That night, in the bitter cold of the snow, Wang Zhongji ordered the army to withdraw under the cover of night. Fortunately, the Tibetan soldiers and horses in Shibao City did not know about the withdrawal of the Tang army overnight, so they did not send troops to harass and attack the chaos of the withdrawal. Therefore, although the Tang army evacuated in a hurry, it was also in danger.

Three days later, the 100,000-strong army withdrew into the city of Dom. The soldiers and horses left behind in the city of Doma have built many simple buildings, and the 100,000 soldiers and horses have been able to settle down temporarily. Wang Zhongsi was also temporarily relieved. Doma was not a place for the army to stay for long, there was almost nothing here, supplies were extremely difficult, and the army could not stay there for long.

That night, Wang Zhongsi stayed awake all night, thinking about the significance of this march into Tibet. If it is said that revenge on the Tibetan people, the purpose of connecting the two cities of Doma antelope has been achieved. Although the remaining Stone Castle City was planned to capture the city, it didn't really mean much.

Not to mention that the timing of the current attack on Stone Castle City is really bad, even if it can capture Stone Castle City, what can it be? The three cities next to Zhaling Lake and Ngoling Lake are too far away from the Tang Dynasty, and unless the imperial court wants to destroy the Tubo State and fight the hinterland of Tubo in one go, it will not be able to hold these three cities. The difficulty of supplying supplies and the counterattack of the Tibetans would force the Tang army to withdraw sooner or later, and taking these three cities at the cost of huge casualties was obviously a joke on the lives of the soldiers.

Wang Zhonghe's army to attack Tibet this time was not out of his heart, but was forced to obey the order. Since the imperial court wanted to teach Tubo a lesson, then the purpose of the lesson had been achieved at this time, and Wang Zhongsi thought that he might need to reconsider whether he must capture Shibao City. But Wang Zhongji understood that he could not decide this matter alone, and the secret letter sent by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince made it very clear that he should be careful not to let Li Linfu and Yang Guozhong attack him. Therefore, even if the army is withdrawn, it is necessary to persuade the permission of the imperial court, especially the consent of His Majesty, so as to ensure that nothing goes wrong.

After careful consideration, Wang Zhongji wrote a memo overnight in the city of Doma, hoping to persuade Xuanzong to agree to his idea.

The current situation is explained in detail, as well as the disadvantages of attacking Shibao City, and the compromises say: Shibao City is not beneficial to the country, and there is no damage to the country if it is lost, and Shibao City gathers 70,000 heavy soldiers from Tibet, although the attack can be carried out, but it will lose countless soldiers. Withdrawing the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers for a city in Tibet is not putting the cart before the horse. Praying that His Majesty pondered, the quasi-minister led the army back to the camp of Jishi Mountain. Pending the trial, the opportunity is ripe, and it will be won in one fell swoop.

As an important minister of the Tang Dynasty and a senior general who led the army, Wang Zhongsi can be said to have poured out his heart and lungs, and everything was considered from the overall situation. It is precisely because he is not selfish that Wang Zhongsi dares to write this letter. He believed that with Xuanzong's wisdom, he should understand the current situation and his own hard work, and once Xuanzong approved it, then the retreat would not be attacked by Li Linfu and Yang Guozhong. Both public and private outcomes are the best.

The next day, the news of Wang Zhonghe's request for the withdrawal of troops from the imperial court spread among the senior generals in the army. Wang Zhongji did not intend to hide it from them. Most of the generals were in favor of Wang's move, but some disagreed, believing that Wang's move was ill-conceived and might lead to the court's blame. For this dispatch, the imperial court spent a huge amount of military expenditure, replaced a large number of brand-new armor weapons for the two armies of Hexi Longyou, and provided more and better material assistance, hoping to take the land of two lakes and three cities. And now Wang Zhonghei is going to end it hastily, how can this be what the court said it wants.

Li Guangbi was one of those who held this view, and he asked to see Wang Zhonghe, hoping that Wang Zhongji would immediately send someone to recover the song, otherwise he would be reprimanded by His Majesty. But Wang Zhongsi resolutely disagreed, and reprimanded Li Guangbi and said: "Guangbi, you have followed me for many years, don't you know Ben Shuai's sexuality? Even if the court blames, the blame will tell His Majesty what happened. This operation is a reckless move that outweighs the losses, and we cannot afford to make any further mistakes, and this is the best time to withdraw our troops. ”

Li Guangbi sighed and said: "Dashuai, the last general is not saying that your judgment is wrong, but for the sake of you, Dashuai." You and I both know the internal reasons for this war against Tibet, and Guangbi just doesn't want the big marshal to be accused because of this. ”

Wang Zhongsi shook his head and said: "Your Majesty will understand my painstaking efforts, once Your Majesty agrees, what can others do to me?" ”

Li Guangbi was speechless, as the person who was raised by Wang Zhonghe, Li Guangbi couldn't refute Wang Zhongsi too much, so he had to sigh secretly, praying that the situation he was worried about would not appear.

What everyone didn't know was that the day after Wang Zhonghe's song was sent to the capital, another part of Wang Zhonghe's army in Doma City was also sent on the way to the capital. This letter was written by Sima Dong Yanguang, the marching officer of the Longyou Army. This Dong Yanguang led 10,000 soldiers and horses of the forward army under the jurisdiction of the Right Route Army, and was a veteran figure in the Longyou Army. This person was originally a brave and warlike general, and he made many achievements in the Longyou Army. But Dong Yanguang has long been dissatisfied with Wang Zhongsi's move to promote a group of young generals such as Ge Shuhan. Ge Shuhan was originally only a deputy general in the army, and in just a few years, he was promoted by Wang Zhongsi to be the deputy envoy of Longyou Jiedu, Dong Yanguang thought that his merits were not less than Ge Shuhan, but he was ignored by Wang Zhonghe, so many years he was just a marching Sima, and his position was under Ge Shuhan, which made Dong Yanguang's dissatisfaction begin to pile up.

