Like other nomads, the Qarluqs were highly mobile and flexible, haunting the vast steppes, looking for the best fighters to hit the enemy in one blow, but the Tang army also had powerful cavalry, which was no less mobile than the nomads, and was well-equipped, which made the Qarluqs unattainable.

The Qarluqs were well aware of this, so since the Tang army entered their control, the Qarluqs tried to avoid confrontation with the Tang army head-on, and they had been detouring hundreds of miles away, waiting for the Tang army's loopholes to appear.

However, the Tang army's actions were unexpected, and after three days of marching northward, the main force of the Tang army suddenly turned around and returned to Bazalu City, and set up a large camp, while the 5,000 rear army led the return to Tingzhou, which was obviously to prevent them from making a detour to attack the rear, and the pace of the battle suddenly slowed down.

Three hundred miles east of Xuanchi, next to a small lake called Bayanghai by the locals, the Qarlu and Hui armies were stationed here, and the garrison of Qarlu was different from the Tang army, there was no camp fence and ditch, and the cowhide tents were connected together, and the horses were tied to the tents to ensure that they could set off at any time and come and go like the wind.

A large tent in the middle was their big tent of the Chinese army, and at dawn of the day, the big tent of the Chinese army suddenly burst out with a beastly howl, and in the big tent, the assassin Luo Duo jumped like thunder, and slashed at the cowhide tent like a long knife like madness.

"My woman, my treasure! A Tang man with a thousand cuts. ”

He had just received the news that his tribe had been discovered by the Tang army on the way back to Hui, and the guards had been wiped out, and all his belongings and women had been taken away by the Tang army.

Without a woman, he could get a new one, but the gold he had accumulated for eighteen years was gone, which made him angry and lose his mind.

"Pass my order, the whole army gets on the horse, go kill the Tang army, go kill all the Tang army!"

Assassin Rodor swung his knife and rushed out of the tent, but his feet tripped over the carpet and fell heavily to the ground, and a dozen of his men finally found an opportunity and rushed forward, holding Assassin Rodor firmly and seizing the knife in his hand.

"Prince, calm down."

"Let go of me! I'm going to kill them. Assassin Rodo shouted indistinctly.

As soon as the curtain was lifted, the Grand Chief of Qarlulu plotted to assassinate Montenegro and walked in quickly from outside, he also got the news, and was about to come to appease his son, but saw him wearing his hair like a madman, and his face was full of snot, so he couldn't help frowning, and reprimanded: "Do you still look like a deputy marshal?" Lost all my face. ”

His eyes were red, he was panting heavily, and he couldn't say a word, when Ashina, the chief of the ancient tribe of Huibayo, also rushed over when he heard the news.

"It's... What's going on? Ashina was stunned.

The assassination of Montenegro sighed and said: "My son's wife and daughter were captured by the Tang Army, and I don't know if they are alive or dead. ”

Ashina was taken aback and stammered, "What... Probably, how could the Tang army arrive in Jinshan, there is no mistake! ”

The wife and daughter who plotted to assassinate Luo Duo were to be sent to his tribe to protect, and he had already arranged for someone to be on the other side of Jinshan to be ready to accept him, how could he be captured by the Tang army, he was a little lost in his heart, he thought that he could be his hostage, so he disappeared out of thin air.

"It's not the main force of the Tang Army, it's just his vanguard."

The assassination of Montenegro was quite chaotic, and he said to several guards: "Take the eldest prince back to the tent first, and take care of him." ”

After speaking, he turned around and left the big tent, and Ashina hurriedly chased after him, "Chief of Montenegro, I have something to discuss with you." ”

"I'm tired, let's talk about it tomorrow!"

Plotting to assassinate Montenegro worriedly returned to the big tent, these days Tang Jun relaxed the pressure and gave him time to think, he began to realize that he was confused for a while and made a big mistake, he should not agree to bring in the Hui army, it is easy to ask God to send God, if Tang Jun is suddenly willing to make peace, will these Hui people honestly collect troops and go back?

Assassinating Montenegro looked out of the tent in a daze, originally thought it was a skirmish, but he didn't expect it to turn into a big issue related to Ge Lulu's life and death, originally thought that Ge Lulu was only facing the threat of Datang, and finally he found out that there was a vicious wolf squatting behind him.

Assassinating Montenegro sighed, hugged his head, remorse in his heart, and felt deep pain for his momentary confusion, what should he do now?

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In the camp of the Tang army, the vanguard of Nan Jiyun has also returned, bringing back more than 100 carriages full of goods and nearly 1,000 old and weak women and children of Gelulu.

The Qarluq prisoners of war lowered their heads, all of them were nervous, especially the young women, and in the whispers of the Tang army, their eyes showed fear.

Li Qing'an and a group of Tang army generals walked over quickly, Nan Jiyun turned over and dismounted, stepped forward and half-knelt down and saluted: "My subordinates have captured the tribe of the eldest prince of Qarlu in the middle of Jinshan, and I have come to escort them back to the camp to investigate the main force of Chief Hu, and my subordinates have ordered people to continue to search." ”

Li Qingan glanced at the prisoners of war, nodded and said, "General Nan has worked hard, I don't know what the casualties of the brothers are?" ”

"Returning to the general, the Tang army suffered no casualties, but the Shatuo cavalry suffered more than half of the casualties, and they were ambushed by the Qarluqs."

