"Horse, I'm going to leave Chang'an in a few days, so I came to bid you farewell!" In the living room of the Nanshan Annex, Su Dingfang said goodbye to Li Xiu with a spring breeze on his face.

"Has Your Majesty finally decided to send troops?" Li Xiu couldn't help but be surprised when he heard Su Dingfang's words, during this time, for the affairs of the Western Regions, the court was also arguing, originally Li Xiu thought that Li Shimin would need a while to make a decision, but he didn't expect that Su Dingfang was going to resign to himself today, and he knew that he was definitely going to the Western Regions without asking.

"Hehe, the horse guessed well, originally after destroying Goguryeo last time, I thought I was going to live in Chang'an for a few years, but I didn't expect that something happened in the Western Regions again, this time His Majesty ordered General Hou to be the general of the march, and I was the deputy commander to assist him in destroying Gaochang!" Su Dingfang said very excitedly at this time.

The last time Goguryeo was destroyed, Su Dingfang also made a great contribution, so the county prince of Linqing, originally with Su Dingfang's merits, it is not an exaggeration to seal the county duke, but Li Shimin is now very strict with the title, no longer like when the country was first established, he gave people the title of the prince at every turn, and even the titles of the emperor's relatives have been lowered a few levels, plus Li Shimin still wants to Su Dingfang a few more times, if it is sealed too quickly, I am afraid that in the future, I will only face a situation where there is no reward, so Su Dingfang's title will be pressed so low.

According to the practice of the Tang Dynasty, Su Dingfang made such a great contribution, so after returning from Goguryeo, he temporarily stayed at home to recuperate, mainly to let the military general temporarily leave the army, so that he would not be arrogant because of military merits, so as to have any thoughts that should not be had, in fact, it is to temporarily deal with it coldly, and he will be stationed abroad again after a few years, but he didn't expect that this is less than two years, and he will go to the battlefield again.

"Only attack Gaochang?" Li Xiu couldn't help but be stunned when he heard Su Dingfang's words, this crisis in the Western Regions was mainly caused by the Beiting Turks, and Gao Chang could only be regarded as an accomplice at most, so when he heard that Li Shimin ordered Su Dingfang and them to destroy Gao Chang, he couldn't help but be stunned for a moment.

"Yes, Your Majesty summoned me and General Hou into the palace last night, and told us that the goal this time is to destroy Gaochang in a battle, and if the Western Turks dare to rescue, then beat the other party back!" Su Dingfang immediately opened his mouth to explain that these were originally military secrets and should not be told to outsiders, but Li Xiu was an exception.

"I see, I see!" Li Xiu's eyes suddenly lit up when he heard this, and said loudly, with the current situation in the Tang Dynasty, it is indeed not appropriate to tear up the skin with the Western Turks, but the Tang Dynasty has to send troops, so Li Shimin asked Hou Junji to only attack Gaochang, so that the purpose of deterring the Western Turks can also be achieved.

"Huh? What does the colt understand? Su Dingfang was stunned and said, their generals only care about the war, and they don't care much about the complicated relationship between countries, and he is only Hou Junji's deputy, it is estimated that Hou Junji will understand this, but he doesn't know much about it.

"Haha, this matter is complicated......" At that moment, Li Xiu explained the situation in the Western Regions to Su Dingfang in detail, Su Dingfang had been staying in Liaodong before, and he had been staying at home since he came back, and he rarely had contact with outsiders, mainly so as not to arouse the suspicion of others, so he did not have a special understanding of the situation in the Western Regions.

"I see, no wonder His Majesty said yesterday that our main enemy this time is the Turks, so when attacking Gaochang, we must always be on guard against the sneak attack of the Turks." After listening to this, Su Dingfang also nodded thoughtfully.

In fact, Li Shimin's decision to send troops was also very sudden, Su Dingfang was also called into the palace yesterday, only to hear some news from Li Shimin, just because he didn't know much about the situation, so some places are not very clear, today he came to Li Xiu to resign, in fact, there is also a reason to inquire about the news, don't look at Li Xiu is not in the court, but the analysis and understanding of the situation is far beyond that of ordinary ministers.

