Neon Clothes and Iron Clothes

Chapter 871 Reed Marsh

"Father, I didn't expect you to think so too?" Gongren was overjoyed when he heard this: "Then why don't you do it in front of everyone -"

"Why don't I say yes to these words in front of everyone?" Qin Ling asked.

"Yes, yes, that's what I mean!" Gongren said: "Many people among the generals are opposed to what I'm doing. If you express your attitude, many people will definitely change their minds!"

"Things are not that simple!" Qin Ling shook his head: "The reason why the officers are willing to support me is because they have received various benefits after conquering the Tuyuhun people and the Western Regions. And if you follow your method , you must be gentle with the Tang people's tyranny, otherwise their interests will be harmed, and it is natural for them to oppose you! "

"But father, you just said clearly that if we don't use the Tang people in Hexi for our own use, even if we can win every battle, Tubo will still perish in the end!" Gong Ren said anxiously.

"Yes!" Qin Ling nodded: "But that is all in the future. And those who support us also want to obtain more territory and wealth. Since they will support us for territory and wealth, they will naturally also support us for the sake of territory and wealth." These are against us!"

"Even if this will lead to future destruction?" Yukihito asked.

"That's just the future after all!" Qin Ling sighed: "So even if I know you are right, I can't express my support for you on the surface!"

"I understand!" Yugihito sighed. He already understood his father's strange attitude: "Then what should I do!"

"Do what you think is right!" Qin Ling said: "I am me and you are you. Although I am stronger than you, I am only the past, and you are the future. Do you understand?"

Yugihito's eyes lit up and he nodded: "I understand!"

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Lanzhou, the headquarters of the Tang army.

"Mr. Pei!" Cheng Wuting lowered his voice: "Mr. Hu Liang's front team has arrived. I asked him to camp at Jialan Temple in the south of the city!"

"Well!" Pei Xingjian asked without raising his head: "How is the situation of the troops and horses? How many troops and horses are there?"

"There are more than 800 soldiers, more than 1,300 war horses, and more than 900 other mules, horses and miscellaneous animals!" Cheng Wuting whispered: "I heard from the generals who led the army that their journey was very difficult and dangerous. There were more than a hundred people who were sick, tired, injured from falls, and even more horses and miscellaneous animals. However, based on what the general saw with his own eyes, these knights were determined and courageous despite their long journey. Soldiers of War!”

"The soldiers and horses who can march to Long in the cold winter are certainly not ordinary people!" Pei Xingjian raised his head and sighed: "General Wang has invested his capital this time!"

"Pei Gong!" Cheng Wuting whispered: "If General Wang personally leads the army, the general will naturally have nothing to say and can only be driven. But this time he sent a son. I heard that he was just two years old. Ten, if you marry the emperor’s sister, you will be ranked above you. All the generals in the army are not convinced!”

"Not convinced?" Pei Xingjian smiled, stood up and clapped his hands: "You are not convinced at a young age, but now the prince is still breastfeeding, are you not convinced too?"

Cheng Wuting's expression changed greatly. He quickly knelt down and kowtowed: "Mr. Pei, the last general deserves to die, the last general deserves to die!"

"Get up!" Pei Xingjian smiled: "It's just a private conversation, don't take it too seriously!" He stretched out his hand to convince Cheng Wu and sighed: "You have such a temper that you see the small but not the big. If you don't You will suffer a big loss sooner or later! Why do you think Wang Wenzuo sent his son instead of coming here himself? Well, even if he doesn't care about the Western Frontier of the Tang Dynasty and his son's life, do you think he is taking the war against Tibet as a joke? Then he has to care about these elite soldiers in Shanglong, right? These are the assets he has accumulated in the past twenty years. If anyone in the world cares about these the most, it is himself! "

"Does he think his son can win this time?" Cheng Wuting whispered: "Qin Ling is not an ordinary person. If it is easy to deal with, it will not be his son's turn to take action!"

"You don't need to worry about this!" Pei Xingjian whispered: "Wang Wenzuo must have prepared a trump card for his son. He sent two sons here this time, so he is bound to win!"

"Two sons? Another one?"

"The name is Yanliang. He is the one he gave birth to to the Queen of Japan. He is also his eldest son. He is now the king of Japan!" Pei Xingjian glanced at Cheng Wuting with a cold look: "Do you understand? Don't be stupid!"

Cheng Wuting was frightened by his boss's gaze and hurriedly said in a deep voice: "Don't worry, Mr. Pei, I will definitely obey orders!"

