The Tang army was stationed in the Changming Temple area, while the Tubo army of 150,000 troops was divided into six groups in the next three days: the front army, the left and right wings, the middle army, and the left and right rear troops, and arrived at the plain on the east side of Fufeng County.
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The two armies faced each other at opposite ends of the Fufeng Plain, ten miles apart.
The central camp of the Tang Army was located on the hill to the north of Changming Temple. Compared with the temporary tents set up by the Tubo garrison, it was better prepared and had more complete facilities. It not only had camps, but also had lookouts, drum stands, etc.
Standing on the observation deck, Guo Xin and a group of generals looked into the distance. At the end of the horizon, there was a shadow, and there seemed to be a circle of black shadow lingering. There were Tibetan soldiers everywhere, busy preparing for the next war.
Guo Xin watched for a while from a high place and said to his subordinates: "Most of the Tubo army's cavalry were private soldiers of noble families. Most of them were wiped out in the ambush at Fengxiang Pass. Therefore, the 150,000 enemy troops in front of us are
Among them, most are infantry, and the number of cavalry has been greatly reduced."
"Because of this, according to the reports from the scouts, the enemy's two wings and front army gave up the combination of infantry and cavalry to maneuver and outflank, and instead used infantry as the main force, divided into several waves, and the formation of each wave
, the front width is long, but the depth is shallow. This formation is, firstly, to disperse the soldiers and reduce the damage caused by our firearms to the greatest extent; secondly, it is intended to take advantage of the large number of people and use the human sea tactic to win the chance of victory.
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A general heard this and said: "General Guo, since the enemy's troops are scattered, it is better for our army to form a wedge formation with heavy cavalry, and then use light cavalry to support it. Use cavalry to break through the Tibetan front army and two wings from the center, causing chaos to the enemy.
A chance to win?"
Guo Xin shook his head, pointed into the distance and said: "If you think about it carefully, the Tibetan army of 150,000 is divided into a front army and two wings, a left and right rear army and a central army. Looking from the sky, the six armies look like two 'guns'
"The characters are superimposed on top and bottom. The left and right wing armies and the central army of the Tubo people are far away from the front army and the two wings, and a large buffer zone is deliberately left in the middle. Do you know why?"
Without waiting for the generals to answer, Guo Xin continued: "The Tubo people regarded the front army and the two wings, and the three military formations with the word "罒" in front as the forward. From the beginning, they had the idea of giving up and used them.
Attack our army's formation."
"Just imagine, if our army follows the previous tactics and uses cavalry to attack the enemy formation, then the Tibetan people's two wings and front army will certainly be able to capture it. However, after the cavalry army breaks through these three military formations, it will be necessary to
Only by running for a long distance can we attack the center of the Tibetan army. At that time, the horse power was declining and the soldiers were tired. The two wings of the Tibetan army turned back to surround them, and the left and right rear compartments blocked them. Those of our cavalry were bound to fall into the enemy's trap.
The main force of the army cannot move."
"However, the troops at the rear of our army were blocked by the Tubo troops and were unable to rush to the aid of the cavalry in front in time. They could only sit back and watch as they were wiped out. By then, although the Tubo troops had suffered heavy losses, they had eaten up our troops.
The most elite cavalry. Judging from the casualties, it seems that our army has the upper hand, but in fact it is our army that has suffered a big loss."
When the generals heard this, they finally understood.
Guo Xin looked at Kong You aside and said, "Zhongcheng said earlier that the Tibetan army is not what it used to be. At that time, I was still doubtful. But now that I see the opponent's military strength, I believe it."
Kong You's eyes were always staring at the Tibetan army in the distance. When he heard Guo Xin's compliments, he just turned around and cupped his hands without saying much.
Guo Xin turned his head back, made some arrangements to the generals, and finally said: "After the war begins, we will fight like this. Do you hear me clearly?"
All the generals said in unison: "Take the order!"
Half an hour later, the Tang and Tibetan armies each entered fighting positions.
An envoy from the Tubo army rode on horseback. When he arrived in front of the Tang army's formation, he made some words to persuade them to surrender and also threatened them.
Faced with these commonplaces, Guo Xin raised his hand impatiently.
There was a sharpshooter from the Tang army who stretched his bow and nocked an arrow. He shot an arrow across a hundred steps and hit the crown and mane of the Tibetan envoy without hesitation.
The Tibetan envoy's face was so frightened that he did not dare to say another word, and quickly fled back to the Tibetan army.
Accompanied by the long sound of horns and the sound of continuous war drums, the two armies began to advance slowly.
The decisive battle between the Tang Dynasty and Tibet began outside Chang'an City, east of Fufeng County.
