In the third year of Shengwu, the time came to the end of July, the Central Plains region was still in the hot dog days, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has been swept by a sudden snowstorm, the snow covered the Doma area, although it is praised by the locals as the closest place to the sky, but from the Tibetan forces to the north to the present, it is not the pure land on earth.

These years have been fighting, at first it was Tubo and Tuyuhun who fought the party, and then the Silk Road coalition army came to fight Tuyuhun again, the coalition army left, Tubo and Tuyuhun began to fight each other, but halfway through the battle, Tubo and Tuyuhun reconciled again, and then provoked the Sui army again.

No one dares to graze in the fertile pastures on both sides of the Yellow River, for fear of crossing the border or being given a knife by the army on which side of the river, but what can they do if they don't graze? Do you plow the fields like the Central Plains? But who would? And even if they could, there didn't seem to be a peaceful place for them to settle in peace.

But on this day, an old herdsman of the party could not take care of so much, because the snowstorm suddenly came, he did not prepare winter forage at all, and if he did not go out to graze, his cattle and sheep would starve to death.

Looking at the cattle and sheep happily grazing on the tips of the grass under the snow, an old shepherd sighed: "This place has not been so chaotic for a long time, but this chaos is very chaotic, and I don't know when it will end." ”

An old shepherd took a wounded lamb in his arms, fed it with a handful of grass as if it were his own child, and sighed without raising his head: "Who knows? It's all to blame on the damned Tubo people, if they hadn't come up from the south, there wouldn't be such a mess here. ”

An old man said: "Two months ago, when the Tubo soldiers came to forcibly recruit cattle and sheep, they said that after Langri Zampu unified the plateau, he moved from Qiongjie and Zedang in Shannan to Luo, and then it was the imperial capital of Tubo. ”

Although the area of Qiongjie and Zedang in the south of the mountain is the birthplace of Tibet, there are ancestral graves there, but Langri Zampu always thinks that compared with the small and narrow Yalong River Valley, the Jiqu River Valley is more extensive, and it is located in the lower reaches of the Jiqu River, with Nianqing Tanggula Mountain as a barrier in the north, Niangbo and Gongbu in the east, Zhangxiong in the west, and the Yalong River Valley in the south, and the location is moderate. Moving the capital to Luo is not only conducive to controlling the Suvi system here, but also to guard against Zhangxiong in the west, the Great Sui in the north, and Tuyuhun in the east.

In view of the above considerations, Langri Zampu and his subordinate military forces decided to move the capital to Luo, and take this as the center of Tubo, and slowly turn Tubo from a loose tribal alliance into a unified territory and system, and people's hearts, in order to fill the population of the Jiqu River Valley and form the permanent center of Tubo, he continued to move the population of large and small tribes into it, and after the party was divided by Ertu, many people were forcibly moved by him, and of course some small tribes became ' For example, the tribe where these old people belong is one of them, but these small tribes with no fixed place are difficult for people to catch, if there are few soldiers, they can't kill their tribes, and there are more soldiers who go, and they have long since fled, so for these small tribes, let the soldiers who occasionally meet them to lure them.

"I'm not going to ......," the old shepherd with the lamb in his arms looked up and muttered, "I don't think the Jiqu Valley will be better than here, as long as the damned war is over, it will be better than before." ”

People live in a place for a long time, there will always be a feeling of reluctance, these old shepherds who have survived in the Doma area for a long time, naturally also have a homeland that is difficult to leave, if there is a peaceful son, who wants to go to a completely strange place to live?

Suddenly! The ground trembled slightly, and the cattle and sheep stopped grazing, pricked up their ears and looked around restlessly.

"Let's go, let's go."

Several old shepherds were shocked, and they wanted to drive the cattle and sheep away, they knew that this was the movement of the march of the army, far east, a black line appeared where the heaven and the earth met, and as they approached, a majestic evil spirit rushed to their faces.

These old shepherds, who were chatting and laughing, rode their horses one after another, waved their whips desperately, and shouted at the cattle and sheep to dodge.

However, the sheep are an unusually loose organization, usually together they will rush each other left and right, and the only way to make them obedient is to control the leader, and the other sheep will rush forward without thinking, regardless of the abyss or the wolves in front of them.

A few old people quickly found the leader, and triumphantly took away their cattle and sheep, but the old shepherd who only cared about the lamb just now could not find his leader, and under the reminder of his partner, he found that his head sheep was actually carrying more than ten sheep on a cliff, licking the salt on the stone wall leisurely.

The old shepherd had no choice but to give up the sheep, but he was at last a little slower to react, and did not get on his horse at the first time, and of course when he found the horse, the army was already close at hand from the east.

