People in the early Tang Dynasty: I compete with Wu Zhao for the throne

Chapter 1608 Strategic Fraud - The Most Trusted Person
Changzhou, Qugou.

In the central army camp, countless soldiers were moving back and forth quickly, and military orders were being sent to various places quickly.

Li Xuan stood in front of the huge sand table, looking at the movements of the troops on the sand table in deep thought.

Qiu Zhenmu, Cui Ding, Ren Enci, Li Zhu, Li Gu, and Zhou Qian stood on both sides.

More Lang generals stood in the back.

Everyone looked at the troop movements on the sand table with solemn expressions.

Li Xuan pointed to the location of Dunhuang on the sand table and said softly, "There are 10,000 people in ambush in Dunhuang led by General Hua Dazhi of the Right Army Guard... Boyu, send a letter to Protector Wang, order him to lead the army north to the Turkic land to get food, avoid the sight of the Right Army Guard, and transfer these 10,000 people to Lanzhou."

"Yes!" Chen Ziang quickly wrote the military order and sent it out.

"Order Li Duozuo to lead his Right Guard and Right Guard to quickly pass through Shanshan and reach Western Tuyuhun, and rush to Qugou." Li Xuan paused for a moment and said, "I will appoint him as the General of the Right Guard as the Grand Commandant of the World, and command all the Right Guards in Changzhou."

After Li Xuan's words, all the right army guards in the big tent showed joy on their faces.

The Right Guard that remained in Changzhou were originally Mohe cavalry who participated in the Battle of Eastern Tuyuhun.

Although there have been many additions over the years, they are still the main ones.

If nothing unexpected happened, the one who should have led them should have been Heichi Changzhi, but the court suddenly appointed Cheng Wuting as the General of the Right Guard and brought in a number of Generals of the Palace Guards to snatch their positions. They had long been dissatisfied.

Li Duozuo was also a member of the Mohe tribe, so it was most appropriate for him to command the Right Guard.

Li Xuan looked up at Ren Enci and said, "Sima Ren, I will appoint you as the General of the Right Guard. Together with Li Gu, you will train 20,000 brave and capable cavalrymen."

"Yes!" Ren Enci and Li Gu bowed at the same time.

Li Xuan nodded, and then said: "Cui Ding, Zhou Qian, the two of you will use the Qianniu Guards and Jinwu Guards under your command as a base and each raise 3,000 soldiers."

"Yes!" Cui Ding and Zhou Qian bowed at the same time.

Li Xuan turned sideways and asked, "When will Youtunwei Nanju arrive?"

"There is still half a month left, and it will take some time to transport the food and fodder stored in Chamdo." Chen Zi'ang bowed.

Li Xuan has secretly stockpiled a large amount of food and fodder in Chamdo over the years. Now that these food and fodder are to be transported down, they will greatly serve as the basis for their war next year.

"Western Turkic spoils must also be transported here quickly." Li Xuan breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Tell Duke Xue that I will not delay his food and salary for next year, so everything will be resolved before the coming autumn of next year."

"Autumn?" The generals in the tent looked at Li Xuan in surprise. Are you so sure?
"Yes!" Li Xuan nodded calmly and said, "Before next autumn, we will be in Chang'an City."

"Ah!" Qiu Zhenmu, Cui Ding, Zhou Qian and others looked at Li Xuan in disbelief.

Li Xuan smiled and said, "Are you guys wondering whether our water attack next year will be so effective?"

Qiu Zhenmu and others couldn't help but look solemn.

Li Xuan shook his head slightly and said, "Indeed, next year's water attack will not be so effective unless there is a heavy downpour between spring and summer. But you see, there were only a few snowfalls this winter. Even if there is snow in the mountains, how much can it be?"

"So?" Qiu Zhenmu looked at Li Xuan carefully.

Li Xuan's gaze fell on the sand table again.

On the sand table, from Tianshui to Lanzhou, and then to Changzhou, including Hezhou, Taozhou, Shazhou, Suzhou, Ganzhou, and Liangzhou are all there.

The only one missing is Chang'an.

"Who do you think the court will send as the commander-in-chief to pacify us?" Li Xuan looked at everyone with a smile.

