The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 256: Detour
After another half a day, the shouting and killing sounds from outside the city were not as frequent as before, and the Tibetan troops were retreating like a tide.

Niu Jinda asked in a loud voice: "Withdrawal?"

In an instant, the soldiers on the city wall relaxed because the Tibetans stopped attacking the city, which surprised Liu Lan.

"Fuck, what kind of military tactics are these people using?"

To the south of Qinghai, there are a few tents set up here, like those of an ordinary shepherd's family.

But the man who walked out of the tent was Lu Dongzan, who was over thirty years old.

Then a young man walked out of the tent. This man was only twenty-one years old.

The herdsmen around him saluted him one after another.

Songtsen Gampo, who was only 21 years old, looked to the west and said, "Now that the Jokhang Temple has been built, Nepal should live in harmony with us from now on."

Lu Dongzan was looking towards the east. In the distance was Songzhou. At first glance, he saw the Qinghai Lake and could not see what Songzhou City looked like.

Lu Dongzan has always insisted on seeking opportunities to annex Nepal in the future.

A gust of wind blew from the north of Qinghai, and the grass swayed with the wind.

Songtsen Gampo opened his arms and felt the wind blowing in his face. Even though there was a great battle going on in Songzhou, the Tibetan king still had a yearning look on his face. He smiled very gently and said, "In the eyes of the prime minister, it is particularly important for Tibet to get out of the snow-capped mountains and expand."

Lu Dongzan said: "When the Tang people set out to conquer the Western Regions, they will be a huge obstacle to the strength of Tubo, including the Tang people's Heavenly Khan and the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace."

Songtsen Gampo hesitated and said, "You said earlier that the Tang people's Crown Prince was a very kind person."

"This was my previous idea. Now..." Lu Dongzan noticed that two Rubens were coming here. The Rubens were the rulers of the local herdsmen and the most important initiators of this war.

Ruben is like the commander of the Zhechoufu in the Central Plains. They can recruit soldiers from the tribe and even let all Tubo people, regardless of gender, join the war.

Lu Dongzan paused for a moment, thought for a moment, and then continued: "Now the Khan of Heaven and the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace are our biggest threats."

After saying that, Lu Dongzan went to listen to the two Ru Bens report on the battle situation.

A herdsman child ran quickly to Songtsen Gampo, grinning from ear to ear. The child was as strong as a bull.

Songtsen Gampo patted the child on the back of his head and said with a smile: "Our child will definitely be wiser in the future."

After listening to the battle situation reported by the two Rubens, Lu Dongzan's expression was not good. He walked over quickly and said, "Zanpu, go back to Lhasa."

"No." Songtsen Gampo shook his head and said, "I want to see our warriors return victorious."

During the conversation, Songtsen Gampo saw that Lu Dongzan looked unhappy, so he put away his smile and asked, "What's wrong?"

Lu Dongzan replied: "The warriors who went to the north have not returned."

Songtsen Gampo took a deep breath, sat down, held an exquisite horse whip in his hand, and asked: "Are the Tang people coming from the north?"

Another gust of wind blew from Qinghai in the north, causing the tent to sway and Songtsen Gampo's snow-white woolen coat to rustle.

Lu Dongzan was wearing dark blue clothes. He added, "We sent someone to check again."

Songtsen Gampo continued, "You have long been worried that the Tang people might send troops from the north to relieve their Songzhou."

Lu Dongzan handed some tsampa in his hand to the child beside him and said, "If the Tang people dare to cross Qinghai, they will be surrounded by our Ruben. No matter how many come, we can surround them."

Songtsen Gampo smiled and said, "Then what are you afraid of?"

By the Buha River, when the sky is completely bright, the view around becomes wider.

Wang Xuance and Pei Xingjian were the vanguard troops, marching at the front, five miles away from General Liang Jianfang's troops in the rear.

Scouts kept coming to report and pass on news.

After walking for an hour, we still didn't see any enemy troops.

Wang Xuance suddenly stopped his horse and looked around hesitantly.

Pei Xingjian also pulled the horse's reins and asked, "What's wrong?"

Wang Xuance muttered in a low voice, "Not at ease."

I don't know why he felt it was not suitable. If he continued to walk along the Buha River, he would probably reach the border of Qinghai.

Pei Xingjian looked back at the troops behind him. The 300-man team had stopped, so he asked, "Is there an ambush?"

"No hurry, let's first figure out how to fight the Tibetans."

Pei Xingjian said: "This is a plain, and in front of us is the big lake in Qinghai. Fighting here is nothing more than raiding, encircling, blocking, and detouring?"

Wang Xuance took out a map, which was given to him by General Li Zhen. There was a road drawn on the map. This road went south along the Riyue Mountain, crossed the Doma River and the Qingshui River, and went straight to Lhasa.

