Early Tang Dynasty: forge ahead

Chapter 511 Chaos

The Tang army removed the defense line built by Cheng Wuting and reinforced by Galdongzan bit by bit, just like pulling out nails.

The Tang army divided into three groups and began to approach Fu'ai City from three directions.

Faced with the powerful offensive launched by the Tang army, the city of Fu'ai was in an uproar.

Mangsong Mangzan did not expect that the Tubo army was so vulnerable and their defense line was as weak as paper.

This made Mangsong Mangzan, who intended to stabilize the situation through political means, completely at a loss as to what to do.

Mangsongmangzan knew nothing about military affairs, and for a moment he didn't know where he was.

It was not until Zanpo’s reminder that Mangsong Mangzan realized how sad and ridiculous the real situation was.

"You mean they didn't use any force at all?"

Mangsong Mangzan looked incredulous.

Although Mangsong Mangzan knew that because their opponents were too strong and they had been at a disadvantage over the years, there were indeed huge conflicts between the major powers.

Mangsong Mangzan has also been trying his best to maintain the balance, but he has always felt that these Tibetan nobles are supported by the royal court. Even if they have selfish motives, they should at least contribute their own strength when facing a powerful enemy like the Tang Dynasty and the danger of possible national destruction.

He never expected that this group of powerful families who rose to power with the help of their grandfather would still be thinking about seizing power and profit at this critical moment.

Before Galdongzan's body was cold, they were already thinking about retaining the power in their hands so that they could compete for Galdongzan's power.

Zanpo asked, "If not, why did they suffer such a crushing defeat? Their private soldiers suffered no casualties despite such a defeat. Why is that?"

"When did this happen?"

Mangsong Mangzan was so angry that his eyes turned red and he couldn't help but cry.

Zanpo couldn't help but say, "When my father was here, they could still restrain themselves. Now that my father is gone, there is no one to suppress them."

His words sounded a bit unfair. The Gal clan had indeed given everything for Tubo, but had not received a good return.

Mangsong Mangzan sighed: "It is my fault that Tubo is in such a dangerous situation!"

In fact, he did not regret his decision. Except for people like Liu Chan, few emperors could tolerate their officials having such power.

But now the only trustworthy person around him is Zanpo. If he doesn't give in now, his own safety will be in jeopardy.

Zanpo felt better and said, "Your Majesty, why don't we go back to Lhasa!"

Zanpo had no choice either. The Gar clan was too powerful and had suppressed many powerful people for decades. Now that they were weak, they were like meat on the chopping board. The only way was to rely on Mangsong Mangzan, the Tibetan king. The two of them could keep each other warm and continue their bloodline.

After the lesson from Xi Junmai, Zanpo also had a certain understanding of himself. He knew that he could not be like his elder brother, dealing with the powerful people with ease and being respected and loved by others, and he was not as talented in military affairs as his second brother. Being able to maintain the bloodline of the Gal family was the limit of his ability.

Mangsong Mangzan shared the same idea when he heard it. The situation on the front line was completely out of control. It was too dangerous to stay here. Going back could still give them control of the overall situation.

We can give up Qinghai Lake, but we can keep the Tubo national destiny.

The legacy left by my grandfather must not be destroyed in my own hands.

Mangsong Mang praised: "We must go back to Luosi. Only when we really threaten them will they resist. It is meaningless to stay in Fuai City."

He thought for a moment and said, "Call everyone here to discuss the withdrawal. Be careful not to let the general of the Arab Empire know..."

Zanpo took the order and left.

Tang army camp.

Chen Qingsi stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the map in front of him. Most of the black spots on the map had been wiped off. The defense line that complemented Fu'ai City allowed the Tang army to clear them off the map within half a month.

This victory came too easily. The morale of the soldiers was so high that they were like chicken blood. They wanted to fight day and night and take down Fu'ai City in one fell swoop.

"We have to suppress this pressure!"

Chen Qingsi muttered to himself, and then ordered: "Pass the order down, the entire army will rest tomorrow and must not move rashly."

Song Lingwen, who was Chen Qingsi's clerk, was surprised and said, "The Art of War says that the first attack is strong, the second is weak, and the third is exhausted. When the enemy is exhausted, we are full, so we can defeat them. Now that the morale is high, why do we need to suppress it?"

"Our army is strong, but not to this extent... This series of victories is definitely not the true strength of Tibet. Even without Gar Dongzan, Tibet would not be so vulnerable."

As the person playing chess, Chen Qingsi sees the situation most clearly.

There are serious problems with Tubo’s resistance…

If Tubo was really so incompetent, it would never have become an empire capable of competing with the Arab Empire and the Tang Dynasty in history.

