Chapter 180: Shudun City Falls, Plan for Jiuqu

"You all follow me, I will go ahead!"

"drive!"

Seeing that the city gate was about to close, Li Xuan clamped his legs hard on the belly of the Arabian horse.

The soldiers' horsepower is far less than that of the Arabian horses.

If the city gates were closed, the Lintao army would suffer even greater casualties.

The opportunity finally came, and Li Xuan was determined to give it a try no matter what.

The Arabian horse was illuminated by the moonlight, looking silvery white. It rushed towards the city gate as fast as an arrow.

When they were ten steps away from the city gate, Li Xuan reined in the horse to prevent it from crashing into it.

At this time, the city gate was still ten feet away from falling.

Li Xuan jumped off the Ferghana horse holding an iron spear and rushed directly to the thousand-jin gate that was about to fall.

The gate is only about eight feet from the ground.

He rushed forward and entered the city gate without hesitation.

"Oh!"

Dozens of Tibetan soldiers blocking the door wanted to stab Li Xuan and prevented him from entering.

But Li Xuan burst out with all his strength at this time, breaking all the spears that stabbed him.

After he stabbed a soldier to death, he used the powerful iron spear to knock several people away.

Another person was beaten against the wall of the doorway and died a very tragic death.

"Good weight!"

Seeing that there was no one alive in front of the door and the gate dropped another foot, Li Xuan immediately stretched out his left hand to support the door and held the gun in his right hand to be on guard.

It was the first time he felt something so heavy.

His one hand only slowed down the falling speed of the city gate, but did not stop it completely.

Li Xuan's left hand began to tremble, he gritted his teeth, and veins bulged on his forehead.

His waist couldn't help but bend.

But this gate weighs much more than a thousand pounds, and Li Xuan's left hand still cannot stop it from falling.

He knew that unless he used both arms together, he would lack strength.

But he had to keep one hand to hold the gun to resist the Tibetan soldiers in front of the gate and buy time for the Shen Ce Guards to enter the city.

Seeing that the gate was about to fall on his shoulder, Li Xuan simply let go of his left hand and used his shoulder to hold up the gate.

"drink!"

When the heavy gate fell, Li Xuan shouted loudly.

The heavy gate was placed on his shoulders at once, just like it had fallen to the ground, firmly and steadily.

The Tibetan soldiers standing in front of the city gate looked terrified.

What is this?
"Kill him quickly and let the gate fall..."

A brave gatekeeper reacted quickly and drew the sword from his waist, intending to kill Li Xuan while he was pinned down by the city gate.

Although Li Xuan was wearing iron armor, the Tibetan gatekeeper still tried to chop off Li Xuan's head.

"clang!"

Li Xuan carried the door on his shoulders, his hands were free.

He flicked the gatekeeper's knife lightly with his iron spear, and it flew away.

"Pfft!"

Li Xuan had a very wide armspan, so he continued to shoot, stabbing him straight through the heart.

When he retracted the gun, blood was dripping from the blade.

The other Tibetan gate guards were already terrified.

They couldn't see Li Xuan's face, and even in the dark doorway, they couldn't see Li Xuan's eyes.

All that could be seen was Li Xuan's figure, as if standing upright against the sky and earth, preventing the gate from falling.

But everyone also felt as if they were being stared at by a tiger, and their hair stood on end.

If they got closer, they would surely die miserably like the gatekeepers before them.

"Monster!"

In an instant, the Tibetan gatekeepers lost their nerves.

Instead of going forward to kill Li Xuan, they dropped their weapons, stepped out of the doorway, and ran away.

"What's going on? The city gates are already closed, why are they still rushing to the city?"

The deputy general of Shudun City on the city wall was full of confusion.

Because more than a hundred armored soldiers of the Tang army had dismounted and rushed towards the city gate as if the gate was open.

The deputy general thought that the Tang soldier who had just been killed had either entered the city or been isolated in front of the thousand-jin gate. There was no third possibility.

But the deputy general suddenly noticed a commotion in the city, and the shouting was getting louder and louder.

what happened?

