Chapter 230: A Battle of Two Hundred Thousand Cavalrymen
The Tibetan Tiger and Lion Imperial Guards chose the Ningkou Army which they were most likely to attack.

It’s not that the Ningkou army’s combat effectiveness is weak, but that the Ningkou army is in the most marginal position and the Tang army cannot provide sufficient support.

After the Tubo defeated the Ningkou army and killed the Tang army's main general Dugu Dan, they immediately mounted their war horses.

The armored cavalry quickly assembled their equipment, turned around and followed the iron cavalry away.

The Tang army's heavy troops came to support them. They lined up in the wild, and the armored cavalry could not break through in a short time.

So Chandorger retreated decisively and looked for the next opportunity.

An Sishun also discovered that the main Tibetan cavalry did not want to fight with them.

The Tibetan horses did not gallop at all, but walked slowly and orderly.

When the Tang cavalry rushed towards them, they quickly turned their horses around and headed back towards Dafei River.

The Tibetan infantry was ready to resist the attack of the Tang cavalry.

Therefore, An Sishun ordered 10,000 light cavalry of the Chishui Army to intercept the iron cavalry that was attacking the Ningkou Army.

In addition, the light cavalry of Ningkou Army, Doulu Army, Moli Army, Jiankang Army and Yumen Pass have been competing with the light cavalry of the Tubo Tiger and Lion Imperial Guards.

The Tang army was very angry that their infantry were attacked by the Tibetan armored cavalry, and they wanted to avenge the infantry.

The Tibetan Tiger and Lion Guards were originally in pursuit, but when the order to retreat was given, they turned around and fled.

They all knew that if they were restrained, they would die on the spot.

Because the Tang army's cavalry was coming in an endless stream.

The two armies confronted each other at Dafei River, where the space was not vast. The Tang army mobilized quickly, but the Tubo fled very quickly.

Although the Tibetan light cavalry ran fast, the armored cavalry moved slowly, and the previous charge had caused the horses to consume a huge amount of energy.

The Tibetan light cavalry had to cover their teammates' retreat around the armored cavalry.

This also exposed a large number of Tibetan tiger and lion light cavalry to the shooting range of the Tang army's light cavalry.

Due to their mental problems, the Tibetan Tiger and Lion Guards became quite passive.

Archery at night depends on luck.

The Tang army fired a rain of arrows in an orderly manner.

The Tibetan Tiger and Lion Guards could only respond with sporadic arrows, making it almost impossible to kill them.

When 10,000 light cavalry of the Chishui Army infiltrated, the Tibetan armored cavalry had already approached the Dafeichuan camp.

They passed through the space between the formations and returned to the Dafeichuan camp.

The light cavalry followed closely.

The Tang army's light cavalry was unable to charge and could only wander outside the Dafei River.

The Tang cavalry could also hear the thunderous cheers from the Dafei River.

In fact, from the light cavalry pursuit in the afternoon to the attack on the Ningkou army at night, the Tibetan casualties were no less than those of the Tang army.

But Tubo broke through an infantry camp of the Tang army and achieved its tactical goal.

Shang Duojieer also believed that he had killed a major general of the Tang army.

Because the armor of the Tang army's main general was obviously different from that of ordinary generals, and only the Tang army's main general could be equipped with personal guards.

This battle greatly boosted the confidence of the Tubo people from top to bottom.

"You have won the battle. Shang Duore will be rewarded with 100 taels of gold and a pasture; Chenbale will be rewarded with 50 taels of gold and 300 acres of land..."

In front of the bonfire, Chidai Zhudan publicly commended generals such as Shang Duojieer and Chen Bale.

And personally cut the roast beef for them.

I hope to keep up the good work and accumulate advantages through small battles like this.

"This is just a trial run. The Tang army's infantry is not that strong except for its cavalry. I will wait for Li Xuan to appear and bring him to see the Zamp."

Shang Duojie was full of confidence. After defeating the general, he thought he was no worse than Li Xuan.

The reason why Li Xuan's reputation is so strong is because of a group of cowards who are spreading it.

If Li Xuan could kill the general with one strike, so could he.

"I will take Li Xuan's life. The Tang army is vulnerable. Before I could even hit them with my hammer, some of them died or some fled. Watch out for my hammer next time to take Li Xuan's life!"

Chenbale felt very sorry that he had not killed the general.

Three hundred acres of land is a far cry from a ranch.

He put all his efforts into killing Li Xuan. He also wanted to become the next Dalun.

After Tubo was changed to the Three Great Theories system by Chidai Zhudan, although on the surface they were checking and balancing each other, in reality, major military and political affairs were mainly controlled by Moluqiongsang Woermang.

