The Tang Empire managed well in the Western Regions and grasslands, and its national prestige spread far and wide.
Whenever there was a battle, the Tang Empire was very good at using the soldiers and horses of local countries and tribes to fight.
Therefore, the Tang Army was a very expanded concept at that time. This concept included all the armies of the grasslands, tribes and countries in the Western Regions, including the regular Tang Army, who followed the command of the Tang government to fight.
The Emperor of Chang'an gave an order that the number of soldiers in the Western Regions and Central Asia who could fight for the Tang Empire would not be less than 100,000.
They are not Han people, nor are they subjects of the empire directly under the control of the Tang Empire, but they go out to fight under the banner of the Tang Army. In the eyes of the enemy, they are serious Tang Army.
Wherever they went, the Tang army went, and the places they controlled were the places controlled by the Tang Empire.
That's why the Tang Empire was able to control millions of square kilometers of land in the Western Region with a mere 45,000 soldiers, keeping it within the control of the Tang government.
Even after the Anshi Rebellion, the Tang Empire had actually lost the ability to manage the Western Regions, but its strong residual power still allowed the White-headed Soldiers in the Western Regions to continue fighting for forty-two years.
Behind this, the support of the major local tribes was indispensable. Without the support measures taken by these tribes due to the inertia of the empire's remaining power and their own interests, the Baishou soldiers would not have been able to persist for forty-two years.
Of course, as time has passed, everything that Ming Dynasty faced was actually completely different from what it was before.
The Tang Dynasty, which was in a period of warm climate, was running the Western Regions and Central Asia. It faced not only the snow-covered empire of Tubo and the black-clad Abbasid dynasty, which were full of martial virtues, but also countless ulterior motives. It is very difficult for tribal people to operate.
In particular, the Tubo Empire, which had been entangled with the Tang Empire for its entire life, was a lifelong problem for the Tang Empire in managing the Western Regions and Central Asia. The competition between the two major powers for the Western Regions lasted until the decline of the Tang Empire and the desolation of the Snow Empire.
No one on either side emerged victorious.
The Ming Empire was in a period of cold climate. Although it had not reached the Little Ice Age, it was still far lower than the average temperature of the warm periods of the Sui and Tang Dynasties. Under the "abuse" of this natural environment, the unified snow empire no longer existed.
The Tubo Empire, which could always threaten the Hexi Corridor, an important channel during the Tang Dynasty, is now in dire straits.
They do not have a unified power. Most of the remaining population is in the Lhasa Valley. The scattered upper-level leaders chant sutras and watch the sunrise every day. They live a sustainable Buddhist life of cannibalism. They focus on exploiting and oppressing serfs. They are not interested in returning to the past. There is no yearning for Yong, nor the ability.
A population of one million cannot support a snow empire.
In this way, an important factor that the Ming Empire needed to maintain a huge military force in the Western Region was gone.
Furthermore, there is no large-scale unified military power in Central Asia. The existing countries are either small emerging countries or old and fragmented empires.
Such as the Gur Dynasty and the Seljuq Empire.
So sometimes Su Yonglin also sighs, feeling that this era is really an era where everyone is lying down and messing around together. The civilized countries in the entire Eurasian continent are just like they agreed, and everyone is messing around together.
The old powerful countries were fragmented and the emerging small countries lacked the foundation. As a result, they were plowed by the Mongol Empire from East Asia to Eastern Europe, creating the largest military power in human history with far-reaching influence.
There is no doubt that the current national power of the Ming Dynasty is far stronger than that of the Mongol Empire.
If Su Yonglin really learns from the Mongols to let go and fight, using fighting to support fighting and cavalry to open the way, then he is sure that his army can fight from the Bering Strait to the English Channel and plow the Eurasian continent from east to west.
That's not necessary.
The pursuit of a huge territory without a transportation revolution is just waiting to be fragmented. Instead of pursuing an ungovernable land, it is better to pursue ideal output.
