Chapter 12: Silver Pear Blossoms

Although Jie Su was in Saman, Bukhara's control over it was not too strong. The territory was mainly dominated by Persian lords. The process of the advancement of the Tianfang Cult in the east was also the process of the spread of the Arab bloodline to the east. Under the cover of Tianfang Cult, the Persians of Jie Su also believed in Tianfang Cult, but they still maintained the color of an ancient country in terms of bloodline. Moreover, their belief in Tianfang Cult was not recognized by some Tianfang Cult fundamentalists. They believed that the Persians in this area regarded Tianfang Cult as a substitute for Manichi and failed to truly recognize the absolute mystery of the true god.

Under the notice of Saman, the lord of Xie Su, Salamani, had always pursued a relatively conservative policy. After the civil strife this year, Xie Su was also shocked. Some radical Tianfang scholars in the territory rose to launch a rebellion. Salamani was frightened and started suppressing it while asking Bukhara for help. But Bukhara did not have any spare time to deal with this vassal state on the southern border for Saman?

Jie Su's own turmoil accelerated the distrust of its subordinate tribes in it. At this time, Guo Luo's troops in the Jumi area increased to four battalions, and the Jumi tribes all turned to Ningyuan one after another.

Salamani was a little panicked, worried that the Tang cavalry would continue to advance westward to threaten his rule. At this time, his priest said to him: "The Tang people are now as powerful as Japan. We depended on Saman in order to protect us. Now Saman cannot protect himself. Why don't we surrender to the Tang Dynasty?"

The Tiance Army only established the Tiance Army during the Central Plains, which was different from the Later Tang Dynasty, but in other areas, they always regarded themselves as the Tang Dynasty. How could people from Persia, Tianzhu and other places be able to carefully distinguish the subtle differences between the Tang Dynasty and the Tiance? It was said that they were all the Tang Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty. Some people believed that the General Tiance was the title of the King or Emperor of the Tang Dynasty. Many people had no idea that there was an emperor like Li Congke in Luoyang, but they believed that Zhang Mai was the king of the Tang Dynasty.

Salamani was a little hesitant, and the prime minister said: "Now there is a rebellion in the territory, and the entire Jiesu area is panic, and Bukhara is surrounded by rebels. Even if we can suppress the territory, if Bukhara is defeated by rebels, I am afraid that Jiesu will not be spared. It is better to surrender to the Tang Dynasty. In that case, we can use the power of the Tang army to suppress the rebels in the territory, and even if Bukhara falls, we can rely on the thieves and rebels coming from the west."

Salamani said: "But what if Bukhara gets through it?"

"We can surrender on both sides." The prime minister said: "Now the Tang Dynasty is becoming more and more powerful. I heard that they have sent troops to India, but Saman is becoming increasingly declining. Even if Bukhara survives this disaster, it will be difficult to compete with the Tang Dynasty in the future."

Salamani felt it was reasonable, so he adopted the prime minister's suggestion and sent envoys to Ningyuan. The road from Jie Su to Ningyuan was difficult to walk, and it was difficult to go back and forth. However, the general of the family was the commander of the commander He Ziying. Guo Luo had already made instructions before he came. When he heard that Salamani was interested in seeking favor, he immediately sent an envoy to Jie Su and said that he would do his best to help Jie Su suppress the rebellion internally and assist in defense externally. He also promised that his troops would not enter Jie Su without Salamani's invitation, but at the same time he expressed his hope that Jie Su could shoulder the responsibility of protecting the commercial road to Tawu City, and open the business road to Ningyuan.

After Salamani received this promise, he saw that the Tang army did not intend to continue westward. He was relieved, but he still questioned He Ziying's request and asked the prime minister. The prime minister said: "This is a great good thing. If the Tang cavalry does not enter the Suzhou, we can rely on the power of the Tang Dynasty to strengthen our strength. At the beginning, Bukhara asked us to strictly prevent the east from the east, in fact, it was to prevent the infiltration of the Tang Dynasty and monopolize the Silk Road in the north. But for us, there is no difference between obeying Bukhara and obeying the Tang Dynasty. The opening of the Silk Road is even more beneficial to us. If we can make good use of the situation, we may be able to replace the Saman royal family in the future and restore the glory of our Persian country in the past."

Salamani was moved when she heard this, and she really relaxed the blockade of merchants' entry and exit, and protected the road between Tawei City and Jiesu according to He Ziying's request. If you go west from Tawei City, crossing the Wuhu River can directly extend out of Saman's territory, which is a Silk Road main road that can replace Bukhara to Ningyuan.

