Tibet

Puchanghai was originally under the jurisdiction of Shanshan State, which was the ancient Loulan State. The ancient Loulan State had long since perished. It now belongs to the category of Shazhou, and it belongs to Shazhou until Qiemo.

However, the tribes living here are the Qiemo people. The conditions here are relatively harsh. There is a small tribe living here who make a living by fishing and doing business.

This is an important supply point on the South Silk Road. Almost all caravans must be supplied here before they can cross the vast desert and go to Dunhuang, or come from Dunhuang. They are exhausted and need to rest and supply here.

Li Ye led a cavalry team to the tribal garrison deep in the Puchang Sea. There were more than a dozen wounded soldiers from the Anxi Army. They were Tang Army soldiers stationed in Putao Military City. They were attacked by the Tubo Army. Most of the defenders were killed, and the rest The soldiers were all injured and fled to Puchanghai with difficulty. There were originally more than twenty people, ten of them were seriously injured and died, and now there are only fifteen wounded soldiers left.

Li Ye immediately ordered military doctors to treat them and brought several injured soldiers for questioning. Most of these soldiers were from the Qiemo Kingdom. Among them was a Han named Su Ling, who was also their leader. He was about thirty years old. When he was more than a year old, his ancestral home was Longyou. He had married a wife and had children in Qiemo Kingdom, and he was considered to have taken root in Anxi.

Su Ling learned that the young high-ranking official in front of him was the new Anxi Jiedu Envoy. He hurriedly knelt down on one knee and saluted Li Ye and said, "Su Ling, deputy general of Putao Town, is here to see you, the envoy!"

The deputy town envoy was a seventh-rank official, which was not low. Li Ye nodded, "General Su, please rise!"

"How many years has General Su lived in the Qiemo Kingdom?"

"Bizhi was exiled to Yutian Town with his father since he was a child. He joined the army at the age of sixteen and guarded the border in the four cities of Ruoqiang for fifteen years."

"Then you are familiar with the situation over there!"

"Exactly! I am very familiar with my humble position."

Li Ye laid a map in the tent. While looking at the map, he asked, "Did the Tibetan army come from Sabize?"

Su Ling hesitated and said: "Envoy Qi, we said that the Tibetan army was in Sabize, which is not accurate. Because Sabize is famous, we took it as the direction, but Sabize is a saltwater lake with very high salt content. There is no way to survive there if there are no fish.”

"Where exactly is the logistics of the Tibetan army?"

"About a hundred miles east of Sabize, there is a large alpine grassland there. The locals call it Gasi grassland, and there are several Tuyuhun tribes living there."

Li Ye marked it on the map and suddenly realized, isn't this Mangya City in the northwest of Qinghai? The only way to enter Xinjiang from Qinghai is a large pasture.

Su Ling added: "I heard from my father that that road was an auxiliary road of the Silk Road. More than a hundred years ago, the Sogdians once passed through the Altun Mountains to the West Sea, and then crossed Hehuang and entered the Longyou Pass. So the business in that area is very prosperous.

Ruoqiang County was once the official residence of Shanshan County in the Sui Dynasty, and was later renamed Dianhe City.

The Sogdians of the Tang Dynasty built three more ancient cities, Qitun City, Putao City and Nuzhi City. These are the famous Ruoqiang Four Cities, where caravans traveling between them rested.

But this is also a military city. It used to be used to defend against the invasion of the Tuyuhun people. The Tubo people came two years ago, and Anxi is facing the threat of war again. "

Li Ye suddenly understood that Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty expanded the borders and established Heyuan County, Xihai County, Qiemo County and Shanshan County. In fact, he had opened the road from Hehuang, Xihai County, Golmud to Shanshan County, and was led by famous officials of the Sui Dynasty. Pei Ju pioneered.

The ruling center of Shanshan County is Ruoqiang County. The auxiliary line of the Silk Road runs from Ruoqiang County through the Altun Mountains and the Qaidam Basin to the Hehuang Valley.

This road has nothing to do with the Dunhuang side. It has been controlled by the Tuyuhun people since the Tang Dynasty. With the conquest of the Tuyuhun people by the Tubo army, the Tubo gradually moved westward. The Gasi grassland was the last pasture of the Tuyuhun people. The Tubo army appeared. Here, it means that the Tuyuhun people were completely conquered.

Li Ye also understood the strategic plan of the Tubo people from this. They could enter Anxi from the old route of the West Sea, so why did they have to go to Dabolu?

