In the fourth year of Xianqing (659 AD), the twentieth day of the eleventh month of autumn, two quarters of the unitary hour.

Under the bright moonlight, on the Pamir Plateau, more than 10,000 elite guards and more than 3,000 war horses are racing wildly against time. The guards traveled lightly, riding their horses in three shifts, marching without interruption throughout the whole process. Su Dingfang was carefully selected, all of them were strong and strong, and they were all gritting their teeth and persevering.

Wu Kang is good at running, following the side of the team, constantly cheering and cheering. Shouting one-two-one, occasionally one-two-three-four, although tired as a dog, even if he didn't respond, he was still happy. After thousands of years, if you become a physical education teacher again, you should remember the past.

Before dawn, climb the plateau, enter the hinterland of the Matou River, and hide in the jungle to sleep. was soon woken up by Qian Shun, who had just closed his eyes, and half an hour had passed. The troops continued to march, and Wu Kang rubbed his eyes and continued to lead the jog. At this moment, the greatest wish is to quickly come to the city and end this war, and the military doctor sleeps for three days.

The whole process gritted his teeth, and finally at about noon, he came to the west of Mabao City, twenty miles away from the mouth of the river. 5,000 soldiers formed a formation, 5,000 soldiers rested, and two shifts rested for half an hour. According to the map, the emergency march was 320 miles.

A normal human walk, five kilometers per hour, ten hours to the limit. But how did the troops in front of them do it for 18 hours in a row and travel 160 kilometers? With Wu Kang's physique, tired and sweating, the brothers in front of him are all herd animals, right?

He was woken up by Chu Shenke again, put on his golden armor, and checked his equipment. took the Qianniu sword, stepped on the fighting horse, led three thousand cavalry, and explored the road two miles ahead. The whole army was in full formation, advancing towards the city of Mabao, still jogging and marching.

Duman, the leader of Ashikiel, was having a banquet with his subordinates, and when he heard the scout's report, the luminous cup fell instantly. All the chiefs and Qi Jin all looked at each other, their faces full of incredulity. Some of them were short-tempered, and pulled out the scimitar in their waists, and wanted to cut down the scouts for lying about the military situation.

The knife was not cut, and the second scout came to report that Tang Bing was found fifteen miles away. And then one after another, the same intelligence, changing distances. It wasn't until the fifth scout that Duman finally came back to his senses and immediately mobilized urgently. Led most of the defenders, rushed to the battle outside the city gate, trying to stop the Tang soldiers.

In such a hurry, more than half of the soldiers did not have time to put on their battle armor. The narrow terrain of the city gate and the loss of maneuver of the cavalry, in the eyes of the Tang guards, are the military merits of moving; Underneath the array of spears and swords is the lamb to the slaughter.

The guards chopped melons and vegetables, and in less than half an hour, Ashijie Duman was defeated, and the remnants of the defeated army fled into the city. The Tang army was divided into four roads and strictly guarded the four city gates. Su Dingfang sent spies to spread rumors about the destruction of the city and dismantle the six defense lines in the north.

Wu Kang led 3,000 cavalry, ambushed ten miles away from the north gate, and guarded the fortress of Atea Pavilion. The terrain here is dangerous, and the mountains and jungles are dense, which can be described as easy to defend and difficult to attack, and it is the throat of Mabao City. The battle plan, formulated with the old Soviet Communist Party, was also a big gamble. Gambling Duman didn't expect that Tang Bing dared to cross the green ridge.

The lightning attacked, and the divine soldiers descended from the sky, waiting for work at ease, and encircling the point to send reinforcements. Its strategic purpose is to block the Duman reinforcements, annihilate the living forces, and break the morale of the Ashiknot. When the time is right, cooperate with the main force and jointly attack the north and south. Break down the six lines of defense, and then join forces with the main force, and the troops will come to the city of Mabao, and catch turtles in an urn.

Soon less than half an hour, the first batch of reinforcements arrived, and Wu Kang gave an order, and thousands of arrows were fired in the jungle. The cavalry took advantage of the situation, like a tiger entering a flock of sheep, and cut vegetables and melons again. After chasing three miles away, the troops returned to the fortress, let them go to report the news, and waited for the next batch of reinforcements.

