Tibet

Chapter 819 Changes in the Grassland

In the battle of Ximou's surrender to the city, more than 23,000 of the 30,000 Uighur troops were killed, including the Uighur Geler Khan who also died under the arrows of the Tang army's commander Li Ye. General Di De, who was killed on the right, finally gathered 6,000 remnant troops. He fled north in panic with the Khan's body.

The Tang army immediately captured ten logistics tribes and seized 80,000 war horses, more than 3 million sheep, as well as tents, sheepskins and other large quantities of materials.

A large amount of the Uighur Khan's personal wealth was also seized, including 80,000 taels of gold, countless precious gems, utensils, silks, blankets, etc.

The ten captured tribes, with a population of tens of thousands, were finally settled by Li Ye in the Lingzhou, Qingzhou and Huanzhou areas. It was precisely because of their existence that the living space of the Party people was greatly reduced, and the Party people lost their ability to rise. Chance.

The death of Gel Khan also triggered internal strife in Huihe. The two princes fought for the position of Khan. Because the second prince Yi Dijian got the support of the right-killing general Di De, he defeated his elder brother. Prince Ye Hu was killed. Yi Dijian became the new Khan of Uighur and was revered as Mou Yu Khan.

Although the new Khan vowed to kill Li Ye and avenge his father Khan, the situation in the grassland changed drastically and Huihe was unable to go south.

The Jiankun tribe took advantage of the civil strife in Huihe and occupied most of the land of the Dubo tribe. The Dubo tribe was forced to surrender to the Jiankun tribe and officially became the younger brother of the Jiankun tribe.

The Geluolu tribe also defeated Sijie's army and annexed all the former Xue tribe's land. Finally, the war ended with the Sijie tribe surrendering to Geluolu.

The successful eastward expansion of the Jiankun tribe and the Geluolu tribe broke the balance of the grasslands and seriously threatened the survival of the Uighurs.

At the same time, the Uighur army was defeated in Fengzhou and the Khan was killed. This also greatly shook the Uighur rule over the grassland. The cadres of the Beyegu tribe, the Pugu tribe and the Guli tribe began to have their own ideas and summoned the new Khan of the Uighur tribe. The army's orders also began to be violated.

The grassland is like this. Strength speaks for itself, and the strong is king. Once the balance is broken, the grassland will enter a period of turmoil again.

At Taoshui, all the fortifications built by the Tang army last year had been destroyed by Ma Chongying's order. Xin Yunjing simply stopped building new fortifications and instead ordered the soldiers to build a three-foot-high wooden platform next to Taoshui, called a battle viewing platform.

What does it mean? This is contempt for the fact that the Tubo army could not cross the Taoshui River. If the Tubo army had killed the Taoshui River, it would be too late for him to escape on the high platform.

The viewing platform is also an observation deck. Every day, special soldiers hold clairvoyances to look at the situation on the other side. Once the enemy enters the water, they can be discovered immediately here.

Although the Tang army did not build any more fortifications, they built ten 500-stone warships and 100 fast boats. The ten 500-stone ships were moored on the shore. Once there was a situation, the water ghosts would set off immediately.

That morning, an observation soldier was observing the situation on the other side with his clairvoyance. Suddenly, he saw countless small black dots entering the water. The soldier immediately realized that this was the raft of the Tibetan army entering the water, and he sounded the alarm.

"Dang! Dang! Dang!"

The rapid sound of alarm bells spread throughout the camp, and groups of soldiers rushed out. Among them were hundreds of water ghosts. They were bare-chested and carried water spikes and daggers around their waists. They boarded ten 500-stone warships. Ten warships have dedicated oarsmen,

They were loaded with water ghosts and headed towards the center of Taoshui River.

Xin Yunjing also went to the stands. He asked the soldiers to place food and drinks, and drank with several generals while watching the battle.

This was the second attack by the Tibetan army, again led by Zabu Reli, the commander of ten thousand men.

The first time he sent a hundred rafts to attack, loaded with five hundred soldiers, but the entire Tang army was killed by water ghosts.