Jie Su's action and Guo Luo's reaction continued until the beginning of the spring of the third year of Tiance, and they had no business traveling with each other. However, this news had already reached Liangzhou as early as the autumn. At the same time, after Guo Bian gained a foothold in Jieluo City, he purchased some goods from the Tianzhu world through transit merchants in Tianzhu, and also transferred to Ma'anshan Pass in the autumn. From Ma'anshan Pass to the east were Shule and Shache.

In the past, the goods from the Hexi Corridor mainly went to Shule, passing through the Geluoling Pass, Ningyuan, Xizhu, Samarkand, and Bukhara to sell westward. Now Samarkand and Bukhara are in trouble, and this business route is cut off. From Shule to Gaochang, from Khotan to Dunhuang, and then to Liangzhou and Lanzhou, all merchants did not like the war in Beiting. Because the business opportunities to go north are limited, the short-sighted merchant group did not support this war. Only a few big merchants saw that the Tiance army launched this war to eliminate hidden dangers, but there were only a few merchants in Anlong who could have such a vision. If Zhang Mai had not personally gone to the front line to take charge, I would have been afraid that there would be any opposition at this moment.

However, these merchants were afraid that the Silk Road would be cut off, so when something happened to Saman, Shule, Khotan, Kucha, Gaochang, Ganzhou, Liangzhou, Jincheng and other major commercial towns immediately responded to the downturn, and the merchants' investment attitude also turned negative and conservative.

Unexpectedly, after the end of the road, the dark will appear! Another trunk road appeared on the Silk Road to the west, and the trade routes in the Tianzhu area were also "opened up"! The status of Ma'anshan Pass immediately became important.

In fact, the number of goods transported from Tianzhu this time is limited, and the business roads built by Jiesu still have various ideas under the current circumstances. However, under Zheng Wei's control, a tide of opening up new trade routes has emerged in the Hexi region, and the enthusiasm of merchants has also been mobilized.

Only Zhang Mai paid more attention to these things happening in the rear on the front line, and praised Guo Luo's ambush step by step, but Yang Yi ignored these things. With the arrival of August, the situation in Beiting is becoming more and more complicated, and he must deal with this war wholeheartedly.

Even Yang Yi was unable to distract himself from paying attention to the matters south of the Tianshan Mountains, so Guo Wei was even less attentive to pay attention to it. His vision was much more concentrated than Yang Yi! What he saw was the offense and defense in the middle of the Wuzai River.

One thousand Mingwei's army was stationed in the east of Wuzai River, and there was an 800 cavalry battalion in the west of Wuzai River. At present, Satuk's big claw has arrived at the west bank of Baiyang River, which is more than 100 miles away from the Wuzai River. In other words, this cavalry battalion on the west bank of the Wuzai River is less than 80 miles away from the central army of the Uighurs! The Uighurs' army will pounce on you at any time to annex it!

Yang Yi has a strong personality, so he will never shrink from it. Even in the front-line camp, the cavalry must go out patrol every day. The Tang army's cavalry went out to the camp like a tongue of flames, slid the land between the Wuzai River and the Baiyang River. The task of this camp is to connect with the cavalry battalion on the west bank of the middle reaches of the Wuzai River and ensure a retreat when there is a crisis. In addition to Guo Wei's Mingwei army, there is another cavalry battalion entered by Guzang New Army on the east bank of the upper reaches of the Wuzai River, and the west bank is a complete palace barracks. There are three camps in the lower reaches of the Wuzai River, and seven camps echo each other. Once something happens, nearly 10,000 troops can be gathered soon. If the war continues to expand, the Third Ring Front and Beiluntai City behind it will also support it at any time.

At this time, some of the Uighur Army had already wade through the dry place in the lower reaches of the Baiyang River and entered the grassland between the two rivers, but did not siege the cavalry battalion on the west bank of the middle reaches of the Wuzai River. The cavalry on both sides came and went back and forth for dozens of miles, as if they were waiting for something.

Guo Wei said to Ding Hao and Tian An: "The opponent is obviously able to launch an attack, but he doesn't attack. He must be preparing for something!"

Ding Hao said: "Our military strength is not weak either. Maybe they are afraid of us and dare not act rashly."

Guo Wei shook his head and said, "No, they came from the Thunder Ye River all the way, and they would not be afraid to get here. Now they can attack without attacking, there must be a bigger conspiracy. I think the other party is thinking about how to destroy all our seven camps in one fell swoop."

These seven are forts with thousands of people moving forward and retreating. If the Uighurs are removed, they can successfully cross the Wuzai River. If they break another ring, they can reach the city of Beiluntai.

Ding Hao grabbed his scalp and said, "What should we do now? Just wait for the other party to fight? Just wait for the other party to launch an attack to fight! Really, why don't we take the initiative to attack!"

Tian Andao: "The other side is the main force of the Uighurs. Without the orders from above, who dares to attack rashly?"

