On August 26, every soldier in the scout battalion and siege camp who set out first received several vials before they set out, one containing medicine for altitude sickness, one was pepper, one was pepper, and one was chili. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 infoNo one knows how long this battle will last and how long it will last, so before setting off from Xinjing, Zhao Ziliang specially ordered the Ordnance and Equipment Department of the Military Machinery Institute to prepare a set of cotton clothes and pants, snow hats, and thick shoes and socks for a soldier, so that the soldiers can carry it with them in case of emergency.

The main army still stayed in Kathmandu for a day of rest, the scout battalion moved quickly, there was a distance of two hundred and forty miles from Kathmandu to the boundary river, the scout battalion only took one day to rush to the edge of the boundary river, it is now late August, the temperature is still slightly higher, the river is deep, the flow speed is rapid, the soldiers can only step on the small soft bridge supported by ropes one by one to cross the river, fortunately, there is no Tibetan army stationed on the other side of the river, and the Tubo people have never known that the Western Qin army will attack from here.

The scout camp crossed the river smoothly, and two thick and long twine ropes were drawn from the bank of the Ni Bora River to the Tibetan side, and this hemp rope was used to strengthen the soft bridge in preparation for the construction of a large bridge when the siege camp arrived.

The task of the scout battalion is not this, after they have made preliminary preparations for the siege camp, they left some people to garrison the bridgehead, and the rest of the people quickly marched north, controlling the small village on the hillside twenty miles to the north, they must make it impossible for the Tubo people in this village to pass on the news of the arrival of the Western Qin army, and then the scout battalion will be dispersed, and quickly reconnoiter the distribution of troops in the Tubo left and left divisions, especially Langketang, Dingri, Malatang, Gongtang, Sidazang, The situation of the garrisons in the main settlements of the Tibetans in Qusanda was clarified.

On the morning of the 27th, the main force of the Western Qin army was preparing to set off from Kathmandu to the Jiehe, and the king of Nibora led hundreds of civil and military officials with thousands of cattle and sheep to the outside of the military camp to ask for an audience.

After Zhao Ziliang received the report, he asked them to enter the barracks, and when King Kama saw Zhao Ziliang, he saluted and said: "Your Majesty, most of our people believe in Brahmanism, believing that all things are animistic and all beings are equal, and some people are unfortunately born as livestock. According to the custom of our Nibra country, livestock should be slaughtered before the army sets out to fight, one is to sacrifice the military flag, and sacrifice to the heavens to bless it; The second is to help them take care of their children as soon as possible, which is a good act of great compassion! Today, the army set off, Xiao Wang and all the ministers of civil and military affairs came to see off the army, and brought a total of 1,000 cattle and sheep to commemorate the military flag, wishing the army flag a victory, and asking Your Majesty for permission! ”

The country of Nibhara is a country with a very strong religious atmosphere, here is known as "there are more gods than people, more temples than houses", whenever there is a festival, the people of the country of Nibhara have to slaughter cattle and sheep to pay tribute to the gods.

After this expedition to Tibet, in order to show that he was of one heart with the Western Qin and fulfilled the obligations of the vassal state, Nibora sent an army of 3,000 people to prepare to fight with the Western Qin army.

Zhao Ziliang waved his hand when he heard this: "It's accurate!" The flag sacrifice ceremony, my Western Qin army also participated!"

Kama hurriedly said, "Thank you, King!" According to the rules of the ceremony, each banner needs at least two cows and eight sheep to pay tribute, and according to the trees of the banner, at least three thousand cattle and sheep are needed, please allow Xiao Wang to order another three thousand cattle and sheep to come! ”

"Okay, go quickly, the army will set off this afternoon, and the flag sacrifice ceremony must be completed before noon, and the auspicious time for departure must not be delayed!" Zhao Ziliang waved his hand and ordered.

"Yes! Your Majesty! ”

An hour later, another 3,000 cattle and sheep were herded into the camp and surrounded by the soldiers.

The ceremony did not officially begin, the camp sounded the drum of "dong dong dong ・・・・・・・", at this time all the preparations for the ceremony have been completed, the soldiers of the army assembled in the open space of the camp according to the order, and arranged a neat phalanx on the east and west south sides of the ceremony, the north side is the stand, and a large open space is vacant in the middle, Zhao Ziliang, King Kama and the military generals and officials on both sides entered the hall in turn, and sat on the stands in turn, Zhao Ziliang sat on a wide throne in the middle, King Kama sat on his right side, followed by the civil and military ministers of the Nibora Kingdom, and to the left of Zhao Ziliang were the civil and military generals of the Western Qin army.

There are many flags on the ground, all of which are military flags above the battalion level, these flags are constantly fluttering in the breeze, and some winter melons, wheat seedlings, red powder, cakes, etc., as well as all kinds of exquisite silverware and bronze utensils are placed under each military flag. The strong smell of incense in the air made all the soldiers of the Western Qin Army feel a trace of mystery and gloom before the ceremony officially began.

Next to each banner was a thick wooden stake, tied with straw, and a priest stood aside, and several shirtless, muscular, and powerful men stood on one side, who were butchers who slaughtered cattle and sheep, and were basically filled by brave soldiers in the army.

