Tibet.

Chapter 1293 Autumn and Winter Raid
By late October, Dafeichuan was already deserted, and the herdsmen began to migrate towards the West Sea north of the Riyue Mountain. They drove their sheep and drove their carts, heading north in a mighty procession.

On the high hill close to the Chaka Salt Lake to the west of Dafeichuan, there was a Tang army garrison with fifty Tang soldiers stationed there.

This place is also located at the border between Tang and Tubo. Fifty miles to the south, the terrain suddenly rises, like a tall step standing abruptly.

Tuyuhun came down from the plateau and headed towards the Tang Dynasty, and this was the only way to go.

However, Tibet had not sent troops to attack for several years. It was said that there was a fierce internal strife in Tibet, and their plan to train Indians had failed. He trained 200,000 Indian soldiers and attempted to use them as outposts. As a result, three years later, the number of Indian soldiers not only did not increase, but instead dropped sharply from 200,000 to 70,000.

The reason was very simple. The Indians could not adapt to the cold and oxygen-deficient climate, and half of them died one after another. Without the cannon fodder rushing to the front, Tubo could not fight anymore.

After October, the salt lake area becomes completely quiet. Winter is coming and the Tibetans will not come again. They will not appear until March or April next year.

The soldiers in the garrison also have to evacuate to the West Sea to spend the winter and come back in February. When winter comes, this place will be covered with snow four or five feet deep and the weather will be extremely cold. It will be too difficult and unnecessary to live here, so they have to start evacuating at the end of October every year.

The fifty soldiers were led by a brigade commander named Xu Wu, who was from Weizhou.

They had almost packed their things, but were still waiting for two patrol soldiers. The two soldiers patrolled the end of the grassland in the south, leaving early and returning late, but they did not come back last night, which made Xu Wu quite worried. He was worried that the two had encountered a pack of wolves.
At daybreak, he sent several more soldiers to look for support.

Near noon, a soldier suddenly shouted, "Commander-in-Chief, they are back!"

Xu Wu hurriedly urged his horse down the hill to greet them. He suddenly felt a chill in his heart. Five people went to look for them in the morning, so how come there were still five people coming back? No, why was there still one person on the horse?

"What's wrong with him?" Xu Wu stepped forward and asked anxiously.

The chief fire officer stepped forward and saluted, saying, "He was killed in action. Another brother may have died as well, but his body has not been found."

"Killed in action?"

Xu Wu was stunned, "Why was he killed in action?"

"Commander, please look!"

The fire chief pulled open the cloth on the horse's back and saw that the soldier's back was densely packed with arrows, at least twenty or thirty of them.

He pulled out an arrow and took a closer look. It was not an arrow from the Tang army, but an arrow from the Tubo army.

Xu Wu was greatly surprised. The appearance of Tubo army at this time was unprecedented!
He shouted hurriedly, "Put the beacon back, put it back quickly!"

They had already packed up all the beacon equipment and were ready to take it away; if they were left here they would easily be picked up by herdsmen.

The soldiers didn't know what was happening, so they quickly took down the beacon bag and carried it to the top of the fort.

"Go back and observe!"

Xu Wu rode his horse to a higher place, stood there and looked into the distance, but found nothing unusual.

"Captain of the Brigade, is it a Tibetan patrol who came to check and then went back?"

There is indeed this possibility.

But professional instinct told Xu Wu that this kind of patrol was unnecessary. If Tibetan troops appeared, it was more likely to be a large army. After their garrisons retreated and there was no alarm, the large army could launch a surprise attack on the West Sea. As long as the surprise attack was successful, they could spend the winter in the West Sea.

Xu Wu pondered for a moment and said, "Everyone retreat according to the plan. Xiao An and I will stay!"

Xu Wu knew that if they didn't withdraw, the other party would not show up.

More than forty soldiers withdrew, and Xu Wu, with one of his men, carrying beacon equipment, hid to the side of the hill.

About three miles away from the garrison, he and the soldier Xiao An hid in a secluded place and watched the situation in the garrison.

Sure enough, an hour later, a dozen cavalrymen appeared outside the garrison. They dismounted and went into the garrison to check.

Soon, a few people were left in the garrison, while the other sentries rode their horses to the south.

"Commander, what do they mean?" asked soldier Xiao An in a low voice.

Xu Wu sneered and said, "They are waiting for us to leave. After we leave, there will be no beacon towers, and they can launch a surprise attack on the West Sea Camp!"

