Chapter four hundred and forty seventh battle of sending troops
After entering February, the snow thickness became obviously shallower, and war horses could run in the wild. More than half an hour later, Guo Song arrived at the military camp in the east of Zhangye City. He walked directly on the horse track to the Chinese army's tent, and then he got off his horse and asked.
Said: "Where is the information about Shazhou?"
The soldier presented three eagle letters, "A total of three letter eagles flew in and delivered three express letters. The content is quite large and I haven't had time to sort it out yet."
"It's okay, I'll take a look first and then sort it out."
Guo Song took Ying Xin and entered the tent. He had been paying close attention to the information in Shazhou. It was early February, a month earlier, and the ice and snow on the Hexi Corridor began to completely melt. It was time to send troops.
Despite the large amount of information, Guo Song still got the intelligence he wanted and inferred the internal situation of Tubo from some details.
It can be seen from the appointment of the chief and lieutenant generals that the moderate Tubo faction has the upper hand within Tubo, but the hard-liners in Tibet are unwilling to give in, and this is why a lieutenant general kills the chief general.
If the Tang army can seize Shazhou and defeat the Tubo army this time, it will be a heavy blow to the hardliners led by Tibetan Prime Minister Shang Xijie. The moderate Shang Jiezan will come to power and reconcile with the Tang Dynasty. Tubo will begin to recuperate and restore its national strength.
, this will greatly reduce the military pressure on the Tang Dynasty.
It can be seen from this that the Battle of Shazhou is of great significance. Once the Tang army is defeated, the Tibetan hardliners will come to power in an all-round way, which will be very detrimental to the Tang Dynasty.
In this battle, I can only win, not lose.
Guo Song felt that he had to write a memorial to the emperor to clarify the meaning, and received the full support of the emperor Li Shi.
.........
Guo Song sent an eagle letter and arrived in Chang'an as quickly as possible. This time the eagle letter took the official route and was first delivered to the Ministry of War. The Ministry of War sent a copy to the Political Affairs Hall and then submitted it to the emperor.
Guo Song's decision to attack Shazhou once again aroused strong backlash from the Zhengshitang. In the view of the Zhengshitang, this would inevitably trigger a new round of confrontation between the Tang Dynasty and Tubo, and would greatly restrict the western part of the Tang Dynasty.
Li Shi stood in front of the imperial study window and looked at the sky silently. This time Guo Song decided to attack Shazhou and put it forward with a formal plan. This surprised Li Shi a little, but it also made him deeply gratified. This was a sign of respect for the imperial court.
, is a manifestation of Guo Song’s maturity.
Of course, there are different opinions on whether attacking Shazhou will lead to a full-scale confrontation between Tang Dynasty and Tubo. Guo Song insisted in his letter that defeating Tubo in Shazhou will lead to a change of power within Tubo. The hardliners will fall and the moderates will be weakened.
Get on stage.
Li Shi did not expect this. In fact, the Tang Dynasty did not know much about the internal situation in Tubo. He only knew that the internal power struggle in Tubo was serious, but he did not know the details.
If it is true as Guo Song said, if this battle can bring down the Tibetan hardliners, then it is worth fighting.
At this time, the eunuch Huo Xianming reminded: "Your Majesty, all the prime ministers have arrived."
Li Shi nodded. The Zhizhengtang proposed to convene a temporary military and political meeting, which was obviously in response to Guo Song's plan to send troops to Shazhou. Needless to say, Li Shi also knew that the Zhengshitang opposed sending troops to Shazhou, but this time, he wanted to do it according to his own ideas.
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When Li Shi came to the side hall, five prime ministers were already sitting there. Qiao Lin was replaced by Zhang She, Zhang Yi had gone to Longyou to take up his post, and the other prime ministers basically remained unchanged.
Li Shi sat down in the middle, and the five ministers immediately stood up and saluted, "See your majesty!"
"Dear ladies, please excuse me and take a seat!"
Everyone sat down, and Yang Yan stood up again and said: "Your Majesty, this military meeting is to discuss the plan to attack Shazhou proposed by Guo Song, the governor of Hexi Province. Some people in the political hall are in favor of it, and some are against it. The opponents have the upper hand, but the use of troops abroad
The final decision rests with Your Majesty, so the Political Affairs Hall invites Your Majesty to discuss it together."
After Yang Yan finished speaking, he glanced at Han Huang with dissatisfaction. Li Shi immediately understood that Han Huang was in favor of sending troops.
The final decision on the use of foreign troops rests with the emperor. However, the Zhengshitang's unanimous opinion has a great influence on the emperor's final decision. However, the opinions of the Zhengshitang themselves are inconsistent, and the Zhengshitang's attitude will not have a great impact on the emperor.
.
Li Shi nodded and said: "Yang Xiangguo must be opposed to it, please tell me your opinion!"
