In Li Junxian's special guard, the staff officers of the headquarters are constantly deducing, and the people in the logistics department are also thinking about the seizures and various materials, and everyone is busy. And the most idle is Li Junxian, the general, who has already handed over everything to his subordinate departments, and he only needs to make a decision at a critical time.

"General Li, now our Tang Xie's army can't capture anything." Liao Jian, the head of the logistics department, said.

Li Junxian hurriedly looked at the report of the logistics seizure and thought to himself.

"Now, we are anxious about all the people in the departmental units above the regimental level, we have to hold a meeting!" Li Junxian said.

The meeting began quickly.

"I just saw the report from the logistics department, which shows that we haven't seized anything else in the past few days, do you know what this is about?" Li Junxian asked.

At this time, Mulan took the initiative to speak: "General Li, according to the intelligence of the reconnaissance battalion, the reconnaissance battalion has not found any tribes recently, and the nearby tribes have been swept away. The reconnaissance battalion did not find a new horde, so we had no new targets. ”

"So what do you think is the reason for this?" Li Junxian asked.

And Mulan immediately flipped through the report document below and said, "The reason for this should be that the Turks have been constantly retreating to the north, so we can't find the tribe." And our current march speed is very slow, we are constantly exterminating the tribes, and there is not much substantive march, so our speed is not fast. And those tribes are all on horseback, and our infantry can't keep up. So those tribes ran away, and our Tang Xiejun army and cavalry did not dare to pursue. ”

"You say, what are the purpose of their Turkic retreat to the north?" Li Junxian asked.

Yang Wu, the commander of the firearms regiment, first said: "General Li, I think they are in order to be able to evade our clearance and sweep, so they have run to the north in order to avoid us. ”

But Li Junxian shook his head. Say, "Is there anyone else who thinks otherwise?" ”

But Mulan said: "General Li, in fact, I don't think it's that simple, I think the Turks are dying shrinking their forces. The Turks should now be trying to concentrate their forces and then have a decisive battle with our Tang Dynasty. They want to decide the winner in one battle, so that they can solve the threat of our Datang at once. ”

"But aren't they quenching their thirst with a donkey? Even if they defeat our Datang army of hundreds of thousands, they will lose a lot! When the time comes, our Datang will be able to recover in just over ten years, but they will not be able to recover in more than fifty years. So even if they win, it's very dangerous, because once it's twenty years later. We are still the technology to launch another Northern Expedition, and they will be in danger. Su Dingfang said.

And Mulan also said: "Actually, they just drink to quench their thirst and drink it." For if they do not defeat us, they will perish at once. They must defeat us, or they will not be able to win. Even if you pay the price of drinking to quench your thirst now, you have to pay it. This is like a person who is destined to die, do you think he will choose to die early or later? ”

And everyone began to talk about it, obviously relieved, they thought that the Turks were poor in donkey skills. Because this time Datang is not very risky. Because even if this battle fails, it can wait for another northern expedition in twenty years, so that the Turks can be exterminated. Therefore, the pressure of this war was completely thrown on the Turks. I don't have too much pressure on myself. However, Li Junxian's face became a little gray.

"You're wrong, we're more stressed this time! We can only succeed in this war. Can't afford to fail! Li Junxian said.

"What? Pressure? Why are we more stressed? ”

This was the idea of the officers on the spot, because the population and economic strength of the Tang Dynasty was much stronger than that of the Turks, so even if they went on a northern expedition here twenty years later, it would not be a problem. However, Li Junxian said that Tang Jun was under more pressure. This one is a bit unusual.

"We can only blame the success of this war, not the defeat, because we don't have the war that was twenty years later. Twenty years from now, we may not be able to wage a war of this magnitude. Li Junxian said.

"Why?" Everyone was surprised.

Li Junxian said: "You only look at the problem from a military point of view, but if you look at it from a political point of view, your conclusion is very problematic." Although, in theory, twenty years later, the military, population, and wealth will be restored, but you have neglected the hearts and minds of the people. Even if our Northern Expedition fails this time, it will at most return to the peaceful times of the past. At that time, we will not be able to attack the Turks, and the Turks will not be able to invade the south. However, once twenty years later, the world was at peace, and the people did not want to fight. It is an indisputable fact that the combat effectiveness of the armed forces will be greatly reduced because of a long period of peace. Those veterans in troubled times are gradually aging and retiring, and the combat effectiveness of the army will usher in a period of decline. At that time, the people were tired of war because they were accustomed to living a stable life. Although we have war bonds, the common people are not able to obtain really huge profits, because most of the benefits are taken away by the royal family, and the common people can only receive interest. At that time, the people will not necessarily pay for the cost of the expedition for the sake of interest, but will be tired of war. The army's combat effectiveness is also declining, and it is not necessarily an opponent for the Turks to survive in the harsh environment. At that time, we will not be able to go on a northern expedition at all, so we can only return to the original state, and the two sides will face each other at the Great Wall. If the Central Plains were in turmoil, the Turks would take the opportunity to invade south again. At that time, they were much stronger than they are now. ”

"Therefore, this time we must completely destroy the Turks, and if we do not die, we will suffer from them. If we can't establish that we must destroy the Turks this time, we will definitely suffer at that time! This time, we must destroy the Turks! Li Junxian said loudly.

Everyone was silent for a while, and they realized that the destruction of the Turks could not be delayed, and that after twenty years, neither the army nor the people would have the conditions for another large-scale war with the Turks. Twenty years later, although Datang is more suitable for war in all aspects, it is the people's hearts that cancel out countless economic conditions.

"General Li, this time we will destroy the Turks!" Mulan also said first.

"Destroy the Turks!" Everyone answered! (To be continued......)