SFS Chapter 658 I Will Not Retreat
Chapter 658 I Will Not Retreat
Chapter 658 I Will Not Retreat
"My lord, the soldiers and horses of the Tang Dynasty have arrived, let's retreat." Lu Dongzan said.
He opposed the use of troops against Tuyuhun from the very beginning, not because he felt that Tubo could not swallow Tuyuhun.
But now there are still some hidden dangers in Tubo. According to his idea, he should stabilize the interior for a few years and then take action against Tuyuhun.
But Songtsen Gampo insisted on going his own way, and he couldn't dissuade him.
Now that Datang has sent troops, in his opinion there is no need to continue the fight.
Songtsan Gampo's face was a bit gloomy. Since the mobilization of troops against Tuyuhun, the momentum has been overwhelming, and it seems that Tuyuhun is about to be wiped out. Tang actually sent more troops to the border at this time.
"Have you found out how many troops the Tang Dynasty sent here?" Songtsen Gampo asked.
"Returning to the Lord, Datang's army is surrounded by scouts, and they can't get close at all. Judging from the flags, there are about 5 people." Lu Dongzan said.
"It's only 5 people. If we retreat at this time, those cities will have to be abandoned. Isn't the previous loss all in vain?" Songtsan Gampo said unwillingly.
The people of those occupied cities have not yet surrendered. If they retreat at this time, they will not be able to defend when Tuyuhun comes.
But after this time, Tuyuhun will definitely strengthen his defenses, and it will not be so easy to fight Tuyuhun in the future.
Lu Dongzan said anxiously: "My lord, Tuyuhun still has [-] to [-] soldiers and horses. Adding in the soldiers and horses of the Tang Dynasty, there are more than [-] soldiers and horses, which is almost the same as ours, and the leader of the Tang Dynasty is It's Hou Junji, this person once destroyed the Gaochang Kingdom, and he fought very fiercely, so it doesn't make much sense to stay here, and the country is not peaceful now, the ruler of the country should go back and sit in charge."
Songtsen Gampo was silent for a while and said, "Needless to say, I will not retreat."
The issues Lu Dongzan considered were not wrong, but he forgot that Songtsan Gampo was the lord of a country. When Datang sent people over, he retreated without even fighting, which dealt a great blow to his reputation.
The soldiers below don't know what a strategic retreat is.
They will only think that their own country is afraid of Datang.
You can retreat, but you can't retreat like this.
He needs a step up now.
As soon as Lu Dongzan heard that Songtsan Gampo was unwilling to retreat, he became anxious. He was about to say something more when a soldier came in and said, "I would like to report to the lord that the envoy of the Tang Dynasty is outside the city to ask for an audience."
Songtsan Gampo was slightly taken aback, looked at Lu Dongzan and asked, "National Teacher, what does it mean that the Tang Dynasty sent envoys here at this time?"
Lu Dongzan thought for a while and said: "Going back to the Lord, Datang doesn't want to fight with Tubo either. This time I sent envoys to persuade the Lord to retreat."
There is Tuyuhun between the Tang Dynasty and Tubo, and there is no benefit in defeating the Tubo Tang Dynasty.
Songtsan Gampo nodded and said, "Go, bring the envoy of the Tang Dynasty here."
"Yes." The soldier took the order and prepared to leave.
"Wait." Lu Dongzan stopped the soldiers, and said to Songtsen Gampo, "Master, let me go and greet you."
Songtsan Gampo hesitated for a moment, nodded, and said, "Then there will be Teacher Lao."
Lu Dongzan saluted and left with the soldiers.
When he came outside the city, he saw a middle-aged scribe waiting there under the protection of more than a hundred cavalrymen.
Lu Dongzan rode his horse to the front, cupped his hands and said, "My next Tubo teacher, Lu Dongzan, is here to welcome the Tang envoy."
"My lord, Deng Zhuo, was ordered by General Hou to come to see the Lord of Tubo." Deng Zhuo replied with a salute.
"The lord is waiting for the envoy of the Tang Dynasty. Please wait for your lord to follow me in." Lu Dongzan said.
"It's time for the national teacher." Deng Zhuo thanked, and rode his horse into the city with Lu Dongzan.