Therefore, the promise of Chidaizhudan to let the general who killed Li Xuan become a great theory and it was by no means an empty promise.

After Shang Duojieer and Chen Bale spoke, other generals also made harsh remarks one after another.

They had a great time in this battle and were eager to move to that position.

"I believe in you generals!"

Seeing the high morale of the generals, Chidai Zhudan was very pleased and confident. He asked the ministers, "Can we raid the camp next door tomorrow night?"

"The Tang army is arrogant and has set up camps like this to facilitate their attacks. If they had only built two large camps, our army would have had little chance of a successful surprise attack."

Enlanda Zhalugong reminded Chidai Zhudan: "After a success, I'm afraid the Tang army has been prepared. Or we should adjust the camp layout. Our army needs to be more cautious."

"General, you have a point!"

Chidai Zhudan nodded, it was indeed not advisable to attack at night again, they had to think of other methods.

"Zanpu, allow me to send elite soldiers to patrol and challenge the Tang army tomorrow. If the Tang army dares to fight back, we will surely win again."

Chenbale asked Chidai Zhudan for help.

"We can't do that! General, you still have to find a chance to kill Li Xuan. If you challenge the Tang army, and the Tang army doesn't fight back and sends light cavalry or even crossbow cavalry to surround and shoot you, our army will suffer heavy losses."

Mojie Sangdongzebu stopped this reckless behavior.

Tubo suffered a lot because of its arrogance and self-inflicted power.

Before this, Chidai Zhudan's son Langzhidu thought he was invincible and went out alone to challenge the Tang army.

Lang Zhidu was famous for his bravery in Longyou at that time. The Tang army was afraid for a while and no one dared to challenge Lang Zhidu in a duel.

Wang Nandi, who was serving as the envoy of Heyuan Army at that time, was furious when he saw this. He rode his horse and rushed towards Lang Zhidu with a spear, and stabbed him to death in front of the battle line with a single spear.

The morale of the Tang army was greatly boosted, and they took the opportunity to charge and the Tubo army was defeated.

This is a battle where victory is determined by personal bravery.

So much so that later when An Lushan recommended generals to Li Longji, he would say "he is as rare as the King of Longyou."

Now the two armies are at a certain distance. If the Tang army does not abide by the rules and tens of thousands of light cavalry rush out together, I am afraid that Chen Bale's troops will be shot into targets.

Meiluqiongsang Woermang also thought that this was too risky. Now it concerned the fate of the two countries. Everyone would do anything to win. Who would be willing to argue and fight in a one-on-one duel?
Does it mean that after Li Xuan appears, I have to fight Li Xuan one-on-one?

"Don't have this kind of thought anymore."

Chidai Zhudan rejected Chenbale's request.

He also thought of his son Langzhidu, his favorite and bravest son, who was killed by Wang Nandi.

"If anyone can capture Wang Nandai, it will be a feat second only to killing Li Xuan."

Chidai Zhudan became more and more angry the more he thought about it, and he raised the price of Wang Nande, determined to turn Wang Nande into ashes.

Although they agreed verbally, the generals still regarded Li Xuan as their main target.

Next, Chidai Zhudan and the ministers continued to discuss other strategies...

……

At midnight, Li Guangbi led the vanguard of the Helong cavalry and arrived not far from Dafeiling.

After hearing the news, the main Helong cavalry under Li Xuan's command rode on without stopping.

An hour later, Li Xuan arrived at Dafeiling and met up with Li Guangbi.

Li Xuan saw that on the slope of Dafei Mountain, which was closer to Dafei River, there were a large number of Tibetan soldiers stationed in the dim darkness.

"The Tubo army stationed troops on Dafei Mountain. Besides the fact that Dafei River cannot deploy so many troops, they also want to use the troops on Dafei Mountain as a surprise force."

Li Xuan pointed at the camp on Dafei Ridge and said to Li Guangbi.

It is only about twenty miles away from the Tubo camp in Dafeichuan.

By setting up fences and constructing fortifications on the high slopes, the Tang army could not attack even the followers and servants of Tubo.

By stationing troops here, they could respond to the main Tibetan force in Dafeichuan and attack the Tang army from the downhill at any time.

"The Tibetans must be planning a decisive battle with our army with this arrangement."

Li Guangbi replied to Li Xuan.

"General Li, how do you think our army should regain its prestige?"

Li Xuan asked the strategic Li Guangbi.

"The Dafei River is surrounded by mountains on both sides, and is backed by an ancient road. It is dozens of miles wide and dangerous, and is defended by Tibetan troops. It also uses the Dafei Ridge as a corner, which is easy to defend but difficult to attack. Our army should not use conspiracies. We should use the courage of open conspiracy to defeat the Tibetans!"

