"In your opinion, we should currently cut military spending, reduce the army, and focus all our efforts on economic development?" After thinking for a while, Philip V seemed to accept the opinion of his close friend and new prime minister.
"I don't think it's necessary to reduce the army for the time being. After all, we still have the Baiyin barbarians in the north who have not surrendered, and the empire is a military power in the Eastern Continent. Reducing the army at this time will also damage the image of the empire. I just think that the empire can completely stop fighting those There is no need to fight a worthless war, but focusing on strengthening the daily training of the army will be enough to save a lot of expenses. In the next few years, we can follow the example of the northwest under Li Wufeng and shift our focus to economic development, using the wealth of our empire. and foundation, are we still inferior to the Northwest County under Li Wufeng's rule?" Pokaninsky made a carefully considered suggestion.
"What if Mote persists in his stubbornness and invades our west again?" This is a question that Philip V has always worried about.
"This is exactly the issue that I need to resolve in this negotiation with Su Qin. However, in my opinion, as long as we can persuade Li Wufeng to restrain the Mote and Tubu people, these should not be a problem. Of course, this requires us to make a decision Some concessions." Pokaninski was very confident.
"Hmm, but will those nomadic barbarians listen to Li Wufeng so honestly?" It seems that Philip V was heartbroken by the harassment of the Motte people, and he was always uneasy about this issue.
"Your Majesty, I just missed one point. The reason why the Mote and Tubu people surrendered to Li Wufeng was not entirely the result of Li Wufeng's complete suppression of military strength. The more important point is that both the Mote and Tubu people surrendered to Li Wufeng. People have been completely assimilated and controlled economically by the Northwest. The entire Mote and Tubu tribes have been integrated into the powerful and dynamic economic circle of the Northwest. Their people have become accustomed to using their livestock and other The goods are sold to northwest merchants, and the variety of northwest commodities obtained from northwest merchants is far more abundant than ever before. They can no longer adapt to the life of losing the northwest as a transit link. In this case, you said that the Mot people and Can the Tubu people not just follow Li Wufeng's lead?" Bokaninski believes that this is the most important factor in defeating and controlling these two tribes in the northwest.
After a long silence, King Philip V stood up heavily, patted his Prime Minister on the shoulder, and said with some regret: "Maybe you are right, we need a good environment for development, but we have delayed too many development opportunities. We can't delay any longer, so we'll do what you say. As long as we can win a peaceful environment for a period of time, even if we make some concessions, we can tolerate it."
"Your Majesty, there is no need to worry too much. Since Li Wufeng wants to get involved in the melee in the Central Plains of the Tanghe Empire, he will not have many direct conflicts of interest with us in a short period of time. It will not be a year or two before he intervenes in the Central Plains. As it turns out, we can just get a buffer period to rest and recuperate. As long as we restore and develop our national strength, whether it is the Motte people, the Baiin people, or the Tanghe people, as long as we have the strength, many things will happen. Maybe it's not as complicated and difficult as we thought!" Pokaninski also stood up and puffed out his not-thick chest and said proudly.
Kansai is particularly beautiful in early autumn. Piles of haystacks can be seen everywhere in the rice fields after the harvest. The farmers and women who have finished the busy farming period finally have a rare leisure season. During this period, farmers who make a living from farming may be the most leisurely. For a period of time, until the Spring Festival, they can stay in teahouses, woods, and riversides all day long to enjoy the cool and rest, play cards and engage in small gambling. Reserve soldiers generally also practice during this time, and a few hardworking people take advantage of this time. Starting a small business, such as grain trading, wine making, carpentry, building houses, and buying and selling small general merchandise, are the most common businesses in the countryside, and they have also become the best time for some farmers to earn extra income.
"It's time for the general attack!" An officer rushed into the command post excitedly and shouted loudly, waving his hands.
"when?"
"Tonight? Or tomorrow morning?"
"But I'm tired of waiting. If I don't relax, I will get sick."
The command post immediately felt like a pot was exploding and it became lively. The originally lazy officers suddenly became energetic and surrounded the officers who rushed into the command post.
"Probably tonight, I just met an acquaintance of mine who is a senior staff officer at the legion headquarters. I heard from him that he just received an emergency report from Kuai Ma. I heard that Sanjiang took action first. I don't know if it was It wasn’t the Machkhans who started fighting with the Lin family first. Now the general command post is convening a meeting of division commanders. When I came back, I saw the division commander and the chief of staff were busy getting on their horses to go to the command post, probably to receive Order, it seems our division is on the front line." The panting officer was busy explaining.
"Okay, I finally waited. Sitting in this mountain forest all day is almost driving me crazy."
"You have to take action as early as possible. Stay here. No matter how well you keep it secret, it won't be able to hide it for long."
"Yeah, it's better to take action in advance. If the Machihan people are willing to cooperate, they can cooperate. If they don't cooperate, we will fight the same. I don't believe that the Lin family's army can be the best among the three?"