Within two hours, four reinforcements were defeated, and countless corpses were left in the river valley, and the river changed color. The time was ripe, and three thousand cavalry went out of the fortress and charged north. In less than two quarters of an hour, the sixth line collapsed, and the Turks fled in all directions, all of which were the first military achievements.

Nor do they rush to kill everything, and those who kneel down and surrender will all be gathered into pairs, like a snowball. The Turks are very strange, the tribes hate each other, and their hearts also approve of the Tang Dynasty. One second they are enemies, the next they become comrades, they will raise their weapons and slaughter their fellow clansmen together.

Continue to run long distances, fight more and more, and converge with the main army in the third line of defense. According to the original plan, he led an army of 80,000 and quickly advanced south. Before sunset, the soldiers approached the city of Mabao, surrounded the city on all sides, and camped on the spot.

Wu Kang took off his armor, ate and drank enough, and then got into the bed. Although his body was tired, his spirit was so full that he couldn't sleep. Chat with Qian Shun, have a few drinks with Heping Lang, and tell the guards to rest. Take out the little clay figurine, see that no one is paying attention, and quickly kiss the two.

Gazing at the clay figure in his hand, he kept pouring out in his heart: Dear daughter-in-law, the overall situation has been decided, and the siege will begin tomorrow, and it is expected that it will be completed in three days. I hope you will bless me, and after the defeat of Marburg City, I will cut off Duman's head. pacify the entire Western Regions, follow the old Su Banshi, and wait for the promotion to make a fortune. If Li Jiu is happy, General Qianniu of the Left and Right Mansion is what I have in my pocket.

Sleeping with a clay figure in his arms, he slept until dawn, hastily ate breakfast, and attended a military meeting. The meeting was simple, cutting down nearby trees and making siege equipment, all over the city of Mabao. The four gates attacked at the same time, sending a thousand men each time, 700 Turkic troops, and 300 our guards.

As soon as the military order was issued, the guards moved immediately, and by six o'clock in the afternoon, the equipment was finished. At seven o'clock in the afternoon, the war drums sounded, and Wu Kang led the archery team to urge the horse to slowly approach. At the moment of entering the firing range, the two sides were intertwined with arrows, and the siege officially began.

The Turks were not good at defending the city, and they did not have large equipment to defend the city, so they were suppressed by the Tang soldiers and the rain of arrows. With the support of archers, the guards carried ladders, and the chariots pushed the siege rams, roaring and rushing out. Ten meters close to the city gate, it was attacked by a rain of arrows, and countless casualties were killed and injured at one time.

Wu Kang had no distractions, the quiver took the feather arrow, held the bow body in his left hand, and pulled the bowstring with his right hand. Hawkeye locks on to the target, repositions his shoulders, and flies diagonally with feathered arrows, shooting the city's head soldiers. The smooth action is completed in half a minute, so mechanically repetitive, it looks like a programmed robot.

The golden armor on his body provides the best defense and blocks countless sharp arrows. The only key point in the whole body is the face under the forehead, such a small area, if you are shot by a bow and arrow, blame yourself for being unlucky. Thinking about returning to the capital, looking for Lao Du, who will be the prisoner, and measuring his face and forging a mask. Then it is buckled on the face, showing only the eyes and mouth, armed to the teeth.

About half an hour, the three strong attacks ended, the Chinese army Mingjin withdrew its troops, and the guards collected the corpses. Wu Kang rubbed his arm to relieve the muscle pain, and couldn't help but sigh when he saw the heavy casualties. The most difficult war to fight is the siege war, I don't know if Li Chunfeng and them have made gunpowder.

I hope that in my lifetime, when artillery comes out, such siege weapons can sharply reduce the casualties of robes. Riding back to the army, taking off the golden armor, three glasses of wine, and gradually relaxing. Carrying red sorghum, I went to Lao Su's tent, and the two of them had a few drinks.

