Chapter 135: The Battle of Stone Fort (II)

The scout brought the latest information. The five thousand Tubo troops were still in the valley behind Shibao City, but the surrounding area was heavily guarded. As long as the Tang army took major actions, they would definitely be discovered by sentries.

"Put the tent!" Li Qing'an lowered his order, and more than a dozen soldiers immediately set up a small tent. Li Qing'an and several officers got into the tent and lit a candle in the tent. They quickly spread out the map drawn by the scouts and found the valley stationed in the Tubo army.

"Damn it, it's all piled up!"

Li Fei Yuanli suddenly said excitedly: "Qilang, if we use gunpowder packs to bomb, this will be so satisfying! No one can escape."

Bai Yuanguang fought with his fists and said excitedly: "Yes! Add tinder oil and burn it."

"Qiro, let's do it!"

Several people looked at Li Qing'an with anticipation. Li Qing'an shook his head and smiled: "Of course I want it too, but the time the Grand Marshal gave us is to start the fourth correction, which will not be possible a moment ago, and it will affect the entire battle situation."

"But if the Shibao City is in chaos, it will ignite the fire and ask for help. I am afraid that the Tubo army below will not give us a chance at that time."

Bai Yuanguang was a little anxious. Suddenly, he gritted his teeth and said, "Qilang, why not take down the stone castle city directly. We have gunpowder and blow it up."

"impossible!"

Li Fei immediately opposed: "The cliff of Shibao City is 600 feet high. How can I throw gunpowder on it? Even if there is a catapult, it won't work. Besides, the gunpowder bag falls down on its own when it hits the cliff and blows up its own people!"

"You can secretly send someone to climb up and put the gunpowder in the gap." Li Fei Yuanli said unconvincedly.

"To put it simply, what about the five thousand enemy troops below?"

"Okay, don't argue!"

Li Qing'an stopped the three of them and said, "The Battle of Hehuang is not a battle of me, Li Qing'an alone. The 150,000 Tang troops cooperated to fight. General Geshu has deployed one by one. If I grab the merits and fight, it would be fine if I can't take it down and miss the overall situation in Longyou. I, Li Qing'an, cannot bear this responsibility. Don't say anything more. No matter how good the opportunity, we cannot be greedy for me. Wait for the fourth update!"

He blew out the candles on the ground, opened the curtains, and said to Li Fei Yuanli and Bai Yuanguang: "The fourth update is launched, we can arrange it at the third update, and the task of using the gunpowder bag will be handed over to Lao Bai later. Lao Li is responsible for intercepting the Tubo army. I have only one order. In any case, one Tubo army cannot support Shibao City."

"The last one will obey the order!"

"Old Li has a good idea, but I can't make it wrong!"

The two bowed and hurried away. Li Qing'an slowly turned around and stared at the north. From here, he could see the boundless Qinghai ice field and the continuous mountains. As long as his army was launched, Ma Chongying's main force would immediately know, and he didn't know whether Dong Yanguang could hold the main force of the Tubo army.

Just as Li Qing'an's army penetrated into the back mountain of Chiling, Geshuhan's 60,000 main force also arrived at the predetermined position. In addition to the 30,000 Longyou Army, there were 10,000 Hexi and Shuofang Army each, a total of 50,000 troops, preparing to attack Shibao City.

Geshuhan stood by the potion ten miles away, looking at this extremely steep fort covered with snow from a distance. It seemed to be a yak god on the Qinghai Plateau. His towering back suddenly stood in the air, guarding the only important way to cross the Chiling.

If the Shibao City cannot be captured, it will not only be the failure of the Hehuang Battle, but also the end of his brother Shuhan's career. This fort has already made Gai Jiayun and Wang Zhongsi ended with regret. Could it be the end of his brother Shuhan?

No! No! No matter how many troops die, he will take it down. ‘One general succeeds and thousands of bones are woven!’ This has been the case since ancient times.

Geshuhan's expression became extremely serious. He turned around and asked, "What time has it been?"

"Report to the Grand Marshal, it's already the third update."

"Okay, I'll order Zhang Shouyu and Gao Xiuyan to launch an attack on time at three o'clock!"

Geshuhan stared at the sky to the west, and he sighed softly and said to himself: "Li Qing'an, whether you can intercept the Tubo reinforcements is up to you."

In the north of Chiling, a Tubo army that stretched for twenty miles was marching northward. In the team, Dazhalugong rode on his horse and kept visiting Shibao City. He still felt that there was something wrong, but he could not imagine what the problem was.

