Chapter 316: The Battle of Tubo (Part 1)
Located between Alkin Mountain and Kunlun Mountains, Sabize is a plateau lake surrounded by endless alpine meadows. The mountains in the distance are continuous and covered with snow. The climate here is warm, with rich fresh water, flat fields covered with thick meadows, and high mountains block the cold currents from whistling south. For the Tubo people who live on the plateau all year round, this is a high-quality pasture that is very suitable for grazing.
On the map of the Tang Dynasty, Kunlun Mountain is the dividing line between the Tang and the Tibet. Therefore, this basin grassland sandwiched between the two mountains should be the territory of the Tang Dynasty, and it belongs to the jurisdiction of Shazhou. However, in fact, since the Tang army recovered Anxi during the Wu Zetian era, this basin has never been recovered. The Tubo people stationed heavily here. Decades have passed, and the focus of the battle between the Tang and the Tibet has been in the east. The two countries are basically in peace in Anxi, and the Tang Dynasty has accused the Tubo people of the occupation of this basin.
However, with the Tang army winning the Eastern Front, the strategic advantages of the Tang and Turkish countries continued to tilt towards the Tang Dynasty. On the Longyou battlefield, Geshuhan took steps forward and approached southward, occupied the Dafeichuan and Qinghai basins, and forced the Jiuqu area; on the Jiannan battlefield, Gao Xianzhi defeated the Tubo Nanzhao coalition forces, drove the Tubo forces out of Nanzhao, and recovered the land occupied by Song, Dang, Gong, Ya and others in the west. The big and small Bolu on the western front were greatly won, and the forces of the Tubo people were driven out of Tochar. In addition, Tubo Zanpu was young and several powerful ministers fought for power, which caused Tubo to encounter a low tide that had not been encountered in a century.
It was this strategic advantage that led the Tang Dynasty to launch the Tubo Battle again, occupying Jiuqu and Baihai in the east; in the west, it was to recover the Sabize Basin, which the Tubo people had been entrenched for nearly 50 years, and completely drove the Tubo people back south of the Kunlun Mountains.
June is the hottest season of the year. It is already full of fire and hot everywhere in Anxi. However, it is gentle as autumn in the Sabize Basin, with a hint of coldness in the morning and evening. In the early morning, a vast white mist covered the plateau, and a large forest filled with white air. Occasionally, antelope flocked out of the vast primeval forest and came to the Qiemo River to drink water. It is about a hundred miles away from Sabize, and it is rare to have people.
At this time, a fierce sound of horse hooves came from afar, alarming the antelopes and deer drinking water by the river. They were extremely frightened and rushed into the primeval forest, looking curiously at the forest.
A team of cavalry rushed towards him like lightning. These were nearly 100 scout cavalry of the Tang army, equipped with two horses. The leader was Qin Haiyang. He divided the 300 scouts into five teams and went to various places to investigate. His team had the largest number, mainly looking for traces of the Tubo people along the Qiemo River.
Yesterday evening, they had already discovered a team of Tubo patrols. Judging from the horse's hoof prints, they should have been between fifteen and twenty people. They followed them all the way, and they lost the trace of the Tubo patrols in this area.
Qin Haiyang held the war horse and looked around. In the distance, there was a large green alpine grassland. The hair-like grass spread out layer by layer. The dense forest was endless. The shining Qiemo River flowed through the middle of the forest like a jade belt. The wilderness was extremely quiet and there was no trace of anyone.
Qin Haiyang is currently the highest-ranking general in the Anxi scout army. He has extremely rich scout experience. Judging from common sense, river water flows through the forests on both sides, so the enemy's ambush may be in the forest. However, Qin Haiyang looked deeper and judged from the distance between the river and the forest that ambush generally does not have an impact on the Tang army. The distance between the river and the forest is about a hundred steps, and the range of Tubo bows and arrows is not enough. The only worry that the Tubo people are using Tang army crossbows. If that happens, there is still a certain danger.
Qin Haiyang pondered for a moment, then said to his two subordinates: "You go and take a look and take care of your protection!"
The two subordinates agreed and ran forward along the river and rushed to the edge of the forest. The two visited the forest for a moment, and they set their bows and arrows together, shooting into the depths of the forest. They shot a kind of roaring arrow, which was also made of gunpowder. The lack of oxygen on the plateau greatly affected the combustion and explosion of gunpowder, but this roaring arrow was not affected by the lack of medicine. After it was shot, it could make a sharp roar, which acted as a warning to the snake. It was a powerful probe of the scouts.
