Chapter 315 Anxi Strategy (V)

Many things are like this. When you think of a possibility and don’t want things to develop to that possibility, things will fall on this probability. As Zhang Huan guessed, the sudden retreat of the Tubo army was the agreement between Tubo and Dashi to divide Anxi. At noon yesterday, at the same time when Zhang Huan’s army arrived in Kucha, envoys from Dashi also arrived at the temporary palace of Zampu, Chisong Dezan of Tubo.

Dashi is like a hungry man who will never be able to eat enough land. After the Battle of Talas in the eighth year of Tianbao, Dashi gradually occupied the vast territory west of the Datang Pao Mountains. Its eyes immediately turned to the vast land of Tochar. After defeating the Tubo people and occupying Tochar, the Dashi people looked back and looked east again, crossed the Pao Mountains, and peered at the eastern land full of silk and porcelain.

However, the powerful combat power shown by the Tang Dynasty in the Battle of Talas made the cannibals deeply remember it. It was like a wolf afraid of hunting rifles, and never dared to cross the Palacioles - the threshold of the Tang Dynasty.

The turning point of the matter came two months ago. The Tang army severely beat the lackeys of the Gelulu people in Beiting, almost annihilated all its vitality. Geluo was panicked and asked the Great Veteran for help. Until then, the Great Veteran decided to take the first step tentatively. For this reason, it needed a springboard, and Shule was the first springboard it took. It occupied Shule and achieved the commanding heights of the eastward advance.

In August, Aros, the governor of Tochar, finally waited for Baghdad's orders. The Caliph Mehdi personally ordered to seize Shule and prevent the Tang army from advancing westward. This meant that the expansion of the cannibal began to take a substantial step in the eastward expansion, and the situation in Anxi became subtle.

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The city of Paishuang (Today's Aksu), is an important transit city on the Silk Road. It is also the capital of Gumo Kingdom, the 36 countries in the Western Regions. The population is about 3,000 households and 24,000 people. The Tubo army has been stationed in this city for more than a month, especially the Tubo Zampo, which has made the city more vigilant and the entry and exit of any person must be strictly investigated.

Although the Tubo army had already gone east more than ten days ago, the city was still as cautious as usual, because Tubo Zanpu Chisong Dezan was seriously ill and failed to follow the army.

To be precise, Chisong Dezan was not sick. He was shot by a poisonous wanderer while competing for Tochar. Although the big cannibal was given a drug later, the toxicity had entered the internal organs and was helpless. In the end, what awaited him was to slowly move towards death.

At this moment, Zanpu, who created the glory of Tubo generation, was almost at the end of his life. He lay on a Hu bed, covered with a thick mattress, staring at the passing midsummer outside the window, and autumn in Anxi has arrived.

The seasons can be changed over and over again, but human life is only once. Death is not afraid of Chisong Dezan. In his opinion, that is the only way to enter the Western Paradise. What he is worried about is Tubo. Behind him, where will Tubo go?

Chisong Dezan's mother was Princess Jincheng of the Tang Dynasty. In his blood, the broad-mindedness of the Tang Dynasty was also flowing in his blood. However, in the harsh living environment of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the broad-mindedness evolved into the ambition of fighting all directions. Chisong Dezan's life was almost a history of external expansion. To the east, he captured Hehuang and Hexi, and attacked Longyou of the Tang Dynasty; To the south, he joined forces with Nanzhao to attack Jiannan Bashu, plunder slaves and wealth; To the west, he marched westward to Tianzhu, and occupied Tocharo; To the north, he occupied Anxi, and looked at Beiting, and even sent troops west of the Pamir Mountains.

Decades of war in the south and north have exhausted the power of Tubo, and hundreds of thousands of armoured people have disappeared. It was not until his life was about to end that he finally woke up, but what could he leave for Tubo at this time?

The slaves in the east, the land in the west, and the glory in the north were all shattered. Even the big and small Bolu, who had been loyal to Tubo for decades, turned against each other and turned to the big food. Now, the last piece of land conquered by the Tubo people in Anxi has gradually disappeared under the aggressive momentum of the Tang army.

It is necessary to leave a door to revival for Tubo. This strong idea made Chisong Dezan resolutely decide to reach an agreement with the Great Heroes to divide Anxi. The north is bounded by Bazengcheng, the east is bounded by Tubo, the west is bounded by Dashi, and the south is bounded by Yutian Town, and the east is Tubo, and the west is Dashi. In this way, the Tubo general and Dashi will join forces with Dashi to deal with the westward advance of the Tang army. Tubo still has more than 40,000 troops, while Dashi sent 50,000 troops, and the two families had a total of 100,000 troops, which was just in line to compete with the Tang army. On the day of the agreement, Chisong Dezan immediately ordered the Tubo army that marched into Kucha to retreat westward and retreat to the front line of Bazengcheng, waiting to join the Dashi army.

