Chapter 137 Jueling Eagle Slaughter (I)

The battle of Shibao City encountered great resistance. It was originally planned to complete the task at noon, but until dusk, the Tang army was still unable to attack Shibao City. The Tang army was full of dead bodies under the cliff of Shibao City, and more than 5,000 soldiers died in a foreign land.

The drums of the attack sounded again, and more than 3,000 Tang troops shouted and launched an attack on Shibao City. The ice road had been melted by the flesh and blood of the Tang army, and the attack was relatively smooth, but the defense of the Tubo people was even more crazy. There were no bows and arrows, and there were no catapults. They blocked the only path up the mountain with huge rocks and rolling wood, causing groups of Tang troops to fall down the cliff while wailing.

But the Tang army also found a glimmer of hope in despair. In this attack, three hundred burly Tang soldiers attacked the vanguard. They made huge umbrellas with a wide range of faces and supported them with three feet long wooden frames. Five layers of raw cowhide were covered with grease and were triangular diamonds. Dozens of Tang soldiers hid under an umbrella. In this way, no matter whether the huge rocks of the Tubo army fell from the front or above the head, the tilted smooth cowhide would be removed from the force and rolled down the cliff.

This was the solution that the Tang army came up with after being severely damaged again and again, greatly reducing the casualties of the Tang army. It had already rushed to the stone crevices 120 steps away from Shibao City. The range of crossbow arrows was entered. The Tang army fired thousands of arrows at the same time, and dense crossbow arrows shot from the umbrella hole towards the top of the city. The Tubo army finally suffered casualties, and screams began to be heard from the Shibao City.

But the Tang army could not rush up one step, and the stones could not be removed from the cracks of the rocks. A large number of stones were piled up in the alleyway. The huge rocks of the Tubo army were still hit from the top of the mountain. The ground was hit on the cowhide rack, making a huge sound. The temporary umbrella could not withstand the huge impact. More than thirty umbrella racks were smashed, and nearly a thousand Tang soldiers lost the barrier and were smashed by the rolling stones that came immediately. The flesh and blood were blurred and screamed endlessly. The Tang army suffered heavy casualties again, and the giant umbrella began to slowly retreat down the mountain.

In any case, the Tang army finally found a stupid way to deal with the Tubo army in Shibao City. The only disadvantage is that it is slow progress and requires attacks again and again. Using crossbow arrows to slowly consume the vitality of the Tubo army in Shibao City.

At this time, Li Qing'an led his army to intercept Tubo reinforcements in the back mountain, which became the key to the success or failure of the entire battle.

The Tubo army began its third crazy attack on the back mountain of Chiling. As the beacon for help in Shibao City was once again ignited, Tubo Zanpu Chizu Dezan realized the seriousness of the situation. This time, he invested 20,000 troops and tried to capture the second line of defense of the Tang army in one fell swoop.

The first line of defense has been occupied by the Tubo army and has become the base for their attack on the second line of defense. The straight-line distance between the two lines of defense is 700 steps, but the mountain walls are steep and most of the stone walls cannot be climbed. There are only three gullies about ten feet wide each, distributed on three-mile rock surfaces. The mountain road is difficult, which has caused the second attack of the Tubo army to fail miserably. Now is the third attack and the attack they have invested the most troops.

At this moment, the Tang army had more than 500 casualties, and the remaining 2,400 people were divided into three teams, each guarding a ravine. Each Tang army knew in his heart that if the second line of defense was lost, then they would have no danger to defend the third line of defense, which was when their entire army was wiped out.

The defense of the second line of defense became their life-and-death battle.

The Tubo army all over the mountains began to attack wildly, and the sound of shocking drums sounded densely. Five hundred Zanpu guards held swords to supervise the battle. Those who retreated immediately killed them. More than one hundred beheaded heads were hung on several bare trees. This was a warning to all Tubo army.

However, the mountain road was narrow, and no matter how much troops the Tubo army invested, they could only attack in one round. In the three ravines covered with thorns and bushes, more than 4,000 black Tubo army each moved giant shields two feet high and one feet wide, slowly advancing upwards. The giant shields were lined up together to form a shield wall. The Tubo army behind them held up a round shield to effectively block the attack of the Tang army's arrow rain.

The tincture oil is gone, and the sharpest weapon left is the gunpowder brought by the Tang army. Ten small catapults have been installed and condescendingly can shoot ten-pound gunpowder packs more than 400 steps away.

