It was already September when Li Xuanqing took a boat from Shantou to Hangzhou, then transferred to the canal to Luoyang, and then took the train back to Chang'an, and at this time it had been more than half a month since receiving the news that the northern Huangjia was going south.

However, it is clear that the Tiance Mansion has not achieved anything on the side of the Ministry of Accidents, and for this group of generals who are used to fighting, the questioning of the officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should only be a step before the start of the war. Judging from the principle of territorial defense, the thousand-mile steppe in the north cannot tolerate the emergence of a huge military bloc under any circumstances. Therefore, according to the plan of the General Staff, no matter what the Qiang Clan will do this time, the Tiance Army will attack and completely defeat their main force, and it is best to drive it to the west, so that after the winter, they will have the opportunity to completely exterminate them while sending troops to Anxi.

After Li Xuanqing returned to Chang'an, he didn't say anything more after inquiring about the arrangement of the General Staff, but instead recorded the situation he had checked along the way in detail and passed it to Cen Tianshi, so that he could have a reference when formulating the cabinet plan in the coming year. At the same time, the Cabinet of Ministers was asked to prepare for the establishment of a new department, the Department of Economic Supervision, to supervise, investigate and deal with the economic development plans of the various departments and provinces and autonomous regions, as well as the resulting illegal and criminal phenomena. This is a department similar to that of the National Development and Reform Commission of later generations. However, Li Xuanqing didn't think about the specific functions, so he just explained to Cen Tianshi and asked him to think about it.

The efficiency of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was still very high, and with the participation of Xuan Yingwei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs soon understood the fundamental reason for the large-scale deployment of the Eastern Front. He has always thought that Li Xuanqing was a rebel who usurped the orthodoxy of the Tang Dynasty, and now that the new generation of Khans has ascended the throne, he naturally has to make some achievements to be able to convince the public, so he chose to march into the Central Plains, wanting to run in with his subordinates and achieve the purpose of maintaining his rule through war.

After learning the reason, the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who was also the special envoy of this trip, Wang Shoutian, held a scepter to meet the king of the Khan, argued with reason, and informed the king of the Khan that the Tang Empire had already been supported by all the people, and that the introduction of troops into the Central Plains at this time, as the lord of the border domain, was tantamount to rebellion, and it was impossible to achieve any goal. If the army has been assembled today, if there are any more misdeeds, then a million iron horsemen will rush into the grassland, so that the Huangjiasi will repeat the mistakes of the year in the Khitan.

Wang Shoutian's words were naturally impassioned, but for Huang Jiasi, who was bent on using this to consume the internal resistance forces and reap benefits from the Central Plains by the way, his words had no effect, but instead angered the young steppe hero, if it were not for Huang Jiasi's admiration for the culture of the Han people, Wang Shoutian's life might not be guaranteed. Even so, their party was directly driven out of the royal court.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs failed to send an envoy, but it did not affect the overall situation, but was personally received by Li Xuanqing when Wang Shoutian returned to Chang'an. Now that the majesty of the Han and Tang Dynasties has not yet recovered, the reputation of the Tiance Army is naturally very loud in China, but for the grassland people, it is impossible to achieve anything in diplomacy without completely defeating him. Therefore, Li Xuanqing did not blame the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for its ineffective work, but comforted and encouraged them to make persistent efforts, and when the Tang Dynasty became stronger, it would inevitably be able to replace the role of swords with diplomacy.

After receiving the news from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Chen Fan and Chang'an's Tiance Mansion Base Camp immediately issued an order to fight on the grassland, and the Eastern Front Ge Cunzhou and Gao Siji's corps marched westward from the grassland in the northeast, while the two battalions of the personal guard battalion and the directly subordinate battalion stationed in Fengzhou, plus the attached infantry troops, totaling 150,000 troops, also began to cross the Yinshan Mountains into Mobei, preparing to fight to the death with the Huangjiasi.

According to Xuan Yingwei's intelligence sources, the army of Huang Jia Si was assembled in the ancient Uighur City, and they were basically assembled when Wang Shoutian was driven back, so Chen Fan's army should be the closest combat target to them, and according to the tactical intention of Huang Jiasi, he did not plan to fight against Ge Cunzhou on the Eastern Front, but should have gone all the way south from the north of Fengzhou into the interior, so Chen Fan carried a large number of weapons and equipment on this trip, and the artillery alone brought nearly two hundred guns unprecedentedly, plus the ballistas that have not yet been eliminated, The whole two artillery battalions marched forward with the army, and the logistics department prepared more than 100,000 war horses to carry supplies to advance, and the grassland cavalry battalion that was cruising in the grassland earlier was all dispersed to assist Xuanyingwei in detecting the news of the Hujiasi army, and by the way, collecting grain and grass from various tribes to facilitate the army's advance.

