Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

July is coming soon, Liaoze is still green and the water is rippling.

With the hasty retreat of the Khitan main force, the Khitan Yazhang, Yao Nian Khan City, Nanlou, Donglou, Longhua Prefecture, Zimeng County, Miyun County and other cities fell one by one.

These Khitan towns were captured easily without any major battles.

The only one who persisted for a long time was probably Miyun County.Gao Youqing led the cavalry of the Hengye Army to this point, but the Khitan did not surrender.Until the first part of the Golden Sword Army arrived, they pulled it out in two days.

Yao Nian Khan City even persisted for only one day, and was attacked by the king's division under the attack of the black army and the rebellious Bohai and Han soldiers in the city.

Before that, Yikun Prefecture, Xilou, Yuewang City, and Beilou were also captured, and the Khitan people's three-generation effort to transform from nomadic to semi-settled was directly emptied.

And if they are unable to settle down, the strength of Khitan is just empty talk.

On the third day of July, A Baoji arrived near the Hun River with less than [-] remnants and defeated generals.

The further north he went, the more his heart sank.

Xilou and Yuewang City were gone, he had expected it.After arriving, the Xia people really rushed out from the city, and more than [-] flying dragon troops dared to show off their might.

Yaochari's enemy assassin led the army forward and repelled him, which was regarded as a fierce breath of evil.

A Baoji didn't dare to tangle with them.So what if we regain Yuewang City and Xilou?Khitan can't defend the city now, there are only some abandoned cultivated land here, once they settle down to cultivate, if the Xia people come again, they can only be captured without a fight.

After leaving the west building, the army continued to go north.

Along the way, people escaped every day and disappeared.Some people even launched a rebellion, and after being suppressed, the morale of the army became even more lax.

A Baoji doubts whether the Babu Ding Zhuang can still fight?He can't believe anyone now, and he only holds more than 1 people from the Khan's pro-army, the Great Falcon, and the Little Falcon. This is the elite at hand and the sharp weapon he relies on to suppress all parties.

The road to the North Tower was not smooth, and there were more and more Xia people, fighting more and more day by day.If the Feilong and Golden Knife armies could not pose a huge threat to them, then the cavalry army would be very annoying.

A Baoji once mobilized elites to fight against them. After beating the iron cavalry, they really didn't dare to fight head-on, but they still didn't retreat and followed them like flies.

All these things made him lose his patience.

"Helu, you sent people to report that the Xia people surrounded the North Tower, but just now they tortured the prisoners, and the North Tower broke down in a day, why didn't you say this?"

"What about cattle and sheep? What about people? We don't have many cattle and sheep in the army, and we don't have any women. How will we live in the future?"

"Helu, it's really your fault this time. You judged that the Xia people were going to the city of Yaonian and wanted to ambush them. In the end, what did you eat besides a mouth full of sand?"

"I don't care how the Xia people know about the Beilou, but now the Beilou is gone, the cattle and sheep are gone, and the people are gone. Where are they going?"

"Let's go, don't wait any longer. There is nothing here, and the Xia people are still chasing after him."

The heads of various ministries were very angry and accused Holu one after another.

Helu couldn't argue with his words, and his followers and subordinates also blushed, feeling ashamed.

"If the Xia people come, I will take my Ulus to the top, and even if they all die in battle, I will never run away. The man keeps his word, is that enough?" He Lu raised his head, looked at the crowd calmly, and asked.

"What's the use of your death? If you're dead, can you bring back the cattle, sheep and dogs?"

"Stop arguing with him, the Xia people must have moved all the people, cattle and sheep. I sent people to look around, but there was nothing."

"We came late. We shouldn't have fought back then. We retreated directly to the north. How far can the Xia people chase? With that time, they might as well go and grab Bohai."

"Actually, I've chased him quite far. These people are really ruthless, alas."

The crowd was clamoring and arguing endlessly.

But A Baoji seemed to have never heard of it, and he stared fixedly at the North Tower.

There are tense Xia soldiers standing on the top of the wall, it should be the Flying Dragon Army, right?No wonder the North Tower was quickly breached.

The large-scale formation of cavalry infantry by the Xia people is indeed a pioneering work.Although it is impossible to fight on horseback, after running for hundreds of miles, you can dismount and fight on foot, attacking cities and pulling out villages, and you can do anything.

With these people, it will be difficult for Khitan to build a city from now on.Even if it is repaired, it will be conquered by their mounted infantry.

This cognition made A Baoji feel even more helpless.He always believed that if they could not settle down, the Khitan Babu would have no future.Just like the tribe that swirled up and down on the grassland, ruled the roost for a while, and finally disappeared.

A powerful empire like the Uyghurs controlled tens of thousands of miles of land, and there were no less than a million people who controlled the strings. As a result, tens of thousands of Miaogas people attacked the royal court and directly destroyed the country.This is the tragedy of the nomadic empire. It has no resilience at all and can win many times, but sometimes one failure leads to its demise.

To build a city, to farm, to combine farming and animal husbandry, only in this way can we become rich and resilient.

He also wanted to create the Khitan script, establish a system, and a code of law, all of which could only be achieved by settling down.

Now, where to find such a place?

"Khan." Haili approached quietly.

A Baoji came back to his senses and asked, "What's the matter?"

"Diela ran away with his men." Haili said in a low voice.

