Chapter 348: Sending Troops Against the Uyghurs

Upon hearing the news that the Uyghurs were sending troops to Shuofang, Li Qing’an immediately rushed to Beiting. This news thrilled him—it meant that Geshu Han had finally made up his mind. The Uyghurs’ attack on Shuofang would give Li Longji an opportunity to seize control of the military there. Li Qing’an believed Li Longji would surely not miss such a once-in-a-lifetime chance.

But Li Qing’an’s goal was merely to create such an opportunity. He did not want the Uyghurs to actually invade the Guanlong region and plunder it. Whether Li Longji allowed him to send troops was not important; he no longer cared about Li Longji’s orders. It was up to him, Li Qing’an, to decide whether to send troops. Of course, he would send them—it was a great opportunity to deal with the Uyghurs and a crucial step in realizing his strategy for the grasslands.

What concerned Li Qing’an was the timing of sending troops.

On the vast grasslands north of Jinman County, a small river meandered through the landscape. It was early April, the peak of spring in Beiting. By the river, various unnamed flowers swayed and bloomed, casting bright colors across the entire grassland.

Near the river, a military camp had appeared over the past two days. Hundreds of tents were arranged in an orderly manner, and a tall wooden watchtower stood to the north of the camp. Soldiers on patrol watched the surroundings vigilantly.

This was Li Qing’an’s temporary camp. He had just arrived in Beiting and was preparing to head to the Jinshan camp. At the same time he arrived, a swift messenger pigeon carrying a message from Crown Prince Li Yu also reached Jinman County. Inside the tent, Li Qing’an opened Li Yu’s message.

Pigeon messages could not hold many words, but in just a few dozen characters, Li Qing’an could sense Li Yu’s anxiety. “Send troops against the Uyghurs swiftly—this is what the court and the people hope for.” Those last ten words proved how urgent the request from the court in Chang’an was for Li Qing’an to send troops.

Li Qing’an closed the letter and handed it to his advisor, Yan Zhuang. He fell into deep thought. Yan Zhuang read the letter and said with a smile, “As we expected, the emperor does not want the general to send troops.”

“What do you suggest I do then?”

Yan Zhuang thought for a moment before saying, “I believe the general should remain calm and not rush to send troops. He should give the emperor enough time. Otherwise, once the general sends troops, the Uyghurs will immediately retreat northward. That would give An Sishun and An Lushan a chance to recover and make it harder to turn them against each other. It’s better to wait a while longer, until the conflict between the emperor and An Sishun intensifies and An Lushan reveals his ambitions. Then the general can send troops against the Uyghurs and reap the benefits. The general should stick to his established strategy.”

Li Qing’an remained silent in thought. Years of political struggles had made him less impulsive than he once was; he would consider many things carefully from various angles to ensure his plans were flawless and without regrets. Of course, absolute perfection was unattainable—the key was to maximize benefits and minimize drawbacks.

When he first encouraged Geshu Han, he only thought about forcing Li Longji to address the crisis in Shuofang first, thereby intensifying the conflict between the An brothers, especially An Lushan, the greatest threat to the mid-Tang dynasty. Whether An Lushan had the ability to rebel now or not, his ambition to rebel certainly existed. Once Li Longji’s drive to seize power turned against him, An Lushan would not hand over his military power so easily; he would surely resist, revealing his ambitions. In that case, Li Longji’s efforts to weaken the regional lords would not reach Anxi for some time, giving Li Qing’an a chance to take advantage of the situation.

This had been Li Qing’an’s plan for months. According to it, he would not send troops to the Uyghurs right away, as doing so too soon would disrupt his plans. It was likely that Li Longji would eliminate Geshu Han before he could deal with An Sishun. But now, his thoughts had changed slightly.

A letter from Li Yu made him realize that this could actually be an opportunity to achieve righteousness. Sending troops was what both the court and the people desired. If he sent troops to the Uyghurs immediately and resolved their southern invasion, he would gain the support of both the court and the people.

Compared to the benefit of inciting An Lushan to rebel, the former was undoubtedly more appealing. Using righteousness as a cover was the best strategy, while the latter scheme was relatively inferior.

Thinking this, Li Qing’an sighed and said to Yan Zhuang, “The Uyghurs’ invasion of Guanlong was more or less caused by me. If I don’t clean up this mess promptly and let the Uyghurs devastate Guanlong, even if I eventually seize power, I’ll still feel uneasy. Moreover, if I send troops to the Uyghurs now to resolve the crisis in Guanlong, I’ll gain righteousness and the support of the powerful families there. After much consideration, I’ve decided to send troops immediately to completely weaken the Uyghurs.”

“No!” Yan Zhuang still didn’t agree with Li Qing’an sending troops right away. He advised again, “Actually, letting the Uyghurs cause trouble in Guanlong for a while might not be a bad thing. The powerful families in Guanlong are like merchants traveling in the desert. Only when their water runs out will they truly appreciate the clear water sent by the great general. Sending troops too early will only dilute their gratitude. The great general must seize this moment!”

