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The war between the Sui Dynasty and the Turks was a war in which the Sui Dynasty defended against the attacks of the Turks, who had split into Two khagnates, and fought back.

The war lasted for 21 years, from the invasion of the Turks in 581 to the surrender of the Eastern Turks in 602. After the war, the situation became even more tense. Due to internal instability, the Eastern and Western Khans abandoned the Sui Dynasty in 607 and 611 respectively. As the Sui Dynasty gained a great advantage in this war, it was able to launch the war to destroy the Chen Dynasty and unify China.

The Sui Dynasty sent troops to defend the border and took the initiative to counterattack, and finally adopted Changsun Sheng's policy of "making friends with distant countries and attacking nearby countries, separating the strong and uniting the weak" to divide and alienate the various Turkic tribes. The Turks fought without strategic policies such as plundering materials and waging wars, and the Khans could'nt unite closely and finally collapsed. The victory of the Sui Dynasty in the war against the Turks was conducive to protecting the economy and culture of the Central Plains.

Background

The Turks rose up in the southern foothills of the Altai Mountains as early as the Northern Wei Dynasty. They broke away from the Rouran and unified the country between 546 and 552. After three generations of conquests by Ili Khan, Yi Khan, and Mugan Khan, they finally conquered the Ruru and became a powerful monarchical steppe empire in the south and north of the desert. During the time of Shaboluo Khan, the Turkic territory stretched from the Xianbei Mountains in the east to the Caspian Sea, the Black Sea, and the Sea of ​​Azov in the west, from the Mongolian Plateau in the south to the North Sea in the north, stretching 10,000 miles from east to west and 5,000 to 6,000 miles from north to south. The Khanate (capital) was located in Yudujin Mountain (now the northern mountain of Hangai Mountain in the upper reaches of the Orkhon River). Because the Turks often went south to plunder the population and wealth of the Han area, the monarchies of the Northern Dynasties (Western Wei, Northern Zhou, and Northern Qi) adopted a policy of marriage or tribute to appease the Turks. At the beginning of the Sui Dynasty, the Turkic nobles had an internal conflict, and the Great Khan Shaboluo Khan had to separate Anluo as the second Khan, Daluo as Apo Khan, and Dianjue as Datou Khan, who were collectively called the Four Khans to share power. In addition, there was Buli Khan.

Yang Zhong, the father of Yang Jian, a powerful official of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, was one of the twelve generals of the Western Wei Dynasty. Yang Jian's daughter Yang Lihua was the empress of Emperor Xuan of the Northern Zhou Dynasty. After the death of Emperor Xuan of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, he replaced Zhou as the emperor in February 581 and established the Sui Dynasty. Emperor Gaozu of the Sui Dynasty established a monarchy, and the Empress of the Sui Dynasty neglected the Turks and paid meager tribute, which made the Turkic tribes resent the Sui Dynasty. The princess of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, who married Shaboluo Khan, was unwilling to see the Northern Zhou Dynasty usurped by Emperor Gaozu of the Sui Dynasty, Yang Jian, and repeatedly persuaded Shaboluo Khan to send troops to avenge the Zhou Dynasty.

The War

The first Turkic attack

In 581, the Turkic Shaboluo Khan and Gao Baoning, the former Northern Qi garrison commander and governor of Yingzhou (now Chaoyang City, Liaoning Province), invaded the Sui Dynasty. Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty urgently ordered the border defense to strengthen its vigilance and build the Great Wall. He sent Yin Shou to lead troops to Youzhou (now Beijing), Yu Qingze to Bingzhou (now Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province), and Crown Prince Yang Yong to Daxingcheng (now Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province) to jointly resist the Turks.

In 582, the Turkic Shaboluo Khan led his army to invade the Sui Dynasty. Sui generals Han Sengshou and Li Chong successfully resisted the Turkish army. In May, Gao Baoning of Yingzhou led the Turkish soldiers to attack Pingzhou (now Lulong County, Hebei Province). Shaboluo Khan mobilized all his own troops of ~100,000 and led the Second Khan, Apo Khan, Datou Khan, and Buli Khan, and led a total of ~400,000 troops to attack the south of the Sui Great Wall. In June, Sui general Li Huang defeated the Turkish soldiers in Mayi (now Shuozhou City, Shanxi Province). The main force of the Turkic Khan Shaboluo fought a fierce battle with the Sui general Daxi Changru. At that time, the Turkic army had more than 100,000 soldiers and the Sui army had only 3,000. The Sui army gathered together in a turtle formation and resisted from all sides. They fought fiercely for three consecutive days and 14 times. When the Sui army ran out of weapons, they fought with fists, and all the bones in their hands were exposed. This fierce battle killed more than 10,000 Turkic soldiers, and the Sui army also lost 70% to 80% of its soldiers (about 2,100-2,400 people died in the battle). The Turkic soldiers withdrew.

