Chapter 168: Leading the Lintao Army and the Chishui Army to Raid the Uighur "Military Parade"

The generals were filled with righteous indignation and beat their chests and stamped their feet.

People are more likely to accept a sneak attack from the enemy, but it is impossible to accept betrayal from an ally.

One hundred and twenty thousand troops gathered in Longyou, which was a very time-consuming and labor-intensive mobilization.

The support departments of the Helong counties had begun to accumulate grain in Longyou half a year ago.

It can be said that this war was the result of more than half a year of preparation.

After working hard for half a year, all the work is wasted.

"Sir, what do you think of this matter?"

Li Xuan did not listen to these irritable generals, but asked Li Mi.

He knew that it was because he was too aggressive that he completely changed the Uighurs.

Guli Peiluo was afraid that after he defeated Tubo, he would attack Huihe.

Guli Peiluo's prediction was correct. He had long had the idea of ​​reforming the grassland and integrating it completely into Chinese territory.

but not now.

Now he has neither the energy nor the ability to deal with the grassland.

Li Xuan was still very angry because he was tricked by the Huihe.

"General, Tubo is building castles in Jiuqu and Qinghai. Once they are completed, with the strength of Tubo's army, our army will have to pay a greater price in casualties if they want to capture these castles, and it may even be difficult to capture them."

"When Shuofang and Hedong send out troops, even cavalry, it will take a month to gather. When they reach Yu Dujun Mountain, the northern plains will be freezing cold with heavy snow, which is not suitable for fighting. The Huihe also realized this. Moreover, the Huihe left tens of thousands of cavalry to resist the Shuofang army and the Hedong army."

"After our Hexi troops return, they will definitely withdraw from the north of Baitinghai. Then they will send envoys to Chang'an to explain the 'misunderstanding'."

Li Mi analyzed the background to Li Xuan, meaning that the Uighurs only wanted to delay until winter and prevent the Tang Dynasty from attacking the Uighurs this year.

Once the Uighur envoys arrive in Chang'an, present jewels and apologize sincerely, coupled with the virtue of the old ministers, the matter will probably be left unresolved.

"General, there are four feasible options now. One is to give up the war against Tubo and recall the troops from Hexi."

"Second, ignore the Huihe cavalry and continue to carry out the plan against Tubo."

"Third, withdraw some of the Hexi infantry and cavalry to contain the Huihe and make a new plan."

"Fourth, punish the Huihe cavalry to prevent them from getting further and further ahead, so that a similar situation will not occur again next time."

Li Mi gave Li Xuan another choice.

As soon as he finished speaking, the generals started arguing.

There are only two options, the second and the third. They are sure that the Uighurs are just holding a military parade to scare people.

There were also radical ones like the Chishui Army, who wanted to turn around and punish the Uighurs.

That is also a military achievement!
They wanted to unite with Hedong and Shuofang to defeat the Uighurs this year.

We’ll wait until next year and then find a way to deal with Tubo.

Didn't the Uighur royal court rely on the fact that it was far away from Shuofang and Hedong and thought it was impossible to mobilize for the time being?

But if the Tang Dynasty puts its best efforts, it can definitely complete the mobilization by next spring.

The Tang Dynasty in Hexi could also threaten the Uighurs by sending food and grass to the Ningkou Army and Baiting Shouzhuo, waiting for the Shuofang Army to arrive, and then the Hexi Army would attack from both sides.

"We must distinguish the primary from the secondary in everything. The Huihe can only be a clown, far less significant than the Tubo. We will use all the forces of the four towns to attack the Huihe. If the Huihe have already migrated to the northwest before we reach Yu Dujun Mountain, plus those scattered small tribes, even if we win, several years will have passed!"

Li Xuan refuted the generals who wanted to go to war with the Uighurs.

If grasslands were so easy to conquer, they would not have existed throughout history.

The previous divisions of the Turkic Khanate were defeated one by one by the Tang Dynasty.

Now the Uighurs have unified the nine Tiele clans and taken in many Turkic, Basmil, Turgesh and other tribes.

Unlike the Turks, every time the Tang army went out of the border, it would travel thousands of miles. Especially in Shuofang and Hedong, if there was not enough people to ride two horses, they had to mobilize civilians.