He always believed in his heart that Geshuhan's strategic goal should be Shibao City, at least the goal of the first stage. If he were Geshuhan, he would definitely take Shibao City first and then go step by step to march towards Dafeichuan and Jiuqu. He would attack Dafeichuan before he took Shibao City, which was not done by a general in any case.

Dazalugong sighed. Zanpu had completely accepted Shang Jiexi's overall situation and believed that Dafeichuan was important in Shibao City. He looked back at Zanpu's vanity from afar. He knew Zanpu very well. Once the things identified were difficult to change, unless something that made him twitch, such as Li Qing'an, who killed his daughter.

Wait a minute! A thought flashed through Dazalugong's mind like lightning. What role does the Tang army on Longju Island play? Geshuhan will never build a city on Longju Island for no reason. It will definitely be effective. If we follow the current steps, the Tang army on Longju Island will have no meaning at all. Moreover, the Tang army on Longju Island is still led by Li Qingan, the leader of the Anxi scout army, who is very good at surprise attacks.

‘Surprise attack!’ Dazhalugong suddenly turned around and stared at Shibao City with his eyes tightly. He suddenly understood that it must be like this. Li Qing'an's role was to attack Shibao City from behind Chiling. The Tang army added troops on the northern line of Chiling to transfer the Tubo army in Chiling. There are only 5,000 troops in the back mountain of Shibao City.

Dazalugong suddenly broke out in a cold sweat. He seemed to have seen the scene of the stone castle city being captured by the Tang army. Without thinking, he whipped the war horse hard and turned around and galloped towards Zamp's uncarriage.

"Zamp!"

Dazhalugong shouted loudly. Chizudezan had just fallen asleep when suddenly woke up by Dazhalugong's sharp shouts. He felt a little unhappy, so he put on a robe and walked out of the big tent and asked, "What's so panicked?"

"Zanpu, I just thought it through clearly that the Tang army's target was Shibao City. Li Qing'an from Longju Island was the surprise soldier set up by the Tang army."

"Is there any basis for saying this?" Chizu Dezan didn't believe Dazalugong's words very much.

"I was anxious to think that it should be like this. The Tang army's deployment of control of the northern line was just a trick to lure the enemy."

"General Dazha Lugong, the Tang army has a 100,000 army on the northern line, but you said that Li Qing'an only has two or three thousand troops. Do you think I believe in 100,000 people? Or two or three thousand people? Unless the Tang army suddenly withdrew its troops, I will believe that perhaps the Tang army's intention is not in Dafeichuan."

"This" Dazhalugong was very embarrassed. He pondered for a moment and said, "Zanpu, otherwise I would send 5,000 troops to defend the Stone Castle City just in case."

"Yes, sending five thousand troops can be done."

Just as Dazha Lugong was about to go back to dispatch troops, at this moment, the sound of horse hooves came from a distance, and a scout rushed to Zanpu and Dazha Lugong to report loudly: "Report to Zanpu and General, the Tang army went south and retreated north suddenly and returned to the east of Chiling."

"Ah!" Chi Zudezan was shocked. He realized that Dazhalugong was right. The Tang army on the northern front was just a bait. The Tang army's real target was Shibao City. Before Dazhalugong could speak, he shouted: "The whole army turned around and headed south towards Shibao City!"

The back team of the 80,000 Tubo army became the front team, and they rushed to the Shibao City 200 miles away.

At the third and fourth o'clock, there was still a little before the fourth o'clock. Bai Yuanguang looked up anxiously at the stone castle city. The stone castle city was still pitch black. In the bright and dark moonlight, he could only see its huge figure standing in the air, without any movement.

The five hundred men led by him had prepared ten small catapults. This was the pre-selected location for the scouts. It was a grass nest where ten small catapults could be placed. A few dozen steps away was a valley that was fifty feet deep, and under the valley was a dense Tubo military camp tent.

Another 1,500 army responsible for intercepting the Tubo people was led by Li Fei Yuanli. They hiked behind a ridge three hundred steps away from the opposite valley, waiting for the explosion to sound.

The night was terrifyingly quiet, with a sense of tension and depression before the war came. Li Qing'an looked up to the northwest. He had an ominous feeling that Tubo only left 5,000 people to support Shibao City. Ma Chongying could only neglect for a moment, but he could soon react and sent a large army to support. The key was whether Geshuhan could take Shibao City as scheduled before noon as planned to reduce his pressure.

