Chapter 178: The War Behind the War
In the autumn of the fourth year of Bao, Tubo Koubian, Tubo Zanpu Chide Zuzan took the Tang Dynasty in the sand realm as the reason, sent Mangbu Zhi as the main general to add 30,000 troops to Shibao City, peeped at Longyou, and sent his nephew Tuguhun King to lead an army of 20,000 troops into the Qu area to support Shibao City from the side, and the Tang Dynasty Longyou Jiedu Huangfu Weiming took the opportunity to seize the opportunity to fight, and also sent 50,000 troops, and ordered the deputy general Chu Zhilian to attack Shibao City as the vanguard.
It seems that all eyes are on this stone castle city, the stone castle city, called the Iron Blade City in Tibet, that is, today's Huangyuan County, Qinghai, is a dangerous military castle built by the Tubo people in the Tang Dynasty, not far from the city is Chiling (today's Moon Mountain), the boundary between Tang and Tibet.
Stone Fort City is backed by Huashi Mountain, facing the Yaoshui River, and is located on a maroon cliff, surrounded by cliffs on three sides, built according to a narrow path, easy to defend and difficult to attack, and its strategic position is extremely important.
In March of the seventeenth year of Kaiyuan, Li Yi, the envoy of Shuofang Jiedu and the king of Xin'an, adopted long-distance attack tactics and killed Benshibao City day and night. The officers and soldiers of the Tubo garrison were caught off guard, the casualties were very numerous, the stone fort city fell into the hands of the Tang army again, Li Longji then changed the stone fortification city to the Zhenwu army, leaving troops to fortify, since then, the west of the Tang River, the Longyou region was connected, Tubo lost the stone fort city, so he asked the Tang Dynasty for peace and alliance.
But in the twentieth year of Kaiyuan, Hexi, Longyou Jiedu made Gai Jiayun not think about defense, Shibao City was successfully attacked by Tubo, and lost again, and then Tianbao eight years, Ge Shuhan led tens of thousands of troops to attack Shibao City, there were only 400 Tubo troops in the city, but tens of thousands of Tang troops were killed, and finally Ge Shuhan was taken by a strategy, and Ge Shuhan was also shocked by the prestige of this battle. He was named the king of Xiping County, which shows that Shibao City is dangerous and extremely important in strategic position.
Chang'an, in the Zichen Hall of Daming Palace, the cabinet meeting of the Tang Dynasty on the Longyou Battle has been going on for two full hours, and the atmosphere is extremely solemn and solemn, even the old Ministry of Rites Shangshu Xi Yu is half leaning on the seat, his lips tightened, and his eyes are grim. At this moment, the right minister Li Linfu is making a final statement to the Tang Emperor Li Longji.
"The 150,000 stone rice transferred from Chang'an and Fengxiang has been transported to the state, and the problem of insufficient animal power of the Longyou army was handed over to the Taifu Temple for consultation, and horses and mules were mobilized from Yuanzhou, Longzhou, Fengzhou, and Liangzhou, and then the local government paid grain and rice to compensate, and the minister consulted with the left minister and the household department. Recruit 30,000 people from the 14 prefectures of Guannei and Jiannan, and exempt them from rent this year. β
Li Longji nodded slightly, Li Linfu has been the prime minister for more than ten years, these things have been practiced and perfected, and they will naturally be done properly, he is more concerned about the deployment of the army, so he asked Pei Kuan, the secretary of the Ministry of War, and said: "How is the progress of the transfer of the Beijing division to Fengxiang (now Baoji, the western gateway to Chang'an)?" And has the deployment of troops in Hexi, Anxi, and Shuofang been completed? β
Pei Kuan took a step forward and said in a deep voice to Li Longji: "Your Majesty, the left and right Weiwei of the Jingshi and the left and right Qianniuwei have left and right to go to Fengxiang. The military governments of Hexi, Anxi, and Shuofang are all at the first level of combat readiness and can be dispatched at any time. The required ordnance and materiel have been allocated. β
"That's fine, although this battle was provoked by Tibet. But our army wants to take the initiative in the battle situation, the month before last, the Western Turks have been wiped out by the Hui, and last month, the rebellion of Khitan and Xi was suppressed by An Lushan, everything in the north is peaceful, but Tubo is my Tang henchman, it will not be extinguished. My Datang will not be quiet for a day.