“I’m worried that if it really comes to that, the emperor will send troops from Hedong to help, or An Lushan’s forces from Hebei will come to aid, which would instead diminish my role.”
Yan Zhuang shook his head and smiled, “It’s possible for troops from Hedong to come to help, but I know An Lushan well—he will never send aid to Guanlong or send troops to the north of the desert. He’ll take advantage of the Hedong troops’ westward deployment to seize the empty Hedong region. He’s been longing for it for ages.”
Li Qing’an paced back and forth in the tent with his hands behind his back. Those skilled at chess can see more than a dozen moves ahead, while those hasty can only see what’s right in front of them. Although the chaos caused by the Uyghurs’ invasion had cast a veil over the situation in the Central Plains, one thing was certain: after stabilizing the situation in Hexi, he would need to gradually shift his focus to the Central Plains, and he must be well-prepared.
At present, the total number of troops under his control was 240,000. Excluding the 50,000 barbarian soldiers from the three Jinshan tribes, there were actually only 190,000 troops. Of these 190,000, nearly 60,000 were from various Western Regions countries, including the Sogdian legions in Hexi. Thus, the number of Han soldiers he could use was only 130,000—20,000 stationed in Hexi, 30,000 permanently in Suiye, and about 20,000 scattered across other border areas. Li Fei Shouyu brought 10,000 troops to Xiaobolü, and the Beiting Army had 10,000 troops. In total, his mobile forces numbered less than 40,000.
He wasn’t worried about food—he had enough supplies. The key was his troops. His front lines were too wide, dispersing too many forces, which hindered his efforts to seize control of the realm. Back then, Dong Zhuo, the warlord of Xiliang, dared to march on Chang’an because he had 200,000 strong troops at his disposal.
In the age of cold weapons, it was still the army that mattered! Li Qing’an sighed inwardly. Although he controlled vast territories, most of them were uninhabited areas. Hexi had been plagued by wars and chaos for years, with many able-bodied men captured by the Arabs and turned into slaves, resulting in a severe shortage of young men—this was one of the main reasons why they couldn’t launch a full-scale attack. Other small Western Regions states also had small populations and insufficient military resources. Although he already had nearly 200,000 Han immigrants, these were essential for transforming Anxi, and he wouldn’t use them unless absolutely necessary. In this regard, he was grateful for the advice given to him by his former advisor Li Mi.
In Anxi, he established a system of local militias, modeled after nomadic tribes, where every household was required to have weapons and armor, with troops hidden among the people. Training would take place during slack farming seasons. This was done both to enable self-protection and to allow him to mobilize at least 100,000 troops in times of crisis.
Starting last year, Anxi had begun implementing this system, with very good results, though it had been in place for only a short time, and it would take some time before it could develop into a true fighting force.

“Is the General still hesitating?” Yan Zhuang asked with a smile, noticing that Li Qing’an seemed distracted.
“I’m considering gathering more troops, but we don’t have enough!”
“That’s because the General is a bit greedy.”
Yan Zhuang smiled and gave him gentle criticism, saying, “The General must fight the Uyghurs in the north, defend against the Tibetans in the south, control Hexi, and also aim to attack the Toharans and Sindh. Now that he’s seen opportunities in the Central Plains, it’s as if he has three heads and six arms. How can there be enough troops? I suggest the General narrow his defense lines—put off the Toharans for now, and don’t station too many troops in Tibet. That way, he’ll have at least six or seven hundred thousand troops at his disposal. He can also mobilize some local militia to garrison Suiye, while transferring the elite troops from Suiye to Beiting. This way, the General will have one hundred thousand mobile troops ready to handle emergencies.”
Li Qing’an thought for a while. It was indeed not the right time to attack Sindh and the Toharans. He had just ceased hostilities with the Arabs, and attacking Sindh would reignite war with them, leaving him no time to focus on the Central Plains. He would have to wait until the situation there stabilized before turning south to attack Sindh.
Thinking this, Li Qing’an also smiled. “You’re right, sir. Greed leads to disaster. I was too ambitious. Very well! I’ll follow your advice—temporarily recall the troops guarding Yuzhou and bring the elite troops from Suiye to Beiting.”
“What about the Uyghurs?” Yan Zhuang pressed. “Should the General wait before attacking?”
“No! I won’t wait any longer for the Uyghurs. We’re too far apart in Guanlong, making it hard to seize opportunities. If we miss the chance and Guanlong suffers, I’ll become a traitor to the Tang Dynasty. I must pursue this greater good.”
Li Qing’an made up his mind firmly and immediately ordered, “Pass my command—set out immediately for the Jinshan camp!”
On the sixth day of the fourth month, Li Qing’an arrived at the Jinshan camp and officially ordered the Tang forces in Anxi to march against the Uyghurs. General Cui Qianyou led an allied force of sixty thousand troops from the Gelaolu, Shatuo, Tongluo, and Khaganate tribes, along with six thousand Tang troops, and marched boldly into the depths of the grasslands.
Li Qing’an then returned to Yizhou, where he continued to deploy troops while closely monitoring developments in the Central Plains.
……
The journey from Jinshan to the Uyghur camp at Wudijin Mountain was thousands of miles long—something that couldn’t be covered in just a day or two. While the Tang forces in Anxi were marching against the Uyghurs, subtle changes were also taking place in the situation in Guanlong.

