A few days later, Xin Yunjing led an army of 20,000 people to the small Tuguhun tribe, and Zhou Zhi quickly stepped forward to greet him.
Xin Yunjing nodded and asked: "Are the Tibetan troops still in Salt Lake?"
"Report to General, still in Salt Lake!"
Xin Yunjing immediately ordered: "Send the whole army to rest for the night and set out early tomorrow morning!"
Twenty thousand troops set up camp by the river, and the old Tuyuhun chief came to pay homage to Xin Yunjing.
Xin Yunjing took a sip of hot milk tea and said slowly: "The Tang army is here to help the Tuyuhun people get rid of the annexation of Tubo. This is the basic attitude of our Highness towards Tuyuhun. Just like a hundred years ago, Han people, Qiang people, and Tuyuhun people are in Long
You can live and work in peace and contentment, and if the old patriarch goes to Fuqi City, he can tell your chief to come and see our Highness as soon as possible to discuss a joint strategy to deal with Tubo."
The old patriarch said excitedly: "If we can get rid of Tubo's encroachment, it will be our luck in Tuyuhun. I will leave for Fuqi City tomorrow."
Xin Yunjing took out a command arrow and handed it to him, "This is my token. Our Xin family is also famous in Longyou. I believe your chief has heard of it."
At this time, Zhou Zhi whispered from the side: "There may be children of their tribe among the prisoners of war we captured, and they begged us to release them."
Xin Yunjing pondered for a moment and said: "Ask him to come up with the list, and I will go back and tell His Highness."
Early the next morning, 20,000 Tang army cavalry set off, and arrived at Salt Lake two days later. Xin Yunjing stood on horseback and looked at the Tibetan army camp ten miles away.
He immediately ordered his deputy general Zhang Bingquan: "You can lead five thousand brothers to go around to the south of the enemy's army and cut off the enemy's retreat. If you are ready, send gunpowder arrows to notify me!"
"Follow the order!"
Zhang Bingquan immediately led 5,000 people to the south of Salt Lake in a roundabout way.
About half an hour later, several gunpowder arrows flew into the sky in the distance. Xin Yunjing drew his sword and shouted: "Brothers, kill!"
"Kill--"
Fifteen thousand Tang cavalry roared in unison and attacked the Tibetan army camp overwhelmingly.
In Shibao City, after seven days of hard work by the craftsmen, the rope net on the Tongtian Road has been laid to 200 steps, which is still about 100 steps from the top of the cliff. It will take another three days to complete.
But at two hundred paces, they entered the range of the Tibetan soldiers' slings. The Tubo soldiers' slings were very accurate and highly damaging. It was easy to faint when hit in the head. In Tianbao's eight-year battle against Shibao City,
, a large number of Tang army soldiers were knocked unconscious and fell to their deaths from the cliff.
At around midnight at night, the Tang army sent a hundred crossbowmen with strong archery skills to climb to the top of the rope net. Each soldier had a special belt with a hook on the belt, which was hooked directly to the rope net. Even if he was hit by a sling, he would not be able to escape.
He will not fall into the cliff, but will only hang in mid-air and be rescued by his companions.
The crossbowmen clung to the rope net with their legs and raised their crossbows to shoot at the Tibetan soldiers on the side.
Seven or eight Tibetan soldiers were shot down at once, and the craftsmen continued to drill holes and install rope nets. As soon as the Tibetan soldiers above showed their heads, dozens of crossbow arrows were fired at them. The three Tibetan soldiers were unable to dodge.
He was shot in the head by an arrow and fell down on his back.
The other Tibetan soldiers were so frightened that they crouched behind the boulder and did not dare to raise their heads again.
The rope net extended upwards one foot after another, and the clanging sound of rock drilling was heard all night long. The Tibetan soldiers raised their heads slightly, and were immediately suppressed by the Tang army's crossbow arrows. Throughout the night, fifteen Tibetan soldiers were shot and killed, but not even a stone was found.
Throwing it out really made the Tibetan soldiers extremely frustrated.
I thought that after working all night, the soldiers of the Tang Army would rest. Unexpectedly, a group of craftsmen and a group of crossbowmen were replaced. They continued to lay the rope net during the day. One day later, the height of the net rope was laid at 250 steps.
, already parallel to the Tubo soldiers throwing stones.
The Tang army once again shot and killed seventeen Tibetan soldiers, and six Tang army soldiers and craftsmen were hit in the head by hurled stones. Six were knocked unconscious, but there was no fear of their lives. Their belts were caught in the rope net and they were killed.
Hanging in the air, he was immediately rescued from the cliff by his companions.
