"Come, come, come, sir, please take a seat."
Xiao Shougui was in the lead, and the others followed behind. They directly let Zhang Jiuli sit in the seat of honor. These people also knew very well that if Zhang Jiuli didn't say anything and let them continue to guess here, they didn't know when they would guess the answer, after all, everyone had their own ideas.
Although Zhang Jiuli was born a prisoner, in the eyes of these people, he is extremely smart. Li Xiang is usually nice to Zhang Jiuli, so even if Zhang Jiuli's official position is not as high as theirs, he should be respected. Zhang Jiuli also wants to give them some advice from the bottom of his heart.
Xiao Shougui was still young. If he had held on a few more years, he would have easily understood Li Xiang's strategy. However, he had been so busy lately that he had no time to calm down. When General Molun left, Xiao Shougui, as the governor of the eastern Western Regions, had put all his energy into stabilizing the region. How could he have considered the bigger picture? Where would he find the time?
"My Lord Protector, Generals, if I may make a bold guess, I believe it is impossible for the war in the Western Regions to end within a year..."
Originally, these people were very excited, but after hearing what Zhang Jiuli said, several generals felt uncomfortable and it showed on their faces. They were not meticulous people, and everything showed on their faces. Of course, this anger was not directed at Zhang Jiuli, but at Li Xiang.
We clearly agreed that once the situation in Indochina was resolved, we would proactively attack the Arab Empire. Now that you've conquered Vietnam and all the territory is ours, why don't you send troops to the Western Regions? Are you still asking us to stay here for training? How long will this training last?
"Why do you say that, sir?"
Xiao Shougui didn't bother to pay attention to these guys. In his opinion, these people were all reckless men, and only he and Zhang Jiuli were smart people.
"Your Excellency, although the situation in Indochina is over, General Moren has just set out. Adding in three months of vacation, it might be half a year before he arrives in Indochina. Your Highness will have to stay there for two months to help General Moren get a handle on everything, right?"
Zhang Jiuli knew that these people had very simple minds, so he had to analyze them carefully. After Zhang Jiuli finished speaking, even if the people present were unwilling to admit it, they nodded helplessly.
What Zhang Jiuli said was correct. General Moren was a native of the Western Regions. He traveled thousands of miles to the Indochina Peninsula to serve as the Protector-General, which meant he was in charge of both military and political affairs. This also reflected the court's importance to General Moren.
But General Moren is a native of the Western Regions after all, and he doesn't know much about the situation there. If there is no one who can keep the situation under control, many things may be different. So no matter how many things Li Xiang has to deal with, General Moren will be given a few months there.
Although Zhang Jiuli said two months, in fact, any discerning person can see that two months is absolutely impossible. If you calculate carefully, half a year is possible. The Indochina Peninsula is not so easy to manage, especially the transportation between the Indochina Peninsula and our country is inconvenient. Although we now have sea transportation, some things still need to be solved.
These people are not fools. They have followed Li Xiang in his campaigns for a long time. When you conquer a new place, can you trust the people outside? You can't trust them at all without five years. Even after five years, only some of them can be trusted. The rest will still regard you as an enemy and will attack you at any time.
So in this situation, the troops from the Indochina Peninsula cannot be withdrawn, and a high-intensity garrison must be maintained. In addition, there are still many Fuso troops in the area, so Li Xiang has to stay there for a while to allow the various troops to integrate well. Only in this way can it help the court better occupy the Indochina Peninsula and make this area the southern border of our Tang Dynasty.
"Doesn't this mean there's still hope within a year? Even if Your Highness stays there for half a year, and spends the remaining two months in Chang'an, then he can come to our side and start the war. There's still a chance."
Li Chengyi counted on his fingers and said that now only he and Cheng Chuliang thought so. Everyone else laughed. As long as they passed through Chang'an, it would take more than two months to finish the job. This is the core of our Tang Empire.
There are so many women in Li Xiang's family now, and they give birth to children one after another. Li Xiang, as a father, has never seen this before. You only give them two months of vacation. Even if the court is a death ghost, it is a bit too much. What's more, the court has many policies and major policies. Now Your Highness must make the decision. Two months is absolutely impossible. It will take at least half a year.
Adding up the time on both sides, more than a year has passed, so Zhang Jiuli said that it is impossible for a war to break out within a year. Of course, our side may not remain peaceful. According to His Highness's order, we cannot take the initiative to attack the people of the Arab Empire, but if the people of the Arab Empire attack us, we can justifiably fight back.
"How is that possible? Our scouts are already hundreds of miles away, so where are the Arab Empire soldiers? We set up two patrols last month, and when they saw us, they ran faster than rabbits. Our cavalry are all heavily armored, and they're wearing nothing but cloth, so how could they run so fast?"
Cheng Chuliang received a report last month saying that they had seen two patrols from the Arab Empire. It seemed a little unbelievable at the time, but his men really saw them. Unfortunately, the other side might have been frightened by us and did not dare to fight with our army at all. After discovering it, they fled desperately to the southwest.
Our soldiers also followed the order and tried their best to catch a few live tongues, but they were unsuccessful in the end because they ran too fast. Although our war horses were good, the weight of the armor and various weapons and equipment was too heavy.
On the other hand, the Arab army, apart from their scimitars, had only the clothes on their bodies and two days' dry food, so they ran very fast.
