In the third year of Xingping in the Tang Dynasty, 70,000 Tang troops marched from Yongzhou, left Jiayuguan, and marched towards Xiling.
Prior to this, the spies sent by the Tang Dynasty to the west had discovered shocking news about the Wutuo Khanate.
A few months ago, Utuotian Khan Narusheng brother was assassinated and died, and his head hung on the top of the Khan Court.
The news shocked the world, and when the Wutuo tribes were deciding on a new Khan, fierce conflicts broke out. Less than twenty days after Narushengge's death, the Wutuo tribes were divided into two factions because of different candidates.
meet.
Suddenly, war broke out in the Wutuo Khanate, and various tribes killed each other.
The Tang army also received orders from heaven, appointed Yuwen Chengchao as the general to conquer the west, and took the opportunity to advance westward.
Among the 70,000 troops, there were 20,000 cavalry, including 3,000 heavily armored cavalry, equipped to the teeth.
In this era, heavy cavalry was undoubtedly a killer presence on the battlefield, and most of these cavalry were transferred from the Northeast.
Almost all the cavalry have real feathered horses, and many cavalry are even equipped with Hegu knives.
Before the Tang army left the border, wars were already raging in Xiling, and many people from aristocratic families raised the flag of Li and Tang to revolt.
The most powerful one among them is led by Su Changyu.
When General Heiyu was killed and Qin Xiao, Yuwen Chengchao and others entered the capital, Su Changyu's whereabouts remained unknown.
However, the Tang Dynasty sent a large number of spies to Xiling in the past two years. They not only inquired about the intelligence of the three armies of Xiling, but also secretly bribed many Xiling families and officials, and even secretly contacted many civilian forces in Xiling who resisted Li Tuo. However, they also contacted Su Changyu
superior.
Su Changyu hated Li Tuo's party to the core. He had been lurking in Xiling these years, secretly developing his strength, waiting for the opportunity to use his cavalry to kill Li Tuo's party and avenge General Heiyu and the many victims.
Su Changyu was even more excited when he learned that the Tang army had actively prepared its armaments and would surely regain Xiling. He sent someone directly to contact the Tang army's commander-in-chief, Yu Wenchengchao, and prepared to cooperate with the Tang army to regain Xiling.
In April of the third year of Xingping in the Tang Dynasty, the Tang army marched westward. In less than ten days, it reached the gate of Turtle City in Zhen County.
Although the Xiling rebels had limited strength, they still mobilized 5,000 troops, with the rebel general Tang Wuhen guarding Turtle City.
Turtle City was besieged on all sides. On the night after the siege, Su Changyu, who was lurking in the city, suddenly took action and led his men to attack the west gate of Turtle City. He withstood the defenders' offensive and held on until the Tang army entered from the west gate. At dawn,
At that time, the defenders either died or surrendered, and the defender Tang Wuhen died in the rebellion.
The people of the aristocratic families in Zhenjun rejoiced and all the other cities in Zhenjun surrendered.
Half a month later, the Tang army entered Yuwen County and came to Fengganfu City.
After Li Tuo became emperor, he designated Fengganfu City as his capital, so almost all of the main force of the Xiling rebels were stationed in Fengganfu City.
In order to strengthen the defense of Turtle City, Li Tuo dispatched 3,000 troops to Turtle City for reinforcements, but they died or surrendered overnight.
The total number of defenders totaled less than 10,000, and among them were many strong men who had been forced to fight. The actual number of soldiers capable of fighting was less than 4,000.
Xiling was already barren, and in addition to being cut off from the Tang Dynasty in recent years, and suffering from exploitation by the Wutuo Khanate, Li Tuo could barely maintain ten thousand troops, which was already extremely difficult, and he was unable to support more troops.
.
There were only two thousand Wutuo soldiers among the defenders.
Yongzhou organized its army to prepare for war. After Li Tuo learned about it, he knew that the Tang army would attack sooner or later. He was worried day and night. He requested the Wutuo Khanate to send troops for reinforcements countless times and even begged the Wutuo army to station in Xiling.
After Li Tuo's numerous pleas, Brother Narusheng finally dispatched 5,000 Wutuo soldiers to station in Xiling to assist the Xiling rebels in their defense.
