Chapter 56 One Hundred Thousand Heavenly Soldiers Arrive at Luoyang Nine
Since Lin Jian contacted Yun Zheng and revealed such important information, he naturally did not just say it casually. All the generals looked at Yun Zheng together.
Yun Zheng lived up to expectations and said with a smile: "Lin Jian said that he would control the 80,000 elites he brought here, and then abandon the dark side and turn to the bright side, turning sides at the last moment. He is willing to be my frontline soldier, wipe out Luoyang, and capture the puppet emperor Lin Xu alive.
Give me back the bright and clear sky of Great Wei"
The generals were overjoyed, but Yun Xi, as the deputy chief of staff, was slightly hesitant: "Marshal, although this is a good thing, we must guard against Lin Jian's deceit."
Yunzheng nodded, of course he knew the importance of this matter. Now he assigned 150,000 troops to 100,000 to Yun Yi, allowing him to take advantage of the siege of Luoyang and the fluctuation of popular sentiment in the area controlled by the puppet emperor to quickly attack Shandong.
At this time, he had only 50,000 people on hand, which was an important bridgehead and base for the cavalry to move south in the future, which was less than the defenders on the opposite side. In addition to the 10,000 people previously placed at Hulao Pass, the defenders also came with 80,000 troops.
The army, plus the temporarily captured "militia", is more than 100,000 strong. If someone is accidentally tricked into entering the pass, wouldn't he have to suffer the same losses that Cao Cao suffered in Wancheng? Wancheng can just pay it back.
, if it turns out to be like the Battle of Talos, wouldn’t Yunzheng cry to death?
Speaking of the previous Tang Dynasty, it was Yun Zheng's favorite dynasty, and he liked it even more than the Han Dynasty. However, the failure of the Tang Dynasty made Yun Zheng extremely depressed. Sometimes he even felt that it would have been better if he had traveled through time and become Gao Xianzhi.
Well, Gao Xianzhi was a famous general, but he also made some mistakes at the time. Yun Zheng always felt that if he could time travel and become Gao Xianzhi, he might be able to save such a good opportunity.
At that time, Gao Xianzhi's defeat of Xiaobolu had a great impact on the situation in Central Asia. The Central Asian countries had to estimate which of the Tang, Tubo, and Great Eclipses would eventually fall to the Tang Dynasty, Tubo, and the Great Eclipse based on their own strength and position.
one party
In the eighth year of Tianbao (749), the Tang government granted Tuqi Shi Khan the title of Khan of the ten surnames of the Western Turks, strengthening its control over the Western Turks and thus increasing its voice in Central Asia. In the same year, the Wuhu River in Central Asia
Luo Zhentan, the king of the secret-protecting country along the coast, went to the imperial capital Chang'an to meet Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, and was awarded the title of General Zuowuwei by Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty.
Just when the Tang government was trying to dominate Central Asia, Tubo was not to be outdone. With the support of Tubo, the Shishi Kingdom in northern India attacked Xiaobolu and cut off Xiaobolu's transportation channels. Tubo, which maintained close relations with the Tang Dynasty,
Huo Luo was also deeply aware of the threat from Tibet, so he sent an envoy to report the situation to Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, and requested the Tang Empire to send troops to defeat the Shishi Kingdom.
Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty assigned the task of defeating the Shishi Kingdom to Gao Xianzhi, the governor of the Four Towns of Anxi.
At this time, Gao Xianzhi's reputation was powerful in Central Asia. After receiving the edict from Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, he sent troops in November of the eighth year of Tianbao and arrived in Xiaobolu in February of the following year. This time he marched into Xiaobolu, and the journey went very smoothly.
With the support and cooperation of Xiaobolu and the Tocharian Kingdom, where was the opponent of the Tang Army in the Xushi Kingdom? It was quickly defeated by the Tang Army. Gao Xianzhi captured the king of the Xushi Kingdom, Batemei, and appointed his brother Su.
Jia became the new king and placed the Imperial Master under the control of the Tang Empire.
A series of victories made Gao Xianzhi become a banner of the Tang army in Central Asia, which in turn inspired his ambitions.
In the Syr Darya River Basin in Central Asia, there is a country called Shiguo (around the famous Central Asian city of Tashkent), which is located just to the west of the Bakhna Kingdom. Since the Tang Dynasty once sent troops to rescue the Bakhna Kingdom, Bakhna has always been
He was loyal to the Tang Dynasty and even sent troops to assist the Tang Dynasty in the battle to defeat Tuqishi. At this time, the Shi State was likely to be attacked by the military power of the Tang Dynasty at any time. In this case, the Shi State decided to fight with the Tang Dynasty.
