===========

After the grand departure ceremony, Yang Xi led his generals to lead the army to set off.

Because Wang Sili, Gao Fucheng, Chen Huiguang, Hao Tingyu, Li Baoyu and other generals had already started the march a year ago, they did not participate in this expedition ceremony; Gao Shi, Pang Zhong, Liu Guangting, Fugu Huaien, and Hun Shizhi, Hun Xuan's father and son, and the men and horses they led set out from Chang'an with Yang Xi. Because of the prestige of Mu Hun Ying and Fu Gu Huai'en in history, Yang Xi was the vanguard under the marshal's account and the former army commander.

Whether it is Fugu Huaien or Hun Xuan, Yang Xi believes that the performance of these two people will not disappoint him. Historical celebrities must have their merits, this is Yang Xi's identification, such a person, no matter when and under whom, will have outstanding performance.

The army that set out from Chang'an this time was about 80,000 people, a large number, and carried a large amount of heavy grain and grass, and transported tens of thousands of grenades, explosives, and powerful general's artillery and other firearms with the army. Although the bronze artillery has been developed, but it is not convenient to carry, this expedition, Yang Xi still brought a large number of convenient and easy-to-bring "mighty general cannons", ready to be used when attacking the castle of the Tubo people. Because of the large number of firearms in the army, they were afraid of abnormal situations under the bumps, and their marching speed was very slow, and they only walked thirty or forty miles a day.

Although Yang Xi understood and accepted the slowness of the march, he was still helpless because of the slow speed of the march, it was too slow, and if there was a sudden military situation ahead, it would be difficult to react in time and rush to help. Not to mention that the communication between them is all dependent on people, even if the marching army is attacked by the enemy, it will be difficult for the men and horses that stretch for nearly a hundred miles to react quickly, which worries him very much.

It was the same whether it was on the march or in the middle of the war, and the rapid mobility and coordination of various branches of the military in later generations could not appear at all in this era, and even the timely supply of grain and grass could not necessarily be guaranteed. The amount of food needed by 180,000 horses is an astronomical amount. The number of civilian workers requisitioned by the imperial court in this campaign was far more than that of the army, several times that of the military personnel, and the two armies requisitioned nearly one million civilian workers. The way to use it is to carry it on your shoulders and push it with a small car. You want them to keep up with the cavalry, almost daydreaming.

It is also unrealistic to feed the people in Qinghai and Anxi, because there are only a few people in these lands, and even if they rob all their cattle and livestock, they may not be able to meet the needs of hundreds of thousands of troops, everything needs to be transported from the rear, and it is very difficult for the whole army to move quickly.

Rapid assaults can only be carried out at certain times and under certain circumstances. And it's still partial.

There are many things that I can't think of more than I actually encountered, just like things in the army, I actually led the army. Only then did I find that there were more aspects in the army that needed to be improved. Yang Xi was not in charge of the military department, but he knew that after An Lushan's rebellion was quelled, the reform of the army under the auspices of Guo Ziyi was underway, but that was mainly in terms of the town army system. Leading the army again, he found out. There are so many things in the army that need to be improved that he is worried. These changes are constrained by the level of development of the productive forces, and many of them are powerless and unable to do so. However, Yang Xi hopes that through his efforts, many changes will come ahead of schedule. At least the combat power of the Tang Dynasty army should be raised to the point where the surrounding countries and tribes are afraid.

After the end of this campaign, he had to meddle more in the affairs of the army, both in public and private.

In addition to the mobility and war support that worried Yang Xi, there was also the huge number of Tibetan troops.

Although he expressed his contempt for the Tubo people in front of Li Longji and Yang Guozhong, Yang Xi knew very well that the Tubo army was not a muddy person, and their garrison in Qinghai reached about 200,000, which was more than the Tang army he led. Even if the Tang army was equipped with a large number of firearms, it would not be easy to achieve an overwhelming advantage in battle. You must know that the war will be carried out in the Qinghai area at an altitude of more than 3,000 meters, and the Tubo people will be easier to adapt to the high-altitude terrain in the Qinghai area than the Tang army-

After departing from Chang'an, the army marched for about a month and a half, and arrived in Lanzhou at the end of February.

The men and horses of the headquarters led by Yang Xi were the last to arrive in Lanzhou, and the other generals arrived in Lanzhou at least half a month earlier than him. In addition to people and horses, most of the materials have also been hoarded in Lanzhou, and follow-up materials are still being transported. The situation was better than expected, which made Yang Xi breathe a sigh of relief.

Lanzhou status is very important, is the only way to the western regions of the mainland, the city wall is built very tall, because of its strategic position is important, the scale of the city is very large, when there is war in the northwest, Lanzhou often as a storage and transit station for soldiers and strategic materials, this time is also the same, all the materials transported in advance are piled up in Lanzhou, and then the officials of Lanzhou are responsible for sending military supplies to various places. The materials transported to Anxi also transited in this place, and Lanzhou at this time became a super large warehouse, heavily guarded, and the place where the materials were stacked was heavily guarded, and the idle people could not approach.

In addition to the care and transfer of supplies, they also had to welcome and settle the troops passing through Lanzhou, and after the war went on, they were also responsible for receiving prisoners and booty, and they were also responsible for the care and transfer of materials.

