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Chapter 732 Ambush at Fengxiang Pass

To the west of Chang'an City, there is the main camp of the Tubo Central Army.

Looking at the defeated general of Fengxiang Pass kneeling in the tent, Sang Chiruo asked with surprise: "Guo Ziyi came to Jingzhou?"

The defeated general from Fengxiang Pass tapped his forehead on the ground and said in a trembling voice: "Many people in Jingzhou have seen Guo Ziyi with their own eyes. He also brought hundreds of thousands of troops, and... many firearms!"

Sang Chiruo just thought for a moment before shouting: "Drag him down and chop him down!"

When the defeated general heard this, he was so frightened that he begged for mercy.

The Tibetan warriors on the left and right set it up and pulled it outside the tent.

Along with a scream, silence fell outside the tent again.

Sang Chiruo smiled and said to the people in the account: "Guo Ziyi was fighting against the Southern Tang Dynasty in Jiangcheng. How could he appear in Jingzhou? It was probably because the defender was incompetent and the Tang people took advantage of the loophole, which led to the defeat."

The Tubo generals in the tent nodded one after another.

When the Tubo army went out to fight, it did not have a complete organizational structure with military codes and war history like the Tang army did.

When they win, the Tibetan generals will often say, "I defeated the enemy ten times, or even a hundred times our own." But when they lose, the Tubo people will say, "The enemy generals are famous generals and their numbers are as many as ours."

Ten times or even a hundred times.

In order to gain credit and shirk responsibility, such deceptions were common among the Tibetan army.

Therefore, most of the Tubo generals in the tent thought that there was a Tang people's rebellion in Jingzhou, and at most some of the Tang army's defeated troops were included in the rebellion. The Tubo defender Zha Ke Wang Dui underestimated the enemy, so he suffered a defeat.

In order to shirk responsibility, these defeated generals who fled back to the Chinese army said that it was Guo Ziyi who came in person.

Sang Chiruo said: "The battle of Chang'an is very difficult right now, and Jingzhou in the west is an important town for our army heading north, and Fengxiang Pass is an important point that is easy to defend but difficult to attack. If it falls into the enemy's hands, it will be very detrimental to future wars.

"

At this time, Tubo's Second Prime Minister Dunrenzeng suddenly jumped out: "Dragon talk, I am willing to lead troops to recover Fengxiang Pass."

Hearing this, other people in the tent immediately reacted.

The Battle of Chang'an had only started for two days, and the Tibetan army had already suffered heavy casualties.

No one thought that there would be so many firearms in Chang'an City.

During the siege, the gunpowder barrels of the Chang'an defenders fell like rain. Often a team of a thousand men would be exhausted in less than a quarter of an hour.

However, the soldiers of the Tubo army were all recruited according to their tribes.

This means that whichever tribe is responsible for attacking the city will suffer heavy casualties.

Therefore, the Second Prime Minister Tun Renzin took the initiative and asked to take on the task of counterinsurgency. In the final analysis, it was to preserve the strength of his tribe.

After thinking about this, a group of Tibetan generals approached Sang Chiruo and asked for help in suppressing the rebellion.

Everyone wants to use this reason to stay away from the meat grinder-like battlefield of Chang'an and preserve people for their respective tribes.

Soon, in order to decide who should go to the west, a quarrel began in the tent, which soon escalated into a fight.

Sang Chiruo stopped the fighting in the tent, and after thinking about it, handed over the task of countering the rebellion to Dun Renzin and some other prominent Tubo nobles.

There is no other reason. As a Tubo magistrate, Sang Chiruo needs the support of these prominent families to maintain his position in the Tubo country.

By countering the rebellion, selling these families a favor so that they can preserve their strength is the best choice for Sang Chiruo.

Finally, Dun Renzeng and a group of Tibetan nobles led an army of 30,000 people, left the battlefield of Chang'an, and began to march to Fengxiang Pass in the west.

As for the "rebellion" that occurred in Jingzhou, the commander-in-chief Dun Renzeng, although he had read the battle reports, concluded that there were no decent Tang troops around Jingzhou.

the reason is simple.

The Tibetan army also intercepted many of Chang'an's messengers seeking help from nearby prefectures and counties.

However, since the beginning of the war, except for the Tang army coming to support Chang'an at Tongguan, other prefectures and counties have pretended to be deaf and mute, and there has been no movement at all.

Sang Chiruo, who had fought against the Tang army, publicly analyzed the psychology of the Tang Guozhou county magistrates and concluded that in the absence of a clear government order, Tang Guozhou and counties were operating independently, making it difficult to organize a decent counterattack in Chang'an.

Therefore, based on this speculation, the fall of Jingzhou and Fengxiang Pass was at best a relatively successful rebellion launched by a group of Tang army remnants and local people.

