Chapter 601 Reinforcements arrive, defeated and fled
Su Dingfang arrived in a very embarrassed state. He was in his sixties and ran wildly all the way. Relying on the guidance of the beacon fire from the people fleeing along the way, he arrived at the last critical moment.
He only had 10,000 soldiers and horses under his command, but each man had two horses. He changed horses without changing people along the way, and traveled hundreds of miles without any rest. From the moment he received Xu Yanbo's message, Su Dingfang's army rushed here like lightning.
Outside an unknown mountain.
Ten thousand cavalrymen were armed with brand-new three-eyed muskets. They lined up as soon as the horses stopped. The entire army dismounted and advanced on foot in three stages.
The Tibetan rear army was in chaos. Unexpectedly, at this critical moment when Li Qinzai's troops were about to be completely annihilated, Su Dingfang's army came so quickly.
Based on Lu Dongzan's estimate, Su Dingfang's troops should arrive at least six hours later. Within these six hours, Lu Dongzan was completely confident that Li Qinzai's entire army would be annihilated.
However, Su Dingfang finally came, arriving earlier than everyone expected.
Ten thousand Tang troops holding three-eyed muskets advanced step by step. The Tibetan rear army retreated in panic. With each salvo, thousands of Tibetan troops fell. This scene was like harvesting wheat in a village. Lu Dongzan could only watch helplessly.
The warriors under his command were harvested piece by piece like waves of wheat.
Su Dingfang was riding on the horse, panting heavily while looking up, and said viciously: "The rear army mobilized five thousand soldiers and horses to go around the front line of the Tibetan army and cut off their retreat. My good nephew and grandson didn't know that he was beaten to pieces by these dogs.
The bullying is so bad, don’t let anyone go, kill them all!”
"And that Tibetan Prime Minister, bah! It's better to capture him alive and tie him to a pillar so that my good nephew can cut him up piece by piece for fun."
As Su Dingfang's military orders were issued one after another, the 10,000 Tang army soldiers immediately changed their formations.
The five thousand soldiers still maintained their formation and advanced towards the Tibetan rear army. The other five thousand soldiers turned their horses, bypassed the battlefield where the two armies were fighting, and rushed towards the front line of the Tibetan army on the left and right sides.
Outside the Tubo army commander's tent, Lu Dongzan's expression changed. He had never experienced such a dangerous situation in his life. He originally had the initiative to kill Li Qinzai, but in the blink of an eye, the situation suddenly reversed and he was surrounded by the Tang army.
Already.
The Tubo army has been chasing Li Qinzai's troops everywhere in the past few days. In order to plan the total annihilation of Li Qinzai, Lu Dongzan's main force of tens of thousands of Tibetan troops traveled almost day and night.
In order to completely encircle Li Qinzai, today we had a hard and bloody battle with Li Qinzai's troops at the foot of this unknown mountain.
It can be said that the Tibetan army at this moment is at the end of its strength in terms of morale, physical strength and spirit.
Although the Tang army came flying from afar, it has not yet fought a battle since it left Chang'an. Today is the first battle. It is the time when morale is as high as a rainbow. Coupled with the invincible three-eyed gun, it is even more powerful and unstoppable.
.
One or two thousand three-eyed blunderbuss may not have much impact on the entire war, but ten thousand three-eyed blunderbuss are different. This is a quantitative change leading to a qualitative change.
Ten thousand three-eyed blunderbuss were deployed in a formation. No army in the world could defeat it, and no one could get within a hundred steps of the formation.
"Retreat to the west! Quick!" Lu Dongzan ordered decisively.
As soon as Su Dingfang's army appeared, Lu Dongzan realized that today was a doomed defeat and there was no doubt about it.
Although there are still more than 30,000 soldiers under his command at this moment, 30,000 Tibetan troops are nothing in front of 10,000 three-eyed muskets.
After being defeated like a mountain, Lu Dongzan knew very well what would happen if an army lost morale and morale.
