introduction
Xueyantuo was originally a Tribe of Turks, and when the Turks were strong, they were attached to the Turks. In 628, when the Tang Dynasty was preparing to attack the Eastern Turks, some of the Turks defected to Jieli Khan, submitted to Xue Yantuo, and elected Yinan as khan.
Since the Turks at this time were still a great threat to the Tang Dynasty, in order to contain and isolate the Eastern Turks, Li Shimin crowned Yinan as the True Pearl Vijaya Khan. At the same time, in order to repay the Tang Dynasty, Yi Nan began to pay tribute to the Tang Dynasty from this time, and built his teeth under the mountain of the Yu Governor Army. At this time, Xue Yantuo's sphere of influence extended to the east to the Jing Dynasty, to the west to the Western Turks, to the south to the Sha Moraine, to the north to julan Bo, and to expand the wilderness for thousands of miles, and the power was extremely powerful.
By 630 AD, after the Tang Dynasty destroyed the Eastern Turks, Xue Yantuo's troops took the opportunity to rise, occupied the Eastern Turk region, and then incorporated the Hui, Bayegu and other tribes under its command, at this time Xue Yantuo had 200,000 troops, the power reached its peak, and took the Turks in its place, vaguely showing a trend of confrontation with the Tang Dynasty, and began to stir up in the border area.
Faced with this situation, Li Shimin realized that if he did not take measures in time, Xue Yantuo would definitely become the next Turk and would pose a great threat to the Tang Dynasty. Therefore, in order to disintegrate Xue Yantuo's power, Li Shimin crowned Yinan's two sons as little khans, with the intention of dispersing Xue Yantuo's power.
Subsequently, in order to further restrain xueyantuo's development, Li Shimin decided to let the Turks who had surrendered before return to their homeland under the leadership of Ashina Sima and rebuild the Turkic khaganate, so as to achieve the purpose of "defeating the turks with destruction". He crowned Ashina Simo as a Turkic khan and ordered him to guard the north of the moraine, and at the same time asked Yinan to guard the south of the moraine, so that the two sides could maintain stability in the northern region.
However, Li Shimin thinks so, but some people don't think so. As the saying goes, "Lying on the side of the bed, you will not allow others to sleep", and the xueyantuo power that had grown up so hard did not allow the existence of the Turkic khaganate. As a result, shortly after the establishment of the Turkic Khaganate, Ashinasimo was attacked by the Xueyantuobu. Since then, the war between the Tang Empire and Xue Yantuo has begun.
Background to the war
In November 641, after Li Shimin unified all of China, the Tang Dynasty at this time was thriving, and all the countries came to the dynasty and became famous. At this time, Li Shimin was full of spirits and went to Mount Tai to seal Zen. However, the news of going to Taishan to seal Zen was known to Yi Nan, who felt that this would be a good opportunity to attack the Turkic Khaganate, and the opportunity could not be lost, and the loss would not come again! Therefore, he said to his subordinates, "This time when the Tang King goes to seal Mount Taishan, there will be a large number of soldiers following, I expect that their border line will certainly be very empty, and if we send troops to attack the Turks at this time, the elimination of Ashinasimo will be like destroying the Decay, which will be a perfect opportunity for us." Under his incitement, the generals followed his advice.
Therefore, he ordered his son Dadushi to lead about 200,000 soldiers and horses from Tongluo, Hui, and Jing to attack the Turks from Shanyang Ridge through the south of the desert and through the Baidao River.
Looking at the menacing Xue Yantuo army, Ashina Sima knew that it was difficult to resist, so he asked the Tang Dynasty for help, and Li Shimin ordered him to retreat to Shuozhou. At this time, Li Shimin probably did not think that Xue Yantuo actually took advantage of his zen sealing period to really attack the Turks. After hearing this news, he was very angry, not that the Turks were bullied, but that Yi Nan did not give him the face of this "Heavenly Khan", when his words were deaf and treacherous, it was tolerable, it was intolerable! Therefore, in order to maintain the authority of the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin was determined to give Xue Yantuo a little color to see, and at the same time kill Xue Yantuo's sharpness, the purpose was to tell Yi Nan who was the master of this land.
At this time, the war between the Tang Dynasty and Xue Yantuo officially began.
Tang Army combat deployment
In the face of the powerful Xue Yantuo, Li Shimin, who had fought against the Turks for many years, did not take it lightly, and in order to ensure the victory of this war, the Tang Dynasty made a precise plan before the war.
In order to let Xue Yantuo see the anger of the Tang army, the Tang army dispatched a total of five roads to the conquest.
