The three thousand partial troops led by Li Guangbi left the Chinese army camp and marched northward day and night. At dawn on the second day, they arrived at the pass on the east side of the Mengchi Mountain area.
The sky was slightly bright, and the scouts from the Zhanfeng Battalion scouted outside the pass and reported back to Li Guangbi, saying that there was a Tibetan camp camped in it and the enemy troops were less than five hundred.
Li Guangbi only thought for a moment and then ordered the Zhanfeng Battalion to take the lead. Three thousand side troops formed the front line and rushed directly into the camp.
It was still dark, and there had been no fighting at the pass for a long time, so most of the Tibetan soldiers guarding the camp were fast asleep. Only a few soldiers responsible for guarding the camp still stood at their posts, but they were also in dire straits.
Li Guangbi led his troops to use the stone wall outside the pass to sneak to a place less than 100 meters away from the entrance of the camp.
The soldiers in charge of sniping in the Zhanfeng camp set up their crossbows and aimed at the Tibetan soldiers on the gate tower.
Following Li Guangbi's order, the crossbow strings exploded, and a wave of crossbow arrows struck every target with lightning speed.
Amidst the screams of the Tubo people, Li Guangbi drew his weapon and shouted: "Fight!"
The Tang army let out a thunderous war roar and rushed into the Tibetan camp like a tide.
Dozens of Tibetan defenders who were not afraid of death wanted to resist, but under the impact of a large number of Tang troops, they disappeared like raindrops falling into a furnace.
In just one cup of tea, most of the defenders of the Tubo camp were killed or wounded, and the rest fled towards the canyon behind the pass.
The deputy general of the three thousand partial army is named Chu Liangshan, and he is a quite prestigious general in the right wing army.
Facing a Tibetan soldier who fell to the ground and begged for mercy, he waved the flail in his hand and smashed the former's Tianling Cap to pieces.
Turning around and taking a look, he found that there were no more enemy soldiers standing. Chu Liangshan wiped the red and white stuff on his face, walked quickly to Li Guangbi, sang a song, and then said: "General, there are enemy soldiers fleeing."
If we enter the canyon, we are afraid of spreading the news. Our army should seize the time and pass through the canyon first and enter Mengchi!"
When Li Guangbi heard this, he did not answer. Instead, he knelt down and carefully inspected the traces of the Tibetan camp stoves.
Seeing this, Chu Liangshan anxiously urged: "General, you can't stay here for a long time, otherwise it will be too late when the enemy's reinforcements arrive."
Li Guangbi grabbed a handful of ashes from the stove with his hand, frowned, and then stood up and said: "The military situation has changed from an arrow to a round formation, the cavalry has fallen behind, and the scouts have been sent out to be on alert!"
The circular formation was not conducive to marching, and the cavalry with the highest mobility were placed in the rear formation. Chu Liangshan was puzzled by these arrangements, but since the general said so, it was not easy to question it.
In the canyon behind the pass, the mountain walls on both sides are towering and steep. If you look up at the narrowest point, you can only see the wonder of "a line of sky".
Li Guangbi looked around, and the uneasy premonition in his heart became stronger and stronger, and finally he simply stopped the march of the army.
When Lieutenant General Chu Liangshan saw that Li Guangbi was still refusing to issue military orders, he was about to go over to give advice when he heard a deafening collapse sound from the cliff.
Dozens of boulders the size of millstones were pushed down from high places and rushed down the mountain with great momentum.
Li Guangbi shouted: "The rear army becomes the front army, maintain the formation, and retreat to the pass!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the boulder rolling down the fastest had already rushed towards the Tang army's formation.
The boulder collided with the shield and armor, making a loud and ear-piercing sound. Shields and pieces of armor flew in all directions. Several Tang soldiers who were hit by the boulder vomited blood and were knocked away. They died at the sight.
However, the well-trained Tang soldiers remained calm in the face of danger and quickly filled the gaps in the formation.
At this moment, a dense rain of arrows also shot down from the top of the mountain.
Since the Tang army adopted a circular formation and the cavalry was in the rear, the threat posed by arrows was not very great.
