After the destruction of the Turks in the Tang Dynasty, many people thought that the Tang Dynasty had achieved permanent peace with the outside world, so it was no longer harassed by foreign enemies and enjoyed peace and prosperity.
But if God is a screenwriter, he will never let such a "happy life" become the end of the story, and there will be constant waves and turmoil.
Tubo map
With the decline of Turks, Tubo replaced Turks as the main rival of Datang.
In the 7th century A.D., the 32nd generation Tubo Zanpusong Zangambu unified the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau with its firm will and courage.
Then, with strong military strength, we wiped out Tugu Hunyang, slaughtered it, conquered the Tangut and Nanzhao, and fought against the Western Regions of Datang.
Songtsen Gampo
It can be said that from the 7th century to the 9th century, Tubo was quite active and powerful in East Asia and South Asia subcontinent. Tubo was once so powerful in history. What is its military system like? Let's take a look today.
Composition of Tubo Soldiers
Before Songtsan Gambu unified the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and established a centralized slave country, it was a tribal military service system in primitive society.
Such a military system can only plunder and participate in vendettas between some tribes. However, this military system can no longer adapt to the situation at that time. Seeing the strength and prosperity of the Tang Dynasty, the young Songzan Gambu decided to emulate the progressive reform of the Tang Dynasty.
Tubo cavalry
He first adjusted the loose tribes in Tibetan areas into military administrative regions, and then registered the residents of each region by region, tribe and household registration:
"Engaged in farming and animal husbandry, going out as a soldier."
This military system is called "five Russia 6 1 generation" in history. Let's see if there is a sense of deja vu here. Indeed, this system is indeed very similar to the Eight Banners system of Nuzhen.
When the war broke out, the Tubo people formed Ruhe and Dai Dong according to their own regions:
"The people have their own army, and the army has its own general."
Tubo is the system of all soldiers. The main source of the army must also come from the Tubo people. However, due to the eastward expansion of Tubo and many large-scale wars with the Tang Dynasty, the source of Tubo troops became tense. In addition, the Tubo's crusade against other nationalities also annoyed the Tubo generals.
Therefore, Tubo began to recruit other minority soldiers from the areas he ruled. In the first year of Guangde, Tubo took over Qiang, Di, Tangut and other ethnic minorities, and * * * 200,000 people attacked the Tang Dynasty.
In the 11th year of Dali, Tubo assembled more than 200,000 people to attack Sichuan. I also want to say a few words here. Because Tubo and the Tang Dynasty were at war for a long time, there were also a large number of soldiers who surrendered in the Tang Dynasty in the Tubo army.
During the Tang Daizong period, the Tubo army invaded Chang 'an, and Jingzhou secretariat Gao Hui defected to Tubo. It can be seen that communist party existed as early as the Tang Dynasty, and the problem of preventing rape has been concerned since ancient times.
Tubo soldiers
In the Tubo army, the most inhuman thing is to catch women and children as soldiers, which is recorded in the book Family Rules:
"But there are only thirty thousand soldiers here. I only know a few children. I just count. "
military logistics
In 2000, it was recorded that during the war, Tubo almost didn't prepare a lot of grain and grass as in the Tang Dynasty.
Although Songtsan Gambo reformed Tubo, some habits inherited from the tribal system could not be changed immediately.
For example, when sending troops without military equipment, soldiers' logistics supplies are basically plundering and seizing. Even though Songzan used the army in the face of domestic rebels, he handled all the supplies of the army himself.
Tubo attacked Chang 'an.
After all, even after the reform, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is still a feudal serfdom. At this point, the Tubo army at that time basically had no so-called concept of logistics supply. War is a way for them to obtain production and living resources.
So to a certain extent, this is also an important reason why the Tubo army is strong. For Tubo soldiers, victory means money and food, so Tubo soldiers have an army tradition:
The former team is dead, and the latter team is moving forward.
In addition, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is short of materials, and many soldiers are poor, especially food. Therefore, soldiers fighting abroad is also an opportunity to change the living standards of their families and work harder in the battle.
Songganbu married Princess Wencheng.
weapon
Dunhuang documents found in Dunhuang recorded a particularly powerful weapon used by Tubo, called the gun crossbow.
In the Tubo army, there is a special weapon called Udo.
Udo is a weapon similar to throwing a stone rope, which was used by early herders to drive away cattle and sheep. Almost everyone in the Tubo army will use this weapon. This weapon is very suitable for the Tibetan army, which is dominated by cavalry. Cavalry can immediately attack enemies fifty or sixty meters away. This weapon is extremely destructive and has been used by the Tibetan army. In today's Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, you can also see herders using this kind of thing to drive sheep.
