In order to deal with the crisis of Gaochang's 'rebellion', Zhao Tan considered many solutions, in addition to the support of the pro-Song government and economic sanctions mentioned by Zhao Xin, he also thought of using other means to solve the Gaochang problem:

The religious beliefs of the Uighurs of Qocho changed before and after. The Uighurs who migrated westward believed in Manichaeism, and they brought this faith to Gaochang. Gaochang was originally a place where Buddhism flourished, but after the Uighurs moved into the Gaochang area, they gradually converted from Manichaeism to Buddhism. However, Buddhism has never been a means of political intervention from the outside world, and religious belief has made the people of Gaochang more inclined to peace and obedience, which contains many colors of not being forced, not provoking, and going with the flow, and it is difficult to cause disputes among believers of different religions.

Since the psychology of the people is not easy to be used by the outside world, can the national factor be used as a strategic grasp? The answer is also no. The composition of the Gaochang ethnic group is relatively stable, with the Uighurs in the majority, and of course as the territory of the Tang Dynasty, where there are also Han Chinese descendants, but more than 300 years of geographical isolation and cultural differences in the formation of different political governance. Although a portion of the population of Gaochang is clearly Han Chinese, these people do not identify with the Han Chinese lineage more than a sense of glory, many have changed their local names, and their memories of their ancestors are often only word of mouth, and their main channel of knowledge of the present-day Song is no different from that of other Uighurs.

Zhao Ta knows that the real international strategic field is neither an iron-blooded Colosseum, nor a court of right and wrong. Gao Chang's repeated changes in his stance and camp in history correspond to the sentence in modern diplomatic history: "A country has no eternal friends and no eternal enemies, only eternal interests!" ”

Gao Chang did not close himself off. did not tie himself to anyone's chariot, judging from its strategic planning of the left and right. Gaochang's alliance method is indeed full of flexibility, and it is indeed a unique survival experience. But this is also the disadvantage that it does not easily develop into any powerful allies. The biggest problem with being criticized is that there is no discipline; At the same time, it is also used by various countries to constantly provoke disputes, and Gaochang seeks the most favorable result for himself in the swing, and remains undefeated.

Zhao also understands that it is the wind that determines the direction of bamboo, and the wind is a combination of multiple continuous and flexible factors, which is the so-called 'potential' in the Art of War. If Zhao Ta's strategy in the past few years was to maintain as much mutually beneficial cooperation as possible with Gaochang, whether this cooperation is bilateral or within the framework of the Western Regions or even East Asia, Gaochang cannot be used as a peripheral strategic fulcrum. But it can become a growth point for peripheral cooperation.

But now it is different, after several years of looking at the overall situation, seeking momentum, the national strength of the Great Song Dynasty has risen, and its prestige has spread far and wide, and it has completed the layout in the surrounding area while encircling the Jin State. Gao Chang did not see the situation clearly this time, because although the old enemy of Western Liao, who had funded Jin, had not been pursued by the Jin State, he would never forget that the cession of land was probably just a pretense, and taking the opportunity to annex it was the goal. The Western Liao would also be angry about their 'collusion' with the Western Xia and the Great Song to expel their officials. If Song launched an attack, even if he sent troops, he would take the opportunity to bring Gaochang back into his pocket, and would never let him retain his independent identity again.

If you don't die, you won't die, and Gao Chang thinks he is in the heart. All countries need to coax him and provide for him by virtue of its position in connecting the trade between the East and the West, but they do not expect that the three countries have secretly included it in their goal of conquest. In the past, countries did not take action because they were holding each other back. Now I am afraid that if any country makes a move, everyone will flock to carve it up. There's not any scum left.

Destroying the country - the emperor's anger was indeed the change of color of heaven and earth, at the moment when Zhao Ta made up his mind. Gao Changguo's existence entered the countdown, and he summoned Zhao Yong and Gao Chong to Xiangyi to discuss the battle plan. After listening to the intelligence department's introduction to Gao Changguo's hostile situation, and reading the relevant documents, Gao Zhong and the two drew up a preliminary plan.

The two men planned to adopt the tactics of dividing and attacking together, and the troops were divided into two routes: the north road started from Yunnei Prefecture, passed through the Gobi, passed through the southern foot of the Altai Mountains and the northern foot of the eastern Tianshan Mountains, and arrived at the capital of Gaochang Kingdom, which was part of the Uighur road opened up in the middle of the Tang Dynasty. The south road started from Lanzhou, borrowed the Western Xia, passed through Liangzhou to the west, and invaded Gaochang from Guazhou and Shazhou to capture Yizhou. Then, after the two armies combined forces to attack Gaochang City, they went south to capture Yanqi and Qiuci.

This battle plan was to use a total of 60,000 soldiers and horses from the two armies of Chang'an Zhenfu Division and Datong Zhenfu Division, as well as the Shaanxi and Hedong Route Prefecture armies, to strengthen the desert army and one or two light artillery brigades. In addition, it can contact the Mengwu Division, the Wanggu Division, and the Western Xia to cooperate in the battle, with a total strength of 100,000 troops. But the population of Gaochang is only 50,000 or 60,000 people, why did it send so many troops? The battle against Gaochang was a battle for the two of them that counted the potential of Western Liao and Jin. Since it is the last resort, it is impossible to fight a war that is uncertain, and it is impossible to hope that they will not participate in the war by luck, so it is so exciting.

