Neon Clothes and Iron Clothes

Chapter 556 The Eve
"You're right!" Zamp nodded, "Then what should I do now?"

"Don't do anything, just wait and see what happens!" Langri said, "If Qinling loses, then we can use this opportunity to suppress the Gar family and find a way to make peace with the Tang people; if Qinling wins, we can use this opportunity to reward Qin Ling, also make Qin Ling the Prime Minister, and stand side by side with Zan Xiruo!"

"I understand what you mean!" Zanpu laughed loudly: "If Qin Ling is also appointed as Prime Minister, no matter how much Zan Xi tolerates this younger brother, he will not feel good!"

"Yes!" Lang Ri nodded: "When the moon is full, it will be full, and when it is prosperous, it will decline. No matter how profound the virtues Lu Dongzan has accumulated, a dual-phase will be exhausted. I will also be jealous of the Gar family!"

When he left the Red Mansion, Langri was already four to five points drunk. In order to reward his trick, Zanpu took out the best stored wine and shared it with his friends.It was already sunset in the courtyard, the cold wind swept across the palace wall, and the icicles hanging from the eaves collided with each other, making a sharp sound. This reminded Langri of the days in Chang'an. But it was extremely boring, and drinking became one of the few entertainments for the Tubo nobles. No wonder there were so many hopeless alcoholics here.

"Here, it's very difficult to find a playmate who knows how to play the game with you!" Lang Ri sighed and walked out the door.

Back home, the depressed Langri was about to go to the bedroom to rest, but the housekeeper came up to welcome him, and said with a smile: "Master, the Tang people brought a gift!"

"Tang people? Gifts?"

"Yes, it was sent from Dajian Furnace, and it was sent by merchants from Tang Dynasty to their own country. It is said that merchants from Tang Dynasty thanked you for allowing the trade between the two countries, so they sent a few things, which should be used for you to relieve boredom in your spare time!"

"Merchant from the Tang Dynasty? To relieve boredom in your spare time?" Langri smiled with great interest, of course he knew that the so-called "Merchant from the Tang Dynasty" was ordered by the king's governor in all likelihood: "I am interested, let's take a look." !"

"Yes, master!" The housekeeper replied, and after a while, he brought a very tightly wrapped rattan box, opened it, and found that the rattan box was stuffed with wool, and there were four or five wooden boxes inside.Lang Ri knew that it was supposed to be in case the delicate items inside were damaged by the bumpy journey, so he took out the first wooden box, and opened it to see that it was a set of Go. The black and white chess pieces were all made of jade. The tentacles are warm and moist. At the bottom of the wooden box is a wooden go board with ivory inlaid pliers. It is split into four pieces and can be spliced ​​together when used. The craftsmanship is very delicate.

Lang Ri played with it fondly for a while before putting it aside.Then he opened another wooden box, which contained a bamboo flute. Langri had learned this instrument when he was in Chang'an, and was about to pick it up to play it, but found a piece of silk paper under the bamboo flute, and picked up a flute. Look, it's a manual.Lang Ri moved the mechanism on the bamboo flute according to the instructions, only to hear a light sound, but two steel nails were ejected from the end of the flute, deeply embedded in the wooden window pane, it turned out that the flute It turned out to be a weapon disguised as a musical instrument.

"Master, are you not injured?" The housekeeper was startled and asked hastily.

"It's nothing!" Langri laughed and said, "This thing is exquisitely made. The craftsmen of the Tang people are indeed much better than us Tubo people!"

As the wooden boxes were opened one by one, Lang Ri saw the rapier disguised as a cane, the flagon that can separate poisonous wine from non-toxic wine, and the noose hidden in the bracelet, and the smile on his face gradually faded away. Disappeared, and when he got to the last wooden box, Lang Ri's face was already full of clouds. He looked at the wooden box, stood up, sat back down after a moment of hesitation, and muttered to himself: "Anyway, it's the last one." Now, it’s okay to open it and have a look, it’s time to see the craftsmanship of Tang craftsmen!”

The wooden box was opened, and there were six or seven parts inside. Langri took out an instruction manual from the bottom of the wooden box with ease, and assembled it according to the instruction manual. On the arm, there is a set of toga worn by Tubo people, no one can see clearly, there is an arrow box on the arm crossbow, every time you shoot an arrow, you just need to pull the machine box, and the spare arrows will slide from the arrow box and be wound. Twelve crossbow bolts can be fired continuously.Lang Ri tried it out, and the crossbow bolt could pierce two finger-thick hardwoods within ten steps. Judging from a small crossbow of this size, its power is already astonishing.

