Su Dingfang, who had been holding back his anger for almost a year, went crazy this time.
Originally he was the protagonist who pacified the Western Regions, originally he was the majestic hero, originally it was all his...
But as the whole world attacked the Tang Dynasty, Su Dingfang, who originally held the strongest army in the Tang Dynasty, turned out to be the most aggrieved one.
They pursued them all the way to the foot of Jinshan Mountain, but they still couldn't catch those Western Turks who were running like rabbits.
Later, even if Huihe and Xue Yantuo came to attack from both sides, Su Dingfang was still confident of defeating them.
But these tribes did not respect martial ethics and did not engage in direct battles. They just continued to harass him and cut off his food routes.
Su Dingfang had no choice. No matter what kind of army was cut off from its food supply, it could only retreat first.
The fight with the Western Turks Uighurs and Xue Yantuo was like quicksand in the desert. Sora's strength was limited by the terrain and supplies, so he couldn't use it.
After retreating to the Yinli River Valley, Li Ermi sent a telegram asking him to stay here to hold back the three major tribes.
If it weren't for the fact that he had stocked up a batch of supplies in the river valley before going to Jinshan and plundered many tribes to obtain supplies such as cattle, sheep, and horses, Su Dingfang's troops would have had to catch rats.
Meat can be barely supplied, but the lack of fruits and vegetables has demoralized Su Dingfang's troops.
Even the alfalfa and bean cakes originally fed to the war horses were eaten.
Finally, when the reinforcements arrived and Li Er sent the order to attack, Su Dingfang, who was mad, led the Tang army, who was also mad, and swept through all the Uighur tribes.
Huihe, who was hit by a sudden attack, hurriedly asked Xue Yantuo who was next to him to come to the rescue.
Xue Yantuo did come, but he came on a horse waving a sword.
Under the attack from both sides, the Uighur tribes were like rivers flowing into the desert, quickly disappearing without a trace.
Su Dingfang, who was red-eyed by the killing, was not willing to keep prisoners at all. The cruel killing even scared Xue Yantuo to the point of trembling and not daring to approach the Tang army, for fear that he would become the next one.
Originally, Uihe, which gradually took control of the Western Regions after the main force of the Tang army withdrew from the Anshi Rebellion, disappeared in the long river of history.
Li Yunze was not idle here either. He first directly attacked and destroyed the royal court of the Western Turkic Khan, annihilating his old camp and seizing hundreds of thousands of cattle and sheep.
Then the battalions and regiments were dispersed and attacked, sweeping through all the Western Turkic tribes.
Compared to the red-eyed Su Dingfang, Li Yunze was much kinder. He captured as many prisoners as possible, especially young people.
After all, the technical conditions of this era were not good. Mines where mining accidents often occurred, and plantations where diseases were rampant and the weather was hot, continued to have a large number of manpower.
Women want it too. After all, the Western Regions have been conquered since the Han and Tang Dynasties, and they are not just for those raisins. The beauties of the Western Regions are really beautiful.
The Tang army who went to the Western Regions this time, as long as they had some military exploits, could bring home a concubine.
As for the young and old, it is of course of no use.
In addition to the young and old with status, old men can apply for Li Er's song and dance troupe, while those who are no taller than a wheel can be sent to the palace to join the service industry.
All other matters are left to the discretion of the ministries.
Those with a better mentality should just drive them away and let them fend for themselves in the vast world.
Those with a less gentle mentality will, of course, be dealt with directly.
The Western Turks, who once controlled the two powerful rivers in the Western Region, had their bones broken in the first battle. Even if there are still some scattered tribes on both sides of Jinshan Mountain, they are all grasshoppers in the autumn with no way out.
After eliminating the two powerful enemies, Li Yunze secretly cooperated with Su Dingfang, and the two sides quietly gathered their troops to surround the two wings of Xue Yantuo's tribe.
The original intention was to conduct a surprise attack to completely resolve this little trouble.
As for Li Er agreeing to reconcile with Xue Yantuo's tribe, that was promised by the emperor. We and other frontline generals did not know until we received the imperial edict.
It's a pity that Xue Yantuo's Yinan Khan was frightened by the Tang army's violence. He simply threw Tang Jian out, who wanted to follow them, and hurried north to Jinshan.
Yi Nan Khan ran too fast. When the Tang army chased him, his royal court had even crossed the Jinshan Mountain and fled to the far north.
It was already winter, and escaping to the north of Jinshan Mountain in this kind of weather would really be a narrow escape.
After learning about the victory in the Western Regions, the proud Li Er quickly made arrangements.
He used the Tianshan Mountains as the boundary, and set up the Anxi Protectorate in the south of the Tianshan Mountains. Cheng Yaojin succeeded Li Yunze as the Chief Protector of the Anxi Protectorate.
Li Er left 50,000 troops and horses for him, and the order was to keep an eye on the Tubo on the plateau, and at the same time go to take revenge on the big and small Bolu.
To the north of Tianshan Mountain was the Beiting Protectorate, with Su Dingfang serving as the Grand Governor of the Beiting Protectorate.
Li Er left 40,000 troops and horses for Su Dingfang, with the task of monitoring Lianghe and preparing to go deep into Lianghe to attack the nine surnames of Zhaowu.
It's not that Li Er didn't want to give more troops and horses, but that the railway line had only been built to Xizhou and Tingzhou at this time. From here there were still thousands of miles ahead, and carriages were needed for transportation.
Before the construction of the railway lines on the north and south sides of Tianshan Mountain is completed, the limit of logistical supply is so much.