But the two still advised the emperor to slow down the expedition. Now it has entered September, the northwest is already the winter climate of the Central Plains, and the wind and sand on the Gobi are very large, the soldiers and horses of both roads have to pass through the desert, especially the northern route army has to cross thousands of miles of the Gobi Desert, the road is difficult, the supply is difficult, once the loss is huge, the westward expedition will be abandoned halfway. Therefore, they thought that they should start working after March of the following year, and use the time before the start of the war to mobilize and reorganize troops and horses, prepare materials, and contact various departments to coordinate operations.

Zhao Ta was very satisfied with the work of the two of them, and ordered them to formulate a detailed battle plan and deploy troops and materials. Zhao Yong and Gao Chong were very happy, which showed that the emperor was ready to let the two of them lead the army to the west, and this was the first battle to destroy the country since the emperor ascended the throne, if they were victorious, they would definitely go down in history. But at this time, an urgent report came from Jingzhong, and the Jin State suddenly sent troops to Goryeo, and sent troops to attack the Great Song Dynasty's naval base in Goryeo, Mido......

This side has just been preparing to attack Gaochang, and the Jin State has already started, and it seems that the two countries have discussed it, so that the Great Song Dynasty is in a dilemma of fighting on both sides, and it is difficult for things to take care of each other. But Zhao Ta only pondered for a moment before making up his mind, the plan to attack Gaochang remained unchanged, and Gao Zhong presided over the matter; Zhao Yong was in charge of the war on the Goryeo side, and ordered Cheng Xuan, the commander of the naval army, to immediately return to Beijing to participate in military affairs. Then he ordered to see Xi packing up, preparing the carriage and horses, and leaving for Bianjing tomorrow.

The reason why Zhao Ta dared to launch operations in two directions at the same time was not a decision made in a moment of confusion, but a long time of preparation. When he was in the northwest, he faced the threat of Western Xia and Liao, but because of his weak strength and small family business, it was difficult to support the two sides of the war, but he still made an attempt and formed a Kryu army to deal with the threat from the Jurchens from the north.

After coming to power, when Zhao Ta reorganized the forbidden army, he focused on winning two large-scale regional conflicts that occurred almost simultaneously, and its main task and means were to contain aggression and intimidation in a crisis; Carry out small-scale emergency operations, using military intervention, limited strikes, peacekeeping operations, naval blockades, humanitarian relief operations, etc. In order to ensure that the Great Song army can respond quickly and effectively to various crises, protect the interests of the Great Song Dynasty, show the determination of the Great Song Dynasty, and ensure that the Great Song Dynasty occupies the leading position in the military conflicts with neighboring countries.

After years of operation, Zhao Ta gradually expanded the forbidden army, constantly set up special professional forces, vigorously developed the navy and developed new weapons and equipment, rectified military affairs, hoarded materials, and through the construction of roads, dredged rivers, enriched warehouses and other dual-use projects, to ensure that the Great Song army can quickly move throughout the country, sufficient material reserves to ensure the implementation of military operations, advanced weapons can also be the Song army can still ensure the victory of the battle with less troops.

At present, the seven Zhenfu Divisions of the Great Song Dynasty, plus the forbidden army stationed in Beijing and the directly subordinate troops, have 300,000 horse infantry troops; The four battle groups of the navy also have 100,000 troops, more than 100 large main warships, 500 medium-sized warships, and nearly 1,000 small warships and auxiliary ships, dominating the waters around the Great Song Dynasty. The four Marine Brigades, which are composed of five or five units, are capable of completing coastal defense and offensive combat missions, and also possess a certain degree of overseas combat capability. While ensuring that the Song army completes the defense of the country, it also has the ability to deal with two local wars......

"Your Majesty, the timing of the Jurchens' attack on Goryeo this time is very good, which makes us feel that the whip is beyond our reach!" Lonely on the way back to Beijing, Zhao Ta invited the two brothers to return to Beijing in the same car, and the topic was naturally inseparable from the war that had just happened, Gao Zhong took a sip of wine and said.

"Well, this guy is a good fighter, and now that he has power, he naturally has room to play!" Zhao Ta nodded and said, "He did a good job of concealing the troops in Goryeo this time, we didn't hear any rumors beforehand, when the edict of war was issued, the vanguard of the Jin army had already crossed the border, and at this moment, I am afraid that the troops have already arrived in the western capital of Goryeo!" "The news transferred through the Jin Kingdom and the garrison of Goryeo and Shenmi Island reached Zhao Ta, and the fastest had passed three days, and with the combat strength of the Jin army, the Goryeo army could not take advantage of it in the field battle.

"I hate that I couldn't behead him under Yanjing City that day, and I will leave it for trouble!" Zhao Yong drank the wine in the cup and said hatefully, "He knows that we can only communicate with Goryeo by sea, and the news transmission is slow, and even if we want to save Goryeo after we know the news, it will take some time to rectify the troops and send troops, and he has already entered the hinterland to force the king of Goryeo to surrender or occupy the whole territory, resulting in a fait accompli, and we are helpless!" ”

"Therefore, we must also send troops quickly, so that the reinforcements can arrive before the worst outcome, and ensure that the Goryeo Kingdom is not lost, and the lord of the country does not fall into the hands of the Jurchens!" Zhao Ta said...... (To be continued......)