Tiantang Splendid

Chapter 3114 Difficult Choices
On the side, Li Ji said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, you should stop and accept the chaos. At this time, there is no way to retreat, and we can only capture Anshi City at any cost. Otherwise, once the news that the army is blocked here is sent back to Chang'an, it will inevitably be destroyed." It made the situation worse."

How many people in the city of Chang'an are looking at Liaodong eagerly, and are drawn to the heartstrings by every move of the Eastern Expedition Army?
If the army is as powerful as a broken bamboo, attacking the city and pulling out the stronghold all the way until it captures the city of Pingrang and collapses Goguryeo, then the situation in the court and the world will inevitably be boiled with fire, and flowers will bloom. Everyone will praise the achievements of His Majesty Li Er and be willing to be a citizen of the Tang Dynasty.

But once the army is blocked under the city of Anshi and cannot make progress for a long time, and even leads to the anticlimax of the Eastern Expedition, and has to withdraw to Youying Erzhou before the arrival of winter, then it will be a completely different situation.

A victory can cover up too many problems, and will make everything develop towards a better side.

But the failure exposed all the problems...

It was only twenty years since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, and there are still too many people who still cherish the former Sui Dynasty. Although Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty perverted and made great achievements, and ruined the great Sui Dynasty with one hand, he still has many loyal fans.Right now, because of the power of the Tang Dynasty, he has to bow his head and become a "obedient citizen", but once the situation changes, these people will jump out and overthrow the rule of the Tang Dynasty.

The worst result will also cause earth-shattering changes in the power structure of the imperial court, especially those aristocratic families who represent the interests of their respective ethnic groups. Once power is seized by them, they will not be able to get rid of it, forming a so-called "power lord". Like cancerous tumors parasitic on Datang's body, the blood sucking marrow continued to grow until it became a separate party and fought against the center.

Therefore, no matter what the original intention or process of this Eastern Expedition is, it can only be won, not defeated.

No one can bear the chain reaction brought about by failure. The army cannot retreat from Liaodong after the conquest fails, and then return to the territory of Tang Dynasty, killing all the powerful families one by one to eliminate hidden dangers, right?

Blood flowed like rivers, severed will be the foundation of the empire, and destroyed will also be the foundation of the empire.

……

His Majesty Li Er was well aware of the importance of this Eastern Expedition, and he put the opportunity to resolve all the internal conflicts in the Tang Dynasty above the collapse of Goguryeo. Such a method of resolving internal conflicts externally through war has been tried and tested throughout the ages.

However, once the Eastern Expedition fails, not only his ambition to become "one emperor through the ages" becomes delusional, his prestige is damaged and it is difficult to convince the public, and even he cannot fully control the violent reaction under the backlash of contradictions.

His eyes swept over the faces of the generals around him one by one, and then cast his eyes on the soldiers who were fighting desperately in the deep water in the distance, he finally made up his mind.

"Mingjin withdraws the troops, and all the ministries return to the camp to rectify. Tomorrow morning, we will capture Anshi City at any cost! If the city is not destroyed, the troops will never be withdrawn!"

"Here!"

All the generals responded with a bang.

……

Back in the tent of the Chinese army, His Majesty Li Er changed into a set of clean clothes, asked someone to make a pot of tea, and sat in the tent staring at the map on the wall in a daze.

Who would have thought that a mere Anshi City would cause Datang Huben to be smashed and bloody, and the morale of the army would suffer a great setback?

This is just Anshi City, not Ping Rang City!
Even if Anshi City is captured without regard to casualties, what kind of arduous battle will they face when they arrive at Ping Rang City in the future?
Could it be that the collapse of a Goguryeo will cost hundreds of thousands of casualties?

His Majesty Li Er took a sip of tea, feeling depressed and angry.

At the moment, he regrets a little. He should have adopted Fang Jun’s advice, and used the navy as the main force to ferry the army across the Bohai Sea, directly to the city of Pyongyang, to overthrow the court of Goguryeo first, and then calmly eat away at the rest of the city, gradually eating away at it, and winning steadily.

Of course, this matter is just a thought, and it is impossible to do it.

The Eastern Expedition represents the interests of the powerful families of various aristocratic families. If the navy is the main attack, then even if Goguryeo is destroyed, whose merits will be counted?This is absolutely unacceptable to the aristocratic family.

War is the continuation of politics, it has always been simple, it is not just how to fight...

