After the Western Expedition Army conquered the Suolong Pass, it completely controlled the entire Canglong Mountain Grand Canyon. This also meant that even if the Western Expedition Army was defeated, it would not have no way to retreat.
Commander Cao Tingjin then dispatched a brigade from each of the left and right guards of the Ganyang Army to guard Suolong Pass. According to Cao Tingjin's intention, Suolong Pass would be under the jurisdiction of the Ganyang Army in the future.
The other troops of the Western Expedition quickly split up and began to attack the cities in the eastern part of the Gule Kingdom.
Among the tens of millions of people in the Gule Kingdom, the Liang people accounted for more than 80%, so many cities in the Gule Kingdom did not need the Western Expedition Army to launch an attack.
The Liang people in the city had already defeated the defenders of the Gule Kingdom, opened the city gates, and welcomed the Western Expedition Army into the city.
Thanks to the support of the Liang people, the Western Expedition Army quickly captured 46 cities of the Gule Kingdom in just over two months, and headed straight for the Gule Kingdom's capital, Tieshi City.
However, at this time, the second prince of Gule, Sadik, and the third prince, Megaji, had joined forces, and both sides gathered a total of 270,000 troops in Iron Lion City.
Among them, the army belonging to the second prince Sadiq had 110,000 troops, and the army belonging to the third prince Meccaji had 160,000 troops.
In addition, Gule's neighboring country, Wensu, one of the five major powers in the Western Regions, also sent 100,000 troops to Tieshi City to join the war and help Gule resist the invasion of Liang.
In addition, the four small countries in the Western Regions adjacent to the Gule Kingdom had a total of 30,000 troops that rushed to Iron Lion City.
Facing the 400,000-strong coalition force gathered by the Gule Kingdom, the Liang Kingdom's Western Expedition Army also assembled 130,000 troops.
Including 30,000 soldiers from the left and right guards of the Ganyang Army, 60,000 soldiers from the left guard, front guard and south guard of the Huaide Army, and 40,000 soldiers from the Western Region Army.
Because Sun Hao rescued more than 30,000 Liang people outside Tieshi City, he gained a very high reputation among the Liang people in Gule Kingdom.
Therefore, every time the Western Expedition Army captured a city of the Gule Kingdom, as long as Sun Hao's name was mentioned, a large number of young and strong men of the Liang clan would voluntarily ask to join the Western Expedition Army.
Upon seeing this, Cao Tingjin, commander-in-chief of the Western Expedition Army, decided to immediately establish the Daliang Western Regions Protectorate in accordance with the original idea of Yong'an King Chen Su, and have Sun Hao temporarily take over the position of the Grand Commander of the Western Regions Protectorate.
Afterwards, Cao Tingjin allocated the Ganyang Army's guards and more than 30,000 civilian laborers in the Western Expedition Army to the Western Regions Protectorate to establish the Western Regions Army.
After the establishment of the Protectorate of the Western Regions, all cities captured by the Western Expedition Army were taken over by the Western Regions Army.
Cao Tingjin told Sun Hao that although the Protectorate of the Western Regions was only temporarily established by them, as long as the Western Expedition Army could withstand the counterattack of the Gule Kingdom, and with the face of Prince Yong'an, he, a third-rank governor, would definitely be recognized by the court.
Sun Hao certainly hoped to become the true commander-in-chief of the Western Regions Protectorate. So, at the suggestion of his aide Guo Chong, he accepted all the young and strong men of the Liang tribe from various cities who volunteered to join the army. He incorporated them all into the newly born Western Regions Army to prepare to resist the counterattack of the Gule army.
Now, each of the forty-six cities captured by the Western Expedition Army has formed one or more infantry battalions affiliated with the Western Region Army. As for the captains of these newly-built infantry battalions, they are all the brave generals and soldiers under Sun Hao's command.
