In the Battle of Dafeichuan, 100,000 Tang generals died for the country, and the famous general Xue Rengui also experienced the Waterloo in his life, and his name was destroyed.
His name is Xue Li, and the character Ren gui. Although he was born in the Xue clan of Hedong, a large family in Gaomen, his middle road declined, and his father died young. Therefore, when Xue Rengui was young, his family was poor and made a living by farming. However, poverty could not wear away his determination to make a career, and could not hide his yearning for jingo iron horses. With the encouragement of his wife Liu, Xue Rengui resolutely joined the army and went to the front line of the Tang Dynasty against Goguryeo.
The great victory in the mountain is a brilliant stroke in the history of the Tang Dynasty, and Xue Rengui's birth has made this pen more brilliant and colorful. At that time, Emperor Taizong Li Shimin personally commanded 30,000 elite troops against Goguryeo's 150,000 troops. Xue Rengui attacked the white robe, holding a long halberd, and rode into the enemy line alone, like a white whirlwind, and wherever he went, the enemy soldiers turned over on their horses. Quite like the style of Zhao Zilong Changsaka slope seven in and seven out.
Xue Rengui's maverick performance attracted Li Shimin's attention, and he was amazed that he had summoned this ordinary soldier after the war. To tell the truth, Xue Rengui is very scheming, the most important thing in Li Shimin's era is the famous general, if you don't come up with some different new tricks, it is difficult to stand out. In short, Xue Rengui's career as a famous general began with this gorgeous debut.
Li Shimin, who had been a young general for a lifetime, was very pleased to be able to get such a young general, and repeatedly promoted him. After Li Shimin's death, Emperor Gaozong Li Zhi introduced him as a close confidant. Xue Rengui also lived up to the expectations of the people, and was undefeated in many conquests, threatening all sides.
The first year of Xianheng (670) was an eventful autumn. To the east, Goguryeo, which had been pacified, was revived and rioted all day long. Tubo in the west rose rapidly and developed into a major problem for Datang's henchmen.
The rise of Tubo has a long history, and Li Shimin maintained peace for a period of time after marrying princess Wencheng, the daughter of the clan, to Songzan Gampo. Songtsan Gampo and Princess Wencheng both died, and peace drifted away. The descendants of Songtsen Gampo could not stand up the table, and the power fell into the hands of the Minister of State Lu Dongzan and his son Nong Qinling. The father and son launched a series of wars of aggression, eliminating the Tang vassal state of Tuguhun and starting the idea of the four towns of Anxi.
The four towns of Anxi were at the heart of the Silk Road and had huge economic interests, and in the first year of Xianheng, The Qinling quickly sent troops to capture the eighteen prefectures of the Tang Dynasty in the western region and the four towns of Anxi. The situation could not be delayed, and Emperor Gaozong Li Zhi decided to send troops to conquest, with Xue Rengui as the main commander, Guo Beifeng and Ashina Daozhen as the deputy commanders, and sent 100,000 troops to attack Tubo.
When the army reached The Dafei River on the edge of Qinghai Lake, Xue Rengui made a deployment: with the deputy commander Guo Beifeng leading 30,000 heavy troops to hold the Dafei River; he led the main force to raid the strategic wuhai.
Xue Rengui's intention was to take advantage of the fact that Tubo was still unprepared, to destroy the tubo main force in Wuhai in one fell swoop, to occupy the strategic place to seize the initiative, and to lead the heavy and slow march, unable to achieve the effect of the surprise attack. Such a deployment is very feasible. However, this caused Guo Tofeng's dissatisfaction.
Guo Zhifeng is the general after the door, talented, very arrogant, to the subjugated Xue Rengui is not convinced, coupled with such an arrangement, he thinks, why do you make meritorious contributions, let me look at the grain and grass! Therefore, he also led his troops into Wuhai. As a result, it was ambushed by a 200,000-strong army of Tubo, and all the weight was lost.
In desperation, the army withdrew to DafeiChuan. On Qinling mobilized 400,000 troops to surround the Tang legions, and after a bloody battle, the 100,000 troops were completely destroyed. Xue Rengui, Guo Beifeng, and others were forced to negotiate peace, and only then were they able to save their lives.
Regarding the reasons for the defeat at the Battle of Dafeichuan, it is generally believed that there are two reasons: first, Xue Rengui and Guo Beifeng are not in harmony; second, the Tang army fought on the plateau and suffered altitude sickness.
The discord between the generals was certainly a major reason for the defeat, but altitude sickness could not be the cause. Thirty-six years ago, the same Tang army, also in The Great Fei River, under the command of Li Jing, the Duke of Weiguo, swept across the plateau and broke through the Tuguhun in Wuhai.
Moreover, tang jun's personal quality to soldier equipment were world-class at that time, far surpassing other countries. Xue Rengui's famous garrison at The Great Victory on The Mountain, 30,000 Tang troops beat 150,000 Goguryeo troops to the ground to find teeth; Li Ji's 6,000 troops killed Xue Yantuo's 200,000 troops crying father and mother; Li Jing led 3,000 troops to raid the Turkic court. And in this battle, even if the 100,000 Tang army faced 400,000 Tubo troops, how could the entire army be destroyed?
I think there are two other reasons for the defeat:
First, Datang did not realize the strength of Tubo.
Tubo was a strange country to the Tang Dynasty, and he was different from the nomadic peoples such as the Turks and Tuguhuns. Nomadic peoples do not have a strong concept of territory, they migrate with the water and grass, grab things and flee. In addition to grazing cattle, Tubo also has an agricultural civilization and will grow crops such as barley and buckwheat. So, they have a big demand for territory.
Advanced civilization was destined to have advanced military strength and tactics, and the Tang Dynasty did not work against Tubo with a set of nomadic peoples, and to a certain extent, Tubo was very similar to Goguryeo and more powerful. Limited by the limitations of the times, Datang did not realize this problem.
Another point, when Tubo attacked Tuguhun, Tang First, he could not draw troops, and second, the two sons-in-law fought against each other, and it was not easy to be biased to help which one, but adopted an attitude of watching from the sidelines, conniving at the growth of Tubo.
Second, there is a problem with the prefectural military system.
The powerful army of Li Shimin's era was produced under the guarantee of a complete prefectural military system. Soldiers are exempt from taxes, and after meritorious service, they can get a fat field, and after sacrifice, they have a large pension. Often, when soldiers have not yet returned to their hometowns, or when their relatives have not yet received news of their deaths, the rewards have been sent to their hometowns, and their families can not only become landlords, but also enjoy extremely high honors.
With the increasing laxity and decadence of the Tang government and army, these systems became insecure. Often when the war was over, the soldiers did not get the honor field; the news of the sacrifice was well known in the hometown, but the government had not yet been notified by the army, and the family members still did not get the pension they deserved after repeated urging, and it seemed that the people died in vain.
This has greatly affected the enthusiasm of the people to join the army, and the quality of soldiers has also declined sharply.
Sun Tzu's Art of War said, "Know thyself and know the other, and never lose a hundred battles." "In the war between Tang and Tubo, Datang did not understand Tubo's ambitions and falsehoods, and there were also problems such as discord among generals and commanders, and the decline in the quality of soldiers caused by the loss of control of the system. Therefore, even if Xue Rengui's personal ability is strong, he is still weak.
Text: Bearfish laughs to themselves
Shallow and ignorant, just right in the Fang family.
References: Zizhi Tongjian, New Book of Tang, Old Book of Tang.