The fifth day of the fifth month in the first year of the Zhaowu reign of the Tang Dynasty.
Under the leadership of Lan Yu, the Marquis of Anxi of the Tang Dynasty, half of the 100,000-strong Tang army stationed in the Anxi Protectorate (Northern Prefecture) was transferred to attack the Wusun Kingdom to seek justice for the Xiaowan Kingdom, which had been destroyed by Tibis.
The Wusun Kingdom was located southeast of Lake Balkhash, in the Ili River basin. It was one of the more powerful kingdoms in the Western Regions, far surpassing its neighbor, the Xiaowan Kingdom, in terms of territory, population, and economic development.
At the same time, Wusun was one of the few countries in the Western Regions that could assemble tens of thousands of troops, with a total of over 100,000 soldiers that could be mobilized throughout the country.
The neighboring kingdom of Xiaowan was a small country in the Western Regions composed of nomadic peoples, possessing vast fertile grasslands, making it a natural grazing land.
The military strength of Xiaowan Kingdom ranked last among the kingdoms of the Western Regions, with barely over ten thousand soldiers capable of fighting throughout the country.
This is why Tibis, the king of Wusun, had the confidence and strength to destroy the neighboring Xiaowan Kingdom overnight.
The reason why friction and conflict frequently break out between the two countries is that the two sides have long harbored grievances over the dispute over ranches.
Before Chen Huai'an quelled the rebellion in the Western Regions, the Uyghur Khanate, which was the leader of the thirty-six kingdoms in the Western Regions, acted as a peacemaker between the Wusun and Xiaowan kingdoms.
After Chen Huai'an restarted the Silk Road, Lan Yu, the former Grand General and now Marquis of Anxi of the Tang Dynasty, replaced Chen Huai'an, the Prince of Jin and now Emperor Zhaowu of the Tang Dynasty, to maintain the delicate balance among the various kingdoms of the Western Regions.
Who knows if King Tibis of Wusun has recently become so audacious that he suddenly launched a ruthless attack on the neighboring Xiaowan Kingdom, capturing its capital city of Gubi in one night and slaughtering King Maimaiti and all members of the royal family.
News of Lan Yu, the Marquis of Anxi of the Tang Dynasty, leading a large army to conquer the Wusun Kingdom spread like wildfire.
Before the Guan Ning cavalry of the Tang Dynasty had even set foot on the territory of the Wusun Kingdom, Lan Yu, who was on his way to the army, received a request for an audience from Subati, a special envoy of the Wusun Kingdom.
On this day, the Tang army was setting up camp near Lake Balkhash. In five days, the army would reach Chigu City, the capital of the Wusun Kingdom.
"Report—"
"Reporting to the General, Subati, the special envoy of the King of Wusun, requests an audience!"
Inside the central command tent, Marquis Lan Yu of Anxi was gathering his generals around a marching map to discuss the war against the Wusun Kingdom when he suddenly heard a messenger's announcement outside the tent.
Um?
Inside the main tent, Lan Yu, who was scribbling on a military map, frowned, casually tossing his brush onto the map, and said with a cold laugh:
"Hmph, this Tibis, of all times, he had to come just when the might of my Great Tang army was pointing directly at the capital of his Wusun kingdom, Chigu City, to send an envoy to request an audience. What does Tibis want?"
Upon hearing this, a Tang general inside the tent immediately laughed and said, "General, Tibis has sent a special envoy here, surely to admit his mistake and beg for forgiveness!"
snort!
Lan Yu glared at her and retorted irritably, "It's too late to admit your mistake and beg for forgiveness—"
With that, he waved his hand and ordered the messenger outside the tent, "Bring up the special envoy from Wusun!"
"Your subordinate obeys!"
Soon, Subati, the special envoy of King Tibis of Wusun, entered the central command tent of the Tang army under the guidance of a messenger.
Inside the central command tent, the main generals of the Tang army had already taken their seats according to rank.
Marquis Lan Yu of Anxi sat in the main seat of the general in the middle of the tent, flanked by two deputy generals, Tan Li and Luo Quan, and then by a group of Tang generals in armor and swords, sitting upright.
Upon entering the main tent, Subati, the special envoy from Wusun, immediately sensed the tense atmosphere within.
It was an inexplicable pressure, an atmosphere that made it hard to breathe.
Subati knew that this invisible pressure came from the murderous aura emanating from the generals who had fought countless battles and been through mountains of corpses and seas of blood.
This journey is likely fraught with peril, and it's unlikely that his silver tongue will be enough to convince the Tang Dynasty to withdraw its troops!
With things having come to this, Subati had no choice but to bite the bullet and bow to Lan Yu, who was in the main seat.
Subati clenched his right fist, placed it flat in front of his chest, and bowed deeply at a ninety-degree angle to Lan Yu, saying, "Respected General of the Great Tang Dynasty, please allow me, on behalf of King Tibis of the Wusun Kingdom, to extend the highest respect to the Great Emperor and General of the Great Tang Dynasty;"
"Welcome, General, to our warm and hospitable Wusun Kingdom!"
Although one shouldn't hit a smiling face, the fierce general Lan Yu, who was simmering with anger and looking for an outlet, didn't care about such things. He directly retorted with a cold smile: "Very well, then this general and the 50,000 Tang soldiers outside the tent will thank King Tibis for his kindness in advance!"
