On the vast desert, tens of thousands of cavalry meandered, with rumbling hooves, clanking armor, and flags fluttering in the wind. The majesty of the victorious army was fully displayed. Even the scorching sun in front of them could not affect the high morale of tens of thousands of soldiers.
The loud military songs rang loudly, and the heroic spirit soared into the sky.
It has been more than a year since I left Hexi last year. Even though the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty have long been accustomed to the wind and sand in the desert and are not acclimated to garrisoning in Persia, they have been away from home for a long time.
Thoughts are unavoidable. Now, after finally embarking on the journey of returning home, there is no one who is not smiling. Of course, there are exceptions. The commander of the three armed forces, Lin Chengbin, has never shown a smile on his face, and he has never even spoken.
They rarely said anything, and there was a faint look of worry in their eyes as they looked to the sky from time to time.
"Hey..."
As noon approached, a small black spot suddenly appeared in the cloudless blue sky in the distance. It moved very quickly towards the direction of the Tang Army. It was a goshawk, but I saw this goshawk circling over the Tang Army.
, while emitting a loud eagle whistle, seeming to be calling Shenzi.
"Qu..."
As soon as the goshawk's whistle stopped, a roar echoed from the ranks of the Tang army. Immediately, the goshawk swooped down at high speed, falling from the sky like a sharp arrow, and stopped steadily beside an officer who rushed out of the queue.
On the shoulders.
"General, urgent message from Mosul!"
The officer took out a piece of beef jerky, tossed it lightly, and while the goshawk was receiving the food, he skillfully removed a small copper pipe from the eagle's leg, and then ran straight to Lin Chengbin's horse without stopping.
, bowed slightly and hurriedly reported.
"Um."
Lin Chengbin responded calmly, reached out and took the small copper tube handed over by the officer, unscrewed the hidden button on it with familiarity, took out a small rolled piece of paper from it, spread it out, and passed it quickly.
After saying it once, his eyes suddenly became sharp. He raised his hand and shouted an order: "Stop the whole army and rest on the spot. All generals will gather here immediately!"
"Woo, woo, woo woo..."
Lin Chengbin gave the order, and the bugler behind him immediately played the horn in his hand. Amidst the shrill sound of the trumpet, the Tang Army brigade that was originally moving stopped in an instant, and a series of commands were sounded one after another.
, the generals from all departments rushed to the central army on horseback.
"General, are you going to start a fight?"
The generals from all ministries arrived quickly, but most people didn't understand the significance of this emergency gathering. But Liu Ziming knew it well. He declined Li Xian's offer to stay and hurried all the way back to Persia for the sake of peace.
It was such a battle that was about to begin. In addition, he was very familiar with Lin Chengbin, so he didn't have too many worries. He just rode his horse and rushed forward. He didn't even have time to get off the horse, and he yelled anxiously.
His voice immediately caused all the surrounding generals to start making noises.
"map!"
Tactical deception was needed before the battle was launched, and it was necessary to keep it secret. As for now, it was no longer necessary. Because of this, although Lin Chengbin did not respond to Liu Ziming's shouting, he did not deny it. He just waved his hand with a solemn expression and said lowly.
After a shout, the guards waiting on the side rushed forward, unfolded the large military map on the spot, and spread it on the hot sand.
"Everyone, please see, the Great Food Army has sent 450,000 troops, divided into three groups, one of which starts from the city of Bukhara, with 100,000 troops, intending to seize the old mouth of the Buha River and block our army's eastward retreat; The other route starts from Xiye City, with a force of 120,000, coming from the south, with the intention of encircling our army in the Laohekou area with the enemy's main force of 230,000 troops starting from Mosul. Based on the enemy's journey, the enemy is coming from the north. The fastest one can arrive, and it is estimated that we will be able to reach the mouth of the Laohe River before the next day. Even if our army runs at full speed, it will take until midnight tomorrow to reach the mouth of the Laohe River. At that time, it is already dark, and our army has no boats, so it will be difficult to do so. If there is no accident, the enemy will be blocked at the mouth of the river. In addition, the enemy troops starting from Xiye City are expected to arrive at the mouth of Laohekou around noon. If our army crosses the Buha River forcefully, the enemy will attack our front and back. , as for the enemy's main force, due to the road, they rushed to Laohekou. Calculated at the fastest speed, the forward army would have to arrive at Laohekou four days later at noon. At that time, if our army was fighting hard with the two enemy armies, If we don’t stop, we will be in danger of being annihilated! The situation on the battlefield is like this, do you have any advice?"
Lin Chengbin bent slightly, pointed at the map with the riding crop in his hand, and explained the situation between the enemy and ourselves one by one. Finally, he looked around at the generals and asked calmly.
After several reinforcements, the Tang army now only has more than 33,000 troops. Including the more than 3,000 former Tubo prisoners of war who were used as civilian reinforcements, the total number is only a little over 36,000, and it faces 450,000. In the Dashi Cavalry, there is a huge disparity in strength between the enemy and ourselves. The fifteen to one gap is obviously not something that can be made up by courage and determination, especially in such an empty desert and vast sea. If we really have a head-to-head confrontation with the enemy, There was no doubt that the Tang army would be annihilated. Even though the generals of the Tang Dynasty were experienced in many battles, they undoubtedly felt tremendous pressure at this time. No one stood up to answer Lin Chengbin's question. , the atmosphere at the scene inevitably became a bit dull.
