Facts have proved that Xueyantuo Khan's policy was correct. If they had gathered all their troops and fought the Tang army head-on, their chances of winning would not even be 40%. But if they delayed the battle, their chances of winning would slowly increase.
The Tang army urgently needed a decisive battle on the grassland, but at this moment they could not find the location of the Xueyantuo army, so the various armies began to slack off. It had only been a month, and all kinds of violations of military discipline happened at any time. These people began to sneak out of the camp to harass the surrounding tribes, which was something the King of Wu had not allowed before.
But the young men in the army are full of energy. If you were fighting all the time, they would not have time to do messy things. But now they have been staying in the barracks, so these people have all kinds of ideas, and some brave ones even go fifty miles away from the camp.
In desperation, the King of Wu could only lead his troops and venture deep into the grassland.
Xueyantuo Khan was waiting for this opportunity. When the Tang army ventured to Mobei, they still found a suitable sniping location. Of course, Xueyantuo Khan learned from the last experience and would never send out a large army to fight the Tang army. This was not something they could win, so he divided his troops into small groups to harass the Tang army along the way.
Li Xiang was very familiar with this type of combat method, and people in modern society are also familiar with it. To put it bluntly, it is the predecessor of guerrilla warfare. Each cavalry team consists of about three to five hundred people, lying in ambush in the leeward side of some hills on the grassland. When the Tang army arrives, these people specifically bite the tail of the Tang army. When the Tang army begins to counterattack, they immediately turn into dozens of teams and rush towards the depths of the grassland.
If the King of Wu continued to send troops to pursue, then when these Tang Dynasty troops left the camp, it would be the countdown of their lives. When they were fifty miles away from the camp, the Xueyantuo army would be waiting for them, and it would be impossible to return at that time.
With the help of guerrilla warfare, the Tang army lost more than 2,000 people within ten days. Although the loss was not large, the morale of the Tang army began to decline. Every time they went out to pursue, some brothers did not come back. On the contrary, their battle results were not as good as those of the other side. If this continues, our chances of winning will gradually decrease.
King Wu Li Ke was also very helpless about this. Some generals within the army had expressed different opinions. They believed that we should retreat southward at this moment and shorten our logistics supply lines. Only in this way could we slowly restore morale. If we continue to go deep into the grassland, it will not be of any benefit to us.
In a rational state, the King of Wu would definitely be able to make a correct choice, but unfortunately, King Wu Li Ke thought that this was a rare opportunity, and he also wanted to replicate Li Xiang's success, so King Wu Li Ke issued an order that made him regret for the rest of his life, which was to lead his 20,000 cavalrymen to start plundering the entire grassland.
Under normal circumstances, there is no problem with such a strategy, but the Turkic tribes have submitted to the Tang Dynasty for a long time. Although their Khan has run away, you can't rob their tribes at this moment, right?
However, in order to reduce dependence on logistical supplies, King Wu Li Ge still issued this order. This made the Turkic tribes realize that what the Tang Dynasty had said before about being one family was simply fake. When you encountered difficulties, you only knew how to rob our tribes. So the Turkic tribes began to fight back, and some tribes even contacted the Xueyantuo.
According to the King of Wu's idea, as long as he moved fast enough, the Turkic tribes would not be able to react. After taking their supplies, we would continue to march towards the heartland of Xueyantuo. However, we knew too little about the information on the grassland. In addition, the Turkic tribes were all nomadic peoples. When the King of Wu attacked one of their tribes, the other tribes immediately broke up and hid on the grassland. So when the King of Wu robbed the third tribe, his men could no longer find the other tribes, and instead all the people he sent out were intercepted and killed.
If the King of Wu could retreat at this time, the safety of the Tang army could be guaranteed. However, the King of Wu was blinded by his obsession and set out towards the Xueyantuo court without sufficient supplies.
There were many opponents within the army regarding this move by His Royal Highness the King of Wu. They believed that the army was not in a good condition and should withdraw to the vicinity of the Great Wall for rest and recuperation. Even if they did not retreat, they would not be able to continue advancing, which would lead to an even greater shortage of supplies.
But King Wu Li Ke was no longer willing to listen to any opinions at this time. He wanted to replicate everything that General Li Jing did back then. General Li Jing's attack back then was similar to the current situation. As long as we act fast enough, we will be able to achieve the final victory.
But he forgot the most important fact, that is, when General Li Jing attacked, the Tang army launched a surprise attack. The entire Turkic people were not on guard at all. They were still negotiating with Tang officials. Now the whole country of Xueyantuo knew that they were fighting, and they had lost their surprise attack.
What's more, the Turkic army is now standing against us. Although King Wu Li Ke also sent military advisors, hoping to reconcile with the Turkic tribes, the Turkic tribes themselves have a bad relationship with the Han people. Now there is the incident of robbery of their tribes. The tribes instantly stood in a hostile position. King Wu Li Ke suddenly became very heroic and prepared to punish the Turkic tribes for a while.
The Turkic tribes were naturally no match for the Tang elite. Over the course of two weeks of continuous fighting, dozens of tribes were crushingly defeated by the Tang elite. King Wu Li Ke gradually regained his composure, and so did his army. However, these were vassal states that he had been slaughtering, not the real enemy, the Xueyantuo...
While they were cutting down trees wantonly, the Xueyantuo army still managed to get behind the Tang army and completely blocked the Tang army's retreat when the Tang army was fighting with the Turkic tribes.
When King Wu Li Ke discovered this, he had not received any supplies from the rear for half a month. He sent people to check the routes to the rear, but found that there were tens of thousands of Xueyantuo troops on the retreat route.
King Wu Li Ke immediately ordered the two surrounding armies to move closer to him, preparing to gather strength for a decisive battle, but could Xueyantuo Khan give him this opportunity?