Even if Galdongzan died, the things he left behind would not disappear immediately.

The current situation is not difficult to understand. It is because of internal problems in Tubo that Tubo has no intention of fighting...

"Haven't you noticed? The surrendered soldiers we collected recently, or the armor stripped from the bodies of fallen soldiers, don't even have a decent set of armor. Most of them are simple leather and iron armor. You can tell at a glance that they are newly recruited soldiers."

Leather and iron armor is armor made of leather and iron roughly sewn together. It is thick leather armor with iron plates sewn at vital parts. It is the leather and iron armor that the Tibetan soldiers are wearing now.

This is totally not the equipment that the Tibetan army should have...

The resources on the plateau are abundant, and there are corresponding smelting technologies. Their equipment is very sophisticated, and they even have heavy cavalry teams such as armored cavalry.

The Tubo army has been fighting against the Tang army in recent years, and its equipment is not much inferior to that of the Tang army.

If it is said that due to the economic blockade in recent years and the continuous defeats, the national strength of Tubo has declined and the rate of wearing armor has dropped significantly, this is possible. Especially this time when Tubo went south, it gambled its national destiny, and many of the recruited soldiers were rookies, and they could not gather so many armors.

But there were several nobles within Tubo who had their own private armies.

The treatment of these private soldiers cannot be compared with that of ordinary soldiers.

Most of those captured and killed on the battlefield now are of this type, which shows that the core strength of the Tubo army has not been damaged too much.

"They are unwilling to fight, not that they cannot fight. We can't push them too hard..."

"We need to give them some time to catch their breath..."

Chen Qingsi asked: "Where are the people from the Lu family now?"

Chen Qingsi's successive attacks on the Tubo army's defenses were based on one characteristic: where Lu was not, the place would not become the main attack direction of the Tang army.

In short, the Tang army's attack avoided the Meilu family's defense line.

Chen Qingsi did not let Chimalo contact anyone from the Lu family, but simply gave silently.
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Tibetan army, north city watchtower.

Ji Yixing threw his helmet to the ground angrily and cursed: "A bunch of cowardly beasts, and the Zanpu, it was all because of him that the Lu family fell into the current situation. Now they are killing the donkey after it has done its job, which is extremely abominable."

"Father, what should I do? I...I don't want to die..."

A handsome young man, with a sad face and tears rolling down his cheeks. The handsome young man was called Meilu Zhuosa Shangjing, he was the eldest grandson of Meilu, he grew up in doting, had good martial arts skills, and was praised by people around him, so much so that he developed a feeling that fighting was nothing special.

During this expedition, Shang Jing clamored to make great achievements so that he could marry the most beautiful girl on the plateau.

But when I really got to the battlefield, I saw how cruel it was.

Shang Jing's legs went weak, and all the martial arts he had acquired over the years were lost to his grandmother. He was so scared that he peed his pants and never dared to go into battle again.

As a result, now everyone is forcing them to follow the rear.

Today, Mangsong Mangzan held a secret meeting to discuss the withdrawal to the plateau.

Under such circumstances, withdrawing troops is not an easy task.

In order to minimize casualties, someone must stay behind to cover the rear.

In the end, it was unanimously decided that Meilu would be responsible for bluffing and delaying the Tang army's attack.

Ji Yixing was not willing to take on this important task, but a group of people talked to him and asked him to explain why the Tang army would actively avoid the Meilu family's defense line?

How can Ji Yixing explain...

Finally, he was forced to take on this responsibility...

"My father doesn't want to either!" Ji Yixing said with a sad face, "But given the situation, if I don't take the initiative to cover the rear, I will be accused of treason. By then, let alone covering the rear, you and I will be accused of treason on the spot."

The Lu family did not receive such treatment, for the simple reason that they climbed too high and fell too quickly.

The Meilu clan was originally an aristocracy second only to the Zamp clan, and their status was unparalleled.

However, the extremely talented Gardongzan suddenly appeared and became Songtsen Gampo's irreplaceable think tank. The Gar family, a small noble family, became comparable to the Molu family.

Especially after Songtsen Gampo's death, the Gal clan even surpassed the Zamp in terms of ruling power.

The Lu family undoubtedly became the target of suppression.

Especially after Gal Dongzan chose Bafu, the first person he took action against was the Meilu family.

The Meilu clan suffered heavy losses and had finally recovered after years of silence. Chimalo secretly colluded with the Meilu clan to get rid of Galdongzan, but Mangsongmangzan chose Galdongzan, which made him a laughing stock throughout Tubo.

The status of the Meilu family has been declining day by day since then, and now they are considered middle to lower-level nobles among the Tibetan nobles.

