At the top of Dunhuang City, facing the sky full of wind and sand, Zhou Jun looked towards the desert in the distance.
Sun Aying waited behind him and reminded him in a low voice: "Master, it's windy at the top of the city, so why not go down first."
Zhou Jun looked back at Sun Aying and asked: "In this battle with Tubo, I'm afraid you won't have a chance to fight the enemy. Do you have any complaints?"
Sun Aying said: "As a soldier, Aying takes care of his master's family."
Zhou Jun turned around, patted Sun Aying's arm, and said, "There will be many opportunities for fighting in the future."
Sun Aying didn't know what was going on and responded vaguely.
After getting off the city wall and coming to the urn wall, Zhou Jun saw Guo Ziyi waiting not far away, so he walked over.
Guo Ziyi bowed and said: "Consort, please report from the front, the Tibetan army has already departed."
Zhou Jun: "General, can you inquire about the strength of the troops?"
Guo Ziyi nodded and said: "The general's name is Mang Suzhen. He is a veteran general under Tubo's own wing. He is cautious, thoughtful, and experienced in using troops. He is a troublesome opponent. As for the military strength, Tubo mobilized two wings with a total of 25,000 troops and 5,000 troops.
The main camp was left behind. The 20,000 main force did not adopt a marching formation, but formed a sentinel formation, divided into left front, right front, left wing, right wing, and center army. They connected two by two and advanced slowly."
Zhou Jun: "The Tubo people have learned to be careful when they enter Shazhou this time."
Guo Ziyi: "Tubo invaded Shazhou in the past, mostly for the purpose of plundering, but this time it was for occupation. In addition, last year's surprise attack was successful, so it is normal for them to be cautious this year."
Zhou Jun: "Did you send out forged information?"
Guo Ziyi nodded and said: "It has been sent out. It must be delivered to the hands of the Tubo people at this time."
Zhou Jun: "Has the military affairs been arranged properly?"
Guo Ziyi: "The Doulu Army was stationed in the city and was responsible for contacting the enemy. The Moli Army blocked the news of sending troops and hid the camp of the troops. The entire army was ambushed in Sanwei Mountain, which is only half a day away from Dunhuang. Once the war breaks out, they will rush to help immediately.
.In addition, all the defenses in the city are well arranged, including arrows, rolling stones, wood, and kerosene."
Zhou Jun: "What if the Tubo people see through the plan and retreat halfway?"
Guo Ziyi shook his head and said: "No matter whether the Tubo people see through the plan or not, they will never retreat."
Zhou Jun was a little surprised. Guo Ziyi didn't hesitate at all when he said this.
Guo Ziyi paused for a moment and then said: "The battle at Dunhuang is unavoidable. If someone gets the signal, he will come as soon as possible. The prince-in-law only needs to stay in the city and wait for the outcome of the battle. Don't put yourself in danger."
Zhou Jun looked at Guo Ziyi and said, "I set up an ambush at Longle Mountain Pass."
"Ambush?" Guo Ziyi's thoughts were racing. After much thought, he couldn't figure out which number of the Tang army was nearby, so he asked: "The prince-in-law set up this ambush to surprise the Tibetan army's camp?"
Zhou Jun nodded.
Guo Ziyi: "The Tubo army has been setting up defenses in Ziting Town since last year. Now that the army is moving north, there are 5,000 elite soldiers left in the town. They have good fighting strength and are fully equipped. It may not be easy to attack the camp by surprise."
Zhou Jun smiled and said to Guo Ziyi: "I have confidence in that army."
Guo Ziyi was stunned at first, then remembered that Zhou Jun's words were never without purpose, so she responded.
At the same time, the Tubo army marched to the banks of the sweet spring and set up camp.
Sang Chiruo stood in the camp and looked back at the mountains in the distance behind him. There was no sign of joy or sadness on his face.
A Tubo guard came to the camp gate on horseback and said that Dong Ben had invited me.
Sang Chiruo tidied up and followed the guards to the door of the tooth tent.
After the announcement, Sang Chiruo entered the door, only to find that Mang Suzhen was the only one in the tent.
Putting his right hand on his heart, he bowed and saluted, and Sang Chiruo called out, "Sir."
Mang Suzhen, who was reading the letter, didn't even raise his head, and just hummed.
The other party obviously called him over, but now he ignored him. Sang Chiruo was a little annoyed, but the situation was unavoidable, so he could only stand in the tent.
After a while, Mang Suzhen looked up at Sang Chiruo, put the letter in his hand on the desk, and motioned to the latter to pick it up and read it.
Sang Chiruo opened the letter and found that the letter writer was actually a leader named Kang, a Tibetan spy in Dunhuang City.
After reading through it, Sang Chiruo frowned and looked solemn.
