The sun rises above the oasis and shines on the head of the Bison City, which is already fluttering the Tang Dragon Flag. The battle for Bison City is over.

Lu Xizan's bloody head hung on the flagpole of the primary and secondary school yards in the city, and his unwilling eyes stared indifferently at the soldiers and horses of the Jiannan Army galloping back and forth on the school yard and the more than 2,000 captured Tubo soldiers who were dejected.

Lu Xizan had reason not to be reconciled, because he did not die in battle, but was teased after encountering Liu Jun. Liu Jun asked him to dismount and kowtow and surrender, but he could spare his life. Without hesitation, Lu Xizan dismounted and kowtowed to the child, but just as he was kowtowing, the cunning young man swung his sword and cut off his head. Before he died, he was insulted, and of course Lu Xizan was extremely unwilling.

The post-war clean-up and inventory work was carried out in an orderly manner. Groups of captured Tibetan soldiers were escorted to the small school field. Weapons, supplies, and armor were piled up like a hill in the corner of the school yard. Wang Yuan stood still on the high platform of the school grounds, his bloodshot eyes glancing at the audience majestically.

After a while, Song Jian's generals stepped forward to pay a visit, and Wang Yuan smiled and said: "The generals have worked hard, how are the results counted?" ”

Song Jiangong said: "Yu Dashuai, 2,379 Tubo soldiers were captured. Four thousand camels. There are still countless food supplies. Our army suffered 2,300 casualties. ”

Wang Yuan nodded and said, "Very good." The soldiers were tired, so they gave orders to go down, cook a good meal, distribute meat, and reward the soldiers. Then let the brothers sleep well, and it doesn't matter if you sleep until dark. The custody of the prisoners and the guarding were left to my personal guard battalion. ”

Song Jiangong arched his hand and said, "Obey." ”

The order was passed down, and the soldiers and horses everywhere returned to make a meal, and the tired soldiers ate a full meal, and then fell asleep one by one. Zhao Qing led a thousand guards and soldiers and horses to scatter all over the city, and took on the heavy responsibility of guarding and guarding.

Wang Yuan took Tan Ping and several of his personal guards to the captured Tibetan soldiers. Looking at these captured soldiers, Wang Yuan was extremely happy in his heart. In addition to capturing Bison City, the biggest gain this time was the capture of these Tibetan soldiers and more than 4,000 camels. The captives were men in the prime of life, and they were the best coolies. The mining of the salt lake required a lot of labor, and Wang Yuan had planned to hire the people of Jiannan to come, but now the more than 2,000 captives could be used as labor to dig for salt, which saved a lot of money.

And the four thousand camels, the salt to be transported out of the desert, and these camels are going to be of great use. It was extremely difficult to walk in the desert, and it would have been impossible for the cart to come to Bison City without the help of tens of thousands of soldiers along the way. Camels are the best means of transport on sand. Wang Yuan originally wanted to buy a large number of camels, and the people living along the desert area in Jiannan raised a lot of camels, but those were all livestock that the people relied on for survival, and the price was also very expensive, and these 4,000 camels saved a lot of money. In total, at least hundreds of thousands of dollars have been saved. Wang Yuan didn't plan to give out this money for nothing, since he shared the account with the Yang family, this money had to be included in the cost, and the 300,000 yuan start-up fee paid by the Yang family was mostly in his pocket.

There are a lot of things that follow, but Wang Yuan is not in a hurry. It's always a step-by-step process. According to Wang Yuan's plan, the army would stay in Bison City for a while. First, to guard against the news of the fall of Bison City will provoke a counterattack by the Tubo people, who have the ability to repel the Tibetan soldiers and horses. Second, it will take a lot of work to occupy Bison City and control the salt lake for a long time.

The city should be repaired and reinforced, and a beacon fortress should be built around Bison City to give early warning. The area around the salt lake 30 miles away should be built with a beacon warning to facilitate better control of this area. In addition, a small earthen city was to be built in the land of the salt lake, where the salt diggers could live and a small number of soldiers and horses to guard it. The route from Bison Town to Salt Lake is planned. Not to mention opening up roads, at least plan a reasonable route that avoids the tall sand dunes and allows camels to pass.

In the oasis near Bison City, a base is also to be built capable of purifying salt. There is plenty of water to purify salt nearby. Toxic water can be discharged directly into the desert without polluting the environment. Wang Yuan also did not want to waste capacity to transport a large amount of unpurified salt, Wang Yuan hoped that the salt transported from the desert could be directly transported to the capital through the Yang family's car shop in Jiannan and handed over to Yang Guozhong for sale, without having to stay in Jiannan.

In short, everything needs to be carefully planned and efficient. I don't know when Bison City will be recaptured by the Tubo people, so a large amount of mining, high efficiency and rapid benefits are what Wang Yuan wants. This will also be the next thing that Wang Yuan needs to arrange with his energy, and in a short period of time, Wang Yuan will not be able to leave Bison City.

……

When Wang Yuan took Bison City and began to make all kinds of preparations for the mining of the salt lake, on the west bank of Zhaling Lake in the north, the 100,000-strong army led by Wang Zhong's brother Shuhan Li Guangbi was still trapped by quicksand and had to be stationed on the Gobi Desert six or seven miles away from Shibao City, and the 70,000 Tubo army in Shibao City was silently opposite each other across a land of quicksand.

