The sun is rising.
The first ray of sunlight falling from the sky fell on the hills outside Dunhuang City, illuminating the pitch-black land.
People inside and outside the city looked far into the distance, looking to where the sun was shining. There was a silver strip of light there, getting wider and brighter.
A large group of cavalry slowly appeared on the hills. The armor on the horses and knights rippled like the surface of a lake under the reflection of the sun.
Seeing the Tang army descending from the sky, the Tubo army woke up from a dream. Thousands of households shouted orders and ordered their soldiers to prepare for the battle.
Since the Tibetan general Mang Suzhen was at the east gate, the military order was too late to be sent back; in addition, the final order received by the main Tibetan army was to switch from the south gate battlefield to the east gate battlefield.
Therefore, the Tubo army on the battlefield lacked unified command, and their formations were chaotic, ultimately forming a situation where they fought independently.
Panic and uneasiness, like a plague, spread in the hearts of every Tibetan people.
When this emotion reached its peak, the Tang army on the top of the hill moved.
They began to charge in formation, and the sand and dust kicked up by the horses' hooves flew into the air. From a distance, it looked like a storm was sweeping in.
The earth trembled faintly, and the stones under people's feet were also shaking slightly.
The formation was still unable to be reorganized, and the Tubo soldiers were horrified to find that the Tang army's heavy cavalry with rings had already rushed to a position just a stone's throw away from the formation.
Some Tubo generals ordered to release arrows, some ordered to adjust the formation as soon as possible, and some even got hot-headed and led their soldiers to charge towards the Tang army.
Facing the scattered Tubo army, the heavy cavalry of the Tang army almost did not encounter any threatening obstacles and ran headlong into the enemy formation.
Accompanied by one after another, dull and heavy collisions, the Tubo army formation was attacked by heavy cavalry. The soldiers rose into the air, their weapons flew everywhere, and they were knocked out of a bloody path.
Looking down from a high altitude, the Tang army selected the weakest link in the Tibetan army formation and carried out a heavy cavalry attack, which separated the two Tibetan armies from the front and rear.
After the charge of the heavy cavalry, the light cavalry descended from the hill slope, using a ">"-shaped marching route, quickly maneuvered and penetrated the two wings of the Tibetan army, using bows and arrows to drive away the enemy soldiers on the flanks, and squeeze them toward the center.
, to disrupt the enemy's formation.
At this moment, the south gate of Dunhuang City opened wide.
Doulujun in the city had been holding back his anger for a long time, and now he finally found a place to vent his anger.
The tactics are almost the same.
Heavy cavalry gouges, light cavalry harasses.
In addition, the Doulu Army's cavalry rear, Mo Dao Formation, Crossbow Team, Jumping Team, etc., unfolded in sequence, taking advantage of the support advantage of the Dunhuang City Wall to squeeze the space of the Tibetan Army forward little by little.
Under the pincer attack of the Moli Army and the Doulu Army, the Tubo people only managed to hold on for a quarter of an hour before deserters began to appear, and there was a faint sign of collapse.
As a result, a rare scene occurred during the Battle of Dunhuang.
The Doulu Army's 3,700 men and the Moli Army's 5,000 men converged together, like hungry wolves attacking sheep, constantly driving, chasing, and biting the main force of the Tibetan Army's 14,000 men.
Whenever the Tubo army gathered strength and formed a formation, the Tang army would use gouge attacks and mounted shooting to disrupt the opponent's formation.
If any Tubo troops surrendered on the spot, the Tang army ignored them and continued to drive forward, leaving these surrendered troops to the guards who dealt with the aftermath.
In this way, the Tang army set out from Dunhuang City and pursued all the way south.
Along the way, Tibetan soldiers and horses either died suddenly from fatigue or tied themselves up to surrender.
The main force of Tibet, which originally numbered more than 14,000 people, was like a snowball that continued to melt, rolling smaller and smaller, and its momentum gradually weakened.
Finally, after pursuing for a day and a night, the Tang soldiers were exhausted and had to camp for a rest.
Guo Ziyi, dressed in military uniform, dismounted from his horse, first took the water bag handed to him by the soldiers, opened the seal and drank a few gulps, then asked: "How far is it from Ziting Town?"
The soldier replied: "There are still eighty miles."
Guo Ziyi nodded at first, then suddenly remembered something and ordered to his soldiers: "Send out scouts to find out the situation in Ziting Town, and come and report as soon as possible."
The soldier sang a song and turned around to leave.
At this moment, Chang Huiwu, the envoy of Doulu Army, walked into the camp with several soldiers.