"Tomorrow morning, I will personally lead 50,000 Tang soldiers to visit the hospitable Wusun Kingdom!"
Forehead--
Upon hearing Lan Yu's words, the smile on the face of Subati, the special envoy from Wusun Kingdom, immediately froze.
After a moment, he smiled again and said, "General, you are joking. Your 50,000 Tang soldiers are not visiting our Wusun Kingdom. They are clearly coming to our Wusun Kingdom to demand an explanation!"
snort!
Lan Yu snorted coldly, his face expressionless, and said, "Since you all know what I'm going to do, why bother coming here to waste your breath? Let your King Tibis prepare for his funeral."
"This time, I will not sound the retreat until my Tang army's iron cavalry has utterly crushed your Wusun Kingdom!"
Upon hearing this, Subati's forced smile froze again, and he said helplessly, "General, I think you must have a misunderstanding about our Wusun Kingdom."
"The truth behind our Wusun Kingdom's military campaign against Xiaowan Kingdom is not as widely rumored. It is because our Wusun Kingdom intends to seize Xiaowan Kingdom's pastures for grazing during the summer when rainfall is abundant and grasslands are lush."
"In fact, it was because King Maimaiti of Xiaowan secretly trained a group of assassins who quietly infiltrated the capital of Wusun, intending to assassinate my King;"
"This is why the King of Wusun had no choice but to personally lead his troops to Xiaowan to demand an explanation..."
In the main tent, in front of Lan Yu and a group of Tang generals, Subati recounted the whole story of how Wusun Kingdom had sent troops to Xiaowan Kingdom.
However, his version is completely different from the version given by Bas, the special envoy of Xiaowan who risked his life to escape from the capital Gubi and go to Anxi Protectorate to report the news and seek help, carrying the dying wish of King Maimaiti of Xiaowan.
According to Bas, the special envoy of Xiaowan Kingdom, it was because King Tibis of Wusun Kingdom coveted the fertile pastures of Xiaowan Kingdom that he brazenly sent troops to annex Xiaowan Kingdom and killed King Maimaiti and his royal family.
According to Subati, the special envoy of Wusun, it was Maimaiti, the king of Xiaowan, who harbored resentment towards King Tibis of Wusun. He secretly trained assassins to infiltrate the Wusun capital and assassinate Tibis, but failed.
Tibis had no choice but to lead his troops to Xiaowan to demand an explanation.
Furthermore, King Maimaiti and his royal family of Xiaowan Kingdom did not die tragically at the hands of the soldiers of Wusun Kingdom. When King Tibis of Wusun Kingdom led his troops into the palace, King Maimaiti and his royal family of Xiaowan Kingdom had already been murdered in the palace hall.
Finally, Subati solemnly declared, "General, our King of Tibis has always kept in mind the teachings of the Great Emperor of Tang, and has even had the Great Emperor's golden words—'May the Western Regions and the Silk Road be as close as one family, with no more wars—framed and hung high in the royal palace."
"That is why, in the last border skirmish with the Kingdom of Xiaowan, our King Tibis exerted great restraint and petitioned the Grand General for assistance."
"If, if my Wusun Kingdom truly intended to annex Xiaowan Kingdom, how could we have waited until now?"
After a pause, Subati continued, "General, if the Tang Dynasty were to wage war against our Wusun Kingdom because of baseless slanders against us, it would not only be a desecration of the imperial edict of the Great Emperor of Tang, but also a slander against the millions of people of our Wusun Kingdom!"
"Subati, you're distorting the truth, spewing false accusations, and you're the one who started the trouble by accusing others!"
Suddenly, a figure darted out from the corner of the tent; it was Bas, the special envoy from Xiaowan Kingdom who had accompanied the army.
His eyes were bloodshot and filled with tears as he pointed at Subati's nose, saying, "Now that my King of Xiaowan has passed away and more than three hundred members of the royal family have perished, your Wusun Kingdom can certainly pin all the blame and accusations on my Xiaowan Kingdom."
"Anyway, there's no way to prove it now that they're dead, right?"
Bass was extremely agitated, his whole body trembling uncontrollably, and he continued to roar: "But you have overlooked one point. I, Bass, a courtier of the Xiaowan Kingdom, the king's personal attendant, personally witnessed the atrocities committed by your Wusun people in the royal palace of the capital, Gubi;"
“Those demons, clad in the armor of your Wusun royal guard and wielding the unique scimitars of your Wusun royal guard, indiscriminately slaughtered anyone they saw in the palace hall, sparing not even infants still in swaddling clothes;”
"You, you demons, will die a horrible death! You'll all be going to hell sooner or later!"
puff--
Overwhelmed with emotion, Bass recalled the horrific scene in the palace hall that day. He could no longer hold back and spat out a mouthful of blood. His vision went black and he collapsed in the tent.
For a moment, the huge central command tent fell into complete silence.
Sitting upright in the commander's seat, Lan Yu looked at the unconscious Xiaowan Kingdom envoy Bas, and then at the solemn-faced Wusun Kingdom envoy Subati, but he was somewhat undecided.
Other Tang generals were in the same boat. Faced with conflicting accounts from the envoys of the two countries and a perplexing case, they were at a loss as to what to do.
Subconsciously, all the Tang generals turned their gazes to Marquis Anxi, Lan Yu, awaiting the general's final decision!
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