Chapter 83 Sweep North Strategy

Guo Xiaoke was right, the emperor and Li Jing, Minister of the Ministry of War, are both in the imperial garden at the moment. As soon as Li Shiji entered the back garden, he was so surprised that he couldn't believe his eyes. In the originally dense and lush imperial garden, except for the outermost circle of forests that remain the same, the terrain and conditions inside have changed drastically.Two straight earth beams and rockeries run straight from south to north, and a surging stream winds and flows in the middle. The closer the two beams are to the north, the more flat the ground becomes. At the narrowest point, two stone pavilions intersect and stand tall, facing each other across the stream.During Li Shiji Wude's visit to Chang'an for five years, he also gave banquets in the imperial garden. Although there were no towers and pavilions in the imperial garden at that time, the mountains and rivers were beautiful and quiet, and all kinds of wild animals and birds ran in it, really like a fairyland on earth.If he hadn't followed Guo Xiaoke all the way, he would have suspected that he had gone to the wrong place.

After all, he is a veteran general who has been honed on the battlefield for more than ten years. He didn't need Guo Xiaoke's explanation at all. The former Wagang hero chuckled and asked proudly: "Is the emperor waiting for me in Bingzhou?" Guo Xiaoke clapped his hands and laughed loudly: "Exactly!" The entire imperial garden was transformed into a multiplied map of mountains, rivers and rivers by manpower. Li Shiji strode forward, passing through the "Queer Valley" squeezed out of two earthen beams, turning around the stone pavilion representing Jiexiu, a strategic location in the south of Bingzhou, and walking along the road that symbolizes "Fenshui" The stream goes straight north.

Li Shimin, the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, was sitting on a special hu bed waiting for him in neatly tied casual clothes. "Chen Zuojian, General of the Gate Guard, Governor of the State Governor, and the military forces of Jinlufen, Xinlan, Shiyizhou, Li Shiji kowtowed to His Majesty, my emperor, long live, long live, long live!" Li Shiji knelt down on the dust with a serious expression, knelt down three times and kowtowed nine times Dali, Li Shimin stood up with his robe in his hand after he said "flat body" for the third time. After standing upright, he bowed to Li Jing, Minister of War who was sitting cross-legged beside the emperor, and said, "Li Shiji has seen the pharmacist!"

Li Jing smiled awkwardly and bowed his hands to return the gift: "Mr. Cao has been in trouble all the way, thank you for your hard work!" The two powerful generals, General Li, met each other very politely, but the emperor seemed to have no patience for polite greetings, and immediately asked, "Mao Gong, how far has your horse administration progressed?" Li Shiji stabilized his mind and said: "The 4,800 foals born in the spring of this year have not yet grown strong. I estimate that by next spring and summer, they should be able to transport some unimportant baggage. They are only one year old. His horses have poor stamina and cannot go long distances, and they will not be formally incorporated into the army stables until after next autumn."

Li Jing said to the emperor from the side: "Your Majesty, a two-year-old horse is still too young. Even if it can go to the battlefield, it will not be able to withstand the critical moment. If it can be used, it will take more than three years. Others Hurry up, but there is no rush for this matter!" Li Shimin gritted his teeth and thought for a while, then said with a wry smile: "Actually, a three-year-old horse is only in its prime. After running a long distance, I am afraid that it will lose seven or eight stops in ten stops. What I am worried about is that there will be only a few horses in Bingzhou this year. If we reach 5,000 new horses, even if we produce another 5,000 horses next spring, they will only be two years old in the spring of the third year of Zhenguan, and they will not be ready for use. So the three-year period we set will be postponed..."

Li Shiji looked up at the emperor, and said: "I think Zhenguan seems to be more eager to start in the third year. Our current cavalry in Bingzhou is only 13,000, and the equipment is insufficient. It is enough to fight in Hedong. If you want to attack from afar Mobei is very reluctant." Li Shimin looked at him, and said with a wry smile: "Mao Gong doesn't understand, it's all calculated, the autumn of the third year of Zhenguan is the best time, if you miss it, I'm afraid Jieli will be able to catch this breath, then Even if we are ready, the fight will probably be protracted."

Seeing that Li Shiji was puzzled, Li Jing said: "You don't know Maogong, right guard General Huo Guogong Chai Sichang, Dianzhong Province Shaojian Xue Wanjun left Beijing yesterday. In order to block the news, His Majesty did not give the festival talisman to the Xiande Palace, nor Set up an army general manager's office. Huo Guogong is controlling the soldiers and horses of the Lingxia states in the name of the governor of Xiazhou this time, in order not to make the northern captives vigilant and change..." "Liang Shidu? Your Majesty plans to conquer Shuofang next spring?" Li Shiji's shock was no small matter.

