The Tang army buried the war horses and cremated the soldiers' corpses. The army packed up its gear and set off on the road again.
Along the way north, they encountered no geological disasters and reached the northern foot of the Tianshan Mountains smoothly. This morning, they arrived at an alpine pasture about thirty miles away from the exit of the Tianshan Mountains. They actually saw snow-white sheep in the distance.
People are here.
There is a lake not far away called Wusun Lake, which is about four or five square kilometers.
The Tang army was resting in a pine forest. The guide Basha went to inquire about the news. An hour later, Basha came back on horseback and said: "They are Wusun herdsmen, not Shatuo people. There are about a dozen families, and I know some of them.
Does Changshi need to contact him?"
Guo Song pondered for a moment and said: "What is their attitude towards the Tang army?"
"In the past, the Tang army never taxed them, but now the Shatuo people tax them very harshly. They levy 30% of the sheep tax every year. If they don't pay, they will be kicked out of the pasture. They hate the Shatuo people deeply, but there is nothing they can do about it.
.”
Guo Song nodded, "Okay! Invite him to meet you."
Basha hurried away, and not long after, he brought an old man from the Wusun tribe with white beard and hair, and introduced to Guo Song: "This is the old shepherd Achak, who is over seventy years old."
The old man stepped forward and knelt down to kowtow to Guo Song, "Young people, please see Guo Changshi!"
Seeing that he spoke Chinese well, Guo Song asked with a smile: "Why can this old man speak Chinese?"
"When Xiaomin was young, he transported grain and grass to the Tang army in Tingzhou. He worked as a coachman for ten years and can speak a little Chinese."
Guo Song was in awe, quickly asked him to sit down, and asked him: "What is the situation of the Tang army in Beiting now?"
"The situation is not very good. Xizhou and Yizhou in the three states of Beiting have been lost. Only Jinman and Luntai counties in Tingzhou and a few Shouchu cities are left. Most of the rest of the land is occupied by the Shatuo people.
This is only the three states of Beiting. Several governorates outside Beiting have surrendered to the Uighurs, and the Uighurs have stationed tens of thousands of troops in this area."
"Are there troops at the Tianshan exit?"
The old man nodded, "There is a Uighur army of more than two thousand people stationed."
Guo Song asked about other situations in Beiting, and then rewarded the old man with ten taels of silver and asked Shaba to send him back. At the same time, he also rewarded Shaba with one hundred taels of silver as a reward for his guide this time. Shaba was very grateful.
gone.
Guo Song immediately sent Li Ji and several scouts to the mouth of the valley to investigate the situation.
Outside the valley entrance is a large area of extremely beautiful plateau pasture, with green grass, gurgling water, and large forests. High above is the snow-capped Tianshan Mountains. The mountains are a magnificent blue, as if they are above the clouds, peaceful and tranquil.
It's an extremely beautiful picture.
However, on a highland grassland, 300 tents were stationed to form a military camp. This was the large tent of the Uighur Army that controlled Wusundao, with a total of 2,000 people.
In addition, there is a military fort on the left side of the valley entrance, guarding half of the exit. This is a fort built by the Tang army. It can station 300 people. Now there are also 300 Uighur soldiers stationed here. They are the
The army that actually defends the valley has to patrol the valley every day.
The Shouzhuo Fort was built in a dangerous location. The city walls are made of big stones and are extremely tall and strong. It can be said that this Shouzhuo Fort is the first step to get out of the Wusun Ancient Road. It must be captured, otherwise it will be difficult to get out of the Wusun Road.
.
In the afternoon, Li Ji left two soldiers to continue monitoring the enemy at the mouth of the valley, while he led several other soldiers back to the Tang Army's garrison.
Guo Song immediately summoned the generals to discuss the military situation.
"Before departure, I asked the emperor for instructions. If we go to war with the Uighurs, will it affect the relationship between the imperial court and the Uighurs? The emperor asked me not to consider this issue and to proceed from reality."
He glanced at everyone and then said slowly: "The military fortress at the entrance of the valley is a hurdle we cannot get around. We must either negotiate with the Uighurs to let us pass, or fight through it!"
Li Ji said without hesitation: "Negotiations are impossible. They can't make the decision. They have to go to the higher authorities for instructions. There will be no news in a month or two, but the result will definitely be to let us go back. Since we have already met with blood in Beiting,
If you are mentally prepared for battle, then fight through!"
At this time, Guo Chongqing said slowly: "Actually, we can compromise and rush out of the valley without fighting them. The key is that the other side does not know our arrival. As long as we suppress the other side's sentries at night, then our chance
It’s coming.”