Along the way, Lu Dongzan chatted with Deng Zhuo and asked Deng Zhuo why he came.
Deng Zhuo didn't hide anything, and directly told Lu Dongzan that he came to talk about Tubo's retreat.
"Master Deng, this is a matter between Tubo and Tuyuhun, why did Tang intervene?" Lu Dongzan said with an ugly face.
Although he supported the retreat, he would not show it in front of Deng Zhuo.
Deng Zhuo said with a smile: "The national teacher's words are wrong. Tuyuhun is my Tang Dynasty's vassal state. Tubo invaded Tuyuhun and didn't pay attention to my Tang Dynasty at all. Why can't my Tang Dynasty intervene?"
Lu Dongzan said: "Lord Deng, the hatred between Tubo and Tuyuhun has been around for a long time. Just because Tuyuhun is a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty, I will not let Tubo take revenge. Is the Tang Dynasty too overbearing?"
"Master, please don't get me wrong. The Tang Dynasty naturally knows about the enmity between Tuyuhun and Tubo, but now Tubo is taking revenge. The general sent me this time to mediate the relationship between the two parties. Tuyuhun has already promised that only Tubo I am willing to retreat, and I am willing to compensate Tubo for the loss." Deng Zhuo said.
"Master Deng is serious?" Lu Dongzan asked.
On the way out of the city just now, he wanted to understand why Songtsan Gampo was unwilling to retreat.
It would be fine for ordinary generals to retreat, but Songtsan Gampo was the ruler of Tubo, if he retreated without a fight, others thought he was afraid of Tang Dynasty.
Songtsan Gampo insisted on not retreating his troops, he just wanted to fight Datang, no matter whether he won or lost, he could justify his retreat when the time came.
Retiring troops after losing a fight and retreating troops without fighting are two different things.
Now Tuyuhun is willing to pay compensation and give it to Songtsen Gampo under the steps, so that Songtsan Gampo's face can be saved, and he doesn't have to fight Datang.
"Of course it's true. I even brought Tuyuhun's compensation gift list this time." Deng Zhuo said.
What Hou Junji originally thought was that if King Tuyuhun died, he could support a puppet to help Tuyuhun regain the lost land. In this way, Tuyuhun would be included in the territory of the Tang Dynasty.He has the power to expand the territory.
But when he arrived in Songzhou City, the ruler of Tuyuhun was still there, and he still had [-] to [-] soldiers in his hands. It would not be so easy to annex Tuyuhun.
Hou Junji didn't want to waste more time here, so he sent someone directly to meet the ruler of Tuyuhun.
He promised that Datang could mediate and let Tubo retreat, but the premise was that Tuyuhun would compensate Tubo.
The ruler of Tuyuhun is naturally unwilling. Tubo has occupied most of the territory of Tuyuhun, and now he has to pay compensation to Tubo. How will he face the people of Tuyuhun in the future.
But Hou Junji's attitude is very firm, if you don't want to, I will withdraw, and Tuyuhun will be waiting to destroy the country.
Even if the ruler of Tuyuhun was unwilling, he could only agree.
"In this case, the matter of withdrawing troops can be discussed." Lu Dongzan said.
Deng Zhuo smiled when he heard the words, how could he not understand what Lu Dongzan meant, the so-called negotiable means that Tubo intends to retreat.
Lu Dongzan took Deng Zhuo to the mansion where Songtsan Gampo lived, and let them in without stopping the guard after the door was beaten.
When he came to the hall, Lu Dongzan saluted and said, "Report to the lord, and the envoy of the Tang Dynasty will bring it to you."
"The foreign minister has seen the Tubo king." Deng Zhuo bowed neither humble nor overbearing.
Songtsan Gampo waved his hands and said, "I don't know why the Tang envoy is here?"
"The grievances between Tubo and Tuyuhun are also known to foreign ministers, but Tuyuhun is my Tang Dynasty's vassal state after all. Tuyuhun asked Datang for help, and Datang can't ignore it. Tuyuhun is willing to compensate Tubo for its losses. I don't know if the Tubo lord can withdraw his troops?" Deng Zhuo said .
(End of this chapter)