"General, the gate won't go down for some reason."

The soldier operating the winch then ran to report to the deputy general of Shudun City.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier!"

The deputy general immediately went down the city wall to investigate.

Under his feet, the Shen Ce Guards, supported by Li Xuan, filed in.

"Li Shuai Tianwei!"

Although the Shen Ce Guards were shocked, they were not that surprised.

They thought this was Li Shuai's basic operation.

But Li Xuan was really exhausted at this time.

When all the Shen Ce guards rushed into the city like crazy, Li Xuan used both arms to hold up the thousand-jin gate.

Although his face was red, the gate did not fall again.

Then Li Xuan withdrew, picked up the iron spear and rushed into Shudun City.

"Pfft!" "Pfft!"

Every member of the Shen Ce Guard drew his sword, and each one was inspired by Li Shuai's "divine power" that was holding up the city gate, as if they had been given a new state of mind.

All the Tibetan soldiers they encountered died by their swords.

A group of masked "monsters" suddenly broke in, and the soldiers of Shudun City were caught off guard.

"Why can't the gate be lowered?"

The deputy general who came down from the city wall saw the Tang army killing people everywhere in the city, and he was full of questions.

Based on his experience, in a situation like just now, the city gate would definitely be closed in time.

Unfortunately, the gate failed to work, allowing the Tang army to break in.

"General, there is a monster... who just lifted the gate..."

A soldier guarding the city gate who witnessed the process came to the deputy general of Shudun City in panic and spoke intermittently.

"How is this possible? How could there be someone like Li Xuan in the Tang army?"

The deputy general was shocked and at a loss as to what to do.

Everyone knew that "Li Xuan" was in Qinghai, but the deputy general did not expect that the person who had just raised the city gate was Li Xuan.

Moreover, he knew the weight of the gate. Not only one person, but even ten strong men could not lift it.

At this time, there were less than a thousand soldiers in Shudun City, and they were being chased and killed by a group of masked Tang soldiers.

These Tang troops did not use knives or guns, only swords, which showed their uniqueness.

"Quickly open the gates and let General Meilu in to encircle and annihilate the Tang army that has entered the city."

"Send a message to the warriors. The Tang army that entered the city is just people wearing armor, and they are also flesh and blood. They must be killed."

The deputy general gritted his teeth and gave the order.

He thought there were still 500 cavalry and more than 1,000 infantry outside the city.

Little did they know that the cavalry had already been defeated by the Shen Ce Guards.

The infantry were chased and killed by the Tang Dynasty because of their "loss of morale".

Under the order of the deputy general of Shudun City, the soldiers on the city wall worked hard to turn the capstan and open the gate.

But at this time Li Xuan had already set his sights on the city wall. He led Luo Xing, Xue Cuo, and a dozen Shen Ce Guards to attack the location of the deputy general of Shudun City.

The deputy general was so frightened that he could only run to the city wall with a few followers.

Li Xuan picked up a shield on the ground, held the iron spear in one hand and the shield in the other, and rushed towards the city wall.

"Pfft!"

Two Tibetan soldiers on the steps wanted to pluck up the courage to attack Li Xuan, but Li Xuan stabbed one of them to death.

Another person had his neck slashed by Luo Xing with a machete.

"Follow me!"

Li Xuan climbed up the city wall with his shield raised.

really!

At the entrance of the corridor, two Tibetan soldiers armed with crossbows suddenly appeared.

"Whoa!"

Two crossbow arrows were shot out.

All were blocked by Li Xuan's shield.

"Pfft!"

Li Xuan threw the iron spear out, and a Tibetan crossbowman was directly pierced through. When another Tibetan crossbowman wanted to dodge, Li Xuan jumped onto the city wall in two or three steps.

"Oh!"

Li Xuan used his shield to knock him away.

"puff!"

Li Xuan pulled out the iron spears from the bodies of the Tibetan crossbowmen and began to clear the city walls.

In fact, there were not many soldiers on the west wall of Shudun City.