Li Guangbi believed that their troops did not need to learn from the Tubo's night attack and take risks. They could just force the Tubo to appear, weaken the Tubo cavalry, and create opportunities for the Lintao army to bypass.

After hearing this, Li Xuan nodded repeatedly. He understood what to do.

"The Tibetans who raided our Ningkou army were armored cavalrymen, the most elite imperial guards. General Dugu was killed in the battle, and more than a thousand Ningkou soldiers were killed or wounded, which had a certain impact on the morale of our army."

"General Li and General Cheng, you will station your cavalry at the foot of the Nanshan Mountains in Qinghai, facing the Dafei Mountains. At all times, there must be at least 10,000 cavalry on horseback. I'm going to go to the Ningkou Army."

Li Xuan then gave instructions to Li Guangbi and Cheng Gui.

He deployed the Heshuo cavalry here at Dafeiling, which was less than ten miles away from the Ningkou army camp. It was impossible for Tubo to launch a surprise attack on the Ningkou army again.

The Tang army camps are scattered and in an offensive formation, and Li Xuan will not shake this arrangement.

Because he was ready to launch an attack on Dayichuan at any time, at the critical moment, more than 200,000 troops had to be pressed forward in a short period of time.

If we don't arrange it this way, we will miss the opportunity to fight.

"As ordered!"

Li Guangbi and Cheng Gui received the order and ordered to set up camp in a higher place.

Afterwards, Li Xuan led his personal guards to the Ningkou army.

"Greetings, General Li. I was negligent and caused the Ningkou army to be attacked by the Tibetan cavalry. General Dugu was killed in the battle. Please punish me, General Li!"

Seeing Li Xuan coming, An Sishun apologized to Li Xuan.

The Ningkou Army is closest to the Dafei Ridge and is at the very edge, so he should send more armored soldiers and cavalry to garrison the Ningkou Army.

"Victory and defeat are common in the military! Moreover, the corpses left by Tubo are no less than ours, and we also lost 200 armored cavalry. It is inevitable that the general will die in battle. When the war is over, we will bury General Dugu with honor."

Li Xuan was not guilty of violating An Sishun's law.

Upon learning that Dugu Dan had died in battle and the Ningkou army camp had been destroyed, Li Xuan was also very angry.

But that's what war is like, life and death are determined by fate.

He could only find an opportunity to avenge Dugu Dan to comfort his soul in heaven.

In hindsight, An Sishun's arrangement was indeed not very detailed.

But every general has his own considerations, and it is impossible for people to take everything into consideration.

For example, this time, the Tang army did not expect Tubo to launch a surprise attack.

The mistake of the caltrops and the bravery of the enemy were also factors in the failure.

"Thank you, Li Shuai!"

"The Tibetans left behind several wounded and unconscious soldiers. After interrogation, we learned that it was Shang Duore'er, the most powerful general of Tibet, who led 17 other fierce generals who were picked from thousands of miles away to launch a surprise attack. General Dugu was most likely killed by Shang Duore'er."

"It is said that these Tibetan warriors gathered together to deal with you, General Li."

After An Sishun thanked Li Xuan, he told Li Xuan about this matter.

Remind Li Xuan to be cautious and take precautions early.

"Chandorger? There are many people who want to kill me, but it's not his turn yet!"

Li Xuan knew this man. In history, he was the vanguard general who led Enlanda Zhalugong to capture Helong and Chang'an.

I just didn't expect Shang Duore'er to be the most powerful general in Tubo.
As a nation with tough folk customs and good at martial arts, anyone who can get this title must be brave.

Even the top generals in the Helong Army might not be Shang Duojie's match.

What's more, Tubo has 17 brave generals who are one in a million.

It was normal for these people to gather together and lead Tubo's most elite tiger and lion armored soldiers to break through the Ningkou army's infantry.

"General Wang and General Nan are now on their way to Dafeichuan. It won't take a few days for Chidai Zhudan to receive this news."

"The time is not ripe yet. Let's wait for five days. During these five days, kill all the Tibetan scouts and take strict precautions!"

"Five days later, put pressure on the main Tibetan army. The armored cavalry will be equipped and put on horseback ten miles away. All heavy armored infantry and crossbowmen will cover the catapults and crossbow carts to the front of the Tibetan formation to undermine their morale."

Li Xuan arranged.

At this time, the Tang army had a total of hundreds of crossbow carts and fifty catapults, which was a considerable scale.

There were many Tibetan camps, and the continuous firing of missiles always caused casualties to the Tibetans.

