Thirty-year-old Su Dingfang stared at the image of Grand Commander Su Dingfang on the light screen, his eyes filled with unconcealed yearning.
Then, as if by instinct, he turned his head to look at the emperor.
Only to find Emperor Li Shimin had already twisted his neck the other way—his gaze fixed squarely on Zhangsun Wuji.
Zhangsun Wuji, meanwhile, was deeply engrossed in studying the battlefield diagram projected on the light screen, even discussing it animatedly with Hou Junji beside him.
"Turkic bandits are all light cavalry," Zhangsun Wuji said seriously.
"If infantry form ranks with heavy shields, how exactly are they to be broken?"
Almost at once, he continued with enthusiasm:
"This battle, Dingfang will surely smash the bandits again!
What does the Duke of Lu think?"
Hou Junji caught sight of the emperor's gaze from behind Zhangsun Wuji and quietly shuffled two steps backward, his mouth full of perfunctory praise.
"The Duke of Qi truly has unique insight into military formations!"
But Zhangsun Wuji almost simultaneously took a step forward to keep pace, continuing warmly:
"Yet the Turkic bandits are easy to scatter but hard to annihilate.
You break them today, they regroup tomorrow, then come back to raid again."
"Does the Duke of Lu have any thoughts on defeating them completely?"
Hou Junji shook his head violently.
"None."
Whether he'd even be allowed to command troops in the future was still a question. Why bother worrying about this?
At least he, Hou Junji, still held the title of General of the Right Guard.
As for Duke Qi Zhangsun Wuji…
Li Shimin paid no attention to the small calculations between the two. He snorted coldly at Zhangsun Wuji's back—then, in the blink of an eye, turned around and changed expressions completely, beaming at Su Dingfang with open approval.
"Dingfang possesses both courage and strategy—truly a worthy general of Great Tang!"
That single sentence was enough to make Su Lie beam from ear to ear. He even raised his eyebrows proudly toward Li Shiji.
Li Shiji simply closed his eyes.
Out of sight, out of mind.
Though privately, he felt Zhangsun Wuji wasn't wrong. In a certain sense, Western Turkic forces might actually be weaker than the Eastern Turks.
At least the Eastern Turks were close to Tang territory. Through smuggling or imitation of Tang craftsmanship, their equipment—though inferior—wasn't disastrously so.
Western Turkic, on the other hand, probably didn't enjoy such luck.
And sure enough, the calm, unhurried voice from the light screen soon confirmed his guess.
[Lightscreen]
[Facing an enemy several times his own strength—and even dividing his forces—Su Dingfang had, of course, thought things through carefully.
Once battle was joined, Ashina Helu quickly realized something was wrong.
Against the smaller Tang infantry force, Helu ordered his entire army forward, commanding both wings to encircle and attack together.
The Tang infantry did not panic. They first withdrew onto nearby slopes, ensuring the cavalry could not charge downhill.
Then they formed ranks, every spear pointed outward.
In this situation, even though Helu had a hundred thousand men, it was useless. To sum it up in one phrase:
a dog trying to bite a hedgehog—no place to sink its teeth.
At Helu's urging, the Turks launched three assaults, but achieved little.
And on the battlefield, things are simple:
if you can't break my formation, then it's my turn to hit you.
As the Turkic attacks repeatedly failed, Su Dingfang seized the moment and launched his counteroffensive.
Hedgehogs in front, iron cavalry behind—
the historians used just two words to describe the Turkic reaction: collapse.
Su Dingfang led his troops as if through empty ground. Seeing defeat was inevitable, Helu fled in panic.
The Tang army pursued for thirty li, killing and capturing nearly thirty thousand men in total, beheading over two hundred chieftains and officers.
An unquestionable victory.
A commonplace victory.
An entirely expected victory.
Thanks to the might of Tang armies during the Zhenguan era—and because even the Turks themselves knew their current Great Khan was essentially a Tang exchange student—what was there even left to fight?
Thus the Right Wing of Western Turkic, the Five Nushibi tribes, thought it through overnight.
Before Su Dingfang had even finished breakfast the next day, word arrived: the Right Wing wished to surrender.
The Left Wing, the Five Dulu tribes, showed a bit more backbone—but not much.
Led by their chieftain, they fled south and ultimately surrendered to the other Tang army.
With the tree fallen and the monkeys scattering, Helu led his own followers fleeing westward.
Faced with this chaos, Su Dingfang ordered Xiao Siyue and Po Run to pursue those unwilling to surrender, while he personally led troops in pursuit of Helu.
However, since the campaign began at the start of the year, they were unlucky enough to encounter a sudden heavy snowfall during the chase.
His officers requested rest.
Su Dingfang refused.
He reasoned that the enemy, seeing the snowfall, would certainly rest—and that was precisely Tang's opportunity.
Leading by example, the Tang army pursued through the snow for six hundred li, finally catching up to Helu at Mount Jinya (modern Kyrgyzstan).
Striking the unprepared, and with Tang troops already superior in combat power, Helu's tens of thousands were routed in a single blow.
Awkwardly enough, when Su Dingfang attacked, Helu happened to be out hunting. Upon hearing Tang troops had arrived, he fled immediately, escaping swiftly with only a small remnant.
The chase continued.
After another five hundred li, at the Suyab River (modern Kazakhstan), Su Dingfang caught up once more.
Another great battle followed. Helu's remaining forces were all captured—but Helu himself, along with his son and several dozen cavalrymen, slipped through the net and fled to the State of Shiguo (modern Uzbekistan).
In total, Helu fled over twelve hundred li—enough to make even Su Dingfang marvel, sighing that he was truly old and couldn't chase any farther.
