Duan Quange has been handling military affairs by candlelight tonight.
Although his family was regarded as a southern barbarian by the Tang people, in fact the family had a profound heritage and his children were both civilized and martial.
He took a pen and marked the progress of Xianyu Zhongtong, Duan Jianwei, Yixiang Yele and other troops on the map. He suddenly thought of something - the sentry from the west did not come back for two or three days.
"Someone is coming!"
Immediately, the door was knocked open with a bang.
"General! The Tubo people are coming!"
"Why are you panicking? It's just a stratagem by Tang Jun."
Duan Quange strode out, listening to the military information as he walked, until he heard that the slave named "Zhu Shi" tricked the city gate into opening, and he frowned.
"Go and take Yang Luodian down!"
"Here."
Duan Quange walked towards the city without stopping, shouting at the same time: "Hold the city gate for me!"
He was confident in defending Longwei Pass because he had sufficient troops and could handle a sneak attack as long as his command was determined.
"Soldiers! The Nanzhao Kingdom has just been established and is in the process of conferring officials and titles. Guard the city tonight and everyone can become a minister!"
What responded to him was a loud noise.
"boom!"
"Boom!"
Two city gates were blown down, and wood chips flew into the air.
What's more serious is that the soldiers were frightened, thinking that the gods were coming, and they were extremely afraid of the enemy.
When the enemy soldiers entered the city cave, few people dared to resist, and more people turned around and fled.
Duan Quange was confused for a while, wondering what happened. When he came to his senses again, he found that the situation was irreversible.
He immediately ordered the gold medal, gathered his troops, and prepared to evacuate to Taihe City.
As he was running down the city, a group of soldiers were escorting Yang Luodian over.
"General Duan." Yang Luodian shouted: "What's going on? Why are you tying me up?"
Duan Quange hurried down the stone steps and shouted: "You said that the Tang army separated us from the Tubo, and now the Tubo people have invaded!"
"I……"
"I still want to ask you, what's going on?!"
Just as Yang Luodian was about to reply, the killing cry came closer.
Duan Quange looked back and saw that it was too late to ask any more questions. He quickly pulled out his long knife and slashed it down.
"puff."
A human head fell to the ground and rolled over, its mouth still open, as if it was telling the story of injustice.
~~
Qu Huan was sitting cross-legged on the ground, closing his eyes and concentrating. No matter how loud the shouts of killing were in his ears, he remained motionless, as if he was asleep.
He is a very young general, only twenty-four years old. His father's name is Qu Bin. As his name suggests, he is gentle and gentle. He has served as an official in Longyou all year round. Qu Huan then went to the northwest and learned from the tough folk customs to become an excellent cavalryman.
Shooting Kung Fu.
Hearing the sound of gold ringing in the distance, he opened his eyes, stood up and shouted to his soldiers: "Let's go!"
There were originally more than 500 people under his command, but when he arrived at Longwei Pass, there were only more than 300 people left. Tonight, Wang Zhongsi transferred another 200 people from the personal camp to him, and only asked him to seize the gate of Taihe City and guard it for half a day.
.
More than 600 people ran across the suspension bridge and passed through the dusty city cave, smelling a pungent smell in the air. Entering Longwei Pass, they saw that under the bright moonlight, the ground was in chaos, and many injured people were lying in a pool of blood.
The Nanzhao soldiers were wailing non-stop.
"Bring the torch!"
Qu Huan scanned the battlefield, walked towards a corpse wearing Nanzhao official clothes, and kicked it hard. The corpse moved twice and then stopped.
With a "bang" sound, Qu Huan pulled out his knife and shouted: "If you dare to pretend to be dead again, I'll behead you!"
The corpse immediately got up, kowtowed and begged for mercy, shouting for mercy.
"Can you speak Chinese?"
"Yes! Yes!"
"Lead the way to Taihe City! If you dare to cheat, I will stab your intestines all over the floor!"
"Yes, General, this way to Taihe City! It's only about ten miles away..."
The Tang army did not ride horses, but led the horses to attack on foot. There were only a dozen sentry horses in front to explore the way.
Although the moonlight was bright tonight, they were not familiar with the road, and Quhuan was not willing to let the sound of horse hooves disturb Taihe City.
