"Watch out for my Turks Elite Cavalry!"
"Mo Saber Unit, go!"
"Don't forget that I still have Tubo as a backup."
"Don't worry, the Old Man has long been on guard against this move of yours."
…
In the Imperial Court, the generals were divided into two factions, one representing the Great Tang and the other representing Gaochang. Both sides were experienced generals, and each side was brave and skilled in battle. On the sand table, they fought until they were in complete disarray, using all sorts of strange moves. It was truly a spectacular battle.
At the beginning, Gao Chang's side had the advantage and won two rounds in a row. However, as the Tang dynasty's side improved their strategy and made up for their shortcomings, they finally broke through Gao Chang's side and won five rounds in a row.
"Next city!" With Li Shimin's carefree roar, the paperweight in his hand represented the Tang dynasty's Iron Cavalry and attacked Gao Chang's city. Hou Junji, who thought that the ceremonial tablet in his hand was the Western Turks' cavalry, couldn't help in time and could only sigh.
"Two defeats and six victories. Now that Gao Chang has exhausted all his tricks, our Tang dynasty still has a backup plan. Our Tang dynasty will definitely win this battle." Although he lost the sand table, Hou Junji was not depressed at all. Instead, he was full of joy.
With this sand table, the people of the Tang dynasty had clearly seen the trump cards of Gao Chang and the other countries and formulated a countermeasure strategy. The scale of victory was already tilted towards the Tang dynasty.
"Legend has it that when Qin Shi Huang built his mausoleum, he built a large terrain model in his mausoleum. Not only were there mountains, hills, and cities in the model, but also rivers and seas were simulated with mercury, and mechanical devices were used to circulate the mercury. Today, my School of Mo's sand table is better … "Li Shimin looked at the topographic map of the Western Regions in the hall and couldn't help but sigh.
When Meton was making the sand table, he had mixed in his own personal materials and made it according to the precise topography of the later generations. This was why Li Shimin sighed with emotion.
Meton nodded and said, "It's a pity that Qin Shihuang did this for his own selfish reasons and buried it underground for close to a thousand years. Otherwise, the sand table would have appeared in advance and changed the way the war was fought."
"It's not too late now. With this sand table, we can make deductions before the war and greatly increase the winning rate of the Tang dynasty." Li Shimin nodded with satisfaction.
"Reporting to Your Majesty, the sand table can still be used as a teaching tool for the military academy students. Let the military academy students make deductions on the sand table so that they don't only learn military books and only know how to talk about war on paper." Li Jing bowed and said. He had also touched the sand table once just now, and instantly fell in love with it. If he could let the military academy students train with the sand table, they would quickly grow up to be qualified officers.
"Okay!" Li Shimin waved his hand and agreed.
All the generals nodded again and again. They were quite surprised by the wonderful use of the sand table. Even in the previous eight battles, the advantages and disadvantages of both sides were clear at a glance. The Tang dynasty was improving based on this, and the victory of the battle of Gao Chang was already in their hands.
"Your Majesty, please send troops to attack Gao Chang in the west." All the generals took the order and said. Previously, the civil officials opposed to sending troops because they were confident but had no evidence. Now, with the sand table deduction in front of them, the Tang dynasty's victory in the battle of Gao Chang was in their hands. Naturally, they were all encouraged to send troops.
"Minister Hou, you are the Minister of War. Explain the results of the sand table military exercise to the officials." Li Shimin was also greatly confident and said loudly to the officials.
Hou Junji solemnly stepped forward and said, "According to the results of the sand table military exercise just now, the Tang dynasty's odds of winning are more than 80%. This battle is very promising."
"80%? What if Tubo sends troops to intervene? What if the Western Turks send troops? Our army is seven thousand miles away, isolated and without help. Aren't we just waiting to be killed?" Xiao Yu retorted.
Hou Junji shook his head and said, "Tubo and Gao Chang are separated by Tuyuhun. If Tubo wants to send troops, Tuyuhun will restrain them. Even if they reluctantly send troops, the Tubo soldiers who have gone down the plateau are not enough to be feared."
