Chapter 796: Drawing fire from the bottom of the cauldron
Five hundred refueling soldiers ran forward and threw five hundred kerosene bottles into the castle. Then, dozens of rockets were launched into the castle. Soon, the city began to burn with thick smoke billowing.
Dozens of Tang army soldiers climbed up the mound and threw bundles of wheat straw into the city.
This is only the first sentry fort, the smallest of the three castles. Once it is lit by fire, the soldiers inside have nowhere to escape. The fire is getting fiercer and the smoke is getting thicker. More than a dozen Tibetan soldiers are helpless.
He climbed up to the top of the city and fell directly from the top of the city.
Half an hour later, the fire was extinguished. Several soldiers climbed up to the top of the city to check, and turned back and shouted: "General Nan, everything is burned, there is no one left alive!"
The army continued to advance, and finally arrived at Qilian Military City at noon. This is the widest place in the entire Dadouba Valley. Although the road is only a few feet wide, the mountains on both sides are separated by more than ten miles, mainly because of the low and gentle slopes on both sides.
The hillside is covered with trees, and the mountain is covered with huge boulders like barbs, which stand in the sky and look particularly ferocious.
The Qilian Military City was built on a gentle hillside on the east side. It was one mile long and one mile wide. It was a fortified city built of bricks and stones, with a city gate and Tibetan soldiers standing on top of the city.
In the distance, a two-foot-high mud bag wall was also built with sand bags, which was one foot thick. Two thousand Tibetan soldiers were deployed behind the mud bag wall. Since attacking the mud bag wall must pass through the military city, it must also pass through the military city.
Received a flank attack from the military city.
In fact, the Qilian Army City is the core of defense in the entire Dadouba Valley. The garrison city at the entrance of the valley in front is just a warning. If the enemy is discovered, an alarm will be raised immediately. The Tubo people also know that it is difficult to defend.
The key point is the Qilian Military City. There are a thousand soldiers guarding the city. It is built on a hillside several miles away. The inside is very close to the cliff. The top of the city is more than 20 feet above the ground. It is actually built halfway up the mountain.
If a rolling log or stone is thrown from the top of the city, it will roll directly onto the road, posing a great threat to the troops passing by.
If this military city is not removed, the Tang army's logistics will be cut off by it.
The three thousand soldiers guarding here are all Tibetan soldiers, not Tuyuhun people. The key point is that the commander-in-chief Lun Mangre will not let the Tuyuhun people with weak combat effectiveness guard the place. It must be guarded by Tibetan soldiers who are tough and good at fighting.
Nan Jiyun looked at the military city, his brows furrowed, and he felt like he had nothing to do.
Regardless of whether it is a fire attack or a force attack, you must climb the hillside. As long as you climb up, you will be attacked by the enemy.
Nan Jiyun was at a loss as to what to do, so he had to send someone to inform his commander. Soon, Li Ye led two thousand cavalry and galloped over.
Nan Jiyun said helplessly: "Your Highness, this military city is in some trouble!"
Li Ye looked at the military city for a moment. He remembered what Pei Jun said, that his grandfather captured the military city by cutting off the water source. He asked the guide accompanying him: "Is there a water source in the city?"
The guide was a Hexi military lieutenant who had been stationed in Dadou Bago for more than ten years, and had also been stationed in the military city for ten years.
He bowed and said: "Your Highness, if there is any water source in the city, there are 800 large vats filled with water. A thousand soldiers can hold the city for three months."
"You draw a floor plan on the ground and I'll take a look."
The guide drew a floor plan on the ground with tree branches, pointed to the northeast corner and said: "There is a row of houses here, which are warehouses and water houses."
“What is the house made of?”
"It's like a city. It's made of stone. It doesn't even have windows. It's very solid."
Li Ye originally wanted to use an arrow array to destroy the 800-water tank, but it seemed unrealistic.
He pondered for a moment, and an idea flashed through his mind like a flash of lightning. He hurriedly asked: "Can we tunnel into the city?"
The guide nodded, "That's okay. There is a slope below, not a rock. It is feasible to dig a tunnel. I heard that we captured Qilian City in the 16th year of Kaiyuan and used a tunnel to get in."
However, I suggest that Your Highness should pretend to attack the city to attract the attention of the Tubo people, otherwise they will guess His Highness's intentions."
As expected, grandpa got in through a tunnel. Today he is going to do his same trick again. I bet these Tibetan soldiers won’t know what happened thirty years ago.
Li Ye looked at the lush pine forest on the hillside and said coldly: "I will distract them."
Li Ye immediately ordered: "Pass my order to light a fire in the woods to the east of the valley and burn the woods to the east!"