The rest of the Tang army returned to the court, first back to Gaochang Yinzhou and other places, and then got on the train and returned to Guanzhong.
As the Western Turks and Uighurs were defeated, as Tubo suffered heavy losses and did not dare to go back down the mountain, and as Xue Yantuo escaped, the world war that led to the worldwide attack on the Tang Dynasty was temporarily over.
The reason why it is said to be temporary is because Li Er is going to deal with that loser next.
That's right, we're talking about Goguryeo.
Goguryeo also participated in the worldwide attack on the Tang Dynasty, but it was lingering on the border waiting for opportunities.
If Datang falls during the siege, they will immediately turn into wolves and pounce on them to bite.
If the Tang Dynasty survives, they will send envoys to pretend to be peaceful.
This method is useful for dealing with faint kings and traitorous ministers. People like Zhao Gou and Qin Hui fell into this trap.
But Li Er couldn't tolerate sand in his eyes. He was ready to fight Goguryeo before he jumped out, not to mention that he was one of the initiators of this world-wide attack on the Tang Dynasty.
Now there is only one reason that restricts Datang from attacking Goguryeo, and that is that the railway from Luoyang to Youzhou has not been built yet.
When the construction of this railway is completed, that will be the day when the Tang Dynasty cavalry arrives.
The train swayed forward, and the people who swayed were drowsy.
After leaving the battlefield, Tang Jun looked extremely lazy. Most of them fell down on their seats and slept. The few who were awake were joking and playing Shuanglu, Ye Zi and other fighting games.
Li Yunze sat on the chair and quietly flipped through the book, his eyes calm and serious. Everyone who saw this scene would praise him, "What a great general." '
But what he was reading was an illustrated storybook, and it was written by a famous artist.
This is a picture album that he specially asked Yan Liben to artistically process according to the storyline he provided.
What I have to say is that Yan Liben is worthy of being the painting saint before Wu Daozi. The paintings in these albums are so lifelike and detailed.
Especially when the male and female protagonists interact...ahem.
"Swinging...getting water from the well...closing the windows after the spring rain...behind the rockery..."
Li Yunze's mind was in a state of flux as he looked at the album. What was in his mind was that he would have to practice these postures after returning to Lijiazhuang.
"General." Xue Rengui came over and saluted.
Closing the album without leaving a trace, Li Yunze smiled and nodded, "What's the matter?"
"The general has heard that your Majesty will attack Goguryeo this time when he returns to the court. I wonder if this is the case?"
"Do you want to go?" Li Yunze raised his eyebrows slightly. "Are you addicted to making achievements? I don't know exactly how it is now, but if you really want to go, I will definitely recommend you."
"Thank you, General!"
Xue Rengui was overjoyed and quickly saluted and thanked him.
During this expedition to the Western Regions, he was promoted from a white-robed captain to a powerful captain by virtue of his military exploits, and even received a knighthood.
Naturally, Shimui Zhiwei wants to continue his efforts, becoming a general and a duke.
Warriors in the martial arts era were always like this. They worked hard all day long to practice martial arts, and all they wanted to do was send troops and horses to conquer the surrounding enemy countries and make achievements.
Because of this, since the Qin and Han Dynasties, most of the Middle-earth dynasties sent troops to attack the surrounding areas.
But after the big headscarves came to power and valued civility over military affairs, it became a situation where everyone went to study for the imperial examinations and wanted to be an official, and despised and spurned military people.
The result was that the Central-Turk dynasty came from all directions, and both the Song and Ming dynasties perished as a result.
"What book of war is the general reading?" Xue Rengui noticed the book in Li Yunze's hand and asked curiously, "Can I borrow it from the general to have a look?"
"Oedo...ahem." Li Yunze waved his hand, "This is my own art of war, but I haven't finished writing it yet. I will lend it to you after it is perfected."
"Thank you, General!"
The scenery outside the window gradually became more colorful, and it became even more green after entering Guanzhong.
It took several months for the Tang army to withdraw its troops and return to Guanzhong. By the time Li Yunze returned, it was already the time of spring again.
At this time, the vegetation in Guanzhong has not yet reached the point where it cannot be restored. It is full of green and clear rivers. It is still a chosen place.
The population of the villages and towns along the way has gradually increased, and the people who are busy doing farm work in the fields have gradually become accustomed to the sight of the steel dragon roaring and galloping on the railway tracks, so it is not as shocking as it was at the beginning.
Apart from anything else, at least now there is basically no such thing as stealing railway tracks.
In addition to severe punishments and road protection teams, a very important point is that Datang's steel production has soared, and the prices of iron products have also fallen rapidly.
Most of the people were already using iron farm tools at this time, and their farming efficiency was far higher than before.
Looking at the villages and towns along the way through the car window, most of the villages and towns are mainly made of brick and tile houses, and many of the houses are also made of glass.
This is also the benefit brought by Li Yunze.
Improvements in the technology of firing bricks and tiles, understanding how to control temperature and the large-scale use of coal have ensured the quality of bricks and tiles, and the output has increased rapidly, which is enough to meet the needs of ordinary people's homes.
As for glass, with technology, this kind of raw material is almost everywhere, so it is naturally not difficult to make.
Looking at everything in front of him, Li Yunze was very satisfied.
After all, my trip was not in vain. At least, the people of the Tang Dynasty in this world could live better.
The passing geese leave their voices, and the passing people leave their names.
Although he will eventually leave one day, people in this world will never forget the changes he has brought to their lives.
This time he didn't think about the imperial hegemony, but he was very satisfied.
As his thoughts raced, the train began to slow down slowly.
The long-awaited Chang'an City has finally arrived.
