Chapter 17 Chapter 17 Tang and Tubo and War History

The Tang Dynasty has existed for a total of 289 years. During these 289 years, the Tang Dynasty has never lacked opponents, but there is only one opponent. From its establishment to its final demise, it has been dealing with the Tang Dynasty all the time. That is the powerful empire standing on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau—— Tubo Empire. The relationship between the Tang Dynasty and Tubo is well known today, that is Princess Wencheng's entry into Tibet.This grand event between the Tang and Tibetan families did bring peace to the two sides for a time, but this peace was temporary. In the 7th century AD, Tubo unified the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau by the outstanding leader Songtsen Gampo, and then began their hegemony in the southwestern land of China.Like the Tang Dynasty, they were a rising regime. During the period when Emperor Taizong pacified the Eastern Turkic War, Tubo continued to advance northward and launched a war against Tuyuhun in Qinghai. The final demise of Tuyuhun was also the result of both the Tang Dynasty and Tubo. The result of pinching.After acquiring the Qinghai Plateau, Tubo's territory has directly bordered Datang.In AD 638, the first contact between the Tang Dynasty and Tubo began with a war: Songtsan Gampo, who had defeated Tuyuhun, marched eastward and reached Songzhou, Sichuan Province in the Tang Dynasty. The Tang army lost the first battle, but the Tang Dynasty soon fell The named general Hou Jun gathered the army to fight back and repelled the Tubo attack with the strong city.After this military conflict, Songtsen Gampo, a talented and general man, realized the strength of the Tang Dynasty and decided to establish a friendly relationship with the Tang Dynasty. Three years later, Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty married Princess Wencheng to Songtsen Gampo. Both Tang and Tibetan made great efforts for this marriage. Princess Wencheng married a large number of agricultural products and many outstanding craftsmen and technicians.The advanced agricultural and handicraft technology of the Central Plains has since been introduced to the Tibet area. This win-win event for both Tang and Tibetan has won decades of peace for the two families. In the end, Songtsan Gampo maintained a friendly relationship with the Tang Dynasty throughout his life. relation.

But after Songtsan Gampo passed away, things changed. The Tang Dynasty at this time was during the reign of Tang Gaozong Li Zhi. The Tang Dynasty had completely occupied the Western Regions, and the Hexi Corridor was unimpeded. At this time, in Tubo, Lu Dongzan controlled the power.Beginning in AD 651, Tubo first launched an attack on Tuyuhun sandwiched between the Tang Dynasty and Tubo, and completely pacified Tuyuhun. Since then, the land between the Tang Dynasty and Tubo has been directly bordered, and conflicts have followed.Just as the army of the Tang Dynasty put its main forces in the Northeast to flatten Goguryeo and the Western Regions to suppress the Western Turkic rebellion, Tubo first attacked in the Hexi Corridor.In 670 A.D., Tubo first made a surprise attack on the Anxi Protectorate, and seized today's Aksu area in Xinjiang.The Tang Dynasty was naturally not reconciled to this humiliation.In April of the same year, the Tang Dynasty dispatched the famous general Xue Rengui to launch a counterattack with an army of 50,000, and fought fiercely with Tubo in Dafeichuan, Qinghai. As a result, 50,000 Tang troops were surrounded by the Tubo army, and more than 30,000 people were killed in battle. Less than a thousand people returned, and almost the entire army was wiped out.The greater significance of this battle is that the Tang Dynasty could no longer protect Tuyuhun, which once became its own barrier, and soon after, Tuyuhun was completely annexed by Tubo.

Naturally, Tang Jun couldn't just watch the territory he had worked hard fall into Tubo's hands.After 8 years of careful preparation, the Tang army once again launched a counterattack in the Hexi Corridor. This time, Li Jingxuan, the secretary of the Tang Dynasty, directly took command and led an army of 180,000 to attack.Like Dafeichuan, the Tang army won the first battle, and then when they entered Qinghai Lake, they were once again surrounded by the Tubo army.Fortunately, Tang General Hei Chi Changzhi led the Death Squadron to the rear and bravely blocked them, the main force of the Tang Dynasty broke through the encirclement and escaped.After these three battles, Tang Jun fully realized the power of Tubo.After that, the Tang Dynasty took a defensive position in the Hexi area, garrisoned troops in the area, fought steadily, and did not take the initiative to attack easily.

