Author: Our team Zhang Yi
The most painful and bloody incident in the Tang Dynasty is Anshi Rebellion . An Lushan Two major rebels in Shi Siming brazenly pulled the flag, and the war suddenly swept across the Central Plains. The eight-year tug-of-war was almost about to lose half of the life of the Tang Dynasty. The consequence of difficult pacification is that separatist has become the norm since then, and the northwest territory has been beyond reach, and tragic fallen one by one. The prosperous Tang Dynasty, when the country was rich and powerful, was gone forever.
Such a painful loss naturally caused future generations to regret, but if you look closely at the causes and consequences of the entire rebellion, you will find that it is more regretful than the heavy consequences: even when the rebels were most arrogant, the Tang Dynasty had more than once good luck, and had a good chance to quickly quell this shocking rebellion, but it lost the good situation again and again. finally dragged it into an eight-year rebellion that almost made the Tang Empire run dry.
Let’s take a look at what opportunities did the Tang Dynasty missed to quell the rebellion in advance?
Opportunity 1: Wang Zhongsi Warning
Before the Anshi Rebellion, who was the most powerful Jiedushi in the prosperous Tang Dynasty? I'm afraid it's not the turn of An Lushan, who is in the north, and Wang Zhongsi, who is the first to be in charge of the northwest. This , Tang general, dared to attack Tubo Zanpu with hundreds of elite soldiers when he was young. He made achievements in his military career. At less than 40 years old, he took turns to fight against the enemies of the Tang Dynasty, including the Tubo and Turks, and his official positions also set a new record in the Tang Dynasty: he took over the governor of the four towns of Hedong and Hexi, Shuofang and Longyou, and nearly half of the elite soldiers of the prosperous Tang Dynasty were in his hands. But it was at this moment when Wang Zhongsi of issued a shocking warning to the Tang Dynasty: Be careful of being at Lushan.
At this time, An Lushan was just the governor of Fan Yang, and he was the time to keep a low profile and pretend to be honest. He also specially recognized , Tang Xuanzong as his godfather. Every time he was cute, he made Tang Xuanzong laugh. However, the deployment of the troops and even daily training of Fanyang Military Town were all seen by Wang Zhongsi, who had been through the battlefield for a long time. From then on, he kept calling out to Emperor Xuanzong of Tang.
In fact, the Tang Dynasty failed to pay attention to Wang Zhongsi's call at that time, which was not the most serious mistake. As the chief warrior during the Kaiyuan Tianbao period. Wang Zhongsi's existence was the greatest deterrent to An Lushan. The Hexi Army he smashed with his own hands was a powerful force in East Asia that was powerful in all battles. His beloved general Li Guangbi is the biggest nemesis of the Anshi rebels in the future. As long as he is there, even if An Lushan makes a big noise, he will have no chance of winning against Wang Zhongsi.
However, the most ridiculous mistake of the Tang Dynasty was made: because Wang Zhongsi and Crown Prince Li Heng had a good relationship, he became a thorn in the eyes of Prime Minister Li Linfu . On the eve of the Battle of Shibao City, Wang Zhongsi, who was honest by nature, decided not to obey the blind command of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang for the overall situation of the country's border defense. As a result, he was dismissed and was convicted of death because his beloved general Geshuhan and others pleaded with Tang Xuanzong to avoid death. Wang Zhongsi, who had experienced this great disaster, died of depression at the age of 45. The most important "firewall" to prevent An Lushan's rebellion was demolished by the Tang Dynasty itself.
Opportunity2: Battle of Tongguan
On December 16, 755, the shocking "Anshi Rebellion" broke out. An Lushan turned his sword with 150,000 elite soldiers in the border towns and swept across the Central Plains. As expected before the battle of An Lushan, the Tang Dynasty, which was singing and dancing to peace, was really not prepared at all. The Central Plains, which had not fought for more than a hundred years, were even more civil and military. The armor of many mainland cities was rusted, and the defenders were trembling and begging for surrender. Even the important central government of the Tang Dynasty, Luoyang , was thrown away in a few moments. An Lushan, who was proud and satisfied, simply ascended the throne in Luoyang and became emperor, known as the Emperor of Dayan, with a very arrogant arrogance.
