People always show their ugly side when they are in adversity, and are no exception for big names like Lu Dongzan. When he was defeated by Li Hong in one battle, fled from the battlefield in a panic, and was arrogant and proud when he encountered Qin Zhan, he got the anger and blood when he was besieged. All of this showed his ugly side vividly. Fortunately, now he returned to the army camp, with more than 40,000 elite cavalry from Mani and the 10,000 troops around him, he suddenly had more than 50,000 elite cavalry, and instantly he regained his former domineering and self-confidence.

In fact, Lu Dongzan did have domineering capital at this time.

Just talking about his current strength, if he had not encountered a pervert like Li Hong, the army of Qin Zhan, Xue Na and Li Jingxuan would not be enough to defeat him.

When he met Li Hong, he was defeated again and again. Part of it was because the iron cavalry of the personal guards around Li Hong were too strong in combat and too perverted in martial arts. Secondly, the swords used by the guards around Li Hong were too sharp, which made the weapons of the Lu Dongzan army unable to compete with him at all. If the eight hundred guards around Li Hong did not have the embroidered spring sword, they would have set up a cavalry formation, and it would be difficult to defeat Sambas's eight thousand elite cavalry. If the guards had not defeated Sambas's eight thousand elite cavalry, the attack of Lu Dongzan army would not have collapsed.

In addition, Li Hong is too good at fighting with his heart. Lu Dongzan was influenced by Li Hong's words many times and was played with by Li Hong many times in applause. He completely touched Lu Dongzan's heart.

Because of these factors combined, Lu Dongzan defeated Li Hongshi again and again this time.

However, this does not mean that his command ability is not bad. He commanded tens of thousands of troops to attack the Tang Dynasty, but he never suffered any heavy defeat.

Therefore, without Li Hong's factor, if we don't encounter Su Dingfang, Pei Xingjian, Wang Fangyi, and the other Tang generals, Lu Dongzan is really not afraid of him. Even though he is at a disadvantage in his military strength, he still dares to fight.

Therefore, after meeting with Mani, he entered the Central Army's tent, Lu Dongzan took a shower, ate and drank comfortably, and then fell asleep and rested happily.

After resting for one night, Lu Dongzan woke up the next morning and summoned the generals to the central army to discuss how to deal with the Qin Zhan, Xue Na and Li Jingxuan's army, and discuss the march route to return to Tubo after this battle.

At this point, Lu Dongzan no longer hopes to continue attacking the Tang Dynasty. Although the Western Regions are a place where wealth shines, he is no longer able to eat this piece of fat.

It doesn't matter if he fails today, because some of Tubo are war horses, some of them can draw their bows when they are on horseback, and they can fight with swords. As long as he can return to Tubo safely and give him another two years, he will be able to form a 200,000 elite cavalry to continue to attack the Tang Dynasty.

Of course, the premise is to return to Tubo immediately.

Although he only has more than 50,000 elite cavalry in his hands, as long as he does not go back empty-handed, even if he is defeated, Mang Song and Mangzan cannot do anything to him. Because he still has a huge force in Tubo, and he still has tens of thousands of elite soldiers available in Tubo, so he cannot recruit all his troops to the front line.

There were not many generals participating in this discussion, except for Mani and Zhuomi, there were only three ten thousand men.

To be honest, the generals under Lu Dongzan have almost died in battle. Now only Mani and Zhuo Mi can take advantage of it. As for the other three ten thousand men, they are purely for the purpose of making up for the numbers.

"Mani, this time we attacked the Tang Dynasty and suffered heavy losses. We can't continue to fight. I think I will go back to Tubo to cultivate and revive, form cavalry, and take revenge again in two years. What do you think?" Lu Dongzan asked.

As a strategist general of Lu Dongzan, Lu Dongzan was very cautious about what he said to Mani.

Mani was sent alone by Lu Dongzan to lead the army to attack Liangzhou City, which shows that his ability is good, but he met Pei Xingjian. After several confrontations and Pei Xingjian's night attack, he only had more than 40,000 elite cavalry left in his hand, which made him realize the gap between Tubo and the Tang Dynasty again.

Therefore, when Lu Dongzan asked this, he immediately replied, "Da Xiang, I also think we should withdraw our troops. It seems that it is not enough to use our current troops to deal with the Tang Dynasty."

Mani spoke very smartly. He did not say that his side was defeated, suffered heavy losses, and his morale was low and he could not defeat the Tang Dynasty. He just said that his side had few people and could not deal with the Tang Dynasty. This way of speaking made Lu Dongzan feel comfortable. After all, the real reason for all the losses in Tubo this time was Lu Dongzan himself.

Mani strongly agreed with Lu Dongzan's return to Tubo. In addition to not violating Lu Dongzan's resolution, he was also afraid of being beaten by Pei Xingjian.

Damn, I had 80,000 elite cavalry, and the other side had 20,000 soldiers, and half of them were infantry. I lost half of the elite cavalry in a daze, which was something that Mani dared not think of before. Fortunately, Lu Dongzan was also defeated by Li Hong this time, so Mani was not charged with losing so many soldiers. Otherwise, according to the Tubo practices in the past, Mani's current record would have been cut by Lu Dongzan.

"Yes." Lu Dongzan was very satisfied with Mani's answer, and then turned his gaze to Zhuo Mi who was beside him and said, "Zhuo Mi, what do you think?"

"I also think we should return to our country." Zhuo Mi replied, "But before returning to our country, we should have another battle with the Tang army, and at least we must remove the three Tang army cavalry around us."

Zhuo Mi had a high fighting spirit, and he never believed that the Tang army without Li Hong could defeat their Tubo cavalry.

