Tibet

Chapter 906: Capture Shanzhou

At this time, Lieutenant General Lun Jiare whispered: "General, the Tang army has sharp weapons. They will definitely attack Huangshui City tonight. Why not send a suicide army to break out from the east city gate at night and burn the Tang army camp. Once the Tang army When there is chaos, we can take the opportunity to attack.”

Lun Buzaren said worriedly: "I'm just afraid that if the attack is not successful, we won't even be able to get back to the city."

"So we have to be prepared on both sides. It would be best if we defeat the Tang army. But if we cannot defeat the Tang army, we will simply break through and retreat westward. Huangshui City will give up."

Lun Buzaren thought for a moment and finally made up his mind: "I will do as you say!"

At dusk, thirty large trebuchets of the Tang Army arrived 250 steps south of Huangshui City. Following the order from the Tang Army general, the soldiers used torches to light the kerosene pots in their trebuchets. It was filled with fifty kilograms of kerosene. Thirty flaming clay pots of kerosene rose into the air, crossed bright red parabolas, and flew towards the city.

The Tang army's trebuchets were extremely accurate. Twenty-five of the thirty clay pots hit the city head, and the remaining five missed the city head and were thrown into the city. A raging fire suddenly ignited on the city head.

The trebuchets continued to fire, and fire pots hit the city head one after another. The top of the south city was almost engulfed in flames and thick smoke.

Li Ye was watching the battle from a distance, and Xin Yunjing suggested from the side: "Your Highness, there should be no defenders on Nancheng. Now is the time to attack Nancheng!"

Li Ye shook his head, "The Tubo army also knows that it cannot defend the city and will inevitably find a way out. I estimate that the Tubo army will break out tonight and simply use the cavalry to slaughter them in the open."

At this time, a cavalryman rushed over and reported with clasped fists: "Your Highness, the East City Gate suspension bridge has been lowered. The enemy seems to be showing signs of leaving the city!"

"East?"

Li Ye understood as soon as he thought about it, and he immediately ordered: "Order the archers to hold down, the cavalry to surround, and they are not allowed to approach the camp!"

Li Ye said to Xin Yunjing again: "This is the enemy's attack from the east. They are about to break out from the west city. Immediately order the west city to dismantle the tents and let them go. General Xin can lead 30,000 cavalry to pursue them. Those who surrender will be spared, and those who resist will be spared." Kill without mercy!"

"Follow the order!"

Xin Yunjing immediately led his army to make arrangements.

The east city gate opened wide, and a thousand Tubo cavalrymen rushed out with torches in hand. Their target was the Tang army camp three miles away, but what greeted them was a storm of fire from 10,000 crossbowmen. The Tubo cavalrymen were hit by arrows and fell off their horses.

Only a round of arrows was fired, and only about 300 of the 1,000 Tubo cavalry were left. They shouted and tried desperately to break through the Tang army's obstruction, but they had no chance, and were soon surrounded by thousands of Tang army groups. There is no escape.

At the same time, the west city gate also quietly opened, and Lunbu Zharen led 17,000 Tibetan troops rushing out of the city like a strong wind. In the darkness, they ran hard and rushed towards the west camp of the Tang army.

At this time, the main camp in the west has been almost dismantled, and the camp fence has also been demolished, revealing a two-mile-long blank area. However, the 30,000 cavalrymen of the Tang Army are also ready, with their swords unsheathed and their horses snorting, eager to try.

Bu Zharen did not expect that there was a clear space to the west. He was overjoyed and had no intention of attacking the Tang army camp again. He shouted: "Break out directly! Break out!"

In the darkness, more than 17,000 people rushed through the Tang Army camp and rushed toward the plateau to the west.

At this moment, a deep horn sounded, and the Tang army's cavalry attacked quickly. Holding torches and swords in hand, they chased the Tibetan army overwhelmingly, looking like stars in the sky over the vast land.

Of the more than 17,000 people, less than 2,000 were Tibetan soldiers, and the rest were all Tuyuhun people. If Tibet was very powerful, they might honestly sacrifice their lives for the Tibetans.

But now Tubo is in visible decline, and its army is all old and weak. Even Zampu is dead. The Tuyuhun people are no longer willing to work for Tubo, which shows that their morale is low and their war weariness is strong.

There were only a dozen Tibetan generals in Xincheng, so the three thousand Tuyuhun people were able to unite, kill the Tibetan generals and surrender to the Tang army.

In Huangshui City, two thousand Tubo people suppressed them, and the Tuyuhun people were temporarily unable to rebel. But once they broke out of the city, without the suppression of the Tubo generals, the Tuyuhun soldiers were completely free.

