In early autumn, there is a bit of chill in the wilderness. The snow-capped mountains in the distance are shining in the morning sun. Tens of thousands of cavalry are quietly arrayed on the slopes on the east side of the valley. The layers are stacked on top of each other, as if frozen in an instant.
of waves.
Halfway up the mountain, two or three thousand steps behind the Fanqi formation, there is a group of earth-yellow buildings.
After two hundred years of division and reunification of the tribes in the entire Duogansi area, the Dege family, whose ancestor was only a captain of thousands in the Tubo Dynasty in the early years, quickly rose to become the separatist power of Semogan after the Tubo Dynasty split.
host.
However, with the spread of Buddhism in the Tubo Highlands, the ninth generation ancestor of the Dege family founded the Buqu Temple on the banks of the Yuqu River. In the following more than a hundred years, countless children of the Dege family became monks in the Buqu Temple.
At the same time, it also monopolizes the teaching positions of Dharma King, Guru and other middle and upper-level teachers.
During this process, the Dege family's actual ruling power over Semogan was gradually transferred to Buqu Temple, making Buqu Temple the ruler of Semogan, Muyaraggang and other areas with the unity of politics and religion.
Xiao Linshi reached out and pushed up the iron helmet that suppressed his gray hair, and looked towards the khaki-colored buildings on the opposite side of the valley.
It is a branch of Buqu Temple in the Muyara area. It is also the center of political and religious power in the Muyara area. It is a symbol of Buqu Temple's rule over the Muyara area.
Only by capturing this temple and destroying Buqu Temple's rule over the area east of Gongga Mountain can Xiyan County completely control the land between the eastern foot of Gongga Mountain and the western foot of Qionglai Mountain, which is more than a thousand miles wide.
The foundation has really been laid west of Qionglai Mountain.
Xiao Yanhan calmly watched a trickle of water slowly flowing through the valley. If the generals of both sides launched an offensive at the same time, there would be a battlefield where tens of thousands of generals would fight in bloody battles. And I don’t know how many soldiers there would be in this battle.
Parents lose their sons, and they don’t know how many women and children will lose their husbands and fathers.
However, in order for the remnants of the Khitan to take root in this land, there is no room for too much kindness in my heart.
What's more, this land was still the ancestral home of the ancient Qiang people. It was stolen by the Tubo people when the Tubo dynasty rose more than 300 years ago.
Xiao Linshi waved his hand, signaling the troops to advance towards the valley below.
The Tubo cavalry below the Buqu Temple branch also blew their low horns, and groups of men and horses started up, killing like a wave over the mountains and plains towards the valley.
As the troops from both sides got closer and closer, Basgu, who was the commander of the monks and soldiers of Buqu Monastery, waved the scimitar and buckler in his hands, and took the lead in riding the horse. During the gallop, he stepped on the stirrups with both feet, and his buttocks were away from the oily black hair.
The saddle is bright, and the body is bowed forward like a scimitar held horizontally in the hand.
Behind Basgu, five teams of assault cavalry led by five centurions also increased their speed at this time. They spread their wings like an eagle and immediately seized the river beach on the west bank of the stream.
Like a pack of wolves, they waited quietly for the Khitan cavalry to cross the river, planning to pounce fiercely on them before they entered the west bank and gained a foothold.
The main force of thousands of Tibetan cavalry spread out in steps behind them, waiting for the war to break out.
Basgu's dark and rough face showed a ferocious smile, and his white teeth were illuminated by the morning sun.
Shining with a frightening luster.
However, the Khitan cavalry did not cross the stream directly. The front cavalry quickly spread out along the valley on the east bank of the stream, leaving only two hundred cavalry to stop on the river beach opposite them.
Being so close, Basgu could clearly see the black crossbows mounted high on the saddles of these two hundred Khitan cavalrymen.
The Central Plains are good at making bows and crossbows, and Basgu has already learned this from previous battles.
He saw that the crossbows mounted on the saddles of the Khitan cavalry opposite him were much larger than the crossbows he had seen before. The arrowheads protruding from the front of the crossbow box were like sharp spearheads, which seemed to be hundreds of years apart.
The remaining steps may not be safe, so he called and ordered the two teams of cavalry who tried to approach Xihe to provoke them to withdraw to prevent them from entering the range of these black crossbows.
However, just when Basgu thought it was absolutely safe to be two hundred steps away from the Khitan crossbowmen on the other side, he heard the sound of dozens of war crossbows on the other side collapsing, just like the surging waves of the Wolf Gorge.
Angrily hitting the cliff rocks, dozens of black arrows emitted sharp roars through the air at the same time, which was even more frightening.
Basgu only had time to lower himself down and heard the "swish, swish" of crossbow arrows flying past him. The strong wind caused his cheek to feel a slight cut and pain.
What kind of war crossbow is this? It can be fired from such a long distance and still have such power?
Basigu saw that dozens of people around him had no time to defend themselves, and the short-barrel crossbow arrows as thick as two fingers opened bloody holes one after another.
The horse that was hit by the arrow was neighing in pain...
The Khitan Crossbow Cavalry did not stop there.
After the first team of crossbow cavalry finished shooting, they quickly galloped out to both sides. The second team of crossbow cavalry further approached the stream and aimed at the Tibetan cavalry on the west bank and fired.
