Early Tang Dynasty: forge ahead

Chapter 473 Fight Again
Lun Qinling believed the news his father brought from Shanzhou.

There must be definite evidence for this extremely critical intelligence, otherwise his father would not have rashly launched this war.

For this battle, they even mobilized the hidden agents who had been lurking for ten years.

In recent years, the main task of both the king of Tuyuhun and the noble families who returned from studying abroad in the Central Plains was to purge the pro-Tubo faction in the country.

With the support of the Tang army bought by Xi Jun, Tuyuhun had almost no pro-Tubo faction left.

The reason why Qin Ling dared to use troops so recklessly was based on this point.

If everything was a conspiracy, Lun Qinling couldn't imagine what the consequences would be?

"withdraw!"

Lun Qinling made a safe decision.

Since the Tang army ran towards Dilongjian, they must have arranged an ambush in advance.

Chasing at this time will only be a waste of time, so it is better to be steady and ensure safety.

Lun Qinling had a serious expression.

Zanpo looked at her brother's face in the firelight and didn't dare to say anything.

Lun Qinling turned his horse around, and before he had taken a hundred steps, he issued another series of orders.

"Send scouts to Hequ. I want to know the whereabouts of the Tang army in detail. Also send someone to Fu'ai City to let General Chen Erhu pay attention to the surrounding situation to prevent the Tang army from launching a surprise attack."

Thinking about it carefully, Cheng Wu felt that he was leading him to the north.

If it really is a plan, there are two possibilities.

1. There are ambushes ahead, waiting to trap you.

2. If there is a situation in the rear, transfer yourself away and cut off your own retreat.

Regarding Qinling, I tend to lean towards the latter.

Lun Qinling has a certain degree of confidence in his abilities, and he also believes that his enemies will recognize him as an opponent.

An ambush needs to rely on terrain to be successful. As long as the general is not impatient for quick success or is unintentional, this kind of ambush will be extremely difficult to succeed.

Lun Qinling believed that his opponent would not underestimate him and use such a lowly method...

The only explanation is to make the move behind yourself.

Lun Qinling already had a bad feeling and now urgently wanted to know the movements of Heichi Changzhi's troops to ensure that the rear was safe before he could continue to use the troops.

Lun Qinling has no plans to withdraw his troops for the time being. If he flees in a hurry because of a thought, how can he use troops in the future?

Of course, they were no longer thinking about a quick victory: Cheng Wuting had already entered Dilongjian to rest and recuperate, and the recovered Tang army was not easy to deal with.

Black Tooth Changzhi will also arrive soon...

Lun Qinling had personally experienced Heichi Changzhi's bold military strategy and would never dare to underestimate the enemy.

Cheng Wuting was unable to defeat him for the time being, so he had to prepare himself to face Heichi Changzhi.

Back at Longjuling, some Tibetan soldiers were happily cleaning up the battlefield.

Lun Qinling waved to the soldiers behind him to help clean up the battlefield...

As the climate warmed, many resources on the plateau made up the present-day Tubo.

However, the transportation environment on the plateau is a big problem. Now that so many supplies can be seized, it will be a great supplement to Tubo’s war resources: the previous battles all ended with his retreat.

Those who retreat early are naturally not qualified to prepare supplies.

Clean up the battlefield as quickly as possible...

The Tibetans' way of cleaning up the battlefield was very direct. They stripped away everything valuable and useful.

As for the corpses, they never cared about them.

The climate on the plateau is dry and cold, corpses here are not easy to rot, and birds and beasts are rampant in this place.

There are innumerable vultures, eagles, jackals, leopards and so on. If a corpse is thrown into the wild, it will soon turn into bones. There is no need to worry about the problem of plague caused by improper handling of the corpses.

This kind of burial method was even popular in Tubo, and they gave it a nice name: sky burial.

That is the Buddhist practice of self-sacrifice, using one's skin and flesh to feed bearded vultures to ensure the immortality of the soul and its reincarnation.

Therefore, regardless of friend or foe, just strip away everything that can be used and discard it at will.

Because of this, the Tubo army cleaned up the battlefield extremely quickly, like autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves.

Lun Qinling immediately arranged for the soldiers to rest and maintain sufficient physical strength.

No matter what the future holds, the physical strength of the soldiers is the most important thing.

Only after recovering from the fatigue of today's battle and pursuit can we take the next step.

The next morning, Lun Qinling retreated twenty miles to test Cheng Wuting's movements.

Cheng Wuting was unmoved...

Lun Qinling couldn't be sure for a moment whether his sudden feeling was an illusion or something else.

Two days later, Lun Qinling got the news about Heichi Changzhi.

Heichi Changzhi traveled to the Nine Bends of the Yellow River, which is the uppermost reaches of the Yellow River...

There are natural pastures there, with endless grasslands.

It is not easy to find the traces of the Tang army on this grassland, but the purpose of the Tang army is to support Qinghai Lake, so they will naturally not take a long way around the Yellow River.