Zhu Xie Shengyi stepped forward and knelt down, and said ashamedly: "The humble only cares about merit, but forgets the ambush of the enemy, so that there are heavy casualties, and I have come to ask for guilt." ”

Although this Zhu Xie Shengyi will join the Beiting Army in the future, but now he still belongs to the reinforcements, Li Qingan didn't say anything, so he hurriedly helped him up and comforted: "General Shengyi doesn't have to blame himself, victory or defeat is a common thing in soldiers, just be careful next time, please go back to heal first, and I will arrange the distribution of the spoils." ”

"Thank you!"

Zhu Xie Shengyi led his subordinates back to the Shatuo camp, the camp was busy, the male and female prisoners of war were taken to the rear camp for detention, and all kinds of property were handed over to the marching Sima to count and put into the warehouse, at this time, Nan Jiyun saw that there was no one around, so he whispered to Li Qing'an: "General, I also seized a batch of gold, about 30,000 taels." ”

Because the imperial court was really ineffective in the bereavement of the deceased soldiers, the obligation of long-term bereavement was pushed to the localities, but the local financial resources were limited, and the civil officials did not attach much importance to it, so they often regarded it as a burden, and after a year or two, this kind of bereavement pension would exist in name only.

Therefore, in order to give an explanation to the soldiers who died in the Battle of Chiling, Li Qingan decided to use the concept of later generations to set up a pension fund for the fallen soldiers, not only the soldiers who died in Chiling, but also those who died in battle, their parents, wives and children will receive long-term pension money and food, and his idea was unanimously supported by the generals, and the current source of money and food is mainly plundered by war.

Li Qingan was overjoyed and praised: "Good job!" ”

Nan Jiyun hurriedly went to collect the gold, and at this moment, an officer on duty at the gate ran over and bowed down to report: "General, there is a group of Hui people who ask to see outside the tent, saying that they are the envoys of the Hui Khan. ”

The arrival of the Hui envoy was expected by Li Qing'an, but he didn't expect them to come so quickly, so he smiled slightly and said: "It seems that they are in a hurry, please ask the envoy to meet with the big tent." ”

He turned and went back to the horde.

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When Beiting launched the war against Qarluq, the Hui Gel Khan happened to be in the Dubo Palace, which was not far from Jinshan, and he received a message from Ashina, the chief of the Baye Ancient Division, on the one hand, he approved the Baye Ancient Department to support Gellulu, and on the other hand, he immediately sent a special envoy to the Beiting to mediate.

The Hui envoy was called Pei Luo Dagan, a middle-aged man about forty years old, not tall, looking very shrewd and capable, he was taken into the big tent by the Tang army soldiers, and more than a dozen high-ranking Tang army officials were already waiting for him.

Pei Luo Dagan stepped forward and gave a salute to Li Qing'an, who was sitting in the middle, and said respectfully: "Pei Luo Dagan, the head of the Hui Imperial Palace, sent an envoy to Beiting on the order of the Khan, see Deputy Envoy Li of Beiting Jiedu." ”

Li Qingan waved his hand and smiled: "Special envoy, please take a seat!" ”

Pei Luo Dagan sat down, a soldier served him a cup of tea, and Li Qingan asked with a smile: "Is Hui Khan in the palace?" ”

"Exactly, our Khan inspected Dubo, heard that the Tang army had a conflict with Qarluq, and specially ordered me to come to mediate."

"You Khan mean that you want us to stop using troops against Qarluq, is that true?"

Li Qingan slanted at Pei Luo Dagan, with a hint of ridicule in his eyes, Pei Luo Dagan's expression was a little unnatural, he looked at the other officials, and there was some embarrassment: "There are a few words, I want to talk to Li Yuanjun in private, I don't know if it's convenient?" ”

Li Qing'an smiled and gave the others a look, and everyone got up and left the tent, leaving only Wang Tingfang, the prison guard.

"This envoy is the prison sent by His Majesty the Emperor to be stationed in Beiting, so there is no need to avoid him if you have anything to say."

Pei Luo Dagan smiled and nodded to Wang Tingfang, and then said to Li Qing'an in a low voice: "Mediation is just a scene, I am on the order of the Khan, and I have something important to discuss with Li Yuanjun." ”

Li Qing'an and Wang Tingfang glanced at each other, and Li Qing'an said, "What do you want to discuss with me?" ”

"It's about Qarlu's going."

