Chapter 125: Pulling the snake out of the hole

About 300 miles from Fuqi City to Dafeichuan. In order to protect the safety of the food route, the Tubo people built several castles on the way. Among them, Haixi Fort is the castle closest to Fuqi City. Starting two months ago, the Tubo people mobilized more than 2,000 young and strong Han slaves to build the castle. The construction of the castle was very difficult. First, we had to go to Dafeichuan, 200 miles away to quarrel, and then the stonemasons chiseled stones into squares and then built the city wall. The stonemasons did not have enough staff, so the Tubo people transferred more than 100 Han blacksmiths from the blacksmith camp to help.

There were more than 100 Tubo army that supervised the work of these Han slaves, led by a centurion. Their main supervision task was to prevent the Han people from escaping. Therefore, he focused on preventing the situation of the Han people on their way to quarry. He was not very strict with the Han slaves working normally, but used the most severe punishment method to force the slaves to work hard. The construction was completed within three months and all the delays were executed!

Haixi Castle is not big, with a total garrison of only three or four hundred people. It is only half a mile away from Qinghai. It is located on a small hillside with a beacon tower next to it. Standing at the top of the city, you can clearly see the boundless blue Qinghai.

That afternoon, two thousand slaves were busy building the city wall. Most of them were naked, and their skin was darkened by strong ultraviolet rays. Several Tuyuhun supervisors were swimming back and forth with whips in their hands, staring fiercely at each slave.

The Tuyuhun people, like the Qiang people, Turks, etc., belonged to the second-class people in Tubo. Their status was far higher than that of Han slaves. They could join the army to fight, own their own cattle and sheep, and even have Han slaves. During the gathering of the Tubo country's army, 30,000 people from Tuyuhun people, Qiang people, etc. participated in the war, mainly deployed on the eastern front line of Dafeichuan.

Among the three thousand garrisons in Fuqi City, one thousand were Tuyuhun people. They built the Haixi Fort. Most of the Tubo soldiers drank and had fun in the tent, while the on-site supervisors were handed over to ten Tuyuhun people.

A Tuyuhun supervisor suddenly saw several Han slaves gathering together. He immediately rushed up and raised his whip to slapped his head and said, "Bitch! Do you want to be lazy?"

"His feet twisted!"

A tall slave whip was angrily said, "Can't we just rub him?"

In order to improve the efficiency of working, Han slaves also implemented military organization. Two thousand people were divided into four Dawubais and five hundred people in a team, each with a prestigious slave. The tall slave was the leader of the first team. His name was Luo Han, a native of Fengxiang, Guanzhong, and was a captured Tang army captain.

A boy of sixteen or seventeen years old sat on the ground. His long-term hard work made him extremely weak. His face was pale and his face was covered with beads of sweat the size of beans. He fainted just now while carrying a stone.

The Tuyuhun supervisor suddenly saw him. He took a step back and narrowed his eyes and said, "You are sick!"

"No! I'm not sick."

The boy struggled to stand up and gasped, "I'm fine, I can work."

The Tuyuhun supervisor looked at the boy coldly, turned around and left.

Luo Han was anxious and quickly shouted to everyone, "Help him away quickly!"

The Tubo people did not raise useless people, and the elderly, weak, sick and disabled were executed. Several slaves helped the young man walk into the castle, but before they could walk away, more than a dozen Tubo soldiers rushed out of the tent after receiving reports. They held spears in their hands and shouted to chase the young man. Several slaves who helped him were so scared that they let go of the young man and fled. The young man was so scared that he trembled all over and knelt on the ground to beg for mercy, but the spear of the Tubo soldiers pierced his chest without any pity. The young man screamed and died immediately.

Tubo soldiers raised his body high and laughed wildly. The cruel killing caused a riot between the two thousand slaves present, and countless people began to get angry. Suddenly, someone picked up a stone and threw it at the Tubo soldiers. The Tubo soldiers were furious. One of them rushed towards the person who threw the stones. The crowd was in chaos.

Luo Han's face turned red and his fists were clattering. When the Tubo soldier passed by him, Luo Han suddenly roared, jumped from behind, overturning the Tubo soldiers to the ground. More than a dozen other Tubo soldiers were shocked and roared at Luo Han. The unbearable slaves finally got furious. They rushed up, smashed them with stones, punched them with fists, and bit them with teeth, instantly submerged more than a dozen Tubo soldiers.

Luo Han snatched the spear and inserted it into the chest of the Tubo soldiers beneath him. He yelled, "It's better to fight than torture them to death!"

"Fight! Let's go back to the Tang Dynasty from Dunhuang."