Footsteps came from outside, His Majesty Li Er looked up, and saw Li Ji hurriedly opened the door curtain and walked in, came to him, handed a memorial in his hand, and said: "Your Majesty, His Royal Highness orders Your Majesty, please have a look at the memorial sent by the people."

His Majesty Li Er's heart sank slightly, and he put the teacup on the table beside him, and finally read the memorial at a glance.

At the end, he violently threw the memorial to the ground, and cursed angrily: "Chai Zhewei's corpse is a vegetarian, fearing the enemy and fighting, what does he want to do? Damn it!"

Li Ji stood on one side, not daring to answer.

Above the memorial is the crown prince's report on the recent situation in Chang'an.Tuyuhun wanted to rebel, which was beyond everyone's expectations, otherwise he would not have withdrawn all the troops in Guanzhong, resulting in the current dangerous situation.You Tunwei went out of the town of Hexi to deter Tuyuhun and guard the Hexi counties to keep the passage to the Western Regions. This is also a last resort, although the chances of winning are not high.

However, Chai Zhewei "just happened" to be sick, bedridden, and unable to lead the army west...

No matter how perfect Chai Zhewei's disguise was, no one believed it was real.Although the laws of the court cannot hold Chai Zhewei accountable, the influence of the government and the public to comment on public opinion is enough to discredit Chai Zhewei and lose his reputation.

And from now on, His Majesty Li Er will exclude him from the center, and even label him "untrustworthy". The whole family will be alienated by the royal family and will not be reused.

Because of his fear of the enemy and his cowardice, Fang Jun had to lead half of the right guards out of the town of Hexi to challenge the strong Tuyuhun.

Once Fang Jun was defeated, died in Hexi, and even Tuyuhun drove straight into Guanzhong... I am afraid that His Majesty Li Er can tear this nephew Chai Zhewei to pieces.

After cursing a few times, His Majesty Li Er tried his best to calm down his anger, raised his hand to signal Li Ji to sit down, and then asked: "From the perspective of meritorious service, Fang Jun will go out to Hexi to fight against Tuyuhun, what are his chances of winning?" ?”

He always beat and scolded Fang Jun, and was never used to protecting him, but he admired Fang Jun's character and ability very much. From the beginning to the end, he believed that as long as he develops steadily, Fang Jun will definitely enter the center in the future, and even rule the world .

If it is damaged in Hexi, this is unacceptable to him.

What is even more unacceptable is that once Fang Jun is defeated, there will be no danger in Hexi and Longyou. The country will not be subjugated, but since the early years of Zhenguan, the excellent situation created by the monarchs and ministers working hard to govern will be destroyed.

If that's the case, in his lifetime, Datang will never even think about returning to the top.

Not only did the dream of "one emperor through the ages" come to naught, he, Li Er, would even be recorded in the history books, saying that he was "great success" and "faint and incompetent".

Li Ji pondered for a while, before he sighed quietly, and said in a deep voice: "The soldiers of the Youtunwei are the first choice in the army to recruit through the recruitment system. They are all strong and strong, and after Fang Jun's unremitting drills, their combat power is tyrannical. , enough to rank among the top among the Sixteen Guards. However... Tuyuhun's rebellion was definitely not a whim. It was obviously planned for many years and well prepared. The power of Tuyuhun defeated Tuyuhun and forced Fuyun to commit suicide, but he could not completely wipe out the rest of Tuyuhun. After these years of recuperation, his strength has risen to a higher level. If the right guards can come out with all their nests, they still have the strength to fight, but now only half of them have gone Troops, the consequences are dire."

He also participated in the battle to wipe out Tuyuhun back then, and knew the tyrannical fighting power of Tuyuhun.He actually said this to ease His Majesty Li Er's worries. In fact, he believed that even if the Youtun Weiqi went to battle with full strength, there was only one way to lose.

His Majesty Li Er remained silent. Except for the so-called "Military God" Li Jing, it is recognized that Li Ji's strategic quality is unmatched in the court. Even he said "the consequences are dire", which shows that Fang Jun and his right Tunwei is more or less fortunate.

Didn't Fang Jun himself know this?No way.In the impression of His Majesty Li Er, Fang Jun has a lot of minor problems, but he has never had such bad habits as "proud and conceited" and "self-willed".He understood that leading half of the Right Tunwei out of the town of Hexi was simply hitting a stone with an egg, but he resolutely, without retreating, took the initiative to ask for a fight.

(End of this chapter)