Chapter 318: The Battle of Tubo (Part 2)

Thousands of Tubo people had already rushed to hundreds of steps away. Their figures were a little different and their voices were extremely sharp. Li Qing'an had already seen it clearly. The thousands of Tubo cavalry running in front were all women. Li Qing'an couldn't help but feel the cold smile on the face of Tubo commander Shang Xidongzan. Perhaps this was his surprise! Use women to welcome the Tang army's arrow formation.

Li Qingan had already found the meridians of Shang Xi Dongzan. He always liked to take odd moves. The last time he used a surprise attack on the mainland of Anxi. Although his ideas were good, he was a little bit inadequate. This time he was the same. He used women to fight the forwards, trying to make himself unable to bear to attack. Didn't he think that the sword could kill the enemy and hurt himself?

At this time, all the Tang army looked at Li Qing'an. Should these women be killed or not? Li Qing'an squinted his eyes and looked at the sky. The sky had changed. It was covered with clouds just now, but now it was dark clouds rolling. A stream of sand and stones flew in front of the formation, and sand and dust filled the air. A summer rain was about to come.

A cold smile appeared on the corner of Li Qing'an's mouth. He was smiling and Shangxi Dongzan was tied up in a cocoon. He could have had the opportunity to compete with the Tang army, but he wrapped so many civilians in the army, causing him to lose the favor of God.

"kill!"

Li Qingan whispered the final order.

Five thousand crossbowmen stepped forward, and five thousand dark Tang crossbows pointed into the air. The murderous intent condensed on the rapid crossbow. The other Tang army chiefs were unsheathed, controlling the somewhat uneasy war horses, waiting for the moment of the outbreak to arrive.

The women were getting closer and closer, and they could see them waving their hands and telling the Tang army that they had no weapons. Most of these women were for the sake of escape. They lived in Sabize and only milked and grazed sheep and served men on weekdays. They had never experienced the test of war like today, nor were they so close to death like now. They didn't know that they had become the scapegoat of Tubo commander Shang Xi Dongzan. They were getting closer and closer, and they were less than a hundred steps away from the Tang army.

After entering the range of crossbow arrows, some herders behind were aware of the danger. They began to stop and prepare to turn around and escape, but were forced by the fierce Tubo to continue moving forward with a long sword. Among the Tubo army, Shang Xidongzan smiled proudly. Didn’t the Tang army claim to be a benevolent army? Can they kill these women and children? As long as they hesitate, the women, children and herders will disrupt their positions, and his army can enter the Tang army.

"Go a hundred steps and prepare for the assault!"

Shang Xi Dongzan had just given an order, and suddenly a chaos in front of him. The Tang army's arrow formation broke out. Thousands of crossbow arrows shot towards the group of women running towards him. Screams were everywhere. These women had no defense or consciousness. In a moment, thousands of people were caught from the horse and the horse's hooves stepped past them, and they were immediately bloody and bloody.

The women were frightened and turned around to escape. At this moment, the raindrops as big as beans fell, and a sudden summer rain swept across the Sabize Basin. The Tang army's bows and arrows were unusable. With Li Qing'an's order, the cavalry suddenly started. Ten thousand cavalry rushed towards Tubo with great momentum, instantly rushing a big hole in the chaotic formation of the Tubo army. The downpour suddenly came, and the rain filled the fog, and the visible distance decreased, making the Tubo army even more chaotic.

Although the total number of Tubo people was 10,000 more than that of the Tang army, the Tubo herders who had been living a peaceful life not only could not help the Tubo army to fight, but instead dragged down the Tubo army's breakthrough. When the Tang army's arrows were mercilessly shot at the women who were running towards the rushing, the Tubo camp was in chaos, and death and blood scared the running Tubo women. They turned around and fled, and led their families. These civilians who had never experienced war were frightened by the cold killing of the Tang army. The Tubo officers could not stop their horror and flee. Their chaos was like the mixed sand being blown away by the wind, revealing the hard wall stones below. Ten thousand Tubo troops appeared obviously, but they could no longer maintain the stability of their position. The chaos caused the most sharp cavalry of the Tang army to destroy the defense of the Tubo army.

At this time, Shang Xidongzan was very regretful, and he realized that he had made a great mistake. God had given him the chance of victory, but he let it go in vain. He forgot that the Tang army's crossbows could not be shot in the rain. If he had not brought these herdsmen, if he suddenly launched an attack after the heavy rain, there would be no threat from the crossbows army, and it is not known who would win the war on the plateau!