Li Shimin nodded, frowned and stood up from the Hu bed irritably. He walked around and said in a firm tone: "I want to take advantage of the heavy snow this year in Turks to break Jieli's left arm. A while ago, the ruler of the Western Regions Ye Hu sent his envoy Zhenzhu to marry the princess with a gold belt of ten thousand nails and five thousand good horses, but he was threatened by Jie Li and sent back...five thousand good horses!" Seeing the young emperor's gritted teeth, Li Jing and Li Shiji couldn't help but look at each other. It turned out that the emperor's most distressing thing was not the damage to the court's prestige, but the five thousand good horses that he didn't get.

"... Liang Shidu will not be removed for a day, and it will be much more convenient for Jieli's iron cavalry to go out of Longyou and Xiaguanzhong. If this nail is not pulled out, even if the Western Regions and Tuli Khitan and other tribes are against Tuoji No matter how dissatisfied the old thief is, he dare not confess to me. Once Shuofang is in our hands, we will cut off the passage from west to south of Jieli. It is a dream for Turkic cavalry to travel freely in Longyou Pass as they are now. And our army The main force can divide into east and west through Shuofang and Hedong to attack Mobei. As long as the front line of Youzhou is guarded tightly, the old thief Jieli will have no other way to go except to go north to Yinshan Mountain!" Li Shimin seemed to mutter Talking to himself, it seems to be venting the anxiety in his heart.

Li Shiji has also been thinking for a long time about the military strategy of the Northern Turkic Expedition.His conclusion was the same as that of the emperor and Li Jing. If the Turkic military threat to the northern border of the Tang Dynasty was to be completely resolved, Shuofang and Dingxiang, two important border towns in the pre-Sui period, must be recovered.At present, these two areas are occupied by Liang Shidu and Yang Zhengdao respectively. They were ordered by Jieli to harass the Tang border every year. A natural barrier between Li and Datang.Therefore, even if Tang Jun wanted to achieve the goal of a strategic battle with Xieli, he had to smash these two nails first.

