"If you were to lead the army to attack, how many people do you think could make it through this kind of fire?"
Lu Dongzan asked this question to General Huyan, but General Huyan had never fought against the enemy's artillery head-on, so this question was difficult to answer.
"Let me be frank. As your Prime Minister, I still have the ability to endure this. If I couldn't even bear this, I think I would have been unfit for this position long ago. I'm not like those guys in the Holy City who only listen to good things and not bad things. If a person doesn't dare to face his own disadvantages, then he can't survive in this world."
Lu Dongzan knew what General Huyan was worried about. If he told the truth, many people present would probably not be able to bear it. But this was also a very normal thing. The gap between the two sides was there. If he didn't tell the truth, he probably couldn't get away with it, but if he told the truth, it would be hard for people to accept.
"To reply to the Prime Minister, even if we use my most elite troops, I estimate that at least 30% of them will be killed or wounded before we can break through the enemy's crossbows. But after that, they also have chain crossbows, which have even stronger attack power. We will lose another 20% to 30% of our men, or even as much as 40%..."
Upon hearing the result, Lu Dongzan closed his eyes in sadness, or to be more precise, in despair. What General Huyan said might be a bit conservative, but even so, when you got in front of the other person and only three of his ten men were left, while the other person's ten men were still standing intact. How could you defeat him?
General Huyan's army was the elite frontier army of Tubo. Many armies in the inland areas could not compare with them at all. Whether in terms of training or military equipment, they could be said to have reached the peak. Even they had to suffer such heavy losses before they could rush over. If they were replaced by those domestic armies, the losses would probably be more than 80%.
"Your Excellency, Prime Minister, don't worry too much. I'm talking about us leaving our borders and fighting on their land. But if they come to our land, they may not be able to easily win. They're unfamiliar with the conditions on the plateau, and even breathing would be a problem. How could they possibly defeat us?"
Seeing that Lu Dongzan was heartbroken, General Huyan quickly pointed out one of their advantages, which was also an advantage that everyone in Tubo had always been happy to praise.
"You're right, but this advantage will soon disappear. Some of the Tuyuhun are also on the high ground. The people of the Tang Dynasty have already started training here. In fact, there is nothing much to train. Just let their troops stay in such a place. As long as they can adapt to such an environment, our advantage will disappear. If they don't want to attack us, why would they train such an army?"
The information Lu Dongzan obtained was confidential information. In fact, not many people in the Tang Dynasty knew about it. But because of the Cui family of Boling, Lu Dongzan also obtained this information. This is also the reason why Li Shimin and Li Xiang wanted to tear the Cui family of Boling into pieces. If you can leak such a confidential case, are you still people of the Tang Dynasty?
“…”
General Huyan didn't know what to say. He had originally thought that the tension between the two countries was just a superficial phenomenon, but he hadn't expected that the people of the Tang Dynasty were more advanced than they thought. They were already thinking of invading our country. But now our country is still in such a state of civil unrest. If the Tang Dynasty came at this time, if the border army was scum, wouldn't the people in our country be...
General Huyan didn't dare to imagine any further. If he continued to imagine, he probably wouldn't be able to eat lunch today. This was really too sad. A few days ago, he thought the two countries were equal, and even Tubo had some advantages, but now he felt that he was at a disadvantage.
"Go back and wait. There's no point worrying here. We must stabilize them, no matter what the cost. Also, cut off all communication lines between the two countries. No one can leave without my order. No news from the plateau can leak out."
Although Lu Dongzan knew that what happened on the plateau had already spread, he tried to block as much of it as possible and try not to let them know the current situation, especially Li Xiang. He was not a man who could sit still. He was always thinking about the surrounding countries. If he knew that such a thing happened on the plateau, he would definitely jump higher than anyone else.
"Prime Minister, if that's the case, wouldn't that arouse their suspicion even more?"
General Huyan thought for a moment and said, "Ever since the Tang conquered Tuyuhun, there must have been hundreds of merchants coming and going every month. If this passage was suddenly blocked, the families of these people would definitely go to the government to complain, and the Tang would definitely come to negotiate this matter..."
"Let's seal it off first. Try not to harm them. If anyone comes looking for us, try to delay them. I'll deal with this Protector General and should be able to destroy them in two or three months at most. Then I'll get you to open the border as quickly as possible."
Lu Dongzan knew that blocking the border was not a trivial matter and there might even be a series of reactions, but at this moment he must not let the news get out. When he thought of Li Xiang's face, he felt uncomfortable all over. This guy was like a devil. Whenever he thought of this devil, Lu Dongzan felt like he was going crazy.
Lu Dongzan's patience was almost worn out, and he finally waited for the day to meet. The two met in a tent near the border. Because things had happened frequently recently, Midu Khan discussed with General Huyan to set up a tent in the border area between the two countries. Usually, people from both sides would maintain it. If anything happened, they would choose to meet here.
This can be considered a diplomatic institution of that era, but it looks a little less concise. At this moment, Li Xiang also followed the example of the previous generation of Tuyuhun Khan and put on the clothes of his personal soldiers, and then stood guard outside the tent.
"Master Zeng, this is our country's Prime Minister, Grand Chancellor Lu Dongzan."
Aside from Lu Dongzan, everyone else in the tent was an old acquaintance. They had all met in the tent before, more or less. So before the meeting began, General Huyan introduced Lu Dongzan first. It was just that Master Zeng's courtesy...