Moliyi was called Gonghe County in later generations.
It is located in the northeastern part of Qinghai Province, bordering Qinghai Lake to the north, the Yellow River, the "Mother River", to the south, Riyue Mountain to the east, and Qingnan Qinghai Snow Area to the west. It is the eastern gateway of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and is known as the "Qinghai-Tibet Plateau".
"throat".
Its terrain is mainly plateau and mountainous, with an average altitude of 3,200 meters. The highest peak is Chelonggang in the Ora Mountains, with an altitude of 5,290 meters, and the lowest point is Longyang Gorge in the Yellow River Valley, with an altitude of 2,460 meters.
Historically, Moliyi, with its dangerous terrain and difficult to defend and difficult to attack, has always been a dangerous pass that military strategists must fight for.
After the Western Route Army of the Northern Tang Dynasty captured Shibao City, they went south to capture Moliyi Station, and then set up camp here as a supply base for the attack on Tibet.
Food, medicine, gunpowder, arrows, etc. from Hexi, Guanzhong and other places are collected here and then sent to Dafeichuan on a long journey.
Chu Liangshan, who led three thousand elite cavalry, was naturally aware of Moliyi's important position, but he also believed that Moliyi's terrain was dangerous, full of canyons, deep lakes, and dangerous peaks, and it should be impossible for the Tibetan army to pass.
Therefore, when he first heard about the attack on Moli Yi, Chu Liangshan did not believe it.
But as he walked eighty miles eastward from Tuohe Pass, the wolf smoke in the sky persisted for a long time, and Chu Liangshan's heart sank little by little.
Arriving thirty miles away from Moliyi, Chu Liangshan encountered a group of defeated soldiers of the Tang army who were covered in blood and looked miserable.
Chu Liangshan ordered his subordinates to stop them and ask them what happened.
The defeated soldiers of the Tang army panicked and said to Chu Liangshan: "At midnight last night, there were evil spirits in the mountains climbing up the cliffs to Moliyi Station. They set fire everywhere and killed everyone they saw. We were defeated and had to flee."
Chu Liangshan scolded: "You are so brave, you actually attribute the reason for defeat to ghosts and gods. Aren't you afraid of the ruthlessness of military law?"
The defeated soldier knelt on the ground, kowtowed and sobbed: "General, we are willing to swear to heaven, and every word is true. The Longyang Gorge south of Moliyi is a hundred feet high, and the rock walls are smooth and there is nowhere to stay.
Those figures last night were walking on the mountain wall as if they were walking on flat ground, so what are they if they aren't evil spirits?"
Chu Liangshan was stunned for a moment. After thinking carefully, he asked a question: How many enemies climbed up the camp at that time?
The defeated soldier said that it was dark at that time, and he felt that there were many dark shadows in the night, and that there were at least five thousand enemies in the sneak attack.
Chu Liangshan scoffed at this answer and did not accept it.
In his opinion, Longyang Gorge in the south of Moliyi is known as the cliff of Tianren. The height difference is nearly hundreds of meters. It is impossible for five thousand enemy troops to climb up from there.
Therefore, Chu Liangshan concluded that there should not be many attacking enemies, and the Tang army was probably defeated because they were attacked late at night and caused a roar in the camp.
With this idea in mind, Chu Liangshan led the three thousand cavalry troops and continued to move forward, finally arriving at the gate of Moliyi Camp.
The gate of the camp was open, and there were traces of fighting everywhere inside, but there was no one in the camp, and not even a body could be seen.
Chu Liangshan led his troops into the camp slowly. Before they had walked fifty meters, a dozen snagging ropes were suddenly pulled up on the ground in front of them.
The dozens of Tang Qi who were walking at the front were caught off guard and tripped to the ground.
More than two hundred barbarians wearing rattan armor and painted ink on their faces suddenly appeared in the camp and blocked the way of the Tang army.
Chu Liangshan took a bow and arrow, shot a barbarian to death with one arrow, and then shouted: "They are just a bunch of barbarians pretending to be gods, let me kill them!"
When the Qingqi of the Tang Army saw that the enemy was not some mountain ghost and that their number was small, their morale was immediately boosted. They bent their bows and nocked arrows while galloping forward.
Facing the Tang army, these barbarians did not step forward to fight. Instead, they used the debris in the camp and nearby rocks to avoid arrows and ran back.
Chu Liangshan led his troops in pursuit for nearly a hundred meters, and suddenly realized that something was wrong.
Although this group of barbarians did not know how to form a formation, there seemed to be someone directing them as they advanced and retreated.
Moreover, the roads in Moliyi were originally narrow, and all kinds of debris were scattered around, which slowed down the pace of the Tang army's cavalry.
