To be fair, the defensive strategy of the Uighur monarchs and ministers cannot be said to be bad. Although it is conservative, conservative means safe. After all, the weight of the Khitan's Western Expedition has been weighed, and it is not easy to deal with and difficult to retreat.
Although the Xizhou Uighurs have a sufficient population and can arm more than 100,000 troops, and their national strength is sufficient to support them for a period of time, it will take time. After all, the Uighurs are not a centralized dynasty with a high degree of military and political unity, and they are not monolithic internally.
At the same time, playing a defensive counterattack and relying on a fortified city to defend is also the best option they can choose. After all, the winding Tianshan Mountains run from east to west and are a natural defensive barrier for Gaochang. If the Liao army wanted to advance from Beiting, generally speaking, they would have to attack Luntai from the west, then turn southwest and go down the basin towards Gaochang. However, this requires On the basis of ensuring the capture of Luntai, we will then break through the last gateway to Gaochang, the Baishui Fortress.
The other way is to go east, bypassing the dangers of the Tianshan Mountains, and entering from the southern foot of the Tianshan Mountains. However, not only is this time-consuming and laborious, there is also a roadblock, Yizhou.
Therefore, just as the Uighurs considered, although the Khitan army on the western expedition captured Beiting and achieved a great victory, strongly suppressing the Uighurs' counterattack, the strategic progress was not optimistic.
Relying on Tianshan Mountain, guarding Luntai in the north, and controlling Yizhou in the east is indeed a safe and extremely low-risk choice for the Uighurs.
However, delaying time and fighting for a long time were ultimately just wishful thinking of the Uighurs. Their opponent was Yelu Xiezhen, a commander who rarely shined among the Liao armies in the Han-Liao War.
The Uyghurs wanted to be beautiful, so how could Yelv Xiezhen not consider everything? The enemy wanted to delay, but he refused to give them a chance. But the objective problem is that it is indeed not easy to break through the Uighurs' defense.
However, there has never been a truly impregnable city in this world. No matter how tight the defense seems, it has its loopholes. Accidents often occur where people are most confident.
After some planning, Yelv Xiezhen decided to take the risk. He had already climbed a Jinshan Mountain, not least the Tianshan Mountain. After sufficient preparations, in the winter of the fifteenth year of Emperor Qianyou's reign, Yelu Xiezhen asked Liao general Yelu Gu to lead five thousand cavalry, and the same part of the troops were sent down to pretend to be the main force. It looks like it's in the wheel.
Yelu Xiezhen, on the other hand, personally led the main force of the Liao army, and under the guidance of his guide, secretly climbed the mountain along the Tianshan trails that had been explored long ago.
This kind of narrow path has always been conducive to the advancement of large armies because of its tightness and danger. If the enemy is prepared, it can easily resist it and even cause heavy losses. However, it can often have an unexpected effect.
But this time, Yelv Xiezhen made the right bet. Apart from the high mountains, there were no other obstacles at all. The Uighurs completely ignored this.
Although thousands of soldiers, as well as many war horses and livestock were killed or injured, when the Liao army successfully entered the Yigao Basin, the effect was another divine force descending from the sky.
Since then, the vast plains and land have become a racecourse for Khitan cavalry to gallop freely. After successfully crossing the mountain, Yelv Xiezhen once again chose to attack the capital Gaochang, intending to decide the outcome in a single battle.
However, this time, the goal was not achieved. Although the appearance of Liao Qi was surprising and even terrifying, it could not completely hide the news. In addition, Gaochang City's vigilance has also become much higher since the war.
The raid was not successful, but the enemy army was blocked by the enemy troops under the Luntai City. The shock to Gaochang was conceivable. It was like a dream, but this was a nightmare.
The Uighur Khan was so frightened that he boarded the city in person. He could only see the flags of the Khitan people standing in the soft east wind, the strong horsemen and soldiers, and the momentum that made their hearts palpitate. Such a scene is almost impossible to experience. The Uighur Khan of War felt in a trance.
In Gaochang City, everyone from the Khan ministers to the poor soldiers were in panic when facing the enemy knocking on the city, and finally calmed down.
Yelu Xiezhen, however, led his men around Gaochang City and found that the city was really strong and difficult to capture. The army lacked equipment, making it even more difficult to attack the city.
So, people were sent to the city to persuade him to surrender. Surrender was obviously impossible, but the Uighur Khan was strong-willed. He angrily denounced the Liao army's unjust invasion, scolded the Khitans for the crimes they had inflicted on the Uighur people, and finally sternly refused and drove the envoys out of Gaochang City.
Although the main force of the Uighurs is mostly stationed in Luntai, there are still nearly 10,000 troops left in the capital, and the total number of civilians in the city plus the refugees accommodated exceeds 100,000. Relying on the solid city, it is definitely not something that the Khitans can break.
Of course, since the Uighurs have the confidence to defend the city, there is no need to consider leaving the city to retreat from the enemy.
Facing the fortified city, Yelu Xiezhen was not impatient. After crossing the natural barrier and entering the Turpan Basin, there was no need to worry. Because the enemy was short of food, the Liao army had fewer troops than the Uighurs, but it also meant that it had less burden.
Therefore, Yelv Xiezhen personally led five thousand cavalry to monitor Gaochang City. At the same time, he sent other generals to lead the remaining troops to plunder the towns and pastures of the Uighurs, plunder their money, and collect grain, horses, livestock, and young men.
