"In your opinion, we should reduce military spending, reduce the army, and focus all our efforts on developing the economy?" After thinking for a while, Philip V seemed to accept the opinions of his close friend and new prime minister.

"I don't think it's necessary to reduce the army for the time being. After all, there are still the Baiyin barbarians in the north who have never surrendered. Moreover, as a military power in the Eastern Continent, reducing troops at this time will also damage the image of the empire. I just think that the empire can completely avoid fighting those wars that are unnecessary and worthless, and focusing on strengthening the daily training of the army is enough to save a lot of expenses. In the next few years, imitate the northwest under Li Wufeng and shift the focus to economic development. With the wealth and foundation of our empire, are we still not as good as a northwest county under Li Wufeng?" Pokaninsky put forward his thoughtful suggestions.

"What if Mott remains unchanged and attacks our west again?" This is a question that Philip V has always been worried about.

"This is exactly the problem that I plan to resolve in this negotiation with Su Qin. However, in my opinion, as long as we can convince Li Wufeng to restrain the Mot and Tubu people, these should not be a problem. Of course, we need to make some concessions." Pokaninsky was very confident.

"Well, but do those nomadic barbarians listen to Li Wufeng so honestly?" It seems that Fili V was heartbroken by the attack of the Mots, and he was always worried about this problem.

"Your Majesty, I just missed a little. The reason why the Mot and Tubu people surrendered to Li Wufeng's feet is not entirely the result of the complete suppression of Li Wufeng's military strength. More importantly, both the Mot and Tubu people have been completely assimilated and controlled by the Northwest. The entire Mot and Tubu people have been integrated into the powerful and vibrant economic circle of the Northwest. Their tribes are accustomed to selling their livestock and other goods to the Northwest merchants, and then obtaining a variety of Northwest commodities from the Northwest merchants far exceeds any previous period. They can no longer adapt to the loss of the Northwest transit link. In this case, can the Mot and Tubu people not only follow the leader of Li Wufeng?" Pokaninsky believes that this is the most important factor in defeating and controlling these two tribes.

After a long silence, Felix V stood up heavily, patted the Prime Minister's shoulder, and said with regret: "Maybe you are right, we need a good environment for development, but we have delayed too many development opportunities. We can no longer delay, just do it according to your opinion. As long as we can only win a peaceful environment for a period of time, even if we make some concessions, it is tolerated."

"Your Majesty doesn't have to worry too much. Since Li Wufeng wants to get involved in the melee in the Central Plains of the Tanghe Empire, he will not have much direct conflict of interest with us in a short period of time. He will not be able to see a conclusion in one or two years after he intervenes in the Central Plains. We can get a buffer period to rest. As long as we restore and develop our national strength, whether it is the Mot, the Baiyin, or the Tanghe people, as long as we have strength, many things may not be as complicated and difficult as we imagined!" Pokaninsky also stood up and raised his not-so-thick chest and said with high apprehension.

In early autumn, Kansai is particularly beautiful. Haystacks can be seen everywhere in the rice fields after harvest. The farmers and women who are busy farming finally usher in a rare leisure season. This period may be the most leisure time for farmers who are living in farming. Until the spring festival, they can stay in teahouses all day long, in the woods, in the riverside ditches, and play cards and do some small gambling. Reserve soldiers usually practice during this period. A few hard-working people take advantage of this period to start running small businesses, grain trading, wine making, carpentry, building houses, and trading small department stores. These are the most common businesses in the countryside, and they have become the best time for some farmers to earn extra income.

"The general attack time is over!" An officer rushed into the command post excitedly and waved his hands and shouted loudly.

"when?"

"Tonight? Or tomorrow morning?"

"But I'm upset. If I don't live a relaxed life, I'll be sick if I'm holding it up."

The command post immediately felt like it was in an uproar and became lively. The officers who were originally lazy suddenly became energetic and surrounded the officers who rushed into the command post.

"It was probably tonight. I met an acquaintance of mine just now. He was a senior staff officer in the Legion Command. He heard that he had just received an urgent report from the fast horse. He heard that Sanjiang had started to fight with the Lin family first. Now the command post is convening a division commander for a meeting. When I came back, I saw that the division commander and the chief of staff were busy getting on the horse and going to the command post. It was probably going to receive orders. It seems that our division commander was on the front line." The gasping officer was busy explaining.

"Okay, I finally waited for it. I was almost like I was so busy staying in this forest all day long."

"If you want to do something early, stay here. If you do a good job of confidentiality, it is afraid it will be difficult to hide it for a long time."

"Yes, it's better to take action in advance. If the Maqikhans are willing to cooperate, they will cooperate. If we don't cooperate, we will fight together. I don't believe that the Lin family can be able to defeat three in one of them?"

