Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 362 "Protection"

The sky is far and wide.

Under the blue background, the wind howled and galloped, and the white clouds were dyed with a golden halo under the sunlight.

The grasslands in late April are already full of vitality.

The green blanket was spread by the small river, outside the farmhouse, in front of the forest, and in the distant sky...

In the orchard next to the farmhouse, bees are buzzing and dancing, and birds are chasing and flying.

Outside the orchard is a thick barren meadow. A gray rabbit poked its head out, chewing non-stop.

The breeze blows, and the grass rustles, as if singing.

Suddenly there was a "thunder" in the sky, and the small animals on the grassland were startled and scattered.

The "thunder" became more and more dense, occasionally mixed with the sound of dull horns.

Hundreds of riders appeared on the grassland.

They wear helmets and face curtains, with only three orifices exposed; they are dressed in iron armor, which is layered on top of each other, and knives and arrows cannot enter; Tall and neatly dressed, it looks like a wild beast from a distance.

As soon as the cavalry rushed past, the person standing in front of them flew out like a rag, and fell hard on the grass, his eyes were wide open, the corners of his mouth were bleeding, and a large piece of his chest collapsed.

Human beings, after all, are the masters of this land, and perhaps also the troublemakers.

On the left side of the armored cavalry is the back Weidu of the Iron Cavalry Army, and on the right is the Tuqidu.Behind them, there were more clan warriors, clad in furs and braids flying, holding sabers, Tibetan spears, and—er, rakes, yelling fervently.

Golden eagles fly through the sky.

On the vast grassland, thousands of horses are galloping, venting from one valley to another like a flood.

Behind the valley, thousands of knights with silver spears are advancing rapidly.

During the march, the formation changed several times.

The sound of the horn suddenly sounded, and the silver gun knight separated from the left and right, and ran horizontally.

"Om..." The arrows shot down like locusts, and the opposite side was full of chickens and dogs.

After shooting the arrows, the knights with silver guns surrounded them with two wings, and surrounded a large group of shepherds who were driving horses, horses, cattle and sheep.

The battle in the valley is over.

The golden eagle landed on a tree, its sharp eyes fixed on the entrance.

Surrounded by a large group of knights, Shao Shude rode his horse into the valley, and the golden eagle fluttered twice before flapping its wings and flying.

The bright red military uniform is like a flame, which is particularly eye-catching on the green field.

Wherever they passed, everyone fell to their knees.The warriors kicked and beat repeatedly, and tied up several heads.

Shao Shude stretched out his left hand, and the golden eagle landed steadily on it.

"Secret Riba, why don't you surrender?" Shao Shude asked coldly while sitting on the horse.

"I wish to surrender! I wish to surrender!" The captive chief kept shouting, "I beg the Great Khan to let me go. My tribe is willing to submit to the Great Khan and never betray us."

The opposite side did not speak for a long time.

The war horse snorted, Mi Liyi was startled, subconsciously wanted to get up.

The warriors drew out their swords one after another and placed them around his neck.

"You belong to the Uyghur family, and you have always been bullied by Tatars and Tuyuhun. Now that the imperial army is here to uphold justice, why do you want to run away?"

The imperial army?

The Datong army is the imperial army, and the Youzhou army is also the imperial army. The Shuofang army has always been tossing around in the west. When did they extend their claws to the north and east?

The five tribes in the north have repeatedly surrendered and rebelled since the early years of the Kingdom Dynasty.After the rise of the Uighurs, other tribes were enslaved by them.

After the collapse of the Uighur, the various ministries left one after another and developed independently, and lived a happy life without a master.

Did another master come over today?

"Untie him, and bring Hyundai Hongchi with him." Shao Shude clamped his horse's belly and left.

The warriors untied Mi Liye and his family and handed them over to the Tutuan peasants accompanying the army to guard them.

They brought a large number of carriages from the Zhenwu Army, carrying food, forage, arrows, tents and other materials.

Wang Jiao was holding a war horse and was reluctant to ride it.

This was a reward from an earlier attack on a small Tartar tribe.

As a villager with the army, he unexpectedly bumped into the fleeing Tatars.At that time, Wang Jiao fired four arrows and hit three people.Xu Hao, an envoy of Tielin Army Youyi, gave him a reward for his horse.

After a short rest, the army set off again.

Wang Quan snatched the reins from Wang Jiao, and rode his horse to find the commander of the Yanzhou Tutuan Army for coordination.

Wang Jiao looked at the empty hands, feeling a little melancholy.

There were more and more captives beside the carriage, all of them were chieftains and their relatives.