More than a thousand soldiers rushed to the east side of the valley, that is, the military city side, sprinkled kerosene and lit the pine trees. Soon, the black pine forests on the east side began to burn.
Although Qilian Military City is not close to the woods and is relatively far away, it is surrounded by woods on both sides, especially the pine forests on the east side that began to burn, which still had a huge impact on the city. The smoke was filled with dust, the heat was scorching, and breathing was difficult.
All the soldiers felt a sense of suffocation and fear as if the city was burning down.
The two thousand Tibetan soldiers on the official road also felt the impact of the thick smoke and began to retreat backwards. They withdrew into the narrow valley road and held on to it.
The Tubo army's attention was attracted by the fire. They never imagined that just under the cliff less than thirty steps away from the city wall, an elite digging team of seven people was quickly digging a road leading to the warehouse in the city.
authentic.
The Tang army also retreated three miles away, looking far ahead at the raging fire and thick smoke, and the Qilian Army City was obscured by the thick smoke.
About half an hour later, seven soldiers dug through the tunnel and entered the underground warehouse in the city. A soldier slowly pushed the sack on his head open a crack and found that this was a granary. According to the guide's description, there was water next door to the granary.
house.
The partition wall was made of soil mixed with wheat bran. It was easy to dig a hole. The water room next door turned out to be a large water room. It was cold and damp. There were 800 jars and jars densely packed inside, filled with water.
Seven people started working at the same time. They tapped the bottom of the urn with a sharp hammer, and with a 'click!', a hole as thick as a thumb immediately appeared, and water surged out from the bottom. Three holes were knocked at the bottom of each tank to make the water flow faster.
, gathered at the wall, and flowed out of the city along a sewage channel.
In less than a quarter of an hour, all eight hundred large vats were knocked through. The seven soldiers quickly retreated and got out of the hole in the granary. They ran along the cliff and soon heard shouting and yelling coming from the city.
Several Tibetan soldiers who were collecting water found that the water tanks were empty and shouted in horror.
Destroying water sources is a tactic that draws fire from under the cauldron. It is the most deadly move for military cities on the mountain. This is much more serious than setting fire to the mountain. Setting fire to the mountain will basically not affect the military city, but the soldiers will feel strong psychological oppression. Other than that, setting fire to the mountain will not affect the military city.
There will be no damage outside, and the smoke will eventually disperse in the open area of more than ten miles.
But without water, the military city could not be defended for a day. Before the fire was completely extinguished, a thousand Tibetan soldiers abandoned the military city and joined the other two thousand Tibetan soldiers.
Two days later, Li Ye led two thousand cavalry to the Qilian Army City. By this time, the fire had been extinguished.
Nan Jiyun cupped his fists towards Li Ye and said, "Your Majesty, the Tibetan troops in the city have retreated and it is currently an empty city."
Li Ye nodded and ordered the logistics general: "Immediately send someone to Zhangye to bring a batch of water tanks over. We will continue to use Qilian Military City."
"Follow the order!"
The logistics general led the soldiers to the mouth of the valley and arranged the water tanks.
Li Ye urged his horse to enter this wide area. The pine forest on the east side of the hillside was not completely burned, but only half burned. About hundreds of acres, trees burned into charcoal stood on the hillside.
The military city was intact, and the large pine forest to the south of the military city was also intact.
A Tang army of several hundred people had already entered the military city to clean up.
At this time, a scout cavalry rushed over, clasped his fists and said: "Your Majesty, three thousand Tibetan troops are guarding a narrow valley road only five feet wide five miles to the south. The valley road has a slight slope. They are standing in formation on a high ground.
Judging from their equipment and momentum, they are not like the Tuyuhun people before, but they should be Tubo people."
It seems that the Tibetan army has no city to defend and is preparing to use manpower to stop itself.
Li Ye shook his head slightly, pretending to be a chariot with a mantis arm, not knowing what he could do!
"Command the army to continue moving south!"
The seven thousand troops continued to advance. After a few miles, the valley became narrow again, winding and winding, with cliffs on both sides.
After walking for a while, the terrain in front became higher, and there was a slope of more than ten degrees. Above the slope, standing in the dark, were Tubo soldiers, staring down at them.
Li Ye coldly ordered, "The heavy shield troops are in formation, and the heavy crossbow troops are ready!"
At this time, the Tibetan soldiers who were seventy or eighty steps away let out a shout, swung their ropes and threw stones together, and stones as dense as locusts flew towards the Tang soldiers.
The heavy crossbow soldiers squatted down, and the heavy shield soldiers in front raised their large shields to resist.
