The Flourishing Tang Dynasty: Beginning with Marrying Yang Yuhuan

Chapter 294 Enemy Chapter 293 Coordinated Operations
Talented people all have temper. Li Heng didn't care about Ma Sui's arrogance. He just wanted to confirm that Ma Sui was not a thorn planted by Hedong.

Li Heng then asked, "How do you think we should attack Tubo?"

Ma Sui said: "Your Highness controls the four towns of Anxi, Beiting, Hexi and Longyou, and has a long border with Tubo. Tubo likes to gather heavy troops to attack one place. Your Highness can attack on multiple fronts, tire out the strong enemy, and attack the weak."

"Where is Tubo strong and where is it weak?" Li Ying asked.

"This……"

Ma Sui originally wanted to say that Tubo was strong in the east and weak in the west, but upon closer thought, the layout of the Tang Dynasty was that Helong was strong and Anxi, Beiting was weak. If the Anxi, Beiting army came out in full force, there would still be a chance if they won, but if they lost, the Qarluk, Uighur, Turkic and others would definitely take the opportunity to march into Anxi, and by then their hometown would be gone.

This is just one of them.

Secondly, long-term operations pose a huge challenge to logistics supply and linkage between the armies. Shanzhou and Anxi are 3,000 miles apart. With the current ability of the Tang Dynasty to transmit information, how can they be linked? If there is a mistake in the middle, giving Tubo an opportunity, then not only will the army fail, but it will also be counterattacked by Tubo.

Third, the strength of the four towns in Longyou Road is not much different from that of Tubo. The Tang army is the attacking party, and Tubo can either hold the city or lure the enemy into deep territory. As long as the war is stalemate, the advantage is in Tubo's hands.

These thoughts flashed through Ma Sui's mind, and he hurriedly said, "I spoke out of turn, please forgive me, Your Highness."

"It's not a mistake." Li Heng smiled and stood up. "You should stay with me first and join the army as a clerk."

Everyone present was shocked when they heard this.

Li Siye, who was particularly familiar with Li Heng, knew that Cen Shen had started out as Li Heng's recorder and military assistant, and now Cen Shen had become the leader of an army.

Ma Sui immediately knelt on one knee, and said in surprise and joy: "Thank you, Your Highness, for your kindness!"

Li Heng raised his hand to signal Ma Sui to stand up, and said: "In the previous battle when Geshu Han attacked Tubo, he lost more than 30,000 soldiers and generals, and lost a large amount of baggage and food. It will be difficult for Helong to organize another attack in a short period of time. The most urgent task is to prevent Tubo's attack."

After Li Heng finished speaking, he thought of Taozhou.

……

Taozhou.

Ma Lin and Li Sheng were discussing something in the room when a soldier covered in blood walked in quickly, supported by guards.

"Report...to the military envoy, the Tibetan army has launched a surprise attack on Taozhou. The Fengshu in front has been captured by the Tibetans, and now they are rushing towards Lintan City." After the soldier reported the military situation with difficulty, he fainted.

The other generals in the room were shocked to hear this.

Military officer Feng Liangwu hurriedly said, "Military officer, the Tubo army is coming. We can only defend the city and wait for reinforcements."

Ma Lin waved his hand to let the guards take the messenger to treat him, and said: "Your Highness Prince Shou and I promised not to let Tubo enter Taozhou. If you hold on to Lintan City and let Tubo plunder the surrounding areas, or even cross Taozhou and raid Minzhou, Diezhou, etc., then I can only bring my head to see Your Highness!"

Then he turned to Li Sheng and said, "General Li, what do you think?"

Li Sheng pondered, "Since the Tubo came so suddenly, they must have come with a small group of people and not a large number of troops. Their purpose must be to plunder and show off the strength of the Tubo."

"General Li, do you mean to take the initiative to meet the enemy?" Ma Lin looked at Li Sheng.

"That's right." Li Sheng said firmly, meeting Ma Lin's gaze, "If the military envoy trusts me, I am willing to cooperate with him in the battle again."

"Okay!" Ma Lin smiled heartily, walked to the commander's platform, and said, "Gather the troops, and line up with our army to meet the enemy."

Foggy road at the foot of the mountain.

When the Tibetan general Shang Jiexi led his army here, they saw the Tang army ready for battle.

Ma Lin saw the Tubo army coming and gave a command. The war drums thundered and the Tang army moved in. The front line of the Tang army was seen with long spears in front, sitting on the ground with shields raised, followed by strong bows, strong crossbows, kneeling on the ground, and finally the long crossbow soldiers, with cavalry waiting on both sides.

