Tibet

Li Ye quickly came to the rotunda of the Political Affairs Hall and happened to meet Guo Ziyi. Guo Ziyi had just taken up the post of Privy Councilor yesterday afternoon. Today was his first day of duty and he encountered a major military intelligence report.

Guo Ziyi bowed and said, "See Your Majesty!"

Li Ye sighed and said: "I have something unfortunate to tell you. I hope you will be mentally prepared!"

Guo Ziyi's heart sank, but she still said calmly: "Your Majesty, please speak!"

"I received news from the internal guards last night that Broken Leaf was attacked and fell."

The governor of the river was Guo Xin, Guo Ziyi’s nephew. Guo Ziyi was stunned and said for a long time: “Did Guo Xin die in battle?”

Li Ye shook his head, "I don't know, the inner guard's Ying Xin only said one sentence, Suiye was attacked and captured by the Saints' Army! Nothing else was mentioned."

Guo Ziyi pondered for a moment and said: "I hope he can save his life!"

Guo Ziyi does not blame Guo Xin because he is his nephew for losing the broken leaves. He is a veteran and knows that the lives of soldiers are more important than the city. If the city is lost, it can be regained. It is unacceptable that the whole army of soldiers is destroyed. .

Li Ye nodded, "It is estimated that the Privy Council will also receive news in the next two days. Ambassador Guo will pay attention to it."

Guo Ziyi nodded silently and walked into the rotunda.

In the round hall, all nine important officials of the Political Affairs Hall were present, including Zhang Hao, the Huangmen Minister who had just returned from Liaodong. Zhang Hao also returned with Guo Ziyi yesterday and had not had time to report to Li Ye.

"Everyone, Internal Guard Li Dutong came to see me urgently last night in the middle of the night and told me the news that Suiye was captured by the enemy, and the opponent was the Saintess's Army."

When talking about the Saints' Association incident before, Li Ye informed everyone that the Saints' Association had an army of 50,000 people.

Everyone was shocked, and Zhang Li asked anxiously: "What are the casualties of the soldiers?"

Li Ye shook his head, "There is no news yet!"

Wei Jiansu frowned, "There's no reason! Although we don't allow the Saints to preach, that was only two months ago. Kang country is so far away, how could they know it so quickly?"

Li Ye shook his head, "We don't care about the specific reasons, but Broken Leaf is the support point of our strategy in the river. The loss of Broken Leaf means that the entire river is lost. We must recapture Broken Leaf and use this as an opportunity to regain control of Hezhong."

Liu Yan loudly agreed: "Your Majesty's idea is right. The river is rich in gold and silver. It is continuously exported to the Tang Dynasty through the Silk Road. It has always been an important source of finance for our Datang Dynasty. Tubo is eyeing the river with covetousness. The same goes for food. It can be said that whoever gets the river will continue to be strong in the next thirty years. We must not give up the treasure of the river to Tubo and Dashi. "

Wei Jiansu also said: "Tubo was completely suppressed by us in Longyou, and suffered a disastrous defeat in the southwest this year. If there is no chance in the southwest and Longyou, Tubo is likely to use its force in the west to avoid our sharp edge, and its soldiers will spit out their weapons. Huo Luo, so at this time, our increase in troops in the Western Region is actually to defend Tibet. "

No one else objected to the emperor's plan for the Western Expedition, and there was no way to justify it with insufficient finances. In fact, every expedition led by Li Ye was made by the Tang Dynasty courtiers who had made a lot of money and had been living a hard life. I have never been so straight-backed as I am now. At best, I can only go out without a name, but now I have a name, it can be said that I have the right time, place, and people to fight in the Western Regions.

After the discussion, Li Ye confirmed that the Privy Council would formulate a troop dispatch plan, and the plan must be produced before the end of the year.

The Western Expedition belongs to the strategic level. It does not end in one or two wars, nor does it end in a month or two. It takes a year or even two years, so it is impossible to order the deployment of troops and prepare logistics materials on the spot.

We must first formulate a plan, a military plan, a logistics plan, a financial plan, a march plan, a campaign plan, and a series of other plans. Although troops are unpredictable and it is impossible to calculate everything accurately, this is related to the preparation of logistics materials and The bottom line and upper limit of financial burden, material consumption and financial consumption must be calculated.

