In my dream of returning to the Tang Dynasty, I snatched Wu Zetian from my lap.

That night, Li Yuanchang rushed back to the military camp outside the city.

Torches in the military camp were like a sea, illuminating the entire night. Countless logistical laborers gathered here. The elite front-line combat troops were not here, but the atmosphere of war had already fully descended.

Li Yuanchang lay on the simple wooden bed, unable to fall asleep for a long time, still thinking about what the Wu brothers had said.

Wu had helped the two pay off their gambling debts, which meant that Meiniang and the others were probably doing quite well. Thinking of this, he felt a little more at ease.

Just as I closed my eyes and was about to drift off to sleep, a cacophony of hoofbeats and chatter suddenly erupted outside the tent, and the sound continued to spread.

Li Yuanchang sensed something was wrong, quickly got up, and went outside.

From afar, I could see a large group of people gathered together, discussing something.

"What happened?" Li Yuanchang quickly stepped forward.

"Greetings, Your Highness!" the crowd bowed.

Although Li Yuanchang's military rank was only colonel, his noble title meant that his subordinates still habitually addressed him as "Your Highness."

"Your Highness, a messenger just returned, saying that the Southern Desert Incident occurred, and Li Simo's generals betrayed him in the face of battle, resulting in a crushing defeat for Li Simo's last five thousand elite troops."

"Later, the eldest son of the Xueyantuo barbarian tribe launched a surprise attack with a thousand cavalry, wiping out the support of 30,000 men, and annexing all of their tribe's pastures and supplies!"

Upon hearing this, Li Yuanchang was taken aback.

If the ranch and all the supplies are swallowed up, then everything will collapse.

This isn't just a disadvantage, this is a complete collapse!

He asked in confusion, "Didn't they say we should retreat and stabilize our position?"

"Your Highness, yes, just a few hours ago I heard that the southern desert had been stabilized, and the Tang army had not yet arrived, so the Xueyantuo dared not advance on a large scale."

"But now the situation has changed drastically! Xueyantuo's cavalry have infiltrated and seized Li Simo's logistics, utterly defeating them!"

"I heard that several generals here have been urgently summoned to Youzhou City to discuss important matters!"

"Do you think we might get robbed too?"

"Impossible, the Xueyantuo cavalry can't get here."

"What if we end up on the battlefield?"

For a time, the entire logistics department was shrouded in a shadow.

Li Yuanchang was also serious, and this concern was not unfounded.

Nomadic peoples excel at cavalry warfare, which involves burning, killing, and looting. They come and go quickly; it's an innate racial trait of theirs.

The Han people were actually inferior, so they used their wisdom to build tall cities to defend against enemy cavalry raids.

However, Li Shimin, as the Heavenly Khan, could not tolerate Xueyantuo's southward invasion of the Tang Dynasty's subordinate. If they dared to harm their subordinate today, they would dare to attack their elder brother tomorrow.

Holding the city was never a decision made by the Zhenguan army.

The Tang army will enter the grasslands sooner or later, but the situation is urgent and the aftermath will take some time.

Once they enter the grasslands, without the protection of cities, the Xueyantuo's cavalry will have plenty of room to maneuver.

From this perspective, escorting goods is indeed not very safe.

He was listening to the officers, soldiers, and laborers discussing the matter.

Military Advisor Gong Yun arrived with his men.

"Your Highness."

"You've heard?"

"I've heard about it." Li Yuanchang nodded, noticing that Gong Yun must have come from the main camp.

"We need to set off early tomorrow morning," Gong Yun said, surprising everyone.

Immediately, the escort officers in Lantian County were in an uproar.

"Why the rush? Not everyone's here yet!"

Under the torchlight, Gong Yun's expression was solemn.

"We just received news that Yinan of Xueyantuo, upon learning of the arrival of the main Tang army, is feigning peace talks and claiming that he can withdraw and return the supplies."