"I'm so afraid, just beat him. It doesn't matter which way he comes. Our army will only fight in one direction. Why worry about defeating the rebel army? According to Liu, let's attack the big food army in Xiyecheng first, and then beat him." If you hurt the little ones, it’s not too late to go back and kill the enemy’s main force. As for the bandit army on the other side of the river, the two don’t have the guts to cross the river to fight, so let them cool down and go away!”
Liu Ziming had fought many fierce battles in the past few years, and his nerves were as thick as hemp ropes. He didn't care about the large number of soldiers in the food army, and started shouting carelessly.
"That's right, beat him, that's it!"
"Okay, kill him happily!"
"General, please give the order!"
…
All the generals of the Tang Dynasty were all brave men. After being provoked by Liu Ziming, they all became energetic and roared and declared for war.
"General Li, what do you think?"
Lin Chengbin was not moved by the generals' enthusiasm. He just stood still indifferently. After the generals gradually calmed down, he turned his head to look at the silent Li He and asked expressionlessly: .
"We must fight, but we must not act recklessly!"
As the commander of the cavalry of the Tang Army, Li He had known for a long time that there would be such a battle. He had also rehearsed it many times in private. He had a clear judgment on the situation of the battle, so he was not in a hurry to say what the outcome would be. He came out not because he was reserved, but because he wanted to hear Lin Chengbin's opinion first. Now that Lin Chengbin asked the question first, Li He would not hide it and gave an affirmative answer with a resolute look on his face.
"Well, General Li, please speak clearly."
Lin Chengbin obviously agreed with Li He's views, but he still didn't make any comments, let alone tell his own strategy, but continued to ask questions calmly.
"General, please see, our army is here now, still more than two hundred miles away from the enemy in Bukhara. Even if the enemy and we are facing each other, we will not collide head-on until noon tomorrow at the earliest. The enemy
And although we are outnumbered, we may not be able to win quickly, but if the enemy retreats without fighting, it will be difficult for our army to achieve success in one fell swoop. Once the enemy's main force detects the movement of our army, it will change its route and attack with all its strength. It's time
, our army may be in danger of being attacked by enemies from both front and rear. Therefore, although it is feasible to destroy the enemies in Bukhara first, it must be properly deployed. I thought it could be divided into three steps. One is to use small groups disguised as large groups.
Secondly, use an infantry force to guard the key pass of Tianhuang Mountain to block reinforcements from the enemy's main force. The main force of our army will directly attack the enemy in Bukhara City and set up the battlefield.
In the basin at the southern foot of Tianhuang Mountain, we must strive to defeat the enemy in one battle, and then return to the division to engage in a decisive battle with the enemy's main force, taking advantage of the momentum of victory and defeating the enemy in front of the mountain in one fell swoop!"
Li He spoke freely without any hesitation, and explained in detail the strategies he had in mind.
"What a good plan. The bandits don't know that our army has detected their tracks. If they suddenly change directions, they will be defenseless. It will be easy to defeat the enemies of Bukhara City in one fell swoop!"
"Yes, a small part of our army can tie its horse tail to a branch to disguise the marching image of the majority. By the time we reach the mouth of the Laohe River, it will be dark, and it will be difficult for the enemy on the other side to see the authenticity!"
"The battle at Tianhuang Mountain will be the key. If we can stop the enemy's main force from rushing forward, our army will have an opportunity to adjust after a great victory over the enemy in Bukhara City. While waiting for work, it will not be difficult to defeat the enemy!"
…
All the generals were veterans of wars and were no strangers to strategies and tactics. After listening to Li He's statement, everyone's minds came alive and they all came up with suggestions. While chatting and laughing, their morale suddenly reached its peak.
"General Xiao, do you have any other suggestions?"
As the saying goes, heroes think alike. What Li Hezhi said was Lin Chengbin's strategy that he had been thinking about for many days. He would not have any different opinions on this. However, Lin Chengbin still did not rush to express his attitude. Instead, he pressed his hand and signaled to everyone.
Jiang Jingjing then turned his attention to Xiao Sanlang and asked inquiringly.
"This strategy is a great good one. In the end, I will ask for orders to defend Tianhuang Mountain."
As the third most powerful person in the army, Xiao Sanlang is also one of the people who knows the inside story. Over the past few days, he has also secretly speculated on the battle situation. The conclusion he reached is not much different from Li He. At this time, Lin Chengbin asked a question.
, so I stopped talking nonsense and simply asked for orders to fight the most difficult defensive battle.
"Well, okay, all generals obey the order. Except for the cavalry, which sent a team of a thousand people to continue eastward, the rest of the troops immediately turned towards Tianhuang Mountain and set off!"
Lin Chengbin has always been a decisive person. Now that the generals' tactical thoughts have been unified, he will no longer waste his words. With a wave of his hand, he has finalized the entire army's action strategy in one sentence. In a moment, there was a loud sound of trumpets.
The Tang Dynasty cavalry, which was ready for preparation, turned to the north and swept towards Tianhuang Mountain in a mighty manner...