Chen Qi's battle on the southern front was going very smoothly. This was due to the establishment of the Eastern Tubo Kingdom, which gave him a strong backing to attack Pibo City as a righteous man. All the national policies of the Eastern Tubo Kingdom affected the Tubo people. , so that they no longer fight to the death with all their strength, but maintain a wait-and-see attitude.
However, for Songtsen Gampo in the royal court of Luoxue City, he did not have to worry too much about the war on the southern front. Because he had already dispatched Ma Meng and 80,000 fine cavalry, he felt that with Ma Meng's ability and the combat effectiveness of 80,000 fine cavalry, plus the defenders of Pibo City, it would not be a problem to deal with the Tang Army on the southern front.
Therefore, when receiving news of the urgent 600 troops from the northern front, Songtsen Gampo decisively ordered the mobilization of 200,000 new troops and elite cavalry to Duomi for defense, with the purpose of targeting Su Dingfang's nearly 200,000 troops.
Although, Ma Meng analyzed for him that the Jingqi of the Tang Army on the southern front was the main force of the Tang Army besieging Luoxue City. But Songtsen Gampo also had his own considerations. He thought that when Su Dingfang's 20 troops broke through Duomi, the last line of defense of Luosu City, wouldn't they want to kill Luosu City in one fell swoop? Do we have to wait for the southern front army? In other words, when the southern front army was blocked, wouldn't Su Dingfang change his strategy and let the northern front army act as the main force? Because of this consideration, Songtsan Gampo asked his brother Turan to lead 200,000 new troops to Duomi for defense. Songtsan Gampo never thought that Turan could use 200,000 new army cavalry. With the 200,000 Tang elites blocking Su Dingfang, he just wanted Turan to use the 200,000 troops to delay and buy enough time for Ma Meng, so that he could use all his strength to annihilate the Tang army on the southern front without distraction.
However, what Songtsan Gampo didn't expect was that Turan's army commanding ability was so bad that Su Dingfang defeated the 200,000-strong army with only 30,000 heavy cavalry battalions and 40,000 Turkic elite cavalry, leaving the remaining The fleeing Tubo cavalry below were all captured by Su Dingfang with only 20,000 Tuyuhun Jingqi and 10,000 Youzhou cavalry. Moreover, the general Turan was also captured alive by the Tang army. After being beheaded, his head was sent to Luoxue City.
When Songtsan Gampo of the Tubo Kingdom received Su Dingfang's aggressive letter demanding his surrender and Turan's head, Songtsan Gampo realized that he had made a serious mistake, that is, the Tang Army's northern and southern fronts There is no distinction between priority and priority. Whoever has the ability and opportunity will attack Luoxue City first.
At the same time, he also discovered that he had made a wrong decision, that is, since Ma Meng's analysis was wrong, was it really what he said when he led 80,000 elite cavalry guards to attack the Tang Army on the southern front? How about victory like that? Songtsen Gampo was shocked. For the first time, he began to doubt the combat capabilities of the generals around him.
"Your Majesty, what should we do now?"
The Tibetan minister asked Songtsen Gampo.
Because Su Dingfang's army broke through the Domi defense line, and the area from Domi to Luoche City was a flat area. Although the road was a bit far away, as long as the Tang army was given enough marching time in a few days, they could reach Luoche City.
Therefore, when the Domi defense line was breached by the Tang army and 200,000 new army elite cavalry were killed and captured by the Tang army, the ministers of the Tubo royal court could not sit still. They came to the royal court one after another and took the initiative with Songtsan Gampo. Discuss military situation.
Among them, most of the suggestions were to let Songtsen Gampo prepare to move westward.
Because Tubo originated from the western region of Tubo, and it was only through constant expansion and occupation over the past hundred years that it became the powerful region it is today. The suggestion of most ministers is that Tubo should continue to move westward, return to its old territory and capital, and cede most of its territory to the Tang Dynasty in exchange for peaceful coexistence with the Tang Dynasty.
