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[The ruthless man of the Tang Dynasty who would destroy the country in battle - Su Dingfang Su Dingfang Tang Dynasty God of War]

He was the most famous general of the Tang Dynasty who was best at destroying nations and was known as the "little expert in opening up maps". With his own efforts, he expanded the territory of the Tang Dynasty to Central Asia, the Xiahai, the border areas, Persia and the Joseon Peninsula. He conquered the North Pole, destroyed the Turks in the west, pacified Baekje in the east, and suppressed Tibet in the south. He traveled thousands of miles and destroyed three kingdoms before and after, capturing their leaders alive.

Although the Tang Dynasty had many brave generals, only Su Dingfang regarded destroying a country as the criterion for his victory. In this video, let us take a look at the most underestimated war god of the Tang Dynasty in chronological order.

"The warriors were determined, the orders were clear, they stood up and bent forward, and the border was settled." These 16 words are the most appropriate to describe Su Dingfang. To this day, there is still a Tang Dynasty stone tablet preserved in Bangzi, on which is engraved "The Name of the Tang Army that Conquered Baekje" after Su Dingfang conquered Baekje.

But when it comes to the name of this generation of war god who made great contributions to the expansion of the Tang Empire, I am afraid he is not as famous as Li Jing, Xue Rengui and others. But if you mention Su Lie, I believe you must have heard of him.

Su Dingfang's real name was Su Lie. He was born in Wuyi County, Beihe Province. When he was young, his neighbors and relatives praised him for his extraordinary bravery. At the age of 15, Su Dingfang was able to follow his father Su Yong into battle and kill the enemy.

After Su Yong's death, Su Dingfang took over his father's troops. After leading his troops to defeat rebel bandits many times, the neighbors and villagers all relied on Su Dingfang for protection.

During the peasant uprising that swept across the country at the end of the Sui Dynasty, Su Dingfang joined the Hebei rebel leader Dou Jiande, and later joined Liu Heita's rebel army, and finally joined Li Tang in the early years of Zhenguan.

At the age of 39, Su Dingfang followed Li Jing to attack Jie Li Khan in DTZ. One night, Su Dingfang led 200 cavalrymen armed with bows and crossbows as the vanguard, and quietly marched to a place one mile away from the Turkic camp under the cover of thick fog.

At this time, the fog suddenly dissipated, and Su Dingfang saw the Turkic tent, so he rushed on horseback and killed Jie Li Khan and his dozens of followers, who fled in panic. The Tang army then pursued them, beheaded more than 10,000 people, and captured Jie Li Khan. DTZ was destroyed, and its land was returned to the Tang court.

Although Su Dingfang was awarded an official position for his merits after the war, he never got promoted again in the next 20 years. When Su Dingfang was 64 years old, Goguryeo, Baekje and Mohe attacked Silla, and Silla asked the Tang Dynasty for help.

Emperor Gaozong of Tang, Li Zhi, ordered Su Dingfang to lead an army of 1 to teach Goryeo a lesson. Su Dingfang crossed the Liao River, successfully attacked, and defeated the enemy, and was promoted again for his merits.

A year later, Su Dingfang followed Cheng Yaojin to conquer the Western Turks. When the army arrived at the Ili River Valley in present-day Xinjiang, they encountered 2 cavalrymen from the Western Turks.

After several fierce battles, the two sides were still tied. At this time, the reinforcements of the Western Turks arrived and the situation was very critical. After a short rest, Su Dingfang led 500 cavalrymen over the mountains and attacked the enemy camp, eventually defeating the Western Turks.

But Wang Wendu, the deputy commander of the Tang army at that time, was very jealous of Su Dingfang's achievements, so he pretended to be the emperor's decree and ordered the army not to go deep into the heartland of Western Turkic.

Pang's army marched westward every day, forming a battle array. The slow march caused the soldiers to become tired, a large number of horses died, and the entire army completely lost the will to fight. In the end, they returned empty-handed.

At the age of 66, Su Dingfang led his army again as the commander-in-chief to conquer the Western Turkic Khan Shaboluo. Su Dingfang set out from the north of the Altai Mountains in the west of the ancient Mongolian state, marched through the snow, traveled day and night, and defeated the various tribes of the Western Turkic Khanate.

