It gets dark much later here in the Western Region than in the Middle Earth. Even though it's only evening now and the sun in the distance has just set, it's actually already Xu Shi (7, 8 or 9 p.m.).
The Tang army officers and soldiers, who had eaten and drank enough, arranged the camp and sentries, and took off their luggage from the pack horses to build tents.
The night in the wilderness is very cold, and the cold wind blows like a whistling knife.
Without effective cold-proof equipment, it is common for people to freeze to death.
There are many large and small cities in the Western Region. No matter how difficult the conditions are, cities must be built because even the worst city walls and buildings can withstand the cold wind.
Even bastards in the wild will use cowhide tents to protect themselves.
Tang Jun is naturally well-equipped here, and Li Yunze brought advanced modular tents.
The sergeants of the same rank each have their own single-person tents, and there is no problem in accommodating one person after being set up.
Ten-person tents can also be combined to form a large tent that can accommodate an entire group of people.
Sprinkle pesticides to repel insects and snakes around the tent, lay a thick wool blanket inside the tent, wrap yourself in cotton clothes and cover yourself with a quilt. It doesn't matter how cold the wind is outside.
At midnight, heavy rain suddenly fell from the sky.
This unexpected weather change made many soldiers worry about whether the order to attack would change.
However, when it was time to cook at three o'clock in the morning, no new orders were received.
Under such weather conditions, the Huotou Army put up a large rubber awning and wore thick raincoats to light a fire and cook.
Naturally, the food in the army does not pay attention to exquisiteness. Even if the restaurants in Chang'an City have begun to transform towards exquisiteness at this time, the army's main focus is to prepare enough food in a short time.
The main dish this time is fried noodles, add dried meat and dehydrated vegetables, and then pour the salt, sugar, spices and other things in the bamboo tube directly into it and cook it.
The meals were cooked in the big pot and put directly into tin buckets to be sent to various military tents.
The sergeants finished their meal happily in the military tent, then put on their rubber ponchos, put on their issued rubber shoes and began to put on their armor and pack their bags.
In the rainy environment, the sergeants who had been tempered on the battlefield did their job in an orderly manner.
The reason why Li Yunze did not cancel the battle under such weather conditions was because it helped conceal the march.
In a war environment, even if the enemy forces relax their vigilance due to a long siege, they will never reveal too many flaws to their opponents.
This rain was a good thing for Li Yunze, who was preparing to launch a night attack.
Naturally, the horses also have their own tents, and they all hide under the rubber shed.
The sergeants came over, fed the horses water and ate bean cakes, and specially added more salt.
After that, they unwrap the cold-proof cloth and put armor on the war horses.
The night sentries and fire-headed troops will stay here to take care of the tents, packhorses, and various luggage and military supplies.
Except for weapons, armor and horses, everything else was left behind.
I haven't ridden much along the way, and the horse has very good physical strength. Now is the time to put it to use.
The reason why they are taken care of so well is to use them at times like this!
Li Yunze, who was wearing a poncho outside his armor, got on his horse and looked around, then raised his hand and waved forward. Thousands of cavalrymen marched silently in the direction of Shule in the rain.
In the dark night sky, a bright silver snake flashed from time to time.
With the help of that moment of brilliance, one could clearly see a dark cavalry regiment in action.
After more than an hour, the rain in the sky gradually weakened and turned into an understatement of hazy rain.
At this time, Li Yunze's troops had arrived at a place more than ten miles away from Shule City.
The detective horse came forward and pointed out to him the location of the Tibetan camp.
"Everyone." Looking around at the generals and team members, Li Yunze said seriously, "There is only one target in this battle, and that is the Tubo people. As for the miscellaneous people on the periphery and the nine surnames of Zhaowu, we only need to drive them away. Do you hear me?"
"
"only!!"
With the cover of darkness, the soldiers of the Tang Army began to make final preparations.
Under such weather conditions, the crossbow is naturally useless, it is the same on both sides.
After resting for a while to regain his strength, when a hint of fish belly white appeared on the horizon in the distance, Li Yunze raised his hand and pulled off the ferocious visor on his helmet, and dropped his big iron-gloved hand in the direction of the Tibetan camp.
The sound of horse hooves sounded in the night.
It was very light and slow at first, but the sound of horse hooves gradually became more intensive, resounding like a falling drum throughout the countryside.
Most of the coalition forces are herdsmen and are most sensitive to such noises and movements.
In the last darkness before dawn, they ran out of the tent in terror, shouting and running around like headless flies.
The drizzle finally stopped, and the white fish belly on the horizon finally turned into a ray of morning sun shining down on the world.
The golden sunlight penetrated the clouds and fell on the Tang Army's cavalry group, shining brightly!
Zahu and Zhaowu, who finally saw this scene clearly, looked at the Tang army that was pressing towards them like the Great Steel Wall with silver light. Their only thought was to run, and their only action was to run like crazy!
The cavalry trampled them, and everything along the way was destroyed.
Countless fleeing troops were like the great migration of animals on the African savannah, running around without a clue.
A large part of the defeated troops were driven towards the Tibetan camp.
The people in front lost their feet and fell directly into the ditch outside the camp, where they were immediately pierced by sharp wooden stakes.
The people behind followed one after another, falling into the trench in rows.
Then came the Juma and Antlers, and all the peripheral defense facilities were swallowed up by these frightened and defeated troops.