Only two sharp roars heard, and neither were the birds swaying above the forest, nor were there antelope and deer running out of the forest, but a few neighing sounds of war horses were faintly heard. Then more than a dozen Tubo cavalry rushed out of the forest and ran downstream along the river.
"Eighteen cavalry!"
Qin Haiyang immediately lowered his order, "Run up, no one can be let go."
Two hundred war horses were like thunder on the ground, running along the riverside. The war horses of the Tang army scouts were all Arabian horses. They had been trained on the plateau for a long time and were able to adapt to the plateau climate. Although they could not travel long distances on the plateau, there was no problem with short-distance sprinting. More importantly, they were extremely fast, just like flying clouds and fog. The war horses of the Tubo people were generally shorter, able to withstand the coldness of the plateau and also traveled for a long distance, but the speed was not fast. After a while, the Tubo cavalry gradually became caught up by the Tang army.
The Tang army formed a crescent shape, and the two sides gradually closed in the middle. When there were still fifty steps away, the Tang army fired arrows, and hundreds of arrows shot at the Tubo cavalry from all directions. The double-layer chain mail of the Tubo cavalry was difficult to resist the slender armored arrows made by the Tang army, and even more so, the war horses could not escape. In an instant, a group of people were overturned, and most of the eighteen cavalry were shot down. Only five were still running wildly, but they could not escape the dense cavalry of the Tang army. In an instant, the last five were shot over. The Tubo army was extremely fierce. Although they were shot down, they still got up and drew their long swords to fight the Tang army to death.
"kill!"
Qin Haiyang shouted loudly, and he rushed over with a sharp horse. He slashed with a knife, and blood splattered everywhere. A Tubo soldier who tried to stab him in a war horse was cut off his neck and his head was rolled out more than two feet away. The Tang army was absolutely merciless and shot arrows. Eighteen Tubo sentrymen were killed and seventeen people were left to ask about military information.
Soon, the survivors explained some situations one after another. This Tubo poster went to Boxian Town to investigate the situation of the Tang army, and returned because he found the Tang army scout. At present, there are about 20,000 Tubo troops in the Sabize Basin, and there are tens of thousands of herdsmen who are accompanying the army as logistics. These are basically the information that the Tang army has learned, but Qin Haiyang still has gained, that is, the Tubo poster went to Boxian Town to investigate. This is something that has not been done before, and it is very likely that he smelled it.
Another information also attracted Qin Haiyang's attention. Three days ago, about 6,000 Tubo troops and 30,000 herdsmen with the army left Sabize and headed west for unknown reasons.
If the Tubo army discovered Feng Changqing's army, it would be an emergency situation. It would not carry flocks and herdsmen with the army, but would rush to intercept them quickly, but they would bring flocks to replenish supplies. In this way, they would only march for dozens of miles every day. This is not a pursuit, it should not be targeting the Tang army. So where were they going? Could it be to go to Xiaobolu?
Qin Haiyang pondered for a moment. No matter whether the Tubo army went to Bolu or not, it was likely to encounter Feng Changqing's army. This information must be taken seriously.
He immediately divided his troops into three groups and returned to report to Li Qing'an, continuing to travel east to investigate the situation in the Sabize Basin, while he led twenty scouts to turn their horses and chase southwest.
Just when Qin Haiyang discovered a clue of the Tubo army, the Tang army in Dunhuang had already completed the army. The main force of Anxi and the 4,000 Doulu army stationed in Shazhou. Doulu army is one of the Eight Army in Hexi. It has a structure of 4,000 people, half of Hu and Han. It has never been full, but it has never been short of staff before. Like all border troops, it is full in the imperial military list. The court will also allocate food and salary to Doulu army every year based on this. But in fact, Doulu only
There were more than 2,000 people, and Hu Qi did not feel at ease in the army. They needed to graze and live with their family. Therefore, driven by some interests, Hu Qi was basically in the name of the name, but in fact they were not in the army. As for their food and salary, most of them were in the private pockets of the officers. The mountains were high and the emperor was far away, and no one came to investigate them. Even if they were investigated, they could not find anything. At that time, Hu Qi came back, which was the reason why there was an army among the horse bandits.