When the Tibetan army was 900 steps (1,350 meters) away from the Tang army, several muffled thunders suddenly sounded between the sky and the earth.
The Tibetan soldiers in the front line were still wondering where the thunder came from even though the sky was clear.
Immediately afterwards, several extremely fast objects flew from the air, landed on the hard soil of the plain, bounced up again, and smashed directly into the Tibetan front army.
One of the objects hit a war horse first.
The next second, the war horse was torn into pieces, with flesh and blood flying everywhere.
However, the thing continued to exert its power and directly smashed a Tibetan soldier not far away into a puddle of flesh.
The Tibetan generals looked horrified. In their minds, they had never seen a weapon that could span such a long distance and cause such great damage.
These weapons were the Tang Army's largest caliber artillery - the large long cannon. Because this gun was used as the main weapon by the navy's flagship anti-prestige ship, it was also called the "prestige cannon" in the military.
The reinforcements from Anxi and Beiting brought four anti-power cannons, and each cannon was pulled by eight horses. It took great effort to travel across mountains and rivers before transporting it to Guanzhong.
The Tang army originally intended to use these cannons as a weapon to attack fortified cities such as Shibao City, but unexpectedly they were used here in the first battle.
The Tubo general, who slowly recovered from the initial panic, shouted to his soldiers: "Those artillery pieces are not many in number and fire slowly. We must take advantage of the gap between firing to rush over and engage in close combat with the Tang army!"
With the urging of the general and the long sword of the supervising team, the Tibetan soldiers stopped the chaos and began to charge towards the Tang army.
However, what the Tubo people did not expect was that when they entered 700 steps (1050 meters) away from the Tang army, a denser rain of shells composed of medium-sized long artillery began to carry out extended bombardment on the Tibetan army's array.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Medium-sized long guns are different from the suppressive guns. They have a smaller caliber. They are not pursuing the destructive power of destroying city walls and bunkers, but are aiming to create a disruptive force.
Fire network of enemy formations.
The Tang army had more than seventy medium-sized long artillery pieces in total, divided into two artillery battalions on the left and right.
When the two artillery battalions fired their artillery, they used a firing line with a forward slope of 26 degrees to 48 degrees, forming a crisscross net of artillery shells in front of the battlefield, so that the enemy could only maintain a relatively dispersed formation and could not form a formation for engagement.
In fact, due to the dispersed formations, less than a thousand Tibetans were directly killed by artillery attacks. However, most of the Tibetan front troops were coerced subordinates of nobles, and their morale was already low. Under such fierce artillery, it was even worse.
Quite a bit of confusion.
Some Tibetan soldiers dropped their weapons and turned around and ran away; some Tibetan soldiers simply lay down on the ground, praying to the gods and Buddhas for blessings, and refused to take another step forward; some were even bolder and teamed up with their companions to snatch the horses of the governor's army.
Sang Chiruo's original intention was to use the noble subordinate troops who had tried to disobey the order as cannon fodder to consume the Tang army's gunpowder and arrows, but he mistakenly underestimated the strength of Guo Xin's firearms and the speed of the collapse of the morale of the Tibetan front army.
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As a result, before the Tang and Tibetan armies formally engaged in battle, there was already considerable chaos in the Tibetan front army.
At this time, Sang Chiruo, who was in the middle army, had black eye sockets and a fierce expression.
He heard the news brought by the scouts in front, saying that the morale of the front army was unstable and deserters appeared. Instead of panicking, he smiled and said: "Those servants from noble families, I only regard them as useless trash. Their only
The meaning of its existence is to consume the Tang army’s firearms and then lure the enemy’s cavalry to attack.”
Speaking of this, Sang Chiruo asked: "Have the Tang Army's cavalry been dispatched?"
Scout: "Replying to the big report, the Tang army has not sent out cavalry yet."
Sang Chiruo was stunned: "At this time, as long as the Tang army dispatched cavalry, they could break through from the center and win a victory. Why didn't their cavalry show up?!"
The Tibetan generals in the central military tent looked at each other, and no one answered.
Sang Chiruo frowned and shouted: "Go and inquire again!"
The scouts were ordered to retreat.
As the battle on the frontline progressed, time passed by minute by minute.
No matter how Sang Chiruo asked, the answer he got was exactly the same - the Tang Army's cavalry seemed to be missing and was not dispatched.
Just when Sang Chiruo began to feel uneasy, news of the Tang Army's cavalry finally came from the front.
However, the location where the Tang army's cavalry appeared was beyond everyone's expectations.
Six thousand Tang army cavalry bypassed the front battlefield, detoured all the way from the north, and suddenly appeared beside the Tubo army in the right rear wing.
This chapter has been completed!