Tiantang Splendid

Chapter 4807 Strong walls and clear fields
Chisang Yangdun had a face full of grief, trying hard to hold back tears: "Lun Qinling was cunning and insidious. He used his brother Bolun Zanren to attract the defense of Naluyi from the front, while he led the elite troops to bypass Naluyi and cross the Eola Mountain to attack Nuanquanyi. The commander of Nuanquanyi, Mazhu, fought hard but was defeated, and Nuanquanyi fell. Then Lun Qinling advanced northward from the Eola Pass, and attacked from the north and south with his brother. My brother fought hard and died, and died heroically for the country. Naluyi fell and Dafeichuan was lost."

Then he wiped away his tears, and the look of grief was swept away, and he said with emotion: "My brother is a Tubo soldier. It is a supreme honor for him to die on the battlefield for Tubo and the Zanpu. However, he failed to do his duty and caused the loss of Naluyi. No matter how great the honor is, it cannot offset the responsibility. Please punish him for the loss of soldiers and territory!"

Songtsen Gampo: “…”

I have seen shameless people, but it is rare to see someone so shameless.

If I really punish him for his crimes, how will the soldiers who guard the border for the country think of him? Will I still have the prestige of the Zanpu?
You know it's impossible for me to convict Lebujie, but you still say this. Does it make you seem selfless?

Songtsen Gampo pondered in silence, neither saying yes nor no.

Sambuza sat aside, took a look at the Zamp's face, and said, "It is rare that General Trisang Yangton is so selfless and understands the great cause. I agree with his point of view and am willing to write a letter to ask for Lebujie to be punished. After all, the loss of troops and territory is the greatest crime, which has caused the Zamp to fall into unprecedented humiliation. If he is not punished, it will not be enough to enforce military law. Otherwise, if someone sees that something cannot be done and dies randomly to avoid being held accountable, where will the Zamp and Tubo be placed?"

Chisang Yangdun's eyes widened as he stared, wishing he could pounce on this sinister villain and bite him to death.

The reason why he asked the Zanpu to punish Lebujie was a strategy of retreating to advance, but he was sure that the Zanpu would not do that. How would the soldiers in the army view the punishment of a man who died fighting for the country? The Zanpu could not bear the loss of prestige that would result from this.

But now Sambuza’s proposal to punish Lebujie is completely different, because all the negative impacts will be borne by Sambuza, and the Zamp can prevaricate by saying that “military law is so protective but cannot calm the public anger”, and his reputation remains intact.

"Now is not the time to hold Lebujie accountable. Bring me the battle report from the front."

Fortunately, Songtsen Gampo still had some magnanimity. Although he was angry that Lebuje lost troops and territory, which led to the deterioration of the situation, he did not pursue the matter because of his determination to fight to the death. He even waited until the impact of the incident had disappeared after a while, and then took the initiative to give Lebuje some insignificant honors and pensions to win over Trisang Yangdon's heart.

"Yes."

Chisang Yangdun heaved a sigh of relief. With the poisonous snake Sangbuza fanning the flames, he almost made the best of his own wits. He dared not say anything more and quickly presented the battle report from the front, while standing aside to explain it.

Songtsen Gampo remained calm as usual, as if he had foreseen the rebellion of the Gar tribe. He waved his hand and said, "Sit down and talk. Sambuza, pour me a cup of tea."

When Chisang Yangton sat down, Sambuza poured him a cup of tea, placed his hands respectfully in front of him, and made a "please have some" gesture. Chisang Yangton nodded in greeting, picked up the teacup and took a sip.

Seeing that Songtsen Gampo had already started reading the battle report, he picked out the key points and briefly described the battle situation. At the end, he said: "The Gar tribe has greatly increased its strength with the support of the Tang Dynasty. In particular, the battle report said that the Tang Dynasty even gave the Gar tribe some thunder bombs, which Lun Qinling used to blow down the wall of Nuanquanyi, which enabled it to be captured quickly. As a result, Lebujie was ignorant of what happened in Nuanquanyi north of Orla Mountain and made a wrong judgment and took the initiative to attack."

Sambuza lowered his head and drank tea, without making any comment on his statement that he was still pioneering work for Lebuje.

Songtsen Gampo silently flipped through the battle report while listening to Trisang Yangton's narration. After a long time, he put down the battle report, raised his hand and rubbed his brows, and said in a deep voice: "Naluoyi fell, Dafeichuan was lost, and the Orla Pass became a geographical advantage for Lunqinling. Now they only need to control the pass to stop our 100,000 troops. One man can stop ten thousand men. How should we deal with it?"

Chisang Yangdun took out a map from his bosom and unfolded it on the coffee table. The lines on it were simple and the proportions were chaotic, but the situation of the entire "Tang-Tibet Road" could still be clearly seen. He pointed at the location of Eola Mountain with his sturdy fingers and said, "Whether it is Eola Mountain or Nalu Post, the geographical advantages are actually not important, because Qinling has no chance of defending Nalu Post and dividing the land to rule, because the Tang Dynasty does not allow him to do so. He can only prepare his troops and move forward courageously."

The strategy of the Tang Dynasty was not obscure; it could even be said to be an open conspiracy. It was to force the Gar tribe to take the initiative in going to war with Tubo, thereby depleting the strength of both sides and eliminating the chance of recovery and reconciliation, thus ensuring the safety of the Hexi Corridor of the Tang Dynasty.

If Qin Ling wanted to hold the Ela Mountain and rule the country by dividing the mountain, how could the Tang people agree to it?

Sambuza shook his head and sighed, his expression full of regret: "Dongzan Yusong was once a great man, but now he has become a running dog of the Tang people. How sad and lamentable."

Chisang Yangdun remained silent, but in his heart he couldn't help but criticize this man's shamelessness and cold-heartedness.