I have to say that Guo Chongqing's suggestion is very reasonable. Since there is a compromise route to take, there is no need to go to extremes. If they really go on a killing spree with the Uighur army, it will be the Beiting Tang army that will be unlucky in the end.
Guo Song took a closer look at the sketch drawn by Li Ji. He pointed to the military fort and asked Li Jida: "Tell me about the specific situation of the military fort."
Li Ji nodded and said: "The military fort was built on a hillside, and then a section of city wall was built, extending from the hillside to the exit, occupying more than half of the valley exit."
"How wide is the vacated valley exit? Can the horse run fast?" Guo Song asked again.
Li Ji thought for a while and said: "It is about ten feet wide, and it can completely run a war horse. However, they placed twenty large wooden blocks in the gap, which is very blocking. The wooden blocks need to be removed in advance."
As for the number of soldiers on the city wall, there are probably more than a hundred, but I don’t have the information yet on how many soldiers there will be at night, but I have left two men near the mouth of the valley, and they will send the latest information tomorrow morning."
When it comes to success or failure decisions and details, if the matter is not so urgent, then try to grasp the information as clearly as possible, and do not rely on imagination.
That night, the soldiers still rested and did not take any action.
Early the next morning, two scouts brought back important additional information.
Guo Song marked the latest information on the sketch. There were only about 20 soldiers on the city wall at night. The guards were changed at three o'clock. The wooden pillars were three feet high and weighed about one hundred kilograms each. During the day, soldiers from the Uighur Army would enter.
Patrol the valley, but will rush back to the military fort before dark. The number of people in the entire military fort is about 300.
Guo Song combined all the information and formed a bold and effective plan in his mind.
...........
At the second watch, 270 Tang troops gradually approached a turning point about 300 steps away from the valley entrance. They were blocked by the turning rocks.
They were hidden in the darkness. From their position, they could see a lantern hanging outside the city wall, dimly illuminating the scene at the exit. There were about twenty large wooden blocks placed in a row over there.
Guo Chongqing led forty soldiers with high martial arts skills to crawl on the ground and slowly approached the exit of the valley. They stopped when they were thirty steps away from the exit and lay tightly on the ground. Their task was to remove twenty wooden pillars.
.
Guo Song also had something. His task was to deal with the twenty sentries at night. For him, an extremely expert, it was not a big problem.
He ran directly to the bottom of the hillside and climbed up the steep rock more than ten feet high like a monkey. Standing under the military fort, his body pressed against the city wall, he took out two more chisels, inserted them into the cracks in the city wall, and started to climb up.
Climb.
The city wall is two feet high, and there are steep rocks ten feet high. It would be unbelievable for the Tang army, let alone the Uighur army, to climb up the military fort from such a steep place.
Precisely because it was impossible, there were no sentries on the military fort, and the sentries were all concentrated on the city wall below.
The inside of the city wall is like a staircase, built step by step, and there is a soldier standing on every few steps. However, the soldiers are very sleepy and doze against the wall with their spears in their arms.
But there were five soldiers standing on a square platform at the bottom next to the exit. They were very vigilant and watched what was going on around them.
This was also the method used by the Huihe army to be lazy. Among the twenty soldiers on night duty, fifteen were lazy and slept, leaving five to be vigilant. Once the situation was discovered, they could quickly wake up the others.
The downward city wall is in the shape of a curve,
Guo Song walked slowly against the city wall, and soon came to the first soldier. The soldier was sleeping against the city wall holding a spear, snoring softly. Guo Song's hands were as fast as lightning, and he struck with a palm knife.
The left side of the opponent's neck caused the soldier to faint immediately and he would have to be unconscious for at least half an hour before he could wake up.
Guo Song followed suit and knocked out five soldiers in a row. The city wall gradually turned into a straight line, and the five soldiers on the platform below could easily spot him.
Guo Song changed his path, jumped behind the crenellations of the city wall, and moved downward from outside the city wall so that the five soldiers on the square platform could not see him.
He was cautious and cautious, but also as fast as the wind. He knocked out ten soldiers in a row. At this time, he was only three feet away from the bottom platform. The five soldiers still did not notice the change in the situation above. They were in the light,
It was in the dark above, so unless someone came down, it would be difficult to see that all the sleeping soldiers had been knocked unconscious.
Guo Song was hiding behind the battlement closest to them. Five soldiers were talking about something. They seemed to be arguing and couldn't hear clearly.
Guo Song suddenly jumped up from behind the battlements and pounced on the five soldiers like a big bird...
=====
[Lao Gao has been having a cold these past two days and has been feeling groggy. This chapter is a bit late today, sorry everyone!]