Among these two nails, Dingxiang was used by Xieli as a camp for the winter, and almost every winter he would lead his troops south to eat here, and the defense of Dingxiang was entirely in charge of the Turkic army. Although Yang Zhengdao was in name It is called the orthodoxy of the Sui Dynasty in the past, and it is basically a puppet of Jieli.From a strategic point of view, attacking Yang Zhengdao is actually a direct confrontation with Jieli, but it is uncertain whether Jieli will rescue Liang Shidu.Spring is the season for the mating and breeding of livestock and horses on the grassland, and it is also the most difficult time of the year for the Turks to move. At this time, if they attacked Liang Shidu's troops suddenly, Xieli would be powerless even if he wanted to rescue them.Therefore, although Li Shiji was surprised at first when Li Shimin sent Chai Shao and Xue Wanjun to Xiazhou to prepare for the matter when the first year of Zhenguan was about to pass, Li Shiji immediately figured out the joints.This winter, Turkic snows hit the Turks, countless cattle, sheep and livestock were frozen to death, and their vitality was greatly damaged. I am afraid that thousands of herdsmen will not be able to survive this winter. If you dare to take Shuofang, it will be too late when the Turks recover after next summer. Li Jing looked at Li Shiji and said, "Maogong, your Majesty's strategy is to go west first and then go east. First attack Liang Shidu, then destroy Yang Zhengdao, first take Shuofang, and then destroy Dingxiang. The threat to Guanzhong and Longyou can be lifted. At that time, Bingzhou will become the outpost of the Northern Expedition. Whether it is Kedingxiang or defeating the main force of Jieli, the eastern front is the main battlefield. The burden on your shoulders is not light. This time, His Majesty secretly called When you go to Beijing, it is the deployment of the march two years later." Li Shiji thought for a moment, and replied: "Although the direction of Dingxiang is the direction of the main force of the Turks, it is not difficult to defeat it. As long as the card is good, Dingxiang can be defeated in one fell swoop, but the difficulty is that our army can defeat Dingxiang. Is there still room to go deep into the desert to find the main force of Xieli? If we choose Kedingxiang when Xielibei returns the tooth tent, our army will have to go hundreds of miles deep into Mobei to search for the location of the enemy's main force, the area north of Yinshan Mountain It is too vast, and we are not familiar with the climate and geography. We are a guest army in that place, and the enemy's mobile speed is better than ours. If Xiang and Xieli engage in a decisive battle, the enemy will have a city to rely on, and if they want to defend and leave, our army may not be able to catch it. The other ministers are not worried, only worried that if Xieli takes the initiative to flee northward, we will be fine. After taking down Dingxiang, we still need to keep soldiers to garrison. It is true that there was heavy snowfall in Turkic this year, but famines are everywhere in the Central Plains. The state treasury warehouse has not improved significantly during the year, and I am afraid that Dingxiang will not be able to hold it!" "So I will never let the old thief Tuoji escape back to Mobei!" Li Shimin said coldly. Li Jing nodded: "The old man has already suggested to Your Majesty to use troops at the end of the third year of Zhenguan, with a period of half a year. If the bandits cannot be defeated within half a year, the army will withdraw to Bingzhou to wait. This time, we don't need to worry about the gains and losses of a city and a pool, but to defeat the main force of Jieli For the first priority." "Wonderful!" Li Shiji exclaimed without thinking. "Brother Yao's suggestion is also my idea..." The emperor smiled and said, "At the end of December in the third year of Zhenguan, the army will be deployed. The Xiazhou army will be stationed in Yulin, Shuofang, to prevent Jieli from fleeing westward. The main force will be the Bingzhou army to leave Yanmen, Mayi is approaching the city of Dingxiang. In the first month of the fourth year of Zhenguan, he fought against the main force of the Turks under the city of Dingxiang. I expect that the old thief Tuoji will drive all the livestock south to Dingxiang for the winter, and use troops in the first month. One winter and one spring, there will be a whole year Half a year will be available. At that time, the heavy snow will block the fortress. If Jieli leads his people to hide in Mobei, I will get most of the livestock. I don’t even have to worry about the rations of the army. And even if the whole army can return to Yating, the livestock In the event of total loss, I don’t know how many people will die of cold and hunger, and even if we don’t do anything at that time, Tuli and the others will not let go of this good opportunity to beat the dog in the water.” "That's right, Your Majesty uses his troops like a god. Two years later, the time is extremely accurate. Jieli actually has to fight our army to the death in Dingxiang. Returning to Mobei is actually a dead end." Li Jing said slowly. Li Shiji nodded: "However, using troops in winter is also a fierce battle for our army, and there must be a lot of casualties. I am afraid that the number of soldiers who died in front of the battle is less than one-tenth of the soldiers who died of freezing; not to mention the heavy snow in winter. , the roads are difficult, and the transportation of grain and grass may also be a big problem." Li Jingrong said calmly: "That's why Your Majesty called Mao Gong back because he wanted to teach you the opportunity. After you return to Bingzhou, you need to use this opportunity to train your soldiers, especially the ability to fight in the ice and snow. At the same time We also need to examine the road situation in Hedong in detail, and draw up the route of the army and the supply route of the Northern Expedition two years later. It will be too late to do these things after the construction of the Marching Army General Manager's Mansion!" "There is also information about Dingxiang and Mobei!" Li Shimin added in a blunt tone, "Astronomy, geography, Dingmu household registration, animal husbandry, military strength, city defense and other matters must be found out. All business caravans from Mobei will be detained for interrogation. But be kind, all the goods will be purchased by the Governor of Bingzhou. Afterwards, you and the Ministry of War will settle the bill directly. Treat these people who travel in the North with food, drink and entertainment. It would be even better if you can persuade them to use them for me. As long as you Mao Gong thinks it is appropriate, you can reward any official title below the fifth rank, and the capital is streamlining the establishment, and I will not blame you if you expand half of the redundant officials. In short, all the news about Mobei is that a woman gave birth to several You can't let trivial things like this go. Hou Junji and Zhang Liang have been ordered to set up a scout team to investigate the military situation in Mobei, but the news from this aspect is limited after all, and it mainly depends on you and Bingzhou." Li Shiji's blood boiled, he lifted his robe and knelt down: "I will do my best to live up to your majesty's trust!" Li Shimin nodded, and then distress appeared on his face again, and he continued to mutter to himself: "Even if you put it together, there are still no more than 20,000 horses... Even if you have the upper hand in strategy, if Dingxiang City If we lose this battle, it will be useless..." Li Jing and Li Shiji, two illustrious military generals, looked at each other with smiles on their faces.When the young emperor talked about military affairs, he didn't care about the majesty and demeanor of the emperor at all.Sending troops in the snow to sweep the north on the ice, this is probably the idea that the emperor of the Tang Dynasty is obsessed with at the moment!