Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 75: Repulse of the Uighurs
"Sorry..."

After fighting for an incense stick of time, Liu Jilian led his troops to retreat calmly to the front of the camp.

Some wounded elite cavalry were led into the city on horseback. At a glance, there were about thirteen or fourteen of them, and there were not many who died in the battle.

"Liu Jilong, I'll remember your contribution in this battle!"

Zhang Huaishen couldn't hide the smile on his face and directly promised to commend him.

Liu Jilong was also happy to hear this. He was originally the temporary replacement for Shandan You Guoyi. Now that he had made another contribution, even Li Wei had no reason to stop him.

"Thank you, Governor!"

Liu Jilong bowed with his gun in hand, and Zhang Huaishen nodded: "Return to the battlefield!"

"Yes." Liu Jilong breathed a sigh of relief, led his troops back to the battlefield, and counted the casualties at the same time.

In comparison, the three men, Xia Li, Ponteler and Xu Liegan, who retreated in a panic, were undoubtedly severely scolded by Chengle.

"Ten thousand people were chased and beaten by eight hundred people. You three have really brought disgrace upon our Great Uighur Nation!"

Cheng Le's face turned pale, and Xia Li and the other two lowered their heads and dared not respond.

Seeing that the three of them did not respond, Cheng Le could only glance at the other Ye Hu and Du Du: "Who is willing to go out and eat Zhang Huaishen's more than a thousand people!"

"..."

There was silence, and no one dared to stand up and make a guarantee at this moment, which made Cheng Le so angry that he felt dizzy.

"Are you all dumb?!"

Cheng Le was furious and said, "Every day they all boast that they are the best among the best, but now no one dares to stand up."

"You are a bunch of cowardly lambs, you are not worthy to lead the warriors of the Great Uighurs!"

After a while of cursing, no one stood up to fight the enemy.

They had all seen what happened to the three Xia Lis. They were no match for bows and arrows, nor for cavalry. Wars could not be won by relying on human lives.

No matter how good ten thousand herdsmen are at fighting, they cannot defeat a thousand armored soldiers.

If you want to defeat Zhang Huaishen, it will be impossible unless you can mobilize all the more than 4,000 armored soldiers of the Uighur family.

However, each of these more than 4,000 armored soldiers was the wealth accumulated by many Yehu and governors over ten years.

If we kill them all, they won't be able to hold on to Zhangye, let alone the pastures in the north. They might have to migrate again like they did ten years ago.

At this moment, everyone realized how correct what Ponteler had said before was.

Harvest the crops and leave; that is what they should do.

"Khan, winter is coming soon. We should go back to the north to prepare fodder."

"Yes, without enough grass, the livestock will freeze to death..."

"Sweaty..."

For a moment, everyone started discussing at once, not caring at all about what Cheng Le thought.

Now they can’t take down Zhang Huaishen, let alone Ganzhou. If that’s the case, then why are they still staying here?
"you!"

Cheng Le's eyes were wide open with anger. He wanted to teach everyone a lesson, but was afraid of angering them.

Although he was the Khan of the Ganzhou Uighurs, it did not mean that he had the power to overwhelm other tribes.

Seeing this group of people defecting one after another, Cheng Le could only grit his teeth and order: "Withdraw!"

"Withdraw troops!!"

Everyone passed on orders, and the more than 40,000 Uighurs in the formation became agitated and soon began to retreat to the north.

Faced with such a situation, Zhang Huaishen did not relax, but was on high alert, guarding against a surprise attack by the Uighurs.

Fortunately, they were indeed going to retreat, so half an hour later, they had retreated more than ten miles away, leaving only a black mass on the horizon.

"These barbarians are just testing the waters. If they can't defeat them, they will run away."

In the elite cavalry formation, Li Ji couldn't help but mock the Uighur, Tibetan and other troops for their ability to move as fast as the wind.

Liu Jilong also found this a little unbelievable.

But when he looked at Zhang Huaishen, he calmed down again and explained to Li Ji:

"The Uighurs are different from the Tibetans. When the Tibetans were still united, their production was relatively stable and they could fight us for many years."

"But now that the Tibetan king has been assassinated, Tibet has split and is facing drought, a large amount of farmland has failed to produce any harvest. Even places like Helong can't produce enough food to feed the army, so we can't fight a war of attrition at all."

"The Uighurs are even more vulnerable than them. Although they have reclaimed some farmland in the north, their farming methods are backward and their food output is limited."

"Besides, it's winter now. Although they have obtained food, they lack beans, so they can only go back to harvest and store fodder."