It is also recorded in the Book of the New Tang Dynasty that the wooden donkey is a weapon used by Tubo.
The main function of this weapon is to provide shelter for engineers who dig walls. This car is equipped with four wheels and a roof-shaped wooden frame. The wooden frame is covered with iron, yak skin and mud to prevent stones and firewood from falling from the city, and people under the wooden frame can dig and dig tunnels under the city. According to records, the Tibetan army also used weapons of Gongcheng, such as goose carts and ladders. It can be seen that although the Tubo system is backward, its weapons production is also quite exquisite.
Reasons for the rise of Tubo
The factors of natural conditions are also the main factors of a nation's character and behavior.
Tubo is located in the cold area of "the roof of the world", which is a cold place. The harsh environment has cultivated the Tibetan people's ability to bear hardships and stand hard work and adapt to the harsh environment.
With the establishment of the Tubo regime and the birth of more people, this barren land can no longer bear the pressure of more people. Therefore, in order to survive, the Tubo regime can only obtain its own national living space and living materials through war.
Tubo people live on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The air here is thin and oxygen-deficient. Friends who have been to Tibet should all feel this way. The terrain in Tibet is extremely steep, with an average elevation of about 6 kilometers. Although the land is barren, it is difficult for foreign enemies to invade.
There is such a record in Old Tang Book 2. In the first year of Xianheng, Tubo invaded, and Guan Xue went to Bailuopo Road to defeat Tubo.
Knowing that it is absolutely necessary to pursue victory according to Xue's temper, he vowed to behead the Monsieur beaucaire.
worried
However, after Xue arrived in Wuhai, he felt "a lot of miasma". Then I met the Tubo army, killed him and drove him to the mountain. Xue had to discuss the Qinling peace talks with General Tubo.
At that time, the Tang people didn't know this, but explained it with "miasma". In fact, Tang Jun suddenly entered the sky from low altitude. Many soldiers got altitude sickness, which led to the failure of Xue's strategy and tactics.
Not only did the Tang Dynasty encounter such a situation, 1205 Bangladesh sent 10,000 cavalry to invade Tibetan areas, 1337 India invaded 100,000 troops. The course of the battle is unknown, but the results are clearly recorded and all end in destruction. This shows the importance of its geographical environment to protect this land.
Tubo and the War in Tang Dynasty
There were 192 wars between Tang Dynasty and Tubo. It is no exaggeration to say that the war between Tang Dynasty and Tubo ran through the whole history of Tang Dynasty and Tubo.
Among them, there are three battles related to the major strategic interests of the two countries, namely the Battle of Fan Songzhou and the Battle of Dafeichuan.
Especially in the first year of Baoying, Tibetan troops occupied Chang 'an. Five days after Chang 'an was burned, killed and robbed, Guo Ziyi finally borrowed soldiers from Uighurs to recapture Chang 'an.
In the war between the Tang Dynasty and Tubo, the Tang Dynasty basically won less and lost more. You know, the Tang Dynasty and neighboring countries were at war. Therefore, the Tang Dynasty also held six talks with Tubo, namely, the first year of Changqing, the second year of Kaiyuan, the second year of Dezhou, the fourth year of Jianzhong and the first year of Changqing. Finally, the two sides reached an agreement and opened a B.
Frankly speaking, the history of Tubo is a history of military struggle.
During the long war with the Central Plains Dynasty and neighboring nation-states, Tubo accumulated a large number of military materials and military system relics in the war, which made it difficult for Tubo to understand that he had formed a complete set of military theories through his own efforts.
It can be said that the rise of Tubo and the early military rise were indeed caused by Songzan Gambo. However, with the changes of the times, Tubo people are facing different situations.
Tubo has a strong military strength. In the battle with Datang, Tubo basically won, which shows its brilliance. However, even if smart people think twice, they will make mistakes. Although the Tubo soldiers obeyed, because of years of war, the contradiction between the old and new forces in the Tubo government intensified and people's lives became increasingly difficult.
During the ten years of Tang Xianheng, a peasant uprising of "Bangjinluo" took place in Tibet. The rebels shouted the slogan "It's easier to cut a mountain than to behead it". Finally, after nine years of struggle, the nobles in Lhasa were slaughtered in the air and Tubo disappeared completely.
Internal troubles and foreign invasion led to the demise of the Tubo dynasty.