Chapter 160: The Great Decisive Battle (Part 1)

"What did you say? Huguan is lost?" Jide Zuzan's eyes were wider than those of cow's eyes, and he didn't believe this shocking news at all.

Once Huguan was thrown away, his army could not retreat south at all. His plan to withdraw the army back to the city once the war was unfavorable was destined to fail. This news did not surprise him, but shock him!

"Zampu, it's true!" Qianhu, the imperial guards, affirmed.

"Hurry, send troops to take them back immediately!" Jide Zuzan immediately came to his senses after being shocked, and was not panicked.

"Zamp, and,... Some of us have lost the important barriers in the east and west, and some are being attacked by the Tang army. It's only a matter of time before we lose it." The Qianhu, the imperial guards, hesitated for a while and stuttered.

Their current terrain is very special. There is Nujiang in the north and the Tang army camps. It is impossible for the Tubo army to retreat north, so they can only retreat in the east and south directions. The Tang army now attacks the passes in these three directions, which means that the Tang army has begun to take action, and the Tang army has a great appetite and wants to annihilate all its troops.

The terrain here is very similar to the Changping War. At that time, Bai Qi used the complex terrain of Shangdang area to lure the Zhao army into the ambush circle, and then sent troops to defend those dangerous places. Hundreds of thousands of Zhao troops could not fight and retreated, and finally the entire army was wiped out.

If the Tang army cut off the passages everywhere, the Tubo army would be trapped in a big net and had nowhere to escape. Jide Zuzan knew very well that the Tang army would definitely attack, and then his army would be destroyed.

Before Jide Zuzan could think of a solution, he saw a group of generals strode in, and Da Lun's face was solemn: "Zanpu, the Tang army began to attack!"

"Zamp, what should we do? Should we fight or guard?" A general asked.

"Fight! Of course, fight! We are descendants of Qi Zong Nongzan. Even if we die, we must look like a hero!" Ji De Zuzan blurted out and frowned: "This is the first head-on confrontation, and it is intended to test, so the army does not need to participate in the war. The big statement is that your family has the most troops, so you will take your army to fight against the Tang people!"

Da Lun's face suddenly turned ugly and hesitated: "Zanpu, our army is powerful and powerful. It has never been on the battlefield, has no training, and some do not even have weapons. It is not good to fight with the Tang army! Please take back your life!"

"Please take back the life!" The slave masters who came with their private army asked in unison.

Jide Zuzan glanced at them coldly: "You think I don't know what you are thinking? The reason why you came happily with the army was to grab some credit and then ask me for benefits. Am I wrong? The place where you make achievements is the battlefield, and it is at the edge of the knife! Now, the Tang army has attacked, and it is time to test your loyalty. The command: If there are escapees at the battle, they will be buried alive! Those who lose the battle will be buried alive! And, their families will be buried alive!"

The faces of the slave masters suddenly turned green, even worse than the green-headed flies. They were full of plans and just brought the army to help and strengthen their momentum. With their combat power, it was impossible for Jide Zuzan to send them to the battlefield. However, Jide Zuzan not only sent them to the battlefield, but also issued such cruel orders, and their heads were buzzing.

They also have a plan, that is, they can escape if they can't beat them. When Jide Zuzan threw them into a strict order, they could not escape, and they could only fight. If they really started fighting with the Tang army, they would know without thinking that even the most elite imperial guards in Tubo could not defeat the Tang army. They went up to let the Tang army practice sword skills.

Failure is destined!

Moving forward is death, retreat is death, and even their families cannot survive. The slaves and masters look at each other, and no one can have any idea, even the big theories are pale.

Jide Zuzan's strict order came down again: "You have never been to the battlefield. In order to prevent you from escaping, I will lead the imperial guards to supervise the formation. If there are runaways, shoot arrows! If someone escapes, someone will escape, even if it is one, you can use the heads to make up for the count!"

After saying a cold sentence, he strode out and left behind a group of at a loss of slavery. These slavery masters were helpless and could only turn to the big thesis: "The big thesis..."

Da Ren waved his hand and sighed: "Everyone: You have come here just to serve the Great Tubo. Now, the opportunity has come, you should be happy! You should thank Zamp for giving you this rare opportunity! In this battle, I lead the army, and now, I will give you a stick of incense time to gather the army. After one stick of incense, if you don't, you will be buried alive!" He left with great strides.