It was finally the turn of gunpowder to come on the stage. This was a weapon that Li Qingan was unwilling to use before he had no choice. The number was limited. They brought a total of 300 gunpowder packs, and used more than 130 packs of gunpowder when attacking Wolf Teeth Corner. In addition to the broken and special uses, they only had 150 packs of gunpowder left in their hands. Facing thousands of Tubo troops and facing the endless battle of Shibao City, can these 150 packs of gunpowder bring them hope for life?

The giant shield of the Tubo army had already invalidated their bows and arrows. Li Qing'an looked at the sky. The sky was still gloomy and almost dusk, but the clouds in the north turned black, which indicates that a blizzard was about to arrive.

Maybe there will be a chance to breathe tonight!

"Prepare to throw gunpowder!" Li Qingan finally issued an order.

The catapult squeaked open, and the soldiers placed a ten-pound gunpowder bag in their pockets. A soldier carefully untied the tied lead plate, tearing off the tarp cloth outside, and "Swish!" The fire broker ignited the lead, and a stream of black smoke rose up. The ignited soldier quickly dodged, with red signs on the lead, five hundred steps, four hundred steps, and three hundred steps. At this time, the black Tubo soldiers had attacked more than three hundred steps away. The huge shield followed more than 4,000 enemy troops, stretching hundreds of steps. From a distance, it seemed like a black carpet was laid on the cliff.

When the black smoke from the lead wire was ignited to a four hundred steps, with a "boom!", the ten catapults fired almost at the same time. The gunpowder bags were thrown high, drawing an elliptical arc and smashing towards the dense Tubo army. All the Tang army held their breath and looked nervously at the ten gunpowder bags that were burning black smoke in the air. At the same time, the Tubo army also discovered a strange phenomenon. Everyone looked up at the gunpowder bags and smashed them towards them. Almost instinctively covered their heads with their hands and dodged to both sides. Only Lunzang was shocked and shouted wildly: "Let's go down! Leave down!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the gunpowder pack exploded violently among the Tubo crowd. Each huge wave of air lifted up dozens of soldiers, with broken limbs flying across the mountain. The iron beads mixed with venom in the gunpowder pack scattered, forming a killing circle of dozens of steps. Suddenly screams and wails resounded through the mountains.

The gunpowder packs wave after wave, red flames burst out, black smoke rose, and exploded in the dense crowd. The Tubo army suffered heavy casualties. When the six rounds of gunpowder were launched, the Tang army stopped projecting.

The black smoke gradually dissipated, the huge shield no longer existed, the mountain road was in a mess, blood was flowing all over the ground, scattered human organs and twisted chain mail everywhere, and every dead Tubo soldier was filled with horror. A large number of Tubo troops shot by shrapnel fell to the ground, moaning in extreme pain.

Thousands of Tubo troops behind woke up like dreams. The extreme horror made them turn around and run for life desperately, shouting and roaring, "Sky Thunder! Sky Thunder erupted!"

The scene was crowded and chaotic, and the Tubo army trampled on each other. Hundreds of Zanpu guards supervised the battle in the back were desperately pushing each other, but the Tubo army had lost control and killing was useless.

The violent explosion caused Tubo Zanpu Chizudezan to stand up suddenly. He looked at the red flames on the mountain incredibly, and a hint of fear flashed in his eyes. Is this the thunder thunder of the Tang army? Oh my God! What exactly is it? Chizudezan felt timid in his heart.

The hundreds of Tubo generals surrounded him were also stunned. After a long time, Dazalugong sighed in his heart and stepped forward and said, "Zanpu, the soldiers are frightened, so it is better to suspend the attack."

Chi Zu Dezan nodded, "Okay! Mingjin withdraws his troops."

The bell of the withdrawal of troops rang, and the Tubo soldiers retreated like a tide. More than a thousand people guarded the first line of defense, and the rest of the soldiers retreated down the mountain. The battlefield suddenly became silent like death. Hundreds of Tang soldiers jumped down with sharp blades. They mercilessly killed all the injured Tubo soldiers and collected arrows.

In the big tent, Chi Zu Dezan paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, very upset. He witnessed the power of the Tang army's thunder with his own eyes, and his heart was full of worries. This was still a small army of Tang army. If the Longyou army used this weapon, wouldn't they sweep the Tubo?

