Datang: What's wrong with my fief being a billion points larger?

Chapter 301: Bombardment of Chawarong

When they arrived at Yuji City, the war had already ended and Su Dingfang arrived with 30,000 vanguard troops.

"Jun Mai, the battle of Yuji City was well fought. Another person chased down the leader of the Qiang Man and killed him. He was truly brave. Your Majesty will surely be delighted to hear about this."

Su Dingfang looked at Xi Junmai in surprise. When the news of Xi Junmai's battle record came, he was shocked. He did not expect that Xi Junmai could defeat more than 30,000 Qiang barbarians with only 5,000 cavalry and capture nearly 20,000 people.

Upon hearing this, Xi Junmai shook his head with regret.

"Well, these Qiang barbarians really have no fighting power at all. I led the cavalry to attack the enemy, but they didn't have any formation at all. Moreover, the battle was not going well, so they started to flee directly.

When I chased them, they didn't even fight back and I killed them directly. It was so boring."

Su Dingfang's mouth twitched. Looking at Xi Junmai's upturned mouth, he suddenly felt that he shouldn't praise this man and now he was pretending with him.

"Haha, you can say this in front of the king. I believe it."

"You, how could you really believe what I said?

Let’s go into the city first and talk in detail.”

After entering the city, Su Dingfang asked Xi Jun directly to buy it.

"Have you, Chawarong and Maer, gone to see them? How is the situation?"

When it came to business, both of them became serious.

“We have all gone to investigate. Maergan is a small city with at least 2,000 soldiers in it. It shouldn’t be difficult to attack.

However, the Qiang barbarians of Chawarong actually began to build more city walls. There were thousands of soldiers inside. If they attacked by force, the situation would not be optimistic.

Especially since Chawarong is surrounded by mountains, it is not easy for cavalry to fight there. We may have to wait until the king’s army arrives and then use cannons to bombard it, which will make the attack much smoother.

Now that you are here, you can first defeat Maergan, and Chawarong's army will wait for the king to arrive. What do you think?"

Su Dingfang stared at the map closely, frowning.

"Maergan is not important to us. The most important thing to go from here to Lhasa is Chawarong.

We wanted to go to Lhasa, but the road was blocked by the Waqu River (the upper reaches of the Nujiang River), so we had to cross the river before we could get through.

The ferry crossing of the Waqu River and the road across the river are both behind Chawarong. As long as they pass through, the army can go straight to Bowo.

In this way, we will attack Maergan first to see if we can attract Chawarong's enemy troops. You lead the cavalry to ambush. If Chawarong sends troops over, you can take this opportunity to eliminate Chawarong's defenders.

It will also be easier to attack Warong later.

It is a good opportunity to capture Maergan, and also to block the enemy forces coming to reinforce from Dangxiang, Dongnuguo, etc. "

Xi Junmai looked at the map and looked at Su Dingfang with a frown.

“This method can be tried, but even if the attacker dares to do it, there is still a big problem.

To go to Maergan, you must cross a river, which is locally called Zhaqu, also known as the Moon River (Lancang River).

This river is as fast-flowing as the Waqu River. So far, I have not found a place with relatively calm water flow to cross the river, and there is only this small path to cross.

At that time, I asked the scouts to cross the mountain and not take the small path. There are nearly a thousand people here. If we want to attack Maergan, we must get rid of the Qiang barbarians here before we can pass!"

Listening to Xi Junmai's words, Su Dingfang did not hesitate at all.

"Even so, we still have to fight. The more rugged the terrain, the more we have to fight!
Maergan must be captured now to prevent the enemy from harassing our food supply in the future, and at the same time to stop the subsequent Qiangman reinforcements outside Maergan.

If the Qiang barbarians were able to conquer such a dangerous place, then we can do the same.

This time I come with two thousand musketeers, which is enough!"

After the two men made the decision, they led the army out of the city the next day and headed north.

“Jun Mai, you lead the cavalry in this area. The surrounding terrain is relatively flat, which is conducive to cavalry combat.

At the same time, I will leave behind another 20,000 troops. If Chawarong sends troops to support you, the number will definitely not be small. When the time comes, after you destroy the Qiang barbarians who are coming to support you, you can lead the army to attack Chawarong and see if you can break the city.

If Chawarong's army does not come to help, you will command your army to approach Chawarong, surround Chawarong, and wait for the king's army to arrive."

Xi Junmai nodded solemnly.

"Don't worry, as long as the Qiang barbarians from Chawarong dare to come out, I will never let anyone escape and will definitely capture Chawarong!"

The two men then divided their forces, and Su Dingfang led his troops to the Zhaqu Bridge.

Su Dingfang looked at the mountains and hills on the opposite bank and could not see anything unusual.

"Order! Get the catapults ready immediately. Tie explosives to the rocks. If the enemy makes any unusual movement, throw them immediately!"

"Order the shield soldiers to move forward, the spearmen to follow closely, and the musketeers to provide cover!"