Shang Xi Dongzan did not seize the opportunity of heavy rain falling from the sky, but Li Qing'an seized the opportunity of chaos in Tubo and ordered the entire army to cover the killing. The cavalry stormed the Tubo army's team, and another loud trumpet sound came from the east. The Tubo army faced the disadvantage of being attacked from both sides, and even more so, the chaos was even more dangerous. In the heavy rain, crying and begging were connected with the vast rain and fog, soldiers and herdsmen were mixed together, and women, children and elderly people were fighting for their lives. The general could not find the soldiers, the soldiers could not find the general, and the Tubo army was defeated.

Seeing that the situation was hopeless, Shang Xi Dongzan ordered a breakout. It was originally an expected battle, but it eventually turned into a unilateral pursuit and massacre without any suspense. The bodies were everywhere, blood flowed into a river, and there were broken limbs and arms everywhere. In the strangulation and pursuit of the Tang army, 15,000 Tubo troops suffered heavy casualties, and less than 3,000 escaped. The Tubo troops were beheaded 8,000, more than 4,000 were captured alive, tens of thousands of herders were killed, and nearly 30,000 Tubo herders were captured. They were surrounded by Feng Changqing's army who came from the east. Feng Changqing stopped the Tang army's massacre on them and captured them all alive.

The rain in the Sabize Basin came quickly and went quickly. The downpour turned into drizzle. The fine and dense raindrops like needle-tips washed the blood on the grassland. Li Qing'an immediately stood on a high hill and stared at the Tang army cleaning the battlefield with a cold look. He had just received the news that the Tang army in Khotan had intercepted the Tubo army's surprise to march north. Because the Shule reinforcements arrived in time, the Tubo army had been defeated. The Tubo general Jiazasangji was killed in the chaos and his head was sent to ask for credit. However, the Tang army also suffered heavy losses. More than half of the four thousand Tang army lost, more than two thousand casualties, and more than one thousand casualties today. The Tang army seized Sabize at the cost of four thousand casualties.

The rain had completely stopped, the battlefield had been cleaned, and teams of prisoners of war were being escorted. In front of Li Qing'an, the Tang army cavalry escorted a group of captured Tubo soldiers by, and they were dejected, and many were wounded. In the distance, a large group of Tubo women and children were driven by the Tang army, stumbled and cried. Behind them, followed by groups of herders with panic and dull eyes. Most of them had their wives and children separated and their property was exhausted. They did not know their future, and whether they would suffer the fate of massacre.

At this time, a team of Tang troops surrounded Feng Changqing and rushed over and said immediately: "I am not good at ease, see the general!"

"Thank you for your hard work, General Feng!" Li Qingan nodded with a smile.

Feng Changqing also sighed: "I thought it would be a fierce battle, full of hope, but I didn't expect the war to end so soon, and even the two armies have not faced each other head-on, which is really regrettable."

"This is because the Tubo army is determined to break through but is not interested in fighting. This also shows that the Tubo people have no time to look west. Otherwise, how could there be only 20,000 people in the Sabize area? If they annihilate them, I will be considered as completing the tasks assigned by the court."

Li Qing'an's tone was very relaxed, but he felt a little regretful. He made full preparations for this battle. He thought it would be a fierce battle, but he didn't expect it to end so soon. However, this was also as expected by him. In history, the Anxi Army won easily, which was inseparable from the strength of the Anxi Army itself.

At this time, Feng Changqing glanced at the Tubo women, children and elderly people who were crying all the way. A trace of unbearance flashed in his eyes and asked, "General, how do you deal with these herdsmen?"

Li Qingan smiled faintly and said, "I want to kill them all!"

Feng Changqing was shocked and waved his hand quickly, saying, "A great general must not!"

"What's wrong?" Li Qing'an glanced at him and said, "The old man was killed, the man was driven to be a slave, and the woman was invaded into the army as a prostitute. Aren't the Tubo people just dealing with us Han people like this?"

Feng Changqing sighed and said, "That is the cruelty of the Tubo army. If we treat the other civilians like this, how different is this from the Tubo army? Besides, the general has abolished slaves in Anxi, and it seems a bit difficult to explain with Tubo slaves. Moreover, the court will also criticize, which is not conducive to the reputation of the general. Please think twice!"