The Second Turkic attack

The Sui envoy, had sent a princess to the Turkic Khagnate during the Northern Zhou Dynasty and stayed in the Great Turkic Khagnate (capital) Yudujin Mountain for a long time. He knew that Shaboluo Khan was at odds with Apo Khan and Datou Khan, and suggested that Emperor Gaozu of Sui should adopt the strategy of "making friends with distant countries and attacking nearby countries, separating the strong and uniting the weak". Emperor Wen of Sui adopted his strategy and sent Yuan Hui to Yiwu (now Hami County, Xinjiang) Road to make friends with Datou Khan in the west and Chuluo Hou (Shaboluo Khan's brother) in the east to divide Shaboluo Khan's power.

In 583, Emperor Wen of Sui took advantage of the intensified internal contradictions and severe famine in the Turkic Khagnate and ordered Yang Shuang, Hejian Wang Yang Hong, Dou Luqin and Qinzhou General Dou Rongding to serve as marching marshals and lead the army to fight back against the Turkic Khagnate in eight routes. Yang Shuang led four generals including Li Chong to go out of Shuozhou (now Shuo County, Shanxi) Road and met the Turkic Shaboluo Khan in Baidao (now northwest of Hohhot, Inner Mongolia). Yang Shuang followed Li Chong's advice and ordered Li Chong and Li Che to lead 5,000 elite cavalry to attack the Turkic army before it was ready. The Turkic army was defeated by the Sui army's surprise attack. Shaboluo Khan threw away his armor and most of his soldiers died. Yang Hong led Dou Luqin and others to lead tens of thousands of Sui troops out of Lingzhou (now southwest of Lingwu, Ningxia) Road, encountered the Turkic army, and defeated them. Yin Shou, the governor of Youzhou, led tens of thousands of infantry and cavalry out of Lulong Pass (now Xifengkou, Hebei), defeated Gao Baoning, and recovered the Helong (now Chaoyang, Liaoning) area. Gao Baoning was killed by his subordinates.

In May, Sui general Dou Rongding led 9 governors and 30,000 infantry and cavalry out of Liangzhou (now Wuwei, Gansu) Road, and fought with the Turkic Apo Khan in Gaoyueyuan (now northwest of Minqin, Gansu). Dou Rongding defeated Apo Khan's army several times. Changsun Sheng took the opportunity to use a strategy of sowing discord to win over Apo Khan to the Sui Dynasty in order to isolate Shaboluo Khan. In August, the Sui Dynasty sent Gao Jiong to Ningzhou Road and Yu Qingze to Yuanzhou Road to attack the Turks from two directions.

When Shaboluo Khan learned that Apo Khan had returned to the Sui Dynasty, he led his army to attack and destroy his territory. Apo Khan fled to Datou Khan and then led his army to fight back against Shaboluo Khan. Tan Khan was deposed by Shaboluo Khan because of his friendship with Apo Khan, and also fled to Datou Khan. So far, the internal contradictions of the Turks continued to deepen. Shaboluo Khan and Apo Khan continued to attack each other. Finally, Apo Khan ruled the western part of the desert and the western lands of Qiuci, Tiele, and Yiwu. In 583, he established the monarchy of the Western Turkic Khanate, with Apo Khan and Datou Khan as Khans. The original Great Turkic State was renamed the Eastern Turkic State, and Shaboluo Khan was still the Khan. In 583, more than 10,000 people of the Suni tribe of the Turkic people surrendered to the Sui Dynasty, and Datou Khan surrendered to the Sui Dynasty. In the spring of 584, under pressure from the Western Turkic people and the Sui Dynasty, Shaboluo Khan asked the Sui Dynasty for assistance and defeated Apo Khan, and asked for peace and vassalage from the Sui Dynasty, stating that "there is no two suns in the sky, no two kings on earth, and the emperor of the Great Sui Dynasty is the true emperor."

