Chapter 121: Armored Cavalry, Shocking News

"ah.……"

Suddenly, screams came from all directions.

The Tibetan captain He Xi Nongcan's expression changed.

The Tang army actually carried buckets of boiling hot water and poured them down.

The boiling hot water was poured directly on their heads, and the Tuyuhun soldiers instantly lost their combat effectiveness.

This must be extremely hot water.

The key point is not just this one point, but the walls on all four sides, pouring hot water down together.

It lasted for a quarter of an hour.

The Tuyuhun soldiers were boiled like dead pigs.

"How long does it take to boil so much hot water?" Xi Nongcan asked.

The Tibetan captain didn't say anything, but he had a bad feeling in his heart.

The brutal battle lasted for another half an hour.

The Tang army was still throwing stones down.

Even if the Tibetan captain He Xi Nongcan was stupid, he knew that the Tang army was prepared.

If this continues, their 10,000 men may not be able to capture Pingyi Shouzhuo City.

"Report..."

"Captain of the Thousand Households, thousands of Tang cavalry suddenly appeared behind us."

"Report..."

"Captain of the Thousand Households, there is a cavalry of at least a thousand men in armor rushing towards us."

The Tibetan cavalry patrolling the surroundings looked panicked and rode their horses to report to the captain.

"No, we fell into a trap!"

Xi Nongcan suddenly slapped his chest.

The armored cavalry were well-equipped, and as far as they knew, they were the elite troops that only existed in Huangshui City.

The Tibetans had heavy cavalry whose men and horses were all wearing chain mail, but they were the Tibetan imperial guards.

Lian Lunxinoza was not qualified to be transferred.

What's more, the Tang army's armored cavalry were all wearing Tang army's standard fish-scale heavy armor, which had even stronger defense and impact power.

"Quick, tell the other three walls to give up the siege and mount their horses to fight the enemy."

The Tibetan captain was stunned for a moment and immediately gave the order.

In this case, not riding a horse would be a death wish.

However, the soldiers were scattered on the four sides of the city walls, and it would be difficult to mount their horses and form a battle formation in a short time.

Some of the Tubo and Tuyuhun cavalry had not yet touched their horses, but Xin Yunjing led 3,000 light cavalry and roamed behind them.

He divided the light cavalry into six teams, each with 500 men. They were not allowed to engage in close combat and were only allowed to practice riding and shooting.

The six light cavalry teams supported each other.

Four teams attacked from the left and right flanks, while two teams conducted guerrilla warfare in the rear.

Like a bag, it blocked the Tibetan cavalry's retreat.

The Tibetan captain temporarily organized thousands of cavalry to attack Xin Yunjing's light cavalry.

The Tang army's light cavalry wore leather armor and carried only bows and arrows and horizontal swords.

There was no extra encumbrance on the horses except the water bottles carried by the soldiers.

This made it difficult for the Tibetan cavalry to catch up.

The Tibetan cavalry knew that their retreat was cut off, so they charged straight at the 1,000 Tang light cavalry that were blocking their retreat.

"Retreat and shoot!"

Xin Yunjing turned his horse around.

Their purpose was to delay the retreat of the Tibetan cavalry, or temporarily slow down the retreat of the Tibetan cavalry, so that the heavy cavalry and elite cavalry could rush in and strangle the enemy.

"Shhhhhh!"

The Tang army turned their heads and drew their bows while running, and Tibetan cavalrymen continued to dismount.

Two more teams of light cavalry provided support on the flanks.

Half of the 1,000 Tibetan cavalry were shot off their horses before they even reached the Tang light cavalry.

They were all charging cavalry. Although they had horse bows, they were far inferior to the well-trained Tang army, and the damage they caused to the Tang army's light cavalry was very limited.

In desperation, this team of Tibetan cavalry retreated back to the captain and Xi Nongcan.

"Damn it! You're afraid of death and you've retreated. How can we leave?"

"Pfft!"

The captain of a thousand households drew his sword and killed the leading captain of a thousand men.

The other Tibetan cavalrymen were startled.

"Warriors, there is no way back. Let us fight with courage and honor! Only in this way can we fight for a way to survive."

The captain was a brave man and didn't want to retreat any further.

