Chapter 181 Snowflakes fall, Tibetan soldiers support Jiuqu

"Tibet wants to stop General Geshu and General Murong."

After learning that the Tibetan army was heading north, Li Xuan immediately understood Tibetan's purpose.

The soldiers of Jiuqu saw that the Lintao army was a tough nut to crack and were worried that Wanxiu City would be breached, so they made this decision.

Li Xuan has interrogated some important information about Tubo from the captives in Shudun City.

Ten thousand Tibetan imperial guards and ten thousand cavalry stationed in the pastoral area have left Jiuqu and headed for Qinghai for support.

Currently, Tubo is in Jiuqu, with 3,000 troops in Damomen City, 4,000 troops in Wanxiu City, and 3,000 troops in Hongji City.

The four cities that have not yet been built, including Maqu and Helin, can mobilize nearly 10,000 troops.

The grain storage area, Heixiachuan and other places can gather less than 8,000 troops.

There were more than 30,000 men in total, of which less than 3,000 were cavalry.

The remaining ones are the Jiuqu Tuyuhun tribe and the Bailang Qiang tribe!

Without the reinforcements from Qinghai and Chiling, Tubo would never have been their opponent.

It would take some time for Tubo to deploy its troops in the vast Jiuqu, so Li Xuan did not let his subordinates set out overnight.

We can take a break tonight and gather our strength so that we can send out troops to stop the enemy tomorrow.

Daybreak.

After enjoying the mutton, the soldiers all mounted their horses.

The light cavalry and elite cavalry, each with three horses, lured the horses of the Modao Army, heavy armored infantry, and crossbowmen and rode them so that they could maneuver faster.

Li Xuan left Zhang Xing in command at Hongji Bridge.

Gao Shi was left behind to guard Shudun City.

Most of the Tang army craftsmen, assistants, and auxiliary personnel who accompanied the army stayed in Shudun City.

Li Xuan only brought some military doctors with him during the march.

Some cattle and sheep were slaughtered and put on the horses as food to replenish their strength.

Only Cen Shen, two military commanders, and four accompanying soldiers were there to record the battle situation.

There are Hongji City and Damomen City within dozens of miles of Hongji Bridge, so you must be careful and guard against them.

However, Li Xuan guessed that after Shudun City was captured, the Tibetan defenders of Damomen City and Hongji City would never send troops easily.

Gao Shi also followed Li Xuan's instructions and handed over 2,000 sets of Tibetan chain mail to Li Xuan, to be placed on his horse and carried.

There are also some various Tibetan flags.

"Boom!"

At Li Xuan's command, the army swept through Jiuqu.

It was clearly the border of Tubo, but the Tang army entered as if in an empty land.

As Li Xuan had expected, the surrounding Hongji City and Damuomen City were all closed and the soldiers were on high alert.

Under such circumstances, the main force of Tubo still had to fight against the Tang Dynasty.

Because the last time Huangfu Weiming went deep into the Tibetan territory and broke through the Hongji City, he killed thousands of Tibetan civilians in retaliation for the Tibetan Dahua's massacre in the city, which made Chidai Zhudan furious and he dealt with Xiao Gonglun who was stationed in Jiuqu.

If other Tibetan infantrymen were like the defenders of the cities and hid in the city.

The Tang army went on a killing spree, and no one could take the responsibility.

At worst, the Tang army would drive the Tibetan herdsmen and civilians into the Tang Dynasty to weaken Tibet's power.

There were not many Tibetan cities in Jiuqu, and most of the people lived in the open air.

Those military cities were not large in scale, with only a few thousand soldiers, and it was impossible for them to accommodate Tibetan people.

For example, in the city of Shudun, there were more than 700 blacksmiths and craftsmen, as well as more than 1,500 auxiliary personnel and slaves, plus 3,000 soldiers. How could other civilians be allowed to enter?

"Reporting to General Li, the Tubo army is now gathering thirty miles south of Wanxiu City! They are escorted by cavalry and already have more than 10,000 soldiers. There are also Bailang Qiang and Tuyuhun cavalry around them."

