Winter passes and spring comes, and everything revives.
The spring of Tianbao's twelfth year is coming very early compared to previous years.
On the wasteland, the snow melted, and wild flowers and green grass grew mottled.
Three hundred miles east of Dunhuang, a cavalry army of 3,000 people marched across the land in mighty force.
The cavalry are well-armed and well-trained.
With such a huge army, apart from the sound of horses' hooves hitting the ground and armor plates clashing, no other noise could be heard. Standing in the distance and looking from a distance, you can feel a chilling air coming towards your face.
Zhou Jun rode beside Li Guangbi. Looking at such an army, he couldn't help but nod and praise: "The general's training of troops is good, which opened Jun's eyes."
Li Guangbi shook his head and said: "The reorganization has been a bit hasty, and since they have not been in battle for a long time, these soldiers' skills, whether they are marching or forming formations, are a bit rusty and need to be tempered... Fortunately, they were all elites in the past, and their skills are still there.
."
Zhou Jun took a closer look at the equipment of the cavalry.
One person and two horses, in addition to the basic combat equipment such as armor, horse-stem, horizontal sword, powerful bow, and arrows, there are also individual tents, dry food bags (one bucket and two liters), water bags, horse bowls, medicine bags, and flint bags
, shoes, leather clothes, blankets and other items are packed and hung on the pack horse.
After Zhou Jun inspected it, he asked: "The armor worn by the soldiers seems to be light armor. Have they ever carried heavy armor such as ring armor?"
Li Guangbi said: "I have brought it with me, and it is in the baggage team. However, the heavy armor with rings is usually disassembled and stored. Generally, it is only taken out and re-equipped before attacking the fortress and attacking the battle formation. If on weekdays,
Just wear heavy armor. Over time, the horses will become thin and exhausted, and the soldiers will be tired and lose their fighting spirit. Moreover, the Tubo people are in the light, and our army is in the dark. Most of the battles are surprise attacks or rush attacks, and heavy armor is not conducive.
Cavalry attack."
Zhou Jun nodded.
Li Guangbi asked: "This time Guangbi leads the troops, please make it clear what the next layout should be."
Zhou Jun pondered for a moment and said: "The Tubo troops stationed themselves at Longle Mountain Pass and headed north to Dunhuang. The Doulu Army will fight the front, while the Moli Army will be responsible for the response..."
Li Guangbi asked anxiously: "Then we...?"
Zhou Jun: "Don't worry, just listen to what I have to say. Guo Ziyi, the envoy of the Moli Army, suggested to me that we can use the tactic of strengthening the walls and clearing the country to lure the main Tibetan forces northward, wait until they penetrate deep into the hinterland of Shazhou, and then encircle and attack them."
Li Guangbi: "The Tubo army marched north, but there was no trace of our army along the way. Would they suspect that there was fraud and hesitate to move forward?"
Zhou Jun: "Earlier, I issued a general order to abolish evil taxes, try unjust cases, and arrest criminals, in order to appease the people of Shazhou. After this order was passed, the wealthy people of Shazhou came to vote one after another, and said they were willing to help the state find a solution.
To uncover rebellion, we uncovered the Tubo spies. Among them, through investigation, we actually found a family named Kang, who was the leader of the Tibetan spies and had been providing intelligence to the enemy for a long time."
Li Guangbi somewhat understood: "Does Duke Ming want to take advantage of his plan?"
Zhou Jun: "Yes, I have ordered the Kang family's arrest to be kept secret. Guo Ziyi incited one of them to rebel, and also forged information and asked that person to bring it to the Tibetan army. The false information said that the Doulu army had broken out due to lack of food.
Internal strife. The morale of the army is low, and deserters have appeared. The Tibetans should take advantage of this opportunity to go north as soon as possible, capture Dunhuang City in one fell swoop, and establish a firm foothold in Shazhou."
Li Guangbi thought for a while and said: "If the Tubo people fall into the trap, this battle will be easy to fight. However, Duke Ming still hasn't said where Guangbi should be."
