Xiao Chunyu and Shi Hai also had a narrow escape from death during this trip. They were finally able to rendezvous with the advance troops at the foot of Shenyu Mountain. Their emotions were extremely agitated. At this time, they saw that Xiao Yanhan was worried that the messenger might encounter an accident on the way and would not be able to reach Taoyuan to report the news. He blurted out:
: "Don't worry about reporting the letter!"
However, the next moment, Xiao Chunyu realized that he had spilled the beans in a hurry, and quickly shut his mouth, looking around to try to distract the matter.
Xiao Yanhan saw Xiao Chunyu's eyes flashing and wanted to avoid Wang Ju. Shi Xun and others looked at him with doubts. She frowned slightly and said, "General Wang Ju is Xu Shijun's uncle. He traveled thousands of miles to support our clan going south. What do you have?"
You can’t say it in front of General Wang Ju?”
Although Xiao Chunyu is only three or four years younger than Xiao Yanhan, he has been afraid of Xiao Yanhan since he was a child. He whispered: "Dad asked me to go south with General Shi Hai, but he also knew that he could not find you aunt in a hurry, and the situation in Taoyuan was special.
It was urgent, so he secretly asked me and General Shi Hai to go south for a while, and then send a messenger back to Taoyuan, pretending to have found my aunt and you..."
"Haha, I think Xiao Shuai is not a rigid person!" Zhang Xiongshan said with a smile after hearing Xiao Chunyu reveal the truth.
The reason why Xiao Yanhan led a group of women and children to go south first instead of leading an elite cavalry to explore the southward passage was mainly because there were serious differences within the remnant Khitan tribe about going south at that time. Not only were some people firmly opposed to going south, but many tribes even
The leader was inclined to surrender to the Red Husbands.
After entering the summer, the Chihu River West Governor's Mansion gathered troops and horses to the north of Minshan Mountain. It is possible to march to the Taoyuan area as early as September. In terms of time, Xiao Linshi couldn't wait for them to send troops from Shenyu Mountain.
The courier returns; even if nothing unexpected happens during the courier's journey and it goes very smoothly, it will be difficult to make it in time.
Xiao Linshi, who was more inclined to go south in his heart, could only arrange for Shi Hai and his second son Xiao Chunyu to send back false news so that when the situation was urgent, he could persuade his tribe to agree to go south.
Xiao Linshi made such an arrangement because he led his tribe to move to Qinzhou over the years. However, they were unable to live and work in peace and contentment, and their prestige was also weakened. He could only deceive the tribe members. This was by no means a glorious thing. It is no wonder that Xiao Chunyu did not want to serve as king.
Tell the truth in front of others.
Furthermore, even if a false messenger was arranged to report the news, they could not guarantee that the tribesmen who stayed in Taoyuan would no longer have differences about the southward migration, nor could they guarantee that the Red Husband Cavalry would not go deep into the Tubo Highlands to pursue them, so their
This did not reduce the worry much.
However, what might happen in Taoyuan at this time, and whether Xiao Linshi could successfully lead one hundred thousand people to escape the pursuit and embark on the road south, it would be useless for them to be anxious and worried thousands of miles away.
What they can do now is not only continue to send messengers to the north to communicate, but more importantly, they must be prepared to respond. At least they can no longer let Buqu Temple and other sect forces become obstacles for the Khitan people to go south.
If Xiao Linshi succeeds in persuading nearly 100,000 tribesmen to go south, in the extreme case all the young and strong men can mount their horses and fight, and more than 30,000 cavalry can be organized to serve as guards. It seems that the troops and horses are strong enough to crush any Tibetan forces along the way.
Regarding the migration of such a large scale, in addition to the 60,000 to 70,000 old, weak, children and women accompanying them, hundreds of thousands of cattle, sheep and other livestock that depend on survival must also be driven through the extremely harsh alpine zone, and the difficulties and dangers encountered
, are absolutely unimaginable.
Sect forces such as Buqu Temple do not need a frontal interception at all. If they organize thousands of cavalry to continuously harass the flanks, the remaining Khitan forces will suffer heavy casualties and even fall apart.
"What's the situation at Buqu Temple now? Has the princess sent someone to contact Buqu Temple?"
On the way, Shi Hai and Xiao Chunyu met the scouts who were out to reconnaissance in the east of Shenyu Mountain. Not only did they follow the scouts to meet up at Shenyu Mountain, they also learned that more than a month ago, the reinforcements from Beijing and Xiangxi sent troops south to inflict heavy losses on the Buqu Temple Fan soldiers at the foot of Shenyu Mountain.
Now I am even more eager to understand the changes in the situation near Shenyu Mountain, and I can't even take a breather.
Zhang Xiongshan answered on his behalf:
"The situation in Buqu Temple is more complicated, and there is also the split of the Tubo Dynasty..."
Although the Tubo people who once occupied the Taoyuan area belonged to one of the Dosima tribes, and a large number of Tibetans even responded to the recruitment of the Dai Viet Xihe Road Governor's Office to participate in the battle against the Dangxiang people, Dai Viet's attack on the Tubo highlands was
The field of intelligence collection is unsatisfactory, and there have been very few in-depth business contacts with the Tibetan people.
The remnants of the Khitan moved south to Qinzhou, but their foundation was shallow, and their understanding of the Tubo people was limited to the chaotic Duosima tribe.
However, Dali has maintained close tea-horse trade with Duogansi and Weizang areas for hundreds of years.
Wang Ju and Shi Hu led the reinforcements to go south more smoothly. At the same time, they also conducted close trade with Dali Kingdom and the tribes in the southern region of Duogansi in the name of the merchant group. The collection of intelligence was much smoother than that of the remnants of the Khitan.