Chang Huiwu was eight feet long, had a face as heavy as a jujube, and had a majestic appearance. He was often praised by his subordinates as being somewhat similar to Wu Sheng Guan Yunchang.
Chang Huiwu was so happy that he grew a long beard, gave up his usual horse-steed sword, and used the Yanyue Sword instead. This incident became a joke among the Tang army.
When Guo Ziyi saw Chang Huiwu, he first raised his hands and congratulated him, and then said: "In the face of tens of thousands of Tibetan troops, Chang's army held on to Dunhuang City. This is a great achievement."
Chang Huiwu waved his hand and said: "Don't try to put money on my face, instigate rebellion from within, use the city gate as a bait, attack in sections, and attack the enemy from a flank. It's all your idea. Chang just worked hard."
Guo Ziyi knew Chang Huiwu's temper and didn't take it seriously. He just laughed twice.
Chang Huiwu lowered his voice: "Seriously, how should I write about this military exploit?"
Guo Ziyi was stunned and whispered back: "What do you mean...?"
Chang Huiwu: "It's easy for us to talk. The key is the prince-in-law... He is the emperor's son-in-law and a popular figure in the palace. He is deeply appreciated by your majesty. If we don't give him the first credit, I'm afraid you and I will...
…”
Before he finished speaking, a soldier's voice came from outside the camp: "Report! A group of Tibetan soldiers have been captured!"
Hearing this, Chang Huiwu said amusedly: "At the end of the day, how many Tibetan soldiers have been captured? What is all the fuss about?"
The soldier who came to complain hesitated and said: "General, this group of Tibetan soldiers is from Ziting Town."
Ziting Town?
Tubo army camp?
Guo Ziyi and Chang Huiwu looked at each other.
The two of them quickly walked out of the military camp together, and saw a group of Tibetan soldiers kneeling in the courtyard outside the camp gate.
Guo Ziyi took a quick look and noticed something was wrong.
The faces of these Tibetan soldiers were pale and trembling like chaff. Each of them seemed to have seen a ghost, and their spirits were a little abnormal.
Selecting a relatively normal-looking Tubo soldier, Guo Ziyi asked him: "Are you all from Ziting Town?"
After hearing what the translator said, the Tibetan soldier's teeth chattered and he finally said: "Yes, yes."
Guo Ziyi: "How is Ziting Town doing now?"
The Tubo soldiers huddled up and after a long time, they finally managed to say: "Evil ghosts, there are evil ghosts everywhere!"
Guo Ziyi was stunned on the spot. At first he thought he had misheard. After confirming again and again, he asked again: "Who is the evil ghost you just mentioned? Is it Tang Jun?"
The Tubo soldier shook his head vigorously and said: "They are not Tang people, they are a group of evil ghosts crawling out of the eighteenth level of hell!"
Guo Ziyi saw that it was not possible to continue talking like this, so he ordered his men to get some warm wine.
After drinking the warm wine, the Tibetan soldier felt better and his speech became much more coherent.
According to his narration, Guo Ziyi vaguely understood what exactly happened in Ziting Town.
Just last night, the Tubo camp in Ziting Town was as usual, with sentries on guard and soldiers resting.
Late at night, wolves howled around the camp.
At first, the Tibetan sentinels didn't pay much attention.
Soon, a large number of enemies suddenly appeared around the camp.
These enemies were different from the opponents the Tibetan army had seen in the past. They were in groups of three or five, with strong agility and superb martial arts skills.
They poured in from every entrance of the camp and blocked every escape route. From the beginning of the battle, they had the intention of not sparing anyone alive.
Among them, there are magic archers whose arrows are flawless, swordsmen who can cut gold with their swords, and rangers who come and go like the wind.
After these enemies entered the Tibetan army camp, they were invincible. It was like a no-man's land. The 5,000 Tibetan defenders were suddenly attacked and could not even organize a decent defense.
Whether they resist desperately or kneel down and ask for surrender, all Tibetan soldiers have only one fate, that is, they are cut into pieces with random knives, and their heads are snatched and fought over like gold and silver jewelry.
At the end of the battle, this group of enemies had no intention of leaving anyone alive, and the Tibetan army became the target of a unilateral massacre.
Those evil spirits were so jealous that they would search the camp for every Tibetan soldier who was hiding, pretending to be dead, and begging for mercy. They would chop off the latter's head without hesitation and tie it around his waist with a hemp rope.
In the end, all 5,000 Tibetan defenders were killed, and only a few dozen people managed to escape.
This chapter has been completed!