Tibet.

Chapter 1251 Wolf Pack Tactics
Tian Chengsi's army marched rapidly southward. By the evening of the next day, they were only fifty miles away from Wuqiang County, but they still did not see the fleet. This made Tian Chengsi feel something was wrong.

Judging from the time, they should have met long ago, but there is no sign of each other until now. Tian Chengsi finally lost his patience.

He ordered the entire army to rest on the spot and sent spies to go south to search for the fleet.

The soldiers gathered together and talked among themselves. Everyone could guess something. Since they hadn't encountered any baggage transport fleet yet, it was most likely that something had happened.

Inside a military tent, Tian Chengsi was pacing back and forth with his hands behind his back. He was extremely annoyed. In fact, he knew that there was a high probability that something had happened to the fleet, but the fact that no defeated army had escaped gave him a glimmer of hope.

Night fell, and at this moment, someone outside shouted: "Your Majesty, General Pan is back!"

Tian Chengsi rushed out of the tent and saw Pan Xi, the leader of the escort fleet, being helped over in a miserable state. His armor and weapons were gone, he was covered in mud, his hair was disheveled, and he looked like a beggar.

When Pan Xi saw Tian Chengsi, he immediately knelt on the ground and burst into tears, "Prince, everything is gone. We encountered tens of thousands of Tang cavalry. Our fleet is gone, and our brothers are gone too."

Tian Chengsi's heart was cut by a knife, and he spurted out a mouthful of blood. He fell on his back. Everyone was in a panic and rushed to wake Tian Chengsi. Tian Chengsi slowly woke up, his face pale. He waved his hand, pointed at Pan Xi, and made a killing gesture to his personal soldiers.

The bodyguards understood, drew their swords, rushed forward, and hacked Pan Xi to death.

Tian Chengsi spat out blood again and fainted again. His personal soldiers hurriedly carried him into the tent and went to find a military doctor to treat him.

An hour later, Tian Chengsi finally woke up. His cousin Tian Qianzhen came forward and said anxiously, "The spies found Tang cavalry in the south, at least tens of thousands of them. I'm afraid they will launch an attack tonight."

Tian Chengsi said in a low voice: "The army will go to Dingzhou immediately, and keep the news secret. Do not leak it!"

Tian Qianzhen nodded, "I understand!"

Tian Qianzhen immediately gave the order on behalf of Tian Chengsi, and the army assembled immediately and marched quickly westward!
In the cover of night, Tian Chengsi's army began to set out westward. Although Tian Chengsi ordered the news to be blocked, he did not issue the order until an hour after he fainted. By then, the news that the fleet's food and supplies had been robbed had already spread throughout the army.

This news became the last straw that broke the camel's back. The army's morale completely collapsed, and most of the soldiers only had one day's worth of dry food left. If they didn't flee now, when would they flee?
Under the cover of night, the soldiers began to flee on a large scale. On the official road, many soldiers used the excuse of tying their shoelaces to dive into the wheat fields and disappeared without a trace.

After the army set out, within less than ten miles of marching, two or three out of ten soldiers had fled.

Dozens of miles behind, Xi Wanli led 30,000 cavalry, Li Feilei and Wei Ran each led 10,000 cavalry, a total of 50,000 cavalry followed Tian Chengsi's army from a distance behind.

This was the wolf pack tactic implemented by the Tang army. They did not attack the enemy immediately, but followed from a distance, waiting until the enemy was exhausted and then attacking in one fell swoop to completely annihilate the enemy.

Xi Wanli was the main general of this wolf pack tactic, commanding a total of 50,000 cavalry. Twenty miles behind the 50,000 cavalry, Li Ye personally led an army of 50,000 to follow, while Guo Ziyi led an army of 100,000 to the north to besiege Hejian County.

Judging from the current situation, the Tang army could completely wipe out Tian Chengsi and Li Baochen's armies before the Uighur army marched south, so there was no need for Wang Lun to go on a diplomatic mission to the Uighurs.

However, this time Wang Lun successfully persuaded Tian Chengsi to move westward, and he indeed made a great contribution. He also sent his confidant to secretly inform Li Baochen of the news in time, so that Li Baochen could be on guard, and finally Tian Chengsi failed and ended up in a dead end.