In the past few years, the Tiance army has been busy with the unification of the interior, and there are not too many measures for the grassland, but after the steady stream of goods into the grassland, most of the tribes of the grassland have realized that the rise of the Tang Dynasty has been unstoppable, and the northern expedition of the army has made the large and small tribes along the way frightened.

However, Chen Fan's purpose is obviously not so simple, these tribal alliances are not so much to let them participate in the war, but to let them observe the combat power of the Tiance army at close range, so as to defeat the Huangjia and at the same time deter the grassland tribes, so that the next cabinet can really rule in the grassland. After the unification of the interior, the grassland must also be included in the official territory of the Tang Empire, if these people cannot be deterred, then the grassland is likely to recur at any time. Moreover, after the popularization of muskets in the army, the cabinet and the military have been discussing the prohibition of civilians carrying knives and guns and other weapons, so the armed forces of the steppe tribes will inevitably be disintegrated at that time, so a big war is needed in either side to deter people.

It's just that in this way, Chen Fan's 150,000 army suddenly became 250,000, although these tribal coalition forces are all self-prepared grain and grass weapons, but the pressure on logistics still suddenly increases, Zuo Tiancheng has to use several military warehouses stored on the grassland in advance, otherwise it will not be able to meet the consumption of so many people. It's just that the materials stored in these warehouses were originally used for the cabinet to govern the grassland next year, and now they are used in advance, and they can only place new orders for domestic enterprises again, and then use the road transportation companies of the Murong family and the Yelu family to transport them to the front line to replenish, so by the end of September, large-scale domestic orders have allowed these enterprises to speed up production at full speed again. For the first time, these new wealthy families and aristocrats realized that the war was also a huge business opportunity, so much so that they became a huge driving force in the later march into Anxi.

The logistics department was very busy, and the National Guard to which Yang Yi belonged joined hands with Yang Hu's construction company to divide some personnel, and then asked the cabinet to recruit young people from various tribes in the grassland to start building straight roads along the route of the army's march, and the more than 100,000 tons of cement stored in the cement factory in Fengzhou began to be continuously transported to the north in addition to supplying the railway construction, and with the support of the armies of various ethnic groups who arrived along the way, a straight road was built and went directly to the front line. At the suggestion of Li Xuanqing, the cabinet also sent a large number of officials to choose suitable places to live along the road, and convened various tribes to arrange fixed-point residences. This is tantamount to using this big war to solve the problems in the rear at once. Originally, the tribes of the grassland basically lived a nomadic life of living by water and grass, but it is really not suitable for them to become fixed-point living all of a sudden. Many tribes did not know what the source of their livelihood would be after they settled in the designated area, so the Ministry of Industry and Commerce sent a large number of people to persuade these tribal leaders, telling them that they could do business with merchants along this straight road, and use commercial contacts to promote the development of the grassland economy. At the same time, the experience of grassland livestock captivity began to be promoted, so that the resistance was much smaller. With settlements, towns will naturally be formed, and with towns, the Tang Dynasty can truly rule in the grasslands.

However, this matter still needs time to run in, although a lot of housing facilities have been built for the grassland tribes for free, but the basic ones who are willing to accept settled life are the more serious tribes of Sinicization, and the rest are still unwilling. However, the cabinet was not reluctant this time, but only announced that future livestock fairs would be held in various towns, which was equivalent to providing a stable trading platform for all ethnic groups, and also saved Han merchants from a lot of trouble in and out of the grassland.

With the support of the people, the cabinet's actions in the grassland were widely supported, and local business tycoons such as Yelujia and Shatuo, who started in the grassland, proposed to the cabinet that they would be responsible for the construction of these settlements, and that they would not take up the materials used in the current frontline war, and make their own preparations. Yelu Aceh's move made Cen Tianshi elated, and he almost awarded him a grand prize on the spot.

