After marching for two days and two nights, the Tibetan army finally arrived at the wasteland ten miles away from Dunhuang City.
Mang Suzhen sat on his horse and looked around. All the trees outside Dunhuang City had been cut down, not even a branch was left.
Mang Suzhen nodded, the guard was a smart man.
Looking at Dunhuang City in the field of vision, the Tubo generals were all eager to try.
Next to Daqi Shang Road, the rumored treasure house city is right in front of them. The Tubo people seem to have vaguely seen countless treasures and are waving to them.
A general couldn't restrain his excitement and came to Mang Suzhen, calling for battle loudly.
The latter thought for a moment, shook his head and said: "After several days of marching, the soldiers are tired. The Dunhuang city must have been prepared and set up camp to rest first."
Seeing the other generals retreating one after another, Sang Chiruo walked up to Mang Suzhen and asked in a low voice: "Do you want to take advantage of the night to wait for Neiying to open the door?"
Mang Suzhen looked at the city in the distance, nodded and said: "If the intelligence is true, our army can capture Dunhuang at the minimum cost, which is naturally the best; if the intelligence is false, our army cannot
We have lost some of the camps along the way, but we still have room to attack the city."
Sang Chiruo thought about it carefully and felt that this statement was reasonable, and reminded Mang Suzhen: "Sir, I am afraid that the Moli army of the Tang Dynasty is on its way to Dunhuang."
Mang Suzhen: "The infantry marched forty miles a day, and the cavalry marched a hundred and twenty miles a day. Before our army set off, scouts inspected the eastern border of Shazhou and found no trace of reinforcements. Therefore, even if the march was noticed by the Tang State,
It will take at least ten days for Mo Lijun to arrive from the station, which is more than enough time."
Sang Chiruo: "Sir, if the door opens tonight, I am willing to be the first to enter the city."
Mang Suzhen shook his head and said, "I have my own arrangements."
Sang Chiruo was a little disappointed and bowed his head in response.
Mang Suzhen glanced at Sang Chiruo, sighed slightly, turned and left.
At night, Dunhuang City faced off against the Tibetan army. The south gate where the two armies were facing each other was brightly lit, and armed guards patrolled back and forth on both sides.
The six thousand ambush troops of the Tibetan army followed the intelligence instructions and came to the east gate of Dunhuang City, bitten the horses, extinguished all the fires, and waited quietly outside the city.
The night was getting darker, and after waiting for almost half an hour, the Tibetan people were feeling sleepy.
There was a faint fire flickering on the east gate, which was the code agreed upon in the intelligence.
General Mang Suzhen of the Tubo Army was surprised at first when he saw this, and then said with great joy: "The former army Qianhu Cangmucuo listened to the order! Lead the partial camp into the city. Remember, after capturing the city gate, be cautious and defend to the death. You must persist.
Until the army arrives!"
The Tibetan army's partial camp of 1,300 people, led by Qianhu Cangmucuo, headed for the east gate of Dunhuang City.
Seeing the Tibetan camp entering the city, there was still no movement in the city.
Mang Suzhen was a little confused. He didn't expect that the information was actually true, and that the Tibetan army actually captured a city gate in Dunhuang like this.
At the east gate of Dunhuang City, Cangmucuo, a Qianhu of Tubo, met with "Nei Ying".
Cangmucuo first looked at the Dunhuang City in the night. Unable to suppress the excitement in his heart, he asked the insider: "Where are the treasures in the city piled up?"
Neiying replied: "There is a treasure house in the east square of Dunhuang, which contains a large amount of property collected from the people."
Cangmucuo: "How is the military preparedness there?"
Internal response: "The state capital has confiscated people's property, and there is a shortage of food in the city. In recent days, there have been endless civil strife. Most of the defenders have gone to guard the south gate and monitor the people. The defense of the treasure house is weak."
Cangmucuo was overjoyed, and by chance a soldier under his command came to report: "Master Qianhu, we found a lot of scattered copper coins and sundries on the street next to the city gate."
Nei Ying said: "As soon as the news of the arrival of the Tibetan army reached Dunhuang, the people in the city fled to the mansion one after another. There is no one living in the area, and there are still many soft goods dropped during the escape scattered on the street."
When Cangmucuo heard this, he believed it even more. He turned to his subordinates and said, "Leave three hundred people to guard the city gate. The others will join me to attack the inner city and capture the treasure house!"
Someone worried: "The military order given to us by the general is to defend and not retreat."
Cangmucuo: "Have I ever violated military orders? When did I say that I would retreat? On the contrary, I will be the first to attack the city."
Someone else questioned: "We only have a thousand people. Is it too risky to attack rashly without waiting for the army to arrive?"
