Tibet.

Chapter 1447 The plan within the plan
Wei Feng read the handwritten letter from Bayegu Khan and laughed, "The civil war between these two brothers came at a perfect time. Just as the Tang army was about to launch a war to annihilate the Shiwei, their civil war began."

Zhang Dian frowned, "Does the Chief Secretary think that this is not a coincidence, but a trick that the two Bayegu tribes came up with because they don't want to help the Shiwei army fight? But the Great Khan asked us to send troops to help him eliminate the Little Khan. If this is a show, they shouldn't let us send troops!"

Wei Feng smiled and said, "The big and small Bayegu are like water and fire. It is impossible for them to act. I mean that the little Khan deliberately provoked a war. I can actually guess his real intention."

Ma Lin said, "Shiwei is not stupid. If it is true what Wei Changshi said, that the Little Khan does not want to send troops to help Shiwei, Shiwei will definitely see it. I think Shiwei will take advantage of the opportunity when the Little Khan's rear is empty and send troops to occupy the Little Khan's territory, leaving them a way out. We cannot give Shiwei such an opportunity. I am considering sending troops to block Shiwei's way to the west."

Ma Lin was most worried about the Xiwei's westward retreat, and he always considered this point of view.

Zhang Dian nodded. "I support the Marshal's idea. What do you think, Wei Changshi?"

Wei Feng was actually their military advisor. Li Ye valued Wei Feng very much and specially gave him a gold medal. He had the right to veto Ma Lin and Zhang Dian's combat decisions, so no matter whether Ma Lin and Zhang Dian sent troops, they had to obtain Wei Feng's consent.

Wei Feng pondered for a moment, "This is a typical situation where the fisherman benefits from the quarrel between the two. We want to be the fisherman, and perhaps the Shiwei also want to be the fisherman, so we should plan carefully, so that we don't send our troops in, but instead get attacked by the Little Khan and the Shiwei army and swallow up our army."

Zhang Dian and Ma Lin looked at each other, and then they understood Wei Feng's worry. Wei Feng was worried that the Little Khan and the Shiwei would set up a trap to lure the Tang army in.

"Does Wei Changshi have a plan?"

Wei Feng smiled faintly, "As long as the plan is good, we can completely reverse this situation. We don't know who will kill whom in the end!"

Three days later, Yu Changyang led 10,000 cavalrymen to appear on the grassland east of Songmo Prefecture. This place belonged to the territory of Bayegu Lesser Khan Shaji, and the territory of Bayegu Greater Khan Dada was to the south.

The main Hu people on the grasslands in the Tang Dynasty were the Tiele people, including the Uighurs, who were also a branch of the Tiele people. After the rise of the Khitan, they established the Liao Dynasty. The Shiwei people, who shared the same roots with the Khitan and were called the Northern Khitan, received strong support from the Khitan and continued to expand westwards, driving the Tiele people to Central Asia. The Shiwei people became the masters of the grasslands, which are today's Mongols.

Therefore, starting from the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the Donghu people began to rise gradually. They were too close to Hebei, one of the heartlands of the Central Plains. By crossing the Bohai Sea, they could directly threaten the entire Central Plains. This explains why the Sui Dynasty wanted to fight Goguryeo. Starting from Emperor Wen of Sui, to Emperor Yang of Sui, and finally Emperor Gaozong of Tang, it was all who destroyed Goguryeo.

After the fall of Goguryeo, warlords fought for supremacy in Liaodong. Finally, the Mohe and Khitan peoples rose to power, one established the Bohai Kingdom and the other established the Liao Kingdom.

Later, the Heishui Mohe rose, changed their name to Jurchen, and established the Jin Dynasty. Later, the Jin Dynasty was also destroyed by the Mongols who evolved from the Donghu Shiwei tribe. Finally, it was the Donghu leader Nurhaci who rose and established the Qing Dynasty. The Donghu people even included present-day North Korea.

Why did the Donghu people have such a profound influence? The ultimate reason is that the Donghu people were too close to Hebei, and they could easily obtain advanced technology from the Central Plains. Coupled with the toughness of the grassland Hu people themselves, the Donghu people became an upgraded version of the nomadic Hu people, a Hu people who understood technology.

Of course, the rulers of the Tang Dynasty were not unaware of the huge hidden dangers of the Donghu. From Li Shimin to Wu Zetian, they were constantly strengthening their control over Liaodong. The establishment of the Andong Protectorate was also based on this strategic consideration.

However, the Tang Dynasty's greatest enemy, Tubo, exerted tremendous strategic pressure on the Tang Dynasty. Throughout the Kaiyuan and Tianbao years, Tubo's continuous attacks forced the Tang Dynasty to temporarily relax its control over the Donghu, causing the Andong Protectorate to retreat continuously and eventually disappear.