Everyone was stunned for a moment.

Li Xuan shook his head and said, "No need to think too much, this person must be Wang Xiaojie."

As soon as Li Xuan mentioned Wang Xiaojie, everyone's faces changed.

As the General of the Left Guard, Wang Xiaojie not only participated in the Battle of Dayuechuan, but also took part in the subsequent Battle of Chamdo.

However, due to the uprising of the Later Turks, Wang Xiaojie had to be transferred back to Chang'an to take charge.

Among the generals in the court, Wang Xiaojie was the one who was most familiar with Li Xuan. Wang Xiaojie was extremely familiar with his tactics and the generals under his command.

"As for the method of water attack, Xiaojie has seen a lot under my command. So, firstly, there won't be as much rain next year. Secondly, with brother Xiaojie here, he won't let my method of water attack take shape. He knows my methods too well." Li Xuan suddenly smiled with ease.

The generals subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief.

If the person standing opposite them was really Wang Xiaojie, then they would not have it so easy.

But Li Xuan was prepared, so it was okay.

"So, in next year's battle, the water attack is just a cover. What we want is to occupy the terrain advantage, lure them to attack, and then use crossbows to effectively kill them." There was a hint of ruthlessness in Li Xuan's eyes.

Qiu Zhenmu looked at Li Xuan carefully: "So, Marshal, what is our real trump card?"

The mountain path is narrow. Even if Wang Xiaojie sent people to attack, to be honest, being able to kill tens of thousands of people is already the limit. However, Wang Xiaojie would definitely not bring only ten thousand people to attack Changzhou. There must be at least more than fifty thousand.

"Have you forgotten where we are standing?" Li Xuan's expression turned cold.

Everyone was silent for a while, and Li Gu suddenly said, "Gaoyuan, this is a plateau."

Qiu Zhenmu's expression changed slightly, but he calmed down in an instant. Li Xuan smiled and nodded to Li Gu, then said, "Yes, this is a plateau. Where do you think the most suitable soldiers for the plateau expeditions in the Tang Dynasty are in recent years?"

Everyone was stunned, and then their faces were filled with joy.

"Where else could it be? Of course I'll wait here." Qiu Zhenmu finally relaxed completely.

A few years ago, when the Tang Dynasty conquered Tubo, it had transferred as many soldiers from each guard as possible who were suitable for plateau warfare to Lhasa Road.

Later, when Tubo was pacified, Li Xuan still felt that there were not enough Tang soldiers available to suppress the Tubo area, so he tried his best to recruit and train soldiers from all aspects who could adapt to plateau warfare.

At the end of last year, he and the court had agreed to march into the Western Regions, and a lot of additional soldiers were needed, so the Ministry of War transferred as many as possible to his service.

It is not easy for the court to transfer another batch now.

Li Xuan looked at everyone and said, "Everyone, what we are going to do next is very simple. I will transfer you to Shanzhou in turn to fight, familiarize yourself with the opponent, reduce consumption, and at the same time lead the opponent to Changzhou as much as possible. If necessary, even Shanzhou can be abandoned and wait until they enter the plateau..."

Li Xuan made a light chop with his right hand, and immediately a lamb to be slaughtered appeared in everyone's eyes.

"The commander-in-chief is wise." The generals inside and outside the palace bowed at the same time.

Li Xuan took a deep breath and said, "When they reach the plateau, their fighting power will decline. In such a big battle, we can kill as few of them as possible. After all, we are all fellow Tang soldiers. They are just deceived by the traitors. When the time comes, we can capture them and bring them into our group. When we become stronger, we can take down Chang'an in one blow."

"Yes!" All the generals were silent at the same time.

Li Xuan waved his hand slightly and said, "Everyone go, Brother Qiu stay for a while."

"Yes!" All the generals bowed and retreated at the same time, only Qiu Zhenmu stayed.

Li Xuan nodded to Qiu Zhenmu, then walked to the low couch beside him and sat down. Then he looked at Qiu Zhenmu and said, "Brother Qiu, what do you think is our biggest problem now?"

Qiu Zhenmu's eyebrows jumped, and then he said carefully: "Is it food?"

