The Flourishing Tang Dynasty: Beginning with Marrying Yang Yuhuan

Chapter 217: Attack Blocked
"General Li, haven't you heard that the first attack will weaken the enemy's momentum, and the third will be exhausted?" Li Lin did not want to accept Li Mi's suggestion at all. "The enemy has lost their courage. If we don't march to take the city now, when will we?"

Li Mi said: "Your Highness, our army has come here from Jiannan on an expedition, and the soldiers are exhausted..."

"General Li," Li Lin interrupted Li Mi, "there is only one commander on the battlefield."

Li Mi said helplessly: "I will obey your highness' orders."

Li Lin gave Li Mi a meaningful look, drew his sword and said, "March!"

Following Li Lin's military order, the army continued to march forward, advancing all the way to Nanzhao and reaching the shores of Erhai Lake.

Li Lin set up the central army tent at Longping on the east bank of Erhai Lake, and encircled the heartland of Nanzhao from three directions: the east bank of Erhai Lake, Longwei Pass and Longshou Pass.

The Erhai Basin in the heart of Nanzhao is surrounded by Erhai Lake in the east and Cangshan Mountain in the west. It is sandwiched between Erhai Lake and Cangshan Mountain in the north and south. Nanzhao built Longwei City at the southern angle and Longshou City at the northern angle.

Among them, Cangshan Mountain in the west has a majestic terrain, with an average altitude of more than 3,000 meters. It is surrounded by peaks and covered with snow all year round. It is impossible to cross Cangshan Mountain.

Therefore, the Tang army had no choice but to cross the Longshou Pass and Longwei Pass in the north and south, and build ships to cross the Erhai Lake.

Li Lin made arrangements accordingly, dividing his troops into three groups. Xianyu Zhongtong led one group to attack Longwei Pass in the south, Li Mi and He Fuguang led one group to attack Longshou Pass in the north, and he himself commanded the central army, preparing to build ships to attack from the east of Erhai Lake.

After the arrangements were completed, Li Lin was full of confidence. He thought that Nanzhao was now a trapped beast.

Li Mi received the order to attack Longshou City from the north. He did not dare to delay and personally led his troops to capture Longshou City.

Li Mi came to the foot of Longshou City and saw Ge Luofeng on the city wall.

Li Mi and Ge Luofeng both felt a little emotional as they were comrades who had fought together in the past and now faced each other on the battlefield.

Li Mi rode forward and said to Ge Luofeng, "Prince, since the Tang Dynasty left Jiannan, all places have surrendered. Now Nanzhao can't hold out for long. You should surrender. I will ask the saint to treat Nanzhao well, and you and the king of Nanzhao will be safe!"

"It's been a long time since we last met. Is General Li doing well?" Ge Luofeng greeted him first, and then said, "Back then, Cao Cao led an army of hundreds of thousands to attack Jiangdong. Jiangdong only had tens of thousands of soldiers, but they were able to defeat Cao Cao at the Battle of Red Cliff. Today, our Nanzhao army is well-trained and well-fed. General Li has to lead his army on a long expedition. How can he win?"

Ge Luofeng explained the situation and then continued his verbal attack, saying:

"Since Prince Yong took control of Jiannan, he has increased the tribute to Nanzhao and collected excessive demands; he colluded with Tubo in an attempt to attack Nanzhao; he instigated Cuan Chongdao to become an enemy of Nanzhao and create trouble; he conspired to stir up conflicts between my second brother and me in order to overthrow Nanzhao; he appointed treacherous people and insulted my wife and daughter... His crimes are numerous and innumerable. Nanzhao, a loyal land, has been so oppressed, how can it not resist!"

As Ge Luofeng finished speaking, the Nanzhao soldiers on the city wall were filled with righteous indignation and shouted, "Kill! Kill! Kill!"

Li Mi knew that he was in the wrong and could not win the argument with Ge Luofeng, so he said no more and ordered his soldiers to form a battle array and attack the city.

On the Tang side, the siege equipment was well prepared. They first used catapults to throw boulders and fireballs, and then the siege soldiers were divided into formations. The first echelon of shield soldiers went forward to resist the arrows and stones, and the second echelon of siege soldiers followed closely behind, carrying ladders, battering rams and other equipment to climb the city.