For these people, Wang Jiao was very nervous at the beginning, and the guards stared at them so hard that he didn't dare to unstring his bow, which made him extremely tired, until his father slapped his ears and neck.

He's much more relaxed now.The grassland is no better than the Han land. Without horses, you can't go anywhere. Not to mention that it is easy to be chased by people. Even if people don't chase you, you will probably starve to death.

In the vast grassland, there is not food everywhere.

Half an hour later, Wang Quan came back: "Tomorrow we will retreat."

Wang Jiao was a little surprised, how long did it take to come out?Can there be 50 cattle, sheep, horses and camels seized, and they will be withdrawn?
"We can't go any further. The Youzhou Army has sent cavalry forward, and if we go any further, we may have to fight." Wang Quan said in a low voice.

Their current location is north of Daning.Da Ning and Xiao Ning were established by the Northern Wei Dynasty. Daning is Zhangjiakou, and Xiao Ning is Wanquan, more than 300 miles away from Yunzhou.

This distance is actually nothing on the grassland, but to the east and south is the territory of Youzhou Town - strictly speaking, the place where they are now is already the sphere of influence of Youzhou.

Li Kuangwei has returned to Youzhou from the Tiancheng Army, leaving Liu Rengong alone to defend Weizhou, and still maintains influence over the Datong Army—nonsense, occupying other people's territory.

Shao Shude convened a meeting of various ministries in the Xuanhongchi area, but it was not very smooth.Only the Tuyuhun tribe inside and outside Yunzhou came here, as well as a small number of Tatar and Uyghur tribes scattered in the north of Yinshan Mountain, which made him feel a little uncomfortable.

So in late April, I personally led cavalry, flying bears, and cavalry soldiers of the Tielin Army, and greeted about [-] cavalry from Hetao and Hexi tribes. On the grasslands to the north, the act of establishing prestige that lasted for many days was launched.

This area is either the pastoral area of ​​Tuyuhun, or the territory of scattered Uighurs and Tatars.It was not difficult to attack. So far, more than [-] Dingkou and more than [-] cattle and sheep have been captured, and some tribes have been successfully "persuaded" to go to Xuanhongchi to meet the alliance.

But can't go any further.

"General Bai, I heard that the black chariot Shiwei is the most powerful among Shiwei's tribes. He is good at making cart tents, and even the Khitan people learned cart-making skills from them?" Outside the valley, Shao Shude looked at the vast grassland to the east, asked.

Bai Yicheng also participated in the battle to encircle and suppress Li Guochang's father and son ten years ago, and was awarded the title of governor of Weizhou for his meritorious service.

But Weizhou has been occupied by Youzhou Town, so his history as governor has become empty talk.However, Bai Yicheng himself was also a major chief of Tuyuhun, his strength was only inferior to that of Helian Duo, and he was not a polished commander.

"Back to Lingwu County King, the black chariot Shiwei, can still pull out tens of thousands of riders, and their strength is not weak. Moreover, they have been friends with Youzhou Town for generations and have a close relationship." Bai Yicheng replied.

Shao Shude nodded.To the east is the pastoral area of ​​Heiche Shiwei.

The later generation Yelu Abaoji wanted to open the road to the west and was determined to attack the black car Shiwei.Youzhou sent tens of thousands of reinforcements, led by Zhao Ba.

Yelu Abaoji was extremely cunning, and sent a false envoy who pretended to be from Chief Shiwei of the black car, and led tens of thousands of Yan soldiers led by Zhao Ba into the ambush circle, and wiped out his entire army.

"(A Baoji) dispatched Mu Li from Shiwei to falsely claim that he was dispatched by the chief, and Yueba's soldiers would meet in Pingyuan. When they arrived, they laid down on all sides, captured Ba, annihilated all of them, and took advantage of the victory to defeat Shiwei."

When the tens of thousands of Yan soldiers were wiped out, the black chariot Shi Wei didn't know it, and was still waiting at the agreed place, but was raided again by the Khitans and defeated, and all the troops, cattle and sheep were captured by him.

With this origin, it is understandable that Shi Wei, the black car, ignored Shao Shude's invitation to join the alliance.

"How is Xi Ren's strength?" Shao Shude asked again.

In the south, there are also some Xiren tribes, who have been unbearable to be attacked by the Khitans over the years, and have come here one after another.

People in Youzhou call them "Xixi", which is different from Dongxi.However, the name of Xixi was really found in the history books, and it had to wait until King Xi went to Zhu and led some of his clansmen to go west.

These Xi people are called "Western Xi" or "Shanbei Xi", and historically Liu Rengong provided protection for them.

