preface
The Great Tang Dynasty was an unprecedented prosperous dynasty in Chinese history with incomparably strong national strength, and at that time, all the countries of the East and the West came to pay tribute.
It is no exaggeration to say that almost half of the Asian territory at that time was the territory of the Great Tang Dynasty, and the remaining half was the country of the Great Tang Domain, but it was such a splendid dynasty, but it was repeatedly defeated by a Tubo Empire that had established diplomatic relations with the Tang Dynasty for 200 years, and even once invaded the heart of the Tang Dynasty - the capital Chang'an.
For the Tang Dynasty, which has been subject to tributes from all over the world, the capture of the capital by a small country with diplomatic relations, regarded as a barbarian in Tibet, is almost an unprecedented humiliation.
Photo: The Tubo Empire invaded Chang'an
However, why did the Tang Empire, which was superior to Tubo in terms of land area and military strength, return home in several counterattacks, and finally had to face the fate of being invaded by Tubo to occupy a large territory?
This has to start with Princess Wencheng, who was driven by the princess of the Heavenly Empire and entered Tibet and made peace.
1. The Princess and the Pro-Tubo Development Opportunity
Princess Wencheng entered Tibet, brought the poetry etiquette of the Tang Dynasty, splendid jewelry to the almost uncivilized barbarian land, so that Tubo was nourished by poetry and gradually gained grace, which has always been a beautiful story that is enough to flow through the ages.
However, for Tubo, the arrival of Princess Wencheng not only opened the door to their thoughts, but more importantly, brought them new ideas for economic and social development, allowing them to evolve from barbarian states in the western plateau to an empire that threatened the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty.
Photo: Princess Wencheng enters Tibet and kisses
The Tubo royal family had great respect for Princess Wencheng, and had been humbly seeking advice from the princess and her entourage, consciously absorbing the successful experience in the prosperity and development of the Tang Empire, such as the farmland system, trade diplomacy, military management, etc., and applying what they had learned, gradually developing into the middle and upper strength of the Western countries.
And Princess Wencheng also brought decades of peaceful diplomatic relations between the Tang and Tubo countries, and during the reign of Songtsen Gampo, Tubo paid tribute to the Tang Dynasty every year, honoring the Tang Dynasty as the kingdom with courtiers, and this period was obviously the honeymoon period for the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Tang Tubo.
However, growing up in Tibet with a harsh climate, the Tubo people, who have always competed with the heavens, are full of predatory ferocity in their bones, and they will never submit to other countries forever, just as wolves will never be kept in captivity.
After the death of Songtsen Gampo, the rule of the Tubo Empire fell into the hands of the Gar family, and Li Shimin, the founder of the Tang Dynasty, also died in Chang'an City, which announced the end of the friendly diplomatic relations between the Tang Dynasty and Tubo, and the 200-year war between the two countries began.
Photo: Tubo and Tuyuhun
In 669, in the second year of the Tang Dynasty, the ambitious Tubo took advantage of the Tang Dynasty's attack on Goryeo and had no time to go west, in an attempt to annex Tuyuhun and expand the empire's territory to the northeast.
Tuyuhun's land area was less than one-fifth of Tubo, and the Tubo army forcibly entered Tuyuhun, which made Tuyuhun, whose national strength was already weak, completely unable to resist, and directly fled all the way to the Great Tang and asked the Great Tang for help.
II. "Dafeichuan" Underestimated the Enemy and Ventured Forward The situation in Tang Bo was reversed
In view of the importance of Tuyuhun to the territory of the Great Tang Dynasty, the Tang Empire, which had subdued the Goryeo Kingdom, began to wave its troops westward and concentrate its forces against the Tubo Empire.
Photo: Battle of Dafeichuan
In the first year of 670 AD, the Tubo Empire and the Tang Dynasty army fought in Dafeichuan, with 50,000 troops commanded by the famous generals of the Tang Dynasty, Xue Rengui, Ashina Daozhen and Guo Zhufeng.