Even if one man has two horses, he must fight to support himself and constantly plunder spoils before he can reach Yu Dujun Mountain.

And they must win, otherwise they will have to kill their horses to satisfy their hunger and return home in disgrace.

"The attack on Tubo cannot stop. Generals, calm the soldiers and temporarily rest between Hehuang. All roads leading to Tubo should be blocked. Close the Hexi Corridor, Yumen Pass and Yangguan Pass."

"Merchants on the Hexi Corridor are temporarily camping where they are. They are not allowed to leave. Soldiers from various counties will guard the county towns and cities, and set up roadblocks on any trails. No one except local people with a certificate will be allowed to pass the roadblocks."

"All guards, small troops, and military cities, all light cavalry should patrol the border. No one is allowed to leave the Tang territory by crossing mountains or rivers. Those who violate this will be killed without mercy!"

Li Xuan issued several orders in succession.

With 120,000 soldiers gathered in Hehuang, how could they retreat?
Even if it takes until after October, even if it snows, Li Xuan will complete the attack on Tubo.

Closing Helong did not mean that the Uighurs could not find out whether the Tang Dynasty had withdrawn its troops.

Instead, Li Xuan was preparing to launch a surprise attack on the Uighur cavalry who were parading.

Destroy a wave of their cavalry and they will behave themselves.

And Tubo had no way of knowing whether the Tang Dynasty had withdrawn its troops.

When Li Xuan completes his attack on the Uighurs, he will return to Hehuang and carry out his original plan.

The army that raided the Huihe was none other than the 20,000-strong Lintao Army under his command.

At the very least, one person had two horses and only twenty days' worth of food to carry with them when launching a raid.

"What does Li Shuai mean?"

All the generals and subordinates looked at Li Xuan with bated breath.

"I plan to lead the Lintao Army and use the mobility of the multi-horse cavalry to launch a surprise attack on the Uighur cavalry."

Li Xuan said to the generals and subordinates.

"Reporting to General Li, the Huihe will definitely deploy a large number of scouts in the Baitinghai area. If they encounter our elite cavalry, they will definitely retreat to Yu Dujun Mountain."

Liu Yan reminded Li Xuan: "Besides, the Huihe are nominally a vassal of the Tang Dynasty after all, so we need to report to the Saint before attacking them."

"I know. I will first rush 800 miles to report to the Saint that the Huihe have been treacherous and are obstructing the military achievements of the Tang Dynasty. The Saint will be angry. At the same time, I will lead the cavalry to the Xinquan Army first, and then the Xinquan Army will lead the way through the desert (Tengger Desert) to the rear of the Huihe, and take the opportunity to order an attack."

"In order to confuse the Huihe, I will order the Huihe, Hun, Sijie, Qibi, Tuyuhun, Turkic, Qiang, Xueyantuo and other Hu tribes in Hexi to form 10,000 cavalry and go to Baitinghai to deter them."

"When the Huihe see the coalition forces formed by these tribes, they will only think that the Tang Dynasty wants to scare them away and that the main force intends to attack Tubo. They have 50,000 cavalry and will definitely not be scared away."

"At this time, my Lintao army has the opportunity to attack the Huihe together with 10,000 Hu cavalry."

Li Xuan spoke to the generals word by word.

In this way, success would frighten the Uighur royal court.

If it fails, just return it, there won’t be much loss.

Even if the raid failed, the Uighurs would still be cautious.

Li Xuan generally did not want to mobilize the various Hu tribes in Hexi, so now he could only use them to make up the numbers.

Although many Hu warriors had already joined the army in Hexi and Longyou, it was still not a problem for so many tribes to gather 10,000 cavalry.

"General, please let our Chishui Army go with us! We can select 10,000 men, each with two horses, and will not delay your progress."

Li Zhushi, deputy envoy of the Chishui Army, asked Li Xuan for orders.

"Yes, select five thousand armored light cavalry, five thousand light cavalry."

Li Xuan thought about it and agreed to Master Li Zhu's request.

Anyway, we have prepared 20,000 cavalry and 50,000 war horses.

