The Shatuo people, also called the Chuyue Turks, are a branch of the Turks. They live in the Zheluoman Mountains in the north of the Western Regions all year round. They gradually became stronger in the middle and late Tang Dynasty.
At present, Shatuo has 5,000 warriors, about 30,000 of them. The leader, Zhu Xiejinding, led his entire clan to defect to the grassland overlord Uighur. He was named Chuyue Khan by the great Khan Mouyu of Uighur and became the leader of the Uighur army in attacking the Hexi Corridor.
agent.
The Shatuo general currently leading 6,000 Shatuo cavalry stationed in the Hexi Corridor is called Zhu Xieweiming. He is the half-brother of the Khan. According to Turkic tradition, the younger brother should succeed the elder brother, so Zhu Xieweiming is also the Chuyueke
Khan's first successor, Khan's biological son, was ranked behind him.
Zhu Xiewei is about in his early thirties, with a slim but strong figure, a thin face, a hooked nose, and sinister and cunning eyes.
Zhu Xieweiming likes to use strategies and does not like to attack and fight. At that time, he led 6,000 Shatuo cavalry to fight against 30,000 Tuyuhun in Dadou Bago. It was he who first sent surprise troops to cut off the logistics and food routes of Tuyuhun's army, causing Tuyuhun's army to fall into a trap.
After being in chaos, his army gathered strength and defeated 30,000 enemy troops.
In order to occupy the entire Hexi Corridor, he has made preparations for many years and has a good understanding of the situation in Ganzhou and Liangzhou. There are 6,000 Tang troops in Zhangye City, which is difficult to attack. Liangzhou has 10,000 Tang troops, and it is also difficult to occupy Wuwei City.
beat.
He began to make a fuss about strategy and learned that the Tang Dynasty had posted a reward list at the beginning of the year. Anyone who captured or killed him would be promoted to three levels and be rewarded with ten thousand taels of silver.
Li Chengjue, the governor of Ganzhou who guards Zhangye City, is fifty-five years old and will retire from office in a few years. Seeing that there is no hope of promotion, if he suddenly appears with a small number of troops on the territory of the Tang army, will Li Chengjue be tempted? He
Will you give up this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity? I will be promoted to the third level!
Zhu Xie Weiming decided to take a risk and use his body as bait to provide Li Chengjue with this opportunity. He didn't believe that Li Chengjue could bear it?
Of course, Zhu Xieweiming also knew very well that he was taking a risk. While seducing Li Chengjue, he himself was also in danger. After all, he only brought 800 troops.
After careful consideration, Zhu Xieweiming decided to set off before the road was completely blocked by heavy snow and attack Baiting Shouchu. Baiting Shouchu only had two hundred Tang troops, which did not pose a danger to him. Moreover, even if the road was blocked by heavy snow, Baiting Shouchu would still have enough supplies.
Let him return to the camp.
At this time, Zhu Xieweiming led eight hundred cavalry to the south bank of Xiutu Lake. The soldiers blew the horns three times, but the spies they had sent before never came to respond. This made Zhu Xieweiming frown.
His first reaction was that something had happened to the sentry team.
The deputy general next to him said in a low voice: "Captain, could it be that they were investigating the situation in the Tang Army's city and were discovered?"
It is very likely that they must closely investigate the Tang army guarding the city. It is easy to be discovered in the vast white wilderness. If something happens to them, they are most likely to be killed by the Tang army guarding the city. Apart from this, Zhu Xieweiming can't think of any other reason.
, the fifteen-person spy team is quite powerful in combat, and unless they are regular Tang troops, no one can be their opponent.
But Tang Jun will not come to Xiutu Lake at this time.
"Ignore them!"
Zhu Xie Weiming waved his hand and ordered the army to continue heading eastward. His purpose was to let Li Chengjue know that he was here. It might not be a bad thing if the spies were caught by the Tang army.
........
At night, Zhu Xieweiming led eight hundred cavalry to Baiting to guard the city.
"Listen to the Tang troops in the city, this governor is Zhu Xieweiming!"
Zhu Xieweiming shouted to the top of the city in fluent Chinese, "As long as you surrender, I will not kill anyone indiscriminately. On the contrary, I will let you go. I only need to guard the city and the food and grass supplies in the city."