The strongest battalion of the seven battalions is located on the east bank of the eastern lower reaches of the Wuzai River. It is stationed by the general Shiraki. There are 1,800 soldiers and horses in it, and all six battalions are government soldiers. However, even Shiraki is not an opponent when facing Satuk. If he wants to launch an attack, he must move together, or send another troops in the rear. However, the Mingwei army has not been ordered at all.

Guo Wei said: "I also find it strange. Judging from the description of "The Long March of the Tang Army in Anxi", Governor Yang's personality should be a person who is known for his surprising and happy attacks. Has his personality become stable after these years?"

He was full of concern about the 800 cavalry fortress on the west bank in the middle of the river. Every night he was worried that when he saw the other side suddenly rushing into the sky, he could not send someone to "remind" the captain of this fort to be careful, because Guo Wei's military rank was half a rank shorter than the other party. In this situation, even a kind reminder was a very rude behavior.

As time slowly entered late August, the chill in Beiting became more and more obvious. Although it had not snowed, there was a biting feeling on the exposed side of the skin.

"If this continues, we will fight in winter!" Tian An said.

But that night, Guo Wei's long-worry shouts of killing finally broke out!

"Here you come!"

But what is surprising is that the shouting of killing is not from the 800 cavalry battalion on the west bank of the middle reaches of the Wuzai River opposite, but from the two camps upstream!

Ding Hao exclaimed: "What's going on! How did they attack the upstream!"

The water of the inland river is deep and shallow in the upper reaches. At this moment, the Baiyang River and the Wuzai River can be wading through the horse, but the river water of the upstream cannot be directly stepped over!

"It's so amazing!" Tian An said: "Maybe they secretly prepared the raft, or maybe they found a secret path to wading in a certain section of the river!"

The rivers in the northwest are not as wide, wide and deep as the rivers in the southeast. Some rivers are usually wide and shallow. Even if the water depth is most of them that cannot be crossed, some places will be shallower. At some point, it is possible to step by step by water. This road that is covered under the water is the secret path under the water.

However, underwater secret paths like this usually have to live in the local area for a long time and know the geographical situation well enough to know that even Ding Hanshan’s "Can Camp" cannot understand the depth and changes of each section of the river that is thousands of miles apart.

"Ah!" Tian An suddenly remembered something: "Among the Uighurs, it seems that there are the tribes that Beiting Uighurs surrendered to them. They must have offered this strategy to Satuk!"

"Maybe it is, but it doesn't matter now!" Guo Wei said: "The whole camp is on guard!"

Ding Hao had already given orders, and the entire battalion was wearing armor and swords. The Mingwei army had only 1,200 people stationed in this battalion, and there were 600 militiamen.

Ding Hao asked, "Prince, where should I save?"

The two camps on the east bank of the upper reaches of the Wuzai River caught fire one after another, so Ding Hao asked this question, but Guo Wei pointed to the other side and said, "Where!"

At this time, the camps on the other side had already lit up their lights, and there were obviously warnings from the upstream!

"What? The fortress in the West Bank in the middle of the journey was not surrounded!"

"The Uighurs planned for many days and suddenly launched an attack. Where can they only surround those two camps? Xiangzhuang dances sword intent in Pei Gong! Those who have not been attacked are the most dangerous... Ah, not good!"

I saw a row of fire dragons suddenly left the camp on the west bank of the middle trip and ran upstream.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm going to be trapped!" Guo Wei said: "The fire broke out in the upper village, and I'm afraid the Uighurs will surround the site and attack the aid in the middle!"

"What should I do? Let's remind them quickly!"

"It's too late!" Guo Wei said: "Don't worry, stick to the camp! Don't act without permission in the dark night!"

"but……"

Guo Wei interrupted Ding Hao's doubts: "Don't be confused! The water volume upstream is large. Even if there are secret paths in the water, there are not many people coming here. A small number of soldiers and horses in the dark can launch a surprise attack, but they will return to our side when the advantage is dawn. Keep our village and wait until dawn to regain the upper east bank camp - as for the west bank camp, I'm afraid it's out of rescue!"

Ding Hao said: "But we don't go to rescue our friendly troops when we see that they are in danger, so we are afraid that we will pursue our responsibilities when we return to the military office..."

"I don't care about the post-war affairs!" Guo Wei said sternly: "Anyway, don't move now!" He ordered a large bonfire to light up the surrounding camp, and sent 500 cavalry to patrol the river section near the camp, but ignored the fires in the two upstream areas.

Not long after, a fire suddenly broke back from the upstream on the other side. Guo Wei sighed: "It's true that there is an ambush!"

Ding Hao and others imagined that the comrades from the west bank of the middle reaches rushed to the upstream for rescue, but were ambushed by the Uighur army. There were five or six hundred points of fires coming out of the west bank of the middle reaches, but only more than one hundred points were left at this time, which was obviously heavy casualties!

