The bright moon is in the sky and the stars are densely packed.
The cool night wind blew through the wilderness and into the camp.
Qin Huaidao sat silently in the camp, staring at the map spread out on the ground, his heart full of worry. The messenger had already reported the situation of the Pu Tao. Qin Huaidao was worried that the Pu Tao he had obtained would cause trouble again, and he was even more worried that Luo Tong would be in danger.
He quickly sent Cheng Chumo straight to Pu Tao to assist in the recruitment, and asked Luo Zhang to rush to Dianhe.
If Pu Tao surrenders and rebels again, or something happens to Luo Tong, it will be difficult to end.
Luo Tong is capable, but he is also too courageous. He promised to be a deterrent, but in the end he captured the entire tribe and took risks. Even if he comes back, he will have to beat him hard. If everyone follows suit and disobeys military orders, what will happen to him?
Just sit here until dawn.
There were noises and the sound of horse hooves coming from outside. Qin Huaidao knew that Luo Zhang was back, so he quickly got up and walked out of the tent. He saw Luo Zhang riding his horse excitedly, not looking like he was in trouble, and his heart finally dropped.
"Uncle!"
Luo Zhang rushed up, reined in his horse and then continued: "Uncle, the shaman of the Putao tribe was shot and killed by Dianhe, and the others were surrendered and taken away by the young Putao chief. My father is fine."
"Has the Dianhe tribe come to help?" Qin Huaidao thought for a moment.
"yes!"
"Okay, let's continue training the troops." Qin Huaidao waved his hand and got into the yurt to rest.
After worrying all night, there is finally good news.
The Dianhe tribe handed over 5,000 slaves for free yesterday afternoon to show their sincerity. These 5,000 slaves were allocated to Luo Zhang, Cheng Chumo, Li Yixie, Fang Yiai and Cheng Chuliang, each with 1,000 to increase the proportion of Tang people in their respective teams to avoid Turks.
Too many people can cause trouble.
The situation is settled once the Pu Tao is captured.
Qin Huaidao slept peacefully, and when he woke up, he went into troop training.
As the number of troops increased, so did the hidden dangers. Qin Huaidao rewarded most of the Turks who had killed five enemies from slavery, restored their freedom, and enjoyed the same treatment as soldiers, that is, they had military pay and could be promoted based on their merits.
Officers and children can attend school for free.
For the Turkic surrender army, this was like an injection of chicken blood and hope.
Two days later, Luo Tong came over with Totuoye. Qin Huaidao greeted him warmly and encouraged him. The Putao tribe was surrendering, not surrendering. They could not be beaten into slaves or separated. They were afraid that Toutuoye would have a grudge.
They moved Pu Tao's people to Qitun and built a city. Luo Tong was promoted to commander of Qitun City's garrison.
A Loulan City plus a Qitun City would constitute two strongholds.
But building a city is no child's play. The people of Pu Tao are good at herding, but they don't understand city building at all. Qin Huaidao has to personally give instructions. Baking bricks is too slow and unrealistic. He directly mixes clay with dry grass, adds glutinous rice and boils it into a slurry.
Together, they built earth walls, built cities, and built earth houses.
The army also took the opportunity to conduct training and improve its combat effectiveness.
Five days passed unknowingly. After Qin Huaidao saw that everyone had basically mastered the methods of building earth walls and houses, he once again focused on fighting. If it weren't for the fear that the morale of the army would be unstable and the Turks would rebel again, Qin Huaidao would not want to delay for a moment.
Rescue He'er immediately.
There is no other way, we have to walk step by step.
Inside the tent, Qin Huaidao's gaze slowly moved south as he stared at the map, stopping at Qiemo City.
Li Derjian and other brothers came over one after another after receiving the order. Everyone sat in a group, chatting quietly, the atmosphere was harmonious, but their eyes occasionally glanced at Qin Huaidao, who was thinking, guessing that there was a big move, and they were very excited.
After a while, Qin Huaidao suddenly raised his head and said: "Brothers, I am going to lead the troops south and attack the city."
"Okay, I finally waited until this moment and I will take the lead." Cheng Chumo said excitedly.
"I must be the vanguard." Luo Tong said dissatisfied.
Fang Yiai took the words unconvinced: "You are already the commander of the army, and you are also the commander of the Qitun City garrison. You have to stay to guard the safety of Qitun. Give us the chance."
"That's right!" Others agreed.
Luo Tong was not happy when he heard this: "Then let me switch with one of you. Anyway, I must be the vanguard."
"Okay, don't argue, just listen to Brother Qin." Li Derjian interrupted.
Everyone stopped arguing and looked at Qin Huaidao.
Internal competition of conscience is a good thing. Qin Huaidao looked around and said with a smile: "Once the army goes south, Dianhe is worried that our food will not be released for the time being, and the crossbow branch may not be available. An army must be left to garrison Qitun to keep an eye on the crossbow tribe.
