It is the consensus of Guo Song and Longyou generals that the Tibetan army has its main force. In fact, this is also true. Tubo still has 15,000 main force, hiding seventy miles away. They are very familiar with this terrain and know what to do.
Let Tang Jun not find their traces.
This time, the commander-in-chief of the Tubo army was Prime Minister Shang Zanjie. After several years of recuperation, Tubo's strength had slightly recovered, but the power struggle between his relatives was extremely fierce. Cai Bang's family had the upper hand, while another relative, Na Nang's family, was repeatedly suppressed.
, and the Prime Minister Shang Jiezan was an important figure in the Nang family.
At this time, Tubo Zanpu Chisong Dezan once again had the idea of retaking Hehuang. In order to gain military power and resist Cai Bang's attack, this time Shang Jiezan no longer opposed Zanpu's idea of going to Hehuang, but strongly supported it.
He personally planned the plan and led an army of 15,000 to attack Hehuang.
Shang Jiezan stood on a high place and stared at the direction of the cold spring in the distance. He did not believe that Chang'an could endure the threat of cutting off salt. He knew the importance of salt tax to the Tang Dynasty. Once the cold spring salt field was cut off, the other party would be able to do so in a short time.
If a new replacement salt field cannot be built, Hehuang's army will definitely send troops to seize the salt field.
As long as Shanzhou's army was completely wiped out, not even Shibao City could stop the Tibetan army. He was sure to seize the Hehuang Valley in one go.
Tubo also attaches great importance to intelligence. In the past, the Tubo embassy in Chang'an was dedicated to collecting information about the Tang Dynasty. Tubo also had spies in the Hehuang Valley and Shanzhou City, otherwise they would not know the distribution of troops in Longyou, and Guo Song led the Tang army
When the main force comes, the Tibetan spies will also send eagle messages back to Tibet, usually to Luoxue City.
As Shang Jiezan and his army were far away from Luoxue City at this time, he did not know this important information yet. When the messenger sent by Tubo Zanpu informed him, it might be six or seven days later.
There is a time difference in obtaining information. It is the existence of this time difference that caused Shang Jiezan to misjudge. He did not know that the main force of the Tang army had arrived in Shanzhou.
At this time, a cavalryman rushed over and shouted: "Information to the Prime Minister, the Tang Army has arrived at Lengquan. General Xilin has withdrawn south, but the Tang Army has not followed."
"How many Tang troops are there?" Shang Jiezan asked.
"About four thousand people!"
Four thousand people from Shanzhou's five thousand army came out. It seemed that there were only one thousand people left in Shanzhou City. Shang Jiezan shouted sharply: "Pass my order and the army will attack!"
Fifteen thousand Tibetan troops emerged from the mountain col and marched toward Dafeichuan in the north. Their goal was not Lengquan, but to cut off the retreat route of the Tang army, and finally annihilate all four thousand Tang troops on the plateau.
Horse hooves roared, and the 15,000-strong army galloped across the plateau. At this time, on a high hill in the distance, Scout Colonel Yang Qi looked excitedly at the Tibetan army in the distance. After searching for two days, they finally found the enemy.
The main force of the army.
Yang Qi quickly wrote a small note, rolled it up and handed it to his subordinates: "Send the Eagle Letter!"
A letter eagle flew up and flew towards the north. Shang Jiezan, who was running, suddenly spotted the eagle in the sky. He immediately reined in his horse and became suspicious. There was something wrong with this eagle...
..
An eagle slave blew the eagle whistle, and a letter eagle made a long cry in the sky. It began to circle in the sky, slowly fell, and finally landed on the eagle slave's shoulder. The eagle slave took off the red letter box tied to his leg and handed it to him.
Soldier.
The red mailbox represented an urgent situation, and the soldiers immediately ran towards the commander's marching tent.
It was noon, and Guo Song was discussing the military situation with several generals in the tent. Suddenly, a soldier outside the tent shouted: "Your Highness, scout for urgent information!"
Guo Song quickly said: "Bring it in!"
A soldier walked into the tent and presented a red mailbox. Guo Song poured out a roll of paper from the mailbox, unfolded it and read it again. He said to the generals: "The main force of the enemy is about 15,000 cavalry."
They are fifty miles due south of us and are heading in our direction."
Everyone was shocked, and General Li Bing asked anxiously: "Have the enemy discovered us?"
"Probably not. The enemy probably wants to cut off General An's retreat."
Guo Song immediately stood up and ordered: "Send the three armies to assemble immediately!"
‘Woo——’
When the assembly horn sounded, the troops who were having lunch stopped eating, doused the fire with water, quickly packed up their luggage and equipment, got on their horses, and urged their horses to run towards the assembly flags of each battalion.
