Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 1575 The Creator's Grace
On the tenth day of May in the 15th year of Jianji, it was sunny and the sun was shining brightly.

Atami Turkic came faster than everyone else because it was profitable.

In grassland wars, cattle and sheep are the spoils of war, and slaves are also important spoils of war.Especially for the semi-cultivating and semi-grazing populations of the Atami Turks, slaves are an important resource.

Of course, the tribes of Balujia (Aksu) knew this too, so they rose up to resist, assembled a large group of people, and repeatedly entangled with the Turkic people who came rushing to kill them.

Both sides are known as Turkic species, the same way of life, the same tactics, and even the equipment and combat effectiveness are almost the same.

The fierce battle unfolded on the banks of the Sihun River.

Arrows flew back and forth, and people kept falling.

I don’t know how many times the cavalry hedged. The horses lay down on the ground whining, and the soldiers screamed in pain. They stared at the sky reluctantly until they lost their spirits.

The two sides of the Sihun River were almost where the fighting was most intense.The scramble is especially brutal in places where several shallow water fords are made.The two sides even got off their horses and fought on foot.You stab me with a gun, and treat the opponent as if you killed your father and enemy.

Ba Saigan's eyelids twitched.

He didn't expect that the resistance of Yan Moren was so fierce.Now that bad news is coming from everywhere, why don't you think about it, if you keep resisting, none of you will be able to escape?

Of course, Basaigan knew in his heart that even if people did not resist, there would be no fruit for them.

Perhaps this is the main reason why the battle was so fierce.

Su Nong led 2000 people around from the upstream area, and went to the side and rear of Yang Moren.

Pusaigan climbed to a high place and stared at it carefully.

The enemy seems to have been prepared.Behind the towns and villages there was smoke and dust all over the sky, a group of cavalry composed of Uyghurs, Geluolus and even Turks came forward and fought with Sunong's troops.

The sky was full of yellow sand, green blood was splashed, and a large group of people lay down on both sides in a short time.The ownerless war horse ran around, neighing endlessly.

The battle was fierce, but it was obvious that it would not end for a while.

"Ah!" Bosegan thumped the trunk of Populus euphratica angrily.

They brought more than 1 people to the south, all selected by various ministries, and their morale was high before they set off. Everyone felt that they could rob the Uyghurs and enrich themselves by mixing with the Master of the Great Xia King.

Unexpectedly, while defending his family and property, the Yangmo people broke out with a strong fighting spirit, and fought with the Atami Turks, which was inseparable.

Ba Saigan heard that when the Central Plains cavalry rushed to kill each other, they even charged more than [-] rounds.

People are dead, replenish the reserve team, and then rush.

If the horse can't run anymore, change another horse and try again.

But fighting in the prairie has always been straightforward, victory is victory, and defeat is defeat, very straightforward.There are not no scenes of repeated entanglement and repeated rushing, but they are really rare.

He was unlucky and met today.

Such a "bad battle", even if he wins, the followers will not give him a good face after returning, and the loss of prestige is inevitable, unless the compensation is large enough.

Thinking of this, beads of sweat had already formed on his forehead, and his eyes were full of blood red from embarrassment.

This time, if we don't ruthlessly massacre the tortured villages and towns and let everyone have a good time, it is obviously impossible to explain.

If you want to blame this matter, you can blame yourself. If the resistance is so fierce, then please benevolent and benevolent.

"Prepare the horse, I'll lead the charge myself!" Ba Saigan ordered as he descended the hillside.

His personal attendants quickly brought four or five war horses, and Bosegan picked the most handsome one, turned over, took a long-handled bone, and rushed out first.

More than a thousand people followed behind him, billowing up countless smoke and dust, brazenly joining the battlefield.

******
The Khotan army was dispatched again.

The common people left the city one after another and saw off on both sides of the post road.

Li Shengtian played the banner of "Great Treasure King of Khotan" and looked at everyone with a smile on his face.

Fifty monks and bodyguards surrounded him closely, never leaving him for a moment.

They are tall, muscular, well-armored, well-equipped, and each of them has at least three horses.Looking left and right, there was a murderous look, without any compassion that a monk should have.

A monk is just a profession.The monk soldiers raised in temples are no different from ordinary soldiers.

After Li Shengtian passed by, more than a thousand monks and soldiers walked by wearing armor, holding spears, big axes, and iron bars.

If the benefactors in the Central Plains who often donate money and goods to the temple are asked to come and take a look, I am afraid they will be scared to death...

In Khotan, there are of course benevolent monks, but they are limited to daily reception, preaching, and almsgiving.

The temple has a large piece of good land, its own handicraft workshops, and shops for the public. It has four characteristics: religious, social, closed, and regional.

Religion is well understood. They have the function of promoting Buddhism and maintaining social stability, and their ranks are under the jurisdiction of officials such as monks and monks.

Sociality means that temples will participate in the economic activities of the secular society, earn profits, and have inextricable ties with major families.

Their economic system is still very closed.There are specialized monks who lead the operation of various industries, and sometimes recruit talents from outside. You don't need to become a monk, just take care of the industry for the temple.Because many exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes have been exempted, the temple is self-supporting, and the overall situation is very stable. The income and expenditure are generally balanced, and there is often a slight surplus.

