In Mayi County in February, the north wind is still causing trouble.⊙
On the outskirts of Mayi City, groups of cavalry set out on their way back north to Yunnei.
The Heng'an Town Army has returned.
Wang Lu, the meritorious Cao of Mayi, sent him off for more than ten miles with a group of Mayi subordinate officials. He was very sincere and reluctant to leave.
He was about to be promoted to the post of Magistrate of Mayi County. Although he had reached the highest point of his official career, he did not feel the joy of being promoted to an official position. Instead, he wished he could just go to Yunnei with the Heng'an Town Army.
.
Obviously, in his opinion, with the current situation, even being a small county magistrate in Yunnei is much better than being the mayor of Mayi County in Mayi.
At this time, Li Po was not very excited. The 8,000 Hengan Town troops went south and gained a little. But to be honest, this troop dispatch was the least gain for the Hengan Town troops in the past two years, and it also cost a lot.
Food and wages.
Overall, it should be a military operation that pays off more gains than losses.
Of course, the advantage is that he killed Liu Wuzhou, who was looking around, and allowed Mayi County to temporarily settle down.
This time, he completely kept his promise and did not leave a single soldier in Mayi City. Before leaving, he also helped Wang Rengong squeeze the big households in Mayi.
The process was lackluster. At this time when the people of more than a dozen large families in Mayi County were in panic, and under the coercion and coercion of the Heng'an Town Army, let alone asking them to come up with some food, even if they were asked to offer their wives and daughters, they would not be able to do it.
A few dared to resist.
As a result, Mayi's granaries will have food again, and then they may provide relief to the hungry people. Of course, before that, they must recruit troops.
At this point, the trip south is completely over.
As for whether the drought will destroy the re-established order in the future, or whether the severely weakened Mayi City will still be able to stand once the Turks move south, only God knows.
This kind of war was not what Li Po wanted, but he had to do it, and it certainly didn't feel good to him.
But soon, he knew that this trip to the south was not an injustice.
Before he could lead his troops back to Yunnei, an urgent report from Yunnei had arrived, and there was something strange happening among the Turks in the north.
There was no need to detect such changes at all. Because the Turkic scouts began to frequently cross the Great Wall and enter Mayi County, especially in the direction of Yunnei, this time they became the focus of the Turkic scouts.
Li Bi sent a message to him, asking him to return to the army as soon as possible. The Turks might go south in the spring.
Damn it, when Li Po heard the news, he was immediately shocked, and then he cursed in his heart.
This means that the plan cannot keep up with the rapid changes. It seems that the Hebei side cannot take care of it.
Of course, what followed was luck. If it hadn't been for the accident in Mayicheng, he might have led his troops out of Feihu Road by now.
Moreover, it was just the right time to go south and kill Liu Wuzhou, which could be regarded as eliminating a trouble for Mayi County in advance.
At least there is the prefect Wang Rengong guarding the county city. Even if the city is destroyed, the Turks should not be allowed to attack in one fell swoop. By the way, it can also share the pressure on Yun Nei.
Spring is not a suitable season for the Turks to fight. Their cattle, sheep and horses are very thin, so fighting in spring is often not worth the gain.
Of course, Li Po did not dare to neglect at all. If the Turks really came this time, then the Heng'an Town Army would no longer have a chance to win by surprise.
After receiving the news, Li Po sent people to deliver the message to the county and city, while urging the army to move forward. The army galloped all the way back to Yunnei.
Back in Yunnei, detective reports arrived one after another.
The scouts no longer dared to cross the Great Wall to inquire about the situation inside the clouds, because there were Turkic cavalry patrolling back and forth everywhere in the north.
There are more and more signs that it is a foregone conclusion that the Turks will move south in the spring.
At this point, Li Po let out a sigh of relief. The pace of the war was getting closer and closer, so there was no need to say anything. The soldiers came to cover up the water and the earth.
There are still many cattle and sheep in Yunnei, so there will be no problem at all until this winter.
Moreover, Li Po did not believe that the Turks would really regard Yunnei as a key target of attack this time when they went south.
It can be said that given the current situation in Mayi County, if the Turks come, even if they can attack the city and take out the stronghold, what will they gain?
Li Po gathered the generals to discuss for several days, and the general direction of the strategy was decided.
This depends on how many soldiers and horses the Turks have come. According to the most likely scenario, it should be similar to the war the year before last. We must first hold on and then try to defeat the enemy and win.
Old routines, not much new, but most effective.
It's just that everyone discussed it over and over again, but no one quite understood why the Turks would send out troops in large numbers in the spring.
Of course, everyone agreed that if the Turks came with a heavy army, their target must not be Mayi County or Yanmen County, but Jinyang.
But with such a strategy, at least there should be more than 100,000 troops, right?
If the Turks really have that intention, it may not be more than a month or two before they send troops, and there will be plenty of time.
Li Po was not that optimistic, and the Turks were not stupid. Going south with such a big fanfare would not do them any good.
