Tibet.

Chapter 1295: Strategy to Consume the Enemy
The next morning, Pei Xiu led 10,000 cavalrymen to the Tang army camp in Xihai. Li Sheng hurriedly welcomed him into the camp. Pei Xiu was a veteran in Li Ye's army. He was currently promoted to the commander-in-chief of the generals, a third-rank champion general, and the same rank as Li Sheng, but he had more experience than Li Sheng, so Li Sheng was very polite to him.

However, Pei Xiu had a more cheerful personality. He was not angry because Li Sheng was at the same level as him, nor did he put on airs as a senior official. Of course, this was also because Li Sheng was from the Longxi Li family. Pei Xiu's grandmother was the daughter of the Longxi Li family and was Li Sheng's great-aunt. There was some relationship between the two of them.

The two men entered the camp and sat down, and Li Sheng asked his personal soldiers to serve tea.

Li Sheng asked with concern: "Is grandma in good health?"

Pei Xiu smiled and nodded, "The old lady is in good health, quite strong, and looks like she will live a long life."

"that would be great!"

Li Sheng hesitated for a moment and said, "I just got the latest intelligence. The enemy army is already a hundred miles away. I have relocated all the Tuyuhun tribes along the way. I guess they have no food supplies and will be eager to attack. I plan to use mobile warfare instead of fighting them directly. I will use it to drain their food first."

Pei Xiu nodded. "The idea is right, but we are afraid that they will find the Tuyuhun tribe. We think their target should not be the Tang army, but the herdsmen and sheep near the West Sea. General Li wants to fight a mobile war with them, but we must ensure that they cannot find supplies."

Li Sheng stood up and walked to the sand table, pointing to Fushi City to the west of the West Sea and said, "This is Fushi City, the capital of the Tuhuohun tribe. Now that winter has arrived, all the Tuyuhun tribes have gone to Fushi City. There were also more than a dozen tribes to the east of the West Sea, but I have also moved them to the west. Unless the Tubo army attacks Fushi City, they will not be able to find any supplies."

"What if Tubo divides its troops to attack Shanzhou?" Pei Xiu was very clear-headed and pointed out Li Sheng's weakness.

Li Sheng smiled slightly and said, "The enemy's main general is Ma Chongying, who is also an experienced and famous general. He will definitely divide his troops to attack Shanzhou, but I have deployed 20,000 troops in the Chiling River Valley and will not give them any chance. Moreover, once the enemy divides their troops, I will swallow up the part they divided first."

"But the regent's request is to capture as many Indian soldiers as possible!"

Li Sheng nodded, "I know. I will study how to defeat the Indian soldiers as quickly as possible!"

Pei Xiu smiled slightly and said: "The key is to know yourself and the enemy!"

Li Sheng gave a thumbs up, "That's exactly what I said!"

Li Sheng pointed at Chiling with a wooden pole and said, "If I'm not mistaken, the Tubo army will definitely attack the Chiling Pass with all their strength if they don't find us. I decided to put the main battlefield in Chiling. At that time, I will have 60,000 troops in my hands. Will I still worry about the 70,000 Indian troops?"

Pei Xiu laughed and said, "The Indians are not good at fighting, but they are fast at running!"

"Don't worry, Hun Yu's 20,000 troops have already cut off their retreat route at Dafeichuan. They have nowhere to escape!"

The Tibetan army was still more than a hundred miles away from the West Sea at this time. Although the Tibetan army had no logistical support, they also carried a lot of food, enough for them to consume for half a month.

But the Tibetan army was almost entirely composed of infantry and their marching speed was slow. It took them almost five days to walk from Dafeichuan to Xihai. When they were almost at Xihai, they only had ten days' worth of food left.

Dazalugong was very familiar with the situation in the West Sea area and the distribution points of the Tuyuhun herdsmen. He hoped to capture each tribe one by one and get their sheep and other items.

But so far, they have visited five tribes and found nothing, as the herders have all moved away.

Dazalugong was a little panicked. If it was a normal winter migration, they would usually leave a few people to guard the pasture, but there was nothing left. The garrison was deserted. There was only one explanation: they encountered the Tang army's scorched earth strategy.

It is obvious that the new commander of the Tang army has seen their weakness, which is insufficient supplies.