Gao Xianzhi peace talks
Gao Xianzhi agreed to Shi Guo's request and reached a peace treaty with Shi Guo. However, Gao Xianzhi took this peace treaty as an excellent opportunity to sneak attack on Shi Guo.
In December of the ninth year of Tianbao, Gao Xianzhi brazenly launched an invasion of Shi Kingdom
At that time, the Tang Dynasty had already controlled the Western Turks and Bakhna in the east of the Shi Kingdom, so the invasion was very sudden. The Shi Kingdom was originally a small country in Central Asia, and its military strength was not very strong. After signing a peace treaty with Gao Xianzhi,
The Shi Kingdom's defenses were even more fragile and they were not fully prepared for war.
In this case, the fall of the Shi Kingdom was inevitable. Gao Xianzhi captured the capital of the Shi Kingdom in just a few days. The king of the Shi Kingdom and his army were all captured by the Tang army. Gao Xianzhi captured the Shi Kingdom's prisoners of war.
Escorted back to the country
It was during this war that Gao Xianzhi did two bad things
First, Gao Xianzhi ordered the massacre of the city and massacred all the old and weak people in the Shi Kingdom, which caused extremely bad effects. The reason why the Tang Dynasty had a strong influence in the Central Asian countries was not only its military power, but also its high status.
The banner of morality, this massacre undoubtedly caused the image of Datang to plummet.
Second, Gao Xianzhi plundered the wealth of the Shi Kingdom. Although Gao Xianzhi was an outstanding general, he had a fatal weakness, which was greed. How many treasures did he plunder by himself? There were more than a dozen dendrobiums of gems, five or six.
Camels carry gold, precious jade, and a large number of famous horses. Central Asia is a place rich in famous horses. The sweat horses of Dawan in the Han Dynasty were produced here. Gao Xianzhi took the best horses as his trophies.
gone
Gao Xianzhi started this war not considering the interests of the country at all, but purely to enrich his own pockets. Although this war was successful, it planted the seeds for the failure of the future Talas Battle.
At this time in Central Asia, a powerful anti-Tang forces united
After the fall of the Shi Kingdom, a prince managed to escape. He traveled around Central Asia, accusing Gao Xianzhi of his atrocities, and summarized his crime as "deception, corruption, and violence." There were three crimes in total: The first one was that a big country had no moral principles and openly tore apart Gao Xianzhi.
Treaty, brazenly launch a war of aggression; Article 2, massacre the old, weak and innocent; Article 3, plunder the wealth of the Stone Kingdom
The Central Asian countries were deeply abhorred by Gao Xianzhi's atrocities and formed an anti-Tang joint front. However, most of these small Central Asian countries did not have strong military power. What should they do? They could only rely on the power of the Dashi Empire.
In the year when Gao Xianzhi invaded the Shi Kingdom (750), the political situation of the Dashi Empire changed dramatically. The Abbasid Dynasty replaced the Umayyad Dynasty, and the Arab Empire ushered in a new historical period. Due to the influence of the Abbasid Dynasty,
The flag and clothes are all black, so a new name "Black Clothes Dashi" appeared in Chinese history books. This was a powerful empire.
The plan of the anti-Tang countries in Central Asia is to unite the power of the black-clad foodies and attack the four Anxi towns of the Tang Dynasty eastward.
Gao Xianzhi learned of this plan, and he planned to strike first to gain strength. At that time, the main force of the black-clad army was mainly concentrated in the Mesopotamia of Iraq. The power in the east was relatively weak. For Gao Xianzhi, who was adventurous, he decided to strike first to gain strength.
, adopting a decisive proactive assault is the best opportunity to defeat the black-clad food and the anti-Tang forces in Central Asia.
However, Gao Xianzhi had an unfavorable condition, that is, he did not have enough troops. The number of Tang troops stationed in Anxi was only about 25,000. Although this army was a capable army and had many talented soldiers.
Generals, but if they have to compete with the powerful black-clad army of the Western Empire, this number seems to be insufficient.
Gao Xianzhi almost committed all the main forces of the four towns in Anxi, investing a total of 20,000 people. In addition, he also had to recruit troops from other tribes in the Western Regions. At that time, the one with the closest relationship with the Tang Dynasty was the Bahna Kingdom.
Therefore, it is natural for the Bukhan Kingdom to send troops to help, but Gao Xianzhi, the most powerful Shijian tribe among the Hu tribes, did not requisition its troops. Why is this?