On the top of the city, more than two hundred Tang soldiers were silent. Zhao Tengjiao gritted his teeth and said, "You really want to lure Governor Li to send troops!"
Lieutenant General Zhang Sen sighed softly, "Actually, this is also a good opportunity to kill him, but it's a pity that we couldn't seize it!"
Zhao Tengjiao was stunned for a moment, and a wave of enthusiasm surged in his heart. He suddenly whispered: "I can take a few brothers out of the city..."
"No!" Zhang Sen and two brigade commanders objected together. It was too dangerous.
At this time, a soldier ran over and said, "General, someone just shot this thing from the north city!"
The soldier presented an arrow to Zhao Tengjiao, with a small cloth bag tied tightly on the arrow. Zhao Tengjiao quickly waved his hand to Zhang Sen, and the two of them came to the city tower together. There was a table in the city tower with an oil lamp on the table.
The lights flickered on and off, making the room very dim.
Zhao Tengjiao poured the contents of the cloth bag on the table. There were only two items. One was a square copper medal of the Shatuo Army. It was engraved with several Turkic characters. However, Zhao Tengjiao didn't need to understand the characters to know that it was a Shatuo Army.
Centurion's medal.
The other item was a piece of folded white cloth, which must have been torn from underwear and spread out. On it were a few lines of words written on branches dipped in blood.
"I want to kill the enemy chief. When the enemy is in chaos, the Tang army can go out of the city to cover it up!" A Taoist priest holding a sword is drawn below.
At the end, he added another sentence, "If the army is fully prepared, it can be used as a signal."
Zhao Tengjiao and Zhang Sen looked at each other and said in unison: "Guo Song!"
Zhao Tengjiao suddenly became excited, "This kid must have killed all the Shatuo spies. Tsk! Tsk! It's not easy, he actually killed a centurion."
Zhang Sen frowned and whispered: "He said he wanted to kill the enemy chief. Could it be..."
Zhao Tengjiao and Zhang Sen were shocked at the same time. It was not clear that Guo Song wanted to kill Zhu Xie!
is it possible?
Zhang Sen sighed softly, "It sounds like wishful thinking, but I have an intuition from my humble position. Maybe he can really do it!"
Zhao Tengjiao nodded, he felt the same way.
He punched the table hard and said decisively: "Anyway, if you don't surrender, you will die. I will bear the risk!"
...........
"I will finally give you a quarter of an hour to think about it. If you don't surrender after a quarter of an hour, then don't blame me, Zhu Xieweiming, for being cruel and ruthless!" Zhu Xieweiming coldly threatened the Tang army on top of the city.
The eight hundred cavalry behind him did not line up in a square formation, but in a crescent shape, with the commander-in-chief Zhu Xieweiming surrounding him in the middle.
At this moment, there was a Shatuo cavalryman on the edge of the northernmost crescent. He wore a bronze helmet, which was lower and covered his brow. He also wore a double-layered leather armor inlaid with a heart-protecting iron mirror.
Wearing a black cloak, a sword on his waist, a bow and arrow in his hand, and a spear hanging on the saddle, this is the typical attire of a black tent archer, exactly the same as the soldiers around him.
With only 800 men, Zhu Xie Weiming naturally had to use elite black tent horse archers to protect himself, but the extra soldier was decorated by Guo Song.
The Shatuo spies all carry armor with them, making it easy to disguise themselves. Guo Song can also speak Prairie Common and wears military badges. Under the cover of night, as long as the other party doesn't hold a torch and look carefully at his appearance, they won't notice him at all.
They are fake Shatuo cavalry.
He was hanging at the edge of the crescent formation. The light was so dim that the soldiers around him didn't notice how he got out.
Guo Song looked coldly at Zhu Xieweiming, who was riding a tall horse in the distance. He was wearing a golden wolf crown, golden armor, and a sword in his hand. He was about 120 steps away from him.
This distance was a bit far, but it was the closest he could get to Zhu Xie Weiming. But the distance was not the key, but Zhu Xie Weiming was very well protected.
In front were six soldiers holding their shields high, forming a shield wall. Behind them were twelve cavalrymen surrounding the city in a small circle. The front and rear were airtight, with only a foot-long opening left on the side. Through this narrow opening, it was just right.
