"You're right!" Zamp nodded: "Then what should I do now?"
"No need to do anything, just wait and see what happens!" Langri said: "If Qinling loses, we can take this opportunity to suppress the Gar family and find a way to negotiate peace with the Tang people; if Qinling wins, we can take this opportunity to reward Qin Ling, also established Qin Ling as the prime minister, standing side by side with Zan Xiruo!"
"I understand what you mean!" Zan Pu laughed: "If Qin Ling is also appointed as the prime minister, no matter how much Zan Xiruo tolerates this younger brother, he will not feel good in his heart!"
"Yes!" Langri nodded: "The moon is full when it is full, and when it is strong, it will decline. No matter how profound the virtues accumulated by Lu Dongzan are, one of the two skills has been exhausted. Even if the nobles don't say it with their mouths, they still feel in their hearts. You will also be jealous of the Gal family!"
When leaving the Red Mansion, Langri was already four to five minutes drunk. In order to reward his strategy, Zamp took out the best wine and shared it with his friends. It was already sunset in the courtyard. The cold wind blew across the palace walls, and the icicles hanging from the eaves collided with each other, making a sharp sound. This made Langri couldn't help but recall the days in Chang'an. Compared with there, the lingering winter was simply... It was boring to the extreme, and drinking became one of the few entertainments for the Tubo nobles. No wonder there were so many hopeless drunkards here.
"It's hard to find a playmate here who knows how to play pot and luck with you!" Lang Ri sighed and walked out the door.
After returning home, Lang Ri, who was depressed, was about to go to the bedroom to rest, but the housekeeper came up to him and said with a smile: "Master, the Tang Dynasty has sent a gift!"
"Tang Ren? Gift?"
"Yes, it was sent from Dajianlu. It was sent by a businessman from the Tang Dynasty on the request of a businessman from his country. It is said that the businessman from the Tang Dynasty thanked you for allowing the trade between the two countries, so he sent you a few things, just to relieve your boredom in your spare time!"
"Businessmen from the Tang Dynasty? Relaxing in your spare time?" Langri smiled with interest. Of course he knew that this so-called "merchant from the Tang Dynasty" was most likely made under the instruction of the Governor Wang: "I'm really interested, let's take a look. !”
"Yes, Master!" the steward responded, and soon he brought out a very tightly wrapped rattan box. When he opened it, he found that the rattan box was filled with wool and there were four or five wooden boxes inside. Langri knew that it was probably to prevent the delicate objects inside from being damaged by the bumpy journey. He took out the first wooden box and opened it to see that there was a set of Go inside. The black and white chess pieces were all made of jade. The chess pieces were The tentacles are warm and moist. At the bottom of the wooden box is a wooden Go board with ivory inlays. It is split into four pieces and can be spliced together. The craftsmanship is very exquisite.
Langri couldn't put it down and played with it for a while before putting it aside. Then he opened another wooden box, and inside was a bamboo flute. Langri had also learned this instrument when he was in Chang'an. When he was about to pick it up and play it, he found a piece of silk paper pressed under the bamboo flute. Look, it’s an instruction manual. Langri flipped the mechanism on the bamboo flute according to the instructions. He only heard a soft sound, but two steel nails shot out from the end of the flute and were deeply embedded in the wooden window pane. It turned out that the flute It turned out to be a weapon disguised as a musical instrument.
"Master, are you not injured?" The housekeeper was startled and asked quickly.
"Nothing!" Langri said with a smile: "This thing is quite exquisitely made. The craftsmanship of the Tang people is indeed much better than that of our Tubo people!"
As the wooden boxes were opened one by one, Langri saw the stabbing sword disguised as a cane, the wine flask that could separate poisonous wine from non-toxic wine, and the noose hidden in the bracelet. The smile on his face gradually Disappeared, and when he reached the last wooden box, Lang Ri's face was already full of gloom. He looked at the wooden box, stood up, hesitated for a moment, sat back, and murmured to himself: "It's the last one anyway. It doesn’t matter if you open it and take a look, it’s time to see the craftsmanship of the Tang craftsmen!”
The wooden box was opened, and there were six or seven parts inside. Langri took out an instruction manual from the bottom of the wooden box with ease, and assembled it according to the instructions. It turned out that this was an exquisite arm crossbow, which could be fixed on the On the arm, there is a set of broad robes worn by the Tibetan people. No one can see clearly. There is an arrow box on the arm crossbow. Every time an arrow is fired, just pull the mechanism, and the spare arrows can slide out of the arrow box and be wound. Can fire twelve crossbow bolts continuously. Langri tried it, and the crossbow arrows could shoot through two fingers of hard wood within ten steps. Judging from a small crossbow of this size, the power was already amazing.