"It's not just you, there are others!" Pei Xingjian said: "Don't think I don't know. Apart from you, there are many people who are unconvinced, right? I want you to come to me to test your tone, right? I'll give it to you. Just tell me, if you don't respect orders and violate military laws, no one can save you!"

Cheng Wuting quickly bowed his head and said: "I will definitely tell others what you said!"——————————————

The Tubo army did not stay long at the Yellow River. On the fifth day after patrolling the Qinling River, the Tubo scouts crossing the river encountered the Tang army's scouts while exploring the village. Due to the huge disparity in the numbers of the two sides, the Tang army's scouts discovered The enemy immediately turned around and fled. The Tubo people did not catch up, so they sent someone to send back the news. In order to prove that they were not lying, the Tubo scouts also took down a few frozen persimmons that were left on the trees. (Usually such fruit trees are found around villages)

When he got the news, Qin Ling was eating with the Tibetan generals. He looked at the persimmon in his hand and handed it to the person next to him for him to look at.

"Our army should take the opportunity to cross the river first and set up camp across the river embankment. If the Tang people don't come to fight, they will continue to advance!" a Tubo general shouted.

"Yes, the Tang people have obviously lost their strength, otherwise they would not abandon the danger! Our army should pursue the victory and take Lanzhou directly. In this way, we can unite with the Turks in the north, attack Longyou from the northwest two directions, and advance into Guanzhong!"

"Yes, the river surface is frozen hard now, which is perfect for crossing the river to attack. If it suddenly warms up in a few days and the ice surface becomes thinner, then the opportunity will be missed!"

Most of the Tibetan generals in the camp agreed to attack across the river. It is no wonder for them. Since the Battle of Dafeichuan, the Tang and Tibet have changed their offensive and defensive positions in the Qinghai area. The Tang army lost more and won less. Even if it won, it was with that kind of defense. Victory in battle, not victory in active attack. Over time, the Tibetan people formed the impression that their side was brave and not afraid of death, while the Tang people were weak and afraid of death (of course, this is also true to a certain extent. After all, after the big defeat in Dafeichuan, the combat effectiveness of the Tang army in Longyou was definitely not short. can be restored within a certain period of time). I feel that the Tang people only relied on the forts to hold on, and the field battles were not as good as our own. But this time Qinling sent surprise troops across the valley, raided Hexi, took Ganzhou and headed eastward. After crossing Wushaoling, the troops were approaching Lanzhou, and they became more and more ambitious. He wanted to complete his achievements in one battle, destroy the main force of the Tang Army in Longyou, advance into Guanzhong, and force the Tang Empire to negotiate peace with Tubo and admit its occupation of Hexi, Qinghai, Anxi and other places.

Qinling did not express his position immediately. After thinking for a long time, he ordered his son Gongren to lead the troops across the river and set up camp on the river embankment. At the same time, he sent a large number of scouts to patrol to find the main force of the Tang soldiers.

After Gongren received the order, he immediately sent people to find people who were familiar with the local conditions, marked the thick areas on the ice, and then led his troops to cross the river through the thick areas. It was a cloudy day, and although it was already noon, the sun only showed a bleak outline, unable to bring any extra light to the world. After Gongren crossed the river, he put down his bed on the high embankment on the other side and sat on the bed to watch the cavalry crossing the river. He turned back and looked towards the other side, only to see that the sky and the earth were gray and desolate, and only a halo of the sun remained in the sky.

About half an hour later, the Tibetan scouts reported that they had discovered a Tang army near the mouth of a local river that merged into the Yellow River: "It was dark beside the reeds on the river bank, and there were about four to five thousand people." "There are not many horses, but the soldiers' armor is complete and their formations are not uniform!" the Tibetan scout reported.

"Gong Ren, let me capture all these Tang soldiers!" The person who spoke was called Zan Po. He was Qin Ling's younger brother and a famous brave general in the Tubo army. Every time Qin Ling fought with the enemy in the field, he usually used Zan Po as the vanguard.

"Uncle, why don't you ask your father for instructions first and then make a decision?" Gongren said.

"Brother is on the other side of the river. There are more than ten miles between the two sides. When the messenger comes back, it will be dark. Who knows whether the Tang army will still be there tomorrow? The troops are like fire, but things will change if they are too late!" Zan Po urged.

Facing his uncle's urging, Gongren could only nod helplessly: "Okay, but please be careful, uncle, don't fall into the Tang Dynasty's plan!"