Each temple also has its own territory. It raises its own trilogy and manages the industry in a certain place by itself, and rarely crosses the border.

Basically, it can be judged that this is an economic model similar to the serf manor system of aristocratic families in the Southern and Northern Dynasties.Self-financed, not taxed, self-raised trilogy, each occupying one side, and deeply involved in politics, with a network of relationships extending in all directions.

The situation in Gaochang is similar to that in Khotan.In fact, the imperial court once strictly controlled the temples and asked them to pay taxes, but it was not long-lasting and intermittent, because the later rulers were still building new temples, and the attitude was still there, and it was difficult to implement.

But in the Western Regions, it's not all bad.

At least, Li Shengtian sent troops this time, with the full support of the major temples, and sent more than a thousand monks and soldiers to join the battle. These are the soldiers they spent countless money on over the years, and now they are fighting for the court. While enjoying the benefits, they are also taking on obligations of.

Under the overturned nest, there are no eggs, and the mages also understand this truth.

After the monks and soldiers, there were a large number of cavalry.Some of them don't live in the city, and now they come out of the city, which is actually a bit of propaganda.

Khotan's standing army is only a few thousand, and most of the soldiers and horses are temporarily recruited. They provide their own equipment or are distributed by the court. The combat effectiveness is very average, but they are the backbone of the army.

The family members were elated and burst into cheers, and the soldiers were also beaming with longing.

Everyone made a profit when they attacked Kucha last year.Except for the food that didn't move much, all the goods were brought home.The Khotan army even burned, killed and looted locally, and captured a large number of slaves.

Can you not be happy to fight this kind of battle?

The common people are not afraid of wars, they are afraid of losing money.

This time, they went out with the Great Xia King Master, and heard that there was also the help of the Athai Turks to attack Shule, which was very close at hand. Based on their calculations, they didn't think they would lose.

Undoubtedly, this time there will be a large sum of money.

There was a rare drizzle in the sky.

The [-] Khotan army marched towards Shule along the southern edge of the desert.

******
Satuke has completely controlled Karasa, and all villages, towns and tribes near and far have surrendered, and the situation is very good.

But he is a smart person, he knows the turbulent undercurrent hidden on the calm lake, if you are not careful, you will be dragged into the water and swallowed without a trace.

Samani, who has experienced the world, certainly understands this.

"The people who went to Rahana haven't come back yet." Samani said: "However, don't count too much on that end. There is turmoil in Persia, and many people rebelled, and the Governor of Rahana is also involved. In my opinion , this is likely to be a false accusation, but in order to avoid suspicion, he is unlikely to send you troops in the short term. Besides, you don't believe him, right?"

Satuk glanced at Samani.

The two used to be close and cooperated tacitly.But after the successful coup, a subtle rift suddenly arose.

This is not Satuk's insufficiency.In fact, when anyone saw that Samani was hiding thousands of elite believers, he would subconsciously feel defensive.

But now is not the time to be entangled in this, the two sides still need to unite sincerely.

"Failing to kill Ogurchak was the biggest mistake." Satuk sighed: "Think about it carefully, since the Xia Kingdom envoy came, he who has always been careless has been on guard against me. The army went out of the city, transferred his people into the city, sent more people to monitor, and cleaned up the unreliable elements around him. After doing all these things, things have come to this point.”

"Don't dwell on the past." Samani said with emphasis, "Now, the only way is to boost morale and defeat the enemy. As long as you win, everything is easy to talk about."

"How do you think this battle should be fought? We only have more than 1 troops now..." Satuk asked, frowning.

"Two ways." Samani stretched out two fingers, and said: "First, you have controlled the various tribes, recruited troops from them, expanded the number of troops, and then led people north to defeat the Turks. If Xia The soldiers followed closely, and they had to take advantage of the victory to defeat them. Second, they still needed to recruit troops and food, and then defend Karasa to the death, waiting for reinforcements. Note that the reinforcements are likely to be only jihadists, and the number will not be too many. "

"Are you inclined to lead troops into battle?" Satuk asked.

The news that Atami Turks went south has come.Satuk wasn't sure if Ogurchak had called them or if someone else had called them.Now I only know one fact, that more than ten thousand Turks from Atami attacked Ba Lujia, and the fighting was fierce.

"Is there any other way?" Samani asked back: "Khotan has accepted the canonization of Lord Xia for several years. Last year they were ordered to send troops to capture Qiuci. Do you think they will come this year?"

Satuk stood up when he heard the words, and said: "I understand what you mean. In this battle, we can only defeat all the way first, frighten the enemy, and then look for new opportunities for victory."

"Decided?" Samani asked.

"It's decided." Satuk nodded.

"Then, let's pray first." Samani clapped his hands, and the music started.

This time it was the penance of a dervish monk, Satuk knelt on the ground, savoring it quietly, tears even flowed from his eyes.

After a long time, his face was radiant, and he got up with a firm face, stroked the saber at his waist, and looked out of the window into the distance.

War, that's all.

By the grace of the Creator, he cannot fail.

(End of this chapter)