Chapter 55 146 Li Jing attacked Yinshan at night

In the early days of Tang Taizong's accession to the throne, although the war in the Central Plains was over, the western border was still very unstable.Especially the Eastern Turks, which were still very powerful at the time, became the main threat to the Tang Dynasty.After the Taiyuan uprising, Emperor Gaozu of Tang devoted himself to dealing with the Sui Dynasty, so he had to rely on compromises to maintain a peaceful relationship with the Eastern Turks. However, the Eastern Turkic nobles continued to invade the territory of the Tang Dynasty, making the place uneasy. Less than 20 days after Tang Taizong ascended the throne, Jieli (Jie) Khan of East Turkic led more than 100,000 troops and fought all the way to the Wei River, which is only 40 miles away from Chang'an.Jieli thought that Emperor Taizong of Tang had just ascended the throne, so he might not dare to resist. He first sent envoys to Chang'an City to meet Emperor Taizong, and threatened that there would be one million Turkic soldiers, and they would arrive immediately.

Tang Taizong was a man who had seen the world. He ignored Jieli's threat and detained the envoy.He first arranged the Tang army in Chang'an to form a formation.Then, he personally brought Fang Xuanling and other six generals, rode to the temporary bridge beside the Wei River, and asked Jieli to come out by name and talk across the river. Jieli was already a little surprised when he heard that the envoy had been detained; when he saw Taizong himself going into battle, with the Tang army's banners unfurling behind him, and the army in order, he couldn't help being frightened.He took the Turkic generals across the Weishui River and dismounted to meet Taizong.

Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty said to Jieli across the Weishui River: "Our two families have already made a covenant, and we have given you gold and silk for several years. Why did you break your promise and lead troops to invade?" Xieli was so blamed that he had nothing to say, and expressed his willingness to make peace.Two days later, the two sides signed a covenant on the temporary bridge.Then Jieli withdrew. After this fight, Emperor Taizong of Tang stepped up his training of soldiers and summoned hundreds of soldiers to practice bows and arrows in front of the palace every day.He said to the soldiers: "Foreign enemies invade, this is a common occurrence, and it is not terrible. I am afraid that if the border is a little more stable, the owner will be greedy for comfort and forget about the war. When the enemy comes, he will not be able to resist it. From now on, I usually As a teacher, I will teach you bows and arrows; in wartime, I will be a general, and lead you to resist the enemy."

Encouraged by Tang Taizong, the soldiers concentrated on martial arts training, and within a few years, a group of elite troops were trained. The next year, there was a heavy snowfall in the north.Many East Turkic livestock died.There is a famine north of the desert.Jieli Khan intensified the oppression of other tribes, which aroused the resistance of other tribes.Jieli sent his cousin Tuli to suppress him, but he was defeated.After Tuli fled back, Jieli beat him up.The two turned their faces because of this, and Tuli surrendered to the Tang Dynasty. Tang Taizong seized this opportunity and sent four generals including Li Jing and Xu Shiji to lead an army of more than 100,000. Li Jing led them to attack the Turks in separate ways.

Li Jing was a well-known military strategist in the early Tang Dynasty, proficient in the art of war.He belonged to the Tang Dynasty at the end of the Sui Dynasty, and made a lot of military exploits in the unification war of the Tang Dynasty. In 630 A.D., Li Jing personally led 3,000 elite cavalry from Mayi, took advantage of Jieli's unpreparedness, marched overnight, and approached the Turkic camp.Unprepared, Xie Li was shocked when he discovered Tang Jun's sudden appearance.The soldiers also panicked and said: "This time the Tang Dynasty must have mobilized the whole country's troops, otherwise, how dare Li Jing go deep alone?"

Before the Tang army launched an attack, the Turkic soldiers became chaotic.Li Jing also sent spies to infiltrate Turkic internal activities and persuade a confidant general of Xieli to surrender.Seeing that the situation was not good, Jieli ran away secretly. Li Jing captured Dingxiang and returned to the court victoriously. Tang Taizong was very happy and said: "In the past, Li Ling led five thousand troops in the Han Dynasty, but was unfortunately captured by the Huns; now you go deep into the enemy's rear with three thousand light cavalry, defeat Dingxiang, and shake the north." , This is a rare event since ancient times!"

Jieli fled to the north of Yinshan Mountain, fearing that the Tang army would continue to pursue him, he sent envoys to Chang'an to ask for peace, and said he wanted to meet in person.On the one hand, Tang Taizong sent Tang Jian to Turkic to appease; on the other hand, he ordered Li Jing to lead troops to check on Jieli. Li Jing led the troops to Baidao (northwest of Hohhot, Inner Mongolia today) and joined forces with Xu Shiji.The two discuss how to deal with it.Li Jing said: "Although Jieli has lost the battle, he has a lot of troops. If we let him escape, it will be very difficult for us to chase him in the future. We only need to choose 10,000 elite soldiers, bring 20 days of food, and follow up the attack. You can definitely catch Xieli alive." Xu Shiji also agreed with this opinion.The two armies marched towards Yinshan.

Jieli Khan's suing for peace was actually just a tactic to delay his troops. He wanted to wait for the season when the grass was green and the horses were fertilized, before fleeing to Mobei.When he saw Tang Jian coming, he thought that Emperor Taizong had fallen into his trick, and he was secretly happy, and his defenses naturally relaxed. That night, Li Jing and Xu Shiji led the Tang army to Yinshan, ordered the general Su Dingfang to lead 200 light cavalry, and marched quietly in the night fog.When Tang Jun was found by the Turkic outpost, Tang Jun was only seven miles away from the Jieli camp.

Jieli learned that the cavalry of the Tang army had arrived, so he hurried to find Tang Jian. Tang Jian took the opportunity to escape and return to the Tang camp.Jie Li hastily rode on his Maxima and fled.Li Jing commanded the Tang army to pursue and kill them, but the Turkic soldiers were in chaos without a commander.The Tang army wiped out more than 10,000 Turkic soldiers and captured a large number of prisoners and livestock. Jieli fled here and there, and finally took a few soldiers to hide in the barren hills. He was caught by his subordinates and handed over to Tang Jun, who was later escorted to Chang'an.

The once powerful Eastern Turks perished.Tang Taizong did not kill the captives.The Governor's Mansion was established in the original place of the Eastern Turks, and the Turkic nobles were appointed as the governors, and they managed the Turkic ministries. This victory enhanced Tang Taizong's prestige among all ethnic groups in the Northwest.This year, Huihe and other leaders of various ethnic groups came to Chang'an together, met Tang Taizong, supported Tang Taizong as their common leader, and honored him as "Tian Khan". Since then, people from all ethnic groups in the Western Regions and many countries in Asia have come to Chang'an continuously.During this period, the eminent Chinese monk Xuanzang (sound zang) also went to Tianzhu through various countries in the Western Regions.