Crown Tang emperor

The Turkic thieves didn't know the reality of Yuanzhou. After they entered Pinggao City, they thought everything would be fine, but they didn't expect that Pinggao City didn't have much material reserves, and only some caravans stationed in some ways suffered.After realizing the reality, the whole army hastily marched towards Qingshui Valley.

However, when the Turkic cavalry arrived, the armies here were already ready.Although the Turkic cavalry came and went like the wind, they were impatient to attack.

In particular, the Qingshui River Valley is surrounded by seventeen cities, forming a corner of each other, and the whole body is affected by one hair. Although the defenders are only in the early 20s, they trapped the Turkic raiders here for nearly [-] days.

If the Qingshui River Valley was not conquered, the Turkic raid on Yuanzhou would be of little significance. Although the sweeping of other situations was also quite fruitful, if the fat meat was in front of them, how could these wolf riders be willing to leave if they didn't eat it all at once.

Although the Turks also have other options, such as going south along the Jingshui and going straight into the hinterland of Guanzhong, or crossing the Piyuan and plundering Qingzhou eastward.However, this time the Turks went south along the Helan Mountains, which had taken advantage of surprises. If they continued to go deep into the territory of the Tang Dynasty, the risk would undoubtedly increase several times.

And if the Qingshuihe Valley, the stronghold of the Tang army, was not removed first, no matter where the Turks moved, this army would be a sharp knife against their backs.So even though the city is integrated and very difficult to crack, the Turkic cavalry still have to stay here to die.

The Tang army was well-equipped, not to mention that Yuanzhou was originally the gateway to Guanzhong and the rear base of the garrison of the Hequ states, with a surplus of all kinds of military supplies.

Although the Turkic cavalry has plundered the north and south of the desert and the border states of the Tang Dynasty in the past few years, the military appearance has been quite good, but it is still not as good as the Tang army.Perhaps the Eastern Turkic armed forces in its heyday were comparable to the Tang army, but it obviously did not include the post-Turkic remnants in front of us.

The more than 200 Turkic cavalry outside the city wore light leather armor, and occasionally a piece of iron was attached to the chest, and there were even few iron pockets.Of course, it is also related to their tactical choice at the moment. Maintaining the momentum of clutching, retaining the power to come and go, and reducing armor can reduce the consumption of war horses.

In order to reduce their own consumption, the Turkic cavalry chose to recruit and expel the wild people to participate in the battle.

In Yuanzhou, Hu and Han lived together. Some Hu people were not used to living in the city, but nomadic along the river valley.The Yuanzhou guards were able to organize the defense of Qingshui River Valley in a hurry, and they were already prepared for danger in times of peace and quick to respond, and they had no spare power to restrain or disperse these people in the wild.

So these Hu people became consumables for being rushed to the battlefield by the Turkic cavalry.Of course, there were also quite a few Tang people who were plundered by the Turks. After the Pinggao city was broken, thousands of people were captured in the city.

But the lives of the Tang people are much more valuable than these miscellaneous beards. The Tang people themselves have farming and weaving and various crafts.When necessary, it can be used as a condition for negotiating with the officers and soldiers of Datang.

Moreover, once the Tang people are driven to the battlefield, it is possible that these Tang people will immediately turn against and counterattack their battle formation, thus creating opportunities for the defenders to cooperate internally and externally to attack and kill the enemy.

When the Turks first raised their troops and restored their country, they suffered a lot in this regard. Later, the Tang people they captured were either quietly besieged and killed, or gathered behind the formation to guard them strictly.It was just that some captured Tang officials were taken into battle to intimidate them and shake the morale of the defenders.

Although they are all Hu people, the Turkic people have little sympathy for the Hu people outside their own tribe, and even more hatred than the Tang people.

Originally, the Eastern Turkic Jieli Khan was once the overlord of the desert, and all the Hu tribes had to submit to his king's account. Le took the lead in betraying Jieli Khan and surrendering to Datang.

In the view of the Turks, the betrayal of the nine surnames Tie Le directly caused the fall of the Turkic Han Kingdom. If it were not for the rebellion of these slaves, the Turks might still be the overlord of the grasslands.