After a while, the slave masters ran out quickly.

The strict orders are very useful. The originally loose private army has moved much more quickly, but it has only taken half an incense stick of time to assemble.

Not only was the big speech a little surprised, but even Jide Zuzan could not have imagined that he looked at the private army in surprise and found that they were very different from the past and had some momentum.

These slave masters came and told his soldiers to follow the example and that those who took a step back would be buried alive! Of course, the soldiers' families, relatives and friends would be buried alive. The soldiers' deaths were rewarded with great rewards, giving them cattle, sheep, grassland, and pasture.

The slave masters all issued their strict orders with a stern face. The soldiers were really scared and their actions became quick.

Seeing that the assembly was completed, Da Lun waved his hand and commanded tens of thousands of private troops to leave the Tubo barracks, preparing to fight with the Tang army.

Jide Zuzan personally led 10,000 imperial guards to supervise the battle. The imperial guards bent their bows and arrows and aimed at the private army. The soldiers of the private army were sweating coldly on their backs, knowing that this time they had really reached the gates of hell.

The private army is in a mess and has a chaotic formation. Some people don’t even have weapons and come with bare hands. It cannot be said that it is an army, even bandits are much better than them.

Looking at such a Tubo army, Guo Qianguan was puzzled, Zhang was confused, Chen Wanrong was stunned, Geshuhan was stunned, and Wang Zhongsi was confused. As soon as Guo Qianguan got the news of the capture of Huguan, he discussed with everyone and decided to start a war, dragging Jide Zuzan down, and preventing him from freeing up his hands to recover Huguan.

As for those barriers that have not been captured, it doesn’t matter. It can also be a decisive battle while attacking.

His proposal was immediately approved by Zhang Shuo and the Tang army started the war. They thought that this was the first confrontation, which was tentative, and neither side would send the main force to participate in the war. Tubo would not send the imperial guards, but ordinary troops would send them out. No one expected that Jide Zuzan would actually send the private army.

The Tubo's private army was just a piece of paper in front of the Tang army and was useless at all. The Tang army only needed a charge and they would collapse.

The first confrontation was a test, but it was also a morale battle. If this battle was fought well, morale would be very high. If it was defeated, morale would inevitably be greatly affected. Therefore, even if Jide Zuzan did not send the imperial guards to fight, he would send ordinary troops. He actually sent private troops. Do he not have morale anymore?

Guo Qianguan touched his forehead and said in confusion: "Mr. Zhang, look this is..."

Although Zhang Shuo was very talented, he did not understand Jide Zuzan's idea, and shook his head and said, "Master, Zhang Shuo was poor in wisdom, but he did not understand why. The first battle was a morale battle. He wanted us to be very motivated. The general did not have to refuse, just accept the gift from Jide Zuzan!"

"Yes! The order is: beat me hard!" Guo Qianguan had a serious look on his face and ordered the combat order.

The most private army is in the big discussion, with about 6,000 people. The number of private army of other slave masters is different, with the most thousands and the number of dozens of people. The number of private army is less than 50,000, which is almost the same.

The private army of less than 50,000 occupied the space of the 100,000 troops because their ranks were scattered and there was no formation at all. Jide Zuzan only ordered the escapees to die and the losers to die, and did not require their ranks to be neat. Even if they issued strict orders, it was useless. The formation required strict training and could not be achieved overnight.

The private army was sparse and dragged over, which took a long time. Fei Junxing frowned: "Damn! Is this also called the army? The beggars in the corner are better than them! If we had this distance, we would have been back and forth a few times."

"Master, you should put them closer, shoot them with a crossbow first, and then send cavalry to rush!" Geshuhan suggested.

Guo Qianguan nodded and said, "No, that's it!"

The Tang army adopted a standard fighting method this time, with the crossbow formation in the middle, the back of the crossbow formation was heavy infantry, and the two wings were cavalry. The range of the Fuyuan Crossbow was 300 steps, which was 450 meters. The private army had already entered the range, and the Fuyuan Crossbow did not show its power and allowed the private army to continue to advance.

