Tibet

The battle ended quickly. Prisoners of war participated in the battle, and the Tibetan soldiers were killed one after another. Three Tibetan cavalrymen with war horses were shot dead with arrows by the pursuing Tang army before they could run far.

Everyone cut the ropes of their tied companions, and Zhang Dian asked Xin Changwu: "Brother Xin, where is your father?"

Xin Changwu cried loudly: "My father was killed by them, and his head was taken away by them."

"what happened?"

"The Tubo army sneaked into the Tianlang Fort from the back mountain. More than a hundred people climbed down ropes and entered the Tianlang Fort. They cooperated inside and outside. The Tianlang Fort fell. My father and eldest brother were killed, all the old people and babies were killed, and many women were killed. They were also humiliated, and then everyone was tied up and sent to Tibet as slaves."

At this point, Xin Changwu burst into tears.

Zhang Dian sighed and said: "It's not safe here, let's get out of here first!"

The scouts led the crowd to collect dry food, and gave the frail woman a ride on the dozens of captured war horses. The crowd left the official road and headed towards Qinzhou along a trail.

In Qinzhou, the refugees signed up enthusiastically. More than 100,000 people signed up to join the army. To Li Ye's surprise, Li Ye selected 30,000 tall and strong young men to join the Helong Army. The remaining men also There was no waste, a self-defense militia was formed, and Li Ye's general Gao Xiuyan was responsible for training.

Gao Xiuyan surrendered to Li Ye in Lantian County. He was originally a general under Brother Shu Han of the Longyou Army. He later served as the governor of Yunzhong and became a subordinate of An Lushan, the governor of Hedong at that time. He was transferred to Youzhou by An Lushan and was confused. Follow the rebellion.

Li Ye believed that he had meritorious service in protecting more than 100,000 people in Lantian County, so he did not hold him accountable and accepted him as a general in charge of logistics.

During the battle to defend Chang'an, Gao Xiuyan was responsible for training the army, and later commanded 50,000 militia soldiers to provide logistical support to the defending army, which was considered a change of heart.

Li Ye once again named him General Yingyang Lang. Although this official position was much lower than his former Yunzhong Governor, Gao Xiuyan knew very well that unless Li Ye could accept him, he had nowhere to go, and the court would definitely kill him.

Moreover, General Ying Yanglang's official position in the Helong Army was not low, second only to several Generals Hu Ben.

In the main campus, Gao Xiuyan led a thousand soldiers to train the 80,000-strong militia army, starting with formation, mainly training obedience.

Fifty thousand recruits were trained by Nan Jiyun. The recruits started with physical strength and underwent long-distance running. The biggest advantage of the Tubo army was their physical strength. Li Ye had a deep understanding of it when he was in the Western Regions. If he wanted to compete with the Tubo army, his physical strength must be improved to a higher level. .

At this time, Xin Yunjing, the military commander of Qinzhou, walked up to Li Ye and asked in surprise: "Isn't that Gao Xiuyan? It is said that he surrendered to Anlu Mountain, how can he be under the command of His Highness?"

Xin Yunjing was a leader among the wealthy Xin family in Lanzhou. He was about thirty-seven or eighteen years old, tall, strong, brave and resourceful. He was originally a general under his brother Shu Han in the Longyou Army. Historically, Xin Yunjing was instrumental in putting down Shi Siming's rebellion. He began to show his prominence, made outstanding achievements repeatedly, and became a famous general.

When the emperor Li Heng was in Lingwu, he led 10,000 troops to guard Huizhou. Li Heng went south to Hanzhong. He was responsible for breaking up the rear. He stayed in Qinzhou as a military envoy. He fought fiercely with the Tubo army several times and saved Qinzhou, but his The army also dropped from 10,000 to 5,000.

Xin Yunjing was once a colleague of Gao Xiuyan, so he recognized Gao Xiuyan at a glance.

Li Ye smiled lightly and said: "General Gao was just unlucky and was forced to become An Lushan's subordinate. He did not really serve An Lushan. He later rebelled and joined me and made great contributions in the battle to defend Chang'an."

Xin Yunjing nodded, "That's right. He is the governor of Yunzhong, and An Lushan happens to be his boss!"

Speaking of this, Xin Yunjing said worriedly: "His Highness has taken in hundreds of thousands of people, can we keep up with the food supply?"

"I have sent 50,000 camels back to Hanzhong to transport grain. Fifty thousand camels can transport 200,000 shi of grain at a time, which should be able to support the army for several months."

"But there are still millions of people!"

Li Ye smiled slightly and said: "The imperial court promised to support me with 300,000 grains, and I plan to use all of it to relieve the people."