"Then what should we do?" "Wait for their army to pass by, and then we will light the beacon!"

At dusk, a huge black army appeared, like a long black dragon with no end in sight.

Xu Wu was also surprised. This army had at least 50,000 soldiers. Was the Tibetans sending their entire army?

Soon another five thousand cavalry arrived, but the cavalry were dressed differently from the infantry.

Xu Wu suddenly understood that the cavalry were Tibetans, and the infantry were small black people from India.

"Let's go to the top of the mountain!"

The two men climbed to the top of the mountain carrying beacon equipment.

This Tibetan army was led by the famous general Dazalugong, who commanded 70,000 Indian soldiers and 5,000 Tibetan cavalry.

This was the decision made by the Tibetan king and nobles. More than half of the 200,000 Indian soldiers died in three years, basically in the winter. It is estimated that these 70,000 will not survive this winter. Instead of dying of cold and disease, it is better to send them all to the battlefield before winter comes. If the surprise attack is successful, it can play a huge role and the three years of training will not be wasted.

So there was this autumn and winter operation, and the plan was carried out by the famous general Dazha Lugong.

Dazhalugong was also very cunning. He knew that the Tang army garrisons would evacuate back to the West Sea to spend the winter at the end of October. Once they left, the beacon fire would be useless, creating conditions for his surprise attack.

However, they did not expect that two patrolling sentries of the other side discovered them, were chased by their scouts, and shot to death with arrows. They got the body of one of them, but the body of the other one disappeared.

What the Tibetans didn't expect was that when five soldiers came to look for him the next day, they found another person's body on the way, which led to a small flaw in their plan.

Dazalugong also knew that they had made a loophole, but there was nothing they could do. The arrow had been drawn and they had to shoot. In this battle they could only advance and not retreat. Even if the sneak attack failed, they would still have to fight a big battle with the Tang army.

"Marshal, look!" a soldier suddenly shouted, pointing at the top of the mountain.

When Dazalu Gong turned around, his heart immediately fell into the abyss. He saw a blazing beacon fire on the top of the mountain, which was particularly bright in the dark night.

"Marshal, the front is also on fire!"

Dazalu Gong looked to the north and saw a beacon fire about thirty miles to the north, a bright fire.

"Damn it!"

Dazalugong was furious and cursed. A small loophole had ruined his entire plan. Now the Tang army must know of their arrival.

"Send a team of soldiers to kill the Tang army who set fire on the top of the mountain!" Dazha Lugong cursed angrily.

Immediately, a general led hundreds of soldiers to climb to the top of the mountain.

At this time, all the generals were looking at him. They were now faced with a choice: to continue fighting or to retreat back to Tubo.

After pondering for a long time, Dazalugong slowly said: "A surprise attack on the Xihai Camp was originally my plan. The Zamp's plan is for us to lead the army to attack the Xihai Camp and use the 70,000 Indian troops to inflict heavy damage on the Tang army, creating conditions for us to send troops next spring. Winning or losing doesn't matter, so, whether there is a beacon fire or not, we will continue to execute the Zamp's order!"

The plan of the Tubo Zamp was to consume 70,000 Indian soldiers. Whether it was a sneak attack or a normal attack, they would advance without retreat this time.

Dazha Lugong led an army of 75,000 without stopping, and continued to march towards the West Sea hundreds of miles away.

Currently, the governor of Huangzhou is no longer Xin Yunjing. Xin Yunjing's two terms have expired and he has been appointed as the governor of Shuofang.

The governor of Huangzhou who succeeded Xin Yunjing was the famous general Li Sheng who was withdrawn from Youzhou.

At present, the commander-in-chief of Youzhou is not Guo Ziyi. Guo Ziyi continues to serve as the Pacifier of Henan Province, the Imperial Censor, and the Inspector of the Ministry of War.

The main general currently stationed in the Liaoxi Corridor is Pinglu Governor Ma Lin, who leads an army of 50,000 to station in Pingzhou and the Liaoxi Corridor.

At this time, Li Sheng received an urgent report that a beacon fire had been lit in the direction of Dafeichuan.

Li Sheng immediately ordered: "Sound the alarm and tell the entire army to enter combat readiness!"

"Dang! Ding! Ding!" The alarm bells rang loudly in the Xihai camp.

(End of this chapter)