Chapter 489: Bloody Battle: Qiemo (Part 2)

The two wounded men found by Tang soldiers were the surviving Tang army who escaped from Ulan Lake. They had escaped in total, but one more person was shot and killed in the pursuit of the Tubo army. In the end, only two were left. They fled back to Sapi City, but found that Sapi City had been burned down. The Tang army was missing. They went to Qiemo City again. However, the war in Qiemo City was in full swing, so they could not return to the city, so they had to turn around to Nobuzhi City. Finally, they were exhausted and fainted in the wasteland. Fortunately, the Tang army scouts discovered that, otherwise they would have become a delicious meal for wild wolves.

More than a dozen personal soldiers carried the two blood-stained Tang army patrols on stretchers into the central army's tent. The two patrols had woken up at this time. When they saw Li Qing'an, they struggled to get up and kneel down.

Li Qingan stepped forward and held them down, saying, "You two are injured, don't get up."

"Thank you... General, we are the Sabi City patrol, and we have... important information."

The two of them were soft and they were very difficult to speak. Li Qing'an nodded and said, "Let me talk about important information first, and I will treat you immediately. I will reward you with your achievements."

"We should not give rewards... but intelligence is very important. If you don't tell it in person... General, I'm sorry... the dead brothers..."

One soldier could no longer speak, and another soldier continued: "Wulan Lake is a major logistics location for the Tubo army. They have another 20,000 troops to support Qiemo City. Please send troops to Wulan Lake quickly."

"I understand. You guys go down and rest first, treat your injuries well, and then talk about your experience."

Li Qing'an waved his hand and his personal soldiers carried the two men down. Li Qing'an quickly turned around and returned to the sand table and found what the soldiers called Ulan Lake. It was about 180 miles away from Sabize. It was at the foot of Kunlun Mountain and at the edge of the Qaidam Basin. It was the only way to go to the southern foot of the Qilian Mountains in Longyou to Anxi.

Li Qing'an fought with the Tubo army for many years. He knew the habits of the Tubo people very well. The earliest Tubo people were tribal, and a war was participated by the entire tribe. Men fought in the front, while women and the elderly and the weak followed not far behind. Once the Tubo army retreated, the women, children, and the elderly and weak in the rear often did not have time to escape and became prisoners of the Tang army. "Weak baggage supply" has always been a pain of the constraints of the Tubo people.

In recent years, he also heard that some reforms were carried out within Tubo and a full-time military logistics personnel such as "slave". Although they were also graze and followers, they were no longer the former family members of the army. They were actually slaves of the Tubo people. Among them were Han slaves who were plundered from the Tang Dynasty, but more were young and strong people from ethnic minority tribes such as Tuhun, Di, Man, Qiang, and Dangxiang.

But no matter what, the Tubo Expeditionary Force set out from a logic point and crossed the plateau. Without a strong logistics team following them, they would not be able to make an expedition at all. It can be said that the logistics support of the Tubo people was their life gate, which is why the Tubo people were eager to seize Tocharo as their logistics base.

Li Qing'an pondered for a moment, then waved to An Baozhen who was standing by the tent. An Baozhen strode forward and bowed and said, "The last one is here!"

"General An, I will give you a task."

An Bao was so happy that he knew what was going on, so he immediately knelt down on one knee and said, "I will obey the order!"

Li Qing'an couldn't help laughing. Before he could say anything, he obeyed the order. He nodded and said, "I'll give you five thousand elite cavalry. You immediately go to Wulan Lake and pick up the Tubo army's nest. If you encounter a supply team on the road, you will kill them all and you will not let the living go."

"I will understand and set off immediately."

An Baozhen saluted a military salute, stood up and left in a hurry. At this time, Li Qing'an said to other generals: "Tell me my order and set off at the third update!"

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Although it was already dark, the fierce battle in the Mocheng was still in progress. Shang Jiasu had already invested 30,000 troops to attack the city. Although it was too late and the night battle between the two sides was not taking advantage of the two sides, the battle was in full swing, and no one could stop them.

Nearly 25,000 Tubo troops have all crossed the moat. The corpses under the city have accumulated like mountains, and the blood flowing out of the corpses flowed into the moat like a stream, dyeing the river water red.

