Traveling through the early Tang Dynasty starts with hanging

Chapter 840 Ashina Sheer's Thoughts

That night, besides Li Shan, Cui Xin, Li Shimin and others, there were also people in Yuanzhou, thousands of miles away, who stayed up almost all night.

In the quiet valley, the night wind blows through the treetops from time to time, making rustling noises. Standing on the hill, Ashina Sheer looks to the southeast from a distance. To the north of Lingtai County, tens of miles away, is the Tang army camp.

At the junction of Yuanzhou and Jingzhou, the terrain is extremely complicated. On the one hand, there are steep mountains and dense forests, and narrow roads, but on the other hand, there are loess all over, ravines and ravines, and it is difficult for cavalry to exert their advantages. This is why the Tang army chose to set up camp in the north of Lingtai County. reason.

Before the onslaught for two consecutive days, the Tang army resisted quite tenaciously. Ashina Sheer did not continue to urge his subordinates to continue the onslaught, but temporarily withdrew his troops... Although he also knew very well that if he could break through Lingtai County and cross Jingzhou, it would be far away from Jingzhao Not far away, this is actually the route I took from Chang'an to Wuyuan County more than half a year ago.

There was the neighing of a horse behind him, Ashina Sheer looked back, dozens of riders came galloping, Tuli Khan got off his horse, climbed up the hill, and asked with a smile: "If there is no head of the King of Handan, I'm afraid it will be difficult for Brother She'er to return to the army."

Ashina Sheer didn't say a word. His wife, Princess Yicheng, let go of her words. This time, Li Shan's head must be sacrificed to his younger brother... But now that the power is in hand, Ashina Sheer is against her. Respect, but not obey everything.

"Let's give it a try." Tuli Khan smiled understandingly, "Are you going to march tomorrow?"

"What about Longzhou?" Ashina Sheer asked back.

"The guy in Liang Shidu is willing to attack with all his strength, but the casualties are heavy, and the soldiers are unwilling to go into battle." Tuli Khan said helplessly: "There are so many barriers, and until now we have not even been able to capture the Liupan Pass, let alone the next stage. Zhisheng Pass and Longshan Pass.”

Ashina Sheer sighed softly, "Although this battle went smoothly, it was also a helpless move."

Tuli Khan nodded in agreement. Generally speaking, there are three main directions for Turkic invasion. One is the east of the river, which is also the most commonly used route for Turks in recent decades. They all entered from Yanmen Pass, and invaded the east of the river, plundering property, food, grass and people.

The second is the Guannei Road. There are two routes to attack the Guannei Road. One is to go south from Lingzhou, Huizhou, Yuanzhou, and then Jingzhou, Qizhou and Chang'an, but this route is too difficult Fighting, the mountains are high, there are many checkpoints, and the Tang army has a lot of troops.

The other road is the Qin Zhidao, which has been used for hundreds of years. It can lead from the vicinity of Jiuyuan County to the vicinity of Chang'an. It was built during the Qin Shihuang period. It passes through Shuofang County. The road is good, but it is also convenient for the defenders to defend, and Liang Shidu didn't get any cheap.

The third is the Longyou Road, breaking through Liangzhou, attacking Weizhou, Lanzhou, and Qinzhou in the southeast, and then turning east to directly attack Longzhou. In the fourth year of Wude, the Turkic partial division also invaded Longzhou along this road, captured the Great Earthquake Pass, and shocked Chang'an.

Because the terrain of Guannei Road is dangerous, Yanmen Pass is guarded by Li Jing, the Dai Guogong, not to mention that the entire Shuozhou is under the control of the Tang army, so Ashina Sheer originally wanted to start with Longyou Road, but Liang Shidu accidentally captured it. In the three prefectures, Ashina Sheer took advantage of the trend... Unfortunately, it was too late to dispatch troops. Jieli Khan was dealt with that day, and the Tang army had already entered Lingzhou.

"Try again tomorrow?" Tuli Khan also looked towards the Tang army's camp in the south, "As long as we can break through the Lingtai, Jingzhou's terrain is flat enough for cavalry."

Ashina Sheer hesitated, "It's not the time."

Tuli Khan also sighed, "What a pity, what a pity."

Tuli Khan felt it was a pity, but Ashina Sheer didn't feel it was a pity. He didn't, at least right now, he didn't intend to take over the Central Plains. Now the grassland is in chaos. This directly led to the decline of the deterrence and dominance of the Ashina clan in the grassland, and on the other hand, it also caused the power of the grassland tribes to decline.

It is indeed not an opportunity to start a war... What's more, there is this Tuli Khan by his side.

Ashina Sheer knew very well that the alliance with this cousin was only temporary, and sooner or later there would be a fight.

Since the rise of the Turks, there has never been peace within the Ashina clan. Among them was the instigation of the Central Plains Dynasty. The most typical one is that Pei Shiju and Changsun Sheng planned to make Dulan Khan kill his wife... Princess Dayi of the Northern Zhou clan finally led to After many years of turmoil in the grassland, Khan Qimin was attached to Khan, and Khan Datou stood on his own.

But the main reason is still in oneself, which is an inevitable defect caused by nature... The internal fighting will continue forever, and it will never be calmed down.

Even if Ashina Sheer kills Tuli Khan, it is impossible to unify the Eastern Turks. Others must be picked out, and even the Nine Tribes of Tiele will establish themselves.

Therefore, Ashina Sheer did not have much intention for this battle. The looting of people, food, property, and livestock was to make up for the previous losses, and to stabilize the Turkic dominance on the grassland first, not to mention that even if So what if they break through Lingtai County, it is impossible to drink the Weihe River so smoothly.

After all, Jingzhou is too close to Chang'an, and it can be reached within three days with a fast horse galloping. This will cause too much damage to the Tang Dynasty's dominance in Guanzhong.

This is also the reason why after the founding of the Tang Dynasty, Xiqin was the first to be attacked. At that time, the Xue family and his son sent troops from Qinzhou, which was too close to Chang'an.

Perhaps it is possible to support the Liang divisions to stay in Yuanzhou. Ashina Sheer was thinking in his heart that he had won more than half of Yuanzhou. It would be difficult for Liang Jun to break through Liupan Pass and Longshan Pass to go south. It is difficult to break through Daxia Pass, Shimen Pass, and Xiao Pass to go north to Lingzhou.

As for the other goal of this battle, Handan King Li Huairen... Ashina Sheer said in a low voice: "Tomorrow we will attack again together, and the Tang army's reinforcements should not be far away."

Tuli Khan nodded knowingly, "Even if Lingtai County cannot be breached, the Emperor Tang must be forced to negotiate peace."

At this time, in the Tang army camp, the two governors, Qian Jiulong and Hu Yan, looked at the young man in front of him expressionlessly. The former asked in a low voice, "Where is Guan Guogong?"

"No... I don't know where." Liu Rengui, who had once made great achievements, gritted his teeth.

When the army was defeated that day, Liu Rengui and Ren Gui in the rebellious army were scattered by the Turks, and finally scattered into the mountains. Liu Rengui fled back to Jingzhou after abandoning his horse and climbing the mountains. How could he know whether Ren Gui was dead or alive.

Hu Yan sighed, and glanced at Qian Jiulong, "If the Turks attack fiercely and the Lingtai falls, I'm afraid we will have to retreat to..."

Qian Jiulong said in a low voice: "Qian Shuiyuan..."

Both Hu Yan and Qian Jiulong participated in the Battle of Qianshuiyuan that year, and they couldn't help but think that His Majesty might ask the King of Qin to help him this time.

(End of this chapter)