Under the cover of the Tang army's hundreds of thousands of cavalry, 25,000 armored infantry and 10,000 powerful crossbowmen can definitely protect the catapults and crossbow carts.

If Tubo dares to charge, the Tang army will immediately fight back.

More Tang troops will come forward from behind.

Li Xuan would not allow the Tang army to charge, but would only use catapults and crossbows to torture the Tibetan soldiers and make them exhausted.

Create opportunity for the decisive battle in Dafeichuan.

As long as the Tang army's pressure is strong enough, there will be no conspiracy or intrigue in this small place.

"General Li, our army's catapults and crossbow carts are close to the Tibetan camp. The Tibetans will definitely find ways to destroy them."

An Sishun reminded Li Xuan.

"Then let them see the power of a volley of thousands of crossbows. See if their armored cavalry can break through the Tang Dynasty's heavily armored infantry formations."

Li Xuan hoped that Tubo would come up with the idea of ​​destroying the Tang army's catapults and crossbows.

Once the Tibetan cavalry charged, these catapults and crossbow carts would be pushed away to allow heavy infantry to take over.

The Tang army in Heshuo would dispatch a part of the cavalry to watch over the garrison on the Dafei River.

In terms of cavalry, the Tang army still has an advantage.

However, Li Xuan did not think that Tubo would attack the Tang army's infantry phalanx, but rather use a more extreme method to fight a fierce battle with the Tang army.

In Li Xuan's view, Tubo's only chance now was for them to take the initiative and fight a desperate battle with the Tang army.

Only some small victories can't change the final situation.

"As ordered..."

An Sishun and Gao Xiuyan received the order together.

The next day, the Tang army's light cavalry, led by archers, began to hunt down and kill the Tibetan scouts.

There was a light snowfall during the journey, but it did not affect the Tang army's attack.

Soon after, the snow stopped.

Tubo refused to admit defeat and wanted to compete with the Tang army for light cavalry and control of the field of vision.

But in the squadron-mounted archery clash, the Tibetan cavalry was no match for the Tang army.

In five days, at least thousands of Tibetan cavalry were killed by the Tang army's carefully selected light cavalry.

The damage caused by Tubo to the Tang army's light cavalry was less than 200.

Tubo still wanted to create a record of surprise attack on Ningkou’s army, but the Tang army had improved all its defenses since the arrival of the Heshuo cavalry.

The current deployment of the Tang army is that the Heshuo cavalry and the Chishui army are on both sides.

Like a long snake formation, the cavalry on both wings maneuvered. If they hit the snake's head, the tail would move and it would curl up; if they hit the snake's tail, the head would move and it would bite.

The various camps were still attacking camps, without any change.

With Li Xuan in charge, the morale of the Helong troops remained high.

Tubo had no idea where to start and could only worry.

There were also many bad ideas that were jointly rejected by Moluqiongsang Woermang and Mojiesang Dongzebu.

They thought to wait a little longer.

Five days had passed, and the catapults and crossbows had all been transported from Jiuqu, still operated by the Jishi Army, and pushed towards Dafeichuan.

Team after team of Tang army infantrymen, wearing heavy fish-scale armor and Ming Guang armor, with a small team of fifty men and a large team of five hundred men, guarded the catapults and crossbow carts.

In the back were crossbowmen wearing leather armor, carrying crossbows on their backs, quivers hanging from their waists, and holding long spears.

The Modao Army led by Zhang Xing was also prominently present. They were at the front of the formation and could defend the catapults and crossbow carts in the first place.

"Boom!"

The sound of horse hooves and the neighing of horses reached the Tubo camp.

It was like hundreds of thousands of cavalry charging together.

The Tang army had 1,000 cavalry and heavy cavalry, each divided into the left and right wings, ready to attack together if any situation arose.

The other light cavalry were composed of a large army, which was then divided into several small teams, led by a military envoy and a deputy envoy.

For example, in an army like the Chishui Army, which has 20,000 cavalry, the elite cavalry and the light cavalry are separated to fill all the gaps.

Li Guangbi led the Hedong cavalry and was below the Tibetan troops on Dafei Mountain. If the 70,000 Tibetan infantry on Dafei Mountain dared to come down, they would be attacked immediately before they could gain a firm foothold.

Among the less than 20,000 cavalry, there are 5,000 elite cavalry, which is enough to have enough impact force.

Cheng Gui led the Shuofang cavalry as a reserve force. Once the war broke out, they would replenish the troops wherever there was a shortage of troops.

The Tang army infantry in the rear camp all left the camp and were ready to advance at any time with phalanxes of spears and archers.

(End of this chapter)