"What does Wang Wenzuo mean by this? He is mocking me for not being able to fight against the brothers of the Gar family, and can only hurt people with hidden arrows?" Langri snorted coldly, took off the short crossbow from his arm, and tried to throw it to the ground, but in the end he still Put it down and put it back into the wooden box.
"Put these away and put them in my bedroom, don't let anyone else know!"
"Yes, Master!"
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In Shanzhou, the general manager of Luosuo Road marching camp.
At first, Xue Rengui didn't seem to hear it. He expressed neither happiness, anger nor doubt about the news. His face had no expression, just like a blank piece of paper. He stared at the map on the desk and gritted his teeth. "Are you sure?" he asked.
"Yes, Chief Steward!" replied the travel-worn messenger: "Qiuci City is full of lively pro-Tibet nobles. They wear the yak velvet robes that Tibetans are accustomed to wearing. The people in the city call them " The king is Zanpu Zhong, which means Zanpu’s younger brother. Those people swore that Tibet sent out an army of 400,000 people this time. The forward of the army arrived in the Kingdom of Qiuci, but the rear has not yet left the gate of the capital city of Khotan."
"Pfft, four hundred thousand!" Guo Daifeng couldn't help but laugh out loud: "It would be great to have half of it!"
This time he was right! Xue Rengui thought to himself, of course, the Tang Dynasty also did this kind of thing by exaggerating the number of its own troops to intimidate the enemy, but Qinling was not a fool. Of course he knew that this exaggerated number could not scare the Tang army, and the strength of the army was not It must be directly proportional to the number of people. Untrained rabble will only do a disservice in many cases. So why is he still spreading this news? Do you want the enemy to ask you for instructions?
"Don't talk about the news you heard from others!" Xue Rengui asked: "Tell me about the things you saw with your own eyes, such as the price of grain and livestock in Qiuci, and, have you ever seen the commander-in-chief of the Tibetan people with your own eyes? ?”
"The price of food has at least tripled, and big livestock cannot be bought at all!" The messenger replied: "As for Qinling himself, I did not see him with my own eyes, but I did see his big head when the Tibetan army was attacking the city. flag!"
Xue Rengui nodded. The price of grain and large livestock is closely related to the number of Tibetan troops. From this point of view, even if Qin Ling did not personally direct the raid, the Tibetans also invested a lot of troops in this attack!
"General Manager!" Guo Daifeng shouted: "We should send troops quickly. The Anxi soldiers are besieged by the Tubo people in Shule City and are in danger. It will take several months to go from Longyou to the Western Regions!"
"If the intelligence is true, the Tubo people have already occupied the Western Region!" Ashina Daozhen said. He turned back not far from Shanzhou. On the way, he learned that the alliance between the Tubo and the Turkic nobles had been broken. , several Turkic nobles who participated in the conspiracy have been executed: "They are the masters, but we are the guest troops. The hosts and guests have changed sides, and the manager must take this into consideration!"
"So what!" Guo Daifeng seemed to regard Ashina Daozhen as his enemy: "Don't you care about the soldiers who are defending Shule City? That's not possible!"
"It's not that we don't care, but we need to consider it carefully. After all, there are mountain springs in Shule City, the terrain is dangerous, and there is sufficient food. The Tubo people can't attack it for a while. The Western Regions are easy to attack and difficult to defend, and the Tubo people can't last long. With heavy troops stationed, we can wait and move!"
Xue Rengui seemed not to hear the argument between the two deputies at all. His eyes were always fixed on the map of several cases. At that time, the main road for the Tang army to go to the Western Regions was the famous Hexi Corridor - a fertile strip of narrow land irrigated by melting snow on the east side of the Qilian Mountains. The Qinghai Road for the Tibetan people to enter the Western Regions was located on the west side of the Qilian Mountains. Since the Tubo people have already controlled the four towns in Anxi, the remnants of the Tang army in the Western Regions only control a few strategic strongholds such as Shule City. If the Tang army rushes along the Hexi Corridor to aid the Western Regions, the Tubo people will have the home field advantage of waiting for work. Moreover, even if the Tang army won the battle, they would only be able to recapture the Western Region at most. The Tubo people could see that the situation was unfavorable and retreat along the original route to Qinghai. Such a passive response strategy was not in Xue Rengui's taste.
"Compared to the Hexi Road, the Qinghai Road is much more difficult, isn't it?" Xue Rengui suddenly asked.