Even so, Tang Jun's speed was still very fast.
After running for about three or four miles, the sentry horse turned back and reported: "General, there are Nanzhao troops ahead, and they are also rushing to Taihe City. It seems that there are at least 5,000 people in the formation. It's dark at night, so I can't be sure."
Qu Huan was not frightened by the number of enemy troops. The barbarian soldiers were different from the Tang army. Men could form an army during the war, but their combat power and equipment were far inferior to the Tang army. Moreover, these were the defeated troops who escaped from Longwei Pass, and some of them were
Many servants.
He thought for a while and decided to wait until they arrived at Taihe City, let the city gate open, and take advantage of the opening of the city to suddenly attack them, defeat them, and drive them to attack the city.
"Pass it on one by one, the whole army will be hidden, and anyone who dares to shout out will be killed without mercy."
"Here."
Even this military order was whispered and passed down one by one by the soldiers.
This small group of Tang troops climbed up the slope of Cangshan Mountain leisurely, accompanied by the retreating Nanzhao soldiers and horses. Gradually, the outline of Taihe City was revealed in the moonlight.
~~
Taihe City.
The lights in the palace were brightly lit, and King Nanzhao was discussing with others the strategy to deal with the Tang army.
"Xianyu Zhongtong has already passed Yaozhou. He claims to have 60,000 people, but most of them are civilians and servants who are carrying heavy supplies. The real strong force is less than 10,000 people. Duan Jian and Wei led the army to fight, preventing him from advancing quickly, waiting for the Tang army
By the second level, we will be ready."
"According to what Yang Zifen saw during his mission, the Tang army was seriously plagued by miasma. As long as we hold on to the initial period of time, the injuries will bring down this Tang army."
"Also, Tibet's great leader Xiang Ye Le's troops are ready. Now that Xianyu Zhongtong's offensive is too fierce, he can lead his army to retreat and give the Tang army a blow..."
In the past, the chiefs still had a kind of godly respect for the Tang army. After Yaozhou killed Zhang Qiantuo and these military discussions, they have discovered that the Tang army is not invincible, and now they are full of confidence.
After discussing, Yang Zifen walked into the palace, walked to Ge Luofeng, and reported quietly.
Ge Luofeng looked at the chiefs in the palace, a faint light flickered in his eyes for a moment, and actually chose to tell them frankly.
"The Tubo people have broken through Longwei Pass. Don't panic. Follow me to the top of the city to have a look."
Having said that, Ge Luofeng walked towards the east city tower first.
The layout of Taihe City is different from other cities, because it is built on a hillside, with the west high and the east low. The main city gate opens to the east and there is an urn.
Looking from the tower, you can see the Erhai Lake as far as the farthest away. Under the moonlight, you can see an endless stream of people going up the mountain, and a small group of stragglers can be seen some distance away.
When Duan Quange and his generals arrived outside the city gate, Ge Luofeng ordered the urn gate to be opened. He stood on the tower and asked them questions.
"Your Majesty, the Tubo people are treacherous and want to destroy Nanzhao!"
Duan Quange told what happened, knelt down on the ground, raised his head and shouted: "I will eventually be deceived by Tubo. I failed to defend Longwei Pass. Please forgive me!"
Ge Luofeng was hesitant in his eyes, thinking about it over and over again, and finally called Zheng Hui over.
"Sir, have you heard this? This matter is strange. What do you think?"
Zheng Hui pondered, feeling that Ge Luofeng already knew what he was thinking, so he said frankly: "They may not be from Tibet."
"oh?"
"The Tubo people should not attack Nanzhao at this time."
"Perhaps Yixiang Yele is afraid that I am not really attached to Tubo and will take the opportunity to destroy Nanzhao?"
"Even if Taihe City is pacified, Nanzhao cannot be destroyed; even if Nanzhao is destroyed, there are still five imperial edicts. If Tubo does this, it will only be self-defeating and promote Nanzhao to fall to the Tang Dynasty again."
Ge Luofeng asked: "What is the meaning behind your words?"
Zheng sighed back and said: "I thought it was the Tang army who came."
~~
After driving more than ten miles overnight, the night was almost over.
