The desert wind and sand made their faces hurt. After several days of marching, the wind and sand were raging. The faces of Sun Congdong and the soldiers had already become rough and dark, their lips were chapped, and they looked miserable.
They were so majestic when they set out from Chang'an, but now they are like a band of grass bandits who have been rotated by the imperial court a hundred times. The defeated soldiers are like beggars. The organization has developed into the desolate northwest, and there is no elite right-guard guard.
A strong gust of wind rushed into Sun Congdong's mouth. Sun Congdong was caught off guard and was fed a mouth full of sand.
Viciously spitting out the sand in his mouth, Sun Congdong cursed a few words about the bad weather angrily, and then covered his face with a scarf.
The wind and sand had not subsided, but the rapid sound of horse hooves came from the southwest.
The sound of horse hoofbeats stopped on the shady side of the hill, and a scout quickly ran to Sun Congdong and reported excitedly: "Captain Sun, we have found traces of the Tubo army thirty miles away to the west. There are about five thousand people, and they are looting a Tuyuhun."
tribe."
Sun Congdong frowned: "More than five thousand people..."
Turning his head to look at his own thousand forbidden troops, Sun Congdong looked hesitant.
The Tubo army was very powerful, unlike other small and weak countries, otherwise the Tang Dynasty could not destroy it even after three generations of emperors.
What Sun Congdong hesitated was whether he, a thousand men, could swallow up five thousand Tibetan troops. Although they were equipped with three-eyed blunderbuss, the victory or defeat on the battlefield was not entirely determined by the weapons. One thousand versus five thousand, the strength of both sides
After all, the disparity was too great. Sun Congdong was really hesitant as to whether it was worth taking the risk.
The scout said: "Captain Sun Du made a decision quickly. The five thousand Tubo troops will definitely flee after looting. It's too late to make it too late."
Sun Congdong gritted his teeth, the muscles on his resolute face trembled rapidly, and he said viciously: "Fuck! You bastards, I bet on this! As long as I swallow these five thousand Tubo troops with their bones and bones, County Uncle Li will be much more relaxed. Fuck!"
Got it!"
"Send the order, the entire army mounts up, assembles, and sets out to the west!"
…………
Late at night, the sound of horse hooves broke the tranquility of the Tubo camp.
Before Lu Dongzan fell asleep, a Tibetan scout walked into the commander's tent in a panic.
"Report! Prime Minister, it's bad, the five thousand soldiers and horses of General Garson to the west have been wiped out!"
Lu Dongzan was shocked. He stood up and said angrily: "Say it again!"
"General Garson, under the order of the Prime Minister, went west to Dafeichuan to eliminate the remaining tribes of Tuyuhun. This afternoon, the entire army was wiped out in the wilderness one hundred and twenty miles away from the camp. The enemy was nowhere to be seen. The wasteland was full of us.
Among the corpses of the Tibetan army, General Garson also died for his country."
Lu Dongzan's chest suddenly stagnated, he couldn't breathe, and almost fainted.
Five thousand troops and horses, which is not much, were wiped out without warning, which was undoubtedly a very heavy blow to the Tibetan army.
Ever since the Tibetan army invaded Tuyuhun and the two countries had been fighting for several months, the Tibetan army had never suffered such tragic casualties.
"Who did it? Have you found out?" Lu Dongzan asked, stroking his chest in pain.
The scout shook his head, but then said: "The villain checked the wounds of our fallen soldiers and found that they were all shot by iron bullets in the chest, which is consistent with the wounds caused by the weapons of the Qian Tang Army at the foot of Jishi Mountain."
Lu Dongzan's eyes widened in shock, and he murmured: "It's the Tang Army! It's that weird weapon again... This thing is so sharp, I hate that Zi Nu can't get it for me!"
Then Lu Dongzan's expression became cold and he said: "Immediately order the more than 20,000 Tubo warriors north of Dafeichuan to give up the elimination of the remnants of the Tuyuhun tribe. They will start from Shancheng in the east and reach the Qilian Mountains in the west to search for the Tang army. When they encounter it,
Encircle and annihilate them, we must annihilate all the Tang troops in Tuyuhun!"
The scout took the order and left.
Under the dim candlelight, Lu Dongzan's face turned red and blue.
After serving as the Prime Minister of Tubo for decades, Lu Dongzan was never someone who underestimated the enemy. When the Tang army's three-eyed blunderbuss appeared on the battlefield, Lu Dongzan paid full attention to it and did not hesitate to send his valued Zinu Weijian to steal the weapon.
The details of the Three-Eyed Gun.
However, today, the news came that five thousand Tubo troops were wiped out by the three-eyed gun. Lu Dongzan had to admit that he had underestimated the power of this new weapon of the Tang army.
One thousand Tang troops could cause such huge casualties to the Tubo army. If the 30,000 Tang troops led by Tang general Su Dingfang came to Tuyuhun, if nothing else, even if they were only equipped with 10,000 three-eyed muskets, the Tubo army would face
What kind of disaster?