After the implementation of these, the Ministry of Civil Affairs began to send a working group to settle down for all the grassland tribes who are willing to settle down, and issue the household registration certificate of the Tang Empire, which means that this part of the people has officially become the people of the Tang Empire. There has almost never been a dynasty that has been able to formulate a series of effective benefits for ordinary people, so for a time many people did not believe it.

However, the cabinet's move and the construction company's large-scale road repair also made Chen Fan, who was on the front line of the grassland, rush to a hint of urgency that the war was imminent, it was already October, and further forward in fact, the grassland had entered winter, and the logistics department even sent winter clothes in advance, just to prevent the rain and snow brought by the delay of the war.

However, what made Chen Fan feel relieved was that Xuan Yingwei had received the exact news, it had been half a month since the army of the Yellow Warriors set off from the ancient Uighur City, and now it had arrived in the territory of Tatar, and this tribe that was frightened by the heavy cavalry battalion and fled thousands of miles north has now recovered, and according to Xuan Yingwei's news, this time the Tatar is afraid that it will also appear on the battlefield. In this way, the strength of the opponent that Chen Fan needs to face will also increase.

"Marshal Qiqi, the 70,000 people of my Eastern Front army have already crossed Yanran Mountain, and it is expected to arrive within ten days." The messenger's words made Chen Fan make a decision, deciding to wait for the arrival of the army of Huangjia on the border of Tatar, and at the same time summoning Ge Cunzhou to speed up, so that the two armies together would inevitably win the battle.

After choosing the battlefield, Chen Fan made the formation of his army in advance and distributed it to Lu Yi and Li Feixue, as well as Baixin and others who came with him, the Tiance army was in the center of the large array, and when the time came, the Eastern Route Army occupied the hillside of the eastern front and set up the formation, and the western front was handed over to Baixin, so that he could lead the tribal alliance army to be responsible for the flank.

In the following days, the artillery battalion began to arrange artillery positions in advance, and more than 200 artillery pieces were arranged in a zigzag formation and placed on high slopes along the battlefield of engagement, while the accompanying ballista units were arranged in each battalion, and each battalion was responsible for commanding itself, so that Chen Fan's command directly commanded the artillery unit to provide long-range fire support for the attacking troops at any time. In addition, the mechanical crossbow troops that Chen Fan had suggested that Li Xuanqing keep were all brought over by him, and this kind of weapon that can project a large number of lethal crossbow arrows in a short period of time can already fire built-in gunpowder packs after improvement. This is the close-range support weapon that Chen Fan has chosen, with the support of the mechanical crossbow, it is believed that the opponent's cavalry troops will not be able to penetrate the strike defense line composed of rifles and mechanical crossbows, no matter how many they are.

After Chen Fan arranged the complete body formation, the direct battalion and the personal guard battalion put out a formation of two dragons out of the water formation, but then Chen Fan changed it to a half-moon formation, forming a circular offensive, 150,000 troops in addition to the reserve of 30,000 people, the other intermittently formed three lines, so as to ensure that the frontal battlefield can have 40,000 rifles fired at the same time, and the half-moon position can also maximize the firepower projection.

After Lu Yi and Li Feixue arranged these, Ge Cunzhou also led the army to arrive, and at this time, the army of Xuanying had also entered the sight of Xuanyingwei, and the other party had gathered 200,000 soldiers and horses this time, which was almost half of the standing army of the royal court of Huangjiasi, and with the alliance army of Tatar, I was afraid of no less than 300,000 cavalry.

In the face of this competition for supremacy in the grassland, it even determines the decisive battle of the fate of all ethnic groups in the grassland. Chen Fan calmed down instead, and let Ge Cunzhou lead the army into the position to complete the deployment, while Gao Siji's cavalry troops were concentrated and prepared to be used during the assault. At the same time, the materials of the logistics department were also sent to the front line, and after stabilizing all the troops, Chen Fan sent someone to send a letter to the army of Huangjiasi, the content was very simple, the first war decided the rise and fall of a hundred years, and the first war promoted the heroic style of the Han and Tang dynasties.

On the tenth day of October in the second year of the Apocalypse, when most of the grassland had begun to snow, the territory of Tatar was full of wolf smoke, iron hooves, and countless cavalry swarmed from the north. This cold current was like a cold wind coming out of the north, making countless banners of the Tiance Army fly high in the wind.

On this day, Chen Fan sent the latest battle report to the base camp, and the grassland wolf smoke was everywhere, and the big one was about to start.