In the meeting hall of Wuling Hengbao, a huge sand table was piled up. The mud blocks representing various terrains on the sand table are densely arranged, which is enough to make patients with intensive disease numb to see.

Li Tong had a whim to do such a thing, hoping to show the terrain around Qinghai more intuitively. Originally, he thought that with the rich picture materials that Tang Jun had mastered, coupled with the convenience of being able to conduct field investigations, he would be able to present the flat map in three dimensions.

But when I really started to do it, I realized that it was too difficult, almost impossible task. It took him a few days to personally lead a group of military clerks to read the classics and ask the scouts, and finally came up with such a lump thing, which had no reference at all. Even if it weren't for the hollow in the center of the sand table that represented Qinghai Lake, which was quite eye-catching, no one would have seen that this was actually a map.

The terrain around Qinghai is too complicated, with ravines and countless peaks and ridges, which makes it completely impossible to call the area a geographical focus that can be called a must attack or a must defend.

It is no wonder that before Datang used troops to Qinghai, he did not maintain any steady and steady rhythm of advancing step by step, but fast-forward and fast-moving. It's really not because Xue Rengui, Li Jingxuan and others despise Tibet too much, but because there are really no strategic places worth investing in in the Haidong region.

This place is said to be unsafe to defend, and it is full of ravines and dangers, and it can be called the focus of attack and defense in any place. But because there are so many such places, it can't highlight a strategic priority, like a sieve leaking around.

It is true that the water and grass in Haidong are abundant, after all, it is close to Qinghai as an excellent water source.

However, the land suitable for cultivation and grazing is a small plot of alluvial river water, scattered between many peaks and mountains, and it is very difficult to carry out systematic garrison and cantonment. Compared with the Heyuan Army garrison opposite Chiling, the conditions for reclamation and pastoral warfare were simply one heaven and one underground. Compared with Longyou, it can be said that it is a tasteless and regrettable place to abandon.

Therefore, when the Tibetans occupied this territory before, they did not develop it systematically, and only used it as a garrison base to harass the Heyuan army garrison at the eastern foot of Chiling.

Except for some areas that are still open to the pastures of the army, such as Weichichuan and Kubahai, the rest of the places are left to the Hu people to scatter, and they regularly extort goods to replenish military funds.

Therefore, when the Tang army entered this realm, they did not hesitate to abandon this place, led the army to retreat, and did not entangle here for a long time.

After all, the purpose of occupying this place was to intrude on Heyuan, and now that the Heyuan army has directly entered the Qinghai area, it is natural to lure the enemy deep and gather superior forces, so that it will be easier to defeat the enemy in one fell swoop.

Of course, it is not that this realm is completely worthless, in the last ten days alone, the Tang army has swept more than 10,000 Hu people between the peaks, mountains, rivers and valleys in the region. It can be seen that for the Hu people living in the homeland of Tuyuhun, Haidong is still one of the few livable places.

However, for those Zahu tribes, who were already weak and not enough to occupy larger tracts of land, the Tang army sat on the entire Longyou, and the Heyuan army alone cultivated more than 5,000 hectares of land and collected more than 5 million yuan a year.

If a cross-border attack over the mountains and mountains is carried out, what will be gained is only such a chicken rib land, and after the front line is advanced, the offensive and defensive situation is far less convenient than that of the Chiling front line, and it can be said that the gains outweigh the losses.

It is no wonder that Hei Zhi Changzhi will worry that His Royal Highness King Yong will violate the previous plan and make the army advance, to be honest, Li Tong did feel a little bored after initially learning about the geographical situation in Haidong, and wanted to continue to advance to expand the results of the battle.

However, he also understood that the contest with Tibet was a long-term strategy, and when the opportunity had been lost, it was still not possible to rush into the pursuit of temporary success. Even Qinling, the great enemy who is now sitting in Qinghai, is just an early boss on this front.

Although the occupation of the Haidong region was not enough to turn the tide of the war between the two sides, it was always a step forward.