After running for an hour, the scouts from the scout camp reported to Li Xuan.

"Once they have gathered, it will be time for our army to defeat them!"

Li Xuan had already figured out how to deal with the Tibetan coalition forces.

Moreover, it was inevitable that the Tibetans would gather together to resist the Tang cavalry.

Just wait for the Jishi Army and the seven thousand Tuyuhun soldiers from the north to approach.

When fighting, Li Xuan likes to encircle and annihilate the enemy's active forces first, so as to achieve the greatest victory.

"Li Shuai, you carry Tibetan armor and banners. If you want to play the role of a Tibetan soldier, why not send cavalry to capture a city?"

While changing trains for a break, Cen Shen said to Li Xuan.

"Sima Cen, what do you think?"

Li Xuan asked Cen Shen.

"We can stage a self-torture tactic in front of Damoumen City. Our cavalry will chase the soldiers pretending to be Tibetan cavalry. When they are close to the city, some of the disguised cavalry will delay our "pursuers" while another part of the disguised cavalry will rush to the gate of Damoumen City. Seeing this critical moment, the Tibetan garrison may open the city and let the disguised soldiers in..."

Cen Shen suggested to Li Xuan.

"Sima Cen's suggestion is very good. But whether it is Damommen City, Hongji City, Wanxiu City, or Baigu City, they are not strategic locations and are far less important than Shudun City. Our goal is to recapture Jiuqu, and these cities are just to add some military merits for us."

"Even if we follow Sima Cen's suggestion and successfully capture Damoumen City, the news that we are pretending to be Tibetan soldiers will spread. Damoumen City only has 3,000 soldiers. If we can use pretending to be the enemy to defeat the 20,000 Tibetan soldiers south of Wanxiu City and subdue Bailang Qiang and Tuyuhun, the ultimate strategic significance will be far greater than a Damoumen City."

"There is only one chance, and it cannot be replicated. Sima Cen's method is only a medium-level strategy. What we need is a superior strategy. Just like Feng Yi of the Later Han Dynasty pretended to be the Red Eyebrow Army and defeated the Red Eyebrows, it will be a key step for us to recover Jiuqu."

Li Xuan politely rejected Cen Shen's suggestion to defraud the city.

Before opening the gates, if the defenders asked a random question, they would be exposed and their plan would fail.

If at a critical moment, the cavalry appeared behind the Tibetan infantry formation and charged fiercely, the Tibetan soldiers would be too late even if they wanted to ask.

"Li Shuai's vision is beyond my reach! I didn't think it through."

Cen Shen and many other generals used siege as a sign of occupying a place.

After all, even historians writing history would make special mention of sieges.

Now, after Li Xuan's reminder, Cen Shen understood the importance of annihilating the enemy's main force.

As long as a large number of Tibetan soldiers are wiped out, the remaining cities can be slowly attacked with heavy siege equipment.

If possible, Li Xuan didn't want to attack the city.

But he also knew that in order to take over Jiuqu, he had to pull out these nails.

Because he has to face the counterattack of Tibetan soldiers in Qinghai, Jiuqu must be stable.

If they failed to capture these cities before the Yellow River froze, they would be in great trouble.

Li Xuan had already instructed Geshu Han not to be stingy with arrows and to shoot for a few days before looking for flaws to attack the city.

"Let's go! It is said that a great theorist of Tibet is in Jiuqu. Let's see if he dares to march with the main force!"

Li Xuan smiled.

Capturing the Tubo Great Theorist is equivalent to capturing the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty.

This is a first-class military achievement!

Li Xuan knew that the most powerful and prestigious leader in Tubo was Moluqiongsang Woermang.

Li Xuan will definitely meet him if there is a chance.

……

Chiling, Jixin Valley.

The war is still going on, with swords flashing and blood flowing like a river.

The corpses were spread out in the valley layer by layer, and the blood froze into ice cubes.