"But in reality, they secretly plotted against Li Simo, ignoring His Majesty's repeated warnings and instead intensifying their efforts to seize Li Simo's stronghold."

"The higher-ups were furious and demanded that troops be dispatched immediately to annihilate the Xueyantuo and extend the war to the grasslands, preventing it from spreading into the country."

"All the soldiers and logistics personnel under the jurisdiction of Jingzhao Prefecture have been assigned to the western front. They must set off before dawn tomorrow, quickly detour through Dingxiang, and enter the grasslands from Baidaochuan."

After hearing this, Li Yuanchang thought to himself, "Holy crap!" and then laughed.

Isn't this courting death?

They could have fought for a while and then talked.

They feigned peace talks and returned supplies, but in reality, they launched a sneak attack. Now there's absolutely no room for negotiation.

Li Shimin was furious, and Li Ji was under immense pressure. He wouldn't dare return to Chang'an unless he beat Xueyantuo to a pulp.

Originally, the Tang army might have had to consider the thoughts of the various tribes on the grasslands, but now they had a completely legitimate reason to attack.

The historically renowned Xueyantuo War also has a little-known secret that is not recorded in history. It is probably because Li Shimin felt ashamed.

No wonder that after the Xueyantuo were defeated, Li Shimin also outmaneuvered them, first agreeing to a marriage alliance to appease their tribes, but then turning against them after stabilizing the situation.

"Which is the western front?" Li Yuanchang didn't remember very clearly, only that Li Ji had divided his forces into three routes to fight the Xueyantuo.

"Your Highness, I don't know either, but it should be the main route. The garrison of Jingzhao Prefecture and the Central Imperial Guard are together, and they are definitely going to have a decisive battle."

"We need to hurry up and prepare!" Gong Yun said with a serious expression.

He had escorted the shipments more than once and knew very well that although the initial situation was urgent, it was only a minor matter. Once the war machine was in motion, the logistical nightmare would truly begin.

Li Yuanchang nodded emphatically.

"I will obey Military Advisor Gong's arrangements!"

"We will follow Military Advisor Gong's orders!"

"Alright, brothers, let's begin!" Gong Yun said solemnly.

"..."

Nothing was said that night; the veterans' tension and the new recruits' eagerness formed a stark contrast.

The entire massive logistics support team, stretching for dozens of miles, was completely silent all night, with both people and livestock desperately trying to rest.

Before dawn, before the moon had even fully set, the entire army was revived!

Several thousand people from Cangcao area of ​​Lantian County began to travel with the main force on the western front.

This departure also marked the official start of the Tang army's efforts, taking over from Li Simo's troops and entering the grasslands to fight against the 200,000 iron hooves of the Xueyantuo.

Along the way, they endured wind and rain, sleeping in the open, rushing to make the most of their time.

In the end, it only took a few days to reach Dingxiang City.

Here, more than a thousand soldiers and more than two thousand laborers from the Lantian County Granary Office were responsible for escorting all the grain and fodder from Qucheng.

The amount was enormous, far exceeding the amount of grain and fodder in the first phase, but fortunately, this was already during wartime, and Supervisor Wang dared not make a fuss about it.

He dared not shortchange the vehicles and horses that were due, because if there was a delay and the front lines were defeated, he would be executed a hundred times over if the investigation were conducted.

When the provisions were ready and the army marched out of Dingxiang, every road the officers and soldiers traveled was marked with numerous cavalry footprints, indicating that the front-line troops had already passed ahead of time.

However, this does not mean that the route is safe. The Baidaochuan River, which stretches for hundreds of miles, will be a "death road" for the logistics troops!

Under the heavy burden of difficult transportation, they also faced the constant threat of surprise attacks by Xueyantuo cavalry, as there was no buffer zone between the two sides.

Raiding supply lines was a common occurrence in warfare, and being assigned to the western front was both inevitable and unfortunate.

But it seemed that even the heavens were not on the Tang army's side, as a light drizzle began to fall on their very first day in Baidaochuan.