Chastity Layman

  Chapter 872 Father and Son Control Half the Sky Together

"Shubao, do you mean that the Tang Dynasty will send troops and horses to go deep into the snowy plateau to attack Tubo?" Li Shimin shook his head, "Not to mention that Tubo hasn't sent troops to invade the Qiangs now, even if they did send troops, It is not realistic for Datang to go all the way to the snow-covered plateau to fight. You and Huailiangping Dangxiang and Tuyuhun were very dangerous before. At that time, my soldiers from the Tang Dynasty were marching and fighting there, but suffered a lot. The battle is not far from Qinghai Lake, if we go deeper to fight against Tubo, it will be a huge logistical burden for us, and may even cause huge casualties..."

The emperor always believed that the logistical burden of going to the snow-covered plateau to fight was too great, and the Tang army was not adapted to the climatic conditions there, so the casualties would be huge. There is no value in occupying it, but if you lose, you will lose to Xitian.

   No matter how you look at it, this battle has not started.

   What's more, the imperial court is already preparing for the very likely grassland battle, and the war with Xue Yantuo may break out at any time. Once it starts, Datang will have to go all out. And Goguryeo in Liaodong has been brooding since the last Beisha City, and now its relationship with Datang is extremely stiff. It has been secretly preparing for war there, and it is also possible to fight.

And Qin Lang is still tossing around in the south. Although the Juding rebellion has been put down, according to Qin Lang's report, Nanong Sanniang fled to the south of the Xidaojiang River, and now he has provoked the ghost lord Meng Guzun to seize the west and Nida. In the position of ghost master, he actually built some kind of compass country by himself.

The barbarian chaos will not end for a while, and it may even usher in another wave of counter-offensive climax. After the last rebellion in Guangxi Zuoxixi Manjing, it has not yet settled down. Many barbarians in central Guizhou and Guangxi have recently suffered from Qin Lang's reform of the land and return to the exiles, the leveling of the barbarians, etc., made some people's hearts unstable.

  Under such circumstances, neither Li Shimin nor the prime ministers of the Zhengshitang want to start another war in the peaceful western Xinjiang.

  However, Li Shimin still listened to Qin Qiong's reminder.

"Shubao, you are the governor of the Songzhou Dudufu. The Songzhou Mansion originally controlled the Dangxiang, Bailang, Bailan and other Qiangs in the west of Gansongling. , is a subject of my Tang Dynasty, if that Tubo boy is really arrogant and arrogant and dares to attack my vassal subjects, you are in the frontier Songzhou, you can make judgments and deployments according to the actual situation, and allow you to restraintly mobilize the defense of the vassals to counterattack."

"Of course, if Tubo was just showing off but didn't send troops, we don't need to preemptively attack people, and we can do it later. Then the Tubo poor, fighting with them is of no benefit, and winning is also a loss, so we don't fight with them." They're generally knowledgeable."

Li Shimin also knew that war preparations cost money, so he finally thought about it, and took out one million guan from his inner treasury and handed it to Qin Qiong, asking him to use the money to strengthen the defense on the west side of Jiannan and build more fortresses. The garrison, the Fengbao military station, increased the reserves of some military supplies and food and grass, and also used the money to integrate Bailan, Duomi, Misang, Dongnv, Xishan, Bailang and other Qiang.

  Even if there is going to be a war, Li Shimin also hopes to command these Xiqiang to fight against Tubo.

"Shubao, don't take that kid too seriously. If he is really arrogant, then you can teach him to be a man. With me, the mighty **** of war and door **** of Tang Dynasty guarding the southwest gate, as long as this kid is smart Do not dare to commit any crimes!"

Qin Qiong was a little disappointed with the emperor's attitude, but he did not refute it. However, he still asked the emperor to be promoted to the governor's mansion in Weizhou, southwest of Songzhou, and to send an additional general to guard it, so as to control the Qiangs of the eight countries in Xishan. Water builds a line of defense to prevent Tubo from attacking from this direction.

   "Do you have suitable candidates to recommend?"

   "The minister recommends Su Dingfang or Duan Zhixuan, both of whom can take on this important task!"

  Li Shimin asked Chengqian to fetch a map, and studied the west side of Jiannan for a while.

  Songzhou is on the northwest corner of Jiannan Road. It is at the forefront of Dangxiang and is also close to Tuyuhun. However, now that Tuyuhun and Dangxiang have surrendered to Datang, Songzhou has little military pressure.

If Tubo commits crimes in the north, this is also an important portal for them to enter the Tang Dynasty. However, both Qin Qiong and Li Shimin also believe that it is impossible for Tubo to go directly to Song Dynasty before taking down Domi, Bailan, Misang, and Dangxiang Zhuqiang. state.

It is more likely to go along several large river valley tunnels on the plateau to the southwest of Jiannan Road, where Weizhou on the east of the Jinchuan River, Yazhou on the edge of the Dadu River, and Xunzhou on the edge of the East Lu River, that is, the imperial court The newly renamed Xining Prefecture is a strategic point.

  Of course, Tubo can also go down the Nu River, Lancang River, and Jinsha River to enter Yunnan and reach the Erhai Lake area.

