The wooden stick in Yuchixin's hand was drawn towards the southwest of the map, where several cities were marked. Compared to the entire Western Region, the cities there were dense enough.
"I think that if Ashina Ke retreats to the west, he should deploy heavy troops in Suduishana. This place is located to the west of Shule and is the land of the nine surnames of Zhaowu. It can be a gateway.
There are more than ten cities in Su Dui Shana to the west. We can defend them based on these and unite the Turks and Tiele tribes to fight against trapped animals. The Turks have always been bad at attacking cities, so they can hold back Ashina Qura's army here.
Even if we are defeated, we can still retreat into the desert along the Wuhu River to protect ourselves for the future."
What Yu Chixin said was actually the opinion of the Ministry of War. They felt that the remnants of the Western Turks would have a chance to fight to the death if they retreated to the land of Kangcao.
There was a desert on the back and a city was built along the water. The people there formed their own entity in the Western Region, one city and one country. Most of them were descendants of Kangju, which is what people today think of as the Nine Surnames of Zhaowu.
During the Han Dynasty, people from Zhaowu lived in the north of the Qilian Mountains and built Zhaowu City. Its origin is unknown, so it was named after the city.
Later, Zhaowu City was destroyed by the Xiongnu, and the people of Zhaowu moved thousands of miles westward, all the way to the west of the Western Regions, where they built Kangju City. Their descendants gradually flourished, and the country became stronger.
For hundreds of years, people of the nine surnames of Zhaowu have been doing business everywhere, but their roots are still in the old place of Kangju, but now they have been divided into more than ten kingdoms such as Dongcao, Zhongcao, and Xicao.
Traces of this can be found intermittently in the history books of the Central Plains. In the future, when future generations compile the history of the Tang Dynasty, they will also mark these.
Although the accuracy is questionable, it can leave some traces on these small countries, which is much more reliable than the myths and epics fabricated by humanoid creatures.
The area of Kangju is hundreds of miles in circumference, which is almost the same as that of Jingzhao. It is surrounded by deserts, mountains and hills, and only to the east are patches of Gobi and grassland oases.
The environment is just like that. It can't be said that it is very superior. The Zhaowu people came here probably because it was the junction of Central Asia, West Asia and the South Asian subcontinent. There were many water sources, which was suitable for settling and doing business, so they came here.
They built a city and settled here.
In addition, this is the birthplace of the famous sweat-blooded horse, and the local indigenous Hu Xuan dance has spread throughout the Western Regions and is very famous.
…………
Yu Chixin did not speak eloquently. No one knew exactly what the situation was like in the far-off Western Regions. There were too many factors that affected the course of the war and it was impossible to grasp them. Therefore, he followed the principle of saying too much and making mistakes. He just kept his speech brief.
After he finished speaking, Wang Zhibian said: "With just a few cities, it's not a fortified city. How many people can there be in the city? Will we have enough food and grass to retreat here in a hurry?"
Moreover, fighting requires morale and morale. Can the local people join forces with the Turks to defend the city? Let me see. Once the army arrives, there is no need to attack it if it is surrounded. It is difficult to defend an isolated city. Take a look at this place in Sudui Shana.
, a lonely city, trapped to death, right?"
Yu Chixin was also a leading general at that time, but his performance was really not good enough. It was hard to say strategically. His tactics had always been conservative and had nothing to do with famous generals.
Wang Zhibian had been leading troops all year round, and he almost overturned Yu Chixin's guess with just a few words on tactics.
Yu Chixin smiled and didn't take it seriously. No one could say that the war that happened thousands of miles away was not good. Can the Turks lead troops to fight in the same way as the Tang army?
With the wisdom of the Turks, there are not many tricks to play, so what about military morale... When the Western Turks are at a disadvantage, how can they talk about military morale?
But this was not the time to argue with each other. He actually just wanted to tell the other three that this was the view of the Ministry of War. They also asked them to keep their words. Wang Zhibian obviously did not hear what he meant.
At this time, Li Po shook his head with a smile and said: "When fighting with the Turks, we often cannot treat them with common sense. They have not read our military books and cannot play many tricks.
It is not easy to know how to avoid the enemy's sharp edges, where to fight, and when to fight. I believe they do not have that kind of wisdom.
If Ashina Koda and others were a little smarter, I think using the Tianshan Mountains as the boundary and stalemate with Ashina Qiuluo would be able to stabilize the situation a little.
If you only plan to stick to one place and use the war tactics that the Turks are accustomed to, it will actually be a strategy that sacrifices your strengths and takes advantage of weaknesses."
Several people nodded in agreement. This was not to flatter the emperor, but this was indeed very reasonable. The Turks were not good at attacking cities, and they were also not good at defending them.
If Ashina Koda led his army to retreat to such a small area, there were only more than ten cities in Kangju's old land, and the only explanation that could be found in the art of war in the Central Plains was the word "self-defeat."
The emperor was also very cunning and added the premise that the Turks' brains were not very good, so Yuchixin's guess became possible.
This guessing game was very interesting, and even Li Jing showed great interest in it.
Xu Shiji was young, so he simply took the wooden stick from Yu Chixin's hand, pointed at the map and began to speak, "To the south is Tocharo, and further to the east is Khotan, both of which are big countries in the Western Regions.
The Western Turks have been operating in the Western Region for a long time, and I don't know if they can unite with them in times of danger. If they can still instigate people from the two countries, Ashina Qura will not be able to attack Su Duishana with all his strength.
When Shegui Khan led more than 100,000 men to march eastward, how did Ashina Qiulu respond? He did not hesitate to seek victory by any means, which is evident from his actions.
If the minister is Ashina Qiuluo, he should use Su to attack Sana and these ten cities in the west, and then echo Shule City from a distance to hold back Ashina Qiuluo.
Let Tochar, Khotan and other countries rely on the mountains to carry out raids. It won't take too long for Ashina Qura's offensive to be blocked, and they will inevitably be impatient.
At that time, whether he slaughters the city and destroys the country, or allows his subordinates to plunder wantonly, it will arouse the hatred of all the tribes in the Western Region, making it impossible for him to gain a long-term foothold in the Western Region..."
Li Po glanced at his brother-in-law with "pleasure". This guy was a bit crazy, but he always had a good view of the overall situation. It only took a while to find Ashina Qura's weakness, and believed that people's war is the magic weapon for victory.
.
What's even more valuable is that he also wanted to set up strategies and tactics based on Ashina Qura's temperament, which is obviously a necessary quality for famous generals.
Li Jing's hands were already itchy and he unceremoniously took the wooden stick from Xu Shiji's hand. He also looked at the emperor and saw that his son-in-law had no intention of speaking, so he confidently clicked on a place on the map.
Everyone looked along, but it was in the northwest direction of the map, where a river meandered through the desert and Gobi. The end was outside the map, and there was a large blank space in the north, indicating that the footprints of the Tang Dynasty had not reached there.
"What you all said makes sense, but why do you turn a blind eye to this place? The Turks have always lived in pursuit of water and grass. Wherever there is a water source, they can roam and graze.
In fact, the same is true when fighting. As the saying goes, it is easy to change the country, but it is difficult to change the nature..."