This year's winter is particularly cold, goose feather snowflakes have been disturbed for five or six days in a row, the mountains of the Western Regions have changed their winter clothes, the sky and the ground are everywhere white, walking on the road and looking into the distance, it is impossible to distinguish where is the sky, where is the cloud, where is the mountain.

Chiting Valley, Du He climbed to the heights, looked at this majestic valley, saw the Chiting Road inside the valley, strange peaks and dangerous stones, thousands of postures, natural creation, narrow and long like an alley, extremely dangerous, the end is a husband when the pass is not open, the heart is both happy and sighing: "Gaochang is really unmanned, if you send an elite of 5,000 people to be stationed here, our army will not have this chance to pass at all!" ”

Luo Tong and Liu Renliang, who were beside him, also nodded in agreement.

Luo Tong smiled: "Maybe we came too fast, they don't have time to prepare!" ”

"It's also possible!" Du He was also proud when he heard Luo Tong talk about this!

He rested for three days in Yiwu, received some spare supplies, and marched straight to Gaochang.

From Yiwu to Gaochang, you need to pass through a Chiting ancient road that is nearly 400 miles long. As recorded in the book, this ancient road of Chiting is extremely steep, the climate is unpredictable, and the march is difficult. But fortunately, this is not a desert climate, it is not hot in the days and cold in the night, and there is no need to drink water. When they passed here, it was the cold winter moon, and the climate was very cold, and the average temperature was almost below freezing.

Originally, this cold winter wax moon was not suitable for combat, but Gaochang touched one of the economic lifelines of the Tang Dynasty, as if touching the dragon's scales. In order to avoid greater losses, in order to avoid Gaochang from making sufficient preparations before the station, he chose to fight in this cold winter month for the first time.

It has to be said that such bad weather is indeed a big test for the vanguard army of Duhe.

But they have all broken through the life and death of Mohe Yanmo, not to mention this Chiting Ancient Road!

In order to encourage morale, Du He taught the soldiers of the whole army to sing, and the inspiring songs of "men should be self-reliant" and impassioned songs of "serving the country with loyalty" constantly echoed in the sky they passed. When they are cold, they trot to drive away the cold, and when they are tired, they hum a song and forget their fatigue, and they can almost go forward sixty miles every day, and they can almost go sixty miles every day, and they can go to the end of the four hundred miles of Chiting Road, and they came to the valley at the exit of Chiting - Chiting Valley.

When he saw that the terrain of the Chiting Valley was precipitous, and there was a faint glimmer of heaven, he was shocked in his heart, and said: "If I am Liwentai, I will definitely borrow troops from the Turks to build fortifications here, and only 50,000 elites are needed, which is enough to resist the attack of any strong enemy." ”

So, immediately led Luo Tong and Liu Renliang to explore the terrain together, climbed the left and right cliffs, and went down from the heights, and saw that the cliffs on both sides of the mountain road were as high as ten zhang, which could not be climbed.

If a large army is blocked at the mouth of the valley, and then two teams of sharpshooters drop arrows under the cliffs on the left and right, there will be no solution. No matter how good the Tang Tiger and Wolf Division is, it will be difficult to break this situation, and after thinking for a long time, he found that he had nothing to do in the face of such a situation.

So he asked: "I have 50,000 soldiers, and 40,000 will build stronghold fortifications in this Chiting Valley, and they will only defend and not attack." The other 10,000 are marksmen, divided into those located on the left and right of the cliffs. If it were you, how should you break the formation? ”

Hearing Du He's question, Luo Tong and Liu Renliang also changed color one after another, and they also thought of this, and each of them groaned.

Luo Tong shook his head and said, "I can't think of any other way than to attack!" ”

Liu Renliang also had a serious face, "Either look for a trail, or take a detour!" The geographical position of this place is too precipitous, there is a terrain of ten thousand people, and it is the next strategy to storm it, and we have come from afar, and we are on a weary journey, and it is not advisable to attack such an important place. ”

Listening to Luo Tong and Liu Renliang, there was no good way, Du He was more serious, did not speak, went down the cliff to find An Longma and Chemiri, and asked them if there was any other road to Gaochang, or a path that could bypass Chiting Valley.

Chemiri didn't know.

An Longma said with great certainty: "There is no road." From Yiwu to Gaochang, this Ekiting Road is the only way that must be passed. ”

After getting this answer, Du He pondered for a moment, and immediately asked Luo Tongguang to send scouts to cruise and defend the nearby thirty miles in case Gaochang and the Turks attacked. Let him lead 500 people to search the north bank of the cliff, and Liu Renliang led 500 people to search and explore the terrain on the south bank of the cliff, and draw a map.

Luo Daodao: "Gaochang has no fortification here at all, is it a big fuss for us to be so cautious." ”

"No, absolutely not!" Du He said solemnly: "If you can't think of it now, it doesn't mean that you can't think of it tomorrow." Gao Changguo has accepted sinicization for a long time, and there may not be no capable people in the DPRK. We cannot pin our hopes of victory on the stupidity of our opponents. This is the stupidest idea. Do you know Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi? Both of them are geniuses in the world, but Zhuge Liang is a step ahead. The first time he fought with Sima Yi, he won the first 3,000 victories. Sima Yi knew that he was inferior to Zhuge Liang, so he adopted the most correct strategy and defended it to the death. The reason is that Wei can afford it, but Shu can't afford it. It's the same now, Gaochang and the Turks can afford it, and our grain line is thousands of miles long, so we can't afford it at all. If they occupy this place, no matter how strong my Datang is, there will be nothing to be done in the face of this natural danger. After a long time, my Datang will be defeated because of the inability of the successor, but they will win without victory. This is the first battle to enter the Western Regions, and our Tang Dynasty cannot fail, let alone lose! ”

He knew that the Tang Dynasty's control over the Western Regions at this time was too weak, far inferior to that of the Western Turks. Once defeated by the Western Turks, the Tang Dynasty would lose control of the Western Regions. The Western Turks will also be shocked by this, so as to unify the Western Regions and become the overlord of the Western Regions.