Su Yonglin didn't want to export death and fear like the Mongol Empire. What he wanted was to export ideals and new life, export a new set of human laws, and lead all mankind out of ignorance.
Therefore, the garrison in the Western Regions does not need many people. It is almost enough to have one army each in Anxi Province and Beiting Province.
What remains is to export ideals and new life, and create new regimes one after another based on the greatest and most noble ideals of mankind.
Before that, Ming Dynasty's revolutionary army needs to be used to severely clean up the resistance forces of the old era, weaken their strength as much as possible, and create an environment for the development and survival of the revolutionary forces.
Bidige
So when Su Yonglin learned that the Gur Dynasty was preparing to intervene in the situation in Central Asia, Su Haisheng had already personally led 30,000 Ming troops and 20,000 servants of the Western Karakhan Kingdom and set off.
It was early March in the eleventh year of Hongwu.
According to the summary of many previous military intelligences, Su Haisheng learned that the Gur Dynasty mobilized about 60,000 troops to go north to participate in this battle, which shows how much it covets the land of Khwarezm and the land in the river area.
According to some rumors from the locals, Su Haisheng learned that the Gur Dynasty's army had a relatively strong combat effectiveness and had many generals who were good at fighting. It was said that they were fighting smoothly further south and that the country's territory was quite vast.
Su Haisheng was not worried about the information that was difficult to distinguish between true and false.
He smiled at Masud, the Khan of the Western Karakhan Kingdom who personally led the troops and went out with him: "Although the Guo Er Kingdom has many soldiers and generals, they still failed to seize what they wanted from the Liao people. There are only so many things they can do.”
Masud was of course in line with Su Haisheng's statement, but he was a little worried. He felt that Su Haisheng's only 30,000 Ming troops were too few, and whether more would be better.
Su Haisheng shook his head directly.
"Soldiers are not many, but elite. Although the Guo Er Kingdom's army has a large number of people, it is absolutely impossible for them to be more elite than the Ming Dynasty's army. The more soldiers there are, the more food is needed, and the greater the chaos that can easily be caused. We It feels like this time the biggest enemy of the Khwarezm Kingdom may not even be us, but the army of the Guo Er Kingdom."
Su Haisheng still knew a little bit about the virtues of the feudal army.
In fact, this is also true. After the army of the Gur Dynasty entered the territory of Khwarezm, they started the uninhibited amusement park mode and had no discipline at all.
As they walked, they burned, killed, and looted. Whenever they saw a human settlement on the march, they would rush in and plunder them regardless of whether they were there. They would plunder property and food while ravaging the local residents, laughing loudly without any trace of anything. There is something human about it.
Shihabuddin, the commander of the army and the younger brother of Sultan Ghiyasuddin of the Gur Dynasty, did not care at all.
Compared with the lives of civilians in Khwarezm, he was more concerned about whether he got the most precious share of the property obtained by these bandit men.
Even if it's robbery, I still want to be in the first position. Even if everything is stolen, I still want to get the best.
Shihabuddin almost had such an attitude.
Moreover, this time the march was due to the difficult logistical problems of going abroad, so the Khwarizm Kingdom promised to provide food and grass to the Gurdwara army. Therefore, in Shihabdin's view, it was just a matter of getting some in advance. Get something.
The Gur Dynasty's military discipline was corrupted and they looted everywhere, which not only brought huge disasters to the local civilians, but also caused huge trouble to the powerful landowners and officials in the Khwarezm Kingdom.
Of course, the internal military of a country will be a little wary of the powerful and powerful in the country and will not infringe on their interests, but the military of other countries do not have such a good idea.
Moreover, from the perspective of the Gur Dynasty army, I am here to save you. Now, what’s wrong with asking you for food, money, and women?
So not only civilians, but also the more powerful landowners and powerful people became the targets of plunder by the Gur Dynasty army.
