Chapter 211: Ban Chao Discusses the Kushan

“Do the Baron also know about this?”

Ban Chao stroked his short beard, smiled lightly, and nodded: “A mere descendant of defeated soldiers from the former Great Yuezhi, who settled in India only a hundred years ago, also dares to dream of marrying a princess of the Great Han family. I don’t even need to report this to the Emperor; I can reject him directly.”

A mere… descendant of defeated soldiers!

Seeing the old man’s disdainful tone, and the “contempt” that seemed written all over his face, Mo Xiaobai believed that Ban Chao truly looked down on the Great Yuezhi.

Ban Chao, Ban Chao, your arrogance is truly not ordinary!

The current Kushan Empire is one of the four great empires of the world, standing alongside Rome, Persia, and the Great Han.

If he didn’t know Ban Chao’s abilities, Mo Xiaobai would have just sneered at the old man. But even knowing Ban Chao was capable, Mo Xiaobai felt he had to offer a reminder: “Does the Old General not worry that refusing them so directly that day might anger the Great Yuezhi and trigger a great war in the Western Regions?”

“Anger them?”

Upon hearing the word, Ban Chao looked at Mo Xiaobai with some surprise: “For a mighty nation like the Great Han, how could we be afraid of angering their Great Yuezhi over such a small matter? How could the Baron think such a thing?”

“Ah, Old General, I am not afraid. I just mean that your approach is too impolite to the Great Yuezhi; they will retaliate.” Mo Xiaobai was looked at by Ban Chao so strangely that he felt confused, making him feel like a soft bone who fears everything.

“Retaliate? Hmph~ What ability do they have to attack us?”

Ban Chao scrunched up his nose again, a cold smile appearing as he spoke: “Does the Baron know how dangerous Congling is? It is covered in deep snow all year round. If they want to march troops to attack us, they must send a large force of Cavalry. Infantry soldiers move too slowly; they simply cannot cross Congling and will die inside the mountains.”

“This old man also knows that while I was in charge of the Western Regions, the Great Yuezhi had already grown their wings and controlled the land of Dayuan. They had won several battles against India. But what does that matter? A nation’s strength lies in its foundation. Although the Great Yuezhi appears to have a larger territory than the Western Regions now, their wars on all sides have already broken the great taboos of the Military School.”

Listening to Ban Chao’s low muttering, it was clear he understood the Great Yuezhi well, yet he still spoke so disparagingly of them. Mo Xiaobai had to speak up: “I, a junior, do not understand. I wish to hear the details.”

“In my eyes, the King of Yuezhi has no strategy for governing a country. Although using excessive military force can bring temporary glory, it cannot last a hundred years. The prosperity he sees now is merely a reflection in a flower or the moon in water. If the Great Yuezhi does not attack the Western Regions, fine; but if they truly come to attack, although this old man is nearly sixty, I am not afraid of their troops and horses.”

Seeming to have a bit of fondness for Mo Xiaobai, Ban Chao really began to explain to him:

“Moreover, the Baron has already pacified the three states of Qiuci. Within the Western Regions, the Great Yuezhi cannot even find one or two ally states. Furthermore, once they march beyond Congling for an expedition, their rear supply lines will inevitably be short. If they send two or thirty thousand troops to attack, they can be defeated in half a year; if they send fifty to sixty thousand, they must be defeated within three months; if the Great Yuezhi dares to commit half their nation’s strength and send one hundred thousand Cavalry to cross the border, this old man can defeat them within a few months.”

“Did the Baron understand what this old man said?”

Did he understand?

If Mo Xiaobai only listened to Ban Chao’s explanation, he might not have fully understood, but recalling the historical process of the old man repelling the Great Yuezhi, Mo Xiaobai nodded immediately:

“Fortify walls and clear the countryside; victory comes without fighting.”

“The child is teachable!”

