On a hill not far from the city, clusters of firewood were burning, making a crackling sound.
After three or four days of trekking, the Tang army finally arrived at the Jiuqu line in the afternoon of May 21, the eighth year of Tianbao. After investigation by the scouts, most of the nearby Tibetan troops huddled within the city walls, and there were no traces of soldiers outside the Jiuqu city.
No stationed Tibetan soldiers were found.
After discussing with the marching Sima, Gao Xiuyan, the commander-in-chief of the Tang army, issued an order for the entire army to hide and ambush. After a scouting team of several hundred people, they found the more than 300-foot-long stone five hundred steps away from the city wall.
Gao Xiuyan was overjoyed when he saw this excellent natural bunker, and immediately ordered the Tang army to camp on the spot.
The temporary campsite was located in a small depression in the lee of the wind. Firstly, the terrain here was obviously lower than the sunny side of the hillside, making it easy for a large number of troops to hide. Secondly, there happened to be a large river called Ganhe flowing through the mountainous depression, so we could solve the problem at once.
Solve the drinking water problem of the army.
"Work harder and put this pole up!" Dou Qing pointed to the north corner of the tent and ordered to a veteran of the Tongwu Army.
"Alas, alas." The veteran nodded in agreement and walked towards the tent carrying a wooden pole.
Oddly enough, the leather cover of this tent is not the triangular burlap common in the Tang army, but a mix of several curtains and leathers sewn together. Due to the rush of production, anyone with a discerning eye can tell by looking at it.
I saw the crooked ends of thick thread at the seams. However, in this march, the most important thing is practicality. We are not rushing to make a new coat for the young lady, so why bother with every stitch and thread?
What's even more weird is that this improvised tent is so huge that it can hold up more than twenty triangular single-top tents.
From a distance, this behemoth looks like a giant thatched house wrapped in yellow cowhide. Although it looks ugly, it is full of novelty inside and out.
"General, once the last pole is erected, it will be finished!" Seeing Li Kuo approaching, Dou Qing hurriedly raised his hands and reported the latest situation.
"Yes." Li Kuo nodded with satisfaction and patted Dou Qing's arm: "Brother Dou, thank you for your hard work this time. If this plan succeeds, you will have made a great contribution."
Dou Qing did not dare to take credit. He waved his hands and said, "What are you talking about? If you hadn't come up with such a clever plan, wouldn't everyone be sitting in this mountain and worrying?"
"You can't say that. If it weren't for the brothers' hard work, we wouldn't have been able to finish it so quickly."
"You two, please stop arguing." Li Zigu walked over and said with a smile: "Qilang came up with the clever plan and takes the first place. Captain Dou worked hard and completed the project on schedule, so he takes the second place."
"Third brother, you are such a good old man, I have told you all the good things to say!" Li Kuo has completely come out of the shadow of being forced into marriage by his third brother, and his close relationship with Li Zigu is still the same as before.
Li Zigu coughed lightly: "Now is not the time for joking. Commander Gao wants to discuss something important with you. Please come with me to the Chinese Army as soon as possible."
"Yeah." Li Kuo stopped smiling and nodded.
This time, in the Chinese army tent, the marching commander Gao Xiuyan was pacing anxiously.
"Hiss", the curtains opened, letting in a blast of cold wind.
"You are here, come and take a seat!"
Gao Xiuyan was obviously very anxious, and his voice was urgent.
Li Kuo and Li Zigu sat down one by one according to their rank in the army, and raised their hands to Gao Xiuyan.
"We are late, please forgive me, Commander-in-Chief."
"Forget it." Gao Xiuyan waved his hand, sat down on the main seat and said, "I summoned everyone overnight today, and you should all know the reason. It has been five days since we arrived at Jiuqu Yiyi, so many people were traveling all the way to Haohaotang.
As Tang did, no matter how well the concealment work was done, the Tibetan people would have noticed it."
"Commander Gao is right. The scouts we sent searched the top of the mountain, but couldn't find a single person. In my humble opinion, there shouldn't be a large Tibetan army within dozens of miles. They should have already obtained
After hearing the news, he hid in Jiuqu City."
A Tang Army general who looked like an adjutant patted his chest and was the first to respond.
"Yes." Gao Xiuyan waved his hand to signal him to be calm: "The reason why we marched all the way so fast was to avoid leaks. Now it seems that there is no airtight wall in this world."
He originally wanted to lead his troops to defeat the Tubo army stationed on the outskirts of Jiuqu City, and then concentrate his superior forces to attack the city. Now it seems that this plan is impossible to realize. Although the Tubo people are smaller in number than him, they have a fortified city.
The city can be defended. As long as they close the city gates and refuse to fight, there is nothing he can do. Although he has 30,000 elite soldiers and 5,000 warriors from the White Wolf tribe, he does not have the absolute confidence and courage to attack the city by force.
Although Jiuqu City is not as tall and solid as the Central Plains City, it is still dozens of feet high. Its number is only twice as many as the Tubo people. Even if the city is captured, the losses will be very heavy.
Moreover, their mission on this trip was not to seize the city, but to besiege the city to force the Tibetans on the front line of Chiling to return for reinforcements. But it was obviously not a good idea to waste time outside the city. The garrison in Jiuqu City should be 10,000.
Between 20,000 and 20,000, the food stockpiled in the city is conservatively estimated to be enough to feed the Tibetan people for two full months.
Two months! Gao Xiuyan smiled bitterly in his heart. Not to mention whether the Battle of Hehuang would be over in two months. Even if the army could stalemate with the Tubo people on the front battlefield, the Tubo people would not be exhausted by then. Tens of thousands of his own
Brother may be dying of hunger!
Fortunately, this guy Li Kuo came up with such a brilliant plan!
Glancing at the young man, Gao Xiuyan felt mixed emotions in his heart.
As the commander-in-chief of an army, he feels very conflicted now. On the one hand, he is grateful that the young man has come up with a clever plan, but on the other hand, he feels a strong sense of threat. Recently, this young man has been too eye-catching and too eye-catching.
It's so outstanding that the limelight has even slightly overshadowed me!
Hum, if he is more honest, give him some sweetness. If he doesn't know how to advance or retreat, just take this opportunity...
"Thanks to Lieutenant Li for coming up with such a clever plan, the Tubo people have suffered a lot now." He thought in his heart, but a smile had already appeared on his face. "I hurriedly summoned everyone here today just to tell you
Everyone, the river course has been changed!"
After looking around at everyone, Gao Xiuyan said proudly: "In the past, Wang Ben used the Tianhe River to flood the beams, but now I, Gao Xiuyan, use the Tianhe River to flood the Jiuqu. I just hope that everyone can work together to capture this strong city. By then, history will be recorded.
It will also mark us down in great detail!” (Note 1)
Note 1: In the 22nd year of the Qin Dynasty (225 BC), Qin sent general Wang Ben to lead his troops to attack Wei, and diverted the Yellow River and Dagou water to irrigate the Wei capital Daliang (now northwest of Kaifeng City, Henan). The city of Daliang was destroyed and the King of Wei surrendered.
Take all the land of Wei.
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