The Qarluq people and the Hui people have always been like half-brothers, living in the shadow of the Western Turkic power, but after the two jointly exterminated the Western Turkic Khan, the Tang court commended only the Hui Guli Peiluo, the two brothers since then parted ways, after the Hui gradually became stronger, the Qarluq people were also split into two, respectively became the Hui and the Tang Dynasty's vassals, the Gelulu people who belonged to the Tang Dynasty were squeezed out by the Tuqi Shi people supported by the Tang Dynasty, and completely reduced to a third-rate nation that was not taken seriously.

However, the rise of the Qarluqs was in the battle of Talas between the Tang Dynasty and the Great Eclipse, and it was precisely because of the rebellion of the Qarluqs that the Tang army suffered a crushing defeat in this battle, and after the war, as a reward for the war, the Qarluqs replaced the Turgish people to become the masters of the vast area south of Yibohai (now Lake Balkhash), and later its power gradually expanded westward, occupying the cities of the Broken Leaf River Valley such as Broken Leaf City and Talas City.

Three years after Xuanren of the Tang Dynasty, with the establishment of the national policy of entering the west of the Hui, the Qarluq people are increasingly facing the strong military pressure of the Hui and begin to find another way out, Xuanren six years, due to the Tang Longyou Jiedu made Zhang Huan attack Hexi, so that the Tubo lost in the battle for Anxi with the Hui, and at this time, the Tubo people who were eager to change the situation of the war and the Qarluq people who were eager to find a way out finally found the common interests between them, and the Qarluq people and the white-robed Turks jointly sent troops to attack the back of the Hui people, so that the Hui people before the winter came, had to give up the battle for Anthy.

However, the Qarluqs, who had just taken over most of the land in the North Court and were ecstatic. Soon after. But suddenly he found himself going south and fell into the quagmire of the four countries' conquest and killing.

The vast area north of the Tianshan Mountains is rainy and humid, large expanses of poplar forests are distributed among the dotted lakes, but more is an endless grassland, horses are galloping, cattle and sheep are grazing leisurely, at the end of June, 80,000 Tang troops from Yiwu under the leadership of Zhang Huandi, the envoy of Longyou Jiedu and the generalissimo of Zhengxi, marched into the depths of Beiting

The stunning scenery did not attract Zhang Huan's attention. Along the way, he was thinking about the changes in the situation of the dynasty, he was thinking about what far-reaching impact this drought that had not been encountered for decades, Guanzhong should not have a very big impact due to the support of Longyou and Jianghuai's Cao Yun, Hedong is Pei Jun's territory, he will use his political advantage to persuade large households to release grain and quell the spread of hunger, the key is the Central Plains. This is the territory controlled by Cui Qinggong and Wei Deqing, will the situation get out of control due to the competition for food, and the new hatred and old hatred. This possibility is indeed very high, if the two break out into war, then the impact on the imperial court

Just as he was thinking about it, a fast horse galloped from the front, and the cavalry immediately bowed down and reported: "Governor, a large-scale assembly of the Qarlu cavalry has been found on the front line of Jinman, please make a decision." ”

Zhang Huan raised his eyes and looked around, only to see the army walking on a high ground. A river in the distance meandered eastward like a jade belt, and the poplar forests on both sides of the river were dyed red by the morning glow, and he pondered for a moment before ordering: "Order the army to be stationed, and send more scouts to spy on information." ”

Pu County is more than 200 miles southeast of Jinman County, at the northern foot of the Tianshan Mountains, under the snow-capped mountains. It's a beautiful and peaceful little town. Lakes are mirrored, rivers meander and vast forests and meadows are alive and well under the blue sky.

A herd of horses galloped by. On either side of the steed was a herdsman wielding a long whip, one in his thirties and the other a few years younger, whose faces were dark and rough from years of life in the wilderness, but whose bright eyes revealed a kind of alertness that ordinary herdsmen did not have.