Of course, it is not wronged that Tie Le with the nine surnames was so hated by the Turkic people.After the collapse of the Eastern Turks and Jieli Khan, Xue Yantuo dominated Monan and retaliated against the rest of the Eastern Turks.

Even after the Tang Dynasty arranged the remaining Eastern Turkic tribes in the Hequ states, Xue Yantuo Yinan Khan even led the army to directly attack the remaining Turkic tribes in this area to express his dissatisfaction with the Tang Dynasty. Turks, making its hegemony more consolidated.

And this crazy move also directly caused Xue Yantuo's downfall.When Emperor Taizong clearly expressed his dissatisfaction with Yinan Khan, the Tiele tribes that originally surrounded Xue Yantuo also dispersed one after another. Finally, in the 21st year of Zhenguan, Xue Yantuo was attacked by Li Ji, ending his sloppy grassland hegemony.

In the final analysis, Xue Yantuo didn't understand the temperament of the generation of monarchs and ministers who founded the Tang Dynasty.

In the ninth year of Wude, Emperor Taizong Li Shimin had just completed the transformation of Xuanwu Gate and became the emperor of the Tang Dynasty. Jieli Khan led an army of [-] to the north of Weibei, which is a short distance from Chang'an.Under internal and external troubles, Li Shimin was forced to make an alliance with Jieli Khan under the city.

In the fourth year of Zhenguan, Jieli Khan visited the old place again, but this time he did not show off his power, but entered the court as a prisoner of war to plead guilty.In just four years, the monarchs and ministers of the Tang Dynasty succumbed to hardships and overthrew the Eastern Turks, the overlord of the grasslands.

Facing such a monarch and ministers, Xue Yantuo Yinan Khan actually dreamed of being able to replace the Eastern Turkic hegemony in the grasslands.

Because of this past, the rest of the Turkic people hated Tie Le with the nine surnames to the extreme.

Gu Dulu rebelled against the Tang Dynasty, and the first pot of gold was obtained from Tie Le, the surname Jiu. Le's resentment is evident.

Therefore, the Turkic cavalry who invaded Yuanzhou did not treat the local Hu people as human beings at all.These rebels subverted their hegemony, and wanted to make trouble and drive them to extinction. Now they seize the opportunity to consume these lives. It is not only revenge, but also to wear down the combat effectiveness of the Tang army.

"These thieves and beards, are they going south around the pass, are they just to kill people? Lushuai Zhou, why don't we go out of the city in armor and charge for a ride? Those beards outside the city have a lot of time to worship. Some can't bear it."

A soldier snapped his strings and shot a barbarian who was about to turn over the city to reject his horse. He couldn't help but turned his head and said to the soldier commander.

As soon as this remark came out, many soldiers on the top of the city turned their heads and looked in agreement.Those barbarians charging forward outside the city were unarmed at all, and some rushed forward with felt and sand on their backs, completely unable to resist the flying arrows shot from the city.

The battle has been going on for more than a quarter of an hour so far. In fact, those Hu people who rushed to the battle had already collapsed, but they were surrounded by a group of Turkic cavalry in the slopes outside the city.Forward is death, and backward is also dead.

Up to now, most of the defenders in the city have shot and killed people who panicked and approached the city defense line, but in fact, their livers and gallbladders have been torn, and their actions are meaningless.Therefore, the guards also hated the Turkic cavalry outside the city who disregarded human life and flaunted their might. They didn't want to shoot those random herdsmen anymore, and wanted to kill the Turkic thieves directly.

"What nonsense are you talking about? It's a pity for the lives of people outside the city, but it's not a pity for the lives of my soldiers?"

After hearing the words, the soldier commander immediately frowned and snorted coldly: "Cheer up! The Turks attacked thousands of miles away and invaded Yuanzhou without a sound. Could it be that they really have no power to fight? It's a waste of human life right now. Power, I don’t know what kind of evil intentions I have! Anyone who comes close to rejecting horses will be shot and killed. Those Hu people may be poor, but once the city is broken, they will be accomplices. No long-range shooting, no collection of our army’s arrows for Turkic rangers Ya's chance!"