Because of the pimple in his heart, Dong Yanguang simply neglected military affairs to express his dissatisfaction. For this reason, Wang Zhongsi actually criticized Dong Yanguang by name in front of the generals, making Dong Yanguang lose face. Dong Yanguang knew that he didn't want to have any possibility of promotion under Wang Zhonghe, so when he returned to Beijing for vacation, he took the initiative to visit Li Linfu, hoping to change his situation through Li Linfu. Of course, Li Linfu was overjoyed, he was just about to install his own people under the princeling's Wang Zhonghei, and now Dong Yanguang took the initiative to send it to the door, wouldn't it be a dream thing.

After some investigation, Li Linfu and Dong Yanguang began to secretly communicate with each other. Li Linfu promised Dong Yanguang that he had already agreed with An Lushan that at the right time, Dong Yanguang would be transferred to Hedong Jiedu, which was under the jurisdiction of An Lushan, to serve as the deputy Jiedu envoy. But Dong Yanguang needs to 'perform'.

This time, Dong Yanguang fought with Wang Zhonghe's army against Tubo, which was undoubtedly an excellent opportunity to perform. After Dong Yanguang learned that Wang Zhonghei asked the imperial court to withdraw his troops, he immediately wrote this letter to the political affairs hall. The situation described in Dong Yanguang's recital is diametrically opposed to Wang Zhonghe's. All kinds of unfavorable factors have become favorable factors in Dong Yanguang's twists and turns. The situation of not continuing the grain, grass and firewood in the army does not exist in Dong Yanguang's twists and turns. What exists is only the fear of the enemy and the cowardice and incompetence of the coach revealed between the lines.

Dong Yanguang even drew up a battle plan, claiming that according to this plan, only 50,000 soldiers and horses would be needed to take Shibao City. As a general who has led troops to fight for many years, Dong Yanguang's plan is also detailed and concrete, and it seems quite feasible. This further sets off Wang Zhonghe's incompetence.

The two letters were folded one after the other, and were sent to the capital by fast horses. An uproar will also arise because of these two letters.

……

In Bison City, post-battle construction is in full swing. On the second day after Liu Dehai occupied Bison City, he returned to Yazhou with more than 2,000 camels and horses and 5,000 logistics soldiers and horses to deliver construction materials to Bison City. The only materials available for Bison City were a large amount of sand and a small number of trees, which was not enough to support the need to fortify Bison City, establish a garrison in Salt Lake, or even set up beacons around Bison City. Therefore, it is necessary to transport a large amount of supplies from Jiannan.

The amount of work is huge, and the reinforcement of Bison City is not enough, and it is not ordinary to build an earthen city and beacon in the land of salt lakes and even in the desert. But fortunately, Wang Yuan had enough manpower at hand, and many craftsmen among the captured Tubo captives would use clay mud and sand under the Jinchuan River to make hard sand bricks, which were quite hard after drying, but solved a big problem for Wang Yuan.

Tens of thousands of soldiers and thousands of prisoners toiled, and in the space of a month or so, a small fortress was built next to the salt lake. The fort could accommodate 3,000 people and served as a base for digging salt, and the basic prototype was formed. The road leading to Bison City, which is thirty miles away, is also lined with supply stations every five miles along the way, making it easy to replenish supplies along the way. The same supply stations were established in the nearly 100-mile desert leading from Bison City to Yazhou, and dozens of them were built along the way. A large amount of fresh water supplies were stockpiled for the camel caravans entering and leaving the desert for replenishment, and became a marker for the march along the way.

In the area west of the salt lake that stretched to the southwest of Bison City, which stretched for more than 60 miles, more than 30 beacon forts were established, and 50 soldiers were stationed in each place. The main purpose was to warn the Tibetan soldiers and horses from raiding Bison City. Fifty or sixty miles away, once the enemy was spotted, these beacons could send a warning signal to inform the garrison in Bison City of the direction of the enemy's numbers. Either evacuate in advance, or prepare for battle, you can plan ahead.

On the oasis of Bison City, along the banks of the Jinchuan River, more than 20 salt frying workshops have been established. In order to prevent pollution of the Jinchuan River, a precious water source. These workshops are located close to the edge of the desert, and the sewage from salt production is discharged into the desert. Wang Yuan asked Liu Dehai to dig up a large number of easy-to-survive trees in the Jiannan Mountains and transport them to the oasis for planting, although he knew that not all of these trees could survive, but as long as a small part could survive, it could become a magic weapon to resist the invasion of wind and sand into the oasis and improve the environment here.

For more than a month, Wang Yuan had been busy in Bison City, and a month was enough time for his fair skin to turn bronzed. But the busier he is, the more energetic he is, because Wang Yuan is very happy to see the blueprint planned in his heart being realized little by little. The whole plan takes a long time to take shape, but with a good start, everything will fall into place.

On the eighth day of November, a historic moment is approaching for Wang Yuan. The first salt from the salt lake is about to be excavated, then transported to Bison City for purification and finally packed out of the desert. Wang Yuan was involved in all the processes, and he wanted to witness this extraordinary moment for himself.