Not long after, another fire came from the upstream, trapping the camps on the west bank of the middle reaches!

Ding Haotian An shouted: "Prince!" Tian An said: "Go over and reinforce!"

Guo Wei still said, "Don't move around! Now there may be some Uighurs lying ambushed on the east bank of the Wuzai River. If we cross the river to rescue them, they may attack our empty camp!"

"Then we will distribute half of the troops."

Guo Wei said: "Divide the troops? The situation is not clear now, that's even more taboo!"

Seeing that the fire from the upstream had surrounded the camps on the west bank, and occasionally a strong wind would blow and a scream or two, the Mingwei army on the east bank was secretly anxious and wanted to fly over to help, but Guo Wei still refused to move around. He just thought to himself: "Why haven't the reinforcements from the rear come yet? There is no movement in the downstream? The Uighurs cannot launch an attack at the same time, right? Even if something happens downstream, it shouldn't be so unchanged!"

Although the Tang army camps were not connected, their distances could just echo each other. At this time, if reinforcements from the rear and downstream arrived, Guo Wei could cross the river to reinforce.

But the camp at the third ring behind was not moving at all! The downstream was so quiet that Guo Wei was surprised! At this moment, a red light faintly emerged from a further place - it was a larger fire, otherwise it would not have been so far even on this plain grassland!

"What is that!"

Because it is too far apart, only a red light can be seen faintly.

"One camp we have been attacked again!" Ding Hao gritted his teeth!

Tian An said, "No, that direction, that distance... we don't have a camp..."

Guo Wei was also stunned for a moment, suddenly slapped his thigh, laughing and said, "There is a camp of the Uighurs!"

"The Uighurs' camp?"

Guo Wei smiled and said, "The two sides attacked tonight, but the heroes saw each other. The Uighurs attacked me from the upper reaches, but our army mostly attacked him from the lower reaches. I am afraid that this battle will be won and lost after dawn."

Ding Hao said: "There is an action on the top of the mountain, why don't we make a sound in advance?"

Guo Wei said: "Maybe I'm afraid of leaking the news."

Tian Andao: "What should we do?"

Guo Wei said: "When the Uighurs are attacked in the rear, the troops that are attacking will inevitably be unable to maintain stability. After dawn, we can take advantage of the situation to take back the West Bank."

He still held back the entire camp until the dawn spread out the darkness before he ordered the ferry to come out, saying: "First save the West Bank camp in the middle, and then save the West Bank camp in the upper reaches."

"What about the camp on the east coast of the upper reaches?"

Guo Wei said: "As soon as the enemy troops on the West Bank are gone, can they still gain a foothold on the East Bank?"

Two hundred Mingwei troops and six hundred militia were left behind, and Tian An was allowed to guard the camp and cross the river with thousands of cavalry. When crossing the river, Ding Hao pointed to the upstream of the east bank several miles away and said, "Prince, look! There seems to be any movement!"

Guo Wei sneered: "Sure enough, there are ambushes. Although there are not many people, if you encounter them in the dark night, I am afraid you will suffer a loss!"

The ambushed soldiers of the Uighurs saw that it was dawn and dared not wait long, so they retreated to the upstream. Guo Wei ignored them. After crossing the river, they formed a formation first, and then rushed to the west bank of the middle reaches. At this time, the camp had been captured by the Uighurs, but they saw that Guo Wei had a majestic formation, and because of the fire behind the scenes last night, they were afraid that they would make mistakes and actually abandoned the camp and left.

Guo Wei easily occupied this camp and followed the troops to rush upstream.

Last night, the camp on the west bank of the upper reaches of the Wuzai River was attacked. The camp on the east bank of the upper reaches was a group of new recruits. Although they were hard-working, they lacked battlefield experience. Seeing that the camp on the west bank was fired, they crossed the river to rescue them, but they encountered ambush and suffered heavy casualties. The Uighur army followed them into three groups: the first route surrounded the camp on the west bank of the upper reaches; the second route drove to ambush between the camp on the west bank of the middle reaches and the camp on the west bank of the upper reaches, and ambushed the Tang army who came to rescue them, and then took advantage of the opportunity to seize the camp on the west bank of the middle reaches; the third route crossed the Wuzai River to take the camp on the east bank of the weak force, followed along the Wuzai River and ambushed the Mingwei army to rescue them-unexpectedly, Guo Wei was not fooled.

At this time, it was dawn, and Tang troops were coming from the rear to the east. The third Uighurs' troops saw that the west bank of the Wuzai River could not be taken away, and the camp on the east bank of the middle tour could not be taken down. Their power was already lonely and he dared not wait long. Sure enough, he crossed the Wuzai River and returned to join the first army and horse army.
To be continued...