Unlike other middle and lower nobles, the more glorious they were in the past, the more pleasurable it is to trample on them now.

Now the most difficult task falls on them again.

It is imposed and cannot be refused.

"The Tang army is so terrifying, how can we resist it?" Shang Jing burst into tears and suddenly said angrily: "They keep saying that we are flirting with the Tang army, saying that Agu has become a university scholar and a high official in the Tang court. Why don't we surrender to Agu, at least we won't be bullied."

Ji Yixing was suddenly enlightened and stared at his precious son in a daze.

"Why didn't I think of that? Rather than being humiliated in Tubo, it's better to surrender to the Tang court. It's better than the current situation anyway..."

The father and son discussed it and immediately decided on a plan.

Tang army camp!

Zhang Rendan shrank his head and stood in front of Chen Qingsi dejectedly.

Chen Qingsi looked at the young man who was originally full of vigor and vitality and became so cowardly, and couldn't help but laugh: "What's wrong? Did you commit a crime?"

Zhang Rendan was smart and clever, and Chen Qingsi liked him very much. He thought that since there was no mention of him in history, he would rely on his own teachings to train him into a famous general, and he valued him very much.

"Uncle, I seem to be in trouble."

Zhang Rendan felt like crying but had no tears. The expression on his face was not one of regret but of grievance.

Chen Qingsi said solemnly: "Speaking of which, if a man really violates the military law, he should bear it with his chest held high. If not, and you are treated unfairly, your uncle will help you."

"No, no!" Zhang Rendan took out a piece of rag from his sleeve. The rag was covered with words. He handed it to Chen Qingsi and said, "I think I killed the wrong person."

Chen Qingsi took the rag and read the contents on it. His face suddenly changed. He looked at Zhang Rendan in astonishment and asked, "Where did this letter come from?"

Zhang Rendan said with a sad face: "I had nothing to do today. I saw an eagle in the sky, so I thought of riding horses nearby to hunt for the eagle. I brought a dozen brothers with me and encountered a sneaky man near Nanshan. I thought he was a scout, so I shot him with an arrow and killed him. This letter was taken from him..."

Chen Qingsi smiled bitterly upon hearing this, but did not pursue the matter. It was indeed not Zhang Rendan's fault.

Those who appear stealthily in the war zone are either friendly forces or enemies.

Who would have thought that he was really a "friendly force".

This "friendly forces" needs to be put in quotation marks.

The contents of the rag are somewhat horrifying...

Chen Qingsi's eyes fell on the rag again, he read it, and then handed it to Song Lingwen.

When Song Lingwen saw the contents of the rag, his expression changed drastically, and he exclaimed, "Is there really a Duan Fashan like this person?"

"Yes!" Chen Qingsi said, "He is a lieutenant under Wang Xiaojie. He is Wang Xiaojie's confidant and once went to Huangzhong County to cause trouble for Di Renjie, causing Di Renjie to be imprisoned."

The content on the rag was written by Duan Fashan: he said that he had gained the trust of Tubo, and although he was in Cao's camp, his heart was with Han. He found out that the Tubo King Mangsong Mangtsen had escaped overnight, and he also wrote down the detailed time and route on the rag.

Song Lingwen frowned and asked, "Could this be a trick?"

Chen Qingsi said: "Logically, it doesn't work. This layout needs to be combined with reality and goals. If there is a trick, what is the purpose? The purpose is to transfer us to ambush their Zanpu's troops? The letter said that they only have 1,500 people. Even if there is a trick, what can it do? Can these people turn the world upside down?"

"They don't know where we will choose to intercept, so there is no way they can lure us into a trap. It's impossible for them to suddenly have tens of thousands of heavenly soldiers and set up an ambush along the entire road leading to the plateau, right?"

"The authenticity of the contents of this letter cannot be confirmed yet, but one point is consistent with my estimation."

"There is no need for Mangsong Mangzan to stay in Fu'e City. Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the Tibetan tyrants are all reserving their strength and have no intention of fighting. If he stays in Qinghai Lake, something unexpected will happen. It is better to withdraw to Luoxie. At least in Luoxie, he can still command the four directions. In Fu'e City, as long as there is a mutiny, his position as the Zamp will be over."

"Report!" News came from outside that Tuoba Jun wanted to see him.

"Let him in!"

Tuoba Jun walked in solemnly, handed over a letter with both hands, and said, "General Manager, this is the message that Ji Yixing of the Meilu clan secretly sent someone to deliver. They are willing to submit to the court, and also brought news that Tubo will withdraw its troops in the second half of the night in two days."

Two days later?
Chen Qingsi took the letter and read it carefully.

The news that Zhang Rendan brought was one day later, which was tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)