When the time came, an official of the Nibra Kingdom came to Kama's side and whispered a few words, Kama nodded, got up and saluted Zhao Ziliang: "Your Majesty, the time has come, has the flag sacrifice ceremony begun?" ”

Zhao Ziliang raised his hand and waved: "Let's start!" ”

"Yes!" The Nibora official agreed, shouting loudly: "The auspicious time has come, and the flag sacrifice ceremony begins!" ”

An old priest dressed in a monk's robe, wearing a monk's hat, a skull on his chest, a skull on his wrists and ankles, and three gray lines on his forehead, sat cross-legged in the middle of the clearing, his hands folded, and the priests squatted beside him in the open space and chanted words in their mouths, blowing conches and ringing brass bells for a while.

The old priest opened his eyes and got up, took a handful of incense from one of the priests, lit it, and inserted it into the censer, and took a handful of petals from the silverware and threw them into the basin of water.

At this time, there were soldiers who kept bringing cattle and sheep over, and the old priest grabbed some petals and stuffed them into a sheep's ear, and whispered something, Zhao Ziliang saw this, pointed to the old priest and asked Kama: "What is the chief priest talking to the livestock?" ”

Kama replied respectfully, "It is to the effect that they are to tell the animals that they are animals in this life to pay off the debts of the previous life, and that they will be reincarnated today and be a good person in the next life." In addition, let them send a message to the gods of Elysium, bless our army on the march, invincible all the way! ”

Zhao Ziliang couldn't help but say: "I didn't expect that this ceremony is quite exquisite!" ”

The goat was dragged by two strong men to a big flag and pressed on a stake wrapped in straw, a butcher with a big waist and a round waist came over with a scimitar, he reached out and touched the neck of the sheep, the knife fell, the goat instantly turned his head in a different place, then the drummer immediately beat the drum in a hurry, "dong dong dong ・・・・・・", the two strong men who held down the sheep immediately dragged the sheep body quickly around the military flag next to it to the clockwise direction three times, the sheep's head was placed under the military flag, the sheep's eyes were half open and half closed, and the ears trembled gently, The petals in the ears fell out.

The goats that had been instructed by the priest were led by the soldiers to each banner for slaughter, and the speed of the chief priest was so fast that it would not take more than five seconds to spend on each sheep before the sheep were taken away and slaughtered.

When more than 3,000 sheep were all slaughtered, the highlight of the flag ceremony began, from now on the slaughter of cattle, the first buffalo was brought over, this is an old cow, walking has been trembling, a pair of eyes constantly dripping with tears keep desolate a large number of people around the crowd.

The old priest concocted it again as he had just done, the cow was led to a large flag next to the stake and bolted up, the butcher came on the field again, he changed to a heavy and bright machete this time, first circled around the cow twice, stood still and raised the machete above his head, legs, waist and abdomen and arms instantly exerted force in turn, the machete drew an arc in the air, like a breeze blowing, the head of the cow fell with the knife light and also fell to the ground together, the neck of the cow spurted out a large amount of blood, the cow body fell to the ground with a bang, Several strong men immediately dragged the oxtail and the ox back and circled around the banner three times, and the head of the ox was quickly placed under the flag, and he exhaled his last breath.

The slaughter of the animals was repeated until noon, when the flags of the armies were full of cattle and sheep's heads, and every animal was slaughtered, and the priests recited incantations, and the drummers and musicians played the drums, as if another soul had ascended to heaven.

When all the cattle and sheep were slaughtered, Zhao Ziliang said to King Kama: "What to do with these cattle and sheep?" ”

Kama said: "Your Majesty, of course, it is to cook, let the soldiers have a full meal, and then go on the road!" ”

Zhao Ziliang immediately ordered: "Okay, pass on the king's order, immediately cook beef and mutton meat, let the soldiers have a full meal, and hand over the meat that can't be eaten to the baggage battalion to make jerky and take it away, as dry food for the soldiers!" ”

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

The meat of thousands of cattle and sheep was really a good meal for the soldiers this time, and everyone was given enough meat and a large bowl of bone broth, and some felt pity, saying: "It is a great pity that there is no wine for such delicious and rich meat!" ”

Someone next to him laughed and scolded: "You are content, now you are going to prepare for a war and work hard, and you still want to drink?" Let's wait until we win the battle! ”

Before the end of the day, the army set out on the march and set off on the road! This time, the Western Qin Army dispatched 12,800 men from the Ninth Army Corps, 3,000 people from the mountain battalion, and more than 5,000 cavalry from the conscripted veterans to form the Provisional Ninety-ninth Army Corps.

On August 28, the siege camp arrived at Jieheben and quickly began to set up camp, then cut down trees and began to build large bridges, and the scout battalion had made preliminary preparations before leaving, and the original cork bridge was reinforced and widened, which greatly facilitated the operation of the siege camp.

On the 29th, the army arrived and crossed the boundary river, and after passing the boundary river, they camped in a village twenty miles away to rest for three days, in terms of mental and physical strength, the soldiers of the Western Qin army did not need to rest, but suddenly increased the altitude, Zhao Ziliang thought that it was necessary to set aside a certain amount of time for the soldiers to adapt. As the saying goes, sharpening knives does not mistake woodcutters, so that the soldiers can adapt to the high altitude in order to minimize the occurrence of altitude sickness.