When they were 100 miles away from the residence of the Western Turkic Khan, Su Dingfang deployed his troops and attacked the enemy while they were hunting and were not on guard. He defeated tens of thousands of enemy troops and eventually collected more than 40 people and livestock, and moved the Anxi Protectorate back to its former site in Gaochang.

After the fall of the Western Turks, the Central Asian countries that had been subject to the Western Turks surrendered one after another, and the entire Western Region came under the control of the Tang Dynasty. The Tang Dynasty adopted a two-phase strategy, setting up the Mengchi Protectorate to govern the area from the west of the Chu River in Central Asia to the Aral Sea, and the Kunling Protectorate to govern the area from the east of the Chu River in Central Asia to the northern part of Xinjiang. As a result, the power of the Tang Dynasty extended to Central Asia.

After Su Dingfang returned triumphantly, he rested for only one year before setting out on another expedition. In Wuhai, he defeated Kou Bofu with a small force and defeated the large and small wild beasts. The three countries led by the clever Li Xi led their troops to rebel again.

Emperor Gaozong of Tang ordered Su Dingfang to march west again. After a long journey, Su Dingfang arrived at the Syr Darya River in present-day Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. The enemy camped at Matouchuan. Su Dingfang selected 1 elite infantry and 3000 cavalry to attack at full speed, marching 1 miles in one day and one night.

The rebels hastily fought outside the city gate and were defeated. Su Dingfang took advantage of the victory to pursue the enemy and eventually forced them to surrender. From then on, the whole area west of the city was pacified.

The Tang Dynasty once again carried out large-scale administrative divisions on the countries west of the jungle, which were originally within the sphere of influence of the Western Turks. This resulted in the western territory under the jurisdiction of the Tang Empire reaching as far as the Aral Sea, reaching its limit.

In the fourth year of the reign of Emperor Xianqing, Baekje invaded Silla several times, and the king of Silla had to ask for help. The Tang Dynasty decided to attack Baekje in the east. The Tang army crossed the Yellow Sea by boat from the sea east of Rongcheng City, SD Province, and arrived at the mouth of the Geum River in the southern part of the Joseon Peninsula.

The Baekje army stationed troops along the river and held the position. The 68-year-old Su Dingfang sent troops from the east coast and deployed his troops along the mountain to engage the Baekje army. The Tang Dynasty navy set sail, and the entire sea was covered by the mighty Tang Dynasty navy.

The Baekje army was defeated, and the Tang army took advantage of the tide to advance, with warships linked end to end. Su Dingfang led his troops to advance along the river, approaching the enemy's capital. About 20 miles away from the city, the Baekje army launched a decisive battle with the Tang army. Su Dingfang finally defeated the Baekje army and took advantage of the victory to enter the city.

After Baekje was pacified, the country was divided into five parts. The Tang Dynasty established five military governorships, namely, Ungjin, Mahan, Dongmyeong, Jinlian, and De'an, which governed 5 states and incorporated 5 counties into the territory of the Tang Dynasty. After the destruction of Baekje, Su Dingfang allowed his troops to plunder, which triggered the Baekje Restoration Movement. In the end, the more than 37 cities he obtained rebelled one after another.

In 661 AD, the 70-year-old Su Dingfang and his men led the army again, advancing by land and sea to attack Goguryeo. Su Dingfang defeated the Goguryeo army in Dachengxiang, now the Joseon Dynasty, and won many battles, and then marched to surround Pyongyang.

Just when the Tang army was preparing to join forces, the nine tribes of Tiele in Mobei rebelled, which made the Tang army's strategic deployment of attacking Goguryeo from the north and south fail, and the war would fall into a protracted war. In the end, due to the problem of food and grass supply, Su Dingfang had no choice but to return home.

A few years later, the situation on the northwestern border of the Tang Dynasty became critical again, and Tubo and Tubo began to attack and defend each other. The 76-year-old Su Dingfang eventually died of illness on the front line.

Su Dingfang fought on the battlefield for decades in his life. He attacked the Western Turks in the north, pacified Baekje in the east, and suppressed Tubo in the south. He traveled thousands of miles and destroyed three kingdoms one after another. He frightened and surrendered the countries in the Western Regions and pushed the power of the Tang Dynasty to its peak.

It not only laid the foundation for the stability and prosperity of the Central Plains, but also promoted economic and cultural exchanges among various ethnic groups, and made important contributions to the formation of the current Chinese territory.

