Chapter 128: A close fight

That night, three boats went out to sea with the west wind. Li Qing'an left the Lifei brothers to guard the island. He and Bai Yuanguang led 200 soldiers to Xihai County.

At noon the next day, the big ship gradually approached the northeast shore of Qinghai. This area was the location of Xihai County in the Han Dynasty. The northwest was the remnant of Datong Mountain and the southeast was the beginning of Chiling. The two mountains merged in the shape of eight. There is a plateau grassland about a hundred miles wide in the middle. Huangshui flowed through it. The geographical location was very important.

Three large ships drove into a small tributary, leaving more than a dozen Tang army guarding ships, and the rest of the Tang army led their horses to the ashore.

This area is plateau meadow terrain, with snow-capped Datong Mountains in the distance. Large areas of forests extend down from the low foothills, and between the forests are thick meadows. Streams flow down from the mountains and form rivers, and finally form Huangshui, which is the birthplace of Huangshui.

Li Qing'an looked around and saw the autumn was strong and there was a golden color everywhere. This area was rarely visited, and the forests and meadows were basically in primitive state.

"Everyone rests on the spot, waiting for news about the scouts."

As soon as he gave the order, he heard the sound of horse hooves running towards this side. The sound of horse hooves seemed extremely nervous. Li Qing'an immediately ordered: "Wait a moment! Don't slack off."

Everyone looked at the sound of horse hooves, and saw two scouts they sent whip and whip the war horses with great anxiety. Li Qing'an took off the bow. Their scout had just been sent out, indicating that something had happened nearby.

"General!"

The scout shouted loudly from afar: "There is a Tubo army."

The Tang army was shocked and drew their bows and swords, as if they were facing a great enemy.

"Don't hurry!"

Li Qing'an roared, and he turned around and instructed He Yanming: "Go and notify the ship quickly and don't go far, and you can pick it up at any time."

He Yanming turned around and ran towards the mouth of the river. Li Qing'an urged the horse to come forward and asked the scout sternly, "How many Tubo troops are there?"

Before the scout could speak, the sound of horse hooves in the distance suddenly rang out, and a cavalry team was rushing towards this side.

"General, this is a Tang army patrol, about 300 Tubo people are chasing them from behind."

Li Qing'an reacted very quickly. He pointed at the woods dozens of steps away and ordered: "Everyone enters the woods and is ready to ambush the enemy."

The Tang army rushed into the woods in an instant. Li Qing'an waved to the Tang army running from afar, signaling them to continue running forward. This was a 20-man Tang army roaming with a whistle. He was headed by a higher-level general. In his thirties, he saw a Tang army hiding in the woods with an arrow. He immediately understood their intention and turned around and shouted, "Get quicker, don't stop."

Twenty cavalrymen rushed past the Tang army's ambush like lightning. Then the rushing sound of horse hooves came from behind. A group of black Tubo cavalry chased after them, gradually approaching. They could already hear their screams and their ferocious faces. They were wearing iron helmets and gray chain mail.

Li Qing'an pulled out an armor-piercing poisonous arrow. The slender and sharp arrow flashed with a faint green light in a ray of sunlight. This was a new arrow transformed according to Zhang Pingbo's suggestion. I don't know how effective it was. I could use it to test it today. Li Qing'an's eyes were full of expectations. He placed the arrow on the black bow, narrowed his left eye slightly, and the black bow gradually pulled into a full moon. The thin and pointed arrow aimed at the Tubo officer in the lead.

On both sides of him, all the Tang army set their bows and arrows, and each aimed at their targets. The forest was about fifty steps away from the place where the Tubo army must pass. The Tubo cavalry were getting closer and closer. They were all dark and their eyes were so excited that they shone, like a group of black wild wolves.

