Another winter has passed, and the earth has revived all things. A loud eagle cry came from the cloudless prairie sky, scaring several wild sheep on the ground fleeing in panic.

Just a few miles behind these wild sheep, a long army of cavalry was constantly advancing along the vast grassland towards the northwest, splashing smoke and dust.

Among the central army of this cavalry army, Yiqusheng, the current king of Yiqu State, and the great governor of the northern Zhao State rode horses and walked side by side with many guards.

This time they led a total of 30,000 cavalry coalition forces from Zhao and Yiqiu.

A loud eagle cries sounded, and then the black eagle fell from the sky and landed on Yiqusheng's outstretched arm.

Yiqiusheng laughed and touched the Black Hawk's head intimately, looking very intimate.

Li Mu looked at this scene with some curiosity and said to Yi Qusheng: "When did you have this habit of raising eagles?"

Yiqucheng laughed and said to Li Mu proudly: "Don't you think raising eagles is a very cool act? As a king, my dream is to hang above the nine heavens like this eagle!"

Li Mu nodded, then said to Yiqiusheng: "Which book did you see these words?"

Yiqucheng laughed and said to Li Mu without any blushing, "This is what I saw in the pile of books that your king gave me when I went to Handan last time. As for which one, I forgot."

Li Mu looked at Yi Qusheng with a strange look, and then said, "Do you actually recognize the words of Zhao?"

Yi Qusheng shrugged his shoulders and said to Li Mu: "Don't you know? In fact, the difference between Qin and Zhao characters is not as big as you imagined."

Li Mu suddenly felt that the Yiqu victory in front of him might be a false Yiqu victory.

Yi Qusheng smiled and teased the Black Hawk on his own, looking very proud.

Li Mu quietly looked away and decided not to let Yi Qusheng pretend to behave in front of him.

Yi Qusheng's eyes rolled and said to Li Mu without saying anything, "To be honest, I don't really understand your thoughts. Since we all know that the Wusun tribe has just returned to the foot of Yanzhi Mountain, why don't we lead an elite cavalry to launch a surprise attack on them, but instead attack Yanzhi Mountain with such a big fanfare?"

Li Mu glanced at Yiqusheng and said after a while: "You should know that the Huns have just advanced westward recently and met with the Wusun people."

Yiqiusheng nodded.

Li Mu continued: "You must also know that the new city we built has been attacked by the Huns and Wusun people in the past two years."

Yiqucheng nodded again and said, "Are you going to take revenge on them?"

In fact, in the past two years, the new city built by Li Mu and Yi Qusheng has always been a major concern for the Wusun people and the Huns.

Because both tribes are very clear that this city built on the west bank of the Yellow River will be the springboard for Zhao's future advance westward, so if possible, it must be completely removed before it is fully formed.

But after two years of bloody battle, neither the Wusun nor the Huns had achieved this goal.

The reason is of course because Li Mu stationed a sufficiently elite unit of 3,000 people here, and this unit has been guarding the new city in the past two years. Even at the most urgent moment of the Zhao State war, Li Mu never dispatched this unit to the south to participate in the war.

Yiqusheng once asked Li Mu why the combat effectiveness of this army was so strong. Li Mu replied: "I told them that as long as I can hold on here for five years, then in five years, not only will the Huns and Wusun people escape thousands of miles, but every person in their family will also obtain 100 acres of land."

Yi Qusheng was very puzzled at the time: "Can a few hundred acres of land be able to make a soldier work so hard?"

Li Mu replied: "On the grassland, dozens of cattle and sheep are enough for a herder to work hard."

It is precisely because of the existence of this new city that Yiqusheng and Li Mu now have a logistics base that is deep enough to penetrate the grassland, which can support them to lead 30,000 cavalry troops to advance westward slowly and erect directly to Yanzhi Mountain on the north side of the Qilian Mountains.

Li Mu smiled and said to Yi Qusheng in front of him: "If I was not wrong, the King of Wusun should have begun to ask for help from the Xiongnu Khan. Do you think the Xiongnu Khan will reinforce him?"

Yi Qusheng thought about it and said with some uncertainty: "In the past few years, the Huns have been defeated several times under the iron hooves of your Zhao State. If they were not stupid, they would not have come back easily."

Li Mu smiled mysteriously and said, "No, the Huns will definitely take action."

"Why did the Huns come?" Yi Qusheng obviously didn't quite believe it: "Even if the King Wusun and the Huns' Khan were born to the same mother, the Khan might not support him, not to mention that the King Wusun and the Khan have no blood relationship at all!"

Li Mu smiled and said, "Because according to my information, 40,000 to 50,000 Xiongnu cavalry had arrived in Yanzhi Mountain three days ago and met with the King of Wusun."

"What?" Yi Qusheng was shocked: "We had just set out from the new city three days ago. Did they know what we were going at that time?"

"No." Li Mu shook his head and said, "You said it was against me. I first knew their target, so I chose to send troops at this time."

Yi Qusheng widened his eyes and said after a long time: "What do the Huns want to do? Attack your Zhao State?"