Because retreat will lead to a great collapse.

They still have seven or eight thousand cavalrymen. If they organize themselves together, they might be able to fight.

He ordered some armored cavalry to block the Tang army's armored cavalry that were about to charge over and buy time.

The other cavalry mounted their horses and formed a battle formation to deal with the Tang light cavalry in the rear.

"My men, if you don't fight for your life, you will die miserably. This prince will fight to the death with you."

Xi Nongcan cut off his robe, as if he would rather die with honor than live in disgrace.

……

"Boom!"

The armored cavalry galloped, making the earth tremble.

Both the people and the horses were wrapped tightly, and the fish-scale armor gleamed in the sun.

The entire team was like an armored torrent, galloping down in this early winter season.

The Tang army all carried long spears.

Hundreds of Tibetan armored cavalrymen fearlessly charged towards the armored cavalry of the Tang army.

The god of chariots was also wearing armor on both horse and man, and holding a long-handled knife.

"Soldiers, use the enemy's blood to build our military achievements. Don't care about the number of enemies you kill. We are a whole. General Li will not treat our armor and cavalry equipment unfairly."

"Charge directly to the rear, and do not stop or turn around without orders."

When he was only thirty feet away from the enemy, Che Shensai raised his long sword with one arm and roared.

Soon after he finished speaking, the armored cavalry engaged the Tibetan cavalry.

"Pfft!"

Che Shensai clenched the long sword in both hands and swung it down suddenly, chopping off the head of a Tibetan armored man.

"Clang!"

The Tubo attack was blocked by Che Shensai who swung his long sword. He swung the sword repeatedly and killed several people.

Some Tang soldiers held sharp spears and used the power of their horses to pierce the enemy's armor.

The overwhelming momentum pressed forward.

"Boom!"

Although the Tibetan cavalry also wore iron armor, their horses were unarmored.

If the Tang army's cavalry could not penetrate the enemy's armor, they would use their spears to stab the enemy's horses.

The Tibetan cavalry who fell off their horses would inevitably be trampled to death by the Tang army's horses.

In an instant, hundreds of Tibetan cavalry were dispersed by the Tang army's armored cavalry, which were united as one.

Che Shensai was the most valiant. He swung his sword with great force and was unstoppable. He specifically targeted the heads of the Tibetan cavalry.

His sword skills were exquisite, and when he passed through the Tibetan cavalry, he killed more than a dozen of them.

The armored cavalry did not stop to clean up those "fish that slipped through the net". They obeyed the orders of Cheshensai and rushed directly to the back of the Tibetan soldiers with the momentum of their horses.

The hundreds of armored cavalry organized temporarily were no match for the fully-equipped Tang army cavalry.

The Tibetan captain He Xi Nongcan had not yet organized the cavalry of the two tribes.

Seeing the armored cavalry rushing towards them, many Tibetan and Tuyuhun soldiers rode their horses and hid far away out of fear.

Qianhuzhang and Xi Nongcan were also very desperate. Their lofty ambitions seemed like a joke in the face of absolute strength.

How can the soldiers with flesh and blood resist the armored cavalry?
"If I deploy my troops, the outcome is still uncertain!"

The captain gritted his teeth. The Tang army's light and heavy cavalry launched surprise attacks from the front and back. In addition, they had just suffered a bloody defeat in Pingyi Shouzhuo City, so they had no time to form a formation.

Otherwise, whether it is the armored cavalry or the light cavalry, they will have defects and may be defeated by them.

"Captain, look at the smoke and dust behind the armored cavalry."

Suddenly, Xi Nongcan pointed to the rear of the armored cavalry.

There is also golden light flashing from time to time in the winter.

"The elite cavalry of the Tang Dynasty may number in the thousands."

The Tibetan commander was already in despair.

Light cavalry, heavy cavalry, and elite cavalry.

The Tang army attacked them one by one, not giving them a chance to counterattack.

Even if their cavalry is in a state of complete victory, it is still difficult to face them.

"Now we can only march our entire army southwards to join the main force. Hope for God's blessing!"

The armored cavalry kept charging their own cavalry. To the east was the Li River and to the west were hills.

Only the south!

The captain finally realized that fighting head-on would mean losing his life, and he only hoped that the main force would notice the abnormality and send reinforcements to support them.