Ban Chao stroked his beard again and nodded slowly: “In these years of my command over the Western Regions, although I have not completed the entire task, I have achieved some results. We have settled for farming in Shule and Yarkand; counting this year, we have already had four bumper harvests. Repairing the cities means every country now has several strong castles, which can be used to gather the people during wartime.”

“However, although this old man is not afraid of the Great Yuezhi, your reminder this time was timely. If the King of Yuezhi is truly angered and shamed, perhaps the war between our two nations becomes unavoidable. In that case, I still need to go to Shule early. If I am not at the front line, those Western Region servants might truly be scared to death by the Yuezhi Iron Cavalry.”

After Ban Chao finished speaking, Mo Xiaobai immediately thought of a famous and debated matter from his past life: “Old General, is it true that the Han Army truly suffers from a severe shortage of soldiers in the Western Regions now?”

How many troops Ban Chao actually used to pacify the Western Regions remains a mystery in the long river of two thousand years of Huaxia history. The known Han Army troops in the Western Regions were only 800 prisoners and 1,000 Yicong. If there were really only 1,800 Han soldiers, even if Ban Chao was a god of war, it would be very hard to handle dozens of small and large states in the Western Regions.

Mo Xiaobai had been curious about this question for a long time, and now that he had caught Ban Chao, he naturally wanted to ask clearly.

“If we talk about troops allocated by the Imperial Court, it is just the 800 Chixingshi soldiers I brought this time, along with 1,000 Yicong stationed separately in Shule and Yarkand.”

Originally, the Old General would not tell outsiders how many soldiers he had, but Mo Xiaobai was not an “outsider” to the Western Regions. The thin old man simply told the truth: “Besides the soldiers allocated by the Imperial Court, I also gathered a group of soldiers in the various nations of the Western Regions. Among them were slaves of Han merchants who traveled there, and descendants of Han People who had lived in the Western Regions for a long time. Counting these Han Soldiers together, there are about three thousand.”

“For this old man, having three thousand Han Soldiers is enough. To manage the Western Regions, I do not rely on a heavy defense of massive troops, but on communication between the various countries to ensure the Silk Road remains open. Having too many troops is actually not good, after all, Han Soldiers cannot be fed by the people of the Western Regions, nor can they steal the food of the Western Regions. If it were not for the success of farming settlements, it would be hard to even maintain these three thousand men.”

Three thousand!

Relying on the farming settlements in Shule and Yarkand, Ban Chao had organized a three-thousand-man army himself. He did not ask for a single copper coin of military pay from the Great Han, nor did he ask any of the Western states for any stationing fees; all expenses were solved by Ban Chao himself.

“The Old General has great efforts; I, a junior, am deeply impressed!” After the answer was revealed, Mo Xiaobai’s curiosity had completely faded, leaving only endless admiration and emotion.

No wonder Ban Dingyuan’s reputation in the Western Regions was unmatched. His principles were truly not something an ordinary person could persist with.

“However, it is merely my duty as a loyal subject. What is there to admire?” Ban Chao waved his hand and then asked: “Tomorrow I will go to Shule. Are you planning to stay stationed in Qiuci?”

“Originally, if there were no other matters, I would have been on guard against the defeated Xiongnu in this area. But right now, a great war is happening in the Western Regions. This subordinate begs the Old General’s permission to allow me to go to Shule with you.” Mo Xiaobai could not tell Ban Chao that he was coming for this great war against the Great Yuezhi, so he had to make such a request politely.

“Oh? Does the Baron intend to send troops to help?”

“As loyal subjects of the Great Han, how could this subordinate stand idly by?”

After Mo Xiaobai asked this, Ban Chao did not refuse and nodded directly: “That is good. With the thousands of troops under the Baron’s command to help, some matters will be easier to complete. However, the Baron need not go to Shule with me. You may lead your troops to Yarkand, the capital city of the Kingdom of Yarkand, to set up camp.”

The Kingdom of Yarkand?

After going over the general distribution of the Western Regions in his mind, Mo Xiaobai immediately stood up and clasped his hands: “Your subordinate will strictly obey the Old General’s order!”