Zhang Jian, the governor of Yingzhou, led his own cavalry to attack the eastern region of Xue Yantuo
◆ With Li Shijian of the Bingbu Shangshu as the commander-in-chief of the Shuozhou Road March and Xue Wanche as the deputy commander- and led 60,000 infantry and more than 1,200 cavalrymen out of Shuozhou to meet Xue Yantuo's main force going south
◆ With the Right Guard general Li Daliang as the commander-in-chief of Lingzhou Province, he led 40,000 infantry and 5,000 fine horsemen to enter Lingwu and cooperate with Li Shiji's troops
◆ With the general Zhang Shigui as the commander-in-chief of the Gyeongju-do march, he led an army of 17,000 and soldiers out of the clouds
◆ With the governor of Liangzhou, Li Xian, as the commander-in-chief of the Liangzhou Dao March, he commanded a large army and cooperated with Zhang Shigui's troops to attack the western region of Xue Yantuo
The above five-way army was like five shining swords swooping towards Xue Yantuo from all directions. As an emperor and a military man, Li Shimin, before the war, still did not change his true colors and maintained his sober mind. He said to the generals: "This time Xue Yantuo's thousand-mile attack will certainly lead to a shortage of people and horses, difficult logistical supplies, and going deep behind the enemy's back, which will be extremely unfavorable to their operations.
In this way, at the behest of Li Shimin, the Tang army set out with confidence, and this trip would definitely allow Xue Yantuo to see the power of the Tang Empire.
Battle history
In December 641, the Tang army went to the front.
At this time, as Li Shimin expected, Xue Yantuo's 200,000 troops were facing the dilemma of unsustainable grain and grass, and Yi Nan knew in his heart that it would be very unfavorable to them to continue to drag on like this, and they would always face the danger of the total annihilation of the army, and at the same time, when they saw the arrival of the Tang army, he was afraid, so he sent emissaries to Chang'an to see Li Shimin and tell him that he was willing to reconcile with the Turkic Khaganate. But what kind of person Is Li Shimin, how can he let you swing around as a barbarian leader, you say that reconciliation will be reconciled, you will fight when you say, let me, the face of the "Heavenly Khan", where to put it, resolutely disagree.
At this time, the Tang army Li Shijian encountered the Dadu army that was preparing to attack the Turks, and when the Dadushi saw the well-equipped and combat effective Tang army, he was terrified and knew that it was difficult to resist, so he led his soldiers to retreat north along the Chikeluo area, but the Tang army that came from afar would not teach you a lesson, would you easily escape? The answer is no.
When Dadu set up a northward escape, Li Shiji took the lead, just like when he destroyed the Eastern Turks before, he personally led 6,000 cavalry to pursue Xue Yantuo's 30,000 troops, all the way from Baidaochuan and Qingshan to Nuozhenshui, chased here, Xue Yantuo's army did not run, because they felt that the Tang army that was chasing had only 6,000 people, and they had more than 30,000 people, even if one person spit, they could drown the Tang army, and they were nomadic people, and their combat effectiveness was strong, so they would be able to defeat the 6,000 Tang soldiers in this area Thinking of this, they did not run, but waited for the arrival of the Tang Army.
When Li Shixun led 6,000 cavalry to arrive, Xue Yantuo's army estimated that he could not imagine where Li Shixun's courage came from, daring to fight 30,000 with 6,000. However, from ancient times to the present, in wars large and small, there is no shortage of generals who create military miracles, and Li Shixun is precisely the kind of person who can create miracles.
Since he was able to lead six thousand soldiers against thirty thousand soldiers, he must have full certainty. Sure enough, at the beginning of the war, Li Shiji first ordered his Turkic soldiers to go to the battle, at the beginning of the war, the Tang army retreated because of the outnumbered crowd, Dadushi saw this situation, immediately took advantage of the situation to pursue and kill, and then encountered Li Shixun's remaining main force, at this time, Dadu set up an order to the soldiers to release arrows, most of the Tang army's warhorses were shot to death, seeing this situation, Li Shiji immediately ordered the soldiers to get off their horses to fight, and used spears to deal with the cavalry of Xue Yantuo's army, this move really worked, and Dadu set up the army for a while and a half to rush forward.
If this situation continues, then, over time, the Tang Army may fail! However, the arrival of one person completely reversed the outcome of this war, and he was Xue Wanche, who had not yet appeared.
DaduShi would never have imagined that just when they were fighting with Li Shiji's army, a cavalry would come out from behind them, and yes, this cavalry was led by Xue Wanche! Long ago, Li Shiji had already discussed with Xue Wanche, and this was why Li Shixun would lead 6,000 soldiers to dare to confront 30,000 people.
