In Tingzhou City, Saktu had indeed arrived.
This descendant of Pang Teqin actually looks very Chinese, except for having a hooked nose that is unusual among Han people.
Saktu is forty-one years old this year, only about eleven years older than Zhang Zhao.
But their faces are at least twenty years apart.
Zhang Zhao has a few strands of trimmed mustache and looks like a handsome young man.
Saktu's face is full of ravines, his face is dark with a little red, and his hands are full of traces of wind and snow erosion, giving people a weather-beaten look.
In fact, this is also the case. After his sudden rise to greatness was interrupted by Zhang Zhao, Saktu has been having a hard time in the past ten years.
When Shule was captured, he not only lost his queen, two sons and a daughter, but also lost his precious foundation.
In a battle outside Polu Prefecture, he led more than 20,000 elite cavalry, but he just failed to capture Zhang Zhao's more than 7,000 people with a mixed composition.
You must know that Saktu's more than 20,000 men are very capable of fighting at least 15,000, but Zhang Zhao can really fight no more than 3,000.
This battle completely shattered the prestige that Saktu had worked hard to build for more than ten years. Even his fifteen-year-old eldest son Baitash was killed in the battle. He could only escape to
Sailimu Lake area.
However, Saktu was not discouraged. He took advantage of the conflicts among the Geluolu tribes in the Land of Seven Rivers to regain the position of Bugra Khan, and was able to mobilize tens of thousands of troops to return to Shule.
But this time it was even worse, he was defeated by Li Shengtian!
This defeat was a far greater blow to Zhang Zhao than the defeat at Poluzhou City.
Because everyone knows that Li Shengtian is not a horse king, and now even he can easily defeat Saktu, which shows that the destiny of the Great Khan is no longer with Saktu.
Sure enough, after he was defeated and returned to the Land of Seven Rivers, his tribe began to oppose Saktu.
He could only leave with a few hundred of his confidants, and ran all the way west to the Khwarezm Sea (Aral Sea), where he established a firm foothold on the territory of the Oghuz people.
But just when everyone thought that Saktu Bugla Khan was about to become history, Saktu returned to the Land of Seven Rivers with tens of thousands of tribesmen and thousands of cavalry after two years of recruitment.
This time, Saktu learned the lesson. He gave up the pretense of being the Karahe Khan and the Bugla Khan, and began to regard himself only as the Great Khan of the Gelulu people.
For this reason, he gave up Tianfang Sect, returned to the embrace of Manichaeism, and no longer regarded the original residents of Karahe Khan as his subjects.
After taking off these burdens, the first thing Saktu did was to lead the Geluolu people southward and plunder those Uighurs who were originally his people, and there were even some Uighurs who hoped that he could come back.
The effect of this was significant. Although Saktu lost the support of his former people, he successfully gained the support of the Geluolu people.
So much so that in order to avoid being attacked by Saktu, Jielibiga of Gaochang Uighurs was willing to marry him and marry his daughter to him.
But do you think Saktu is here to rescue the Gaochang Uighurs this time?
No! He's here to reap the benefits.
Although Zhang Zhao had a bloody feud with him, his queen Cao gave birth to two daughters for Zhang Zhao, and his own daughter might also be...
But Saktu had no intention of seeking revenge against Zhang Zhao.
What to take revenge for?
Originally, during the Kara Khanate, Saktu could still afford hundreds of armored cavalry. That was because Shule and Yanqi had a very good steel smelting foundation.
But when you arrive at the Land of Seven Rivers, let alone forging iron armor, a broken iron sword is extremely precious.
The Geluolu tribe's iron-smelting ability is limited to tinkering.
Even if the ore is dug out and then smelted, it cannot be said that it is impossible, but it will probably only be equivalent to a small iron workshop in Han Dynasty.
With these equipment, why should I seek revenge from Zhang Zhao?
What Saktu thinks about now is to get whatever benefits he can get and continue to strengthen himself.
His biggest wish is to regain Shule and rebuild the Kara Khanate, so that he can obtain a stable source of iron.
If you live long enough, you may establish a large khanate when you are fifty or sixty years old.
Therefore, when he led 30,000 Geluolu people to march east this time, Saktu never thought of honestly coming to rescue the Gaochang Uighurs.
Get the benefits from the Gaochang Uighurs, and then bring them back to the land of the Seven Rivers. After accumulating some strength, you can attack the loose alliance of the Oghuz people and serve as the leaf protector of the Oghuz people.
In the end, he relied on his two identities as Ogus Yehu and Gelulu Khan to hook up with the Persians.
Using the opportunity of helping the Persians to deal with Li Guoshou of Talas to obtain a large amount of iron weapons from Persia, and if possible, becoming the ruler of Saman Persia, this is Saktu's career plan for himself.
"Great Khan! Two centurions from the Gray Fang Department who went to patrol the north have not returned. It has been more than two hours!"
Saktu was preparing to take a rest when his subordinates came in to report a new news.
