Tibet.

Chapter 1453: Destruction of Shiwei
Ten thousand Tang cavalrymen galloped outside the camp, shooting arrows like heavy rain. They drew their bows and shot ten thousand arrow torpedoes densely at the enemy troops inside the camp. The powerful rain of gunpowder arrows completely destroyed the enemy's defense. Within two hundred steps, there was not a shadow of an enemy soldier, only corpses piled on the ground.

All the soldiers of the Shiwei Army hid in the center of the camp. Tens of thousands of people huddled together, watching in horror as arrow bombs exploded in the distance, with flames flashing and sounds like thunder.

Thanks to the wooden spikes they buried, the Tang army could not get too close to the camp fence, and the arrows and torpedoes only penetrated the camp and could not kill the Shiwei soldiers in the center of the camp.

But even though no one was killed or injured, this new type of firearm still brought unprecedented shock and fear to every Shiwei soldier.

Violent explosions sounded, and the entire camp was drowned in the deafening sound of the explosions.

When the explosions stopped for a while, the Tang army soldiers rushed up from the eight opened roads.

Countless Tang soldiers put ropes on the wooden fences, and hundreds of cavalrymen rushed up and pulled the ropes together. Amid shouts, pieces of camp fences dozens of feet long collapsed.

Five thousand elite Tang cavalrymen, led by General Yang Yi, took the lead in charging into the camp of the Shiwei army, and ten thousand cavalrymen followed suit.

The shouts and cries of killing were deafening in the camp. The 15,000 Tang cavalry were like extremely sharp swords, charging and killing in the enemy camp without restraint. The nearly 40,000 Shiwei soldiers hiding in the middle of the camp had already been frightened out of their wits by the Tang army's gunpowder arrows and arrow bombs.

They had no desire to fight and fled in all directions. The north gate of the camp had been opened and the camp fence had been pushed down. The terrified Shiwei cavalry and infantry fled in large groups into the darkness. Many Shiwei cavalry stepped on the wooden spikes they had buried, which immediately pierced the horses' hooves, causing the horses to fall to the ground, screaming miserably.

There were also infantrymen from the Shiwei Army whose feet were pierced by wooden spikes and who fell to the ground in pain.

The Tang cavalry was invincible in the camp. Hundreds of tents in the middle were set on fire and the fire spread rapidly.

At this time, Ma Lin led 30,000 cavalrymen to bypass the Shiwei army camp, just like the rising tide in mid-August, sweeping towards the fleeing Shiwei army.

..........
In the dark night, the Shiwei army was chased and killed miserably. Halder was chased and hacked to death by the Tang army. There were corpses everywhere and the blood dyed the grassland red. The armies of Dashiwei and Juluobo were successively destroyed.

In the end, only more than 10,000 cavalrymen from Xishiwei were left, led by Khan Wusu, who fled for their lives, with the Tang army chasing them relentlessly.

The next morning, a huge Tang army suddenly appeared in the north, with a total of 40,000 people. They were spread out on a grassland over 20 miles long and intercepted the Shiwei cavalry fleeing to the north.

"Woo——"

The horn sounded, indicating that the Tang army had discovered the defeated Shiwei soldiers fleeing northward. The Tang army began to gather quickly, forming a large pocket, and surrounded and killed the defeated Shiwei soldiers.

The 30,000 pursuing troops behind also arrived, and the 70,000 Tang cavalry surrounded more than 10,000 Shiwei cavalry.

Ma Lin issued a killing order, "No surrender will be accepted, kill them all!"

Aludun shouted, "Let's fight the Tang army!"

More than 10,000 people shouted in unison and charged towards the Tang army.

…………

The battle lasted until the afternoon, and the last 13,000 Shiwei troops were all killed.

At this point, the 80,000-strong Shiwei army and the 10,000-strong Kulubo army were completely wiped out. The Tang army took no prisoners and killed them all.

The Tang army left behind 10,000 troops to clean up the battlefield at any time, while Ma Lin and Zhang Dian led an army of 100,000 to continue their march northward.

Wang Zhao, the Tiger Guard General, led 10,000 Tang troops to fight against the 10,000 troops left behind by the Shiwei. Under the powerful firearms attack, all the 10,000 soldiers left behind were killed. The Tang army cut off the Shiwei people's retreat to the north.

Hundreds of thousands of Shiwei people were in chaos. One hundred thousand Tang troops came to attack them. Hundreds of thousands of Shiwei people had no way to escape and all became prisoners of the Tang army.