Waves of wanton shouts vented the dissatisfaction of this group of men. It was obvious that staying in this remote ravine for a long time had made these men extremely impatient. They were eager to use fighting to vent their long-standing depression. They were looking forward to a war, one that would fully demonstrate who they were.
Two hours later, the officers who received the order quickly entered a battle-ready state. Their usually lazy appearance disappeared without a trace, replaced by endless fighting spirit and murderous intent. Teams of soldiers mobilized their fighting spirit in the shortest possible time. They can finally bid farewell to the nest they have been in for several months. What awaits them will be the fate of warriors.
On the night of September 5, 697 AD, almost at the same time, the 100,000-strong army quietly gathered in the mountains between Bashan and Lujiang Prefectures divided into two routes and headed east from Pingyang Valley and Wangyue Slope at the eastern end of Bashan Prefecture, and attacked directly. Lujiang Fucheng is located on the banks of the Lujiang River.
One division on the southern line went eastward by boat and conquered several towns in succession along the river bank, while another division followed up by land along the river. The three divisions on the northern front defeated several important passes in the western part of the Lujiang River within three days. Although the Lin family has two divisions stationed in Lujiang Prefecture, Lin Yunfei, who has taken over from Lin Guowei and is in charge of Lujiang defense, is worried that the 100,000-strong army of the Machi Khans in the east has unknown movements and may march westward to attack Lujiang Prefecture. Three regiments were removed from a division originally deployed at Cuiping Pass, the most important pass in the west, leaving only two regiments responsible for defense.
They encountered continuous frenzied attacks from two elite divisions of the Langjia Tiannan First Regiment. After a day and night of hard fighting, Cuipingguan fell. More than 8,000 soldiers from the two regiments of the first division of the Sanjiang Second Regiment lost their lives. However, the two attacking divisions in Tiannan relied on their absolute superiority in strength and still paid the price of nearly 18,000 casualties to achieve this tragic victory. However, after this battle, the Lin family was unable to organize an effective defense in the west of Lujiang again and again. Tiannan was so powerful that it swept across the entire west and north of Lujiang in just three days.
On September 10, the Tiannan Army and the navy responsible for the water defense of the Lujiang River encountered each other in the Lujiang River section 20 miles away from Lujiang Fucheng. The two sides engaged in the first large-scale water battle. Although the Tiannan Navy had the upper hand on the upper water, the sudden southeast wind turned the Sanjiang Navy fleet, which was already in danger, from victory to defeat. The Lin family navy used small boats filled with tung oil and ignition materials to take advantage of the wind to Tiannan. The navy launched a counterattack. Since most of the Tiannan navy were transferred from the army and were not familiar with water warfare, the fleets were mostly arranged in dense formations and were unable to disperse in time after being attacked by fire. The navy in charge of commanding the fleet was The panicked officers just put down their boats to escape, resulting in the loss of fighter planes and the burning of more than 20 ships. The Sanjiang Navy took the opportunity to attack fiercely, causing heavy casualties on the Tiannan side. As many as 8,000 people were burned to death or drowned. The team lost most of it.
However, the Sanjiang Lin family's victory in the water battle could not restore the situation in Lujiang. After the Tiannan side suffered a setback in the water offensive, they decisively gave up the water offensive and concentrated their forces with more than three divisions from the north. The land attack on Lujiang Fucheng was extremely fierce. After discovering his mistake at Cuiping Pass, Lin Yunfei was worried that he would not be able to explain it to his father, so he personally boarded Lujiang Fucheng to supervise the battle and did not leave the tower for three consecutive days. However, this was not enough to withstand the Tiannan Army, which had superior military strength. After Tiannan joined forces with the remaining imperial forces in the Lujiang Prefecture’s security forces, the already shaky defense system of Lujiang Prefecture was finally broken. On September 19, after five days, In a day of hard fighting, the 1st and 3rd divisions of the Tiannan First Army captured the Lujiang River almost simultaneously. However, before that, Lin Yunfei had quietly crossed the Lujiang River at night with the help of the naval fleet and the remnants of the two regiments. , broke through the blockade of a small group of Tiannan troops, met up with the Sanjiang army that came to support them in the southeast of Lujiang River, and fled back to Sanjiang in embarrassment.
The battle for Lujiang finally came to an end after half a month of tug-of-war, marked by the fall of Lujiang Fucheng. In this battle, both sides deployed more than 150,000 troops. In the end, only the two divisions of the Lin family in Sanjiang remained. The two regiments fled back to Sanjiang, and the Lang family also suffered losses of more than 40,000 people from two elite divisions. However, the Lang family occupied Lujiang and locked up the main forces of the two Lin family divisions in Hanzhong. In the Hanzhong Basin, it became a lonely army without any foreign aid.
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