"Generals, don't be impatient, the reason why I made such a decision is of course not a whim, nor is it because I am worried that I will not be able to take Taihe City. In fact, with the current situation, it is only a matter of time before our army takes Taihe City. Although Ge Luofeng may gather the remnants of his troops and hold on, he only has four or five thousand soldiers and horses to defend the city at most, and he is not our opponent at all. Wang Yuan said in a deep voice.

"In this case, why didn't the deputy marshal seize this great opportunity to take Taihe City? Isn't this the ultimate goal of our crusade against Nanzhao? Song Jiangong frowned.

Wang Yuan smiled slightly and said, "General Song, I want to ask, what is the reason for my Tang Dynasty's crusade against Nanzhao?" ”

Song Jiangong said: "Nanzhao betrayed my Tang Dynasty, attacked my Yaozhou, killed my officials, and my Jiannan Army was ordered to levy, which is to punish Nanzhao's retrograde behavior and make them pay the price." ”

Wang Yuan nodded and said: "That's right, let Nanzhao pay for what he did, this is the reason why we crusade against them." We have come to teach them, not to destroy them. But you must understand one thing, the land of Cangshan and Erhai in the southwest of the Tang Dynasty has been occupied by the barbarians of Nanzhao since the Sui Dynasty, and they are the masters here. We can break in and teach them lessons, but we can't occupy it. Think about it, how we should defend this place after we take Taihe City. ”

The generals frowned and pondered.

Wang Yuan continued: "Along the way, you should know that it is extremely difficult for the Tang Dynasty to rule this barbaric land. Imagine that we take Taihe City and then occupy it. Ge Luofeng, his barbarian soldiers, horses, and civilians will retreat into the mountains and forests, and we will not be able to completely exterminate them. After that, we had to travel thousands of miles through the mountains and valleys to supply food and grass here and ensure the garrison here. But then Ge Luofeng will sit back and watch? He would constantly attack these supplies halfway. We have to work ten times more energy to maintain the rule of the Tang Dynasty here, is it worth it? Have you ever thought about it? ”

Everyone finally understood the point of Wang Yuan's words, they really didn't think about it so far, and they really didn't think about what would happen after taking Taihe City. Thinking about the situation described by Wang Yuan, after occupying Taihe City and driving the barbarians into the mountains and forests, except for the city, the Jiannan army may not be able to move an inch. With the means of the barbarians, the various unexpected attacks that have been endured along the way are unbelievable, and if the garrison is maintained by sending supplies from Yaozhou here, it will be a very energy-consuming and dangerous task. If the garrison has no food and grass supplies, it will be trapped and die here.

Song Jiangong pondered: "It's not that I haven't thought about what the deputy marshal said, but isn't it precisely the countermeasures that the imperial court has implemented in consideration of the establishment of the Imperial Palace's detention state in the marginal places? ”

Wang Yuan nodded and said: "That's right, the establishment of the Imperial Court is a countermeasure, but the core point of the establishment of the Detention Prefecture is to let my Tang Dynasty govern remote places with the cooperation of local forces." In other words, only by using local forces as assistance can we ensure long-term peace and stability here. Of course, we can take Taihe City, but that means nothing to long-term peace and stability. In the current situation, Ge Luofeng is at the end of his rope, as long as we can give him a glimmer of hope, he has only one way, and that is to cooperate with us. Ge Luofeng is the lord of Nanzhao, he is the master, and we are just excluded outsiders. Therefore, if you want to ensure the stability of the southwest, it is meaningless to force Ge Luo Fenggou to jump over the wall in a hurry, and cooperation is a smart approach. ”

Song Jiangong suddenly said: "What does the deputy marshal mean...... Let Ge Luofeng cooperate with us, let him still manage this place for us, and we just need to hold Ge Luofeng. ”

Wang Yuan nodded and said: "This is called using barbarians to rule barbarians, which is much better than falling into the quagmire of barbarian constant attacks after we take Taihe City for a while." As you all know, if you take Taihe and destroy Nanzhao, Nanzhao will belong to my Jiannan Dao. In other words, this big trouble will be on your back. Which of you would like to be stationed here? Worried about the harassment of the barbarians every day, he was trapped in the city every day. Worried about poisoned arrows shooting at your neck every day? ”

The generals looked at each other, and no one dared to pat their chests and say that they were stationed here, if the military rations were insufficient, if the barbarians mixed into the city to sabotage, then they would be in deep danger every day, and they would be very troubled.

