Chapter 888: Action (Part 1)
In the early years of the Tang Dynasty, the political situation was clear and the ministers were united. Li Shimin did nothing wrong, so the prime ministers unanimously approved it, and the three ministries stamped their seals, issued the edict, and promulgated it to all the people of the Tang Dynasty.
"I am blessed by the grace of the Supreme Emperor Su Wang, the one who is blessed by the revelation of heaven, the Son of Heaven of all the peoples of China, the Emperor of the Great Tang Empire,
The Emperor of Heaven blesses China and benefits all the people in the four directions. The Emperor of the Tang Dynasty receives the mandate and brings glory to the world. I have made an alliance with the Turkic Jie Li, but Jie Li has violated the alliance, invaded our borders, plundered our people, and invaded our land. His rebellion is intolerable.
Jie Li was extremely licentious, the internal affairs were in disorder, he favored the flatterers, which led to discord between the country and the people. He ignored the past kindness and plundered at will, which was really a conscienceless act.
Our Great Tang has put down its arms and cultivated culture, and respected rituals and music, so we have raised an army of righteousness. All those who have attached themselves to the Turks will be pardoned if they repent and surrender; those who still stubbornly resist to the end with the Turks will be regarded as enemies and will be trampled to pieces.
I respectfully advise all quarters to work together to repel the threat from foreign invaders, to bring peace to the world, to protect the people, and to demonstrate the king's rule.
Li Jing, the acting secretary-general and minister of war, was appointed as the chief military commander of Dingxiang Road and was to lead the central army.
Li Jing was appointed as the chief commander of the expedition against the Turks, and all other commanders were under his control.
The Tang court mobilized a total of six armies, and most of the generals selected were not Li Shimin's old subordinates. People like Yuchi Gong had never been on the expedition, let alone Luo Xuanye.
This was what Li Shimin intended.
There was only one exception, and that was General Luo Xuanling of the Left Thousand Bull Guard. As Li Shimin's confidant, he was still able to lead the army to war and become the leader of a route. Anyone could see that Li Shimin had higher expectations for Luo Xuanling.
As for the reason, it is very simple.
Luo Xuanling is relatively young and is one of the new generation of generals in the Tang Dynasty. Although he was granted the title of Duke, his military achievements are actually not enough compared to others.
He was the only person in the court who had a close relationship with both Li Shimin and Empress Changsun. Li Shimin also promised him that he would give his son a princess later, although Luo Xuanling's son had not yet been born.
Luo Xuanye had nothing to say to Luo Xuanling, but as for Luo Xuanyun, before leaving, Luo Xuanye called Luo Xuanyun to his house.
Luo Xuanye said earnestly: "Seventh brother, you followed King Dou before and missed a lot. Now you must seize the opportunity. The war against Dong Turk will allow countless people to be promoted.
You are following Li Jing, you don't need to think too much, just kill the enemies fiercely. If there is a chance, you should keep a close eye on the Turkic nobles, especially the royal court nobles, preferably Jie Li Khan.
As long as you make great contributions on the front line, I will commend you for your achievements. You don't need to worry about your achievements being embezzled. It doesn't matter if you haven't made any achievements now. There will be plenty of opportunities to make achievements in the future.
In addition, you must pay attention to safety. After all, swords have no eyes on the battlefield, and even ten thousand enemies will be defeated. Besides, your martial arts skills are not that outrageous."
Luo Xuanyun nodded solemnly and said, "Fifth brother, don't worry. I understand. My only goal now is to bring glory to the family and not bring shame to the Luo family."
…
During the Qin and Han dynasties, the Central Plains was not very familiar with the grasslands, and the war with the grasslands at that time was quite difficult. But now the Central Plains and the grasslands have been fighting for hundreds of years, and the general situation on the grasslands has been clearly understood.
For example, some major mountain and river directions, especially the integration of the Xianbei, made it quite easy to conquer the grasslands.
With the issuance of the imperial edict, the war machine prepared by the Tang Dynasty began to operate.
Outside Chang'an City.
Thousands of knights were riding on horses, stretching as far as the eye could see, and the sound of horses neighing could be heard everywhere. These were the most elite cavalry in the entire Tang Dynasty.
The Tang Dynasty's military system is somewhat similar to the Han Dynasty's system of good families, but also very different.