Li Mu said: "They want to go to the Western Regions."

A major feature of nomadic peoples is that they do not have any means of production or tools except livestock, especially the necessary iron and copper tools.

This is destined to be one thing, as long as they want to strive for a better life for themselves, then plundering other countries is necessary.

Because Zhao State in the south had suffered several major defeats, the Huns did not place their looting eyes on the south.

As for the Donghu in the east, it was also a time to be powerful. Although the Huns had defeated Donghu several times, Donghu still had a considerable force at present. What's more important is that the Donghu was also a nomadic people like the Huns who could not produce any tools.

Under such circumstances, it is not news that the Huns and Wusuns in Mobei could not join forces to prepare for the westward advance.

Yiqiusheng then understood and said, "So you just want to catch them all while they gather together?"

Li Mu nodded very seriously and said, "Nothing is wrong. The Huns and Wusun people have gathered under Yanzhi Mountain, and there should be 60,000 to 70,000 cavalry. This time my goal is to completely defeat the tens of thousands of cavalry coalitions gathered at Yanzhi Mountain. As long as this battle can be won, the Qilian Mountains will be completely included in the territory of Zhao from now on, and the road to the Western Regions will never be blocked."

Yi Qusheng took a breath, looked at Li Mu with disbelief, and said, "How did you know such information?"

Li Mu blinked and said to Yi Qusheng: "Don't forget that among the seven northern counties under my rule, the most unabridged one is the knights who can get into the grassland."

Li Mu's words were not wrong at all. After all, he had a lot of Lin Hu people, Lou Annoying, Yiqu people and even the Huns under his command.

Yiqiusheng was silent for a while, then said, "Have you ever thought that we might actually lose this time?"

"Impossible." Li Mu denied Yi Qusheng's view with great certainty, and then said: "The old rules, this time the share is still 73."

Yiqiusheng nodded, and had no objection to Li Mu's distribution.

Because Yiqu was also very clear that among the current coalition, the 20,000 Zhao cavalry led by Li Mu was the real combat power, and the 10,000 Yiqu cavalry led by him were just troops coming to fight.

The two seemed to have no intention of talking for a moment and began to fall silent.

After a while, Li Mu suddenly spoke, "What did you think about what I told you last time?"

Yiqiusheng was stunned for a moment, then said to Li Mu: "I thought about it for a while, and I feel that it may not work."

Li Mu said with his eyebrows, "Why can't it?"

Yiqusheng said to Li Mu seriously, "I am the king of Yiqu Kingdom now, but if I surrender to your Zhao Kingdom, I will be a vassal prince at best. At that time, your king will die if he wants me to die, and if he wants me to live, he has to live. This is how the Qin people treated our Yiqu Kingdom clan, and I don't want to live like that again."

Li Mu shook his head very seriously and said to Yiqusheng: "Have you not discovered it? My king is different from the King of Qin. He can even let go of the descendants of the mortal enemy like the King of Wei. If you lead the Yiqu Kingdom to surrender, you are a meritorious minister. How could he have any opinions on you? Don't forget that I am also an important minister who can discuss matters in Longtai. As long as you are willing to surrender to Zhao Kingdom, I can guarantee that you will become my deputy general and fight with me in all directions."

Li Mu looked at Yi Qusheng with a very eager look and said, "At that time, we two can cross the Qilian Mountains together and conquer all the countries and lands we can see. Isn't this stronger than if you are drunk and dreaming in the palace every day?"

Yiqiusheng laughed and did not take over Li Mu's words, but instead teased the eagle that was staying on his shoulders very attentively.

Seeing Yi Qusheng's appearance, Li Mu couldn't help but sigh in his heart, knowing that his persuasion had failed.

To be honest, Li Mu also regarded Yiqusheng as a friend, so he spared no effort to attract Yiqusheng.

After all, Li Mu, the martial arts of Yiqusheng, has also been witnessed with his own eyes. Whether it is archery or immediate attack methods, Yiqusheng is one level stronger than Li Mu. He is a rare general. If such a general is inserted into the enemy as a sharp knife at a critical moment, it will definitely be a nightmare for any enemy.

It’s a pity that Yiqusheng now seems to be quite satisfied with the identity of the king of Yiqu and has no intention of submitting to Zhao State.

"Forget it, let's wait until the future will persuade you." Li Mu let out a long sigh and looked up at the horizon.

There, a tall, majestic giant mountain range that looks like endless, lying across the horizon from west to east, which is the famous Qilian Mountains.

Looking at this famous mountain range, Li Mu's fist holding the reins gradually tightened.

As an important official of Zhao State, Li Mu knew very well that for a long time in the future, the core strategy of Zhao State will be to unify the other five countries. As a member of Zhao State, Li Mu and the Border Cavalry Legion will also serve this big strategy.

So this time the westward advance is probably Li Mu's only opportunity to go west within five to ten years.

This time, we must completely eliminate the main forces of the Xiongnu and Wusun and open up the Hexi Corridor!
Chapter completed!