Chapter four hundred and forty-ninth predict the enemy first
That night, many people in Dunhuang heard the cry of killing, but no one dared to go out. It was not until dawn the next day that many people in Dunhuang cautiously left their houses. What they saw were no longer Tibetan soldiers or Shatuo soldiers, but
A group of soldiers of the Tang Army, and the big flag on the city head was also replaced by the Dragon Flag of the Tang Dynasty.
The people of Dunhuang finally confirmed that they were soldiers of the Tang Dynasty. After nearly thirty years, the Tang army came again, and the whole county was filled with joy.
All the people rushed out of their homes and rushed to feed the Tang army soldiers with pots of food and juice. Many old people cried with joy. They had been waiting for this moment for thirty years!
The Tang army annihilated two thousand Tibetan troops in the city last night, and occupied the Tibetan army's warehouse, as well as the Sheep and Horse City built along the inner city wall. There were more than 200,000 sheep in it. In one winter, the Tubo army consumed nearly 300,000 sheep.
Tens of thousands of sheep, they are also eagerly waiting for the arrival of logistical supplies.
The state government office has been changed into a temporary office, and Guo Song is having discussions with Cao Qingyun, Zhang Feng and more than a dozen heads of wealthy families. They are the elites of the entire Shazhou and control the economic lifeline of Shazhou.
Cao Qingyun smiled and said: "We haven't seen each other for many years. When I left, I said that I would come back one day. To be honest, we still can't believe it. I didn't expect that today I would really come back and fulfill my promise. It's really true."
I believe in people!"
Everyone praised and did not hesitate to praise, but Guo Song was very calm. He waved his hands and said: "Everyone, the main force of Tibet is still in the north, and a fierce battle is unavoidable. The reason why I captured Dunhuang City first and did not attack the Tibetan army first."
, just to prevent the war from bringing disaster to the people of Dunhuang."
The expert Zhang Feng said: "The walls of Dunhuang are tall and strong, and it is difficult for the Tibetan army to attack them. Even if they attack, they will pay a heavy price. Does your Majesty intend to defend the city and fight offensive and defensive battles with the Tibetan armies? Or do you want to wait for the Tibetan troops to run out of food and withdraw to the plateau?"
"
Guo Song shook his head, "No, the Tubo army has no siege weapons. They will not attack the city. We will definitely withdraw our troops back to the plateau, but I will never let them leave. A fierce frontal battle is inevitable. This time
I have issued a military order to the imperial court for the battle. We can only win but not lose."
"What do you need us to do?" Cao Qingyun asked quickly.
Guo Song said without hesitation: "I need you to organize two thousand young men, one thousand men and one thousand men each. The men will be responsible for transporting the wounded soldiers, while the women will be responsible for bandaging and taking care of the wounded soldiers."
Cao Qingyun hesitated and asked, "Are they going to the battlefield too?"
"Of course not. I won't let them take risks, but this matter is very important. It can at least reduce the number of casualties by half."
"Understood, we will recruit young people immediately!"
After meeting with the Dunhuang squires, Guo Song immediately convened the generals for discussion. Guo Song said to everyone: "The food in the enemy's camp can no longer support their return to Tubo. They will inevitably plunder food everywhere. I just discussed with several family owners. They all
I think the Tibetan army is most likely to loot Shouchang County and temples, which gives us another opportunity to defeat them one by one, Liang Wu!"
"The humble post is here!" Liang Wu stood up and said.
"There should be sporadic Tibetan troops looting the temple. You can lead your headquarters to encircle and suppress these Tibetan soldiers. If you encounter the main Tibetan force, do not fight with them and withdraw immediately!"
"I humbly obey orders!"
Guo Song glanced at Yao Jin and Li Bing again, "The number of Tibetan soldiers looting Shouchang County will not be small. You two will each lead your own troops to ambush. If the other party is the main force, you are also not allowed to fight with the other party!"
Yao Jin and Li Bing stood up at the same time to take orders.
Guo Song finally said to Zhang Yun: "We still have to work hard to monitor the Tibetan camp. If we find that the main force of the Tibetan army is dispatched, we must inform this commander immediately!"
Zhang Yun cupped his fists and saluted, "I humbly obey my orders!"
Guo Song completed the deployment one by one. He stood up and said slowly to everyone: "A big battle is coming, and the time to test our training is also coming. I hope you will give full play to your talents and don't let me down!"
During the fierce battle with the Tang army, some Tibetan soldiers used ropes to escape from the city and rushed to the Tibetan camp to report the news. The Tibetan army got the news an hour after the fall of Dunhuang City. The commander-in-chief, Lun Lituo, was shocked and angry. He just wanted to take precautions.