Cangmucuo glared at the speaker: "The Tubo soldiers are all warriors, how can there be such a coward like you?! You heard just now that there is no food in the city, the people are in turmoil, and the Tang soldiers have gone to guard the south gate.
It’s time to guard the residents, and the city’s defenses are now empty. Besides, the Tibetan army is right behind us, so can’t we just leave the city gate to the friendly forces who will come after us to guard it?!”
Others heard this and thought it made sense.
Anyway, the east gate has been captured. Can't we just leave the guarding of the city gate to the friendly forces behind?
At the moment, the more important thing is to seize the first opportunity to break the city. Also, capture the treasure house and seize more.
Thinking of this, no one would oppose Cangmucuo Qianhu's decision.
The thousands-strong Tubo front army rushed into the dark inner city and disappeared into the streets.
Along the street, the Tibetan army marched forward for nearly 200 meters.
The nearby houses and courtyards were all dark, and it was only then that Cangmucuo felt that something was wrong.
Even if the nearby people fled to the inner city, it was too quiet here, and even the patrolling soldiers could not be seen.
After walking forward for a while, Cangmucuo felt a drum in his heart. Perhaps it was an illusion. He always felt that the buildings and walls on both sides of the street were getting taller and taller.
Finally, this Tibetan camp of a thousand people reached the end of a street and found that the road ahead was blocked by earth and rocks.
Unwilling to give up, the Tibetan soldiers spread out to both sides of the street to find a way out. They were surprised to find that the houses and courtyards on both sides had blocked their retreat, the doors were blocked, the windows were nailed, and even the windows between the buildings were blocked.
The alley is also blocked by sand and gravel.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Sensing something bad, Cangmucuo quickly gave an order and the soldiers retreated.
It was too late, countless Tang soldiers who had been lying in wait for a long time emerged from the low wall made of earth and stone. With a loud roar, powerful crossbows and hard bows fired in unison. Countless arrows were like locusts, covering the area in an instant.
The whole street.
The screams of the Tubo people were endless. Even the soldiers wearing heavy armor and carrying shields could not muster the courage to form a formation to resist at such a close range and under such a sudden attack. They could not escape.
The only thought.
Just as the Tubo cavalry rode their horses to escape, several horse ropes more than ten meters long emerged from the earthen barriers that had been buried in the street.
In the dark night and being caught off guard, the Tubo cavalry fell to the ground one after another and struggled to get up. Before they had time to lift their legs, they were shot into pieces by arrows.
After several rounds of bows and arrows, coupled with the obstruction of the stumbling ropes, the remaining Tibetan troops gradually realized that it was impossible to escape.
They formed a circular formation and endured the baptism of arrows. They could only place their last hope on the army outside the city.
At this moment, several pitch-black objects were thrown from the sandstone barrier.
These objects fell into the crowd, accompanied by the crisp sound of earthen jars breaking, and a fire bursting into the sky, completely destroying the last hope of the Tibetan soldiers.
In the sea of karmic fire burned by kerosene tanks, the first Tibetan army to enter Dunhuang City ended up as a pile of charred corpses curled up and burning on the ground.
On the other side, the Tubo general Mang Suzhen first ordered the ambush troops to attack the east gate as soon as possible, and then sent messengers to move the main troops confronting the Tang army at the south gate to the east gate.
After issuing these military orders, Mang Suzhen looked at the east gate of Dunhuang City. The lights there were dim and no sound could be heard, but the uneasiness in his heart always lingered.
Not long after, a military scout came to report the news.
Scout: "General, there is a commotion in our front line."
Mang Suzhen was stunned for a moment, then asked hurriedly: "But there was an enemy ambush?"
The scout shook his head and said: "It's not an ambush by the Tang army... There are rumors in our army's front line that Qianhu Cangmucuo took advantage of the empty defenses in the city to break through the treasure house in Dunhuang City. In the treasure house, there are mountains of gold, silver and jewels.
Mucuo is carrying the treasure."
Mang Suzhen was furious when he heard this: "Asshole! I asked him to guard the city gate, how dare he disobey the military order?!"
The scout hesitated for a moment and then said: "Qianhu Cangmucuo left three hundred soldiers to guard the city gate. Later, when those soldiers who stayed behind heard that the treasure house had been breached, they also followed into the city."
Upon hearing this, Mang Suzhen asked anxiously: "Who takes over the city gate now?"
Scout: "Thousands of households who entered the city later heard that the treasure house had been broken into. They were worried that one of the thousands of households in Cangmucuo would steal the treasure, so they all rushed to enter the city. There was chaos at the city gate. Many soldiers fought with each other and even pulled out their weapons in order to get into the city first.