The cavalry retreated first. Even if a Tang soldier in the circular formation was unfortunately hit by an arrow, he could barely follow most of them and retreat from the pass together.
On the hillside, the Tibetan army, which had been in ambush for a long time, removed the vegetation and other camouflage, and erected the flags of the three capitals.
A handsome-looking young Tibetan nobleman wearing a fox fur coat dusted off his body and looked at the retreating Tang army, thoughtfully.
The slave guards beside him knelt on the ground and congratulated loudly: "Master has won a great victory, and the Tang army has been defeated!"
The young noble looked at the slave guards and soldiers around him and said funnyly: "After spending more than half a month of hard work, we finally waited for a Tang army to kill less than a hundred enemies. Is this called a great victory?"
When everyone heard this, they looked at each other and didn't know how to answer.
A slave guard with a bright mind stepped forward and said: "Before the war, the master proposed to set up an ambush at the Mengchi Pass. The ministers and Dongben laughed at this unnecessary move. Today, the master defeated the Tang army. Gar Sangchiruo's reputation
It will definitely spread throughout Tubo!"
When Sang Chiruo heard this, there was no joy on his face. He looked at the direction in which Tang Jun disappeared and sighed: "If that prey had walked forward another fifty meters, something big would have happened."
Then, Sang Chiruo stroked his chin with his hand and said doubtfully: "The Tang army was well-trained and powerful, but after capturing the pass camp, it did not rush through the canyon. Instead, it formed a circular formation and marched
The cavalry is placed in the back compartment, is it possible that there is some flaw in my ambush plan?"
On the other side, Wukedi, one of the three thousand partial troops, deliberately fell behind under the Tibetan offensive and took advantage of the retreat of the army.
Wukedi, who originally wanted to take the opportunity to escape, met a seriously injured Tang soldier who had fallen behind on the way. Unable to bear it, he carried the latter back to the army.
As soon as he returned to the camp at the pass, Wu Kedi saw deputy general Chu Liangshan asking Li Guangbi for a battle.
Chu Liangshan: "General, I just saw that the enemy is located at the foot of the mountain. If we send a battalion of soldiers to go up from the east slope, we can relieve the ambush." Li Guangbi looked at Chu Liangshan: "Since the enemy has set up an ambush in the canyon.
, then how can the trail leading to the foothills be undefended?"
Chu Liangshan was speechless for a moment.
Li Guangbi added: "More than half an hour has passed since the pass was breached. Calculating the time, the Tubo Sandu Camp should also have learned the news by now, and the reinforcements will arrive here in no more than an hour. In this hour,
Are you sure you can capture the ambush in the canyon?"
Chu Liangshan was silent.
Li Guangbi looked around and said to Chu Liangshan: "Treat the wounded soldiers first."
The latter had no choice but to nod.
After a while, a scout sent to the north returned to the camp and reported to Li Guangbi: "There are smoke rising from the Mengchi Canyon to the direction of Sandu, and there are traces of Tibetan cavalry in the northwest."
Li Guangbi heard this and sighed: "We can't stay here anymore."
Chu Liangshan was very anxious after hearing this: "General, our army has issued a military order. If we do not arrive at Shibao City in three days, everyone will be killed according to military law!"
Li Guangbi looked solemn, walked to the middle of the soldiers, and said: "There were countless casualties in the battle of Shibao City, and there was no success for a long time. Guangbi originally wanted to lead a partial army, raid Mengchi, and win the first victory. Unexpectedly, the Tubo army had already
He was prepared to set up an ambush in the canyon and almost died from exhaustion. This was Guangbi's crime."
After hearing this, Chu Liangshan stood up and said: "General Li, Chu is a vulgar person, but he also knows the good and evil. The battle of Shibao City lasted only half a month, and nearly ten thousand people were killed and missing.
A team of 50 people takes the siege path, and the number of people who come back alive can often be counted on one hand. If Chu had to choose, he would rather fight the enemy with a real sword than the path of death that is as wide as a palm.
If you fight with a real gun, even if you die, you won't be called a soldier of the Tang Dynasty in vain!"