After the two hundred crossbow cavalry were divided into four teams and finished shooting, they retreated to the grassy slope behind. The cavalry on horseback turned back from time to time to take a look at the sixty or seventy corpses left on the other side of the stream. The gurgling blood was everywhere.
A pool of blood gathered on the river beach...
The iron spine crossbow is so powerful that Xiao Linshi has never seen it in his life, but even if he uses the gear winch attached to the iron spine crossbow to unstring the string, the speed is still too slow, and it takes almost thirty to fifty breaths to complete loading and unstringing the arrow again - even if
With the help of a gear winch, opening the string itself is also a very labor-intensive task.
Therefore, after a salvo, the crossbow rider needs to distance himself from the enemy in time and retreat to a relatively safe rear to reload and wind the weapon.
But no matter what, a war crossbow with a force of 600 kilograms weighs less than 40 kilograms. It is amazing enough that a cavalryman can complete the bowstring operation alone on horseback.
And they have plenty of time. If the Tubo cavalry does not cross the stream and initiate the charge, the two hundred crossbow cavalry can leisurely complete a new round of reloading, and then, under the cover of other assault cavalry, step forward again under the Tubo cavalry.
A new gash was opened at the edge of the array.
Buqu Temple is a temple built at the eastern foot of Gongga Mountain. Although it occupies a difficult terrain and is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and is surrounded by thick stone walls, the overall area is less than a hundred acres, and the place is narrow and cannot accommodate too many Tibetan people.
Soldiers were stationed.
I don’t want to see the Buqu Temple branch besieged by Khitan soldiers and horses. Of course, the tens of thousands of Tibetan cavalry assembled cannot easily
Withdrew, and after being approached from the flanks by iron-spine crossbows several times and killing hundreds of men and horses, they had to cross the nameless stream in the center of the valley and take the initiative to launch a general attack on the Khitan infantry and cavalry array.
After entering the western foothills of Qionglai Mountain, in order to ensure material production as much as possible and also send two thousand cavalry to support the Sikong Prefecture's operations in the Hehuai area, Xiao Linshi reduced the formally established infantry and cavalry in Xiyan County to four thousand.
This time, he attacked the branch of Buqu Temple at the eastern foot of Gongga Mountain and laid down the symbol of Buqu Temple's rule over the Muyare area. In addition to Xiao Linshi, who brought out all the four thousand cavalrymen in the county, only Zhao Shan, Liu Fujin,
Wei Tong and others will lead 2,000 infantry reinforcements from Lizhou.
Although they mobilized a total of 6,000 infantry and cavalry for this battle and were at a disadvantage in terms of strength, the Khitan generals had completely recovered from the heavy losses caused by the long journey after three or four years of rest.
Moreover, all the generals are equipped with sophisticated armor and war equipment provided by Sikong Mansion, including five hundred sets of cold-forged plate armor with protection strength no less than that of Haozi armor. The armies of Tianxiong and Jingsheng have not yet begun to line up.
Equipped with two hundred iron-spine war crossbows.
This means that there will be no suspense in the battle in the Gongga Mountain Valley.
Xiao Linshi used four infantry square formations to stably lock the position about four to five miles in radius on the east bank of the stream, and then arranged for three thousand light and heavy cavalry to take turns, moving counterclockwise around the infantry position like wheels, and initiated
The attacking Tibetan cavalry engaged in battle.
The battle lasted until midday. The Tibetan cavalry could not bear the heavy casualties and scattered more than 2,000 corpses.
Xiao Linshi did not take the opportunity to pursue the retreating Tibetan cavalry. Instead, he led his troops across the river valley and advanced towards the branch of Buqu Temple. In the evening, he blocked the pass connecting Buqu Temple with the outside world.
The Sikong Mansion currently does not have many resources to support Xiyan Commandery's larger-scale expansion to the outside world. At the same time, no one in the government or the public hopes that Xiyan Commandery can rule the entire Tubo Highlands - that may create a future threat to the west of Qionglai Mountain.
A behemoth that came to the Central Plains.
Therefore, in a short period of time, Sikong Mansion hopes that Xiyan County can control the area between Gongga Mountain and Qionglai Mountain, integrate and rule the large and small tribes in this area.
Although the land of thousands of miles between Gongga Mountain and Qionglai Mountain has been ruled by Buqu Temple for nearly a hundred years, the hundreds of tribes living here are still mainly Qiang people, with about 20,000 people.
Xiyan County can control this area and the herds raised by more than a hundred tribes, large and small, and can provide tens of thousands of good horses to Sikong Mansion every year.
On the highland grassland that stretches thousands of miles between Gongga Mountain and Qionglai Mountain, in addition to the existing herds dominated by horses and yaks, the subsequent promotion of long-hair sheep breeding will also be enough to support the early wool textile industry in Beijing and Xiangzhou.
develop.
As for the entire Tubo Highlands, in addition to the extremely harsh climate, the territory is also extremely vast. It is unrealistic to occupy these lands solely by migrating millions of people from the Central Plains.
What Xu Huai ultimately wanted to do was to make the Tubo tribes submit to the rule of the Central Plains and integrate into Chinese civilization.
Therefore, on the one hand, we must use force to attack and eliminate the resistance forces collaborating between Tubo and the Chihu people. On the other hand, we must use political means to make the moderates in Tubo choose to surrender to the empire...
