A thousand-year-old family that began with the Battle of Makino

Chapter 909: Lulong Incident: Northern Border in Chaos, Two Towns Unite to Repel the Northern Tartars

September of the first year of Huichang
The Lulong army was in chaos, and the general Chen Xingtai killed the governor Shi Yuanzhong and proclaimed himself as the regent. Later, the Lulong soldiers killed Chen Xingtai and established the general Zhang Jiang as the new emperor.

Li Yan adopted Li Deyu's advice and responded calmly. He did not act recklessly or grant authority arbitrarily.

Finally, Zhang Zhongwu, the heroic and obedient commander of the imperial army, was chosen to successfully quell the Lulong rebellion.

In September of the same year, the Uighurs took advantage of the chaos in the Lulong army, recruited a large number of cavalry, invaded the south, and ravaged various places in Youzhou. What's worse, they attacked Guandaizhou, intending to occupy the Hedong area from the direction of Lulong Town.

Because of the suppression by the Hedong Army and the rise of the new power Zhuye clan in Daibei, the Uighurs were not allowed to invade the south for many years.

Therefore, the life of the southern Uighurs has not been very good in recent years. They have been watching the prosperity of Hedong but have not been able to get any of it. They feel itchy in their hearts, but they cannot tell outsiders about it.

This time, the Lulong Army's defense line was finally broken and they were able to invade Hebei. Perhaps they could take advantage of Hedong's negligence in Hebei's defense and attack Hedong.

Fortunately, Li Yan reacted quickly and appointed Zhang Zhongwu, the commander of the Xiongwu Army, as the governor of Lulong, ordering him to quickly arrive in Youzhou, quell the civil strife in the Lulong Army, take charge of the army, and gradually begin to clean up the chaos caused by the Uighur invasion to the south.

The first month of the second year of Huichang
After Zhang Zhongwu took office, he brought elite soldiers selected from the Xiongwu Army and assigned his brothers to deploy to important locations. In just half a month, he took control of the important towns of Jingsai and Yongtai in Youzhou and consolidated his rule.

At this time, Zhang Zhongwu learned that the Uighur general Na Jiechu was leading his troops from Youzhou to the west to plunder Weizhou, preparing to attack Daibei from there and cut off the connection between the Zhuxie clan of Daibei and Hedong.

Yuan Menghuang, governor of Weizhou and commander of the Hengye army, led 3,000 Hengye troops to put up a hard fight in Anbian.

Liu Mian, the governor of Hedong, sent people to ask for help, requesting that Lulong Town send troops to raid the rear of the Uighur army in order to resolve the threat posed by the Hedong army.

By gathering information from all sides, Zhang Zhongwu already knew that the current situation in the northern border was extremely critical.

Because of the rebellion in the Lulong Army, the Tang Dynasty's defense line against the north suddenly had a big hole.

The Uighurs took the opportunity to move southward from the territory of the Lulong Army. Some of them passed through Youzhou and went south to plunder the towns in Hebei, causing heavy losses in various parts of Hebei.

Some of them wandered around Youzhou, on the one hand guarding against the surprise attack of the Lulong Army, and on the other hand protecting the retreat of the Uighur Army heading south.

The last part was led by Na Jiechu to attack Weizhou from the west, intending to capture Wei and Daizhou all the way, isolating the main force of Hedong that was resisting the southward Uighur army in Yun and Shuozhou, and cutting off its retreat.

At this time, Liu Mian, the governor of Hedong, had tens of thousands of regular soldiers and joined forces with thousands of Zhuye cavalry from the Shatuo tribe in northern Dai to resist the Uighur army of more than 100,000 in Yunzhou.

Youzhou City, Lulong Military Headquarters
"General, the order given by His Majesty is that we can go south to rescue the towns in Hebei after finishing military affairs, but Hedong has come to ask for help. Who should we listen to?"

Zhang Zhongzhi, the military commander of the Yongtai Army and also his younger brother, looked at the situation in front of him and said this to Zhang Zhongwu, the commander, with great distress.

"If you ask me, you should listen to the court, so as to avoid your majesty's suspicion. Erlang is in charge of Lulong and needs the righteousness of the court. If he is suspected by the court, it will be difficult for Erlang to maintain his current position."

"Besides, the Uighurs' attack on Hedong has nothing to do with Lulong. Losing our own troops and seeking help from others is not a wise move."

"It just so happens that we have the imperial edict in hand, and there are Uighurs roaming around in the country. It is not an excuse not to send troops."

Zhang Zhongwu's brother, Zhang Zhongbin, the commander of the Jingsai Army, dressed as a Confucian general, made the suggestion.

But some people disagree with this and believe that the two towns of Hedong and Lulong are in a relationship of mutual dependence.

What's more, it was only a small part of the Uighurs who went south to plunder Hebei. The towns in Hebei were not actually in such a urgent situation. On the contrary, Hedong was facing two-thirds of the Uighur military force that invaded the south, and the situation was even more critical.

Moreover, as long as the Uighur army in Anbian is dealt with and the connection with the Hedong army is established, they can train with the Hedong army and jointly attack the Uighur cavalry in the territory.