Before the elite Tang cavalry rushed over, the disorganized Tibetan cavalry marched southward despite the harassment from the Tang light cavalry.

The armored cavalry and elite cavalry were chasing behind.

Xin Yunjing commanded the light cavalry with ease, and used archery to block the Tubo cavalry's way south.

After the armored cavalry had charged for more than ten miles, Li Xuan ordered them to stop their horses, take off their armor and rest.

There were more important things to do next. They needed to recover their energy, bring the other horses over, and continue heading south.

The real decisive battle will take place near Anxiang City.

Li Xuan led his personal guards and was the first to catch up with these scattered Tibetan soldiers.

"Pfft!" "Pfft!"

These Tibetan soldiers and Tuyuhun soldiers had their backs to Li Xuan and were easily stabbed to death by Li Xuan with his horse lance.

The imperial guards, the Shen Ce Team, used these defeated Tibetan and Tuyuhun soldiers to train themselves.

They did not use bows and arrows, but would use the long spears in their hands to kill the enemies whenever they caught up with them.

There were only two hundred cavalrymen, but they were as swift as flying and blew away the remnants of the fleeing soldiers.

Three thousand elite cavalry also pressed forward in groups, attacking from the left and right sides.

The Tang army waved their flags, sang loudly and advanced rapidly, with their spirit as mighty as thunder and their voices as loud as the wind and rain.

They pursued the enemy until sunset in the afternoon, killing more than 7,000 Tibetan and Tuyuhun cavalry.

During the siege, Tubo and Tuyuhun also lost nearly two thousand soldiers.

Tubo and Tuyuhun escaped the encirclement of the Tang army's light cavalry with their lives. Although there were only a few of them left, Li Xuan saw the Tubo general's flag and led the Shen Ce team and a part of Nan Jiyun's elite cavalry in hot pursuit.

"Bend the bow!"

Li Xuan gave an order to Shen Ce.

A few dozen steps away, Li Xuan bent a strong stone bow and shot a Tibetan soldier off his horse.

Apart from Li Xuan, Li Sheng had the best archery skills and he also hit a Tibetan cavalryman.

As for the rest of the personal guards, some were available.

The fleeing Tibetan captain He Xi Nongcan was horrified.

They clearly felt that the Shence Team was different from other Tang troops.

This archery skill is so accurate.

If this continues, they can be shot to death in just a few rounds.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa..."

Sure enough, the second round of arrows arrived and killed dozens more people.

"Rumble..."

At this moment, Xin Yunjing led a team of hundreds of light cavalry and came up from the side, seemingly about to block the Tibetan thousand-householder chief He Xi Nongcan.

"God has doomed me..."

This Tibetan captain, Bi Zana, was courageous. He stopped running and did not want to be captured. He said to his subordinates, "We will die in the name of the gods. Follow me! The marshal will avenge us!"

"kill!"

The Tibetan captain and his men fought a final desperate battle.

Li Xuan had already drawn his bow and drawn his arrow, but he finally put the arrow away.

These enemies wearing gold-lettered certificates and several silver-lettered certificates will be handed over to me to accomplish meritorious deeds!
In the end, the Tibetan captain, who was equivalent to a prefect and a governor of the Tang Dynasty, was stabbed to death by Nan Jiyun.

The rest of the Tibetan cavalry, officials, and generals were all killed.

"I am the prince of Tuyuhun, I surrender!"

Just like in history, Xi Nongcan cherished his life and did not choose to fight to the death.

When Li Xuan heard the name of the Tuyuhun prince, he ordered his soldiers not to kill him.

He always had to capture a few enemies of unusual status to give Li Longji face. If Li Longji was happy, he would be rewarded.

"General Li, there are only a few hundred Tibetan cavalrymen escaping."

Nan Jiyun reported to Li Xuan.

He had a total of 3,000 light cavalry under his command, and it was impossible for him to stop all the fleeing Tibetan cavalry and Tuyuhun cavalry.

"It doesn't matter. We have won the first battle. We will rest for a while, gather the light cavalry, elite cavalry, and heavy cavalry, and march south in different formations."

Li Xuan ordered the spare horses to be brought over so that they could recuperate on the spot.

