One Piece of Song Dynasty

In the ninth year of Tianbao, Gao Xianzhi was ordered to send out troops again to defeat the Cheshi Kingdom, which was pro-Tubo, and captured its king, Batemi. These two difficult expeditions gave Gao Xianzhi a great reputation in the Western Regions. At this time, Datang had become the occupier of the Tarim area, the Ili River Basin and the Issyk-Kul Lake area and the suzerain of Tashkent. He controlled the Pamir Valley area and became the protector of the Tocharian area, Kabul and Kashmir. Gao Xianzhi As if he was the general manager of the Tang Dynasty in the Western Regions, the expansion of the Tang Dynasty in the Western Regions obviously affected the interests of Dashi, so the Talas War broke out next.

Let’s talk about the origin and process of the Battle of Talos. As Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty grew older, he became a little obsessed with success. This made the Tang Dynasty’s frontier commanders often ignore the overall situation and act arbitrarily. Gao Xianzhi, the frontier commander of the Western Regions at that time No exception. These actions seriously damaged the relationship between the Tang Dynasty and the countries in the Western Regions, leading to unstable situations in the border areas.

At that time, the Shi Kingdom, which was located in the Western Regions, was located on the Silk Road. It had developed agriculture and its residents were good at doing business. It was said to be the richest in the West. Gao Xianzhi coveted the wealth of Shiguo and wanted to plunder it for himself.

In the ninth year of Tianbao, Gao Xianzhi falsely accused King Shi of "having no courtesy as a minister" and led his troops to attack him. In fact, the relationship between the Shi State and the Tang Dynasty is still good. According to the records of Yuangui of Cefu, the Shi State has been paying tribute to the Tang Dynasty: in the second year of Tianbao, he sent his son-in-law Tairan Burma, the leader of Kang State, to offer gifts; in the fifth year of Tianbao, he sent envoys to offer tributes. There were fifteen horses, and the deputy king of the Shi Kingdom, Yina Tutunqu, also sent an envoy to offer gifts. In the sixth year of Tianbao, he sent an envoy to offer horses. In the eighth year of Tianbao, he also sent the crown prince Yuanen to the pass for pilgrimage. Compared with other countries in the Western Regions, the attitude of the King of Shi Kingdom towards the Tang Dynasty can be said to be more respectful and sincere.

After King Naju Chebishi of the Shi Kingdom succeeded to the throne, because of his loyalty to the Tang Dynasty, he was named King Huaihua by Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, and was given preferential treatment and an ironclad certificate of immunity. So when the Tang army arrived, Naju Chebishi agreed to Gao Xianzhi's peace treaty. Gao Xianzhi pretended to send people to make peace with Shiguo first, and then took advantage of Shiguo's unpreparedness to send troops to cover up the attack and capture the king of Shiguo and his tribe. Then Gao Xianzhi launched his troops to kill and plunder, even refusing to spare the old, weak, sick and disabled. In this operation, Gao Xianzhi obtained "more than ten husks of Dendrobium, five or six camels of gold, and the rest of the horses and groceries from the Shi Kingdom, all of which went into his home." On the way back from the Shi Kingdom, Gao Xianzhi also slandered Tuqi Shi for rebellion. He attacked Tuqishi and captured Tiebo Khan.

Like the Shi Kingdom, Tuqishi was also one of the countries in the Western Regions that had the closest relationship with the Tang Dynasty at that time. The attacks on Shiguo and Tuqishi aroused resistance from the local people, and the Tang army suppressed them vigorously. In addition to the old and weak in Shiguo, most of the victims were Hu merchants with the nine surnames of Zhaowu who were trading in Shiguo. Therefore, when Gao Xianzhi reported his merits to the court, he added another item of "breaking the Nine Kingdoms".

Due to Gao Xianzhi's series of wrong actions, the prestige of the Tang Dynasty in the Western Regions was greatly reduced, and "the Western Regions were dissatisfied." The prince of Shiguo fled to the Zhuhu tribe and told Hu Zhaowu about Gao Xianzhi's deception, corruption and violence. The Hu tribes were furious and secretly united with the Dashi Kingdom to attack the four towns of Anxi. Dashi then used this as an excuse to implement its expansion plan.