But here actually has to cross the snow-capped mountains and cross the canyon. The road is very difficult. You have to change the road between the three rivers. It is extremely difficult to march and supply. It is extremely difficult for folk caravans to sell salt, tea and horses. It's not easy, if another Tubo person rushes into the Erhai Lake in Yunnan, there are all barbarians from the Six Commandments, there are no big cities, it is difficult to plunder enough resources and materials, and it is impossible to support wars with war. The most important thing is that they rush into Western Yunnan does not affect Datang at all, and may be outflanked by Datang. Relatively speaking, both Qin Qiong and Li Shimin believe that if Qi Zongnong is really crazy and dares to invade, it is most likely to go directly north to fight Su Pi, and then all the way to Duomi, Bailan, Dangxiang, and Tuyuhun, all the way to Qinghai Lake, or go west to Qiemo instead of going to Songzhou Jiannan.

  Of course, we also have to guard against this young man playing cards not according to common sense. After all, if it is normal, Tubo would never dare to invade Datang.

"In this way, I asked Duan Zhixuan to review the history of the governor's office of Xining Prefecture, and to lead the Xuanwu Army envoy to guard Xining. Su Dingfang was appointed as the governor of Weizhou, and was also the envoy of Desheng Army to guard Weizhou. The temperance governors and the Qiang along the border controlled the Mizhou tribe. Shubao, just work harder, and add another Jiannan Dao Xuanfu Jinglue envoy to control the governor's mansion, state, army, town, and garrison!"

The Ningyuan Army in Songzhou, together with the newly established Xuanwu Army in Xining Prefecture, and the newly established Desheng Army in Weizhou, each of the three armies has a strength of 3,000 troops, and the total is only 9,000 soldiers. Li Shimin's meaning is enough.

The nine thousand elites of the three armies guarding the three sides of Jiannan, together with the government soldiers, garrison troops, and united soldiers in Yizhou and other places, should have no problem defending the enemy from outside the country, not to mention controlling the large and small outside the pass. There are a total of 261 Qiang and Manjimi prefectures, and 24 Dangxiang Jimi prefectures controlled by Songzhou prefecture. It can be said that the Jimi prefectures along the border of the Tang Dynasty and Jiannan Road are the most numerous, Longyou and Hexi , controlled the prefectures and governor's mansions including the Western Regions, with a total of 51 prefectures and 198 prefectures, which belonged to the original 51 prefectures of Jiangnan Road, but now Jiangnan Road has been split There are five provinces in Hunan, Jiangxi, Jiangdong, Zhejiang, and Fujian.

  Jimi prefecture in the south of Lingnan was reduced to ninety-two prefectures by Qin Lang, with a total of thirty-six prefectures in Guangxi Province.

  Datang currently has a total of 896 Jimi prefectures, named Jimi.

But in any case, these Southern Man and Western Qiang are mostly following the orders of the Tang Dynasty, so if they really want to fight Tubo, the three generals Qin Qiong, Duan Zhixuan, and Su Dingfang can immediately recruit the Qiang and Barbarians from all prefectures and prefectures to fight together , The number is still very considerable, and all of them will bring their own food, grass and weapons to join the expedition, which is far better than sending the northern and southern Yamen expeditions from the Central Plains, saving trouble, labor and money.

Qin Lang accepted the imperial court's decision, and proposed to recruit a group of elite warriors from the barbarians and Qiang tribes, and train them with the Tang Dynasty's method of military formation, and station them in dangerous passes. Carry out farming and grazing, and plowing, grazing, training and guarding. You can also use the law of rotation, and regularly recruit elites from various ministries to train on duty. This will not only enhance the ability to guard the frontier, but also enhance the imperial court's influence and control over the barbarians. .

This kind of standing barbarian army does not need to be many. Under the three governor's mansions, each army can be equipped with two city-side barbarian troops. The Ningyuan army of 3,000 people each will be deployed in a ratio of one to two, and each will have six thousand barbarians. There are three soldiers, one Datang side camp and two Man Qiang city side camps. Qin Qiong's proposal has another advantage, that is, the Jiannan frontier army has suddenly changed from nine thousand to twenty-seven thousand, which has the ability to attack and defend.

In particular, these barbarians and Qiangs have lived in the frontier for generations. They adapt to the plateau climate and harsh terrain there. It is a good choice to form some plateau cavalry or mountain infantry. Together with the Tang Dynasty regular frontier army with excellent weapons and equipment, it will be like a tiger with wings added. The Tang army can retreat and defend, and advance and attack.

Tang Jun helped train these barbarians, and even gave them some good treatment, such as granting them fields and pastures for the selected ones, and even awarding honors and appointments to officials for their meritorious service in the future, so that their children can enter the schools set up by the military government. Even those who performed well and made contributions can be sent to Chang'an.

  In short, there must be benefits.

Of course, if this plan is successful, it will also be of great benefit to Datang. At that time, there will be 18,000 tough warriors added by Baibai, and there will definitely be many barbarians who will be influenced by Datang, and those who are pro-Tang and even assimilated into Han people. It is of great benefit to the rule of the Jiannan frontier.

Li Shimin looked at Qin Qiong, this old man is really starting to grow old, with white hair, and his beard is starting to turn gray, not to mention his face is more sallow, with a tall and straight body, he used to fight on the battlefield. In that battle, thousands of troops could be frightened, but now they are a little crooked.

   "Shubao, I will leave all of Jiannan to you. I know you have always been prudent, so I am completely relieved to hand it over to you."

"Shubao, you guard Jiannan firmly, while Huailiang is tossing around in the south. If you stay still and move, you father and son will be able to stabilize half of the country in the south for me. As for me, I will bring Chengqian's concentration and come to accompany Xue Yantuo and Goguryeo well." play!"

  (end of this chapter)