"Kill them! Don't let them prevent the gate from rising."

Seeing Li Xuan rushing up, the deputy general of Shudun City shouted orders.

When Li Xuan saw this man shouting in Tibetan, he rushed over immediately.

The left and right wanted to protect the deputy general.

But Luo Xing and Xue Cuo appeared with the Shen Ce Guards and stopped these Tibetan soldiers.

"Shh!"

The Tibetan deputy general drew his saber and prepared for battle.

The main reason was that Li Xuan and the Shen Ce Guards were dressed exactly the same, and the deputy general couldn't tell which one was the one guarding the city gate.

His knife slashed straight at Li Xuan's neck.

"Dang!" Li Xuan moved his spear, knocking the deputy general's sword away.

The unarmed deputy general was still in a daze when Li Xuan grabbed his neck and lifted him up high.

"Woooo..."

The deputy general's face was red and his legs were kicking wildly, as if he would die at any time.

Li Xuan held the deputy general in one hand and the iron spear in the other, and came to the winch on the city wall that controlled the raising and lowering of the sluice gate.

When several Tibetan soldiers saw this situation, they dared not move and let go and ran away.

The floodgate, which had not yet been opened one-third, was slowly lowered.

The Tibetan infantry who were about to enter the city were blocked at the gate.

The Lord General of Shudun City under the city wall was so angry that he started cursing!
"Oh!"

Li Xuan threw the Tibetan deputy general off the city wall.

At this time, the Tubo deputy general had no breath, and his body fell right in front of the Tubo main general.

After seeing the deputy general's body, the commander of Shudun City and all the Tibetan soldiers felt a chill in their hearts.

"Let's go... break through to the south gate and enter the city. We must wipe out the Tang army in the city."

At this time, the Lord of Shudun City secretly cursed his deputy general as a waste. How could he allow the Tang army to enter the city?

That group of cavalry was too elite, and the commander was afraid that the 1,000 defenders in the city could not hold out.

The killing by the Tang army's crossbowmen continued. Some of them used powerful crossbows again to shoot the Tibetan soldiers who were running around.

At the same time, thousands of Tang army light cavalry arrived at Hongji Bridge first.

When they heard that there was a battle in Shudun City, they immediately crossed the Hongji Bridge and came to Shudun City to provide support.

One rider after another passed across the bridge.

Soon, hundreds of people rushed to Shudun City to help the crossbowmen hunt down the defeated Tubo soldiers.

After seeing the light cavalry arriving, Li Xuan felt that the situation was settled.

He ordered his personal guards to raise the thousand-pound gate at the west gate of Shudun City and allow the Tang army's light cavalry to enter the city.

On the other side, the Lord General of Shudun City finally ran to the South Gate, but found that the gate of the south city wall was closed. There was not even a soldier on the wall, so no matter how much he shouted, it was useless.

He could only take his remaining troops and make another detour, preparing to head for the East City Gate.

But before he reached the east gate, the Tang army's light cavalry caught up with him.

The Tang army's light cavalry, holding swords, slashed left and right, and with the help of the power of their horses, they easily killed the Tubo soldiers.

"I surrender!"

Seeing that victory was hopeless, the general of the Meilu family did not die bravely, but knelt down and surrendered.

The previous bold words were just a joke.

The Qingqi Langjiang felt that this man was of unusual status and tied him up.

In Shudun City, after the Tang army's light cavalry broke in, the surviving soldiers dared not fight anymore and all knelt on the ground begging for mercy.

The auxiliary staff, craftsmen, servants, and slaves did not dare to resist at all.

The Tibetan flag fell in Shudun City.

The flag of the Tang Dynasty slowly rises...

Half an hour later, the Tang army's elite cavalry, heavy armored infantry, and Modao troops also gathered at Hongji Bridge.

Li Xuan ordered the Modao generals, heavy armored infantry, and strong crossbowmen to quickly cross the Hongji Bridge.

