Chapter 448: Fierce Battle
After Nuo Haobo and Ashinahun determined the situation, they urgently issued an order, and the whole army immediately formed a team to launch an attack on the Tubo people who blocked the way, striving to break through their blockade as soon as possible and prevent being surrounded by the Tubo.
The soldiers were halfway through their meal and immediately threw away the food they had already prepared and stopped eating. In fact, they will be able to eat well in half a minute, but they would rather be half full.
In ancient times, warfare relied entirely on physical strength, and you could not eat too much before the battle. Otherwise, it will affect the performance of combat effectiveness.
Nuo Haobo and Ashinahun came to the front of the troops to take a look, and found that the Tubo people blocking the way had already begun to line up, and they did not launch an attack on the Tang army, making it clear that they were just trying to block the way of the Tang army.
After a regiment of the 22nd Provisional Cavalry Division was broken, Ashinahon concentrated the main force of the cavalry and prepared to attack. Noho followed with the infantry.
In order to save time, Ashinahun saw that the main force of the cavalry was basically in place, so he ordered an attack.
He raised his sword and shouted, "Attack!" Then he rushed forward first, followed by more than 20,000 Tang army iron cavalry.
The Tubo people did not charge to meet the enemy, but prepared bows and crossbows and quietly waited for the arrival of the Tang army.
At 300 steps, 200 steps, and 150 steps, the Tibetans shot the first row of arrows.
Thousands of arrows flew whizzing, and many cavalry of the Tang army fell to the ground, but it did not affect the attack speed of the cavalry.
At this time, the second row of arrow rain arrived again, this time the distance was too close, and it was a coincidence that an arrow hit Ashinahong's horse eye, and the war horse was startled, and Ashinahong fell off the horse, and the helmet hit a stone, and immediately knocked him unconscious.
At this time, the advantages of the new style of the Tang Army were revealed. The officers and men of the Tang Dynasty were not affected by the situation of the commander-in-chief, and they continued to attack bravely under the leadership of their respective direct commanders.
The vanguard of the Tang army violently collided with the Tubo army's formation, and the Tubo people's formation immediately sunk in. The Tibetans resisted stubbornly and stopped the Tang army's onslaught, and then the two sides fell into a melee.
The cavalry of the Tubo people has about 20,000 people, although it is slightly less than the Tang army, but they are the elite troops of the Tubo people, and the strength of the two sides is basically equal, and it is difficult to distinguish the winner for a while.
Noho led the infantry to advance quickly to support the cavalry. At this time, the cavalry of both sides was intertwined, and if the infantry of the Tang Army could arrive, it would inevitably be able to quickly change the tide of the battle.
At this moment, the cavalry of the Tibetan people appeared in all directions, and judging from the uniform, there were regular troops, local armed forces, and a large number of civilian armed forces. They roared and pounced on the Don army.
Noho was very depressed. Although the combat effectiveness of these miscellaneous armed forces is not strong, the Tang Army must also disperse its efforts to deal with them. The infantry of the Tang army was forced to line up and counterattack these Tibetan cavalry.
The Tang army was well-trained, and they used bows and arrows to stop the harassment of the Tibetan cavalry again and again. However, they were pinned down and unable to support the cavalry of the Don army.
At this time, the Tibetan cavalry continued to come, and the number of them increased.
Nuo Haobo felt the seriousness of the situation, it was not a way to go on like this, once the main force of Tubo arrived, the Tang army would inevitably be encircled, and it was likely that the whole army would be annihilated.
Nuo Haobo ordered a small number of infantry to be left behind, entangled with the surrounding Tubo cavalry, and he led the main force to rush to the main battlefield in front, striving to quickly open the road to the border of the Tang Dynasty.
Seeing the Tang army's formation moving, the Tubo people pounced even more frantically.
Nuo Haobo couldn't take care of it anymore, and commanded the main force of the infantry to run forward.
At this time, Nuo Haobo was not very worried, because he had already notified the 2nd Cavalry Division to come for reinforcements, and the time should have come.
The 2nd Cavalry Division was one of the main forces of the Tang Army, with a total strength of 15,000 men, well-equipped and well-trained, and the combat effectiveness of one division exceeded that of two provisional divisions. Once they arrived, they could easily crush the Tibetan cavalry blocking the road by attacking the Tang army here.
However, what Nuo Haobo didn't know was that the herald he had sent earlier had already been intercepted and killed by the Tibetans on the road, and the 2nd Cavalry Division had not received an order for reinforcements at all!
Just when the Tang infantry rushed to support the cavalry, the blocking troops they left behind fell into the heavy encirclement of the Tibetan cavalry, and soon after, they were swallowed up by the Tubo.
The Tibetans eliminated the Tang army, which was responsible for blocking the attack, and continued to pounce on the main infantry of the Tang army.
Nuo Haobo ordered all his troops to continue to send small troops to block the following Tibetans, and he led the main force to continue to advance.
Finally, the main force of 10,000 Tang infantry led by Nuo Haobo rushed to the battlefield where the cavalry was engaged, and they immediately threw themselves into battle despite fatigue.
On the battlefield at this time, the cavalry units on both sides were exhausted. The arrival of the Tang infantry immediately changed the situation on the battlefield, and the Tibetans were on the verge of collapse.
At this moment, a cavalry team of 10,000 people in Tibet rushed to the battlefield and entered the battle, and the two sides fell into a melee again.
Soon after, the Tubo, who were trailing, annihilated the blocking force of the Tang army and joined the siege of the main force of the Tang army.
At this time, the troops of the 2nd Cavalry Division of the Tang Army were still nowhere to be seen.
Realizing that the 2nd Cavalry Division was no longer hopeful, he ordered his troops to charge in the direction of the border with all their might, striving to break through the resistance of the Tibetans.
The Tibetan commander saw through the Tang army's attempt, sent a herald, and ordered the Tubo people who were following to not continue to follow the attack, but to make a detour in the direction of the border and join the Tubo blocking force.
The Tang army rushed desperately, and the Tubo people desperately intercepted, and the two sides were stuck together.
The situation of the Tang army became more and more difficult, and Tubo people from all directions continued to rush to join the battle.
Nuo Haobo ordered the Flying Tigers to break out of the siege alone and go back to mobilize reinforcements. The rest of the troops no longer broke through, but gathered centripetally, formed a formation to protect themselves, and bought time to wait for reinforcements.
After a fierce battle, a detachment of the Flying Tiger Army, now with only 700 people left, suddenly attacked to the east, broke through the encirclement of the Tubo, and broke away from the war group.
When the Tibetans saw a small force of the Tang army fleeing, they only divided a small force to pursue it, and the main force still blocked the way of the main force of the Tang army.
The Flying Tiger Army, which broke out of the encirclement, still about 500 men, marched all the way east, preparing to avoid the interception of the Tibetans, and then turn north.
The Tibetan cavalry that followed them, about 1,000 people, were very crazy and chased after them.
The commander of the Flying Tiger Army decided to teach these Tibetans a lesson, and instead of retreating, they took out their bows and crossbows and waited for the Tibetans to approach.
When the Tibetans approached one hundred and fifty paces, the commander of the Flying Tiger Army gave the order to shoot.
The Flying Tiger Army was well-trained and had accurate archery, and when the first row of arrows rained down, dozens of people were killed by the Tubo people who ran in front.