"If they continue to stalemate with us, they will lose regardless of whether they win or lose."

As Liu Jilong said this, he couldn't help but admire Zhang Huaishen's deep understanding of the various ethnic groups in Hexi, and he even predicted the direction of the war before it started.

Of course, the reason why the war developed so smoothly was also inseparable from Liu Jilian's display of divine power.

The scene of eight hundred elite cavalry chasing more than ten thousand light cavalry was truly spectacular, and it also made many irrational Uighur Yehus and governors regain their sanity.

"Liu Jilong!"

Suddenly, Zhang Huaishen's voice was heard from the front.

Although they were dozens of steps apart, Zhang Huaishen was full of energy. Liu Jilian responded quickly after hearing his words and rode his horse forward.

When he arrived at the front of the battle, the soldiers around him all looked at him with admiration and worship.

Seeing that he was safe and sound, Zhang Huaishen nodded with satisfaction, and then ordered: "Send out 800 elite cavalry to see if these barbarians have really retreated."

"I obey your command!" Liu Jilong bowed in response, then turned back to the rear army, divided the 800 elite cavalry into 80 groups, and followed.

"Tell Suo Xun that there is no need to build the sheep-horn wall. Also, have Cao Changshi prepare food and kill 300 sheep to reward the troops!"

Zhang Huaishen gave a few simple instructions, then dismounted and personally fed beans and water to the horse under him.

At the same time, Cao Yiqian and others in front of the city wall also reacted to the Uighurs' retreat.

Zhang Huaishen went out of the city and repelled the Uighur cavalry. Although this was partly because the Uighurs wanted to retreat, without Zhang Huaishen's actions, the Uighurs would not have retreated so quickly.

For a moment, everyone around him put away their contempt for Zhang Huaishen. He once again used his actions to tell the major wealthy families in Hexi what his abilities were.

For a whole hour, Zhang Huaishen did not return to the city to enjoy himself. Instead, he waited until the Tang cavalry who were sent out to the city brought back news and confirmed that the Uighurs had retreated thirty miles to the north. Only then did he order the battlefield to be cleaned up and return to the city to rest.

"These Uighurs retreated in such a hurry that they didn't even care about the bodies of their own people."

"They are just a bunch of bastards. They are just taking advantage of the chaos to rob. We will definitely give them a good beating in the future!"

"If you ask me, Governor Zhang and General Liu have to be both wise and brave today, otherwise we would still have to hide in the city."

"That's... the figure of General Liu today... Tsk tsk."

"Fortunately, General Liu Bie is one of ours."

"Don't call me General Liu Bie anymore. After this time, I guess we can call him Liu Guoyi."

"Alas... Liu Guoyi should have been given this position in Qilian City long ago. It's all because of that group..."

"Shh! Stop talking!"

Outside the city, soldiers who were cleaning the battlefield gathered in groups to discuss today's battle, and at the same time they also expressed their indignation for Liu Jilong's experience.

Liu Jilian's identity was very embarrassing in the decision-making level full of powerful people, but he could easily win the recognition of the grassroots soldiers in the army.

As his reputation grew, many people envied the soldiers who fought under him.

From the Battle of Jiuquan to now, in just over half a year, Liu Jilian has risen from a mere herdsman's slave to a sixth-rank Guoyi Duwei in Hexi.

There were many Shandan soldiers among Ganzhou's elite cavalry. They spread the story of Li Ji, Ma Cheng and others following Liu Jilian, which aroused the envy of many soldiers.

It is true that following Liu Jilong into battle is extremely risky, but the rewards are also extremely high.

Thinking of this, many people can't help but sigh.

Anyway, they had no way to follow Liu Jilong. After all, ordinary soldiers were not qualified to go to Shandan.

While they were sighing, Zhang Huaishen and Liu Jilian led the team back to Zhangye City.

Behind the East City Gate corridor, Chief Secretary Cao Yiqian, Suo Xun and others came to the long street to pay their respects and bow to Zhang Huaishen.

"Congratulations to the governor on his triumphant return..."

"We are a little tired from today's battle, let's all go and rest."

Zhang Huaishen was indeed a little sleepy. He had not had a good rest since last night. Seeing this, Cao Yiqian and others did not think he was putting on airs, but returned to their residences.

Before Zhang Huaishen went to rest, he also instructed Liu Jilong to report if he found any signs of the Uighurs turning back, and Liu Jilong naturally agreed.

After Zhang Huaishen left, Suo Xun left with the Suo family members without saying a word.