"What does Wang Wenzuo mean by this? Taunting me that I can't fight against the brothers of the Gar family, and that I can only hurt people with back arrows?" Put it down and put it back in the wooden box.

"Put these away and put them in my bedroom, don't let others know!"

"Yes, Master!"

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In Shanzhou, Xingyuan, the head of the Luosuo Road Marching Army.

At the beginning, Xue Rengui didn't seem to hear it. Regarding the news, he neither expressed happiness nor anger or suspicion. There was no expression on his face, just like a blank sheet of paper.He stared at the map on the desk and gritted his teeth. "Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yes, Chief Manager!" The travel-worn messenger replied, "There are pro-Tubo nobles with lively expressions everywhere in Kucha City. They wear yak wool robes that Tubo people are used to wearing. The people in the city call them The king is Zanpu Zhong, which means Zanpu’s younger brother. Those people swear that Tubo has dispatched 40 troops this time, and the front of the army has arrived in Kucha, but the tail has not yet left the gate of the capital of Khotan.”

"Pfft, 40!" Guo Daifeng couldn't help laughing out loud: "Half of it would be nice!"

This time he was right!Xue Rengui thought to himself, of course, the Tang Dynasty did not seldom do such things as exaggerating the number of its own army to intimidate the enemy, but Qin Ling is not a fool, of course he knows that this exaggerated number cannot intimidate the Tang army, and the strength of the army is not enough. It must be directly proportional to the number of people, and untrained mobs often only do a disservice to them.So why is he still spreading the news?Could it be that you want the enemy to ask you for instructions?
"Don't talk about the news you heard from other people!" Xue Rengui asked: "Tell me about what you saw with your own eyes, such as the price of grain in Kucha, the price of livestock, and, have you seen the commander of the Tubo people with your own eyes? ?”

"The price of food has tripled at least, and big animals can't be bought at all!" The messenger replied, "As for Qin Ling himself, I didn't see him with my own eyes, but I did see his big head when the Tubo army was attacking the city." flag!"

Xue Rengui nodded. The prices of food and large livestock are closely related to the size of the Tubo army. From this point of view, even if Qin Ling did not personally command this raid, the Tubo people invested a lot of troops in this attack!

"General manager!" Guo Daifeng said loudly, "We should dispatch our troops quickly. The Anxi soldiers were besieged by the Tibetans in Shule City. They are in danger. It will take several months to go from Longyou to the Western Regions!"

"If the information is true, the Tubo people have already occupied the Western Regions!" Ashina said truthfully, he turned back not far from Shanzhou, and he learned that the alliance between Tubo and the Turkic nobles had been cracked on the way. At that time, several Turkic nobles who participated in the plot have been executed: "They are the masters, but our side is a guest army. The master and the guest have changed positions. The general manager must take this into consideration!"

"So what!" Guo Daifeng seemed to regard Ashina Daozhen as his enemy: "Don't you care about the soldiers who stick to Shule City? That's impossible!"

"It's not that I don't care about it, but I have to think carefully. After all, there are mountain springs in Shule City, the terrain is dangerous, and there is enough food. The Tubo people can't attack it for a while. We are heavily guarded, we can wait for the opportunity to move!"

Xue Rengui didn't seem to hear the dispute between the two deputies at all, and his eyes were always fixed on the map of several cases.At that time, the main road for the Tang army to go to the Western Regions was the famous Hexi Corridor, which was a fertile strip of land irrigated by melting snow on the east side of the Qilian Mountains.Since the Tibetans had already controlled the four towns of Anxi, the remnants of the Tang army in the Western Regions only controlled a few strongholds such as Shule City.And even if the Tang army wins, they will at most retake the Western Regions. The Tubo people can see that the situation is unfavorable and retreat to Qinghai along the same route. Such a passive strategy does not suit Xue Rengui's appetite.

"Compared to Hexi Road, Qinghai Road is much more difficult to walk, right?" Xue Rengui asked suddenly.