During the Han Dynasty, elite troops usually set out from Chang'an and marched along the way, with other good family men joining the army along the way.
Starting from Chang'an, countless young men from Guanzhong will follow the expedition.
There were hundreds of Zhechoufu in the Tang Dynasty, and one third of them were in Guanzhong alone.
These palace soldiers were also conscripted, but they were usually already on duty in Chang'an, and whoever it was their turn would go to the battle.
Luo Xuanyun followed Li Jing directly out of Dingxiang, while Luo Xuanling sent troops from Hexi. This was arranged for him by Luo Xuanye and Li Shimin.
Because if the three armies could defeat the Dong Turks head-on, Jie Li Khan would not go east to join Tuli Khan, with whom he was in conflict. The most likely possibility was that he would flee westward.
At this time, Luo Xuanling, who was guarding Jie Li Khan's escape route, could play a huge role.
As soon as Luo Xuanling left Longxi County and walked a short distance forward, after entering Hexi, he felt the vastness between heaven and earth. With the wind came a sense of desolation, which was very different from Guanzhong.
He pointed at the land west of the Yellow River with great excitement and said proudly: "This land west of the Yellow River was originally seized from the Xiongnu by our Luo family ancestor, Zhaowu Weigong Luo Hui Wuji. Since then, this land has belonged to our Zhuxia people.
The troops should follow me in paying tribute to the heroes of the past. If we can invite the spirits of the heroes back, is there any reason why we cannot win?"
The Tang army soldiers immediately cheered, so Luo Xuanling led the troops to hold a memorial ceremony to boost the morale of the entire army, and then continued the march.
Luo Xuanling led an army of tens of thousands. After taking possession of Hexi, the Tang Dynasty finally had its own horse farm. The army meandered like a long snake, appearing and disappearing among the undulating hills of the grassland.
Luo Xuanling rode on his horse, constantly checking the rough map, and then issued orders, and thousands of scouts were divided into dozens of teams and spread out in all directions.
The Dong Turks frequently invaded Hexi. The reason why the Tang Dynasty declared war this time was Ashina She'er's harassment of Hexi.
Therefore, Luo Xuanling had to be on guard against encountering the Turkic army at all times.
The time when the Tang Dynasty sent out its troops was gradually approaching winter, which was actually not a very good time, but for the Tang Dynasty, it was no longer important.
Most importantly, the Turks also did not expect that the Tang Dynasty would send troops at this time.
Jie Li Khan's father was a very outstanding grassland leader, but Jie Li Khan was obviously not that kind of person. He could not unite the various tribes on the grassland. He was also very naive in military and political aspects, and had an inexplicable arrogance and pride.
In the beginning, because of the rebellious Emperor Yang of Sui, the Eastern Turks took advantage of the chaos to rise and had the power to intimidate the Han princes. But after the unification of the Central Plains, he should have realized that the Central Plains was no longer what it used to be, but he did not, and still treated the Tang Dynasty the same way he had treated other countries before.
As the general manager, Li Jing decided on a plan to launch a surprise attack on Dingxiang from the very beginning. The reason why he chose the tactic of light cavalry and few followers was mainly because Li Jing was well-versed in military tactics and history.
The current situation between the Tang Dynasty and the Eastern Turks is similar to that between the Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu. The Turks occupy the Hetao area, which is almost the same as the Xiongnu in the early Han Dynasty.
Before the war, Li Jing held a meeting with all the general managers and said, "In the early Han Dynasty, the war with the Xiongnu first went through the battle of Henan, that is, to seize the Hetao area, and then the battle of Hexi, to seize the four counties of Hexi today, and then to contact the Western Regions. Later, the Xiongnu fled far to Mobei, and finally fought two battles in Mobei, killed the Xiongnu Khan twice, and finally destroyed the Xiongnu Khanate.
Although the Tang Dynasty no longer has Hetao, there is no need to go to war with the four counties in Hexi again, so our army can send troops directly from Hexi. The purpose of our army in this war is the Turkic royal court located in Hetao.
You all must keep in mind that as long as we can inflict the greatest damage on the Turks in Hetao, we must wipe them out south of the Yinshan Mountains. If we really let the Turks run to the northern desert, the results will be somewhat unpredictable.
Your Majesty is not willing to fight a protracted tug-of-war. If the Turkic army is allowed to escape to the northern desert, we will not be able to achieve our goal in the end.