At four o'clock in the morning, a dozen Tang cavalrymen brought several deserters to Xi Wanli, who asked, "Which army are you from?"

"Reporting to the general, we are a coalition army!"

Tian Chengsi had a total of three armies under his command. One was the Dongsheng Army, which consisted of 30,000 cavalrymen who were completely wiped out. They were all Donghu people and were the most elite army under Tian Chengsi. After 30,000 people were wiped out, there are only about 4,000 people left in the Dongsheng Army.

The second force is called the Imperial Guards, which consists of 40,000 people. They are also veterans who have followed Tian Chengsi for many years. They are basically all Han people. This army is currently the main force.

The third was the Hezong Army, which had a total of 50,000 men. Each of the three vassal states sent 10,000 men, and Tian Chengsi sent 20,000 men. The command was in the hands of Tian Chengsi, and his chief general was his cousin Tian Qianzhen. The 50,000 Hezong Army were all new recruits, and none of the four states were willing to send out elite troops, so the Hezong Army had the weakest combat effectiveness and the lowest morale.

Xi Wanli asked again: "How many of you escaped from the fire?"

"Basically, they have all run away, with only one or two left at most."

This was within Xi Wanli's expectations. The coalition army would definitely run away first. If the guards had also mostly run away, then they could take action.

At noon the next day, in a temporary tent, Tian Chengsi was angrily scolding a group of generals, including his sons and cousin Tian Qianzhen, as well as several veteran generals who had followed him for many years.

"What do you mean you're afraid I can't handle it? You're afraid I can't handle it so you won't say anything? You won't say anything even after all the soldiers have fled? Isn't that right!"

Tian Chengsi was extremely angry. If his personal soldiers had not been unable to help but reveal something to him, he would not have known that more than half of the soldiers had fled.

The third son, Tian Hua, said helplessly, "It's useless to tell my father. It will only cause trouble. The army's rations are gone. Most of the soldiers haven't had breakfast yet and are hungry. We sent the military discipline soldiers to kill the deserters, but they also ran away."

"Humph! That's because you are incompetent!"

Tian Chengsi turned around and asked Tian Qianzhen, "You are a veteran, don't you have any solution?"

Tian Qianzhen sighed and said, "The only way is to let the army plunder the city, but there are tens of thousands of Tang cavalry following us. Once we let the army plunder the city, they will definitely attack us."

Tian Chengsi pondered for a moment and said, "First tell me how many troops are left?"

Tian Qianzhen said: "So far, the Dongsheng Army still has 4,000 people, the Jinwei Army still has 28,000 people, and the Hezuo Army still has 8,000 people, a total of 40,000 people. This morning, I ordered the killing of 1,000 old horses to appease the Dongsheng Army and the Jinwei Army, but not the Hezuo Army, because there are not enough people to share."

“Where is the nearest county to us?”

"Raoyang County is less than twenty miles away from us."

Tian Chengsi immediately said to Tian Qianzhen: "You lead 8,000 guards and 8,000 allied troops to intercept the Tang cavalry behind us, buy me an hour, and I will lead 20,000 guards and 4,000 Dongsheng troops to plunder Raoyang, at least to boost the morale of these 24,000 people."

Tian Qianzhen hesitated and said, "The whole army might be wiped out!"

Tian Chengsi waved his hand and said, "I know the whole army will be destroyed. It is impossible to protect everything now. I can only protect a part of the main force, and the others will have to be sacrificed."

After a pause, Tian Chengsi continued, "You promised these eight thousand soldiers that as long as they are willing to fight to the death, I will reward them with three hundred taels of silver each. I will never break my promise!"

Tian Qianzhen smiled bitterly in his heart. Where would Tian Chengsi get the money? It was obvious that he was making empty promises to trick the soldiers into risking their lives.

But there is nothing we can do but this.

He originally wanted to kill another thousand horses to feed the 16,000 soldiers, but there was not a single extra horse. Although the soldiers of the Donghu Army all had war horses, they would immediately rebel if anyone dared to touch their horses, so they really couldn't touch them.

Tian Qianzhen had no choice but to lead 16,000 troops to leave the team and rush eastward to intercept the Tang cavalry and buy an hour for his lord.

Tian Chengsi personally led 24,000 people and rushed quickly to Raoyang County, which was more than ten miles away.

(End of this chapter)