After the Tubo people lost the first battle, Sang Chiruo finally realized that Dunhuang City still had fighting strength, and it would be difficult to capture it easily.
As a result, the Tibetan army changed its tactics.
In addition to leaving 20,000 troops to guard the rear camp, the remaining 60,000 Tibetan troops were divided into three groups. Three were surrounded and one was missing, and they besieged the Dunhuang city gate from the south, north, and west.
After several battles, both sides suffered losses, and Sang Chiruo also saw the clue from the battle reports.
The south gate of Dunhuang has the strongest defense, the west gate is slightly weaker, and the north gate is the weakest.
After learning about this situation, the Tubo people gathered together and held a military meeting. After some discussions, the generals and nobles came to the conclusion that the Tang army did not have enough elite troops to take care of every city gate, and could only focus on defending one.
at.
Therefore, Sang Chiruo decided to attack the east and attack the west.
The Tubo army first focused its main attack on the south gate. For three consecutive days, it sent most of its elite troops to attack the city gate repeatedly, attracting all the attention of the Tang army.
In the early morning of the fourth day, the Tibetan army was in the camp outside the South Gate. They deliberately ordered the army to move back and forth, pretending to be preparing for a large-scale attack on the city. In fact, they moved the main force outside the North Gate during the night.
's camp.
After breakfast is finished and the sun rises completely, the Tibetan army outside the south gate will launch a feint attack, causing the Tang army to concentrate on the south gate.
The main Tibetan force at the north gate completed preparations as soon as possible, took the opportunity to press forward with the army, and directly attacked the north gate where the Tang army was weakest in defense.
If the Tang army had been replaced by ordinary defenders, they might have really fallen into the trap of the Tubo people.
But the current chief general of Dunhuang City is no ordinary guard general, but Guo Ziyi.
The Tibetans launched a fierce attack on the South Gate for three consecutive days, even though they knew that the defense at the South Gate was the strongest.
This abnormal phenomenon attracted Guo Ziyi's attention.
Therefore, Guo Ziyi paid attention to a small matter in the Tubo army-water supply.
The place where the Tibetan army collected water was located at a tributary of the sweet spring water. Due to the dry climate, water evaporated very quickly, so the Tibetan water fetching team moved frequently and often had to go once in the morning and evening to meet the water needs of the army.
Guo Ziyi sent someone to carefully observe the Tubo people's water-fetching team, and found that in the early morning of the fourth day, the water-fetching team at the camp outside the south gate of Tubo actually had half as many camels coming and going as before.
Correspondingly, the number of Tibetan water-fetching teams outside the north gate has increased a lot.
Guo Ziyi could judge from this that the Tubo people outside the south gate should be feigning an attack, and the main attack direction should be the north gate.
Therefore, Guo Ziyi took advantage of his plan and transferred all the main forces of the Moli Army to the north gate. He also transported gunpowder and other city defense materials to the north gate. Finally, he asked his son Guo Yao to lead the cavalry to lie in the city and be ready for orders at any time.
As a result, everything that happened next was almost the same as the first battle between the two armies.
The Tibetan army outside the north gate of Dunhuang launched an attack on the city gate, but the Tang army pretended to be weak and retreated one after another.
Seeing this, the Tubo people thought that the strategy of attacking from the east and attacking from the west was working, so they all marched in, planning to capture the North Gate in one go.
Unexpectedly, at this time, the Tang army at the north gate suddenly changed its attitude.
Arrows, wood, hot oil, explosives, etc. were thrown into the Tibetan army like rain.
The elite soldiers of the Tang army rushed up to the tower and killed the Tibetan soldiers who climbed up. They cried for their fathers and mothers and fled in all directions.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Guo Yao led thousands of cavalry and rushed out of the city gate again to cover up and kill the Tibetan army.
The same script was performed twice.
This scene made Sang Chiruo, who was in charge of the Tubo army, so angry that smoke erupted from his orifices and he flew into a rage.
He never thought that the carefully laid plan to seize the opportunity to attack the east would actually be defeated by the flaw of fetching water...
After falling down twice at the same place, Sang Chiruo finally learned his lesson and did not plan to do any more tricks. Instead, he planned to pursue the essence of "one force can defeat ten groups" and give full play to the greatest advantage of the Tibetan army - large numbers of people.
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The 60,000 Tibetan troops were divided into several groups and took turns attacking Dunhuang City in a wheel battle.
