In early December, the north wind was wandering through the forests and valleys. Young men who were not afraid of the cold also wore thick winter clothes, while the wealthy families in Fengzhou City began to burn the earth dragons.
Since losing the first Lion Bear Battle, the soldiers participating in the Lion Camp have been holding back their energy and fighting for the honor of the Lion Camp. Although the weather is cold, the soldiers' clothes are repeatedly soaked in sweat every day.
After more than two months of training, the tactical movements of the participating companies of the Lion Battalion were quite skillful. When the enemy did not break through the formation, the thirty-six shields of a company gathered together and did not separate, and used the shield formation to block the enemy's long-range weapon attack. At this time, the Lion Battalion actually set up a phalanx of infantry. During the entire process of the enemy's charge to gradually approaching, the seventy-two people behind the shield were seventy-two crossbow archers, who used crossbow arrows to shoot the enemy under the protection of the shield. After the short-term battle, the spearmen used the advantages of the spear to assassinate the enemy behind the shield. The thirty-six crossbow archers hid behind the shield and the spearmen, and used crossbow arrow points to kill the enemy. If the enemy broke through the formation, the company protected each other in a combat group of twelve people, fighting with the enemy.
The Fuhu Army is a new army, composed of surrendered Shu army. Most of the soldiers are from the four states of Qin, Feng, Cheng, and rank. They are said to be Shu army, but they are actually still people from Guanzhong. Because the Fuhu Army is composed of surrendered army, it is inevitable that they are looked down upon by other armies, and the soldiers have been more or less cowardly.
In order to win a place for the Fuhu Army in Fengzhou, Jiang Hui was extremely strict in his military management and his training was cruel and ruthless. Under Jiang Hui's high pressure, the Fuhu Army was really not weak after being reorganized, at least much stronger than the infantry led by Wang Jiang and Chen Renyi. Now he has the opportunity to compete with the Black Eagle Army, and the Fuhu Army has increased its training. Every day, the soldiers are sweating profusely in their training, preparing to show their power in one battle. Deep in his heart, Jiang Hui was ashamed of being captured alive by Hou Dayong. He trained the Fuhu Army, which was actually a matter of justifying himself.
The Shu merchants in Fengzhou City learned about the second lion and bear battle from various channels. A Shu merchant started a gambling game at home for the entertainment of the wealthy Shu merchants. The Shu merchants had a natural favor to the Fuhu Army, but their feelings were ultimately defeated in front of interests. The odds of the Lion Camp and Fuhu Army reached 12 to 1. The gambling game quickly spread throughout Fengzhou City. Many scattered people stole all the coins in their homes and threw them into the gambling game in an attempt to make a fortune.
On December 2, three days before the game, Qian Xiangnan announced that the current team's game was held in Yunwu Mountains south of Zhangjiaguan, mainly testing the ability to fight in the mountains in the Lion Camp.
The Lion Camp and the Fuhu Army arrived at the designated location in advance. The reconnaissance cavalry of both sides encountered each other many times and fought.
On December 5, under countless eyes, the second Lion Bear Competition officially began. This competition was very friendly, with thousands of miles of eyes, extremely visibility, and the mountains in the distance were clearly visible. The battlefield for the drill was a dense mountain in the middle of Yunwu Mountain. The terrain was complex, with broken ridges, woods, high slopes, and flat dams. It was a very test of the troops. It was a good place for the drill. The generals came to the drill site with great interest, standing on the temporary wooden platform, and the mountain wind blew on their faces, making people feel a little chill. The Lion Camp and the Fuhu Army had already entered their respective positions, waiting anxiously for the order to start the drill.
When Qian Xiangnan was about to issue an order, a fast horse rushed from the northwest. The guards stepped forward to block the fast horse. Soon, the guards brought the visitor to the wooden platform.
Hou Dayong frowned and read the translated secret letter and asked: "How many Uighur cavalry broke into Qinzhou?"
