The army commanded by Ma Zheng was marching at this time at the junction of the mountains called Alkin Mountain and the Kunlun Mountains later. The mountains are connected to the mountains, and the altitude is very high and the air is a little thin, which makes people from low altitudes feel a little tight and short of breath.

Turning a bend on the mountain road, there are still many mountains in front of you, and it is not the lush mountain, but the desolate and vicissitudes of the mountains, bare and without a trace of green. Looking at the desolate mountain in front of you, Ma Zheng was also a little restless and asked, "How far is it from Shitou Town when you fall at night?"

"It will take another 5 days to go back to the Taiwei." Three feet behind Ma Zheng, a yellow-headed Uighur tribe leader with a white beard and tanned skin in the sun immediately responded. Ye Luobi is the surname of the Uighur leader, indicating that he is a descendant of the Ye Luobi family of the Uighur royal family that ruled Ganzhou in the past.

The Ganzhou Uighur regime emerged at the end of the Tang Dynasty. When Zhang Yichao recovered the Hexi Corridor, he used the help of the Uighur tribes to allow some Uighur tribes to enter the Dedan grassland in Ganzhou (the later Shandan army horse farm was located). Since then, the Ganzhou Uighurs existed as ally of the Guiyi Army. After the rise of the Song Dynasty, they supported the rule of the Song Dynasty and cooperated with the Song Dynasty to curb the riots of Dangxiangxi. However, during the reign of Zhenzong and Renzong, the Ganzhou Uighurs were attacked by the powerful Liao Kingdom and suffered heavy losses. In the sixth year of Tiansheng in Renzong, Yuanhao took advantage of the Liao Kingdom's siege (siege for 4 months) to launch an attack and seized the fundamental city of the Ganzhou Uighurs.

After losing Ganzhou, most of the Uighurs chose to migrate, and one of them fled to the west of Qinghai Road south of Guasha Prefectures, forming the current Yellow-headed Uighur tribe. However, these Yellow-headed Uighurs had lost their unified regime and scattered into seven major and a group of small tribes. The leaders of most of the tribes were descendants of the night-fall royal family.

These scattered yellow-headed Uighur tribes could not survive entirely by the desolate Qaidam Basin. Therefore, taking advantage of the opportunity that the Hexi Corridor was blocked due to the war and traded between Qinghai West Road between Qingtang City and Khotan Yochang City controlled by the Karakhan Dynasty became an important source of wealth for the Yellow-headed Uighur tribe.

It is precisely because of the existence of this century-old trade route that the Yellow-Tou Uighur tribes are extremely familiar with the mountains between Qinghai Road and the Western Regions. The leader of the Yellow-Tou Uighurs in the border area also learned Chinese because he often contacted Han merchants.

"We will have to walk for another 5 days..." Ma Zheng looked up at the mountains that could not be seen, "When will we get out of this mountain?"

Ye Luobi smiled and said, "We will walk for two more days. We are now moving along the mountains. We will reach Ah Mok's River in the evening, and then we will enter along the river. Then we will be able to walk on the road and the water source is abundant."

Ah Mok's Great Water is the Cherchen River in later generations. It is an inland river formed by the convergence of iceberg snow, mountain precipitation and spring water. It is more than a thousand miles long.

Ye Luobi said again: "The army of Taiwei only needs to walk along the Ah Mo Xida River for less than a day before they can leave the mountains and reach the territory of Yutian."

"How about Shitou Town?" Perhaps because the march was too boring, Ma Zheng asked the Uighur tribe leader about the situation of Shitou Town, the first target of this trip.

Shitou Town belonged to Shanshan in ancient times, also known as Ruoqiang. It was renamed Shitou Town during the Tang Dynasty, and was later ruled by the Xizhou Uighurs, Khotan and Karakhanate countries. When the Hexi Corridor was blocked due to the war, Shitou Town became an important Shang town.

"Okay!" Ye Luobi smiled and said, "Shitou Town has been a good place since ancient times. It was also the capital of a country in ancient times, and now it is a place where merchants gather... The Taiwei, although it is so deserted here, once he crosses the mountains, it will be a continuous oasis and grassland. After the snow on Kunlun Mountain melts, it will flow to the territory that originally belonged to the Kingdom of Tian. Shitou Town, for Changcheng, Kriya, and Khotan City, are as rich as Qingtang City!"

Ye Luobi had probably been to Qingtang City in this life, right? So in his opinion, the territory of Khotan is as rich as that of Qingtang.

And he had the same view as him, Mahmood Berry, the general under the command of the "Chinese Lion King", the general of Hakmu of Khotan. He has now led his 800 Gulam warriors and 500 Ikta cavalry to the Stone Town, about 1,800 miles from the city of Khotan.

Although the "Lion King" gave him permission to strengthen the walls and clear the fields, Berry still couldn't bear to see the 1,800 miles of fertile land in Khotan.