I will lead 3,000 light cavalry and head straight for the royal court of the Turkic yamen. Jie Li Khan appears to be powerful but is weak inside, so he will certainly not dare to fight me and will definitely flee with his people. The left and right armies will follow closely behind him and hunt down Jie Li, making sure that no casualties are inflicted on Jie Li's soldiers.
As long as Jie Li's losses grow, the rifts in the Turkic tribe will grow bigger. He is a suspicious person by nature, and a large number of Turkic nobles will definitely betray him. By that time, Jie Li will be doomed."
…
Li Jing led the light cavalry and set out from Mayi, which was not far from Dingxiang. After all, Hetao was too close to the Central Plains, and there were no obstacles along the way.
The most important thing is that Jie Li Khan was indeed a very poor monarch. Among his subordinates, not many were loyal to him. Even his confidants betrayed him and surrendered to the Tang Dynasty. This was basically equivalent to Luo Xuanye's betrayal of Li Shimin. From this we can see how much Jie Li was hated by the Turks.
It was a dark and windy night, a cold winter, and Jie Li Khan could never have imagined that the Tang army would come at this time.
The same thing happened when Luo Wuji and Huo Qubing attacked the Huns camp.
No one could have imagined that someone would suddenly launch an attack in such weather. As for why the Turks did not learn any lessons from the fate of the Huns.
Then we have to mention that it is very difficult for people to learn lessons.
Moreover, the Turks are uneducated!
Turks don't read!
History is a mirror that can help us understand the rise and fall of a nation, but the Turks have no habit of recording history, nor do they have the habit of reading Chinese history, so they have no idea what happened in history.
Many later generations couldn't help but sigh when they saw some people in history making exactly the same mistakes, and asked in great confusion: "Don't they know that so-and-so did so-and-so, and that's it?"
But the fact is that there are very few people in this world who like history, and even fewer people who have read history. Even among those powerful people, only a small number have read history. Therefore, learning from history is something that very few people can do.
Li Jing's tactics were simple, but not easy to execute. He carefully selected 3,000 light cavalry and headed straight for the Turkic camp in Dingxiang.
When he arrived at the Yamen, Jie Li finally realized what was happening. He saw that his trusted general had betrayed him, so he immediately fled with the Turkic guards.
Those guards who were loyal to Jie Li rode their tall war horses and charged at the invading Tang army. In the encounter on the grassland, the two sides had no time to set up any obstacles.
When two brave men meet on a narrow road, the brave one wins!
But facing the sudden attack of the Tang Dynasty light cavalry, many of these Turkic cavalry had not even mounted their horses.
Li Jing shouted loudly: "Capture Jie Li!"
Luo Xuanyun was under Li Jing's command. After all, he was a member of the Luo family, so it was impossible for him to start as a private. Moreover, someone with such superb martial arts skills could also take another path. He followed Li Jing as a pioneer.
Even at high speed, Luo Xuanyun could still feel the ferocious faces of everyone, the breath exhaled by the galloping horses, and the smell of blood that was suddenly spilled.
"boom!"
The war horses collided heavily with each other, and almost in an instant, both horses died. The two knights also stepped into the abyss of death, flew high into the air, and then spit out mouthfuls of blood. Their lives disappeared amidst the flying flesh and blood.
The weapon that Luo Shizi practiced was always the horse lance, an invincible weapon on horseback.
Luo Xuanyun seemed to have returned to the days in Winter City.
It seemed as if I had returned to the days when I fought against the Tang army under Dou Jiande.
His heart was churning.
There are seven brothers in his generation. The eldest brother takes care of the family in Winter City. The second brother, under the guidance of the ancestor, goes to the Western Regions to spread the faith of the Su King. The third brother leads the brave warriors and has a small piece of land in Liaodong with an independent status. The fourth brother is already the prime minister and the Minister of Personnel of the Ministry of Personnel. Not to mention the fifth brother, who is the most important official of the dynasty, second only to the emperor and above everyone else. His importance is so great that he cannot even go on the expedition. The sixth brother is also a duke, one of the sixteen generals of the guards, and the chief steward of all the troops on the expedition. His sister Luo Xuanjing is the lady of the State of Chu and a frontier official.
