A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 1148: Anticipating the Enemy
Wu Huaiyu cracked open a still-hot roasted egg and slowly peeled the shell. "How many of the various tribesmen have arrived? Who else hasn't arrived yet?"

"All the great shijins from the west wing of the South Courtyard have arrived, but many from the east wing have not yet arrived." Fan Xing named them one by one, "For example, Shaboluo Yehu Helu has not come, and his father-in-law Luchuo from the Chumukun tribe, his relative-in-law Quchuo from Huluwu, and Zhuye Qushijin Ajue from the Gongyue tribe, Shatuo Shijin Nasu, and Shijian Shijin from the Chumi tribe... have not arrived yet."

The eggs baked in sand tasted pretty good.

Sprinkle some pepper and salt on it and it’s very delicious.

"Did Deputy Chief Manager Cheng send back any news?" Wu Huaiyu asked.

"Not yet. But Qibi Heli hasn't led his troops back yet. I think something might have happened," Fan Xing said frankly. Although this man is called Fan Manzi, he started fighting in his teens and has been on the battlefield for half his life. He has a unique sense of war.

"Yeah, I also think something might happen."

Helu has been jumping up and down. Chuyue Zhuxie and Shatuo both want to fight for Hehan Futu City, the largest city in the north of Tianshan Mountain. Chumukun and Huluwu were also fighting for territory before, but Helu got involved. He used Yaochizhou to win over the two tribes.

Now there are signs that a storm may be coming.

"I just can't understand where these guys got the courage to cause trouble?" Fan Xing was puzzled.
Although the Tang army did not fight any major battles during its westward expedition, the elite bravery it displayed was quite astonishing. It marched 7,000 miles to Beiting and captured Duolu Khan alive. Then, it captured Gongyue City and killed Yuzhi Shijin in one day. Then, it won three battles and defeated the Chishi tribe and the Yan face, killing more than a thousand people in battle and taking more than 7,000 prisoners alive.

The Tang army has never been defeated since entering the Western Regions.

Not to mention that although the Tang army in Yiwu attacked on its own, they broke through Gaochang Tiandi City in one day, surrounded Gaoriwang City, and then Qibi Heli forcefully entered Khan Futu City.

The fighting power displayed is too strong.

Moreover, the Western Turkic tribes in the south also behaved in a relatively submissive manner.
Under such circumstances, Dulu Khan surrendered, and Gaochang Kingdom surrendered.

Now Duolu Khan, Zhenzhu Yehu and the Prince of Gaochang have all set off and are headed for Chang'an.

Mishe officially took over as Khan of Beiting.
Not to mention the entire Western Turkic Khanate, even the various Dulu tribes in the eastern wing of Beiting were not united. At least the three major Dulu tribes, Shesheti, Turgesh, and Shunish, were very respectful to Wu Huaiyu.

Even if Shabolayahu could win over Chuyuechumi, Qerluks, Chumukun and Huluwu, they would not dare to resist when the Tang army had not yet withdrawn.

Wu Huaiyu finished eating a roasted egg and thought it was delicious, so he peeled another one while it was still hot.

"It's not hard to understand. The Turkic nomadic tribes are not often rebellious. They know how to bully and fear the weak, but they are still unruly by nature. Before, we sent troops quickly and attacked them by surprise. Dulu was captured. The other tribes were not able to react in time. Secondly, Dulu Khan was not from Western Turkic.
Furthermore, the Western Turkic tribes have been in fierce internal strife in recent years, and we have been fighting them while trying to win them over. We only targeted Duolu Khan and Gaochang, and had no impact on other tribes. We even gave them official titles, rewards, and appeasement.
It did not affect their fundamental interests, so these people were naturally quite submissive.

In the final analysis, whether it is Tian Khan, Duolu Khan, or Yehu Khan who rules the Western Regions, it is not too important. As long as their tribal interests are not harmed, they don’t care. ”

Interests, this is the core.

But the changes now are also due to interests. For example, the Chumukun tribe was dissatisfied because Wu Huaiyu moved them back to their old place from the northern slope of the Tianshan Mountains with abundant water and grass.

As for the Chuyue Zhuxie and Shatuo tribes, they were also resentful because they had originally agreed that whoever captured Futu City first would own it, but now it was snatched away by Qibi Heli, and Wu Huaiyu refused to take charge for them.

As for Shaboluoyehu Helu, he originally ruled the eastern tribes of Beiting. In name, he assisted Zhenzhuyehu, but in fact, he held all the power. Futu City and Mohe City were all his. But now Wu Huaiyu only gave him a piece of Yaochizhou, and did not give him the old lands such as Xieluosichuan.

This is naturally due to resentment in one's heart.

The Hu Luwu tribe should have been grateful to Wu Huaiyu for giving them the old land, but human greed is unsatisfactory. When his relative Helu proposed to give them Yaochizhou, Hu Luwu also became selfish.

Fan Xing felt that the Tang army had shown enough strength and Helu and his men should not dare to do so.

But even a small country like Gaochang dared to confront the Tang Dynasty.
What's more, after Helu and his alliance were formed, they controlled half of Beiting. Their strength was extremely strong and they could mobilize at least hundreds of thousands of cavalry.

At least in terms of numbers, they are at home and have the advantage in numbers.

That's how courageous they are.

More importantly, they feel that their core interests have been damaged.

Or,

Although the Tang army did fight many brilliant battles during this Western Expedition, they were relatively small in scale and mainly relied on surprise attacks, which did not make the Western Turks feel convinced.

They believe that in a head-on battle, they still have the advantage and they are confident that they can win.

If it weren't for Guo Xiaoke and his men disrupting Wu Huaiyu's plan,
Then in the Battle of Gaochang, Wu Huaiyu would have been able to demonstrate the strength of the Tang army, and the current situation would not have occurred.

