In late October, Dafeichuan was already deserted, and herdsmen began to migrate toward the West Sea north of Riyue Mountain. They drove their sheep and carts toward the north in a mighty manner.
On the high hill next to the Chaka Salt Lake in the west of Dafeichuan, there is a Tang Army garrison, where fifty Tang Army soldiers are stationed.
This place is also located right at the junction of Tang and Tibet. Fifty miles away to the south, the terrain suddenly becomes higher, just like a high step standing abruptly.
Tuyu came down from the plateau and fought towards the Tang Dynasty. This was the only way to pass.
However, it has been several years since Tibet sent another army to kill them. It is said that Tubo was fighting fiercely within the country, and their plan to train Tianzhu people also failed. He trained 200,000 Tianzhu soldiers and tried to use them to fight outposts. As a result, three years later
, instead of increasing the number of Tianzhu soldiers, they dropped sharply from 200,000 to 70,000.
The reason is also very simple. The Tianzhu people could not adapt to the cold and hypoxic climate, and half of them died one after another. Without the cannon fodder rushing in front, Tibet would not be able to fight.
After October, the Salt Lake area becomes completely quiet. Winter is coming, and the Tibetans will not come again. They will not appear until March or April next year.
The soldiers in the garrison will also be evacuated to the West Sea for the winter and will come back tomorrow in February. After winter, this place will be covered with heavy snow up to four to five feet deep, and the weather will be extremely cold. Life here is too difficult and unnecessary, so every year
Evacuation will begin at the end of October.
The fifty soldiers were led by a brigade commander named Xu Wu, who was from Weizhou.
They had almost packed their things, but they were still waiting for two patrol soldiers. The two soldiers were patrolling at the end of the grassland in the south. They left early and came back late, but they did not come back last night. Xu Wu was worried. Did they encounter a pack of wolves?
As soon as day broke, he sent several more soldiers to find relief.
Near noon, a soldier suddenly shouted: "Brigade commander, they are back!"
Xu Wu quickly urged his horse to go down the hill to greet him. He suddenly felt cold in his heart. He went to look for five people in the morning, but when he came back, there were still five people. No, how could there be one person on his back right away?
"What's wrong with him?" Xu Wu stepped forward and asked urgently.
The leader of the fire chief stepped forward and saluted: "He was killed in battle, and another brother may have died too, but his body was not found."
"Killed in action?"
Xu Wu was startled, "Why was he killed in battle?"
"Commander of the Brigade, please look!"
The fire chief pulled back the cloth on the horse's back and saw that the soldiers' backs were densely packed with arrows, twenty or thirty in total.
He pulled out an arrow and took a closer look. It was not an arrow from the Tang army, but an arrow from the Tibetan army.
Xu Wu was shocked. The Tibetan army had never appeared before!
He hurriedly shouted, "Put the beacon back, put it back quickly!"
They had packed up all the beacon equipment and prepared to take them away. If they were left here, they would easily be picked up by herdsmen.
The soldiers didn't know what happened, so they quickly unloaded the beacon fire package and carried it to the top of the fort.
"Go back and observe!"
Xu Wu Pegasus ran to a higher place, stood on a higher place and looked into the distance, but found nothing unusual.
"Commander of the Brigade, is it a Tibetan patrol sentry that came over to check and then went back?"
It is indeed possible.
But professional instinct told Xu Wu that there was no need for this kind of patrol. If the Tibetan army appeared, it was more likely that a large army would retreat. After they retreated from the fortress, there would be no alarm, and then the large army would sneak attack on the West Sea. As long as the sneak attack was successful, they could completely
It’s winter in the West Sea.
Xu Wu thought for a moment and said: "Everyone retreats according to the plan, Xiao An and I stay!"
Xu Wu knew in his heart that if they did not withdraw, the other party would not show up.
More than forty soldiers withdrew, and Xu Wu took one of his men, carrying beacon equipment, and hid towards the side of the hill.
About three miles away from the fort, he and soldier Xiao An hid in a hidden place and watched the situation of the fort.
Sure enough, an hour later, a dozen cavalrymen appeared outside the fort. They dismounted and entered the fort to check.
After a while, a few people were left in the fort, while other sentries rode towards the south.
"Commander of the brigade, what do they mean?" Soldier Xiao An asked in a low voice.