Maybe, they had gathered enough people last winter, so now would be a precursor to an attack.
So, he discussed it with Li Bi, and with the idea of rather trusting him than trusting him, he immediately ordered people to start clearing the country and gathered the people, cattle and sheep in Yunnei near Yunnei City. As long as the Turks moved south in large numbers,
As soon as the news arrives, they can be admitted into the city.
Li Po's caution was not unreasonable. War does not tolerate any negligence or carelessness. If a general makes a slight mistake in judgment, the consequences may be unbearable.
In fact, Li Po's guess was indeed accurate.
At this moment, more than 80,000 Turkic troops have been gathering in Dingxiang County for a long time.
It took Khan Shibi Khan of the Turks more than a month to gather such a large army. It can be seen that the strength of the Turks is still growing rapidly.
There are many reasons, but the two most important ones are that the Turkic tribes in Mobei have finally completed their migration, and last year they successively defeated their old enemies in the north, which alleviated the border troubles in the northern Turks.
Then, the leaders of the rebel armies in the northwest of the Great Sui Dynasty, Yulin, and even Hebei, all surrendered to the Turks. In the twelfth year of the Great Cause, the strength of the Turks also completed a leap-forward growth process.
For today's Turks, the border troubles between the north and the south disappeared almost at the same time. Khan Shibi looked around and finally discovered that the once arrogant empire was now naked on his dining table. Just look at him
Why did you go under the knife?
It seems that Shibi Khan has not fully adapted to this rhythm, because the situation in the south has changed so fast in the past two years, so fast that he even has a lot of doubts.
Yes, the Great Khan, who brought the Turks to their peak state in one fell swoop, had not yet figured out how to deal with this formidable enemy.
Should they let their civil strife continue and let the Turks reap the benefits, or should they lead their troops south and completely occupy the same vast territory?
Just when he hesitated, someone else made the decision for him.
Making decisions for him were his two brothers, Jieli Khan Ashinadubi and Turli Khan Ashinalivo.
It can be said that these two brothers are similar to the left and right prime ministers in today's Turks. They both manage vast territories and numerous Turkic tribes.
In the past few years during the civil strife of the Great Sui Dynasty, their strength has also been increasing rapidly.
All the tribes in the northwest of the Sui Dynasty fell into the arms of Jieli Khan one after another, and the kings of the Western Regions also secretly looked at him behind the backs of the Western Turks Shekui Khan.
Tuli Khan in the east has conquered many Khitan and Mohe tribes. If you give him some time, he may be able to destroy the dying Goguryeo.
But the increase in strength of the two young Khans caused extremely bright sparks to develop between them.
The two tribes of the East and the West were in the Turkic royal court, each talking about their own things and trying to get Shibi Khan to make a decision that was beneficial to them. Shibi Khan finally got tired of it.
At this time, Jieli Khan, who was completely angered by the two outstanding men in Mayi County, went to the royal court in person and persuaded the Khan to attack Jinyang, completely opening the way for a large-scale southward march to Chang'an, the capital of the West, or Luoyang, the eastern capital of the Sui people.
Jieli Khan came to the royal court, and Tuli Khan also came with him.
In the winter of the twelfth year of the Great Sui Dynasty, in Dali City, Dingxiang County, three brothers who held supreme power in the Turks finally reached an agreement.
In fact, it was similar to the conflict between Chu and Han. Shibi Khan drew a big pie for the two brothers. The one who entered Chang'an first would be his successor and the next Khan of the Turkic Khanate.
Eighty thousand troops came to camp near the royal court at the end of winter when the cold wind subsided, waiting for the arrival of spring.
Jieli Khan and Tuli Khan both stopped their expansion and set their sights on the Jin Dynasty in the Sui Dynasty.
In fact, even if there had not been such an incident, the Turks would not have tolerated the situation in Jin this year.
The northern heroes of the Great Sui Dynasty all became Turkic vassals. Only the Sui people in the Jin region were very disrespectful and repeatedly offended the Turkic majesty. No one had due respect for the Turkic royal court.
Yes, as long as you don't send an envoy to the royal court to pay homage, you are not being respectful enough.
Of course, Shibi Khan also had his own considerations when he chose to go south at this time. Among the Sui envoys received by the royal court, there were still people who stayed behind in Taiyuan to guard Li Yuan...
…………………………
No matter what the reason, no matter what the purpose, anyway, at the beginning of the thirteenth year of Daye, the Heng'an Town Army ushered in the second war.
In the spring of this year, more than 100,000 Turkic troops marched southward. This number cannot be calculated. Even the Turks themselves do not know exactly how many people they brought southward in the spring of this year.
Because there were many tribes following the Turks going south, they were not included in the conscription, but they were very willing to follow the army to get a little advantage. Of course, these were all tribes going south from Mobei.
The Turkic tribes who have experienced the war in the eleventh year of Daye will not come to take advantage of this kind of thing.