Ten days later, Guo Song personally led 20,000 elite cavalry, 3,000 heavy-armored Mo Dao troops and 3,000 heavy-armored auxiliary troops to Shanzhou. Zhang Feng, the governor of Shanzhou, and An Rengui, the military envoy of Longyou, went out of the city in person to welcome His Highness the King of Jin.
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The reason why Guo Song wanted to take charge of Longyou personally was that Longyou's salt tax and Zhangye's wine were too important. Together, they supported the military expenditures of Guo and Song's more than 200,000 troops.
Shanzhou City has not been visited for many years. After years of cultivation, Shanzhou City has gradually become lively and prosperous, with prosperous commerce and busy traffic. Although the Tibetan army began to invade the border, it did not affect the lives of residents in Shanzhou City and the city gate.
Still as calm as ever, calm and calm.
Guo Song likes to judge the prosperity of a place based on the clothing and mental outlook of ordinary people. If the buildings are all decorated with carved beams and beams, but the people are in rags and unkempt, it would be very boring. This is the saying that people with sufficient resources will know etiquette.
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The wealth and abundance of grain in the Hehuang Valley have made the price of food in Shanzhou City extremely low. A bushel of wheat only costs ten cents. A beggar earns more than ten cents a day. Therefore, it can be seen that everyone walking on the street is full of energy.
His face is rosy, and his clothes are mostly made of fine linen, similar to those in Chang'an.
Silk was mainly produced in Jiangnan and Bashu. Guo and Song Dynasties advocated frugality and promoted cotton. In Chang'an, only women occasionally wore it, and men rarely wore it. The same was true in Shanzhou City. Silk dresses were rarely seen on the streets.
A group of people came to the military office. Guo Song sat down in the lobby. He asked Zhang Feng and An Rengui to sit down as well. Guo Song asked: "How is the current situation in Tubo?"
An Rengui leaned forward and said: "Your Majesty, the Tibetan army is really a bit elusive. It's hard to see what their intentions are."
"How do you say this?" Guo Song asked.
An Rengui smiled bitterly and said: "So far, our scouts have penetrated three hundred miles and have not found their army. There are a thousand troops stationed in the Salt Lake area, but they have appeared as many as a dozen detection sentries, plus
There were six or seven hundred people up, and this was by no means a sentinel sent by an army of a thousand men, so I was confused."
Guo Song nodded, "You think there should be the main force of Tibet, but you haven't found it, so you don't dare to send troops easily. Is that the reason?"
"exactly!"
Zhang Feng added: "We have a total of 12,000 troops in Longyou, with 3,000 troops distributed in various forts. The remaining troops are distributed in various states. There are 5,000 troops stationed in Shanzhou. If we go all out to
Destroying the enemy forces in Salt Lake will leave Shanzhou City empty. We are actually worried that this is a trick by the enemy to lure troops. We will send a thousand troops in Salt Lake to lure us into sending troops. Once we send troops, the main force of the enemy army will appear, and the target
But it is Shanzhou City, or it may surround our army in Salt Lake."
Both Zhang Feng and An Rengui were a little worried that the King of Jin would hold them accountable. They knew the importance of the Salt Lake but were reluctant to send troops, which would lead to the depletion of salt tax revenue. They could not bear this responsibility.
Guo Song walked two steps with his hands behind his back: "I discussed with everyone before I came, and everyone agreed that it was inappropriate to put the salt field in a place where the Tibetans could easily invade. So I have ordered the salt field to be opened in Baiyanchi, Yanzhou, temporarily.
Abandoning the salt field in Lengquan, I led the army this time not just to recapture the salt field. We need to completely cripple Tibet so that it will not dare to take another step out of the thunder pond for at least thirty years."
Zhang Feng and An Rengui were very excited and bowed together and said: "Please give me your instructions!"
.........
Before dawn, An Rengui led four thousand cavalry to leave Shanzhou City and march westward. Their target was a thousand Tibetan troops in Cold Spring Salt Lake. The mantis stalked the cicada, with the oriole behind. Guo Song led the army to take another road to Dafei.
Sichuan, once the scouts discover the enemy's main force, they will take the enemy's main force's retreat.
At dusk, the army was resting in a valley. Li Bing brought a scout brigade commander to Guo Song. The scout brigade commander knelt down on one knee and saluted, "See His Majesty the King of Jin!"
Li Bing said from the side: "Your Highness, he is the scout brigade commander General An mentioned. He led twenty people to kill fifty enemy scouts."
Guo Songxiao asked: "What's your name? Where are you from?"
"Bizhi Yang Qi is originally from Tianshui, but he grew up in Zhangye."
"When will you join the army?"
"I joined the army seven years ago and was selected by General Zhang Yun to join the scout army."
Guo Song nodded and asked again: "Tell me the details of your encounter with the Tibetan spies."
Yang Qi spoke clearly and explained in detail how they went to Lengquan to check the enemy's situation and encountered the enemy's sentinels.
Guo Song nodded secretly. This scout was very capable of adapting to situations. He asked again: "Why do you think of annihilating the enemy in the woods?"