The Tubo army under the city also shot thousands of arrows at the same time. The arrows on the city were like rain, intertwined into a net of arrows. The Tubo army held up their shields, held the wooden rocks, stepped on the corpses of their companions, and climbed the city ladder and attacked frantically. At every moment, Tubo soldiers were shot by bows and arrows, hit by huge rocks and rolling wood, and they were hit by blood. They screamed and fell down or rolled down from the city ladder.

At the top of the city, more than a dozen Tang troops guarded a battlement, and three or four were fighting against the Tubo soldiers who were about to climb the city. The other soldiers shot arrows on both sides of the Tubo army, perhaps raising huge rocks and smashing the roaring Tubo soldiers down.

At this time, a Tang army screamed. He was shot in the face by an arrow from the city and fell on his back. Another Tang army soldier quickly stepped forward to fill his position. After nearly an hour of fighting, the Tang army also suffered heavy casualties, with more than a thousand people killed, most of whom were shot to death by arrows, and some were killed in battle with the rushing Tubo army.

At this time, a Tang army found a long iron fork, blocked the city ladder and pushed it out hard, "Come and help me!" he shouted loudly.

More than a dozen Tang soldiers gave up archery and stepped forward to help him. Everyone shouted: "One, two, three!"

The heavy city stairs were pushed up and slowly pushed outward. The city stairs gradually leaned back and moved outward. Nearly a hundred Tubo troops on the ladder made a long scream, some jumped off the ladder, and most of them fell heavily with the ladder. With a loud "boom!", the ladder was thrown away, and more than a hundred people on the ladder were either dead or injured, unable to move.

But at the west end of the city, the Tang army had a crisis. The nearly 100-foot-long city wall in this area was a place for catapults. There were not many Tang army, mainly guarded by 300 Tang army and more than 1,000 civilians. The Tubo generals in command of the siege of the city discovered this defensive loophole. He immediately ordered three city ladders to attack quietly from here, and mobilized 600 the most elite Tubo Red Card Army, namely the Imperial Guard of Tubo Zanpu. They selected 30,000 people from hundreds of thousands of troops, each of whom were tall and powerful, and fought fiercely. During this Western Expedition, Tubo Zanpu also sent 8,000 Red Card Army to follow, of which 2,000 of them participated in the attack on Qiemo City.

It was dark in the night. In the midst of a melee, Helou Yurun did not notice the intention of the Tubo army. Hundreds of elite Tubo soldiers climbed up quickly, and the civilians guarding the western section began to become in chaos. Some of them threw stones down, while others stabbed the city ladders with spears, shouting and panic.

After a moment, more than a dozen Tubo troops appeared at the westernmost city. The leader was extremely fierce. He swords towards him and slashed the heads of two civilians. His face was covered with black sand, fierce and ferocious. The other civilians were scared to death. They threw down their spears and fled. There was a gap at the top of the city. Seeing the situation critical, several Tang soldiers next to them rushed up together, but the Tubo centurion seized the opportunity for a short moment and jumped onto the city. He held a shield in his left hand and slashed with the sword in his right hand. In an instant, three more civilians were cut to death. When he saw the Tang soldiers rushing up, he roared and jumped down the battlement and fought with the Tang army.

At this time, more than a dozen Tubo soldiers rushed to the top of the city through this gap. These Tubo soldiers were all wearing chain mail, tall and strong, and had a fierce appearance. They rushed into the group of civilians and husbands, like tigers entering a flock of sheep. In a moment, forty or fifty civilians were killed. The civilians were so scared that they turned and fled, and the city walls were suddenly in chaos.

This section of the city wall defense was led by the Lang General Luo Shengjun. He was leading more than a thousand Tang troops to fight with more than 30 Tubo troops climbing the city ladder. Suddenly, a scream and scream were heard, and a Tang army soldier shouted: "The Tubo people have climbed the city."

Luo Shengjun turned his head. In the night, he saw the Tubo army emerging like an ant colony on the westmost city. More than 2,000 civilians were killed and fleeing in scattered areas. Only dozens of Tang soldiers were fighting with each other. He was shocked and angry and shouted: "First Battalion Tang Army follows me!"

