Early Tang Dynasty: forge ahead

Chapter 513: Victory on All Fronts
Niu Yanyou stood with his sword in hand, barely maintaining his body shape. He watched the Tibetan cavalry retreating away, spat out a mouthful of blood unwillingly, and cursed: "Give me a hundred more men, and I can still hold out for another hour."

As he spoke, he looked around. It was a tragic battlefield with corpses of both enemies and our own soldiers lying all over the place, as well as the wailing of some seriously wounded soldiers.

There were still some scattered Tibetan soldiers who had fallen off their horses and were still resisting fearlessly. He thought for a moment and shouted, "Kill them all, leaving no one alive."

Soon the battle was quelled.

Niu Yanyou added: "Bandage each other and stop the bleeding."

He had many wounds on his body, the most serious one being his thigh, which was pierced by a Tibetan lance, and he walked with a limp. He came to a Tibetan corpse, cut a piece of rag from the corpse, lifted his armor, and tied up the wound on his leg tightly.

He reluctantly got on an ownerless warhorse and said, "If you still have the strength, come with me and get on the horse. This is a great achievement, and it's not enough to just drink the soup. You must have a piece of meat to taste it."

After hearing what their superior said, the soldiers who still had the strength and were not seriously injured gathered around him.

Niu Yanyou saw that there were still more than 200 people. He couldn't help but grin and said, "Follow me and catch up!"

Niu Yanyou chased for about ten miles and heard the sound of fighting ahead.

Niu Yanyou was excited and shouted, "The thieves are right in front of us, follow me and kill them!"

More than two hundred people shouted in unison and rushed towards the place where the sound came from.

They rushed up the hillside, where the Tang army and the Tubo army were fighting fiercely below.

The Tang army's defense line has been broken into pieces by the Tibetan cavalry...

This team of Tang troops also had a thousand people. The leader was Sun Dewu, also a captain. Compared with Niu Yanyou, he was notified in advance and was more fully prepared.

But they still couldn't stop the Tibetan army who were obsessed with breaking out.

After all, this Tibetan army was the strongest fighting force in Tibet, second only to the armored cavalry under Lun Qinling. The Tang army was at a numerical disadvantage. Although they had made preparations in advance, their mission was to ambush. They had no decent tools and could only use local materials, such as stones and spears for defense. It was difficult to resist the trapped Tibetan army.

Sun Dewu was also an experienced grassroots general who had a clear understanding of the basic situation. He did not think that he could stop the enemy with the thousand men under his command, but could delay a little longer to give the people behind him time to prepare.

Sun Dewu looked at the situation that could no longer be maintained and cursed, "You son of a bitch Niu Yanyou, if you could hold on a little longer, it wouldn't be like this."

At this moment, he saw a cavalry team swooping down from the opposite hill.

The person leading the group was Niu Yanyou, whom he had just scolded.

In an instant, Sun Dewu's expression changed immediately, "Good brother, you came just in time."

At this time, more than half of the Tibetan soldiers had broken through. Sun Dewu knew that it was impossible to catch up with them, but as long as he could block the way out, the more than 300 people who had not yet broken through would be eaten by them and Niu Yanyou who came to support them.

Sun Dewu glanced at the knife in his hand, which had a chip on it. He picked up an intact knife and said, "If it can still move, come with me to seal the hole. We have injured so many of our brothers. If we don't leave some to be buried with them, our brothers will not be able to sleep peacefully."

Sun Dewu pounced on the Tibetan cavalry in front of him like a tiger. He was experienced in combat and rushed forward with a shout, but he did not fight with the enemy on horseback. Instead, he bent his body, avoided the opponent's stab, and cut off the opponent's horse's leg with one knife.

The Tibetan cavalry fell off their horses.

It turns out that cutting off a horse's legs on the battlefield is indeed effective.

Sun Dewu bravely blocked the gap, and Niu Yanyou also arrived at this time.

The two sides cooperated and killed all the 300 cavalrymen who were intercepted.

Niu Yanyou looked at Sun Dewu who was sitting on the ground gasping for breath and said, "Sun Wu, why are you like a dog? Can you still fight?"

Sun Dewu wiped the sweat off his face, which was covered with blood. He said, "Who are you looking down on? You are a barbarian bull. You eat grass, not shit. Your mouth stinks."

He ignored Niu Yanyou and said, "Brothers, we haven't recovered our losses today. Come with me and get your money back if you can still move..."

The two men gathered more than 300 soldiers and continued the pursuit.

Looking at the Tang army that had already formed up in front of them, Zanpo and Mangsong Mangzan's eyes were filled with despair and panic.