The Tang army had taken advantage of the gap in the Tibetan attack to withdraw from the most primitive line of defense.

They had enough vehicles and deer antlers to form a new line of defense and inflict heavy losses on the Tubo.

Although the Tang army suffered heavy damage, the Tibetan casualties were several times more than that of the Tang army.

In order to attract Tubo firmly, the Tang army also lit three smoke signals under the Shibao City, making Tubo feel extremely urgent.

No matter how anxious they were, it would be useless. It would take a long time to defeat the Tang army.

Because even when the Tang army retreated during the battle, they were very measured.

As soon as the Tang army raised a signal smoke, the Tibetan defenders in Shibao City immediately felt something was wrong.

Xinoro immediately ordered his men to light up the wolf smoke to send a signal to Moluqiongsang and Woermang.

However, when the Shibao City lit the wolf smoke, the Tang army immediately extinguished it.

Xinoro simply ordered the soldiers to light only one beacon to send a signal that the situation was not very urgent.

But the Tang army immediately used a makeshift beacon tower to ignite two columns of smoke.

This made Sinoro blew his beard and glared...

In the eyes of Moluqiongsang Woermang, who was dozens of miles away, the situation in Shibao City was a sign that it was about to collapse.

He couldn't help but curse Xinoro. How could he not hold on for just a few days after stockpiling so many weapons and equipment in Shibao City?

The Jixin Valley has turned into a war of attrition, and Meiluqiongsang Woermang can only keep sending people in.

I just hope that the Tang army will not be able to hold on and will collapse.

However, just when Meiluqiongsang Woermang put all his energy into the battle of Jixin Valley, a piece of news made him feel like he was struck by lightning!
The Tang army’s cavalry raided Jiuqu!

We have now controlled Hongji Bridge and captured Shudun City!
In other words, Jiuqu had been cut off by the Tang army, and they could only transmit messages via sheepskin rafts.

"The Tang army is trying to drive our Tubo out of the Yellow River and Qinghai!"

Moluqiongsang and Woermang also understood the purpose of the Tang army.

Qinghai needs 50,000 cavalry to hold back Li Xuan's 30,000 cavalry, and they are also fighting a tough battle here.

The military force is already stretched to its limits.

If we transfer some soldiers to Jiuqu for support, it will be very difficult for them to break through Jixin Valley to support Shibao City. "Dalun, the Tang army not only has 20,000 cavalry to attack Jiuqu, but also more than 10,000 infantry carrying large siege equipment. This is clearly to annex our territory. Now Shudun City to the west of the Yellow River has been lost. If Wanxiu City, Hongji City, Damomen City, and Baigu City to the east of the Yellow River are taken, it will be very difficult for us to recapture Jiuqu. It is inevitable to return to Jiuqu for support. Please make the decision, Dalun."

An official said to Moluqiongsang Woermang.

"I'm worried that the Tang army will block the east side of Hongji Bridge with armored shields. Then we won't be able to cross the Yellow River."

Meiluqiongsangwoermang was very afraid of this.

At this time, he somewhat regretted transferring most of Jiuqu's cavalry away, leaving Jiuqu short of cavalry.

"Even if we have to take a sheepskin raft, we have to cross the Yellow River to provide support. We can't wait for the Yellow River to freeze..."

The official had one more pessimistic word to say.

That means Jiuqu is about to be lost and Hongji Bridge is about to be destroyed.

This was to prevent the Tang army from passing through Hongji Bridge and attacking Qinghai at any time.

"Then let's take back Shudun City first."

"Send 20,000 infantrymen to rush to Hongji Bridge. At the same time, prepare sheepskin rafts and cowhide rafts to cross the Yellow River."

Meiluqiongsangwoermang gritted his teeth and gave the order.

"As ordered!"

Several Tibetan generals immediately went to mobilize troops.

"With the loss of another 20,000 elite soldiers, can we still take over Chicken Heart Valley?"

Meiluqiongsangwoermang couldn't help but express his doubts.