The Tubo people's control of Big and Small Bolu was not entirely to enter Anxi. They wanted to move westward to control Tocharo, and then control the Hezhong area.

Of course, we can also open up the passage into Anxi from the west, echoing the old Xihai Road from the east, making it difficult for the Tang army in Anxi to take care of both ends, and be attacked from both sides.

"How many Tibetan troops are there in Qiemo City?"

Su Ling shook his head, "Not only Qiemo City, but also the four cities of Nuzhi in Ruoqiang were all occupied by the Tibetan army. It is estimated that there are about two thousand people."

"What's the situation with the defenders?"

Su Ling smiled bitterly, "The envoy has also seen that there are about two thousand people in the five cities, and now there are only fifteen of us left."

"Did they massacre local civilians?"

"That's not true. They need local people to raise an army. They require each household to raise thirty sheep every year, and then twenty sheep must be handed over to them."

Li Ye asked for some more detailed information, and then he reassured the other wounded soldiers to recover from their injuries. He appointed Su Ling as the guide. Two days later, everyone set off for the four cities of Ruoqiang.

The army marched westward along the Qiemo River and collected a large number of dead poplar trees along the way, so that the Tang army could light bonfires to keep warm at night.

The Qiemo River is today's Cheerchen River, with a total length of 1,600 miles. Most of the river is frozen in winter, but there is still running water, clear and sweet, so that the Tang army has no shortage of water sources along the way.

Compared with the vast desert when traveling west from Dunhuang, the green vegetation here is extremely rich. Even in winter, war horses and camels can easily find hay.

To the south is the Altun Mountain, which stretches for thousands of miles. The top of the mountain is covered with snow, which is very spectacular and mysterious. On the grassland in the distance, you can see large herds of bison and wild donkeys, as well as large herds of antelopes running past. There are also large forests at the foot of the mountain, many of which A small river merges into the Qiemo River. This is a rare oasis!

The team walked for ten days. Su Ling saw a red mountain in front of him and said to Li Ye, "Do you see that red mountain? Thirty miles further we will reach Qitun City."

Li Ye immediately ordered the army to stay in place and sent scout cavalry to investigate the situation.

Qitun City is the famous ancient city of Milan. Farms were built here during the Han Dynasty. It was built by Kang Yandian, the leader of the Sogdians in Hexi Province, in the early Tang Dynasty, and the business was once prosperous.

However, with the expansion of Tubo to the north in the mid-Tang Dynasty and the competition with the Tang Dynasty for the Longyou River, the southern route of the Silk Road through the Qaidam Basin was basically abandoned and became a grazing migration channel for the Tuyuhun people. Ruoqiang County was renamed Dianhe The commercial value of Ruoqiang's four cities was basically gone and they became four military cities.

Bi Sichen sent 2,000 troops to garrison Qiemo and other five military cities. Among them, 800 troops were stationed in Qiemo City and 300 troops were stationed in each of the other four cities. However, they could not stop the attack of the Tibetan army. Some died and some fled. , withdrew, and all five military cities fell.

Two hours later, Yang Li led the scouts and ran back. Yang Li clasped his fists on his horse and said, "Reporting to the Governor, Qitun City is indeed defended by Tibetan troops, but there are no Tibetan soldiers outside the city. They are all inside the city."

Li Ye nodded and asked, "Have you been discovered by the other party?"

"Nothing was found. I was very careful. We approached the military city to investigate. We all wore local clothes and pretended to pick up cow dung. They couldn't have imagined that it was the Tang Army."

Li Ye looked at the sky and saw that it was almost dark. He immediately called Liu Yong, the commander of the Han Navy, to discuss the situation.

In the marching tent, Li Ye and several Beiting generals discussed the details of attacking the four towns. Li Ye said to everyone: "These cities are all dozens of miles apart, but they are connected by beacons. We can use night attacks. method to defeat them one by one."

Liu Yong pondered for a while and said: "The main purpose is to destroy the enemy's beacon fire and prevent them from lighting the fire to report the message, but this way you won't need many troops!"

Li Ye pointed at the map and said: "The beacon is in the southwest corner. The perimeter of the entire military city is only two miles. I estimate that there are only three hundred defenders inside. The army surrounded the military city and no one was allowed to escape."

"Who do you plan to send to the city for a sneak attack?"

Li Ye pointed to himself and smiled slightly: "Besides me, I can't think of anyone else who can do it?"