As time passed, the temperature became colder and colder day by day. Wang Zhongji went to see if the quicksand had frozen hard almost every day, but each time he returned disappointed. The weather was indeed cold, and the surface of the Land of Quicksand had been frozen hard. But the hard shell of this surface can withstand the passage of men and horses, but it cannot withstand the crushing of heavy siege equipment. When the catapult runs over it, the ground bursts open like fragile eggshells. Then, the siege machine was stuck in the quicksand and could no longer move for half a minute.

Wang Zhongsi had to continue to wait, waiting for the cold to freeze the soil thicker, which also brought huge problems. The 100,000 Tang troops were stationed on the Gobi Desert, more than 200 miles away from the Jishishan military camp, and logistical supply became a big problem. The logistics soldiers and horses only needed to transport supplies of food, grass and weapons, but now they have an additional item to transport, that is, firewood and charcoal for heating. It wasn't a small amount of firewood and charcoal, it was charcoal and charcoal that would supply an army of 100,000 for heating. Hundreds of truckloads of firewood were consumed in the barracks every day, because the Tang army's hands and feet were frostbitten, and their faces were chapped, and if they did not make a fire to keep warm, they would not survive for three days on the Gobi Desert.

Wang Zhongsi, Ge Shuhan, Li Guangbi, and others all realized that they had underestimated the bitter cold of the Gobi Desert, where the cold and unobstructed cold wind was comparable to a sword, and the wind and frost sword killed and wounded their own soldiers and horses like an enemy, and they had nothing to do.

In the middle of October, the wind blew all night, and by dawn, the Gobi Desert was white. A heavy snow finally fell. The temperature after the snow was even colder to the bone, and Wang Zhongsi got good news and bad news.

The good news is that the former army has reported the situation in the land of quicksand, and trebuchets have been able to pass through the land of quicksand safely. The extremely cold weather finally froze the sand thick enough and hard enough. The bad news is that because of this heavy snowfall, the supply of food, grass and firewood in logistics is in a desperate situation. Supplies after the snow were extremely difficult, and the passage of vehicles and horses became sluggish, and the supply was drastically reduced. Even there were difficulties in transporting the grain and grass materials from the Jishi Mountain camp from the Tang Dynasty, let alone sending the grain, grass and firewood from the Jishi Mountain camp to Wang Zhonghe's military camp.

Geshuhan suggested that while the army still had a few days of supplies, he would attack Stone Castle City immediately, and there could be no further delay. Even though the siege of the city after the snow faced many difficulties, there was no time to hesitate. But Li Guangbi's words made Ge Shuhan silent for a long time.

"If the Tibetans evacuate the city of Stone Castle as if they abandoned the city of Doma and burn all the supplies and houses in the city of Stone Castle, what can we do even if we occupy the city of Stone Castle? Isn't it like being stationed in the wilderness, and having to endure the situation of being deprived of food and firewood? And what is even more terrifying is that if the Tibetan soldiers and horses learn of our situation, delay for a few days and then turn back to attack, our 100,000-strong army will be able to defeat them when the mountains and rivers are exhausted? ”

This sentence made Wang Zhongsi and Ge Shuhan's hearts sink to the valley, this is not a joke, once the army runs out of food and firewood, the hungry stomach is cold, and the soldiers with frozen hands and feet can still fight? Isn't it a joke?

As a result of the discussion, there are only two ways to go, one is to take Stone Castle City desperately. The second is to take advantage of the surplus food in the army to immediately withdraw the troops and withdraw to the city of Doma to rest. When we arrived at the city of Dom, the supply line was a little shorter, and there was a rebuilt military camp in the city to shelter it, and there were strong walls to resist it. When the ice and snow on the Gobi Desert melt and the supply of grain, grass and firewood is sufficient, they will attack Shibao City.

Li Guangbi and Ge Shuhan did not dare to express their position, and the decision on such a general advance and retreat was up to the coach, and they had no right to say more. Wang Zhongsi didn't decide what to do right away, he wanted to think carefully before making a decision.

The next morning, the former army reported to Wang Zhonghei that the Tibetan soldiers and horses in Shibao City seemed to have an intention to go out of the city to fight. Wang Zhongsi hurriedly rode his horse to the front of the battle to take a look from afar, and saw thousands of Tibetan cavalry galloping back and forth in the snow for a long time, looking like 'you come to fight me'.

Wang Zhonghe's heart was bright, and he ordered that he should not go to battle, summoned Li Guangbi's brother Shuhan and the generals in the army, and announced the order to withdraw the army tonight. Because Wang Zhongsi had realized that the provocation of the Tibetan soldiers and horses out of the city was a signal, they may have guessed their supply difficulties, and these thousands of Tibetan soldiers and horses went out of the city, first, to see if the land of quicksand could be passed, and secondly, it was a temptation.

Once the land of quicksand is tested to be passable, but the Tang army does not move, it can basically be concluded that the Tang army is in difficulty. The bold provocation even provoked the Tang army to attack the city, and if the Tang army did not dare to attack the city, it would prove the speculation. Then next, the Tibetan soldiers and horses are afraid that they will turn against the guest and attack the Tang army.

Wang Zhongsi's analysis was recognized by Li Guangbi and Ge Shuhan, the crisis was imminent, and the Tubo people were very likely to attack the Tang army in turn, and if they really ran out of food and grass, then there was no need to fight. The Tibetans had insight into the weakness of the supply cut-off, and the initiative in this battle was in the hands of the Tibetans, and at this time retreating to avoid the war was the only choice.