Recently, as the news of the Tang army's entry into Qinghai gradually spread in the Haidong region, Hu chieftains who were active in the region took the initiative to come to meet them, thanked the Tang army for saving them from the oppression and exploitation of Tibet, and repeatedly expressed their willingness to follow the Tang army to withdraw to Longyou and attach it to the Tang Dynasty.

Although these Hu tribes were very weak, the largest was no more than 1,000 people, and when the Tubo army stationed in Chiling evacuated Haidong, they raided their cattle and horses, leaving the Tang army only with the old, weak, sick and disabled.

The surrender of these Hu tribes did not increase much in strength except for providing the Tang army with some more detailed regional geography, but at least it also showed that the Tubo rule around Qinghai was indeed unpopular, although the value of this popular heart was not great.

Li Tong did not agree to the requests attached to these Hu people, one is not credible, and the other is that there is no need for the Tang army to fund them.

Your cattle and sheep have supported Tubo, and your life is unsustainable, so you ran to the Tang army camp to bow and cry and say a few respectful words, just to get rations to survive in the Tang army, there is no such cheap thing!

Of course, he did not let these people fend for themselves, but roughly divided these scattered tribes into thousands of tents, and handed them over to Murong Kang, who was forming the Tuyuhun Restoration Army, to temporarily lead them, and placed these populations near Weichichuan, and temporarily set up a Qinghai Prefecture Guardian Supervision.

After conducting a preliminary survey of the Haidong area, the Tang army's first location for building a city was also chosen, that is, the Yinglong City built by Geshuhan on Longju Island in the middle of Qinghai Lake after Geshuhan recovered Shibao City, and now it is temporarily named Hailong City.

Because Qinghai is surrounded by mountains on all sides, and there are many tidal flats in the western part of the sea, even if a city is built in the lake, it is not enough to directly threaten the city of Fuqi in the western part of the sea. However, setting up a city in the lake is conducive to the construction of Fengbao along the Haidong line, no matter which place the Tubo attack, you can directly increase the troops from Hailong City, so that it can also echo the Chiling side and support each other.

At the same time, building a city in Qinghai Lake is also conducive to the development of Qinghai's natural resources, especially some fishing and hunting harvests, in addition to solving some military needs on the spot, selling into Longyou is also of great value. There are also a large number of seabird feathers, if woven into feather brocade, it can definitely cause a coaxing in the two capitals.

As for why the Tibetans didn't build a city in the lake, the reason is also very simple, they don't know how to build ships. If you don't have skilled ship technology and experience in building a city, if you want to wade into the water to build a city in the lake, the cost of investment is absolutely too large for Tibet to bear.

On the right side of Longyou, there are no large-scale relevant talents at the moment, but Qinghai does not have to be in a hurry to build the city. In any case, since it has entered the Haidong region, it is necessary to fight with Tubo to say anything, and only after a battle can the Tang army gain a firm foothold in Haidong and make a later plan.

So at the moment, Li Tong only ordered to organize the Hu people in Qinghai Prefecture to work around Haidong and collect all kinds of materials for building the city.

The natural resources around Qinghai are still quite abundant, and there are countless timbers such as spruce and juniper, and Li Tong is quite hot to see. In areas like Guannai and Heluo, which have been fully developed, Dafang wood has become extremely scarce, and Chang'an City can make large timber worth thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars, which is simply more flooded than soil and stone between the mountains and mountains of Haidong.

It's a pity that the geographical conditions around Qinghai are really bad, and although these timbers are overflowing, they can only be cut down and applied on the spot, and they cannot be transported at all.

With the expansion of the Tang Army's activities in the Haidong region, the army on the east side of Chiling on the back road also entered the Qinghai area through Chiling in a steady stream. From mid-April to early May, the Tang army gathered at the western foot of Chiling and in the Haidong area had reached more than 30,000 troops.

Moreover, the forward troops of the Tang Army have arrived at Wang Xiaojie Mizha. Yes, although Wang Xiaojie is not in Qinghai, Qinghai has always had his legend, after all, this is a legend of almost miracles in Tibet.

