"Everyone, the Tang army locked up the camp. I sent someone to send a letter of war, but there was no response. What do you think the Tang army had planned?" Tong Eshe asked.
"Haha, Tang Jun must be afraid of us."
"That is, the Tang Dynasty only has 100,000 cavalry. How dare they go out to fight with us?"
Many leaders felt that Datang was afraid, and they all said proudly.
"You are too happy too early. The Tang army went deep into the grassland and supplies were very difficult. If they were afraid of our army, they should have retreated early when they learned that our army was coming. Why do you still stay here?" Batu
said.
Ashina Sheer looked at Batu in surprise, not expecting that Batu would have such knowledge.
"Yes, the Tang army is encumbered by infantry. If it does not plan to fight with our army, it should retreat early. Now the Tang army has no possibility of retreat. The Tang people are best at using tactics. The Tang army must have some conspiracy when doing this." Ashina She
And said.
"What do you think the Tang army's conspiracy is?" Tong Eshe asked.
"Did King Youxian forget the Tang army's repeated crossbows? The Tang army deliberately closed the camp tightly, probably waiting for our army to attack." Ashina Sheer said.
Tong'eshe nodded and said, "Then how should we respond?"
Ashina Sheer said nothing and looked at Batu.
"The Tang Army's supply line is too long. We can send troops to go around it, cut off the Tang Army's food route, and force the Tang Army to fight our army in a decisive battle," Batu said.
“Great idea!”
Tong'eshe looked around and said, "Who is willing to lead the troops to cut off the Tang army's food route?"
"I'll go." Batu said.
…
"General Manager, it has been more than eight days since the last delivery of food and grass. If the food and grass are not delivered again, the army may run out of food," the quartermaster said.
An army of more than 200,000 people eats horses and chews, and consumes a lot of food and grass every day.
The army has enough food and grass to last half a month, and a batch of food and grass is delivered every five days.
But now eight days have passed since the last food delivery. The food and grass have not been delivered yet, and the army only has enough food and grass for seven days.
"I understand, this news must be sealed. If it is leaked at all, you are the only one to ask!" Li Daozong said.
The quartermaster said with a sad face: "General manager, there are so many people responsible for managing and guarding the food and grass. If the food never comes, people will definitely be panicked, and we can't hide it at all."
Li Daozong pondered for a while and said, "I will find a solution for this matter. You can go back first."
"yes."
After sending away the quartermaster, Li Daozong asked someone to call Lin Xuan over.
"See the Chief Steward." Lin Xuan bowed.
"It has been more than eight days since the last food delivery. The Turks probably sent troops to cut off our army's food route. The remaining food and grass in the army is only enough for seven or eight days. Are you ready?" Li Daozong asked.
"General Manager, I can take action at any time, but if we take action now, the cavalrymen who are going to cut off our army's food supply route will definitely run away after getting the news, so we cannot kill them all." Lin Xuan said.
Li Daozong was stunned and asked: "Do you want to kill all these 200,000 Turkic cavalry?"
He felt that Lin Xuan was a little too whimsical.
Even if there is an inside line in the Western Turkic Army, it can only cause chaos in the army and create opportunities for the Tang Dynasty.
The enemies will definitely flee in all directions by then, how can they be captured in one fell swoop?
"That's right, even if we can't kill all the 200,000 Western Turks' cavalry in one fell swoop, it's almost enough. The premise is that the cavalry that cut off our army's food and grass can go back." Lin Xuan said.
"What can you do?" Li Daozong asked.
"General Manager, I can't say the specific method, but I can issue a military order!" Lin Xuan said.
"You must know that military orders are not issued casually. Once you fail to do so, even if you are the consort, I will not show mercy." Li Daozong looked at Lin Xuan with burning eyes.
"I know, I am willing to issue a military order. If it fails, I am willing to be subject to military law!" Lin Xuan said affirmatively.
"Okay, I will trust you once, but I will give you three days at most. No matter what happens, I can't delay it any longer," Li Daozong said.
The army still had enough food and fodder for about seven days. Although it would be possible to save a little more, Li Daozong did not dare to do so.
Once this is done, the problem of insufficient food and grass will be exposed, and the morale of the army will be chaotic.
Therefore, he could only wait for three more days at most. Regardless of victory or defeat, he would have enough food and grass left to cope with the situation.
"Thank you, Chief Manager, for your trust. It will last for three days. If the cavalry doesn't come back, they will be doomed," Lin Xuan said.
"If there is no food and grass for a long time, rumors will spread in the army. Let your soldiers and horses disguise themselves and send some 'food and grass' over." Li Daozong said.
"yes!"
…
At ten o'clock in the evening, a large number of civilians and cavalry appeared outside the military camp, transporting carts of grain and grass into the military camp.
Naturally, such a big movement could not be hidden from Tong'eshe, who had been sending people to keep an eye on the Tang army's camp.
After Tong'eshe received the news, he quickly sent someone to contact Batu.
After receiving the news, Batu led his troops back to the camp the next day.
"I wonder why King Youxian suddenly called me back?" Batu said with some displeasure.
He led his troops to destroy the army of the Tang Dynasty that had been transporting grain and grass in the past few days, seized a large amount of grain and grass, and also arrested many civilians.
While waiting for the next team from the Tang Dynasty to transport grain and grass, he received news that Tong'eshe asked him to come back.
"Why was there food and grass delivered to the Tang army's camp yesterday?" Tong'eshe asked.
"What? This is impossible!" Batu said in disbelief.
He has already intercepted a team and sent a large number of spies. Unless the team transporting food and grass from Tang Dynasty can fly, it will be impossible to transport food and grass there.
"Impossible?" Tong'eshe sneered, "The spies I sent saw it with my own eyes."
Batu frowned slightly. He had sent spies all the way from Datang to the Tang Army's camp. There was no reason why food could still be transported to the Tang Army's camp.
Even if we take a detour, it won't be that fast.
"I know, it must be that the Tang army is short of food. In order to appease the soldiers, the Tang army generals used a deceitful trick." Batu guessed.
Tong'eshe said with some doubt: "Is this true?"
"Is it really enough to send someone to check around the Tang Army's camp? If it was really shipped from somewhere else, there will definitely be traces." Batu said.
Tong'eshe quickly sent someone to check.
Two hours later, the investigators came back to report, but found no traces.
"It seems that it was really Tang Jun himself who disguised himself." Tong'eshe said.
"If the Tang army does this, it is obvious that there is not much food and grass in the army. The Tang army will either fight us decisively or retreat quietly. We must keep an eye on the Tang army in the next few days." Batu said.
"I will naturally arrange for someone to keep an eye on this. Since the decisive battle is not far away, you don't need to cut off the food road." Tong'eshe said.
If Batu continues to intercept the grain road, then he and Yuanqi's people will need to deal with Datang's attack. By then, only their strength will be damaged, and he is naturally unwilling to do so.