These few bridges in the upper reaches of the Yellow River were the only way for the Tang army.

With the bridge as a landmark, the scouts easily found the traces of the Tang army near the bridge.

"General Ru, the Black Tooth Changzhi are heading west. They did not hide their whereabouts and took the most convenient trade route. Their destination should be Moliyi."

Lun Qinling looked at the map in his hand. Everything was normal for Heichi Changzhi's march and there was no problem.

Lun Qinling's abnormal behavior made Zanpo feel uneasy.

"Brother, are you looking for a strategy to defeat the enemy?"

Zanpo knew Tubo's plan this time, and he wanted to fight a quick battle and make use of the advantages he had gained to defeat the Tang army, forcing the bedridden Su Dingfang to go to the battle despite his illness. Even if he could not force him to fight, he could not give him the opportunity to meditate in peace.

But since the battle of Longjuling, Lun Qinling has been keeping his troops inactive, wasting a lot of time.

Lun Qinling looked at the somewhat anxious Zanpo and told him about his sudden uneasiness.

Zan Po thought it made sense, but it was definitely not a reason to sit still. She said, "Maybe it was an accident. Don't think too much about it, brother."

Lun Qinling's palms tightened and loosened as he said, "No one knows Su Dingfang better than me. I can't help but think about it."

"But he is sick!" Zanpo suddenly shouted anxiously.

Lun Qinling was a little surprised. Looking at Zanpo whose emotions suddenly went out of control, he found that his brother's eyes were red and he was showing signs of crying.

Zanpo gritted her teeth and said, "Dad is also sick and vomited blood. He asked me not to tell you."

Lun Qinling's heart also ached. He had some idea of ​​his father's condition. Facing the blockade of the Tang court over the years, his father had obviously aged a lot and his face looked a little sickly.

Since the other party didn't say anything, he didn't dare to ask.

Now they can't rest no matter what.

If he didn't take this opportunity to wear down Su Dingfang's body and really let him have a chance to rest, and survive this hurdle, it might be his father who couldn't hold on. No matter how bad this battle was, he had to take Fu'ai City and control half of Qinghai Lake.

Otherwise, after years of northern expeditions with nothing achieved, how could we convince the Tubo people?
"so……"

Lun Qinling said, "Brother, wear my armor and lead all the troops to Dilongjian, block the entrance and challenge me. Swear as harshly as you can."

Zanpo's face was slightly excited and a little uneasy. She said, "Brother, is this a deliberate attempt to confuse the enemy? What if the enemy comes to fight?"

Zanpo is young and energetic, has a lot of ideas and is very talented.

Both Galdongzan and Lunqinling wanted to train him.

However, as Tubo has developed to this point, there are no more small battles for Zanpo to gain experience.

Their opponent is the Tang Dynasty. They either have unrivaled generals like Su Dingfang, or Xi Junmai, Heichi Changzhi, Cheng Wuting, or even generals of Wang Xiaojie's level.

It would be fatal for a newcomer to practice with them in his first match.

Therefore, Zanpo has learned a lot of theories but has not yet put them into practice.

This was his first time taking on such a big responsibility and he felt both excited and nervous.

Lun Qinling said: "It doesn't matter. The terrain over there is complicated. If we attack in, we will be courting death. It will be difficult for them to rush out. As long as we block the exit, we can trap him to death after a while."

Zanpo originally thought that if this was the case, why not take action early?
But he soon figured out the reason.

If they block Cheng Wuting here, wouldn't that give Heichi Changzhi an opportunity?
Blocking Cheng Wuting and letting Heichi Changzhi act freely is no different from dying early.

Zan Po reacted and said, "Brother, do you want to meet Heichi Changzhi?"

Lun Qinling praised him, "This is our first meeting, and my brother got a small loss from him. I have to get back at him."

The Nine Bends of the Yellow River.

Heichi Changzhi suddenly saw a deserted county town not far away and said, "Where is this?"

A young general beside him said, "This is Chishui County. It has been abandoned for many years."

Heichi Changzhi smiled and said, "I never thought that there would be a Han Chinese county town in this endless river bend."

The young general said: "It's all the fault of the previous Emperor Sui Yang."

Heichi Changzhi said: "Yang Guang? Does this have anything to do with him? Tell me quickly!"

The young general was very knowledgeable and said, "That happened thirty years ago. In the fifth year of Daye, after the Sui army defeated Tuyuhun, they set up Chishui County in their jurisdiction. They gathered all the herdsmen of Tuyuhun here, formed a county, and incorporated it into the territory of the Sui Dynasty."

Heichi Changzhi couldn't help laughing: "Yang Guang, that incompetent emperor, was able to win a battle. This is truly a rare story in the history of history."

This is not really about the black-toothed Yang Guang, but that no one in the three kingdoms of Haidong can look up to Yang Guang.