Two thousand Han slaves held wooden sticks and crowbars in their hands, rushed towards the Tubo military camp. Ten Tuyuhun supervisors knelt on the ground and begged for mercy. After a moment, dozens of Tubo soldiers in the tent rushed out. They were all furious and crawled towards the war horses. The slow-running slaves were chased by the slaves and beaten to death. Only a dozen fast-running soldiers turned over and fled without a life. When the slaves saw that the Tubo people were dead, they all cheered.

At this moment, the beacon tower on the top of the hillside lit, and thick smoke rushed straight into the sky. This was the two Tubo sentry sent a distress signal.

Luo Han was shocked, frowned, fled, and fled the Tubo soldiers and lit the beacon tower, which would inevitably lead to suppression by a large group of Tubo troops.

Suddenly, someone pointed at the distance and shouted: "Army!"

In an instant, everyone calmed down, and an army rushed towards this side, the sound of horse hooves hitting the ground like thunder, and the slaves slowly retreated, and everyone's eyes showed a look of horror.

‘Dang!’ The wooden stick and the pry stick fell to the ground, and the fear of death enveloped their heads.

The war horses were galloping, and several patrol soldiers rushed towards the Tang army camp with a quick horse. On one of them, a man with blood and blood was carried.

In the big tent, Li Qing'an was convening a military meeting with officers above the brigade commander. He said to He Yanming, who had just arrived back, "Tell me! The information you found."

He Yanming stood up and said to everyone: "I am ordered by the general to go to the Datong Valley. The Datong Valley is about a hundred miles wide and is easy to pass, but after walking for dozens of miles, the canyon has become narrower and narrower, and the narrowest part is only five miles wide. The Tubo people built a five-mile-wide high wall, blocking the canyon and building three castles. We dare not approach it. Judging from their dense camp tents, there are at least 30,000 troops. In other words, if we want to pass through the Datong Valley, we must transfer these 30,000 people."

The tent was silent, and everyone's hearts were heavy. He Yanming's meaning was very clear. They could not pass through the Datong Valley, and the Dafeichuan in the south was even more dreaming. If they could pass, what else would they need to fight Hehuang?

At this time, Li Qingan said helplessly to everyone: "It seems that we are on a dead end and we cannot reach Hehuang from here."

The following immediately whispered, and Li Fei Shouyu laughed loudly and said, "General, even if we return to Dunhuang, we must make some contributions before leaving. We can't come here in vain!"

Li Qing'an nodded, "I mean that, at least we have to burn the food in Fuqi City and annihilate thousands of Tubo troops. We have made considerable contributions."

Bai Yuanguang next to him also smiled and said, "Actually, let's hurry up and go from Liangzhou to Biandukou into Hehuang. You can walk a long way less. At the end of October, we should be able to reach Shanzhou."

The words of several generals had almost set the tone. After taking Fuqicheng, they turned around and returned to Dunhuang.

At this moment, a burst of rapid footsteps came from outside the camp, and a soldier said, "Report to the general, the scout found a Han slave on the road."

"Bring him in!"

After a moment, several scouts carried the man found on the road in. One scout reported: "We found that the beacon was lit, so we went to check it out. We happened to see the man fleeing on a horse. He said he was a Han slave from Haixi Castle."

Li Qingan walked up to take a look. The man was covered in blood and had been cut at least a dozen times, but he was strong and did not die.

Li Qing'an asked: "What's your name? What happened?"

The man opened his eyes slightly and said weakly: "Minister's name is Luo Han. He was originally the captain of the scout camp of the Longyou Army. He was captured in the fifth year of Tianbao. Today, the Han people in Haixibao riots and were suppressed by the Tubo army. It's so miserable."

“When did it happen?”

Li Qing'an asked twice, but the man had fainted. The scout added: "It should have happened two hours ago. Bei Zhi suddenly discovered that there was a beacon fire ignited on the Haixi Fort."

Two hours ago, an unexpected situation disrupted Li Qing'an's deployment. He expanded the map and looked carefully. About 200 miles from Haixi Fort to Dafeichuan, the beacon was lit, which meant that a large group of Tubo reinforcements would come and they had no time.

Haixi Fort is already a bloody slaughterhouse, with corpses everywhere, and the sticky blood flows into a pool of blood, bubbling and smelling.

Nearly a thousand headless corpses piled up into a hill. The Tubo people poured tinctures on them and prepared to burn them. The unfinished city was covered with slave heads. In a forest near Haixi Fort, a broken Han slave was tied to each tree. They died in extreme pain.

When the beacon tower was lit, a Tubo army in Fuqicheng was just a few miles away. This morning, a tribe chief came to report that thirteen families were missing and traces of Tang army roaming were found nearby.

