(8), the battle of the spirit state
In 766 AD (the first year of Dali), in February of the lunar calendar, Don Yang Shaoqing went to Dali, Tibet. In the lunar calendar 10, a Tibetan delegation headed by Lunqizang 100 people arrived in the Tang Dynasty with Yang Ji to express their goodwill, but the red tape above the imperial hall could not bring real peace to the border people.
In September of that year, the Tubo army attacked Hexi again and captured Ganzhou and Suzhou. In Hexi, Yang moved his office to Shazhou (Dunhuang, Gansu) and insisted on opposing the Tubo invasion. In October, when the Tubo envoy was still in Chang 'an, the Tubo army captured Yuanzhou (now Jingchuan County, Pingliang City, Gansu Province), but the purpose of Tubo attacking Yuanzhou was to pave the way for capturing Lingzhou (now Wuzhong, Ningxia), an important town.
Lingzhou, located in the north of the country, is a giant screen in the west of the Tang Dynasty, which is connected to Hetao in the north and Liang Qing in the south. As Guo Ziyi, a famous minister in the Tang Dynasty, said, "The north is the gate of the north, the west is cynical, the north is dangerous, and the five cities are separated by three thousand miles." As early as in Qin Huang, he took Meng Tian as the general and attacked the Xiongnu in the north accordingly. "But the Huns are more than a hundred miles away, and the Hu people dare not go south to herd horses", and then "building a city depends on Hu", so Lingzhou began to do so. At the end of the Han Dynasty and the Sui Dynasty, it was all about "preparing soldiers to prevent bandits". It can be seen that the Central Plains dynasties all knew that Heshuo was "the backbone of Guanzhong, and if it was not prepared for a day, its chest, abdomen and limbs could not be guaranteed", but once the unique Ningxia Plain and Hetao Plain were lost, "it still paid a lot of money for meandering, but it was waiting for it, and Zhang took advantage of it"; "I trust the river to the enemy, but I am worried about it." For Tubo, sticking to the counties occupied by Dragon and attacking Guanzhong from north to south are the strategic foothold and logistics supply field that must be controlled. When both Tang and Fan focused on the land of Hetao, Lingzhou, as the shield of Guanzhong and the throat of the dragon, became the eyes on the chessboard. In the next few years, in order to compete for Lingzhou, Tang and Fan launched a series of bloody battles.
In October 766 (the first year of Dali), Tubo attacked Lingzhou for the first time. Fortunately, Lu Sigong, the Northern Expeditionary Army stationed in Lingzhou, dispatched well and defeated the Tubo army at the gates of Lingzhou. The victory of Lingzhou City made the Tang Dynasty's peace talks in Chang 'an a lot harder, and refused the request of Tubo to cede territory. This time, the alliance between the two sides broke down again.
In February 767 (the second year of Dali), the Tang envoy entered the Tang Dynasty, followed by the Tubo envoy. In April, he joined forces with Prime Minister Tang and Yu Chaoen in Xingtang Temple. In July of the lunar calendar, Tubo sent envoys to Tang. But this alliance is basically a piece of waste paper, and neither Tang nor Fan will take it seriously. Sure enough, in September of that year, the ink on the oath was not dry, and tens of thousands of Tubo soldiers besieged Lingwu (southwest of Lingwu County, Ningxia), and Tubo passengers rode in Yuan Pan (east of Pingliang County, Gansu Province) and Lu Yi (Changwu County, Shaanxi Province). Guo Ziyi personally commanded Jingyang, with 30,000 soldiers in the town and martial law in the capital. On September 17, Ziyi moved to Toyota Town. In June+10, 65438, the Northern Party made Lu Si defeat Tubo at the gate of Lingzhou, beheaded more than 2,000 people, and the Tubo army retreated. In November of the lunar calendar, the Tang envoy returned to Tang from Lhasa, bringing back the negotiation conditions, demanding that both sides take Guan as the boundary as the condition of alliance negotiation.