Song Jiangong sighed and said: "In this way, what the deputy marshal said is a smart approach. But will the court allow us to do that? We can obviously destroy Nanzhao, and the imperial court is afraid that we will be included in the territory of the Tang Dynasty. ”

Wang Yuan smiled and said: "I don't know what the imperial court thinks, but I know what Zuo Xiang thinks, before coming to Jiannan, Zuo Xiang told me." This crusade against Nanzhao can be regarded as having achieved its goal as long as the small country of Nanzhao can bow to our Datang again. The left minister gave me the right to negotiate peace with the Nanzhao state, and I think the attitude of the left minister should represent the attitude of the imperial court. So, in the current situation, I think it's time for me to exercise this right. Not only for the sake of the imperial court, but also for the sake of me, Jiannandao and everyone here. I don't want to defeat Nanzhao and then trap you in this, and even lose your lives unconsciously. ”

Song Jiangong smacked his lips and said: "I see, the attitude of the left minister naturally represents the attitude of the imperial court. But the humble job always feels unwilling, and it can be achieved overnight, but it has to be abruptly stopped. Then Ge Luo Feng must think that we are not capable of taking Taihe City. ”

Wang Yuan laughed and said, "Are you a fool when you are Ge Luofeng?" He doesn't have any other thoughts now, and if he can keep his status in the Nanzhao Kingdom, he will be touching to us. I dare assert that in less than three days he will send someone to sue for peace. Our ruthless asking price is, in short, to achieve a condition that is extremely favorable to our Datang, which is the best result of this army's southern expedition. ”

The generals who could figure it out nodded one after another, and those who couldn't figure it out were still frowning, and their faces were full of unwillingness. Of course, Wang Yuan knew what they were thinking, so he smiled and said, "I know that some of you don't understand my decision, but this is the overall situation, you may be very proficient in brave combat, but you may not be able to see the overall situation clearly. I'm not attacking you, in fact, the situation is not as optimistic as you imagined, and it is not so simple to take Taihe City. ”

Wang Yuan stretched out his hand to uncover the sand table on the case, and the sculpture on the sand table was a three-dimensional topographic map of Taihe City and even the area of Yangheba City, and Wang Yuan pointed to the sand table to speak.

"Generals, please see, this is the terrain of Taihe City, although it is only dozens of miles away from Yanghe Bacheng, but the terrain is not as flat and open as Yanghe Bacheng. Taihe City is a long and narrow terrain from north to south, with a length of more than ten miles from north to south. On the east side is the middle and peak of Cangshan Mountain, and between the west side and the sheep and the city is the vast Erhai Lake. We can't attack on either side. At the north and south ends are two strong passes, Longshou Pass and Longwei Pass. The peak on the eastern side was unsurmountable, so it could not be the direction of the attack. The smoke and waves of the Erhai Sea on the west side are vast, and our army has no ships, and it is impossible to attack from the Erhai Sea, so the rest can only attack from the two passes of the dragon's head and the dragon's tail on the land route. ”

Everyone's eyes stared at the terrain of the sand table, and the terrain of the guards of Taihe City in the north and south of the mountains and rivers for a long time, even if they watched it on the small sand table, they were also amazed. The location of Nanzhao's capital was clearly carefully considered.

"It's not advisable to go around for hundreds of miles to attack the Dragon Tail Pass, and the only way to attack is to attack the Dragon Head Pass. While we can build the Divine Cannon again, the Divine Cannon is of limited use in Taihe City. The reason why the Shenwei Cannon of Yanghe Baa City is because we take advantage of its long and narrow terrain from north to south, and the Shenwei Cannon can cover most of the area of Yangji Baa City, so it is very powerful. However, it is also long and narrow from north to south, and we can only attack Taihe City from the north, and the Shenwei cannon can only cover a distance of hundreds of steps in the city, and it cannot cause damage to the streets in the center of the city at all. Therefore, the role of the Shenwei cannon is extremely limited. ”

The generals nodded like garlic, and the deputy marshal's analysis was also a question that everyone thought of.

"However, we can only rely on the superiority of our forces to forcibly attack the city. But the moat of Longshou Pass is a wide water surface in the corner of Erhai Lake, which is not enough. The city wall of Longshouguan is built according to the mountain, more than three zhang high, and there are dozens of arrow towers. The terrain in front of the pass is narrow, and although our army has a large number of people, it will be congested when all the sieges are launched, and it will not be able to be used at all. Of course, we will be able to take it in the end, but then there will be very heavy casualties, which I would never want to see. Why bother to pay great casualties for the sake of a city, but in exchange for the danger of being mired in the quagmire? It's just not worth it. ”

The generals took a deep breath, and made up the picture of the congestion siege and the merciless shooting and slaughter of the arrow tower in their minds, thinking about the heavy casualties in the capture of the Dragon Head Pass, and it may even be more tragic than the battle of the sheep and the city.

"There is also a problem that is also very difficult, we have only two days of food and grass left, and we have to wait for supplies. It takes at least three or four days to replenish the grain and grass. It's already mid-March. The deadline for the imperial court is that the battle against Nanzhao will end at the end of March, and if it is dragged to the end of March and has not captured Longshou Pass, will it not attract the punishment of the imperial court? If you attack desperately and don't talk about strategic planning, you will be taken advantage of by the brutes. The soldiers' lives were a joke, and I would never want to do it without any order. What I've said isn't enough to explain my reluctance to take Taihe City, so I have nothing to say. ”

The generals were silent, and the deputy marshal's explanation was indeed very clear, and the reasons were analyzed from the overall situation and the actual operation. In this way, attacking Taihe City is indeed a thankless idea.