Chapter 1009 Plot for Qinghai

Chapter 1009 Plot for Qinghai

Of course, war cannot only consider the factor of food and grass. Any strategic concept must also be based on actual needs and realistic situations. Otherwise, it will fall into a state of militarism, which will often lead to extreme joy and sorrow.

Although Li Tai has great military exploits, he is not a warlike person in nature. Every time he starts a war, he will take into account all aspects of the factors. The reason why such an idea comes up now is because there was a need to launch a war, but the objective conditions were not met before. As for the person who wants to start a war, it is Tuyuhun who is entrenched in Qinghai.

No one even needs to have advanced knowledge and wisdom. As long as they see the map of Longyou Hexi, they can feel the threat that Tuyuhun's existence poses to Longyou Hexi.

The Hexi Corridor is like a strong arm that not only connects the vast Western Regions, but also restrains the development of grassland forces. The existence of Tuyuhun is like a sharp thorn growing under this arm. It may emerge at any time to stab or even directly cut off the arm, posing a huge threat to the peace and order of the entire area.

Speaking of Tuyuhun, we have to lament how tenacious these Liaodong Xianbei tribes are. Duan, Murong, and Yuwen have already stood on the stage of history as early as the beginning of the Five Husties. They competed for power and killed each other in the Liaodong region. cut down. It is now the end of the Troubled Times, and the location has moved from Liaodong to Longyou. Murong and the Yuwen clan have begun a new round of war.

Of course, Li Tai is now in charge of the Western Wei Dynasty, but Li Tai will not let Tuyuhun be active in Qinghai and continue to intrude and threaten Longyou.

On his way back to the court after attacking the Turks, Li Tai summoned Shi Ning, the general manager of Liangzhou, to see him and instructed him to launch a military attack on Tuyuhun. However, due to the unstable situation in Guanzhong at that time and the lack of various objective conditions, Li Tai did not send additional troops to the Longyou area. He only ordered Shi Ning to consolidate local forces for a limited attack. counterattack and attack.

Now that a few months have passed, the situation in Guanzhong has become more stable, especially after the establishment of the Husbandry Mansion, which has been running smoothly, which has brought Li Tai's control of the situation in Guanzhong to a new level, and he can naturally take a look around. .

This attack on the temple economy is indeed very fruitful, but after a hearty meal, Li Tai still hopes to have a full meal. Investing the seized materials in the attack on Tuyuhun is undoubtedly a plan with a very high return rate.

If Tuyuhun can be defeated, firstly, it will reduce the pressure on Longyou's border defense and allow the military power of the Western Wei Dynasty to be more calmly dispatched and concentrated; secondly, it will make the situation in Longyou more stable and promote the development of local productivity; thirdly, Improve the business environment and vigorously promote business activities with the Western Regions.

So after dealing with the heads of the Hussar Mansion who complained about their poverty, Li Tai summoned the subjects of the Chinese and Foreign Mansion to discuss the plan to use troops against Tuyuhun.

After Li Tai took power, he did not directly abolish the Chinese and Foreign Affairs Office, but continued to retain the Chinese and Foreign Affairs Office. Most of the corresponding personnel agencies were abolished, and they no longer served as the main military and political management agencies. They only retained the functions of staff and staff. , as a think tank for discussing military and political matters.

Although the functional organizations of the Chinese and Foreign Affairs Office were simplified, the number of personnel was still quite large. From Chang Shi and Sima down, many of the subordinates worked as Zhonglang to serve as advisers. This includes not only Li Tai's own confidants, but also people from the original Yuwentai Bafu period.

For example, Shen Hui, Han Bao and others who held official positions in Longyou, Hexi and other places in their early years. Of course, in addition to their positions in the Chinese and Foreign Governments, these people also had the title of minister to show their seniority. Li Tai can be regarded as inheriting Yuwentai's title of hegemony, so there is no need to strictly clean up the personnel during Yuwentai's period.

Since what needs to be discussed this time is mainly the issue of Tuyuhun, the people Li Tai convened are mainly people who have a clear understanding of the situation in Longyou.

Shen Hui served as the ambassador to Hexi in the past year to quell the rebellion in Guazhou, and also served as the governor of Guazhou for several years. Han Bao also served as the governor of Xiliang Prefecture for several years and had a good understanding of the situation there. Others are either knowledgeable about military affairs or political affairs, and they all have their own opinions on the situation in Longyou.

