Xue Rengui said: "General Gao, why are we waiting for the people of the Ring Sun Kingdom to fight? My opinion is to take the initiative and the goal is here. ”

As he spoke, he pointed to the map with his hand.

Gao Xianzhi was taken aback when he saw it—Xue Rengui's target turned out to be Qunu City, the capital of the Ring Sun Kingdom!

Gao Xianzhi asked suspiciously, "General Xue, I have two questions, please give me advice." ”

Xue Rengui said, "General Gao, please speak." ”

"The first question is, the population and resources of the Kingdom of the Ring of the Sun are more than those of Tubo, a Tubo, the imperial court has dispatched a million troops, and it is difficult to take it, we only have 300,000 people, how can we fight it?"

Xue Rengui said: "General Gao, these two countries seem to be equally powerful, and even on the surface, the strength of the Jieri Kingdom is even greater than that of Tubo.

Not really. Tibet is a centralized state, he implements the county system, and Songtsen Gampo has a strong control over the whole country.

The Kingdom of Jieri was a federal state, consisting of a central power and vassal states, just like the system of the Zhou Dynasty. The central power had weak control over the various vassal states.

Most of the armies of the Kingdom of the Ring were under the control of the vassal states, except for those directly controlled by the central government, and in the event of war, they were sent by the vassal states.

When fighting, each vassal state has its own ghosts, how much combat effectiveness can such an army have?

As long as the army directly controlled by the King of the Ring of the Sun is quickly defeated, the entire Kingdom of the Ring of the Sun will fall.

In addition, the terrain of Tibet is too complicated, and supplies are very scarce, which makes it difficult for our army to move, and it is impossible to replenish locally. This is also one of the reasons why Tibet is difficult to fight.

The terrain of the Kingdom of Jiesun is relatively flat, which is convenient for the movement of large armies, rich in products, and convenient for large armies to supply on the spot.

In addition, I have conducted an investigation in Qunu City, and I have a certain understanding of the local terrain, people's conditions, and their army, and I am completely sure that I can quickly defeat their army and take Qunu City. ”

Gao Xianzhi nodded and said, "I see. However, I still have another question, we don't have the authorization of the imperial court, will it be a problem to do this? ”

Gao Xianzhi is a famous general of the Tang Dynasty, and he is not afraid of fighting, but he does not have the courage to make decisions without permission. This is also the reason why he has been stranded in northern Tibet and has done nothing.

This can't be blamed on him, he is 39 years old this year, he is old, and he is a veteran of Li Shimin's era. He has never seen the new emperor Li Su, and it is normal to be cautious.

Xue Rengui is different, he is a general promoted by Li Su, and he is also one of the emperor's absolute henchmen, he knows Li Su, as long as the battle is won, there is no need to worry about other problems.

Xue Rengui said: "General Gao, you don't have to worry about this, I know the emperor's thoughts, although you can rest assured, all the responsibility will be borne by me personally." ”

Since the start of the war against Tubo, Gao Xianzhi has been restrained by the army of the Jieri Kingdom, doing nothing, and he has long been holding a fire in his heart, but he has not received clear instructions from the imperial court and does not dare to start a war with the army of the Jieri Kingdom without authorization.

Since Xue Rengui was responsible, Gao Xianzhi naturally had no opinion, he said: "Since General Xue said so, I have no opinion. ”

After research, Xue Rengui and Gao Xianzhi decided to divide their troops into two routes, one led by Xue Rengui, to attack the city of Keze in the southeast. The other route was led by Gao Xianzhi and attacked the Hito Castle to the west.

After each of them completed their goals, they went straight to Qunu City, the capital of the Ring Sun Kingdom.

Gao Xianzhi led an army of 120,000 and set off overnight, and after a four-day march, he came to Ritu City.

The army of the Kingdom of the Ring of the Sun was stationed in two parts, 6,000 people were stationed in the barracks 5 miles south of the city, and 8,000 people were stationed in the city.

After observation, Gao Xianzhi decided to use 30,000 cavalry to attack the military camp outside the city, and 20,000 infantry to attack the enemy troops defending the city.

In order to avoid alarming the enemy forces defending the castle and causing problems in the future project, the order of attack was to attack Nichito Castle first.

The Kingdom of the Ring of the Sun did not expect that the Tang Dynasty would start a war against them, and the defenders of Ritu City did not expect the Tang army to attack, and their defenses were extremely lax.

That night, the soldiers of a squad of the Flying Tiger Army quietly touched Ritu City. They quietly approached the city gate and placed several large explosive packets.

"Boom, boom!" The firelight flashed, and the silence of the plateau in the night was broken by a loud noise, followed by the shouts of tens of thousands of people, which made the plateau noisy.

The enemy troops defending the city have not yet figured out what the situation is, and the Tang army has already stormed the city.

After hearing the explosion in the direction of Ritu City just now, the cavalry of the Tang Army also launched a surprise attack on the enemy forces outside the city.

At dawn, the Tang army annihilated the enemy army, captured nearly 10,000 officers and soldiers of the Mingjie Sun Kingdom, and occupied the city of Ritu.

Gao Xianzhi rested in Ritu Castle for half a day, leaving 5,000 men to garrison Ritu Castle, and he led the army to continue to advance.

After Xue Rengui's army set out, it sent two vanguard troops, each of which was composed of a battalion of the Flying Tiger Army and a cavalry regiment of the 11th Cavalry Division.

The vanguard troops divided into two routes, marching all the way around to cut off the enemy's retreat and prevent leakage of information. The other was to open the way in front of the large army, and was responsible for clearing the enemy scouts and scattered garrisons.

After three days of marching, just as the army was about to reach the city of Koze, it was discovered by a group of enemy scouts. The vanguard of the Tang Dynasty, despite desperate pursuit, still had two enemy scouts run away.

The vanguard of the Tang army, on the one hand, sent people to report to Xue Rengui, and on the other hand, they pursued the enemy scouts reluctantly, preparing to seize the city gate.

The soldiers of the Flying Tiger Army saw the enemy fleeing to the city, and called the police while running, and the enemy guarding the city gate saw the pursuers behind and hurriedly closed the gate.

When the enemy general received the report, he couldn't figure out the situation for a while, and couldn't make a decision, so he personally went to the city to check, and when he saw the Tang army's banner covering the sun, he remembered to send someone to report to Qunucheng, and at the same time inform the troops to go to the city to defend.

After Xue Rengui led the army to arrive, he quickly blocked the water surrounding the city. When the army completed the encirclement, Xue Rengui breathed a sigh of relief.

If the enemy general leads the defenders to break through at the first time, the vanguard of the Tang army will not be able to stop it, and in this way, the strategic intentions of the Tang army will inevitably be exposed.

The generals of the enemy defenders found that the strength of the Tang army was too much, and at this time it was too late to break through. He had to count on the messengers sent out to find reinforcements.

However, soon he received the dismal news that the messengers he sent out were either wiped out by the Tang army, or they could not rush out and ran back.

Xue Rengui arrived at the city and didn't want to waste time here, so he immediately ordered the siege of the city.