After achieving a glorious victory, the Tang Army's main force did not stop. Instead, they launched an all-out attack. They launched a large-scale pursuit of the fleeing Tibetan cavalry and directly clashed with the Tibetan main force that was following behind.
The collapse of the Tibetan elite cavalry disrupted the formation of the main force. Since the morale of the Tang Army was very high, they defeated the Tibetan main force with just one charge.
The defeated Tibetan main force fled in all directions. Panicked Tibetan soldiers were everywhere in the mountains and plains. The Tang Army split up and continued to attack these scattered Tibetan soldiers in order to eliminate as many Tibetan forces as possible.
The pursuit and battle lasted for many days. The Tibetan main force was almost wiped out. More and more soldiers were captured, reaching 100,000. In the end, even the Tibetan general surrendered to the Tang Dynasty with only a few thousand soldiers left. At this point, the confrontation between Tibet and the Tang Dynasty ended with the Tang Dynasty's complete victory.
However, this was not the end. This time, Tibet provoked the Tang Dynasty and made the Emperor unhappy. Therefore, it was not over just defeating the Tibetan army. The next step was to continue to march on Tibet until Tibet was integrated into the territory of the Tang Dynasty.
Among the 100,000 Tibetan captives, half of them were Tuyuhuns, also known as the Xianbei people. The Xianbei people in the Central Plains had already integrated into the Tang Dynasty. Many soldiers in the Tang Army were descendants of the Xianbei people. Even the royal family of the Tang Dynasty was related to the Xianbei people.
Therefore, the Tang Army's attitude towards the descendants of the Tuyuhuns was much better than the Tibetans. In addition, it had been less than a hundred years since the Tuyuhuns were destroyed. Many Tuyuhuns had not fully integrated into Tibet. In fact, many Tuyuhuns were still fighting for independence. They were constantly resisting the rule of Tibet, which gave the ruling class of Tibet a headache.
Now, the main force of Tubo had been annihilated, and Dafeichuan, which originally belonged to Tuyuhun, was also controlled by the Tang Army. These Tuyuhun soldiers, whose loyalty was questionable, naturally leaned toward the Tang Dynasty and were willing to submit to the rule of the Tang Empire.
After the 50,000 captives from Tutanu were stripped of their weapons and armor, they were dismissed on the spot and allowed to go home to farm. As for the 50,000 captives from Tufan, they were all used as logistical laborers for the Tang Army, helping the Tang Army transport all kinds of supplies. Of course, there would be people watching them and not letting them run around.
After the battle, the main force of the Tang Army had conquered the land belonging to Tuyuhun and continued to approach the southwest, preparing to conquer the land belonging to Tubo to expand the territory of the Tang Empire.
In the direction of Stone Castle City, the main force of the Tang Army and the elite troops led by Ang Lee converged together. They were ready to rest for a day before continuing their journey to the capital of Tibet.
"You're fine. You've made a great contribution. If you didn't take the risk to attack Stone Castle City, our main force wouldn't have won so easily."
Wang Zhongsi praised Ang Lee as soon as he saw him. He seemed to be very affectionate.
"Uncle, you're flattering me. This is nothing. With the current strength of the Tang Dynasty, destroying Tubo is a piece of cake. No matter how we fight, we'll definitely win in the end. It's just a matter of time."
Ang Lee said humbly and continued, "Now that the land belonging to Tuyuhun has been conquered, the Tang Dynasty should immediately establish a government office here. Why don't we call it Tuyuhun Road?"
"Tuyuhun Road? Hmm, this name sounds good, but His Majesty will definitely not agree. Isn't this equivalent to reminding the future generations that this used to be the land of Tuyuhun? Why don't we call it Longnan Road? "
Wang Zhongsi rejected Ang Lee's suggestion. He felt that the name Ang Lee came up with violated the taboo of the Tang Dynasty and deliberately reminded the future generations of Tuyuhun not to forget their motherland.
"Longnan Road? This name is quite interesting. Tuyuhun is south of Longyou Road. It's not a bad name to call it Longnan Road. This name is good, it's a good name!"
Li An suddenly realized his mistake. Since it was the territory of the Tang Empire, of course, they couldn't name it after Tuyuhun. Otherwise, the people of Tuyuhun would forever remember their motherland, and this would be very disadvantageous for the Tang Empire to rule over Tuyuhun. Longnan Road meant that the southern part of Longyou Road should be given a very good name. The current Longyou Road of Tang Empire was very vast, and they couldn't add more land, otherwise, it would be very difficult to manage. It was very necessary to build a separate Road.