Even if there were another ten thousand cavalry or twenty thousand war horses, it wouldn't make any difference.

During combat, it can further reduce casualties.

By that time, the main force of the Tang army alone would have numbered 30,000, including elite Modao, crossbowmen, heavy infantry, and heavy cavalry.

With the addition of Bai Tinghai's 10,000 Hu cavalry, the coalition forces mobilized by the Huihe would be difficult to resist.

If the Huihe subordinate tribes suffered heavy casualties, the Huihe Khanate, which had been established with great difficulty, would face the risk of internal disintegration.

By then, it would be difficult for them to reach the Tang territory in the south in a short period of time.

"As ordered!"

Master Li Zhu was overjoyed and accepted the order with a bow.

The other generals and subordinates did not try to persuade him any further.

Just when they were about to accomplish an unprecedented feat, the Uighurs suddenly arrived. Who could tolerate this?

They believed that General Li would be able to complete the surprise attack on the Uighurs and teach them a lesson.

"The Huihe have misled me. We may have to fight with Tubo in the heavy snow. The soldiers must prepare their clothes. Starting from October, we will kill cattle and sheep from Hexi and Longyou every few days and stew them into soup to keep the soldiers away from the cold."

Li Xuan gave instructions to Liu Yan and other subordinates.

"As ordered!"

All officials received the order.

On this trip, Li Xuan not only brought the generals of the Lintao Army, but also brought Xin Yunjing, An Zhongzhang, and the brothers Li Fei Yuanli and Li Fei Shouyu who had already been sent out.

They were all good at riding and shooting, and extremely brave, so they were allowed to join the army and lead the attacks.

Gao Xiuyan was left behind to guard Hehuang.

After sending people to convey military orders to the Hu tribes in Hexi, An Sishun was sent to lead 10,000 Hu cavalry.

He had led troops in Hexi and Longyou for more than 30 years, and his father An Bozhu was well-known. Only someone with his qualifications could intimidate the various Hu tribes.

Moreover, the leader of the Hexi Uighurs, Fudinan, was the elder brother of the Uighur Khan, Guli Peiluo.

Although Fu Di'nan was loyal to the Tang Dynasty in history, Li Xuan was attacking the Uighurs, that is, Fu Di'nan's brother, so he had to be on guard.

Li Xuan summoned only 1,000 Huihe cavalrymen. These Hexi Hu tribes did not know that the Tang Dynasty was going to launch a surprise attack on the Huihe.

If someone is betraying you, it would be better for him to inform the emperor after he arrives at Baitinghai.

This made the Huihe people more convinced that Li Xuan was trying to scare them.

After Li Xuan gave instructions to An Sishun, he asked An Sishun to lead his personal guards to leave for Hexi in advance.

Messengers also rushed to various counties.

Li Xuan ordered the Lintao Army and the Chishui Army to prepare 10,000 cavalrymen, bring 20 days of dry food, and set off two days later.

The day before departure, they slaughtered cattle and sheep and swore an oath to go to war.

When Yumen Pass and Yangguan Pass were closed, checkpoints prohibiting traffic were set up between counties and prefectures.

A big earthquake in Helong!

If you don’t know, you would think Li Xuan is going to rebel!
Those Hu merchants and Han merchants from Chang'an had to stay where they were and wait to be allowed to pass.

The original Tibetan spies were also locked up in the Hexi Corridor, Hehuang and other places.

A few of them wanted to cross the mountain and leave to report the news, but they were caught by county soldiers and escorted to Hehuang.

Two days later, the army had crossed the Huangshui River and set out in a mighty procession.

The Lintao Army now has 7,000 light cavalry, 5,000 elite cavalry, 2,000 strong crossbowmen, 2,000 heavy infantry, 1,000 Modao troops, 1,000 scout battalions, 1,000 heavy cavalry, 1,000 Tiaodang elite cavalry, and 500 auxiliary personnel such as craftsmen, doctors, and subordinates.

In addition, the Chishui Army has 5,000 elite cavalry and 5,000 light cavalry, who have sufficient armor and can take advantage of the terrain.

Among them, the heavy infantry, heavy cavalry and Modao troops all had four horses per person, which was enough to keep up with the marching speed.