As soon as this statement came out, the soldiers of the partial army responded loudly.
Li Guangbi patted Chu Liangshan's shoulder hard, then looked at the Tang soldiers around him, and said with emotion: "Firstly, this attack on Mengchi was Guangbi's idea, and it has nothing to do with you. All the consequences must be borne by one person; secondly,
Come on, many people died in the battle of Shibao City. If the Tang Dynasty is in trouble in the future, it will be difficult to find elites to defend the enemy."
When Chu Liangshan heard this, he asked in confusion: "What does General Li want to say?"
Li Guangbi: "According to the military order, anyone who has not arrived at Shibao City must be killed. Someone has to settle this matter. Guangbi planned to return to the central army alone. He only said that the partial army was ambushed by the Tibetan army and the entire army was wiped out...
...As for everyone present, keep this useful life and repay the Tang Dynasty in the future."
Chu Liangshan was stunned for a moment, then he was so shocked that he couldn't stand and shouted: "General Li wants us to abandon our commander and become deserters?!"
Li Guangbi ignored Chu Liangshan's question and said to the soldiers: "If we enter the canyon again, the enemy is outnumbered and we are trapped in a tight siege, we will definitely not be able to find a way to survive. If we return to the Chinese army, the only thing waiting for you is military law. Move forward.
After that, they all lead to death... Now, Li is willing to live alone to give everyone a chance to survive. If anyone is willing to bear this responsibility, please come forward."
The soldiers of the Tang Dynasty looked at each other. Everyone present was an elite member of the Tang army. No one had ever thought about abandoning their commander and becoming a deserter.
After a long time, just when Li Guangbi wanted to persuade him again, someone finally stood up slowly. This person was Wu Kedi.
When Chu Liangshan saw this scene, he was furious. He picked up his weapon and wanted to go forward and kill Wukedi.
Li Guangbi stopped Chu Liangshan and just signaled him to wait.
After a while, the second, third, and fourth Tang soldiers stood up with their heads lowered and walked to one side.
Immediately afterwards, more and more Tang soldiers left their original positions and stood together.
In the end, more than half of the Tang soldiers did not want to die, but wanted to find a way to survive.
When Chu Liangshan saw this, he sighed and the weapon in his hand fell to the ground.
Li Guangbi came to Chu Liangshan's side and said softly: "My sons are not at fault. Don't blame me more."
Chu Liangshan looked at Li Guangbi and said sadly: "Chu will accompany General Li back to the Central Army! Even if he is beheaded, he will always have a companion on the road to hell!"
Li Guangbi patted Chu Liangshan's arm: "You can't follow me back. You have to lead these people out of this battlefield safely."
Chu Liangshan didn't want to and just shook his head.
Li Guangbi stared at Chu Liangshan and said solemnly: "This is the last order Li gave you!"
When Chu Liangshan heard this, he hesitated for a long time and finally lowered his head and said nothing.
Li Guangbi stretched out his arms, hugged Chu Liangshan, patted the latter's back hard, and whispered: "Go all the way north from here, north of the Haokui River, south of the Snow Mountain, close to Liangzhou, there is a golden place
My family’s business is a good place to go and get along with each other.”
Chu Liangshan's body trembled and he burst into tears.
In the end, more than 2,500 Tang soldiers, led by Chu Liangshan, left Hehuang and made a long journey to the north.
There were more than 200 soldiers who were unwilling to leave. After Li Guangbi tried hard to persuade him to no avail, they returned to the Chinese army with him.
At this time, the Battle of Stone Castle, which lasted for less than a month, finally came to an end.
Ge Shuhan wrote in the military report sent to the court: "One hundred thousand herders attacked Shibao City and pulled it out, and most of them died."
Since most of the bodies of those who died in the battle were nowhere to be found, and military reports were always suspected of exaggeration, no one could tell clearly who died in the Battle of Stone Castle.
The imperial court also based on military reports, set the battle damage of Shibao City at 60,000.
Of course, among the "60,000", there were 3,000 partial troops led by Li Guangbi.