The heaviest blow dealt by the Donghu to the Tang Dynasty was the An-Shi Rebellion. Although An Lushan and Shi Siming were both Sogdians, their generals were basically Donghu, and half of their troops were also Donghu.

Why did the Khitan rise in the late Tang Dynasty? It was like the United States during World War II, inheriting a large amount of wealth and population plundered from the Central Plains during the An-Shi Rebellion. During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, it was an opportunity for the Khitan to grow and develop. They obtained Youzhou from Shi Jingtang, and the Khitan finally became a powerful force and established the Liao Dynasty.

When Yu Changyang's 10,000 troops appeared on Bayegu's territory, 30,000 Shiwei troops also quietly moved out and slowly approached the Tang army from the east. The little Khan Shaji also led 20,000 troops to approach the Tang army. One in the east and one in the west, the two armies formed an encirclement of the Tang army.

At the same time, another 20,000 Tang cavalry, led by Zhang Dian, quickly penetrated behind the 30,000 Shiwei troops and formed a counter-encirclement of the Shiwei troops. Li Qu, the special envoy of Tang army commander Ma Lin, had also arrived at the tent of the Great Khan Dada. Li Qu was about 30 years old and was Ma Lin's staff member, in charge of military supplies and grass. He was very smart and capable, and was highly regarded by Ma Lin.

Dada came out in person to greet the special envoy of the Tang army commander. Dada was also over 30 years old, not tall, and a little plump. Because of his ugly appearance, his father favored his tall and handsome younger son.

Dada's father was the former Bayegu Khan, Bolu. According to the grassland tradition, the Khan's throne should be inherited by the elder brother, but Bolu's two brothers died early, so his Khan's throne had to be given to his son, and the eldest son inherited it.

But Bolu favored his younger son, and deliberately supported him, giving him the best pastures and a large population. In the end, the situation was out of control, and Bolu finally realized that he had made a big mistake, which led to the emergence of two power centers in Bayeku. However, Bolu's way of correcting his mistake was to poison his eldest son and make his younger son the Khan.

Bolu's evil deeds angered his wife. Unable to bear it any longer, she poured the poisoned wine that he had prepared for his son into his medicine soup. Bolu died after drinking the medicine soup.

After Bolu's death, his two sons started fighting each other for two years without a clear winner. Finally, the Pugu tribe mediated the situation and both brothers proclaimed themselves Khan. The Bayeku tribe split into two parts, the south and the north.

At this time, Dada saw an opportunity to unify Bayegu, and the young Khan Shaji actually supported Shiwei and opposed the Tang Dynasty.

Dada and Li Qu quickly reached an agreement. Dada immediately sent 30,000 troops to attack the small Khan in the north. Once the small Khan was destroyed, the Tang Emperor would enthrone Dada as the Khan of the Bayegu tribe. In this way, the Tang Dynasty would support two major grassland forces, Sijie in the west and Bayegu in the east.

This also solved the problem of insufficient military strength of the Sijie tribe. Out of fear of the Uighurs and concern for the Karluk tribe, the Sijie tribe could only send a maximum of 5,000 people to participate in the battle, and their military strength seemed insufficient. However, the return of Great Khan Bayegu to the Tang Dynasty solved this problem.

Dada personally led 30,000 cavalrymen to attack the small Khan's territory in the north.

The young Khan Shaji led an army of 20,000 and was about a hundred miles away from the Tang army garrison. He was not in a hurry to attack the Tang army, but was waiting for news from the Shiwei side. They needed to agree on a time and launch an attack on the Tang army at the same time.

Inside the big tent, two beauties were dancing gracefully. They were the two most beloved maids of the young Khan Shaji, and he took them with him wherever he went.

The little Khan Shaji was indeed tall, handsome and likable, completely different from his fat and short brother. No wonder his father doted on him so much.

The reason why Shaji wanted to help Shiwei deal with the Tang army was because he coveted the two pieces of land of Khitan and Xi. Shiwei promised him that once the Tang army was defeated, the land of Khitan and Xi would belong to him.

More importantly, Sha Ji did not understand the Tang army and was still stuck in the impression of the Anshi Rebellion, thinking that the Tang army was not scary at all.

He was half lying on the tiger skin, squinting his eyes as he watched his two-year concubine dancing, but his mind was thinking about tonight's plans.

At this moment, a personal soldier rushed into the tent and reported urgently: "Khan, Dada led 30,000 troops to attack our kingdom. The situation is critical. The kingdom urgently needs help!"

Shaji stood up suddenly, horrified. He didn't expect his brother to take advantage of the situation. If he didn't fight back, the 20,000 herdsmen in his kingdom would be doomed.

He was too busy fighting the Tang army to care about it anymore. He immediately ordered, "Pass on my order. The army will turn around and return to the king's land immediately!"

(End of this chapter)