The full moon is gradually setting in the west and the moonlight is dimming. This is the darkest time before dawn.
Qu Huan walked up the hillside and looked up, only to see that the Nanzhao soldiers and horses who had withdrawn all the way from Longweiguan were already entering the city. In this way, his plan was half successful.
He made a prompt decision and ordered: "Attack!"
"Woo——"
The trumpet sounded suddenly, and the soldiers of Tang Dynasty shouted and went to kill.
"Fire the arrow!"
After two rounds of arrows, although the Nanzhao soldiers panicked, they were not defeated yet.
Qu Huan was not satisfied with the outcome of the battle, so he ordered his personal emissary to deliver a packet of explosives, tie it to a spear, and rush to the front of the army.
"ignition!"
"General?"
"Light the fire! Drive!"
Holding a Mo Dao in his left hand and a spear in his right hand, he galloped towards the mountain, glancing from the corner of his eye at the burning fuse from time to time.
The horse ran into the enemy, he slashed down the person blocking the way with his sword, and finally threw the spear in his hand.
The spear drew a graceful arc and fell towards the several Nanzhao soldiers in front, almost above their heads.
"boom!"
There was a loud bang.
Light burst out in the darkness, reflecting several exploded heads.
Fear finally spread.
The defeated soldiers were so frightened that they lost their minds and killed the defenders who wanted to close the drawbridge. They crowded towards the city gate, but were stuck at the gate and could not enter.
Qu Huan led his troops to follow behind, not in a hurry. Now that the city gate could not be closed, it was equivalent to the defeated soldiers occupying the city gate for him.
The next moment, arrows rained down from the top of the city, shooting at the Tang army and at the defeated soldiers who were crowding at the city gate. The defeated soldiers screamed and fled, and the people crowded at the city gate were able to enter the city.
Door.
The Tang army suffered some casualties under the rain of arrows, and Qu Huan shouted: "Fight in!"
He rushed at the front, flying up and down with the sword in his hand, and penetrated the city cave that was more than 20 steps long.
Entering the city! The first success in conquering Taihe City!
Qu Huan felt excited and couldn't help but shudder. However, when he looked up, he saw that this place was actually an urn city. He really didn't expect that the city built by the barbarians actually had an urn city. He couldn't see clearly outside the dark city.
.
He reined in the reins and looked again, and saw that the second city gate had been closed. Rows of fully armed Nanzhao elite soldiers were standing in front of the city gate with spears in their hands. Under their feet were densely packed corpses.
Defeats are often stopped through killing, and those defeated soldiers no longer dare to rush into battle in panic.
"Kill the Tang army!" On the city tower, Nanzhao's general shouted: "Killing the Tang army is your only way to survive!"
Qu Huan gritted his teeth, summoned his trusted general Meng Yinhu, and ordered: "You guard the gate of Weng City, and you must not let Nanzhao's soldiers and horses bypass it and close it."
"General, don't worry, the door is open and the people are there!"
"How many more packets of explosives do we have?"
Meng Yinhu said: "Four packs."
"You take a pack."
Qu Huan didn't have time to organize his formation and immediately ordered an attack. He wanted to seize the second city gate as soon as possible.
He also had three bags of explosives, two of which were to be used to blow up the city gate, so he asked the strong men in the army to light them and throw them into the Nanzhao army, hoping to scare the Nanzhao army into chaos.
However, unconsciously, a ray of dawn broke out in the east. In the midst of the fierce battle, the sky was already bright.
Many people in the Nanzhao army had seen that the "sky thunder" was lit by the Tang army, and their fear was greatly reduced. The soldiers guarding the second city gate raised their shields one after another.
"Thunder is coming!"
There was a loud "boom", and with several skulls flying, the Nanzhao army was still in chaos for a while, and the Tang army took advantage of the situation and charged in.
However, the Tang army no longer had the advantage in terms of location, numbers, physical strength, etc., and they were still unable to break through the defenders' line.
Amidst the mournful cry of "咴", Qu Huan's horse died. Although he was fully armored, the gaps in his armor were filled with arrows. He was stuck like a hedgehog, and blood kept flowing from under his armor.
"General!" The soldiers hugged Qu Huan desperately and urged: "Retreat, we can't kill you!"
