Chapter Fifteen: The Road is Blocked

  After explaining the strategic intention of this expedition, Gao Xianzhi's talent was used to arrange the strategy for this expedition. He stood up and came to the front of the map, pointing at Liangyunbao on the map, saying: "Liangyunbao is a military town set up by Tubo in the Western Regions, with tens of thousands of Tubo troops stationed there, it is our thorn in the eye, our thorn in the flesh, and we must first eliminate it. The first battle will be to take down Liangyunbao, pluck out this thorn in the eye!

  Lianyun Fortress is a thorn in the side of Tibet's invasion of the Western Regions. If it is not removed, there will be endless troubles. If this thorn is not pulled out, even if Gao Xianzhi captures Lesser Bolu, he will have to fight again and again, and the Tibetan army at Lianyun Fortress will retake Lesser Bolu. Therefore, the first battle should aim to pull out this thorn.

  Everyone knows the importance of Lianyunbao, nodding slightly, and is extremely supportive of Gao Xianzhi's deployment.

  Li Changguo highly agreed with this tactic, secretly praising Gao Xianzhi for being resourceful and truly deserving of the title "King of the Mountains".

  Then, Gao Xianzhi's fingers moved west on the map and said: "After taking down Lianyun Fortress, the army will rest for a while before advancing to Anuo City. Anuo City is not difficult to attack, as long as we take it down, we will reach the border of Xiaobulüet, and our victory will be near."

  The finger stopped for a moment at Arona City, then moved west and said: "This is the city of many evils, the capital of Small Brut, when the army arrives, it will surely be trampled!"

  The capital of Xiaobu is Yedu City. With the national strength of Xiaobu, its capital will not be too strong and will definitely not be able to withstand the Tang army. As long as the Tang army arrives, it will inevitably be captured.

  Everyone was greatly inspired, with fierce fighting spirit flashing in their eyes. Gao Xianzhi saw this and felt extremely delighted.

  "Down with Little Bolu, it's not over yet!" Gao Xianzhi's words turned around and continued: "More than 60 miles east of the city, the rattan bridge on the Ba River is the most critical! This is the only way for Tubo to enter the Western Regions. As long as this rattan bridge is destroyed, even if Tubo grows wings, it will not be able to fly to the Western Regions!"

  This rattan bridge connects Lesser Bolü and Tibet, which is why the geographical location of Lesser Bolü is particularly important. If it weren't for this rattan bridge, Tibet could only gaze longingly at the Western Regions and do nothing about it.

  The goal of Gao Xianzhi's expedition to the south is this bridge. Only by destroying the bridge can the Tubo be prevented from entering the Western Regions, and with the removal of the Tubo army in Linyunbao, the entire Western Regions will be stabilized, and Gao Xianzhi will be able to concentrate his forces, resources, and wealth to contend with Dashi for control of Central Asia.

  "Xiaobulü was originally a vassal state of the Great Tang, but for the sake of a Tibetan princess, it betrayed the Great Tang and defected to Tibet. Su Shi must be punished! " Gao Xianzhi's sword-like eyebrows were tightly knitted: "In order to conquer Xiaobulü, the Anxi Protectorate has sent troops many times, but none have succeeded! This time, we must succeed! Do you have confidence?"

  The last sentence, Gao Xianzhi's tone was very high, sharp and piercing to the ear, no less than Bian Lingcheng's voice.

  Yes!

  Only one word, yet earth-shattering, bursting forth with a thunderous roar.

  Gao Xianzhi was very satisfied with everyone's reaction, nodded heavily and said: "Next, I will talk about how to advance."

  Having made clear the intention of this expedition, it's time to make specific deployments, and the ears of all the generals are perked up.

  "This map was made after I spent several years searching through various books and sending people to verify the information. " Gao Xianzhi was very proud, his right hand heavily pointed at the map, a smile spreading across his face, saying: "I originally thought that this time we would have to march through the mountain valleys."

  As he spoke, his finger moved along the lines on the map, and the route of the Tang army's march jumped out.

  Congling has many lofty and steep mountains, wanting to march in Congling is very difficult, must find a suitable route. Marching from the lowlands between the mountains is the best decision.

  To know that the elevation of Congling is four or five thousand meters, to go climbing mountains and crossing ridges is impossible, only low-lying mountain valleys are the best choice.

  "Do you all understand what this means?" Gao Xianzhi's hand left the map, suddenly turned around, and loudly asked the crowd of generals.

  "I understand!"

  The crowd of generals spoke in unison, their voices uniform and full of majesty.

  "Very good!" Gao Xianzhi nodded heavily, extremely satisfied, and said: "In that case, I will now arrange the order of march."

  The army is about to set out on a campaign and the order of march must be arranged properly, otherwise it will be chaotic. This is the last thing to do, once this is done, the Tang army will set out.

  Gao Xianzhi possessed outstanding military talent, his plans were far-reaching, and the other generals held him in high esteem, each one opening their eyes wide and perking up their ears, ready to receive orders.

  But just then, a loud voice rang out: "Hold on!"

  Not someone else, but Li Changguo himself.

  "Hmm!"

  Everyone was astonished, and their eyes were all focused on Li Changguo.

  The most astonishing one was Gao Xianzhi. His tiger eyes shot out a fierce light, staring at Li Changguo, and asked: "What do you have to say?"

  "Report to the Deputy Commander, there's a problem with your military route! The route you've drawn is impassable!" Li Changguo was not one to mince words, and his single sentence stirred up a thousand waves.

  His words had barely fallen when a buzz of voices erupted, like sparks falling into a barrel of gunpowder, and instantly exploded. The faces of the generals changed greatly, staring at Li Changguo as if they had seen a ghost.

  Who is Gao Xianzhi? The soul of the Anxi Protectorate, good at planning, he would plan carefully before each expedition, thinking repeatedly and clearly, only then would he act.

  This time in the southern expedition, he was even more deliberate and prepared extremely thoroughly, it can be said that nothing went wrong, yet there were people who openly criticized his route of march as having problems, the route he chose was impassable, is there anything more unbelievable than this?

  It's definitely gone!

  “……”

  Gao Xianzhi's face was filled with astonishment, his mouth wide open, and he was speechless for a long time.

  He was a renowned general, and planning was his forte. For this southern expedition, he had poured his heart and soul into meticulous planning for several years. In the end, however, someone actually said that his plan had problems. Despite possessing the valuable quality of remaining calm in the face of danger, like Mount Tai crumbling before him without changing color, he was shocked beyond measure at this time.

  "How dare you spout nonsense!" Bian Lingcheng's voice was originally shrill, and with a stern rebuke, it became even more piercing to the ears: "This is a route that has been carefully planned and considered multiple times by Vice Commander Du, how can you say it won't work? You have a big nerve!"

  Bian Lingcheng's scolding was extremely unpleasant, but if it were in peacetime, the other generals would have thought it excessive. Now, however, they felt that this was not enough, nodding their heads heavily in approval.

  "There are two problems with the route chosen by the deputy commander-in-chief!" Li Changguo seemed to have not heard Bian Lingcheng's rebuke, nor seen the approval of the other generals, and instead spoke out loudly.

  "Two places?"

  Gao Xianzhi had made several plans, and if there was a problem in one place, people could still understand that mistakes were unavoidable. However, there were actually two places, which made Gao Xianzhi even more surprised.

  "How did you know?"

  Gao Xianzhi finally reacted, his tiger eyes bursting with sharp light, his gaze like a sharp sword, piercing Li Changguo.