"I'm just talking! Since I have abolished slaves, I naturally include the Tubo people."

Li Qingan smiled and said, "I am going to send all these Tubo prisoners of war and civilians to Yincheng, so I will let them serve the people in Yincheng and make a living by mining silver mines. In addition, I don't want to let go of the 30,000 Tubo herders who sent to Ula Ulan Lake in Shangxi Dongzan."

Speaking of this, he said to Feng Changqing, "I will give five thousand cavalry and equipped with two horses. You can go to Wulan Wula Lake day and night, and recover the 30,000 herders and their cattle and sheep. I will count your first contribution."

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Logically, in the Potala Palace, amid a low trombone sound, hundreds of guards and several ministers surrounded the young Tubo Zanpu and walked from the high steps. He was fully armed, with arrows on his back, long swords in his hand, and armor. Not far away, Dalunnang Xiedazan, accompanied by several Bon high priests, was waiting for him to come respectfully.

Although Buddhism had been introduced to the plateau at this time, the local religion Bon still occupies an advantageous position in Tubo. The spread and belief of religions require a long-term process and also requires the vigorous promotion of the ruling class. Buddhism has truly developed greatly in Tubo, which is due to the vigorous promotion of this young man Zamp in the later years.

The young Zanpu was Chisong Dezan, the famous lord of the revival in Tubo history. Chisong Dezan was born in the first year of Tianbao. He claimed to be the son of Princess Jincheng of Tang. In fact, this is just an excuse. Princess Jincheng had passed away two years ago.

Chisong Dezan ascended the throne after his father Chisong Zuzan died in the Battle of Stone Fort a few years ago when Li Qing'an's gunpowder explosion. He was only eleven years old this year, but as a young man seemed more mature than his peers, he was worried during this period. Just a few days ago, a guard risked his life to tell him a news that the Tang army launched a large-scale attack on Tubo, Sabize's Tubo army was annihilated, and Qiangtang in northwestern Tubo was no longer guarded, while the Tang army in the east had already captured Jiuqu and Wuhai, besieging Dazalugong in Baihai, and seeing that Baihai was about to lose its protection.

Chisong Dezan was extremely anxious. He knew that all this was caused by Dalunnang Xie Dazan's shrinking his army to the vicinity of Luns. The Tubo territory was thousands of miles, but there were no soldiers guarding the border and the vast plateau. This was simply incredible.

Of course, he also knew what the purpose of Nang Xie Dazan's shrinking force was to put the army in his hands, so that he could hold the power firmly. As a result, Shang Xi Dongzan was driven away, Dazarugong was forced to leave logic, and he had the final say in the entire Tubo, and he didn't even take his Tubo Zamp to heart.

Looking at the ugly face of Nang Xiedazan in the distance, Chisong Dezan was very angry. He couldn't help but snorted heavily. The minister behind him, Jisang Jiagong, quickly reminded in a low voice: "Zanpu, keep calm!"

Chisong Dezan held back the resentment in his heart, and a relaxed smile appeared on his face. He smiled at Dalun Can Xieda Chan from afar and said, "Dalun, I am going to ride a falcon today, you can go with me!"

Nang Xiedazan is a tall and fat middle-aged man, about fifty years old, with a hypocritical smile on his face. It took him more than two years to finally drive away his political enemies Shang Xi Dongzan and Dazha Lugong. He monopolized power. The intoxication of power made him forget it for a long time, so that he thought he was the lord of Tubo. He looked down on this young man Zanpu at all. He never reported to him any government affairs. He even refused to report the large-scale attacks of the Anxi Army and the Longyou Army. In his opinion, the Tang army would not be stationed in the plateau for a long time. They would retreat after the cold winter came. If it could use the Tang army to get rid of Shang Xi Dongzan and Dazha Lugong, it would be the best.

Shang Xi Dongzan has been defeated, and the remaining troops retreated to Namcuo Lake and are preparing to apologize. Now there is still one Dazalugong left, trapped in Baihai. It is estimated that it will be broken by the Tang army. In any case, he must kill these two people. Even if the Tang army fails to kill them, he will not let them go.

