Li Xiang had just breathed a sigh of relief when urgent news from Chang'an City disrupted the peace here. It turned out that the Xueyantuo Khan in the north led 80,000 cavalry south and had now entered the territory of the Dong Turks.
Since the previous Khan of Dong Turkestan was brought back to Chang'an by General Li Jing, the entire Dong Turkestan has almost become a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty. Although there have been some disobedient places in recent years, it has been the northern barrier of the Tang Dynasty for most of the time, resisting the threat from Xueyantuo.
"Has the Xueyantuo Khan gone mad? My Great Tang has been fighting wars for the past few years, conquering countless territories. We've just defeated Goguryeo, and yet the Xueyantuo Khan is already offering tribute to the Turks. Does he think this is a good opportunity?"
In Li Xiang's tent, Su Dingfang said in surprise, "This is definitely not a good time to attack a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty. Unless they are crazy, they would be hiding in the dark. How could they possibly stand against the Tang Dynasty? They don't think they can defeat the Eastern Turks with just a few hundred thousand cavalry, do they?"
"Do we have anyone in Dong Turkestan?"
Li Xiang did not analyze this. It was useless to analyze it now. The most important thing was to see how our defense was in the eastern Turks. When General Li Jing conquered the Turks, all the tribes in the eastern Turks were defeated and their combat effectiveness was not very strong, so Li Xiang was worried that they could not hold on.
"We have 1,500 people near the Dong Turkic royal court. Apart from them, there is no one else in the entire Dong Turkic grassland. Dong Turkic currently has 40,000 standing cavalry, but because of us..."
Two years ago, Niu Jinda inspected the defense of Dong Turkestan on behalf of Li Shimin, and he also knew some of the situations in Dong Turkestan. The military strength over there was already extremely weak. The Tang Dynasty only wanted to have a barrier in the north and did not want Dong Turkestan to stand up again. Therefore, for the various tribes of Dong Turkestan, they would provoke them whenever possible and try to make you fight.
In fact, there was nothing wrong with the strategy adopted by the Tang Dynasty. No one wanted the nomadic peoples in the north to become strong, but unexpectedly, the Eastern Turks declined, and the Xueyantuo became stronger. In Li Xiang's memory, the Xueyantuo was also destroyed by Li Shimin, but because of his arrival, the Xueyantuo was not only not destroyed, but its strength has increased compared to before. It seems that the butterfly effect really affected this.
"We should immediately lead our army north to destroy them. We're already having trouble fighting in Goguryeo, and now we're going to the Xiongnu steppes, I really don't believe they can be our opponents."
Su Dingfang waved the steel knife in his hand and said that those who followed Li Xiang to fight had the same intention, that is, they would think that they were invincible in the world while fighting, and they wanted to kill all the enemies in the world. No matter whether you are Xueyantuo or Tubo, as long as you are the enemy of the Tang Dynasty, they would chop you down with one knife and kill you first.
"If only things were that simple. Take a look at this imperial letter. It merely informed us of this matter and instructed us to strengthen our transportation routes, but it didn't tell us to lead our troops north. We are currently employing the most elite troops of the imperial court, yet the court hasn't told us to return. What does this tell us?"
Li Xiang's words calmed everyone in the tent. Come to think of it, it made sense. Li Xiang had indeed been in the limelight in the past two years, but the problem was that in addition to Li Xiang, the Tang Dynasty had many other people who could fight, whether they were old generals or major generals, and any number of them could be sent to the battlefield. Although Li Xiang brought out all the elite troops in the capital, there were still 90,000 of the most elite border troops in the north of the Tang Dynasty, and they could enter Dong Turkestan at any time. There was no need for Li Xiang to bring people back from Goguryeo for defense.
The main issue was the unclear battlefield situation. Although Xueyantuo Khan led his troops south, he wasn't planning to attack the Tang Dynasty. He simply claimed that the caravan had been detained by the Eastern Turks, and he wanted justice, not to destroy the Eastern Turks. Of course, anyone with a discerning eye could see that this was just an excuse. Did you really seek justice for a caravan by leading tens of thousands of cavalry south? You wouldn't even try to trick a child that way.
"So we're just going to watch?"
Su Dingfang said with some unwillingness that although he had made many contributions now and it would be no problem for him to be granted the title of Marquis, the highest title that a meritorious official in the Tang Dynasty could be granted was Duke, and who wouldn't want to have a higher title?
"Didn't I ask you to organize a rapid reaction force? Gather them all and have them start training these past few days. The court may not want us to go, but we must be prepared in case we are needed to clean up the mess."
After hesitating for a long time, Li Xiang still could not sit idly by. No matter who the court sent, the problem would probably have to be solved by war in the end. Now the war has not yet started, but we have to make full preparations. What's more, all the big and small problems on the Goguryeo side have been resolved, so there is no need to keep so many troops.
Of course, Li Xiang did not submit a memorial. He knew to avoid suspicion. If a court wanted harmony, you couldn't take all the credit. Now Li Xiang's credit had reached its limit. If he continued to lead the troops north, how would the others in the court step forward? You had to give others a chance.
After waiting for half a month, the second imperial letter arrived. What surprised Li Xiang was that the emperor was still planning to treat Li Xiang coldly this time, and King Wu Li Ke led his troops north.
Of course, the court did not mention going to the north to fight, and the troops brought by the King of Wu were not large, only 8,000 people. Li Xiang could also see that if there was a war in the north, there was no need to transfer troops from Chang'an. In the north, there were 80,000 of the most elite border troops of the Tang Dynasty. It was only necessary to mobilize 50,000 border troops to the north, and add them to the army in the hands of the King of Wu to suppress the Xueyantuo.
Of course, even if everything goes well, some accidents cannot be ruled out. Once an accident really happens, the King of Wu will lose all his opportunities this time. After receiving the letter from the court, Li Xiang continued to arrange the affairs of Goguryeo and did not send any signal to Li Shimin.
Last time, because Li Xiang was in the capital, the possibility of the King of Wu leading the troops was ruled out. This time, Li Shimin issued the order relatively quickly, not giving Li Xiang any time to react. Even allies like Cui Sanye had no chance to move. It seemed that Li Shimin still had to arrange an opponent for Li Xiang...