"If you don't retreat, you will receive a death order... and destroy the city!"
"All the brothers died in the battle."
Suddenly, behind them, outside the Wengcheng, there was a loud noise. The Tang army thought that reinforcements had arrived, and their morale was greatly boosted.
But soon they heard the shouts and realized that it was not the Tang army but the Nanzhao army who had detoured from other city gates to block the Tang army's retreat.
"General, retreat!"
"No." Qu Huan raised his Mo Dao, pointed at the city gate ahead, and shouted: "Blast it open for me! Kill!"
He roared and rushed forward, was hit by two more arrows, and was dragged back by the soldiers.
"Who dares to pull me?!"
"It's gold, it's gold, General."
"Who dares?!"
Qu Huan's anger rushed to the top of his head, and he stared at the city gate, feeling that he was so close to it, yet so far away.
As long as he explodes it, he will be the most dazzling person in the Tang Dynasty today, just like when Gao Xianzhi returned to the court to ask for merit... it was just a little bit worse.
"boom!"
There was another loud noise, and Qu Huan turned around, his eyes fell on where his subordinate, his brother Meng Yinhu, was standing among the Nanzhao soldiers, holding an explosive pack high, and was blown into many pieces.
The urn city gate was also blown up.
"Meng Yinhu!"
Qu Huan roared angrily, his vision went dark, and he fainted.
…
"No retreat!"
Still remembering that he was fighting on the battlefield, Qu Huan woke up suddenly and shouted: "Kill! Kill!"
However, what is in front of us is no longer the hellish urn city, but a tent.
Qu Huan immediately thought that he was captured, so he jumped up and rushed out of the tent, but bumped into someone.
He was weak and his steps were sloppy. When he looked up, he saw Xue Bai.
"Xue Lang? You also..."
Xue Bai helped Qu Huan up, let him lie back on the stretcher, and said: "We broke through, you are in the camp."
"Taihe City was captured?"
"No."
Qu Huan was extremely disappointed and said: "There are cowards in our army who ordered the gold medal without permission."
Xue Bai said: "It was Wang Jieshuai who ordered the gold medal. Under the circumstances at that time, it was impossible to capture Taihe City."
"No, just a little bit..."
Qu Huan didn't say any more. He was actually one of the most well-educated military generals. When he calmed down, he realized that he had gone to his head at the time. Given the situation at that time, it was impossible to break through the second city gate.
"I have not fulfilled the commander's military orders and I am willing to die."
"You've finished." Xue Bai said: "At dawn, the gate of Taihe City is still under your control. You completed the military order very well, but we arrived late."
Qu Huan was stunned, tears suddenly fell from his eyes, and said: "I killed Meng Yinhu! There are so many brothers."
Although he is brave, he is still young after all.
Xue Bai said: "People in the army live and die according to their fate. They will not blame you."
"It's different. They died because of my fault. I made a wrong judgment."
"But if you didn't give it a try, would you be willing? Would you regret it?"
Qu Huan thought for a while, wiped his tears, nodded vigorously, and asked, "How should we attack Taihe City?"
Xue Bai smiled and said: "You have broken through the outer city gate and made a great contribution. Please take good care of your injuries. I will leave the rest to the brothers Paoze."
After that, he stood up, looked around at all the wounded soldiers in the tent, and said: "Each of you has made a contribution. When you return to Chang'an, the saint will personally meet you and give you a generous reward. Recuperate your injuries and you will be better in the future."
It will get better and better.”
"Thank you Xue Lang!"
All the soldiers who had entered the wounded camp respected Xue Bai very much, because many doctors in the army were recommended by Xue Bai and brought many medicinal materials.
The doctors even told these wounded soldiers that Xue Bai had promised and was actually trying to save the lives of the wounded and remnant soldiers as much as possible.
~~
After leaving the wounded barracks, Xue Bai walked towards the tent.
In the tent, Wang Zhongsi sat alone in front of the map, his brows furrowed into a deep "Chuan".
Looking up, he saw Xue Bai coming, and Wang Zhongsi said: "I have the reputation of being a famous general, but I can't capture Taihe City. I'm far inferior to Gao Xianzhi."