Yes, they are two ordinary scouts in the Xiliang Army, one is called Sun Muren and the other is called Guan Ying, both of whom are from Shuangliu County, Shu County, and were originally soldiers in the Zhu army.

In this campaign to conquer the west, because the two of them had come to the Western Regions with the Qiang caravan and knew some Turkic languages, they were temporarily borrowed into the scout camp.

In the distance, a long and winding river flowed at the foot of the majestic Tian Shan, which turned a mile in front of them and flowed eastward, bypassing a grove of trees, and then disappeared into the distance.

"Lao Mu, do you think that mountain elephant is not like our man's hammer?" The younger Guan Ying pointed to a stone pillar-like peak in the distance and laughed. In the roar of the huge horse's hooves, he saw Sun Muren gesturing to him, shouting loudly, but he couldn't hear anything, "What are you talking about?" Like or not like? ”

There was a river blocking the road ahead, and the speed of the horses slowed down, only to see Sun Muren rushing up, pulling his reins and saying a little angrily: "Didn't you say it? Don't speak Chinese, you have to speak Turkic! ”

"Turkic?" Guan Ying laughed loudly, "Are you really Turkic when we are?" What does the Turkic hammer say, will you? ”

"If you don't speak, be silent!" Sun Muren, who had never talked much, was really angry, his face was swollen and red, and he loudly rebuked Guan Yingdao: "We are scouts, soldiers, do you understand?" We're on a mission! ”

"Fuck the fuck on a mission." Guan Ying pursed his mouth and muttered: "I surrendered but was sent to Jiuquan to defend the border, when can I go home to see my wife." ”

Guan Ying's words also aroused Sun Muren's homesickness, he sighed, patted Guan Ying's shoulder lightly and said, "Fourth, isn't it just to make the life of our wife and children a little better when we men suffer outside?" ”

Guan Ying lowered his head and stopped talking, Sun Muren pointed to the river and said, "It's noon, go to the river to drink some water and eat something!" ”

The two of them gathered the horses together, let them drink water and eat grass by the river, each of them poured a pot of water, sat down on the grass by the river, Sun Muren took out a few dried steamed buns and two pieces of dried meat, threw half of them to him and said, "Eat!" ”

Guan Ying grunted and drank a few sips of cold river water. I took another bite of steamed buns. He looked at the sky and said: "Actually, I just complained, I have done a lot of evil things in the past, and now I regret it when I think about it, and I should come here to atone for my sins." ”

Sun Muren took a sip of water and sighed: "Although I haven't done anything, I have no merit, but I have ten acres of land in my hometown, and my wife and children have a settled life." Isn't that what I joined the army for? I thought that it would be best to make a few more meritorious contributions, and I would have to be rewarded with more than a dozen acres of land, and when I retired from the army, not only would I have the capital to marry my son's daughter-in-law, but also I would have to rely on it for the rest of my life. ”

After speaking, he glanced at Guan Ying again, smiled and asked, "Didn't you also get ten acres of land?" ”

Guan Ying nodded silently, "Actually, I'm afraid of death." I'm afraid I'm dead, what can I do with the old lady of the family? ”

"In fact, who is not afraid of death? I was terrified, but I thought of my son. I'm not afraid. Sun Muren seemed to have a lot of words today, he stared at the majestic Tianshan Mountain in the distance, stared at the snow, stared at the boundless sky, a feeling that he had never had before was born in his heart, his eyes became extremely bright, and his voice began to be excited, "I was thinking, I bled and fought here, and my son could pat his chest and show off to other children at the entrance of the village." Saying that his father was fighting with the Hui people in Anxi, with the Tubo people and with the Qarlu people, at that time, he would be proud of me and unknowingly, Sun Muren's eyes were a little moist.