His subordinates now include the Tongjia, Subi, Tuyuhun, Dangxiang and other tribes, with a total of less than 50,000 people.

Among them, the more than 10,000 Dangxiang and Tuyuhun had weak combat effectiveness.

Tongjia and Subi's morale was not high either.

Meiluqiongsangwoermang fell into self-doubt.

He always felt that he had missed something. Ever since the Tang army attacked the garrisons in Chiling, they had been led by the nose by the Tang army.

Before he knew it, Meiluqiongsang Woermang had grown older. A man in his sixties, he had hardly slept for several days and nights.

I was determined to fight and never gave up.

He looked at the warriors who kept falling in front of the battlefield, the corpses piled up like a mountain, it was a tragic scene.

Looking at the smoke in the distant sky, it seemed that the color had changed.

Looking at the densely packed camps of the Tang army, the shouts were deafening, the drums and horns were beating fiercely, and there was no sign of disorder.

Looking at the gloomy sky, it seems as if God is angry...

A crystal snowflake fluttered and fell on the old face of the poor and ugly man.

The cold touch made Meiluqiongsang Woermang's body tremble.

He suddenly realized that he could not continue fighting in Jixin Valley, and immediately issued an order: "Stop fighting!"

After withdrawing 20,000 Tibetan infantrymen, Moluqiongsang Woermang realized that they would not be able to take Jixin Valley.

In this case, why waste the lives of soldiers?
"Woooo..."

The sad horn of retreat sounded.

After hearing the retreat horn, the Tibetan soldiers left and engaged in a spear-to-spear battle with the Tang army.

The Tang army took advantage of the chaos in the Tibetan soldiers' retreating formation and the strong crossbow soldiers shot crossbows, preventing hundreds of Tibetan soldiers from retreating.

"Da Lun, how about Iron Blade City?"

A Tibetan general named Shang Duore'er saw the stop horn and ran to Moluqiongsang Woermang to ask.

They need to continue to put pressure on the Tang army in order to have a chance to break through Jixin Valley.

Once Li Xuan is given the opportunity to reorganize his army, all previous efforts will be wasted.

"Iron Blade City is important. But we have not been able to overcome the difficulties in the past ten years since we lost Iron Blade City in the Year of the Earth Snake. But Jiuqu cannot be lost. We need to concentrate our strength to defend Jiuqu."

Moluqiongsang Woermang explained to the generals and monk Duoreer.

He was afraid that after the attack, not only would the Stone Fort be lost, but their 50,000 soldiers would also be killed in the siege.

The Tang army was very well prepared.

"If we withdraw, the Tang army might turn defense into offense!"

Shang Duore thought that the Tang army would rush into Qinghai from Dongshankou.

"So we have to set up defenses next and confront the Tang army in Jixin Valley. We will dispatch another 10,000 people to Jiuqu. 40,000 people are enough to defend Chiling!"

Meiluqiongsangwoermang doesn't worry about this.

He wished that the Tang army would take the initiative to attack them, because that would cause the Tang army to shed more blood.

"We follow the orders of Dalun..."

Chandorger also understood the importance of the matter.

It has been nearly twenty years since Moluqiongsang Woermang replaced Wei Dazha Gonglu as the great theorist in the year of Earth Dragon (the 16th year of Kaiyuan), and he can be compared to "Li Linfu of the Tang Dynasty".

Other great theories have changed again and again, but this one remains standing.

This is certainly not because Luqiongsang Woermang was autocratic and dictatorial, but because he enjoyed a very high reputation in Tubo, from the nobles to the common people.

All the great scholars who were members of the Shang clan called him "Dalun Jiongsang".

After he made this decision, the other generals stopped objecting and focused on executing his orders.

A total of 30,000 soldiers were dispatched to Jiuqu.

The other tribes retreated several miles and stationed for defense at a mountain pass only two miles long.

At the same time, Moluqiongsangwoermangxiangchidaizhudan submitted a memorial, hoping to continue to recruit young and strong men, especially cavalry, to come to Jiuqu and Qinghai for support.