"The Uighur army is probably not less than 10,000, and the army is extremely strong. The Qinzhou horse army was defeated. The Zhao envoy stayed in his door and stood guard and waited for help. The Fengxiang Jiedushi had already led his troops to help Qinzhou."
Hearing the emergency military situation, the generals on the wooden platform became nervous and no longer had the leisure to watch the two armies fighting for hegemony.
Qian Xiangnan said to his husband: "Map."
The personal guards quickly took out the Qin, Feng, Cheng, and Steps maps that they carried with them and assisted them on the wooden platform.
Hou Dayong pondered for a moment and said, "The Uighur soldiers now surround Qinzhou City. Qinzhou City is very strict, and Zhao Ji is also a good defender. If the Uighurs do not have heavy siege weapons, it will be difficult for them to capture such a strong city. I guess the Uighurs will not stay in Qinzhou City for long, and it is very likely to go north or advance east. Instead of doing so, it is better to use Qinzhou as a battlefield to prevent the Uighurs from harming the three states."
In the past two months, Qian Xiangnan has started to organize an intelligence system and began to collect political and economic information from all ethnic groups in the west. Therefore, Hou Dayong asked: "The Uighurs and the Dangxiang people have had a feud, but they have always been in conflict with our well water and rarely flee into the border. What is the reason for this entry?"
Qian Xiangnan replied: "Dawagong came from Ganliang area and had already discussed with him in detail. Now the Uighurs set up a den in Ganzhou, and the Khan's name is Renyu. After the Battle of Gaoping, the Ganzhou Uighurs sent people to Daliang to pay tribute many times, and their relationship with our dynasty is pretty good. However, according to the Uighurs' merchants who came and went to Lanzhou, the relationship between Tu Shaodu and Khan Renyu was tense. Could it be that the Uighurs' civil strife and the defeated army fled into Qinzhou."
Hou Dayong was very interested in Qian Xiangnan's analysis and said: "After the defeat of Jinshan Kingdom in the Western Han Dynasty, the situation in the 11 states of Gansu and Liang were complicated. The Tang people, Tubo people, Uighur people, and Dangxiang people increased and decreased. It seems that we must pay close attention to this area, otherwise there will be a lack of preparedness for response."
"No matter what the Uighurs are, they dare to commit a conflict with the border, and fight first. Only when they hurt them will they be willing to sit down and talk with us. This is called a peace talk in the knife."
"Guo Jiong, the commander of the Black Eagle Army, obeys the order. The Black Eagle Army sets off tonight and must arrive in Qinzhou tomorrow, station at Yeren Ridge, and block the Uighurs' passage to the south."
"Jiang Hui, commander of the Fuhu Army and Hu Li, commander of the Black Dragon Army, took orders. Fuhu Army and the Black Dragon Army set out tonight and marched to the Wild Renling to meet with the Black Eagle Army."
"Send people to inform the Tubo people of the Hunmo tribe to prepare for the response, beware of the Uighur army's rush into Zhuoni and other places after being blocked in Qinzhou, and the rest of the troops stepped up their combat preparations and did not give any enemy the opportunity to take advantage of it."
After receiving the order, the generals came down from the wooden platform with a serious expression, rode their own war horses, and flew back to the camp.
The officers and soldiers of the Lion Camp and Fuhu Army were waiting for the exercise order to be issued, but the first and second levels were not moved. The exercise might start at any time, and the soldiers dared not relax and concentrated their energy. After a while, the exercise had not started, and the impatient sergeant expressions were already on their faces.
At this moment, two people came down from the wooden platform. It was Guo Jiong, the commander of the Black Eagle Army, and Jiang Hui, the commander of the Fuhu Army, who boarded the horse and rushed towards their respective troops.
After Guo Jiong jumped off his war horse, he whispered in front of Chen Meng. Chen Meng looked shaking and ordered: "The drill is temporarily over, and the whole army will return to the camp."
The two armies of the Lion Camp and the Fuhu Army left the position at an extremely fast speed and returned to the military camps.
The Yunwu Mountain, which was murderous just now, was gone in a blink of an eye, leaving only some messy footprints and wooden tables that were not too late to be demolished.