Dun Renzin believed that with the 30,000 Tibetan troops in his hands, he could handle it even if the Tang army really came, let alone a group of rebels.

Thirty thousand Tibetan troops marched for two days and finally arrived at the official road east of Fengxiang Pass.

Arriving at the sentry gate of Fengxiang Pass, Dunrenzeng felt a little relieved when he saw that the Tubo multi-winged flag was still flying on the gate tower.

After calling for an attendant, Dun Renzin said: "Tell the people inside the prison that reinforcements are coming and ask them to open the door!"

The attendant took the order and left.

Not long after, the sentry gate of Fengxiang Pass slowly opened, and the Tibetan army began to pass through the outer sentry and march into the pass.

Along the way, there were traces of fighting everywhere.

Scattered weapons, pools of dark brown blood, and many Tibetan soldiers were carrying the bodies of the war dead.

Dun Renzeng found a Tibetan soldier and asked, and the other party replied that he defeated the Tang army in Zhakowangdui and attacked Fengxiang Pass at night.

The Tibetan warriors in the pass were not afraid of death and repelled several enemy attacks. After paying heavy losses, they finally saved Fengxiang Pass.

Tun Renzen sighed for a while.

When we arrived at the main gate of the pass, there was a Tibetan general from the Fengxiang Pass garrison standing on the city wall. While ordering the city gate to be opened, he invited the generals and nobles of the Tibetan reinforcements to enter the city to discuss the military situation in detail.

When Tun Renzin heard this, he wanted to enter the customs.

A general under his command suddenly stopped Tun Renzin and said, "Second Prime Minister, something is wrong."

Tun Renzin: “Something’s wrong?”

The general said: "The garrison generals in the pass are just servants. They should take the initiative to greet you and the nobles. Where do you have the courage to ask you to condescend to see him?"

Dun Renzeng was stunned, and his heart skipped a beat.

The "Tubo Guardsman" on the top of the city saw that Dun Renzin and a group of Tibetan nobles were hesitant, and knew that the plan had been seen through, so he simply stopped pretending.

The "Tubo defenders" who were busy around suddenly picked up their weapons, formed a formation, and launched an attack on the unsuspecting Tibetan reinforcements.

At the same time, there was an explosion at the sentry gate.

The gunpowder barrel buried underground was ignited and caused a big explosion, cutting the Tibetan army's formation into two parts.

In the midst of chaos, the iron guards under the Tubo nobles reacted quickly, formed a formation on the spot, protected the nobles of their respective tribes, and began to retreat.

Most of the prominent families in Tubo maintained an iron guard ranging from a hundred to a thousand people.

These Iron Guards are elite troops trained by every Tubo clan with countless efforts and resources.

They do not need to engage in farm work or participate in labor. They eat the best food in the clan and use the best armor in the clan. The only thing they have to do is to practice martial arts and take on the task of protecting the nobles of the family.

Now, even though these iron guards of the Tubo nobles were ambushed and faced with elite soldiers of the Tang army, they were not at a disadvantage in the slightest.

Guo Xin, who was standing on the tower in charge of commanding the battle, frowned slightly when he saw this situation and gave an order to Si Gu.

Soon, the drums representing the attack sounded, and countless Tang troops armed with flintlock muskets came out in formation and outflanked them, blocking the retreat of the Tibetan front army.

Looking at the long, dark cylindrical tubes not far away, the Tibetan Iron Guards were not aware of the dangerous approach.

Hundreds of burly iron guards in full body armor, wielding flails and giant axes, rushed towards the Tang army like black clouds.

A moment later, a burst of dense and harsh gunshots resounded over the entire detention center.

Thousands of projectiles as thick as an index finger burst out from the barrel of the gun amid the fire and gunpowder smoke, shooting straight into the Tibetan army like a torrential rain.

A two-meter-tall Tibetan iron guard with a muscular back and waist was hit in the chest by a projectile.

The Tubo Iron Guard, who weighed nearly two hundred kilograms, felt as if he had been hit by a giant hammer. He flew backwards and slid on the ground for a long distance before finally stopping.

The armor on his chest has been deeply dented.

The sternum, internal organs, and flesh behind the armor were shattered into shapeless pieces by the huge impact.

The iron guard struggled on the ground for a long time, and even to his death he did not understand how he fell.

In extreme pain, with bleeding from his mouth and nose, he finally died.

After that, the sound of Tang Jun's musket shooting never stopped.

Time and time again, the Tubo people's charges came to nothing in the steel storm.

The ambush at Fengxiang Pass made the musket the main weapon for the first time and entered the stage of human war.

As a result, the 30,000 Tibetan army only lasted for half an hour before completely collapsing.


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