The Flourishing Tang Dynasty: Beginning with Marrying Yang Yuhuan

Chapter 171: Easily Conquer Dingrong City

However, Li Heng knew that his stay in Longyou was only temporary.

He had no intention of making long-term plans for Longyou and only wanted to focus on this war.

Therefore, after a moment of silence, Li Heng stood up and said, "If it is beneficial to the country, life and death are of no concern. Now the Tang Dynasty is at war with Tubo, and as a military governor, I should lead the troops, so I want to live in Suirong City and guard the country's gates."

As long as Li Heng arrived at Suirong City, the elite soldiers from various military towns would come to protect him. Li Heng could also take this opportunity to train his own army.

The generals were a little surprised that Li Heng was willing to go to the deserted Suirong City.

Gao Xianzhi said worriedly: "Your Highness, according to convention, the Jiedushi should live in the capital."

"That was during peacetime," Li Heng replied. "Now that war has become a regular occurrence, I should naturally be at the front."

Li Heng's words reminded the generals of Li Shimin.

In the early days, Li Shimin was always at the front, and often took a few people to the deep front line to investigate the situation on the spot.

When Li Shimin besieged Luoyang, he often took his men back and forth between Luoyang City and Hulao Pass. Wang Shichong in Luoyang City watched Li Shimin coming and going in the city and never dared to send troops to stop him.

Suirong City is only thirty miles away from Dingrong City. If Li Heng really wants to live in Suirong City permanently, the situation will be exactly the same as when Li Shimin besieged Luoyang.

Li Siye's blood boiled when he heard this, and he said, "Your Highness is stationed in Suirong City, and I am here to guard it. Even if Tubo has a million strong soldiers, how dare they invade us!"

Gao Xianzhi said: "That's good."

That's how things were settled.

It took Li Heng more than three months to disband the Anren Army, reorganize the army, and then garrison Suirong City with new troops.

Li Longji agreed to Li Heng's requisition of money and grain from Jiannan and Hexi to supply Longyou, and appointed Yang Xuanlu as the Jiannan Transport Commissioner, specifically to requisition grain and money from Jiannan to supply Longyou.

Time flies, and it is already April 741.

Wang Zhongsi won a series of great victories in the north, forcing the Xi and Turks to flee in disarray.

Li Longji was so happy that he ordered Li Heng to take action against Tubo.

Li Heng received the order and made further deployments.

Li Heng transferred 10,000 troops from Anxi, led by Fu Menglingcha, and Cen Shen was a special force, directly following his investigation.

Twenty thousand troops were dispatched from Hexi to enter Longyou, and the rest of the troops, led by Feng Changqing, marched from Dadou Valley.

The Longyou troops were divided into two routes. One route was commanded by Li Heng himself and stationed in Heyuan and Linfan areas, preparing to advance from Shibao City.

The army was led by Gao Xianzhi and marched from Lintao.

The Stone Castle is a complex structure that affects the entire structure. The reason why this castle, which is garrisoned with two thousand men, is difficult to capture is not only because it is easy to defend but also because Tubo will dispatch heavy troops to support it, so fighting the reinforcements is also a top priority.

This is also the reason why Li Heng wanted to centralize power even though he had explosives.

Only by centralizing power first and allowing Feng Changqing and Gao Xianzhi, two generals who were good at raiding and obedient, to surround and attack the enemy reinforcements from top to bottom, could he devote himself to Shibao City.

Li Heng made arrangements and calculated the time, then led his troops to the outpost of Shibao City, at the foot of Dingrong City.

When the Tibetan soldiers in Dingrong City saw Li Heng leading his troops in person, they lit smoke signals, stood ready for battle, and prepared for a desperate fight.

However, Li Heng did not order an attack on the city. Instead, he turned around and went back.

The Tibetan soldiers were bewildered, and one could only guess that Li Heng was afraid.

But the next day, Li Heng came again. This time, he only brought a few people with him, and he came straight to the city and said, "I am the Shou Wang of the Tang Dynasty!"

This shout made the soldiers in Dingrong City agitated, and they all wanted to take the opportunity to kill Li Heng and gain merit.