But two days have passed. Not only has his army not yet retreated, but there is no news about the great cannibals who should have come as promised. Chisong Dezan had an unknown premonition. The great cannibals are most likely to want him to consume the power of the Tang army first, just like he hopes that the Uighurs will consume the power of the Tang army. Things have gone ironically.

At this time, a burst of rapid footsteps sounded in the outer room. When he ran to the door, he suddenly became lighter, as if he was afraid of disturbing his rest. The door opened with a creak. His guard leader walked in quickly and reported in a low voice: "Zanpu, I just received the news that a Tang army cavalry of about 3,000 people rushed past north of the Bachang City and headed west. My subordinates were worried about Zanpu's safety and suggested changing places."

Chisong Dezan did not take his safety issues to heart. He frowned and said to himself: "Three thousand people, what are you doing? Did they smell something?"

"When did this happen?" he raised his eyes and asked immediately.

"About an hour ago." The chief guard hesitated and said again: "I am really worried about Zanpu's safety. We only have 3,000 guards. Once discovered by the Tang army, the consequences will be unimaginable."

At this time, Chisong Dezan had already understood Zhang Huan's intention. He must have realized the threat of the cannibals. He sent cavalry around his army and went to Shule to intercept the cannibals north. However, three thousand people were far from enough, and there must be more cavalry brigades behind him.

Thinking of this, he nodded slightly and said, "Okay! Let's go to Dashi City to avoid it first."

Dashi City is a small city, about 100 places northwest of Bahuan City. One hour later, three thousand Tubo troops guarded Chisong Dezan and headed northwest.

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Chisong Dezan guessed correctly. The three thousand Tang troops who had just passed the city were the vanguard sent by Wang Siyu to Shule. Each man and two horses marched towards Shule day and night. The main general who led this vanguard was Cao Hanchen, the commander general who was responsible for surrounding the rear of the Tubo army during the Baimahe blocking battle. He was the son of Cao Lingzhong, the governor of Anxi. He had been in Shule for many years. Not only did he have a good relationship with the Shule royal family, but he was also very familiar with the terrain of the Shule area.

His deputy general was Guan Ying, the new Guoyi Commander, and Chisong Dezan was also lucky. The Tang army had just rested in Axiyan City, east of Bachang City at noon. In order to seize the time to travel, they did not stop at Bachang City, but whistled past five miles north of the city. Otherwise, if they knew that Chisong Dezan was in the city, they would have entered the city to capture Zanpu, who was living in the Tubo people.

In a blink of an eye, Bachang City disappeared at the end of the horizon behind him. At this time, the sun had already set in the west. In front of the Tang army, a huge and red fireball was slowly setting. The sun seemed to be close at hand, occupying almost half of the end of the sky.

From Changcheng to Shule, it was a little further away from Kucha, and there was about three days left. The war horses were a little tired, so the Tang army changed the war horses, slowed down slightly, and continued to march westward.

After traveling west for about ten miles, it was already dark. There was a small river ahead. The river water was clear and the water was gurgling. Cao Hanchen waved his hand and said, "Stay for half an hour!"

The Tang army did not cheer, the time was very short. They were busy and nervously and quickly, leading the horse to drink water, checking the horse's condition, and then feeding the horse. Finally, it was their turn to wash their faces slightly, drink a few sips of water, and eat some dry food. The rest time should be over.

In the twilight, the river was filled with Tang troops leading horses and drinking water. Several teams of roaming and rushing to find out the situation. At this time, Guan Ying walked to Cao Hanchen and sat down, and smiled and said, "Brother Cao seems to be very familiar with the terrain here. There will always be a river when everyone is tired."

Cao Hanchen also smiled and said, "Of course, I migrated with my father when I was a child. I spent two years in Bachang City and grazed outside almost every day. I could walk with my eyes closed."

He pointed north along the river and said, "This river is called the Hulu River. Walking north along the river for about five miles, it is a swamp. If you don't pay attention to the night, you will fall into it. So I would rather trek across the river from a wider place here, but if you go further south, the river will be wider and deeper, but you can't get there. You can only walk twenty miles south to cross the bridge."

"So that's it!" Guan Ying praised sincerely: "Follow Brother Cao, it's true that there are fewer mistakes."