The highest general of the Tubo army stationed in Fuqicheng attached great importance to it, so he personally led a thousand troops to capture the Tang army's escort. Unexpectedly, he happened to meet the Tubo soldiers who escaped from the Haixi Fort. When he learned that the Hannu was rioting, he was furious and rushed to the Haixi Fort to brutally suppress the Hannu's rebellion.

The highest commander of Fuqi City was Shang Xi Dezan, the younger brother of the Tubo prime minister Shang Xi Dongzan. He was appointed as the governor of Haixi. The entire west of Qinghai was under his jurisdiction. Shang Xi Dezan was irritable and cruel. In the fourth year of Tianbao, he once bloodily suppressed the escape of the Jiuqu Han slaves and tied more than 300 captured serfs to the wooden stakes and opened them to the belly. This was his big hobby, and rape and killing women was his other hobby.

This time the troops gathered, he did not get the position of the vanguard leader, but was assigned to Fuqi City to manage logistics and food, which made him extremely unhappy. He vented his anger on the Han female slaves who were accompanying him. The female slaves were raped and killed immediately if they were not in a slight way. In more than two months, there were no less than fifty female slaves who were tortured by him.

Today, the rebellion of the Hannu from Haixi Castle stimulated his bones' desire to kill. He roared: "All the Hannu rebellious will be killed on the spot and repay the merits with people!"

At this time, a commander of a thousand men whispered: "Governor, the Haixi Fortress is about to be completed. It's better to leave hundreds of people first and kill them after they are finished."

Shang Xidezan nodded slowly, "Okay! Leave five hundred strong spirits, behead the rest, send the heads to Jiuqu, so that other Han slaves can know the consequences of the rebellion."

He suppressed the riot and left behind a hundred soldiers to supervise the worker. He led more than a thousand Tubo troops and returned to Fuqi City with satisfaction.

There are only thirty miles from Haixi Fort to Fuqi City, but the road is not smooth. There are mountains and forests along the way, and war horses cannot walk quickly. Especially fifteen miles north of Haixi Fort, you have to cross the Fuqi River. A simple bridge is built on the river. The bridge is not strong, and a large group of people cannot ride horses across the bridge, but can only lead horses to walk.

It was already dark, and the narrow and small wooden bridge was dark, and the river water was churning below, which was particularly terrifying. Fifty steps from the bridgehead were a large forest, stretching to the beach.

Shang Xi Dezan led a large group of Tubo troops to speed up. He was anxious. He had just received information and found a Tang army patrol with more than 100 people on the north bank of the Fuqi River, fleeing westward.

Shang Xidezan was so anxious that he looked at Jin Xing. In his opinion, killing a hundred slaves was not as satisfying as killing a Tang army. There were actually a hundred Tang army entering his territory. How could he let them go?

The Tubo army rushed to the wooden bridge and lined up one after another. The wooden bridge was covered with more than a dozen iron ropes, which were only five feet wide and had to go one by one. No matter how anxious it was, it was useless. Shang Xi Dezan yelled and shouted, urging Tubo soldiers to cross the bridge. He could not tolerate it if he had to take a little slower. He stood by the bridge, whipping and beating.

"Come across the bridge!"

"Damn it, why didn't you get off the horse just now and get out of the horse and line up."

Shang Xi Dezan could no longer wait and stepped onto the bridge first. Dozens of Tubo soldiers were like parts on the assembly line, and they kept leading their horses on the bridge. After walking for more than fifty feet, they finally reached the other side. The bridge began to shake violently and could not walk for the time being.

More than 900 people were waiting on the other side, but only Shang Xi Dezan led thirty people across the bridge.

"You guys get on the bridge quickly!" Shang Xidezan stood at the bridge, waving his arms, and shouted loudly.

At this moment, an arrow shot like lightning from the forest beside him. Shang Xidezan heard the sound of breaking through the air, and instinctively turned around. An arrow suddenly penetrated into his face, and the arrow came out from the back of his head.

Shang Xidezan let out a shocking scream, and fell into the rolling Fuqi River with his men and horses. In the forest fifty steps away, Li Qingan closed his bow and smiled coldly.

A rocket rose from behind him, and it was particularly bright in the night sky. Arrows suddenly ran like rain and screamed endlessly. Thirty Tubo soldiers who crossed the bridge ran around, but none of them could escape the fate of death. They were all shot and killed by the bridge. Several people fled to the bridge in panic and randomly. The iron chain bridge shook violently. They stood unsteadily and fell into the river with their men and horses.