"Yes, it's food and grass." Li Xuan sighed, then smiled bitterly and said, "It happened too suddenly. Since the second half of this year, the court has been restricting the flow of food and grass into Fanzhou.

You know, later on we all had the support of Fanzhou.

The army is fighting but they treat it as a joke! "

Li Xuan couldn't help but sneer at the end. Empress Wu was more wary of him than anyone else.

After a short pause, Li Xuan continued, "Although we have the savings from Qamdo in the early years, to be honest, as more and more troops gather, we need more and more food and grass, so we need to replenish the food and grass."

Qiu Zhenmu's expression became solemn, and he bowed and said, "Please give your orders, Marshal."

"Jiannan." Li Xuan landed outside the sand table, in the place of Shuzhong, and said with a serious look: "Shuzhong is a fertile land with a large amount of food reserves. Even this autumn, Chang'an transferred a large amount of food, but Jiannan still has a lot of food left."

"Yes!" Qiu Zhenmu nodded slightly.

Li Xuan took a deep breath and said, "In Jiannan, I have already purchased a batch of food and grass. Li Xiaoyi, the chief of the Yizhou Grand Military Governor's Office, will secretly release it. You can go there in person, from Xinghai to Panzhou, and finally from Pengzhou to Chengdu. Someone will help you prepare food..."

After a brief pause, Li Xuan said, "If you have time, go investigate the situation of the deposed Crown Prince Xian in Bazhou. I don't know why Chang'an, Luoyang, and Jiannan have all lost news about him. Why don't you go there in person and see what's going on?"

"Yes!" Qiu Zhenmu's expression became serious.

Li Xuan waved his hand and said, "The key is still the food and grass. It is not convenient for Duke Liang and Envoy Yao to show up, so someone will help to do it."

"I understand." Qiu Zhenmu's expression remained serious.

"Okay, then you should set off as soon as possible." Li Xuan's expression became serious, and he said, "The court may need to mobilize troops soon. Chang'an is short of food and grass, so we must call on the food and grass from Jiannan Road. Otherwise, if they take the food and grass away first, we will have nothing to mobilize."

"Yes, I will prepare it right away." Qiu Zhenmu bowed and turned quickly.

"Brother Qiu." Li Xuan suddenly called Qiu Zhenmu, smiled gently, and said, "Please burn a stick of incense to Emperor Zhongzong before you leave."

"Yes!" Qiu Zhenmu's eyes twitched slightly, but he still bowed and left.

After Qiu Zhenmu left, Li Xuan's face suddenly became extremely ferocious, with deep hatred in his eyes.

Then, his eyes fell on the sand table again.

His eyes sneered lightly.

Under normal circumstances, without torrential rain, the water attack technique could at most delay the opponent's counterattack. Coupled with Wang Xiaojie's harassment, it would be difficult for him to directly attack Lanzhou by water. However, there is a lake called Yanhai Lake in the northwest mountains of Shancheng.

Yanhai Lake is five miles long from north to south and three miles wide from east to west. The lake is deep and wide. It is the source of the Bayan River which flows into the Huangshui River. Unfortunately, because the riverbed of the Bayan River is high, only a part of the water flows from it to the Huangshui River, and more flows to Qinghai Lake.

No one cared about this place in the past, but now, Li Xuan had no choice but to block the river flowing to Qinghai Lake, and then build a dam at Yanhai Lake to intercept the water. Then, if someone chased him from Huangzhong to Shancheng, he could use Yanhai Lake to directly rush through Huangzhong, and there would be countless pursuers.

The remaining flood will still rush towards Lanzhou. Although it will not destroy the city of Lanzhou, it will be enough to turn the Lanzhou Bay into a swamp.

Of course, before that, he needed to make Lanzhou believe that his water attack would not have much effect.

Or they have enough means to break his water attack, so that they will send more soldiers into the mountains.

Li Xuan clenched his fists slightly, so that he would have a chance to break through Lanzhou head-on.

A light sound of footsteps was heard outside the hall, and Li Zhu whispered outside: "Your Highness, the governor of Hezhou, Qu, has delivered the grain."

(End of this chapter)