Everyone was summoned here, and they already had certain guesses in their minds. When Li Tai briefly explained his thoughts, Han Bao took the lead and said: "Tuyuhun is a country that is not a welcome one. It relies on its light cavalry to facilitate advancement and retreat. People in Longbian were often raided by bandits, especially after autumn every year, and the people in Longbian were even more unbearable. Business travel almost disappeared. It was indeed necessary to impose strict sanctions when the old Duke An was still alive. There are many things going on, but in the end, the results are not achieved.”

After Han Bao finished speaking, other people present at the meeting also spoke up, saying that Tuyuhun also felt deeply disgusted and resentful of the harassment by the Longyou invaders. Although the terrain of Longyou Qinghai is not as flat and vast as the desert grassland, the Tuyuhun people are good at raising horses. Many famous horses in Longbian are exported from their country, so the strength of the cavalry cannot be underestimated. Tuyuhun also relied on this to become a bandit, and with his wind-like mobility, he regarded the entire Longyou as his horse farm.

However, because the water and grass pastures in Qinghai are relatively fixed, and business transactions are also dependent on fixed routes, Tuyuhun also settled around Qinghai and established many city gathering places. If you want to counterattack, you won't be at a loss and lose your goal.

Everyone spoke individually and told what they knew, describing all aspects of the Xianbei regime of Tuyuhun, which also gave Li Tai a more comprehensive understanding.

If we want to launch a comprehensive counterattack against Tuyuhun, several important issues cannot be ignored, the most critical of which is the impact of the climate and terrain altitude in Qinghai on the soldiers themselves and military operations.

Qinghai is located in the northeastern part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Although it is still on the outskirts of the plateau, its altitude is generally above 3,000 meters. Moreover, the edge of the plateau has many towering mountains that are rugged and difficult to navigate due to the dramatic terrain fluctuations.

If the rugged marching road and the difficult plateau combat environment are still objective difficulties that can be anticipated before the war begins, then the changeable climate is somewhat difficult to predict.

It snows in August in Hutian. The sun shines brightly one day, and it snows heavily the next. If the preparations are not sufficient, let alone the normal combat of the troops, the non-combat attrition caused by the drastic change in climate is enough to destroy an entire army. A huge army. However, if more cold-proof baggage materials are added, it will put huge pressure on logistical supplies.

Therefore, if you want to fight Tuyuhun, you must either invest a large amount of character resources at any cost and defeat Tuyuhun through an absolutely strong posture. But the investment required in this way is really too great. Even if Li Tai has made a fortune now, he can't support such a huge investment. The only one who dares to do this is a really rich second generation like Emperor Sui Yang. !

For the current Western Wei Dynasty, it is still necessary to consider a cost-effective and strategic attack method, seize the relatively short summer in Qinghai area, reduce the demand for baggage by men and horses, and cause as much damage to Tuyuhun as possible. It is best to go deep into In its heartland, focus on its cities and farming and animal husbandry production.

Once Tuyuhun's production and life were severely damaged and the harvest was insufficient, the long and difficult winter in Qinghai would be a protracted torture for them. If you want to obtain necessary living materials to maintain their survival, you can only leave the Qinghai area and raid the Longyou bandits. In this way, you can deploy heavy defenses to kill these Tuyuhun bandits in Longyou.

This continues for several years, and after the power of Tuyuhun is weakened to a certain extent, you can try to establish a restrained rule over the land and its people, and try to build the land of Tuyuhun into a new forward base to strengthen the control of the plateau. influence of regional forces. Even if we cannot stop the rise of Tubo and unify the plateau, we must try to prevent Tuyuhun from being annexed by Tubo in the future, thus causing greater threats and harm to Longyou.

The implementation of such a plan is undoubtedly a long and arduous process, but no matter how difficult it is, we must pay attention to it and not relax. If the results cannot be obtained and consolidated, then when plateau border dangers officially appear in the future, the entire Guanlong region will be in great danger, and the price to be paid will be much heavier than it is now!

Others did not have Li Tai's long-term strategic vision, but when they heard that Tang Gong's plan was a step-by-step plan, they all secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

This shows that Tang Gong has not been dazzled by the continuous victories. When considering border defense military issues, he is still based on reality and does not resort to military tactics. Such a clear and wise mind is undoubtedly a blessing to the country!

It is already midsummer in June. Although the hot climate in Guanzhong will continue for some time, the climate in Longbian, especially in Qinghai, will quickly turn cooler after autumn, so there is not much time left to launch an attack this year.