Li Longji stood proudly, and his majestic voice came out of the side hall from afar. "Spread my will, add the title of Huangfu Weiming as the left servant of Shangshu, and the same book under the door of the Pingzhang, if this battle can take the stone castle city, I will give meritorious soldiers and officials to the knighthood, and reward the three armies!"
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A continuous autumn rain has just fallen, the sky is still drifting with sporadic rain, the war clouds shrouded the land of Longyou, in the face of war, everything must be subordinated to the army, food, strong men, ships, livestock, may be requisitioned at any time.
To the west of Fengxiang, on the wide, mud-covered official road, grain carts covered with tarpaulins, carts loaded with wheat straw and hay, baggage carts, and huge pontoon boats swayed and creaked forward, the sky was drizzling, the autumn was cold, and the freshly harvested fields and roadside ditches were full of rainwater. The distant jungle showed a vague outline.
The Tang army marched northwest in the mud and drizzle, with shouts and curses, mixed with the crackling of leather whips and the creak of axles, like the tide of the sea. From time to time, you can see dying, livestock or dead animals lying on both sides of the official road, and occasionally a big cart with wheels facing the sky. Sometimes a troop of cavalry rushed into the flow of people, and the soldiers kept shouting and cursing, and the horses stood up and neighed, and a cart full of grain and grass would roll down the slope, and the people in the cart would roll down the slope with them.
Ahead, in the midst of the torrent of vehicles, soldiers lined up in long queues, trudging through the slippery mud. The flow of people was mixed with horse-drawn carts carrying knives, guns, bows and crossbows, and other light weapons, and the escorts were lying on the canopy, and people kept running out of the ranks, burrowing into the fields, and squatting down.
Ahead was a procession of senior officers, with a large group of men supporting their generals, and from time to time you could see several carriages, in which officers and staff officers sat on the ground, and at one time they walked through a dense forest, and there was a commotion over a place to rest, and then a procession was formed and a small line was crossed, and then new wagons laden with grain, hay, and thistles poured in from both sides, and occasionally a small group of scout cavalry rushed to the front of the procession.
Further ahead was a village swept by stragglers, a crumbling gable wall of rubble and charred wood; Broken oil lamps, distorted windows with a piece of torn paper fluttering in the wind. There was also a wounded soldier who had strayed behind him, squatting on a collapsed cart with a grim burlap tied to it, his eyes gloomy and sad.
Two miles away from the official road is Weishui, where thousands of people are pulling a large fleet of ships with difficulty (computer, 16k, cn update fastest), sending out a low, rhythmic, and shocking trumpet, the big ship is loaded with all kinds of heavy siege engines and crossbows, and has not yet assembled ladders, nest cars, and building cars, and there is a huge row of ground listening on both sides of the ship, and there are terrible thunderbolts on board, which require two hundred people to pull their hair; The "flamethrowers" that erupted the fire oil, and the barrels of fire oil that were used for it, were heavily guarded.
This team is the Beijing division Zuo Qianniuwei from afar, about 20,000 people, the commander is the general Xun Yanguang, their destination is three hundred miles away Lanzhou, the march is extremely slow, the team has been walking for three full days.
A cavalry team sped past the ranks, splashing a large amount of sewage, several soldiers couldn't dodge, their bodies and faces were splashed with mud, and one soldier jumped to his feet and scolded, "**Your mother! β
Before the words fell, 'Smack! There was a crisp thud on the ground, and there was a blood-red whip mark on the sludge-covered face.
A horse galloped past him, bringing up a rumor of wind.
