"5,000 Years of China"
Chapter Seven: The Five Dynasties of the Sui and Tang Dynasties
Chapter Seven: Li Jing Attacks Yin Mountain at Night
Li Jing was a major general under Emperor Taizong of Tang. At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, the Eastern Turks and Tuguhun on the borders of the Tang Dynasty often invaded the territory of the Tang Dynasty, posing a great threat to the Tang. Li Jing was ordered to go to the expedition.
Li Jing (network picture)
"Turkic Invasion of Chang'an"
At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, the Turkic Jieli Khan thought that there was an opportunity to take advantage of it, led more than 100,000 cavalry, and once again invaded Jingzhou, until it reached the edge of the Wei River, which was only 40 miles away from Chang'an. He made himself clever, sending emissaries into Chang'an City to meet Tang Taizong in advance, threatening to send 1 million Turkic troops to attack Chang'an.
Why was Tang Taizong so easily fooled? He did not care at all about the threat of Jieli, but instead detained the Turkic emissaries. In addition, he also deployed the Tang army in Chang'an to set up a position, personally taking Fang Xuanling and other generals on horseback to the Ben Bridge by the WeiShui River, and instructing Jieli to come out across the river for dialogue.
Jie Li heard that the emissary had been detained, and saw that Tang Taizong himself had gone into battle, and the Tang army was waving its flag and the military appearance was neat, and he couldn't help but get scared.
Across the Weishui River, Tang Taizong said to JieLi: "Our two families have already made a covenant, and in the past few years, Tang has not given you less gold, so why should we betray our faith and bring in an invasion?" ”
JieLi was originally wrong, coupled with a stupid mouth, and was scolded for having nothing to say, indicating that he was willing to make peace. Two days later, the two sides made a pact on the ben bridge, and Jieli had to retreat.
From this point on, Tang Taizong became aware of the threat of the frontier.
He knew that this was a difficult problem in front of him, so he stepped up the training of the soldiers, and the heavens gathered hundreds of soldiers to practice bows and arrows in front of the temple. A few years later, an elite army was trained.
"Victorious Return to the Dynasty"
Soon, the Turks encountered a blizzard, many livestock died, and there was a famine north of the desert. Jieli Khan intensified his oppression of other tribes, causing the tribes to revolt.
Jieli sent his cousin Tuli to suppress it, but he did not expect that not only did he lose the battle, but his brother also turned his face, and Tuli surrendered to the Tang dynasty in one breath.
Tang Taizong thought this was a perfect opportunity, and sent Li Jing, Xu Shixun and other major generals to an army of more than 100,000 people, led by Li Jing, to attack the Turks in separate ways.
Li Jing was a famous military figure in the early years of the Tang Dynasty, proficient in the art of war, and made many military achievements in the Tang Dynasty's unification and neutrality struggle. In 630, Li Jing personally led 3,000 elite cavalry from Yi. Jie Li was defenseless, and Tang Jun's sudden appearance made him stunned and panicked. Before the Tang army could attack, the Turkic soldiers were in chaos.
Li Jing took the opportunity to send spies to infiltrate the Turks and persuade one of Jieli's generals to surrender. Seeing that the general trend had gone, Jie Li had to fly with his tail between his legs and flee.
Li Jing attacked Dingxiang and returned to the dynasty in victory. Tang Taizong was very happy and said, "In the past, Li Ling of the Han Dynasty led 5,000 troops, but unfortunately he was captured by the Xiongnu; now you are going deep into the rear of the enemy with 3,000 light horses, overcoming Dingxiang and threatening the north, which is a rare event since ancient times!" ”
Li Jing's night attack on Yin Mountain (network picture)
"Night Raid on the Yin Mountains"
Jie Li had a hard time fleeing to the north of the Yin Mountains, and his life was saved, but every day he was afraid that the Tang army would continue to pursue, so he had no choice but to send emissaries to Chang'an again to ask for peace, and said that he would personally meet the emperor. The Tang Tai Sect sent Tang Jian to the Turks to appease him, and ordered Li Jing to lead his troops to investigate Jieli's movements.
Li Jing led his troops to Baidao (白道, northwest of present-day Hohhot, Inner Mongolia) and Xu Shijian to meet the division.
Li Jing said: "Although Jieli was defeated, there were many men and horses under his command. If you run away, you will be left with misfortune in the future. We will select 10,000 elite soldiers, bring 20 days of military food, follow the attack, and we will definitely be able to capture Jieli alive. Xu Shixun also agreed with this opinion. The two armies marched together towards the Yin Mountains.
As expected, Jieli Khan's request for peace was only a delaying tactic, and he wanted to wait for the season of grass and horses to come, and then flee to the north of the desert. When he saw Tang Jian, he thought that Tang Taizong had been hit, and he was secretly happy, and his defenses were also relaxed. That night, Li Jing and Xu Shixun led the Tang army to Yinshan, and ordered the general Su Dingfang to lead 200 light horses and quietly marched in the night fog. By the time the Turkic outposts discovered the Tang army, the Tang army was only a mile away from the Jieli camp.
Knowing that the Tang army cavalry had arrived, Jie Li fled in a hurry. Li Jing commanded the Tang army to pursue and kill the Turks without a commander, and they were in a mess. Jieli fled east and west, and finally hid in the barren mountains with a few soldiers, was captured by his subordinates and handed over to the Tang army, and was later escorted to Chang'an to the Eastern Turks and thus perished.
In this year, Hui Hui and other leaders of various ethnic groups came to Chang'an to meet Tang Taizong, embraced Tang Taizong as their common leader, and honored Tang Taizong as "Heavenly Khan".
Historical Archives
Portrait of Ling Yan Ge
Twenty-four Heroes of LingYange (network photo)
Ling Yan Pavilion was originally an inconspicuous small building next to the Sanqing Hall in the Imperial Palace. In 643, in recognition of the outstanding contributions made to the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Taizong of Tang ordered that the portraits of 24 meritorious heroes, including Changsun Wuji, Du Ruyi, Wei Zheng, Fang Xuanling, Wei Chi Jingde, Li Jing, Qin Shubao, and Cheng Zhijie, be painted on the Lingyan Pavilion, and Tang Taizong himself praised it, Chu Suiliang's inscription cabinet, and Yan Liben painted. This is the "Portrait of Ling Yange" that has been passed down as a beautiful talk in history. After the portrait was painted, Tang Taizong often went to see it to express his appreciation and commemoration of the heroes. After Emperor Taizong's death, changsun Wuji was bequeathed to assist Emperor Gaozong of Tang, but later fell out of favor for opposing Emperor Gaozong of Tang's establishment of Wu Zetian as empress, and was framed for rebellion and committed suicide.