Xu Wu sneered and said: "They are waiting for us to leave. After we leave, there will be no more beacons, and they can sneak attack the Xihai Camp!"
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"Then what do we do?"
"When their army passes, we will light the beacons!"
At dusk, the black army appeared, like a long black dragon, with no end in sight.
Xu Wu was also surprised. There were at least 50,000 troops. Did the Tubo army suppress them?
Soon another five thousand cavalry came, but the uniforms of the cavalry were different from those of the infantry.
Xu Wu suddenly understood that the cavalry were Tubo people and the infantry were small black people from India.
"Let's go to the top of the mountain!"
The two of them climbed to the top of the mountain carrying beacon equipment.
This Tibetan army was led by the famous general Dazalukong, commanding 70,000 Tianzhu soldiers and 5,000 Tibetan cavalry.
This is the decision made by Tubo Zampu and the nobles. Most of the 200,000 Tianzhu soldiers died in three years, basically in the winter. It is estimated that these 70,000 people will not survive this winter. Rather than die of frostbite, it is better to
Put them all on the battlefield before winter comes. If the surprise attack is successful, they can still play a huge role, and the three years of training will not be wasted.
So this autumn and winter operation came about, and the famous general Dazalukong executed this plan.
Dazalugong was also very cunning. He knew that the Tang army's garrison would evacuate back to the West Sea for the winter at the end of October. Once they left, the beacon fire would be useless, creating conditions for his surprise attack.
They just didn't expect that two patrols from the other side would find them. They were chased by their sentries and shot to death with random arrows. One of them got their body, but the body of the other was missing.
What the Tubo people didn't expect was that five soldiers came to look for him the next day and found the body of another man on the way. This caused a small flaw in their plan.
Dazalugong also knew that they had a loophole, but there was no way. The arrow was already on the string, and they had to fire. They had no way of retreating in this battle. Even if the sneak attack failed, they would still have to fight the Tang army.
"Marshal, look!" a soldier suddenly pointed at the top of the mountain and shouted.
As soon as Dazalukong turned around, his heart immediately fell into the abyss. He saw a blazing beacon burning on the top of the mountain, which was particularly bright in the dark night.
"Commander, the front is also lit!"
Dazalugong looked north and saw a beacon fire, a bright spot of fire, about thirty miles away to the north.
"Damn it!"
Dazalugong was furious and cursed. A small loophole actually ruined all his plans. Now the Tang army must have known that they were coming.
"Send a team of soldiers to kill the Tang army who set fire to the top of the mountain!" Dazalugong cursed angrily.
Immediately, a general led hundreds of soldiers to climb to the top of the mountain.
At this time, all the generals were looking at him. They were now faced with a choice, whether to continue fighting or to retreat back to Tibet.
After pondering for a long time, Dazalugong said slowly: "It was originally my plan to surprise the Xihai Camp. Zanpu's plan was for us to lead the army to attack the Xihai Camp, and use the 70,000 Tianzhu army to inflict heavy losses on the Tang Army, so that we can send troops next spring.
Create conditions, it doesn’t matter whether we win or lose, so, regardless of whether there is a beacon or not, we will continue to carry out Zamp’s orders!”
Tubo Zamp's plan is to consume 70,000 Tianzhu soldiers. Whether it is a sneak attack or a normal attack, they will make no progress this time.
Dazalugong led an army of 75,000 without stopping and continued to kill hundreds of miles away in the direction of the West Sea.
At present, the governor of Huangzhou is no longer Xin Yunjing. Xin Yunjing's two terms have expired and he was changed to the governor of Shuofang.
The governor of Huangzhou who succeeded Xin Yunjing was the famous general Li Sheng who had withdrawn from Youzhou.
At present, the chief general of Youzhou is not Guo Ziyi. Guo Ziyi continues to serve as the pacifier of Henan Province, the imperial censor, and the military inspector.
Currently, the main general in charge of the Liaoxi Corridor is Pinglu Governor Ma Lin, who leads an army of 50,000 to control Pingzhou and the Liaoxi Corridor.
At this time, Li Sheng received an emergency report that a beacon fire was burning in the direction of Dafeichuan.
Li Sheng immediately shouted: "Sound the alarm and order the entire army to enter a state of combat readiness!"
"Dang! Dang! Dang!" The alarm bells rang loudly in the Xihai camp.