When Ang Lee heard that the Emperor wanted to use the Iron Armored Artillery Brigade and the Artillery Brigade, he understood that the Emperor was really angry. However, how to make good use of this powerful force was a test of a commander's tactical ability.
Although the soldiers of the Iron Armored Artillery Brigade and the Artillery Brigade had all learned how to use these equipment, learning how to use them did not mean that they understood the tactics of these equipment. Of course, this also meant that they could not make full use of the equipment's performance.
It should be known that equipment was never the only condition for victory. A good saddle was matched with a good horse, and a beautiful woman was matched with a hero. A good weapon could only be used to its fullest potential when it met someone who was good at using it.
What Ang Lee was very worried about now was that the Emperor would casually find a general who did not know how to use these weapons and let him lead the most elite equipment of the Tang dynasty to attack Tibet. In this way, it would be a great waste of these equipment. There was even a possibility that the most elite equipment of the Tang dynasty would be lost because of the wrong use of these equipment.
Seeing that Ang Lee was about to go to the Imperial Palace to meet the Emperor, Li Yu also followed closely on his horse. There were dozens of guards behind him.
"Assistant Minister Li, I have something to discuss with you!"
Li Yu approached Ang Lee fawningly.
"Gwangbyeong Of Gojoseon, what's the matter? Just say it."
Ang Lee felt that Li Yu must have something in his heart. In more than a year, Ang Lee found that Li Yu had matured a lot. He was also much more stable, like an imperial grandson.
"Assistant Minister Li, this expedition to Tibet is to protect the reputation of the Tang dynasty and teach the audacious Tibetan barbarians a lesson. As the imperial grandson of the Tang dynasty, of course, Xiao Wang has to contribute. However, His Majesty rejected Xiao Wang and did not give Xiao Wang a chance to contribute to the Tang dynasty, so …"
Li Yu wanted to fight wholeheartedly, but he was rejected by the Emperor. He was very unhappy. His purpose of coming to Ang Lee was to ask Ang Lee to speak for him in front of the Emperor. He wanted the Emperor to change his mind and let him go to Tibet.
Ang Lee only glanced at Li Yu and saw through his thoughts. He paused and said, "Swords have no eyes on the battlefield. It's very dangerous. Isn't it good for Gwangbyeong Of Gojoseon to stay in the capital and wait for the news of victory?"
"Assistant Minister Li, the armored command vehicle is impenetrable. How can it be dangerous?"
Li Yu blurted out. He felt that Ang Lee did not want to help and was deliberately looking for an excuse.
Ang Lee smiled and said, "Gwangbyeong Of Gojoseon has never been to the battlefield, so he might not understand the situation on the battlefield. Does he think that the armored command vehicle can guarantee his safety? There is no safe position on the battlefield. The best way to protect oneself is to defeat the enemy. If the commander makes a mistake, even the armored command vehicle cannot guarantee the safety of Gwangbyeong Of Gojoseon. "
Li Yu had a disapproving look on his face as he retorted, "Assistant Minister Li, the Tubo barbarians only have weapons like sabers and swords. We have iron armored artillery and chariots. No matter who is in command, even if it is Xiao Wang, we won't be defeated and captured! The Tibetan barbarians have no ability to deal with the armored vehicles of our Tang dynasty. "
This was not only Li Yu's point of view. All the people of the Tang dynasty who had seen the armored artillery vehicles might have the same misconception. They might think that as long as they had the armored artillery vehicles, they would be able to defeat the Tibetan barbarians. The Tibetan barbarians would not be able to resist and they would be able to easily obtain a glorious victory. Even the soldiers of the armored artillery brigade might think so.
However, this was obviously a wrong point of view. The armored artillery vehicles were very powerful. They would form a huge and overwhelming advantage over the cold weapons of the Tibetan Empire. However, if they were not used well, they would also become a pile of scrap metal. For example, if they did not prepare enough logistical support, they would enter deep into enemy territory alone, fall into camouflage traps and mud, be ambushed by boulders on mountaintops, be attacked by fire, etc.
There was no doubt that the armored artillery vehicles were advanced weapons. However, they could not be arrogant and take risks. They could not look down on the enemy just because they had powerful weapons. They had to look down on the enemy in terms of strategy and be sure that they could defeat the enemy. However, in terms of specific tactical command, they had to pay enough attention to the enemy. They could not underestimate the enemy and be careless.
