Along the Zhenzhu River where Dondo City is located, the Tibetan soldiers and civilians recruited by the Anxi Protectorate began to transport grain and grass to the river bank, and yak carts were coming and going all day long, stirring up dust.
In order to prevent Mohe Dagan from getting the news and making a sneak attack first, Fumeng Lingcha decided to hoard all the grain and grass in the city. Although the scale of this expedition was far less than that of Gai Jiayun's attack on the Tuqi Shi Hei surname in the past, there were still 20,000 shi of grain.
It was filled with more than fifty grain stores, filling up the open space and making the city look even more cramped.
The first to arrive were the three regiments from Dashi City, followed quickly by Jia Chonghuan and the five regiments from Bo Changcheng.
There was no room for troops to be stationed in the city, and only nearly 300 people guarded the city wall to guard the food and grass. The eight regiments that arrived earlier had to be stationed around the Beacon Fort on the other side of the river.
At noon on the third day when the Tang Army arrived, each regiment began to set up simple military tents, and some people patrolled along the river. However, General Jia Chonghuan did not personally walk on both sides of the Zhenzhu River, and did not look up and down the river to see if there were any
A place where feet can trek across.
Maybe it was because they had repelled the siege of more than 20,000 people by Tuqishi with a team of less than 3,000 people. This made the city-changing envoy feel proud and arrogant. He just stood on the green grass on the south bank of the river.
I measured the distance with my feet, divided the distance between the camps for the soldiers, and then walked to the stone hall on the ground floor of the beacon fort to rest in the cool air.
At this time, the red sun was in the sky, and the eight regiments distributed on the bank of the Zhenzhu River were all nailing wooden stakes to build walls, making plans to stay here for a long time. They had a clear division of labor. Only some of them were patrolling in armor, and most of them were wielding wooden hammers.
He nailed wooden stakes in the grass, took off the top of his missing robe and tied it around his waist. The wet sweat beads on his shoulders reflected the light like oil.
The soldiers stood guard under the scorching sun, or rode war horses to patrol the riverside. Because there was a ban on removing armor during patrols, they could not violate it, so they had to find a compromise, taking off their shoulder and leg armor, and hanging their armor around them.
, only the upper body is surrounded by a circle of nail patches.
When everyone was going about their business step by step, this early summer seemed unusually peaceful. The water on the bank of the Zhenzhu River was clean, and the soldiers collecting water sat down side by side in front of the stones by the water, stretched their feet into the river, and talked about non-vegetarian jokes.
Behind the hills not far away stood a team of colorful horses. They initially hid in the low boxwood forest and were blocked by the thick leaves. However, the sound of horse hooves hitting the ground and the dust floating in the forest were not concealed.
The eyes of Tang Jun’s lookout post.
The soldiers on the beacon fort whistled sharply and shouted: "The enemy is attacking!"
The enemy no longer hid, their horses hooves lined up and rushed towards the river bank. As they ran, they had already taken out their horn bows, fully drawn the bow strings and shot towards the other bank.
An arrow announcing the start of the bloody battle passed over the river and penetrated the throat of a soldier sitting on a stone on the shore. The barrel in his hand fell into the water, and the thick blood spread on the water.
Most of the soldiers were naked and driving stakes in the camp. After hearing the shouting, they hurriedly ran to the grassy slope to put on their armor. However, the enemy's cavalry came very quickly, like a long swimming line rushing to the river bank.
, the Tuqishi people reined in their horses one after another, took out their horn bows, put on their feathered arrows, and filled the bow strings with them and shot again toward the other side.
The Tuqi Shiren viciously and cunningly chose the targets of the hammer-wielding soldiers with bare backs. They were exposed to the sun like bright white targets, and the arrows whizzed through the air and drilled into them like nails.
's back.
"Ah! Holy shit!"
Blood flowed down along the arrow holes, leaving traces of blood on the backs. The soldiers staggered and fell down while running to get their armor, and they prostrated on the ground, and then a few more feather arrows made up for it. Their
He dug his hands into the turf and struggled to crawl. His spasmodic fingers finally lost their strength.
"If you don't have armor, don't take it off yet! Run behind the beacon!"
A soldier waved his arms and shouted. The next moment, his cuffs were dripping with blood, and an arrow pierced his arm.