After confirming the name, Wang Zhongsi immediately wrote a memorial to state his opinion. He requested the imperial court to establish Longnan Road on the land of Tuyuhun and send the imperial court officials to rule it.
The expedition to Tubo was not an easy task. After all, Tubo's terrain was too high. The soldiers of the Tang Dynasty would feel suffocated on such a terrain. Moreover, the further they went, the more serious the symptoms would be.
However, everyone had an instinct, which was the ability to adapt. When they first arrived at the plateau, the soldiers would feel short of breath. However, after more than a month of adapting, this feeling would slowly disappear. Although there would still be some discomfort, this feeling would be weakened a lot. It would not affect the movement of the army too much.
As the main force of Tubo had been annihilated, the expedition to Tubo's capital city was relatively far away and had high requirements for logistics. Therefore, the main force of more than 100,000 soldiers could not all go south. Most of the soldiers and horses were left behind. Only 50,000 elite soldiers were selected to carry the best weapons and set off towards Tubo's capital city. Of course, these remaining soldiers would be responsible for mobilizing the people and providing a steady stream of supplies for the expedition.
In addition, in order to better rule over Tubo in the future, the imperial court of the Tang Dynasty temporarily built a railway branch in Longyou Road. It was directly connected to Tubo's capital city. Although it was unknown how long this railway would take, every extra mile of road that was built would reduce the logistical pressure of the army at the front. In the future, this railway line would promote the economic development of the entire Longnan Road.
As they continued to move towards Tubo's capital city, the main force of the Tang Army and Ang Lee's elite soldiers converged. With the support of more steam transport vehicles, the logistical support was greatly enhanced. Although the Tang Army had many soldiers and horses, they did not have to worry about the lack of logistical support anymore.
As the main force of Tubo had been annihilated and the elite armored artillery vehicles of the Tang Army made the Tubo garrison unable to cope with them, the Tang Army's progress was very smooth. Along the way, the Tubo garrison rarely resisted. Even if they encountered resistance from the Tang Army, as long as they pulled out the Tubo generals who had surrendered, these soldiers who were guarding the checkpoint would submit and surrender willingly. If they encountered those who refused to surrender, they would be covered with artillery fire and the checkpoint would be taken down.
When the Tang Army launched an attack on Tubo's capital city step by step, Tubo's Tsangpu was very scared. He continuously sent envoys to the Tang Dynasty, wanting to negotiate with the Tang Dynasty and bury the hatchet.
However, Tubo's capital city was very far from Chang 'an, the capital of the Tang Dynasty. It would take a lot of time for the envoys to go back and forth. However, the speed of the Tang Army's attack was very fast. In other words, before the Tubo envoys arrived at the Tang Dynasty, the Tang Army would have already taken down Tubo's capital city.
Moreover, the longer it dragged on, the lower the capital of the Tubo nobles to surrender. They might even gradually lose the qualification to surrender. This depended on the army, wealth, and land in their hands. If all of these were conquered by the Tang Army, they could only be captured. How could they surrender? Surrendering with nothing was of no value, and they would not get any benefits.
For example, if a king still had a large territory and army in his hands and surrendered to a big country, the emperor of the big country would be happy. He could build a villa for him and confer him the title of King of Anle, so that he could enjoy his old age in peace and not have to worry about food and drink.
On the other hand, if a king resisted with all his might and was captured at the end of his rope, the treatment he received would be completely different. It was very likely that he would be a prisoner, or at most, a commoner. After all, when you were captured and surrendered, you already had nothing left, so why should you be treated well? If you were treated well, it would have a bad impact on other small countries. If everyone chose to resist to the end, they would all be treated well in the end. Then, how could the advantage of surrendering early and submitting early be reflected? How could other small countries take the initiative to submit? Therefore, for the benefit of the empire, those who surrendered early and those who surrendered late had to be treated differently. Those who surrendered early would get more benefits, and those who resisted to the end would have to pay the corresponding price.
In addition to sending envoys to the capital of the Tang dynasty to prepare for peace talks with the emperor of the Tang dynasty, Tufan also sent some officials to negotiate with the chief general of the Tang Army, requesting the Tang Army to suspend their attack and wait for the peace talks.