Seeing that Du He attached so much importance to this matter, Luo Tong and Liu Renliang were not careless and took the order.

After searching for two days in a row, I turned over all the nearby plots, but I never got to any trail early.

Du He did not believe in evil, and personally set out, using light skills, to find a roadless dense forest and grass followers, hoping to open up a small road, so that Hou Junji's army could copy the path, but to no avail.

He had planned to continue his search, but time had not allowed him to do so.

Because on this day, he got the news of the Western Turks, and the 70,000 soldiers and horses of the Western Turks had already rushed towards them with murderous violence.

"Withdraw!" Du He chose to retreat without any hesitation, the terrain here in Chiting Valley is peculiar, and in the words of this image, it is like a funnel. The one with the small head faces the Chiting Road, while the one with the big head faces the Gaochang border.

This has also created a very speechless situation, it is difficult to enter the sky from the mountain road, but there is no danger to defend from outside Gaochang.

Without occupying a geographical advantage at all, it is obviously not a rational decision to resist 70,000 people with 7,000 people.

Therefore, they had already chosen a treasure place in the Black Cyanosis Ridge that was easy to defend and difficult to attack, which was used to resist the attack of the army.

The main thing is to take the Western Turkic soldiers and horses away from the Chiting Valley, so that Hou Junji's follow-up troops can enter and exit freely.

As long as Hou Junji can pass through the Chiting Valley and avoid this dangerous place, with his ability, it is more than enough to deal with the Western Turks, and while he is dealing with the Western Turks, of course, it is also when Du He himself attacks Gaochang.

For the attack on Gaochang, he also had a preliminary plan: before he arrived in Chiting Valley, he had already sent people to infiltrate the five big cities of Gaochang to spread songs and rumors, believing that with the power of the Tang Dynasty, the five major cities must be panicked at this moment, and they cannot be said to the end.

The Black Cyanotic Ridge is a high ridge in the strange mountains of the Western Regions, where the vegetation is rich and the trees are towering, which can be called the south of the Yangtze River. It is not only easy to defend and difficult to attack, but also conducive to Jiang Xingben's local materials. He is a senior engineer who is proficient in civil engineering and is familiar with the manufacture of combat equipment. His subordinates were skilled craftsmen. Together, top engineers and first-class engineers make for an inexhaustible supply of defensive equipment.

The Western Turks were not a single country in general, but a group of ten large tribes with ten surnames, and the leader of each tribe had a golden arrow, hence the name Ten Arrows. Among them, the tribe with the most powerful is the most powerful, so it is recognized as the leader. The rest of Mukun, Huluju, Sesheti, Turgish, Ratnishi, Ashijie, Geshu, Basaigan, etc. are all auxiliary.

This time it was Mu Kunkuo, the leader of the Mukun tribe, who led the team, he was the first confidant pulled out by the Lishu hand, brave and good at fighting, and has always been the first choice of the vanguard, and this time is no exception.

Hearing Du He leading the troops to flee in a hurry, Mu Kunkuo was very proud: "It is said that the Tang Army can be ten with one, but I think it's just like that!" Runs faster than a rabbit. ”

Zhang Xiong, who was with the army, shook his head and exclaimed: "This is a mistake, in the case of being far inferior to the other party, it is not a rational way to be a hero." Knowing the advance and retreat, this enemy general cannot be ignored, but he seems to be too underestimated by me Zhang Xiong, Leader Mukun, please give the order to abandon the pursuit, transfer the soldiers and horses into the Chiting Valley, and build fortifications on the spot with bricks and gravel. ”

Mu Kunkuo was stunned and said, "Old man Zhang, why is this?" "He is self-possessed and brave, and he doesn't look at Zhang Xiong, an old guy at all, if it weren't for the fact that he made everything based on Zhang Xiong's words, he wouldn't have disdained to be with him.

Zhang Xiong also disdained to make rough plans with Mu Kunkuo, a brave and unscrupulous old man, but smiled calmly: "Don't fall for their tricks, the reason why Tang Jiang fled is not because they are afraid, but because they don't let us notice the steepness of Chiting Valley, so that Hou Junji's main army can pass." This Chiting Valley is the only place where we can defend against the Tang army, as long as the Chiting Valley is not lost, the Tang Dynasty will be helpless against us. Even if Hou Junji has the ability to reach the sky, it is impossible to pass through this Chiting Valley. We can't win the Tang Dynasty, but we can win, just like Sima Yi during the Three Kingdoms. ”

Mu Kunkuo didn't understand what Zhang Xiong said, and Sima Yi didn't know which turtle it was, so he just said impatiently: "Then what should they do?" ”

"Ignore it!" Zhang Xiong laughed coldly: "There are only 7,000 people, not a climate, as long as we use the geographical advantage to suppress Hou Junji, these 7,000 people will not be able to get supplies, and they will only die." ”

(To be continued)