I alone seemed to have nothing worth mentioning. I also consumed the family's resources, but I did not bring any glory or heritage to the family.
This made Luo Xuanyun somewhat unacceptable.
He also remembered that some time ago, he went to see Prince Dou. Prince Dou was no longer under house arrest, but there was no place for him in the Tang Dynasty.
My glory begins from now on!
Luo Xuanyun was thinking about these things in his mind. He was only in his early twenties and was the youngest among the brothers. He still had many years to grow.
Luo Xuanyun held the horse lance in both hands and charged left and right in the Turkic army. No one could match his enemy. He was so brave and invincible that the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty cheered.
Li Jing was also slightly surprised when he saw this. He had seen the inhuman performances of Luo Xuanye and Luo Xuanling on the battlefield. Now it seemed that although Luo Xuanyun was inferior to Luo Xuanye, he was no less than Luo Xuanling.
How come all of the Luo family members are so good at fighting? The most important thing is that Li Jing saw with his own eyes that Luo Xuanyun was hit hard, but he just made a dull sound and didn't care at all, and rushed up again.
This Luo's tolerance for pain is outrageous. He has absolutely no awareness of his noble birth and fights as if he doesn't care about his life.
Luo Xuanyun only felt his sweat steaming out from every pore in his body. In the cold winter wind, there was even white mist rising, which was produced by a lot of effort in a short period of time.
"kill!"
Luo Xuanyun's abilities, or rather the abilities of the Luo family members, were honed in life and death, in the ice and snow. They were all people who had swam in icy water in winter. Now, this little bit of coldness was nothing to Luo Xuanyun.
He roared loudly, thinking of the tigers in his tribe and his favorite big cat, and he was really like a tiger coming down the mountain.
There is no doubt that the fierce general led the way on the battlefield. He kept moving forward, and the Tang army's light cavalry moved in unison, trampling on mountains and rivers, and charged forward.
The already chaotic Turks had no chance of resisting the Tang army's attack, and Jie Li Khan led his Yazhang army to flee without hesitation.
As for where to escape, it was naturally Yinshan Mountain. The terrain there was more complicated, unlike Hetao which was simple. He planned to reorganize his army there and then fight a decisive battle with the Tang army.
But he didn't know that Li Jing had already made arrangements for this situation before the war, and Li Ji and others were specifically waiting for Jie Li Khan.
During Jie Li Khan's hasty retreat, Li Ji appeared halfway, followed by tens of thousands of Tang Dynasty troops. Li Ji was naturally following Li Jing's orders and was ordered to encircle and suppress Jie Li Khan. The moment Jie Li saw Li Ji's army, he felt his scalp tingling. The Tang army did not give him a chance to breathe and chased him all the way to kill him.
He said fiercely: "If I can let the Khan regroup, I will definitely take revenge and let the Tang Dynasty know that I am powerful and inviolable."
Then he continued to hastily change his destination and fled in another direction of Yinshan Mountain, but Li Jing's arrangement was not just this one. Soon Jie Li Khan encountered another Tang army waiting for him.
He uttered harsh words again and continued to flee, all the way to the foot of Yinshan Mountain, but the Tang army still did not stop chasing him.
Li Jing and Li Shimin are truly the two most outstanding commanders of the time. The two are very similar in some aspects. When Li Shimin was chasing the enemy, he did not eat for two days and did not take off his armor for three days. He kept chasing the enemy until there was no way up to the sky or into the earth, until their mentality completely collapsed and their army was completely dispersed. Now Li Jing is chasing Jie Li Khan for the same reason. After continuous killings, the army around Jie Li Khan has only tens of thousands of people left.
Compared to its peak period, it has been weakened considerably. At least in the short term, in Hetao, Jie Li has lost the ability to fight the Tang Dynasty head-on.
This was all due to Li Jing's non-stop pursuit, which left Jie Li with no time to reorganize his army, causing many troops to flee from the Turks and join other tribes. After all, on the grassland, there were many other tribes besides the Turks.
Many of these tribes had already been secretly communicating with the Tang Dynasty, or had directly surrendered to it. For example, the Xueyantuo tribes were originally vassals of the Eastern Turks, but even the Khan was canonized by the emperor. Winning over the grassland tribes was a major reason for the Tang Dynasty to take action against the Eastern Turks.
(End of this chapter)
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