"Boom~"

At this time, it was obviously too late to give up and deviate from the right path, and the old shepherd was like a drop in the ocean in front of the mighty iron horseman.

"Poof~"

An arrow pierced through his chest, and red blood gushed out, and the old shepherd stiffened and fell limply from his horse. The galloping war horse did not stop for a moment, and stepped over his corpse, turning into a puddle of red on the snow.

On the vast land, 60,000 Tibetan iron horsemen were as dense as locusts, and from a distance, it was like a sandstorm sweeping in.

"Damn bastard, rush to your death."

"Almighty gods, curse these evil Tibetans!"

"They must not die a good death."

"The Tibetan people must not die a good death......"

The old shepherds, who had been lucky enough to escape, ran back to the right path, and when they saw that there were no bones left, only the old man's hair stained with mud remained, they began to cry and curse.

But, no matter how much they howl, it is clear that no one will pay attention to them as lowly ants.

On the cliff not far from the head sheep, a Sui army scout crawled on the snow, looking at this scene conservingly with a telescope, but his focus was not the old shepherd who grabbed the sky and the earth, but the Tubo army roaring westward, he saw that behind the mighty army was more than 2,000 cows, and then there was an endless herd of sheep, carefully observed for a while, suddenly found something, and immediately said: "There is a situation in the cattle herd of the Tubo army, more than 2,000 cattle are actually guarded by 2,000 cavalry, and these soldiers are also carrying hay tied into a bundle. ”

There were also nine scouts on the left and right of this scout, one of the twenty scouts sent by Yang Tong, whose mission was to observe every move of the Tibetan army, and to report any abnormalities in time.

Hearing what the partner said, everyone immediately paid attention to it. The fire commander of this team of scouts took the binoculars, looked at it carefully, and really found that the two thousand Tubo soldiers each carried a light and fluttering long cloth bag, they seemed very careful, most of them put the cloth bag on the other side of the horse, and the horse's body blocked the real face, and the naked eye could not see what was inside, but with the help of the telescope, the fire chief still clearly saw that the cloth bag revealed some hay, obviously when the horse was traveling for a long distance, due to the bumps in the horse's back, the light and fluttering long cloth bag staggered its position, and revealed the contents inside.

"Don't be careless, look at it too." The firemaster handed over the telescope to several of his other subordinates.

Everyone watched them one by one, and finally came to a conclusion, and one of them said the common sentiment of everyone: "The cattle guards carry hay and wrap it in cloth like a treasure, and they should be planning to come to our army with a fire ox to charge into battle." ”

The fire greeted that they had discovered this secret that could change the outcome of the war, and it must have been a great achievement, so he immediately wrote an eagle letter and quickly sent it to the west where the army was located.

。。。。。。。。

Yang Tong personally led more than 70,000 soldiers out of the camp and slowly came to the wilderness ten miles away, this team included 50,000 soldiers of the First Army, 10,000 soldiers of the Ninth Army, 5,000 Qiang soldiers, and 8,000 Xiangxiong soldiers. In terms of troops, it surpassed Lu Dongzan by more than 10,000 people.

In addition to the wind and dust, the unexpected reinforcement of the elephant male soldiers appear to be more tired, 65,000 Sui army officers and soldiers are full of spirit, high morale, the Sui army is a military unit, each army, each division, each guard, each regiment, each brigade, each team, each fire one by one, although the whole army is riding, but there are also foot soldiers on horseback, such as heavy crossbowmen, Mo sword soldiers, pikemen, cavalry is divided into crossbow cavalry, light cavalry, heavy cavalry.

In order to facilitate the assembly of soldiers to fight, the Sui army set up eight kinds of guard flags in Weiwei, such as lion, tiger, leopard, wolf, eagle, fox, bear, elephant, etc., and there were 15 colors, so that each guard flag was different, so that the soldiers could quickly identify and follow the battle flag to which they belonged during the war. This is all the combat experience summed up by our ancestors, and it is very valuable.

In addition to these troops, the Sui army also dispatched a thousand honeycomb crossbows this time, which is a large killing weapon prepared by the Sui army for the Tubo army, this crossbow is actually improved by craftsmen on the basis of the broken army crossbow, and the use of labor-saving pulleys increases the power of the winch to make it longer and more powerful, and the other is to change the big arrow into a slender small iron arrow, which can shoot thirty at a time, which is a sharp weapon against dense cavalry.