Of course, Liu Rengong couldn't protect him in the end, and Xi Xi was attacked by A Baoji.

The two allies of Shanbei Xi and Heiche Shiwei were attacked by the Khitans one after another. Youzhou Town firmly felt the huge threat of the rise of the Khitans, which also highlighted the declining strength of Youzhou Town.

But in this meeting, Youzhou is still very powerful.He can mobilize [-] cavalry by himself, and recruit Dianxi, Shiwei, and Khitan fugitives as Tibetan soldiers. More than [-] people are not a problem. Shao Shude doesn't want to be enemies with them yet.

"Back to the king of Lingwu County, these Xi people moved from the east and lived scattered inside and outside Guizhou. Their strength is not as good as that of the black car Shiwei, but they should not be underestimated. They are accustomed to battle formation. In the Youzhou army, Xi soldiers Quite a few, more than Shiwei soldiers and Khitan soldiers."

"Li Kuangwei can't protect Xi Ren." Shao Shude flicked his horsewhip resentfully.

Mahler Gobi, Xiren also rejected me, is it possible that the reputation of the Northwest Khan is too small, and people in the east don't know it?

"The commander-in-chief traveled across the river and Long, and attacked countless Tubo, Dangxiang, and Uyghur tribes. He was famous. However, Shiwei and Xiren were ignorant. They all thought that Youzhou had strong soldiers, but they didn't know Shuofang's strong soldiers."

Shao Shude is very satisfied with Bai Yicheng's title of "Marshal". This is a person who knows the tricks and can be reused in the future.

Xi Ren is really stupid!
Back then, together with the Khitan, they were both enslaved by the Uyghurs, two brothers and sisters.

After the collapse of the Uyghur Khanate, the Khitans were the first to react.They sent people to Chang'an to ask the imperial court to grant the official seal again on the grounds that the original seals were all Uyghur seals.

I used to be a Uighur official and used the Uighur seal, but now I use the Great Tang seal, isn't that just obedience?

The imperial court was very happy, and appointed a bunch of officials to the Khitan chieftain, and also bestowed the "Seal of Serving the Khitan", which actually improved the political status of the Khitan people and played a big role in using the influence of the Tang Dynasty to enhance their own strength. role.

What was Xi Ren doing at that time?
During the Huichang period, the imperial court sent troops from three directions, smashed the Uighurs, beheaded [-] people, and captured more than [-] people.But Xiren refused to hand over the Uighur Khan, and resettled the remnants of the Uighurs who had been defeated by the Tang army.

In the first year of Dazhong, the imperial court sent Zhang Zhongwu to lead the Youzhou army to attack, defeating all the Xi, "the chief of the birds, burned 20 tents... dedicated to the capital."

After the Xi people suffered huge losses, they expelled the original Xi Wang Zheli and expressed their allegiance again. However, the degree of internal divisions deepened day by day, and the power balance with the Khitan people began to change.

During Yizong's Xiantong period, Khitan launched a 14-year war against Xi people. Khitan captured "half of the trilogy" of King Xi, and "Xi's power is declining."

During Emperor Xizong's Guangqi period, Khitan's wars against Xi people became more frequent, and the Shiwei tribes were also defeated by him.Khitan gained a lot of manpower and wealth, and the momentum of its rise became more and more obvious.

This sarcasm is out of his mind!
"Khitan is strong, Xiren is weak. I want to protect Xiren, but he doesn't want to come to the alliance." Shao Shude sighed: "Forget it, the time is not yet ripe. Shanbei Xi and Heiche Shiwei may have to continue You will wake up after suffering a little bit. Youzhou Town can't protect them."

"The commander-in-chief is going back to the teacher?" Bai Yicheng asked.

He actually wanted to see the Shuofang army and the Youzhou army collide head-on.

It's abominable that the people of Youzhou occupy Weizhou and hold on.Those who can drive Yan Bing away are either the Hedong Army or the Shuofang Army.

He didn't want to think about Hedong, he had a grudge against Li Keyong, and the people of Tuyuhun didn't want to be annexed by Shatuo. The most realistic choice is to join the Shuofang army.

But Jiedu envoy Helianduo still wanted to have a good relationship between Youzhou and Shuofang, and Bai Yicheng felt that this was very dangerous.

"Go back to the teacher." Shao Shude said.

In the Xuanhongchi League, the Tuyuhun people are the majority, and there are only a small number of Uighur and Tatar tribes left.All the ministries paid tributes of cattle and sheep, and recruited some elite soldiers, and it was almost over.

The five northern parts cannot be completed overnight, and have to be patiently and slowly processed.

(End of this chapter)