Wang Xuance didn't know that this was actually a very important road, the ancient Tang-Tibet Road.

It is said that this extremely detailed map was compiled by the Prince of Wei's Palace, with the route marked by the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace.

At this moment, the troops that were about to go deep into Tubo were given great confidence. With the map, they had directions and knew how to fight.

He said, "Go this way."

Pei Xingjian led his men towards the other direction of Qinghai Lake.

South of Qinghai, Lu Dongzan also had a map in front of him. He whispered, "Our Ruben is not good at attacking the Tang people's cities. Now the Tang people's rear support has arrived. We can't continue to attack the city. There are more defenders in Songzhou."

Songtsen Gampo sat aside, drinking tea and asked, "Did we fail?"

"Sambuza has completely angered the Tang people in Chang'an City. As long as the Tang people dare to chase us out, we can cut off their front and rear."

As he spoke, Lu Dongzan was like a general in the legend of the Central Plains people, sitting in the big tent of the rear army, commanding with confidence and passing down orders one after another. Ru Ben rode up one after another, took the orders, and then rode away.

Another Tibetan warrior came to report. Lu Dongzan was a little hesitant and couldn't believe it when he received the news that a group of Tang soldiers were stationed north of Qinghai Lake.

The general leading the troops was General Li Zhen, who was guarding the Hexi Corridor.

"The Tang army is not moving north of Qinghai Lake?"

When Lu Dongzan heard the news, he thought about it again and again. It seemed that the troops from the Hexi Corridor were not coming to rescue Songzhou, but to protect the area north of Qinghai.

Songzhou is Songzhou, and Hexi Corridor is Hexi Corridor.

Songtsen Gampo said: "According to rumors among Tang officials, the Hexi Corridor was built under the supervision of the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace. Some people say that the Hexi Corridor is the family property of the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace."

Lu Dongzan looked at the map hesitantly.

In the late June of the twelfth year of Zhenguan, the troops stationed in Qinghai remained motionless and continued to defend the north of Qinghai.

Half a month has passed and there has been no movement.

Lu Dongzan, who has always acted prudently, remained vigilant towards the north of Qinghai. As long as General Li Zhen's troops dared to move south, he would send people to stop them at any time.

The Tang generals were not only brave but also resourceful. Lu Dongzan witnessed with his own eyes the destruction of Tuyuhun at the hands of the Tang generals.

Gaochang City was captured by the Tang people. Now, Lu Dongzan did not dare to relax at all. They could guard the north of Qinghai, and they could also go south and take the entire Tibetan army.

But now, this army of 10,000 people in the Hexi Corridor is standing on the edge of Qinghai, like a knife that can chop down at any time.

Huyou Ruben reported, "Zanpu, the Tang people have left the city."

Songtsen Gampo smiled and said, "Just as the Prime Minister wished, the angry Tang people wanted to attack even if they defended Songzhou. The Tang army has won too many victories recently. The arrogant Tang people."

The sudden news left Lu Dongzan no time to think. He ordered the three Rubens to follow the original arrangement, encircle and cut off the Tang army's connection with the city, and kill them in one fell swoop.

Five miles west of Songzhou City, Niu Jinda led 10,000 soldiers and horses to counterattack the Tibetan army.

The Tibetan army, which had retreated like a tide before, did not retreat again when they saw the Tang army's pursuit, but surrounded them.

Seeing this, Niu Jinda shouted, "Go in! Kill!"

This Tang cavalry charged into the Tubo army and showed no intention of retreating.

Just as the Tibetans were about to surround the Tang army, the sound of war horses' hooves suddenly came from the rear.

The frightened Tibetans looked back and could tell from the sound of horse hooves that they were not Tibetan war horses. Looking again, they saw that it was indeed the Tang army that was charging out from behind.

The people who came were the eight thousand soldiers led by Liang Jianfang.

Liang Jianfang rushed into the rear of the Tibetan army with a long spear in his hand and stabbed a Tibetan man in the chest with the spear.

The tall and strong Liang Jianfang had a fierce look in his eyes. He used a long spear to lift a Tibetan Ru Ben high up, and hot blood kept flowing down the spear.

The Tibetans looked up and saw that their Ruben had been pierced by the long spear and was still struggling, hanging in the air.

Liang Jianfang threw the man on the spear down heavily, and he was almost dead.

Wang Xuance and Pei Xingjian, riding on their war horses, passed by Liang Jianfang who had paused for a moment. The two of them charged forward, killed their way into the army, and led their troops straight to the rear of the Tubo army.

The situation on the battlefield changed instantly. The Tang army, which was originally besieged by the Tibetans, now faced a reversal. A cavalry unit of the Tang army suddenly rushed out from the rear and responded to Niu Jinda's army.

It was like two huge hammers, coming from the east and west, killing the Tubo army like plowing the land.

