Tibet

Chapter 669 The confrontation between the two armies
Three days later, Yan State's Taiwei Ashina Chengqing led an army of [-] to the Lanqiao Town area of ​​Lantian County.

This place is still twenty miles away from Lantian Pass, and the terrain is relatively open, which is suitable for garrisoning. Commander Ashina Chengqing ordered the soldiers to cut down trees to make camp fences and set up a large camp.

Ashina Chengqing was about 50 years old. He was An Lushan's number one confidant, and his status even surpassed that of Yan Zhuang and Gaoshang. He was actually the national counselor of Yan State.

An Lushan was a Sogdian from Zhangye. His original surname was Kang. He was from the Sogdian Kang state and believed in Zoroastrianism. With his lofty status in the Tang Dynasty, An Lushan was appointed as the Eastern leader by the Daguangming Temple in the Kang state.

Zoroastrianism became the link between An Lushan's development and loyalty. His men were loyal and his army was brave and good at fighting, which were all directly related to his belief in Zoroastrianism.

Ashina Chengqing was a Turkic nobleman from Suiye, but he was also an important figure in Zoroastrianism. He was the first to follow Anlushan. Anlushan put him in charge of preaching. He was loyal and assisted Anlushan in its development. power.

After the establishment of the Yan Kingdom, Ashina Chengqing was granted the title of Taiwei, his position was higher than that of the Prime Minister. He was originally responsible for guarding his hometown in Youzhou. After capturing Luoyang, An Lushan transferred him out to assist him in fighting for the world, and instead assigned him as a counselor. Jia Xun and General Xiang Runke guarded Youzhou.

Ashina Chengqing was not only a counselor, he was also able to lead troops in battle and was quite resourceful. Previously, he led an army to defeat the Tang army in Fengxiang, forcing the Tang army to completely withdraw from Guanzhong.

This time, Ashina Chengqing was ordered to lead the army to fight against Li Ye's army invading the north and relieve Chang'an from danger.

Ashina Chengqing was skinny and skinny, with a sallow complexion, and a pair of triangular eyes with beast-like cruelty and a hint of elusive cunning.

In the tent, Ashina Chengqing pointed to the sand table and said to the two lieutenants, Sun Xiaozhe and Gao Xiuyan: "Lantian Pass is on a high terrain. Li Ye occupied this place not because he wanted to rely on the pass. Lantian Pass is vulnerable. He actually wanted to be condescending. , using the terrain as an advantage to fight us, especially the Broken Leaf Cavalry under his command is relatively powerful, he must be trying to defeat our army with a condescending attack."

Sun Xiaozhe said unconvinced: "My Kelan cavalry is not a vegetarian, I am willing to fight him!"

Sun Xiaozhe is the youngest among An Lushan's generals. He is a Khitan. His mother is very beautiful and has always been An Lushan's mistress. Sun Xiaozhe has been deeply loved by An Lushan since he was a child and regards him as his son. It also developed Sun Xiaozhe's more arrogant character.

Although he has an arrogant personality, Sun Xiaozhe is extremely skilled in martial arts and is good at fighting. He is a well-known warrior. It was he who led the Kelan cavalry to march day and night to capture Chang'an.

Ashina Chengqing squinted his eyes and said with a smile: "Of course I will not deny General Sun's bravery, but Li Ye's goal is Chang'an, not to guard Lantian Pass. If we let him go for a few days, he will definitely not be able to help coming and fight with him. When we fight, we occupy favorable terrain, and it is time for the Kelan Cavalry to take advantage."

Ashina Chengqing's words made Sun Xiaozhe feel more comfortable. He nodded, "I'm looking forward to that day!"

Ashina Chengqing said to another deputy general, Gao Xiuyan: "To prevent the enemy from coming to steal the camp, we must strengthen and increase the number of peripheral patrol posts, and at the same time, we must ensure that our logistics and food routes are safe and smooth."

Gao Xiuyan quickly bowed and said: "Commander, please rest assured, the humble post has been fully deployed!"

At the same moment when Ashina Chengqing deployed his troops, Li Ye also stood in front of a sand table in the camp of the Tang Army in Jianghan, watching the subtle terrain changes on the sand table.

