Traveling through the early Tang Dynasty starts with hanging

On October 28, the final battle began.

Su Dingfang and Yu Chigong were waiting in strict formation at Yanmen Pass and Pingxingzhai respectively. At dawn, Tuli Khan led his army northward after replenishing food and grass in Guo County.

Now Tuli Khan has a difficult decision to make. The Tang army is encircled on three sides. Where should he choose to break out?

If one person is alone or with dozens of guards, it is really difficult for the Tang army to capture and kill him. The so-called passes and the so-called blockade are for large armies. It is impossible to blockade Gouzhu Mountain and Yunzhong Mountain. , every mountain trail in Hengshan Mountain.

But for Tuli Khan, if he escaped alone, even if he escaped back to the grassland, he would never be the so-called Khan again.

The same is true for the Tang Dynasty. If Tuli Khan escaped alone, it would be no different from Dubu Khan choosing to commit suicide... Even Li Shan hoped that Tuli Khan would escape alone. What else could the generals and ordinary soldiers below have to fight? Do you like it?

The first wave of fighting broke out at Yanmen Pass. Tuli Khan sent troops to tentatively attack Xijing Pass. Su Dingfang stood still. The Turks looked desperately at the large formation of infantry with chariots blocking the main road.

Although desperate, the Turks still launched an attack. The stockade above them kept raining arrows and throwing down gravel. Corpses fell on the mountain road one after another.

Even if they charged into battle with their horses, the Turks would be unable to overwhelm the infantry of the Tang army, which used their chariots as their first shield.

Even if one or two tanks were occasionally pushed over, the Turks fell into deeper despair when they saw the densely packed tanks behind them and the Tang soldiers behind their large shields.

Tuli Khan looked expressionless from a distance. He knew that it was impossible to conquer Xijing Pass. This attack was just to test the strength and defense of the Tang army.

The worst case scenario occurred. The Tang army that had traveled a long distance was not weak. It was not a small force, and it was likely that it had merged with the remnants of the Daizhou army in Shuozhou.

The most terrible thing is that the Tang Army's cavalry, which was surrounded by darkness, looked at the small group of Turks attacking and remained indifferent, not even bothering to send troops to threaten them from the flanks.

This shows that Su Dingfang is very confident in defense.

Tuli Khan originally hoped to make some noise at Xijing Pass, so that he could bypass the Tang Army and attack Dongjing Pass, but now it seems that there is little hope, as a large number of fine cavalry from the Tang Army are staring at his movements.

Tuli Khan gritted his teeth. He knew that the defense of the Tang army was not impeccable. After all, the defense of Yanmen Pass was from the east to the west. He was located on the east side of Yanmen Pass, which caused many of the defense facilities in Yanmen Pass to be unable to function.

In addition to the east and west passes, there are still many exit passages along the nearly ten miles between the two passes. Attacking from west to east is rugged and extremely difficult, but attacking from east to west can give full play to the mobility of the cavalry. .

The Tang army succeeded in making a detour to attack Yanmen Pass, but the long-distance attack must be carried out by cavalry. Tuli Khan could see at a glance that the infantry should be mainly composed of the remnants of the Daizhou Army, and the strength must be insufficient.

After testing the truth and falsehood, we launch a surprise attack with heavy troops. As long as there are one or two passages, we can break out of the siege.

But it was obvious that thousands of Tang cavalry were stationed on both sides of the camp, and they couldn't just watch.

Wanting to test the truth... Tuli Khan couldn't help but turn his head and look to the west. Now he didn't have enough troops in his hands.

An army of more than 10,000 people set out from Xiurong County. After two battles regardless of casualties, Tuli Khan had less than 10,000 cavalry in his hands. However, the scouts reported that there were at least 6,000 Tang army cavalry in Yanmen Pass.

The distance between Dongjingguan and Xijingguan is about ten miles. It is said that there is a lot of space on the battlefield, but in fact it is not enough for the Turkic cavalry to use. On the contrary, it is more suitable for Tang cavalry to exert its power of charging into the formation.

Should we send manpower to Yuzhou to gather troops... Tuli Khan was a little hesitant. The Rangers made it very clear last night that at least five to six thousand troops were blocked by the Tang army in Pingxingzhai, making it difficult to enter Yuzhou. "Somewhat stupid."

Seeing that the Turks were still reluctant to move after the defeat of the first wave of probing troops, Cao Guogong Li Shiji gave this evaluation.

Su Dingfang nodded in agreement. The reason was very simple. It was impossible for the Turks to leave Shuozhou from the east and west passes. It could only be the passage between the two passes. In fact, when Su Dingfang deployed his troops, he deliberately left two mountain roads without sending troops to block them.

As long as the Turks escape from the mountain road, Su Dingfang will immediately lead his cavalry out of Xijingguan and cover them from behind. A great victory is expected.

Su Dingfang didn't have high hopes for capturing Tuli Khan. He also considered that the Tang army had been severely damaged by repeated battles in the past two years and did not want to suffer too many casualties.

In other words, it was possible for Tuli Khan to escape from Yanmen Pass, but he would have to pay the price of losing all his troops.

Su Dingfang thought in his heart, did Tuli Khan not dare to attack because of this?

But if you take this into consideration, why stay in Yanmen Pass?

After a lot of time, the Turkic army finally made some movement. Some of the troops galloped northwest, bypassing Dazhai and heading towards Dongjingguan.

Xue Wanche and Hou Hongtao led more than 3,000 Tang cavalry to follow along Juzhu Mountain, always on the Turks' rear flank.

The Turkic army continued to separate small groups of troops and began to test the Tang army's defenses at various passes and passages.

Xue Wanche murmured in his heart, but he was not too stupid. If the Turks were allowed to find those two passages and a small group of troops fled, there would be a possibility of success.

A small-scale war broke out in the mountains of eight or nine miles. Xue Wanche only stared at the Turkic army, which still had thousands of troops, and did not intervene.

After the war continued for a period of time, the two generals, Su Dingfang and Tuli Khan, received rewards from their scouts.

"The flag has moved." Li Shiji reminded.

Su Dingfang hummed and watched thousands of Turkic cavalry heading towards Dongjing Pass. After a while, he said: "Let Xue Wanche lead the army to retreat and see whether Tuli Khan will take the Eight Cross Pass or attack Dongjing Pass." "

If we take the eight-way intersection, it will be easy. At most, Tuli Khan can escape. This mountain road is not too rugged and can accommodate the cavalry. However, the mountain road is winding and takes a lot of time. Su Dingfang and Li Shiji went west. Jingguan, there is absolutely enough time.

But if they were to attack Dongjing Pass, they would have to fight head-on... However, Su Dingfang was not worried that Dongjing Pass would be lost.

Relatively speaking, the exit speed of Dongjing Pass is relatively fast, and the terrain is not as dangerous as that of Xijing Pass, so Su Dingfang deployed heavy troops at Dongjing Pass, and Liu Shirang, the general manager of Shuozhou, personally guarded it.

"It is also possible to divide the troops and attack Diaowodao, Yanshui Valley, and Taihekou at the same time." Li Shiji thought for a while and said, "Maybe Xue Wanche can be used to threaten the Turks' flanks."

"Let's wait for a while." Su Dingfang thought about it in his heart, thinking that he might not be as good as Huairen in doing such a thing.

Indeed, Su Dingfang can be called a famous general in history, but he was strong in military tactics and strategy was not his strong point.

In fact, it was Li Shiji's suggestion to leave two passages, Bachakou and Baicaokou.