Although Lin Xuan didn't know what happened in Goguryeo, he always felt that Goguryeo's sudden sending of troops was related to Yeon Gaesumun.
"General Manager, I think that Goguryeo's troops are not here to help the Tang Dynasty, but rather to aid the Western Turks," Hou Junji said.
Li Daozong nodded and motioned for him to continue.
"Once the Tang Dynasty destroys the Western Turks, it can use troops from the grasslands and Liaodong to attack Goguryeo. Naturally, Goguryeo does not want the Western Turks to perish." Hou Junji said.
Li Daozong nodded and said: "Yes, I think so too. Even if Goguryeo wants to please the Tang Dynasty, it only needs to pretend. Why does it need to send so many troops?"
Everyone looked a little serious. They had just heard that Goguryeo was sending troops, and their first reaction was to come to help the Tang Dynasty. This was because after the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, Goguryeo was too honest.
It is precisely because of this that they ignore the abnormality.
But when Hou Junji and Li Daozong told them the key, they calmed down and knew that things were not that simple.
"General Manager, if Goguryeo really comes to support the Western Turks, then the Western Turks have nearly 600,000 troops. How should we respond?" said a general.
Li Daozong pondered for a while and said: "Retreat first."
He has 200,000 troops and horses, and the Western Turks have more than 500,000. It seems that the disparity between the two sides is not big. After all, there are so many cases in history where the disparity in military strength is several times or even more than ten times and they achieved victory.
But the reason why those battle cases can become classics and be studied and passed down by people is because they are rare and cannot be copied.
In most wars in ancient times, the side with more people had a greater chance of winning.
Don’t those with fewer troops want more troops?
They wanted to, but they didn't, so they could only use less to fight more.
Even so, it is because we have the right time and place to take advantage of.
And where is he now?
The surrounding area is vast and the common water and fire methods cannot be used. Is it possible for him to fight head-on with the opponent?
"retreat?"
Everyone looked at Li Daozong in surprise.
They retreated without even fighting, which hurt morale too much.
Li Daozong did not explain, but looked at Li Chengqian and said: "Your Highness, I plan to retreat to the Mukun tribe first and wait until the situation becomes clear before making a decision."
"Uncle Wang, you are the commander-in-chief. You don't need to ask for instructions on how to make decisions." Li Chengqian said with a smile.
He naturally understood that Li Daozong asked him for instructions because he respected him. If he really tried to point fingers, Li Daozong would not listen to him, and he would naturally not point fingers without knowledge.
Li Chengqian did not point fingers, so Li Daozong was naturally very happy and said in a deep voice: "You go back and reorganize the army, and withdraw the troops after dark tonight."
"Yes!" everyone responded in unison.
They had discussed before that they could question and refute Li Daozong's words, but now that Li Daozong had given the order, they could only obey it.
Although it is summer now, the temperature difference between day and night in the grassland is huge.
After dark, the army braved the cold wind and quietly withdrew.
…
Western Turkic Royal Court
Because the Tang army was approaching the royal court, Yuan Qi had not had a good rest for several days. Seeing that the Tang army had not moved, Yuan Qi finally had a good sleep.
"Great Khan, it's bad, Tang Jun is missing."
Yuan Qi was suddenly woken up while sleeping. He was about to get angry, but he woke up completely after hearing the words behind him.
"The Tang army had hundreds of thousands of troops. How could it suddenly disappear? Didn't I ask you to send more scouts to keep an eye on it?" Yuan Qi looked at Qi Laobaater angrily.
"Great Khan, in order not to be discovered by the Tang Army, the scouts did not dare to get too close. It was dark last night, and when it got daylight, the scouts found that the Tang Army's camp had become empty." Qilaobaat'er said.
"Trash! If you haven't sent someone to search for the whereabouts of the Tang army, I don't believe that 200,000 people can disappear with just such a trace?" Yuan Qi cursed.
"yes!"
"Wait a minute, invite Yi Nan." Yuan Qi said.
Not long after Qilaobaat'er left, Yi Nan came.
Yuan Qi personally welcomed Yi Nan into the tent and said in a panic: "Khan Yi Nan, have you received the news that the Tang army has disappeared?"
Yi Nan was very disdainful when he saw that Yuan Qi had lost his temper because of such a trivial matter, but with a smile on his face, he said: "Don't worry, Khan Yuan Qi. According to the information obtained by the spies I sent, Datang should
It’s time to retreat.”
"Retreat? Why did the Tang Dynasty suddenly retreat?" Yuan Qi was a little surprised.
If the Tang Dynasty united with Xue Yantuo because of the Western Turks, then the Tang army should have withdrawn until this news.
But now that there has been a stalemate for several days without any fighting, Tang Dynasty has just retreated, which makes him a little confused.
"Perhaps the Tang army was unable to do anything and chose to retreat." Yi Nan was also very puzzled by the sudden retreat of the Tang Dynasty.
After thinking about it, I can only think that the Tang army saw them uniting and did not want to lose both sides, so they chose to retreat.
Yuan Qi didn't think much about it. It was a good thing for Tang Dynasty to retreat, and he didn't bother to think about it.
Although Datang withdrew its troops, Yuan Qi and Yi Nan were afraid of Datang's conspiracy, so they sent a large number of spies to search for the whereabouts of the Tang army.
After half a day, it was finally confirmed that the Tang army had really retreated.
Before Yuan Qi had time to be happy, he received news that Goguryeo was sending troops.
No matter how stupid he was, he now understood why Datang suddenly chose to retreat.
…
Three days later, Yuan Gaisuwen led an army of 200,000 people to the Western Turkic royal court.
Yuan Qi and Yi Nan personally welcomed Yeon Gae Su Wen outside the royal court.
Although Goguryeo has always been the target of their bullying, they are here to help them after all, so they must have the proper etiquette.
"I have met two great Khans, Goguryeo Molizhi Yeongaesumun." Yeongaisumun said casually, cupping his hands.
After supporting Gao Pian to inherit the throne, Yuan Gaisuwen asked Gao Pian to confer him the title of Molizhi.
Yi Nan frowned slightly and said, "Who are you, Yuan Taizuo?"
When the Western Turks and Xue Yantuo went to Goguryeo to plunder, Yuan Taizuo led the defense, so he was deeply impressed by Yuan Taizuo.
Yinan naturally understood what Molizhi meant in Goguryeo, and the Molizhi before Goguryeo was Yuan Taizuo.
"The Great Khan is talking about my father. A few days ago, my father was assassinated and has passed away." Yeon Gaesumun said somewhat secretly.
Yuan Qi was not interested in the internal affairs of Goguryeo at all, and said: "Thank you Mo Lizhi for coming to support me. I have already prepared wine and meat to entertain the distinguished guests from afar. Let's go in first and chat while drinking."
Yuan Gaisuwen was not worried about what Yuan Qi and Yi Nan would do to him, so he asked his deputy general to lead the troops to set up camp, and with his own soldiers, he followed Yuan Qi and Yi Nan into the Western Turkic Royal Court.
After arriving at the king's tent and taking a seat, Yuan Qi raised his wine glass and said with a smile: "Come here, honor our distinguished guests from afar!"
"As far as I know, didn't Goguryeo surrender to the Tang Dynasty? Why did Mo Lizhi lead his troops to support us?"
After a glass of wine, Yi Nan asked about the doubts in his heart.