Mangsong Mangzan looked at the less than 3,000 soldiers behind him and was also frustrated. He still couldn't figure out the situation. He said, "What's going on? Why are there so many Tang troops?"

Zanpo looked dejected. He was more certain of the purpose of the Tang army. Just as he thought, they came here to ambush them. But Zamp Mangsong Mangzan was more cautious and set off a day earlier, choosing the critical time of four o'clock in the morning. As a result, the Tang army did not arrive at the ambush point in time and was caught by them on the way.

Zanpo originally thought that he could take the opportunity to break out of the encirclement in one breath, but he didn't expect that two inconspicuous captains of the Tang army taught him a good lesson.

The two captains of the Tang army behaved properly, but it was this conformity that was the most terrifying.

In the absence of senior generals, they were suddenly attacked by a powerful opponent.

They did not cower, nor did they retreat. Instead, they rose up to resist, met the enemy step by step, and did the best they could within their capabilities.

And there is no need for dispatch from above, they can gather troops and pursue on their own.

This is a very scary thing in Zanpo's opinion...

It is certain that the opponents they are facing now will be more fully prepared, and there will be more and more pursuers behind them.

In the end, they will face Xi Junmai, the brave general whose reputation is heard throughout Qinghai.

The three armies of the Tang army were besieging Fu'ai City, and the group of soldiers responsible for the ambush were undoubtedly Xi Junmai's troops.

As a brave general who always fights at the forefront, Xi Junmai must be the first to arrive at the ambush point.

"Zanpu, how about we retreat?"

Zanpo's throat was dry, and she looked at Mangsong Mangzan with some sadness.

Mangsong Mangzan looked at Zanpo in astonishment. He was good at political strategy, but knew nothing about military affairs. He did not understand the key point and asked, "Retreat? Where to retreat?"

"I don't know!" Zanpo said, "Go back first and defeat the Tang army behind us, and then join the main force. If all else fails, find a mountain to hide. If we're lucky, we can save our lives, but if we're unlucky, we'll die in there. This is the only ray of hope..." He pointed to the more than a thousand Tang soldiers in front and said, "Someone has leaked our information. In order to hunt us down, there must be ambushes on all sides ahead. We've only broken through two formations and are already in such a state, how many more can we break through? There must be Xi Jun's troops near Naluyi. In our current state, we will surely die if we face them. The only way to have a ray of hope is to retreat."

Mangsongmangzan looked at Zanpo, who was covered in blood, and knew that if he was a traitor, he would never do this.

At this moment, he had no choice but to believe in Zanpo.

"Just listen to the general!"

Mangsong Mangzan said bitterly: "The only one I can rely on is the general."

Zanpo gritted his teeth, turned his horse around, and led his soldiers back down the plateau.

Niu Yanyou and Sun Dewu chased the Tubo army all the way, and the two sides soon met on the way.

Zanpo shouted, "Crush them!"

Niu Yanyou and Sun Dewu never thought that the Tubo army would turn around and attack in the opposite direction.

I was dumbfounded for a moment.

"Fuck it, come on!"

Sun Dewu cursed and roared forward.

At this point, they had no choice. They couldn't run away, so they had to attack head-on.

As the sound of weapons clashing rang out, the bodies of soldiers from both sides fell from their horses to the ground, and were then trampled into pulp by countless war horses, with blood everywhere.

Niu Yanyou said: "Zhang Dayong, go and inform the brothers behind to meet the enemy and delay time."

He whipped his horse whip and chased after Sun Dewu, saying, "Sun Wu, I'll buy you a drink when I get back!"

"it is good!"

Sun Dewu responded with a big laugh.
-
"Zamp, Zamp!"

Mangsong Mangtsen heard someone calling him and was about to speak when he was jolted and his upper and lower teeth bit his tongue. He felt a sharp pain and his mouth was full of blood. Then he realized that he was still on the horse. He, the great Tibetan king, actually fell asleep on the horse's back.

"Zamp, Zamp!"

An anxious voice sounded beside me.

Mangsong Mangzan looked at the anxious Zanpo and slowly regained consciousness. He remembered that he was running away and was trampled by the Tang army like a dog.

"What's going on now?"

Mangsong Mangzan's voice was hoarse. He had been running all the way and didn't even have time to drink water, so his mouth was dry.

Zanpo was very happy to see Mangsong Mangzan wake up, but when Mangsong Mangzan asked about the situation, she looked sad again and said, "Why don't we go into the mountains!"

Their original plan was to escape back and reunite with the main force, but now that things have come to this, they no longer care about face.

Even if he were to go back and be used as a puppet by some powerful person, it would be better than being captured by Chen Qingsi and escorted to Chang'an to dance for the emperor of the Tang court like Jie Li Khan of the Turks.