The collapse of one person can completely affect the entire army, leading to a complete collapse.
At this point, there is no way to save the situation except retreat.
As for the besieged Li Qinzai, Lu Dongzan could not take care of him. With the tenacious resistance of Li Qinzai's men, it was impossible to strangle him for a while, but it delayed his retreat.
There were still thousands of soldiers and horses in the Tibetan rear army who launched a suicidal charge towards the Tang army without fear of death. However, amid bursts of smoke and loud noises, thousands of soldiers and horses were like pebbles thrown into the lake, causing slight ripples.
Calmness soon returned without any impact on the calm lake surface.
Not caring about the Tibetan rear troops who were risking their lives in charging, Lu Dongzan mounted his horse with the support of his bodyguards and fled towards the west without looking back.
In front of the rear army formation, Su Dingfang, who had arranged everything, squinted his eyes and stared at the smoking mountain in the distance, and said in a deep voice: "It is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Jing Chu is determined to lead his troops to hold on there. Where are the personal guards?"
Several bodyguards jumped out of their horses and saluted with clasped fists.
Su Dingfang said: "Go, five hundred personal guards will come out, rush into the formation to kill the enemy, meet up with Li Jingchu, and protect him."
The guards responded loudly, and the five hundred guards rushed towards the top of the mountain together.
At this time, the Tibetan army had completely collapsed, and the Tibetan army surrounding Li Qinzai also gave up the attack, turned around and fled towards the west.
Li Qinzai and the remaining few hundred soldiers gathered together, still maintaining a defensive formation, and did not dare to relax at all.
Seeing the Tibetan army retreating like a tide, Li Qinzai gritted his teeth: "I'm afraid I won't be able to capture Lu Dongzan alive this time, what a pity!"
Zi Nu hugged his waist tightly, as if she was afraid that he would disappear suddenly.
Li Qinzai patted her hand tiredly and said with a smile: "You can let go now, our reinforcements are here, we are saved, we don't have to say goodbye..."
"No!" Zi Nu buried her head on his back and cried.
"Let go, you're choking me so much that I can't breathe."
"No!"
"Now is the time for a happy ending. Don't artificially create a bloody tragedy..."
"No!"
Zi Nu's cheek was pressed against his cold armor, and every armor leaf on her back was stained with her tears.
"Li Qinzai, you're not going to die, are you?"
"Reinforcements are coming, I won't die."
Zi Nu still hugged his waist and suddenly burst into tears.
Just a moment ago, life and death were separated. When Zi Nu thought about it now, he still couldn't help feeling scared.
After holding his waist and crying for a long time, Zi Nu sobbed and said, "Li Qinzai, it's so good to be alive."
…………
The army was defeated like a mountain, and in an instant, the Tibetan army ran away like an ebbing tide.
It was only at this moment that the soldiers formed around Li Qinzai breathed a sigh of relief, slowly put down their swords, then hugged each other, shouted at the top of their lungs, venting their long-suppressed emotions, and finally squatted on the ground and covered their faces with their hands, sobbing.
Of the more than five thousand soldiers, only a few hundred survived.
The soldiers who died in the battle will sleep forever in this strange land.
Li Qinzai also wanted to cry. He had faced death several times in his life, but this time, he had almost stepped into the gate of hell. During the final charge, he could even smell the blood on the enemy's sword.
Thousands of Tang troops gathered around and watched Li Qinzai and the soldiers squatting on the ground to vent their emotions. Everyone looked at them with understanding.
Anyone who has been on the battlefield knows very well the emotions that need to be vented after a war. If this anger is not completely released, people will get sick.
Su Dingfang came riding on horseback, and the soldiers moved out of the way.
Looking at Li Qinzai squatting on the ground, Su Dingfang dismounted and walked forward, pulled Li Qinzai up, looked him up and down, nodded and said: "Yes, there are no arms or legs missing. This battle was well done. It is worthy of the Li family."