Liang Jianfang rode his horse on the battlefield, waving the long spear in his hand, and hot blood splattered his armor.

The Tibetan troops were still dealing with the Tang army in front of them, but were unable to take care of the other Tang army coming from behind.

The two Tang armies penetrated into the Tibetan formation. The Tibetan tactics seemed steady, but their formation collapsed at the first blow.

The 50,000 Tibetans suffered a heavy blow in front of more than 10,000 Tang troops.

The two armies of Liang Jianfang and Niu Jinda penetrated the Tibetan army several times, plowing it twice, and the remaining Tibetan troops fled in all directions.

It was not until the evening that the huge setting sun hung in the west, and the entire sky was blood red.

Pei Xingjian didn't know how many people he had killed, nor how many people were trampled to death by his warhorse. He found a relatively clean piece of grass and lay down.

In fact, Wang Xuance’s guess was correct. Lu Dongzan’s target from the beginning was Songzhou, and never the Hexi Corridor.

And when he reached the north side of Qinghai, Wang Xuance became more certain of his speculation.

Of course, Lu Dongzan will not give up Qinghai.

Pei Xingjian lay on the grass, breathing heavily, and the words he had said when he had made the plan flashed through his mind several times.

After Liu Lan came to Songzhou's aid, there were at least 60,000 soldiers and horses stationed there. The Tibetans might not be able to capture Songzhou in a short time.

Could it be that Lu Dongzan would go north to attack Fuqi City at this time?

Then let them give up the idea of ​​going north. To keep the Tibetans here, we need a trap.

When Wang Xuance led himself and General Liang into Songzhou via the path on the map, he discussed with General Niu Jinda and decided to let Li Zhen's troops guard the north bank of Qinghai to create the illusion that they would not rush to help Songzhou.

For General Niu Jinda and the other generals, just rescuing Songzhou was not enough to recoup their investment, and they could not afford to be bullied in vain.

They not only had to defend Songzhou, but also had to annihilate the Tubo army, and it would be best if they could capture Songtsen Gampo and Lu Dongzan alive.

Pei Xingjian didn't have the energy to think about why Li Zhen had such a detailed map in his hand, which actually pointed out a small path to Songzhou on the east side of the Doma River.

Is the map of the Museum of Literature so detailed?

At this time, Li Zhen's army should have started to move. They were not just putting on an act for the Tibetans, making them think that this army was only guarding the north of Qinghai.

Now they should set out to stop the retreating Tibetan army.

This was a raid, an attack, and a detour. It was the Tang army that encircled the Tibetans, rather than the Tibetans besieging the Tang army.

From the very beginning, when a bad guy delivered a letter to Li Zhen, and when he and Wang Xuance were led out of Wuwei County by Li Zhen, it was clear that this battle could not be won by force alone.

As Wang Xuance said, Songtsen Gampo was not the King of Gaochang, and he even learned to lure the enemy deep into his territory.

Pei Xingjian was very tired. The running around for half a month almost made him collapse. He was too exhausted.

After recovering some strength, he rode his horse to the Doma River, looked at the clear river, lay on the shallows, and let the river water wash away the sticky blood on his body.

Now, Pei Xingjian can say, "Oh, Lu Dongzan is nothing but that."

South of Qinghai, in the tent of the Tubo King, Lu Dongzan and the remaining four Rubens were persuading Songtsen Gampo to return to Lhasa first.

The battle situation was just over when a Tang army suddenly appeared from the south and dispersed the 50,000 soldiers.

Only five thousand people were able to return here to provide support, and the rest had already run away to who knows where.

Songtsen Gampo said: "We still have Tibetan warriors, we can drive the Tang army back."

Songtsen Gampo, who was 21 years old at the time, stood in front of everyone and said, "The Tubo has not been defeated yet. Let's drive the Tang army back to Songzhou."

Lu Dongzan said sternly: "Zanpu, go back."

Several Rubens also said in unison: "Zanpu should go back to Lhasa."

Songtsen Gampo looked at them and said with a heavy breath, "The Tang army will not give up."

Lu Dongzan closed his eyes and said, "As long as the Zamp is still in Luoxie, we still have a chance."

One of the Rubens drew his knife, put it to his own neck, and shouted, "If the Tsanpo does not return, I will die here."

Songtsen Gampo could not bear to see these fighting Rubens committing suicide. The army in the front had been defeated, and the Tang army could cross Qinghai and attack here at any time.

Under the threat of death from several Rubens, Lu Dongzan watched Zamp get on his horse and leave with the rest of the tribesmen.

After the people walked away, Lu Dongzan was about to give instructions.

A Tibetan warrior came running in panic, bringing a piece of news that made Lu Dongzan feel as if he had fallen into an ice cellar: the troops guarding the north side of Qinghai had disappeared.

(End of this chapter)