However, the sudden arrival of the Anxi Army destroyed the chaotic system of the Doulu Army. The governor of Shazhou, Wang Shan, had no time to recall the Hu Qi, which exposed his corruption and corruption. Li Qing'an beaten 100 troops and escorted him to the court, and wrote a letter to reveal the fact that he embezzled tens of thousands of yuan of food and salary. Wang Shan committed suicide in the cage shortly after he set off on the road, and all Doulu Army were incorporated into the Anxi Army. Li Qing'an ordered Shi Binggui, a general who was born in a personal army, as the commander of the King of Qing, and led 3,000 troops to station in Shazhou.
After the arrangements for Shazhou were completed, the Anxi army turned around to the southwest again and set out in a mighty manner along the northern foot of the Alkin Mountain. In the evening, the Anxi army marched day and night for three days and night, and finally arrived at Qitun City, one of the four northern cities of the Alkin Mountain. The army was exhausted and stationed.
The dense camp tents are stacked layer by layer, extending outward in circles, like a huge spiral without camp bars. Nearly a thousand patrols are emitting dozens of miles away. In the middle of this huge spiral are various military supplies, and in the middle is the central army tent.
After dinner, night fell quietly, and stars spread over the sky, spreading out in the endless mysterious universe, making people feel that time is short and life is insignificant. Under this dazzling starlight, the Tang army camp was silent, the camp light was dim, and the tired soldiers had fallen asleep, and only the central army tent was still brightly lit.
The scouts sent by Qin Haiyang had just arrived and were reporting to Li Qing'an the Tubo military information discovered by the scouts.
"We found Tubo patrols about eighty miles south of Boxian Town. They also found us. After two days of pursuit, we caught up with this patrol a hundred miles away from Sabize and annihilated them. We got a news from the prisoners of war that about six thousand Tubo troops had left Sabize three days ago and headed southwest. They brought 30,000 herders and a large flock. General Qin inferred that their march was not fast, but they were likely to be met by General Feng, and General Qin had chased him southwest."
While listening to the report, Li Qing'an made signs on the map. He had not had time to make a sand table in Tubo, which made him feel a little regretful. On the map, Sabize is located in a basin of hundreds of miles in radius, surrounded by Alkin Mountain and Kunlun Mountains. To the south is the Qiangtang of Tubo, which is the famous Kokoxili Mountains in later generations. Several large mountains are heading east and west, forming huge canyons among the mountains.
Li Qing'an knew that the Tubo battle in the east had begun at this time, and Geshuhan had launched a battle for the Jiuqu area. If the Tubo army in Sabize received news to rush to support, it should have gone from east to enter the Qaidam Basin and went straight to rescue. However, the Tubo army was heading west, and it was even more impossible to detour. By the way around Kunlun Mountain and then going east, it would have been thousands of miles away. If it weren't for supporting the East, where would it be?
If we were to attack Dabolu, the six thousand troops seemed to be a little less. Moreover, attacking Dabolu was a strategic national policy, which was related to the decisions of the upper class of Tubo. Of course, the Tubo people were at a strategic disadvantage in the East and could indeed develop westward, lay Dabolu, and open the door to Tochar and India, but in any case, such a major military action would never suddenly originate from Sabize.
If it weren't for the big and small Bolu, where would it go? At this time, Li Qing'an's eyes were on Anxi Yutian, and a bold idea popped up in his mind. Could it be to attack Yutian or Kucha?
This thought scared Li Qing'an himself. Will the Tubo army attack Anxi? This is an assumption that he was a little afraid to face. In other words, if it were him, Li Qing'an, would he attack Anxi? The answer is yes, he will definitely fight. This is the most difficult thing to deal with on both sides. The hinterland is empty. He mobilized 50,000 troops to launch the Tubo battle. In Beiting, there were at least 40,000 Hu people in the three tribes of Geluo, Tongluo and Shatuo.
The army was dealing with the Huihes and the nine thousand Han troops in Beiting. Nearly half of his army was involved in these two battles. Although there were more than 10,000 people in Anxi, it was too scattered to concentrate quickly. There were only two thousand troops in Kucha to defend, and there were only five thousand people in Shule. For example, there were only a thousand people in other major military towns such as Yanqi, Yutian, and Bahuancheng. The Hu army in the local area was also pulled by him for logistics. Even if he didn't come, his combat effectiveness was too weak and vulnerable.