Seeing Li Heng so arrogant, Shang Zangrela's deputy general was also very angry and asked, "General, why don't you go out of the city to kill the bandits now? I beg your permission to go out of the city to kill them!"

Shang Zangrela said, "I'm afraid there is a trick. The Tang Dynasty's Shou Wang is unpredictable in his use of troops. We must not be careless."

The deputy general asked, "Are we just going to let him come and go like this?"

Shang Zangrela said: "Dingrong City is only thirty miles away from Suirong City. He wants to imitate Emperor Taizong Li Shimin and lure him with his own body. I think he will come tomorrow. We can ambush him on the road and kill him."

"Good idea." The deputy general agreed.

After deciding on a plan, Shang Zangrela sneaked out with his troops at dawn the next day, preparing to ambush Li Heng on the road.

But just when they had walked out seven or eight miles, fire suddenly lit up in the valley, and arrows came like raindrops. After the arrows, thousands of Tang soldiers rushed out.

Shang Zangrela realized that he had fallen into a trap and quickly led his men to retreat.

But this time, Li Heng was fully prepared. The Tang army chased all the way and killed Shang Zangrela outside Dingrong City.

After killing Shang Zangrela, Li Heng led his troops to attack Dingrong City directly. There were not many defenders left in Dingrong City, and the city was not difficult to attack, so it was easily captured by the Tang army.

However, there was a little accident during the process of taking the city.

Li Siye was not the first person to enter Dingrong City. The ones who took the lead in climbing Dingrong City were Zhang Guangsheng and Ma Lin, followed by the Lun brothers.

Zhang Guangsheng had previously followed Dong Yanguang and reached Shibao City. He had been in and out of Dingrong City several times.

Ma Lin was the grandson of Ma Zhenghui and his parents died early.

Ma Zhenghui was old and ill, so Li Heng asked him to stay in the rear, and then he sent his grandson Ma Lin to the vanguard.

As for the Lun brothers, they are descendants of the Tibetan general Lun Qinling.

In terms of Qinling's foreign wars, he never suffered a defeat in his life and was a rare general in Tubo for a hundred years.

In 670 AD, Lun Qinling defeated Xue Rengui at Dafeichuan, annihilating all elite Tang troops.

In 678 AD, Lun Qinling defeated the Tang troops again and captured Tang generals Liu Shenli and Wang Xiaojie.

Despite such great military achievements, he finally died in the internal strife of Tubo. Lun Qinling's younger brother Zanpo led the Lun clan to surrender to the Tang army.

The next brothers of the Lun family to ascend Dingrong City today were the sons of Lun Qinling’s grandson. One was named Lun Weiliang and the other Lun Weizhen.

These two are the second and third of the five sons of the Lun family. The eldest is in Hedong, following Wang Zhongsi to fight against the Turks and the Xi tribe. The fourth and fifth are still young.

However, Li Siye did not rush to climb Dingrong City first, not because he was not brave enough, but on the contrary because he was too brave and famous. The Tibetan army guarding the city gathered several generals to stop him and slightly hindered his progress.

Regarding this situation, Li Heng could only sigh that the Tang Dynasty was indeed full of famous generals. When one was blocked, others would pop up.

Li Ying and his men started the battle at dawn. When they captured Dingrong City, the sky had just brightened and the Tang army climbed up Dingrong City, waving flags and shouting.

Shibao City is only three miles away from Dingrong City. The defenders on Shibao City can clearly see that the Tang army has occupied Dingrong and their signal smoke has been lit.

The Tang army generals and Li Heng were looking at Shibao City from the tower. Ma Lin said worriedly, "Your Highness, Dingrong City is easy to attack, but Shibao City is difficult to conquer. Now that the Tibetan war smoke has been lit, the Tibetan reinforcements will probably arrive soon. Once the Tibetan general arrives, we must withdraw from Dingrong City, otherwise we will be easily surrounded and killed."

Li Ying smiled and said, "No hurry, take a rest first, and then take Shibao City tomorrow."

(End of this chapter)