A tense drill ended inexplicably. The Shu merchants who started the gambling game only thought they were unlucky. Then, careful people discovered that the Black Eagle Army, Fuhu Army and Black Jiao Army had disappeared overnight. The news of the war reopened quietly spread in the city, causing panic.
Zhao Ji, the governor of Qinzhou, inspected the city wall and urged the Qinzhou military and civilians to carry various defensive weapons to the city wall. Zhao Ji learned the lesson of the last time he was hacked into the city gate by the Black Eagle Army. Why is the city defense work carefully?
Zhao Ji led the Qinzhou army and fought two battles with the Uighur cavalry. The first battle was on the morning of the previous day. At that time, he received a report that a small group of Uighur cavalry fled to Qinzhou. Zhao Ji sent five hundred Qinzhou cavalry to fight. In a small hill more than 30 miles away from Qinzhou, it blocked the cavalry that had about a hundred people. Qinzhou soldiers were numerous. After defeating this small group of Uighur cavalry, they chased them reluctantly. They didn't expect that this small group of Uighur cavalry was just a vanguard and chased them for less than ten miles. When he encountered a large enemy force, the five hundred Qinzhou cavalry saw that there were many enemy soldiers and did not dare to respond. They fled all the way and were chased outside Qinzhou City by Uighur cavalry. The guards in Qinzhou City stood on the city wall and saw a large group of enemy troops attacking from afar. They were very close to the Qinzhou cavalry and did not dare to open the city gate. Fortunately, the Qinzhou cavalry was quite familiar with the terrain. After they could not enter the city, they entered the mountains directly. When the Uighur cavalry saw that the Qinzhou cavalry entered the mountains, they did not pursue them, and they camped outside the city.
There were about 10,000 Uighur cavalrymen, and a lion flag stood in front of the central army's tent, fluttering in the wind. Zhao Ji saw five hundred Qinzhou cavalry entering the mountain and knew that the cavalry would definitely report to the Fengxiang Jiedushi, so he simply did not even send a messenger and focused on defending the city.
After the Uighur cavalry surrounded the city, they tentatively launched an attack into the city. After the crossbows were shot down in the city, the attacking Uighur army quickly retreated. After the Uighur army surrounded the city, they sent a small group of cavalry to loot the villages in Qinzhou.
The word Uighur is an ancient translation of the name Uighur. The Sui Dynasty is called "Weihe". It was called "Huihe" in the Tang Dynasty. In October of the winter of the 788th year, Uighur Hegudulu Khan submitted a message to the Tang Dynasty and asked to change the Uighur to Uighur. According to folk legends of Uighur, five of his ancestors were born in the galls (sac-like growths) of a big tree between the Tuhula River (Tula River) and the Xuelingge River (now the Selenge River in Mongolia). The Tula River flows into the Orhung River, which flows into the Selenge River, and the Orhung River is located between two other rivers. This legend shows that the origin of Uighur River is the Orhung River Basin.
In the late period of the Uighur Khanate, civil strife was frequent. In the spring of the 832nd year, Zhaoli Khan was killed by his subordinates. In the year of 839, the Uighurs' prime minister, An Yunhe and Chai Ge, conspired to rebel, and were killed by Zhangxin Khan. Another prime minister, Juluo Wu, led his troops outside. After hearing the news, he sent 300 horses to Shatu Zhuxie Chixin and borrowed troops to attack Zhangxin Khan. The Khan was defeated and committed suicide. The people of the country made Li Qiqin the Khan. At this time, the Uighur Khan was infected in the country, with heavy snow falling, and a large number of livestock died, and famine occurred. The Khanate quickly declined. In the year of 840, the Uighur general Julu Mohe and Khan joined forces with Khan, dispatched 100,000 cavalry to attack the Uighurs, killed Li Qi Khan and Juluo Wu, burned the den, and destroyed the Uighur Khan. The Uighur tribes fled and went their separate ways.