At this time, when Nang Xiedazan saw the young man Zanpu coming with full arms, he couldn't help but feel a little alert and took a step back to his guards. But when he heard that Zanpu was going to hunt, he felt relieved and stepped forward and smiled, "Zanpu, what's the fun of going out to hunt? I brought a few high priests today and asked them to take turns to Zanpu to tell stories! After a few days and nights, Zanpu forgot about hunting."

"Dalun, I don't want to hear stories, I want to go hunting!" Chisong Dezan said innocently.

"Zamp is such a child!"

Nang Xiedazan smiled and talked to Chisong Dezan, saying, "How about this, you listen to the story first, and then go hunting after listening to the story."

"OK!"

Chisong Dezan jumped up with joy, took the bow and arrow from the back and stuffed it to Nang Xiedazan, and said, "I don't want these guys anymore, I'll give them all to you!"

Nang Xiedazan took the bow and arrow helplessly and was about to receive the sword he handed over, but at this moment, Chisong Dezan pointed behind him and shouted, "Why is Dazha Lugong back?"

Nang Xiedazan was shocked and turned her head to look at him. There was only dozens of personal guards behind him. There was no such thing as Dazalugong. Just as he turned around, Chisong Dezan suddenly pulled out his long sword and stabbed his chest with a sword. The sword was extremely sharp, and it pierced Nang Xiedazan's chest that was wearing fine chain mail. Nang Xiedazan screamed, grabbed the blade with his hand, staring at the young Zamp tightly. He still couldn't believe that this eleven-year-old boy dared to kill him.

When he saw contempt and anger in Chisong Dezan's eyes, he suddenly realized that he really deserved to die. Nang Xiedazan fell softly. Chisong Dezan bit his lip tightly, drew out the sword, and another sword penetrated Nang Xiedazan's neck, slit his throat, and blood splattered all over him.

At this time, the shocked guards of Nangxi Dazan finally reacted. They yelled and rushed up. Hundreds of guards of Chisong Dezan also rushed up and surrounded the master tightly. Both sides shouted and fought together. At this time, Chisong Dezan chopped off Nangxi Dazan's head with one sword, held it high and shouted: "Nangxi Dazan is dead, and the surrenderers are exempt from death."

Seeing that the master was dead, the guards of Nangxi Dazan had no intention of fighting again. Those who surrendered and those who escaped were fleeing, they dispersed in a moment. Seeing that the situation was settled, Chisong Dezan turned around and looked pale in fear and said, "Go and notify the military and let all the commanders come to the Potala Palace to see me. I have something to inform them!"

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It was already late August, and the Tang army's attack on Bai Hai had been going through two full months. The battle was progressing very smoothly at the beginning. In early July, Geshuhan attacked the Tubo army with 50,000 Tang troops and defeated Dazhalugong's 20,000 troops in the small city of Doma. Dazhalugong led 2,000 remaining troops to flee south to Xingsu Fort.

Xingsu Fort is a fort built by the Tubo army in the high and dangerous place of Xingsu River. It is located west of Baihai and stretches across the only way to Luzhe. More than a hundred miles south is the famous Zishan Mountain, which is today's Bayankala Mountain. The mountains are high and covered with snow.

Xingsu Fort is located on a cliff about a hundred feet high in the branch of the Zishan Mountains. There is only a narrow path leading to the castle, which is like another stone fortress. It was originally a fortress built by the Tubo army to store food in order to defend against the wolf pack of plateaus, but it has now become the last defense of the Tubo army.

It should be said that the Tang army had already taken Baihai and drove more than 100,000 Tubo herders living here to Wuhai. They seized a large amount of cattle and sheep supplies. However, if they could not take the Star Fort, they could not completely seize Baihai. It was like a nail inserted in the Baihai, which made Geshuhan restless. He used a 50,000 army to attack this lonely fort, but he could not attack it.

They did not have large-scale siege weapons, and they all rely on the flesh and blood of the Tang army to attack. The attack was extremely difficult and there were heavy casualties. For more than a month of attack, the Tang army had already died in the castle. As they stayed on the plateau for too long, many Tang soldiers could not adapt to the plateau climate and fell ill and left one after another. The Tang army continued to lose personnel. By mid-August, there were only more than 30,000 troops left in the 50,000 troops.