"General Dong!"
The cavalry team drove quickly to Dong Yanguang's side, the autumn rain was continuous, the cold air hit people, the sergeants were not in thick clothes, and thousands of soldiers had fallen ill.
Xun Yanguang's wrinkled face was gloomy, and a trace of hatred flashed in his eyes, before he arrived in the state, the soldiers had been reduced by two percent, and his own soldiers were all government soldiers, and they had to bring their own clothes and bedding, and their families were poor
Soldiers, still wearing thin clothes in summer, naturally can't stand the autumn cold, but the emperor (mobile phone ap,16k,cn update fastest) Fu right army is supported by the court or the local government, the same is to fight, but how unfair the treatment.
According to the deployment of the Ministry of War, Dong Yanguang only stationed in Fengxiang to prevent the defeat of the Longyou Army and the breakthrough of Tubo, but he had just received a secret order from the emperor and ordered him to lead Zuo Qianniuwei to garrison Lanzhou, but he did not know the specific intention of the emperor's move, which was also where his troubles were.
"Give the order to go down, and the whole army will camp on the spot!"
He horsewhip has been far away, and said calmly: "Order the Weizhou Thorn History in front of me to prepare 30,000 pieces of winter qi for me, and send them to the army in the afternoon at the latest, otherwise I will personally go into the city to get them." β
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Why, the shadow shrouded in the Potala Palace, the rising sun is poking out from the vast rolling sea of clouds, the instant brilliance will shine the Potala Palace into gold, like a huge statue, solemn and solemn, in the square under the palace, the flag is flying, the horn is whimpering, more than 3,000 Tibetan cavalry are lined up neatly, ready to escort their Zampu Chide Zuzan north tour Qinghai.
At the center of the procession, there was a cart drawn by eighteen horses, with a wide body, and on top of it was a huge oval tent, like the white egg of a divine eagle, shining in the morning glow.
The low and distant trombone sounded again, echoing under the vast sky, and a line of black dots slowly walked down from the towering Potala Palace, as if it was a team of soldiers on patrol, and gradually the black dots became larger and larger, a group of horses. Nearly a hundred armor warriors surrounded them, he was about fifty years old, with big ears and a strong body, and a pair of eyes like a god eagle on a snow-capped mountain, shining with a terrifying light.
In the third year of Jinglong, the newly enthroned Chide Zuzan married the adopted daughter of the sect, that is, Princess Jincheng, the sister of Li Longji, as his wife (it was only a side room). Due to the efforts of Princess Jincheng, Tang Fan determined the border in the Kaiyuan period, and the war between the two sides subsided, and only some small-scale border conflicts, especially after the Tang Dynasty captured Shibao City in the seventeenth year of Kaiyuan, Tubo was even more silent. Wait for your time. After the death of Princess Jincheng in the twentieth year of Kaiyuan, the Tubo hardliners began to take power, represented by the great discourse Yi Xiangle (this person has died in Nanzhao), he seized the opportunity of the slack defense of Longyou, and successfully attacked Shibao City that year, turning the tide of the war in one fell swoop.
After several years of savings, the Tibetan army gradually became stronger, and at this time, Chide Zuzan's ambition had swelled to the extreme, and he tasted the sweetness of sneak attack. In August, he sent the general Iron Blade Sinoluo to attack Shazhou for a long time. But he was killed by Li Qing, the governor of Shazhou, and returned defeated. But the arrow has been wound, his goal is still the rich Longyou, in order to complete the strategic goal, Chide Zuzan decided to go on a tour, the essence of which is to pro-conquest, leaving the new Da Lun Shang Jian Zan to preside over domestic affairs.
Escorted by the guards of the hundred horses, Chide Zuzan slowly came to the front of the car, and he waved goodbye to the hundreds of Tibetan officials who came to see him off. Stepping into the tent, hundreds of trombones sounded in unison. The cavalry began to set off, and the chariots rumbled to the far north under the clear blue sky.