LAM Raymond Pass is now in Linxia County, Gansu Province, and the actual control area of Tubo has penetrated to the east of LAM Raymond Pass and the upper reaches of Daotang River in the Tang Dynasty, so this condition is not a big opening for the Tang Dynasty. From Chisong Dêzain's claim that the west of Fenglinguan is a Tubo territory, it can be interpreted that although Tubo occupied a large territory of Longyou and Hexi, at least in the early years of Dali, it had not completed the effective rule and management of Longyou, and as long as the Tang Dynasty adhered to a few solid city defenses, it could still pose a threat to Longyou. For the Tang dynasty, although this condition seemed friendly, it joined the alliance many times, but it prevented the Tubo from invading every autumn. It had long given up on the oath, and with the progress of the alliance, the Tang government also realized that the conditions put forward by Tubo were increasing, and the alliance might just be a strategy for Chisong Dêzain to paralyze the Tang Dynasty. Only by persisting in the war of resistance can the security of Guanzhong be guaranteed. In addition, the people of the Tang Dynasty hated the practice of Tubo invading the border for years and demanded a tough response to Tubo on the battlefield. "There are several idle snow-capped mountains in the wilderness, and the long river is infinitely old. LAM Raymond customs are all Tang soil. When Chen Bing defended himself, it also made Tang Ting feel popular.
In addition, in Tubo, by 767 AD, Chisong Dêzain had been in office for 12 years. With the help of the theory of "three is one", he made clear the assessment, perfected the law, made clear the social status rewards of all classes in China, and made clear the military reward standard when the foot soldiers went out to war. After Chisong Dêzain's efforts for more than ten years, Tubo's national strength became strong and reached the prosperity of Tubo dynasty. However, even a wise monarch like Chisong Dêzain can't solve a curse that has entangled kings of past dynasties, that is, the greedy plunder and possession of domestic resources by aristocratic interest groups. When this pervasive possession, it will inevitably lead to serious opposition and hostility from all walks of life in China. To make matters worse, Chisong Dêzain has begun to enthusiastically believe in Tibetan Buddhism. In order to promote the spread of Buddhism, he even designed with ministers to bury Ma Bajie, a great believer in Buddhism, alive in the grave.
In order to promote the development of Tibetan Buddhism, Chisong Dêzain began to build Buddhist temples in Tibetan areas, and offered a large number of land and people as sacrifices to the temples. Since then, the land and population dedicated to the temple have been separated from the state tax and become the private fields of the temple. In spite of this, Chisong Dêzain was not satisfied. He also issued a decree requiring every seven farmers in China to worship a monk. These policies of worshipping Buddhism have further aggravated the shortage of domestic social resources, making the domestic power groups enrich their wealth and power only through territorial expansion, so Tubo is like a chariot tied to militarism and keeps rolling forward.
In order to solve the shortage of domestic social resources distribution, exporting war to foreign troops and plundering property and population has become the knowledge of every Tibetan soldier from Chisong Dêzain to Tibet. So in the following years, Tubo continued to attack the territory of the Tang Dynasty.
In 678 AD (the third year of Dali), the general in charge of eastern Tubo was still there. Knowing that he had made great contributions, he invited the old man, and Shangzanmo, our ambassador to eastern Tubo, took over, taking charge of Hexi and Longyou. In August of this year, 100,000 Tibetan troops attacked Lingwu (southwest of Lingwu County, Ningxia) and once again came to Lingzhou, the throat of the north. Praise Mo personally led twenty thousand people to Yizhou, harassing Yizhou for the purpose of distracting Tang Jun and relieving the pressure of the Tibetan army besieged Lingzhou. In fact, Shang Zamo knows very well that Taizhou is very close to Chang 'an and heavily guarded by the Tang Dynasty. Moreover, Taizhou has a dangerous terrain, surrounded by mountains and rivers, and it is easy to defend but difficult to attack. Tang and Fan had many bloody battles in Taizhou, and Tubo never took advantage of them. Sure enough, the siege of Zhaizhou failed, and neither did the Tubo army attacking Lingwu. Just as the Tubo army besieged Zhaizhou and Lingwu, in order to alleviate the military pressure of the two places, the Tang Dynasty sent Li Sheng to lead thousands of troops, causing a great earthquake. "When we arrived in Lintao, Tubo decided to build a fort (the purpose of Tubo was annexation, so it was named after building a fort). People praised Mo Ding Bao Qin for being burned to death, and the handsome Tubo army returned to the division. Tang Shi recorded that "Ma Yi and Bai Yuanguang each broke 20,000 Tubo people, captured thousands of sheep and horses, and surrounded Lingzhou".