In front of the formation, there were chevaux de frise stakes connected by iron hooks.

When Shang Jiexi saw this situation, he knew that the Tang army was ready to fight.

But having led 20,000 soldiers here, Shang Jiexi had no reason to retreat, and he immediately ordered the cavalry to charge, hoping to use the cavalry to tear open a gap first.

Ma Lin was stationed in the formation, and when the Tibetan soldiers approached within a hundred steps, he beat a drum. At the sound of the drum, thousands of soldiers from far away shot at the same time.

When the Tibetan soldiers approached seventy steps, two thunderous drums were sounded and strong bows were fired simultaneously.

When the Tibetan soldiers approached fifty steps, they beat the drums three times and the crossbows charged again.

When the Tibetan soldiers approached twenty steps, the spearmen stood up and used their spears to block the horses.

The Tang army had sufficient weapons to begin with, and after this attack, most of the Tibetan cavalry in the front suffered casualties before they even reached the chevaux de frise. Some of the strong Tibetan cavalry finally crossed the chevaux de frise, but were blocked by the Tang army's spearmen.

But Shang Jiexi was no ordinary man. He used the charge of the cavalry to buy time, then ordered the Tibetan infantry to form a square formation, withdrew the cavalry, and slowly advanced with the infantry.

Upon seeing this, Ma Lin changed his formation again, from a square formation to a circle. Outside the circle were all "iron lumps" covered in armor, and the Tibetan infantry found it difficult to break up the Tang army's formation for a while.

The two armies were in a stalemate for a while.

At this time, Li Sheng led all 300 cavalrymen of the Momen Army to attack from the side, leading the way and breaking into the flank of the Tubo army formation.

This charge tore a gap in the Tubo flank. Li Sheng was skilled in riding and shooting, and was extremely brave. He led the cavalry to make the gap bigger and bigger, until he tore through the front line of the Tubo phalanx.

A gap appeared in the front line of the Tibetan phalanx, and the cavalry retreated temporarily. Ma Lin immediately led the infantry forward and quickly broke through the Tibetan front line.

Once the front line was broken, the Tubo army's momentum collapsed instantly. Shang Jiexi knew that if he fought again he would be defeated, so he immediately sounded the horn to call back his troops.

The Tibetan soldiers retreated, and Li Sheng led the cavalry to chase them again. Ma Lin, as the commander-in-chief, also led the light cavalry to chase them. He chased Shang Jiexi all the way into Mohuanchuan before giving up.

After the victory, Ma Lin drank water from the Tao River in Mohuanchuan and laughed loudly, saying, "It's a pity that the Momen Army only has 300 cavalry. If I were given 2,000 cavalry, I would definitely chase into Mohuanchuan and behead Shang Jiexi."

Li Sheng heard this and said with a smile: "If His Royal Highness Prince Shou heard what the military envoy said, I'm afraid His Royal Highness would reprimand you."

Ma Lin was startled and asked, "Why does General Li say that?"

"The Art of War by Sun Tzu says that a brave man should not advance alone, and a coward should not retreat alone. The general is indeed brave and invincible, but when you line up to meet the enemy, you can still make the spearmen in the front army sit still, but when you attack, you always advance alone. This..." Li Sheng said this, and seeing that Ma Lin's expression turned cold, he quickly changed his words and said, "I am talking nonsense, please punish me, General."

Ma Lin waved his hands to show that he didn't care, and murmured, "The bravest general I have ever seen in the army is General Li Siye. He always charges into the front in every battle, but as you said, now he no longer fights alone, but has learned to cooperate with others."

Li Sheng smiled and said, "This time, I fought with the general on foot and on horseback, and we cooperated well. Without being modest, we can be regarded as a model of coordinated combat."

Ma Lin said: "Multiple arms cooperate in combat, one is the commander's good dispatch and orderly organization. The other is the elite and flexible soldiers, brave and fearless. If I had not seen Deputy Jiedushi Gao, General Li Siye, and General Cen, and let them command the Anxi Beiting Army, I would accept your praise."

Li Sheng sighed, "Your Highness Prince Shou has led Anxi North Court for many years. Anxi North Court is better than other military towns in terms of strategic and tactical qualities of its generals and the elite level of its soldiers."

Ma Lin said: "Your Highness has brought the soldiers from Anxi Beiting here this time. We will have plenty of opportunities to communicate in the future. The most urgent task is to clean up the spoils and build a defense line to prevent Tubo from attacking again."

"Yes." Li Sheng accepted the order.

The two rode back together.

(End of this chapter)