Battle of Irtysh River

Battle of Irtysh River
	Part of Tang campaign against the Western Turks
Date	657
Location	Irtysh River
Result	Decisive Tang victory Ashina Helu defeated and captured;
Belligerents
Tang Dynasty; Former vassals of the Western Turks	Western Turkic Khaganate
Commanders and leaders
Su Dingfang; Ren Yaxiang; Ashina Mishe; Ashina Buzhen; Xiao Siye	Ashina Helu
Strength
10,000 Tang and Uyghur troops	100,000 troops

The Battle of Irtysh River (Chinese: 額爾齊斯河之戰) or Battle of Yexi River (Chinese: 曳咥河大戰) was a battle in 657 between Tang Dynasty general Su Dingfang and the Western Turkic Khaganate qaghan Ashina Helu during the Tang campaign against the Western Turks. It was fought along the Irtysh River near the Altai Mountains. Helu's forces, consisting of 100,000 cavalry, were ambushed by Su as Helu chased decoy Tang troops that Su had deployed. Helu was defeated during Su's surprise attack, and lost most of his soldiers. Turkic tribes loyal to Helu surrendered, and the retreating Helu was captured the next day.^[1]

Helu's defeat ended the Western Turkic Khaganate, strengthened Tang control of Xinjiang, and led to Tang suzerainty over the western Turks.^[2]

References[]

^ Jonathan Karem Skaff (2009). Nicola Di Cosmo (ed.). Military Culture in Imperial China. Harvard University Press. pp. 181–185. ISBN 978-0-674-03109-8.
^ James A. Millward (2007). Eurasian Crossroads: A History of Xinjiang. Columbia University Press. p. 33. ISBN 978-0-231-13924-3.

This article about a battle is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .

This article related to the history of China is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .

[Cosmo-1] Jonathan Karem Skaff (2009). Nicola Di Cosmo (ed.). Military Culture in Imperial China. Harvard University Press. pp. 181–185. ISBN 978-0-674-03109-8.

[Millward-2] James A. Millward (2007). Eurasian Crossroads: A History of Xinjiang. Columbia University Press. p. 33. ISBN 978-0-231-13924-3.

[1]

[2]