Lu Dongzan was frightened for a while, his old face was solemn and revealed a hint of fear of the unknown, and an idea flashed through his mind involuntarily.
When Lun Zhongcong came back from Liangzhou City in despair, he told him that he had reached an agreement with Li Qinzai, and Tubo returned half of Tuyuhun's land to be occupied by Tang. From then on, Tuyuhun was divided between Tang and Tubo.
Lu Dongzan was very disdainful of this agreement at first. After Zhongcong conveyed it, he never thought about it. Why should the Tang envoys take half of the territory that Tibet had conquered so hard in just one sentence?
But now, the news of the annihilation of the five thousand Tibetan troops made Lu Dongzan alarmed. At the same time, he had to seriously consider the agreement reached in Liangzhou City.
Because Lu Dongzan really had no confidence in facing the upcoming 30,000-strong Tang army, especially the frightening new weapons, which made him feel scared in his heart.
Five thousand soldiers and horses were swallowed up at will, but not even a single person was left alive. Could the Tibetan army, which had been tired for so long, be able to contend with such terrifying combat power?
Sitting alone in the handsome tent, Lu Dongzan's old body trembled involuntarily.
It has been two days since Tang Dynasty envoy Li Qinzai arrived at the Tubo camp. During these two days, Lu Dongzan and Li Qinzai had a tacit understanding and did not talk about any serious matters because they had their own agendas.
What Li Qinzai was waiting for was the news from Sun Congdong, which would increase the bargaining chip between the two countries. What Lu Dongzan was waiting for was the news that the Tibetan army had eliminated the remaining enemies of Tuyuhun and completely occupied Tuyuhun. This was also Lu Dongzan's bargaining chip.
Both sides were waiting, and now the news came that the bargaining chip Li Qinzai was waiting for had arrived, but the bargaining chip Lu Dongzan was waiting for had not arrived.
The current situation is that Li Qinzai says nothing, while Lu Dongzan is already considering having to voluntarily give up half of the land in Tuyuhun.
This is the national strength and military power, and the greatest reliance of a country's envoys.
After a long silence, Lu Dongzan suddenly raised his voice and said: "Come, please go to the Tang envoy's tent at once and respectfully ask Mr. Li to move to the commander's tent. I have something to discuss."
Outside the handsome tent, the guards left in a hurry.
Lu Dongzan sighed dejectedly, and his body gradually became sluggish.
This was a national war. The invasion of Tibet was not a sudden decision, but had been carefully planned for many years.
I didn't expect to encounter such variables, and I miscalculated in the end.
…………
Lu Dongzan's personal guards galloped to the rear of the camp, and there was silence outside Li Qinzai's camp.
It was late at night, and as soon as the personal guards arrived a few dozen feet outside Li Qinzai's camp, they were stopped by the Li family's tribe, who was on alert outside.
The bodyguard was furious and shouted loudly to the Tibetan Prime Minister to summon him in an emergency, but the Li family's tribe still stopped him and did not allow him to get even half a step closer to Li Qinzai's camp.
The guards were anxious and did not dare to delay Lu Dongzan's military order, so they had no choice but to let the Li family members search him all over. After all the weapons were taken away, Liu Asi said with a smirk on his face.
He patted the guard on the shoulder and told him that he could go outside the camp to wake up Tang Envoy.
After all, the bodyguard was too young to recognize the sinister nature of people's hearts, so he ran outside Li Qinzai's tent without thinking about life and death, shouting for Li Qinzai.
After a while, candles were lit in the tent, and there was a faint sound of rapid breathing like a mad cow seeing red cloth.
Liu Asi and others felt their scalp numb, and unconsciously took a few steps away, staring at the guard with sympathetic expressions.
The personal guards still shouted loudly, and then the curtain was suddenly opened, and Li Qinzai's murderous face was revealed. The personal guards were stunned, and before they had time to react, their fronts suddenly tightened, and Li Qinzai grabbed him and pulled him into the tent.
drag.
The guard screamed, like a prey being swept into the cave by a python. Outside, Liu Asi heard a burst of tragic screams, painful wails, and begging for mercy.
After a loud bang, Li Qinzai walked out of the tent refreshed.
The moment they opened the door curtain, Liu Asi and others could clearly see the helpless bodyguard lying on the ground not knowing whether to live or die.
"Drag this guy out and clean my tent again. I want to go back to sleep." Li Qinzai ordered calmly.
The dying bodyguard was dragged out. Liu Asi approached and said hesitantly: "Fifth Young Master, the Prime Minister of Tibet invites you to go to the commander's tent..."
Li Qinzai sneered: "If he invites me to go, do I have to go? This old guy has no eyesight and doesn't know what time it is. The big things can only be discussed after I wake up!"
After saying that, Li Qinzai turned around and returned to the camp. He stopped suddenly and said, "If Lu Dongzan sends people to invite me again and beats me out with sticks, and dares to disturb my sleep again, you will know the consequences. Don't think that I don't know."