The connivance and care of the Anxi Protectorate led to more and more sharp archers under the Mohe tribe. Across the river bank, they cunningly followed the weak parts of the Tang army to project arrows. This sudden attack really hit the Anxi army.
Caught off guard.
Jia Chonghuan was taking a lunch break in the beacon fort when the shouts of enemy attacks woke him up. Fortunately, he was experienced and did not panic at all. He quickly got up and put on his armor and called to the armored patrol sergeants: "Go to the top of the beacon fort. On the top."
Suppress them!"
Dozens of soldiers erected wooden ladders and climbed to the top of the fort one after another. They used bows and arrows to fight back from the crenels. Being at a high position increased the range and power of the attack.
There are also several bed crossbows placed on the top of the fort. Three of them operate one in coordination. Two of them turn the wheel axle to string the bed crossbow. The other person installs arrows to aim, sets up the bed crossbow and aims at the commanding assault cavalry commanders.
"put!"
The arrow shaft passed over the sparkling river with the whistling wind, and was reflected in the river like a shuttle shadow. It passed over the other bank and hit the horse's chest without any bias, making a sound like a hammer, and the horse let out a miserable cry.
There was a neighing sound, and the warrior on the horse fell sideways.
"Put it back!"
The soldiers turned the winch nervously and wound it up, so eagerly that they didn't even have a chance to breathe. Sweat burst out along their foreheads, and they aimed at the enemy on the other side and pulled the engine string.
The lethality of the bed crossbow is definitely not comparable to that of the horn bow. It is comparable to the crossbow. When an arrow is shot out, there is almost no defense that can block it. Even the infantry who are leaning on thick wooden shields to protect the archers are directly penetrated and knocked down with their shields.
land.
The Tuqi Shiren's chain armor and leather armor were alternately matched. Although they were not as strong as the Tang army's armor and scales, it still required three to five feathered arrows to kill them. But within the range of the bed crossbow, one shot
The hit was immediately reimbursed. This made the soldiers of the Tuqi Shi tremble with fear. They could only bite the bullet and move forward, even avoiding the crossbow machine above the beacon fort.
The shirtless soldiers were hiding behind the fort wall with their arms folded. It seemed that they were not cold when they acted like this, but the mass death just now caused the goosebumps on their bodies to rise involuntarily, and now they seem to have faded away.
The furry duck looked around on the ground with its eyes, hoping to find a weapon to fight back.
Their weapons and armor were all exposed to the sun, but as long as someone rushed over, they would be attacked by arrows. Fortunately, the enemy did not rush to cross the river.
A few brave men ignored the danger and ran to the slope at extremely fast speeds. They quickly bent down to pick up their bows and quivers, and then ran back quickly. In this way, even without armor, they could easily climb up the beacon tower.
On the top of the fort, it was launched from the lookout port.
Jia Chonghuan squatted in the center of the top of the beacon, with his armored robes piled on the ground and tightly surrounding him. He held the knife on the ground with his right hand and held the handle of the knife tightly with his thumb.
He commanded calmly and steadily, stretching out two fingers of his right hand to point out important targets for the crossbow. This Tuqishi army that was showing off across the river bank was no longer as arrogant as it was at the beginning. As the leaders of the team were shot down by the crossbow,
They began to drag the wounded back.
At this time, the horned bows of the Tuqishi people had no effect. They turned around to reflect an arrow symbolically, but they shot the arrow to the surface of the river, creating waves on the water and floating again.
The crossbows were still biting their buttocks, and the horses' buttocks dripping with blood suddenly lost their strength, like a hill falling down. If the horsemen and knights could get rid of their stirrups, they could safely land on the ground and escape. Those who couldn't get rid of them would be knocked down directly.
The horse's body pressed down on its legs, making a neighing sound.
Jia Chonghuan stood up with his sword in his hand, and a short and quick conflict came to an end. The Tuqi Shiren seemed to just want to attack and disturb them, and had no intention of crossing the river.
However, the Zhenzhu River stretches for hundreds of miles along the line of Dunduo City, and this is not the only place where the river can be crossed.
He raised his sleeve to wipe the sweat of his arm and suddenly froze on his forehead. The violent beating of his heart made him turn around suddenly and look in the direction of Dundo City. A fire was lit on top of the city, and black and yellow smoke was billowing upwards.