Chapter 491 Xue Yantuo’s army goes south

Li Xiang had just breathed a sigh of relief when the urgent news from Chang'an City disturbed the peace here. It turned out that Xue Yantuo Khan from the north led 80,000 cavalry southward and had now entered the territory of Dong Turks.

Since the last Khan was brought back to Chang'an by General Li Jing, the entire Dong Turk 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 Xue Yantuo.

"Is Xue Yantuo Khan crazy? In the past few years, the Tang Dynasty has conquered many lands in the north and south, and now it has just conquered Goguryeo, and Xue Yantuo Khan has begun to support the Dong Turks. Does he think that Is this a good time?”

In Li Xiang's tent, Su Dingfang said a little strangely that it was definitely not a good time to attack the vassal states of the Tang Dynasty at this time. Unless his brain was flooded, it would be too late to hide. How could it be possible? Will he stand against Datang? Didn't they think they could defeat the Dong Turks with hundreds of thousands of cavalry?

"Do we have anyone in Dong Turk?"

Li Xiang did not analyze this. It is useless to analyze this now. The most important thing is to see how our defense situation is in Dong Turk. When General Li Jing captured the Turk, all the tribes in Dong Turk were destroyed. They were broken up and their fighting power was not very strong, so Li Xiang was worried that they wouldn't be able to withstand it.

"We have 1,500 people near the Dong Turk Royal Court. Apart from them, there is no one on the entire Dong Turk grassland. Dong Turk currently has 40,000 standing cavalry, but because of us..."

The year before last, Niu Jinda inspected the defense of Dong Turks on behalf of Li Shimin, and he also understood some of the situations in Dong Turks. The military power there was extremely weak. Datang just wanted a barrier in the north, and never wanted Dong Turks. The Turks have stood up again, so for the tribes of the Dong Turks, just provoke them if you can, and try your best to get you to fight.

In fact, there was nothing wrong with the strategy adopted by the Tang Dynasty. No one wanted the nomadic people in the north to be strong. However, they did not expect that as the Dong Turks declined, Xue Yantuo actually became stronger. In Li Xiang's memory, Xue Yantuo was also given up by Li Shimin. It was destroyed, but because of his arrival, Xue Yantuo not only was not destroyed now, but his strength was stronger than before. It seems that the butterfly effect has really affected here.

"We immediately led our troops north to destroy them. We happened to feel uncomfortable fighting in Goguryeo. Now that we are on the Xiongnu prairie, I really don't believe it. Can they be our opponents?"

Su Dingfang waved the steel knife in his hand and said, everyone who fights with Li Xiang has this intention, that is, they think they are invincible while fighting, and they want to kill all the enemies in the world, regardless of whether you are Xue Yantuo Or Tubo, as long as they are our enemies of the Tang Dynasty, we will attack them with one sword and kill them first.

"It would be nice if things were that simple. Come and take a look at this imperial letter. It only lets us know about this matter and allows us to strengthen the communication lines along the way. It does not let us lead the army north. We are now using The most elite army of the imperial court, but the imperial court did not let us go back, what do you think this means?"

Li Xiang's words calmed down everyone in the tent. It's right to think about it. Li Xiang has indeed been in the limelight in the past two years, but the problem is that besides Li Xiang, there are many other people in the Tang Dynasty who can fight. Generals or major generals, any number of them can be selected to go on an expedition. Although Li Xiang brought out all the elites from the capital, there are still 90,000 of the most elite border troops in the north of the Tang Dynasty. They can also enter the Dong Turks at any time. There is no need for Li Xiang to lead his people back to defend from Goguryeo.

The most important thing is that the battlefield situation is unclear. Although Xue Yantuo Khan led his troops south, he did not say that he would attack the Tang Dynasty. He only said that the caravan was detained by the Dong Turks, so he wanted to find justice. To destroy the Dong Turks, of course anyone with a discerning eye can see that this is just an excuse. Are you really seeking justice for a caravan when you go south with tens of thousands of cavalry? There is no such way to deceive children.

"Then we're going to watch like this?"

Su Dingfang said with some unwillingness to give up, although he has already made a lot of achievements, and it is absolutely no problem to be granted the title of Marquis, but in the Tang Dynasty, the highest meritorious official can be granted the title of Duke, who would not want to have his title higher.

"Didn't I ask you to organize a quick reaction force before? You gathered them all and let them start practicing in the past few days. The court may not want us to go there, but we must be prepared in case we are needed. Go over and clean up the mess."

After much hesitation, Li Xiang still couldn't stand idly by. No matter who the court sent, it might eventually be resolved by war. The war hasn't started yet, but we have to make complete preparations, not to mention the big and small things in Goguryeo. Now that everything has been resolved, there is no need to keep so many troops.

Of course, Li Xiang didn't submit a memorial. He knew how to avoid suspicion. If a court wants to be harmonious, you can't take all the credit. Now Li Xiang's credit is irreplaceable. If he continues to lead his troops northward, So how should other people within the court come forward? You have to give others a chance.

After waiting for half a month, the second seal from the imperial court was sent. What surprised Li Xiang was that the emperor was still planning to give Li Xiang a cold shoulder this time, and Wu King Li Ke led his troops northward.

Of course, the imperial court did not mention going to the north to fight, and King Wu did not bring many troops, only 8,000. Li Xiang could also see that if the north wanted to fight, there was no need to go to the north to fight. Chang'an mobilized troops. There were 80,000 of the most elite border troops in the Tang Dynasty in the north. It only needed to mobilize 50,000 border troops to go north, plus the army in the hands of King Wu, it would be able to suppress Xue Yantuo.

Of course, this is a situation where everything is going well, and it is not ruled out that some accidents will occur. If an accident does occur, then King Wu will lose all opportunities this time. After Li Xiang received the letter from Ting Continuing to arrange things in Goguryeo did not send any signal to Li Shimin.

Last time, Li Xiang was in the capital, so the matter of King Wu leading the army was ruled out. This time, Li Shimin issued the order faster, without giving Li Xiang any time to react. All allies, including Cui Sanye, did not even think about moving. Opportunity, it seems that Li Shimin still wants to arrange an opponent for Li Xiang...