However, Songtsen Gampo became furious after hearing such a suggestion.
The strength of Tubo today is all due to the management of four generations including him and his father. Now, Songtsan Gampo was unwilling to give up the land accumulated by four generations to the Tang Dynasty. However, there is some truth to what these ministers said. The current Tubo Royal Court only has 20,000 elites and 100,000 new army cavalry. Their combat effectiveness is not comparable to the 200,000 elites of the Tang Army. Furthermore, the battle situation on the southern front is still unclear. If Ma Meng is really annihilated by the Tang army, Luoxue City will be attacked by both the north and the south, and the consequences will be disastrous.
Therefore, even though he was furious and cursed, Songtsen Gampo still did not reject this suggestion.
¡°Then do you think you are ready to start the migration now?¡± Songtsen Gampo asked feebly.
He suddenly felt that he was really tired. He had never been so tired even when he was carrying out reforms in Tubo.
"Your Majesty, it's still too late to move now. If Luoche City is besieged by the Tang army, it will be difficult to move!" A minister advised Songtsen Gampo.
"Then you go prepare!" Songtsen Gampo said lightly, "Where do you think the royal court should be moved?What place is suitable? "
"Your Majesty, our Tubo arose in the area of ??Zedang and Qiongjie in Shannan. The water and grass are suitable for grazing. It is a remote place in the southwest of Tubo. The terrain of Zedang and Qiongjie in Shannan is good, and it is a good place that is easy to defend but difficult to attack. Tang Jun When you see where we have moved, if you want to attack us, you have to think about whether you are familiar with the terrain there." The minister who just spoke continued, "So, the only solution now is to move the royal court to Zedang."
"Well -" Songtsen Gampo said calmly, "Okay, let's do it. You go down and prepare, and start moving to Zedang from now on!"
"Yes -" The ministers breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that Songtsen Gampo finally agreed to move.
In fact, they wanted to move the royal court to Zedang for their own consideration.
Because, as the ministers of Tubo and the nobles of the Tubo Kingdom, their interests are intertwined with the interests of Songtsen Gampo. As long as Songtsen Gampo's interests are harmed, they will not have any good results. Therefore, they would rather give up some things and persuade Songtsen Gampo to move the royal court to Zedang, which was in line with their interests at the time.
Seeing the ministers leaving the main hall of the royal court one after another, Songtsen Gampo angrily smashed a ceramic bowl on the table. He looked at the leaving figures of the ministers menacingly, but in the end he did not say a word. Because he himself knew very well that the Tang Dynasty would never make peace with him when it had an absolute advantage in the war. Besides, the Tang Dynasty had already supported an Eastern Tubo puppet regime. How could they still let their own Tubo kingdom What about existence?
Therefore, Songtsan Gampo could not deny that the suggestions of the ministers were correct. Whether it was public or private, he could not find anything inappropriate in the suggestions of the ministers.
¡°It¡¯s just that Songtsen Gampo was a little unwilling.
How could he be willing to have the family fortune of four generations of the Tubo royal family destroyed in his own hands?
But what can you do if you are not willing to give in?
The current situation is that if you don¡¯t move, the Tang Dynasty will be destroyed.
Therefore, Songtsan Gampo could only choose to compromise.
As the sun set in the west, looking at the western sky, there was only a trace of afterglow left in the beautiful sunset. Songtsen Gampo sighed endlessly. He felt that Tubo today was like the sunset in the sky. It had once been glorious, but because of one wrong move, it was ruined. Reduced to the current situation. Suddenly, he fell into deep self-blame. He found that he regretted what he did. He should not have listened to the advice of Lu Dongzan and Sang Xiong. He should have listened to the advice given to him by the thirteen wizards before they died. However, can we not listen to Lu Dongzan¡¯s advice? Without Lu Dongzan, would Tubo be as powerful as it is today?
Therefore, Songtsen Gampo suddenly thought of a saying in the Central Plains: Xiao He succeeds and Xiao He loses!