This sand table is exactly the same as Ashina Chengqing's sand table. They were both made by the imperial ordnance supervisor. The ordnance supervisor made a total of three copies. One was stored in the Ministry of War. Dugu Lie gave it to Li Ye and the other was placed in the ordnance department. In the prison warehouse, there was another one carried by Ge Shuhan on the expedition, which was destroyed in the battle of Tongguan.

The one in Ashina Chengqing's hand was the weapons supervisor's inventory.

To the east of Lanqiao Town on the sand table, Li Ye planted a black flag. That was the Yan Army's camp, only fifteen miles away from Lantian County. He planted many smaller black flags around the camp, which were enemy troops. patrol.

It can be seen that the enemy patrol has been arranged three miles away from the camp, which is a bit troublesome.

Pei Xiu pointed to a rock and said, "Your Highness, you can consider this place!"

This mountain rock looks relatively steep, about two miles away from the enemy camp. The distance is just right, but Li Ye still hesitates. Judging from the sand table, this mountain rock is not suitable for launching fire kites and is not flat at all. at.But the sand table cannot reflect the microscopic view. To check the microscopic terrain, you must go to the scene. Li Ye nodded and said, "Send a few spies to take a look."

"Follow the order!"

The rock that Tang Jun wanted to investigate is called Yingshou Rock. It is actually a giant rock that protrudes from the mountain. It looks like the head of an eagle from a distance. It is also a famous landscape in Lantian County, called Lanqiao Flying Eagle. , the mountains and forests on both sides are like huge wings.

At the fourth watch, three capable Tang Army scouts touched the rock. It was less than two miles away from the enemy camp. There were patrol posts all around, but there were no patrol posts on the rock.

From the sand table, the rock looks very steep, but in fact it is very large. The top of the rock, which is the top of the Eagle's Head, is relatively flat, about the size of an acre of land. Standing on the top, you can clearly see the enemy camp. It's a pity. Surrounded by patrol sentries, they could only crawl on the rocks.

The three scouts simply drew a map with charcoal and then carefully climbed back.

In the morning of the next day, Li Ye summoned the generals to deploy for battle. He pointed to the sand table and said: "There are scouts within a three-mile radius of the enemy's tent. We will be discovered immediately within three miles of the enemy's camp. According to the scouts' intelligence, Eagle There are patrol sentries all around Touyan. As long as we make any movement in Yingtou Rock, the other party's patrols will notice it.

In addition, there are many enemy sentries around us. Once we send out a large army, the enemy will find it immediately. Of course, when the enemy sends out a large army, we will also find it. However, in order to get rid of the enemy's surveillance, we must consider one thing. A solid plan. "

All the generals knew that their lord had a plan, so they remained silent and waited for him to continue.

Li Ye nodded, pointed with a wooden pole at a large open space northwest of Yingtou Rock and said: "This is about eight miles away from the enemy's camp. If we set up camp here, then we will be very close to the enemy's camp." , the cavalry can reach the enemy camp in a quarter of an hour. Even if the enemy spies call the police, there will be no time to prepare in just a quarter of an hour. What we are fighting is the time difference."

Nan Jiyun asked in confusion: "Did we give up on Yingshou Rock?"

Li Ye smiled slightly and said: "On the contrary, we have set up the camp to the northwest, far away from Yingshou Rock. The enemy will not have to patrol around Yingshou Rock. The surrounding patrol posts will disappear, and we will have a chance. .”

Only then did everyone wake up and nodded.

Pei Xiu hesitated and asked, "What if we are attacked by enemy troops when we are setting up camp?"

Li Ye said calmly: "There is a possibility that the enemy will test us, so we must take adequate protection when setting up camp."

"Your Highness, when will we move the camp?" Sima Wang Suizhou asked.

"Start the transfer today!"

At noon, the Jianghan Tang Army began to pack up the camp and march north. They were immediately discovered by the surrounding Yan Army spies. Three gunpowder arrows flew into the sky and exploded in the air.

After a moment, three more gunpowder arrows shot up into the sky several miles away. Farther away, Yan Jun spies fired three more gunpowder arrows, like beacons, spreading the news to the camp twenty miles away.

Ashina Chengqing immediately ordered the troops to assemble to prevent the Tang army from attacking.

"Dang! Dang! Dang!" Amidst the rapid sirens, [-] troops ran out of the military camp and began to quickly assemble in the open space.

(End of this chapter)