concubine, he was given 6,000 horsemen and 20,000 infantry soldiers.[1] Li's army had to cross the Taklamakan Desert and his supplies soon ran out. After a gruesome march of over 1,000 miles he finally arrived to the country of Dayuan, but what remained of his army was exhausted and starving.[1] Li lost many men along the way in petty fights with local rulers. After a severe defeat at a place called Yucheng, Li concluded that he was not strong enough to take the enemy capital and therefore returned to Dunhuang about 102 BC. Emperor Wudi responded by giving Li Guangli a much larger army along with a huge number of oxen, donkeys and camels to carry supplies. With this force he had no difficulty reaching Khujand (called Ershi by the Chinese), the Dayuan capital. He lost half his army during the march,[1] but after a 40-day siege the Chinese had broken through the outer wall and cut off the water supply. The nobles of Ershi killed their king and sent his head to Li Guangli, offering the Chinese all the horses they wanted. Li accepted the offer, appointed one of the nobles to be the new king and withdrew with a tribute of 3,000 horses.[1] On his return journey all the petty states accepted Chinese sovereignty. He reached the Jade Gate about 100 BC with 10,000 men and 1,000 horses. Footnotes References Bonavia (2004): The Silk Road From Xi’an to Kashgar. Judy Bonavia – revised by Christoph Baumer. 2004. Odyssey Publications. . Boulnois (2004): Silk Road: Monks, Warriors & Merchants on the Silk Road. Luce Boulnois. Translated by Helen Loveday. Odyssey Books, Hong Kong. . Watson, Burton, translator. (1961). Records of the Grand Historian by Sima Qian. Han Dynasty II (Revised Edition), Columbia University Press. . External links "The Emperor and the Parasite." By Heather Pringle | 3 March 2011 at: The Emperor and the Parasite. The Last Word On Nothing (2011-03-03). Retrieved on 2011-03-17. Accessed 9 March 2011. "Parafilaria multipapillosa." The Merck Veterinary Manual (2008) at Merck Veterinary Manual. Merckvetmanual.com. Retrieved on 2011-03-17. Accessed 9 March 2011. "Parafilaria" at Parafilaria multipapillosa (syn. Filaria haemorrhagica) – definition of Parafilaria multipapillosa (syn. Filaria haemorrhagica) in the Medical dictionary – by the Free Online Medical Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia. Medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com. Retrieved on 2011-03-17. Spirurida Parasites of equines Horse diseases