In September 769 (the fourth year of Dali), the Tubo army once again entered Lingzhou to plunder. On June+10, 5438, the Tubo army entered Mingshan County (southwest of Qingtongxia City, Ningxia), and the Tubo army invaded Lingzhou step by step. Guo Ziyi sent Hunhun to lead five thousand chosen men to support him. Tubo besieged Lingzhou for dozens of days, and Tang Jun resisted to the death and refused. Tubo retreated.
In 770 AD (five years in Dali), Tubo attacked Yongshou County (northwest of Yongshou County, Shaanxi Province). This attack should be a small-scale harassment. However, from the fact that the Tubo army entered the hinterland of Yizhou so easily, it can be seen that the frontier defense in the Tang Dynasty can only stick to the strong city and keep the strategic support point. For the wilderness between cities, Tubo can only ride a light bicycle freely.
In 77 1 year (the sixth year of Dali), in September, the Tubo army crossed Qingshiling (west of Yuanzhou) and entered Nacheng (southeast of Guyuan) in Yuanzhou (Ningxia). Thanks to Guo Ziyi's persuasion, Tubo withdrew.
In 772 AD (the seventh year of Dali), Tubo rode 5,000 to Lingzhou, and soon retreated to the west. In 773 AD (the eighth year of Dali), the recuperating Tibetan army launched the autumn plunder war again. In August, 60,000 Tibetan cavalry attacked Lingwu and trampled on crops. On June+10, 5438, Tubo invaded Jingzhou (now Jingchuan, Gansu) and Danzhou, and Guo Ziyi sent Hunjun Shuai to ride five thousand steps to refuse. 10 18, the two armies fought in Lu Yi (Changwu County, Shaanxi Province), and the Hunjun refused to ride according to the risk, in case the Tubo cavalry charged, and the headquarters did not listen to its orders, which led to the Tubo cavalry rushing into the Tang array. Later, Ma Yi fought Tubo in Yanchang, west of Jingzhou (now west of Jingchuan, Gansu). Tubo won again, and Ma Yi was trapped in the Tubo array and did not return after dark. Yuan Jing's military forces let Jiao and others compete with the defeated troops to enter the city. It was suggested that Duan, marching Sima, refused to defend the city. Fortunately, Duan has both courage and ingenuity. When Guo Ziyi's son's foot soldiers broke the law, he dared to behead them without saying anything. At this critical moment, he once again showed his courage and boldness. He summoned Jiao to reprimand him and said, "According to the military law, if a general loses, all his men should be put to death. You don't know! " Jiao and others hurriedly bowed down and pleaded. So Shi Xiu found that all the ranks in the city were in Dongyuan, so he gathered the scattered troops and pretended to be dying. Tubo see Tang Jun put on a desperate appearance and dare not retreat. In the evening, Ma Yi returned to the army. At this point, the three lines of defense set by Tang Jun, Tubo has already breached two, the situation is very critical. Guo Ziyi called the generals and said, "I am responsible for this failure, not the generals. However, the soldiers of Shuofang are famous all over the world, and now they are defeated by Tubo. I wonder what strategy you will have to avenge them? " People are right. Xun said, "I am a defeated general, so it is not appropriate to discuss military and political affairs again." I wish I could say a word, please lose my army, or I will be hired again. "Ziyi forgave his sins and let the handsome soldiers enter North Korea. After defeating Tang Jun, Tubo wanted to plunder Yiyang (now Qianyang, Shaanxi Province) and Longzhou (now Longxian County, Shaanxi Province). Hunhun led the troops around Qinyuan (now Qingshui, Gansu Province) and marched westward. When Tubo heard about it, he went to Baicheng (now Lingtai West, Gansu Province) and suspected that there were reinforcements in the Tang Dynasty. The handsome army fell on the narrow path and took all their spoils. Ma Yi also sent troops to attack the Tubo trench, killing thousands of people, and Tubo escaped.
