Since Tubo captured Liangzhou and Ganzhou, communication has been cut off. Hexi, Anxi, and Beiting were left i…
Since Tubo captured Liangzhou and Ganzhou, communication has been cut off. Hexi, Anxi, and Beiting were left isolated beyond the borders, fighting without reinforcements, suffering countless casualties.
In the ninth year of Dali, Li Xiuzhang, the Magistrate of Hexi, fought continuously for ten years and died in battle with his troops.
Early in the Jianzhong era, Yuan Guangting, the Governor of Yizhou, led the defense to the death, with everyone united. When food ran out, he set himself on fire as a martyr.
In the second year of Zhenyuan, Yan Chao, the defending general of Shazhou, held out for over a decade. To protect the people, he surrendered to Tubo. He was poisoned by Tubo through his boots and died.
In the fifth year of Zhenyuan, Li Chonghui, the chief clerk of the Xizhou Commander's Office, and his troops defended steadfastly for years. After his death, the city fell.
In the seventh year of Zhenyuan, Yang Xigu, the Grand Protector of Beiting, was lured and killed by Il ugasi. Two thousand soldiers never returned.
In the eighth year of Zhenyuan, all Beiting garrison soldiers perished, and the entire Xizhou region fell, cutting off all communication. Guo Xin, the Grand Protector of Anxi, along with garrison commanders Lu Yang, Zheng Ju, Yang Riyou, and the soldiers of the four garrisons, held their ground without retreating. From then on, their fate remained unknown.
Later historians note that in the third year of Yuanhe, Guo Xin, the Prince of Wuwei and Governor of the Anxi Four Garrisons, died a martyr, and Anxi was finally lost.
Since the An Lushan Rebellion, the forty thousand soldiers of Anxi and Beiting held out in isolated territories for over forty years, fighting hundreds of battles. Fewer than a hundred survived, all white-haired veterans. None returned.
A few sparse lines in history, yet their loyal souls endure for millennia.