"What does that Gu Clan youth think of us, the mighty eagles of the Snow Region?"

"Could he really believe that we, the Tubo, are like the weak lambs of the steppe, or the helpless foxes and hares of the Liaodong forests?"

"We are the children of the Snow Mountains, favored by the Celestial God, protected by the spirits of ten thousand mountains!"

"Anyone who does not sincerely revere the spirits of the high mountains, who dares to defile the sacred soil of the Divine Mountain with a mortal body, is showing great disrespect to the gods of heaven and earth!"

"Such is a sin worthy of death, and their actions will surely incur divine retribution!"

His expression was furious, and he sneered disdainfully: "That Gu Clan youth is ultimately too young and ignorant."

"Thinking back to the past, what could that so-called ’Butcher’ Gu Jing have done?"

"Did he not also dare not step into our Tubo Divine Realm?"

"Does this Gu Clan youth really think his clan can conquer our Tubo’s Divine Mountain?"

Under his words, the assembled Tubo nobles all nodded one after another.

This is the power of faith.

Outside, when facing the Gu Clan, they felt afraid. Even when the Gu Clan stood at the border of the Great Tang, just as Gu Jing did in the past, they still trembled.

But when these people step into the Tubo territory, everything is completely different.

Before they truly feel the terror of the Gu Clan, this power of faith is enough to overshadow everything.

Especially for those who have lived on the plateau for years.

They are well aware of how a person’s body transforms when entering the plateau without proper acclimatization.

Of course, they cannot comprehend any scientific explanations, only feeling that this is the protection granted by the gods they worship.

And that is their greatest confidence.

No hesitation whatsoever.

Tsri Songtsen Gampo’s decision was made in an instant.

The various noble clans followed without the slightest hesitation, and as the Tang Army’s iron hooves truly stepped onto the plateau, these Tubo nobles’ hearts were more united than ever before.

The first year of Zhide, June 12.

With the continuous advance of the Tang Army, they finally encountered a counterattack from the Tubo on this day.

As Gu Yi anticipated—

The Tubo’s first target was still the Tang Army’s supplies.

Fortunately, Guo Ziyi, Gao Xianzhi, and others were fully prepared. Gu Yi’s strategy of setting broad directions and leaving the details to them ultimately stimulated the full potential of these generals.

The two sides engaged in a fierce battle at West Incline Mountain.

Both suffered losses.

Although the Tang Army’s strength was indeed considerable, under these high-altitude conditions, their bodies were inevitably affected, which naturally impacted their combat effectiveness.

However, the good news was that the Tang Army’s supplies were still intact.

For Gu Yi, this was very welcome news indeed.

It is worth mentioning that Gu Yi’s strategy this time was completely different from the approaches of the Gu Clan disciples in the past.

There were no surprise attacks; the focus was on a steady and methodical advance.

From mobilizing from Longyou, through the Tao River Valley, then crossing over West Incline Mountain to control the Nine Bends of the Yellow River, thus seizing Lhasa by the throat.

There were still many details involved.

Moreover, this was not a fixed strategy; it required judgment based on different situations.

In short, Gu Yi’s strategy was to avoid excessively high altitudes as much as possible to prevent affecting the soldiers’ combat strength.

Of course, he never hoped to completely settle Tubo in one battle.

That was entirely unrealistic.

For the current Kyushu, it would be nice if the whole of Tubo could integratively merge into Kyushu bit by bit, just like the Western Regions.

However, this also made Gu Yi think of another issue.

Isn’t the Gu Clan’s current approach of integrating various domains into Kyushu too much pressure on future emperors?

To speak nothing of incompetent rulers.

Even for any wise ruler, the pressure of unifying the entire world has already far exceeded that of original history, not to mention the subsequent governance.

This would definitely be a headache for them.

But there’s nothing to be confused about.

Again, Gu Yi no longer cares about how the original history unfolds; the longer the Gu Clan’s glory lasts, the greater the changes to history will be.

Who can say for certain whether those emperors of original history would still emerge?

The battle raged on.

As the Tang Army took greater strides deeper, the Tubo’s attacks grew increasingly bold, with various situations arising within the army.

Despite being fully prepared,

the high-altitude reaction still appeared uncontrollably, though the numbers were not vast.

Nonetheless, it had a significant impact.

For ordinary soldiers, it was tolerable, but as the army continued to advance, the same condition began to appear among the commanders.