Ang Lee did not have the time to continue arguing with Li Yu. After all, Li Yu was a person of the Tang dynasty. His way of thinking was limited by the era. There were many things that he could not see clearly and could not understand. However, Ang Lee could not stand Li Yu's repeated requests. He promised Li Yu that he would speak up for him in front of the emperor and try his best to let him participate in the punitive expedition against Tibet.
Li Yu believed that as long as Ang Lee spoke up, he would definitely be able to go with the army and fulfill his strong wish. Li Yu strongly requested to participate in the punitive expedition against Tibet. Firstly, he wanted to see the world and see with his own eyes how the elite troops of the Tang dynasty annihilated the Tibetan barbarians. Secondly, he wanted to gain a certain reputation. After all, it was not as simple as just watching the army. Once the army won, Li Yu, as the imperial grandson, would definitely gain a lot of reputation and greatly improve his political status.
As a descendant of the royal family, if he wanted to gain the support of the officials and nobles, he had to display his abilities and have a high enough reputation. Otherwise, the officials wouldn't notice him. Li Yu wanted to make a trip to Tubo to increase his reputation. He wanted to let the officials see that this child was promising and was willing to contribute to the Great Tang Empire. This way, he would be able to gain the favor of everyone and pave the way for his future position.
"Everyone, Assistant Minister Li wants to see you."
Li Longji was standing in front of the map and thinking hard. Hearing this, he grinned and said, "Ang Lee is here. Let him in."
"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you."
Ang Lee habitually saluted Li Longji.
"Assistant Minister Li, you came at the right time. I have something to discuss with you."
Li Longji said and motioned for Ang Lee to come to the map.
"Your Majesty, you are studying the map. Do you have any plans?"
Ang Lee asked.
Li Longji pointed at Hexi Longyou and said softly, "Assistant Minister Li, this is the Longyou Road of the Tang Empire. It is also the only passage to Anxi. However, above us is Huihe and below us is Tibet. It is very disadvantageous to be sandwiched by two powerful countries. The attack on the railway line this time is enough to prove this problem."
"Your Majesty, do you mean to change the territory of the Tang Empire and make the Longyou Road wider and safer?"
Ang Lee guessed and believed that Li Longji must have the idea of expanding the territory. Now that Tibet took the initiative to provoke him, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It would be a pity if he did not make good use of it.
"Hahaha! Assistant Minister Li is still the one who understands my intentions. That's right, this time, Tufan provoked us first. I plan to take down this entire region in one go. This place was originally Tuyuhun's territory and should not belong to Tufan. "
Li Longji said domineeringly.
Li An smiled and said, "Your Majesty is right. This region shouldn't belong to Tubo. However, Your Majesty, why don't you set your sights further and take down Tubo's capital? That way, Tubo's vast territory will belong to Your Majesty."
"Take over all of Tibet? Assistant Minister Li is greedier than me! However, Tibet is so big. Can we really take it over with just one battle? "
Li Longji was very doubtful.
"Your Majesty, according to the news from the frontlines, in order to defend against the attack of the Tang Empire, Tibet has already mobilized a large number of troops. Most of these troops are gathered near Longyou, preparing to fight against the main force of our Tang Empire. If we send a troop to the back of the Tibetan army, the Tibetan army will definitely collapse. As long as we destroy the main force of the Tibetan army, Tibet will be greatly weakened. In this way, it will be easy to destroy Tibet. Moreover, Your Majesty can see that the Longyou Road of the Tang Empire is too long and narrow. It is facing pressure from both Tibet and the Uighurs at the same time. Only by completely defeating Tibet and letting Tibet join our Tang Empire can we completely solve the huge threat that Longyou Road is facing. With Tibet, the territory of our Tang Empire will look more complete. Otherwise, with just the long and narrow Longyou Road, we will lose Anxi and Beiting sooner or later."
Ang Lee analyzed.
What Ang Lee said was very reasonable. In the future, this was called geopolitics. It was a reality that no empire could avoid.
The so-called geopolitics determined how long an empire's current territory could last.
If an empire's territory was scattered, long, narrow, or blocked by mountains and valleys, then the empire's geography would be very bad. It would be very easy for it to collapse and split into many small countries.
Hua Xia had a famous saying long ago, "The Yue State is far away, but the ruler knows its difficulties." It meant that the Yue State had a territory far away. This territory was destined to be very difficult to rule. The administrative costs would be very high, and it would be easy to lose it.