Mang Suzhen: "The letter said that the Dajing granary was burned last year, and this year's spring grain has not been on the market yet. The nearby prefectures and counties are short of food, and the Doulu Army is even more lacking in military food. The Dunhuang Prefecture has to collect food from the people to provide food.
The military used it. The situation among the people in Shazhou was already unstable. During the Chinese New Year, although tax cuts and corruption measures were used to ease the conflicts between the government and the people, the forced requisition of grain this time made the people angry again and civil strife broke out."
Sang Chiruo: "Last year, when the Dajing granary was burned down, I also sent someone to confirm that it was indeed true. It is natural that the Doulu Army is short of food this year. Now that spring has just begun, the Dunhuang Prefecture wants to raise food and wages, so it can only ask the people.
It makes sense to forcefully requisition food..."
Mang Suzhen: "This letter also said that our army is approaching Dunhuang, and Shazhou has already approached the Emperor of Tang Dynasty, requesting the mobilization of troops and food to support Dunhuang. In addition, the people in the city were furious, and the state government began to send troops to forcibly
Suppressed and sealed the city gates, only allowed in but not allowed out."
Sang Chiruo's frown deepened: "Since the beginning of the year, the information sent to Shazhou has become less and less. If the city is under martial law, this will be enough."
Mang Suzhen nodded slightly.
Sang Chiruo: "Sir, where is the person who sent the information? Has the identity been checked?"
Mang Suzhen: "I have checked my identity, code words, and tokens, and there are no problems."
Sang Chiruo whispered to himself: "Could it be that... I'm worrying too much?"
Mang Suzhen: "Our army marched all the way without seeing any human beings. The Tang State forcibly transported all the people and everything that could be moved into Dunhuang City. This behavior is in line with the current situation."
Sang Chiruo: "Shazhou is adjacent to Guazhou. A spy came to report that the Moli Army in Guazhou is stepping up its training and there is a possibility of sending troops."
Mang Suzhen: "Even if Guazhou gets the military order, it will take at least half a month for the Moli army to mobilize and then rush to Dunhuang. Even if the cavalry marches quickly and arrives within three days, that small number of troops is not something to be afraid of."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Sang Chiruo: "In this way, Dunhuang City is an isolated city, and its defenses are the weakest at this time."
Mang Suzhen: "At the end of the letter, he wrote that there was an internal response in the city. They used the lights as a signal to take advantage of the chaos to seize the city gate and then lead the Tibetan army into the city."
Sang Chiruo was stunned: "Open the city gate and let our troops enter the city? Just like last year?"
Mang Suzhen looked at Sang Chiruo: "What do you think of what the letter says?"
Sang Chiruo lowered his head, touched his chin with his right hand, and said to himself: "It doesn't sound like there is a problem, everything will fall into place... But I always feel that all this seems to be too coincidental. Our army
The current attack is hasty, so I still suggest that it might be safer to retreat temporarily and send some spies to collect information."
When Mang Suzhen heard this, he sighed.
Sang Chiruo was a little puzzled: "Why do you sigh, sir?"
Mang Suzhen: "Let's not talk about the authenticity of this letter. If this letter is a trap, then the person who made the plan for the Tang army predicts that I will never retreat and will definitely attack the city."
Sang Chiruo: "Why?"
Mang Suzhen: "If I retreat without fighting because I am worried about being ambushed. If later it is discovered that I was too worried and delayed the march, delaying the opportunity to fight, so that food and reinforcements arrived in Dunhuang City, then I will definitely be punished by my subordinates.
and attacks by political opponents. Zuzan and the nobles will be furious because of this, and the entire family in my family will be punished because of this incident."
Sang Chiruo understood somewhat: "The appearance of this letter is equivalent to blocking the retreat route of the troops, forcing you to lead troops to attack the city."
Mang Suzhen smiled helplessly.
Hearing this, Sang Chiruo asked: "Why don't you tell the generals in the army your concerns?"
Mang Suzeng looked at Sang Chiruo and asked, "You also participated in the military meeting before. Don't you know what kind of people they are?"
The latter was silent.
Mang Suzhen said: "Last year, you led the cavalry and brought a large amount of property back to Luoche City. You said in front of Zuzan that the Tang Dynasty's Daqi trade route was full of treasures. You and your men
, even if you leave your weapons and armor behind and try your best to carry them, you can only take away less than one-tenth."
"The leaders and generals of Tubo never dreamed that the Daqi trade route in Shazhou of the Tang Dynasty would be so prosperous. Their eyes were full of greed and desire. For them, capturing Dunhuang City was equivalent to occupying the city.
The Daqi Trade Road was occupied; and occupying the trade road was equivalent to opening a treasure house. It was from then on that the Battle of Dunhuang was inevitable and retreating was impossible."