Chi Zu Dezan suddenly punched the table hard, no! In any case, they also want to get this kind of thunder.

At this moment, Dazalukong's voice came from the door, "I want to see Zamp immediately, I have important information."

Dazhalugong's urgent voice made Chizudezan stunned. What happened? He immediately said: "Let him in!"

Dazhalugong hurried in. He carefully held a large yellow paper bag in his hand and said excitedly: "Zanpu, we have obtained the Thunder of the Tang Army."

Chi Zudezan was overjoyed. He took two steps in a row, took the heavy paper bag, and asked anxiously: "How did you get it?"

"A thunder thunder was not exploded and was picked up by a soldier in chaos and he was taken down the mountain."

"Okay! I'll send the order to grant this soldier the commander of a thousand men, rewarding 10,000 sheep and 300 slaves."

Chi Zudezan was ecstatic. As long as they got a thunder thunder, they could make it the same. At that time, they would not be afraid of the Tang army.

He put the paper bag on the table and looked carefully. The paper bag was tied tightly with several ropes. The outer layer was parchment paper. They also had it. A black hole was boiled in the upper right corner of the paper bag, and some black powder was sprinkled out from it.

Dazhalugong was about to untie the rope, but Chizu Dezan stopped him and shook his head and said, "Don't untie it! Leave it to the craftsman intact."

At this time, a little black powder flowed out from the black hole on the gunpowder bag. Chizu Dezan carefully put them into the palm of his hand, put them on his nose and smelled it, and smiled and said, "I smell the scent of sulfur."

"Zamp, sulfur is flammable,."

"Well! The sulfur helps burn, no wonder it is so fierce."

Chi Zudezan thought about it and said, "I will take this powder back for those Han craftsmen to identify it. No matter who it is, as long as he creates this kind of thunder for me, he will be the hero of my Tubo."

Chizudezan felt better. He glanced at Dazhalugong. Dazhalugong offered thunder and made his dissatisfaction fade a lot. He smiled and asked, "General Dazhalugong, what do you think we should fight next?"

Dazhalugong immediately bowed and said, "I think there are not many thunders in the Tang army, otherwise they would not delay it until now. Since we must face it, don't be afraid of death. Give full play to our advantage of being large in number, put a big push forward, and destroy the Tang army in one fell swoop."

"But we have suffered more than 10,000 casualties."

"Zamp, how can people not die in war? Even if more than half of the casualties are killed, they will have to fight. And they cannot give them a chance to breathe. After all, they only have 3,000 people, and now there are less than 3,000 people. They cannot be allowed to arrange things calmly."

At this moment, a loud explosion came faintly on the mountain, and Dazalu said anxiously: "Zanpu, this must be because they used Thunder to blew the mountain to get the stone. Zanpu, order it! Night battle is beneficial to us."

This time, Chizu Dezan finally adopted Dazhalugong's suggestion, and he nodded, "Okay! I'll order the army to prepare to attack Chiling at night."

As Dazhalugong guessed, the Tang army was indeed using gunpowder to bomb the mountains and get stones. After a day of fierce battle, they had few arrows in their hands. This time, Geshuhan gave them 300,000 arrows. They fought for a day. Half of the arrows had been used. In order to save arrows to the maximum extent, in addition to sending people to recover some arrows on the hillside, Li Qingan ordered the use of gunpowder to bomb the mountains and get stones.

In the night, the Tang soldiers were rushing to rest. They were tilted around. Although they were extremely tired, the cold at night made it difficult for many people to fall asleep.

More than a dozen soldiers from Jiangdu Camp were huddled together to talk about their hometown. Lin San had been promoted to brigade coach because of his bravery in combat. He took out a wine pot, drank two sips of strong wine, and smacked his lips and smiled: "In two days it will be New Year's Eve. My wife will definitely kill chickens and pickled fish at home. This year, the family is well spent on the New Year. That brat in the family can have a good meal."

He touched his partner next to him with his elbow and smiled, "Sun Mazi, how can you celebrate the New Year in Runzhou?"

"How else can I live? Are you all the same? Make rice cakes, smoked bacon, stick door talismans, have a big meal on New Year's Eve, and worship ancestors on the first day of the first lunar month. Oh! Unfortunately, I can't worship ancestors this year."