Everything was ready, and Su Dingfang immediately ordered: "Cross the river!"

The shield soldiers walked in front, covering the spearmen as they began to cross the bridge. The musketeers held flintlock rifles, all loaded and waiting for any unusual movements from the enemy.

When the army crossing the river reached the middle of the bridge, the Qiang barbarians hiding on the other side of the river rushed to the front of the bridge and shot arrows at the army crossing the bridge.

The musketeer holding the flintlock rifle immediately pulled the trigger, and the sergeant next to the catapult at the rear immediately ignited the fuse on the explosive pack, helping the stones in the explosive pack to be thrown straight to the opposite bank.

Accompanied by a huge roar, the rain of arrows from the Qiang Man did not cause any casualties to the army crossing the river. Instead, they themselves suffered heavy losses and fled backwards.

These Qiang barbarians had never seen gunpowder, let alone the power of firearms. When they saw it for the first time, they all fled back in fear.

Su Dingfang sneered. After the first group of troops crossed the bridge, the musketeers followed closely and crossed the river. Su Dingfang was among them.

"You are responsible for coordinating the troops behind to cross the bridge, and I will lead the troops that have already crossed the river to attack first."

Su Dingfang knew very well that the Qiang barbarians must have lost their courage by now, so he had to attack as quickly as possible and not give them any chance to adjust.

After giving instructions to his deputy general, he led the two thousand men who had already crossed the river to launch an attack immediately.

Su Dingfang immediately arranged for the pikemen, spearmen, and crossbowmen to take the small path under the cover of the shield soldiers, and led the musketeers and the rest to climb the mountain along the path provided by Xi Junmai.

With the shield soldiers attracting below, Su Dingfang led the musketeers to eliminate the Qiang barbarians at a specific point. The rest of the soldiers immediately launched a charge and occupied the mountains above in less than two hours.

After all the troops arrived, he left two thousand soldiers to guard the bridge and led the army to continue to Maergan.

The first thing Su Dingfang did after arriving was to launch an attack.

The walls of Maergan were short, and with the coordination of the catapults and the targeted elimination of the musketeers, Maergan was captured in less than two hours.

Su Dingfang left two thousand soldiers to guard the city and led the main army back to Chawarong. When he arrived outside Chawarong, he saw Xi Junmai's army besieging the city. Su Dingfang sighed in his heart.

"Ma Er dared to attack, but the Qiang barbarians here are still silent?"

Su Dingfang asked Xi Junmai, looking at the city wall that had been built and raised. Although it was not as big as the big city of the Tang Dynasty, it was obviously not small.

Xi Junmai said bitterly, "I waited for more than two hours, but the Qiang barbarians in Chawarong still showed no signs of movement, so I led the army to surround the city. Because the city walls were high and other large siege equipment had not arrived, we did not launch a test siege to avoid wasting our troops."

Upon hearing this, Su Dingfang shook his head helplessly.

"Let's wait for the king to arrive. The heavy siege equipment, including the cannons, are all in the back. If we attack the city now, even if we take it, the army will suffer heavy casualties. There is no need for that.

Our loss here is not worth it, we just need to wait a little longer."

Su Dingfang had no other choice. Without those large siege equipment, the army would inevitably suffer heavy losses if they attacked the city now. In Su Dingfang's mind, the lives of the soldiers were very precious and should not be wasted like this.

If time was urgent and there were no large siege equipment in the rear, he would definitely not wait, but now he has no choice but to wait.

"Immediately report what is happening here to the king, and be on guard against enemy attacks on the camp."

When Li Yuanji received Su Dingfang's military report, he had already arrived in Yuji City.

“Yes, Junmai and Dingfang fought well.

Send a message to them, asking them to wait for the arrival of the army and not to attack the city, which would only result in more casualties."

Li Yuanji was really happy. First, Xi Junmai defeated 30,000 Qiang barbarians in Yuji City and killed the Qiang barbarian leader alone. Then, Su Dingfang captured Maergan with almost no damage. Both battles were very beautiful.

"Yes, especially General Xi. Five thousand cavalrymen trampled the Qiang barbarians and captured more than 20,000 prisoners. This is truly extraordinary."

Xue Wanche on the side also sighed with admiration. Although the Qiang Man's combat power and weaponry were not as good as theirs, they were still an army of more than 30,000. However, they were beaten like this by Xi Junmai. Especially when he led more than 30 cavalrymen to chase the Qiang Man leader and killed him single-handedly, Xue Wanche recognized such bravery.

Li Yuanji looked at Xue Wanche and Yang Shu and immediately smiled.

"Well, there are still many battles to come. There is no need to rush. You will have a chance to show your abilities."

After the army rested for a day, when Li Yuanji was leading the army to set off again, Yang Jianhe hurried over.

"Your Majesty, urgent military report about the Tang Dynasty!"