When he saw Xue Wanche's army rushing out from the rear, Dadushi was completely panicked, not only Dadushi panicked, but also his soldiers. However, the bigger surprise was still to come, it turned out that the target of the Tang Army was not them, but their war horses, and as soon as the Tang Army came up, it snatched their war horses. You know, war horses are as important to nomadic people as their own lives, and the reason why they can cross the vast desert to conquer the Turks is precisely these war horses, and once these war horses are taken by the Tang army, then the only thing that awaits them is death. Therefore, seeing this situation, these soldiers have long lost their love of war, but have snatched their war horses one after another to keep their hopes of returning. At this time, the Tang army took advantage of the situation and charged at the chaotic Xue Yantuo soldiers, beheading more than 3,000 people, and Dadu set up to lead the remnants of the army to flee in a hurry and flee to the north of the desert.
This war struck a blow at Xue Yantuo's arrogance and ended in a great victory for the Tang army.
After this battle, for the next two years, Xue Yantuo obediently stayed on his own acre and three points of land, and did not dare to go south and herd horses, and the Tang Dynasty was also happy that Xue Yantuo could stay safely in his territory without causing trouble.
This calm lasted two or three years later, in 644 AD, when the Tang Dynasty prepared to conquer Goryeo, but at this time Li Shimin feared that during the conquest of Goryeo, Xue Yantuo would make a comeback and go south to find trouble. Faced with this situation, Li Shimin used a suspicious tactic, and he sent emissaries to tell Yinan Khan and said to him: "I am going to conquer Goryeo now, if you want to attack me, please come to war quickly." In fact, Li Shimin did not have a bottom in his heart, he was really afraid that after he left, Xue Yantuo would come down and make trouble, after all, the skinny camel was bigger than The horse, and the former Xue Yantuo was also strong.
Li Shimin thought so in his heart, but Yinan Khan did not think so, the war two years ago still made him feel afraid, and provoking the Tang Dynasty again was equivalent to going to find death, and he did not want to repeat the same mistakes! Therefore, for Li Shimin's message, he immediately told Li Shimin that he would not go south to invade the Tang border, and would also send soldiers to assist the Tang Dynasty in conquering Goryeo, but Li Shimin refused him.
Yi Nan Khan's words reassured Li Shimin, so Li Shimin was relieved to go on a crusade against Goryeo and ordered Fang Xuanling to stay behind to prevent Xue Yantuo from invading the Tang border.
Recruit Xue Yantuo again
However, shortly after Li Shimin left, the following year, Yinan Khan fell ill and died, at this time there was internal civil unrest in Xueyantuo, and his two sons competed with each other for the throne, and finally the second son won the victory and established himself as Xuesha Domi Khan.
After the young and vigorous Domi Khan ascended the throne, he immediately broke off diplomatic relations with the Tang Dynasty, and took advantage of the fact that Li Shimin of the Tang Dynasty led an army to conquer Goryeo and led an army to attack the Henan region of the Tang Dynasty.
Fortunately, Li Shimin left a hand when he left, leaving Fang Xuanling, a figure who was alone. In the face of Xue Yantuo's attack, Fang Xuanling strategized and cooperated with the Turkic general Zhi Zhili yiwen yiwu to lure Xue Yantuo's army to xiazhou, surrounded and annihilated it, and Xue Yantuo's army was defeated and left.
In the face of Xue Yantuo's repeated provocations, the Tang Dynasty was really angry this time and vowed to eliminate Xue Yantuo. In October 645, the Tang Dynasty took advantage of the contradictions within Xue Yantuo and once again sent the Five Roads Army to attack.
The five-way army arrived, and under the attack of the Tang army, Xue Yantuo soon collapsed, and Domi Khan and his people were attacked and killed by the Huibu, and the rest of Xue Yantuo's troops all surrendered to the Tang Dynasty.
At this point, with the dissolution of Xue Yantuo's army, it deeply shocked other tribes around it, so 11 tribes in northern and northeastern China all fell under the rule of the Tang Dynasty and submitted to the Tang Dynasty, and at the same time, the Tang Dynasty gave them rich rewards.
From then on, the Tang Dynasty's troops went to the front, and the various departments did not dare to disobey.
epilogue
In the process of fighting with foreign nationalities, we can see that the Central Plains Dynasty adhered to the principle of "people do not offend me, I do not offend people", tried to live in peace with the surrounding tribes, and every time faced with the provocations of foreign nationalities, it has always been "first salute and then soldiers". Taking the Tang Dynasty as an example, in foreign wars, we can see that the Central Plains Dynasty is not afraid of things and does not take the initiative to provoke things! However, in the face of the provocation of other tribes, they will not swallow their anger and swallow, but will fight back.
Note: This map was drawn from Discover China, and the map shares knowledge