"So too, I can't worship my ancestors anymore. I wonder if my ancestors can forgive me, an unfilial descendant."

"Hey! Hey! Don't say that, no one here can worship his ancestors, fight a war! How could the ancestors blame us? I only miss my son and my wife now."

Thinking of his son, Lin San couldn't help but sigh and smiled, "My son is ten years old, but he is thin and small. He is always bullied by other boys in the village. After the war, I wrote a letter to tell him that his father had killed dozens of Tubo barbarians, and he could stand up straight. Who dares to bully him anymore? He slapped his chest and said, "My father killed twenty Tubo barbarians, how many of your father have killed?"

Lin San's words made all the soldiers laugh, and Lin San waved his hand and smiled, "After the war, I will take my wife and son to Anxi. At that time, please come to my house for a drink and let you taste my wife's cooking skills."

"That's right, I haven't eaten the New Year's Eve dinner, so I must make up for it."

The soldiers in Jiangdu Camp were all excited and told their own special dishes in their hometown.

Li Qing'an sat on a big rock, but seemed a little worried. Just now, Nan Jiyun reported to him that a total of sixty gunpowder bags were shot out, but only fifty-three of them exploded, and seven of them did not explode. However, the soldiers just touched them and searched for a circle, only five unexploded medicine bags, and two of them could not be found. They were most likely taken away by the retreating Tubo army.

Li Qing'anji was unwilling to use gunpowder. On the one hand, although the quantity was insufficient, he had another concern. Gunpowder was used in military affairs only appeared in the late Tang Dynasty, and now he was more than a hundred years ahead of him. This would inevitably profoundly affect the development of history. Although he had to use it due to the situation, this concern always lingered in his heart.

And now, the thing that worried him the most was still happening. The Tubo people were most likely to have obtained gunpowder packs. If the Tubo people also learned to use gunpowder, what kind of disaster would this be for the Tang Dynasty? Li Qing'an sighed secretly. More importantly, if they were wiped out this time, then who would tell the Tang Dynasty court that they had used gunpowder? The court did not know that Tubo learned it, then wouldn’t Li Qing'an be the sinner of the Tang Dynasty?

Li Qingan took out an oil paper bag from his arms. There were two kinds of gunpowder formulas, one was explosives and the other was lead drugs. After pondering for a moment, he said to Nan Jiyun beside him: "Nan Ba, I have an important task to hand over to you."

"Please give me orders, General!"

Li Qing'an handed him the oil paper bag and a jade token and said, "This oil paper bag is the formula of gunpowder. You can take another gunpowder bag away, go back to the capital and hand it to Gao Lishi, tell him the situation of the gunpowder one by one. The jade token can prove that I sent you."

Just as Nan Jiyun was about to speak, Li Qingan waved his hand to stop him, "This is my order. This matter is of great importance. You must hand it over to Gao Lishi in person and tell him that the Tubo people may also learn to use gunpowder soon."

Nan Jiyun silently took the oil paper bag and jade token and put away the things. He asked again: "Which direction should I break through?"

Li Qingan thought for a while and said, "In this way, you can bring two scouts with great martial arts skills, and you can find a way to cross Chiling."

"I understand, I'll leave now."

Nan Jiyun stood up and he looked at Li Qing'an deeply, "General, I hope we can meet again in Chang'an!"

Li Qingan smiled and patted his shoulder, "I will definitely do it, go!"

Nan Jiyun turned around and ran towards the darkness. After a moment, he called two scouts, and the three of them took ropes and other tools, quickly left the station, and climbed along the ridge toward the top of Chiling Mountain.

Li Qingan kept looking at his figure and walked away. Suddenly, the drum sounds at the foot of the mountain suddenly rang out, and the Tubo army launched a night battle.

"Everyone, get up! The Tubo people are here."

The Tang army officers woke up the soldiers one by one. The Tang army's position was busy, and everyone entered the position one after another, checked the bows and crossbows, prepared stones and arrows.

Li Qing'an watched the number of torches gathered at the foot of the mountain, and quickly calculated in his heart. His heart suddenly tightened. This time, the Tubo army invested at least 40,000 people, and the Tubo people finally realized their advantages.

At this moment, Li Qing'an's nose cooled. He looked up and saw that snowflakes as big as goose feathers were floating in the sky. More and more, the wind began to increase, and howled in the valley.
Chapter completed!