In 775 AD (the tenth year of Dali), on September 16th, Tubo attacked Lin Jing (Zhenyuan, Gansu Province), and on 17th, he entered Longzhou (Longxian County, Shaanxi Province), plundering people and animals, and all the officials sent their families out of the city to escape. On 21st, Fengxiang made Li Baoyu break Tubo in Yining (now Huating, Gansu). Then I attacked Jingzhou, and I repelled Ma Yi by Jingyuan in Bai Licheng (Baili Town, southwest of Lingtai County, Gansu Province).
In September 776 (the 11th year of Dali), the Tubo army attacked Shimen and entered Changzechuan (north of Guyuan County, Ningxia).
In 777 AD (the 12th year of Dali), in September, 80,000 Tubo troops entered the former Governor's Prison (namely Changzechuan), breached Fangqu County (Huanxian County, Gansu Province) and entered Bo Gu. Guo Ziyi sent Li Huaiguang to save them, and the Tubo army rushed to the southeast to attack Zhou Fang (Huangling, Shaanxi). On June+10, 5438, Tubo attacked Yanzhou (Dingbian County, Shaanxi Province), Zhou Xia (Northeast Baichengzi, Jingbian County, Shaanxi Province) and Changwu.
In 778 AD (the 13th year of Dali), Ma Zhongying, a veteran Tubo, led 40,000 people to attack Lingzhou, seized the estuary of the three waterways of Han, Shang and Shu, and destroyed the Tang Dynasty. As can be seen from this military action of Tubo, the Tubo generals may have realized that it is difficult to defeat the Tang Dynasty simply by attacking Tang Jun, Iraq and other counties, and began to use means such as looting people, burning autumn grain and destroying canals to bring down the Tang Dynasty economically.
In April, Tubo attacked Lingzhou, in July, 20,000 Tubo soldiers attacked Yanzhou and Gyeongju, and in August, 20,000 Tubo soldiers invaded Yinzhou territory and forest (north of Shenmu County, Shaanxi Province) to drive away the miscellaneous animals of the Tangut Department. In September, Tubo rode over Qingshiling (northwest of Jingchuan County, Gansu Province) to Jingzhou.
From the battles recorded in the above historical materials, we can see several characteristics. First, almost every autumn, Tubo attacked Longyou area, while in the Tang Dynasty, soldiers were deployed to defend every year, and "autumn defense" was a common occurrence; Second, Tubo attacked Lingzhou and Zhaizhou at the age of 20 and failed. After the retreat of Tubo, the results reported by the Tang Dynasty were overcast. "Tubo was defeated, beheaded thousands and beheaded ten thousand people." But Tubo came back, which shows how untrue this report is; Third, although the Tubo attack failed many times, it was plundered repeatedly in the Tang Dynasty every time, which may be the main purpose of the Tubo attack. Under the harassment of Tubo for many years, the people on the right side of Gansu were either abducted or moved to other places, and the people's livelihood on the border was miserable. Guo Ziyi, Ma Yi and others. Many times, it was reported to the imperial court that Jingzhou and Yizhou were desolate and there was no way to support the army, requesting the imperial court to resettle the population and station troops. Before the Anshi Rebellion, there were 500,000 Tang people in Hexi. A few years after Liangzhou was destroyed, there were several Tang people in Liangzhou, and the number of people in Hexi dropped sharply. Not all of them were plundered by Tubo, and there should be a large number of people who moved to Guanzhong to escape the war.
While Tang Jun in Longyou was struggling, Tang Jun in Sichuan won many battles with Tubo. In the first month of the 10th year of Dali, Xichuan (now Chengdu, Sichuan) and Cui Ning defeated tens of thousands of Tubo in Xishan, beheaded tens of thousands and captured thousands of people. In February of the 11th year of Dali, Cui Ning smashed more than 200,000 Tubo, Turkic and Tuyuhun and beheaded more than 10,000 people. In April of the 12th year of Dali, Cui Ning broke more than 100,000 Tubo people and beheaded more than 8,000 people in Kouya State (now Ya 'an, Sichuan). Regardless of whether the results reported by Cui Ning are exaggerated or not, it is certain that the Tubo failed in attacking Sichuan. Tang Jun's victory in Sichuan did relieve the pressure of Longyou to some extent.
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