The Tang landing force led by Ling Zhuangfei quickly seized the beachhead of Haiphong, and dozens of fishermen here were inexplicably shocked by the sudden appearance of the Tang army. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 infoThey are also bullied by Chinese pirates from South China on weekdays, and their lives are relatively embarrassing, and they will still be extremely nervous when they see a large number of soldiers. However, it was obvious that the Tang army had no interest in this small fishing village by the sea, and after a large number of Tang soldiers assembled on the shore, they immediately moved towards their preset targets.

Just as the landing force was rushing towards Thang Long, the Tay Son Army, which had already learned of the invasion, also organized troops in an attempt to establish a defensive line in the area east of Thang Long before the Tang army reached Thang Long to block the Tang army's advance. However, this Xishan Army of about 2,000 people was blocked by the gunboat formation of the Tang Navy in the Taiping River area.

If the Xishan Army wants to stop the Tang Army, of course, the best way is to cut off the bridge over the Taiping River, defend the river, and block the Tang Army on the other side of the river. But now they were surprised to find that the free movement of the Tang gunboats on the river prevented them from crossing the river.

The encounter began with four gunboats of the Don Army intercepting the troops of the Xishan Army who were preparing to cross the river to establish a defensive line, and the Tang gunboats immediately began shelling the Xishan Army on both sides of the river bank. The troops of the Xishan Army were all light infantry, and they were not even equipped with many muskets, let alone artillery, they were suddenly bombarded by the gunboat formation, and immediately there was a great chaos, and the Xishan Army on both sides of the river began to flee everywhere to avoid the artillery bombardment, but this escape, they could not form any formation, and it was completely impossible to continue to carry out the pace of blocking the advance of the Tang Army.

The defending troops of the Xishan Army had not yet made official contact with the Tang Army, and they were scattered by several gunboats, which was also particularly sad.

Ling Zhuangfei quickly ordered the gunboats to begin assembling at the Red River on the side of Thang Long Mansion. and to block any troops sent from Thang Long. to create better conditions for the advance of the Tang Army. Subsequently, the Xishan Army did try to continue to send troops. But the gunboats in the Red River did a good job of blocking any attempt by the Xishan Army to go out of the city to fight.

Five and a half hours after the Tang army landed, the vanguard of the Tang army arrived at Thang Long and looked at Thang Long across the Red River. At this time, the Xishan Army was guarding Shenglong City, and it was Wu Wenchu, the great Sima of the Xishan Dynasty, who was also an early general of the Xishan Army, and he was a person with more strategy and combat power. However, at this time, Wu Wenchu was already at a loss, he didn't expect that just one day later, his 20,000 army was besieged by the Tang people in Shenglong City. You can't go in the front, you can't go back.

"The lord has really made a mistake! This Tang man is fierce and stubborn, and his combat power is strong, it is said that he has few defeats, and he has entered the army quickly, and there is no call-up at all. The lord decided that the Tang people would not interfere with me Annan, but he didn't expect that he didn't even say hello now, and he was killed under Thang Long City. With the military strength of the Tang State, I am afraid that at this time, it is not only in Shenglong to send troops, but also in danger of our Xishan Dynasty. ”

Just when Wu Wenchu was worried about the fate of the Xishan Dynasty. The Tang army had already begun its offensive against Thang Long. Several gunboats armed with 155-mm guns fired shells at the walls of Thang Long City. Thang Long City was the core of Truong Truong's rule over northern Vietnam. The city defenses were also extremely strong. However, when the Tang army built gunboats equipped with 155-mm heavy guns, it took into account the bombardment of strong fortifications next to the coast or rivers, and the use of explosive shells and armor-piercing shells of naval guns was very threatening to these fortifications.

Sure enough, after several rounds of shelling, the Thang Long city wall on the riverside had been collapsed by the cannons of several gunboats, and the Vietnamese defending the city jumped down from the wall in panic, and all the defenses on this side had been broken. Ling Zhuangfei immediately ordered the Tang soldiers to start crossing the river to attack Thang Long City, and the expected fierce street fighting did not happen, Wu Wenchu immediately led his troops to withdraw from the south gate of the city after the Tang army bombarded the city with heavy artillery, and the Xishan army did not want to collide with the Tang army in the city at all.

This is also the Tang Army came too suddenly, and the momentum was too fierce, which frightened the Xishan Army, which had never fought any hard battles, especially in recent years, the internal problems of the Xishan Army have slowly intensified, and the combat effectiveness is far less strong than ten years ago.

Ngo Van Chu and his adviser Ngo Shiren hoped to lead the army to temporarily retreat to the area of the Sam Dai Mountains, and then wait for reinforcements from Nguyen Hue from Hue. Then, although the Tang army did not blockade the south gate and the west gate, when Wu Wenchu led the army to retreat to the Tianjiang area, he encountered the Tang army's gunboats again.

Wu Wenchu was disillusioned for a while, but he still tried to fight to the death, Wu Wenchu found that the Tang army had destroyed the bridge on the Tianjiang River, and guarded according to the river, but the Tang army only had four gunboats, although it was very strong, but it was not without a way to deal with it. Wu Wenchu's adviser Wu Shiren came up with a plan for him, that is, to divide his troops to cross the river.

Wu Wenchu still has more than 10,000 people in his hands, he divided these more than 10,000 people into several parts, and then rushed to cross on different sections of the Tianjiang River, although the gunboats of the Tang army used good lethality, and as long as they attacked, this side would not succeed, but the number of gunboats of the Tang army was also limited, and Wu Wenchu opened his troops to cross the river in many places, which made the gunboats of the Tang army unable to take care of all aspects at the same time, and finally let Wu Wenchu cross the Tianjiang River with most of the Xishan army.

Although the Tang army urgently requested assistance from other gunboat detachments, it was eventually a little slower, and Wu Wenchu and 10,000 Xishan troops fled. Although it failed to defeat the Xishan Army, the Tang Army also annihilated and captured more than 10,000 soldiers of the Xishan Army, and successfully captured Thang Long City. When Wu Wenchu retreated, the Tang army was busy controlling Thang Long City, limited by the strength of the army, did not take care of Wu Wen Chu, and after Wu Wen Chu escaped the Tianjiang River, the Tang army did not have too many spare troops to pursue, and could only put a relatively limited number of troops into the liquidation of the Xishan Army near Thang Long.

North of Shenglong, at the junction of Annam and Qing State, the Xishan Army still had a certain strength, and Ling Zhuangfei continued to use the gunboat formation and cooperated with the ground forces in his hands to continuously fight against the Xishan Army in the north. The rear road of the Xishan Army was cut off, and the Tang Army was menacing and powerful, and the Xishan Army was continuously cut and broken separately, and it was difficult to do anything.

Under the command of Ling Zhuangfei, the Tang Army in the battlefield of northern Vietnam basically wiped out the strength of the Tay Son Army in just over a week, with Thang Long as the center, and gained a firm foothold. At the same time, the storm in the southern battlefield has also been set off. (To be continued.) )