"Don't worry!" Seeing that Gong Ren agreed to her request, Zan Po said happily: "Before dark, I will get the heads of the generals of the Tang Army!"

He rode his horse back to his banner and shouted: "Come here, get my golden armor!" With the help of his servants, he put on the golden armor. The Tubo soldiers also put on their armor and mounted their horses, holding spears and bows, and the armors clashed. The sound can be heard everywhere. The ascetics accompanying the army walked to the front of the army and chanted the Lotus Sutra. The soldiers dismounted their horses and knelt down, chanted Amitabha, and prayed for blessings. Then the armies meandered southward along the river valley.

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Yanliang looked at the hot air balloon in the sky. A rope connected the hot air balloon to the wooden stakes on the ground to prevent it from being blown away by the violent northwest wind. He exhaled a long breath and rubbed his hands: "This damn weather, It’s freezing on the ground, and it’s going to be even worse in the sky!”

Suddenly, Yan Liang saw a red flag sticking out of the hot air balloon and waved it desperately. Then an object slipped from the rope. Gao Yannian picked it up. It was a pulley with a letter tied to it. Yan Liang took the letter and opened it and read: "The Tubo people are coming. There are about six or seven thousand people. They are still seven or eight miles away from here. There are one-third of the cavalry! Send the order and order each team to put on armor and prepare. Fight!"

"Follow the order!"

With the sound of horns, the Tang army near the river mouth began to get busy. The place they occupied was a floodplain on the edge of the Yellow River. To the south was a steep slope of loess, and to the north was the small river that merged into the Yellow River, which had been frozen. The river bank is covered with swamps, covered with reeds, and there are puddles in the swamps. In winter, the reeds have withered, and the swamps have turned into wet mud, and have been covered with a thin layer of ice. On the surface, it looks like a large open space. The Tang army formed a formation behind this open space, with reeds on both sides and behind for protection.

Because they thought the open space was solid ground, the Tubo people arranged their cavalry in front, preparing to attack the front of the Tang soldiers directly after the battle. However, due to the narrow terrain, there was no way forward or backward, and the cavalry behind continued to move forward and became huddled together. Yan Liang immediately ordered the drums to be beaten, and his crossbowmen had already put on wide-soled straw sandals and stepped forward to shoot arrows. The Tibetan cavalry on the opposite side heard the snapping sound like raindrops, and arrows flew in like raindrops. Many men and horses were hit by arrows, which were densely inserted into the armor of the men and horses, like hedgehogs. The Tibetan cavalry in front could not retreat and could only bend their bows to fight back. The arrows on both sides were so dense that they collided with each other in the air. After firing like this for a while, the Tang army's crossbowmen retreated and disappeared into the reeds.

Seeing the Tang people retreating, the Tubo cavalry shouted to each other: "The Tang people have escaped, let's catch up and attack the Tang people's flanks!" So the people in the front row rode forward and clashed. The people behind saw this and were afraid of falling behind. , then he also rode his horse to charge, and rushed into the reeds together. But after the Tubo people rushed into it, they discovered that the ground under their feet was clearly a piece of wet mud. The horses' hooves were stuck in it and they couldn't run. Many cavalry even got stuck in the swamp and couldn't move. The archers of the Tang soldiers crouched down and hid themselves among the reeds, unable to be penetrated by the Tubo spears. After the Tubo cavalry rushed over, the crossbowmen drew out their short soldiers and besieged the Tubo knights who were trapped in the quagmire. Poor, these heavily armored knights were unable to resist in the mud, and their blood flowed into rivers as they wailed endlessly.

The Tubo knights in the back couldn't see clearly what was going on in front. When they heard the screams, they thought they were massacring the enemy soldiers, so they rushed even more eagerly. Instead, they pushed back the ones in front who wanted to withdraw, and became more and more anxious. More and more Tibetan cavalry fell into the reeds, while the Tang soldiers had already changed into light armor, armed with spears and powerful crossbows, and besieged them on all sides.

Seeing that they had fallen into a trap, the Tibetan soldiers in the rear turned around and tried to escape from the reeds. Arrows rained down like rain, and the bodies of men and horses piled up on the ground. The horses behind could not pass through, and they were crowded together. The Tang soldiers behind caught up with them. They only wore armor and wide-soled straw sandals, and moved freely in the reeds. It was a pity that the Tibetan elite soldiers in iron armor died in groups under the siege of spears and turned into ghosts in a foreign land.

　I've been very busy these days, so sorry for the late update!

　　(End of this chapter)