Much more perfect.
Su Mung and Xu Pang first met with Xiao Yanhan and Zhang Xiongshan at the foot of Shenyu Mountain. Wang Ju, Shi Hu, and Shi Xun led their troops to arrive one after another, and the situation in the Tubo Highlands, especially in the Duogansi area, was almost clear.
At the beginning of the Tubo Dynasty, Buddhism spread in Weizang, Duogansi, Duosima and other places. The dynasty fell, and the entire Tubo was divided into numerous large and small separatist forces, just like the Monan and Mobei grasslands in chaotic times——
After two hundred years of division and reunification, the tribes in the entire Duogansi area formed six larger forces; and because the areas governed by these six major forces generally overlapped with the six Dogan hills during the Tubo Dynasty,
It is still called "Liu Gang" locally.
Among them, the middle and lower reaches of the Tongtian River controlled by Buqu Temple is Semo Gang, one of the six hills.
As for the Dege family, the actual rulers of Buqu Temple, their ancestors were a thousand ladies from Semogan during the Tubo Dynasty. After the Tubo Dynasty split, they became one of the local separatist forces.
The disintegration of the Tubo dynasty failed to curb the spread of Buddhism.
Not only did the Dege family have children who became monks and became religious one after another, their ninth generation ancestor founded the Buqu Temple on the banks of the Yuqu River.
In the next 1560 years, countless children of the Dege family became monks in Buqu Temple, and they also monopolized the middle and upper-level teaching positions such as Dharma King and Guru.
During this process, the Dege family's actual ruling power over Semogan was gradually transferred to Buqu Temple, making Buqu Temple the ruler of the region who unified politics and religion...
The Khitan people moved south, mainly through the northern area of Mangkangang and the core area of Semogang controlled by Buqu Monastery - this is also the key to why Buqu Monastery reacted more violently.
A cavalry force of eight to nine thousand people, even if it includes a large number of women and children, penetrates directly into the core area under its rule. Who can not react at all?
In comparison, the middle and upper reaches of the Tongtian River that the Khitan people passed through was the northern edge area controlled by Mangkang Gang, and it was an alpine wasteland with extremely harsh environment. The Khitan people did not continue to go south into the Kangyanchuan area, its core area.
The reaction of the Tibetan tribes in Mangkang Gang was relatively calm.
Going south from Shenyu Mountain, you mainly pass through the Baobo Gang area.
Semoggang, Mangkangang and Pangboggang had jurisdiction over eight thousand to thirteen to thirteen to four thousand households of Tibetan people respectively, and the number of Tibetan people under each household's jurisdiction was equivalent to that of the remnants of the Khitan.
The advantage of the remnants of the Khitan army is that due to the harsh political survival environment in recent years, almost all men can be driven into battle. At the limit, they can mobilize 30,000 cavalry. Regardless of whether they are placed on any side, they can be said to be extremely powerful combat forces.
Comparatively speaking, although the scale of the Tibetan people ruled by Buqu Temple in Semogan was larger than that of the remnants of the Khitan, it was extremely difficult to carry out military mobilization. Previously, it had taken a lot of effort to gather 7,000 Tibetan cavalry, and they were beaten.
A big defeat.
However, in addition to the possibility of the Duogan and Six Mountains joining forces, what makes everyone more worried and fearful is the harsh and harsh alpine climate in the northern areas of Semogan and Mangkangang, which is extremely severe for any external troops who first ascend the plateau.
The test——
In this regard, Zhang Xiongshan, Xiao Xun, and Wu Sanrong all have deep feelings.
Entering this area, most of the able-bodied people became gasping for breath after even the slightest strenuous movement, their physical strength dropped drastically, and their combat effectiveness naturally dropped sharply; a large number of generals and livestock fell directly sick.
The reason why Su Mung, Xu Pang and the others were able to raid and win was not only because the climate near Shenyu Mountain was much warmer than that in the northern area of Duogansi, but also because the reinforcements went south without too much consumption, and more importantly, the Buqu Temple was completely destroyed.
Be prepared, but if you want to fight the Fanqi again, it will not be that easy.
In the middle and early period of the previous dynasty, it can be said that the Central Plains regime was the most powerful era. The Central Plains cavalry successively conquered Turks, Uighurs, Goryeo and other foreign tribes, and expanded the territory to thousands of miles away from Yumen Pass. However, they were still unable to do anything about the Tubo Dynasty, and even the capital was once occupied.
The Tibetan cavalry invaded.
This is not about how powerful the Tubo cavalry is. The most critical reason is the harsh climate environment of the Tubo highlands, which allows the Tubo cavalry to easily fight out from the Tubo highlands and plunder Hexi, Longyou, Nanzhao and other places. If they fail to defeat them, they will return to Tubo.
Highlands, but it is extremely difficult for peripheral forces to penetrate into the hinterland of the Tubo Highlands.
The Tibetan cavalry were simply invincible.
During the previous dynasty, the Central Plains cavalry also tried to attack the Tubo Highlands, but suffered a disastrous defeat - this was definitely not due to the incompetence of the Central Plains generals, or to the lack of armor or training of the soldiers.
"In the battle of Shenyu Mountain, Su Miao and Xu Zang led the reinforcements to wipe out two thousand enemies and capture more than 1,600 Tibetan soldiers. It can be said that Buqu Temple was severely damaged in one battle."
After Zhang Xiongshan introduced the basic situation of Duogan Six Ridges, Xiao Yanhan said,
"But considering the complex and harsh geographical climate of Duogan Liugang, we still want to do our best to lobby the Buqu Monastery to let the passage pass, and also send people to the Buqu Monastery on the bank of the Yugong River, hoping that they can send a master to come to us.