After a short while, the private army entered the range of Bozhangnu, but the Tang army still did not take action. Bozhangnu's range was 230 steps, which is 345 meters.

If we encountered a regular army, the Tang army would have fired thousands of arrows at once. The Tang army's equipment was in the leading position in the world at that time, and the cooperation between the troops was also clever. Generally speaking, as long as the enemy dared to charge, as soon as it reached the range, they would first use the Fuyuan crossbow to shoot. When the enemy rushed in, the Biao Zhang crossbow would show its power. Then there would be the horn crossbow and the single crossbow.

The range of Fuyuan Crossbow is 300 steps, and the range of a single crossbow is the shortest, only 160 steps. From 300 steps to 160 steps, after the shooting of the Tang army's crossbow arrows, the enemy has suffered heavy casualties.

If the enemy continues to rush forward, when the range of the bow and arrow is entered, the Tang army will bend the bow and shoot arrows. After such waves of long-range strikes, how much combat power can the enemy have? You can tell if you don’t ask.

After this, the Tang army will fight hand in hand. Heavy infantry breaks through head-on and cavalry strikes both wings. How long can the enemy last under the stormy attack of the Tang army? The answer is very obvious.

In the Battle of Talas, the Tang army only invested more than 20,000 Han troops, and the other troops were all troops of vassal states. They actually suppressed more than 100,000 elite troops of the Arab Empire for five days, leaving the Arab army helpless. In the end, they had to buy the vassal states and let go of the Tang army's side, and the Tang army failed to attack Talas.

Like today, the enemy has entered the range and the Tang army has not taken action, which is unprecedented.

It was not until the private army entered the range of the single crossbow with the shortest range that Guo Qianguan waved his right hand heavily: "Shoot!"

The Tang army's Fuyuan crossbow, the broken crossbow, the horn crossbow, and the single crossbow were all powerful. The arrows were like rain, and the sound of breaking through the air was heard. The arrows were so dense that it was unimaginable that even if a fly wanted to escape from the arrow, it was unlikely that it would be possible for a fly to escape from the arrow.

The private army was incompletely equipped and without training, it was impossible to withstand the Tang army's rain of arrows. After only one round of arrows, the battlefield immediately turned red, and the blood of the private army dyed the ground red!

Some dead soldiers had shot into hedgehogs, with several arrows inserted into them. You can imagine how fierce the Tang army's arrows were.

In this round of attack, there were tens of thousands of casualties in private troops. This was the first round of the Tang army's largest casualties in history. In the past, even facing Tubo and the least attacking Turkic army, it was impossible to cause such high casualties. Guo Qianguan and others were shocked.

Among the private army, Dalun's army is the best equipped and trained. In order to build his private army, he specially invited some warriors who can conquer and fight to help him train.

This effect has been tested. Other private armies were defeated and fled with their parents, but their private army was not seriously injured or killed.

Looking at the soldier who was only concerned about running for life, Da Lu shouted: "Stop! Go back quickly, otherwise you will be buried alive!"

At this time, not to mention burying them alive, even if they cut off their heads immediately, they would be irresponsible and just run away.

The Tubo soldiers were determined to escape, but they were not as fast as the Tang army's arrows. Guo Qianyuan adopted Zhang Shuo's suggestion and killed them as much as possible and never gave them a chance to escape. The Tang army's arrow rain shot one after another, and the arrows fell down one after another. With just one breath, a thick layer of corpses appeared on the ground.

After the Tubo soldiers escaped from the Tang army's range, more than half of the casualties were killed, but none of the Tang army was injured or killed.

The casualties of more than 20,000 to zero are not only a miracle in the history of the Tang army, but also looking at the entire Chinese history and the entire world history, I am afraid that there will be no second one.

Doom was destined to accompany these soldiers. As soon as they escaped the Tang army's range, they all breathed a sigh of relief. However, before they could finish their breath, Jide Zuzan's face turned pale and drove over with ten thousand imperial guards. The bow and arrow in the imperial guards pointed at them and shouted: "Go back quickly! If you don't go back, you will shoot the arrow!"

"No! We will never go back even if we die!" The private army, which had just experienced the test of life and death, did not believe that the imperial guards would shoot arrows. They were their own people, and it was okay to scare people. How could they really take action?

