People in the early Tang Dynasty: I compete with Wu Zhao for the throne

Chapter 802: In half a month, something happened to Tang Tu

Huge water carts are mounted on both sides of the Yellow River, spinning constantly under the impact of the rushing water.

Two long and thick ropes stretched eastward, and a willow boat filled with food was pulled up from the downstream, and then docked under the grass shed on the river bank.

From here to the north, there is no trace of any waterwheels. To the south, there are only three or four scattered ones. They are occasionally used to give mules and horses a rest and to slightly speed up the transportation of military rations, but there are only a few of them. That's all, no more effects have been seen.

On the top of the mountain in the distance, an old stone castle stands resolutely.

Jishi Town is a key point for the army. Even if the front line is lost, it can still be defended here. Similarly, once lost here, it will be difficult for the Tang Dynasty to come back.

From then on, the land to the west will become an independent kingdom.

……

Countless sounds of "nailing frames" came from inside Jishi Castle, and I don't know how many craftsmen were busy working in a hurry.

In the main hall of the stone castle, Li Xuan looked at the sand table on both sides of the Yellow River in front of him, wondering what he was thinking.

Beside him, there were several military reports. The breeze flashed by, and the contents of the military reports appeared clearly:
In the third year of the Yuan Dynasty, on April [-]th, Pei Xingjian, the commander-in-chief of the Lanzhou-Shan Road march, sent [-] forwards out of Shanzhou and fought fiercely with the Tibetan army on the bank of Qinghai Lake west of Shibao. After retreating to Shibao, the Tubo people chased him and stopped at the foot of Shibao City. They were defeated, leaving six thousand soldiers behind, and the army marched on.

In the third year of the Yuan Dynasty, on April [-], Li Jinxing, the general manager of the Taohe Road March, sent two thousand forwards out of Kanbu Lake and met the Tibetan defenders at the foot of Ashgong Colorful Peak. The two sides fought for half a day, and then Li Jinxing led [-] troops. He rushed there, defeated the enemy, beheaded a thousand people, and then the army marched on.

In the third year of Shangyuan Dynasty, on April 22, Jianzha Donglongwu Village was attacked by the Tibetan army. Li Xuan, the deputy general manager of the Taohe Road March, was in charge. Crossbows defeated the enemy, and the enemy's attack began to slow down.

Li Xuan stood in front of the sand table, also holding an official document in her hand. Four words came out between opening and closing: "Please recruit craftsmen..."

Li Xuan couldn't help but breathe heavily. After the improvement of grain roads on both sides of the Yellow River began, he rushed from Longwu Village to Jishi Town.

But one after another, countless things are intricately connected.

First of all, the people were in chaos and everything was out of order. Li Xuan quickly transferred Hangzhou soldiers to the people and worked together with them, and then things became orderly.

Secondly, there was a shortage of materials. There was a shortage of wood, iron and stone. They started the project in a hurry and were unprepared for anything. They could only stop and work for a while.

Fortunately, their main task is to transport food. Military food has to be transported in advance, so it does not pose a threat for the time being.

Coupled with the iron materials, stone materials, and wood materials being put in place one after another, the speed became faster again.

Now, another thorny problem has arisen, namely the shortage of craftsmen.

Three thousand Hangzhou soldiers intervened in an orderly manner, and civilians, wood, iron, and stone were all ready, but even among them, the number of craftsmen was still insufficient.

Now that the army is setting off, all craftsmen from nearby states have been called into the army to build ordnance, carriages, and even warships.

It is becoming increasingly difficult to mobilize more manpower to build waterwheels and build roads.

The shortage of craftsmen has become a huge problem that restricts the intensity of projects today.

As for the transfer from Chang'an to the northwest, let alone whether the craftsmen will come. Even if they are willing to come, Chang'an may not be willing to let go.

Li Xuan sighed softly, reached out and took out a drawing of a waterwheel.

He picked up the pen and finally drew a line gently outward on the axle, then downward...

"Bang bang bang" hurried footsteps sounded outside the door. Li Xuan frowned and instantly threw the drawing into the basin nearby.

The water quickly soaked the white paper completely, and then the water basin began to rotate rapidly, and the white paper was immediately torn into pieces.

At this moment, Su Baotong, dressed in red clothes and gold armor, walked in quickly from outside, and placed an official document in front of Li Xuan with a solemn expression.

Looking at the official document, Li Xuan raised his eyebrows and said softly: "The Tubo people are trying to cross the river again. It seems that the general has killed them at Guide City."

It has been half a month since the army set out. The Tibetans on Guide's side kept delaying along the way, making the army move very slowly.

They wanted to wait until the plateau miasma broke out in the Tang army, and then take the opportunity to attack. However, they did not know that the forefront of the Tang army were people who had already experienced altitude sickness, so they were not in a hurry to move forward now and just waited. After waiting for the people who came up behind, their first wave of altitude sickness had passed, they quickly attacked.

However, no matter how slow it was, by now, Li Jinxing had led his men to the gates of Guide City.

Guide was originally owned by the Tang Dynasty, but was later taken away by Tubo. The Tubo people migrated a large number of herdsmen from Tuyuhun.

That area could still produce some food, but after the Tuyuhun War, the farmland was completely abandoned and almost became grassland.

If the valley in that area was not narrow and unsuitable for large armies to gallop, the Tyuhun cavalry alone would be enough for the Tang army to drink a pot.

Li Jinxing began to besiege the city. Attacking and defending the city was the most familiar method of warfare for the Han people. The Tubo people and the Tuyuhun people were not far behind at 01:30 anyway.

