Chapter 963 The surprise attack
Anger cannot solve any problem, but can make people lose their minds. Although Li Tai was irritated by the arrogant and arrogant attitude of the Turkic envoy, he still tried to calm down after venting his emotions. After some thought and weighing, he found that he still couldn't bear it!
As the only overlord in Mobei now, there is no doubt about the power of Turks. It is indeed very forward-looking that Yuwentai chose to establish good diplomatic relations with the Turks before they became prosperous. As the successor leader of the Bafu, Li Tai was of course happy to inherit and maintain this diplomatic relationship, even if he had to pay a certain price.
But this does not mean that he has no bottom line to cater to the Turks' various hegemonic demands, such as providing certain material compensation, including jointly sending troops to fight against hostile forces, and even accepting Turkic women as wives. In the case of multi-front operations, it is not impossible to accept the humiliation temporarily.
But now the Turks' attitude is clearly to despise and bully Li Tai, the new leader of the hegemony. He is greedy and extravagant, and even wants to set up a Khan Court in Hetao!
If even this request is agreed to, not only will the Hetao Plain be surrendered, but the entire northern defense line of the Western Wei regime will also be opened to the Turks. From then on, there will be no need to talk about development and growth, and they will directly become a puppet under the iron heel of the Turks. !
Li Tai vaguely remembered that this Turkic Mugan Khan should be one of the most important khans in Turkic history. It was during his reign that the Turkic power developed rapidly and reached the peak of its strength. And from the condition put forward by this person, we can also see that this person is cunning, vicious and ambitious.
This wooden-pole Khan must have spotted the turbulent period of power transfer in the Western Wei Dynasty. In addition, he did not know much about Li Tai and felt contempt for him. He wanted to test Li Tai's bottom line through such aggressive pressure. What is your temperament? If Li Tai's response is not strong enough, it will be inevitable for the Turks to increase their efforts to penetrate and invade the Hetao.
To Li Tai, this Turk was like an opponent that appeared next after he had just completed a main mission and was feeling uninterested. Now that he had advanced to this point, there was no way to avoid it.
After weighing it deeply in his mind, Li Tai gradually made a decision. Although it was already dark, he still summoned a group of close generals into the Prime Minister's Mansion to discuss matters. In addition to He Ruodun, Liang Shiyan, Li Yunxin, Shi Jing and other generals who entered the dynasty from Shannan, there were also Yu Wengui, Yang Zhong, Li Xian and others.
When everyone gathered in the main hall of the Prime Minister's Mansion, Li Tai spoke up and said: "The Turkic envoys came to Beijing and wanted to threaten me to cede the land of Hetao based on our previous marriage agreement with the Communist Party of China and Foreign Affairs. This matter must not be responded to! So I want to attack Turks, I’m calling you all into the government to discuss this matter together!”
After hearing this, the faces of the generals changed slightly. Before anyone else could express their opinions, He Ruoden stood up from the table first, crossed his hands towards Li Tai and said: "The thief is so arrogant, he should be punished! Minister!" I have been ordered to do so many times before, and I have not followed Master Lang in battle for a long time. Now I invite you to be the vanguard of the army and swear to defeat the thief!"
He Ruodun often prided himself on being a general under Master Lang, but he often missed the battle. He had seen Gao Le become a general because of fighting in Heluo, and he couldn't help but feel even more envious and jealous. Don't say that they are just attacking the Turks. Even if they say that they are going to attack Jinyang now, he must be the vanguard.
However, Yu Wengui showed hesitation and said with some hesitation: "The situation in the country is now newly settled and people are suddenly at peace. If we rush to fight a powerful enemy, I am afraid it will lead to instability."
As soon as he finished speaking, Liang Shiyan on the side immediately spoke: "It is human nature for Hua Zhenggong to hesitate, and it is precisely because of this that thieves are arrogant and have unreasonable intentions. If I attack him further, I will catch him by surprise and attack him unprepared. It’s a great opportunity!”
What Yu Wengui said was one of the reasons why Li Tai hesitated before. Although Liang Shiyan also provided a reason from a tactical point of view, rashly fighting a powerful enemy like the Turks would inevitably bring great consequences to the order of the country. impact. Moreover, since entering the first month of the year, Li Tai has made considerable moves in military and political affairs. A stable situation is needed to ensure the smooth implementation of these changes, and it is indeed not suitable for large-scale foreign wars.
At this time, Yang Zhong also spoke: "Hu's nature is to fear power and strength. The reason why he dares to act unruly this time is because I dare not betray our alliance and reject him. If he cannot confront him with force this time, he will look at me Being a slave is even more disrespectful, and the demands are getting more and more, and there will never be peace! Rather than bribes with heavy goods to make people happy, it is better to save materials and reward my soldiers to win over the thieves!"
Hearing what Yang Zhong said, the generals all nodded in agreement. After all, although the Western Wei Dynasty was poor, it was also powerful. Although the previous Zhongwai Mansion had some weaknesses in its dealings with the Turks, it was not because they were afraid of the Turks from the bottom of their hearts.