After Gao Xianzhi learned about this, he felt uneasy and decided to strike preemptively. In April, Gao Xianzhi personally led Tibetan and Han soldiers to attack Dashi. At that time, the total strength of the Tang Dynasty in the four towns of Anxi was only . You must know that Chang'an is thousands of miles away from the Anxi Protectorate, and the logistics supply consumption is huge. Therefore, it is destined that the Tang Dynasty cannot station more troops in the Western Region. Therefore, Gao Xianzhi can be regarded as leading the entire Tang army in the Western Regions to dispatch this time.

The Tang army marched for more than miles and encountered the Dashi army in Talas City. Talas City was the second largest stronghold of the Stone Kingdom, which was also an important reason why Gao Xianzhi and Dashi met here. Samarkand, not far from Talas City, has long been a stronghold where Dashi soldiers gathered. The combined forces of Dashi and the anti-Tang countries in the Western Regions should number around hundreds of thousands.

Gao Xianzhi didn't know Dashi's intention. Moreover, Datang's vassal states to the west of Congling were relatively scattered, and it was difficult to assemble an army for a while. In order to prevent Dashi from advancing eastward and use offense as defense, an expedition against Dashi seemed to be a feasible method for Gao Xianzhi, who was well versed in the art of war. The Dashi army, which had just put down the rebellions in Bukhara and Sogdia, went south and happened to meet Gao Xianzhi's army at the Talus River.

The two sides fought fiercely for five days, with no victory or defeat. At an important moment of the stalemate between the two sides, the Geluolu tribe in the Tang army suddenly rebelled and attacked the Tang army with Dashi. Gao Xianzhi was defeated and escaped at night. Because the road was blocked, Bahan's tribe blocked the way in front, and people and horses blocked the road. Fortunately, General Li Siye of the Right Weiwei raised his stick and opened a bloody path for him, and he was able to escape. In this battle, it can be said that all the elite soldiers of the Tang Dynasty in the Western Regions died, and only a thousand people escaped.

This is how the entire Battle of Talos happened. "

Liang Qin asked: "Teacher, what about after the war?"

Li Xin said: "After the Battle of Talos, Gao Xianzhi was removed from the post of Jiedushi of the Four Towns of Anxi and transferred back to Chang'an to serve as General Youjinwu. Therefore, the defeat of this battle did not have much impact on Gao Xianzhi. It took Datang two years to regain its strength in the Western Regions, but Datang's prestige among the countries in the Western Regions was indeed reduced.

Although Gao Xianzhi bore the main responsibility for the failure of the Tang army in the Battle of Talas, it was not unrelated to Tang Xuanzong's great success. Therefore, although the Battle of Talas failed, Tang Xuanzong shielded Gao Xianzhi and did not punish him for his serious crimes. "

Zheng Zhong asked: "Teacher, what were the casualties of the Shiguo army in the Battle of Talos?"

Li Xin replied: "The Dashi coalition suffered about casualties in this battle."

Zhai Liang said thoughtfully: "With more than troops, we defeated enemy troops. The Tang Dynasty can be considered proud of its defeat."

Li Xin said: "It is true. After this battle, Da Shi took advantage of the strong combat power of the Tang army and sent envoys several times to express its goodwill to the Tang Dynasty. So what do you think of the Battle of Talas?"

Zhai Liang raised his hand and said: "Although the Tang army was defeated in this battle, in terms of results, it still prevented Dashi from expanding eastward and showed Dashi the powerful combat power of the Tang army. If the Tang army was not more than , but Or even more, then the result of this battle may not be the defeat of the Tang army, so the students come to the conclusion that only when we are strong are we truly strong and can we make the enemy surrender."

Li Xin said: "What you said is correct, but it deviates from today's theme. Moreover, with the logistics capabilities of the Tang Dynasty at that time, it was already the limit to support more than troops in the Western Regions. We all know how powerful the Tang Dynasty was. With such a powerful national power, the Tang Dynasty could only support such a small army in the Western Regions. Therefore, the strong national power was not the reason for the border guards to start wars. Here, I will give you a famous saying from my ancestors: "Although the country is big, it is good to fight." If you fight, you will perish. Although the world is safe, if you forget to fight, you will be in danger."