He waved his spear and led more than 400 Tang troops to rush forward. At this time, the Tubo army had already climbed nearly 200 people from the westernmost gap, and a large number of Tubo troops were constantly climbing from here. However, the Tubo army also made a mistake. After they climbed the city, they did not immediately support the Tubo army in other battlements, but focused their main energy on destroying the catapult.

Ten heavy catapults were deployed here. After the Tubo army had enough pain of being smashed by huge rocks during the attack, they climbed to the city and rushed towards the ten catapults, chopped with swords, smashed with stones, and pushed down with force. After a moment, seven catapults fell down with continuous bang and fell down the city. The Tubo soldiers cheered.

Of course, being able to destroy the catapult is very beneficial to the subsequent attack. There is nothing wrong with the Tubo soldiers' approach. But everything has priority. At this critical moment, destroying the catapult is nothing to do to lose the root of the original situation.

At this time, Luo Sheng's army led hundreds of people to kill. They cut arrows and caught more than 200 Tubo off guard. Luo Sheng's spear danced, like pear blossoms, and instantly pierced the throats of three Tubo soldiers. The Tubo centurion who was the first to climb to the city shouted and rushed down from the battlements on the side toward Luo Sheng's army, from high to bottom, like an eagle-bo rabbit, but Luo Sheng's army flashed and stabbed the spear. The tip of the spear penetrated through the gap beside his shield, and a shot pierced his chest. With a tragic hiss, the huge body of the Tubo centurion was lifted up high. Luo Sheng's spear shook, "Go to die!"

The Tubo centurion was thrown out of the city and fell into the moat with a long scream, "Boom!".

The death of the Tubo centurion made the Tang army highly motivated. They fought bravely to kill the enemy and defeated the Tubo soldiers step by step. The Tang army quickly blocked the path of the Tubo army expanding to all directions and blocked them in the corner of the west of the city.

He Lou Yurun fell down from a catapult and learned that the Tubo army had already boarded the west of the city. He was furious immediately. Before the fourth day arrived, it was difficult to understand that the city was about to be captured.

"Where is that dog bastard Luo Shengjun?"

He roared angrily: "Go and tell him that if I don't kill the Tubo army within a quarter of an hour, I want his head!"

At this time, the situation of the Tang army was already very unfavorable. All 50,000 Tubo troops had been suppressed, of which 30,000 Tubo troops attacked the south of the city. Although the casualties were heavy, more than 20,000 people had already attacked the city. The other 20,000 Tubo troops were staring at 700 steps north of the city and needed troops to suppress them at any time. This forced Helou Yurun to distribute 2,000 people from the 7,000 Tang army to defend the north city, while the Tang army in the south city had already suffered more than 1,000 people, and less than 4,000 people were struggling to defend. Four thousand people resisted the crazy attack of more than 20,000 Tubo troops. In the night, the Tang army had no clear head for shooting arrows, which made it even more difficult to suppress the Tubo army's attack. If it were not for the solid walls of the city, the Tang army would have failed at this time.

He Lou Yurun hated not only the lack of military strength, but also the bastards and a group of corrupt scholars of the Sai Ye Zhengshitang! He applied for a batch of thunders more than a month ago, and Li Qing'an also sent a reply from Chang'an, approving him a hundred thunders, but the matter was broken in the hands of the bastards of the Sai Ye Zhengshitang, especially Pei Mian, who was in charge of the military, dragged Li Qing'an's approval again and again. He still has not seen the shadow of the thunderstorm. If there is thunderstorm, why would he be afraid even if there is thunderstorm?

"Kill me! Kill a Tubo army and give you twenty silver dollars!"

His anger turned to the Tubo army, but the Tubo army was not enough to calm his anger. When Li Qingan arrived, he would definitely complain.

When He Lou Yurun's order was passed to the west of the city, Luo Shengjun couldn't help but smile bitterly. How could he fight? Is it possible to drive the Tubo army down from the city within a quarter of an hour?

Luo Sheng's army frowned into a group. Although the Tubo army was suppressed by the Tang army, as the Tubo army continued to surge into the city, their sphere of influence expanded again. Not only that, the western corner of the south city had become a gap for the Tubo army to open up the defense of Qiemo City. More and more Tubo army was rushing towards this side, but there were no reinforcements on his side. The situation was already quite dangerous. If the Tubo army expanded outward for three steps, then they could surge a hundred more people. At that time, the power balance between the two armies would change. Once the Tubo army broke through a desperate situation, it would be like a collapsed dike, and the flood-like Tubo people would be uncontrollable, and the Mocheng would be likely to be broken from here.

