Neon Clothes and Iron Clothes

Chapter 883: Face-to-face
"It seems that we have to fight first!" Bronze sighed: "Otherwise the Tang people are so rampant, and if we let them continue like this, we really won't be able to deal with my brother when he comes back!"

"That's what the general said!" The Tubo officer agreed: "Moreover, the Tang troops are divided into many directions and are so far apart from each other. This is a good opportunity for us to take action!"

"Yes!" Brenzan nodded: "It is indeed time to fight to the death!"

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It was already dusk, and a spring rain fell on the earth. Looking from a distance, the sky was dark, and the cold wind mixed with fine raindrops slapped on the tent, making a thin sound. From a distance, there were layers of mist. The birds that were constantly appearing in the sky suddenly disappeared without a trace, and only the endless spring grass was seen, rustling and swaying in the wind and rain, just like the tide on the sea.

In the camp of the Tang Army, the humidity was overwhelming. The sergeants were tightly wrapped and huddled in the tents. The campfire outside gave off lingering smoke. Hu Liang walked through the path in the camp, looked at everything in front of him, and looked worried: "If this rainy day is delayed for a few more days, I'm afraid there will be an epidemic!" "Yes!" Yan Liang nodded: "Uncle Shen is also ill. , This kind of weather is really bad! But it can rain or shine, and no one can do anything about it! All we can do is boil more ginger soup and give it to the soldiers."

"Well!" Hu Liang sighed: "That's all we can do!"

After the two inspected the military camp, they each returned to their tents. When they heard the sound of raindrops hitting the tent, they couldn't help but feel a little uneasy. It was getting late, and Hu Liang was about to lie down and rest when he suddenly heard rapid footsteps outside. Hu Liang grabbed the short knife under his pillow and shouted, "What's the matter?"

"Grand Governor, we have an urgent military situation!"

Hearing the familiar guard's voice, Hu Liang breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Come in and talk!"

The curtain was opened, and a guard in iron armor came in with a damp and cold air. Hu Liang couldn't help but shudder.

"The scouts on the hot air balloon discovered a campfire about thirty miles northwest. They may be Tibetan rebels!"

"Tibet rebel soldiers? At this time?" Hu Liang was surprised: "How many soldiers and horses are there?"

"Due to the weather, the hot air balloon scouts couldn't see clearly, and they didn't dare to descend too low for fear of being discovered. I only know that there are a lot of people, there should be at least three or four thousand people! It is speculated that they may want to sneak attack our army !”

"Come here, invite Mr. Yanliang and General Shen!" Hu Liang hesitated for a moment and then added Shen Faseng. After a while, both Yan Liang and Shen Faseng came. Yan Liang said with a smile: "I heard that Tibetan thieves were found. Tibetan thieves can really survive this kind of weather!"

Hu Liang nodded and turned to Shen Faseng, who was wrapped in a ball with a pale face: "Is uncle still able to survive?"

"No problem! Let's talk about military matters first!" Shen Faseng said forcefully: "Where are the Tibetan rebels? How many soldiers and horses are there?"

Hu Liang recounted the sentiments sent to him: "It seems that the Tubo people want to take advantage of the rainy weather and the disadvantages of their bows and arrows to catch us off guard!"

Monk Shen sneered: "We are not the only ones who are troubled by this weather. If we attack the camp with light cavalry on a rainy night, the thieves will not be prepared for it, and they can attack with a drum!"

"Yeah!" Hu Liang nodded and turned to Yan Liang. Yan Liang smiled and said, "My uncle and I have the same opinion. Let's do this! Order the troops to prepare food and set off immediately after breakfast tomorrow morning. I will lead the troops and give them Give the thief a head-on blow!" He waved his hand without waiting for Hu Liang to argue: "Don't argue with me. You are the commander-in-chief who is sending troops this time. You must stay behind to lead the troops to kill the thief. It must be mine!"

"Then I'll bother you, brother!"

Around four o'clock in the morning the next day, the rain stopped. Although the sky did not clear up, it was still obscured by clouds. But now that the rain had stopped, there was a bit of life in the military camp. Hu Liang mounted his horse in gilded Mingguang iron armor. In addition to dozens of horsemen and trusted guards, there were four or five four-wheeled carriages. The carriages were filled with gold and silver utensils and high-quality Shu brocade, all of which were intended to be used to reward meritorious soldiers during the battle. . There were no stars or moon in the sky under the thick clouds, the surrounding areas were pitch black, and the air was cold and crisp. The knight was busy eating breakfast. While the soldiers were eating, the slave soldiers also hurriedly cut grain and grass to feed the horses, tied the horses' hooves with cowhide, and wrapped their armors and placed them on the slave horses.