"General, look!"

Suddenly, a soldier pointed at Shibao City and shouted excitedly. Li Qing'an looked up and saw a beacon on Shibao City, and the red flames rushed straight into the sky. It was clearly visible within a radius of hundreds of miles. This was an alarm, a signal of asking for help, and this was the bell that came from the prelude of a war.

"Tell me my order and do it!"

The Tang army, who had been suffocating for a long time, launched the lead of the gunpowder bag. Ten catapults fired at the same time, throwing ten gunpowder bags down the valley.

The lead line was burning wildly in the air, falling straight into the valley. At this moment, the bells rang in the Tubo camp in the valley urgently. This was the alarm that the sentry also discovered the Shibao City, and there was a chaos in the camp.

Just now, the gunpowder pack that fell from the sky exploded violently, and the earth-shaking explosion almost collapsed the valley. The huge impact force overturned countless tents. The Tubo army in the chaos was killed and injured. Countless people were blown up, with broken limbs hanging on the treetops and cliffs. The gunpowder was thrown down one by one, and then exploded violently one after another, deafening explosions, shrill screams, and wailing sounds before death.

The tincture dropped began to spread and burn, the camp was lit, the fire took advantage of the wind, and the valley became a sea of ​​fire, and countless soldiers were covered in fire. They opened their arms and ran wildly, but after a few steps, they fell down and were slowly curled up.

Extreme fear enveloped the hearts of every Tubo soldier, making them crazy. The camp was full of hysterical screams and trampled on each other and rushed towards the valley entrance. Many Tubo soldiers who participated in the Longju Island battle even screamed, "Tian Lei! The gods are angry!"

The Tubo soldiers were completely crazy. All of them had only one thought in their minds, rushed out of the valley and fled far away from Chiling.

But they had just rushed out of the valley entrance, and the Tang army who had already been waiting here shot thousands of arrows at the dense Tubo soldiers without aiming. Because the incident happened suddenly, most of the Tubo soldiers did not have time to put on chain mail, and fell to the ground and died slowly in their wail.

The Tubo general Lun Zangqi's eyes were red with anxiety. The two same experiences made him realize that this was not the gods' anger, but the thunder of the Tang army. He shouted desperately, "Don't be anxious, it's not the gods' anger, keep it steady!"

Unfortunately, his shouting seemed so weak to the terror of the Tubo soldiers, and was instantly drowned by the explosion.

Nearly a hundred Lunzangqi's personal soldiers pushed him onto the war horses. They pulled the war horses hard, rushed through the raging fire, and ran out of a crack in a rock cliff. Li Fei Yuanli, who was commanding and intercepting, saw this horse team at a glance. The enemy's chief general appeared. He roared and led a hundred soldiers to wave their swords to meet them. Dozens of Lunzangqi's personal soldiers rushed into the Tang army regardless of their lives and fought to the death. Li Fei Yuanli was surrounded by three Tubo centurions. He watched Lunzangqi and more than 20 Tubo troops break out of a bloody path and break through the siege.

Li Fei Yuanli roared and killed the three centurions one by one. When he chased after him, Lun Zangqi disappeared.

Although the Tang army tried its best to intercept, hundreds of Tubo troops who were surviving strongly broke through the interception line and fled everywhere in the mountains and fields.

Li Qing'an led nearly a thousand people to block the way to Shibao City two miles away. Dozens of Tubo troops who escaped alone were shot and killed by them. At this time, the sky had passed the fifth update and a hint of blue light appeared in the sky. As the shouts of killing in the valley gradually became smaller, their ambush mission was about to be completed.

Li Qingan turned his head and looked at Shibao City again. The beacon was still burning into the sky, burning even more fiercely. There were a little sparks on the city shining, which showed that the fierce battle was fierce in front of Shibao City.

Nan Jiyun ran over and whispered: "General, before dawn, we will sneak attack the Stone Castle City from behind."

Li Qingan smiled. There was such a violent explosion in the valley, a blazing fire, and what sneak attacks could be said. He pondered for a moment. Although it was easy to climb the mountain behind him compared to the front mountain, it was still extremely steep. Especially the Tubo army was prepared, and his 3,000 troops were too small, so he went up to die in vain.

At this moment, Li Qingan suddenly looked northwest with some sense, but dozens of miles northwest of Chiling, the stars of fire suddenly lit up, and more and more, gradually converging into a light-belly fire stream that lasted more than twenty miles long.
Chapter completed!