Some troops can be appropriately drawn from Nanzhao, Jiannan, Xiaobolü, Tianzhu and other places.

He also expressed the current crisis situation.

Li Xuan was different from other Tang generals. His three-pronged approach was obviously intended to annex Jiuqu and Qinghai.

If they don't want to lose, they must have enough troops.

In the memorial, Moluqiongsang Woermang promised to fight for a victory for Tubo in order to boost morale.

Driving the Tang army out of Jiuqu was a victory in the eyes of Moluqiongsang Woermang.

Therefore, Moluqiongsang Woermang sent another order to Lun Xijia Zang, hoping that he would make use of the Bailang Qiang and Tuyuhun tribes and focus on defense.

Waiting for reinforcements to arrive!
……

"Not only did Tubo give up the attack, it was also retreating."

The Tang army was also surprised that Tubo suddenly stopped the attack, and Gao Xiuyan felt that they still had a lot of strength left.

"It was General Li who successfully attracted the Tubo. The Tubo commander on the other side felt that there was no hope of defeating us, so he had to retreat. Asking them to give up Shibao City would be difficult for them!"

Liu Dan said slowly, there is only this answer.

When Tubo felt that it could not break through the Tang Dynasty's formation, retreat was inevitable.

The lesser of two evils!
Tubo wanted to abandon Shibao City and save Jiuqu.

"Judge Liu, should we pursue our victory?"

Gao Xiuyan asked Liu Dan.

"That's not necessary. The Tibetans may not necessarily withdraw from the East Pass of Chiling. If they deploy troops in front, it will be difficult for us to capture it."

Liu Dan shook his head.

They couldn't retreat either, they had to stay and let Tubo know about the situation in Shibao City.

"The cavalry of the Hexi and Longyou armies are now being used as infantry in Jixin Valley. Our army can mobilize 10,000 cavalry, withdraw from Dongshankou, cross the Yellow River at Jishijun Ferry, and enter Jiuqu to support General Li."

Hexi Secretary Duan Xiushi suggested this to An Sishun, Gao Xiuyan, Liu Shan and others.

Now that Tubo has withdrawn, there is no desire to continue the fight.

Even if they transferred away 10,000 cavalry, they could still hold the city.

And the 10,000 cavalrymen can play a key role in Jiuqu.

Tubo no longer participated in the Jixin Valley Battle, and was obviously preparing to transfer a large number of infantry to Jiuqu for support.

"Yes! I agree..."

"agree……"

An Sishun, Gao Xiuyan and others were granted military power by Li Xuan, and after discussion they all agreed.

The brothers Li Fei Yuanli and Li Fei Shouyu led 10,000 cavalrymen to leave Jixin Valley at night and reach the Jishijun Ferry...

In three days at most, they will reach the Nine Bends Land.

……

After Moluqiongsang and Woermang calmed down, they were eager to investigate the situation in the Tang Dynasty and had to send a group of soldiers to enter the Tang Dynasty from the northeast mountain pass, the west mountain pass, and the rugged paths where garrisons were once built to gather information.

The 10,000 Tang army soldiers who were ambushed in garrisons such as Hongyan Fort and Yingshan Fort and on various mountain roads played a role.

In the ambush, the Tubo people suffered thousands of casualties and were unable to pass through Chiling.

When Moluqiongsang and Woermang learned that the Tang army had ambushes in various roads, especially at the northeastern and western mountain passes, where there were thousands of Tang troops, they had an even worse premonition.

Without supporting Red Rock Fort and Eagle Mountain Fort before, it was impossible to attack again.

But at this moment, Meiluqiongsang Woermang must be steadfast in rescuing Jiuqu.

In order to prevent any accidents in Qinghai, he ordered 50,000 cavalry and 20,000 infantry in Qinghai to support each other.

The main purpose is to delay Li Xuan.

Only when Qinghai is stable can Jiuqu go all out.

(End of this chapter)