The film and television world begins with the battle for the throne in Kowloon

Chapter 712 Transferring Conflicts
"Father, according to your understanding, the number of soldiers under the direct control of Jie Li is about 100,000, making him the most powerful tribe in the grassland. The second is the Second Khan Tuli, with about 50,000 to 60,000 people. The Xueyantuo tribe ranks third, with about 30,000 to 40,000 people. The fourth is the Qibi tribe, with almost 30,000 people."

"The other fifteen tribes, including Bayegu, Guligan, Sijie, and Tongluo, have a population of between 10,000 and 20,000. Although they are not many when counted individually, when combined, they still have more than 200,000 troops. In addition, there are some small tribes that can mobilize hundreds to thousands of people."

"The total war potential that Jie Li can mobilize is not much worse than that of Shibi Khan, and it is close to one million people."

After Li Yan finished telling all the details he knew about the Turks in one breath, he took a deep breath. There were nearly a million troops, and there was no need to fight. They were just standing there, dark and overwhelming, like a dark cloud hanging over the head of the newly born Tang Empire.

No wonder Li Er, a wise and capable emperor who was one of the most powerful emperors in thousands of years of history, was hesitant and difficult to deal with the Turks.

Li Yan looked at Li Shimin with admiration. Only Li Erge, the ruthless man who killed his brother and forced his father, had such ambition to defeat such an enemy. Anyway, someone like Li Yan who had never been on the battlefield and only relied on conspiracy and trickery to take advantage of opportunities would not be able to cope with it.

Of course, growth is a process. At least for Li Yan now, let alone fighting against Jie Li, even thinking about it makes his legs tremble and his heart tremble.

Li Yan knew that he still had a long way to go.

Listening to Li Yan's brief introduction of Turkic past and present, Li Shimin nodded with satisfaction: "It seems that you have not been idle during this period. You have indeed put in a lot of effort. Your understanding of Turkic far exceeds your father's expectations."

"But you don't have to worry too much. In my father's eyes, Jie Li's million-strong army is nothing but chickens and dogs. As long as I give my father some time, I will be able to defeat him and turn the Turks into a mess again, leaving you a powerful country without external threats."

At this moment, Li Shimin exuded the kind of contempt for powerful enemies, as if he could turn the powerful enemies into ashes with a wave of his hand, which really made Li Yan admire him.

Li Yan could feel that facing the powerful Turks and millions of enemy invaders, he could hardly suppress the fear in his heart.

Li Shimin, on the other hand, had an unrivalled arrogance, and really did not take the Turks seriously. His heroic spirit of "no one can compete with him unless he shows his sword" was nurtured by his repeated victories, defeating powerful enemies one after another, and finally conquering the entire territory of the Tang Dynasty.

It is not something that can be achieved by armchair strategists like myself who have seen some of the world and are good at stirring up trouble. Without the tempering of blood and fire on the battlefield, without the support of countless lives, corpses and battles, it will never be achieved.

Li Yan dared to say that even if the presidents and prime ministers of the great countries in the future, although they controlled more land, population, wealth and comprehensive national strength, they would not have the momentum like Li Shimin. This was a quality that only the real strong men who had fought their way out of the mountains of corpses and seas of blood in troubled times could possess.

With a strong man like Li Shimin to rely on, Li Yan felt a strong sense of security, which instantly washed away the timidity in his heart. He said proudly: "I believe that father will definitely defeat Jie Li, and the final victory will definitely belong to our Tang Dynasty."

Li Shimin nodded in satisfaction: "You just said that Jie Li is preparing to attack the remaining three tribes. Do you have any specific information?"

"No, but after analyzing various situations, I found that compared to the floods in the Central Plains, the grasslands suffered a severe drought this summer. The rivers dried up and large areas of the grasslands became barren. The cattle and sheep of various tribes died of drought."

"In order to survive the drought, the Xueyantuo tribe's Chuluo even slaughtered more than 20,000 sheep on his own initiative, which shows how serious the situation was."

Li Yan introduced: "Whenever the grasslands suffered a disaster, in order to divert the internal conflicts of the Turks, Jie Li would divert the disaster to the south and invade the Central Plains to relieve the internal disaster and pressure. According to custom, Jie Li would lead most of his people to the Yellow River to find food."

"This autumn and winter, we will launch a large-scale invasion to the south!"

"The Turks are now divided into two forces. One is the fifteen tribes headed by Jie Li, and the other is the two Khans Tuli, Qibi and Xueyantuo. These three tribes are somewhat independent and do not get along with Jie Li. At most, they can recruit some elders and scattered tribes."

"But these three tribes did not unite together, but fought each other, which gave Jie Li the opportunity to defeat them one by one."

"I heard that Jie Li broke the rule that no grazing was allowed within 50 miles of the ancestral mausoleum, and gave the grassland near Moon Lake to the Bayegu tribe. This move won the hearts of many people. Then he asked Qibiheli to give part of the river source to Chuluo of the Xueyantuo tribe. This move was to kill three warriors with two peaches."