‘One hundred steps, eighty steps, sixty steps’

When the Tubo army had just entered the range of 60 steps, Li Qing'an's strings loosened, and an armor-piercing arrow rushed towards the head of the Tubo Qianmai, who was headed like lightning. The arrow flashed in the air and shot into the head of the Qianmai. The force of the arrow was so strong that it shot from the middle of the eyebrows, and the back of the head penetrated the helmet. The commander of the thousand-wife fell down from his horse. Li Qing'an suddenly realized that he should have shot his chain mail. He shook his head and drew another arrow.

Li Qing'an's arrow was ordered, and the arrows suddenly burst into rain in the woods. In the first round, two hundred arrows roared at the Tubo army. Before they could run ten steps, the second round of arrows shot again. Within just fifteen steps, the Tang army had already shot three rounds of arrows.

Screams came one after another, and war horses were neighing. The Tubo army fell from the horses one after another. In an instant, half of the horses were lost. Many war horses were also caught in arrows and fell down. The first few horses desperately tilted their hooves and refused to run, blocking the way, and the Tubo cavalry was in chaos.

The Tang army rushed out of the woods. Their arrows were as accurate and vicious as rain, without any stagnation. Round after round of arrows like flowing water chased towards the Tubo soldiers, screaming endlessly. In the end, only a dozen people were left in the Tubo cavalry team of 300 people were still on the horse. They were so scared that they ran away and fled in all directions.

"stop!"

Li Qingan waved his hand and the Tang army stopped chasing him immediately. At this time, the Tang army's expressions were extremely anxious, but Li Qingan did not speak, and no one of them dared to move.

Li Qing'an took an arrow and nailed a Tubo army who was still crawling on the ground to death with one arrow, and said with a smile: "It's OK!"

The Tang army rushed to jump off their horses, pulled out their swords, chopped off the heads of the Tubo army on the ground, and stuffed them into the bag of rewards in blood. In a moment, all three hundred Tubo soldiers became headless corpses.

"General, look at this chain mail."

A soldier handed a pair of chain mail to Li Qing'an. Li Qing'an spread it out. Sure enough, a thin net lined the inside of the chain mail. The mesh hole was very dense. The improved armor-transparent arrow could be inserted just in, but the arrow shaft could not enter.

Li Qingan took an arrow and tried it. Fortunately, the bow and arrow with more than two stones could be pierced. He immediately ordered: "Take off all the chain mail for me."

At this time, twenty Tang army patrols turned around and returned. The general who led bowed to Li Qing'an and thanked him: "It is rare to be a military envoy in the Shenwei Army. Thank you for your rescue. May I ask the name of the benefactor?"

Li Qing'an replied with a smile: "I am Li Qing'an, Anxi. I have long admired General Wang's courage and strength."

"You are Li Qing'an?"

Wang Nan was stunned. He didn't understand why Anxi Li Qing'an appeared here. After a while, he stuttered: "Could General Li come from the Datong Valley?"

"No! I came across Qinghai by boat."

"Sea Road!"

It is rare that Wang couldn't believe that his ears could still pass by the sea?

"General Li, Brother Shu Dashu is nearby. Please follow me."

"Okay! I'll go now."

Li Qingan turned around and waved to his subordinates: "Everyone is following and we're leaving."

The Tang army boarded the horses one after another and followed Li Qing'an to the east.

Li Qing'an and Wang rarely walked side by side. He asked with a smile: "Isn't Geshu Dashu in Shanzhou? How could he be nearby?"

The king smiled and said, "General Li may not know that two months ago, the Tang army built Shenwei City under Chiling and stationed 3,000 troops. The general appointed me as the envoy of Shenwei Army."

"What did the Tubo people react?"

"Of course they were unhappy in building a city under their noses, but there was no large-scale attack, only sporadic harassment, mostly three or four hundred people. The Tubo army that General Li ambushed just now was one of them."