Li Yuanji picked it up and looked at it solemnly, his brows immediately furrowed.

"Bring the map! Quick!"

Yang Shu hurriedly took out the map, and he and Xue Wanche stood solemnly beside him.

Li Yuanji kept searching on the map, and after a moment he looked at Xue Wanche and Yang Shu.

"The military report just now said that the Tang army that Li Jing conquered and destroyed the Turks has withdrawn from the Turks, but has not returned to the Tang Dynasty. No one knows where they are going.

In addition, Li Er led tens of thousands of troops and appeared in the northern part of Subi, at the border with Tuyuhun.

Tuyuhun is now on high alert and has sent an additional 100,000 troops to the area adjacent to Subi.

What do you think of this news? "

Li Yuanji felt extremely heavy in his heart. Li Jing had led an army of 100,000 to destroy the Turks, but now he withdrew directly after destroying the Turks and disappeared. This meant that he never withdrew to the Tang Dynasty, but continued to carry out other military tasks.

The 100,000 elite troops disappeared, and Yu Ming and Li Er on the grassland were no longer in service. Thinking about the current situation in Tubo, Li Yuanji had to guess whether Li Er's army had come to Tubo.

Now Li Er even appeared in Subi. Although it seemed that he was going to attack Tuyuhun, Li Yuanji had to feel heavy-hearted when he thought about Li Er's previous attempt to destroy the Eastern Turks and his previous guess that Li Er came to Tubo to pick peaches.

One hundred thousand elite troops, combined with the firearms and smelting technology that Li Er now possesses, is a force too strong. In Li Yuanji's eyes, the hundreds of thousands of troops from the surrounding countries are no match for the one hundred thousand Tang troops that Li Er has ordered Li Jing to lead.

Li Jing is the commander. Such a person has disappeared with his army. So where would he suddenly appear?

Upon hearing this, Xue Wanche and Yang Shu became even more solemn and frowned, but they couldn't figure out the reason.

Li Yuanji pondered for a moment, then looked at Yang Jianhe.

“Go and send a message to Tuyuhun. Now that Li Jing’s 100,000-strong army that destroyed the Eastern Turks has disappeared and Li Er has reappeared in Subi, the situation is extremely unfavorable to Tuyuhun.

Tell him that if he doesn't want his country to be destroyed, it is best to launch an attack on Li Er and lure out Li Jing's 100,000 troops.

Let him think about it carefully. Now there is the Western Turkic army stationed on the border to the west of Tuyuhun, the Tang army to the east, and now Li Er has appeared in the south with tens of thousands of troops.

If you want to break the situation, you must make a decision quickly! "

Li Yuanji now couldn't figure out what Li Er was going to do. He had a hunch that Li Er was definitely coming for him, but Li Yuanji felt that it wasn't that simple.

Now Li Er is in the Western Regions, and he and Tuyuhun are the only enemies. Either Li Er is coming for him, or he is going for Tuyuhun.

If they came for him just to take advantage of Tubo, it would be impossible for Li Er to show up in person with tens of thousands of troops, and there would be an army of 100,000 under Li Jing.

And if Li Er was coming for him, he would not have appeared in the northern part of Suobei.

Then only Tuyuhun was left, but Li Yuanji believed that the hatred value in Li Er's heart for him must be higher than that for Tuyuhun, which made Li Yuanji a little undecided, and he could only remind Tuyuhun in this way.

Once something really happened to Tuyuhun, he would see enemies everywhere in the Western Regions, and there would not be anyone with whom he could form an alliance.

The appearance of Li Er made Li Yuanji particularly anxious, and he immediately led the army to speed up to Chawarong.

Now he must resolve the crisis in Lhasa City as soon as possible, so that even if Li Er comes for him or for Tuyuhun, he will be able to accept it later.

When he arrived at Chawarong and saw the Qiang barbarians constantly building up the city walls, Li Yuanji was not moved at all.

"The army will rest for a day and attack the city the day after tomorrow. Everyone, get ready!"

As Li Yuanji's military order was issued, the army immediately began to move, and Su Dingfang began to arrange the mobilization for the siege and deploy troops.

The most important artillery, with the red cannon, began to enter the designated position and began to adjust the position of the cannon, and the shells were continuously transported to the artillery position.

Various siege equipment began to be assembled and sent to the first siege echelon of the army.

After a day, Li Yuanji personally came to the front army, and everyone in the army was ready.

Li Yuanji looked at Chawarong with cold eyes.

"Pass on my order to bombard Chawarong! The siege army is ready to attack the city!"

The messenger went down immediately.

"The king has ordered the artillery to fire and bombard Chawarong! The army is ready to attack the city!"

"The king has ordered to bombard Chawarong!"

At the artillery position, twenty red cannons stood, their muzzles pointed at Chawarong.

"The king has ordered! Bombard Chawarong!"

The chief artillery officer received the order and turned to look at the artillerymen.

"fire!"

(End of this chapter)