However, they were surprised to find that Jide Zuzan's big hand waved and shouted: "Shoot the arrow!"

The imperial guards fired thousands of arrows at once, and the arrows were like rain. Many defeated soldiers were shot by arrows. The sound of ghosts and howlings sounded like wolves and they rushed in a mess.

This was not what scared them the most. What scared them the most was the imperial guards rushing over in an orderly battle formation and swung their scimitars. This time, they had to believe that this was a real kill, so Saya rushed towards the Tang army formation.

The imperial guards cut over a lot, and drove them to the Tang army's range like driving ducks, then stopped outside the archery, bent their bows and arrows, and prepared to shoot.

"Master, are you still shooting?" Cheng Xiaotian looked at this scene and had no idea.

He rolled on the battlefield all his life and never encountered such a thing, as if his own people were redundant, and Jidezuzam wanted them to die.

This question was exactly what the generals wanted to ask, all of which looked at Guo Qianguan. Guo Qianguan shook his head in distress: "This Jide Zuzan, what is the mystery of his trouble? Shoot! He deliberately asked them to die, and I will fulfill them!"

As soon as the order was passed, the Tang army's rain of arrows shot out again. This time, the defeated soldiers turned around and fled, but the arrows were like rain, and they actually came from the hands of the Imperial Army.

The defeated soldiers were attacked from both sides, and they didn't know where to escape. Escape was death, and rushing was also death. There was no way, and I didn't know which defeated soldier finally developed a sense of courage and shouted: "We must die like we die! Crash!"

The fear was extremely high, and the next step was that the courage would double. As soon as someone shouted like this, he immediately received a response from other soldiers. He shouted, waved his fists, and rushed towards the Tang army regardless of his life.

"This is still like this!" Chen Wanrong saw it and kept nodding. On the battlefield, even if he wants to die, he has to die like a hero, so that he will be a man!

This is exactly what the generals said about the defeated Tubo soldiers. However, no one of them thought that all this was caused by Chen Wanrong.

At the beginning, the private army was not like that, and the Tang army could not even raise the interest in killing them. Now, they were all as fierce as tigers, rushing towards them regardless of their lives. The Tang army's passion also came up, and they kept loading arrows, firing arrows, and arrows shot one by one, and countless people were caught.

By the time the defeated soldiers rushed to the range of the bow and arrow, there was almost no more left. After the Tang army's bow and arrow, Guo Qianguan sent cavalry to encircle from behind, and then faced the heavy infantry head-on. The cavalry's horizontal sword and the heavy infantry's strange sword kept chopping the sword, and the lower light flashed in the sunlight, and the Wei was a wonder. When the sword light no longer shines, the battlefield returned to peace, and nearly 50,000 private troops were wiped out. Less than 200 people escaped, among which the most were slave masters.

The private army had no training and good equipment. They went to the battlefield and were just to die! However, after escaping, they became particularly brave. In the end, if Jide Zuzan had not ordered them to withdraw from the battlefield, no one would have survived. Their courage would have been respected by the Tang army.

"Send them the message and ask them to collect the body!" After giving the order, Guo Qianguan waved his hand and said, "Get out!"

Today is the first battle. I thought I could show some passion, but I didn't expect that I could not raise any motivation. The generals shook their heads and followed Guo Qianguan back to the camp.

As soon as he returned to the camp, Guo Qianguan immediately summoned the generals, and the first thing he asked was: "You all tell me, what the hell did Jide Zuzan do? He actually sent these people to die!"

No one could answer this question, and everyone couldn't help but look at Zhang, who was very talented.

Zhang Shuo shook his head and said, "Everyone: I can't guess what Jide Zuzan meant. However, one thing is clear, that is, after today's battle, the dross of the Tubo army has been gone, and the next one is a tough battle, and we must make corresponding adjustments."

According to what Zhang said, this battle is easy to start and then difficult to fight the private army first, and they will attack the imperial guards. Now, the private army no longer exists, and the Tang army's fighting style should be adjusted.

The generals naturally agreed with this and made suggestions. However, the most common ones were the reason why Ji Dezuzan did this, and they racked their brains and did not guess it.
Chapter completed!