Lao Su frowned, put down the wine glass and said: "Our army is lightly armed, there are not enough tools, and there are not many equipment to make. Ladders and chariots alone are far from enough, and if Mabao City is stormed, the casualties may be even greater. ”

Wu Kang thought so, but he was helpless, scratched his head and said: "There is no shortcut to attacking the city, you can only fill it with your life." Our army's grain and grass can last for half a month, and I don't know how long the other side can hold out. If he is short of food and grass, he can surround but not fight, and stay up until the mountains and rivers are exhausted, and naturally go out of the city and surrender. ”

Su Dingfang shook his head: "Duman has already prepared, although the weapons to defend the city are insufficient, there will be a lot of grain and grass." You broke through six lines of defense, you didn't capture too much, and the city has plenty of reserves. We can't get through it, we must continue to attack. ”

This is a headache, Wu Kang used his brain, thought about it for a long time, and still had nothing to do. Give Lao Su Manshang, take two drinks with him, and say his own advice: "The casualties of the troops are too large, and there may be different intentions." The students secretly thought that they should increase the number of Han soldiers. For example, the Thousand Regiments, the Han soldiers, the Uighurs, and the Turks are best drawn evenly. ”

Su Dingfang smiled bitterly: "This is an expedient measure, no matter which clan of soldiers, even if it is a Xi tribe, they must avoid more deaths." The purpose of our trip is to pacify the rebellion and let Asekel return, not to kill them all. ”

The meaning is self-evident, he wants to persuade Duman, it is quite difficult. After pondering for a moment, he whispered: "Tang Law stipulates that rebellion is a heinous crime, and Duman will not escape death. He also knew it, so he resisted to the end, unless there was a decree of forgiveness. ”

looked at Su Dingfang and said with convincing words: "If Duman is persuaded to surrender, the minimum condition, or the fundamental condition, is to protect his life." The students dare to ask the teacher, before the army is marched, can the saint have the will to avoid death? ”

Lao Su shook his head helplessly: "There is no clear will, I am allowed to act cheaply, but Du Man's life and death cannot be acted cheaply." Tell me, if I make a promise to spare Duman from death, what will be the consequences, will the saint agree? ”

After a long silence, Wu Kanglian drank alcohol, and replied for a long time: "If you make a private promise, there is at least a seventy percent chance that Duman will surrender in Kaecheng." When he was detained and returned to Beijing, the Golden Temple knelt down and begged the saint, and the saint would agree. Because the war in Liaodong is about to start, he urgently needs you and will preserve your faith. ”

Su Dingfang nodded, but Wu Kang shook his head: "But for you, it's not a good thing." You are my general, and you defeated the Tang army several times in the early years, so Taizong is not reused. You are from the Shu clan, a civil and military official of the Manchu Dynasty, and I am afraid that there are only a handful of people who really respect you. ”

The master and apprentice drank together, and Su Dingfang smiled bitterly: "The wood is beautiful in the forest, and the wind will destroy it, for the master province." The year before last, he was captured by Helu, and this year he was pacified by Duman, and most of his colleagues were jealous. If the saints pardon Duman again because of me, they will not only be jealous, but will also jointly exclude him. ”

It is precisely this truth that men's jealousy is more terrible than women's. Wu Kang poured a full bottle of wine and persuaded bitterly: "Before the crusade against Helu, you followed Cheng Yanjin and 500 cavalry broke through the enemy camp, which attracted Wang Wendu's jealousy, resulting in a vain return. The lessons of the previous car are not far away, please think again. ”

Su Dingfang bowed his head: "What I said is right, this is also the reason why I accepted you as an apprentice in the first place." The result is very good, because of the relationship between the queen, Xu Jingzong and Li Yifu have a close relationship with me. The two of them are in the middle of the day, and they will help me speak, so you can rest assured. ”

Wu Kang was noncommittal, and continued to speak eloquently: "They are from the Shu clan, and they have the same disease as you, so they naturally help each other. But those two real villains regard money as their life and won't help you much. Now my brother and I are also walking on thin ice, and we can't help you much. If you insist on Baoduman, you will definitely be excluded, and the gains outweigh the losses. ”

Lao Su burst out laughing, looking very pleased, patted his disciple on the shoulder and said, "With your words, the apprentice didn't receive it in vain." The old man is almost seventy years old, and he is already in his last years, so it doesn't matter if they are jealous or excluded. ”

Seeing that he had made up his mind, Wu Kang didn't say anything more, and only admired it in his heart. In order to avoid the death of the robe, knowing that the consequences will not be good, I am still resolute, I definitely can't do it. I would love to tell him that there is no alarmism, history is like this.