Of course, Wang Zhongsi would not agree. Now that the Tang Army had the absolute advantage, they finally found an excuse to destroy Tufan. How could they give up just like that? The final result of the peace talks would at most make Tufan a vassal state of the Tang dynasty, but this was obviously not in the interest of the Tang dynasty. The Tang dynasty needed Tufan to expand its territory, so it would not agree to the vassal state plan.
The Tang Army completely ignored Tufan Tsangpu's request and continued to advance toward the capital of Tufan. However, the soldiers and horses that Tufan could gather were unable to stop the attack of the Tang Army. They could only watch the Tang Army attack step by step toward Tufan.
In just over a month, the Tang Army had reached a position only a hundred miles away from Tufan and was ready to take over Tufan.
Tufan gathered 100,000 soldiers from the west and south and defended near Tufan. However, Tufan Tsangpu knew very well that the soldiers and horses that he gathered would not be able to stop the elite Tang Army.
In this way, there were only two paths in front of him. He could either personally lead the civil and military officials to surrender to the Tang Army, or he could lead the people and escape from Tufan. Regardless of the situation, Tufan Tsangpu was very reluctant.
In the end, Tufan Tsangpu gave in and personally led the civil and military officials to surrender to the Tang Army. He was willing to go to Chang 'an as a hostage to protect his people from further suffering.
After Tufan Tsangpu surrendered, Wang Zhongsi treated him with courtesy and decided to return in a few days and personally escort Tufan Tsangpu to Chang 'an to meet the emperor.
As for the army that Tufan gathered, most of them were dismissed and returned to their homes to do farming and herding. A small number of people were responsible for maintaining the security in Tufan and all of them were changed to the flag of the Tang Army. In other words, the Tufan army would be the Tang Army in the future.
After a round of discussion, Wang Zhongsi decided to retreat three days later. In these three days, the soldiers of Great Tang could enjoy the scenery of the capital of Tibet to their hearts' content.
As the occupying army, the Great Tang soldiers could do whatever they wanted when patrolling the Tufan capital. If they were to take a liking to a Tufan lady, it wouldn't be a problem for them to tease her. No one would dare to say anything.
However, there was really nothing to see in the capital of Tufan. Except for the Potala Palace, which was a little imposing, the other buildings were very short and could not be compared with the buildings in the capital of the Tang Dynasty.
Standing at the highest point of the Potala Palace and looking towards the south, the scenery was not bad. The mountains were green and the trees were green. It could be regarded as a leisure villa.
In terms of architecture, Tufan could not be compared with Chang 'an at all. However, in terms of mountains, trees, and mountains, Tufan was remarkable. At least, the mountains in Tufan were much higher than those in the Tang Dynasty. The highest mountain in the world was also in Tufan. This was something that the Tang Empire could not compare with.
"The Potala Palace is where Tsangpu of Tufan lives. We will stay here for a few days. It is not bad to experience the days of Tufan Tsangpu."
Ang Lee looked at the scenery in the distance and happily made the decision.
"I heard that Tsangpu of Tufan needs three to five women to serve him every night. Assistant Minister Li, do you want to experience this too?"
Guo Qiang said with a smile. Obviously, he was very interested in this.
Ang Lee and Guo Qiang looked at each other and said with a smile, "Of course we can. Not to mention three to five, seven or eight are not a problem! We will let Tsangpu of Tufan arrange this! He is trying to curry favor with us. He will be happy to arrange it for us. "
Of course, Ang Lee and the others lived in the guest room. Tsangpu of Tufan still lived in his own room, but there were more Tang Army guards outside the room.
This was also Wang Zhongsi's act of benevolence. He allowed the Tubo Zangpu to enjoy his last few days as a zangpu. After arriving at Chang 'an, he would be under house arrest. Although he could still eat and wear well, he might not have the chance to return to Luoyi in this lifetime.
Tsangpu of Tufan was originally an ambitious ruler. However, after his main army was wiped out by the Tang Army, he was completely dispirited. He lamented that the Tang Dynasty was too powerful. Even with the strength of the whole country, it was impossible to fight against the Tang Army. Surrendering seemed to be the best choice.
The request of Ang Lee and the other generals of the Tang Army was naturally easily satisfied. As the generals of the occupying army, they naturally had the right to enjoy the women of the defeated country. In times of war, women were always pitiful spoils of war. They were the compensation of the defeated country to the victorious country.
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