The rest of the heavy cavalry, elite cavalry, and light cavalry stayed on the other side of the bridge. Except for the patrolling light cavalry, the others cooked, rested, and fed grass for the war horses.

……

Baigu City.

This city is named after its abundant wheat, highland barley and other grains. The Tibetan leader who was second only to Moluqiongsang and Woermang was hiding in this city.

He had already received news that a large number of Tang troops had entered the country.

"Why would they go to Hongji Bridge? Why didn't they inform us in advance and let Shudun City take good care of Hongji Bridge?"

Lun Xijia Zang was very angry at this moment and suddenly told him that the Tang army was going to raid Hongji Bridge.

He didn't even have the chance to pass on the message.

Now they blame those people for not notifying Hongji Bridge.

The Tang army was marching so fast that within this hundred miles, all parties should have been notified and fully defended.

"Back to the big theory, one man in the Tang army rode two, three, or even four horses. I suspect they didn't carry any food supplies, and they relied mainly on looting. That's why they were able to move so fast."

"Now I just hope that General Meilu can see through the intentions of the Tang army and block the Hongji Bridge. Block the Tang army at Jiuqu. Our army will dispatch the Tuyuhun and Bailangqiang cavalry to cooperate with the infantry to encircle and annihilate them."

The defender of Baigu City said to Lun Xijia Zang.

"Order all infantry and cavalry in Jiuqu, except those defending the city, to quickly assemble at Hongji Bridge."

"Issue another order to have Bailang Qiang and Jiuqu Tuyuhun quickly gather young and strong men. If they dare to delay military operations, they will be severely punished."

Lun Xijiazang gave the order.

"As ordered!"

The Tibetan messenger went out again to urge them.

Before this, Lun Xijia Zang had already issued two orders in succession.

"Dalun, the two-horse cavalry of the Tang army must be the elite of the elite. Let the Tuyuhun and Bailang Qiang fight against them, they may not be able to withstand it. We should inform Molu Dalun that it would be best to dispatch 20,000 cavalry to Jiuqu. Because we don't know whether the Tang army has other means."

The commander of Baigu City suggested to Lun Xijia Zang.

"Where can we find cavalry? All our cavalry are on the Qinghai battlefield, fighting against Li Xuan's 30,000 cavalry. Do you want General Nanang to use 30,000 cavalry to resist Li Xuan's 30,000 strong army?"

Lun Xijia Zang glared at the commander of Baigu City.

They believed deep down that it would be difficult to defeat Li Xuan with the same number of people, and they could only win by doubling their numbers.

The commander of Baigu City didn't dare to say anything. He always felt that the Tang army had more than 20,000 cavalry entering the country.

"Report... Report to you, a soldier claiming to be from Shudun City has crossed the river on a sheepskin raft and told the scouts that Shudun City has been lost and the Tang army has occupied Shudun City and Hongji Bridge."

The messenger, carrying a banner of utmost urgency, rushed into the hall to report to Lun Xijia Zang.

Hearing this, Lun Xijia Zang's eyes widened and he suddenly stood up from the couch.

The air in the entire lobby froze.

After a while, Lun Xijia Zang sat back on the couch.

"Clap clap clap..."

"Shudun City has strong armor, sharp weapons, and tall walls. The Tang army is cavalry and will not carry heavy siege equipment, at most siege ladders. How dare he abandon Shudun City in such a short time? Doesn't he know what Shudun City means to Tubo?"

Lun Xijia Zang seemed to have exploded. He slapped the bed three times in a row and yelled loudly.

It would be fine if Hongji Bridge was lost, but how could they lose Shudun City as well?

"If he's alive, even if he's from the Meilu family, I'm going to chop off his head!"

Lun Xijia Zang said fiercely again.

"Report..."

"Your Excellency, there are more than 10,000 Tang infantrymen and 2,000 Tang cavalrymen entering Jiuqu. They are carrying many chariots, which seem to include large siege equipment such as catapults..."

Another messenger came into the hall with a flag.

Bad news came one after another, making Lun Xizang cover his chest with his hands.