But what I never expected was that the Tang Dynasty, which had a series of tricks at the beginning, had a very quick counterattack. In the early days of the Anshi Rebellion, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, Li Longji, who kept misjudging the situation, made a crucial correct decision: he ordered Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi to attack Hebei . This strategy of besieging Wei to save Zhao was immediately effective within a few months. By the spring of 756, the Tang army had already been in the Hebei lair of An Lushan, and tens of thousands of An Lushan's elite were annihilated, and Laowan Fan Yang was even more insecure. An Lushan, who was so anxious that he jumped to the Central Plains, wanted to give up on the Central Plains and quickly returned to his army to retreat.
Once this happens, An Lushan’s doomsday will surely come early.
However, at this critical moment, the Tang Dynasty made another big mistake: whether the Tang army's strategy of siege Wei and saving Zhao can be successful lies in whether the Tang Dynasty can defend Tongguan . As long as Geshuhan, who is guarding Tongguan, sticks to the battle and firmly blocks the rebels outside Tongguan with favorable terrain, An Lushan's death will accelerate. But when everything looked beautiful, Emperor Xuanzong's brother-in-law and prime minister Yang Guozhong could not stand it anymore. This villain who did not know the soldiers but was blindly commanded, repeatedly slandered Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, and even fooled Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, Yan ordered Brother Shuhan to fight, and took the initiative to attack An Lushan's elite rebels with this new army that rarely received military training.
Faced with such a ridiculous command, Ge Shuhan had no choice but to fight, and was hit head-on without any surprise. The 150,000 troops were wiped out. The situation suddenly reversed, and then Chang'an fell, and Emperor Xuanzong of Tang ran to Shu in a hurry. The momentum of the Anshi rebels reached its peak - the blind command of the Tang Dynasty gave gifts!
Opportunity 3: Recovering the Battle of Chang'an
The fall of Tongguan is regarded as a super gift package given to the Anshi rebels by the Tang Dynasty. Next, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang hurriedly ran away, and the prince Li Heng ascended the throne in Lingwu, and was the Emperor Suzong of Tang . With his dismal soldiers and horses, he carried the banner of suppressing rebellion.
But at this critical moment, Tang Suzong's young friend, the personal counselor at this time, made a crucial plan for him: will be without a bandits in less than two years - it is enough to wipe out this rebellion for only two years.
This is a blueprint that is crucial for the Tang Dynasty to suppress the rebellion and war: Next, under Li Mi's plan, the Tang Dynasty transferred the elites of the Anxi Protectorate, and then used Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi as the supporter to form a continuous high-pressure situation against the rebels. Sure enough, the battle situation turned around again. The Tang Dynasty, who lost Chang'an, quickly returned to its advantageous situation before the Battle of Tongguan - the superior forces attacked Fanyang, the old nest of the Anshi rebels. The scene of completely eradicating the disaster is about to be perfectly realized.
But at this critical moment, Emperor Suzong of Tang made up his father's past mistakes. Monkey was eager to recover Chang'an, but he changed his combat plan without authorization and sent troops that were originally intended to attack Fan Yang to Guanzhong . As a result, the tired Tang army had to attack Chang'an City in blood, but after paying a heavy price, it still failed. In the end, he borrowed the Uighur army and barely took it. But the main force of the rebels still retreated safely.
This seemingly brilliant victory became a most regrettable scene in the history of the Tang Dynasty: the Tang Dynasty, which lost its last family fortune, could only fight a war of attrition with the Anshi rebels. Although barely fought for eight years, the great danger of separatist rule in the feudal states was already established. The Tang Dynasty's decline from prosperity to decline can no longer be reversed. If you don’t get
html for 0 days, you will be blamed. The hardships of the mid- and late Tang dynasties were trapped in the disaster of the vassal states were the most vivid lesson.