A million troops cannot conquer a Liaodong city...

It’s not that the generals of the Sui Dynasty were not brave enough, nor that the soldiers of the Sui Dynasty were incompetent, but that Yang Guang was too stupid.

The Sui army did not have no chance to capture Liaodong City, but had three chances.

The first time, the Sui Dynasty was so powerful that it destroyed all the defenses of Liaodong City, and the city was about to fall...

Goguryeo's Eulchi Mundeok expressed surrender.

In order to demonstrate his benevolence as the emperor of Daye, Yang Guang agreed to Goguryeo's request. This time, there was nothing wrong with it...

As a result, Yizhi Wende was fooling Yang Guang. When the Sui army retreated, he repaired the city defenses overnight and refused to surrender.

The Sui army attacked again, and seeing that Liaodong City could no longer hold out, Yizhi Wende surrendered again...

Yang Guang once again ordered a withdrawal. This time the Sui generals were already angry, but they still endured it because they believed that the emperor's orders could not be disobeyed.

Of course, Yizhi Wende is still fooling people.

The third time, when Liaodong City was about to fall, Eulji Mundeok surrendered for the third time.

This time the Sui general simply ignored it and continued the attack.

Yang Guang forcibly pulled his general down from the top of the city wall.

Yizhi Wende played a trick on Yang Guang again.

Afterwards, the Sui army never threatened Liaodong City again, and Yang Guang's operation completely destroyed the momentum of the Sui army.

Then the 300,000-man army was annihilated...

The million-strong regular army of the Sui Dynasty, like a stray dog, threw away their weapons and armor, and fattened up Goguryeo for the next thirty years.

With this level, Heichi Changzhi really looked down on Yang Guang.

The young general obviously looked down on it and said, "Emperor Yang of Sui was the kind of person who acted on impulse and didn't care about the consequences. He only cared about fighting, not governing. Rather than saying that he attacked Tuyuhun to expand territory, it would be better to say that he sent the army to have fun. After defeating Tuyuhun, he symbolically set up a few states and counties, gathered the people together, gave them some money and food to show his great grace, and then left without setting up effective control or arranging soldiers to garrison. Tuyuhun came back and reoccupied it..."

The young general seemed to want to show off his erudition and said, "It was even more interesting that he sent troops to attack Ryukyu. The army went through untold hardships, including building ships and training the navy, and drawing sea charts, but in the end they occupied Ryukyu... and they simply withdrew, leaving behind a mess..."

"This is the case with Chishui County. After much effort to set up the county, it became deserted within a year."

Heichi Changzhi smiled and said, "General Guo is indeed a Jinshi, a top scholar. He is indeed knowledgeable..."

The young general was named Guo Daifeng, and he was the runner-up in the imperial examination when Chen Qingsi was in charge.

Guo Daifeng's father was the famous general Guo Xiaoke, so after he passed the imperial examination and ranked second, he did not follow the path of literature and enter officialdom like Zhang Jianzhi and Wei Yuan. Instead, he directly joined the army and became a captain of the Taozhou military.

Heichi Changzhi saw that Guo Daifeng was a man of both civil and military talents, so he promoted him and appointed him as his deputy general in this battle.

Heichi Changzhi was transferred from the Eastern Front to the Western Front and was not familiar with the situation there.

Guo Daifeng's erudition and talent just made up for this.

Heichi Changzhi also relied on him very much.

Heichi Changzhi exclaimed, looked around, and said: "This place has a wide terrain, abundant water resources, and some broken weapons and broken walls to protect against wind and rain. It is a good place to station... Let's rest here!"

Thirty miles away...

Lun Qinling led his 5,000 troops and hid at the foot of Xiqing Mountain.

"Tomorrow the Tang army will cross the last bend of the Yellow River and head towards Qinghai Lake."

Lun Qinling listened to the report from his scouts and nodded slightly, saying, "Okay, go down and rest. Tomorrow will be a fierce battle."

Seeing the scouts retreat, Lun Qinling put aside all distractions and went to sleep with his clothes on.

Lun Qinling is not worried about tomorrow's battle. His chances of winning this battle are 70%.

The next morning, Lun Qinling led his troops out directly.

The five thousand soldiers went straight to Heichi Changzhi's Tang army without any fancy moves.

Heichi Changzhi was good at using surprise attacks and was also good at guarding against surprise attacks. When the Tubo army was still ten miles away from them, they were discovered by the cavalry that Heichi Changzhi had arranged in advance around the patrol troops.

Heichi Changzhi looked around and saw that this was a hilly area with many undulating hills.

It is convenient for cavalry to attack, but not conducive to the performance of crossbowmen.

Because the cavalry can go around the hillside and avoid the effective attack range of the crossbowmen.

This kind of terrain is everywhere in this area and it is unavoidable.

"Meet the enemy!"

Heichi Changzhi said nothing, his eyes full of fighting spirit.

(End of this chapter)