Liu Jilong rested in the empty yard near the east city gate and washed up.

Sitting in the bathtub, he was so comfortable that he almost fell asleep. If he had not been waiting for Li Ji to report on the movements of the Uighurs, he would probably have already fallen asleep in bed.

From Youshi (17:19) to Xushi (:), seeing that Li Ji had not yet reported the news, Liu Jilian knew that the Uighurs had really retreated.

He struggled to stand up from the bathtub, wiped his body with a rough cloth, and asked Hu Siguang to wipe his body with medicated wine.

Although he was not injured today, he was hit several times by blunt objects in the battle of Qilian Mountains a few days ago, but the injuries were not fatal.

After Huke Siguang wiped the medicinal wine on him, Liu Jilong put on his inner clothes and prepared to rest.

When I fell asleep, it was already the next morning when I woke up.

After being exhausted for many days, Liu Jilong felt refreshed after having such a peaceful sleep.

"Huo Si Guang!"

"The mark is on!"

Liu Jilong had just shouted at the door when he saw Huke Siguang push the door open and bow to him.

"Hasn't Li Ji come back yet?"

Liu Jilong got up and put on his clothes. He felt that the bruises on his body were no longer painful, as if all the injuries had recovered after waking up from a good sleep.

"Reporting to the general, Li Lushuai only returned at sunrise this morning. The Uighurs have already crossed Longshou Mountain and are heading north to Juyan Lake."

"Marshal Li told me not to disturb you and to wait until you wake up."

After Hu Siguang finished explaining, Liu Jilong nodded in satisfaction:
"You should also go and rest. You've been tired all day."

"I traded the mark with someone last night, so I'm not tired now."

Huke Siguang's words made Liu Jilong look at him in surprise.

The elite cavalry of Ganzhou had been exhausted for many days, and Huke Siguang was one of them. They only rested for three or four hours and could not recover at all.

Huke Guang's actions were just short of having the words "I want to improve" written on his face.

Liu Jilong was not disgusted by this. After all, even he himself wanted to climb up, let alone the people below him.

He put on his clothes and casually said to Hu Siguang: "Go and have a rest. Your contributions in these two battles are enough for you to be promoted to captain."

"Thank you General for the promotion!!"

Hu Siguang bowed excitedly, and Liu Jilong shook his head: "Reward for merit and punish for fault, this position is what you deserve."

"After we return to Shandan to reorganize the army, I will make specific arrangements for you to serve as the captain of a regiment. Go and have a rest."

"Yes..." Hu Siguang was shaking with excitement. He slowly left the bedroom and went to a back room in the yard to rest.

Before taking a break, he handed over the matters concerning the yard to a team leader.

Therefore, when Liu Jilian arrived at the main hall, a soldier told him to wait and he would be able to enjoy his meal soon.

This kind of life of doing nothing and waiting for others to serve him made Liu Jilong feel a little comfortable.

When in Shandan, Zhang Huairong was almost a hands-off boss, and Suo Xun was only concerned with demanding soldiers and food, and all the burdens fell on his shoulders.

Now that he had arrived in Zhangye, matters would be managed by Zhangye's Chief Clerk, Deputy Governor and Chief Clerk. He only needed to wait for Zhang Huaishen's military orders.

He sat in the main hall for two quarters of an hour without anything happening to him until a soldier brought him a bowl of chicken stew with rice. Finally, Liu Jilong had something to do.

He devoured the chicken and corn rice in the bowl and soon he was eight-tenths full.

He wanted to go for a walk on the street, but was worried that Zhang Huaishen would not be able to find him later, so Liu Jilong sat down and began to think about Shandan.

Zhang Huaishen’s promise yesterday was still vivid in his mind. As long as he served as the Right Guoyi Commander of Shandan Zhechoufu and concurrently held the position of Shandan Chief Clerk, Li Wei’s son would not be his opponent at all.

Leaving Shandan City to that guy to garrison and taking troops to Liangzhou to weaken the Tibetan power in Liangzhou was undoubtedly a very appropriate arrangement.

However, now that Hexi and the Ganzhou Uighurs are at odds, they also need to guard against the Ganzhou Uighurs in the north, which has become a problem.

As for the south, Lun Kongre should be unable to capture Shanzhou. As long as Shanzhou is safe, there is no need to worry about Shandan to the south.

While guarding the north, leading elite cavalry to attack Liangzhou became his job.

I can't stay in Zhangye for a few days. When I return to Shandan, the first thing I have to do is to solve the pension problem for the Shandan army's fallen soldiers.