"Diela" is Yelu Diela, Abaoji's younger brother.

A Baoji nodded numbly, indicating that he understood.

There are too many people running away now, every day.And what is the purpose of their escape, you can know with your toes: to surrender to the Xia people.

In fact, he can understand that there is no hope of winning at all, the future is gloomy, and his family members are likely to be caught by the Xia people, so why not surrender?

Even himself...

Just now he personally interrogated the captives, and got a piece of news that made him despair: Yue Liduo and the three children had already been transferred away by the Xia people, and their whereabouts were unknown.

Well, I actually know it, I can guess it, and Dragon Palace.But so what?Then fight south, kill back to Yingzhou, and save your wife and children?

For a moment, Abaoji wanted to surrender himself.

He loves Yue Lido so much, every frown and smile of this elf on the grassland makes him endlessly memorable, it is a rare bright spot in the boring and lengthy military career.

He was worried that Yue Liduo would be unhappy, so he didn't dare to take a concubine.

He built Yikunzhou in the place where Yue Liduo was born.

He provided weapons and equipment for the Shan army formed by Yue Liduo, and allocated the best slaves to her.

He has done too many things for Yuelido...

"Let's go." He sighed.

Yue Liduo disappeared, and the Shan army also surrendered to the Xia people. Everything made him feel so uncomfortable that he wanted to go crazy.

But he can't.

He is the Great Khan of the Eight Divisions of Khitan, and he has a heavy responsibility.There are so many people who swear to follow him to the death, even if they fail repeatedly, how can he bear to let them down?
"Where are you going?" Harry asked.

"Contact Sala and Xiamage, let's go north." A Baoji only gave a vague answer.

In fact, he didn't know where to go, but subconsciously felt that he should join the other two groups of people.

They add up to 20 riders, [-] old and weak women and children, and their urgently needed cattle, sheep, horses and camels.What's more, Xiamage has recently plundered the Bohai Sea and harvested a lot, which just solved the urgent need.

Haili nodded silently.

In fact, those two roads combined are not as important as the Beilou road. More than 20 old and weak women and children, and millions of livestock, can be called the essence of Khitan.

But under such a surprise attack by the Xia people, a large tribe fell into the enemy's hands.

In the past two days, after many inquiries, I learned that some clans whose grazing lands were far away sneaked away to the pastures of the Wugu tribe, and some of them went to the hometown of the Yu people.But the total of these people is only more than 5 people. I heard that the Xia people have arrested more than [-] people, so there are still about [-] people scattered everywhere, panicking and not knowing where to go.

After seeing the Khan approaching in person, some people brought cattle and sheep to vote, but only a few after all.More people may not have heard the news. It's a pity that these people don't gather together.

"Leave a few hundred people here and gather the tribe quietly." A Baoji seemed to know Haili's thoughts, and said: "It's not suitable to stay here for a long time, let's go before the Xia people's pursuers arrive."

"Big Khan, Fuyu Yin Liu Rengong neither descends to summer nor returns, you see..." Haili said again.

"I can't control that much anymore." A Baoji shook his head and said, "I'm sure I'll die, just wait and see."

After all, he rode away.Before leaving, he glanced at Yeluhelu.

Holu's eyes were red, and he nodded heavily.

******
On the fourth day of the seventh month of the seventh year of Jianji, Shao Shude, under the escort of Yin Anzhi and Fei Xiong Army, left Helong Palace and went north to the South Tower.

A mighty army appeared on the grassland, with silver helmets and armor, boasting of the bravery of the new conqueror.

The Northern Expedition to Khitan lasted about 3 days. According to the data reported by various ministries, after a squeeze of water, approximately [-] people were beheaded and more than [-] people were captured—the number of prisoners is still increasing rapidly.

All of the above are Khitan Ding Zhuang, also known as "soldiers".

As for the elderly, weak, women and children, the number has exceeded 20, and the number of cattle, sheep, horses and camels is nearly 300 million.

It is conservatively estimated that this battle wiped out half of the Khitan's strength—not enough in the military sense, but more than half of the economic destruction.

It is also helpless for the survivors of the Khitan Babu Fen III to end up in such a dismal end.This is a gap in hard power, there is no way, and no one can blame it.

After the war is won, the latter matters are often more important.

Wars on the grasslands are different from those in the Central Plains.They are slippery, can run, and can hide. It is difficult for you to destroy their vitality, so it is very important to deal with the aftermath.

In the second year of Tang Zhenguan (628), Emperor Taizong sent troops to attack Turks.All the Turkic tribes came to vote one after another, acting as the leading party, and the Tang and Tibetans joined forces with more than [-] troops to conquer Jieli Khan together.Two years later, the battle of Yinshan was won, and the Turks perished, with more than [-] descendants.

But are the Turks dead?not at all.In fact, the Turkic state was subjugated, and more than [-]% of the Turkic people are still there. Fighting in the grasslands, it is difficult for you to eliminate many people, because they will migrate and run away.

Then came the post-Turks, with hundreds of thousands of people, who repeatedly surrendered and rebelled.

Shao Shude took history as a mirror and felt that he should deal with it properly.Otherwise, how can we know that there will be no "post-Khitan"?What's more, the Khan Yeluyi of the Khitan Eight Divisions is not dead yet.

On July [-], he arrived in Longhua Prefecture and stayed here for a few days to meet the chiefs who surrendered.