The Tang Dynasty soldiers and horses attacked again, but the Tubo royal court had already expected this result. As early as after the defeat of Wang Zhongji in the Battle of Shibao City, the great prime minister Yixiang Yele played the Tubo Zan Pu Qi Dai Zhu Dan (Chide Zuzan), reminding the Qi Dai Zhu Dan to prepare for the Tang Dynasty's retaliation and counterattack.

This ruler bead Dan Zampu is the husband of Princess Jincheng. When the princess of Jincheng entered Tibet to marry this person, the Tang Dynasty originally planned to ensure peace between Tubo and the Tang Dynasty with a policy of harmony, but it backfired, and the Zhudan people also had to fight, and the war between the Tang Dynasty continued. Princess Jincheng has already died in the last year of the Kaiyuan Dynasty, and the last trace of family ties between Tubo and the Tang Dynasty has long been severed, which is also the most intensive time for large-scale wars between the Tang Dynasty and Tubo between the end of the Kaiyuan Dynasty and the seventh year of Tianbao, and the two sides have already torn their faces.

Of course, Zhu Dan knew that the Tang Dynasty was not easy to mess with, but he had never been afraid of the Tang Dynasty. It is not for nothing that the Tibetan State can stand tall on the plateau and become the second largest power after the Tang Dynasty. Although the war between the Tang Dynasty and the Tibetan region was defeated most of the time, the Tang Dynasty was unable to penetrate deep into the Tibetan hinterland and pose a real threat to the Tibetan region.

The land where Tibet was founded is mostly a plateau and snowy land, and the harsh environment is unimaginable. In addition, the combat power of the Tibetan State is also extraordinary. Although there are only 200,000 standing soldiers and horses in the Tibetan State, most of the men in the Tibetan State are good at riding and archery, and they are extremely brave. In the snowy region of the plateau, the Tubo people have an extraordinary toughness and tenacity. Once the state has a war, the Tibetan state can quickly expand its troops and horses several times in a short period of time.

In the battle with Qinghai Lake of the Tang Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty soldiers and horses sent 180,000 troops to attack, and at that time it was thought that only 100,000 soldiers and horses of Tubo would fight, but in just half a month, the Tubo State actually increased its troops to 400,000 people. Although the Tang Dynasty claimed that the Battle of Qinghai Lake was a complete victory for the Tang Dynasty, in fact, each had its own victory and defeat, and failed to achieve a complete victory in the battle, partly because the Tang Dynasty soldiers and horses did not expect that the Tubo Congress would have so many soldiers and horses. All this is due to the fact that the Tibetan State can quickly recruit soldiers and horses to join the army to fight, and the adult men of the Tibetan State are good at riding and archery, and they can participate in the battle without much training when recruited into the army.

This time, of course, it is impossible to take it lightly, anticipating that the Tang Dynasty will launch a large-scale retaliatory action, the ruler belt Danzhu immediately ordered to raise soldiers and horses in the whole country of Tubo, and when the Tang Dynasty began to attack Tubo, the size of the Danzhu in just three months more than doubled the number of soldiers and horses, the total number of people as high as forty-three.

The Tubo people believed that the main direction of the Tang army's attack was nothing more than the northern and western borders, which were the places where the Tang army's heavy troops were stationed and the easiest entrance to penetrate into the territory of Tubo, so the newly recruited 200,000 soldiers and horses were left in the vicinity of Luoqi City and Pibo City and Namu Lake to defend the safety of the capital, and the remaining 100,000 soldiers and horses were divided into two to reinforce the western and northern borders. Facts have proved that the Great Bolu Kingdom in the west was first attacked by Gao Xianzhi, and traces of the Tang army's soldiers and horses were also found in the north, which shows that their Tang attack strategy was understood by them.

The only thing they were surprised by was the Jiannan Army in the east. It's not that they are negligent, but according to common sense, the number of Tang soldiers and horses in Jiannan Road is not large, and there is a desert isolation, if the Tang army marches from the desert and attacks deep into the hinterland of Tibet, it is tantamount to looking for death. Once the Tang army crossed the desert land, it was equivalent to cutting off its own way out. The nearly 80,000 troops stationed in Pibo City will immediately reinforce Yak City. It only takes a few days to block the Tang army in the area of the Yak River, and then the Tang army has no way to retreat, and there is no plan to advance, so it can only be made dumplings by the Tubo army.

Of course, the only way for the Jiannan army to attack was Yaozhou in the southeast, and tracing from Yaozhou along the Jinsha River into Tubo could avoid the danger of the desert, but the 40,000-strong army stationed in the city of Luqi in the upper reaches of the Jinsha River was precisely to cut off this only feasible offensive route. The valley where the city sits is crisscrossed and the woods are dense, and there is almost no other path except from the main road where the city is located to the border of Tibet. And the army of the city was obviously enough to block the route of the Tang army's intention to attack from the southeast.

When the Southern Army of the Tang Dynasty really marched from the desert, the general of Pibo City, who received the report, was stunned at the time, but it was only stunned, and then he felt that a good opportunity had come. After the defenders of Yak City sent out a plea for help, Ernaragu immediately led 60,000 troops to reinforce according to the pre-plan. There is only a seven-day journey from Pibo City to Yak City, and the defenders of Yak City found the Jiannan Army in the desert, and it will take at least three or four days to reach Yak City, as long as the defenders of Yak City can hold on for two or three days, the reinforcements can annihilate all the Jiannan Army under Yak City.