At this moment, he was certain and certain that the Tang army was coming for Jiuqu.

Now Shudun City has been lost. If Wanxiu City, Damomen City, Baigu City, Heixiachuan and other cities and strongholds are lost, the entire Jiuqu will change hands.

Jiuqu is the core area that Tubo has operated for many years. It is a pasture and military farm, and it can even transport some grain, cattle and sheep back to Lhasa City. It cannot be lost.

"Notify Meilu Dalun to return to Jiuqu for support if possible!"

Lun Xijia Zang ordered his messengers to cross the Yellow River on ox-hide rafts, and asked Moluqiongsang and Woermang to dispatch some soldiers to return for defense, even if it was only infantry.

The Tang army has too big an appetite. They want to beat Shibao City, Qinghai, and Jiuqu to death!

"As ordered!"

The messenger immediately went to convey the order.

"Don't worry about Hongji Bridge for now. Move all the troops to the north to rescue Wanxiu City!"

On Xi Jia Zang, he changed the order again.

Until the Tuyuhun and Bailang Qiang cavalry came to support them, they could not face the Tang cavalry directly.

The main reason was that after the Tang army captured Shudun City, they had someone to rely on.

……

"General Li, there are 20,000 sets of chain mail, iron armor, and leather armor in this city, as well as tens of thousands of weapons and arrows. There is also a lot of food stored. In addition, there are tens of thousands of yaks, camels, and sheep in the pastures around Shudun City."

"The most important thing is that we found hundreds of Tibetan craftsmen in the city who can make chain mail, Tibetan crossbows and many iron tools. This is a huge loss for Tibet."

After Gao Shi counted the spoils, he reported to Li Xuan.

"That's right! Imprison the Tibetan captives, craftsmen, and all non-members in the city. Anyone who dares to resist at this time will be killed without mercy!"

Li Xuan instructed Gao Shi.

They sent at most two or three hundred soldiers as guards.

So it’s very stressful!
Not only do we have to defend Shudun City, we also have to defend Hongji Bridge.

Their strong crossbowmen, heavy armored infantry, and Modao troops, together numbered less than five thousand.

Li Xuan could foresee that the defenders from Qinghai and Chiling would quickly go to Jiuqu for support.

Even if we have to give up the attack on Jixin Valley, we must come to support Jiuqu.

At this time, we must rely on heavy armored infantry, crossbowmen, and Modao soldiers.

"Distribute the iron armor and chain mail to the crossbowmen to increase their protection. Also, select 2,000 sets of chain mail for me, and prepare the Tibetan battle flags, and deliver them to the other side of Hongji Bridge."

Li Xuan instructed Gao Shi.

He planned to use Tibetan war flags and chain mail to launch an ambush on Tibetans.

"As ordered!"

Gao Shi understood.

From this moment on, the Tang army began to build defensive positions in front of Hongji Bridge.

Utilizing the resources in Shudun City, deer antlers and chariots were placed in front of the heavy infantry and crossbowmen.

The city of Shudun was defended by a thousand light cavalry skilled in archery and eight hundred scouts.

To the west of Hongji Bridge, there were a thousand Modao soldiers, a thousand heavy armored infantry, and nearly a thousand crossbowmen.

To the east of Hongji Bridge were a thousand heavily armored infantry and a thousand crossbowmen.

The East can support the West at any time.

If the Tibetan soldiers in Jiuqu dared to attack the east side of Hongji Bridge, Li Xuan would lead the cavalry to rescue and charge with heavy armored cavalry.

This was done to protect the Hongji Bridge from being destroyed by Tubo.

As long as Hongji Bridge is there, Li Xuan can attack Qinghai from Hongji Bridge at any time.

The remaining 11,000 light cavalry, elite cavalry, heavy cavalry, and elite cavalry will be led by Li Xuan to participate in the battle in Jiuqu.

"Reporting to General Li! We have detected that Tibetan soldiers are heading north towards Wanxiu City..."

At midnight, the scouts from the scout camp reported to Li Xuan...

(End of this chapter)