No one asked this question because everyone had guessed where Jieli and Tuli had gone.
"They went to Gyeongju?!"
Li Shimin calmly stated what everyone was thinking.
After Chen Shuda bowed his hand to Li Shimin, he looked at Li Yuanji and asked: "How is Your Highness going to respond?"
Li Yuanji said frankly: "I have asked the Duke to send a team of elite cavalry out to verify the matter. Once it is confirmed, we will discuss countermeasures together."
Chen Shuda opened his mouth, but in the end he didn't say a word. He just silently cupped his hands and sat back down, with a sad look on his face.
Everyone else has more or less sad faces.
But no one spoke, everyone was waiting for Liu Hongji's verification news.
About an hour later, Liu Hongji hurried to the city gate building and was shocked as soon as he spoke, "Your Highness, all the people I sent out have returned. They have explored the Turkic camp outside the pass. Except for
Except for some servants and slaves, no other Turks were found.
According to rumors caught by my subordinates, Jieli and Tuli left two days ago.
Last night, the remaining Turkic soldiers and horses also left one after another, leaving only the men and horses of Teleo Sheshe and Liang Shidu to guard the camp.
Just when I sent people out to investigate, Ao Sheshe also left with the last Turkic troops, and Liang Shidu also left with him.
Now in the Turkic camp outside the city, only a few abandoned servants and slaves remain."
Chen Shuda's face changed with shock, and he murmured: "No wonder the Turks have been silent for the past two days and have not attacked the city. I thought the Turks had changed their gender."
The other people's faces didn't look good either.
So many Turkic soldiers and horses left under everyone's nose, leaving quietly. It was not until two days after leaving that they got the news and their faces looked good.
More importantly, the Turkic soldiers and horses left quietly rather than with great fanfare, which shows that the Turks did not retreat, but went elsewhere.
Then the war elsewhere may escalate in a straight line.
"Mr. Ren, what do the scouts under your command do for a living? Why are you finding out such important information now?"
After Chen Shuda muttered to himself, he stared at Liu Hongji and asked.
Liu Hongji looked ashamed and speechless.
As the highest military officer in Xiaoguan, he is not only responsible for defending the territory, but also for detecting the enemy's situation.
Jieli and Tuli had been away for two days, and it was only then that his people found out the news. They had indeed neglected their duties.
As a prime minister, Chen Shuda couldn't bear to embarrass some little people, so he had no choice but to attack him.
"You must give me an explanation for this matter."
Li Yuanji said coldly to Liu Hongji and began to discuss the military situation with others, "There is no time to worry about this now. We have to discuss a feasible solution as soon as possible."
Cai Yungong hesitated and said: "We don't know whether Jieli and Tuli went to Qingzhou and what the fighting situation in Qingzhou was like. I really don't know where to start."
Jieli and Tuli have been away for two days.
The time difference of two days is enough for a lot of things to happen.
So how to negotiate and how to negotiate is indeed a problem.
As soon as Cai Yungong said this, many people nodded in agreement with solemn expressions.
Li Shimin said suddenly, "In this situation, where else can we start? Naturally, we should start with the worst outcome."
Li Yuanji thought for a moment and nodded in agreement, "Yes, two days are enough for Jieli and Tuli to rush to Qingzhou. None of us know what the battle situation in Qingzhou is like now.
By the time Gyeongju sent someone over, it was already a day later.
So we can only discuss based on the worst outcome."
Chen Shuda said solemnly: "The worst result is that Jieli and Tuli break through Qingzhou, occupy all parts of Qingzhou, and march towards Chang'an City..."
"No, that's not right. As long as Xie Li wasn't stupid, he would never do this."
Li Shimin didn't wait for Chen Shuda to finish what he said, and decisively rejected Chen Shuda's words.
Chen Shuda looked at Li Shimin in confusion.
Li Shimin continued to say coldly: "If Jieli only captured Qingzhou, he would not be able to enter Chang'an City. Because he only opened a gap, if the Tang Dynasty encircled him from two sides, he would
You will be trapped in the barrier.
He would never put himself in such danger.
So I speculate that after he captured Gyeongju, he would still go to a certain Suizhou, or Lanshi and other places.
Now Li Yi has rebelled and caused quite a stir in Mozhou, Hebei Province, attracting the attention of Li Xiaogong, Li Shiji, Su Dingfang, Chai Shao and others.
If he came out from behind at this time and dealt a painful blow to Li Xiaogong and others, he would definitely be able to open another gap in Lanshi.
Only when there are two or more gaps, will Jieli go south with confidence."
Cai Yungong couldn't help but said: "Then how should we deal with it?"
Li Shimin slowly closed his mouth, stopped talking, and just looked at Li Yuanji quietly.
He said that if he helps Li Yuanji with advice, he will be raised by a lowly concubine.
Therefore, he only analyzes and does not make suggestions.
If Li Yuanji needs his help in making suggestions, he must retract everything he has said before and apologize to him.
Li Yuanji felt Li Shimin's gaze and what Li Shimin wanted to say, but ignored Li Shimin.
Without him, Li Erfeng, he wouldn't be able to eat pigs with hair on them?