"It is necessary to guard against the Turks, but in my opinion, the Turks will probably not dare to send troops!" At this time, Li Xiu smiled and spoke again.

"Why is that?" Su Dingfang then asked again.

"It's very simple, although the Northern Court Turks defeated the Southern Court, they did not unify the Western Turks, and the internal is still in a state of division, and they only attacked Yanqi before, in order to test our attitude, if our attitude is tough, they will definitely retract their outstretched hands, and they don't have the courage to fight our army hard!" Li Xiu explained with a smile that although Beiting's Yibi Lu Khan had inflated his self-confidence, he was not stupid enough to fight with Datang at this time, otherwise Jieli would be a lesson for him.

"I see!" Su Dingfang also slapped his thigh when he heard Li Xiu's analysis, although he had heard a lot from Li Shimin and others before, but it was not until now that he understood that they had sent troops this time to kill chickens and make an example of monkeys, and Gao Chang was the chicken to be slaughtered.

"Hehe, it's good to understand, this time you should go to the Western Regions to learn more about the local customs, because I think that with the current situation of the Western Turks, it is very likely that our Datang will have a war with them, and maybe even send troops to destroy the other party in one fell swoop like when they dealt with Jieli!" Li Xiu said to Su Dingfang at this time.

In the original history, one of Su Dingfang's greatest contributions was to defeat the Western Turks, so that he established a great reputation in the Western Regions, and the countries of the Western Regions mentioned the name Su Dingfang, they were also all afraid, it is said that Su Dingfang hit as far as Broken Leaf City, that is, the place where the poet immortal Li Bai was born, which was located near the capital of Kyrgyzstan in later generations, and was also one of the farthest areas controlled by the Tang Dynasty.

Su Dingfang's eyes lit up when he heard Li Xiu's words, now the founding generals of the Tang Dynasty are old and dead, and a few generals like Li Ji and Cheng Yanjin have also risen to the top, and they will not be used easily, and he is still only a county duke, and there is still a great chance of promotion in the future, so he is also ambitious now, and he must leave a title of duke to his children and grandchildren no matter what.

"Thank you for the reminder, the last general has written it down!" Su Dingfang also thanked Li Xiu again, every time he came to Li Xiu, he felt that he had gained a lot, even if Li Xiu casually pointed him a few times, it could make him feel a sense of sudden enlightenment, which was also one of the reasons why he liked to come to Li Xiu.

"Dingfang, don't be polite to me, you attack Gaochang this time, I don't worry about the war, but the environment in the Western Regions is sinister, you also have to be careful!" Li Xiu once again told at this time that Gaochang is also a powerful country in the Western Regions, but it is not enough to see compared with the Tang Dynasty, and Hou Junji and Su Dingfang are both famous generals who are proficient in the use of soldiers, and the two of them join forces, and Gaochang has no chance of surviving at all.

For Li Xiu's advice, Su Dingfang also nodded again and again, and then chatted with Li Xiu about the details of this dispatch, but when mentioning his top boss Hou Junji, Su Dingfang said with some hesitation: "Don Ma, this time I am also the first time to serve as General Hou's deputy, although I have had some conversations with him in the army before, but I heard others say that General Hou is a difficult person to get along with, and even very harsh to his subordinates, I am also worried that there will be any problems with him this time." ”

"Hou Junji is really not easy to get along with, I don't have much contact with him, but General Cheng is very familiar with him, but as far as I know, Hou Junji is very domineering in the army, and his subordinates are not allowed to have different opinions with him, so if you are in the army, it is best not to conflict with him, and you can also go to General Cheng to ask for advice." Li Xiu pointed out to Su Dingfang at the moment that he and Hou Junji did not have much intersection, so there were very few suggestions he could give.

"Okay, then I'll visit General Cheng tonight!" Su Dingfang also nodded at the moment and said, Hou Junji's reputation in the army is not very good, especially among the middle-level generals, many people would rather go to the frontier garrison than work under Hou Junji, so he is so worried.

At that moment, Li Xiu and Su Dingfang talked about some other things, and then Su Dingfang was about to say goodbye and leave, but at this moment, he suddenly hesitated for a moment, and then gritted his teeth and said: "Don Ma, there is something I want to hear your opinion!" ”