——"The famous general of the Sui and Tang dynasties who was most badly slandered in the Romance of Sui and Tang Dynasties."

——"I feel that Xue Rengui is not as fierce as Su Dingfang. Of course, he should be stronger than Su Dingfang in terms of personal fighting power."

——"Su Dingfang is considered to be Li Jing's apprentice, and Pei Xingyan is Su Dingfang's apprentice."

——"You want to talk about Pei Xingjian, right? Pei Xingyan is his brother, the prototype of Pei Yuanqing in the Romance of Sui and Tang Dynasties, and a real enemy of ten thousand people in history."

——"Yes, he is very fierce among the escorts!"

[Historical Records of Hou Junji of the Tang Dynasty, the First Hero in the Tang Dynasty's Reconquest of the Western Regions]

He was a great contributor to the Tang Dynasty's recovery of the Western Regions. He conquered Gaochang Kingdom and established the Anxi Protectorate.

At his peak, he could intimidate more than 2 countries in the Western Regions with 400 troops and control more than 300 million square kilometers of land, becoming the sharp sword of the Tang Dynasty to dominate the western frontier. Even Li Shimin proudly said, "1000 unarmed soldiers of the Tang Dynasty can defeat tens of thousands of Hu cavalry."

However, this meritorious official who was listed in the Lingyan Pavilion was eventually executed for treason. In this video, let us understand Hou Junji's legendary life in chronological order.

Hou Junji was born into the Hou family in Shaanxi. There is no clear record in historical materials about the exact year of his birth. We only know that he was from Xunyi County in western Shaanxi.

In his early years, Hou Junji was a rather boastful person. He couldn't even learn the bow and arrow, but he still boasted everywhere that his martial arts were very powerful.

Later, Hou Junji joined the Qin Palace and followed Li Shimin in his campaigns, making great military achievements. He was gradually appreciated by Li Shimin, was able to participate in the planning of various affairs, and gradually entered the central group.

At the turn of spring and summer in 626 AD, the struggle for the throne between Qin Wang Li Shimin and Crown Prince Li Jiancheng had become quite fierce.

Hou Junji and others could not wait to encourage Li Shimin to take the initiative and get rid of Li Jiancheng. After Li Shimin made up his mind, he made a careful plan with Hou Junji and others. He led a group of generals to ambush at Xuanwu Gate in advance, and took advantage of the opportunity when Li Jiancheng and Qi Wang Li Yuanji were unprepared to go to court to attack.

Hou Junji led his army to control Emperor Gaozu of Tang and the court officials, while Yuchi Gong and others killed the entire families of Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji, allowing Li Shimin to ascend the throne smoothly. As an important participant in the Xuanwu Gate Incident, Hou Junji was also granted a high position and a high rank. Soon after, he was appointed Minister of War and was in charge of the national military.

In 634 AD, Tubo, located in present-day Qinghai, sent troops to the border of the Eastern Han Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty, and detained Tang Dynasty envoys. Li Shimin ordered Hou Junji to assist Li Jing in the crusade against Tubo. When the Tang army arrived at Haiqing Ledu, the Tubo army retreated upon hearing the news. It was winter at the time, and the Tubo army burned the plants on the grassland and retreated into the hinterland to hide, trying to put the Tang army in a predicament of insufficient food and grass.

The generals thought that the lack of food and fodder for the horses was not conducive to long-distance fighting, and asked to withdraw the troops. However, Hou Junji advocated a quick pursuit, thinking that the enemy had not gone far and would certainly not expect us to continue to advance. If we pursued them quickly with elite troops, we would surely win a great victory.

Li Jing adopted his advice and led his troops to pursue the Tubo army for more than 2000 miles, defeating the Tubo army in three consecutive battles. After the great victory, he returned to the capital.

In 638 AD, Songtsen Gandhara of Tubo asked the Tang Dynasty for marriage, but was rejected. He then sent troops to attack Tubo, which had already submitted to the Tang Dynasty, and wrote a letter threatening the Tang Dynasty that if the Tang Dynasty did not marry the princess, it would send troops to attack the Tang Dynasty.

Then he sent 20 troops to attack Songpan County in Sichuan Province. Emperor Taizong immediately ordered Hou Junji to lead 5 cavalry to resist Tubo.