"That's right!" Although the messenger still didn't understand Xue Rengui's meaning, he replied honestly: "Hexi Road runs along the eastern foot of Qilian Mountain. There are some deserts, and there are many oases in between; and the Qinghai Road not only passes through high mountains, but also has a long section of the road in a dry land with little water, far less than the Hexi Road!"

"En!" Xue Rengui nodded: "Then if our army goes directly to the enemy's heartland and the Tubo soldiers return from the Western Regions, wouldn't it be me as the master and the other as the guest?"

This time everyone in the room understood Xue Rengui's meaning, and people's faces showed excitement. There is no doubt that if Xue Rengui's plan is realized, the Tang army will not only be able to recover the four towns of Anxi captured by the Tubo people, but also It is not impossible to take back the land of Qinghai, or even climb to the snow-covered plateau, to completely destroy Tubo.

"Although the general manager's strategy is good, we still don't know enough about the Tubo people's enemy situation at the moment!" Ashina said truthfully: "In the final analysis, there is no real news about how many troops the Tubo people sent to attack the Western Regions, and this is related to this. The outcome of the battle, the lives and deaths of more than a hundred thousand soldiers!"

"That's right, but the Western Regions are thousands of miles away, even if we get the news, it will be outdated long ago!" Xue Rengui said, "Is there any reason to send troops with [-]% certainty?"

This time Ashina Tao really had to nod his head.Frontier wars in ancient China and Central Plains wars are two completely different forms of warfare: Frontier areas, especially the northern frontier areas, have a much larger battlefield than the Central Plains. , Such a long marching distance, with the backward technical and communication conditions at the time, it is not unusual for it to take three to five months, even half a year or a year, from planning to expedition, and then contact, confrontation, and decisive battle.Over such a long period of time, it is only normal that many things change.Therefore, any pre-planning can only have a rough idea, and most things have to be decided by the coach on the fly.

"What the chief executive said is true!" Guo Daifeng stood up excitedly: "The last general is willing to be a striker and lead the army to seek thieves!"

"General Guo, don't worry, the dispatch of troops needs to be planned in detail now!" Xue Rengui stretched out his hand and pressed down. Although he didn't say anything, he would definitely not hand over the crucial forward to this man who had never been alone before. Lead the troops to command after the "famous general" who has fought in some wars.

When everyone retreated, Xue Rengui left Ashina Daozhen behind. He even believed in the descendant of this Turkic Khan. After all, in the wilderness of Qinghai, cavalry is far more suitable than infantry, and the outcome of the war is largely Depends on the bravery and loyalty of the Turkic cavalry.

"I plan to send troops this time, and I plan to personally lead the front army!" Xue Rengui did not go around in circles: "The rear army and supplies will be handed over to Guo Daifeng! As for you, first lead the Turkic cavalry westward along the Hexi Road, pretending to rescue the Western Regions, and attracting attention." Attention of the Tubo people!"

"Are you planning to go directly to Qinghai?"

"Well!" Xue Rengui said: "I plan to march in the spring. At that time, the horses and livestock are weak, and the Tuyuhun and Tubo people move slowly. You and I will ride ahead and plunder their herds. If our army wins, the two armies can join together and move forward; if we lose, there will be a place to defend! What do you think?"

"It's really good!" Ashina nodded. From the bottom of his heart, Xue Rengui's strategy can be said to be very good. When marching in a sparsely populated grassland like Qinghai, the biggest trouble for the Tang army is supplies. The infantry would slow down the pace of marching and would not be able to catch up with the Tubo army; and if the Tang army abandoned its luggage and infantry, it would be equivalent to abandoning its own advantages in strong crossbows and fortification projects, and it would not be able to fight for a long time.

So Xue Rengui decided to take advantage of the weakness of the slow-moving cattle and horses in spring, and personally led the cavalry to raid the livestock herds of Tubo and Tuyuhun. Because the food was in the enemy's hands, and the Tang army ate more, the Tubo people ate less. Whoever had more supplies , the next battle will have greater autonomy.The feigned movement of the Turkic cavalry led by Ashina Dao in Hexi Dao can at least distract the Tubo commander's attention and let him know the true intention of the Tang army as late as possible.

"However, the command of the infantry's supplies is related to the safety of the entire army. Would it be possible for Guo Daifeng to take up this position—" Ashina Daozhen stopped at this point, but Xue Rengui also understood what he meant.

(End of this chapter)