Puchanghai is a freshwater lake, surrounded by lush water and grass, living a small number of herdsmen, at this time it is winter, the lake is frozen, the pasture grass is withered, the herdsmen have moved to the warm place, but there are still more than a dozen large tents that have not been demolished.

The Western Expeditionary Army rested by the lake for two days, and when most of the soldiers and horses had recovered their strength, they were ready to set off.

Of course, they are going north, there is the Chihe River flowing into the northwest of Puchanghai, the Chihe River is the Tarim River, and they go west along the Chihe River, and they can reach Qiuzi by walking more than 1,000 miles.

Early in the morning, more than a dozen cavalry perimeter guards came galloping, carrying a man on his horse, who was wearing the armor of the Tang Army and hung weakly on his horse.

The soldiers gathered around, the military doctor Xue Changshou stepped forward to check on the soldier's situation, Guo Song also came out of the big tent, glanced at the Tang Army soldier lying unconscious on the ground and asked, "What's the matter with this person?" ”

The patrol team stepped forward to report: "Qi Qi Changshi, this man we met by the lake, and we found him unconscious, so we brought him back." ”

Guo Song asked the military doctor again, "How is he doing?" ”

"He was very weak, with an arrow wound in his back, hungry and cold, and if we hadn't met him, he wouldn't have lasted three days."

"Carry him to the tent first, feed him some water and batter, and then heal him of the arrow wound."

Several soldiers carried the wounded Tang soldier into the big tent, and Yang Xiaoyan, who had just heard the news, exclaimed: "It's Brigade Marshal Zheng!" ”

"Do you know this person?" Guo Song asked.

Yang Xiaoyan nodded, "He is Zheng Ju, the general of the crossbow branch, and he is one of Guo Duhu's favorite generals." ”

How could the defenders of the Crossbow Branch City appear in Puchanghai?

Guo Song faintly felt that there might be an accident in Crossbow City.

........

At noon, Zheng Ju finally woke up from his coma, the inflammation of the arrow wound in his back was controlled, he ate some batter, drank water, and was much better.

When he heard that the Tang army that rescued him was a special envoy from Chang'an, he was overjoyed and asked to see Shi Guo Song.

Not long after, Guo Song, Guo Chongqing and Li Ji walked into the big tent, Zheng Ju was weak, and bowed slightly: "The humble Zheng Ju can't give Changshi a big gift, please forgive Changshi!" ”

"Just lie down, you're welcome."

Guo Song asked him to lie down, and said: "I heard Yang Xiaoyan say that General Zheng is a crossbow town general, how can he appear here?" ”

Zheng Ju wept and said: "Five thousand Tubo and Tuyuhun coalition forces attacked and the last five cities, and the last city, crossbow branch city, Dianhe city, and Qitun city have all fallen, and now only hundreds of soldiers are left to defend Putao City, I rushed to Qiuzi for help, and finally my injuries worsened, and I fell in Puchanghai, thanks to Changshi's men who saved my life, and begged Changshi to support Putao City." ”

"It's still winter, and the enemy is coming?"

"The enemy never looks at the weather, in fact, they came last autumn, and the battle with us has lasted for more than two months, and one city after another has been taken, and there are only more than 400 of our 1,000 defenders left."

Guo Song was silent for a moment and said, "You have a good rest, let's discuss." ”

Guo Song called Li Ji and Guo Chongqing to the big tent next door, and he asked, "Tell me, should we go to rescue Putao City?" ”

Li Ji groaned and said: "I think this is the will of heaven, since we have met Zheng Jiao, it is that God asked us to rescue Putao City, otherwise we will go directly to the north." ”

Guo Chongqing also nodded and said: "Although the other party has 5,000 troops, we also have a chance, the other party does not know about our existence, just like we attacked the logistics camp of the Xue Yantuo people last year, and we won by surprise." ”

Guo Song took a few steps with his hands in his hands, and finally nodded and said: "Whether it is the will of heaven or not, but it is the same Tang Army, one side is in trouble, we can't help it!" ”

.........

And the last five cities are the five military cities built in the south of Xinjiang by the Anxi Protectorate, including the end of the city, the crossbow branch city, the Dianhe city, the Qitun city and the Putao city, they are an important line of defense to resist the invasion of Anxi by Tubo and Tuyuhun north, but for more than 20 years, the Tubo army has already entered all parts of Anxi, occupying most of the oases, and the power of the Tang army in Anxi continues to shrink, and finally only a few cities remain.