In the future, when you died of illness on the front line, Li Jiu didn't know about it at all, he heard about it from elsewhere. He was quite sad and regretful, and reproached the courtiers: Su Dingfang has meritorious service to the country, and he should be praised and rewarded according to the rules, not to mention the secretary, so that after his death, the honor and favor could not be awarded in time.

My teacher, you can see how miserable the exclusion is. Even after they died of illness, they did not give up, and Liu Renliang, who was at odds with you, worshiped the prime minister and studied the history of the country. Many of your achievements, including the Battle of Wuhai, have been erased by him. What's even more ridiculous is that you have been hacked out of the galaxy by unscrupulous literati, and you have been stinking for thousands of years.

Seeing that the matter had come to this, it was useless to say more, and the two left the camp. Lao Su ordered the three armies, all of them retreated one mile, and then shouted in unison: Axi Jiebu Duman, the pacification envoy of the green mountain asks to meet, can you talk to the head of the city? If you agree, please display a white flag.

shouted seven times in a row, the white flag was lit at the head of the city, Lao Su wanted to go alone, and Wu Kang asked to follow. After a few words of nonsense, they walked together, came to the city gate, and looked up at the female wall. In about five minutes, Chief Duman appeared, dressed in fine iron armor and fully armed.

Lao Su saluted with both hands and shouted to the city: "Our master and apprentice, we don't wear battle armor or bring weapons, which is enough to show sincerity." Tong Jin knew that within three days, Mabao City would be broken. In order to avoid further casualties, Su came to persuade him and asked him to go out of the city to surrender. ”

Duman was silent, and Lao Su continued: "Before Su set out on the expedition, the sage gave a will, as long as he surrendered, he could save his life. Su hereby promises to take you back to Beijing safely, and also plead for you in front of the saint. ”

After a long silence, there was a response from the city: General Su's character, Du Man had already heard of it, but it was related to his life, so he didn't dare to believe it. General Su, please return, Axi knot tens of thousands of warriors, will fight to the death with me, not afraid of the destruction of the city.

The dead duck had a hard mouth, Wu Kang wanted to speak, but was stopped by Su Dingfang, and he continued to persuade him to surrender: "The general trend of Qi Jin is gone, why deceive yourself and others, and resist stubbornly to the end, it will only increase the number of killings." The soldiers of the three armies are here, how dare I break my word? The young man next to me is the younger brother of Empress Wu and can testify for me. ”

The head of the city was silent again, and the master and apprentice looked at each other and smiled, and they had succeeded sixty percent. Wu Kang coughed lightly, and added fire: Since Helu rebelled in the Western Regions, your troops have been fighting for many years, and they have been deeply poisoned by the flames of war. If it continues to be consumed, its strength will definitely be greatly reduced, and if the five crossbows lose the strongest part, they will inevitably be handed over. Sandpiper and clam compete, fisherman profits, please think twice.

The meaning is obvious, Ah Xijie's strength has been greatly reduced, and he doesn't need Datang to make a move, and he will take advantage of the fire to rob the surroundings. Surrender and accept shelter, preserve the strength of the tribe, and make a comeback. With Duman's cleverness, he should be deeply convinced, and the persuasion is ninety percent successful.

About half an hour later, the hanging basket under the head of the city, Duman shouted: It is not enough to rely on words alone, sincerely persuade to surrender, please set up a written note. If the two of them put their mudras on them, Duman will immediately bind himself and go to Chang'an with you to kowtow to His Majesty and ask for guilt.