It can be seen that Zhu Xie is not clear.
The golden armor shimmered under the firelight, and there was a vertical collar on the armor, covering his neck. If Zhu Xie was not wearing a golden helmet today, then there was nothing Guo Song could do.
Zhu Xieweiming wore a gold crown with a wolf's head, which was the symbol of the Khan's heir. His hair was tied up, revealing his slender, pale face.
I can only say that this is God's will.
The opportunity was fleeting, but Guo Song had to wait. He needed to give the city some time to prepare.
At this moment, the fire on the city wall flashed a few times, which was the agreed signal to raise the fire, and most of the Tang army soldiers on the city wall disappeared.
Guo Song glanced at Zhu Xieweiming for the last time. Zhu Xieweiming just put his head in and said something to the soldiers in front, exposing half of his face. The best opportunity came.
Guo Song suddenly nocked an arrow and raised his bow. He drew the bow like a full moon. When the string came loose, a wolf-fang arrow shot towards Zhu Xie Weiming's head like lightning. The powerful arrow instantly passed through the opening only one foot wide and shot straight.
Zhu Xie's head is unknown.
Zhu Xie Weiming never dreamed that the fatal danger would be shot from the side, "Pfft!" The arrow hit his temple, penetrating from the left temple and coming out from the right temple. Zhu Xie Weiming didn't even scream.
,'Gudong!' The horse fell off the horse with a sound.
Guo Song did not stop, and immediately shot a second arrow. This arrow penetrated the trifurcated bone of the front leg of Zhu Xie Weiming's horse. The tall war horse neighed miserably, and then fell down, heavily pressing Zhu Xie Weiming under him.
"Captain, what's wrong with you!"
Several of Zhu Xieweiming's soldiers shouted loudly, and suddenly someone shouted angrily: "The governor is dead!"
Guo Song turned his horse and galloped around the crescent formation behind him. He shouted in Tiele language: "Run quickly! The governor is dead."
There was a chaos among Shatuo's army. At this moment, the city gate opened wide, and two hundred Tang army cavalry led by Zhao Tengjiao came out, like a sharp sword, piercing the center of the crescent formation.
The deputy general Zhu Xie Weiming brought, a captain brandished a spear and shouted: "No chaos! Fight! Fight--"
Before the commander finished shouting, an arrow shot out from the darkness with great force. An arrow entered his mouth and the tip of the arrow came out from the back of his head. The commander fell on his back and fell from his horse, killing him on the spot.
The general was dead, the captain was also killed, and the Shatuo cavalry were in chaos. They turned their horses and fled westward. Several soldiers wanted to snatch the governor's body, but they were pinned down by the horses. The Tang army had already arrived and killed several soldiers.
The soldiers and others had to give up snatching the corpse and fled in panic.
Guo Song was finally discovered. Just as he shot the centurion, a centurion roared and attacked him with a spear. Guo Song dodged the fatal spear, sneered, leaped forward, and chopped off one end.
After killing the opponent's head, he immediately kicked the opponent's horse, did a backflip, and rode back to his own horse.
Seeing that the soldiers in the southwest were weak, Guo Song swung his sword and rushed into the enemy group. Cold light flashed continuously. Guo Song killed four Shatuo cavalry who blocked him. Finally, he opened a bloody path and disappeared into the darkness.
Shatuo's army was defeated, and the Tang army's cavalry took advantage of the victory to pursue and killed nearly 500 people before returning to the city beating the victory drum.
The Battle of Baiting City can only be regarded as a small-scale battle in terms of scale. The total number of troops invested by both sides was less than a thousand. However, the political impact of the Battle of Baiting City was far-reaching. The first heir of Shatuo Khan was killed in the battle, which made Shatuo Khan
The position of Tuo Khan was unstable, and Shatuo was caught in a fierce struggle for the succession of the Khan. The Shatuo army had no time to take care of the Hexi Corridor, and six thousand cavalry were forced to evacuate Ganzhou and return to Suzhou.
It was not until a few years later, when Shatuo's new Khan succeeded to the throne, that Shatuo's army resumed its attack on Zhangye City.