Liangzhou.

"With the power of the Tang Dynasty, the Uighurs could not compete with us at all, and in ordinary times, the Uighur nobles could only be captured wherever the king went. However, the current situation is different, and the military and monk strength that the imperial dynasty can use in the northwest is less than 30% of the full battle. ”

At the head of the city, Nangong first looked at the Uighur camp outside the city, and his eyebrows were gloomy.

Li Xian, who was beside him, continued: "If it is only the Uighurs, even if the imperial dynasty can only send 30% of the army, with us, it will be enough to extinguish them." However, now that the Uighurs have the help of the Khitan monks, their strength has increased a lot, and it is indeed difficult for us to defeat them with only the Guiyi army and the 100,000 forbidden army. ”

Speaking of this, Li Xian saw that Nangong No. 1 was still not angry, so he patted him comfortingly on the shoulder.

Nangong's first pair of fists clenched, gritted his teeth and said: "A group of barbarians, it was just a matter of stealing the Western Regions before, but now, they dare to gather troops and horses to invade my Tang territory, is it unbearable!"

After Yangguan was breached, the Guiyi Army and the Chang'an Forbidden Army fought and retreated, almost giving up Shazhou, Guazhou, Ganzhou and other places, and retreated to Liangzhou.

After arriving here, the army stabilized and began to fight the Uighurs with strong fortifications, and now more than thirty days have passed since the fierce fighting, and the Uighurs have not been able to conquer the city.

Nangong turned his head to look at Li Xian for the first time, with an undisguised look of trust and expectation in his eyes.

He said: "If it weren't for the northwest of King Lao'an, I don't know what the battle situation here would look like, my Nangong No. 1 has the ambition to make contributions and become famous for all generations, but I also know that I can only charge into battle, and when it comes to military strategy and the way of soldiers, I can't look at King Lao'an's back." Give me a word, when are we going to counterattack?"

More than a month has passed since the Liangzhou Defensive Battle, and the Uighur offensive is still fierce.

At this time, Nangong No. 1 didn't ask if Liangzhou could hold it, only when he would be able to counterattack and break the enemy.

There is a reason why this is so.

The reason why the Northwest Frontier Army and the Chang'an Forbidden Army lost Sha, Gua, Ganzhou and other places was not the result of the collapse of the war situation and the retreat of Empress Shicang of various departments, but Li Xian's targeted strategy.

As early as after the Yangguan Pass was broken, Li Xian discussed with Li Ye and designated Liangzhou as an important town to defend against the Uighurs. Therefore, the battle has been going on so far, and the Tang army is not so much retreating, but purposefully choosing Liangzhou as the decisive place for the decisive battle against the Uighurs.

Because of this, before the army retreated to Liangzhou, the fortifications of the city were very tightly fortified.

Choosing Liangzhou naturally has its reasons.

One of the most important aspects is that it is backed by Lingzhou.

The Lingzhou border army, which has always been strong, pacified the Anshi Rebellion, Guo Ziyi, Fugu Huaien and others, are all out of the Lingzhou Domain.

At this time, the Shuofang army in Lingzhou naturally cannot be compared with that time, after all, when the imperial court pacified the Anshi Rebellion, the elite of the Shuofang army were all transferred, but even so, the Shuofang army was still the core town of Gongwei Northwest.

The Lingzhou Shuofang Army was adjacent to the Dingyan Army (Xia Suijun) of the Xiazhou Party Members, and when Shangguan Chengcheng led the Wolf Tooth Army and went north to pacify the Party members, Li Ye did not mobilize the Shuofang Army to echo. Its purpose is to let the Shuofang army recuperate and preserve its strength for today's use.

Liangzhou has the support and echo of Lingzhou, and it is indeed not too difficult to stop the Uighur army.

But to counterattack and win, in Li Xian's view, this is still a bit wishful thinking, at least for now.

He said to Nangong in a serious tone: "We defeated the Uighurs, five points depend on ourselves, and five points depend on the results of Li Ye's war in the north. If Li Ye can defeat the Khitan, then the Uighurs will lose strong reinforcements and will not be able to capture Liangzhou, so they will naturally have no will to fight, and then it will be an opportunity for us to counterattack.

"If the plan is good, let alone defeat the Uighurs, even if it is to take advantage of the victory to pursue, enter the Western Regions, completely wipe out the Uighurs from the Western Regions, and rebuild the four towns of Anxi, it will not be a difficult task.

"But if Li Ye can't defeat the Khitans, it may not be difficult to hold Liangzhou and contain the Uighurs with our forces here, but it will be too strong to counterattack and expel the Uighurs from the northwest to the Western Regions. ”

Nangong No. 1 opened his eyes angrily.

But it's just angry eyes, and there is not much emotion.

Having fought the Uighurs in the northwest for so long, how could he not know the contrast between the Uighur power and the power of the Tang Dynasty in the northwest?

What Li Xian said is the truth.

Nangong No. 1 had always had illusions about Li Xian's military strategy, but now after listening to Li Xian's words, he can finally only accept that the victory or defeat of the war is not based on clever schemes, but on real military strength.

After half a ring, Nangong No. 1 looked like a railway: "No matter what the battle situation on the front line of Youyun is, I, Nangong No. 1, will fight in Liangzhou until the last moment!"

"If the Tang Dynasty wins in the north, it will be the glory of the dynasty, and naturally there will be a chance for me to be the first in Nangong to become famous in the world. If the imperial dynasty is defeated in the north and the country is humiliated, how can I, Nangong, be the first Tang person, ask for anything else?