In the second attack, Zabrel used a small strategy. He first sent out 500 small leather rafts, with one person on each raft, for a total of 500 people.

Among the five hundred soldiers, there are also 300 soldiers who can swim and can compete with the Tang army's water ghosts in the water. The purpose of Zabureli was to attack the east and west, so that some soldiers could entangle the Tang army's water ghosts and let most of the other soldiers rush to the other side from the other side.

Ten 500-stone warships have arrived in the middle of the river, and hundreds of water ghosts have launched into the water.

At this time, the Tibetan army's rafts were less than a hundred steps away from the boat, and three hundred Tibetan water ghosts also entered the water. The two sides started a fierce battle in the water.

On the viewing platform, a soldier watching the battle loudly said: "General Xin, the enemy has launched another batch of rafts."

Xin Yunjing came over, took the clairvoyant eye and took a closer look. Sure enough, to the south of the five hundred rafts, a new batch of rafts appeared. They were quite large, and they were all covered with black Tibetan soldiers.

Xin Yunjing sneered and said to several generals: "This Tubo general learned well and used five hundred rafts to entangle us water ghosts and let the main force dispatch from the other side."

Everyone laughed. This Tubo general was just smart. Did the Tang army only have the water ghost trick?

The predecessor of the Helong Tang Army was the Jingxiang Army, which was famous for its powerful navy. There are currently 30,000 Jingxiang soldiers in the army, and there are at least 5,000 to 6,000 soldiers with good water skills.

Unless the Tao River freezes in winter and the Tang army has no way to block the river, it would be wishful thinking for Tubo to compete with the Tang army in the water at any time.

The Tang Army built ten 500-stone warships, which were mother ships for carrying water ghosts. But in fact, the Tang Army also had hundreds of small boats and speedboats of various types. It was enough to fight with water ghosts. Since the opponent wanted to give it a try, Then fulfill them.

Xin Yunjing squinted at the other party. The other party's sheepskin raft had already reached the middle of the river. He immediately ordered: "Order the clippers to attack!"

"Woo--Woo--"

The soldiers of the Tang Army blew the horn.

In just a moment, a hundred fast boats came from upstream. There were twenty people on each fast boat. Four of them rowed and the other sixteen fought. Each soldier held a bow and arrow and a short spear. The boat was as fast as flying and very flexible. .

The soldiers shot arrows like rain at the sheepskin bags of the Tibetan army. These sheepskin bags were like balloons. The most feared were bows and arrows. One arrow could shoot through several of them. If they were deflated quickly, the sheepskin raft would lose its balance. Soldiers on board fell into the water one after another.

Some clippers rushed directly to the sheepskin rafts. The Tang Army soldiers on the clippers stabbed the enemy with their spears and killed a raft in two or three rounds.

At this time, a hundred Tang Army water ghosts had killed another 500 sheepskin rafts and 500 soldiers. They swam towards this side quickly like dolphins. They cooperated with the Tang Army's speedboats and slaughtered the Tibetan soldiers in the water.

It is much easier to kill people in the water than on land. As long as a Tubo soldier falls into the water and a water ghost swims by him, the sharp water thorn will definitely pierce his body, or a dagger will cut his throat from behind, and he will be injured in the water, which is very harmful to the Tubo soldiers. The soldiers had no choice but to die and had no strength to swim back.

For water ghosts, one sprint can kill several people, which is impossible on land.

On the west bank of Taoshui River, General Zabu Reli looked at the rafts disappearing on the water. The soldiers who fell into the water were no longer seen. His face turned pale. In the water, the Tang army was so powerful, but his own soldiers were so weak. Small and weak.

Within an hour, all three thousand soldiers and one thousand rafts were buried in the Tao River, leaving no one alive.

In fact, Zabu Reli did not think clearly. Even if his three thousand soldiers were killed and crossed the shore, what would happen? There were 15,000 Tang troops on the other side. Maybe they could fight a fierce battle with the Tang troops, but in the end the whole army was still destroyed, but their death was not as painful as in the water.

(End of this chapter)