They desperately fled towards their hometown, but were soon overtaken by the Tang Army's cavalry. They had no intention of resisting and immediately knelt down and surrendered. A large number of Tuyuhun soldiers knelt on the ground and raised their hands in surrender. The Tang Army's cavalry rushed past them like lightning. They immediately surrendered. He was escorted away by the Tang army infantry who came from behind.

Despite this, thousands of Tuyuhun soldiers and Tubo soldiers were mercilessly killed by Tang cavalry. Lieutenant General Lunjia led 3,000 people to desperately resist the Tang cavalry and covered the general's escape. The 3,000 people were soon wiped out. The hot battle of Lunjia die. After receiving the cover of the rear army, Lunbu Zharen fled in panic with more than a thousand Tibetan soldiers, running for more than 40 miles in one breath.

At daybreak, the pursuers were gone. More than a thousand Tibetan soldiers were exhausted and fell to the ground unable to move. Lun Buzaren's horse also broke its leg. He was supported by several soldiers to escape. Lunbuzaren After all, Ren already had more than forty soldiers and could not compare with the young soldiers. He was so tired that he could hardly breathe.

At this moment, horns suddenly sounded all around, "Woo——"

Seeing countless Tang Army cavalry appearing in all directions, Lun Buzaren's heart suddenly fell into the abyss. They were unlucky and happened to encounter the 20,000 Tang Army led by Li Baozhen.

After dawn, Li Ye entered Huangshui City. At this time, Huangshui City had been completely controlled by the Tang army. The city originally had nearly 30,000 households, but now there are only 6,000 households left, and most of them are Qiang people. There are only a few hundred Han people left. The households are all old and weak.

The original Longyou Jiedushi Mansion is still there, but now it has been changed to the Tubo Hehuang Marshal Mansion, and the county government has also become the official government office of Tubo. However, the Tubo officials had evacuated in advance, leaving some Qiang government officials.

Walking on the dilapidated streets, Li Ye felt really sad. Longyou, which was originally prosperous and prosperous, had become so dilapidated just a few years after being occupied by Tibet. There was no other way. The Han people could only defend their homeland by developing powerful force. country, annihilating the enemy.

Li Ye turned around and asked the marching Sima Cheng Qian: "How many Shanzhou refugees are there in Qinzhou?"

"There are probably more than 100,000 people!"

Li Ye nodded and ordered his lieutenant general Lei Wanchun: "Organize soldiers to clear out property and capital in the city. Qiang people are strictly prohibited from occupying Han people's houses and land. Those who have occupied them will be cleared immediately. Those who refuse to retreat will be killed!"

Lei Wanchun knew that his lord was angry, so he nodded, "I will arrange soldiers to complete the investigation as soon as possible!"

At noon, all the prisoners of war, more than 13,000 in total, were escorted back to Huangshui. Looking at the groups of dejected prisoners of war, Xin Yunjing asked in a low voice: "What is your highness going to do with them?"

"Follow the rules!"

Li Ye said calmly: "Prisoners of war on the battlefield serve three years of hard labor and are released home."

There are two types of enemy surrender, active surrender and passive surrender. The treatment is also different. Active surrender is like the Tuyuhun soldiers in Xincheng. They kill the Tubo generals and surrender in Kaicheng. This kind of surrender will receive preferential treatment, either being incorporated into the Tang army or immediately Released home.

Passive surrender means surrendering after being defeated on the battlefield. Such prisoners of war generally have to serve three years before being released.

Of course, there is also special information. For example, Li Ye released all the prisoners of war captured in Luoyang, mainly because those prisoners of war were farmers who had just joined the army, not Hu soldiers from Youzhou, and the farmland needed them to cultivate.

Marching Sima Cheng Qian suggested: "I know that there are many salt lakes to the west of the West Sea. In the past, the imperial court mined salt there on a large scale. It would be better to let prisoners of war mine salt in the salt lakes, which would be beneficial to the finances."

Li Ye said happily: "This is a good idea, you can consider it!"

At this time, a group of scout cavalry ran from a distance and were brought to Li Ye by his own soldiers. The leading scout bowed and said: "Your Highness, General Li Baozhen has completely annihilated the enemy's general and one thousand three thousand soldiers fifty miles away to the west." More than a hundred Tibetan troops were all wiped out and no one escaped."

Li Ye was overjoyed that Li Baozhen arrived just in time and cut off the enemy's retreat.

Li Ye sent tens of thousands of cavalry into thirty teams to clean up the entire territory of Shanzhou, leaving no dead ends or fish that slipped through the net. At the same time, he counted the entire population, including Qiang and Han people.

Three days later, the cleanup of Shanzhou was completed. Except for the Chiling Stone Castle, there were no more Tibetan troops. The population of Shanzhou was still being counted, and it would take at least ten days to complete.

Li Ye immediately left 10,000 troops to guard the prisoners of war, while he led the army to continue advancing towards Chiling.

(End of this chapter)