At this time, a cavalry team of more than 2000 people was slowly approaching Qingshui River Valley behind Poling, a few miles away from Qingshui River Valley.

This team is well-armed. The armor wrapped in a sheepskin bag is hung on the side of the saddle. The braids are tied into a bundle with rubber bands, and the brim of the felt hat on the top of the head hangs between the ears.

If anyone who went in and out of the desert in the early years saw the outfits of this group of cavalry, they would definitely exclaim in surprise, this is the attached wolf cavalry directly led by the Turkic Khan Yazhang!Wolves haunted and Khan arrived, this was once a nightmare for the entire Mobei group!Now, the nightmare has returned to the world.

Chapter 0567 bloody battle in the river valley, Erlang Yingwu

In the evening, the elite Turkic wolf cavalry suddenly launched a fierce attack on the Qingshui River Valley.

For a time, the battle outside the valley was extremely fierce.After a long period of exhaustion, the defenders of the outer sub-cities were all exhausted and tired. They interspersed and surrounded the castles, cutting off the echo and support between the castles, and then launched an attack on the surrounded castles.

Although Turkic wolf cavalry are not good at attacking fortified positions, both their equipment and fighting will are far superior to those of the herdsmen who used to consume the defenders' fighting power.Especially in the few sub-cities stationed on the outskirts, there are not many arrows in the city, and the rear has not had time to replenish them.

The wolf riders got off their horses and put on their armor, and then charged down the city. After successfully reaching the bottom of the castle, they used iron cones and sledgehammers to destroy the outer wall of the castle.

Most of these small cities are made of local materials and rammed earth for the walls. Although the earth walls are as hard as stone, they still have weaknesses. Once the enemy troops approach the walls and destroy them, the defense situation has become precarious.

Although the defenders in the city still had the advantage of being commanding, the wolves on the periphery kept shooting around the city, suppressing the counterattack on the top of the city to the point where they couldn't hold their heads up.

"Kill the thieves and kill the country, that's the day!"

Seeing that there was no way to escape, some city guard commanders personally led more than half of the guards to get off the city and mount their horses. Before the Turks completely destroyed the city wall, they opened the city gate and rushed out.

This kind of scene was staged in many places. Some Tang soldiers who defended the city were lucky, and successfully killed the wolf riders who stuck to the city and destroyed the outer wall, and retreated to the city to rest before the Turks increased their troops.Arrows fell like rain on the top of the city, and no one could get close, and they cooperated tacitly with the cavalry in the city who were waiting to attack at the right time.

Others didn't have such good luck, and the arrows in the city were consumed a lot, which was no longer enough to form a cover for the cavalry comrades who attacked.

So when the cavalry broke out of the city gate, the rest of the defenders went down the city wall after shooting all the remaining arrows, and retreated to the warehouse in the center of the castle. Throwing the bow into the fire, drew out the saber that he carried with him, and lined up at the entrance of the sandwiched passage leading to the warehouse to wait for the enemy.

The Turkic Wolf Riders are the most elite Khan guards, and they are all the elite of the clan, and their armed forces are even better than ordinary Tang soldiers.They had built up their morale for a long time and came prepared. Once the defenders were exhausted and forced out of the city, they entered the battle rhythm they were familiar with.

When the Tang army defending the city rushed out of the city gate, the Turkic soldiers under the city stuck to the wall to support their shields to avoid being hacked by the Tang army cavalry.At the same time, the Turkic cavalry who were cruising and blocking the city defense outside the horse defense line also drew their bows and shot at the Tang army, and gradually approached on horseback.

"Forward!"

The commander of the city guard made a decision after quickly surveying the situation on the battlefield. The Turkic thieves came prepared. When the internal and external echoes were lost, leaving the city meant abandoning the city.

In this situation where the enemy is strong and we are weak and the mobility is compressed, guerrilla warfare will only become more and more empty, and only go straight to the head, confront each other head-on, wrestle in the field, and win with courage.

Seeing the Tang army rushing forward fearlessly, the Turkic cavalry avoided confrontation, but wandered and avoided in the valley between the castles.