Cao Hanchen was born into a family of generals, while Guan Ying was a small gangster who ran around the country before joining the army. Two months ago, he was even an ordinary scout soldier. The identities of the two were very different. However, Cao Lingchen was moved by the deeds of Zhang Sancheng's defenders and always cared for Zhang Ying all the way, teaching him a lot of things, such as marching camps, strategic formations, etc., which benefited him a lot.

He took a sip of water and smiled at Guan Ying, "Do you know what the key is to go to Shule to intercept the great cannibals?"

Guan Ying scratched her scalp and smiled awkwardly: "I am also confused about this matter. There are only 3,000 of us. How can we stop the big cannibals of tens of thousands of people? I can't figure it out. Please teach me by Brother Cao!"

Cao Hanchen looked up at the sky and smiled, "To be honest, you should understand better than me!"

Guan Ying hesitated and said, "Would you be going to grab the pass again?"

"It's true that he is a smart person." Cao Hanchen raised his thumb and praised: "You can get it right when you guess!"

He sighed softly, pondered for a moment and said, "Actually, the governor ordered us to hurry to Shule, betting that the Great Cannibal had not crossed the Pagoda Mountains. There were only two roads to go from Tocharo to Shule. One was the Pagoda Mountains guarded the Pantuo Ridge, and the other was the Tanjuling where Gao Xianzhi attacked the Xiaobo Law Firm. I guess the Great Cannibal did not have the courage to walk that path, and they also went far away. They were probably going to Pantuo Ridge. My mission was to seize the Castles guarded the Pagoda Mountains before the Dashi army. The terrain was extremely dangerous. It was strangled to the castle, and three thousand people were enough to deal with 100,000 people."

"But what if there were already Tubo people stationed there?" Guan Ying was still a little worried.

Cao Hanchen patted his shoulder and smiled and said, "Don't worry! Master Damo Tudu came from there not long ago, and there were no garrisons. Besides, the Tubo people were going back to China, either go around a big circle to Yutian or go to Tanjuling to Xiaobolu, and will not go back to Tcharo again."

At this moment, several whistlemen suddenly rushed from the north. They jumped off their horses and ran forward to report: "General Cao, we found a team in the camp three miles upstream, with about a thousand people. They looked like Tubo people, and they had never seen them before."

Cao Hanchen was stunned, and he hurriedly asked: "Are they wearing white military uniforms and long swords?"

This was the outfit of the Shule Army, but Youshou shook his head and said, "No! No, they were wearing black leather armor, holding round shields, short spears, and a scimitar on their waists. The war horses were extremely majestic."

"Great Cannibal!" Cao Hanchen's face turned pale. What does it mean if Daqi's army appears near Bachang City?

Guan Ying next to him hurriedly advised: "Brother Cao, don't be anxious. There are only one thousand people on the other side. Maybe it's not what you think. They might be escorting envoys or something."

Cao Hanchen stood up suddenly and said in a deep voice: "Go on the horse immediately and prepare for battle."

With the order, the Tang army boarded up to check their weapons and equipment. Soon, taking advantage of the night, the Tang army divided into two groups. Guan Ying led a thousand people across the river to cover the enemy's retreat, while Cao Hanchen led 2,000 people to go around an arc and quietly heading towards the upper reaches of the river.

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As Guan Ying guessed, this Dashi Army was escorting the envoys, but not the envoys of Tocharian Governor Aros, but the special envoy sent by the Dashi Caliph Mehdi. Dashi not only wanted to jointly seize Anxi with Tubo, but also planned to form a long-term strategic alliance with Tubo, with the goal of the Datang.

At this time, after decades of expansion and governance, the Black-clothed Food Festival was in its prosperity. They had completely eliminated the White-clothed Food Festival and took the initiative in the war against the Byzantine Empire. Therefore, after receiving the report from Governor of Tocharia, Mehdi attached great importance to it, but after only one day of consideration, he wrote in his reply to Aros: "The Pamirs are by no means the dividing line between Arabia and Tang Dynasty."

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The envoy he sent was Agush, who was his brother and was the governor of Jerusalem at the time. He could fully represent the Caliphate Caliph to negotiate with Tubo Zamp.

Agush is about thirty years old, tall and tall, with a noble and proud face. Now he is less than thirty miles away from Bachang City. He is unwilling to enter the city in the dark, as he will lose the dignity of a great cannibal. He wants to enter Bachang City with his head raised under the bath of the morning glow, but he forgot that the night is full of dangers.
To be continued...