For the first attack on Tuyuhun itself, Li Tai did not intend to directly invest the army. Instead, he decided to send 20,000 elite troops from Guanzhong to Longyou, plus the elite troops assembled by Shi Ning in Longyou, and from the Turks. Some troops are required to cooperate and launch an attack on the core area of ​​​​Tuyuhun in the next more than a month.

So with Bafu's order, the people and horses in the pass began to mobilize again. At the same time, some generals also learned that Bafu was going to use troops again, so they petitioned Tang Gong for battle.

Before the official execution of this military operation, Li Tai still had to determine the situation in the surrounding area and try to avoid falling into the dilemma of a two-front battle. At the same time, Xu Ling, who had just left Chang'an not long ago, was sent by Chen Baxian to come to Chang'an to deliver the news of Jiankang's victory.

Compared with the first time he came to Chang'an, the treatment Xu Ling received after returning home has been greatly improved.

The last time he came to Chang'an, he was still waiting in the official office of the Prime Minister's Mansion in the Imperial City. It wasn't until Li Tai finished handling government affairs in the afternoon that he found time to interview him. Later, there were also banquets, but those were relatively private occasions, formal There is almost no official treatment.

However, when he entered the country this time, he was escorted and escorted by the local government after crossing the river. On the day he arrived in Chang'an, officials from the rites department and Bafu's cronies went to Bashang to greet him in person. After entering the city, he was specially arranged to be in the real place. In the hall used to entertain envoys, a series of treatment specifications are what envoys from other countries should look like.

The reason for making such a change was not that the Western Wei Dynasty was too snobbish, but that it required a different approach and attitude towards different personnel situations. At least when Xu Ling arrived last time, the small court of Nanliang in Jiangdong could not be regarded as a political power here in the Western Wei Dynasty. The victory in the Jiankang Defense War allowed Chen Baxian to prove his ability to maintain the existence of a political power.

The previous Battle of Jiangling caused an sworn hatred between Western Wei and Nanliang to destroy the country and kill the emperor. However, after experiencing a huge crisis of life and death, both sides, especially Nanliang, still made a decision to put aside their past hatred. , a wise and pragmatic choice to rejoin. The Western Wei Dynasty also needed this level of cooperation to form an effective check and balance on the Northern Qi Dynasty.

Although Nanliang is now barely able to protect itself after the Battle of Jiankang, it is still somewhat powerless externally. But if we look at the whole world, if the Western Wei Dynasty maintains friendly cooperation with Nanliang, if necessary, it can directly cross Huainan and launch an attack on the Henan region of Northern Qi, and Nanliang can effectively contain it. The power of Northern Qi in Huainan caused the Qi people to focus on one thing and not the other.

Even if we put aside these theoretical cooperation ideas, in this cooperation alone, the Western Wei Dynasty has achieved huge benefits in the Huainan area, and of course it must also give benefits to collaborators who can bring huge benefits to itself. Enough closeness and hospitality.

Li Tai also met Xu Ling as soon as he arrived. After meeting him, he laughed and said: "Congratulations to Xu Hou, your country is intact! Congratulations to Chen Situ, too, for defending Jiangbiao through this battle. All the people of Wu and Sanwu look up to him." Bless you, you are truly magnificent!”

After hearing this, Xu Ling also quickly bowed and said: "I am returning here this time as ordered by Prime Minister Chen to express my heartfelt thanks to Duke Tang. Duke Tang was generous and righteous, and sent divisions and brigades to help fight against the thieves, which led to the glorious and magnificent days. Victory! As long as the two countries can keep their alliance and advance and retreat together, what will the thieves have to fear!"

After exchanging pleasantries, formal business exchanges began. Putting aside their previous gains on the battlefield, the two sides also had an agreement on border affairs and mutual trade. They had not communicated in depth before because they were too busy fighting the Qi army. Now that the powerful enemy has been defeated, it is natural to implement the agreement as soon as possible.

Today's Jiangdong has suffered serious damage to people's production and life due to successive wars. Starting mutual trade as soon as possible will also be conducive to the recovery of people's livelihood in Jiangdong, so Chen Baxian is also quite active in this. Following Xu Ling to Chang'an again this time, there were also many government officials from his hegemony government, in order to have in-depth exchanges with the Western Wei Dynasty on mutual trade matters.

I have a fever and a cold, and I feel dizzy and a little bit sore. I will update a chapter today. . . As spring comes and autumn freezes, everyone please keep warm and wish you good health! ! !