Opening the history books, there is an inconspicuous record ten years after Tianbao was discovered: "Gao Xianzhi, the governor of Anxi, entered the court and presented the captured Tuqi Shi Khan, Tubo chief, King Shi, and King Chushi." Note that the sudden here
Qishi Khan was a Yiba who was canonized as the "Ten Surnamed Khan" by Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty just in the eighth year of Tianbao. However, the historical data does not explain why Tuqishi Khan was captured by Gao Xianzhi. This is what this incident at least explains.
Gao Xianzhi believed that the ten surnamed tribes headed by Tu Qishi were unreliable, so Gao Xianzhi instead summoned some weaker tribes in the Western Regions
A total of about 10,000 soldiers from the Hu tribes in the Western Regions and the Bakhna Kingdom participated in Gao Xianzhi's expeditionary force. In this way, the total strength of the expeditionary force reached 30,000
However, Gao Xianzhi's sudden advance did not achieve the purpose of a surprise attack, because the black-clad army was already ready for battle. Gao Xianzhi led the army to advance seven hundred miles and arrived at Talas City. This ancient city would be destroyed because of this battle.
The war that decided the fate of Central Asia went down in history
The Arab army led by the black-clad general Qiyad also arrived in Talas, where the most powerful empires in East Asia and West Asia would collide, sparking the most influential war in the mid-eighth century.
Both the Arab army and Gao Xianzhi's Tang army were battle-hardened warriors with rich combat experience. The battle was very fierce. Although the Tang army was at a numerical disadvantage, the two sides were evenly matched. The battle lasted for five days.
Neither of them could effectively break through the opponent's defense. However, at this moment, a third-party force got involved, and ultimately changed the outcome of the Talos Battle. This third-party force was the Gallulu tribe. Regarding the Talos Battle, the final result was that
A common theory is that the troops of the Geluolu tribe in Gao Xianzhi's army defected before the battle, thus causing the Tang army's defeat.
Ge Luolu was originally a tribe of the Western Turks, but this tribe has not been powerful among the tribes of the Western Turks for a long time. The power is in the hands of the tribes with ten surnames. With the rise of Tuqishi, Tuqishi basically became
The rulers of the ten surnamed tribes. However, after Gai Jiayun and Fumeng Lingjin defeated Tuqishi, the ten surnamed tribes in the Western Turks began to decline. At this time, the Geluolu tribe began to become strong. This was mainly due to
Benefiting from the benefits it gained from the demise of the Post-Turks, the Geluolu tribe was one of the important forces that eliminated the Post-Turks. However, because it was far inferior to the Uighurs in terms of strength, it had to succumb to the leadership of the Uighurs. Obviously, the Geluolu tribe
They wanted to get rid of the influence of the Uighurs and establish their own position in the Western Turks. At this time, a local conflict broke out between the Dashi Empire and the Tang Empire. This was a great opportunity for the Geluolu tribe to stand up.
So, just when Gao Xianzhi's Tang army and the Arab army were fighting inextricably, Ge Luolu's army suddenly appeared behind Gao Xianzhi and launched a fierce attack on the Tang army. This situation was something Gao Xianzhi did not expect. Originally, the front line was facing
The battle for Dashi's army was already very tight. Suddenly, the rear wing was attacked. The army was in chaos, the morale of the army was shaken, and the entire line collapsed.
The Battle of Talas, which had a profound impact on history, finally came to an end. The failure of this battle was not because the Tang army's combat effectiveness was weaker than that of the Arab army. On the contrary, the Tang army fought very well despite being at a disadvantage in terms of military strength.
Very brave. However, Gao Xianzhi's failure was a strategic failure. The Arabs formed an alliance with the Geluolu tribe and relied on the Geluolu army to launch an attack on the back of the Tang army at the critical moment. This was the key to the Arabs' victory.
What Yun Zheng is most worried about at the moment is whether Lin Jian's surrender is true or not. He nodded: "This matter is indeed of great importance, so I gave Lin Jian ten days to stabilize the military power.
During this period of time, he will clear out the generals controlled by the traitor Lin Xu and replace them with his people."
Yunzheng paused and continued: "Although, if he is pretending to surrender, then if I do this, it will give him ten more days to consolidate the pass and strengthen the defense, but to me, this is irrelevant.
Now that we have a new combat method, we naturally do not have to use the lives of soldiers to capture the natural barrier of Hulao Pass. We only need to wait for Feiyang to come back. Therefore, generals do not have to worry. Within these ten days, I will make a judgment.
Ten days later, you will see for yourself."
----------I've gone too far out of habit and sent you seven or eight hundred words.