"He used the river water source to cause a conflict between the Qibi and Xueyantuo tribes, so that he could reap the benefits. However, it is not known whether Qibiheli and Chuluo had any private contact. In the end, Chuluo did not enter the river water source, and the two tribes did not fight, so Jie Li's conspiracy did not succeed."

"However, given Jie Li's character, he will not give up easily. There will definitely be a series of actions next to intensify the conflict between the two tribes. When two tigers fight, the big tiger is injured and the small tiger dies. Jie Li wants to solve the two tribes in one fell swoop. If the two tribes are subdued, the second Khan Tuli will be unable to support the whole army alone."

"Faced with the crushing of absolute power, he has no choice but to fully support Jie Li in order to survive." Li Yan's alarmist remarks and threats were his utmost to enhance his own importance and use external military pressure to divert Li Shimin's attention, so that he would finish the Flying Tiger Army affairs as soon as possible and focus on the external enemies.

Li Yan pondered and said, "Once this implicit balance of power between the two sides is broken, if Jie Li unifies the grassland, it is very likely that he will invade the south before the winter rivers freeze over and before the autumn grain harvests."

"First, we can directly harvest the grain in the north to replenish our military strength; second, we can also destroy the autumn harvest in the Central Plains and cause fatal damage to the Tang Dynasty."

Even Li Shimin was unaware of the internal situation of the Turks that Li Yan reported later, so he listened very carefully. After hearing Li Yan's analysis at the end, his heart tightened and his brows furrowed. Li Shimin also felt the seriousness of the matter.

A sense of urgency that time is running out weighed on Li Shimin, making him even more depressed.

It seems that the enemy will not act completely according to their expectations. The Turks will invade in large numbers before the autumn grain arrives, and the Tang Dynasty is really in danger.

In the past, the court did not have a very clear understanding of the internal situation of the Turks, and only speculated based on the Turks' behavior over the years. However, the Jinyiwei established by the prince had achieved such results in less than three months.

Being able to detect the internal military intelligence of the Turks was beyond Li Shimin's expectations, which made Li Shimin pay attention to the affairs of the Jinyiwei.

"Were these all discovered by the Royal Guards?"

"Yes, father, the Jinyiwei followed the caravan from Chang'an to the grassland and came into contact with the guards around the leader of a small tribe. They bought them at a high price."

"Well, in such a short time and with such a small number of people, you were able to detect such confidential information. It seems that the energy and resources you invested in the Jinyiwei were not wasted?" Li Shimin said with admiration in his eyes.

"The last time Li Ke went on a diplomatic mission to the Turks, we only knew that Jie Li had conquered fifteen tribes, but we didn't know the specific details. After what you said, Father has a deeper impression of the situation within the Turks."

Li Shimin said with a heavy expression: "At present, our Tang Dynasty has not yet made all preparations. The troops and generals have not been arranged, and the autumn grain has not yet arrived. For the Tang Dynasty, the most important thing is time."

"We must buy time and delay the battle between the Tang Dynasty and the Turks until after the autumn harvest. We must find a way to contain Jie Li and prevent him from unifying the three Turkic tribes smoothly."

"As long as these three tribes can contain Jie Li, even if it is only temporarily delayed, Jie Li will not have the energy to invade the south in a short period of time."

"Yes, Father, I think so too. However, if these three tribes form an alliance, they may still be able to resist Jie Li. However, if these three tribes fight on their own, I am afraid they will not be able to resist Jie Li's division and disintegration in the end."

Li Yan suggested: "I was just thinking of asking Father if we could go a step further and contact the three leaders in the name of the Tang Dynasty. If they don't unite, we can try to make way for them. Maybe we can also include the Tang Dynasty and form an alliance to deal with Jie Li together."

"The combined forces of the Tuli, Qibi and Xueyantuo tribes amounted to more than 100,000 troops. Tuli Khan was the son of Shibi Khan and the nephew of Jieli Khan. He was stationed in the eastern part of the Turkic region and governed dozens of tribes including the Khitan, Mohe, Xi and Xueyantuo. His influence was very great."

"If we can pull them from the Turkic camp to our side, Jie Li will have a few hundred thousand less and we will have a few hundred thousand more. With this balance of power, the strength of both sides will be reduced by more than 200,000."

"To put it another way, even if they become independent and sit on the sidelines and do not join Jie Li, as long as they do not help either side, Jie Li will lose a lot of strength when fighting against us, and then the Tang Dynasty will have a better chance of winning."

Li Yan's proposal made Li Shimin's heart beat fast. Using the enemy to restrain the enemy is the most cost-effective strategy.

Li Shimin immediately said excitedly: "Yes, this idea is very far-sighted. It can weaken the enemy through alliances without starting a war. It is also very feasible. I can authorize the Jinyiwei to contact the leaders of these tribes."

"But..." Li Yan looked embarrassed when he said this.

With such an idea to contain Jie Li without fighting, Li Shimin was eager to see Li Yan hesitate, and asked hurriedly, "What's the matter? Is there any difficulty?"

(End of this chapter)