On the evening of January 28, 388 in the Daliang calendar, in the camp of the Liang State's Western Expedition Army outside Tieshi City, the four senior leaders of the Western Expedition Army, namely the commander-in-chief Cao Tingjin, deputy commanders Sun Zhe and Wang Lian, and the newly appointed commander-in-chief of the Western Regions Army Sun Hao, gathered in Cao Tingjin's tent.
"According to information gathered from various sources, the total strength of the coalition forces facing us should be over 400,000.
"What do you all have to say about this upcoming decisive battle?" Cao Tingjin asked the other three in a deep voice.
Sun Hao hesitated for a moment and said, "Marshal, my Western Region Army's left and right guards have just been formed. In terms of combat effectiveness..."
Before Sun Hao could finish his words, Cao Tingjin interrupted him, "I know very well the situation of the left and right guards of the Western Region Army.
But our Western Expedition Army only has so few troops now, and we can only let the Western Region Army's left and right guards hold on. Otherwise, the chances of winning this decisive battle will be even smaller."
The left guard of the Western Region Army was the Ganyang Army Xiang Army Guard, and the commander of the left guard was Geng Jing, the former deputy commander of the Ganyang City Xiang Army Guard.
The Right Guard of the Western Regions Army was formed by selecting 20,000 civilians from the Western Expedition Army.
The positions of the Right Guard of the Western Regions Army, from the General and Deputy General to the Chief and Deputy Chief, were all held by the brave generals and soldiers under Sun Hao. Xue Rengui temporarily served as the General of the Right Guard of the Western Regions Army.
At this time, Wang Lian spoke up and said, "General Cao, since the coalition forces are far superior to our Western Expedition Army, I do not think it is appropriate to engage in a decisive battle with them outside Iron Lion City.
Why not retreat to the cities that our Western Expedition Army has already captured, wait for the coalition forces to attack, and use the strong city walls to offset the coalition forces' superior manpower."
Cao Tingjin suddenly sighed and said, "The Jinyiwei just sent over some intelligence.
The Wensu Kingdom is gathering a second batch of 100,000 troops to continue supporting the Gule Kingdom.
In addition, more than 100,000 troops from Puwan State to reinforce Gule State have also set out.
If we wait any longer, the coalition forces will only grow in strength, so I decided to risk everything and start a decisive battle with the coalition forces, which are mainly composed of Güler troops, as soon as possible."
Puwan State was also one of the five most powerful states in the Western Regions, with strength comparable to that of Wensu State. It had 178 cities and a population of over 10 million, about half of whom were Liang people.
After a pause, Cao Tingjin continued, "If we win this decisive battle, the newly established Western Regions Protectorate might be able to survive.
If we lose this decisive battle, the Western Expedition Army will have no choice but to abandon the forty-plus cities they have captured and retreat to Lock Dragon Pass."
To be honest, Sun Hao originally had no hope of the western expedition to the Gule Kingdom, and was even prepared to escape back to Pizhou at any time.
However, the Western Expedition Army easily captured forty-six cities of the Gule Kingdom, and he became the acting commander-in-chief of the Western Regions Protectorate, which made Sun Hao reluctant to leave in disgrace.
After the Western Region Army took over the forty-six cities, many Hu people in the cities were killed by the Liang people. Once the Western Expedition Army left, the two million Liang people in the forty-six cities would likely suffer bloody revenge from the Gule Army.
Sun Hao said to Cao Tingjin with a serious expression: "General, I will have my family soldiers form a supervisory team. The left and right guards of the Western Region Army will not bring shame to the Western Expedition Army."
Sun Zhe then said, "General Cao, in the decisive battle, our Huaide Vanguard and Huaide Southern Guard are willing to lead the charge!"
Cao Tingjin nodded slightly, "As long as all the units of our Western Expedition Army are united and fearless of life and death, we still have a chance of winning.
Tomorrow morning, the entire army will attack and fight a decisive battle with the coalition forces!"
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