Since the horses had been trekking for more than half a month, they had lost a lot of fat. In order to preserve their horsepower, the knights of the Tang Army all dismounted their horses when they encountered steep and unsuitable places. The soldiers held the reins with one hand and pulled the forwards with the other. The horse's tail moves forward in the meadow with one foot deep and one foot shallow. After walking like this for more than twenty miles, the sky was completely bright. The sentinel in front saw the light in the sky ahead - the hot air balloon that was guiding the direction. The enemy was located below the hot air balloon.

When the Tang army crossed a small river, the hot air balloon in front dropped three chimneys. The thick smoke cut through the sky and left three thick traces on the sky. This meant that the enemy camps were not far away. Yanliang raised his right arm and said to the approaching herald: "Go down the order, each team wears armor!"

The knights of the Tang Army stopped and began to put on their armor and armor their horses. The meadow in front of me is flat and open, extending to the west without end. Many knights had never seen such a scene in their lives, and they all sighed and said: "What a battlefield for horse racing and fighting. If you can be buried here, you will have no regrets!" This was the second day of April in 682 AD. The turn of Mao and Chen.

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When the Tang army was arrayed in armor, the Tubo people had already discovered it.

The reason why the Tubo people knew this was because although Brenzan was very tired from the long march, he still sent out enough night sentries according to his past habits. However, when the Tang army approached, a certain night sentry decided that the intruder was not good-natured. He took out two horses, mounted a fast horse, and fled towards his camp with his followers.

In the process of escaping, the night sentry met a Tang Dynasty outpost scout. The Tang Dynasty scout immediately opened his bow and fired an arrow, hitting the calf of the Tubo night sentry. Blood flowed profusely. In desperation, the Tubo night sentry cut off his leg. The reins of the slave horse, which was a sorrel mare, and the Tang Dynasty outpost was riding a male horse, smelled the mare's breath, and regardless of the master's whipping, they got entangled with the mare, no matter how much the master whipped her. Refuse to leave. By the time a few Tang scouts regained control of their horses, the Tubo night sentries had long since disappeared.

The night sentry escaped back to the Tubo camp. The Tubo general on duty hurriedly led him to see Brenzan Blade. The night sentry said: "The Tang bandits have approached our camp. They are only three or four miles away. They are all cavalry. At least there are Three to four thousand riders, they were putting on their armor when I left, they should be coming soon!"

Brenzann was shocked when he heard this. He suppressed his fear and sneered: "I was going to kill them, but I didn't expect them to come to my door. It's great. All the troops are wearing armor and ready to fight!"

When the Tang Army's forward arrived, it was still dark due to clouds in the sky, the weather was cold, and strong winds came from the north.

There is no cover on the meadow, and the wind is howling like thousands of troops roaring past. Hail suddenly fell from the sky, and strong winds flew in all directions, sweeping into the Tang army's cavalry that was advancing in several columns. The men and horses in the cavalry were already wearing armor, but after being hit by the strong wind, the flags and armor were suddenly crooked and no longer lined up. The strong wind makes it impossible to open one's eyes, and urging the horse to move is even more difficult.

The knights had to dismount one after another, lean on the horse and hide in the leeward, and lead the horse to walk slowly. Hail pellets the size of soybeans hit the armor, making a crackling sound, like raindrops hitting tiles. The blow to the person's face was painful, and the soldiers had to grit their teeth and endure it, moving forward slowly against the wind.

After an unknown amount of time, the wind gradually subsided, the hail stopped, and the dark clouds in the sky were blown away by the strong wind, revealing a blue sky. The scouts in front of them reported back that they could already see the Tibetans arrayed in three horizontal lines. The cavalry were located on both sides of the troops and in the gaps between the square formations, standing still in the wind, like rocks. The people of the Tang Dynasty saw this and couldn't help but whisper to each other: "I have heard for a long time that the Tibetan people are tough and resistant, and now it seems that they are really well-deserved. Under such a strong wind, facing our cavalry, they can be so calm. It is really extraordinary. Today. Looks like it’s going to be a lot of fun!”

Yan Liang looked at the enemy's formation and thought to himself that if the surprise attack failed, he would have to fight in formation. Seeing that the Tibetans' formation was solid, he should break one wing first and then attack the middle of the army! So he ordered the columns to be transformed into horizontal formations, and to form parallel formations with Tibet. The troops were concentrated on his left flank, preparing to break the enemy's right flank first.

At this time, the thick clouds in the sky finally dissipated, revealing red light and brilliant clouds. The wind also calmed down. The left wing of the Tang Dynasty began to move forward slowly. The air on the meadow was fresh and the birds stopped chirping, which was refreshing.