"Then let Qingzhou and other places south of Qingzhou begin to relocate the people, strengthen the walls and clear away the wilderness. At the same time, send an army of troops from here and Suizhou to Qingzhou.
】
If we can catch up and rush to Gyeongju’s aid, we will rush to Gyeongju’s aid; if we can’t catch up, we will take back Gyeongju.”
Li Yuanji spoke slowly.
Everyone in the city gate building began to think about Li Yuanji's intention of doing this.
Li Shimin's expression changed, he snorted and sat there silently.
Liu Hongji thought for a moment and then said: "Your Highness is doing this to force Jieli to leave an army to defend Qingzhou, and also to prevent Jieli from going deep alone?"
Li Yuanji nodded.
That's what he thought.
If Qingzhou is lost, then before Jieli can open a new gap and attack Qingzhou and recapture Qingzhou, Jieli will definitely leave a large number of troops to defend Qingzhou.
Otherwise, even if Jieli opens a new gap, there will still be only one gap, and there is no way to go south with confidence.
If Jieli did not leave a large number of soldiers and horses to defend Qingzhou, then when the Tang Dynasty recaptured Qingzhou and he did not open a new gap, he would become a turtle in the urn.
Therefore, Jieli will definitely leave a large number of troops to defend Gyeongju.
If the war in Qingzhou goes unfavorably and the Turks who stay behind are in danger of defeat, Jieli will have to give up the idea of opening a new gap and lead his army to defend Qingzhou.
Otherwise, he will still become a turtle in the urn.
Therefore, before a new gap is opened, once Qingzhou is attacked, Jieli will definitely not dare to go deep alone.
"So, the destruction of Qingzhou is not a bad thing for Datang?"
Chen Shuda said in disbelief.
When Gyeongju was attacked and Jieli did not dare to go deep alone, Jieli was tied to Gyeongju.
At that time, there are only two choices left for Xieli.
One is to have a face-to-face fight with Datang in Gyeongju, and the other is to grab a vote and leave in Gyeongju and several states near Gyeongju.
But no matter which one it is, it will be more beneficial to Datang than the previous battle situation.
After all, what the Tang Dynasty faced before was a full-frontal defense against the Turks. The front was quite long and there were wars everywhere. No one knew when the war would end or when it would be won.
But once the decisive battle begins, or when the Turks have finished looting and run away to clean up the mess, it means that the war is almost over.
No one in the city gate building would doubt that Datang would win in the decisive battle.
Because for everyone in the city gate building, the Tang Dynasty could only win the decisive battle in Qingzhou, but could not lose. Once defeated, the Tang Dynasty would not only be poisoned, but they would also be unlucky.
So they will try their best to let Datang win this war.
They also believed that Datang could win this war.
As long as the Tang Dynasty can win this war and repel the Turks, then the Tang Dynasty will be free to deal with Li Yi and the Tuyuhun people.
Without the control of the Turks, the Tang Dynasty could kill Li Yi and the Tuyuhun people even with a pile of soldiers.
As long as Li Yi and the Tuyuhun people are dealt with, the only enemies that the Tang Dynasty will face in the future are Liang Shidu and the Turks.
As long as we rest and recuperate for a few years and accumulate some wealth, we can send our troops northward and sweep across the Liang division and the Turks.
Therefore, Jieli's capture of Qingzhou was not a bad thing for the Tang Dynasty. On the contrary, it revitalized the crisis that the Tang Dynasty was currently facing.
What Datang has to do is to win this battle when Xie Li decides to have a decisive battle with Datang!
"Whether it's good or bad, none of us can say for sure. After all, none of us know what's going on in Gyeongju now, or what Jieli will do.
The only thing we can do is to prepare for a fierce battle with Jieli in Gyeongju."
Li Yuanji said in a deep voice.
If Jieli finally chooses to fight Datang head-on in Qingzhou, the battlefield will expand to the entire Qingzhou, and even several states around Qingzhou will be involved.
More importantly, this fierce battle will no longer be like Xiaoguan, with thousands or even tens of thousands of people fighting against each other, but a fierce battle involving tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of people.
The battlefield is so large and the number of people participating in the battle will reach the highest level since the founding of the Tang Dynasty.
I'm afraid it will be difficult for the Tang Dynasty to have such a big war in the future.
After all, among the neighbors around the Tang Dynasty, only the Turks were so strong that they could devote two to three hundred thousand or even more troops to fight the Tang Dynasty head-on.
Other countries such as Tubo, Tuyuhun, Goguryeo, Baekje, Silla, Linyi and other countries, let alone two or three hundred thousand soldiers and horses, even if they can gather two or three hundred thousand young men, they have to do it well.
Of course, Tubo has this strength. After all, Tubo has a very vast territory and a large population.
But Tubo is now a fragmented mess, with each tribe operating independently. Songtsan Gampo, the hero in Tubo history, is still an eight-year-old baby. Songtsan Gampo’s father, Nangri Songtsen, has only unified the Shannan region and become the commonwealth of all tribes.
The recognized leader in name is still a long way from being the leader in the actual sense.
Tubo still has a large territory that needs to be unified, so it can't send 200,000 to 300,000 soldiers and horses to fight against the Tang Dynasty, and it has no time to cobble together 200,000 to 300,000 people to wander around the borders of the Tang Dynasty.