"Your Majesty, your humble duty is actually about making two preparations. The first is to avoid the enemy's pursuit. The original intention of your humble duty is not to conflict with the enemy. After all, we are scouts and have a mission. If the enemy is pursuing us, we must do it.
If they go into the woods and fight to the end, we can only accompany them and use the cover of the woods to annihilate all the enemy forces."
"In the end, only three of the twenty soldiers were killed. It seems that your tactics were used very well."
"Cavalry combat in dense forests is an important tactic that every scout must train, and it is also something that is often encountered."
"Have you fought against the Tubo army before?" Guo Song asked again.
"The last time we fought against the Tibetan army, I took part in it."
"Then what do you think is the difference between this time's Tubo army and the previous ones?"
Yang Qi pondered for a while and said: "The discipline of the Tubo army is as strict as before. They will never surrender and fight to the end. However, I still found that the centurion of the Tubo army was inexperienced. If they had surrounded them from both sides instead of forcing their way in, at least they could have avoided ten
The rest were shot and killed, maybe this is just an exception, but the Tibetan soldiers have weak combat effectiveness and insufficient training. Although they are strong and not afraid of death, their combat skills are really poor and cannot compare with the original Tibetan soldiers."
Guo Song said happily: "From now on, you will be promoted to the rank of captain. You will take another fifty brothers south, hoping to bring important information!"
Yang Qi was overjoyed, knelt down on one knee and said: "This humble position will never disappoint His Highness's expectations!"
Yang Qi immediately led fifty scouts south. Guo Song ordered the army to rest on the spot and set off at five o'clock tomorrow...
The next morning, the four thousand troops led by An Rengui arrived at the Salt Lake first. They were still one mile away from the Salt Lake, and the Tang army discovered the enemy's camp.
‘Woo--’ The Tubo army camp in the distance also blew the horn, and the Tubo army also discovered the approaching Tang army. A thousand Tubo soldiers seemed to have been prepared and immediately ran out of the camp on horseback.
They rushed towards the Tang army, but slowed down three hundred steps away. At this time, four thousand Tang troops had already set up their formation, and one thousand crossbowmen raised their crossbows and were ready.
One thousand Tubo cavalry stopped advancing two hundred steps away. The low sound of horns was heard again in the team, and one thousand cavalry turned around and ran south.
"Commander, do you want to catch up?" Deputy General Li Yan asked.
An Rengui sneered. This was the first time he had seen the Tibetan army retreating without a fight. This was clearly a deliberate attempt to lure him south.
He immediately ordered: "No pursuit, destroy the enemy camp!"
Hundreds of cavalrymen rushed towards the main camp of the Tibetan army. The camp was already empty. The tents of the Tibetan army were generally small and made of wool pressed into felt, so they were also called felt tents.
However, the cavalry of the Tang Army unexpectedly found dozens of arrested salt merchants from the large tent. A total of more than 70 people were captured by the Tubo people, 30 of whom were tortured to death, and more than 40 others were tortured to death.
Dying.
Soon, the bodies of thirty salt merchants who were brutally murdered were found. Their bodies were separated and their heads were hung in a large tent. Each of them died with their eyes open. The generals were furious and demanded that the enemy be hunted down and killed.
Absolutely.
An Rengui, however, was very calm. He told everyone: "The Tubo army did this deliberately just to anger us. Everyone, calm down. We must avenge this, but not necessarily now."
An Rengui ordered people to use a cart to transport the dying salt merchant back to Shanzhou City, and then sent someone to report to His Highness the King of Jin.
Guo Song's main army was only thirty miles away from Cold Spring Salt Lake, but his army was very secretive. They were either hiding in the valley or in the woods, trying not to expose their whereabouts.
At noon, Guo Song received a report from An Rengui. Inside the marching tent, Guo Song stood in front of the table and stared at the map drawn by the scout. To the south of the Salt Lake was basically no man's land. Although it was a plateau, the terrain was complicated.
The mountains are undulating, and the enemy troops have hiding places.
He looked back again. Will the main force of the Tibetan army circle behind him and directly attack Shanzhou City?
But it’s impossible to think about it. There are only two roads into the Hehuang Valley from the plateau. One is from the north of Qinghai Lake. Over there, the Tang army has three lines of defense: Shenwei Fort, Anren Fort and Suirong City, as well as Dadou Bagou.
The Tang army will cut off the enemy's logistics from behind.
The other road is to the east of Dafeichuan, which is the road they came here on. There are two dangerous passes, Shibao City and Anrong City. One man can guard the pass, and no one can open it.
As long as these dangerous passes are in the hands of the Tang army, it is basically impossible for the Tubo army to attack Shanzhou. Then the Tibetan army's strategy is to attack the salt fields, introduce the main force of the Tang army to the plateau, and fight a battle of annihilation on the plateau.
But now he knew nothing about the enemy's main force. Guo Song was a little helpless. The map was too crude and he couldn't see where the enemy's main force might be hiding. He didn't know where the enemy's main force might be hiding. He could only rely on
News from the scouts.
However, An Rengui's decision was correct. Don't let the Tibetan army lead them. As long as they don't move in the salt lake, the enemy will come to their doorstep.
Guo Song also calmed down, believing that the Tibetan army would definitely come to cut off the retreat of An Rengui's army.