Due to the melting snow of Kunlun Mountain, there is no shortage of water in the territory of Khotan. Therefore, large tracts of grasslands and oasis have been formed. Among them, the four oasis, Kreya, Yochangcheng and Shitou Town are the richest, with large tracts of farmland and irrigation canals left over from the Han and Tang Dynasties and the Khotan era.

Especially Ruoqiang Shitou Town, which is located at the easternmost point of the entire "Under China", is even more prosperous because it is at the intersection of Gaochang Uighurs, Xixia and the Qinghai Line of the Silk Road. Even if the Hexi Corridor has been opened now, it has not affected the prosperity of Shitou Town.

Because the superior geographical location of Shitou Town still exists, the caravan does not need to take Qinghai Road and can go directly to Shazhou under the Hexi Army through the Great Desert.

Mahmoud Berry naturally refused to give up any wealthy business center.

And he is also sure to defend Shitou Town, because Shitou Town is a stone city!

General Guram, wearing chain mail, was riding his beloved Tianzhu Folding Horse, walking around the stones to form a city. Behind him were a few Guram or Ikta Knights who were also wearing chain mail and riding horses. There were also several men in gorgeous silk robes walking beside Berry, and while walking, they praised the sturdyness of the Stone City in Uighur language.

"Dear Chief Hakmu, this stone city was built by Han people during the Tang Dynasty. All the stones used were collected from nearby mountains and bonded with slurry mixed with glutinous rice juice. They were as strong as a whole huge stone..."

"Yes, I remember that in order to seize the Stone City from the evil pagans (referring to the Gaochang Uighurs), the jihadists fought for three months, and tens of thousands of jihadists returned to heaven."

"The Han Buddhist army came from afar and could not carry much food at all. As long as we clear the fields around the stone city, we ensure that they cannot get supplies. Then it takes less than three months, only one month or even ten days, and their army will lose food."

"Stone City cannot be broken, because in addition to the city being too strong, the city can mobilize tens of thousands of militias. They are all brave and good at fighting, and one person can defeat three Buddhist soldiers of the Song Kingdom."

"And the reserves in the city are also very sufficient, enough for all the defenders and people to use for one year..."

Listening to the words of these local officials, tribal leaders and merchant leaders of the Stone Town, Chief Berry was even more convinced that his claim was correct.

Defending the Stone Town is the best way to defeat the Peach Blossom Stone Buddha Army. Because Stone City is impossible to be broken by the enemy... It takes a lot of equipment and time to capture such a city. Both of these things and enemies do not have these two things. The nearby trees have been cut down, and the enemy has no materials to make equipment. Time is determined by the supplies that the enemy can carry.

They carry food for thousands of miles away. How much can they bring? How long can they last? It will be over if they can last for 15 days in Shitou Town.

Capture Stone City in 15 days?

That's totally a dream!

Just as he was proud, the rushing sound of horse hooves came from far and near. Berry turned his head and saw a few militia from Stone Town coming to Stone Town's city leader Burke (the mayor's meaning), before rolling down from the horse's back.

"Report to Big Boske," one of the militias who looked a little panicked saluted and said in a crying voice, "The Rangers on the Peach Blossom Stone Man have appeared under the Great Snow Mountain!"

Daxue Mountain is the name of Kunlun Mountain and Aljin Mountain by the Khotan people who believe in the Tianfang Sect.

Seeing these militiamen looking in shock, Berry hurriedly asked, "Have you fought with them?"

"I've fought..." The militia gasped, "We, we have lost eleven warriors! Those Buddhist soldiers are so powerful, everyone is a devil!"

"Eleven Warriors?" Berry took a breath, "How many of them are there?"

"I don't know, there are about six, seven..."

What? There are six or seven riders, and you have more than a dozen riders, but eleven people have been killed...

"How many of them have you killed?" Berry asked again.

"No, I don't know, I don't know..." The man cried.

He was also a famous hero in Shitou Town. He was a first-class person in riding horses, shooting archery, and wrestling, and even competed with the horse bandits in the desert. He thought he could beat ten Buddhists who were on the peach blossom stone alone. But unexpectedly, he met six or seven demons who chanted Buddha's name today. As soon as a dozen people fought with them, they were immediately knocked down halfway. If he hadn't run fast with his brothers, he would have already entered the heaven of Allah.

"Berry!" A chief Gulam came to Mahmoud Berry, "Did they meet Gulam who was on the peach blossom stone?"

Berry nodded slightly, only Gulam had such a skill!

"We sent Gulam from the beginning. These people on Taohuashan really don't know how to fight!"

Berry nodded again, agreeing deeply.

Gurams are all under the ranks, so how can they use the precious Guram to take the lead? How many Gurams are needed to be enough?

Berry laughed: "They came with food all the way regardless of the long journey and used the precious Gulam to explore the way, obviously they did not understand military affairs. We will definitely win this war! We just keep guarding Shitou Town. At most, they will be defeated if they have enough food to be lost."
Chapter completed!