Faced with the orderly attack of the Tang army, the Nanzhao army first fought back with bows and arrows and catapults, and then when the Tang army approached the city, they poured down huge stones, kerosene, and boiling water.

Soon, hundreds of Tang soldiers were killed or wounded, but under the leadership of Sa Daoxuan, He Fuguang and Li Zhenyuan, the Tang soldiers still fought bravely and launched wave after wave of attacks.

After the battle lasted for a long time, the Tang army's battering rams broke open the outer gate of Longshou City, and the Tang army soldiers rushed in.

But as soon as they rushed into the city gate, they were doused with boiling oil prepared in advance, followed by a volley of rockets. The first team of soldiers to enter the city were either shot to death or burned to death in the fire.

For a moment, cries and screams filled the entire Longshou City.

Sa Daoxuan, who was in charge of attacking the city gate, had no time to grieve for his companions, and continued to advance with his men. However, as soon as he reached the inner wall, he met Duan Quange, who was leading the army of Nanzhao.

The troops led by Duan Quange were called Luojuzi, which was the most direct line of Ge Luofeng's direct line.

Duan Quange ordered his men to pull up the suspension bridge in the inner city to block the rear of the Tang army. At the same time, he led Luo Juzi to surround the vanguard troops led by Sa Daoxuan.

Li Mi secretly thought that the situation was not good and ordered the rear army to attack the suspension bridge fiercely, but the Nanzhao defenders put up a stubborn resistance.

Not long after, Nanzhao general Duan Quange climbed up the city wall, stood on the high platform, shouted loudly, and raised up the bloody heads one by one.

When the Tang army soldiers heard this, they looked and recognized that it was the head of Tang army's vanguard general Sa Daoxuan.

The attack was blocked, the vanguard general was killed, and the morale of the Tang army dropped instantly.

Seeing this situation, Li Mi knew that he could no longer attack, so he sounded the horn to call back his troops.

Inside the tent.

He Fuguang said to Li Mi: "General Li, I and Sa Daoxuan are as close as brothers. I beg your permission to go and get his head back."

"No." Li Mi shook his head and sighed, "The reason why we lost the battle today is because Ge Luofeng predicted that our army would be eager to attack and set up ambushes in advance. Since he could predict this, he would naturally use General Sa's head as bait. I have to say that Ge Luofeng is really a talented general."

Li Zhenyuan said: "If His Royal Highness Prince Yong listened to my advice and stationed in Yaozhou, I wouldn't be so anxious."

There is a hidden logic behind Li Zhenyuan's words.

There were Tibetan troops stationed in Langqiong, north of Longshou City. Therefore, the Tang army had to make a quick decision when attacking Longshou City, otherwise it would be extremely easy to be attacked from both sides by Tibetans and Nanzhao. However, if they stationed in Yaozhou first, there would be no such worry.

Li Mi was no longer in the mood to blame Li Lin, but worriedly said: "His Royal Highness Prince Yong is building a ship on the east bank of Erhai Lake. If Ge Luofeng sends someone to attack, we will be in trouble."

Li Zhenyuan said: "Prince Yong leads the central army with more than 20,000 troops, while the Nanzhao navy has only 5,000. They are not so bold as to take the initiative to attack."

Li Mi said: "Military strength is not calculated in this way. The number of soldiers does not represent the size of the fighting force. Historically, all the battles where the minority defeated the majority were when the side with fewer soldiers concentrated its advantages and attacked the weaker side in a certain direction."

Li Zhenyuan understood what Li Mi meant and said nothing more, and became worried.

……

The night before dawn.

The east coast of Erhai Lake.

As Li Mi expected, Geluofeng secretly ordered the Nanzhao navy general Wang Lekuan to lead his troops to attack the Tang navy under the cover of darkness.

The Tang navy had just started building ships upon arriving, and their operations were not yet on a large scale. They were also unfamiliar with the Erhai Lake, so they had no ability to resist Wang Lekuan's night attack.

Wang Lekuan destroyed the Tang army's navy overnight, landed on land, destroyed the Tang army's shipyard, stole the Tang army's ships, and annihilated all the Tang army's naval officers and soldiers.

Wang Lekuan was not greedy for merit or act rashly. After destroying the Tang navy, he did not go to fight Li Lin, but turned around and retreated.

(End of this chapter)