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Longyou Prefecture, Longyou and Hexi Jiedu made Huangfu Weiming kneel in front of the incense case to listen to His Majesty's holy decree, "Qing can take Shibao City as soon as possible, and share my worries, Qin this!" β
"The Emperor Fu Weiming bows and thanks the Holy Grace!"
Huangfu Weiming got up slowly, took the holy decree from the eunuch's hand, and said with a smile: "My father-in-law has not come all the way, and it has been hard. β
The eunuch is a new face, named Ma Yingjun, with a horse face, but it has nothing to do with the word "handsome", in the palace coup d'Γ©tat before the death of Li Heng of Tang Suzong, this person is Empress Zhang's right-hand man.
He handed over the holy decree to Huangfu Weiming, and said with a smile: "Congratulations to Huangfu for getting the qualification for being the prime minister (the Tang Dynasty must first obtain the qualification for the same book), and he will be able to rise one step higher when he returns to the dynasty in the future." β
Huangfu Weiming naturally understood what he meant, smiled and patted his hands, gave him a hint, turned around and shouted, "Someone!" Quickly take my father-in-law to the inner room to drink tea and rest. β
As soon as the eunuch Ma Yingjun left, Huangfu Weiming looked at the holy decree again, the corners of his mouth smiled faintly, and a trace of sharpness flashed in his seemingly clear eyes, Huangfu Weiming was just over half a hundred years old, but his beard was already gray, he was born as an official, and his long-term career as a horse did not change his elegant temperament, compared with Gao Xianzhi, he was more like a pen-holding officer, exuding a sour breath, as if the scientific expedition had not been old for many years, but this was just the appearance, his city was very deep, implicit but not revealed, he was humble in appearance, but ambitious.
He is too Li Heng's teacher, but also the hardcore party, in the heart of the outside but in the court, Li Heng's position is in jeopardy, so that he is deeply worried, in order to prevent the sudden abolition of Tai, Huangfu Weiming and all the Jiedu envoys, in the name of recruiting new troops, quietly expand the establishment, began to private border army, only three years have recruited 30,000 private troops, this army is absolutely in his own hands, is for one day to support the Tai ascending the throne, this day seems to be far away, but in the heart of Huangfu Weiming, it is getting closer and closer.
Holding this thin decree, he has gradually realized the deep meaning behind Li Longji, and named himself a book, the next step is to promote himself to the court, it is very likely to be the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, he knows that Li Longji is the best at using the method of fame promotion and secret descent, 'Has he already noticed something?' β
It should be, Huangfu Weiming remembered that he suddenly named Li Qing as the governor of the Doulu Army when he was a year, and it is very likely that he knew what happened to the Doulu Army, so he sent a person with no background, no qualifications, and no experience to Shazhou as an official.
'Humph! Huangfu Weiming sneered lightly, he knew that Li Longji seemed to be worried about the unstable situation in Longyou, but his real purpose was to wait for the opportunity, everyone understood each other, but they didn't say anything, as if two clear-eyed people were talking nonsense.
'Dong Yanguang', Huangfu Weiming silently read this name twice, maybe Dong Yanguang himself didn't know what Li Longji sent him to Longyou to do, but Huangfu Weiming knew that this person was the future Longyou Jiedu envoy to replace himself.
This Longyou battle is the best time for Li Longji and others, once the battle is over, whether it is victory or defeat, he needs to enter the court to report on his work, he Li Longji is waiting for that day, or kill himself, or empty himself.
However, is he so casual and pinched? Huangfu Weiming looked up at the sky, it was cloudy and drizzling, he sneered, this autumn rain has been falling for too long, it is time to change the sky.
He turned around and ordered loudly: "Pass my order, and order Chu Zhilian to take Shibao City for me at all costs before the Tubo reinforcements arrive!" β
He must lead the army back to Chang'an in triumph before the New Year to accept the review of His Majesty the Emperor.