But after the death of Brother Nalusheng, the Wutuo Khan was in civil strife. The five thousand Wutuo troops had to withdraw quickly. Li Tuo almost knelt down and begged. In the end, the Wutuo people left two thousand troops to continue to stay, and another three thousand troops.
He was directly transferred back to the Khanate to fight the civil war.
The Tang army attacked the city for three consecutive days, but the city could not be breached.
Fengganfu City was the most fortified city in Xiling, and the rebels also knew that once the city was defeated, they would definitely die, so they defended it with all their strength.
Three days later, the Tang army surrounded but did not attack.
Li Tuo only thought that the Tang army was going to fight a war of attrition, and sneered in his heart.
There is a lot of food and grass in Fenggan City. It is easy to keep the soldiers and horses fed and drink for a year and a half.
Although there were 200,000 people in the city, in Li Tuo's view, food and grass could only be provided to the garrison soldiers first. As for the common people, there was nothing they could do if they really wanted to starve to death.
The most important thing is that if we can hold Fenggan City for half a year, there will definitely be a turn for the better.
He knew that the Wutuo Khanate was currently killing each other, but after the bloodshed, a new Khan would eventually emerge.
The Wutuo people would definitely not sit back and watch Xiling being recaptured by the Tang Dynasty. As long as the new Khan came to power, Li Tuo felt that they would definitely send a large army to rescue them.
Moreover, the Tang army's tens of thousands of soldiers and horses consumed a huge amount of food, drink and diarrhea every day. Whether they could besiege the city for half a year is still a question mark.
Therefore, after the Tang army stopped and succeeded, Li Tuo felt that the victory was unpredictable.
But this extravagant dream was completely shattered after seven days.
In the middle of the night, there was a loud bang, and several gaps were blown out of the walls of Fenggan City. The scene when Long Rui's army attacked Liaoyang City was repeated.
It's a pity that Li Tuo didn't know what the situation was like in Liaoyang City.
Compared with the Liaodong Army, the Xiling Rebels were far inferior in terms of psychology and combat effectiveness. The sudden change caused the rebels to be in chaos. After the Tang Army used the Huolei Camp to blast a gap, they rushed into the city like a tide.
The Wutuo army in the city is
The fastest to surrender, when the Tang army entered the city, a large number of Wutuo troops abandoned their weapons and surrendered.
Of course they were not willing to die fighting in a foreign country for Li Tuo.
However, many of the rebels still resisted to the end.
A group of cavalry under Li Tuo fought hard. They were the Huangxi Death Wings who were the first to follow Li Tuo. There were less than 500 people, but they refused to surrender and killed many Tang troops.
However, after the appearance of the Tang Army's heavy armored cavalry, the Fire Armored Dragon Riders, the Wild West Death Wings ushered in their final destruction. The five hundred Death Wing cavalry were almost killed.
Wen Butao, the commander of the Wild West Deathwing, was Li Tuo's confidant. He led dozens of remaining Deathwing cavalry in an attempt to protect Li Tuo from breaking out, but was intercepted by a group of cavalry led by Lu Xiaolou. In a deadly battle, Wen Butao
He was shot dead by Lu Xiaolou with an arrow, and Li Tuo retreated into a house and committed suicide in despair.
On the night when the city was broken, Yuwen Chengchao assigned Su Changyu three thousand cavalry, and they rushed to Fan County day and night.
The rebels were defeated in Turtle City and Fengganfu City, and the main force was lost. The situation was over, but what Yuwen Chengchao was most worried about was that Fan Ziqi would immediately flee to the Utuo Khanate after learning that the city had been breached.
Although Li Tuo and Wen Budao died, Fan Ziqi, Bai Jingzhai and the rebel general Yuan Shangyu were not in Fenggan City.
Recovering Xiling is important, but revenge is equally important to Yuwen Chengchao.
Yuan Shangyu was once the leader of the Yuwen family's tiger cavalry. He turned against Li Tuo and killed Ning Zhifeng and others. This revenge must be avenged.
Bai Jingzhai was once a retainer of the Yuwen family, who took advantage of the Yuwen family's secret development, and ended up devouring the master. This blood debt must also be paid back.