Li Xuan's staff included Liu Dan, Gao Shi, Cen Shen, and Duan Xueshi.

Tens of thousands of cavalry passed through the counties, shocking the people along the way.

They had never seen such cavalry, and they were covered in iron armor.

Moreover, the army was in neat formation, did not set foot on the fields, did not stay in the villages, and did not harm anyone.

The people all knew that it was Li Xuan, the commander-in-chief of Helong, who was leading the army personally, but they didn't know where to go.

The Hu merchants along the way were also speechless when they saw the teams of armored soldiers.

They could clearly see that many of the armored soldiers were not wearing them but were placed on their horses.

Such soldiers actually had four horses each.

There was also a Mo Dao flashing with cold light, but I didn't know what kind of weapon it was.

Even the lightly armed crossbowmen had two horses each.

The cavalry, wearing only the Tang Dynasty's Ming Guang armor, ran on the official road for a long time.

There were even more light cavalry, they were wearing black standard leather armor, each of them had a bow hanging on the side of their horse, they had no spears on their horses, only horizontal swords.

They also rode in pairs, with 500 men in a team, and galloped past each other at a distance of less than a mile.

The sound of the armor colliding was creepy.

The neighing of the horse was frightening.

"It is said that the Tang Marshal wants to fight with Tubo, but Tubo is clearly in the south, why are they heading northeast?" A Sogdian American asked his companions around him.

"He's not planning to rebel!"

A brave Sogdian said.

"Hush! Don't say that."

His companion hissed and spoke even more quietly.

……

Some Kucha merchants also whispered: "The Tang army in Helong is stronger than the Tang army in the four towns of Anxi."

"Yes! The Tang Dynasty is invincible. It is said that their troops in the Western Regions are only a small part. The real elite are here, in the north and in the northeast."

A tourist from Shule said that he came to the Tang Dynasty just to see its prosperity.

"If the Tang Dynasty's elite troops were deployed in the Western Regions, the Arabs would not dare to expand eastwards."

Some Sogdians also think so.

Because the Arabs expanded eastward, they had already annexed the former territories of the Nine Zhaowu Clans.

The places that were originally enfeoffed by Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty were only nominally obedient to the Tang Dynasty, but now they have surrendered to the iron hoof of the Arabs.

"Who says it isn't?"

Another Sogdian from the He Kingdom lamented.

The Arabs forced their subjects to believe in their doctrines, but the Sogdians didn't want to believe in them!

Unfortunately, they believed that the Tang Dynasty was too far away from the Nine Zhaowu Clans and it was impossible to send troops to attack the Arabs.

And if the Arabs crossed the Wuhu River, they would be able to compete with the Tang Dynasty for the Western Regions.

Due to the barrier of the Pamir Mountains, the Tang Dynasty never truly ruled the Nine Zhaowu Clans west of the Pamir Mountains.

Wherever the Tang cavalry passed, there was constant discussion.

But the news of Li Xuan's journey to the northwest was destined not to be spread.

……

Early September, Chang'an, Xingqing Palace.

"This villain Guli Peiluo, because he is the son of Emperor Chengzong, was named Khan Huairen. He dared to prevent the Tang Dynasty from recovering Jiuqu."

In the Qinzheng Office Building, Li Longji summoned the two prime ministers Li Linfu and Pei Kuan, and slapped the jade table.

He hoped that this winter, he would receive the good news of recovering Jiuqu, which would make him happy and publicize this achievement to people all over the world.

At this critical juncture, the Uighurs actually went south to Baitinghai for a military review. This was an attempt to seduce the Tang Dynasty!
"Qilang is decisive. He led the cavalry out and raided the Huihe tribe from far away in the desert. We must teach the Huihe tribe a lesson."

Li Xuan's decisiveness in leading cavalry to launch a surprise attack on the Uighurs was very much to Li Longji's liking.

In Li Xuan's memorial, the Uighurs were described as treacherous villains who obstructed the sage from expanding the territory, which made Li Longji grit his teeth. He wanted to send troops to attack the Uighurs first.

If it is not described in this way, it would be hard to say what would happen if the Uighurs offered tribute to please Li Longji after a period of time.