Hearing Nangong No. 1's words, Li Xian was a little stunned.

But soon, a heartfelt smile appeared on his face.

"After fighting for your country for so long, you have finally become a complete imperial warrior!"

.....

Shudi.

In the depths surrounded by mountains, Wang Jian climbed the stairs and walked towards the peak on the straight bluestone slab steps.

The battle under his feet is called Shushan.

Once, there was Shu Gate, one of the five avenues of the Tang Dynasty.

The Five Great Avenues Gate is already a yellow flower of tomorrow, and it can no longer roll up the wind and waves in the world, but the thousand-year-old sect inheritance makes the heritage of Shushan still exist.

Needless to say, as a disciple of Shushan, Lord Lijun showed the unparalleled strength of Shushan by blocking the sword of the Zhuxian Great Array borrowed from the Immortal Court by the Five Great Dao Gates before Fengqi Mountain.

Now, Wang Jian needs to rely on the power of Shushan.

After the defeat of Nanzhao, Wang Jian recognized the situation, retreated decisively, returned to Shuzhong, and relied on the geographical advantages to resist the Nanzhao army. In the past few months, although the war has been very difficult because there are many Khitan monks in the Nanzhao army, the situation can barely hold on.

At least, the Chengdu Plain has not been affected by the war disaster for the time being.

But Wang Jian knew very well that now the imperial court could not give him more support, there were no reinforcements, and there were no monks.

The army that went to fight in Nanzhao did not have the Chang'an Forbidden Army, and it was basically the army of the Shu Domain, and Wang Jian's old department accounted for a large part. Now that the war situation is unfavorable, and it is about to be invaded by the Nanzhao army, Wang Jian relies on his own strength, and can no longer make the victory victory, so he has to find another way.

Li Ye does not give backup, and his requirements for Wang Jian will naturally not be too harsh, and the bottom line is to keep Chengdu.

But Wang Jian, as a prince who had recently surrendered to Li Ye, knew about his family affairs and knew what he needed to do.

The previous prince who took refuge in Li Ye was Li Maozhen.

When Li Maozhen was first sent out to fight by Li Ye, she didn't even have a large army around her, only a group of monks, but she wanted her to open up the situation in Hexi. At that time, the power of the Tubo people in Hexi was extraordinary.

In Wang Jian's view, it was precisely because of Li Maozhen's outstanding performance in the Battle of Hexi that he was able to become the commander of the northern territory, commanding the Chang'an Forbidden Army and the Khitan, the biggest opponent of the Tang Dynasty, to fight on the front line of Youyun.

Since Li Maozhen's situation is like this, even if Wang Jian does not receive Li Ye's assistance, he can't afford to have the slightest resentment. The war against Nanzhao was Li Ye's test for him, and it was also his only chance to prove that he had the qualifications to be prominent in the Tang Dynasty.

In order to defeat the Nanzhao army and be ashamed, Wang Jian must let Shushan help him, with the help of the other party's monks and sect inheritance power.

......

Chang'an, Zhongshu Province, Li Ye put down the military newspaper in his hand and rubbed his eyebrows.

Although Li Zhen was curious, Li Ye didn't talk to him, and he didn't want to ask directly, so he said: "Your Highness, compared with the Uighurs and the Khitans, Nanzhao's military strength is actually the weakest side. The terrain of Nanzhao is complex, and it may not be easy for us to occupy that place, but it is also a fool's dream for them to attack Shuzhong.

"It's just that this time with the help of the Khitan monks, Wang Jiancai suffered a loss, and now he can stabilize it, and it must not be too difficult to hold Chengdu, right?"

What he didn't say was that Wang Jianben was the king of Shu, and he had a good influence in Shu, if he even struggled to defend Shuzhong this time, he must have a second heart and must be dealt with with with thunder.

General Li Ye reported to Li Zhen, "Wang Jian has obtained the support of Shushan. Although there are not many disciples of Shushan Daomen, they are a force that can play a good role in the battle situation in Shuzhong.

After all, Wang Jian was once the king of Shu, and he was able to obtain the support of Shu Mountain, so he was not surprised. From this point of view, Chengdu should be able to be preserved. ”

Li Zhen took the military newspaper and looked at it, his eyes changed several times, and it was uncertain.

Li Ye saw his appearance, he knew what he was thinking, so he smiled and said: "If Wang Jian doesn't borrow the power of Shushan, Lone will be defensive, he goes, it proves that he is above board, and he is not hidden, what is Lone worried about?"

"Although the Five Great Dao Gates no longer exist, they are not extinct, and the inheritance of the Gate is still there.

"Lone really wants them to be used by the dynasty and enhance the strength of my Tang Dynasty, just like he did with Yangzhou Confucianism. But for some reason, they don't necessarily trust Lone. Shushan was able to help Wang Jian, which means that they have succumbed to Lonely, but they have only retained a bit of face. What's not to like about Lone?

"As long as they can become a power of the dynasty and serve the Tang Dynasty, Lone doesn't mind who they use to be born. As long as they are willing to be born, fundamentally speaking, it still shows that Lone is popular, recognized, and supported.

"In the final analysis, Lone is the master of the dynasty, and they serve the dynasty, that is, they serve Lone. ”

After hearing Li Ye's words, Li Zhen got up solemnly, tidied up his robe, and saluted respectfully.

He said from the bottom of his heart: "Your Highness has insight into the world and knows the fundamentals, and this ability is beyond our reach. The world belongs to His Highness, not only is His Highness's power extraordinary, but it is indeed the truth. ”