The two of them accelerated their speed. After about an hour of running, they approached the steep Chiling. Chiling is today's Sun and Moon Mountain, towering and stretching for hundreds of miles. It is like a huge barrier lying across the ancient Tang and Tibet Road. The Tubo army came from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and was high in Chiling. It was easy to defend but difficult to attack. When it advances, it swept across Helong, and when it retreats, it guarded the mountains. As a result, for decades, in the competition for Hehuang, Tubo has always held the initiative in the attack, and the Tang army was passively beaten.

Chiling also uses Shibao City as the only way to cross the ridge, so the strategic status of Shibao City affects the overall situation of the entire Tang and Tibet War. In the 29th year of Tianbao, Gai Jiayun, the governor of Longyou in Hexi, was careless and lost Shibao City, which caused Li Longji to be furious and dismissed him from office, and since then he disappeared on the political stage of the Tang Dynasty.

This Hehuang Battle was actually a battle for Chiling. Geshuhan knew that Tubo had deployed troops to Dafeichuan and Chiling with his vast army, and it was difficult to capture Shibao City. So he took the side and went deep into Haixi County to build a city, so he went from the beginning of Chiling to find an opportunity to break the enemy.

Li Qing'an and his party turned a valley, and a castle suddenly appeared in the distance. The castle was built on a mountain ridge, facing the majestic Chiling. It was more than ten miles away from the castle. Suddenly, yellow dust rolled in the distance, and a group of troops rushed over.

"It's the Grand Marshal here!"

Wang Yan saw the handsome flag from a distance, shouted excitedly, and urged the horse to meet him.

The brigade of Tang troops roared in a blink of an eye and stopped moving forward dozens of steps away. Geshuhan rushed out of the army and shouted, "General Wang, I am about to help you!"

"The Grand Marshal, the last general was chased by the Tubo army. Thanks to General Li of Anxi, he was spared."

Geshuhan had seen Li Qing'an for a long time and was secretly surprised in his heart. How could he be here? Could it be that he came from Datong Valley? It is impossible. The Datong Valley is well-defended and the Tubo people built a city to intercept it. How could he get by?

Ge Shuhan was secretly surprised and he smiled and said, "General Li, are you okay?"

Li Qing'an urged him to come forward and clasp his fists and said, "Mr. Ge Shu, the general will be brought to assist in the battle with the help of the high-ranking soldiers. He failed to come early. Please forgive me."

"Where! General Li came at the right time."

Geshuhan looked at Li Qing'an's troops and horses, and there were only two hundred people. He could no longer control the doubts in his heart and asked, "Did General Li come from Haixi?"

"That is, Bei Zhi succeeded in the night attack on Fuqi City in Haixi, burned 300,000 stones of food in Tubo, annihilated 3,000 enemy troops, captured Tubo ships and came across the sea. At present, the large group of people were temporarily stationed on Longju Island, and Bei Zhi came to report to the general."

"I see!."

Ge Shuhan slapped his thigh hard and said excitedly: "The scout who went to investigate Datong Valley reported that the fire in Fuqi City soared into the sky. I was just saying that God had eyes. It turned out that General Li did it. It was beautiful! Burning 300,000 stones of food will affect the situation of the war!"

Geshuhan was so excited that he was a little incoherent. A few days ago, the emperor sent an envoy to inquire about the progress of the battle. Although he did not expressly say that he was dissatisfied with him, Geshuhan could hear that the rice prices in Chang'an soared and the emperor was under great pressure. He must have been dissatisfied with him. He was worried that he had no explanation, so he rushed to Shenwei Castle yesterday to try to create some results, but Tubo did not take the battle, which made him helpless. Now Li Qing'an told him to burn the Tubo army rations in Fushicheng and annihilate 3,000 people. This is a major record, so why didn't he be ecstatic?

He quickly grabbed Li Qing'an's arm and said affectionately: "Come! Come! Come! General Li quickly followed me into the city to talk."

Shenwei City is made of huge stones, very strong and wide, and can accommodate thousands of people. Starting today in March, Geshuhan sent an army to build a city here. Currently, three thousand soldiers are stationed in the city, with the general Wang Yandeng and the humble general Yang Jinghui as the chief and deputy soldiers and horse envoys respectively.