Therefore, many wars are not lost on the battlefield, but because the logistics and finances cannot support it. This is because there is no prepared plan in advance. The coach does not know the logistics and financial situation and only thinks about expanding the results. In the end, the finances and logistics collapse. , the battlefield turns from victory to defeat. This happens too many times.

On the contrary, if the coach knows that the logistics and finances are insufficient, he will not be eager to expand the results. Instead, he will proceed steadily and maintain the existing results first, or reach an agreement with the enemy to cease the war, or switch to offense and defense, and wait for the finances and logistics to catch up. Continue the attack.

I say all this to illustrate the importance of planning in advance for grand strategy.

Li Ye left the round hall of the Political Affairs Hall, and Zhang Hao quickly chased after him, "Your Majesty!"

Li Ye stopped and said with a smile, "Is there anything wrong with Zhang Aiqing?"

"Wei Chen is preparing a resettlement report in Liaodong, but I have two questions that I would like to report to His Majesty in person. Is Your Majesty free this afternoon?"

"I'm going to inspect the city expansion in the afternoon. I still have some time. Come to my study to have a talk. I'll call the two prime ministers too. I'll treat you to dinner at noon."

"Wei Chen is looking for the Prime Minister, come here immediately!"

"Okay! I'll go ahead and wait for you in the imperial study."

Li Ye got on the light carriage and returned to his imperial study first.

The carriage passed the gate of the Privy Council and happened to see Zhang Dian coming out of the Privy Council. Li Ye quickly stopped the carriage and ordered the guards: "Let General Zhang come to see me!"

Zhang Dian came to the Privy Council to go through the formalities. Unexpectedly, he happened to encounter the Emperor's motorcade. He quickly stepped forward and bowed, "I am here to see you, Your Majesty!"

"Why don't you take a few more days off and start working today?"

"Your Majesty, I will leave later?"

"Why are you in such a hurry? Why don't you stay with your family for a few more days?"

"I have seen my parents and will take my wife and children with me to Liucheng County this time."

Li Ye implemented the system of imperial censors supervising the army, and did not implement the system of hostages staying in Beijing, so the generals of the frontiers would generally bring their wives and children with them. If they did not bring them with them, it was their own reasons and had nothing to do with the system.

Li Ye nodded and said, "This time I am going to Liaoxi, and I will deal with the Shiwei and Heishui Mohe in the future. I have said everything I should say. Finally, I will tell you one more thing, you must strictly implement my order to kill the army, and learn from the lessons of the failure of the Sui Dynasty's expedition to Goguryeo. If you don't understand, you can ask for advice, and I will also arrange a good military advisor for you."

"Your Majesty's teachings, I will remember them in my heart!"

"Go!"

Zhang Dian bowed again and then hurried away.

The biggest lesson from the failure of the Sui Dynasty's expedition against Goguryeo is that kindness is greater than power. Yang Guang wanted to use both kindness and power to recover Goguryeo, but he only considered kindness, not power. He attacked the strong city with great difficulty. When the enemy saw that they could not defend it, they immediately surrendered and said a few good words of gratitude and submission. Yang Guang was happy and let the enemy continue to defend the city. As a result, the enemy quickly turned against him. This happened every time. They surrendered first and then turned against him, which exhausted the will and combat effectiveness of the Sui army.

Li Ye wanted to remind Zhang Dian not to be confused by the enemy's surrender. Regardless of whether the enemy's surrender was true or false, he must strictly follow his orders and kill the enemy's army.

The good military advisor that Li Ye wanted to arrange for Zhang Dian was Wei Feng, a staff member beside Lei Wanchun.

Lei Wanchun's chances to go on the expedition were running out. Li Ye planned to let him retire after success, go to Beijing to take charge of the martial arts hall, and be awarded the title of general.

Wei Feng was good and could be transferred to the post of Chief of Liaoxi Military Governor's Office.

As soon as Li Ye returned to the imperial study, Zhang Hao, Wei Jiansu and Zhang Li hurried over.