The Shatuo people secretly attacked and robbed the camp, and then placed all the grain, grass and logistics supplies in the city. Unexpectedly, they were attacked by the Tang army. Where did this Tang army of more than 10,000 people come from?
Lunli Tuo felt a panic, and he immediately ordered an inventory of the supplies and food and grass in the camp. The results of the inventory made him heartbroken. The food and grass could only sustain the army for two days. Even if the army withdraws now, it will not be able to support the return of Tibet. You must know that Tibet
The nearest city is more than twenty days away from Shazhou.
What can we do? It is impossible to kill the horses. Without horses to travel, the soldiers cannot return to Tubo, so they can only buy some food nearby.
"General, there are dozens of monasteries in Dunhuang. I'm afraid they have food."
One sentence reminded Lunlituo, and he quickly unfolded the map. The temples in Dunhuang were mainly concentrated near the Mogao Grottoes, more than 20 miles southeast of the county. There were nearly twenty temples there, and they should be able to get some food.
At this time, Lunituo's eyes were fixed on Shouchang County. Shouchang County is located in the southwest of Dunhuang. It is a small county with a population of only more than a thousand households. There seem to be tens of thousands of kilograms of wheat in the official warehouse of the county.
Lunli Tuo immediately sent two teams to rob food, each with more than a thousand people. One team went to loot the temples near Mogao Grottoes, and the other team went to Shouchang County to loot food and occupy Shouchang County.
Li Tuo has his own plans. If he withdraws his troops and returns to Tubo now, he will definitely be punished by the prime minister. He must stabilize the morale of the army and persist for ten days and a half. The food and logistics should be there. By then, the Shatuo people will also
After entering Shazhou, it is better to let Tang Jun and Shatuo fight in a bloody battle, and then come out to deal with them after both are defeated.
Li Tuo thought well, but things often did not change according to his will.
A thousand Tibetan soldiers were riding fast along an abandoned official road. Their target was Shouchang County, a hundred and twenty miles away. It was just dawn and no one could be seen around the official road. In order to guard against Shatuo spies,
Tubo also adopted the method of strengthening the walls and clearing the country, and forcibly moved the people living in the countryside into Dunhuang City. But now it was self-defeating, making it impossible for them to obtain food from the countryside.
This abandoned official road is located in the north of Dunhuang City, about twenty miles away. It actually bypasses Dunhuang City from the outside.
The task of this Tibetan cavalry was to plunder the food in Shouchang County and occupy Shouchang County, making preliminary preparations for the army to move to Shouchang County.
When the cavalry passed by a forest, suddenly a bang was heard in the woods, "Bang! Bang! Bang!" The clear and crisp sound of bangs could be heard for miles.
Immediately afterwards, arrows came like a dense rain. The Tubo soldiers were caught off guard, and large areas were shot down. At this time, a horn sounded in the woods, "Woo"
Yao Jin led two thousand cavalry to fight out of the woods. The Tubo soldiers had no intention of fighting and hurriedly evacuated to the south. At this time, a Tang army cavalry suddenly came out from the south. It was the two thousand cavalry led by Li Bing. They cut off the Tubo's retreat.
The Tang army attacked from east to west, but the Tubo cavalry had no power to fight back. In less than half an hour, the Tang army was killed and the entire army was wiped out.
In the afternoon, two pieces of bad news reached the Tubo camp almost at the same time. First, the troops he sent to loot the temple were encircled and suppressed by the Tang army. Most of the thousand soldiers were killed or injured, and only about 300 people escaped back.
The army that went to plunder Shouchang County was even worse. They were surrounded and ambushed by thousands of Tang army cavalry in the north of Dunhuang. Only a dozen of them fled back in panic, and the other soldiers were completely destroyed.
Lituo couldn't sit still. The army they originally attacked Shazhou consisted of 15,000 people. They fought a battle with Shatuo's army. Although they killed 7,000 enemies, they also lost more than 3,000 themselves. He deployed two troops in the city.
The thousand troops were also completely destroyed, and the two grain-grabbing troops lost another 1,700 people. Now there are only about 8,000 troops left in the camp.
General Lun Gyatso advised him: "General, our current enemy is no longer the Shatuo people, but the Tang army. If the food supplies arrive, they will be intercepted by the Tang army. We must retreat westward. I suggest occupying Shouchang County. It is estimated that
We can get more than 100,000 kilograms of grain and thousands of livestock, which can sustain us for a month. More importantly, Shouchang County is southwest of Dunhuang, and our logistics team can transport the baggage directly to the county."
Another general, Shami, also said: "I also suggested withdrawing the troops immediately. If the Tang army captures Shouchang first, we will be passive."
Lun Lituo originally wanted to use Shouchang County as a base to fight against the Tang army that occupied Dunhuang County. He nodded and immediately ordered: "Pass my order and the entire army will assemble immediately!"