But Li Jinxing will not easily enter the city. With the county seat as the thread, the Tuyuhun people will not easily abandon the county seat no matter what. In this way, they can use the county seat as the center, pull the Tuyuhun people left and right, and completely annihilate them under the city as much as possible. .

At the same time, Li Jinxing was very patiently waiting for the plateau miasma to pass.

Plateau miasma, altitude sickness.We haven't reached a very high altitude yet, so even if we have altitude sickness, the reaction won't be too strong.

But if we continue to go west, who knows when a stronger altitude sickness will strike. If we are not careful, half of the army will fall.

In addition, Li Jinxing must also watch the back roads and grain roads.

"A hundred Tibetan soldiers came down the river from the upper reaches and tried to land directly, but were shot directly by crossbows. Those rafts should have hit the north bank hard in the fast river, and then all shattered, but But the south bank used a rope to hold it tightly, and then connected it in a line, trying to directly hit the other bank."

Su Baotong looked solemn, looked at Li Xuan with a little worry, and said: "Your Majesty, the Tubo people seem to have no regard for casualties this time. They keep sending troops from the upper reaches on rafts, trying to use rafts to form a pontoon bridge on the river and attack Longwu Village. , Li Lang will be worried about something happening upstream and downstream, so he asks the prince to go back and take charge of the overall situation."

"He can handle such things." Li Xuan couldn't help but frown, and her face darkened: "No, Li Duozuo can completely handle these things. There is no need for him to invite any reinforcements. unless……"

Thinking of this, Li Xuan's expression immediately darkened and she said, "Let's go, take two hundred cavalry and rush to Longwu Village immediately."

"Here!"

……

A large group of cavalry rushed into the camp from the east at high speed. There was a fierce battle in front. Li Xuan immediately dismounted and waved back: "One hundred cavalry continued to patrol upstream to ensure the food route. Another hundred cavalry dismounted and served as crossbowmen. superior."

One hundred crossbowmen immediately rushed into the southern camp, rushed to the river bank, aimed at the Tibetan soldiers coming down from the upper reaches of the river, and pulled the trigger without any hesitation.

Under hundreds of sharp crossbow arrows, the Tibetan soldiers on the raft were instantly killed and injured, and only a few people on the raft managed to escape.

On the empty raft, a thin rope was immediately tightened, and then it was pulled directly to the south bank of the river by a strong force. Finally, it was firmly connected to the raft bridge that was already more than 60 meters long. The craftsman with a felt hat behind him quickly Come up and connect it all together.

At this time, the upper reaches was completely dark, and more than a dozen rafts fell from the upper reaches.

After the soldiers above were completely slaughtered, a dozen rafts were immediately taken back and then quickly connected.

In one breath, the raft moved forward more than 20 meters.

Repeatedly, rafts measuring hundreds of meters long appeared on the Yellow River.

"Is this person crazy?" Li Xuan stood on the sentry tower, looking at the figure appearing on the cliff on the opposite bank in the distance, and couldn't help but frown.

Li Duozuo stood on one side, cupped his hands towards Li Xuan and said, "The general also feels something is wrong, but he can't tell what is wrong specifically."

Li Xuan shook his head and said: "The farther forward a raft bridge like this is, the greater the impact of the river will be, and the greater the possibility of breakage. Therefore, under normal circumstances, the raft bridge will break before it reaches the middle of the river." ... But now the guy opposite obviously doesn't think so. He has a way to make the raft bridge connect the two sides smoothly... But unless he can find a way to board the north bank, the bridge can only be built if the north bank pulls it, otherwise it will be a huge accumulation of Human life, in the end, is nothing but a disciple..."

Li Xuan's voice suddenly paused, a sneer flashed from the corner of his mouth, and said: "I know what they are going to do. Send the order, prepare two catapults, and be on standby at any time. Brother Gaichuan, you will be on duty tonight. After midnight, no matter what , the catapult aimed at the middle of the river and threw stones."

"Here!" Although Li Duozuo didn't know why, he still bowed and accepted the order.

Li Xuan waved her hand and said: "I will take people upstream to take a look first, so as not to be fished in troubled waters."

"Here!" Before Li Duozuo finished speaking, Li Xuan had already turned around and left. A trace of surprise flashed in Li Duozuo's eyes.

……

In the dead of night, the Tubo offensive had completely stopped.

On the north bank, the torches were bright, but the south bank was dark for some reason.

Li Duozuo sat on the sentry tower with his eyes slightly closed, listening to all the sounds around him, especially the other side.

Although what Li Xuan said today was not thorough, it also made Li Duozuo understand what the Tubo people were planning to do tonight.

However, since dark, all the movement on the river has stopped, and the Tubo people seem to have really given up.

The turbulent Yellow River completely blocked all sounds.

At midnight, the sounds on the river suddenly became clear. Li Duozuo was startled, and then quickly stood up.

More sounds came from the river, but the firelight on the north bank only illuminated a stone's throw away, and it was impossible to see the situation on the other side. But Li Jinxing knew that the movement of the Tibetan people had already come.

Waiting patiently until the time was right, Li Duozuo immediately turned his head and looked to the side. He deliberately mobilized the four catapults. Without thinking, he directly gave the order: "Send the order, first throw two rounds of fireballs, and then throw three rounds of rolling stones. "

"Here!"

The huge fireball suddenly cut through the night sky and was thrown fiercely over the center of the Yellow River, with bright flames.

It was at this moment that a dense crowd stood on the surface of the Yellow River.

Li Jinxing, who saw this scene, had already stared in horror.

"Roll the stone, roll the stone, throw the stone now!"

(End of this chapter)