Even though they still had ten days of dry food, since the other side knew their weaknesses, how could they not make full use of them?
More importantly, he would not show any mercy even if all 70,000 Indian soldiers died, but what about his 5,000 Tibetan cavalry?
Dazhalugong had only one idea, which was to have a decisive battle with the Tang army as soon as possible. If he was defeated, he would seize the dry food of the Indian soldiers and lead 5,000 cavalry to retreat to the plateau as soon as possible.

The team walked for another day and was still thirty miles away from the Tang army's Xihai camp. Dazalugong ordered the entire army to camp, and he sent several teams of spies to the Tang army camp to investigate the situation.

Soon, several spies came back with the information he was most reluctant to face. The Tang army's Xihai camp had disappeared and its whereabouts were unknown. There was a large army guarding the Chiling Pass, estimated to be around 20,000 to 30,000 people. This made Dazha Lugong a little embarrassed. He knew that if he attacked Fuxi City, he would definitely get some food, but what if he attacked the 20,000 to 30,000 Chiling troops? They still had the advantage in terms of manpower.

At this time, the deputy general Lun Qinzan came to the big tent to find him and suggested: "Commander, the Tang army did not attack us halfway, which means they do not want to fight quickly. I suggest that we divide the troops to attack Shanzhou and force them to show up."

Daza Lugong pondered for a moment and said, "I have the same idea as you, but it is slightly different. If we divide our forces, we will be easily defeated by the enemy one by one. It is better to concentrate our forces to attack Shanzhou."

"Master, great coach!"

Lun Qinzan praised him sincerely and asked, "Is there any information from Chiling?"

Daza Lugong nodded and said, "I just received intelligence from our spies that there are about 20,000 troops deployed there. If a large army attacks over there, my only worry is that we will be attacked from both sides."

Lun Qinzan thought for a moment and said with a smile: "We are only attacking the places that the Tang army must defend, but we are not really attacking. Once the main force of the Tang army comes to rescue, we will attack with all our strength. As for being attacked from both sides, will the commander still have pity on those Indian soldiers?"

Dazha Lugong immediately realized that he was confused. His mission was to use the Indians to consume the Tang army. The more Indians died in the battle, the more Tang soldiers would be consumed.

He nodded happily, "You are right, the main force of the Tang army is erratic. Since we know that there are Tang troops in Chiling, we should attack Chiling with all our strength. If we can break into Shanzhou, it will be a good thing!"

The two men reached an agreement and discussed the details. Dazha Lugong immediately ordered the entire army to turn around and march towards Chiling.

.........

The next morning, the Tibetan army was still thirty miles away from Chiling. Dazalugong ordered the entire army to stop advancing and sent spies to the front to gather information.

After all, Dazalugong was a famous Tibetan general. He knew very well that the most feared thing about marching at night was a surprise attack. The team was too long and could easily be intercepted and surrounded by cavalry.

He organized his troops into square formations and marched them forward, and constantly sent out spies to look around. The journey went smoothly and no trace of the Tang army was found.

This made Dazhalu Gong feel a little strange. The Tang army was best at nighttime sneak attacks, and he gave them such a good opportunity for a sneak attack, but they didn't use it.

In fact, Dazha Lugong didn't know that Li Sheng had received orders from the regent to capture as many Indians as possible. If a sneak attack was launched at night, there would be unstoppable killing.

Only fighting during the day provides a good opportunity to capture prisoners.

At this time, the spies brought urgent news that the main force of the Tang army appeared ten miles ahead and had already formed a battle formation.

Dazha Lugong originally wanted to surprise attack the enemy's Chiling defenders and win by taking advantage of their military strength, but he did not expect to encounter the enemy's main force. Apparently, the enemy saw through his intentions and did not give him any chance.

Dazalugong was in a dilemma. Should he fight or not? Knowing that he would lose the battle, he still rushed forward. That was not his style.

But if they didn't fight, what would these Indian soldiers do? They would all starve to death on the way back.

Dazalu Gong looked back at the huge crowd of soldiers, which seemed to have no end. This was an army of 70,000 strong!

Well, just follow the Zamp's order! Use them to consume the Tang army.

Dazalu Gong was determined, brandished his sword and shouted: "Today is the day to perform meritorious deeds. Order the whole army to march in formation!"

(End of this chapter)