"That's right!" Although the messenger still didn't understand what Xue Rengui meant, he still replied honestly: "The Hexi Road runs along the eastern foot of Qilian Mountain. Not only is it almost flat ground, but the water and grass along the way are sweet. There are some deserts and many oases in between; and the Qinghai Road not only has to pass through high mountains, but also has a long stretch of land with little water and arid land, which is far inferior to the Hexi Road!"
"Yes!" Xue Rengui nodded: "Then if our army goes straight to the heart of the enemy and the Tibetan soldiers return from the Western Regions, wouldn't it mean that I am the master and the other party is the guest?"
This time everyone in the room understood what Xue Rengui meant, and people's faces showed excitement. There is no doubt that if Xue Rengui's plan is realized, the Tang army will not only be able to regain the four towns in Anxi that were captured by the Tubo people, but also It is not impossible to recapture the land of Qinghai, even ascend to the snowy plateau, and completely destroy Tubo.
"Although the general manager's strategy is wonderful, we don't know enough about the enemy situation of the Tubo people at the moment!" Ashina Daozhen said: "In the final analysis, there is no real news about how many troops the Tubo people sent to attack the Western Regions, and this is related to this The outcome of the battle depends on the life and death of more than 100,000 soldiers!”
"Yes, but the Western Region is thousands of miles away from here. Even if the news is obtained, it will be out of date long ago!" Xue Rengui said: "Is there any reason to send troops with 100% certainty?"
This time Ashina Michizane had no choice but to nod. Border wars and wars in the Central Plains in ancient China were two completely different forms of war: the battlefields in border areas, especially the northern border areas, were much larger than those in the Central Plains. It was common to march thousands of miles, and it was not surprising to march two or three thousand miles. , such a long marching distance, and with the backward technical and communication conditions at the time, it is not uncommon for the planning to expedition, contact, confrontation, and decisive battle to take three to five months, or even half a year and a year. It is normal for many things to change over such a long period of time. Therefore, any advance planning can only be a rough idea, and most things must be decided by the coach on the fly.
"That's what the general manager said!" Guo Daifeng stood up excitedly: "The last general is willing to be the vanguard and lead the troops to fight against thieves!"
"General Guo, don't be anxious. The dispatch of troops needs to be planned in detail now!" "Queens of famous generals" who have led troops in any war will take command.
When everyone retreated, Xue Rengui left Ashina Daozhen behind. He believed in this descendant of the Turkic Khan even more. After all, in the wilderness of Qinghai, cavalry was far more suitable than infantry, and the outcome of the war was largely determined. Depends on the bravery and loyalty of the Turkic cavalry.
"I intend to personally lead the front army this time!" Xue Rengui did not beat around the bush: "Leave the rear army and baggage to Guo Daifeng! As for you, lead the Turkic cavalry westward along the Hexi Road first, pretending to rescue the Western Regions, and attract Attention of the Tibetans!”
"Are you planning to go directly to Qinghai?"
"Yes!" Xue Rengui said: "I plan to march in the spring. At that time, the horses and livestock are weak, and the Tuyuhun and the Tubo people are slow to move. You and I will lead the fine cavalry in front and plunder their livestock. Guo Daifeng will lead the infantry and baggage in a dangerous place. The ground should be fenced and defended, so that if our army wins, the two armies can join together and move forward. If we lose, we can still have a place to hold on! What do you think?"
"It's indeed good!" Ashina Daozhen nodded. Frankly speaking, Xue Rengui's strategy can be said to be very good. When marching in sparsely populated grassland areas like Qinghai, the biggest trouble for the Tang army was supplies. The heavy baggage and The infantry would slow down the march and would not be able to catch up with the Tibetan army; and if the baggage and infantry were abandoned, the Tang army would give up its own advantages in crossbows and fortification projects, and would not be able to fight for a long time.
Therefore, Xue Rengui decided to take advantage of the weakness of the slow movement of cattle and horses in the spring, and personally led the cavalry to raid the livestock herds of Tubo and Tuyuhun. Because the food was outnumbered by the enemy, and if the Tang army ate more, the Tubo people would eat less. Whoever had more supplies would have more supplies. , you will have greater autonomy in the next battle. The feint of the Turkic cavalry led by Ashina Daozhen on the Hexi Road could at least distract the Tibetan commander and let him learn the true intention of the Tang army as late as possible.
"But the matter of commanding the infantry baggage is related to the safety of the entire army. Will letting Guo Daifeng take on this responsibility-" Ashina Daozhen stopped here, but Xue Rengui also understood what he meant.
(End of chapter)