The Uighurs scattered from all directions went south and successively to Youzhou to surrender to the Tang Dynasty. They were placed in various parts of the Central Plains; one branch moved westward, and then divided into two branches, one branch threw into Tubo and the other branched into Anxi.
A branch of Uighurs who entered Anxi was the main part of the westward migration. The capital occupied the Beiting, which is now the Pochengzi of Jimusar, Xinjiang, and the capital was located in Xizhou, the ancient city of Gaochang, Turpan City, Xinjiang. This branch of Uighurs who "entered Anxi" later developed into Xizhou Uighurs.
A branch of Uighurs who surrendered to Tubo arrived at the Hexi Corridor of Gansu Province, which was occupied by Tubo at that time. In the 851st year, Zhang Yichao of Shazhou took advantage of the civil strife in Tubo and briefed the Dinghe and Huang. The Tang Dynasty appointed him as the governor of Guiyi Army. From then on, this branch of Uighurs was attached to Zhang Yichao. This branch of Uighurs distributed in the west of Longshan and Hexi Corridor of Gansu Province was divided into several parts according to their area: the Qinzhou Uighurs located in the area of ​​Tianshui City, Gansu Province in the southeast and now the northwest of Ningxia* Autonomous Region. At the junction with the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, "The Uighur Governor Shi Renzheng, Prince Mola, Prince Miaona, Yuedian Huangshui Prefecture inspected the four tribes and lived at the foot of Helan Mountain"; the Heluochuan Uighurs are located in the northwest of Gansu Province and the Ruoshui (Ejina River) basin in the northwest of Gansu Province and the western part of Inner Mongolia are the Heluochuan Uighurs; the Hexi Uighurs are also known as the Ganzhou Uighurs.
Shortly after the Uighurs moved westward to Hexi, civil strife broke out in Tubo and declined sharply. In the first month of the 851st year, Zhang Yichao drove away the Tubo garrison and recovered the ten prefectures of Sha, Gan, Su and Lan. The Tang Dynasty established the Guiyi Army in Shazhou and appointed Zhang Yichao as the governor. At this time, the Hexi Uighurs attached to the Guiyi Army in Tang.
Entering the tenth century, Tubo was weak, and the Uighur power increased greatly. The regime was established. Ganzhou was the Uighur tent. It was powerful and expanded to Hezhou and Lanzhou. It attacked the Jinshan Kingdom many times. In 911, Shazhou surrendered to Ganzhou Uighurs, and Zhang Feng called the Uighur Khan the father. After Zhang family, Cao Yijin served as the queen of Shazhou and attached himself to Ganzhou to pay tribute to the Later Tang Dynasty. Although Li Cunxu, the Emperor Zhuang of Later Tang, nominally appointed Cao Yijin as the governor of Guiyi Army and the observation and disposal envoys of Guasha and other prefectures, in fact, Cao Yijin and his sons Yuande and Yuanzhong successively depended on the Uighurs, Guasha and Sha states belonged to the sphere of influence of Hexi Uighurs. Since Cao Yijin, Cao's family has intermarried with the Uighurs for generations, and his descendants Cao Xianshun also called himself the "Shazhou Uighurs".
This time, the army of the Ganzhou Uighur general Tu Shaodu was the Ganzhou Uighur general Tu Shaodu. Tu Shaodu was a Ganzhou Uighur general who had been guarding Lanzhou for a long time. Tu Shaodu was also an Uighur noble and had a personal grudge with the Uighur Khan Renyu. He had 20,000 Uighur cavalry. Khan Renyu wanted to get rid of him many times, but he failed. Khan Renyu was extremely smart and spent a lot of money to buy Tu Shaodu's deputy Tu Luo. After the transaction between the two sides was successful, Khan Renyu led his army to attack Lanzhou in a large scale.
Tu Shaodu led his troops to fight against Renyu Kehan's army. While the two sides were fighting fiercely outside Lanzhou City, Tu Luo, the deputy general who stayed in Lanzhou City, led his troops to surrender to Khan Renyu. After the news spread, Tu Shaodu's army was shaken and was defeated by the Khan's army twice. He was forced to flee to the southeast and enter Qinzhou.