It was also because the Tubo army and the Hui army fought for the vast land west of the Green Ridge that they had no time to concentrate their forces to annihilate the Tang army in Anxi, so that the Tang army could defend several isolated cities to this day.

The main force of this attack on the five cities of the end of the country was the Tuguhun army, and Tuyuhun was ready to take the end of the river as their foundation in Anxi, and the five Tang army cities became a thorn in their side.

Tuyuhun sent 4,000 troops, plus 1,000 Tubo troops, more than two months of continuous operations, Tuyuhun coalition army has captured four military cities, both sides suffered heavy casualties, Tuyuhun casualties of nearly 2,000 people, Tang army also reduced from 1,000 to more than 400 people, defending the last Putao City.

Guo Song led three hundred Tang troops along the end of the river all the way to the west, and the end of the river although frozen, but from time to time on both sides can see a piece of poplar forest and sand date forest, the ground still faintly maintains green, for the Tang army, marching by the river is thousands of times more comfortable than the desert march, the marching speed is extremely fast, three days later, the expeditionary force is only thirty miles away from Putao City.

Guo Song led his army into a large poplar forest to rest, and Li Ji personally led five scout soldiers to investigate the intelligence.

The soldiers sat in the poplar forest to rest, and the next day, when it was almost dawn, Li Ji finally returned with the soldiers.

In a temporary marching tent, Li Ji reported his investigation to Guo Song.

"The situation is more severe, several military cities captured by Tuyuhun were basically razed to the ground, only one Putao City remains, Putao City has not been captured yet, but the situation is not good, there are many big gaps in the city, they can not repair it, just pour water into ice, once the ice and snow melt, Putao City will not be attacked, the enemy army also sees this problem, they are not in a hurry to attack the city, but set up a large camp two miles away from the military city."

"Does the Tang army in the city know that we are coming?"

Li Ji nodded and said, "I have sent an arrow letter to the city, they should know." ”

"Let's talk about the enemy."

Li Ji took out a sketch and spread it on a large tree stump, he pointed to the sketch and said: "The enemy's camp is composed of hundreds of big tents, and there is no camp fence around it, but there are many patrol posts, patrolling day and night, and the precautions are very strict. ”

Guo Song looked at the sketch and asked, "Where is their logistics?" ”

Li Ji pointed to the sketch and said: "Their big camp occupies a large area, the front is a military camp, and the back is a sheep and horse pen, and their real logistics, I estimate that it is a hundred miles to the south." ”

Guo Song turned back to a soldier and said, "Go and find Yang Xiaoyan!" ”

After a moment, Yang Xiaoyan entered the big tent and bowed, "See the long history!" ”

"Let me ask you, how is the logistics of the Tuyuhun people or Tubo generally arranged?"

"Looking back at the long history, the oases in Anxi are basically occupied by the Tubo people, and their logistics come from various oases, and there are also many Tubo herdsmen along the Momo River where we came, and now because it is winter, they have moved south to the foot of the Altun Mountain, although it is also cold there, but there is grass under the snow."

Guo Song smiled: "I know, thank you General Yang!" ”

Guo Song asked Yang Xiaoyan to go down, and he looked at the paper for a moment and asked, "You said that the camp is quite large, how big is it?" ”

"About 500 acres, most of which are sheep and horse pens."

Guo Song said with a smile: "It actually covers an area of five hundred acres, how many patrols are needed for this, but the other party only has more than 3,000 people, will there be no loopholes in their defense?" ”

Guo Chongqing next to him also said: "Changshi is right, according to the usual practice, they can only send about 300 people to patrol at most, and the patrol of 300 people will definitely not be able to defend against a 500-acre camp, there must be loopholes!" ”

Li Ji hurriedly explained: "The wording of the humble position is inaccurate, it is that the military camp part is relatively strict, especially the defense of Putao City is extremely tight, we seized the opportunity to shoot arrows into the city at the fourth watch last night, but the defense of the sheep and horse pen is looser, and there is indeed a chance." ”

Guo Song nodded, "Let the soldiers prepare, let's act tonight!" ”

........

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