"What do you think will happen next, and how should we respond?" Fan Xing also cracked an egg. "How about we strike first?" Wu Huaiyu asked. "What's the reason? We have to have a legitimate reason. The Gaochang incident has caused us to lose a lot of prestige. We can't do this again, otherwise it will only arouse the resentment of the entire Western Turkic tribes."

"Then we can't just sit and wait for them to attack."

"Hehe, as long as we are prepared, we can also strike back and even set up a trap to wait for the enemy."

"But we don't have many soldiers in the Western Region right now, and they are scattered. Defense is not the best strategy."

"As long as we know who the enemy is, it will be easy for us to deal with them. If they really dare to take action this time, they must be the people recruited by Helu, with Helu as the leader.
It can be roughly determined that Helu's primary target must be Khan Futu City.
If he takes over Khan Futu City, his next target will definitely be Luntai City which is under construction."

Wu Huaiyu directly drew a simple map of the eastern part of the Western Regions on paper with the Tanhan Mountain as the boundary. To the north was the Zhuxie tribe's Jin Manchuria, the Shatuo tribe's Shatuozhou, to the south was Gaochang, and to the east across the Zheluoman Mountain was Yiwulu.
If Helu takes action, he will definitely want to drive the Tang army out of the Western Regions first, so he will definitely have to fight around these places.

If we take Khan Futu City first, we can attack or defend, and stabilize the north of Tanhan Mountain.

The reason for taking Luntai was that it was the only way to Gaochang and the north, and the key to Baishuijian Road. By controlling it, the Tang army could be repelled in Gaochang first.

Fan Xing was also a veteran, and he understood at a glance that what Wu Huaiyu said was right.

This is what it means to anticipate the enemy's moves and plan your strategy accordingly.

As long as we have enough information, all the enemy's attacks can be traced.

"I will lead the troops to Khan Futu City for reinforcement." Fan Xing also understood that that was the most critical point.

Wu Huaiyu shook his head. "With Deputy Chief Cheng and Qibi Heli there, it's enough to defend Khan Futu City."

You have to fight at your own pace and not be led by others.

Helu and his men wanted to attack Khan's Futu City. Wu Huaiyu only needed to send someone to remind Cheng Yaojin, and then let Qibi Heli lead his troops to stay and help defend. Although Qibi Heli was unruly, he was still a fierce general. The Qibi tribal soldiers were also very brave.

Lao Cheng is also an experienced general. As long as he does not underestimate the enemy, then just defending the city will be enough.

"Then I'll go to reinforce Luntai City?"

The city wall of Luntai City has been built. Although only the outer wall has been built, it can already help with defense.

The town commander Yuwen Chengdu is Wu Huaiyu's adopted son and has been in the northern border for ten years. Wu Huaiyu believes that he is capable of defending the city.

"You go to Mohe City."

Mohe City, once the place where Helu was stationed, is located in the north of Tanhan Mountain. It is the second largest city after Khan Futu City and is located in the northeast of Luntai City.

This place is actually not far from Jinmanzhou City, where the Chuyue Zhuxie tribe is stationed. It is the heart of the Chuyue Zhuxie tribe.

"You lead an army to quietly march north along the Baishuijian Road, passing through Luntai and heading to Mohe City."

Wu Huaiyu predicted that Helu and his men would definitely rebel, so when Fan Xing led his troops to Mohe City, Helu and his men had already rebelled and were leading Chuyue, Chumi, Mukun, Huluwu and others to besiege Khan Futu City.
At this time, Fan Xing suddenly appeared at the foot of Mohe City in the heart of Chuyue, and he would definitely catch the enemy off guard.

To capture Mohe City in one fell swoop would be like stabbing a steel needle into Chu Yue's heart.
The Tang army could attack or defend, but Chu Yue was caught in a dilemma.

"Great, this is a great move. We can take Mohe City by surprise. Now the Chuyue Zhuxie tribe will have to withdraw to rescue. But before their main force withdraws, we can use Mohe City as a base to sweep the Chuyue Zhuxie tribe from all sides. When their main force comes back, we can retreat to Mohe City."

In this way, Luntai City, Mohe City, and Khan Futu City on the north side of the Tianshan Mountains can be connected in a line, which can pin down these rebellious tribes in the north of the Tianshan Mountains. They will not be able to ignore the Tang army and attack Gaochang and Yiwulu by detour.
On the contrary, as long as the Tang army occupied these three cities as strongholds, they could attack or defend. The rebels would be in a dilemma, especially the Chuyue tribe, who were sandwiched between these three cities and with Gaochang to the south, so they would be the most difficult.

Wu Huaiyu's idea is to focus on this piece of land.
As long as they dare to rebel, he would focus on attacking Helu and Chuyue Zhuxie tribes first. He even thought about it. Once they rebelled, he would immediately announce the abolition of the Jin Manchuria Governorate and the Yaochizhou Governorate.
After the two vassal states were abolished, a new regular state, Tingzhou, was directly established.

Focus on attacking the Chuyue Zhuxie tribe, and beat the Shatuo tribe as well, and do not be sure to capture and kill Mohe.

We must also strike at the Chumukun tribe in the west.

As for Hu Luwu and Chumi's troops, we can temporarily focus on winning them over and use attacks as a supplement to force them to return.

"Originally, I planned to stabilize the area for five to ten years, but since they have rebelled, we will solve the problem all at once. Xizhou and Tingzhou will be established together. The Tang Dynasty will completely occupy the eastern part of Tianshan in the Western Regions. These three states will serve as the foundation for managing the Western Regions."

Fan Xing stood up excitedly, "Then I'll go get ready and set off tomorrow."

(End of this chapter)