One of the reasons why the Tang Dynasty suffered disastrous defeats in the early stages of the war against Tubo was that they were not familiar with Tubo's combat methods.The Tubo warriors born on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau are extremely hard-working. Although the Tubo war horses are not as tall as the Mongolian war horses, they are also known for their endurance.The two major defeats of the Tang army in Dafeichuan and Qinghai Lake, the common feature is that Tubo lured the enemy to go deep, and the Tang army pursued closely. Endurance launched a charge, but the Tang army was exhausted, and the cavalry advantage disappeared.Of course, the more important reason is that this period was in the period when Wu Zetian was trying his best to "grasp power", and the army was also undergoing a large-scale purge. Many famous generals with outstanding military exploits were demoted because they were on the wrong side politically.In this way, Tang Jun naturally has no advantage.

Although they suffered consecutive defeats on the Hexi battlefield, the Tang Army still saved some face on the Western Regions front. After all, the Tang Army has deep roots in the Western Regions, and most of the local countries are subject to the Tang Army's rule, which is far from being comparable to Tubo.Therefore, in AD 672 and AD 694, Wang Xiaojie, a famous general of the Tang Dynasty, united with the armies of the Western Regions twice to defeat the invading Tubo army. In the battle in AD 694, he successfully recovered the four towns of Anxi that had fallen.At this time, civil strife broke out in Tubo. After Lu Dongzan's death, his sons fought for the throne and fell into civil war for a time.Therefore, after Wu Zhou regained the four towns of Anxi, the border between the two sides temporarily returned to calm.

The war between the Tang Dynasty and Tubo resumed after the death of Wu Zetian and the restoration of Li Tang. After the restoration of Tang Zhongzong Li Xian, Tubo had a relatively close relationship with the Tang Dynasty.In 710 A.D., the Tang Dynasty and Tubo got married again. At this time, Tubo was in power when Chidaizhudan was in power, and it pursued a friendly policy towards the Tang Dynasty. Tang Zhongzong married Princess Jincheng to Chidaizhudan, and Chidaizhudan even stated on the table , the Tang Dynasty and Tubo have "reconciled as one family", which is the wish of all peace-loving Tang and Tubo people.But the good times didn't last long. Just after the Tang Dynasty experienced the short-term reign of the two emperors Zhongzong and Ruizong, Tubo and the Tang Dynasty had renewed friction.In 714 AD, the second year after Tang Xuanzong Li Longji ascended the throne, Tubo invaded the Hexi Corridor with an army of 100,000.Wang Haibin, the defender of Lingzhou in the Tang Dynasty, died heroically for his country. This battle was the most difficult period in the prosperous Tang Dynasty. In order to raise military expenses, Li Longji even ordered the concubines in the palace to donate property.In the end, under the attack of Tang general Xue Na, Tubo was repelled again, but in Tang Xuanzong's heart, the sentiment of revenge against Tubo became stronger from then on.

After the first year of Kaiyuan, the Tang Dynasty changed its tactics against Tubo in the Hexi Corridor, from the previous large-scale field battles to the offensive and defensive battles of fortresses. Forts and military forts supported each other, using the strong defense capabilities of the Tang army and advanced crossbow technology to deal with the Tubo people.This tactic hit Tubo's fate at once. The Tubo army, which is good at cavalry warfare in the field, suffered losses in front of the Tang army's fortress many times.Before 729 A.D., the recuperating Tang Dynasty mainly focused on defense against Tubo. Afterwards, with the strengthening of the Tang Dynasty's military power, the Tang Dynasty began a counterattack against Tubo.At this time, a person who caused headaches for the Tubo army appeared: Wang Zhongsi.He was the son of Wang Haibin who was killed in Lingzhou. As the Hexi Jiedu envoy, he was the most outstanding general of the Tang Dynasty at this time.Wang Zhongsi adopted active defensive tactics against Tubo, that is, a combination of strong fortress defense and sudden cavalry attack. He successively launched the Battle of Qinghai Lake and the Battle of Jishi Mountain. In the two battles, the vital forces of Tubo were severely damaged and the defense of the Tang Dynasty was consolidated. .At the same time, the Tang Dynasty also won the Battle of Xiaoboli in the Western Regions, smashing Tubo's attempt to enter the Western Regions.In the Tianbao period, Gao Xianzhi, the governor of Anxi in the Tang Dynasty, once again defeated Tubo in the Battle of Daboli.During this period, the Tubo war in the Tang Dynasty has been transformed into a comprehensive strategic advantage of the Tang Dynasty.During the two periods of Kaiyuan and Tianbao, Tubo showed its favor to the Tang Dynasty many times, asking for the resumption of friendly exchanges between the two sides, but Tang Xuanzong refused.However, Tang Xuanzong did not expect that after repeated victories, the Tang Dynasty would usher in the most tragic defeat since the founding of the country.