During the Yifeng period, Li Jingxuan led the army to attack Qinghai, although Wang Xiaojie was only the deputy commander of the march, but due to well-known reasons, the Tubo army in Qinghai still called the baggage camp built by the Tang army at that time Wang Xiaojie Mizha, and the Tang army also followed this use and retained this name.

Wang Xiaojie Mizha is located between Kubahai and Dafeichuan, is a relatively flat basin, there are mountain peaks on the left and right, easy to defend and difficult to attack. After the Tang army advanced here, it began to set up camps in a step-by-step manner, and continuously transported the material resources of the rear road to this place.

Hei Zhi Chang's relatives supervised the formation in the front camp, and after arriving at Wang Xiaojie Mizha, the strategic goal of the first phase of the Tang Army was initially achieved. Ninety miles further on, there is the Moliyi at the eastern end of Dafeichuan, and the terrain gradually becomes open, which is conducive to the spread and siege of the Tibetan army. Once the Tang army continues to advance, the main battle may break out at any time.

Of course, even if the Tang army is stagnant, it is very likely that the Tibetan army will be pressed down. However, since Wang Xiaojie Mizha can be used as a heavy place for the army, the topography is of course more favorable to the Tang army's combat mode.

One of the purposes of the Tang army's pause and heavy cargo was also to lure the Tibetans to take the initiative to attack. If the Tibetans did not come, then the Tang army would continue to stay in Wang Xiaojie Mizha and digest the Haidong region more carefully, making it a more complete autumn army base.

Just when the Tang army was still repairing Wang Xiaojie's various defenses, the Tang army's outward exploration also sent back the latest news, thousands of Tubo men and horses gathered at Moliyi, but did not continue to advance, its main force turned to the Yellow River Jiuqu land.

Hei Fang Changzhi knew that Qin Ling was a difficult opponent, and he did not expect to force the opponent helpless with his own advance rhythm alone.

But after learning this news, he was still quite surprised by Qin Ling's boldness, and he didn't dare to specialize, so he hurriedly reported the news to His Royal Highness King Yong, who was sitting in the back road, and asked for instructions on how to respond to Qin Ling's move.

Li Tong, who was sitting in Wuling Hengbao and was still worried about the muddy sand table, couldn't help but be stunned when he heard the news, and then said to himself: "This guy is crazy? ”

Regarding whether Qin Ling would enter the land of Kou Jiuqu, in fact, he had discussed it with Hei Zhi Changzhi and other generals before, and basically thought that Qin Ling would not do this.

The Jiuqu of the Yellow River is still nominally owned by the Tang Dynasty, but in fact its land is occupied by a group of Hu Bu who are accustomed to eating tea and rice at two houses. Comparatively speaking, the Tibetans had a greater influence there. After all, the Tang Dynasty has been repeatedly defeated in Qinghai in the past few decades, and the prestige accumulated in the early years has long been gone.

However, it is not easy for Tubo to directly control the land of Jiuqu, one is too far away, and the other is between the Qinghai region and Jiuqu, which Tubo focuses on, and there is such a strong army as the Heyuan Army.

Once the Tubo troops actually occupied the land of Jiuqu, if they were resisted by the local Hu tribe, this gave the Heyuan army the opportunity to leave Qinghai and cut off their back roads. Moreover, Qinling has to take into account the disputes in the country in recent years, and cannot concentrate on plotting to annex the land of Jiuqu.

Although Tubo also attracted some vassals in the land of Jiuqu by virtue of its strength, the effect was not good. For example, the Dangxiang Qiang Seal Department that had just been exterminated by Li Tong fled from the Jiuqu Land a few years ago, which shows that Qinling really has no talent for engaging in mass relations.

Previously, the Heyuan army was still east of Chiling, and Tubo could not send troops to occupy the land of Jiuqu. Now that the Tang army has crossed the border again, the garrison Haidong, Qinling can't even confront the Tang army for a long time, and there is still the strength to go to the land of Jiuqu?