Suddenly, the war spread all over the southern foothills of the Tianshan Mountains, and the Khitans were raging between Yi and Gao. In this case, the Uighurs seemed to be fooled, and they had no means of counterattack. They were able to defend strong cities like Gaochang and Yizhou.
The big city can be defended, but the towns scattered along the Silk Road do not have sufficient defense capabilities. Except for a few who resisted desperately, most of them suffered.
This approach of the Liao army naturally aroused a lot of resistance. There were strong-blooded people in Gaochang City who could not bear the atrocities of the Liao army and asked the Uighur Khan for a war. The people in the city were also very angry.
Unable to bear the public appeal and looking at the devastated land and people, Uighur Khan's heart was bleeding, so he sent troops to attack, hoping to take advantage of the Liao army's dispersion to take advantage of the Liao army's slackness in front of the city. As a result, Yelu Xiezhen was well prepared and commanded calmly to defeat the Gaochang Uighurs again.
That is to say, the Uighurs armed enough defenders in the city and did not give Yelu Xiezhen the opportunity to take advantage of the victory and enter the city. However, the Luntai Army, which came to rescue under the orders of Uighur Khan, was so frightened that they retreated halfway to Baishui Fortress after learning about the fighting situation under Gaochang City.
From then on, the Uighurs did not dare to make any move. They could only defend the city, wait passively, and watch the Liao army wreak havoc. When it comes to strength, the Xizhou Uighurs certainly have it, and they cannot be considered weak. However, when the enemy comes, they cannot effectively organize resistance and bring out their strength.
There were millions of households, but in the end they could only defend themselves individually, allowing less than 30,000 enemy troops to ravage the territory without being able to control it. They had not experienced a war of this scale for many years. Facing the Khitan invasion, the Uighurs seemed at a loss from beginning to end and were passively beaten.
After turning the relationship between Yi and Gao upside down, Yelv Xiezhen began to order the Liao army to drive people from all over the country to Gaochang City, especially the old, weak, women and children.
He also told the Uighur Khan that the land of Yigao had been completely returned to the Liao Dynasty. These people were homeless and felt sorry for them, so they could be accepted by them and would never take the opportunity to attack.
In this regard, even if what Yelv Xiezhen said was true, Uighur Khan would not dare to agree. One is that they are worried about Yelv Xiezhen's cunning, and the other is that the city has already accommodated a large number of refugees. If they are brought in together, the pressure on food will be great.
When it comes to storing grain in a city, it doesn't matter if there are ten or hundreds of mouths, but if there are tens of thousands of mouths, that's completely different. As a result, a large number of Uyghur people were refused entry into the city, and were forced to retreat by Liao cavalry. In that winter, countless people died of cold and starvation under Gaochang City.
At that time, the civilians of Xizhou were not only angry at the killing and looting of the Liao army, but also resented the inaction of the Xizhou Uighur upper class for abandoning them.
Later, in order to survive, many Uighurs took refuge with the Liao army, bringing their families, people and horses to the Liao army. When it came to the choice between life and death, most people would simply and easily make a choice.
With the effectiveness of those Uighurs, the Liao army's shortcomings in manpower were gone. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Yelu Xiezhen took the opportunity to rest and recuperate. At the same time, he gathered all the Uighur craftsmen in the control area to build ordnance and siege equipment, and prepare to defeat Gaochang.
During this process, Yizhou in the east and Yanqi in the west sent troops to rescue them, and they were all defeated by Yelu Xiezhen. By the spring of the first year of Kaibao, no one from the army or civilians of the Xizhou Uyghur region dared to rescue Gaochang. As a result, Gaochang's life became even more difficult.
After getting sufficient rest and preparation, Yelv Xiezhen also officially ordered to attack Gaochang City. The majority of the troops attacking the city were the surrendered Uighurs. However, the city of Gaochang was indeed strong, and its determination to resist was firm enough. Under a strong attack, thousands of people died without defeat.
Later, Yelu Xiezhen divided his troops and attacked Yizhou. Yizhou suffered heavy losses in the previous rescue, and the city walls were not as tall and strong as Gaochang. The Liao army and its servants resisted the attack for half a month, regardless of casualties. The city was broken.
Yelv Xiezhen thus solved the hidden worries behind him, and everything east of Gaochang was under the control of the Liao army. Unless the Guiyi army dares to come west and touch the Liao army's butt.
After resolving the trouble, Yelv Xiezhen besieged the city again. He originally planned to trap the Uighurs in the city, but through some surrendered Uighur civil and military forces, he learned that the food reserves in the city could last for a year, and delaying was not an option.
Therefore, Yelv Xiezhen finally decided to continue the attack as long as there were enough Uighurs to attack the city. In this way, after two months of intermittent and powerful attacks, after entering April, Yelv Xiezhen also sent the Khitan people up, and Gaochang City was finally broken.
After the city was broken, Uighur Khan led his harem, descendants and some civil and military personnel to retreat westward to Yanqi City in the west. They escaped quickly and successfully. After a bloody and hard battle, the Liao army needed to rest and recuperate, and also needed to enjoy the fruits of victory. If the pursuit was fruitless, there would be no deep pursuit.
After the Uighur Khan fled to Yanqi, he did not stay long. He gathered his troops and continued westward, retreating to Kucha. After all, Yanqi Gaochang is not far away and is equally dangerous. The Qiuci Uighurs have not suffered much losses in previous battles and still retain considerable strength and can be relied upon.
That is to say, after escaping to Qiuci, the Uighur Khan realized that he would be destroyed by the Liao army sooner or later if he relied on himself alone, so he began to send envoys everywhere to ask for support...
Among them is Pule who comes from the east.