The skilled craftsmen of the Kaitian Temple also creatively invented the arrow clip, an arrow clip is loaded with 30 iron arrows, after the arrow is shot, the new arrow clip is directly loaded on the crossbow machine, and it can be fired immediately, saving a lot of time for loading arrows.

There are two types of honeycomb crossbows, large and small, the large honeycomb crossbow is one zhang long, six feet wide, weighs hundreds of catties, and is generally used to defend the city; The small length and width are small on one-third, placed in a special carriage and horse, the appearance is no different from the carriage, open the door can adjust the height according to the difference in the terrain, and then launch, the key is not affected by the weather, this small honeycomb is controlled by three people, one person winds, one person loads arrows, one person drives, when the carriage drives to the established position, the soldier who drives is responsible for watching the flag.

This kind of crossbow has a long range, dense arrows, strong lethality, and a wide range of damage, which can be called a rocket artillery in the era of cold weapons.

At this time, the army had occupied the pre-set battlefield as scheduled, and with Yang Tong's order, the sound of horns and the waving of the flag, the army quickly stopped advancing, and quickly lined up the four phalanxes of the front army, the left and right wings, and the rear army.

The front army is as wide as three miles, the banner is unfurled, the momentum is very huge, in the front is two thousand sword and shield soldiers, followed by six thousand Mo knife hands, Mo knife in the snow light flashing cold light, six thousand Mo knife hands are arranged in three rows, forming an unstoppable, indestructible knife wall.

On both sides of the Mo Knife Bearer, there were 3,000 light cavalry, and they were guarding the left and right sides of the Mo Knife Maker, and behind the light cavalry were 2,500 heavy cavalry, and behind the Mo Knife Bearer were the 1,000 honeycomb ballistas.

In addition, there were 6,000 crossbowmen behind the honeycomb crossbows, and they and the honeycomb crossbows formed a double blow from far and near.

As soon as the military formation was set up, a Shura guard rushed in from a distance, "Holy Lord, the scouts have found an emergency!" ”

In order to ensure the secrecy of the Sui army as much as possible and not let Zhangxiong know, the sending and receiving eagle point was set up on a hill a few miles away, and Shura Wei sent messages back and forth.

"Say it." Yang Tong glanced at Li Mixia, the Xiangxiong King beside him, and said with a smile.

"On the Holy Gift, our scouts found that Tubo had brought more than 2,000 cattle, each guarded by a soldier, and these soldiers carried a bundle of hay, and the scouts suspected that the enemy planned to use the fire ox array against our army." When Shurawei said this, he added, "There are eight scouts in a row who have all seen it and made the same judgment. ”

"The Scouts' discovery is really important, and they're doing a pretty good job!" Yang Tong did not hesitate to praise him, and instructed the Shura Weidao: "Remember the number of these eight scouts, and reward each team with 1,000 copper coins after the battle!" ”

"Humble duty in place of the scout brothers, thank the Holy Reward." Shura Wei hurriedly saluted.

"Continue to investigate, and report any news as soon as possible."

"Obedience."

Shurawei left, and Yang Tong ordered left and right: "Please Du Shangshu and Xue Taishou come to discuss the matter." ”

Soon.

Du Ruhui and Xue Wanshu, who were wearing armor, rode their horses together, and the two saluted from afar: "Weichen see the saint." ”

"According to a piece of information from our scouts, it seems that the Tibetans are preparing to use the Fire Ox Array against us. Now that time is pressing, do you two have any easier ways to crack it now? ”

Yang Tong remembered Lin Shuai's failed Fire Bull Formation, and couldn't help laughing. If the Tibetans also make the mistake of knowing what they are and not knowing why, then the fun will be great.

"Huh?" The two of them were stunned when they heard this, and when Xue Wanshu was thinking about it, Du Ruhui had already smiled slightly: "There is no need to worry about the saint, the fire bull array is nothing more than a surprise, if you take precautions, you won't be able to get the slightest effect at all, and it is not difficult to break it." ”

。。。。。。。。。

However, it was said that the Tubo army that swept westward continued to gallop for more than ten miles, and the marching speed began to slowly stop, and before the military formation, Lu Dongzan was wearing a brocade robe, and his eagle-like eyes revealed a touch of murder and anxiety.

He was most worried that it would finally happen, that the Sui army reinforcements had arrived, and they were marching eastward with a total of 70,000 troops, and they were ready for twenty miles ahead, occupying the best position first, and waiting for them to pass, and if the Tubo army went to fight them, it would be in a disadvantageous situation from the terrain and the limelight.

Lu Dongzan rubbed his cheeks a little tiredly, making his brain clearer, last night's sleeplessness, early morning failure, and dozens of miles of running accumulated to make him feel exhausted.