The other side was also in chaos. In the night, rain of arrows shot out from the forests on both sides and shot densely towards the enemy group. The Anxi archers and cavalrymen fully utilized their advantages at this moment. They rushed around, their bows were like thunder, and there were poisons on the arrows. As long as one arrow was shot, the Tubo soldiers would fall to the ground in a short while. Hundreds of Tubo people were shot to the ground. In particular, the Tubo army's war horses died in large numbers. The rest of the war horses broke free from their master's reins in fear and fled in all directions.

After the initial panic, a commander of the thousands of men commanded the Tubo army to stabilize the situation. The remaining more than 500 people quickly raised their shields and gathered together, preparing to retreat. Behind them was the rolling river water, and they could only cross the bridge.

When more than a hundred people on the bridge were halfway through, a raging fire suddenly ignited at the bridge head at the other end. The red flames swept across the wooden boards on the iron chain bridge, and the pungent smell of tinder oil was filled in the air. The fire burned very quickly and quickly approached the bridge. The Tubo army on the bridge was in chaos, and people kept screaming and falling into the river, and were instantly swallowed by the rolling river water.

In the south of the bridge, Li Fei Yuanli broke into the enemy group like a mad tiger. He waved the big sword of the bird beak and slashed up and down, and instantly killed dozens of people. Behind him, five hundred Tang soldiers waved their horse spears and came to kill them. Two armies collided in the narrow open space at the bridge and began a bloody battle.

Most of the Tubo army lost their war horses and could only fight in the infantry. Although they were at a disadvantage, they were still extremely strong and fought with the Tang army in groups. The two armies killed the people and blood flowed like a river.

It was the first time that Nan Jiyun participated in this bloody hand-to-hand battle. His body was covered with the flesh and blood of the Tubo people. The pungent smell made him feel vomited. But when he thought of the bloody massacre of Haixi Fort, the fire of hatred burned in his heart. The iron spear in his hand danced like snowflakes and killed countless people. Gradually, he led a hundred Jiangdu soldiers to open a bloody road. At this time, he had seen the commander of the thousands standing on the bridge to command the Tubo army to fight.

He hung up the long robbery, and then took a bow and saw an arrow. The Tubo commander in the distance fell down. The Tubo army lost command and could no longer withstand the impact of the Tang army. The fighting spirit collapsed. They fled in all directions, shouting and fleeing their own lives.

The Tang army intercepted the deserters everywhere and killed the deserters without any mercy. Half an hour later, the thousand Tubo troops led by Shang Xidezan were annihilated by the Tang army on both sides of the Fuqi River. Some people may have escaped into the forest by chance, but none of them fled back to Fuqi City.

In this battle, dozens of people were killed or injured in the Tang army, including eight of them. They turned around and confiscated the Haixi Fortress. Hundreds of rescued Han slaves replaced the Tubo clamps, picked up swords and guns, and followed the Tang army brigade to Fuqi City with hatred.

Several slaves were taken to Li Qing'an's horse. They looked at each other and knelt down and cried, "Thank you General Li for your life-saving grace."

"Get up quickly!" Li Qingan sighed slightly, "It's me that I'm late."

"If the general doesn't come, we will fight too. After building the castle, they will kill us. We can only escape, flee westward and to Dunhuang. If we are lucky on the road, we may still encounter scattered Tubo logistics and seize their horses and food."

"Then the Tubo army is chasing you? How can you deal with it without armed?"

Another slave sighed and said, "If you can escape your life, it would be a lucky person. You will die. It would be better to fight for it than to be killed by the Tubo people in the end."

Li Qing'an nodded and said, "We came very secretly this time and have not been discovered by the Tubo people so far. I am going to attack Fuqi City immediately. I am short of manpower and hope to get your coordinated combat and we will return to Dunhuang together."

"Our lives are saved by the general, and we must also take revenge for our dead brothers!"

At this time, a slave suddenly remembered something and hurriedly said, "General, if you can capture Fuqicheng, I have a way to return to Hehuang directly."

It was only more than twenty miles from Fuqi River to Fuqi City, but the road was difficult. It was not until two o'clock that they saw Fuqi City from afar. Fuqi City was the second capital of the Tuyuhun people. Although it was not as good as the heroic city in the mainland of the Tang Dynasty, it was also made of big stones and was extremely strong. The city wall was about four meters high and there was no moat. The city gate was made of fine iron and needed to use ten thousand kilograms of attacking rifles to be knocked open. The governor Shang Jiedezan led a thousand troops to suppress the Han people's riots in Haixi Fort. The garrison in the city was very vigilant. The Tuyuhun sentries patrolled back and forth on the city wall, and did not dare to slack off at all.

At this time, a team of torches came winding, a team of Tubo cavalry, about 300 people. They slowly came to the city gate with torches in their hands. At this time, the leading officer whispered: "We are patrols from the Datong Valley. A beacon fire here, what happened?"
To be continued...