Tang General Su Dingfang.
**Original text" Su Dingfang, a famous general and a general, seventy-six"- See **Reading Literature and History Ancient Books and Criticisms, pp. 220-224.
Analysis of Su Dingfang (592 A.D. 667), a famous martyr, with a word line, was a native of Wuyi, Jizhou (now Wuyi, Hebei). Since he was a teenager, Su Dingfang has participated in military activities with his father, and has successively served as a general under Dou Jiande and Liu Heimin, and has made many military exploits. After entering the Tang Dynasty, Su Dingfang devoted himself to the wars against the Western Turks and Baekje for a long time"The three kingdoms were destroyed before and after, and their masters were captured alive"。In the second year of Tang Gaozong's reign (667 AD), Dingfang died at the age of 76.
**Reading the "Old Tang Book" volume 83 "The Biography of Su Dingfang", the comments made are:"Su Dingfang, a famous general and a general, is seventy-six years old. "
Judging from the literature, in the Tang Dynasty, Su Dingfang's military activities mainly include:
In the early years of Zhenguan, Su Dingfang was the leader of Kuangdao Mansion, and followed Li Jing to attack the Turkic Jieli Khan, and Li Jing ordered Su Dingfang to lead 200 cavalry as the vanguard. Su Dingfang led the crowd through the fog, and when the fog cleared, they were only more than a mile away from the Turkic tent. Su Dingfang launched an attack"Kill dozens of hundreds"。The Khan fled in disarray, and the remnants surrendered.
In the sixth year of Yonghui of Tang Gaozong (655 AD), the Tang Dynasty took Cheng Zhijie, the general of the Left Guard, as the general of the march, and Su Dingfang as the commander of the former army, and led the army to conquer the Western Turkic Shabaluo Khan. The Tang army reached Yingsa River (present-day Kaidu River, Xinjiang) and met Shabaluo's army. At that time, the troops led by Su Dingfang were resting more than ten miles away from the main force of the Tang army, and seeing the dust raised by the enemy soldiers in the march, Su Dingfang immediately led 500 cavalry to attack, defeated the Shabo Luo army, and then pursued for 20 miles, killing more than 1,500 people and capturing 2,000 horses.
On this expedition, Wang Wendu, the deputy governor, was jealous of Su Dingfang's military exploits, advocated focusing on defense, and falsely claimed that it was because of Cheng Zhijie's battle"Bravely underestimate the enemy", the emperor ordered him"Temperance"Army. Therefore, the Don army did not continue the offensive. Su Dingfang said to Cheng Zhijie: We were ordered to fight the enemy and only defend, how could we make meritorious service? You are a general, but the adjutant general gives orders, there must be a problem here. Su Dingfang advocated that Wang Wendu be detained and asked the court for instructions. Cheng Zhijie did not follow. Some Turks surrendered to the Tang army, and Wang Wendu believed that after the Tang army left, these Turks would rebel, so it was better to kill them all and take their belongings. Su Dingfang opposed this, saying that in this way, we ourselves would be thieves, and what would we mention to crusade against thieves and rebels. Wang Wendu was investigated.
In the second year of Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty (657 AD), the Tang Dynasty sent two large armies to attack Shaboluo again. Su Dingfang was the head of the Yili Dao march, and led the Han soldiers and Hui cavalry from Jinshan (i.e., Altai Mountains, Turkic language"Altai"It means gold) marching into the army, for the northern province. Shabala gathered nearly 100,000 Turkic troops to resist. In a battle, Su Dingfang led more than 10,000 Hui and Han soldiers, and Sha Boluo despised Su Dingfang's small number of soldiers and surrounded the Tang army on all sides. Su Dingfang ordered the infantry to set up a position and defend it, and he led the cavalry to line up in the north, ready to attack. The Turkic army launched three consecutive attacks on the infantry positions of the Don army, but they were all repulsed. Su Dingfang took advantage of the situation and led the cavalry to attack. The Turkic army was routed. Su Dingfang led the army to pursue for 30 miles, killing tens of thousands of opponents. After that, Su Dingfang fought several battles with the Turkic army, and all of them were victorious. Most of the Turks under Sha Boluo surrendered to the Tang Dynasty army, and Sha Boluo led a few people to flee west to Shiguo, where they were captured by Shiguo and handed over to the pursuers sent by Su Dingfang, and the Western Turks perished. Later, some Turks in this area united to rebel against the Tang Dynasty, and Su Dingfang led an army to travel more than 300 miles in one day and one night, besieging the rebels in the city. Faced with the absolute superiority of the Don army, the rebels had to surrender. Su Dingfang escorted the rebel leader Du Man back to Luoyang. Since then,"West of Green Ridge"。
In the fifth year of Xianqing (660 AD), Tang Gao sent Su Dingfang and others to lead 100,000 troops to cross the sea to fight for Baekje.
Su Jeongbang and others joined forces with Silla to break through Baekje, capture the Baekje king and the crown prince and return, divide the land into six states, and set up five prefectures including Xiongjin.
From the above, it can be concluded that Su Dingfang was very talented in commanding the war. After the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, it was able to eliminate foreign troubles and greatly expand its territory, which has a certain relationship with his activities. Call him what he is"A famous general is also a general", should be in terms of the talents and contributions he showed in the war.