Zhou Jun raised his riding whip, pointed far south, and said to Li Guangbi: "Once the war starts, I want you to capture that place."
Li Guangbi looked at the direction where Zhou Jun's riding whip was pointing, and was suddenly shocked. He asked, "Ziting Town? The main camp of the Tubo army? Does Duke Ming want Guangbi to cut off the Tubo people's retreat?"
Zhou Jun smiled and nodded.
On the other side, Longle Mountain Pass, Ziting Town.
Tens of thousands of Tibetan troops were stationed on the grassland near the military town. Looking down from the air, the tents could be seen as far as the eye could see. There were shouts of people and the neighing of war horses everywhere.
In the Tubo tent, all the generals who participated in the attack on Shazhou were discussing the next combat arrangements in front of the map.
The leader of the Tibetan army, named Mang Suzhen, is one of the four eastern branches of the army. He is nearly sixty years old and has been fighting with the Tang army for more than forty years. He has the bronze title of Shanggong Shaozun.
He is a veritable veteran of Tubo.
Mang Suzhen, who had white hair and beard, sat cross-legged on the table, closed his eyes and listened to the arguments of the generals, seeming to be indifferent to the discussion in the account.
After a long time, he slowly opened his eyes and asked, "Sang Chiruo, why don't you speak?"
Everyone turned their attention to the last seat in the tent.
Sang Chiruo, who was dressed in fox fur, was stunned for a moment when he saw everyone watching, and then said with a smile: "Sir, I am a stupid person and I don't know how to speak."
Mang Suzhen said: "Even a mute person can still express his or her opinions with babbling sounds. Is it possible that you are worse than a mute person?"
Listening to the ridicule of the generals in the tent, Sang Chiruo scratched his head and said, "Then if I tell you, you must promise not to punish me."
Hearing this almost rogue statement, Mang Suzhen was not upset and just said lightly: "Whatever you want to say, just say it. I won't blame you."
Sang Chiruo took a deep breath and said, "I think we should retreat now."
As soon as these words came out, everyone was shocked.
The generals came to their senses and criticized Sang Chiruo for being as timid as a mouse and unworthy of going to the battlefield.
Mang Suzhen waved his hand to stop the insults of the generals, and then asked Sang Chiruo: "What's the reason?"
Sang Chiruo: "The spies came to report that the Tang State sent a Shangguan named Zhou Jun to take over Wang Jun's position. After he took office, he readjusted the tax to 1 in 20 taxes and allowed the people to file complaints freely...
"
Before Sang Chiruo finished speaking, a Tibetan general asked loudly: "So what? The civil strife in Shazhou can be calmed down by just changing another official?"
Sang Chiruo sighed: "You guys usually only know how to shout and kill. If you knew more about the inside story of the Tang Dynasty, you wouldn't underestimate that official named Zhou Jun."
Mang Suzhen: "Just transferring one official is not enough reason to withdraw the troops."
Sang Chiruo: "There's another thing. Since the beginning of spring, the intelligence that should come from Shazhou has been greatly reduced."
Mang Suzhen: "So what?"
Sang Chiruo: "If you take the two things I just mentioned together and look at them together, there may be changes within Shazhou, Tubo must be trapped, and intelligence information is interrupted... We don't know anything about this.
"
Mang Suzhen looked at Sang Chiruo for a while, then finally shook his head and said, "What you said makes some sense, but it's impossible for me to retreat because of this."
Sang Chiruo stood up straight and said in a deep voice: "Sir, last year Sang Chiruo captured Ziting Town and Shouchang County overnight, and even almost captured Dunhuang City, all with the help of Shazhou's internal response. For the Tubo army,
It is said that those warriors lurking in the Tang Dynasty are our eyes, our ears, and our right-hand man. If anything happens to them, it means that our army will no longer have an advantage against the Tang army."
When the generals in the tent heard this, someone said angrily: "If you want to win a war, you rely on weapons, horses and bravery. You can only hide in the dark and cheat. You are a villain, not a hero!"
Hearing the other generals chattering, Sang Chiruo sighed, sat back at the bottom of the table, and said no more.