In a stone chamber in the city, Li Qing'an hung up several pictures and reported the battle situation in Haixi to Geshuhan. "Bizhi shot Shang Xi Dezan and pretended to be his army to trick him into hiding the city. That night, most of the Tubo army was not awakened in their dreams and was successfully attacked by Beizhi. One thousand Tubo army and one thousand Tuyuhun army in the city were all killed and set fire to burn the Tubo army's rations. Beizhi sent the captain Nan Jiyun to lead 200 people to attack the Tubo army's grain transport wharf, seized 30 grain ships, and were able to withdraw from Haixi."

Li Qing'an hung up the map of the sea again. He pointed to Longju Island and said, "Master, this island is two miles wide and about six or seven miles long. The terrain on the island is flat and can be garrisoned. Moreover, it is located in the heart of the sea. It can be inserted into the hinterland of Dafeichuan and cut off the food routes of the Tubo people. Daju Island, Beizhi suggested that garrison troops on Longju Island, which can become a sharp knife inserted on the back of the Tubo people."

Ge Shuhan looked carefully at the map, then pondered for a long time and said, "General Li, have you considered the dangers of Qinghai when it freezes?"

"Frozen?" Li Qingan was a little stunned. He had never considered this question. It was already mid-September. By November and December, it was feasible for the lake to freeze. Can't the Tubo army go straight in? He suddenly found that there was a major loophole in his thinking, and he pondered for a moment.

Geshuhan smiled and said, "But it's good that it's freezing, so I can transport supplies to the island and build a city on Longju Island."

He walked to the map, pointed to Longju Island and asked, "How many troops are there on the island now?"

"Reporting to the general, Beizhi brought one thousand people and rescued five hundred strong slaves in Haixi Fortress. However, in the battle of Fuqi City, nearly three hundred people were killed or injured. Now there are about one thousand two hundred wounded soldiers on the island."

"So, you still have 1,400 people in your hands, so let's do it! I will give you another 1,600 archers and cavalrymen, gather 3,000 people, and give you all the various food and military resources required to build a city. You will build Yinglong City on Longju Island. I will appoint you as the envoy of the Yinglong Army. When the ice and snow melt next spring, you will control the water surface of Qinghai and harass the rear of the Tubo Army."

Li Qing'an nodded, and he half-kneeled and saluted, "I will definitely live up to the great trust of the general."

Geshuhan quickly helped him up, patted his shoulder and smiled, "This time in the battle of Fuqicheng, I will definitely ask the court for you, so you can go back to Longju Island with peace of mind. Soon, the soldiers and food will arrive, and you send a boat here."

"Master, I have another important thing to report."

Li Qing'an took out a Tubo army chain mail and spread it on the table and said, "I don't know if the general has noticed that the Tubo chain mail has been transformed and a thin net is lined inside."

Ge Shuhan looked at the chain mail carefully and his face became extremely solemn.

Li Qingan did not go to Shanzhou, but met Geshuhan in Shenwei City and received his support. Li Qingan immediately returned to Longju Island.

From Longju Island to Xihai County, it was smooth sailing and arrived at the shore overnight, but it was not so smooth to go back. Because it was against the wind, the boat was walking extremely slowly. It took a full day and night to walk halfway through the journey. When it was just dawn, Li Qing'an was woken up by a shouting sound.

"What's wrong?"

He walked out of the cabin and a cold wind blew towards him. The water was covered with mist, and it was white. It was so small that the sea surface could not be seen clearly dozens of feet away.

"General, I found an island ahead. Everyone thought it was to Longju Island, but it turned out that it was not."

"There is actually a small island!"

Li Qingan walked to the bow of the boat with great interest and carefully looked southwest. He saw a dark shadow faintly. As the boat got closer, he saw clearly that it was indeed a small island, or to be precise, just a huge granite rock standing in the sea, with an area of ​​about two acres of land.
To be continued...