Li Tai may have to consider the overall situation and think about whether there is room to continue to maintain the relationship above the bottom line, but when the issue is delegated to the generals for discussion, it means that I don't even want to lose money, and the main thing is to do it alone! You really want to lose your mind by blackmailing someone into a den of thieves!
When Yu Wengui saw that the generals had expressed their intention to go to war, he spoke again: "It is really commendable that the soldiers are willing to use it. But the national conditions are like this, and it cannot be ignored. Even if we attack this time, it is a bad idea to send the army out of the fortress. As General Liang said unexpectedly, If you can win with a surprise attack, you don’t need to mobilize troops and inform your neighbors.”
Li Tai nodded after hearing the words. What Yu Wengui said was exactly what he wanted. The current Western Wei Dynasty really couldn't afford a large-scale and long-lasting battle. Not only did the situation not allow it, but the financial resources also did not allow it.
The previous Eastern Expedition of the Chinese Foreign Ministry had almost exhausted the material accumulation in Guanzhong. What Li Tai faced after entering the customs was that the treasury was empty. Before the supplies from Shannan Road were imported into Guanzhong, the people and horses consumed supplies obtained through negotiation from Northern Qi. As for the pensions for the fallen soldiers, they were all maintained with goods imported from Shannan Road.
At this time, Li Xian, who was more familiar with the situation of the Turks, also said: "The Turks rely on light cavalry, sharp bows and arrows, and they are not strong in battle. If they attack with surprise troops, it will be difficult to severely injure them. It has not caused serious harm, but after turning against it, it will be harassed frequently and difficult to deal with. Therefore, this attack must directly target the thief's core and hurt his heart, so that Hu Ma will not dare to look south in a short time!"
As everyone spoke and made plans, various aspects related to the scale and goals of this military operation were gradually supplemented and improved.
Although the Turks have replaced Rouran and become the new grassland overlord, the current situation can still be said to be large but not strong. Although the scope of control is very broad, its own strength has not yet reached a new level.
Historically, Yang Zhong represented the Northern Zhou Dynasty and the Turkic allied forces to attack Jinyang. After returning, he commented on the Turks: Although the Turkic armored soldiers were ferocious, their punishments and rewards were very light. There were many leaders and many orders, and the upper and lower restraints were not strict. Not difficult to restrict. The envoys who came before spoke highly of the strength of the Turks, but they just hoped that the court would reward the Turkic envoys more so that they could get more rewards when they went to the Turks.
The cohesion of a political power and the development of a military system require a process. It only took three years for the Turks to rise and replace Rouran. During this period, they annexed Tiele tribes, accepted the remnants of Rouran, etc., and the military was still in a state of turmoil. It is natural to have a large number of people to fight a smooth battle. Judging from the several wars between the Northern Qi and the Turks, there is still a clear gap in combat effectiveness between the current Turkic armed forces and the elite Jinyang soldiers.
Li Tai did not dare to say that his elite troops could surely defeat the Jinyang soldiers of the Northern Qi Dynasty, but there was no significant gap in combat effectiveness. If the gap in the quality of the soldiers was too large, it could not be made up by the use of tactics.
After a night of discussions, this time the battle plan was formulated. The goal was to go to the top Turks including the Mugan Khan. Even if it was not possible to kill a large number of Turks' effective forces, it should be done as much as possible. Destroy its upper personnel structure.
Let these Turkic dignitaries truly feel the threat of death, and then they will choose a more cautious and respectful attitude and approach when interacting with the Western Wei Dynasty.
The current Turkic Khan's tent is still in the sun of Jinshan Mountain. Even if it was later moved to Yudujun Mountain, it is still located in the remote Mobei, which is a position that is difficult for the Western Wei army to attack. However, the Turkic Khan was currently withdrawing his troops from the Northern Qi border crossing, and the army had just arrived south of the Yinshan Mountains, which provided an opportunity for the Western Wei Dynasty to launch a surprise attack.
So Li Tai first sent Li Yunxin to lead a thousand fine cavalry, carrying gold, silver, brocade, silk and other precious gifts, and went north via Yuanzhou to bribe Mugan Khan in the name of rewarding his army, and said that there would be more in the future. Gifts were sent to discuss the marriage contract, and then Yang Zhong led two thousand fine cavalry to transport grain and supplies and continue northward, locking in the positions of the Turkic Khan and his country's dignitaries.
In order to avoid panic and turmoil among the people in the country, Li Tai will lead 10,000 elite cavalry north along the Luoshui River in the name of inspecting the states in northern Shaanxi. After arriving at Yanzhou, he will rest for a while and wait for the opportunity, until the first two groups are in their respective positions. After that, they immediately went north from Xiazhou to Hetao and attacked the Turkic camp at the southern foot of Yinshan Mountain!
After this combat plan was formulated, various combat preparations began immediately. All kinds of treasures previously seized from the Jiangling Nanliang treasury were now transported from Shannan for free.
Seeing all kinds of dazzling treasures and treasures being packed into trucks and prepared to be transported to the Turkic army, the Turkic envoys in Chang'an were also happy from ear to ear. They felt more and more that the Western Wei Dynasty was completely undefended for them. The big warehouse is very happy to eat and take. These envoys would not even leave Chang'an unless they were responsible for leading the way.