The waves of unrestrained shouts vented the dissatisfaction of these men. It was obvious that staying in this remote valley for a long time has made these men extremely impatient. They were eager to use battle to vent their long-established depression. They were looking forward to a war, a war that could fully demonstrate their identity.

Two hours later, the officers who received the order quickly entered the state of war. Their usual lazy appearance disappeared without a trace, replaced by endless fighting spirit and murderous intent. A group of soldiers mobilized their fighting spirit in the shortest time and finally could say goodbye to this nest that had been for several months. What awaited them was the fate of the soldiers.

On the night of September 5, 697, the mainland Gregorian calendar, almost at the same time, a hundred thousand troops quietly gathered in the mountains between Bashan and Lujiang Prefectures were divided into two routes, from Pingyang Valley and Wangyuepo, the easternmost end of Bashan Prefecture, and headed straight to Lujiang Prefecture City on the banks of the Lujiang River.

A division on the southern line took a boat to the east, conquering several towns along the river bank, while the other division followed along the river by land. The three divisions on the northern line conquered several important passes in the western part of Lujiang within three days. Although the Lin family stationed in Lujiang Prefecture, there were two division troops in Lujiang Prefecture, because they were worried that the Maqi Khan in the east would have an unknown movement and might advance westward to attack Lujiang Prefecture City. Lin Yunfei, who had already taken over Lin Guowei in charge of Lujiang defense, drew three corpses from a division originally deployed at Cuiping Pass, the most important pass in the western part, leaving only two corpses to be responsible for defense.

They encountered a continuous and crazy attack from two elite divisions of the First Division of the Langjia Tiannan Army. After a day and night of hard fighting, Cuiping Pass fell, and more than 8,000 soldiers of the First Division of the Sanjiang Second Army had survived. The two offensive divisions of the Tiannan Army still paid nearly 18,000 casualties with the absolute advantage of military strength before achieving this tragic victory. However, after this battle, the Lin family could not organize effective defense in the western part of Lujiang every night. Tiannan was unstoppable and swept across the western part of Lujiang in just three days.

On September 10, the Tiannan Army and the navy responsible for the water defense of Lujiang encountered a section of the Lujiang River twenty miles away from Lujiang Prefecture City. The two sides had the first large-scale water war. Although the Tiannan Navy had the advantage of Shangshui, the sudden southeast wind caused the Sanjiang Navy fleet, which was already in danger, to turn victory into defeat. The Lin family navy used the boat to fill with tung oil and fire-induced materials to launch a counterattack on the Tiannan Navy through the wind. Because most of the Tiannan Navy was transferred from the army and was not familiar with water war, the fleet was mostly arranged in dense formations and could not disperse in time after being attacked by fire. The officers responsible for commanding the navy fleet were panic and only put down the boat to escape, resulting in the loss of fighter planes and burned more than 20 ships. The Sanjiang Navy took the opportunity to attack fiercely. The Tiannan side suffered heavy casualties, with as many as 8,000 people burned or drowned, and most of the fleet lost half.

However, the victory of the Sanjiang Lin family in the water battle could not save the situation in Lujiang, which was hopeless. After the water offensive was set, Tiannan decisively gave up the water offensive and concentrated its forces to launch an attack on Lujiang Prefecture from the north by land. The battle was extremely tragic. After discovering his mistake at Cuiping Pass, Lin Yunfei was worried that he would not be able to explain to his father, so he personally climbed to Lujiang Prefecture City to supervise the battle and did not go down the city tower for three consecutive days. However, this was not enough to resist the advantageous army.

The powerful Tiannan Army, when the Tiannan side and the remnants of the imperial forces in the Lujiang Prefecture Security Force came online, the already shaky Lujiang Prefecture City defense system finally broke. On September 19, after five days of hard fighting, the first and third divisions of the Tiannan First Army captured Lujiang almost at the same time. However, before that, Lin Yunfei had quietly used the navy fleet to cross the Lujiang River with the remnants of the two regiments at night, broke through the obstruction of the small group of Tiannan Army, and met with the Sanjiang army who came to meet in the southeast of Lujiang, and fled back to Sanjiang in a panic.

After half a month of tug-of-war, the battle for Lujiang was finally brought to an end, marked by the fall of Lujiang Prefecture City. In this battle, both sides used more than 150,000 troops. In the end, only two remaining regiments of the Lin family in Sanjiang fled back to Sanjiang, and the Lang family also paid more than 40,000 losses to two elite divisions. However, the Lang family occupied Lujiang and locked the main forces of the Lin family in Hanzhong firmly in the Hanzhong Basin, becoming an isolated army without any foreign aid.
Chapter completed!