Now, Chu Liangshan's three thousand cavalry have been stretched into a long snake formation.
The cavalry at the front was almost approaching the exit of Moliyi, while the cavalry at the rear was still blocked from the entrance.
Chu Liangshan knew something was wrong and quickly ordered the cavalry to stop advancing.
Just when the Tang army's cavalry stopped, more than 300 barbarians appeared in the camp.
The leader among them has a face like a lion and a tiger, is ferocious in nature, and looks as tall as a horse.
He pointed the double-headed iron bone flower in his hand, which weighed more than 80 kilograms, towards the ground and shouted loudly: "I am Yin Tu, the leader of the Shan Wei Army. Whoever is in charge of the opposite side, please tell me your name!"
Chu Liangshan saw that the total number of barbarians was only 600, and the leader of the other side was arrogant. He couldn't help but said angrily: "A group of uncivilized barbarians are looking for death!"
Hearing Chu Liangshan's words, Yin Tu looked in the direction of the voice and saw a Tang general being guarded by Tang soldiers.
After knowing the position of the enemy's commander, Yin Tu laughed loudly, lifted up Tieguduo, banged the ground hard, and shouted: "Kill!"
As soon as he finished speaking, countless howls imitating wild beasts in the mountains and forests were heard from all around.
The next second, thousands of barbarian soldiers climbed up from the cliff outside the camp and launched an attack on the middle section of the Tang army.
Chu Liangshan originally thought that there were only a few hundred barbarians, but he did not expect that the leader of the barbarians was so thoughtful that he actually let the ambush soldiers hide on the cliff, waiting for the Tang army to enter the encirclement before suddenly attacking.
The narrow terrain, alleyway fighting, and the long snake formation made it impossible for the Tang army's cavalry to look at each other from both ends.
Thousands of barbarian soldiers almost cut off the Tang army's cavalry in one charge and divided them into two formations, front and rear.
Seeing that the situation was critical, Chu Liangshan did not care about his safety. He led his guards directly to the central formation and personally began to direct the battle.
When the soldiers of the Northern Tang Dynasty saw that their leader was taking the lead and rushing to the front, the chaos in the army gradually subsided. The cavalry of the Tang army fought in formation according to the drill, blocking the barbarians outside the formation, and gradually stabilized their position.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! However, Yin Tu, standing on the outside, was like the wolf king among the wolves. Although he did not move, he kept observing the direction of the battle.
Seeing that the time was right, Yin Tu spotted the location of Chu Liangshan, took a dozen strong men from his clan, and suddenly rushed into the Tang army's formation, waving his double-headed iron sword, knocking off those who were in front of the Tang army.
In just a few breaths, Yin Tu relied on his personal bravery to fight his way through the Tang army and directly approached the location of Chu Liangshan.
When the Tang soldiers saw this, they shouted loudly: "Stop that barbarian!"
A Tang Army cavalryman wanted to knock down Yin Tu with his horse, but the latter swung his fist with all his strength and hit the horse's head.
The war horse let out a scream and was knocked to the ground by the punch. After several struggles, it died.
After the knight on horseback fell to the ground, he still wanted to resist with his spear, but Yin Tu stepped on his chest again. His armor was broken and his bones were broken, and blood spurted out from his seven orifices.
Yin Tu killed more than a dozen Tang soldiers and finally came to Chu Liangshan.
Seeing a huge iron bone coming towards him, Chu Liangshan instinctively raised his arm to block it.
What he didn't expect was that the blow was so powerful that it knocked him off the horse and even broke his shoulder blade.
Yin Tu, who had arrows stuck on his rattan armor and covered with wounds all over his body, had already become ferocious in killing. He took aim at Chu Liangshan's head and hit him hard with another bone.
Chu Liangshan's shoulder was severely injured and he could no longer lift his arms. He could only watch the opponent attack.
There was only a dull cracking sound, Chu Liangshan's helmet was dented, the Tianling Cap was also shattered, and the red and white stuff flowed to the ground.
When the Tang army saw this appearance, they were all horrified and froze on the spot.
The barbarians screamed loudly and cheered Yin Tu's name.
The commander-in-chief was dead, the morale of the Tang army was in great confusion, and the soldiers were in a rout.
The barbarians became more and more courageous as they fought, completely breaking up the Tang army's formation, and were defeated like a mountain. The entire battle suddenly became uncontrollable.
Within one day, Moliyi fought two battles, and the Tang army was defeated by the Tubo army.
Eight thousand defenders were defeated due to the enemy's night attack, and three thousand Tang cavalry fled because their commander died in battle. The Tang army lost nearly 10,000 people, and the supply line was cut off by Tibet. The West Route Army was now alone.