Hou Junji defeated the Tibetan army at the foot of Songzhou City, forcing Songtsen Gampo to withdraw his troops in a hurry. The former envoy apologized to Emperor Taizong of Tang, who also agreed to intermarry with the Tibetans to establish friendly relations.

Hou Junji, who returned victorious, did not wait for a year to rest before he went into battle again for the Tang Dynasty. In the early Tang Dynasty, tribute and trade teams from Western Regions had to pass through Gaochang State, and Gaochang State gained a lot of benefits from transit trade.

At the request of Yanqi State, Li Shimin wanted to reopen the road to the Western Regions. Because Gaochang State suffered losses in its interests, it not only blocked the road from the Western Regions to the interior, but also sent troops to attack Yanqi.

At the same time, the leader of the Western Turks formed an alliance with Gaochang to jointly block the merchants and trade goods traveling to the Western Regions. So Emperor Taizong of Tang decided to send Hou Junji to lead troops to the west to attack Gaochang.

In 640 AD, Hou Junji led his army. When the army crossed the Fifth Water Grassland and entered Gaochang with a murderous aura of more than 2000 miles with cold winds like knives and hot winds like burning, the King of Gaochang died of fear and depression, and his son Qu Zhisheng succeeded him.

The Tang army used advanced engineering machinery and quickly approached the capital of Gaochang. Qu Zhisheng opened the city and surrendered. Hou Junji divided his troops into four groups and attacked three counties, five counties and 22 cities.

Gaochang was pacified. Emperor Taizong ordered Hou Junji to set up Xizhou in Gaochang and Anxi Protectorate in Jiaohe City to govern all counties and leave soldiers to garrison.

Hou Junji also released all the Yanqi people that the King of Gaochang had previously captured. The King of Yanqi was very grateful for this and sent envoys to thank the Tang court. After Hou Junji pacified Gaochang, the Tang Dynasty deterred the Western Regions and greatly strengthened the country's prestige.

Emperor Taizong of Tang set up Tingzhou to govern the Western Turkic night guard Yeerxiang who was stationed in Khanfutu City.

When Hou Junji returned to the east, he brought back a group of musicians from Gaochang. Emperor Taizong ordered him to work in the Taichang Temple and listed Gaochang music as national music. The winemaking method and mare's milk grape cultivation method introduced from the Western Regions also led to a wine craze in Chang'an.

However, after conquering Gaochang, Hou Junji secretly took the treasures of Gaochang for himself without asking Li Shimin for permission. When his soldiers found out, they also began to steal gold, silver and jewelry. Hou Junji was afraid that his scandal would be exposed, so he did not dare to report the crimes of his soldiers.

After returning to the court, he was exposed by the censor and reported to Emperor Taizong of Tang, who then put Hou Junji in prison. Fortunately, Zhongshu Shilang Cen Wenben and Shangshu defended him, and Emperor Taizong of Tang pardoned and released Hou Junji.

Hou Junji thought he had made great contributions, but was imprisoned because of his greed for money, which made him very unhappy. Although Li Shimin treated Hou Junji the same as before and listed him as the 24th of the 17 heroes in the Lingyan Pavilion, Hou Junji still felt that he was being excluded.

In the same year when he was included in the Lingyan Pavilion, Crown Prince Li Chengqian was worried that he would be deposed, so he brought the resentful Hou Junji into the Eastern Palace. Hou Junji felt that Li Chengqian was incompetent and worried that the tragedy of Li Jiancheng would repeat itself, so he persuaded Li Chengqian to rebel.

After the rebellion was exposed, Li Chengqian was deposed and Hou Junji was executed. Before his death, Hou Junji asked for a pardon for his wife and son so that they could mourn for him. Li Shimin agreed and exiled his wife and son to Lingnan.

Hou Junji reached the pinnacle of his life thanks to the appreciation and love of Emperor Taizong of Tang, but he fell into depravity because he could not control his own selfish desires and eventually died.

——"The Tang Dynasty was really full of brave generals. Without the merit of destroying a country, you would be embarrassed to sit at the table for dinner."

——'It's really a bit outrageous, it's really a big deal!'

——"Li Chengqian is his son-in-law, so he must rebel. Otherwise, how can Li Tai survive if he takes the throne?"

——"You can't say that. He was resentful in the first place. Why don't you say that he urged Li Chengqian to rebel?"