In this national war, Datang has already made its attitude clear.
As long as you dare to mess with me, I will fight you to the end, no matter who you are.
And the people of Tang Dynasty also made their attitude clear.
Whoever dares to harm my compatriots, I will support my country and fight you to the end.
They will not give in even half a step when it comes to national interests.
Perhaps no one expected that this war would end up in such a situation at the end.
As a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty, Gaochang is now also caught in a tangle.
Because all the envoys from the Western Turks have arrived in Gaochang.
The purpose was naturally to draw Gao Chang into the water and join the crusade against the Tang Dynasty.
If Gaochang also joins the war, Datang's logistics supply lines will no longer be safe. .??.
And the Western Turkic envoy also brought a piece of news.
That is, if Gaochang sends troops, all the countries in the Western Regions will follow suit.
In this way, the countries in the Western Regions united together, and the powerful fighting force of the Western Turks was among them.
Not to mention being able to counterattack the Tang Dynasty itself, it could also destroy Datang's operations in the Western Regions.
Qu Wentai, the king of Gaochang, was also in a dilemma.
After the disbandment of the dynasty, both the Prime Minister Zhang Liangchen and the General Astuta remained.
He also wanted to hear the opinions of these people. Now, should Gaochang follow the Western Turks to attack the Tang Dynasty, or should they join forces with the Tang Dynasty and attack the countries in the Western Regions.
Prime Minister Zhang Liangchen held objections, and he had good reasons.
"Your Majesty, you need to know that Kucha's army is 100,000 strong, and the Western Turks have added 50,000 troops, for a total of nearly 150,000 people."
"But until now, there is no intention to stop the Liangzhou Army."
"On the contrary, battle reports came from the front. Two large cities in the eastern part of the Western Region have been occupied by the Liangzhou Army."
Zhang Liangchen looked at Qu Wentai and asked: "Your Majesty, do you know what this means?"
Hearing this, Qu Wentai asked with some confusion: "What does it mean?"
"It means that our country cannot be at odds with the Tang Dynasty at any time."
"Your Majesty." r> "Ignoring other things, just talking about this battle, the Tang Dynasty is fighting for our Gaochang Kingdom. It is impossible for us to send troops to join forces with the Western Turks to target the Tang Dynasty."
"Besides, we, Gaochang, have always had good relations with the Tang Dynasty, and we are also a nominal vassal state of the Tang Dynasty. Even if we want to participate in this battle, we will fight them with the Tang Dynasty."
Zhang Liangchen said bluntly: "After all, Datang is our own."
"But, if we don't agree to the Western Turks' request."
"If the Tang Dynasty retreats in the future, the Western Turks will definitely come to take revenge."
Qu Wentai looked sad and said, "What should we do then?"
Hearing this, Zhang Liangchen said bluntly: "It depends on whether the king is willing to give up something."
"What do you mean?"
Qu Wentai squinted his eyes and looked straight at Zhang Liangchen: "As long as we give up some things, can we gain peace?"
"certainly."
Zhang Liangchen looked at Qu Wentai and said seriously: "As long as the king is willing, we will definitely be safe."
Hearing this, Qu Wentai frowned and asked, "What is that specifically?"
Zhang Liangchen slowly spit out three words: "Jiaohe City."
"What? Jiaohe City?"
"You mean to hand over Jiaohe City to Datang? How can this be done?"
Qu Wentai stood up and said: "Jiaohe City is our country's territory, how can we give it to others so easily?"
"Of course I don't give in unconditionally."
Zhang Liangchen said with a smile: "We can lease it to Datang. For example, we can lease Jiaohe City to Datang for fifty years. Datang must return it after fifty years."
"This will not only allow Datang to send troops to help us guard the border town."
"It will allow us to gain some benefits from it."
"And, Your Majesty, you should also think about it."
"Although this war involved a lot of fighting, the West
After all, the Turks and the Tang Dynasty were big countries of the same size."
"It is impossible for either of these two countries to eliminate the other in a short period of time."
"When the war stops, the two parties will inevitably have to negotiate peace again. At that time, we will be caught in the middle."
"And Jiaohe City will definitely become Datang's frontier in the future. Even if we don't rent it to them, they will probably take advantage of this time to occupy it."
"Instead of giving up Jiaohe City and getting nothing, why doesn't your Majesty find a way to seek some benefits from this?"
What Zhang Liangchen said was reasonable and well-founded, and he had a nose and eyes.
Qu Wentai was really moved.
After all, that's the current situation.
After the Tang Dynasty recaptured Jiaohe City, it had no intention of returning it and even started to garrison it.
Although Li Chengqian said verbally that he had not taken it by force, who could not see what was actually going on?
Qu Wentai thought for a moment and said, "What you said makes some sense."
"The king will see you tomorrow."
"I'm afraid there won't be many armies in the entire world that can rival the Liangzhou Army."
Zhang Liangchen said: "So Datang will definitely win this battle. We will not go wrong if we choose to rely on Datang."
Qu Wentai still hesitated: "But if the country is divided, I am afraid it will have a chain reaction among the people, so this matter needs to be considered in the long term..."
"If your Majesty still feels this way, then I would like to ask your Majesty."
"Your Majesty, do you know how many soldiers and civilians have been lost in Kucha now?"
Hearing this, Qu Wentai frowned and looked at Zhang Liangchen.
Zhang Liangchen took two steps forward, cupped his hands and said: "Since the war with the Tang Dynasty, it is roughly estimated that Qiuci has lost more than 100,000 soldiers in total, and the people..."
When talking about the common people, Zhang Liangchen paused before continuing: "No less than one hundred thousand..."
"so much?"
It was also the first time that Qu Wentai heard about this matter.
so face There was also shock written all over it, and it took me a while to recover.
He asked: "How many people did the Liangzhou Army lose?"
"According to the statistics."
"Until now, the Liangzhou Army's losses have not exceeded 3,000 people at most..."
"Three thousand?"
"Three thousand casualties mean that Qiuci suffered 100,000 military and civilian casualties?"
"It's better to say this less."
Zhang Liangchen has always been in charge of intelligence information.
If I had only heard that the Liangzhou Army was brave and good at fighting.
So now he finally knows how cruel this army is.
If not, no matter how much money the Tang envoy gave him, he would not agree to say those words in front of Qu Wentai.
After hearing what he said, Qu Wentai frowned tightly and said, "Keep talking."
"There is another army called the New Liangzhou Army."
Zhang Liangchen pursed his lips and said: "The Xinliangzhou Army numbered five thousand. In the battle of Jiaohe City, they only deployed 2,000 troops and captured Jiaohe City."
"Except for a few who escaped, almost all of the 18,000 soldiers who defended the city in Qiuci were massacred in Jiaohe City..."
"This is real?"
Qu Wentai's face was full of disbelief.
A full attack of only 2,000 people was possible, but 18,000 people were defeated head-on?
Is it possible that this Liangzhou army is really a heavenly soldier and a heavenly general?
"There is only falsehood, there is no falsehood."
"And when they later attacked Duyan City, the total number of people on the Tang Dynasty's side was only more than 20,000."
"But the 30,000 Kucha troops in Duyan City only held out for two hours before the city was breached."
"There were no exceptions among the 30,000 soldiers. Except for a few who escaped, the rest died in the city."
"Later, Li Chengqian sent troops to massacre the city, and all 100,000 people in Yancheng were killed. What is their fate now? The information has not been sent back yet..."
Zhang Liangchen pursed his lips and said: "So, Your Majesty, we really can't be careless about this matter, otherwise the fate of the Kucha people will serve as a lesson for us."