Guan Ying was silent, and after a while, he whispered, "Lao Mu." Shall I ask you for something? ”

"My own brother. Don't say ask for words. ”

Guan Ying sighed, "If I die in battle." Can you take my ashes back to my hometown and give them to my mother? ”

"Don't talk nonsense! You won't die. Sun Muren pressed his shoulders heavily, stared at his eyes and said, "Remember, although people will die in war, as long as you are not afraid of death, then you can't die!" ”

Guan Ying suddenly laughed, "I won't die!" You promised to marry your sister to me. ”

Sun Muren winked slyly and smiled, "What if my sister-in-law is already married?" ”

"Then I'll go and grab her." The two of them looked at each other, and they both burst out laughing.

Suddenly, the laughter of the two of them stopped abruptly at the same time, and they seemed to feel something, and the ground seemed to tremble slightly, and even the kettle placed on the stone fell to the ground.

"It's cavalry!" Sun Muren was the first to react, only a large group of cavalry rushed to cause such a big momentum, both of them were agile and reacted very quickly, turned over and jumped on the horse, and ran towards the woods in the northeast.

In an instant, they rushed into the woods, Guan Ying climbed a tree, looked into the distance, and saw that about three miles to the west, on the other side of the river, there was a large group of black and oppressive cavalry, galloping, and the murderous aura filled the entire grassland. The procession was getting closer and closer, about 5,000 cavalrymen, and they galloped along the river, but gradually deviated from the river and galloped in a southeasterly direction, where the county seat of Pu was located.

"It's Qarluq!"

Sun Muren also climbed the tree, and he recognized the banner at a glance, the Qarlu people are the same as the Uighurs, they all use wolves as totems, but the military flag of the Uighurs is a black wolf flag, while the Qarlu people are a red wolf, and the upper right corner of the flag is embroidered with a high-flying eagle.

"Lao Mu, when we were leaving, didn't the captain say that the Qarlu people had gathered in Jinman County? How could there be here? Guan Ying looked back in surprise and asked.

Sun Muren shook his head, "I don't know either. He thought for a moment and said, "When it gets dark, let's take a look." ”

Night soon fell, the two drove a group of horses, slowly towards the county seat of Pu, the county seat is about ten miles away from the Pu River, located at the foot of the Tianshan Mountains, and Yiwu County, Pu County is also very sparsely populated, less than 500 households in the county, under the jurisdiction of a Hui centurion, but now he has escaped, the whole county is in a state of no one's jurisdiction.

The small county town could not accommodate 5,000 cavalry, but the whereabouts of the Qarluq cavalry could not be found within a radius of five miles from the county seat, which was really surprising.

The people in this area are mainly Turkic, and there are also many descendants of Han military families, and they have intermarried with each other for decades, and their living customs are the same, and they have long been inseparable from each other. Turkic languages like Sun Guan and the others are not standard. This is nothing, you can tell at a glance that it is Han.

Pu County has always been like a paradise, the people here are bold and hospitable, treat people simple, and have no scheming.

The herdsman is a Turkic man in his fifties, and his two sons were captured by the Uighurs to serve as soldiers, and only he and his old wife live together, and the two Sun Mu people seek accommodation. So they packed up their son's tent.

"Are you asking the cavalry at noon? I've seen it. The old man spoke very slowly, and in front of him, the cow dung stove was burning brightly. 101Du, .NET milk teapot gurgling, he took out a black and winning tea cake from behind him, broke off a piece, crumpled it and put it in the iron kettle.

"Those are the devils who kill people without blinking, stay away from them."

Sun Muren's Turkic words were slightly stronger, and he sighed and said, "We don't want to provoke them either. But they stole our horses, and we have to give an account to the host, so we have to know where they went. ”

The old man smiled. "They're not going anywhere, right here?"

