I guess they may not be able to react when the troops arrived at Gaochang City. Each unit should not aim at the battle plan, but should not be as careful as possible."

Zhao Zi said: "Jingshou, I will lead my troops to surround Gaochang. Do you want to go on the road urgently?"

Du Zhongxiao said: "Yes. Your troops should first use cavalry troops in front. Puchang, Baocheng, Liuzhong and other places must pass around the city and go to Gaochang City before other troops. After arriving at the place, do not attack the city first, but only threaten Gaochang City outside, so that they dare not leave the city. Don't let any of the rescue personnel sent by Gaochang go out."

Zhao Zi said: "Why doesn't the commander of Jie treat Gaochang as nothing when he is arranged in this way? How many vanguards should be assigned to him?"

Du Zhongxiao said: "This time, a hundred thousand troops entered the Western Regions, to completely solve the problem of the Western Regions. Gaochang, if you attack unexpectedly, is not a strong enemy. Your light troops have about 5,000 people, and all of them ride horses. After passing Guigu, they will go straight to Gaochang. The heavy troops behind them follow the vanguard of Zhang Ji's troops. They surrounded Puchang, Baochen and Liuzhong. Your troops will pass around the city and go to Gaochang to siege the city!"

Zhao Zi sang his promise with his hands, looking a little eager to try. In Juyan for more than a year, he entered Yizhou without bloodshed, and had not fought for too long. This time, he attacked Gaochang, which was the most likely time to fight against the weak. Zhao Zi had been in Du Zhongxiao's men for six or seven years, and it was time to change and promote.

Du Zhongxiao said to Li Fugui: "It is about 700 miles from Yizhou to Gaochang. There are about 70,000 troops this time. We will guard Yizhou with our troops. With such a long distance and so many troops, it is not easy to ensure that they have food and clothing. In addition, it is extremely important to use cannons to ensure that the ammunition is unobstructed. Can the army do it?"

Li Fugui thought for a while and said with his hands: "Although it's not easy, my subordinates will definitely do it!"

Du Zhongxiao nodded: "Okay! After this battle, I will give you great achievements! - To be honest, the battle in Gaochang is incomparable to the rest of the battles when he was on Hequ Road. At that time, we attacked the strong with weak, and had the spirit of moving forward. Now we attacked the weak with strong, but we lost the spirit of the past. On the battlefield, can you show your energy and let the people of the Western Regions see how the imperial army is now, I have no idea."

After hearing this, Zhao Zi and Zhang Ji sang together with their hands, saying that they would never be humiliated by the reputation of the Hequ Road Army.

Du Zhongxiao waved his hand and said, "Sit down, let's talk about it carefully. This battle is the first battle after the army's training. The results of the battle will not only affect me, but also the court's future decisions."

Several people sat down with guests and hosts, and Du Zhongxiao said: "The army was reorganized, and the imperial guards in the capital were defeated by Zhang Ji's troops. Since the capital sent several people to the Wudu Military Academy, and after they returned, the court had no other movement. What's the matter, the court might have seen that the original imperial guards were not the same as the Hequ Road Army. If they wanted to complete the training, it would not be a matter of a few years. It was the Hequ Road Army itself, because most of the imperial guards were added later, which was not as good as before. It was not that the imperial guards were not good, but that they had been in the army for a long time, and most of the military habits had been developed, so it was not easy to change them. Most of the officers in the army were selected from the imperial guards. Although they entered the military academy to study, how could they learn well for a while?"

Speaking of this, Du Zhongxiao said to Zhang Ji: "This is how General Zhang is transferred from Helin Mansion Road and studied in the military academy many times. He should be clear. It should be no problem to lead troops to fight now, because the army opposite us is too different. If there are troops like us on the other side in the future and fight against it, are you sure? I think this is very difficult to say."

Zhang Ke crossed his hands: "I know that there are still many things to learn, so I will definitely work hard in the future!"
Chapter completed!