Photo: Tang Dynasty general Xue Rengui
The rulers of the Tubo Empire were well aware of the military significance of Tuyuhun to the Tang Dynasty, and if they could successfully take Tuyuhun, they would be able to open up a smooth road between the northwest and the Central Plains, which would be very beneficial to Tubo's plan to further expand into the Central Plains.
Therefore, Tubo gathered the strength of the whole country, transferred all 400,000 elite troops to Tuyuhun, and launched a rebellion struggle in the four towns of Guizi, Khotan, Shule, and Broken Leaf.
On the other hand, the Tang Dynasty army, only 50,000 soldiers and horses, and after a long distance of the attack has not yet adjusted and rested, it has to directly enter the battle, the Tubo army not only has an absolute advantage in numbers, but also completely to fight the Tang Dynasty army with ease and labor, and the balance of victory has long been tilted towards Tubo.
Photo: Tuyuhun
Xue Rengui was a general with rich combat experience, and he knew that the soldiers of the Tubo army had a strong physique and occupied the terrain advantage, while the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty had been fighting on the plains for a long time, and did not adapt to the climate of the plateau area, and their combat ability was greatly weakened.
Therefore, after Xue Rengui arrived in Tuyuhun, he immediately asked all the soldiers to set up camp on the spot and not charge without authorization, so as not to fall into a passive situation.
However, Xue Rengui, who had a plan, finally let his deputy backstab him and defeated Dafeichuan.
According to records: "His deputy general Guo Chengfeng was the son of Guo Xiaoge, the founding father of the country and the general of the Western Domain Domain, and he was ashamed that he was under Xue Rengui, and he disobeyed the military order without permission, and did not follow the policy of Rengui. ”
Photo: Tang Jun arrives at Dafeichuan
Guo Chengfeng, who had always been very unconvinced by Xue Rengui, did not understand Xue Rengui's intentions at all, but felt that Xue Rengui was cowardly and afraid of confrontation with the Tubo army.
The proud Guo Chengfeng did not obey Xue Rengui's military orders, and insisted on leading the soldiers and horses on the right and rushing directly to the plateau occupied by Tubo, preparing to kill the Tubo army by surprise.
Photo: Guo Chengfeng led the army to kill the enemy
Soon, the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty, who were completely unadapted to the plateau climate and altitude, began to experience altitude sickness, difficulty breathing, headaches... These unbearable physical tortures made the Tang soldiers lose their ability to fight before they could meet the enemy army.
The Tubo army was still waiting in a strict position, and seeing the Tang army underestimating the enemy and rushing forward, causing the sergeants to fall to the ground one after another, they put down their hearts and began to besiege and counterattack, annihilating all the troops and horses led by Guo Zhufeng, causing the Tang army to lose an arm.
Photo: The Tang army is at war with the Tubo army
After hearing the news that Guo Chengfeng's army led a surprise attack and the entire army was destroyed, Xue Rengui sighed, knowing that the Tang army was gone, he immediately reorganized the remaining soldiers and quickly retired to the east, and the rule of the four major towns was completely lost after this battle.
When Emperor Xuanzong of Tang saw Xue Rengui returning from the feather and returned from the feathers, he denounced Xue Rengui's cowardice in front of many courtiers and watched coldly by allowing Guo Chengfeng's entire army to be destroyed, although he knew that Xue Rengui was not the main reason for the defeat of the Battle of Dafeichuan.
To be fair, the entire defeat of the Battle of Dafeichuan was not only Guo Chengfeng's underestimation of the enemy, but also Tubo's economic and military capabilities far beyond expectations.
Photo: Tubo Army
Princess Wencheng and her relatives brought a period of frontier peace to the Tang Dynasty, and also brought a period of opportunity for Tubo to develop steadily.
During the period of peaceful development, Tubo imitated the Tang Dynasty to establish a complete and efficient post station transmission system, ensuring that military and political orders could reach all parts of the country unimpeded, and once a war occurred, all parts of the country could respond quickly in a very short time to ensure the implementation of military and political instructions.