"The situation is very different. The Xiaobolu Kingdom never thought about the possibility that the Tang army would attack, but Nanzhao has been preparing for war for a long time, not to mention the huge gap in their national power."
"But they all offend the saint to the same extent."
Xue Bai smiled and said: "He is handsome and funny."
"I'm not kidding." Wang Zhongsi remained silent.
"It's hard for a clever woman to make a meal without rice." Xue Bai said, "If the Commander-in-Chief had fewer troops than Zhongtong, it would not be difficult to lead the army south and destroy Nanzhao. Unfortunately, the reason why the saint dared to use the Commander-in-Chief was because we proposed the idea of 'lightweight'.
The army's attack strategy."
He certainly had other purposes for saying this, but Wang Zhongsi waved his hand and said: "Let's not talk about these, let's talk about ways to break the city."
"Okay." Xue Bai then sat down and said, "I think we should retreat to Longwei Pass and wait for Xianyu Zhongtong."
"Yes." Wang Zhongsi said: "The city gate that Qu Huan broke through has been repaired by Ge Luofeng."
The Tang army rushed in with few troops and no siege equipment. If they could not enter Taihe City in one go, they would not be able to attack it by force at all.
The terrain of Taihe City is high. If the Tang army was stationed at the foot of Cangshan Mountain, facing the Erhai Lake, then when the Nanzhao army reacted and came down from a high position to attack, they might be in danger of being annihilated.
Wang Zhongsi had already thought about this very clearly. The reason why he asked Xue Bai was just to see if the young man could come up with another clever plan, but it was not always possible to count on the clever plan.
"No matter what, we have a great hope of winning this battle." Xue Bai said: "Occupying Longwei Pass will shake the hearts of Nanzhao's army. There is no more dangerous place in the south of Taihe City. We only wait for Xianyu Zhongtong to lead his army to arrive.
The outcome can be determined."
Wang Zhongsi generally agreed with this point and nodded, but also asked.
"Do you know what makes me uneasy?"
"Putting your chances of victory on Xianyu Zhongtong?"
Wang Zhongsi said: "If I lead the main force in this battle through Shicheng, and you lead a light force to attack by surprise, attacking from both sides, Taihe City was destroyed last night."
~~
Fishing in the river.
This is a large river located between Yaozhou and Taihe City. The water flows from the east, turns to the north, and finally merges into the Jinsha River.
Xianyu Zhongtong's army was preparing to cross the river.
Due to the numerous injuries and illnesses among the army's sergeants and the obstruction by Duan Jianwei's soldiers and horses on the other side, Xianyu Zhongtong did not rush to cross the river, but ordered shipbuilding.
On October 19, two Tang soldiers swam across the river and rushed to the camp to convey Wang Zhongsi's military order.
Xianyu Zhongtong then summoned the generals to prepare for a decisive battle with Duan Jian and Wei.
"Jie Shuai, I have something to say."
The speaker was his general Li Hui.
Li Hui walked to the map and said: "Duan Jian Wei is waiting for work at leisure and is preparing to attack halfway across the river. Although Commander Jie has a strong army, he will be able to defeat him, but it will be difficult to win quickly. And although he can win, he is familiar with the terrain. Once he loses power, he will be defeated quickly.
Evacuate immediately, how can the commander arrive at Longwei Pass early?"
Xianyu Zhongtong asked: "In your opinion, what do you think?"
"Please ask Commander-in-Chief to divide my cavalry with 4,000 men. I can take a detour and cross the river, rush to Longwei Pass, and join forces with Wang Jieshuai. Strike while the iron is hot and capture Taihe City in one fell swoop." Li Hui said, "Otherwise, I will wait until the Nanzhao rebels calm down.
If you come down, you may lose the great situation!"
Xianyu Zhongtong reached out and touched the military order, but hesitated for a moment.
Although he claims to have an army of 60,000, in fact he has only 10,000 strong troops and less than 6,000 cavalry. If Li Hui were given so many cavalry, he would not have accomplished anything by the time he defeated Nanzhao.
Of course, he is not someone who would rather harm the overall situation in order to gain credit. He just believes that when entering a war, one should fight steadily and not divide the troops too much.
"You will lead a thousand cavalry to support Wang Zhongsi first. I will escort the troops behind and will arrive in a few days."