Furthermore, he also guessed Lu Dongzan's thoughts. When Lu Dongzan met Li Hong this time, he was like kicking the iron plate. He recognized it, but when he met Qin Zhan and his group, he was like a wolf and a sheep. He would definitely not give up in order to save his face. Therefore, he destroyed these three Tang cavalry before returning to Tubo, which was Lu Dongzan's most urgent long-term vision.

When Mani's words came to Lu Dongzan's heart, Lu Dongzan was naturally very happy.

As for the other three captains who were counting, Lu Dongzan didn't even look at them. If it weren't for his lack of generals, they wouldn't even have the qualifications to meet Lu Dongzan with the strength of these three people.

Getting the answer he wanted most, Lu Dongzan pondered for a moment and said, "The three Tang army cavalry that appeared beside us this time seemed loose, but in fact there was a commander in command. As long as we find the troops who commanded the three cavalry, we will destroy his army, and the other two troops are not worth worrying."

"Mani, you suffered heavy losses when you attacked Liangzhou City. This time, the true minister gave you another chance to make meritorious contributions. Would you like to?" Lu Dongzan asked.

"I do." Mani's body was shocked and immediately replied. He did not expect that Lu Dongzan would fail and he would still be held accountable. However, who is Lu Dongzan? He is a prime minister of Tubo. He did not admit his failure, but only pursued his subordinates' failure. Mani had no choice but to admit it.

"Then this time I gave you another 20,000 troops. Can you defeat the three cavalry of the Tang army one by one and make meritorious service?" Lu Dongzan said. With one sentence, he easily took away Mani's military power. Mani had an army of more than 40,000, but now after Lu Dongzan's arrangement, he only had 20,000 elite cavalry left in his hand.

"Yes." Mani could only bow and accept the order.

"Zhuomi, you will be the one who will lead the remaining army, follow the person and support Mani at any time." Lu Dongzan said to Zhuomi.

"Yes, the great minister." Zhuo Mi replied excitedly. In the past, he was just the deputy general of Lu Dongzan's personal guard, the Eagle Cavalry. With Sambas, the strong commander, he commanded only 5,000 soldiers. Now, with Lu Dongzan's words, he became the general who commanded nearly 40,000 troops. How could Zhuo Mi be unhappy or excited?

"Okay, it's getting late, we can't delay any more. You all go down and prepare." Lu Dongzan said, "Mani, you can take action immediately after mobilizing the army. Zhuo Mi, rectify Wan Dajun, and come to the original camp again."

"Yes, the great prime minister." Mani and Zhuo Mi stood up and left Lu Dongzan's tent with the other three ten thousand men.

After a moment, the sharp sound of a horn was blown outside the camp.

Nearly an hour passed, Zhuo Mi strode into Lu Dongzan's big tent.

"Master, the army has been rectified." Zhuo Mi reported to Lu Dongzan with high fighting spirit.

"How many people do you have in your hands?" Lu Dongzan asked, "How many jerky and ghee tsampa still have?"

"Thirty-six thousand people, jerky meat can last for three days, and butter tsampa can last for four days." Zhuo Mi replied simply. Lu Dongzan nodded slightly and was silent for a moment. He ordered, "Zhuo Mi, the army gathers immediately, and we will go back to Tubo."

"What?" Zhuo Mi said in shock. Isn't it just about destroying the three cavalry of the Tang army before returning to Tubo? Why... Go back to Tubo at this time, don't you care about Mani and his 20,000 army? "Great Prime Minister, what should I do if Mani and his 20,000 elite cavalry go back to Tubo at this time?"

"Don't worry about them, it's a blessing that we can leave." Lu Dongzan said.

At this time, Zhuo Mi was even stupid, she knew Lu Dongzan's intentions. He asked Mani as a bait to attract the attention of the Tang army and let himself calmly return to Tubo! Zhuo Mi was not disgusted with Lu Dongzan's approach of letting Mani as bait. If it were him, he would probably do this. But he was a little uncomfortable with Lu Dongzan's cold behavior of using 20,000 Tubo cavalry as bait.

Seeing that Zhuo Mi was still stunned, Lu Dongzan wanted to scold him, but now it is different from the past. Zhuo Mi can only use him now, so he can only explain patiently, "Zhuo Mi, do you understand Li Hong?"

"I don't understand." Zhuo Mi replied honestly.

"The real person knows him." Lu Dongzan said, pausing for a moment, he continued to speak, "Li Hong is a person who will never give up until he achieves his goal. For this reason, he can use his body as bait. This time he defeated the real person. Do you think his goal has been achieved? No. His real purpose is not to defeat the real person, but to kill the real person. Therefore, it seems that he is not chasing us now, but in fact he is ready to annihilate our entire army. Therefore, it is very difficult for us to return to Tubo under such circumstances. The only way is to make efforts and sacrifice, let Mani and 20,000 elite cavalry be bait, and induce Li Hong and his army, so that we can escape from his palm and return to Tubo."

"For you, the cost of 20,000 soldiers may be too high, but if the original person doesn't do this, can Li Hong be deceived?" Lu Dongzan asked. Seeing that Zhuo Mi was silent, he continued, "I told you so much, even if you understand the original person, you have to do it."

"Great Present, I understand." Zhuo Mi immediately expressed his opinion, but he did not dare to let Lu Dongzan speak humbly to him.

Lu Dongzan was very satisfied with Zhuo Mi's performance and said in a faint tone, "If you understand, just go and prepare!"

"Yes." Zhuo Mi took the order and left with great strides.

Lu Dongzan looked at Zhuo Mi leaving. Lu Dongzan's expression of guilt just now suddenly became very cold. If it weren't for comforting Zhuo Mi, he wouldn't say that. In his opinion, as long as he could save his life, not to say that he would sacrifice 20,000 people, he would be willing to sacrifice 200,000 people. (To be continued)
Chapter completed!