Pei Luoda sighed dryly and said: "The Ge Lulu of Wudejian Mountain has become a part of the Hui Hui, but the Ge Lulu of Jinshan has always refused to surrender to the Hui Hui, of course, they have surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, I say this a little rudely, but the recovery of the Jinshan Qarlu is indeed a major event for my Hui Hui, if Beiting agrees to fight with the Hui to attack the Jinshan Qarlu, in return, our Khan promised the Gelu land south of the Duotan Mountains to be owned by the Tang Dynasty, I don't know what the general thinks?" ”

After a while, Li Qing'an laughed out loud, laughing so hard that Pei Luoda's face was red, and he said with a sullen face: "Does Li Yuanjun think this matter is funny?" ”

"Definitely! Definitely! Li Qing'an stopped laughing, sighed and said: "I am laughing at the stupidity of the Qarlu people, who want to unite with the Hui to confront the Tang army, but they don't know that they are actually luring wolves into the house." ”

Pei Luo Dagan said embarrassedly: "Our Khan doesn't want to confront the Tang Dynasty, it's because the eleven Hui tribes have their own reading power, and the Baye Ancient Department was merged into the Hui Dynasty late, and many of their actions are not controlled by the Khan, and when the Khan got the news, they had already sent troops south, as long as Li Yuanjun agreed to the Khan's plan, the Baye Ancient Department immediately became the vanguard of attacking Qarluq." ”

Li Qingan smiled and said: "As myself, I can open up territory for the Tang Emperor, I naturally can't ask for it, but I have no right to decide this matter, after all, Ge Lulu is subordinate to the Tang Dynasty, and attacking Ge Lulu must get the will of His Majesty the Emperor, in other words, I must report to the Tang Emperor before I can reply." ”

Wang Tingfang next to him also smiled: "What Li Yuanjun said is extremely true, this matter must be approved by His Majesty the Emperor." ”

Peroda groaned and said, "I don't know how much time it will take?" ”

"A month and a half! With an expedited express of eight hundred miles. ”

"Okay, I'll return to the palace to return to the Khan first, and I'll come back in a month and a half to hear the news."

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Li Qing'an stood in front of the map and stared at the territory of the Hui for a long time, from the time he heard that the Hui sent troops, he realized that the real purpose of the Hui was not necessarily to come to the aid of Qarluq, they were most likely to play the role of fishermen.

Huairen Khan has died in the sixth year of Tianbao, and is now succeeded by his son Mo Yan Si, known as Gele Khan, Mo Yan Si is fierce and unruly, although he still sends a pilgrimage to the Tang Dynasty, but he is no longer as grateful to the Tang Dynasty as his father, with the Hui national strength of the Yi Yi strong, Mo Yan Si's ambition is also swelling day by day.

"Li Yuanjun, do you really want to cooperate with Hui Hui to destroy Qarlu?"

Wang Tingfang is not very old, the reason why he was able to come to Anxi to supervise the army is entirely because he is Gao Lishi's confidant, in fact, he is just a eunuch, he has not read any books, his knowledge is shallow, he can't understand the overall situation of Beiting, he only cares about whether Li Qing'an will make decisions on his own and reach an agreement with Hui Hui.

Li Qingan shook his head, "I won't agree to this matter, so there is no need to ask the Holy Lord for instructions." ”

Wang Tingfang was stunned, "Why?" Aren't we here to attack Ge Luolu? ”

Li Qing'an knocked on Ge Lulu on the map, and said with a faint smile: "Ge Lulu is a disobedient watchdog, although sometimes he will come to steal the master's things, but he only needs to knock and beat, and teach him a hard lesson. ”

After saying that, he immediately ordered: "Beat the drums!" General of the Chinese army. ”

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After resting for five days, the Tang army set out again, and this time without any hesitation, the army went straight to the heart of Qarluq: Xuanchi.

After several days of marching, the army crossed the Duotan Ridge, less than three hundred miles from Xuanchi, and that morning, the Tang scouts found the main force of the Qarluqs fifty miles to the northeast, and were rushing towards this side.

If the Tang army occupies Xuanchi, it will pose a serious threat to the survival of the Qarluqs, and the Qarluqs can no longer wait for the opportunity to move, so they can only stop the Tang army from going north with a hard-fought battle.

The Tang army stopped moving forward and began a tense deployment, with the logistical baggage pressed in the rear, together with the conning tower, protected by a rear military formation of three thousand pikemen and infantry, while three thousand crossbowmen pressed in front, and after the crossbowmen was the main cavalry, consisting of seven thousand cavalry, in addition, three thousand Shatuo elites were deployed on both sides of the crossbowmen, who would meet the first wave of the Qarluq crossbow battle.

The Tang army was at a disadvantage in terms of numbers, with a total of 16,000 men, while the combined Qarluq and Uighur armies had 30,000 men, but in terms of quality, both in terms of training and weaponry, the Tang army far surpassed the Qarluq and Uighurs.

Whether the Tang Army can open up the passage to Yibohai, whether Qarlu can regain its pre-war reading power, whether the Hui forces can smoothly cross Jinshan, whether it is war or peace, and whether the pattern of Qarluq will be reorganized will all be seen after this battle.

At noon, the Gehui coalition army was less than ten miles away from the Tang army, and they also slowed down their pace, adjusted their troops, and accumulated strength, and the first Tang-Hu battle after Li Qing'an entered the Beiting gradually kicked off.

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(To be continued)