Moreover, Tubo is located on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the harsh climate and the harsh ruling class have created a fierce people's custom, almost all of the people can ride horses and fight, and their combat literacy is very good, which can be described as a soldier of the whole people.
Photo: Tubo soldiers
Coupled with the farming, grazing techniques and trade experience that Tubo learned from the Tang Dynasty, his economic strength was the first in the Western Regions, and he could continuously provide food and grass supplies to the army, so that the army had no worries.
All these gave Tubo the strength to fight against the Tang Dynasty army, but the Tang Dynasty still assumed its status as a state and refused to face up to the development of the Tubo Dynasty.
III. Internal Anxiety and External Difficulties The Tang Dynasty turned offensive into defensive
The defeat of the Battle of Dafeichuan caused the Tang Dynasty to lose its jurisdiction over the four towns of Guizi, Khotan, Shule, and Broken Leaf, while western Gansu and Qinghai also fell into the hands of Tubo, and half of the Tang Dynasty's lifeline to the Western Regions was taken away, and the two countries fell into a long-term war.
In order to curb the Tubo expansion, Emperor Gaozong of Tang sent generals to lead a large army stationed on the border line, strengthening the strength of the border army, but not for the purpose of active attack, but to focus on defense.
Emperor Gaozong of Tang's adjustment of Tubo's military strategy from offensive to defensive was mainly to win rest and recuperation for the Tang Dynasty troops on the border line, and at the same time to gain more time to train the army's plateau combat capabilities.
Photo: Tang Dynasty soldiers
However, because the Tang Dynasty mainly implemented the prefectural military system in terms of conscription, the biggest feature of the prefectural military system was the integration of soldiers and farmers, that is to say, the soldiers recruited under the prefectural military system were all peasants who cultivated the land, specialized in production when there was no war, and took up arms to join the army when there was a war.
Moreover, the government soldiers needed to bring their own weapons, military horses and grain and grass, which undoubtedly overburdened the peasants who were not rich, resulting in many government soldiers having no intention of fighting at all, and only wanted to evade military service.
At first glance, the Tang Dynasty military system seems to be the same as Tubo's "all the people are soldiers", but comparing the characteristics of plain farming and nomads, you will understand that the soldiers recruited under the Tang Dynasty military system are peasants with extremely low combat literacy and no intention of fighting, while the Tubo people are accustomed to nomadism, fighting, and plundering, and their combat experience and military ability are far superior to the Tang Dynasty soldiers.
Photo: Tubo nomadic herding
In 678, in the third year of Yifeng, the Tang Dynasty general Li Jingxuan led the emperor to march, led an army of 180,000, and fought the Tubo army in Qinghai.
This is a move by Tang Gaozong, Li Jingxuan is a civilian, cowardly and afraid of war, he does not know how to fight at all, after he went to the battlefield, he was completely unable to grasp the timing of war and could not command the troops.
In addition, most of the troops led by Li Jingxuan were border soldiers, and these soldiers had no intention of fighting, and following such a nest of generals, they felt that victory was hopeless, so they were soon beaten by the Tubo army in the Qinghai Campaign and scattered.
Photo: Tang Army generals kneel and surrender
The Tubo army not only won a complete victory, but also captured a large number of weapons, grain and weight of the Tang Dynasty army, filling the stock of armaments.
The Tang Dynasty, which was defeated twice in a row, had to deal with the invasion of Western Turks and Goguryeo on the one hand, and on the other hand, it had to beware of the increasingly powerful Tubo Dynasty, and soon fell into internal and external difficulties and chaos.
IV. The Anshi Rebellion The Tang Dynasty turned from prosperity to decline
In 757 AD, that is, the fourteenth year of Tianbao during the reign of Emperor Suzong of Tang, the Anshi Rebellion broke out in full force, the situation of the Tang Dynasty and Tubo War took a turn, and the Tubo army occupied an absolute advantage in military strength, and in the next 30 years, Tubo repeatedly won battles against Tang.