Soon after, the city lord of Sudo City in Shiguo, Yizhuda, sent word that he had lured and captured the passing Helu.
"When will the Tang army come to take him?"
At last, the war to annihilate Western Turkic was completely concluded.
From Chang'an to the Western Regions, from the Altai Mountains to the Suyab River—a one-way journey of nearly seven thousand li.
It is hard to imagine such a record was achieved by a general nearly sixty years old, more than a thousand years ago.
After the Western Turkic forces were mostly wiped out, Xiao Siyue finally had time to escort Helu back to Chang'an to present the victory.
After this battle, Su Dingfang was promoted to Left General of the Xiaowei Guard and ennobled as Duke of Xing.
As for Helu, dragged back in chains, he had completely lost his edge. Along the road, he complained bitterly to Xiao Siyue:
"Emperor Taizong treated me generously.
I betrayed him and now suffer Heaven's punishment.
I only wish to die at Zhaoling, to atone before Taizong."
Li Zhi considered this request—and suddenly had an idea.
At Zhaoling, he held a grand ceremony of captive presentation.
Then, in a move that cut deeper than any blade, he pardoned Helu's death.
After all—Helu still had his uses.
Just two months later, during the New Year, Li Zhi held another, even more spectacular captive ceremony at the Ancestral Temple.
The protagonist was still Helu.
After being paraded twice as a living embarrassment, Helu finally broke. Less than a year later, he died in depression.
Li Zhi personally issued an edict to bury him beside Illig Qaghan.
Thus, the Tang dynasty's campaign against the Turks—begun by Second Phoenix and completed across two generations—finally came to a full end.
Tang territory officially extended into Central Asia, unprecedented in history.
Tang prestige in the Western Regions reached its absolute peak.]
Though there was none of the dramatic twists he had once imagined, Su Lie was deeply satisfied.
As a fellow general, Li Jing praised without restraint:
"Lure the enemy with weakness, decide the war in one strike,
pursue for a thousand li, drive the foe westward."
"This is the bearing of a great commander."
Li Shiji offered what he considered a fair judgment:
"Decisive in battle.
Resolute in pursuit."
"Even had I led the troops myself, it would not have been better."
Su Lie was instantly overjoyed—and then looked eagerly toward Li Shimin.
Li Shimin, naturally, did not hold back his praise:
"Dingfang combines bravery and strategy.
Facing danger, he masters the enemy.
He plans before acting, wins a single battle to secure the realm."
"He is a pillar of the state."
Su Lie was delighted, yet still spoke humbly:
"Helu nearly escaped in the end.
Had I gone to war in my prime, I would surely have captured him alive,
not wasted so much horse strength."
Li Shimin merely smiled.
Back when he was Prince of Qin, he personally led every campaign. He knew well—if an enemy commander truly wanted to flee, you could not stop him.
Still, he understood Su Dingfang's earnest desire to fight. Thus he immediately promised:
"The Hexi region is still unsettled.
I shall yet behold you tread the Yin Mountains and crush the khan's tent."
At this, Su Lie solemnly performed a cross-handed salute, expressing his willingness to follow.
Nearby, Yuchi Jingde was full of dissatisfaction—but having been reprimanded often enough for careless speech, he had learned his lesson and kept his mouth shut.
Beside him, Qin Qiong murmured quietly:
"Seeing a former defeated opponent favored by His Majesty—unhappy?"
Back when suppressing Dou Jiande and Liu Heita, both had dueled Su Dingfang before the emperor—and won, twice.
Thus Qin Qiong understood Yuchi Jingde's thoughts better than the scars on his own belly.
So he warned him:
"His Majesty seeks to open a century-long golden age.
You and I must strive forward—
not cling to past merit and grow arrogant."
He had said similar words many times before, and had no better solution.
After all, at Xuanwu Gate, Yuchi Jingde personally shot Li Yuanji and led armored soldiers into the palace to force the retired emperor's edict.
This merit could not be spoken openly—but his flaunting of it was visible to all.
Qin Qiong could only hope that, through the light screen's glimpse of the future—where Yuchi Jingde would be 'retired'—this old friend might finally be warned.
Unlike the martial camp's forward-looking excitement—
Fang Xuanling glanced at Su Lie, then at Zhangsun Wuji still frowning at the light screen.
Turning his head, he met Du Ruhui's gaze—and saw Du Ruhui give a slight nod.
With just a few exchanged looks, the two had already reached the same conclusion:
Su Dingfang's great victory was likely the beginning of Zhangsun Wuji being forced to his death.
Only a year separated them in time. By logic, once Western Turkic fell, Li Zhi's authority would become unshakable.
Even without seeing it firsthand, the successful deposition of the empress, followed by the reopening of the Western campaign, already showed Zhangsun Wuji's gradual retreat.
And with this overwhelming victory—and two captive ceremonies—Zhangsun Wuji would no longer have the strength to oppose his own nephew.
The two ministers sighed inwardly—and could not help but admire how clearly Empress Zhangsun had seen things.
Early in the Zhenguan era, she had feared that excessive favor toward the Zhangsun clan would invite disaster, and had urged Zhangsun Wuji to resign as chancellor.
That judgment was now perfectly confirmed by the light screen.
Yet when the two exchanged glances again, thinking of their own descendants, their hearts sank all the same.
Li Shimin's cold laugh broke their thoughts:
"Hah—such a bandit still wishes to die at Zhaoling?"
"He deserved to be handled just as Prince Zhi did—
left to die in anguish!"
"That is how one truly kills the heart."
On the light screen, Tang territory spread out from the Western Regions, vast swathes dyed crimson.
For the first time, Li Shimin found himself thinking—
Why did that patch of Tubo in the lower left look so irritating?