Originally, he also hoped that relying on the superiority in troops, he could completely suppress the Sui army, which was not adapted to the blizzard. However, the arrival of reinforcements from the other side made his dream come true.

Although the other party now took the initiative to run out to fight a decisive battle as he wished, he knew that his army had been harassed all night and was as tired as he was.

If you don't fight, the soldiers will not only be in danger of running out of food, but will also be attacked by the cunning Sui army behind them day and night, and then the panic will begin to accumulate in the hearts of the officers and soldiers of the whole army, so the longer the decisive battle drags on, the more panic will accumulate, and the less chance of victory.

Lu Dongzan took a deep breath, he knew that at this time, the time when the Tibetan army should be desperate, there was no other way.

At this time, three scouts covered in blood rushed back, it was a team of spies sent by him, but they were intercepted by the scouts of the Sui army, and only three people of the complete hundred-man team fled back.

"General Geer, the main force of the Sui army has been found ten miles ahead, about 70,000 people; Among these armies, we also saw the royal banner of the Xiangxiong Kingdom, and it seems that it was Li Mixia who brought the Zhangxiong barbarians to join the Sui army. The scout said hatefully.

Lu Dongzan was slightly stunned, and then his eyes lit up and said: "The king flag of the Xiangxiong Kingdom? Are you sure? ”

The scout replied with great certainty: "I have participated in the war against Zhangxiong, and I have been a scout before, and that banner is definitely the royal flag of Li Mixia." ”

"Where are they?" Lu Dong praised the chase: "Together with the Sui army, or become independent for a while?" ”

"General Huiger, the Sui army is deployed in the form of the central army and the north and south flanks, and Zhangxiong's soldiers and horses are self-contained, their number is about 10,000, and the formation is in the south of the Sui army."

"Are Zhangxiong's soldiers and horses really self-contained?" Lu Dongzan couldn't believe his ears, "How dare the Sui army let such a weak soldier as a wing? ”

The scout nodded, and repeatedly emphasized, "Yes!" We can see clearly that Zhangxiong's soldiers and horses are indeed the wings of the Sui army. ”

"Haha, this is the sky helping me to win a big victory in Tibet." Lu Dongzan dismounted ecstatically, knelt on the ground with a 'plop', opened his arms to the sky, and shouted excitedly: "May the sky protect Tibet." ”

When he had finished praying, he jumped back on his horse and shouted to the two Suvi generals beside him, "General Drepung Nasheng and General Ba Dian Zebu, did you hear the words of the scouts?" ”

"Back to General Gol, the last general has heard everything." Drepung Nasheng and Ba Dianzebu were also very excited, the Sui army may be more difficult to break, but they have fought with the Xiangxiong soldiers many times, and the target male soldiers can be said to know the roots, and the opponent's combat will and combat effectiveness are also clear, and they are very confident to break this army.

"The weak and incompetent Xiangxiong soldiers actually came, and the stupid Sui army commander actually let them be wings, isn't it stupid? I think it's the gods helping us and blinding the Sui generals. General Drepung, I will give you 20,000 soldiers and horses to be the vanguard of our army to contain the front army of the Sui army; General Ba, you bring 10,000 soldiers, when General Drepung fights with the Sui army and stabilizes the position, you immediately take the Zhangxiong soldiers and horses on the southern flank as the attack point, as long as they are defeated, the damned Zhangxiong rebels will definitely impact the Sui army's military formation, and that is the heaven-sent opportunity for our army to break the Sui army. ”

"The last will obey." The second general is on call.

"General Meng Zhong, you are the backup of General Ba, and you are responsible for tearing apart the breakthrough of Zhangxiong." Lu Dongzan ordered another elite general, this is the brother-in-law of Langri Zanpu, and it is also a rare fierce general in Tubo, the Geer family where Montessori and Lu Dongzan are located are the old nobles of Tubo, and the two clans are married from generation to generation, and the blood of the Tubo royal family is integrated, regardless of you and me.

"The last will obey." Meng Zhong received the order.

"Prince, you also take 10,000 soldiers, hide 2,000 ploughing cattle in the army, and when General Drepung stabilizes the position, immediately attack the northern flank of the Sui army with fire oxen."

"The last will obey."

"Soldiers, this is the gods who are protecting us. Kill the enemy with me. Lu Dongzan shouted excitedly.

"Kill, kill, kill!"

The 60,000 Tibetan troops suddenly burst out with a roar that soared into the sky, their swords flashing in the snowlight, and they swooped down on the Sui army ten miles away like an endless pack of wolves on the grassland.