"Jie Shuai..."
"Military orders are like mountains, you don't want to obey them?!"
"Here."
Li Hui had no choice but to lead a thousand riders and detour upstream to find another crossing point.
~~
At the same time, Duan Jianwei also received the news from Taihe City.
He immediately decided to come back for help.
Considering that Xianyu Zhongtong returned Chen's troops to the east of the river and prepared to cross the river, he ordered the soldiers to retreat quietly at night in batches, and asked the soldiers to cook the same number of stoves every day to confuse Xianyu Zhongtong.
This is not a new tactic, but something he learned from the military books his ancestors brought with them when they moved to Yunnan. It must be an old strategy from the Warring States Period.
However, Xianyu Zhongtong looked down on them as "southern barbarians" from the bottom of his heart, thinking that the barbarians were incapable of plotting, so he must have no doubt about his presence.
As a result, Duan Jianwei boldly withdrew from the battlefield and went straight to Longwei Pass.
Three days later, he arrived at the Erhai Lake and ordered his troops to rest. At the same time, he summoned his trusted general Hong Guangcheng and asked, "Have you brought the flag of the Tang Army that we used before?"
"How could I forget what the general ordered?" Hong Guangcheng replied proudly, patting his chest.
"Okay, you lead five hundred people in front, pretend to be Tang troops, and pretend to open Longwei Pass. I will lead the army behind and quickly follow up to break through the pass."
"Take your orders!"
Hong Guangcheng laughed loudly and said: "This move is to use the Tang army to deceive Longweiguan to take it back. The Tang people deceive us and other barbarians, and they must open their eyes."
~~
The beautiful scenery of Erhai Lake is beautiful, and the West Erhai Lake flows in front of Longwei Pass.
Wang Zhongsi stood on top of Guancheng, his back turned to his soldiers, his eyes once again filled with thoughts.
Because Longwei Pass is very close to Taihe City, there is not much food and grass in the pass, only enough for six days. As for the food, dried meat, and cheese brought by the Tang army, they were all eaten on the night of the attack. After the food and grass were exhausted, they only
Can bite leather now.
The problem is that those who defend their homeland can defend the city with less food and clothing. They are here to attack the city and destroy the country. If they fall to this point, it will obviously be a huge blow to their morale.
Where can we go to rob food and grass? There is little cultivated land here, and all the barbarians are scattered in the mountains and forests...
Just as I was thinking about it, dust and smoke rose in the distance.
Wang Zhongsi raised his telescope and looked at it. First he saw a large flag of the Tang Army. He raised his eyebrows and said to himself: "So fast?"
The dust and smoke were getting closer and closer, and the big flag quickly fell into the eyes of the Tang soldiers, who burst into cheers.
"Reinforcements are coming! The destruction of Taihe City is just around the corner!"
"The army is approaching the city, and the day when Geluofeng's head falls to the ground is not far away."
"Ge Luofeng wants to take him back as a prisoner, hahaha..."
Amidst the shouts, soldiers rushed to the gate tower, waved small flags, and asked if the suspension bridge should be lowered.
In a moment, a general rode his horse to the edge of the Xi'er River, raised his head and shouted towards the city.
Everyone on the top of the city looked at him, and could vaguely see his long beard fluttering, looking majestic.
"Is Wang Jieshuai here? The last general, Li Hui, is here to support me on the orders of Xian Yujieshuai. Please open the city gate!"
suddenly.
"Whoosh."
An arrow shot through the neck of "Li Hui" like lightning, and blood spattered on the spot.
On the top of the city, Li Sheng held a bow and shouted: "You barbarian, if you dare to play tricks in front of your grandpa, you will die!"
The soldiers of the Tang Dynasty were stunned for a moment, and then shouted "Ten thousand enemies".
Wang Zhongsi raised the telescope in his hand and said, "This thing helps a lot."
Having said that, Nanzhao's soldiers and horses have actually surrounded Longwei Pass, and the situation has begun to take a turn for the worse.
Xue Bai glanced at the telescope in Wang Zhongsi's hand, thought of something, and turned to look at Cangshan Mountain.
In the distance is Cangshan Mountain covered with snow, and in front is General Baitou...