Li Qingan suddenly realized the seriousness of the problem. This Hu army was very likely to sneak attack on the hinterland of Anxi. The so-called herders accompanying the army was just a confusion, which shows that the Tubo commander had realized that the Tang army was going to attack Sabize, and the Tubo commander was indeed extraordinary.
Thinking of this, Li Qing'an immediately recruited a young general Zhang Yongqing, who was also a personal soldier from him and became a general of the Central Army.
"If the Tubo army sneaked into the hinterland of Anxi, it would inevitably pass through Yutian. There were 1,000 garrisons there, but the number was not enough. You can speed up three thousand Bahuan cavalry to rush there, bring more bows and arrows, and a total of 4,000 people in Yutian. You are in full command. You must guard the Anxi Gate for my life. Be vigilant day and night, and you must not be careless!"
Zhang Yongqing took the order arrow and replied with his fist: "I will definitely defend Yutian to the death, and will never let the Tubo army succeed!"
After a moment, the sound of soldiers and horses mobilized outside the tent came, and the horse's hooves ran like muffled thunder. The three thousand bahuan camp cavalry led by Zhang Yongqing and headed towards the west of Yutian Town. Li Qing'an stood at the gate of the tent and looked at them far away. It would be at least ten days to go to Yutian. I wonder if they could arrive in time?
At the same time when Li Qing'an was worried about the safety of Khotan, the Tubo commander of Sabize was deeply worried about the fate of the Tubo country. The Tubo commander of Sabize was also one of the powerful figures of Tubo. He was the Tubo general Shang Xidongzan. When Tubo Zan was killed by Li Qing'an in Shibao City, Tubo's strength fell into a low point, mainly manifested in the fact that Xin Zanpu was young and only eleven years old. Dalunnangxi Dazan and the ministers of the orphan Dazan, which led to poor internal government orders of Tubo. Last year, a conspiracy rebellion between ministers Ba Jisang Dongzan and Lang Misu broke out. Although the rebellion was suppressed, it involved many people, and Shang Xidongzan was one of them.
Shang Xi Dongzan and Lang Misu had a good personal relationship. After Lang Misu was killed, Nang Xie Dazan, who had been resentful of Shang Xi Dongzan, took the opportunity to attack and accused him of secretly supporting the rebellion. In the end, there was insufficient evidence. Shang Xi Dongzan was not convicted, but was demoted to the West far away from the center of power. He served as the governor of Qiangtang and was in charge of the 20,000 Tubo army in Sabize.
Shang Xi Dongzan is worthy of being a famous general of Tubo. After the Tang army attacked the Jiuqu area several times last year, he guessed that the Tang army would likely launch a Western Front Battle to stop Sabize's Tubo army from east. For this reason, he wrote several letters to Zanpu, demanding the addition of Sabize's Tubo army, but was rejected by Neng Xiedazan for his ulterior motives. Although there were no reinforcements, Shang Xi Dongzan still responded actively. He sent many patrols and spies to inquire about the news about the Tang army.
A day ago, one of his spies went deep into Anxi. After hearing the merchants saying that the Tang army had signs of a large-scale march eastward, Shangxi Dongzan realized that the Tang army was going to attack Sabize. He immediately made preparations. On the one hand, he ordered the general Jiazasangji to lead 6,000 Tubo troops to detour to Khotan, preparing to take advantage of the empty hinterland of Anxi to force the Tang army to retreat by using the strategy of surrounding Wei to save Zhao. If the Tang army was defeated by him, he might still sweep Anxi.
Of course, Shang Xi Dongzan also knew that this possibility was not great. He had heard Dazalugong talk about Li Qingan's power, and he also remembered it very clearly that in the battle of Shibao City, his younger brother Shang Xi Dezan died under the arrow of Li Qingan in Fuqi City.
Therefore, Shangxi Dongzan also made second-hand preparations, and he ordered 30,000 herders to drive one million cattle and sheep to the Ulan Ula Lake in the south. If Sabize could not defend, he would retreat south to Ulan Ula Lake. The 30,000 shepherds and 6,000 Tubo cavalry set out on the same day, which gave the Tang army scouts an illusion that the Tubo army was leading the shepherds to march together.
Chapter completed!