As long as you have crossbows and infantry, you can attack the tribe. If you don't have enough people, Brother Luo is the most suitable."
"ah……"
Luo Tong was very depressed when he heard this. He shouldn't have been the army commander if he had known this. Then he thought about it, wouldn't it be better if he found an opportunity to win the crossbow? With the help of a local like Totuoye, he could create it even if he didn't have the chance.
What a chance.
Thinking of this, Luo Tong smiled charmingly and agreed: "Okay, I'll listen to you."
Qin Huaidao instinctively felt that something was wrong with Luo Tong and agreed too quickly, but there was no one around him who was more suitable than Luo Tong, so he continued without thinking about it: "The others will follow me south. Let's set off early tomorrow morning to make preparations."
"Follow the order!" Everyone agreed loudly and left one after another.
"Li Derjian!" Qin Huaidao shouted.
Li Derjian stopped and looked at Qin Huaidao.
Qin Huaidao continued: "Bring enough food and grass. The female soldiers will stay for training and will not participate in the operation."
"Follow the order!" Li Derjian agreed and hurried away.
The 5,000 people of the Dianhe tribe, plus the 5,000 slaves of the Pu Tao tribe, suddenly increased to 10,000 Tang people. Adding the previous troops, excluding Luo Tong, each tribe had nearly 6,000 soldiers, totaling more than 30,000 people.
Everyone was also promoted to division commanders in advance to facilitate leadership and command.
After five days of adaptation and strict training, the combat effectiveness has improved a lot.
The next morning, the army left and headed south.
Cheng Chumo took the vanguard and led the army first, with Fang Yiai on the left, Luo Zhang on the right, Li Yixie and Luo Ying leading the army in the center, and Cheng Chuliang brought the baggage to the rear.
Thirty thousand troops rolled down, and thousands of horses galloped like a torrent.
The nearest Dianhe Department received the news and quickly withdrew the scouts scattered around to avoid misunderstandings. The army continued to move south. When passing by the Nuzhi tribe, they found many scouts.
Cheng Chu, who was clearing the way, remained silent and allowed the scouts to investigate.
After successfully passing through the Nuzhi tribe's sphere of influence, the army continued southward along the Qiemo River.
Three days later, the army arrived outside Qiemo City. Scouts came up to investigate. Cheng Chumo personally led his men to intercept and kill them, blocking the news and covering up the whereabouts of the army.
At dusk, the army came five miles outside the city and found a higher hillside to station. They scouted everywhere and investigated all parties. The special operations group laid steel wires as snagging ropes on the only roads they must pass, just in case, while the army set up camp.
Make a fire to cook and don't rush to attack.
On a high point on the hillside.
Qin Huaidao stopped and looked into the distance. In front of him was an earthen city, guarding the Qiemo River. The outside of the city was flat and there was no danger to defend it. However, the earthen walls of the city were tall and strong. As long as the city gates were blocked, it would be impregnable. There was no way to attack it without a ladder.
It is surrounded by desert, with luxuriant wild grass, and no trees to cut down to build ladders.
"This city is not easy to fight!"
An idea flashed through his mind, and Qin Huaidao was a little angry. He lacked siege equipment and only had 30,000 soldiers and horses around him. Moreover, there were more than 50,000 defenders in the final city. If necessary, he could recruit young men and temporarily increase his troops by 10,000, that is,
Sixty thousand, or even more, this battle is too difficult.
"Brother Qin, this city is difficult to fight unless you take lives to fill it, but we are short of soldiers." Next to him, Li Derjian frowned and suddenly spoke, with worry in his words.
"Not necessarily. I will lead my men to charge up. I only need to take down the city wall and open the city gate. The rest is not a concern. The city is not suitable for horse racing or foot fighting. Our army's three-three system has more advantages." Cheng Chumo objected.
Fang Yiai agreed: "If you and I attack two city gates at the same time, we can disperse their forces and have greater control."
Both of them are militants, and they are happy to hear about the war.
Qin Huaidao did not answer. He looked at the city and thought to himself, a force attack is not possible. There is a lack of crossbows, arrows and siege equipment. The losses are too great. It is not possible until the last moment. Fire attack is not possible. There is no flammable vegetation, but tunnels can be dug.
, it’s just too time consuming.
"Is it a water attack?"
Involuntarily, Qin Huaidao's eyes fell on the Qiemo River. The river surface was wide and the water flow was not large. Moreover, Qiemo City had a high terrain. Even if it intercepted the upper reaches and built a dam to store water, and when the dam was dug, the water flow would not hurt the city unless artificial
Digging ditches to divert rivers and divert water into the city.
The method is feasible, but it is more difficult, and the defenders are not soft persimmons and will attack to stop it.
"how to spell?"
For a moment, Qin Huaidao was in a bit of a dilemma, but unfortunately he didn't bring any explosives, otherwise he could easily blow up the earthen city wall.