After some half threats and half persuasion from Zhang Liangchen, Qu Wentai ordered the expulsion of the former Shu envoys and the Western Turkic envoys.
He also dispatched General Astuta to personally lead 20,000 Gaochang troops to garrison at the border of Kucha.
By acting in this way, Gaochang had made his attitude clear and vowed to coexist and die with the Tang Dynasty.
…
at the same time. ??
In the canyon on the border between Qiuci and Shule.
The Liangzhou Army has been besieged by nearly 30,000 Turkic troops for more than three days.
Because this time they were fighting guerrillas with the enemy, the Liangzhou Army did not carry any food, grass or baggage.
Each soldier only had enough dry food for three days.
Now three days have passed, and many soldiers have eaten all their dry food.
If we can't break through today.
Then they will go to war hungry.
In the past three days, the Turkic army rushed into the valley countless times, but they were all killed by the Liangzhou army's sharp arrow array and the soldiers' fearless death.
Often, before the Turkic troops could rush forward, the military formation responsible for the charge would suffer heavy casualties and had to withdraw to rest.
After a day's hard attack failed to make progress, Jia Yanzhang directly ordered the entire army not to attack.
Instead, they blocked the mountain pass and built fortifications at the mountain pass.
Jia Yanzhang also understood that since he could not attack by force, he would trap the Liangzhou army inside to death.
The current situation is that the Western Turks are unable to break into the valley, and the Liangzhou Army is unable to break through, leading to a stalemate.
In the canyon at this time, the words "mountain of corpses and sea of blood" are no longer enough to describe it.
At the entrance of the valley, corpses of Turkic soldiers that had not been cleared were piled on top of each other.
The arrows covered almost the entire ground, and there was no place to even put a foot down.
After these three days of fighting, the soldiers of the Liangzhou Army were already numb.
Some soldiers dragged their tired bodies to places that were not covered by the Turkic army's arrows, and they were scattered everywhere. The arrows are gathered together.
Now they are isolated and helpless, with no extra resources to waste.
By gathering one more arrow, you can cause one more damage to the enemy and give yourself a chance to survive.
As the commander-in-chief of the army, Liu Qi was also full of anxiety at this moment.
These brothers followed him to fight here, but they were surrounded by others. Only he knew how much he blamed himself.
While the soldiers were gathering supplies, he also called the captains to gather at the far end of the canyon to discuss countermeasures.
"Now most of the soldiers in the army have no food or drink."
"And this is already a dead end for us."
"The next step will be an extremely critical period, which will be a test for each of us."
"Now the Turkic army has begun to build fortifications. The purpose is to trap all our troops in this canyon."
"So our army must break out from here before the enemy's defenses are built."
Liu Qi sighed lightly and said: "Otherwise, even if His Highness comes over by then, he will only be able to help us collect the bodies..."
"I've had enough of this birdiness for a long time."
One of the commanders said in a loud voice: "If the general wants to break through, my army is willing to be the vanguard."
"Every soldier in our Liangzhou Army is good."
"Go collect the food and water later and make sure everyone can eat."
"After all, only when you have a full stomach can you have the strength to fight."
"Now the order is given. The whole army will rest for an hour. After one hour, the whole army will break out."
"And I must tell you, this breakout will be a breakout at any cost."
"One force is like a tiger, the second force is like a tiger, the second force is weak, and the third force is exhausted."
Liu Qi looked at the crowd and said, "Even if we all die on the way to charge, we can't turn back. Do you all understand?"
"clear……"
Everyone should be saying in unison... .??.??
Seeing this, Liu Qi waved his hand and said: "Go down and get ready."
Everyone responded again and then returned to their own military formations.
An hour later, the Liangzhou army, which was trapped in the canyon, reorganized its formation and began to march towards the mouth of the valley.
This time, the defensive side changed from the Liangzhou Army at the beginning to the Turkic Army.
What happened to the Turkic Army before also began to happen to the Liangzhou Army.
The Liangzhou Army's formation, galloping at the front, bore the brunt of the heavy rain of arrows.
More than a thousand cavalrymen were reduced by nearly 20% in an instant.
Ownerless war horses, war horses shot into hedgehogs, can be seen everywhere...
But by this point in the war, the soldiers had already become numb to life and death.
It was as if they didn't see the brothers beside them fall, and only the unfinished fortifications remained in their eyes.
In such a charge, the cavalry of the Liangzhou Army fell one row after another.
Once you fall down, there is no possibility of getting up again.
As long as he falls down, his comrades who are following him will ride over him with their horses.
But the war has only just begun.
Both this Turkic army and this Liangzhou army have demonstrated extremely strong war resilience.
By this time, both sides had become red-blooded and filled with hatred.
Under the urging of the captain, the people stepped on the corpses of their comrades and charged forward numbly, but the speed was obviously much slower.
Because the ground on this section of the road was too slippery, the ground was full of corpses, and the ground was also muddy and soaked in blood.
But now, the Liangzhou Army has reached a close enough distance.
soon The arrow formation on the Liangzhou Army's side also began to rise from the cavalry camp and fall into the Turkic Army's formation.
Upon seeing this, the archers of the Turkic Army immediately loaded their bows and fired arrows at the charging Liangzhou Army.
At the same time as they fired their arrows, the Liangzhou Army's arrow formation also arrived.
Suddenly, the muffled sound of weapons breaking armor and the screams of soldiers followed could be heard from both camps.
This is completely a war of exchanges. You kill me, and I kill you.
Less than a quarter of an hour later, the number of dead on both sides exceeded a thousand.
No one walked off the battlefield, and no one turned around and ran away.
In terms of archery, even though the Liangzhou Army had undergone special training, the Western Turks, who lived on horseback all year round, were still much better than the Liangzhou Army.
When they fired at each other, the Liangzhou army suffered far more casualties than the Turkic army.
But the Liangzhou army relied on a fierce and fearless momentum to advance more than a hundred steps forward.
It's just that these were all exchanged for blood and life.
On the Liangzhou Army side, a corps commander watched as his brothers fell to the ground one after another, and almost crawled to the front of the commander.
"The enemy troops are all infantry, and they are waiting for work."
"And our army is all cavalry, and the terrain here is not suitable for cavalry combat at all."
He almost pleaded with tears in his eyes: "General, withdraw."
At this moment, an arrow flew over and hit the captain in the back of the heart.
puff!
The bloody arrow poked out from the captain's chest...
The captain held the commander's arm tightly, opening and closing his mouth: "General, please, leave a way for brothers... to survive..."
The commander raised his hand and closed the corps commander's eyes before he could close them, and then said: "I will die on the way to charge."