The Anshi Rebellion that occurred in 755 AD became another turning point in the war between the Tang Dynasty and Tubo. During this period, in order to quell the Anlu Mountain Rebellion, the Tang Dynasty mobilized a large number of troops from the Hexi and Anxi Dufus to help. As a result, Tubo took the opportunity to march northward. In the Hexi area, Tubo occupied the Hexi Corridor without bloodshed.In the Anxi area, Tubo marched all the way north, occupied the area south of the Altai Mountains, and obtained the four towns of Anxi in the Tang Dynasty.The military defense line of the Tang Dynasty completely retreated to the Guanzhong Plain.After that, Tubo even went deep into the interior of the Tang Dynasty. For example, during the reign of Emperor Tang Dynasty, Tubo captured Chang'an in 763 AD. , Turned into a defensive stance of being passively beaten.

During the passive beating period of the Tang Dynasty, life was difficult.In order to defend against Tubo, the Tang Dynasty mobilized a large number of inland troops to garrison the Guanzhong Plain. Because Tubo often launched attacks in autumn, these troops were also called "anti-autumn soldiers".The border defense of the Tang Dynasty during this period still followed the strategy of the Hexi Corridor period, echoing with a large number of military forts at a distance, deterring the Tubo cavalry, and at the same time counterattacking with cavalry raids.This defensive and counterattack strategy quickly paid off. Although Tubo occupied the Hexi Corridor, it was unable to enter the Guanzhong Plain.In 768 A.D., Tubo besieged Lingwu and was repelled by Tang general Bai Yuanguang. At the same time, Tang general Li Sheng attacked Tubo's logistics base Lintao, Gansu, leading to Tubo's defeat.In 786 A.D., Li Sheng defeated Tubo again in the Battle of Longzhou, Shaanxi. At this time, most of the Tang Dynasty army adopted the tactics of holding on to the front, and the main force attacked Tubo's rear in a roundabout way, smashing Tubo's attack by encircling Wei and saving Zhao.

At the same time as the war, there was also a diplomatic war between the two sides. The Tang Dynasty suffered the most in the early days of the Anshi Rebellion. It was the crusade against Nanzhao during Tang Xuanzong's period, which made Nanzhao an ally of Tubo. Nanzhao all attacked from the side, making the Tang Dynasty difficult to care about inside and outside.In particular, Sichuan, which is located on the front line, is facing enemies from both sides. Under such circumstances, the Tang Dynasty also began to disintegrate and disintegrate.When Tang Xianzong was in power, Yuan Zi, the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty, planned to bring back Nanzhao, who had fallen out with the Tang Dynasty for decades.After that, Tubo’s life was difficult. In the Western Regions, due to the alliance between the Tang Dynasty and the Arabs, Tubo had to mobilize elites to defend against the Arab army on the western front.The long war intensified the internal conflicts between the two sides. In the Tang Dynasty, there were feudal lords and towns, eunuchs monopolized power, and slave uprisings broke out many times in Tubo. Both families realized one problem: this war could not continue.

In 821 AD, Tang Muzong came to the throne. At this time, Zanpu Chirebajin ruled Tubo. He strongly advocated the restoration of peaceful relations with the Tang Dynasty. In the first year of Tang Muzong's accession to the throne, he even sent envoys to Chang'an, expressed the sincerity of peace.The Tang Dynasty, which also suffered from internal and external troubles, also hoped to have a peaceful environment.In 822 AD, Emperor Muzong of the Tang Dynasty sent Liu Yuanding, an important minister, to Tubo. After negotiations, he and Tubo made an alliance in the eastern suburbs of Lhasa. It still stands in the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa.Facts since then have shown that both sides have faithfully followed this promise. Even when Tubo was hit by severe snowstorms several times, the Tang Dynasty took the initiative to distribute food aid. Inform each other of the situation.Centuries of war has finally come to an end, although for the people on both sides, the peace came a bit late.