More than 2,000 Shiwei noble men were selected by the Tang army and taken away, nominally to Chang'an, but in fact they all died at the bottom of the sea, becoming victims of a shipwreck.

Inside a large tent, more than 300 elderly Shiwei people were sitting on the ground. They were elders selected from various tribes, and were basically around 50 years old. In the Shiwei tribe, they were considered elders.

Ma Lin said loudly: "I am the commander of the Tang army. Please don't be afraid. The Tang army will never kill ordinary people, nor will they bully women. The Tang army will not take away your meager property.

His Majesty the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty only hopes that you can become ordinary citizens of the Tang Dynasty. I believe you have also seen that the people of Bohai and Heishui Mohe are ordinary people just like you. They live a peaceful life with enough food and clothing. Their lives will also be your lives in the future."

An old man raised his hand and asked timidly in his not-so-fluent Chinese: "Do we have to farm too?"

"Of course, the people of the Tang Dynasty must farm!"

Everyone looked a little unhappy. They were a fishing and hunting people, or to be more precise, a fishing and hunting nomadic people. They were experts in fishing, hunting and grazing. How could they possibly have enough food and clothing if they were asked to farm?

There was a lot of murmurs in the big tent. Ma Lin's face darkened and he shouted sternly: "Shiwei has been destroyed. If you want to live, you can only become a citizen of the Tang Dynasty. If you don't want to live, the Black Dragon River is to the south. If you want to jump into the river and die, the Tang army will never keep you!"

The tent was completely silent. Ma Lin continued slowly, "I have said everything I need to say. Go back and tell everyone that we will set out south early tomorrow morning. The Tang Dynasty will take good care of you!"

...........
At dawn the next day, hundreds of thousands of Shiwei people marched southward in a mighty procession. They had already packed up their bags and were setting off in their carts.

In fact, there were 5,000 Shiwei troops who were the vanguard heading north, looking for land that could be their new home, but this army was ignored by the Tang army.

Soon, this army learned the news of the demise of Shiwei and fled westward. They arrived in the Khazars the following year and stayed there, becoming mercenaries of the Khazars for generations.

Three hundred years later, it was this Shiwei mercenary army that destroyed the Khazar Empire.

In Chang'an, Li Ye and the Council of State were discussing how to resettle the people of Shiwei.

Both the Minister of Personnel Liu Yan and the Minister of Revenue Xiao Hua suggested that the people of Shiwei be directly resettled in Liaodong.

Xiao Hua said to the emperor: "Your Majesty, the people of Shiwei are not fools. They, like us, also hope to live a peaceful life and have enough food and clothing. Before, they were cruelly exploited by the nobles and lived a hard life. Now the Tang army has given them a new life. Without the exploitation of the nobles, they can also eat enough and wear warm clothes. This is their greatest happiness. As for farming or grazing, what does it matter?
As for whether they are Tang people or Shiwei people, it is not a problem for ordinary people. Your Majesty, it is wise to put them in Liaodong!"

Liu Yan also stood up and saluted to the emperor Li Ye, saying: "I understand your majesty's concerns. If the people of Xiwei are not separated, they will become a hidden danger of unrest in the Central Plains in the future. But I think that the Xiwei people are different from the Silla people. The Xiwei people are still relatively backward and in a wild state. There are no historical records. They have no idea of ​​home and country. Let them farm, change their living habits, change their language and clothing, change their nationality to Han people, let their children study and receive education, and cultivate a sense of identity with the Tang Dynasty. I believe that after two generations, they will become normal Han people.

But the Silla people had already entered a secular state, had a sense of family and country, and had their own history. It would be too difficult to ask them to change their national identity, so they had to be dispersed and separated to different places, forcing them to change their identity in order to survive. It would take a long time to transform them.

Therefore, I think there is nothing wrong with leaving the people of Shiwei in Liaodong. As long as we focus on farming and children's education, within five years at most, the people of Shiwei will completely disappear from their minds. "

Wei Jiansu also said slowly: "Your Majesty, Minister Xiao and Minister Liu are right. The key lies in the method of transformation, not the location of transformation. I also support placing them in Liaodong."

Li Ye glanced at everyone and finally nodded, "Okay! Just leave them in Liaodong."

This time, Yan Zhenqing led a team of hundreds of officials to Liaodong to resettle the people of Shiwei.

(End of this chapter)