599 Turkic Attack

Tulan Qaghan Invasion
Date 599 Location Shanxi, Hebei Result Sui Victory Turkic split into East Turkic Khagnate and West Turkic Khagnate
Belligerents
Sui Dynasty	First Turkic Khaganate
Commanders and leaders
Emperor Wen of Sui	Tulan Qaghan
Strength
3,000-10,000+	~100,000
Casualties and losses
	1,000 Captured

In November 588, the Sui Dynasty launched a war to destroy the Chen Dynasty. In April of the following year, the Southern Dynasty of Chen was destroyed, and the Sui Dynasty unified the world. Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty gave the screen of the last emperor of the Chen Dynasty to the Northern Zhou Princess Qianjin, who was renamed Princess Dayi. Princess Dayi was sad to see the screen and wrote a poem to narrate the demise of the Chen Dynasty to miss the Zhou Dynasty. Emperor Wen of Sui was very unhappy and treated him with less courtesy. He also allowed Tuli Khan to marry Princess Anyi of Sui to alienate Dulan Khan. Dulan Khan stopped paying tribute to the Sui Dynasty, formed an alliance with Datou Khan to attack Tuli Khan, and prepared to invade the Sui Dynasty. Changsun Sheng wooed Tuli Khan to surrender in Chang'an, and Emperor Wen of Sui named him Qimin Khan and made him live in Wuyuan County to recruit his old subordinates. Qimin Khan's surrender also let Emperor Gaozu of Sui know that Dulan Khan was about to invade.

In the spring of 599, the border officials reported that Dulan Khan was about to invade Datong. Emperor Wen of Sui sent Han Wang Yang Liang as the marching marshal to lead the troops to the expedition. Gao Jiong went out of Shuozhou Road, Yang Su went out of Lingzhou Road, and Yan Rong went out of Binzhou Road to stop Dulan Khan. Dulan Khan and Datou Khan captured Weizhou (now Weixian County, Hebei Province), and Zhao Zhongqing led 3,000 Sui troops to fight the Turks for 7 days. Zhao Zhongqing defeated the Turks, captured more than 1,000 people and 10,000 livestock. The Turks reorganized their army and resisted Zhao Zhongqing's phalanx for 5 days. Sui general Gao Jiong led a large army to attack the Turks, and the two armies attacked the Turks, and Dulan Khan retreated. Yang Su met Datou Khan and ordered the cavalry to form a battle array. Datou led 100,000 Turkish cavalry to attack the Sui army, and Sui general Zhou Luohou led elite troops to meet the enemy. Yang Su personally led a large army to fight a decisive battle with the Turks. The Turks were defeated, and the soldiers suffered countless casualties. Datou Khan was also injured and fled back. After Dulan Khan was defeated, he surrendered to Sui Gaozu and respected Gaozu as a saintly Khan, but was unfortunately killed by his subordinates in the end. Datou Khan established himself as Buga Khan, unified the Eastern and Western Turks, and became the common ruler of the north.

The third Turkic attack

In April 600, Datou Khan, who united the Turks, led his army to invade the border of the Sui Dynasty again. Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty sent Jin Wang Yang Guang and Yang Su to Lingwu Road; Han Wang Yang Liang and Shi Wansui to Mayi Road to meet the enemy. The Sui army poisoned the streams and pastures, and the Turkic soldiers and horses died one after another after eating and drinking. The Turks thought that the sky had sent bad water to destroy the Turks, so they withdrew their troops in the dark. Sui general Changsun Sheng took the opportunity to pursue and beheaded more than 1,000 people. Shi Wansui met the Turkic soldiers. When the Turks heard that it was Shi Wansui's army, they retreated without fighting. Shi Wansui chased and killed them for more than 100 miles, beheaded thousands of people, and Datou Khan was defeated again.

In January 601, Datou Khan, led his army to invade the border of the Sui Dynasty and defeated Sui general Heng'an. In March 602, Turkic Silijijin crossed the Yellow River and defeated Qimin Khan, capturing more than 6,000 people and more than 200,000 livestock. The Sui general Yang Su led his army in pursuit, and taking advantage of the Turkic army's rest, he defeated Silijijin and recaptured all the people and livestock.

Sources

• Book of Sui
• Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 175

• 《Compendium of Chinese General History 》 Part III, Volume 1, Fan Wen Lan, published by People's Press
• 《A General View of Chinese History 》 edited by Zhou Yiliang, Published by Oriental Publishing Center

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