As a result, the Tang army who went out to pursue them fell into a dilemma. They could either return to defend the castle and fall into the predicament of fighting each other again, or continue to chase the Turkic wolf riders in order to integrate the forces of the cities.

The number of Turkic wolf cavalry is not large, but due to their high mobility, after joining the battle, they revitalized the entire battle situation.

The castle that the herdsmen were unable to attack for a long time, when the wolf cavalry entered the battlefield, it brought great pressure to the Tang army defending the city. With the consumption of equipment, it is difficult to continue to defend the city, and the battle needs to be changed rhythm and manner.

Wolf cavalry is better than clutch, and can choose the target of attack at will.And the cavalry and herdsmen who invested in the early stage did not withdraw from the battlefield. When the defenders were forced out, they played a confusing effect again.

Some castle guards were forced out, and then led away by wolf riders. The remaining empty castles were no longer as difficult to remove as before.The herdsmen, who were already frightened to death, began frantically flocking towards the castle.

Soon, thick smoke was burning in some castles.This is when some castles were completely destroyed, and the soldiers who stayed behind set fire to the warehouses in the city.

As the first thick smoke rose, two more thick smokes shot straight into the sky, faintly forming a character shape in the Qingshui River Valley, which meant that within a very short period of time after the wolf cavalry joined the battle, there were successive attacks. Three castles are lost.

There was not much shelter between the river valleys. When the three thick smokes rose, almost both the enemy and us in the entire theater could see them.

The Turkic thieves were naturally ecstatic when they saw this. They have been entangled with the Tang army in this valley for so long, but they have never made a breakthrough. Now that the wolf riders have joined the battlefield, in less than a quarter of an hour, three castles of the Tang Dynasty were destroyed. breach.

Especially in the past period of time, they have already inquired clearly that the sub-cities of Qingshuihe Valley are the core of the collection of materials in Yuanzhou.So those few lines of rising smoke are wealth everywhere for them.

At this time, not only the Turkic soldiers were overjoyed, but the Humin who had been kidnapped also rushed towards the direction where the thick smoke rose.They may not have the guts to loot the spoils under the eyes of the Turks, but the rising smoke always means a turning point.

Whether the Tang Dynasty wins or the Turkic wins in this battle, it has nothing to do with them.Continuing to stay on the battlefield is just being chased and killed wantonly, and rushing into the castle can at least cover up a little.

"Stop, stop! You thugs, do you want to die?"

The Turkic cavalry who were in charge of controlling these miscellaneous beards yelled loudly, and wanted to continue to control the direction of movement of these herdsmen, but even if they beat and chopped, those Huns still rushed towards the city that had already been breached. go.

At the same time, the sound of drums and horns suddenly sounded in the Tang army city located in the middle of the valley, and the sound spread quickly to the surrounding fields, and within a short while, all the cities responded.

Accompanied by the sound of drums and horns, the gates of each sub-city suddenly opened, and the guards of the sub-city who had been guarding each other had already put on their armor and mounted their horses, their iron hoofs were thundering, and they squeezed straight to the front center of the war zone.

Looking down from mid-air at this time, the Turkic Wolf Riders were still rushing left and right like a dragon, but the auxiliary soldiers who were originally scattered on the battlefield gathered into three teams and headed for the three broken cities separately. This Turkic wolf became a lone army riding on the battlefield.

On the contrary, the defenders of the Tang Dynasty, who had been passive because of the need to defend the city, regained the initiative at this moment. More than a dozen cavalry teams rushed out of their respective castles and rushed to the Turkic wolf cavalry in the central theater from all directions. go.

"Retreat, withdraw quickly! It's a trap! The Tang people are treacherous, and they used the city to lure me to share my strength!"

On the battlefield, the Turkic wolf riders who were originally unstoppable quickly discovered something was wrong. They were originally separated and separated on the battlefield, as if they were in a no-man's land.But once the auxiliary department was pulled away, Tang soldiers and horses appeared in all directions, and they immediately became a group of living targets.

So Tutun, a tall and burly commanding officer with colorful satin braided hair in the team, shouted loudly.

Although the sound of horseshoes in the surrounding area was thunderous, and some human voices had been scattered and drowned by the sound waves, they could not be conveyed at all, but after the Turkic general shouted out the military order, the guards around him immediately shot Ming Di, and the sharp whistle sounded through the air.