This is what any army is most afraid of, the roar of the camp!
The Tibetan soldiers, who had already woken up, were holding on to the fence of the camp. They kept slashing with swords and guns in their hands, killing an unknown number of defeated soldiers, and even piled up a ramp outside the camp.
It's a pity that it's useless. There are so many defeated troops that they can't be killed at all.
The first broken soldier crossed the fence and tumbled into the camp.
The defeated soldiers were quickly killed with one sword, then the second, and the third.
Hundreds of defeated soldiers were killed, but more and more followed, until they could no longer stop them.
When the cavalry of the Tang Dynasty rode down the slope and rushed into the camp, everything ended accordingly.
The Tang army that rushed in drove away the surrounding coalition forces, threw ropes to get stuck on the fence, and then fought hard to beat the horses and drag the fence.
The overwhelmed fence finally collapsed, and more Tang Army cavalry rushed in.
The rest of the battle is all about pursuit.
Until this time, the sound of horns and drums finally sounded from Shule City a few miles away.
The city gate that had been closed for a long time was opened, and a large number of defenders rushed out and beat up the drowned dogs.
There were no surprises in this battle. Even if Lu Dongzan was here at this time, facing this kind of situation, he could only seize the horse and run away.
The Tang army's cavalry pursued him for dozens of miles before returning with unfulfilled interest.
In the Tubo camp, Cheng Chumo hurriedly found Li Yunze who was doing post-war inventory.
"General of the Third Division!"
When Cheng Chumo met, he saluted and called Li Yunze's official official title, "Please general, please save my father!"
Cheng Yaojin led more than 10,000 Tang troops south to Dabolu, but there has been no news for several months.
One can imagine Cheng Chumo's mood in a place thousands of miles away from China.
Li Yunze looked him over. His sad stubble and bloodshot eyes were enough to prove how much mental pressure he had endured during this period.
Facing the anxious Cheng Chumo, Li Yunze had no words to comfort him, nor did he make any sweeping promises. He just said, "Get up and do things first."
At this time, Cheng Chumo was a general of the Shule garrison, not Cheng Yaojin's son.
There are many things to do, such as cleaning the battlefield, counting battle achievements, trophies of heads, escorting prisoners, and so on.
It took two full days to thoroughly clean the area around Shule.
There were tens of thousands of Zahu and Zhaowu surnames captured in this battle. The Tubo people who were regarded as the main targets of the attack later calculated that the number of soldiers and horses in their camp was not the estimated 10,000 or 20,000, but nearly 10,000.
Thirty thousand people.
If we had not taken advantage of the information gap and fought a beautiful surprise battle under the cover of the rainy night, it would not have been an easy task to defeat so many troops.
After that, Li Yunze ignored Cheng Chumo's pleading and quietly repaired his troops and horses, treated the wounded, and sent out scouting horses to look around to find out what was going on in the distance. He just did not send troops to rescue Cheng Yaojin.
When the angry Cheng Chumo wanted to leave the Shule city defense to Li Yunze and lead troops to rescue him, the emperor would send a telegram to severely reprimand him and ask him to obey Li Yunze's orders.
From a subordinate point of view, Cheng Chumo was a subordinate of General Cheng Yaojin of the Second Division, so he could naturally ignore Li Yunze's orders.
But now we have the emperor's telegram. Even if Cheng Chumo stated that the telegram was not an imperial edict, the Tang army under his command would not follow him.
We have to wait until the detective horse comes back to know the news about the surrounding area.
But the news from Chang'an City, thousands of miles away, was truly immediate.
Cheng Chumo was so sulky that he simply locked himself in the mansion and drank all day, leaving everything to Li Yunze.
Li Yunze was not polite here and immediately took over the military power and readjusted the troops and horses he brought with the Shule garrison.
Cheng Yaojin definitely wants to rescue, but not now.
The prerequisite for rescuing others is not to get yourself into trouble.
After waiting for more than ten days in Shule, a large supply convoy finally arrived slowly.
On the third day after the convoy arrived, Li Yunze led thousands of cavalrymen who had already been selected, one person and four horses, like thunder, and headed south to attack Congling.
Congling, also known as the Pamir Plateau, is the intersection of multiple mountain ranges.
The altitude here is very high, usually above several thousand meters.
Mountains stretch, river valleys criss-cross, and moraine plains and desert plains alternate.
The most eye-catching thing is the permanent snow and icebergs on the countless mountain tops, which look very impressive from a distance.
If you want to go to Dabolu and Dabolu, it is most convenient to take Congling and cross the Sole River, which is also the route Cheng Yaojin took before.
However, when Tan Ma reported that all the bridges on the Sole River had been destroyed, Li Yunze knew that this road was impassable.
Unwilling to give up, I rode my horse to the river bank myself, and sure enough I saw the rushing river and the destroyed bridge.
There were also provocations from the Tibetans on the other side.
Some people may say that there are no bridges on rivers where you can take a boat.
However, the reality is that the Sole River is a river valley with steep and towering cliffs on both sides. The river is roaring and flowing very fast.
It was impossible for the Tang Army's cavalry, which carried a large number of horses and supplies, to cross the river on a large scale by boat in this environment.
Looking again at the Tubo people on the other side who were provoking madly towards them, Li Yunze took out a crossbow with a range of hundreds of steps from his bag and "detoured."