Chapter 319 Gu Tingye's Decision
It has been more than a year since Gu Tingye and others came to the Northwest to take up their posts.
Compared to when he first arrived, he looks a lot darker and his skin is much rougher.
However, the temperaments of several people have changed a lot.
"Brother Zichun, the sudden withdrawal of Western Xia troops must be an attempt to retreat in order to advance. I'm afraid it won't take long to pacify the plateau. But the Hehuang area has not yet become chaotic. By the time Western Xia pacifies the plateau, your strategy may not work." Gu Tingye said solemnly.
"Zhong Huai has a unique vision and he thinks the same as I do. But there's no point in rushing this matter. We still have to see when Doctor Sheng can deliver the batch of weapons and armor." Wang Shao sighed.
Although the Song Dynasty had not fought a war in recent years, a lot of weapons, armor and military equipment had been stockpiled in Bianliang.
Even many of those replaced in the military are still usable.
According to what he discussed with Zhao Xing, Zhao Xing would transfer a batch of troops from the treasury under the pretext of replacing weapons and armor for the Palace Guards.
Then Sheng Wei secretly transported it to the northwest and sold it to the Tubo and Qiang people in the Hehuang area to stimulate their ambitions.
He then tried to find a way to let the Tubo and Qiang people in Hehuang know that they might be the next target of Western Xia.
In order to have enough strength to protect themselves, it is very likely that the Tubo and Qiang people in the Hehuang area took advantage of the fact that the Western Xia had not annexed the plateau to mobilize troops to unify the Hehuang area.
Even if they did not mobilize troops and strengthened the strength of the Hehuang area, it would hinder the Western Xia from mobilizing troops in the Hehuang area.
For the Song Dynasty and the Western Xia, no matter which side wanted to occupy Hehuang, the other side would not sit idly by and sending troops to intervene was inevitable.
Therefore, if both sides want to mobilize their troops, they need to act quickly, so that they can annex the Hehuang area before the other side has time to react.
Although the Song Dynasty had stockpiled a large number of troops in the northwest, the drawbacks of the Song Dynasty's military system were there. If the Western Xia launched an attack on Hehuang, no one would dare to intervene without the order from Bian Jing.
Therefore, if it is impossible to annex Hehuang, it is necessary to strengthen Hehuang's strength.
Now that the weapons and armor have not arrived yet, although there have been minor frictions between the Tibetans and the Qiang people in the Hehuang area, there is no sign of a major war.
Hearing this, Gu Tingye looked at Sheng Changwu and said, "Did your father send you a letter saying how long it would take?"
Sheng Changwu smiled bitterly and said, "Father won't tell me this."
Although both father and son were subjects of Zhao Xing, Sheng Changwu was a military general, while Sheng Wei was equivalent to Zhao Xing's housekeeper, taking care of some chores for him.
Since there is no subordinate relationship, Sheng Wei naturally would not say these to him.
Gu Tingye was silent for a while after hearing this, and then said, "Brother Zichun, time is running out. We don't have much time left. I can first draw a batch of weapons and armor from the Wuxiong Army to provide to the Tubo and Qiang people in the Hehuang area!"
"Commander in chief, no!" Yuan Wenshao said anxiously, "It is a taboo to privately use weapons and armor without permission!"
You should know that this is not a simple call by Gu Tingye, but a provision to the Tubo and Qiang people in the Hehuang area.
Once the truth is leaked, even Zhao Xing will find it difficult to save Gu Tingye.
In the Song Dynasty, there is no such thing as a general being unable to obey the orders of the emperor when he is away from home.
In fact, not only in the Song Dynasty, but in any dynasty, it is enough to just listen to this saying that a general is not entitled to obey the orders of the emperor when he is away from home.
Otherwise, even if you win the battle, the future outcome will not be any better.
Not to mention that Gu Tingye didn't even have the emperor's order, he was acting entirely on his own initiative.
"I can't care about so many things now!" Gu Tingye said decisively: "If I miss this opportunity, I may not be able to wait for such a good opportunity next time."
Gu Tingye was well-versed in the art of war and knew that opportunities for battle were fleeting.
Now the weapons and armor transported by Sheng Wei have not arrived yet, and the weapons and armor provided to the Tubo and Qiang people in the Hehuang area also need time to prepare, so time is very tight.
Gu Tingye was aware of the likely consequences of doing so.
But he had been with Zhao Xing for many years and understood Zhao Xing's character. He felt that even if Zhao Xing knew, he would support his current decision.
"Zhong Huai, you should be aware of the consequences of doing this. You must think carefully before doing this." Wang Shao said seriously.
Gu Tingye smiled and said, "I will bear all the consequences!"
If you want to mobilize a batch of weapons and armor from the army, you have to go through Wang Shao.
Wang Shao was the military supervisor. The civil officials of the Song Dynasty led the military, not only because the power to mobilize troops was controlled by the Privy Council, but also because the members of the Privy Council were basically civil servants.
It is more because of the military supervisor system. When the commander-in-chief and the military supervisor disagree, the military supervisor can directly take over the army.
By mobilizing weapons and armor, Gu Tingye was able to hide it from others, but not from Wang Shao.
If Wang Shao didn't agree, he couldn't do it at all.
And Wang Shao just said that he should think carefully about the consequences, which actually showed that he did not object to this matter.
"That's not necessary. I agree with your solution. If anything goes wrong, I will share the responsibility with you." Wang Shao shook his head.
He had actually considered the method that Gu Tingye suggested, but he had too many concerns and couldn't make up his mind.
But Gu Tingye's decisiveness influenced him, so he decided to go crazy with Gu Tingye.
In fact, this is the difference between civil officials and military generals.
It’s not that civil officials are unfamiliar with military affairs. In history, during the hundreds of years of the Song Dynasty, many civil officials who were knowledgeable about military affairs emerged.
His military talent is not necessarily inferior to that of some famous generals in history.
But these people were eventually retained in the court.
Although some civil officials have high military talents, compared with military generals, civil officials have a big flaw, which is that they are not decisive enough.
Or it could be because they are well versed in politics, and when making any decision, they consider not only the outcome on the battlefield, but also their own political gains and losses.
Seeing Wang Shao say this, Gu Tingye naturally would not refuse. After discussing it carefully with Wang Shao, he began to prepare.
With Wang Shao's support, the mobilization of weapons and armor went extremely smoothly.
The border troops have a certain amount of reserves of weapons and armor.
These are used for replacement of wear and tear in the military.
However, the Takeo Army only had 12,500 men, and the stockpiled weapons and armor were only more than 3,000 sets.
After Gu Tingye and Wang Shao discussed it, they simply added some of the old and damaged ones that had been replaced before.
Although these items are old and some are damaged, they are rare treasures for the Tubo and Qiang people in the Hehuang area.
The Tibetan and Qiang people in the Hehuang area had backward skills, and coupled with a shortage of materials such as iron ore, their weapons and equipment were very poor.
Although Sheng Wei had previously traded with the various Tibetan Qiang tribes, in order to ensure Sheng Wei's safety, Gu Tingye also sent some people to pretend to be guards and accompany Sheng Wei into Hehuang.
Sheng Changwu and Sheng Wei are father and son, so the task of leading people for protection naturally fell on him.
Therefore, if one wanted to trade with the Tubo and Qiang people in Hehuang, Sheng Changwu had to do it under the name of Sheng Wei.
The whole process went exceptionally smoothly. The price had been agreed upon long ago, and the Tubo and Qiang people paid very promptly after receiving their weapons and armor.
(End of this chapter)