Xin Yunjing was really moved. He had never met a royal prince who cared so much about the people. Even when the emperor passed by, he never looked at the refugees and didn't ask. It was as if the refugees didn't exist and only the political affairs hall could not hinder his kindness. , one hundred thousand grains were sent from Hanzhong.

The people of Helong are really lucky to have a new master like King Qi in Longyou and Hexi!

Xin Yunjing is the military envoy of Qinzhou, with the official rank of General Dingyuan of the fifth rank. Naturally, he is also Li Ye's subordinate. However, he is a local general in Longyou and is not an old general who has been following Li Ye. However, this does not mean that Li Ye does not reuse him. Li Ye has officially named him General Hu Benlang, which means that Xin Yunjing has also been officially integrated into Li Ye's military system.

Of course, not only Xin Yunjing, but also several of his brothers, the second brother Xin Jinggao, and the subordinates of Shuofang Army Li Guangbi, are currently serving as the military envoys of Xiaoguan, leading an army of 5,000 to guard Xiaoguan to defend against the southward Tibetan army that has captured Lingwu.

The third brother Xin Jingmin, the fourth brother Xin Yunchao and the fifth brother Xin Yunsheng all served under Xin Yunching. They were all brave and good generals. They were all appointed by Li Ye as Eagle Striker Generals and were transferred to each army to command the army.

Li Ye asked again: "Is the Tubo army still so brutal now?"

Xin Yunjing pondered for a moment and said: "It was very brutal at first. A large number of Han people were captured and taken to Tibet as slaves. But I heard that nearly half of them died in one winter. The Han people could not withstand the special climate of the plateau. Now they are starting to change their strategies."

"How to change the strategy, please tell me in detail!"

"They still treat the Han people as serfs, but instead of sending them to the plateau, they stay in the Hehuang Valley to grow wheat. Their fate is still miserable. They have no property of their own. They have been serfs for generations and have been exploited. But this is part of it. .

The other part was the Han who resisted them. Once they broke through the fortress, they killed the old and the weak. The young and strong men and children aged seven or eight were sent to Tubo, but not to the hinterland of the plateau. "

"Where are they sent?" Li Ye asked again.

Xin Yunjing continued: "There are also many Han people under Tubo rule near Hezhou and Taozhou. To put it bluntly, they are Han people who were plundered before. They are distributed in the Jiuqu area of ​​the Yellow River and farm. They are already the second generation or The third generation was basically assimilated by the Tubo people, so they were called Tubo Han people. Many of them achieved military merit and became the leaders of large households of the Tubo Han people. These Han people who resisted were given to them as slaves."

Li Ye remembered what Dugu Ming had said to him, and asked, "How many troops do these Tubo Han people have?"

"There are probably tens of thousands of people. They are basically Tibetan and Han troops in Lingzhou. They are responsible for farming in Lingzhou."

"What's the difference between them and us?" Li Ye asked again.

"They look similar to us, but their living customs, food, and language are no different from those of the Tubo people. However, they are more cruel and murderous than the Tubo people. Their status in Tubo is very low and they are called inferior people. The army is also called Inferior army.”

Li Ye nodded, "That's it!"

At this moment, someone shouted from afar: "Your Highness, Scout General Zhang is back, and he has brought back many people from Tianlang Fort!"

Xin Yunjing was surprised when he heard that it was Tianlang Fort. Tianlang Fort was founded by his second uncle Xin Ran. Could something have happened?

He also quickly got on his horse and followed Li Ye towards the distant military camp.

In the main tent of the Chinese army, Zhang Dian, the scout general, was reporting to Li Ye and the generals that the Tang army had a simple sand table in Longyou, Hexi Province, left by his former brother Shu Han. It was barely usable, but not very precise.

Zhang Dian pointed at Longyou with a wooden pole and said: "The 100,000 Tubo troops in Longyou are mainly distributed in Shanzhou. Most of them are concentrated in Shanzhou. It is estimated that there are about 70,000 people. The second is Lanzhou, with 10,000 troops. Then Weizhou, Hezhou, Taozhou and Minzhou each have 5,000 people. The Tibetan army in Hexi has about 50,000 people. Liangzhou, Ganzhou, Suzhou and Shazhou are basically one state and one state. Thousands of people, but Liangzhou’s army may be more, 20,000. Ganzhou is mainly stationed in the Dadou Bago area. Zhangye City has only a few thousand troops. It is said that there are a small number of Hexi Tang troops on the Juyanhai side. Stationed, I sent twenty of my subordinates to investigate, but now there is no news.”

To Li Ye's surprise, there were actually Tang troops stationed at Juyanhai?