Although he was physically brave, he was actually a civil servant. He once held the financial and taxation power of Tubo for a period of time. The reason why he chose to be a military general was because he hated the civil servants of Tubo. These people looked decent, and they talked about benevolence and morality, and benefited the people. But in fact, they were hypocritical and shameless, and it was shameful to associate with them.

If you, the civil officials, had not felt that Lu Dongzan had too much power and that the Zamp had too much trust in him, and therefore united to expel Lu Dongzan from the city of Luoshui, how could the situation have come to this?

Now they have forced people to do the opposite and are pretending to be hypocritical. It is really disgusting...

Songtsen Gampo looked at Trisang Yangton and asked, "How do you think we should deal with it?"

Although he trusted Sambuza more and was closer to him in his heart, Chisang Yangton was in charge of Tubo’s military affairs and was an important military official. When it came to war, his opinions had to be consulted and he had to be given enough respect.

Chisang Yangdun straightened his back and said, "Since the Tang Dynasty's plan is to drive the Gar tribe and Tubo into a conflict and then weaken the strength of both sides, we naturally cannot let the Tang Dynasty get what they want. In my opinion, all the post stations, cities, and strongholds on the 'Tang-Tibet Road' should implement the strategy of 'fortifying the walls and clearing the fields', defending without attacking, retreating without giving in, so that Lun Qinling's troops cannot advance directly despite the long expedition, and because they cannot obtain supplies in the captured areas, they can only transport food and fodder from Fuqi City continuously, but where can the Gar tribe have surplus food? So in the end, it is the national strength of the Tang Dynasty that is consumed."

He was very proud of his strategy.

The Tang Dynasty needed to collect grain from Hexi and transport it across the Qilian Mountains to Fuqi City. No matter whether they took the Dadouba Valley and then from Fuqi City through the Dafei River to transport the grain to Nalu Posthouse, or took the Wushaoling Ridge to bypass Shancheng and cross the Dafei River to reach Nalu Posthouse, both routes were difficult to travel. The journey of more than a thousand miles was not suitable for a large group of people and horses to pass. Food for people and horses on the road was a huge consumption. For every ten dou of rice transported to Nalu Posthouse, at least the same amount of grain had to be consumed.

No matter how wealthy the Tang Dynasty was, it was impossible for it to bear such a huge burden so soon after having just experienced an expedition to the east that had mobilized the entire country's strength.

Besides, Lun Qinling would certainly not fight to the death with all his heart and soul. As long as the Tang Dynasty's food and fodder transportation was stretched to the limit, Lun Qinling could take the opportunity to keep his troops in place, and the war would naturally end...

Sambuza's approach was quite unexpected. He did not agree with or question Chisang Yangton's strategy, but asked: "So, Lebujie's strategy of taking the initiative is completely wrong?"

Chisang Yangdun: "..."

The person is already dead, but this matter still can't be resolved?
He was indeed speechless. If he said that Lebujie was right, then his strategy of "fortifying the city and clearing the countryside" was bullshit. But if he said that his strategy was fine, then Lebujie was totally wrong...

Songtsen Gampo was very annoyed. He ignored the two people who were fighting openly and secretly, and looked at the snow-capped mountains in the distance from the open window. The superiors always have to deal with subordinates fighting for power and scheming, and then they have to tirelessly balance various forces, ease various relationships, and strive to achieve a balance at all levels.

But he was really impatient to do such things. A person's energy is limited. If he spent all day dealing with these trivial matters, how could he have the energy to lead the development of Tubo, and how could he have the determination to compete with the unparalleled powerful empire under the plateau?

I wonder if the Tang emperor in Chang'an is facing the same troubled situation as him...

*****
When the report of the battle of Naluyi arrived in Chang'an, the court did not make much of a fuss. First, Naluyi was too far away and the report was delayed. It had been more than a month since the battle ended, so how could there be any sense of urgency? Second, the battle between the Gar tribe and Tubo was decided by Pei Xingjian in Wuwei, so the court should not make comments.

The Tang army only transported food, fodder and military equipment and did not directly participate, so this level of strategy could be completely delegated to Pei Xingjian. If the officials in the court were to ask about everything and get involved in everything, even how the cavalry maneuvers and how the infantry are deployed have to be operated from a distance, that would be ridiculous.

The Tang Dynasty never had such a rule. Even Emperor Taizong, who was unrivaled in both military and literary skills, granted the maximum authority to the generals who led the army outside, let alone Li Chengqian who was not familiar with military affairs...

However, during a meeting of the "Committee" of the Ministry of War, a group of bigwigs who were drinking tea still discussed the war.

Especially Fang Jun's strategy of constantly provoking regional wars, prompting local forces to fight endlessly, and allowing the Tang Dynasty to reap the benefits...

Li Ji drank tea, looked at Fang Jun and asked, "Do you intend to let the Gar tribe fight for show, or do you really support them to fight to the city of Lhasa?"

Fang Jun smiled and said, "How can we let him reach Luoshui? Lu Dongzan has a very high prestige in Tubo. Even though those tribes now follow Songtsen Gampo's lead, once the Gar tribe's army is at the gates of the city, there will be countless people who are secretly colluding with Lu Dongzan. If Lu Dongzan really breaks into Luoshui and takes the throne of Tubo's Zamp, that would be troublesome. Although Songtsen Gampo was a great leader, he had limited strategies. Moreover, in order to balance the tribes under his command, he could only adopt the strategy of developing internal affairs and reducing the use of troops. But Lu Dongzan is different. If he comes to power, he will definitely use military force to reward those tribes that support him and suppress those who are dissatisfied within the country. Using war to divert internal conflicts is an eternal truth. Although everyone knows it, it has been tried and tested."