So this must be just a bluff, forcing the Tang army to take the initiative to save the land of Jiuqu. The cultivation and grazing conditions of the Yellow River Jiuqu are far better than those of Haidong, and it is more convenient to enter and exit Longyou.

During the period of Zhongzong and Ruizong in history, Tubo gradually occupied the Jiuqu of the Yellow River, which caused great military pressure on Longyou. This problem was not solved until the later period of Tianbao, when the Tang army fought several major battles in succession and repelled the Tibetan forces to the west of Jishi Mountain.

But this situation did not last long, after the outbreak of the Anshi Rebellion, Tubo made a comeback, and it was from the land of Jiuqu to Longyou that cut off the Hexi Corridor.

In view of this, although the main force of the Tang army approached Qinghai from Chiling, Li Tong did not neglect the prevention and control of the land of Jiuqu, and sent Xue Ne and Fumeng Lingqing to garrison Taozhou, just to prevent Tubo from attacking from Jiuqu.

Therefore, Li Tong subconsciously felt that he didn't have to pay attention to Qinling's action at all. Don't say that this guy is just bluffing, even if he really uses troops in the land of nine songs, he doesn't have to care at all.

Although he already had such an idea, because he was facing an opponent like Qin Ling, Li Tong did not make a rash decision.

Such a possibility has been discussed with the generals before, if you really don't have to care about it at all, Hei Zhi Changzhi doesn't have to report so solemnly at this time and ask Li Tong to decide how to deal with it.

So Li Tong didn't make a decision immediately, but sat on the desk and pondered, and after a while, his face gradually became serious and realized the problem.

He naturally knew that Qin Ling was just bluffing, and it was impossible for him to really send troops to the land of nine songs, but the problem was that they didn't know about those Hu tribes in the land of nine songs! In other words, the game between the Tang army and the Tibetan army is beyond their understanding.

Previously, because of the balance of the Heyuan army, the Tubo army stationed in Qinghai did not dare to easily go south to the land of Jiuqu, and those Hu troops were also happy to maintain a certain degree of autonomy and independence between the two countries.

But now, the Tang army took the initiative to send troops to Qinghai, but it was settled in Haidong and did not seek a decisive battle with Tibet. On the contrary, the Tibetans had the spare strength to invade the land of Jiuqu, which in the eyes of those indigenous Hu tribes, it was natural to distinguish between the strong and the weak, and to make judgments from the high, and they would think that the Tang army in Haidong was not the opponent of the Tibetans at all.

With such a understanding, in order to survive, they may really be requisitioned by Tubo and help Tubo attack the Tang army!

In other words, it was by virtue of his invincible prestige and the relatively conservative tactical steps of the Tang army that Qin Ling achieved the goal of integrating the Hu tribes in the land of Jiuqu.

It is indeed a bluff at the moment, but if those Hu tribes in the Land of Nine Songs can't withstand this pressure and choose to join the Tubo camp, then it will really be powerful.

Once such a situation occurs, even if the Tang army occupies the land of Haidong, the land of Jiuqu completely falls to Tibet. Moreover, after Qinling got the surrender of those Hu tribes in the land of Jiuqu, his momentum became even stronger, and then he launched an attack on Haidong, then it was really worrying about the outcome of the victory.

"What a nuisance!"

After realizing this, Li Tong couldn't help but have a headache, not because he felt that Qinling was scheming, but because he was a little irritated by those Hu Bu who rode the wall in the Land of Nine Songs.

"Tell Yan Guogong, regather the game and advance to Mo Liyi, but you don't have to really start a war with the enemy. The thief retreats and I advance, and the thief comes and I go! ”

Qinling's use of these tactics was nothing more than to force the Tang army to penetrate deeper into the Qinghai region and fight a decisive battle in the terrain favorable to Tibet. In this case, you might as well shake him and send the elite of Youyi to make the illusion of attacking Mo Liyi, so that Qinling will gradually increase his troops to Dafeichuan, and there will be no time for other care.

