Traveling through Du He, Li Chengqian's rebellion begins

Su Dingfang, the Grand Commander of Liaodong Road, led 3000 elite cavalrymen to conquer Xueyantuo. Now there are only 2000 cavalrymen stationed in Liaodong Road.

Faced with an army of 20 composed of Khitan, Xi, Xun and Mohe, the 2000 cavalry could only retreat to Liaodong City and Anshi City.

Currently, except for more than ten strong cities in Liaodong still in the hands of the Tang Dynasty, most of the cities have been captured by these four vassal states.

After Du He finished reading the military newspaper, his face became extremely serious.

"The visitor is evil!"

The Khitan, Xi, Xun and Mohe were semi-nomadic and semi-agricultural peoples. Although they were not as strong as the Eastern Turks and Goguryeo, they were not too weak either.

Moreover, in the past ten years, except for the Mohe who sent troops to support Goguryeo against the Tang Dynasty, the other three small vassal states were very honest.

How dare they take action at this time?

And the timing is so perfect!

After Li Chengqian and everyone else had finished reading the military report, he spoke in a deep voice.

"My dear ministers, the current situation between the Eastern Turks and the Xueyantuo is good, and the court does not need to worry too much."

"The Khitan, Xi, Xun, and Mohe tribes are coming in full force. Most of the territory of Liaodong Road has already been conquered by them!"

"According to Anzhou Governor Di Zhixun, the armies of these four vassal states are currently heading towards Jincheng Road and Sishui Road!"

After hearing Li Chengqian's words, the expressions of the important officials became more solemn.

Currently, there are not many troops stationed in Liaodong Road, Sishui Road and Jincheng Road. Except for a few large cities, there are only dozens of county soldiers to maintain order in other small cities.

Can't hold it!

It's totally undefendable!

Changsun Wuji said in a deep voice: "We were careless!"

"I originally thought that these four small vassal states would not dare to challenge the might of the Great Tang, so the imperial court relaxed its vigilance against them. I never thought they would actually dare to offend the majesty of heaven!"

"And they were able to raise an army of 20, which was beyond our expectations!"

The others nodded.

In the 644th year of the Zhenguan reign (15), the Tang Dynasty had annihilated Mohe troops, and their vitality was even more seriously damaged than that of the Xueyantuo.

The three vassal states of Khitan, Xi and Xun also had small populations.

No one expected that these four inconspicuous things could form an army of 20. This was something no one had expected.

Fang Xuanling said solemnly, "Your Highness, the most urgent task is to mobilize a large force north to drive these four vassal states out!"

"Once they secure control of the three Liaodong provinces, it will be very difficult for us to seize them back!"

Because the core of the Tang Dynasty's next strategy was to open up the Western Regions, the main military forces were concentrated in the prefectures and counties west of Chang'an.

The three regions of Liaodong were in a state of development, and the imperial court did not take small countries such as the Khitan and Xi seriously, so it did not send too many troops to guard against them.

A few breaths have passed.

Li Jing also stood up and said, "While Liaodong Prefecture, Anshi Prefecture, Baiyan Prefecture, and Pyongyang Prefecture are still in the hands of the imperial court, we must quickly send cavalry north to provide support."

"As long as these strong cities are still in our hands, we will have enough time to mobilize our forces and annihilate this 20-strong army in one fell swoop!"

Immediately afterwards, Gao Shilian, Ma Zhou, Li Daozon and others proposed to send troops as soon as possible.

Hou Junji directly requested a battle: "Your Highness, I am willing to lead the army north!"

"Give me 10 infantry and cavalry, and I will surely destroy the soldiers of these four vassal states!"

Fortunately, the army has not yet gone to the Western Regions to fight, otherwise it would be impossible to mobilize a large army to deal with them.

Li Chengqian did not answer immediately, but turned to look at Du He and asked him.

"Du He, what do you think?"

After hearing Li Chengqian's words, everyone turned their attention to Du He.

Du He stood up and replied, "Your Highness, I also believe that we should send troops to support us immediately."

"However, the three vassal states of Khitan, Xi, and Xun have always been timid. I think there is something fishy about them sending troops at this time."

Is there anything else strange?

The expressions of Li Chengqian and other ministers changed slightly.

Before Li Chengqian could speak to the others, a majestic voice suddenly came from outside the hall.

"Du He is right!"

"It is extremely abnormal for the Khitan, Xi, Xun, and Mohe to send troops at this time!"

It's His Majesty's voice!

Everyone turned their heads, and when they saw His Majesty, with a dignified look on his face, walking in from outside the hall, they all stood up in surprise and saluted.

"See Your Majesty!"

These old ministers seemed to have found their backbone, and their restless hearts became calm.

Li Chengqian hurriedly walked down the imperial platform, walked quickly over to support Li Shimin, and helped him sit down in the main seat.

He sat in the deputy chief's position.

Li Shimin waved to everyone and said calmly.

"All sit down."

After everyone sat down, Li Shimin turned to Du He and asked him.

"Du He, please continue."

In fact, he stayed outside Mingde Hall for a while and listened to what Li Chengqian, Zhangsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling and Li Jing said.

What he didn't expect was that this kid Du He actually noticed something unusual.

"promise!"

Du He responded, then stood up and spoke loudly.

"I believe that the seven nations of Western Turkic, Xueyantuo, Eastern Turkic, Khitan, Xi, Xun, and Mohe have already united!"

"If nothing unexpected happens, Duke Lu will also be besieged by the Western Turkic army!"

what!

Did the Western Turks also use the tactic of fake marriage?

In this case, wouldn’t the armies of Cheng Yaojin, Li Ji, Su Dingfang and others be in danger?

Although these four armies have a total of 13 people, they may not be able to withstand the joint attack of the Eastern Turks, Western Turks and Xueyantuo.

In addition, the Khitan, Xi and Xun tribes are close to the Eastern Turks and Xueyantuo, and it is unknown whether they will mobilize troops to provide support?

"Not bad!"

Li Shimin praised and then spoke in a deep voice.

"We now have to deal not only with the combined forces of the Khitan, Xi, Xun, and Mohe, but also with the timely dispatch of a large army to deal with the Western Turks!"

"As long as we can contain these countries, Li Ji and Su Dingfang will be safe!"

There was a pause.

Li Shimin continued, "Put aside the plan to expand into the Western Regions. Now we must mobilize a large force to annihilate the Khitan, Xi, Xun, Mohe, and Western Turks!"

"Without worries about future troubles, we can focus on developing the Western Regions!"

Everyone stood up and bowed in response.

"I agree!"

It has to be said that Li Shimin was more experienced than Li Chengqian in handling such a crisis.

He saved a lot of unnecessary discussions and gave the ministers clear directions.

Then everyone discussed for another two hours and decided on the generals who would send out the troops and the ultimate goal of the battle.

Li Shimin glanced at everyone with a deep gaze, then stood up with a serious expression and gave an order.

"Everyone, listen!"

When everyone saw that Li Shimin was about to give a battle order, they all straightened up.

"Appoint Minister of Rites Zhang Shigui as the Grand Marshal of the Army, and Right Marquis General Li Ke and Left General Sun Erlang as Deputy Grand Marshals. Immediately assemble 5 infantry and cavalry to support Cheng Yaojin!"

"The purpose of your battle is to annihilate the Western Turks!"