And in the situation where Tubo directly started to fight back.

Gu Yi had no choice but to adopt a more cautious approach, slowing down the entire army’s marching speed to give the soldiers more time to adapt.

As the situation evolved to this point, the supply of provisions became the decisive factor.

Tsri Songtsen Gampo was no ordinary figure to secure the position of Zanpu.

He understood that it was not the time for a direct confrontation with the Tang Army, so he precisely targeted the lifeline of the Tang Army—its supply lines.

By today’s standards, this strategy was considered wise.

After all, the deeper the Tang Army advanced into the plateau, the more likely the intangible "plateau hindrance" would become a deadly shackle.

However, this was precisely the limitation of Tsri Songtsen Gampo’s thinking.

This seemingly slow "gradual approach" of Gu Yi was precisely to buy precious adaptation time for the army.

Tubo’s harassment tactics against the supply lines unexpectedly fit into Gu Yi’s calculations.

— He was not afraid of a war of attrition.

The Gu Clan had been preparing for decades, and the supply of provisions was already well-established.

Moreover, Gu Yi even began to teach the soldiers how to cultivate fields on the plateau. Regardless of whether this would be effective during this expedition, it would certainly prove useful in the future.

In this situation, Gu Xuan’s internal governance skills were fully demonstrated.

Although the situation appeared grave on the surface, Gu Yi remained unruffled and even felt that the plan for this expedition was going quite smoothly.

...

Tang Army camp.

The camp doctors conducted their routine inspections, and soon the tents were filled with shouts and disputes:

"I’m not sick! I want to follow the Grand Tutor into battle and earn merits. I’m in great health!"

"How could there be anything wrong with my body? Don’t say more!"

"Doctor! I’m begging you! I’m fine, I’ve felt much better these past few days! Let me fight, I want to earn merits!"

The camp was noisy, but fortunately, it hadn’t descended into chaos.

Once the clamor subsided, the leaders of each camp gathered, reporting gravely to the central command about the reductions under their leadership.

Everyone wore different expressions.

This had become a daily scenario for the Tang Army; there were always key subordinates experiencing severe altitude sickness, forcing them to return the way they came.

They had long started pleading with Gu Xuan.

But Gu Xuan’s reply was always the same, "Would you rather have your comrades face certain death, or take the risk to gain some merits?"

It’s an easy choice to make.

Altitude sickness in this day and age was not as easily overcome as it is today.

"Grand Tutor."

Once the daily pleas from the soldiers ended, Gao Xianzhi directly brought up serious matters, "Tubo’s harassment of our army has escalated recently; should we still proceed with this gradual approach?"

He couldn’t hold back anymore.

As soon as he said this, many commanders in the tent nodded frequently, their eyes showing the same anxiety and confusion, even the usually composed Guo Ziyi and Feng Changqing furrowed their brows.

They ultimately failed to fully understand the horror of altitude sickness, only feeling that the longer it dragged on, the more the "plateau hindrance" would weigh heavily, and the soldiers’ lethargic state was clear evidence.

Gu Yi remained calm, not surprised at all by this.

They ultimately didn’t understand what altitude sickness truly was.

They only felt the situation would worsen over time.

Listening to these words, Gu Yi was not surprised at all. With a slight thought, Gu Xuan scanned the commanders, asking in a deep voice, "Generals, what do you think should be done?"

"Grand Tutor!" One of the commanders couldn’t hold back, cupping his fists and loudly said, "I believe we should gather our elite forces, strike directly at Lhasa, and forcefully attack!"

"Exactly! This ’plateau hindrance’ is unavoidable, why prolong it? It will only increase casualties!"

"..."

The generals immediately stepped forward with their suggestions.

Having interacted over this period, they had come to understand Gu Xuan’s character, knowing that counsel would not be punished.

Once everyone finished speaking, Gu Xuan finally spoke again, but did not respond to the commanders’ potential queries, "Gentlemen, don’t be hasty."

"Wait a little longer—"

He then looked at Guo Ziyi, "A few more days and what difference does losing a battle make to them?"

— This was the key to Gu Yi’s understanding of the entire situation!

The disparity in understanding, how could he not leverage it?

For instance... the altitude sickness being faced now!....

.....

(Ps: Begging for monthly votes at the month’s end, brothers, please support us a lot, there’s infinite gratitude from Yu.)