Without the threat of slinging stones, the craftsman's speed increased again. By noon the next day, there were only ten steps left from the top of the cliff of Tongtian Road.
The number of Tang army crossbowmen on the rope net has increased to 200, of which 100 are dedicated to dealing with the Tibetan soldiers throwing stones, and the other 100 are aiming their crossbow arrows at the top of the mountain.
The craftsman laying the rope ladder also became cautious. Five steps away from the top of the cliff, suddenly more than a dozen spears stabbed at the craftsman. At the same time, Tang troops on both sides also fired arrows intensively at the top of the cliff.
Seven or eight Tibetan soldiers were hit by arrows and fell down the cliff with a long scream. They were shattered into pieces. Twenty dozen stone-throwing soldiers also wanted to take the opportunity to attack. As soon as they showed their heads, hundreds of crossbow arrows were shot out almost at the same time. The stone-throwing soldiers
They were hit by arrows one after another, and nearly twenty Tibetan soldiers were killed.
The crossbowmen controlled the rope net with their legs, passed one hand through the rope net, quickly pulled the string and loaded the arrow, and once again aimed at the side of the mountain top.
The Tibetan soldiers overhead did not dare to approach the cliff. At this moment, dozens of crossbow arrows suddenly emerged from the bottom of the cliff, aiming at the Tibetan soldiers and shooting at them. They appeared so suddenly that the Tubo soldiers were caught off guard, and they were all shot by random arrows.
kill.
At this time, the craftsmen also showed up. They drove the last big iron nail in their hands into the rock, hooked the rope, and tied it tightly. Hundreds of soldiers climbed up the cliff on the rope.
Seeing that Tongtian Road was lost, the remaining dozen or so Tibetan soldiers turned around and ran towards the Big and Small Stone Forts.
With step-by-step tactics, steady attacks, and innovative and practical technical means, the Tang army successfully captured the Tongtian Dao without killing anyone in ten days.
The key here is the use of the rope net. It used to be a rope ladder, and the soldiers were distributed vertically. Only a few Tang soldiers could deal with the slings of the Tubo soldiers, and the other soldiers below were helpless.
But after changing to a net rope, the Tang army became horizontally distributed. Hundreds of people fired crossbows at the same time, and the ropes were tied to the net rope at their waists. It was also convenient to string the arrows. In this way, the efficiency increased by more than a hundred times, and the Tubo was completely suppressed.
Soldier.
After capturing Tongtian Road, the next step is the final Big and Small Stone Castle.
The top of the mountain above Tongtian Road is a platform that can accommodate more than a thousand people, but it is still some distance away from the Stone Castle on both sides. The Small Stone Castle is closer and requires a mile of mountain road walking, while the Big Stone Castle takes about three miles.
They are like two branches growing out of a tree trunk, one south and one north, each going up a mountain road.
The key point is that both castles are at the top of a single peak. The top of the city is at least ten feet away from the ground. There is only a narrow stone staircase to go up. If rolling logs and rocks are dropped from the top of the city, there will inevitably be huge casualties, not to mention that there is no way to attack them. When Ge Shuhan attacked the two military cities, thousands of people were killed. In Gao Xiuyan's words, he climbed up by stepping on the bones of his companions.
But this was not a big problem for the Helong Tang Army. Li Ye took a look at the scene and breathed a long sigh of relief. The army did not need to attack, they could all be burned to death with a single fire.
Li Ye immediately ordered that twenty cyclone cannons be transported up from the foot of the mountain. The cyclone cannons are small trebuchets that can throw twenty kilograms of objects to a height of more than ten feet.
That night, twenty cyclone cannons were transported to the top of the mountain. The soldiers of the Tang army held up large shields and pushed the cyclone cannons gradually closer to the two stone castles. The flying rocks from the top of the city were shot like locusts, making the shields of the Tang army crackle. snapping sound.
Tang Jun not only brought two hundred jars of fire oil, but also hundreds of kilograms of oleander branches and leaves powder.
It was still dark at this time, and the two dark military stone castles stood in the night sky, with stars overhead.
Li Ye gave an order, and twenty cyclone cannons were fired at the same time. Burning jars of kerosene flew into the city and shattered when they fell to the ground. Suddenly, a pool of fire ignited and thick smoke billowed.
Round after round of jars of kerosene were fired into the city, which was already ablaze with black smoke rising into the sky.
In the fourth round, sixty kilograms of dried oleander slices were also thrown into the city. They were wrapped in wool paper and tied with ropes. They were quickly ignited after falling to the ground, and the city was filled with poisonous smoke.
The fire burned until noon before it gradually extinguished. The soldiers of the Tang army rushed forward and used a battering ram to smash open the city head. There was no one alive in the city, only piles of burnt corpses.