Moreover, Fan Ziqi and others were those who must be killed by the Holy Emperor's decree. Even if they could not be captured alive, their heads must be sent back.
Yuwen Chengchao was worried about Fan Ziqi and others escaping from Kunlun Pass, so he sent Su Changyu and his cavalry to intercept them overnight. He did not have to attack Fancheng, but he had to prevent Fan Ziqi and others from escaping the pass.
The west wind was strong, and on the loess road, a convoy was heading west quickly.
In front were five rideable carriages, and behind were a dozen carriages filled with large boxes. Dozens of cavalry were guarding the front and rear. Leading the way was Fan Qi Commander Mo Cangxing.
"Commander Mo, how far is it from Kunlun Pass?" The curtain of the carriage at the front was opened, and Fan Ziqi poked his head out.
It was already dusk, and everything between heaven and earth was dark.
"We should be able to reach it when it gets dark." Mo Cangxing didn't look back, "It's about twenty miles away."
"Let everyone speed up." Fan Ziqi said, "We will be safe only after we leave Kunlun Pass."
Mo Cangxing said, "My lord, are you really willing to give up everything and join the Wutuo people?"
Li Tuo proclaimed himself emperor and was granted a great title.
Bai Jingzhai became the Prime Minister, while Fan Ziqi was
Conferred a royal title.
"I never thought of leaving my hometown." Fan Ziqi sighed, "I was born in Xiling and grew up in Xiling. I would never leave unless it was absolutely necessary. But who would have thought that King Wutuo Khan would be assassinated and killed by the Tang army?
Come here, without the help of the Wutuo people, Xiling will not be able to stop the enemy."
"My lord, do you know that the new king of the Tang Dynasty is Qin Xiao, who was a jailer in Turtle City back then." Mo Cangxing said, "This man is the son of Emperor Dezong. He hid in Xiling and eventually revived Li Tang."
Fan Ziqi said, "I only found out not long ago. Just because we knew it was him, we had no way out." He said with emotion, "Heiyu died in our hands back then. He was once Heiyu's adopted son, how could he let us go?"
"
"But what can we do if we go to the Wutuo Khanate?" Mo Cangxing said, "The Wutuo people supported the prince because he had a deep foundation in Xiling. Without Xiling, the prince would be worthless to the Wutuo people.
, will they treat you well?"
Fan Ziqi frowned, as if he was a little dissatisfied with Mo Cangxing's blunt words, but after thinking about it, it was not unreasonable. He could only sigh, "As long as the Wutuo people covet Xiling, we will still be useful to them. This time, I will bring you
Many treasures, in exchange for their protection."
"The Wutuo people do not have the education of the Tang Dynasty and are only interested in profit." Mo Cangxing said, "When the prince comes to their territory, these treasures will be eaten by them whether they like it or not."
Fan Ziqi was even more displeased and said, "No need to say more, hurry up and get out of the customs." He lowered the car curtain.
In fact, he didn't know that what Mo Cangxing said was reasonable.
But now, he has no other choice.
During the Wutuo Incident, troops could not be sent for reinforcements. Under such circumstances, it was impossible for the Xiling rebels to block the Tang army's front, and it was bound to be overwhelming.
When he learned that Turtle City had been destroyed, Fan Ziqi knew that Fenggan City would definitely not be able to hold on for long.
He collected a large number of treasures and quickly fled westward with his family.
He did not expect that the Wutuo people would treat him well, but if he stayed in Xiling, the result would be that the whole family would be executed. If he fled to Xiling, he could at least save his life.
Fan Ziqi knew that as long as he got out of Kunlun Pass, he would be able to escape the catastrophe.
He leaned in the carriage, with three of his wives and concubines sitting next to him. He could also see that the three of them had bad expressions and said in a bad mood, "Don't be listless. Just save your life. It's not like you will never come back. It won't take long, we will return."
Will be back!"
It's just that even he himself didn't quite believe it.
A sudden "creak" sound was heard, and the carriage suddenly stopped.
"what happened?"
Nowadays, Fan Ziqi becomes frightened whenever there is any slight disturbance.
"Your Majesty, I'm afraid we won't be able to get out of the gate!" Mo Cangxing said in an indifferent voice, "Someone is blocking the way!"