Saktu thought for a while and then asked: "Did they have any locals as guides when they patrolled?"
The commander nodded, "There is a guide, and the guide has not come back."
"I know, be careful and send extra manpower to search early tomorrow morning. If there is any situation, you must report it!"
Saktu didn't have any other good ideas, because this kind of tribal army didn't even think about how well disciplined it was.
The two centurions did not return for a long time. They either robbed a nearby small tribe and went away to enjoy themselves, or they robbed some merchants and went into hiding to share the spoils.
As the summer capital of the Gaochang Uighurs, Tingzhou was relatively wealthy compared to the land of Seven Rivers.
Because after arriving in Tingzhou, the tribal cavalry under Saktu could not bear it any longer. It was not uncommon to rob, rape and even kill.
Saktu would only punish some tribes after they were too outrageous.
In his opinion, looting has been the only magic weapon to maintain the combat effectiveness of the army since ancient times. As long as it is not just about looting, there will be no problem.
Of course, Saktu still thought about whether an army came from somewhere and ambushed these two Centuries?
But after thinking for a while, Sacturius rejected this idea. To ambush two centurions of cavalry quietly, it would be impossible without five times the strength of the troops.
No! Even if we have five times the strength, we can't miss everyone. Unless we have five times the strength or more, the combat effectiveness will be in a state of crushing.
....
The number of Tingzhou cavalry captured by Li Cunhui and Murong Yanzhao was not even a hundred, because the other more than a hundred people were all killed by them.
This kind of tongue-grabbing ambush is all about violent beatings.
With the powerful Hexi folding horses and all the troops equipped with horn crossbows and ring armor, the Tingzhou cavalry who was ambushed could hardly react.
Zhang Zhao didn't expect that he guessed right, and it turned out that Saktu actually came with the Geluolu people.
Once you understand who the enemy is, everything becomes easier.
The interrogation revealed that of Saktu's 30,000 cavalry, 15,000 were stationed in Tingzhou, 10,000 were stationed in the surrounding areas such as Shenxian Town slightly south, and 5,000 were stationed further southwest.
More than a thousand Gaochang Uighur cavalry in the city, including the governor of Gaochang Tingzhou who came to greet Saktu, have all been controlled by Saktu.
As for why the 30,000 people are so dispersed? That’s because there is a desert near Tingzhou, and it is really impossible to bear tens of thousands of people stationed for a long time, so the troops must be dispersed.
This can be seen from Zhang Zhao. His thirteen thousand people have begun to drink less of the salty spring water.
"Your Majesty, the Geluolu people have always been cunning and untrustworthy. Although they are brave and brave, their military equipment and discipline are poor, and they are extremely greedy.
How about we have people disguise themselves as merchants tomorrow, attract the Geluolu people from Tingzhou City to come out and rob them, and then attack from both sides."
After finding out who it was, Qiongre Duojin looked very excited. He hadn't had such an enjoyable cavalry duel for a long time.
Moreover, we fought more vigorously against the Geluolu people than against the Dangxiang people, and there was always a feeling that we were opening up new territories.
"Your Majesty, the Geluolu people came across Qianli Shatuo Qi, and they have only rested for eight days so far.
Moreover, they are still dispersedly stationed, with only more than 10,000 people. Even if the cavalry support from Shenxian Town comes quickly, they will still have 25,000 people.
With our 13,000 elite cavalry, we can completely defeat them, so why not just surround Tingzhou with great fanfare and destroy them openly and openly."
However, Li Cunhui had a different opinion. He felt that it would be too troublesome to pretend to lure people, and it would be better to convince people directly by force.
"Lao Bai, tell me!" Zhang Zhao turned to ask Bai Congxin who was behind him.
Bai Congxin had long been accustomed to Zhang Zhao's strange address, so he answered directly without thinking.
"Tingzhou is located on the edge of Shatuo Moraine, and there are not many trees around to hide troops.
If you insist on hiding, you can only wait in the desert moraine temporarily. It will take at least a quarter of an hour to fight out. This is very dangerous for Pao Ze who is acting as a bait.
Therefore, I agree with Li Tongjun's opinion. We mobilize all our troops and go directly to the foot of Tingzhou City, leaving only a road to the west through Shatuo Qi to force the Geluolu people to come out for a decisive battle.
If they don't come out, Di Yi's skills in defending the city will only make them die faster."
"Commander Bai is right, our brothers used only 3,000 men to defeat Saktu's 20,000 cavalry. Now we are still afraid that he doesn't even have many rangers?
After a while, let’s rush to the front and bring back a Saktu queen for the king!”
Li Ruotai was worthy of being a mixed descendant of the Khotan royal family and the Tang royal family. His words of high emotional intelligence were beautiful, and he immediately made Qiongre Duojin, whose suggestion was rejected, feel happy.
"Brother is right! Please give the order, Your Majesty! We can't let Saktu, the dolphin dog, escape this time!"
This chapter has been completed!