It was raining heavily in Chang'an, but thousands of miles away from the Peacock Kingdom, the sun was shining brightly here.
After more than half a year's journey, Guan Xiaoxi's troops of the First Army of the Daxia Army have now arrived at the Seleucid Kingdom.
The once great Alexander the Great was destroyed by Fu Xiaoguan in the Maurya Kingdom, and the huge empire was divided into several countries. Among them, the Seleucid Empire founded by Seleucus I was the largest one.
The news that 400,000 Bactrian expeditionary forces had entered the territory of the Seleucid Empire had not yet reached the ears of Seleucus I.
On this day, the troops stopped in front of a city on the eastern border of the Seleucid Empire.
"To fight or not to fight?"
In the commander's tent, Guan Xiaoxi convened a meeting of his ten division commanders, and of course Peng Yuyan was still in attendance.
Guan Xiaoxi looked at everyone and continued, "According to the instructions given to us by the Supreme Emperor, negotiations are best, and we shouldn't start a war unless it's absolutely necessary... But the question now is who to talk to? And how to talk?"
Guan Xiaoxi spread his hands and said, "We've passed through many towns along the way, some of which were small countries or tribes, but without exception, we went to negotiate with them, but we didn't talk much!"
"We don't speak the same language, and we're talking at cross purposes. What can we do?"
No one knows how to do this.
The ten division commanders looked at each other in confusion. This was really a headache!
"I think we need to fight!" Lu Linfeng, commander of the Third Division, raised his hand and said, "Didn't our logistics department raise the issue yesterday? The remaining food is enough for us to eat for about half a month. If we don't fight and seize some food... we don't know how far we are from the place the emperor mentioned. We can't just run back like this, can we?"
"I agree with Old Lu!" Zhao Hui, commander of the Fourth Division, also raised his hand and said, "We've been running all this way for over a year. We've worn out many pairs of shoes, our knives are almost rusted, and we're not sure if the guns we carry will even shoot properly."
"Also, some of the brothers in the army have some opinions. They think that just running like this, to the end of the world, is pointless."
"I think, since we can't speak the same language, we might as well just sweep all the way through and make these people remember the faces of us Daxia people. After the fight, and after we meet with the Emperor, he will send people to clean up the mess."
"With our sweep, I think it will be easier for the Emperor to send someone to negotiate, right?"
Zhao Hui's words won everyone's agreement, and they all expressed their opinions, thinking that instead of running over there inexplicably, it would be better to just head to the European continent.
"We are making more noise here, so it will be easier for us to reunite with the Emperor. After all, we are on land, and the Emperor is on the sea."
Guan Xiaoxi thought about it carefully and felt that these words made sense. He looked up at Peng Yuyan who was sitting next to him and said, "General Peng, thank you for your hard work in leading the logistics troops. What are your opinions?"
Peng Yuyan smiled faintly. "It's not that hard... but I agree with the idea of attacking. There are several advantages to attacking there. One is that we can see the military strength of these countries and places. The other is, of course, that we can obtain supplies locally, which will improve the lives of our soldiers."
"As for the third point... the Emperor's ultimate strategic intention is to sign trade agreements with these countries. Let's first give them a head start. As Commander Zhao said, when they sign the agreement later, Daxia will always be able to gain more advantages."
So the matter was settled. At the same time, the spy from the Tianji Pavilion who had been walking ahead of the expeditionary force brought back new news.
"Commander Guan, we call this city Miletas based on its pronunciation. About five hundred miles beyond this city is a larger and more prosperous city we call Ephesus..."
Li Changshu, captain of the Tianji Pavilion's expeditionary intelligence team, pointed to a place called Ephesus, his eyes gleaming brightly. "According to the Emperor's previous predictions about this continent, we've discovered that the location of the land here is not much different from what he predicted!"
"This city should be the end of West Asia!"
Li Changshu's finger slid towards Milaitai. "This city has a garrison of 30,000 soldiers and a population of approximately 300,000. But the city of Ephesus has a population of approximately one million and a garrison of over 200,000 soldiers!"
"Our people are still exploring the way forward, and we will send back follow-up intelligence as it becomes available."
Guan Xiaoxi grinned and patted Li Changshu on the shoulder: "Thank you for your hard work. Next, we will hold a war meeting!"
"Since this city had only 30,000 defenders... and its walls were not very high, it would have been easy to capture. But since this city called Ephesus was a large one, its defenses were likely even stronger."
"My idea is to surround this city of Myraita, but not attack it, leaving the road to the west open. I want the city's defenders to send people to Ephesus for help!"
"Let's eliminate the Ephesus reinforcements as they arrive... This is called sieging a point and attacking its reinforcements. This will clear the way for our next attack on Ephesus. What do you think?"
The generals carefully examined the map, but none of them questioned Guan Xiaoxi's strategic plan. Instead, Yu Dingshan said, "How about we have a big one?"
He placed his finger on the map, his expression serious. "The troops surrounding the point can be escorted. Send 30,000 soldiers along this road to attack the reinforcements, and the remaining 90,000 will cross the nearby valley. Once the enemy army leaves Ephesus, our 70,000 will directly destroy their lair and capture Ephesus."
"As for Mireita... it's useless. There's no point in taking it down. After the army behind destroys the reinforcements, it will continue north with its 400,000 followers. We will rendezvous in Ephesus."
"how?"
Yu Dingshan had grown up during his years of military service. Guan Xiaoxian smiled with satisfaction and said, "I think this plan is feasible. What do you think?"
"Okay, let's just capture that important city, resupply there, and then head north!"
…
…
In the evening, 400,000 fully armed guards of the Great Xia Army surrounded the city of Milaita.
The defender of Myratai City was already pale with fear. He didn't know where this army came from. He stood on the city wall and looked at the overwhelming crowd, and he was already in despair.
"Quick, quick, inform Marquis of Ephesus Wellis immediately that Mileta is requesting support!"
That night, the main force of the First Army of the Great Xia Army, numbering 120,000, disappeared from the city of Milaita under the cover of darkness.
They split into two groups, bypassed the city of Mileta, and attacked the city of Ephesus.
Only Peng Yuyan was still sitting in the general's tent at the back.
She was appointed by Guan Xiaoxi as the commander of a logistics division, and was in charge of the 400,000-strong army.
She stood up and walked out of the general's tent, looking at the brightly lit city called Milaita in the darkness, and felt very emotional in her heart - the footsteps of Daxia had been set on this unfamiliar land in just over a year without her noticing.
Will Daxia's dragon flag be able to be planted all over the world in the future?
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