"Your Majesty, the opinions of the ministers are always the same. We are opposed to the expansion of the war in the west. We do not have the financial resources and energy to deal with the war on both the east and west fronts at the same time. Once the Battle of Shazhou triggers a full-scale confrontation between Tubo and Datang, its impact will not only be
Hexi, including Longyou and Xichuan, we have to increase our military investment in Longyou. First of all, our financial resources cannot bear it. We hope that Guo Song can put the overall situation first, protect the land and borders with all his heart, and not personally talk about military matters."
Li Shi nodded and turned to Han Huang, "Han Xiangguo seems to have different ideas?"
Han Huang stood up and said: "Your Majesty, Tubo's attack on Shazhou was actually expected by Wei Chen. Last year, Tubo sent an envoy to Chang'an, saying that it would help us recover the Hexi Corridor. At that time, the imperial court did not agree to Tubo's conditions, and Wei Chen realized that
Yes, when Tubo said sending troops, it was most likely that he was referring to Shazhou. The battle of pulling out valleys was an accident. They wanted to take advantage of the situation. It was not Tubo’s plan. Shazhou was the only way to Anxi and Tubo captured it.
Shazhou is actually for Anxi. If we can send troops to recapture Shazhou, first of all, it will not affect the hostility of Uighurs. Secondly, it will reduce the pressure on Hehuang and Xichuan. After all, Tubo does not have that much strength to fight on several fronts. Thirdly,
Third, if Tibet’s hard-line war faction falls due to this war, this is indeed good news.”
"Your Majesty, the minister is against the opinion of Prime Minister Han!"
Cui Youfu stood up and said: "Tubo's attack on Shazhou has nothing to do with Anxi. This time it was because Shatuo broke the balance first and violated the original rules of Shazhou's neutrality. Tubo found an excuse to send troops. This was against Shatuo, not against the Tang Dynasty.
, Targeting the Tang Dynasty, we will still start from Hehuang and Xichuan. If we fight fiercely with Tubo in Shazhou, Tubo will find an excuse to send troops to Hehuang and Xichuan, which will definitely trigger a war, and will not end it with a war as Guo Song said.
War, as for his presumptuous speculation about the internal situation in Tubo, it is even more nonsense. He is stationed in the Hexi Corridor, how can he possibly understand the internal situation in Tubo? He is obviously very self-righteous. "
Li Mi stood up and said: "Cui Xiangguo seemed to have ignored another fact in Guo Song's report. The deputy general of the Tubo Shatuo Army killed the main general. The Tubo people themselves said that they belonged to two factions and were good at killing the main general. This is not the case in any army.
How can we say that the two major forces of Tibet are getting along well with each other?"
Yang Yan also said: "Li Xiangguo, we can't be too optimistic. Whether the Hexi Army is the opponent of the Tubo Army is still one thing. Originally, Datang and Tubo were in peace. If this war leads to a full-scale conflict between the two countries, who will bear the responsibility?
This responsibility?”
"Yang Xiangguo is surprised by what he said!"
Han Huang shook his head, "When did the Tang Dynasty and Tubo live in peace and harmony? If Tubo and Uighur had not been at war with each other for many years and the national power was damaged, it would have sent a large number of troops to the Tang Dynasty. Tubo secretly attacked the Great Dou Valley. Could it be that they were in peace with each other?
?”
"Okay, all prime ministers, please stop arguing."
Li Shi interrupted the debate with some displeasure, "I have decided to approve this plan. My condition is that if this battle fails or serious consequences occur, all responsibilities will be borne by Guo Song!"
........
Under the night, the actual combat training on the military camp's martial arts field was very intense. The fierce fighting lasted for more than three hours. The night actual combat competition had been extended to four hours, and expanded to a confrontation between thousands of people. The physical strength of the army
It is an extremely severe test, but it is also a great exercise.
In the fierce battle, soldiers continued to fall. The fallen soldiers struggled to get up and went down the field in despair. Everyone competed according to the rules of the competition. If someone fell and continued to fight, not only the individual would be
Heavily fined, and the entire team will lose. There are strict rules. So far, no violations have occurred.
In the stands, Liang Wu looked nervous. His first battalion below also participated in actual combat training. Although their physical strength has been greatly improved, other battalions are also making progress. Liang Wu is really worried about whether they can break into the top five.
At this time, the timer incense burned out, and the magistrate immediately shouted: "Time's up!"
When the gong sounded, the soldiers stopped the game one after another. The result was easy to judge. The one with the fewest soldiers to retreat on the battlefield won. The magistrate quickly reported to Guo Song, "I have informed you that the eighth battalion wins and the third battalion wins."
, the first battalion and the second battalion ended in a draw, and both sides retired with one hundred and fourteen men."
"Who is in the top five, the first battalion or the sixth battalion?" Guo Song asked again.
The results of the 1st and 6th Battalions are currently both six battles, three wins, two losses and one draw. Who can reach the top five depends on the total number of "killed".
The magistrate bowed and said: "In the five competitions, the total number of people in the first battalion was 571, the total number of the sixth battalion was 622, and the first battalion came in fifth."
Liang Wu was so excited that he covered his face and cried. The hard training for the past month was not in vain. They finally made it to the top five.
When the news came out, the soldiers of the first battalion cheered excitedly.