The commanders in charge of the horn orders in the team also blew the horns to restrain the soldiers. The whole team quickly completed the change of military orders and retreated to the periphery of the battlefield.

But the Tang army was also sticking to their fighters, so how could they let this Turkic elite quickly withdraw from the battlefield? Therefore, after seeing the Turkic wolf riders complete their turn, the troops in each city continued to accelerate forward without paying attention to their horsepower.

The Tang army who rushed out of the city did not pay attention to the coordination of the army formation and the tactics of warfare. They just controlled the horses, held the spears tightly, and stabbed the Turkic wolf cavalry from all directions.

With such an offensive, all clutch changes are useless.Although in actual comparison, the Turkic wolf cavalry, as the elite Khan guards, surpassed the defenders in Yuanzhou in terms of armament and combat effectiveness.After all, the Tang Dynasty has a vast territory, and it is impossible to deploy elite soldiers in all states. If it is really a field battle, it may not be the opponent of this group of wolves.

But now, more than a dozen teams rushed out from their respective strongholds, and the horsepower stored by the horses burst out in an instant, as if sharp blades and arrows pierced the cavalry formation of the Turkic wolf cavalry.

As soon as the two sides came into contact, blood splattered, and the spear carrying Mo Dali's sharp point pierced through both men and horses.

The elite wolf cavalry who originally coordinated well were pierced through unreasonably. They may be one of a hundred warriors in the desert. They were carefully selected by the Khan and put on fine armor as their elite guards.

But now, it was penetrated and harvested like grass and trees.In this round of charge alone, dozens of Turkic wolf riders were killed by the impact.Of course, Tang Jun's losses were not small, even equal to each other. After all, this high-speed sprint poses great risks to both the enemy and us.

However, this round of Tang Jun's charge directly reversed the situation on the battlefield and severely thwarted the fierce flames of these wolf riders.

Moreover, under the high-speed impact of the Tang army, they not only pierced the Turkic cavalry formation, but also directly tore more than 200 wolf knights from the brigade.After the more than 200 wolf riders were separated, they were quickly interspersed and wrapped by the Tang army, and they remained on the battlefield here forever.

"Your Lang Yingwu is finally able to wash away the humiliation of breaking the city!"

Located on the tower of Qingshuizi City in the middle of the river valley, Yuanzhou Inspector Denggao overlooked the battle situation in Pinggu several miles away, and couldn't help applauding the soldiers who fought bravely outside the city, and at the same time ordered: "Send another five hundred troops. Let's attack and drive out the wolf riders!"

As early as more than ten days ago, Qingshuihe Valley had been accumulating the power of this blow, and the wolf rider threw himself into the trap, but retreated after being frustrated. This was undoubtedly a great boost to the morale of the defenders.

However, at this moment, outside the valley, beyond the three streams of thick smoke, several strands of thick smoke shot up into the sky one after another, which meant that not long ago, several successive sub-cities on the outer periphery were breached!

The Qingshui Tang army used Zicheng to lure the Turks, and the Turks also opposed it. The wolf cavalry on the battlefield where the Tang army thought it was the main force of the Turks turned out to be the same bait used by the Turks to lure the Tang army to gather troops to attack. Conquer the sub city!

"No matter! Keep killing, kill all the wolf riders left on the battlefield!"

Seeing the newly rising smoke, Governor Feng Jingyu gritted his teeth and ordered to continue the attack.There are not many Turkic wolf riders, and it is extremely difficult to train them. If you kill one, you will lose one.

Chapter 0568 Anjing hero, the crime of losing land

The Battle of the River Valley lasted until nightfall, when both sides withdrew their troops and returned to their positions.

After more than ten days of low-intensity attacks, the Turks finally showed their true strength on this day, breaking through seven sub-cities on the outskirts of the valley. In addition to the three sub-cities that the Tang army voluntarily gave up, there were four other castles. It also fell into the hands of the Turks, and after the battle, its army officially entered the valley area, facing the Tang army across the city, and the closest place to each other was only more than a hundred feet away.