Due to the growing power of the Tang Dynasty's clans and towns, the centralized system was greatly threatened, and in order to be able to regain the right to rule, Emperor Suzong of Tang and Emperor Daizong of Tang were tired of dealing with the separatist clan forces in various places.
The turbulent situation in the Tang Dynasty made the common people also begin to fall into dire straits.
In order to obtain the grain, grass and armaments needed for the war, the ruling class began to squeeze the peasant and merchant classes without limit, and resorted to such means as increasing conscription and imposing tariffs to loot the people's fat and anointment, making both the peasants and merchants miserable.
In order to survive, peasants and merchants who "died in silence if they did not erupt in silence" also rose up and launched large and small uprisings, making the Tang army even more hectic.
At this time, the Tubo Empire, which was watching the fire from the other side, knew that its opportunity had come, and the Tubo ruling class decided to take advantage of the internal strife of the Tang Dynasty to launch a war of aggression and let the Tang Dynasty, which had no time to take care of the west, eat this dumb loss.
After more than 30 years of efforts, the Tubo Empire captured dozens of prefectures such as Lanzhou, Kuozhou, and Hezhou of the Tang Dynasty, and in 764 AD, it captured Liangzhou, an important frontier town of the Tang Dynasty, cutting off the entire Hexi Corridor and successfully controlling most of the Western Regions.
Photo: Tubo territory
Subsequently, the Tubo army rushed into Chang'an City with a bang, frightening Tang Daizong and a group of royal family members into fleeing overnight, and they couldn't care about the people of Chang'an City.
The humiliation of the fall of the capital was extraordinary, and Emperor Daizong of Tang could no longer care about suppressing the rebellion, and immediately transferred the war-savvy generals Guo Ziyi and Shuo Fangjun back to the western part of Beijing, firmly holding the heart of the empire and preventing Tubo from capturing Chang'an again.
Photo: The elite of the Tang Dynasty were stationed in the western part of Beijing
Faced with the fierce counterattack of the Tang army, the Tubo army had to temporarily avoid the front, withdraw from Chang'an City, and instead capture Ganzhou, Suzhou, Guazhou, Shazhou and other places, stretching the front thousands of miles away, focusing on the power of the Helong region.
However, the lengthening of the front is also a great challenge for the Tubo army, because the front across the Helong region not only includes canyons, deserts, northwest plains, but also extremely physical testing winter cold snaps.
Although the Tubo army was good at plateau combat, under the situation of a lengthened front, difficult food and grass supply, and complex and changeable terrain, the brave and good Tubo soldiers also had to surrender and admit defeat.
Photo: Brave and good Tubo soldiers
During the first year of Tang Dezong's reign, the Tang Dynasty gradually restored stability and began to steadily develop the domestic economy, and by the time of Emperor Xianzong of Tang, the rebellion forces in the Fanzhen had also subsided, and the Tang Dynasty ushered in the Zhongxing period.
Tired of war, Tubo could no longer afford to continue its aggression, and in the following decades, Tubo began to intend to make good friends with the Tang Dynasty, and the two countries re-established the alliance and resumed the mode of peaceful coexistence.
Photo: DDR and Repatriation
epilogue
The Tang Dynasty was a great power, but it repeatedly failed miserably to Tubo, a small country in the Western Regions. This is by no means a simple military issue, but involves multiple factors such as the country's economic foundation, political background, military strategy and the military capabilities of generals.
The defeat of the Tang Dynasty to Tubo stemmed from the Tang Dynasty's underestimation of its status as a superior state, and also from the fundamental shortcomings of the Tang Dynasty's economic, political, military system and other superstructures.
However, in the long 200-year war, it seems that Tubo has always occupied a dominant position and suppressed the Tang Dynasty, but the final result was that Tubo collapsed first, and the reasons behind it are worth pondering.