The soldiers who were in charge of Pingyi Shouzhuo were responsible for cleaning the battlefield and collecting the Tibetan horses.

……

When the Tuyuhun soldiers attacked Pingyi Shouzhuo City fiercely, Anxiang City was ten miles away in the south across the Li River.

"Our army should be attacking Pingyi Shouzhuo City."

As Synozza was marching, he glanced at the sun in the sky.

Tubo had a large number of infantry and used ox carts to pull heavy armor, so their marching speed was slow.

Although Tubo was an agricultural and pastoral country, it was still unable to provide war horses for every person.

If all of Tibet's 400,000 or 500,000 soldiers had war horses, that would be too outrageous.

What's more, the Tibetans prefer fighting on foot.

The cavalry is weak and the bows are weak, but the heavy infantry is extremely brave. This is the evaluation of Tubo by famous generals.

However, Tubo's subordinate tribes such as Tuyuhun and Subi were good at riding and shooting.

"I think they have already broken through the Pingyi defense, and are just waiting for the messenger to return."

Gao Xiuyan was flattering him on the side while thinking about how to get out of this situation.

He left his soldiers at Anbian Fort.

He had ordered that if the main army moved away, these two hundred soldiers should stay and hide in the mountains.

In addition, there were 800 border troops and 900 county soldiers in Anxiang City.

So Gao Xiuyan can escape alone.

Estimating the time it would take for the Tibetan cavalry to capture Pingyi, Gao Xiuyan knew that he had to escape within two hours, otherwise the plan would be exposed and Lun Xinuoza would kill him to vent his anger.

"With our army's sharp edge, we can capture Pingyi Shouzhuo City in two hours at most."

Lun Xinuoza certainly heard Gao Xiuyan's compliment, and he made a conservative estimate.

"An Sishun of Fuhan City is a veteran general. His father, An Bozhu, was once the deputy governor of Hexi Jiedushi. An Sishun has been on the battlefield for thirty years and must be very difficult to deal with. I suggest that we first let the heavy infantry cross the river and set up battle array in the north of Anxiang City, waiting for An Sishun to lead the Zhenxi Army to come."

Gao Xiuyan suggested to Lun Xinuoza.

He thought to himself that it would be best if he could wait a little longer if a group of Tibetan soldiers crossed the Anxiang Bridge.

"I have heard of An Sishun's name for a long time. I know that he has served as a military commander in many armies."

Lun Xinuo nodded, agreeing with Gao Xiuyan's suggestion.

Half an hour later, they arrived at Anxiang Bridge, three miles south of Anxiang City.

This is a solid stone bridge, nearly two meters wide.

Synnozza gave the order for the heavy infantry to cross the bridge first.

"Marshal, we are less than three miles away from Anxiang City. I will order my subordinates to open the gates of Anxiang City. Once I have prepared beauties and fine wine, I will invite you into the city!"

When the Tibetan heavy infantry crossed the river, Gao Xiuyan's eyes turned and he spoke to Lun Xinuoza.

"General Gao is thoughtful, but the war is still the most important thing."

Regarding Xinoza's polite words, he did not doubt Gao Xiuyan.

Even if they enter the city later, the soldiers under his command will enter the city first and lead the way.

Gao Xiuyan crossed the bridge and immediately rode back to Anxiang City.

After arriving at the south gate of Anxiang City, Gao Xiuyan moved forward and signaled the defenders on the city wall to open the gate.

After a while, the city gate slowly opened.

"Don't close it, just keep it open! Follow my orders and close the city gates at any time."

After Gao Xiuyan returned to the city, the soldiers wanted to close the south gate of Anxiang City, but were stopped by Gao Xiuyan.

A dozen soldiers stood behind the gate, waiting for Gao Xiuyan's order to close the city gate.

An hour later, all the Tibetan heavy infantry had crossed the river.

"Gao Xiuyan hasn't come back yet?"

Lun Xinuo frowned and ordered his men to go and take a look.

A team of royal guards arrived at the edge of Anxiang City and saw that the city gate was wide open.

Suddenly, there were no doubts in their minds.

They thought they had conquered Anxiang City and all the treasures and women in the city belonged to them.