The fight was still going on cruelly. In the dark night, both sides fought in chaos, and they were holding shields, holding horizontal swords and long swords. The shield was holding shields, and the horizontal swords and long swords were colliding. You pressed and squeezed, and roared. The battle reached a fever pitch. The corpses on the ground were pressing on the corpses. Some people were not dead yet, but were trembling living flesh. They were stomping under their feet and suffocated in the pleading. At the densest city wall, both sides could no longer use swords, so they could only use swords, stabbed with daggers, smashed with fists, and made a clanging sound, the cracking sound of the knife slashing human bones, the groans of the injured, and the terrifying gagging of the dying person.

The red card Tubo army was extremely powerful and forced the Tang army to retreat step by step, but the Tang army counterattacked in the Jedi and pushed the Tubo army back. Both sides were like wind blowing, fluctuating and unstable.

At this time, Luo Shengjun's sweat had already come out. He was racking his brains to think of all the ways. It was impossible to shoot bows and arrows. Both sides were too dense and there were shields. The bows and arrows could not be shot in. Unless it was splashing water, it might be possible to pour it in.

"water!"

Luo Shengjun's mind was like lightning, and he suddenly thought of a solution, they had it! But because the civilians fled, they didn't take it out.

Luo Shengjun immediately whispered a few words to several soldiers, and more than a dozen soldiers immediately ran towards a small stone house dozens of steps away. There was a place where some catapult parts were placed, and the civil servants were taken care of. Since all the civil servants escaped, the catapult also lost its function, and the stone house was locked up there without anyone taking care of it, but there was something in the stone house, which was originally intended to be used for projection.

The soldiers took out leather bags from the stone house. The leather bags were quite heavy and filled with shaking liquid. They rushed forward and squirted into the Tubo army with their leather bags. They saw black liquid spraying out from the leather bags, spraying the dense Tubo soldiers all over their faces. This black liquid was naturally tinder oil. Although the use of the thunder was strictly controlled, tinder oil was the basic configuration of the Tang army, and it was available in every city. The Mocheng was originally used as a burning bomb, but before there was any time to use it, the Tubo army attacked. It was always idle. No one could remember it in the tense war.

But Luo Shengjun suddenly remembered its effect in the crisis. In a moment, a hundred bags of turmeric oil had sprayed into the Tubo army group. The pungent smell made the Tubo soldiers start to stir up. The Tang army could not resist and began to retreat step by step.

This was a torch that was thrown into the Tubo army group. With a bang, a raging fire broke out in the Tubo army. This tincture oil was not directly mined. This was the tincture oil extracted by the Tang army using smelting technology learned from the Byzantine Empire. It was lighter and more flammable. Although it was not as good as the Greek fire, it was far superior to crude oil.

The fire burned all over the western corner of the city in an instant, and four or five hundred Tubo troops ran out to the death like a blown up a nest. At this time, the Tang army could no longer stop the Tubo army's desire to survive, and was washed away by a 1-meter-wide gap. Countless Tubo soldiers in the fire ran out of the gap. They were no longer fighting for battle. The fire was on their heads and their bodies were burning wildly. Many people opened their arms and ran for only a few steps before falling to the ground. The fire burned them up. Dozens of Tang soldiers were also affected by the fire. They fell to the ground and rolled on the ground, screaming.

Most of the four or five hundred Tubo troops were ignited. Near the corner of the city ladder, some Tubo soldiers who were not splashed with tiny oil were frightened. They tried to get off the city ladder. In the chaos and crowding, people were constantly squeezed down the ladder and screamed and fell down the city.

The sudden incident in the west of the city shocked all the soldiers. The raging fire was particularly bright and dazzling in the night sky. The turtle oil reversed the situation in the west of the city and reversed the entire battle situation. First, more than a dozen city ladders in the west of the city were ignited by the fire, and then dozens of city ladders near the middle of the city wall were ignited by the Tang army with turtle oil. The fire burned ragingly on the city and below the city, and the fire lit up the sky, illuminating the night into day. At this time, the bell of retreating troops came from the Tubo camp.
Chapter completed!