"What about the Western Turks? The Western Turks are worthy of being the overlords of the Western Regions. Moreover, they are adjacent to Gao Chang. If the Western Turks send troops on a large scale, what are the odds of our Tang dynasty winning?" Wang Bei asked rhetorically.
"Therefore, the best time for the Tang dynasty to send troops is in December this year. Only in this way can the Tang dynasty's odds of winning be greatly increased."
"December!" The officials couldn't help but exclaim. The New Year was coming in December, but they actually sent troops at this time.
Hou Junji nodded and said, "Chang 'an is seven thousand miles away from Gao Chang. We have to send troops in December to have enough time to end the war around August next year. Otherwise, once the war is delayed until autumn, the Western Turks will probably interfere. Moreover, the weather will become cold. Our army is seven thousand miles away from Gao Chang, so we have little supplies. The longer we delay, the more likely there will be changes."
The officials nodded silently. It was indeed the best choice to end the war before August. The failure of the military exercise just now was to delay the war until autumn, when a large number of Western Turks' reinforcements arrived. Only then did they fail on the verge of success.
"Moreover, even if the Western Turks send troops, our army will also make corresponding strategies. Among the generals of the Tang dynasty, Qixin Heli is the most familiar with the terrain of Gao Chang. Moreover, it is the same as the Western Turks. He is the most suitable person to lead the way and block the troops of the Western Turks," Hou Junji said confidently.
It had to be said that Hou Junji was indeed a good general. In just a few words, he had already shown the advantages of the Tang dynasty, so the officials could no longer find a reason to object.
Moreover, many of the civil officials present were old men who had followed Li Shimin to conquer the world. Naturally, they also had the courage to go to war. Now that the Tang dynasty had an 80% chance of winning, they naturally would not shrink back.
At this point, the general tone of the Tang dynasty's war against Gao Chang had been set.
"How pitiful. Once the war starts, who knows how many soldiers will be buried in a foreign land," Xiao Ling said with a sour tone. Once the Tang dynasty started the war against Gao Chang, the Tang dynasty's focus would shift to the west. The booming Jiangnan would also be stagnant because of this.
Hou Junji, lead the generals to continue to deduce the sand table and strive to find the best way to defeat Gao Chang. Reduce the casualties of the soldiers to the minimum. At the same time, have the medical school prepare more Green Dragon True Medicine. I heard that Doctor Mo has returned from Jiangnan. Doctor Mo will accompany us in this war. Doctor Mo has contributed greatly in curing the schistosomiasis. After the war, he will be rewarded. "
"Minister, thank Your Majesty on behalf of Mo Wu!" Meton stepped forward and expressed his gratitude on behalf of Mo Wu.
Xiao Yu and the other Jiangnan officials' faces were filled with shame. Mo Wu had also contributed greatly to Jiangnan, but Jiangnan had failed him. Now that he was mentioned in public, it made them lose face again.
Hou Junji's heart skipped a beat. He said, "Your Majesty, in the campaign against Gao Chang, the biggest battle is still in Gao Chang City. In order to reduce the casualties of the soldiers, the Minister has another request. We can definitely reduce the losses of the Tang dynasty's soldiers to the minimum."
"Oh! Please speak, Hou Junji. "Li Shimin raised his eyebrows.
"I would like to recruit Merton to lead the Firearms Division and follow the army to battle against Gao Chang!" Hou Junji said boldly.
"Mo Jiazi!"
The generals' hearts skipped a beat. Many of them had personally followed Li Jing to battle against Tuyuhun. Naturally, they knew the power of gunpowder. On the day of the battle between the Tang dynasty and Tuyuhun, Mo Jiazi used gunpowder to reverse Yin and Yang during the solar eclipse. This was still fresh in their minds.
In the Tang dynasty, perhaps only Mo Jiazi could use gunpowder to such an extent. If they wanted to take down Gao Chang in one fell swoop and reduce the casualties of the soldiers, the Firearms Division would be the best choice.
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