The Uyghur army’s original intention was not to truly invade the Tang Dynasty. At first, they only wanted to use threats to force the Tang court to send envoys for negotiations, so as to extort a large sum from the Tang to compensate for their losses from the previous winter, after which they would return to the steppes. After all, Khagan Gele was very worried that Li Qing’an might take advantage of the empty steppes to launch an attack.

But events often do not go as planned. After the Uyghur army defeated An Sishun’s 30,000-strong army at Dingyuan City, Khagan Gele’s ambitions grew. Realizing that this southern campaign could be a profitable venture, he immediately divided his forces. One group, led by Puguh Huai’en, continued to besiege Lingzhou, while he himself led 40,000 troops further south, ready to plunder the prosperous Guanlong region of the Tang Dynasty.

In late March, Khagan Gele led his army to capture Yanzhou. The prefect of Yanzhou, Liu Yi, committed suicide. The Uyghurs swarmed into the city like locusts, massacring civilians who had taken refuge there. More than 10,000 men, women, and children were killed, and thousands of women were taken captive to the Uyghur camps. They plundered Yanzhou completely before dividing their forces into four groups to loot various provinces in the northern part of the Guannei Road.

The atrocities in Yanzhou shocked Guanlong. Large numbers of refugees from Xia, Yin, Qing, Yuan, and other regions fled south. The roads were filled with endless streams of refugees, with people from various ethnic groups such as the Han, Dangxiang, Shiwei, and Tuyuhun mixing together as they fled to the distant south.

Meanwhile, officials in various provinces and counties organized able-bodied men to resist, and one after another, anti-Uyghur rebel forces emerged.

In the Changze County area of Xiazhou lived a fierce Dangxiang tribe of about 10,000 people. Their leader was Fang Dangluo, the chief of the Fangdang clan among the eight Dangxiang clans. He had a son and a daughter. His daughter, Yingke, was married to the Dangxiang chieftain Tuoba Xiong, while his son, Fang Dang Yingyi, was around 25 or 26 years old, over six feet tall, and extremely strong, earning him the title of the greatest warrior among the Dangxiang.

The Dangxiang were a branch of the Qiang people who migrated to northern Guanlong during the Sui Dynasty and originally led a peaceful nomadic life. However, the Uyghur invasion disrupted their peace. In the atrocities in Yanzhou, thousands of Dangxiang were killed along with the Han people, sparking their anger. Tuoba Xiong ordered all Dangxiang clans to resist the Uyghur invasion, and Luo Xiyàn, the prefect of Xiazhou, also called on people of all ethnic groups in the region to resist the Uyghur plunder.

That morning, the magistrate of Changze County, Yang Yingyuan, went to the Dangxiang tribe and met with their leader, Fang Dangluo, hoping he would lead his people to join the anti-Uyghur rebel forces in Changze County. But Fang Dangluo politely declined Yang Yingyuan’s proposal.

“County Magistrate Yang’s determination to resist the Uyghurs is admirable, but the Dangxiang people have always been independent and unaccustomed to fighting alongside other tribes. I have already decided to lead my men to defend our homeland. Please rest assured, County Magistrate Yang.” County Magistrate Yang had already persuaded another Tuyuhun tribe in the area to join the resistance forces, but Fang Dangluo’s refusal disappointed him. He wanted to try persuading him again when, suddenly, Fang Dangluo’s son, Fang Dangyingyi, rushed in like a gust of wind, shouting, “Father, my sister sent someone to inform us that an Uyghur army of over ten thousand is attacking Xiazhou. She begs us to go and help!” Fang Dangluo immediately stood up and said, “County Magistrate Yang, the Tuoba tribe is in peril. I must go rescue them right away. There’s no time to lose. We’re leaving now!” County Magistrate Yang was stunned by their sudden departure. Amid the chaos, Fang Dangluo and his son Fang Dangyingyi mounted their horses. Fang Dangyingyi raised a large horn and blew loudly: “Woo—” The mournful sound of the horn echoed through the air, and three thousand Dangxiang cavalry quickly assembled. Fang Dangyingyi waved his large copper staff and shouted, “Set off!” The Dangxiang cavalry immediately set off, racing northward and raising clouds of yellow dust.