But it was impossible for the Tang army to enter Dafeichuan to fight a decisive battle with Tubo, and not only because this place was unlucky.

"As for the land of Jiuqu, there is no need to worry about the front, I will handle it properly after I think of it, and I will never let Jiuqu Zhuhu interfere with the war in Haidong."

After giving the front line a reassurance, Li Tong then began to think about how to deal with the problem of the Land of Nine Songs.

He killed the fine seal that escaped from the land of nine songs, which will definitely cause a lot of negative impact in the land of nine songs, after all, the fine seal department is an exemplary existence in recent years.

It may be that Qin Ling also learned about what he had done from some channels, so he had the intention of intimidating and coercing Jiuqu Zhuhu for his use. However, on the battlefield, Li Tong may not be Qin Ling's opponent, but in the application of elements outside the battlefield, especially in terms of coercion and temptation, Qin Ling may not be able to beat Li Tong. replaced his father Lu Dongzan, and Li Tong would be truly jealous.

After a little silence, Li Tong ordered again: "Tell Shancheng that Zhang Ren is willing to come to see him immediately." Inform Xue Ne of Taozhou, gather troops to strictly guard the borders, and prepare for war in Lintao. ”

For Jiuqu Zhuhu, Li Tong has a very good impression.

But now that the war is imminent, he still decided to seek stability, and first let Zhang Ren be willing to negotiate with Jiuqu Zhuhu in the name of Xihe Xingshe, if he can win over some of them, of course, it is the best. But if those Hu Bu still have a wait-and-see heart and want to sit on the ground and raise the price, then fuck it!

On the Qinghai side, the Tang Army adopted a relatively conservative strategy. But for the Hus of the Land of Nine Songs, there is nothing to be afraid of.

Qinling was nothing more than the ferocity of his words, but Li Tong really dared to send troops. It's a big deal to postpone the inheritance tax of those Hu chieftains in Longyou for a few days, and first pull those two or five boys of Xihe Xingshe to the land of Jiuqu for a walk.

At present, the main force of Tubo is attracted by the Tang army around Qinghai and is powerless to interfere in the situation of Jiuqu. And those Hu people of the Xihe Xingshe have just carved up the inheritance of the fine sealing department, and they are almost spending lavishly, and they need to find a few new goals.

The fine seal department is from Jiuqu Zhuhu, and under the taste of eating marrow, can the strong people of the Hu Department of the Xihe Xingshe withstand the temptation of those fat sheep in the Yellow River Jiuqu?

Let Zhang Ren be willing to go to the Yellow River Jiuqu first, contact a few leading parties, and then send those Hu pawns of the Xihe Xingshe out to disturb the situation in the Yellow River Jiuqu. With Xue Ne's army sitting in Lintao, he was not worried that the riots in the land of Jiuqu would spread to Longyou.

Once there was chaos in the land of Jiuqu, it would be much more difficult for Qinling to recruit a group of Hu pawns to fight for it.

Zhuhu is afraid of power but not morality, if the Tang army is just holding back in Haidong, no matter how good the envoy is, I am afraid it will not be able to stop Jiuqu Zhuhu from taking refuge in Tibet.

But now, the Tang army not only confronted Tubo in Haidong, but also directly sent troops to attack those disrespectful Hu tribes in the land of Jiuqu, and they were frightened, but they did not dare to rashly intervene in the battle between the two great powers.

Even if there is a grudge against the Tang army and defects to Tubo to retaliate, it will inevitably not be too much, and it is not enough to make Qinling's strength increase substantially.

Once the idea of requisitioning aid in the local area in the short term failed, and the Tibetan state was too busy with the war in the Western Regions to look eastward, Qinling could either obediently retreat to Haixi and fight again, or he could only attack the battlefield chosen by the Tang army.

Li Tong may not have the ability to fight on the battlefield, but he will try his best to create an environment for the front-line soldiers to be able to devote themselves to the battle without distractions.