Afterwards, the generals and officers in the tent split into two factions.

One group advocated not to provide support and to first deal with the Uighurs roaming in Youzhou and Hebei.

One faction advocated support and joining forces with the Hedong Army to thoroughly inflict damage on the Uighurs, so that they would not dare to move south for the next few years.

The two factions argued fiercely about this, but in the end, the group that did not send troops prevailed.

"Marshal Jie, what do you think?"

Everyone thought that Zhang Zhongwu would follow the crowd and follow the majority opinion, but unfortunately he did not. "Gentlemen, I think it is best to send troops to support them."

Seeing everyone's confusion, Zhang Zhongwu pointed to a large map of Hedong, Youzhou, Hebei, and part of the Uighur territory and said:
"The Lulong Army has just been pacified. I have only been in office for a month. The morale of the troops in the camps has just been settled and has not yet recovered. It is still unknown who will win or lose against the Uighurs. This is one reason."

"Hedong Town is strong. One town can resist hundreds of thousands of Uighur troops. Such a strong army can be used as reinforcement. This is the second reason."

At this point, Zhang Zhongwu pointed to the border of Daibei and said in a deep voice: "Although Hedong was the only town to resist more than 100,000 Uighurs, the location was ultimately in Daibei, not in the heart of Hedong."

"If our army does not provide assistance and Weizhou is lost, the rear of the Hedong Army will be threatened. I am sure that Liu Mian will lead his troops to retreat, and the loss will be nothing more than a small corner of Daibei. In fact, the loss to the Hedong Army is not that big."

"We only need to retreat to Loufan and Yanmen to keep the Uighurs out of the pass. When the Hedong army recovers, it will be easy to recapture them."

"On the other hand, if the Hedong Army retreats, without the Hedong Army to resist in front, hundreds of thousands of Uighurs are not good at attacking the pass and will definitely pour into Youzhou."

"Let me ask you, can the Lulong Army be stopped?"

As soon as Zhang Zhongwu finished speaking, the air in the tent seemed to freeze.

Looking at the generals who were frightened and even a little afraid of retreating from Hedong, Zhang Zhongwu sighed:

"To save Weizhou is to save Lulong."

At this point, it was no longer up to the Lulong Army whether to send out troops or not.

"Send an order. Order Zhang Zhongbin, the military commander of Jingsai Army, to lead the headquarters and guard all places. I will personally lead the Yamen Army and Yongtai Army to attack the Uighurs in the west. May you win!"

"Wan Sheng!!!"

As soon as the military order was issued, all the troops were in motion.

March of the second year of Huichang
Zhang Zhongwu personally led his brother Zhang Zhongzhi and deputy generals You Fenghuan, Wang Ruqing and others with an army of 30,000, responded to the invitation of the Hedong army, and went west to attack the Uighur cavalry.

Na Jiechu, the Uighur general who besieged Zhigu Pass in Anbian, could never have imagined that the Lulong Army would attack him from afar when the enemy troops in his own territory had not been cleared out and the Uighurs heading south were still looting.

After receiving the intelligence, he immediately led his troops to retreat, prepared to hold the Xiong'er Pass, and ordered all troops to turn back.

But Zhang Zhongwu came in a hurry, and the 30,000 Lulong troops surrounded the 50,000 Uighur cavalry in front of the Xiong'er Mountain Pass. The Uighurs failed to attack many times.

Just as Jie Chu was getting angry and preparing to divide his troops to attack the Lulong army's main town in order to reduce the enemy's morale.

Liu Mian, the governor of Hedong, who had received the report from Zhang Zhongwu long ago, sent the Shatuo leader Zhuye Chixin to lead 10,000 Han and Hu cavalry to provide support.

As a result, the Uighurs were defeated by the attack from both sides. Jie Chue was shot by an arrow and fled north alone.

After cleaning up the battlefield, Zhang Zhongwu thought that he should pursue the victory, so he sent an envoy to Yunzhou to discuss with Liu Mian.

He thought that most of the Uighurs were now attacking Yunzhou, leaving the Uighur headquarters empty.

And tens of thousands of Jiechu's troops died in Xiong'er Mountain. According to the nature of the grassland people, the death of so many people would definitely lead to internal discord, which would be the best time to attack the grassland.

In addition, the current sage is wise, and with the assistance of Li Deyu, who is experienced in military affairs, he will definitely be able to make appropriate decisions.

Why not take the opportunity to hurt the Uighurs, so as to avoid the two towns from recruiting the Uighurs to invade the south in the next few years?

They could even plunder the grasslands to replenish their military supplies.

Therefore, after planning by the two major military governors of the northern part of the Tang Dynasty, the strategy of attacking the Uighurs in the north was determined and submitted to the court for approval.

Prior to this, with Liu Mian's consent, Zhu Ya Chixin temporarily obeyed Zhang Zhongwu's orders to clear out the Uighur cavalry roaming in Youzhou and Hebei, and was ready to go out of Youzhou at any time to make new contributions.

(End of this chapter)