At this time, without any prior warning, the Tubo soldiers suddenly noticed that there seemed to be a black shadow shaking in the east, as if a horse team was running down the slope. The ground also began to tremble slightly, and experienced knights knew that this was the sound of the hoofs of a large group of horses hitting the ground. But if you listen carefully, you will find that there is neither drumming nor flag-raising in the Tang formation. But a moment later, the ground shook extremely strongly, and the enemy's armored weapons collided loudly as they collided head-on.

The Tubo soldiers clenched their teeth and inserted the end of the spear into the soil. They held the middle part of the spear with their right hand and pointed the spear tip diagonally upward. The body squatted slightly, and the other hand drew out the short sword, ready to jump forward at any time to assassinate the fallen enemy knight. These soldiers are elites who have experienced hundreds of battles. They know that even if their own side has formed a square formation, they may not be able to withstand the impact of the iron cavalry. The spears formed in the formation are used to slow down the momentum of the enemy cavalry. , when the enemy cavalry stops, you should rush up to engage them in hand-to-hand combat, drag them down and kill them.

However, the Tubo soldiers did not wait for the expected enemy cavalry to rush into the formation. They were hit by a meter-long long arrow. The knights of the Tang Army turned their horses sideways about 15 meters away from the front of the Tibetan infantry formation and swept past. The knights on the horses drew their full-horned bows, aiming at the Tibetan infantry formation. The face, neck and other armor could not be blocked. shot away. The Tubo infantry formation suddenly burst into screams, and some people were even shot through their bodies by long arrows fired from close range and nailed to the ground.

"Quick, archers, come quickly! And shields, raise them quickly!"

The archers in the Tubo infantry formation hurriedly raised their bows to fight back, but the Tang people's cavalry flew by like the wind, and most of their arrows missed. However, with the density of the Tubo infantry formation, the Tang people's arrows did not have to worry about missing. . After all, the Tubo shields could not cover everyone, and some Tang cavalry archers, who were famous for their powerful bows, even rushed to a distance of only six or seven steps and shot an arrow directly through the target's face. Even with the bravery of the Tibetan people, they couldn't bear to see being beaten like this and unable to fight back. Without waiting for their own orders, more than a hundred Tubo cavalry rushed out of their formation and chased a group of Tang knights that had just passed by.

The group of Tang knights did not respond to the challenge, but just galloped forward, turning around and shooting a few arrows from time to time. This aroused the pursuers to become even more angry, and they chased them even more hastily. Just after running two or three hundred paces, more than a hundred cavalrymen in harnesses rushed towards them, holding long spears. They collided head-on. Although the Tubo cavalry were brave, they only had human armor and no vests. The battle broke up the formation. Some Tubo knights were able to take on the Tang cavalry head-on, stabbing each other, and some of them were knocked off their horses. But more Tubo knights had no time to turn their horses' heads and were hit from the side or behind, so they had to run to avoid them. The collapsing horses crowded together and overturned those who were still resisting. The knight who landed on the ground, whether he was a Tubo or a Tang man, whether he was stabbed, hit by a stray arrow, or his horse's hoof was injured and fell down, in this chaotic situation, there was almost no chance to stand up again, and he soon fell down. Trampled to death by the hooves of horses galloping around.

"The order is passed down. If any army goes out without orders and goes into battle privately, the victor will also be killed!" Under the banner of Brenzan, the sword can clearly see that the Tang Dynasty's offensive is mainly against its right wing. The Tang Dynasty's cavalry is divided into several small groups and continuously raids. Cross your own line and shoot your infantry with a strong bow at close range. After attacking for a round, they retreated hundreds of steps away, dismounted, rested and fed their mounts. There was also a large group of armored cavalry in the enemy's main formation, and the small group of our own cavalry that had just been led out of our own square formation was defeated by these armored cavalry. This tactic is actually not uncommon. Many nomadic cavalry have used it, and it is not difficult to deal with it. Just hold on for a while and wait until the opponent's horsepower and arrows are almost used up before launching a counterattack. After all, war horses and people are not perpetual motion machines, and arrows are always limited.

But the problem is that the bows used by this group of Tang troops are stronger, the arrows fired are longer and heavier, and the firing distance is also closer. Some bold Tang Jun archers even rushed to the first row of infantry in the phalanx. The spear tip relaxed the bowstring. If it were anyone else, they would definitely be looking for death. After all, the Tibetan infantry were not fools. Even if they didn't have bows and arrows, they would just pick up stones and throw them at them, right?
But the horse archers on the opposite side all have an iron helmet and a lock curtain. If the conditions are good, they also have shoulder pads, skirt armor and breastplates. With this complete set, it may not be a problem to take a spear throw, let alone a few A stone. Which nomadic tribe on the grassland can equip mounted archers so neatly? Even their chief may not have such a complete set of household items. Playing close range shooting with such a well-dressed mounted archer would be hard for ordinary archers to withstand.

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