Attacking the city during the day and attacking at night, the fighting continued every day, giving the Tang army no chance to breathe.
Faced with this traditional attrition tactic, Guo Ziyi had no choice but to defend the city and resist the enemy.
As the war continued, the Tang army's city defense supplies were consumed rapidly, and the soldiers began to tire.
The most critical thing is that the balance of combat power between the two armies began to gradually tilt towards the Tibetans.
After all, the Tibetan military strength was nine times that of the Tang army.
Even if the Tubo people exchanged three lives for one life of the Tang army, it would still be a sure-profit deal.
What's more, the only real elite of the Tang army was the Moli Army. The sacrifice of any one of these Tang soldiers fighting on the front line was a loss that could not be ignored for the city of Dunhuang.
After the battle of Dunhuang City lasted for half a month, Guo Ziyi summoned the generals again and started a military council.
Guo Ziyi first asked about the losses of various departments of the Tang army.
Guo Yao was injured in his ribs and shoulder, but the battle was fierce, so he simply bandaged it and still chose to continue fighting on the front line.
Hearing his father's question, Guo Yao bowed and said, "The four thousand Moli troops have been fighting for days, but now less than half are able to go into battle."
Hearing this, Guo Ziyi was silent for a while, then looked left and right, and asked Guo Yao: "Where is the envoy of the Moli Army?"
Guo Yao lowered his head and said in a trembling voice: "Last night, the Tubo Mountain Wei army climbed the city wall and attacked the city tower. The Moli Army envoy led his bodyguards to defend the enemy. After that, although the enemy troops were driven down the city tower, Moli
However, in the chaos of the battle, the military envoy was killed by Shankai Army General Yin Tu..."
Guo Ziyi froze on the spot, in a daze for a while, and finally said softly: "I understand."
Then, the government guards and volunteer instructors also reported to Guo Ziyi that their men suffered heavy losses.
Guo Ziyi frowned and asked Dunhuang Sima: "Is there no news about the reinforcements from Anxi and Beiting?"
Sima said with a grimace: "Several plank roads were washed away by flash floods on Daqi Commercial Road, and the repair progress is very slow. The Anxi Army was blocked in the road and could not rush to Shazhou; the same is true for Xingxing Gorge and Ziwu Mountain on the other side of Yizhou.
Due to the situation, the suspension bridge was destroyed, the official road was covered with rocks, and the Beiting Army was unable to rush to rescue."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Guo Ziyi sighed, closed her eyes and began to think.
The situation was critical, and his old friend died in the battle. Guo Yao felt depressed. He looked around the hall and found that Kong You was still holding a miscellaneous book and hiding in the corner, ignoring it. He couldn't help but said angrily: "We
We are all fighting to the death, but you, sir, are taking some time off, and you are so shameless!"
When Kong You heard this, he raised his head and saw everyone in the hall looking over.
First he straightened his clothes, then Kong You put away the miscellaneous book, handed over to Guo Ziyi and said, "You have a plan that can help the general retreat from the enemy."
Hearing this, Guo Ziyi felt a little suspicious.
With the war already going on, how could Kong You have any plan to retreat? Is it possible that he could summon an army for no reason?
With the idea of treating a dead horse as a live doctor, Guo Ziyi asked Kong You: "What's the plan?"
Kong You stretched out his right hand, spread his five fingers, and said to Guo Ziyi: "General, as long as you send troops to a certain place, the Tubo people will retreat within ten days."
Guo Ziyi looked at the five fingers on Kong You's right hand and asked suspiciously: "When you call you five thousand soldiers, does Kong Changshi intend to defeat the enemy with an ambush?"
Kong You shook his head and just shook the five fingers of his right hand.
Guo Ziyi frowned and asked again: "Is it possible that Kong Changshi wanted five hundred dead men to surprise the Tubo camp and capture the thieves before the king?"
Kong You shook his head again and said to Guo Ziyi: "If you dare to teach General Guo, you only need five soldiers, which is enough."
When the generals in the hall and the Dunhuang officials heard this, they all opened their eyes wide and could hardly believe their ears.
"Five people?" Guo Ziyi looked surprised, his body was shaken, and he confirmed to Kong You again: "You only need five soldiers to make Tubo retreat?!"
Kong You raised his hand and said yes.
This chapter has been completed!