But even this little hope was destroyed by Xi Junmai.

It turned out that Xi Junmai, as the vanguard of the divided troops, was the first to arrive at an ambush point south of Zhonglongyi.

He was busy setting up an ambush, thinking that this time he must capture the Tubo Zamp, win the battle, and make up for his mistake.

As a result, with a whole day left before the agreed time, they learned that they had encountered the Tibetan army, who were rushing towards the plateau.

Xi Junmai immediately realized that the intelligence was wrong, and he acted decisively, turning the ambush into a strong attack and leading all the troops down the plateau in pursuit.

As they went south, they saw the tragic battlefield and learned that the two Tang troops that had fought two encounters with Tubo were repeatedly attacked and suffered heavy losses, and they were holding their breath.

Xi Jun bought five hundred cavalrymen and pursued them desperately, and caught up with Mangsong Mangzan and Zanpo.

Mangsong Mangzan and Zanpo had no choice but to find ways to use the terrain to avoid Xi Junmai and keep sending soldiers to cover their retreat.

Xi Junmai still held on to them tightly. Every time they kept some distance, he could rely on his familiarity with the terrain to hold on to them and not give them a chance to escape to Fu'ai City.

Xi Junmai had been stationed in Qinghai Lake for five years and was very familiar with the terrain there.

Mangsong Mangzan and Zanpo have been forced to leave Fu'e City. Even Zanpo doesn't know where they are.

In the current situation, the only way out is to find a ravine to hide in.

Mangsong Mangzan saw that he also had dark circles under his eyes and a pale face, and knew that he had tried his best, so he said, "Just listen to the general."
-
Voivodeship.

Chen Qingsi stood on the city wall, gazing at the looming sacred mountain in the distance, looking at the roof of the world, his fingers constantly tapping on the city wall.

I wonder how the war will develop...

At this point, the overall situation is beyond Chen Qingsi's control.

Because of his strategic advantage, he forced the pillar of Tubo, Galdongzan, to death, leading to the complete collapse of Tubo.

Many nobles and powerful people wanted to preserve their strength and had no intention of fighting.

Mangsong Mangtsen, the Tibetan king, came down the mountain and tried to calm the situation, but found that he was completely unable to do so. Instead, he felt like he was trapped in a wolf's den.

His early escape made the Tibetan nobles, who had no desire to fight to begin with, lose their fighting spirit even more.

According to the original plan, the Tibetan army, the Zamp and many nobles should have retreated together on March 5th in the fifth year of Qianfeng.

But Zanpo sensed a hint of danger and suggested leaving one day earlier, on the night of March 4th.

Mangsong Mangzan did not believe Zanpo and decided to leave early on March 3rd on his own initiative.

This also resulted in the Tang army not having time to set up an ambush.

Mangsong Mangzan's advance departure not only caused this situation, but also triggered a chain reaction, causing the Tibetan warlords who remained in Fu'ai City to think about escaping early.

So on the night of March 4, Chen, a member of the powerful San Shang family of Tubo, withdrew his troops ahead of schedule.

This caused an uproar. If you retreat, I will retreat too. No one wants to retreat together on March 5th.

So, each family cleaned the snow in front of their own door and everyone ran together.

Faced with this situation, Chen Qingsi decisively gave orders for the three armies to advance together and hunt down the Tubo army with all their might.

If the Tibetan warlords go together as agreed, they can cooperate with each other and launch an effective counterattack.

But they run on their own, which forms a kind of thinking that it would rather die than let their friends die.

I don't need to outrun Tang Jun, I just need to outrun my teammates...

Faced with the Tang army's attack, they not only did not resist, but instead fled first.

The whole army was defeated.

The Tang army was in Qinghai, facing the Tubo army that was betting the fate of the country on it, it was like slaughtering a pig, and they did not resist at all.

Chen Qingsi easily occupied Fuai City...

Now Xi Junmai is chasing Mangsong Mangzan, while the other three armies are just killing pigs.

Chen Qingsi had no way of estimating what the final outcome of this battle would be, but one thing was certain: Tubo was doomed.

This outcome was something Chen Qingsi had never dreamed of before the war. For a moment, he was confused and uncertain about the future.

Is this all there?

Should I go straight to the plateau?
Fulfill your oath and pee on the Potala Palace?
It is really not difficult to conquer the current Tubo, but the difficulty lies in how to control it?

Chen Qingsi had a headache, with a lot of thoughts in his mind, and he was wondering if there was a way to have the best of both worlds.

You can take over the plateau without having to manage it in a complicated way.

(End of this chapter)