Of course, the Tang army also gained a lot in this battle, directly leaving the lives of more than 300 Turkic wolf riders on the battlefield.

This is definitely a rather gratifying record. It should be noted that in the era of Jieli Khan in the heyday of the Turks, there were no more than [-] Yazhangwolves riding, which was enough to shock hundreds of people in the desert.Today, these Turkic remnants are not the same as those in the Xieli era, and the number of wolf riders is naturally smaller.

Moreover, most of these Turkic elites followed Khan in and out most of the time, which was the core of the Turkic army.During Gu Dulu's ravages, he regarded the bodyguard cavalry he had worked so hard to train as his life, and would not easily go into battle unless it was a crucial battle.

Even in the battles in which famous generals such as Cheng Wuting and Hei Chi Changzhi defeated the Turks several times, the number of Turkic wolf cavalry captured and killed was not many, which shows that the Turks protected this Khan guard closely.

Now on the Qingshuihe Valley battlefield, the Yuanzhou garrison is strictly speaking a newly defeated army. They were able to kill more than 300 elite wolf cavalry in a counterattack. This is definitely a result worth boasting about.

But now, in the cities of Zhuzi still under the control of Tang Jun, there is generally a depressive atmosphere.

Although this battle killed a considerable Turkic force, the Tang army directly lost seven sub-cities, and the defense system of the entire Qingshui River Valley was no longer as seamless as before.

Nearly half of the cities were lost, and the defense of the remaining cities was also destroyed. In particular, Qingshui City, as the center of the valley, was directly exposed to the Turkic rebels, which greatly reduced the defense capabilities of the entire valley.

Compared with this loss, the gains in the previous battle are really nothing.Most of the Turkic wolf cavalry have successfully withdrawn from the battlefield, and they still have the power to fight again.Moreover, several sub-cities were quickly breached, which meant that apart from the teams that appeared on the frontal battlefield, the Turkic army from the south still had other considerable forces.

Under the ebb and flow, it is really not optimistic whether the Zhuzicheng will be able to withstand the next attack of the Turks.

"Annoying, annoying! I have already hooked a wolf rider, but I didn't expect the saddle belt to break and almost killed myself. I just watched the wolf rider escape... those stupid people in the camp, they really deserve to die! If there is still life after the war, I will definitely beat up the supervisor who failed his duty!"

In Qingshui City, the wounded who returned from the battlefield were receiving medical treatment. The loss of Zicheng made people feel depressed, coupled with the urging pain, all the wounded were full of resentment.

"Haha, I'm lucky this time. I cut off two thieves' heads. After rewarding my meritorious service, I'm afraid I can also receive honors and go to the Zhu Kingdom? Alas, it's a pity that I may not return alive, otherwise the words left on the stele will also shine in the village. Go to Zhu Guo, hey... Those idiots in Lingzhou really deserve to die! There are at least ten thousand thieves, how can they quietly bypass the Lingzhou garrison? They killed me!"

"Does the imperial court know about the Turkic invasion? We have kept the thieves here for more than half a month, why is there no news of reinforcements? The fate of the country is not good, how many years have passed? In previous years, I could only lick boots on the soles of my Tang Dynasty Turkic thieves are now able to come and go freely in the country..."

"After such a long time, the imperial court must have known the news. The reinforcements in the pass will arrive soon, and the Turkic thieves dare not stay in the country for a long time."

Amidst the many complaints, a slightly hoarse voice sounded. Everyone looked around and saw an old man in a gray robe, who seemed to be a medical worker in the city.

Although the medical worker looks inconspicuous, his words are attractive, especially now that the city's joint defense system has been destroyed, and the reinforcements in the territory have become the only hope for the defenders.

A wounded man couldn't help but said: "The governor has a lot of things, so tell me, how many soldiers can the imperial court send to help? When will they arrive?"

Before the old man could open his mouth after hearing the words, there was another scolding voice from the other side: "Old thief, it takes so long to ask you to get the creation medicine? Are you going to kill me!"

Hearing the scolding, the old man didn't dare to delay any longer, he hurriedly searched the medicine box, found a patch of creative medicine and hurried back to the wounded, attracting it to apply to the wounded.