However, when Enalgu was only halfway through the march, news came that the Yak City had been taken. Enaergu was really stunned this time, calculating that only four days had passed, and it would take three or four days for the Tang army to get out of the desert, which means that the Tang army captured Yak City almost immediately after leaving the desert, which is unimaginable. Even if the Tibetan soldiers and horses have always been bad at defending the city, it is not enough that more than 10,000 defenders will not be able to hold on for even a day or two.

Next, Ernaragu encountered a problem, whether to continue to march into Yak City or retreat to Pibo City? To continue to march into Yak City is to launch a siege battle with the Tang Army in Yak City, which is a headache for the ancient Er Na. This rescue was to fight head-on with the Tang army, and the 60,000 soldiers and horses were mainly cavalry, but they did not bring any siege equipment. The cavalry siege is not even as good as the infantry. Moreover, once the Yak City was lost, the Tang army had several roads to withdraw, one was to advance west to Tubo and threaten some small cities in the north of the city, the second was to attack the city of Lu to the southeast, and the third could take the risk and directly attack the city of Motuo behind the city of Lu to the south, and it was impossible for him to lead the army to run behind the butt of the Tang army.

The Tang army retreated westward, because the area around Namu Lake in the north of the city was heavily armed, and the Tang army would be surrounded by heavy troops when they went there. But if the Tang army chooses to attack the city of law or the city of Motuo to the south, and it is even likely to take advantage of the emptiness of the city to threaten the city, it is not a joke. As the general in charge of the defense of the eastern border of Tibet, he must not allow the city of Luo to be threatened from the east, and the city of Pibo is the last barrier to the city of Luo and cannot be lost.

After thinking about it again, Ernaragu decided to send 10,000 cavalry to the left of Yak City to reconnoiter the movements of the Tang army, and the rest of the soldiers and horses returned to the city of Pibocheng. At the same time, he issued a warning to the defenders of the cities of Metuo and the cities of Lyria, telling them to pay close attention to the traces of the enemy, and as soon as the direction of the Tang army's attack was determined, they would immediately report to themselves, and they would lead reinforcements.

……

In the yak city, the Jiannan army abandoned the city after a little rectification, and all the materials in the city were swept away. Wang Yuan originally wanted to send some troops and horses to occupy the Yak City, so as to isolate the north and south of Tibet to a limited extent, and at the same time remove the threat of the Bison City. But Wang Yuan suddenly found this idea unrealistic. It was unwise to send troops to stay in Yak City, which not only weakened their own troops, but also put this army in danger, which did not play a big role in isolating the north and the south. Therefore, Wang Yuan chose to evacuate immediately after looting and destroying the city.

When the 10,000 cavalry of Enagu arrived at Yak City two days later, Yak City was already in ruins. All the buildings and facilities in the city have been destroyed and burned, and the city is empty. After inquiring about the Tibetan people who were wandering in the wilderness, they received the news that the Tang soldiers had set fire to the city two days earlier and marched southeast. The cavalry general immediately turned around and hurried back to Pibo City to report the news. Judging from the movements of the Tang army, it must have gone to the city of Lulu.

The 40,000 Jiannan Army withdrew from Yak City two days ago and went straight to Lvji City. Yak City is a four-day journey from Lvji City, and the time is enough to catch up with the meeting schedule with Li Mi and Ge Luofeng's army. However, the further southeast it went, the mountains were crisscrossed, the roads were difficult to travel, the terrain was dangerous, and the march of the army was extremely difficult. But fortunately, along the Yak River is the direction of the city, and it is not dangerous to recognize the wrong road. Suffering from the lack of warships, it would have been easy for the army to fall down the rapids, but now it was very difficult to march above the mountains and valleys on both sides of the river, which were getting higher and deeper.

More than 60 miles down from Yak City can be called Jinsha River. The surging river crosses the canyon to the east, the water is surging, and the mud and sand are rolling, which is very terrifying. The army marched on the high bank on the north side of the canyon, and tens of thousands of soldiers and horses stretched for miles, but they were like ants against the backdrop of the river.

In the evening of the fourth day, Pegasus, a scout who was exploring the way, rushed back to report that he had arrived at the city of Lyria. Wang Yuan hurriedly rode his horse to the front to take a look, but saw that under the sunset, a large city was entrenched on the cliff on the south bank of the Jinsha River. The walls that stretch for miles look strong and tall, and the arrow towers on the high walls are densely packed, and they look like they are solemn.

The good news was that there were no signs of fighting, indicating that Li Mi and Ge Luofeng's army had not been attacked, although Wang Yuan expected them to have reached the foot of the city. The bad news is that his army is separated from the city by a deep canyon, and below the canyon is the torrent of the surging Jinsha River.

Wang Yuan did not know that the city was on the south bank of the Jinsha River, and after capturing the Yak City, the army also had the opportunity to swim across the Yak River, which was not in a hurry, and arrived directly from the south bank. But Wang Yuan can't do that. Thought that once the river was crossed, there was no way back. There is also a river south of the Jinsha River called the Lancang River, and if the army marches in the cliff terrain between the two rivers, it is tantamount to coming out of the Jedi. Once this kind of terrain is blocked in the middle, there is almost no way to retreat except for a battle to the death, so Wang Yuan would rather march from the north shore to give the army room to maneuver.

What we need to do now is to get in touch with Li Mige Luo Feng's soldiers and horses, and then survey a place where the river can be crossed to cross the river to converge, and then attack the city from the east, which is the safest way.

Wang Yuan ordered the army to set up camp in the valley north of the canyon. Since he didn't know the location of Li Mi and Ge Luofeng, Wang Yuan decided to cross the river with Gongsun Lan to find them.