Nearly 10,000 elite cavalry needs a lot of food and grass every day. In order to maintain the army's food and grass, he only robbed everywhere in Qinzhou. He wanted to capture Qinzhou and have a foothold, but he saw that Qinzhou was high and thick walls, with many defenders, and the Uighur army was full of elite cavalry and did not carry any sharp weapons to siege the city. If the city was strong, it would definitely cause major casualties. Therefore, the Uighur army was just looking at the city and sighed. The Grand Commander Tu Shaodu estimated that the Fengzhou army and Fengxiang army would reinforce Qinzhou, and it would take at least three to four days from mobilizing troops to long-distance marching. Therefore, he urgently ordered the Uighur army to go to various places to collect food within two or three days. If the Zhou army reinforcements arrived, they would enter the territory of the Tubo people. The Tubo people were weak and could not stop tens of thousands of cavalry, so they could find a place to stay.
The Uighur soldiers were powerful, and Hou Dayong did not dare to be careless. He personally led the Black Eagle Army and set off from Fengzhou overnight and rushed to Qinzhou.
After severely attacking the invading Tubo people, Dabu and Dawagong of the Hunmo tribes surrendered to Hou Dayong respectively. With the support of the army of the three prefectures, the Hunmo tribes attacked the tribes of Tubo many times. In Songfan, Zhuoni and Ruoergai stood in the station.
The Three Thousand Black Diao Army was the most elite unit in the three states. Of course, Hou Dayong was reluctant to disperse the arrangements. After relieving the threat from the Tubo people, Hou Dayong exchanged the 1,000 infantry army for the 500 Black Diao Army in Jiezhou. For this matter, Hou Dayong gave all the 100 pieces of the modao swords he had beaten to Shi Hu, which was considered to block Shi Hu's complaints.
Zhou Qing and Wu Jiaying made contributions to reconnaissance by the Bailong River. Zhou Qing was transferred to the lion camp to be the team leader, and Wu Jiaying became the deputy team leader. They took forty-eight lion camp soldiers and ran to the front as large army reconnaissance cavalry.
From Qinzhou to Fengzhou, the Black Eagle Army had two urgent marches. Therefore, this time, he was familiar with the road and had no trouble. In the early morning, the detective Zhou Qing and others had arrived in the mountains outside Qinzhou City.
There are only more than 200 people left in Qinzhou, hidden in the mountains and waiting for an opportunity to move. The military governor Wang Jing's army was extremely strict. If this horse army fled Qinzhou privately, the entire team would be executed. Therefore, the two hundred horse army hid in the mountains. Relying on the familiar terrain, the Eunuchs attacked the Uighur cavalry many times. After Yang Jinyong, the commander of the cavalry, sent people to send a letter to Fengxiang Mansion, he thought of the route of Fengxiang Army and the Black Eagle Army to rush to rescue, and sent people to lurk on the important roads to welcome the arrival of reinforcements. The distance between Fengxiang Mansion and Qinzhou was basically the same as the distance between Fengzhou and Qinzhou. The Fengxiang Army set out one day before the Black Eagle Army, but most of the Fengxiang Army was infantry. Therefore, the reconnaissance cavalry led by Zhou Qing arrived in Qinzhou before Fengxiang Army.
The Qinzhou horse army and the Uighur cavalry had been dealing with each other for many days, and they had some understanding of the Uighur army's rear deployment and military strength. After hearing the arrival of the Black Eagle Army, they were overjoyed.
The main force of the Black Diao Army arrived in Qinzhou one hour later than Zhou Qing's scout cavalry. Hou Dayong asked about the operation characteristics of the Uighur soldiers and carefully studied the deployment of the Uighur soldiers. Hou Dayong ordered the Black Diao Army to hide in a valley in the southeast despite fatigue. This was the place where the Uighur soldiers must pass to seize the villages in the southeast.
Chapter completed!