Now that the war is about to start, it is still two large-scale wars, and the officials in the Lanzhou area have already been busy in the dark. They couldn't keep busy at all, and the imperial court had already sent officials from the Ministry of Households, the Ministry of Industry, and the Ministry of Military Affairs to Lanzhou a year ago to assist in handling affairs.

The soldiers who had traveled more than 1,000 miles were tired and urgently needed to rest, but the leading generals could still rest, and how to fight the next battle was something that had to be discussed. After Yang Xi led his army to Lanzhou, he immediately summoned all his senior generals to discuss the military situation.

Among the generals who went on the expedition, Yang Xi was the youngest, but because of his outstanding performance in the counterinsurgency campaign, there were not many generals who disagreed with him, mainly those who had never worked with him and had not seen him accuse men and horses to victory.

Yang Xi is not worried about this, he believes that his next performance will convince everyone.

"Ladies and gentlemen, our Xikaidao army has arrived in Lanzhou, and the Tubo people also know that our army will enter Qinghai, they have already reacted and retreated from the defense line, today we will discuss how to arrange next!" Yang Xi looked around at the generals in the tent and said loudly: "How to arrange my army next, this commander still wants to hear your opinions!" If you have any opinions, please feel free to let us know!"

During this time, Yang Xi had already found all the Tubo materials he could come into contact with, and he was good at researching.

In the thirteenth year of Tianbao, the end of the Eastern Zebu and Lang Maise, who served as the great treatise of Tubo, were in rebellion, and Tubo Zampu Chide Zuzan was killed, and then the Tu rebellion was quelled, and Chide Zuzan's son Chisong Detsen inherited the throne of Tubo Zampu. Tri Song Detsen's great talent quickly quelled the after-effects of the civil strife, and after stabilizing the domestic situation, he immediately adopted a posture of external expansion. In the fifteenth year of Tianbao, Trisong Dezan learned that the Tang Dynasty court had transferred a large number of troops from Anxi and Longyou to the interior to quell the turmoil, and the defense of the west and northwest was empty, so he took the opportunity to send troops to occupy a large area of the Tang Dynasty.

Ren Dalun's ability to still settle interest is very good, and Xiaolun Dazha Lugong is also a good talent.

The two most capable people in Tibet were in Qinghai at the moment, and they made strict precautions and prepared to meet the advancing Tang army.

According to the current situation in Yang Xi's grasp, Shang Jiexi led the army to defend the capital of the original Tuyuhun and ambushed it, and Dazha Lugong and the other two generals Candle Fan and Mang Er sat in the southeast, east, and north of Qinghai respectively, preparing to rely on the strong castle to resist the attack of the Tang army.

The Tubo men and horses who originally rushed forward have all retreated, and now the strength of the Tubo people is almost a retracted fist, and they are ready to hit their fists fiercely when the Tang army attacks.

After listening to Yang Xi's briefing, Wang Sili first stood up and expressed his opinion: "Marshal, the last general thinks that the sky in Qinghai is still very cold, the pasture grass has not sprouted, the Tubo people have shrunk the defense line and defended according to the castle, and our army has come from afar, extremely tired, the last general feels that he should fully rest for a period of time, and when the Tubo people are relaxed, he will attack again!"

Wang Sili's opinion immediately aroused the opposition of Fugu Huaien.

"Marshal, the last general does not agree with General Wang's suggestion, and the last general thinks that he should take advantage of the cold weather in Qinghai to attack as soon as possible!" He said very loudly: "Marshal, the last general thinks that the weather in Qinghai is cold, and the supplies of the Tubo people cannot be replenished very sufficiently, and the winter is the time when the old Chinese medicine doctors are tired and hungry and the combat strength is at their lowest. Therefore, the minister felt that he should attack immediately!"

Hun Shizhi also immediately stood up and expressed his opinion, and he also supported Fugu Huaien's idea: "Marshal, the last general also thinks that we should raise a large army as soon as possible to take the initiative to attack the Tubo people. Compared with the Tubo people, our army has a sufficient supply of materials, whether it is weapons or war horses and forage, it is very sufficient, compared with our army has more advantages than the Tubo people. If the spring grass sprouts in the warm weather, our army's war horses will have forage, the war horses of the Tubo people will also have forage, their cattle and sheep will also have food, and they will grow fat and give birth to babies, so that the material situation of the Tubo people will be improved to a certain extent, not to mention that the materials they transport from Luo Some City can also be sent to Qinghai! Our army is rested, and the Tibetans will also rest well, if the two armies only formally clash at that time, our army's first opportunity will be lost, and it will be very unfavorable! Therefore, the last general also thinks that the Tubo people should be attacked as soon as possible!"

Then the generals stood up one after another and expressed their opinions, but mainly on these two opinions, some suggested that they should rest first and wait for the weather to be warmer before attacking, and some proposed that they should immediately attack the Tibetans. Now the majority of those who are attacking immediately are opposed, and only a few people are opposed, such as Wang Sili, Gao Fucheng, and Chen Huiguang.

Yang Xi, who already had an idea, saw that the generals' opinions were like this, and immediately announced his order: "Most of you think that you should attack the Tubo people immediately, and this commander also thinks so. Ben Shuai decided to launch an attack on the Tubo people as soon as possible, and the following is announced Ben Shuai's order......"