So he prepared to enter the city with a swagger.

Little did they know that behind the parapet of the city wall, hundreds of crossbowmen were squatting quietly.

"How dare you! Who let you into the city?"

Just as this team of Tibetan cavalry was about to enter Anxiang City, Gao Xiuyan suddenly stood up and shouted from a condescending position.

While these Tibetan cavalry were still in a daze, hundreds of powerful crossbowmen suddenly appeared on the parapet and aimed at the Tibetan cavalry who were only a dozen steps away.

"Shhhhhh!"

Pull the trigger and the crossbow shoots.

At such a close distance, even a person wearing chain mail could be easily penetrated, and it was easy for a crossbowman to aim.

Dozens of Tibetan cavalry were shot dead instantly.

"Eh..."

"what……"

Horses neighed and people screamed.

Although the gate was open, the Tibetan soldiers who were lucky enough to be alive retreated frantically.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the crossbowman guided the arrow into the crossbow arm.

This time the distance was far and only a dozen people were shot dead.

……

In front of Anxiang Bridge.

"Gao Xiuyan was so bold as to kill my personal guards."

Seeing that most of his personal guards had died, Synoza was furious.

How is this going?

Could it be that Gao Xiuyan was pretending to surrender?
If that were the case, the consequences would be disastrous.

Lun Xinuoza had some difficulty breathing for a moment. Gao Xiuyan's expression suddenly changed, obviously luring them deeper.

He then realized that everything around him was too "empty" and there was no one except them.

Even in the surrounding fields, there was no one in sight.

"Marshal, Gao Xiuyan dared to play tricks on us. Please let me capture Anxiang City and cut Gao Xiuyan into pieces."

The fierce general Tongya Hu volunteered to join Lun Xinuozha.

"Go and see what's going on in Anxiang City? Are there many Tang troops?"

Of Synoza giving orders.

They were already very careful and specially sent their subordinate Qiang people to Huangshui City to find out whether Gao Xiuyan had any conflicts with Longyou commander Li Xuan.

Li Xuan first entered Longyou and captured Gao Xiuyan's Lintao military envoy. He then wrestled with Gao Xiuyan in front of officials and generals at a banquet, embarrassing Gao Xiuyan.

Later, Li Xuan, as the herdsman of Longyou, went to Anxiang County to inspect the pastoral supervision. On the grounds that Gao Xiuyan was rude, he impeached Gao Xiuyan as the deputy governor of Anxiang.

This contradiction made Tubo believe it to be true.

One of Gao Xiuyan's servants was tortured to death by them, and another was beaten all over his body, but they still said with a sad face that their master was loyal to them.

In addition, there were dozens of Tang army corpses in Anbian Garrison.

Everything was done by the Tang people.

"How cruel! They didn't hesitate to kill their own soldiers just to lure us in."

Lun Xinuoza muttered to himself, then suddenly raised his head and ordered: "Pingyi Shouzhuo, quickly go and inform the soldiers of Pingyi Shouzhuo to stop attacking the city."

You can figure it out with your butt that Pingyi Shouzhuo is already ready and waiting for them to attack.

"As ordered!"

Not long after the messenger left, the soldiers who were investigating Anxiang City came back and said, "Marshal, there are not many defenders in Anxiang City, and the South Gate is still wide open."

"Marshal, we have finally come here. Please give the order to capture Anxiang City first. I will personally lead the charge!"

Tong Yahu said angrily.

The door is open. Isn't this a provocation for them to attack the city?
"Marshal, no, the only solution now is to retreat!"

A Tibetan official advised.

Since it is a trap, the Tang army must be more than just the Zhenxi Army.

"Coward, the main force of the Tang army is pinned down in the Chiling area. Could it be that the Tang army has reinforcements coming from Hexi?"

Synochus, the brother of Synozza, was also a militant.

He also advocated the capture of Anxiang City.

"It's bad! Marshal, the soldiers who attacked Pingyi Shouzhuo were intercepted by the Tang Army's armored cavalry, Mingguang Iron Cavalry, and Youyi Light Cavalry one after another, and almost all of them were wiped out."

At this time, the defeated Tubo soldiers finally approached the main force.

At the same time, there was also shocking bad news!
(End of this chapter)