Anyway, Li Xuan has already sent out his troops, and the matter is done.

"Two Prime Ministers, how do you think we should punish the Huihe?"

Seeing that Li Linfu and Pei Kuan had almost finished reading the memorial, Li Longji asked them.

"Your Majesty, General Li should not have sent out troops without authorization. We are allies with the Huihe people. General Li attacked our allies without your edict, which is easy to give people a reason to criticize him. I believe that your Majesty is a man of great power and might. You only need to send an edict to the Huihe people, and Guli Peiluo will admire your grace and power and withdraw his troops obediently. General Li only needs to recover Jiuqu. If we waste time like this, I am afraid that there is no hope of recovering Jiuqu this year."

Li Linfu spoke to Li Longji in a sarcastic tone.

The first half of the sentence made Li Longji frown, but the second half made him feel relieved.

Finally, he did not forget to blame Li Xuan for acting on his own and missing the opportunity to recapture Jiuqu.

"Right Prime Minister, you are wrong. Guli Peiluo led his troops southward, obviously intending to prevent the Tang Dynasty from recovering Jiuqu. This has offended the majesty of the saint and should be punished. The Hu people plunder when they win and seek peace when they lose, and they do this repeatedly. I think General Li did the right thing. Otherwise, with the character of the Huihe people, it would be easy for them to harm the Tang Dynasty in a war."

Pei Kuan stood up to speak for Li Xuan.

Originally, he and Li Linfu had only a minor grudge and there was no hatred between them, but not long ago, Li Linfu acted unethically and almost killed his grandson, which made Pei Kuan hate Li Linfu to the core.

If there was a flaw in Li Linfu's words, he would seize the opportunity to overturn them.

"I have been too soft-hearted for too long, and I also feel that I need to teach the Huihe a lesson. The Tang Dynasty still has 100,000 troops in Shuofang and Hedong, but Guli Peiluo dared to do this. This shows that he does not take the Tang Dynasty seriously. Let Zhongsi send light cavalry out of Yinshan to annihilate several Huihe affiliated tribes. If Qilang defeats the Huihe cavalry on parade, I want to see what Guli Peiluo will say."

Although Li Linfu was good at taking pictures of horses, Li Longji still agreed with what Li Xuan and Pei Kuan said.

He felt that he had been too lenient during the Kaiyuan period, which was why these Hu tribes were allowed to act recklessly.

So what if the Uighurs claim to have 200,000 soldiers and horses?

Their essence is not in the north of Yinshan Mountain, but in Yudujun Mountain, Ekun River, Xian'e River and other places.

If the Uighurs were furious because a few of their tribes were destroyed, Li Longji would mobilize hundreds of thousands of civilians and let Wang Zhongsi lead a hundred thousand troops to fight them, even if they were thousands of miles away.

Li Longji during the Kaiyuan period and the Tianbao period was like two different people.

Guli Peiluo would not have expected it.

"As you wish, I will draft the edict right away."

Seeing Li Longji say this, Li Linfu dared not raise any more objections.

I just hope Li Xuan can fall down.

He believed that the reason why the Uighurs dared to march south for a military parade was because Li Xuan was too strong in dealing with the Hu people. Guli Peiluo was prepared for danger in times of peace and did not want Li Xuan to defeat Tubo.

He would do the same.

But Li Linfu did not dare to tell Li Longji about this.

"Qi Lang said in his memorial that the recovery of Jiuqu would not be delayed. I believe in Qi Lang. Left Prime Minister, send cavalry with a large sum of money to Helong to purchase cattle and sheep from the Hu tribe, buy fine wine, and reward the Helong army."

Li Longji gave Pei Kuan one last instruction.

The soldiers were fighting in the freezing cold, and he also wanted to show his appreciation.

Some time ago, Li Xuan sent a batch of gold, silver and jewelry looted from the powerful through the Hexi Changxing Transport Line.

He decided to use it on the border troops to boost morale.

"According to the order!"

Pei Kuan accepted the order.

The two retreated, and Li Longji expected Li Xuan to bring news of the defeat of the Huihe cavalry coalition as soon as possible.

(End of this chapter)