It's done, Duman knows how to lift up, and the master and apprentice will smile. After making sure of his eyes, Wu Kang turned over and dismounted, and strode to the base of the wall. With a dagger in his left hand and a note in his right hand, he returned to the war horse and handed it to Su Dingfang.

Lao Su glanced at a few lines, pulled out a short dagger, cut his thumb and pressed his fingerprints. Wu Kang took the paper and almost laughed out loud, and the document wrote: Congshan pacified Su Dingfang, left and right to lead the left and right mansions, and Zhonglang will change the will, and jointly tell His Majesty's will, surrender can avoid the death penalty.

Too lazy to bother with his lips and tongue, he cut his left thumb and pressed a bloody fingerprint. Walking to the base of the city wall, the clerk put the hanging basket, the dagger pressed on it, and gently pulled the rope. Waiting for the basket to rise, he returned to the horse again, dismounted from his horse, and waited for Duman to surrender.

I don't know how long it took, the city gate slowly opened, and Duman walked out of the city gate in a daze. Followed by a large group of people, none of them wore weapons, and they all looked lonely. Duman came to the horse, and Mono fell to his knees. The young man behind him, holding a short arrow in both hands, respectfully handed it over.

Wu Kang received a short arrow, which was a token of the five crossbows, similar to Shang Fang's sword. Temporarily brought back to the capital, after research by the imperial court, the new Qi Jin should be the heir of Du Man. Xin Qi Jin received the official document, took a certain heir, and went to the capital to be sealed.

The heir stayed in Beijing as an official, but in fact, he was a hostage, and he returned to the Green Ridge and continued to lead Ashijie. As for the chief of Duman, the capital crime can be avoided, but the living crime cannot be escaped. Seal up an idle position, put under house arrest in the mansion, and have fun in the midst of suffering.

Lao Su personally supported him, untied him with his own hands, and said: "You don't have to be like this, get up and talk quickly." Now go back, lead a good horse, and tell the scouts to break the leaves, and prepare the carriage in advance. ”

You are also an old drama bone, Wu Kang did not listen to the order, stepped on the fighting horse, stepped on the stirrup and stood upright, raised his voice and shouted: "Brothers, Asijie is attached, the war is over." Let's go home, continue to hug the mother-in-law, cheer to your heart's content, Chu Shenke will send the horse. ”

The voice came from afar, and the guards in front echoed, raising their arms and shouting Wansheng. The rest of the guards of the three city gates soon heard the cheers and understood what they meant, and they echoed each other from afar. Celebrating the skyrocketing, Wukang's blood is surging, it is finally over, so much hard work, just for this day.

Chu Shenke led the horse over, and Wu Kang helped Du Man and helped him sit on the horse. raised his voice and instructed Lao Chu: "This time to go to the capital, you take care of Tong Jin, and you are not allowed to treat him harshly." Send Qian Shun and Heping Lang again, go to Broken Leaf City in advance, prepare the best carriage, and find four more maidservants. ”

The treatment is better than Helu, and Duman hugged his fists and thanked him. Prince Ashina Yuanshuang, with the people of Kunling Duhufu, drove into Mabao City to garrison and take over the Asijie tribe. Since then, the five crossbows of the Western Turks have been lost, and they are all under the jurisdiction of Micha.

Lao Su ordered the withdrawal of troops, and the troops quickly assembled. Pull out the camp to pack up your things, escort Qi Jin Duman, and go to Broken Leaf City. Wu Kang looked at Lao Su and couldn't help but be convinced, two labor expeditions, and two captures of the enemy's big chief. It's so exciting, you're always a great man, take my knees.

From the third year of Xianqing to the present, relying on human legs and horse legs, two great expeditions of 10,000 miles. From the northern Jinshan, hit to Yili water, hit to broken leaf water, hit to Qianquan land, Shi Guosheng captured Helu. Finally, to Matouchuan, pacify Asijie Duman, west of the Green Ridge, all belong to the Tang Dynasty. This move announced the beginning of the Tang government's full control over the Western Turks.