The 20,000-strong army led by Guo Song was divided into eleven large battalions, each with 2,000 men. There were also heavy armored infantry battalions. Each battalion had its own flag, which was required for the army to assemble, march, camp and even fight.
Follow the flag. As long as the flag does not fall, the army will not be scattered and the soldiers will follow the flag closely.
In less than half an hour, the 26,000-strong army had been assembled, rushing out of the valley like a torrent and rushing south.
The weather on the plateau can change at any time. Just a moment ago, the sky was clear and clear. In the blink of an eye, it was covered with dark clouds, the wind was freezing, and there were actually snowflakes floating in the sky.
The Tibetan army has slowed down its marching speed, no longer stretching, but forming a military formation and moving forward.
Shang Jiezan was filled with doubts. What happened to the enemy spies he saw just now? Did the Tang army still have an army?
He had sent out sentries to investigate, but he was afraid that the Tang army in Lengquan would escape, so he formed a military formation and moved forward.
At this time, the scout sent by him rushed over and reported loudly: "To the Prime Minister, the main force of the Tang Army has been found ahead, about twenty miles away from us."
Shang Jiezan was shocked and asked anxiously: "How many people are there?"
"About 20,000 people!"
Shang Jiezan quickly shouted: "The army stops advancing."
The Tibetan army stopped moving forward, and Shang Jiezan was in a state of confusion. What should he do now?
He used a thousand men as bait to attract the Tang army from Shanzhou. Unexpectedly, the Tang army from Shanzhou was also a bait, and there was another, larger Tang army hiding behind it.
Should this battle be fought or not?
The Tibetan generals didn't know what was going on, so they all urged their horses to come and asked: "Prime Minister, what happened?"
Before Shang Jiezan could answer, the sound of a trumpet from the ground floor was faintly heard in the distance, ‘Woo——Woo——’
The generals all looked to the north in shock. There was Tang Army in front of them?
Shang Jiezan raised his head and looked at the falling snowflakes in the sky. His heart suddenly surged with pride. Why should we be afraid? This is the plateau, the world of the Tubo people.
He shouted loudly: "Send the order to the entire army to prepare for a decisive battle with the enemy!"
The main force of the Tang army finally appeared in the distance. At this time, Guo Song also saw a black line in the distance. The Tubo army did not retreat? It seemed that they were going to fight to the death with themselves.
"Your Highness, it's actually snowing!" Li Bing said, looking at the sky.
"It's not surprising. The plateau is like this. It snows even in the hot summer of August."
Li Bing looked back at the soldiers and whispered: "I'm afraid we have no advantage in fighting on the plateau."
Li Bing did not say clearly that if they did not have an advantage, it meant that the other side had an advantage. The Tibetan army was indeed good at fighting on plateaus, which Guo Song did not deny.
In fact, the altitude here is not very high, and my army can still withstand it. If we go hundreds of miles south or west, the altitude will be higher, and many soldiers may not be able to keep up.
The troops he brought this time are all the best among the best, with top-notch physical strength and combat experience. They should be able to last half a day fighting at this altitude.
But if it lasted more than half a day, it might be too much. Guo Song quickly made a weighing decision. He needed to resolve this encounter quickly and could not delay the battle with the Tibetan army for a long time.
In the cold wind, the two armies gradually approached. At this time, the heavy armored infantry had moved to the front. They knelt on one knee and formed three rows, each with a thousand people. The heavy armored infantry's three thousand auxiliary infantry were transformed into
For the crossbow army, they lined up at the front holding military crossbows.
The remaining 20,000 cavalry were arranged into four square formations, with one square formation on the left and right of the heavy armored infantry. These 10,000 cavalry were called position troops and would not change positions easily, while the other two square formations were called guerrilla troops.
It is more flexible and can be adjusted at any time.
In the snowflakes flying all over the sky, 26,000 Tang troops stood on the plateau like mountains, and time seemed to have stopped at this moment.
Shang Jiezan had no combat experience with the Tang Army. During the last Hehuang War, he happened to return to Luo to report on his duties. His deputy general commanded the army, but it didn't matter whether he had combat experience with the Tang Army or not. Every mature army
Each army has its own fighting style.
In particular, the Tubo army has always adhered to its own fighting style and will not be easily changed by the enemy.
The Tibetan army mainly fights with infantry, which is also determined by their short weapons. The Tubo army is good at using short swords and shields. Riding on horses and using short swords cannot reach the enemy. Secondly, the Tibetan infantry is extremely powerful and resilient, and will never surrender.
Fighting to the end, it was this unrelenting fighting spirit that made the Tang army fearful. In many battles, the Tang army fought the Tibetan army to the end and collapsed.
"First team up!"
Shang Jiezan waved his sword and issued the order.
Two thousand Tubo soldiers armed with shields and daggers lined up to kill the Tang army.