The Tang army scouts have been staying in Shazhou for half a month, and they have basically figured out the details of the Tubo army in Shazhou.

A total of 12,000 people were stationed in Shazhou, including 5,000 cavalry, the Tubo camp was located in the north of Dunhuang County 30 miles, the enemy they faced was the Shatuo army that was killed from Guazhou, a few months ago, the Tubo army defeated the Shatuo army, killing more than 7,000 enemies.

Although the Shatuo army faced strong pressure from the Qarluq people in the north and easily did not dare to attack Shazhou on a large scale, the Tubo army still did not dare to take it lightly.

As for the Tang army, the Tubo army did not pay too much attention to it this time, Shazhou and the territory controlled by the Tang army did not border, unless the Tang army captured Guazhou first, their logistics baggage could not be guaranteed at all.

That night, Zhang Yun led the army from afar and quietly approached the Dayun Temple, which has been secretly helping them, but Tubo also has patrols around, and occasionally comes to the temple to check, mainly to search for the Shatuo army spies.

Tang Jun was not in the monastery during the day, only came to rest at night, and quietly left before dawn.

The team approached the Dayun Temple, Zhang Yun suddenly waved his hand back, stopping the team from moving forward, his eyes fixed on the lantern hanging at the gate of the temple.

The abbot made an agreement with him that if the monastery was safe, two lights would be lit at the gate, and if there were a very small number of Tibetan soldiers, one light would be lit, and if there were a large number of Tibetan soldiers, then no lamps would be lit, which was simple and convenient, and it was not easy to be discovered by the enemy.

Now he can see very clearly that there is only one light on at the gate, indicating that there are a few Tibetan patrol posts in the monastery.

"Commander, this is an opportunity!" A brigade commander whispered.

Zhang Yun nodded, he also thought so, some information had to be obtained by catching the Tubo soldiers, such as what Guo Yuanjun had always wanted to know, why did the deputy general of Tubo kill the main general?

"Wang Fan!"

Zhang Yun shouted in a low voice, and a thin Tang army brigade commander immediately stood up, this Wang Fan was attacking Jiuquan County, and then Guo Song climbed to the scout at the head of the city, and made a great contribution, Guo Song specially promoted him to a scout.

His light skills are very good, and his martial arts are also good.

Zhang Yun instructed him: "You immediately move into the temple, find the abbot of Dulin, and ask him about the enemy forces in the temple." ”

"Obey the order!"

Wang Fan cleaned up a little, and sped up and ran towards the temple hundreds of steps away.

The soldiers of the Tang Army were patiently waiting for the news, and after a while, Wang Fan ran back and said in a low voice: "I found out, there are five people in total, they are the messengers of Tubo, and they will send letters back to Tubo, and they will spend the night in Dayun Temple after dark." ”

"Where do they live?" Zhang Yun asked again.

"They lived in the West Zen Temple, and the abbot said that they drank wine and ate meat in front of the Bodhisattva, which made a mess in the Bodhisattva Hall."

Zhang Yun was a little surprised, they also ate meat and drank wine, but the abbot was not to blame, and said that they must drink wine in winter to ward off the cold.

"Commander, do you?" Everyone asked.

Zhang Yun nodded slowly, leave a few brothers to guard the camels, and the other brothers come with me!

He left ten soldiers to guard the camels, and led the other ninety soldiers to the monastery........

The five Tibetan messengers never dreamed that they would be captured by the Tang army that fell from the sky, and in less than half an hour of interrogation, the five Tibetan soldiers confessed one by one.

Zhang Yun read the translated letter, it was the Tubo general Non Lituo who asked for 10,000 more troops after the beginning of spring to ensure the occupation of Shazhou.

This information is very important, and it must be sent to Zhangye immediately tomorrow morning.

At this time, brigade marshal Wang Fan walked into the door and said, "General, the confession has come out!" ”

In order to ensure the accuracy of the confession, the Tang army interrogated the five Tibetan soldiers separately, and basically asked them about the information they wanted.

Wang Fan handed a piece of sorted information to Zhang Yun, and said in a low voice: "The incident of the deputy general of Tubo killing the main general is still related to the power struggle within Tubo, the deputy general is the chief general of the Tubo army who was defeated by us, he is the confidant of the Tubo minister Shang Xijie, and the killed Shazhou chief general is called Nonze, and he is the person of the second minister of Tubo, Shang Zanjie, which is actually an extension of the struggle between the two Tubo ministers. ”

Zhang Yun read the interrogation confession and asked, "How many faith eagles do we have now?" ”

"And three!"