Although he could not capture Xingsu Fort, Geshuhan refused to give up. He patted his chest in front of Li Longji and said that he had made an oath that he would wipe out the Tubo army. If there were still one soldiers and one soldiers left in the Tubo army, it would not be his credit, and he would not want the title of Xiping County Prince. But now there are more than two thousand Tubo army. If he can't take Xingsu Fort, Bai Hai would not be able to occupy it, and his Xiping County Prince would have no hope.

Therefore, Geshuhan made up his mind and could not take down Xingsu Fort, so he would never retreat. Thirty thousand Tang troops surrounded Xingsu Fort and attacked day and night. The Tubo army's counterattack became weaker and weaker. The stones were gone, and the castle had been demolished to the point where it could not be demolished. If it was demolished, it would collapse. There were only less than 600 people left in the two thousand Tubo army, and they fought to the death under the leadership of Dazhalugong.

That morning, the Tang army's attack was launched again. Ten thousand Tang troops attacked up the trail, and half of the sheep or a whole cow's head was smashed down. These beefs and mutton were all food from the Tubo army and stored in the castle. There were no stones. They could only be used to block the Tang army's attack.

Thousands of Tang soldiers shouted and raised their shields to defend themselves, but nearly a hundred people were still smashed down the cliff. The screams echoed in the mountain stream. After two months of attack, the Tang army was exhausted. The plateau climate caused their physical strength to be consumed. Many people could not climb up and lay on the hillside and breathed. At this time, Dazha Lugong was already desperate for reinforcements. His only hope was that the cold winter was coming and the Tang army was forced to evacuate. In that way, he still had a glimmer of life.

In fact, Dazalugong is not exhausted from ammunition and food. He can also completely demolish the castle and guard the cliff, so that he can still use tens of thousands of large stones, but he does not want to do this unless he has to. He has to calculate the time and use these tens of thousands of stones to hold until winter. This is not easy.

Fortunately, both sides were exhausted, the defenders were almost dead, and the Tang army was also weak in attack and became weaker and weaker. This place was not like on the plain. After the battle for the past two months, both sides had reached the end of their strength, and it depends on who could hold on until the end.

The weak attack made Geshuhan extremely angry. He yelled in a hoarse voice, "Tell me my order and order the supervisor to go up. Those who dare to be afraid of death and not attack will be killed immediately!"

He grabbed the drumstick and cheered himself. The rumbling drum sounded, and dozens of soldiers in charge of the battle also went up the mountain. The Tang army had no choice but to fight to the death to launch an offensive again.

At this moment, several scouts cavalry rushed over and reported in horror: "Report to the commander, Tubo reinforcements were found hundreds of miles away!"

"What!"

Geshuhan was shocked. He suddenly grabbed the scout's clothes and shouted at him: "Tell me quickly, how many reinforcements are there!"

"At least, there are at least eighty thousand people."

"Dang!"

When Geshuhan's drumstick landed, he sat down powerlessly, staring blankly at the Star Fort that could not be captured. He spent too much time on this fortress that he did not deploy any defense. Eighty thousand Tubo reinforcements arrived, his dream was shattered, and his prince of Xiping began to leave him.

Ge Shuhan felt a sweet throat and a mouthful of blood spurted out, scaring his personal soldiers to gather around and shout, "Master! How are you?"

Ge Shuhan waved his hand gently, and said in a very low voice: "Tell me my order, the whole army retreated north to Jiuqu, and abandoned Bai Hai and Wuhai."

In August of the 11th year of Tianbao, with the arrival of 80,000 reinforcements from the Tubo army, Geshuhan finally failed. He knew that the Tang army could no longer defend Baihai and Wuhai, so he had to retreat north to cross the Yellow River to Jiuqu. He confronted the Tubo army with the fortifications of Jishishan. Tubo lacked logistics and stopped going north after regaining Baihai and Wuhai. Shuangwei used Jishishan as the boundary and temporarily ceased the battle.

The Tubo Battle, which had been planned for nearly a year, ended with 70% of the Tang army's victory. Although the plan was not completed on the Eastern Front, the Western Front won a complete victory.

In early September, Li Longji ordered the commendation of the Longyou Army and the Anxi Army, and officially appointed Geshuhan as the Prince of Xiping County, General of the Cavalry, and Minister of the Ministry of Procuratorate of the Ministry of Procuratorate of Anxi, and ordered him to withdraw from Shazhou immediately. At the same time, a secret order for King Qing Li Cong was passed to Anxi.

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Chapter completed!