"General, calm down and allow me to return to mobilize the troops."
A deputy general next to General Huyan said that he saw everything. Although there were only eight or nine hundred people on the opposite side except for the artillerymen, these eight or nine hundred people were all equipped with crossbows. They could shoot arrows ten times the number of their number in an instant, that is, eight or nine thousand arrows. We can't resist it at all.
Although there are archers in our team, we are still behind them in terms of speed and accuracy. This hardware gap is obvious to everyone and cannot be made up by our bravery, especially when the distance between the two sides is so close.
Things came to a standstill here. Chang Sun Chong and Cheng Chumo were watching nonchalantly, looking very relaxed. General Huyan was very nervous. He had already said that if you don't take action, it will definitely be embarrassing, but if you take action and can't win, it will not only be embarrassing.
"Why are we making things so tense here? We're friendly neighbors. It's not worth it to make such a fuss over a small matter. This is still Tuyuhun's grassland. I just happened to have brought a few fat sheep from the royal court. Why don't I let my people roast them? Wouldn't it be the most beautiful thing for us to put aside our hostility and make peace while enjoying this beautiful scenery?"
Midu Khan saw that the situation here was deadlocked. As the new Khan of Tuyuhun and the real master of this land, he could not let this war break out. Since the last battle between the Tang Dynasty and Tubo, Tuyuhun has not yet recovered. Many people in the country have no place to graze. If the Tang Dynasty and Tubo were to fight again, the battlefield would definitely be in Tuyuhun. Even if Tuyuhun surrendered to the Tang Dynasty now, its losses would skyrocket. Therefore, in the war between the two empires, it was Tuyuhun that disappeared in the end. How could he let this happen?
After Tuyuhun Khan finished speaking, Cheng Chumo and Changsun Chong still had the same expression as before, and had no intention of responding. They were also very nervous at the moment, but for the sake of the national prestige of the Tang Dynasty, they could not be the first to respond. Every action in diplomatic occasions is very important.
"I've heard that the cattle and sheep on your Tuyuhun grasslands are plump and their meat is tender and juicy. If that's the case, I'm sorry to bother you."
General Huyan's mouth twitched. He analyzed all the realistic situations and finally felt that he could not win. If the stalemate continued, it would be Tubo that would be embarrassed. Taking advantage of this opportunity to step down was much better than anything else.
"Wait a minute..."
Just when everyone breathed a sigh of relief, Lord Zeng suddenly stood up. Chang Sun Chong had a confused look on his face, but he also felt in his heart that Lord Zeng was not standing up at the right time.
We have already taken the lead and made a good start. The other party has already surrendered. We can't make trouble now. We can't go too far in doing anything. What's more, the other party is not much different from us. They are not the kind of weak country that we can easily control.
"I have come from the capital, on the orders of the Emperor, to erect this monument. As the Emperor's orders have not yet been fulfilled, I dare not neglect them."
After Lord Zeng said this, Changsun Chong and Cheng Chumo understood that they had to finish the real work first. Erecting a monument on the border of Tuyuhun was also the right of the suzerain state. When foreigners passed through here, they were not only entering the territory of Tuyuhun, but also a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty. In other words, after crossing this boundary marker, it was basically equivalent to entering the sphere of influence of the Tang Dynasty.
The Tuyuhun people were very opposed to this kind of work. They were the masters of this land, and now they had a Tang Dynasty sign on their land, which they could see every morning and evening. This was a painful torture for them. If there hadn't been this sign, the Tubo army of 150,000 would have stormed in long ago. "Do you want to endure this kind of torture? Or do you want to become slaves of the Tubo people?"
"Angel, please do as you please."
General Huyan was unhappy, but he didn't want to make things worse. Just now, when it was the most embarrassing, he had already figured out the situation here. He knew that he couldn't beat them even if he fought, so there was no point in saying these useless words. What's more, he had read the letters from Tuyuhun and the Tang Dynasty. Now Tuyuhun was a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty. Even if they didn't allow the erection of a monument, there was no way to change it.
"Fire the cannon."
General Huyan went to the tent next door to rest. Midu Khan had already ordered people to prepare a roasted whole lamb, but when they heard these two words, both the general and Midu Khan felt a sound of earth-shaking.
Twenty crossbows fired simultaneously, and the shells landed almost simultaneously in the distance. Of course, they were not adjusted to the longest range. In order to maintain the suppression of Tubo and Tuyuhun, they exploded a few hundred meters away.
Looking at the smoke in the distance, General Huyan's face flickered. Could this be the power of the Tang Dynasty's secret weapon?
The Tubo army also saw this scene. Fortunately, we endured it just now. If we couldn't help but go up and fight with them, these shells would fall among our crowd, and we don't know how many people would have died by now.
"The Emperor of the Great Tang proclaims..."
Although Lord Zeng's voice was not loud, it was also sonorous and powerful. Many people around heard the emperor's edict. The faces of the Tang soldiers were naturally proud, but the faces of the Tuyuhun soldiers were filled with a hint of humiliation.
As for the Tibetan soldiers next to them, they also looked unhappy. It turned out that this was the territory of Tuyuhun, and they could bully Tuyuhun whenever they wanted. But now there is a boundary marker of the Tang Dynasty here. If you dare to cross this boundary marker, as Lord Zeng said very clearly just now, it is equivalent to entering the territory of the Tang Dynasty, and the Tang Dynasty will hold you accountable for all the responsibilities.
Another thing is that the establishment of the Tuyuhun Protectorate also made the Tibetans feel a crisis. If the Tang Dynasty had only erected a stone tablet, then they would not have had to worry about it. When the time was right, we would still be able to cross the river and continue to annex Tuyuhun.
But now a protectorate has been established in the southern part of Tuyuhun, and the Tang Dynasty will station 2,000 troops here. Although the 2,000 troops are not many and can't do much, they are a symbol. If the Tubo army dares to attack these 2,000 people, then the Tang Empire behind these 2,000 people will not watch.