Zhang Yun nodded, "Send all the three letter eagles back to Zhangye early tomorrow morning, this amount of information is too large, I need to sort it out well." ”

At this time, the voice of the abbot Dulin came from outside the door, "General Zhang, is it convenient to speak?" ”

Zhang Yun hurriedly walked out of the door and said, "Is there something wrong with the abbot?" ”

The old monk Dulin clasped his hands together and said: "There is something I forgot to tell General Zhang, this afternoon the head of the Cao family sent someone to inform that the second day of February the day after tomorrow is the annual Buddha Festival in Shazhou, and many people will come to worship the Buddha in Mogao Grottoes, you can take this opportunity to blend into Dunhuang County." ”

"Then our camels will be stored in the Great Cloud Temple!"

Abbot Dulin smiled slightly, "There is enough hay in the temple, so the general can rest assured!" ”

...........

The second day of the second month of February is the day of the society, but also the Buddha Festival, although the ice and snow have not completely melted, but the big families of Dunhuang City will come to the major temples of Mogao Grottoes one after another, pay homage to the Buddha, and give them the Buddha caves to offer fruit and incense.

After the end of the sacrifice, many large families will welcome the Buddha statue back to the city to worship, the Buddha statue has big and small, generally carried back to the city by the young and strong, less than a dozen people, more than a hundred people, this day, the young people in Dunhuang City are basically dispatched, they carry the large and small Buddha statues to return to Dunhuang City.

Zhang Yun and his men were scattered, and they were arranged by Cao Qingyun and Zhang Feng, together with the young men of Dunhuang, carrying the Buddha statue into Dunhuang City.

There are 1,000 Tibetan soldiers patrolling back and forth at the head of the city, coldly watching the people who come back from worshipping the Buddha, the Tubo people themselves also believe in Buddhism, and do not interfere with the activities of the people of Shazhou to worship the Buddha.

It is still easy to distinguish between Shatuo and Han people in appearance, and it is basically impossible for Shatuo people to blend into the city, even if they are disguised as monks, they will be recognized at a glance.

The Tibetans did not think of the Tang army, and before the Tang army captured Guazhou, the Tibetans basically did not consider the threat of the Tang army.

Zhang Yun and his 100 men infiltrated Dunhuang City without danger.

.......

In the south of Zhangye City, there is a sheep farm that stretches for dozens of miles, a sheep house is built in it, which is used for sheep to spend the winter, this sheep farm is owned by the military, there are more than 600,000 sheep in it, and 1,000 soldiers are responsible for taking care of it.

In addition to the sheep house, the Hexi Army also has large cattle farms and horse farms, raising more than 100,000 cattle and tens of thousands of war horses, making full use of the vast resources of Hexi pastures, and it is also second to none in the major festivals.

At noon that day, the sun was shining, and Guo Song came to inspect the sheep house with a group of officials, and the flocks of sheep were quietly gathered outdoors, enjoying the winter sun.

The chief official of the Animal Husbandry Department introduced Guo Song: "We only checked yesterday, almost all the ewes are pregnant, and they will generally give birth to two or three lambs, so that the number of our sheep will exceed one million this year, of course, the old sheep will be slaughtered regularly to improve the food for the soldiers." ”

Guo Song nodded and asked, "Is the winter feed enough?" ”

"Qi Yu envoy, the Hexi Corridor is not the same as the Central Plains, the most important thing is fodder, we have alfalfa hay, as well as black beans and dried melons, just to beware of the epidemic, fortunately, the local herdsmen are very experienced, we invite them to come to guide, and we have benefited a lot."

Guo Song smiled: "That means that there is no difficulty in the Animal Husbandry Division?" ”

Pan Liao hurriedly said: "Of course there are difficulties, and they are not small, mainly because there are too many sheep and a lack of manpower, and the soldiers are a little overwhelmed from morning to night." ”

Guo Song thought for a while and said: "There are only 4,000 soldiers in the Animal Husbandry Division and the Tuntian Division, and the Tuntian Division has to farm and plant grapes, and it is also said that there is a shortage of manpower, so let's do it!" If you recruit people for 50 cents a day, I believe that many people will apply. ”

The income level of the people in Hexi is still relatively low, although Zhangye has developed commerce, but the income of the general people is not high, the average daily income is 30 Wen, and 50 Wen a day will be attractive to many people.

Guo Song said to Pan Liao: "Pan Changshi is responsible for formulating a plan, not only for the Animal Husbandry Division, but also for the Tuntian Division, and also for the winter and busy farming seasons. ”

Pan Liao bowed and said: "I understand my humble duties!" ”

At this time, a personal soldier stepped forward and whispered a few words to Guo Song, Guo Song nodded, and said to everyone: "I have something to rush back to the barracks, Pan Changshi will take everyone to continue to inspect, if there are any problems, what difficulties, solve them on the spot!" ”

Pan Liao hurriedly agreed, Guo Song turned over his horse and galloped towards the northern military camp with dozens of personal soldiers.