Providing relief to the people in various states and counties is one thing, but whether or not one provides relief is another.

Zhang Chang and Chen Jingchong are too old, and their learning abilities are far inferior to those of children and teenagers.

We can take this opportunity to bring the families of the soldiers who died in the battle to Shandan, and raise their brothers and children together.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong thought carefully about how to train them and how to develop Shandan.

There is enough food in the Shandan warehouse to feed the people in the city for two years, and if he wants to develop elite cavalry, he will need enough bean feed. After all, the conversion rate of straw and forage is too low to meet the needs of military horses in combat.

The bean fields in Shandan must be expanded. According to the number of Shandan military horses and the two liters of feed and one bundle of grass they need every day, training five hundred elite cavalrymen would require at least seven thousand dan of horse feed per year.

Just the horse feed would require 10,000 acres of arable land, but the grass could be harvested by sending people.

Although they occupied most of Shandan's arable land, if they could plunder enough herds of livestock, they would be able to free up enough manpower to invest in industries such as papermaking and iron smelting.

If every citizen is mobilized as a soldier, Shandan can mobilize at least two thousand soldiers.

By then, with the addition of the 3,000 armored soldiers in Zhangye and the transfer of 1,000 people from Suzhou, a team of 6,000 armored soldiers could be organized to march eastward. Recovering Liangzhou would no longer be a distant future, but a fact that would happen in the next few years.

I originally wanted to take over Fanhe, but now that I have the opportunity to control Shandan, I can no longer just covet one city or one place.

In history, although the Tang Dynasty had opportunities to recover the Helong area, it was shelved due to the lack of attention from local military governors and the Tang court, which led to the rise of the Tubo in the Six Valleys, which cut off the communication between Hexi and Guanzhong.

Including Liangzhou, there are about fifteen states to the east of Shandan controlled by the tribal envoys and military governors of Tubo.

Although there were Yizhou, Xizhou, Tingzhou and other Anxi and Beiting states in the west, the Han people in the Western Regions were the same as the local ethnic minorities and were too far away from the Tang Dynasty.

Without enough Han people, even if he could dominate the Western Regions, he would eventually become a minority, so the East was his only way out.

Liangzhou is an important town in Hexi, while Lanzhou and Huizhou are important passages between Hexi and Longyou. Even if these places are recovered, the Tang court will find a way to take them back.

Hezhou, Linzhou and Weizhou are too close to the Tang Dynasty, while Shanzhou and Guzhou are too remote.

In this way, it seems that Tao, Min, Song, Die, Dang and other states, which are the core areas of heat fear, are suitable for me.

These places are close to Tubo. Although the pressure on border defense is high, Tubo is now unable to take care of itself and is fully focused on suppressing the rebellion.

After taking one of these states, he could trade with the rebels in Tubo and get the horses he wanted.

The only problem in these states is that after the disaster of fear and heat, there are not many Han people.

However, as long as he led one or two thousand armored soldiers to garrison there, it would not be a problem even if there were twenty or thirty thousand Tibetans there.

Shannan, Jiannan and other places under the rule of the Tang court were not peaceful in the late Tang Dynasty, with bandits rampant. He could take this opportunity to recruit some Han people who had become bandits and increase the sinicization of these places.

In this way, he would also be considered a governor of a state. As long as he did not go against the Tang court, the Tang court would not focus its attention on him.

As for what to do next, he hasn't figured it out yet.

Although he knew the history of the Guiyi Army, he did not know much about the history of the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms. He only vaguely remembered that the Tang Dynasty lasted for 280 to 290 years.

Calculating the time, that means the Tang Dynasty still had another 50 to 60 years of national existence, but during this period it experienced rebellions such as those by Pang Xun, Wang Xianzhi, and Huang Chao.

Although I am not sure if I can live to that time, but if I can really live to that time...

Liu Jilong's thoughts slowed down, and he thought of an object in his mind, the object with eight words engraved on it.

Although he knew the hope was slim, he still wanted to see what the object looked like.

"What am I thinking about..."

After a few light laughs, Liu Jilong shook his head and prepared to go to the government office for a stroll.

Unfortunately, just as he stood up and was about to go out, he saw a straightforward man walking into the courtyard and bowing to him in the main hall in the courtyard.

"General Liu, Li Biejia led the infantry into the city through the south gate. The governor summoned all officials above the seventh rank in the city to the government office for a discussion."

"I'll go right away!"

His good mood vanished when he heard that Li Wei was coming. Liu Jilong responded and prepared himself to be troubled by Li Wei.

(End of this chapter)