When Xueyantuo Khan was shaken awake, he could not believe what his personal guards said was true, but his personal guards would never lie to him. To be selected as his personal guards, there were many requirements, and these people were absolutely 100% loyal to him.
In the Xueyantuo country, the left and right captains are very important. They can almost be said to be the two generals below. Now that one of them is gone, the strength of Xueyantuo has already dropped a lot. Now that another one is missing, life is really unbearable.
Regardless of the snowstorm outside, Xueyantuo Khan took the lead and led his men to rush to the camp of the Left Grand Commandant. When they arrived at the camp of the Left Grand Commandant, it was almost empty. Including some old people and children, everyone had moved away. In short, everything that could be taken away had been taken away, and only some traces were left.
"Damn it, the clerk here, is he dead too?"
According to the rules of Xueyantuo, secretaries were sent by the Khan to record cattle, sheep, and food supplies in various places, and also to expose these officials. Now the secretaries can't be found.
"But there's no need to worry. If they choose to leave now, they're simply courting death. This year's blizzard is bigger than in previous years. Travelers can't even see the road ahead in such a blizzard. They're still going to surrender to the Tang Dynasty. By the time they arrive, it would be lucky if only half of them are left."
A man who looked like a civil servant next to him said that this person was the prime minister of Xueyantuo.
If he had said these words at ordinary times, perhaps the Khan of Xueyantuo would be happy, but at this moment the Khan was thinking about another issue. He would rather rush on in such a snowstorm than stay and overcome the difficulties. It is conceivable what situation Xueyantuo has reached now.
When they invaded the Turks, they were thinking of taking advantage of the situation. The Tang Dynasty had started a war with Goguryeo, and all its energy was drawn to that place. The grassland must have been relatively weak, so they brought their troops to gain some benefits.
They didn't expect the war with Goguryeo to end so quickly, which made them a little confused. They didn't expect the Tang court to react so quickly, and the army arrived soon. If there was only the army of King Wu Li Ke, they could still cope with it, but Li Xiang who came from Goguryeo later was really not something they could handle.
"Shut up! Even if you capture just one person, you must send someone after him. You must lead the chase yourself and bring the Prime Minister's family to my tent."
After hearing this, the Prime Minister froze in place. If he had known this would happen, he would have kept silent. Moreover, the Left Grand Commandant was determined to leave, and if he was asked to chase him, he would have to kill him. But how could a civil servant like him defeat the Left Grand Commandant?
"Great Khan..."
"Prime Minister, are you unwilling to work for me?"
Looking at the cold face of Xueyantuo Khan, Prime Minister Xueyantuo swallowed the words in his stomach. If he said one more word, he would probably be suspected by the other party soon, and maybe even think that he was in collusion with the Left Grand Commandant.
In desperation, the Prime Minister could only send his family to the Khan's tent, and then chase after him with his elite troops. The Left Commander took away more than 80,000 people. If it were in the territory of the Tang Dynasty, then these 80,000 people would be nothing. If he found a slightly richer county, he would probably be able to find so many people.
But this is the northernmost part of the Xiongnu steppe, even in the northern part of the desert. It is absolutely difficult to find 80,000 people in such a place.
Although the more than 6,000 cavalrymen under the Prime Minister are not as many as those led by the Left Grand Commandant, these men of the Prime Minister are the elite of the army. In addition, they did not follow Xueyantuo Khan to fight against the Turks, so their organization is intact. Although the Left Grand Commandant has tens of thousands of people, most of them are old, weak and sick. So in terms of combat effectiveness, the Prime Minister's side is still in the lead.
On the way, the Prime Minister was thinking that the reason why the Left Grand Commandant chose to surrender to the Tang Dynasty was probably because he had considered it for a long time. The day before yesterday, the Left Grand Commandant went to see the Khan and asked the Khan to give his troops some food and grass to tide over the difficulties. However, the Khan lost too much food and grass on the way, and his own troops did not have enough to eat. How could he give it to him?
At that time, the Left Grand Guard was holding a grudge. When the Khan went out to fight, he said that he would take back the cattle and sheep of the Turks and distribute them to the tribes below, so the Left Grand Guard sent a large number of his troops. But now, let alone cattle and sheep, those people have not returned, and every household is in mourning.
If Xueyantuo Khan had given them enough compensation, these people probably would not have defected. However, after Xueyantuo Khan came back, he completely forgot about these things except drinking and beating people, and he did not think about comforting the people below. The Left Grand Commandant almost got beaten up several times when he went there. In this situation, anyone would have other ideas.
After dawn, many people woke up and found that the surroundings were different, because the Khan's personal army began to patrol. You know, in such a blizzard environment, everyone will stay in their tents, and no one will come out to waste their energy.
But the situation is different now. The Left Commander has escaped with his men, which means that things have changed. All tribes have to stay in their own villages honestly. If they have other ideas, they will probably be suppressed by the Khan.
After the defeat of Xueyantuo Khan, the whole country was a little loose. Now after hearing about this incident, each tribe has started to busy themselves with their own things. If we follow Xueyantuo Khan, we probably won’t even have enough to eat in the future. We have to make plans early. The Tang Dynasty is now in its heyday. If we want to have a decisive battle with them next spring, isn’t that a joke?
What's more, if you are defeated next spring, you will be a loser. If we clarify our relationship with the Tang Dynasty now and express our love for it, when the Tang Dynasty army comes next spring, we will be considered as surrendering in advance and will definitely be treated preferentially.
Xueyantuo Khan believed that his army controlled the main transportation routes, so no one could escape with their men. However, he did not know that his subordinates already had their own ideas. They had already begun to deploy their men to bypass the Western Regions and establish contact with the Tang Dynasty...