He didn't look up, as if he knew the surprise on the faces of the two, and added two pieces of cow dung to the fire before he said slowly: "So I know that you are not locals, how can the locals not know where they are?" ”

Sun Muren arched his hand, "Please speak clearly!" ”

Without waiting for the old man to speak, the old wife next to him said, "Those cavalrymen are hiding in the depths of the Tianshan Mountains. Behind the county seat, alas! I heard that a lot of women were arrested, but it's pitiful! ”

"Don't talk nonsense!" The old man interrupted his wife, "That was the last time, and they didn't arrest anyone this time. ”

He poured a bowl of milk tea for each of them, and smiled at them slightly: "Behind the county seat of Pu is the Tianshan Mountain, where there are more than a dozen huge canyons, and the big ones can even hide ten thousand people. More than a month ago. There was an army of 10,000 people hiding there. ”

When the old man said this, Sun Muren had fully understood. More than a month ago, the vanguard of the Tang army was ambushed fifty miles north of the county seat, and without detecting the ambush in advance, it turned out that the Qarluq people were actually hiding in the mountains.

He and Guan Ying glanced at each other, stood up together and said, "We have to rush back to report to the owner, thank you old man." ”

They gave a horse to the old man as a reward, then turned over and galloped away to the Tang army camp two hundred miles to the northeast, and the old man kept watching their backs disappear into the night, and then sighed, turned back to the old wife and said, "Let's pack up our things!" Go far, and we'll come back when they're done. ”

In the early morning, after resting all night, the Tang army camp began to get busy again, a group of Tang soldiers were fetching water by the lake, in the camp, the soldiers were having breakfast, some formed a circle, some got into the camp tent, the noise and laughter were endless, in the distance, hundreds of horsemen changed the guard and traveled to the sentry or scouts were returning to the camp in twos and threes.

Zhang Huan got up before dawn, went to the lake to swim for half an hour, since he was jokingly said in Jingmen Station, Zhang Huan began to develop the habit of morning swimming since he was a child, get up every day at five watches, swim in the river before dawn, every day, hone his mind.

At this moment, he crossed his legs, while eating boiling water to soak steamed buns, while looking down and carefully looking at the map of this area, several personal soldiers are cleaning up the bedding for him, his bedding is exactly the same as the soldiers, a rough blanket is directly spread on the grass, another slightly soft blanket is the quilt, the leather bag is a pillow, and there is a horizontal knife underneath, he sleeps with A every day, and maintains a state of being ready to fight at any time, at this time his principle, at home, he can enjoy a beautiful wife and concubine, wine and jade food, but when it comes to marching into the war, he is not drunk, never touch women, never violate military discipline, food, clothing, housing and transportation are exactly the same as ordinary soldiers.

In the army, whether it is a general like Wang Siyu and He Lou Wuji, or an ordinary soldier, they all call him the same as the governor, the governor of Liangzhou, and his earliest military position has been until now.

"Report to the Governor!" Outside the tent, a personal soldier said loudly: "General Lu, the commander of the scout, has a report." ”

"Let him in!"

As soon as the curtain was lifted, the scout commander Lu Jie walked quickly into the tent, he knelt down on one knee, and gave a military salute: "Report to the governor, the scouts who probed Puzhi County found the whereabouts of the Qarluku cavalry."

Pu County, Zhang Huan was stunned, how could there be Qarlu cavalry in Pu County?

"How many are there?" Zhang Huan asked again.

"According to the scouts, there are about 5,000 people, and they are hiding in the depths of the Tianshan Mountains behind Pu County."

So it was so, the Qarlu cavalry was hiding in the depths of the Tianshan Mountains, no wonder Li Zhiyuan's forward would be attacked by sneak attack, Zhang Huan nodded secretly, this information is very important, Ge Lulu repeated his old tricks, they must have made an attempt.

"Excellent! This information is very timely, and the scouts who detect the information should be rewarded. ”

After speaking, he seemed to think of something, hurriedly took the map, carefully inspected the distance between his camp and Jinman County and Puzhi County, he nodded thoughtfully, "Could it be that they are for this purpose?" ”

An hour later, the scout commander Lu Jie came again to report: the Qarluq people gathered in Jinman County had retreated on all fronts, and Jinman County and Luntai County were already empty cities.

At this time, Zhang Huan had fully understood the strategy of the Qarluqs, and he immediately ordered: "The army should march towards Jinman County and Luntai County. ”