This was said by Zhu Zhiwu during the Spring and Autumn Period. With this sentence, the Qin State voluntarily withdrew its troops.
There was a very good geopolitical theory in this. After all, at that time, the Qin State and the Jin State jointly attacked the Zheng State. Once the Zheng State was conquered, the Jin State could easily rule it. Even if the Qin State got a piece of land, it would have to go through the Jin State to rule it effectively. Therefore, it would be very difficult. This piece of land would be easily annexed by the Jin State.
At this time, the situation faced by the Tang Dynasty was similar to that of the Qin State. The Tang Dynasty had a large area of land in Anxi and Norland. The land in the Central Plains was even larger. The only passage connecting these two areas was the very narrow Longyou Road, which was the road that the ancient Silk Road passed through.
On both sides of the Longyou Road were two relatively powerful neighboring countries. Tubo and Huihe were not weak. In order to maintain the smooth passage between the core area of the Tang Dynasty and Anxi and Norland, the Tang Dynasty had to deploy a large number of troops to Hexi and Longyou, which would inevitably bring great financial pressure. Moreover, if the two powerful countries in the north and south joined forces to attack, the Longyou Road would be very likely to be taken. In this way, the connection between Anxi and Norland would be cut off, and they might even be lost forever.
Anxi, Tubo, and Huihe were the inherent territories of the Hua Xia Empire in the future. They were indispensable. The loss of any one of these areas would shake the other two areas, thus making the whole empire unstable. If all these areas were given up, how could the Hua Xia Empire be called a big country? If it was only a small country, it could be annexed by foreign enemies at any time.
At this time, the Tang Dynasty only had one of these three core areas. Tubo and Huihe were independent governments and were not controlled by the Tang Dynasty. In this way, the stability of Anxi would be greatly reduced.
The Braid Dynasty of the Hua Xia Empire in the future also recognized this point. Therefore, after Anxi was invaded by foreign enemies, they immediately sent Zuo Zongtang to recover it.
Because once Anxi was lost, Tubo and Huihe would be relatively isolated. In this way, the Braid Dynasty would lose one-third of its land and become the eternal sinner of the Hua Xia Empire. Therefore, no matter how difficult the situation was for the country, they had to do their best to recover Anxi.
At this time, the Tang Dynasty only had one piece of land, Anxi, which was absolutely not complete. It could be seen from the map that the current Tang Dynasty was divided into three large areas. The core area was the largest, about half of it. The other half was the Longyou Road and Hebei Road. In order to make the Tang Dynasty's territory look more rounded, they had to take over Tubo and Huihe. Once these two countries were merged into the Tang Dynasty's territory, the Tang Dynasty would be almost circular.
And a circular territory was the most stable existence in geopolitics. It was the kind of geography that could last the longest.
Now that Huihe and the Tang Dynasty were on good terms, the Tang Dynasty naturally had no reason to send troops. However, Tubo could no longer hold back. At this time, of course, they had to take advantage of this good opportunity to completely destroy Tubo. In this way, the territory of the Tang Dynasty would look like a gold ingot. The sunken part on it could be repaired soon. They did not have to use force. They could have a heart-to-heart talk with the nobles of Huihe about the great topic of peaceful unification. As long as there were enough benefits, it was not impossible for Huihe to surrender.
Of course, Li Longji dreamed of occupying the entire territory of the Tubo Empire. However, he was not confident in swallowing such a large territory. After all, the Tang Empire needed to spend a lot of money in many places. In his opinion, destroying Tubo would definitely consume a lot of manpower and financial resources. This would seriously affect the sustainable development of the Tang Empire. He had to treat it with caution.
"Assistant Minister Li, are you really confident in destroying Tubo in one go?"
Li Longji asked tentatively.
"Your Majesty, with the current strength of the Tang Dynasty, as long as the command is right, we can definitely destroy Tubo in one battle. Moreover, in order to better control Tubo, we must build a railway from Longyou Road directly to the capital of Tubo."
Ang Lee said seriously.
"Good. Since Assistant Minister Li is so confident, I will appoint you as the West Conquering General. Lead the army to destroy Tubo as soon as possible."
Li Longji said excitedly.
"Your Majesty, I don't need the title of West Conquering General. I only need to lead an elite troop and directly insert it behind the Tubo army. Let Wang Jieshuai be the Great General!"
Ang Lee requested.
"I don't need the title of Great General. I only want an elite troop. Alright, I will fulfill your wish. You can choose any elite troop in the capital."
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
