readx; In September, the autumn mood of the plateau meadows is even stronger, the north wind blows strongly, the long grass is like hair, and it has gradually begun to dry up, and after three years of calm on the shores of Lake Sabize, south of the Altun Mountains, the atmosphere here has once again become solemn. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

Sapize was originally the grazing place of the Tubo people, and it was also the logistics center of the Tubo people attacking Anxi, after the Tubo army deployed in this area three years ago was completely annihilated by the Anxi army, it was assigned to the end of the defense and capture the jurisdiction, the army and the people shared, in addition to the herdsmen from the end of the city grazing here, there is also a Tang army of 200 people stationed here, the Tang army built a castle that can accommodate a thousand people on the high post on the bank of Sapize, and built a beacon tower along the way, and the end of the city beacon fire is connected, it has become the forefront of the early warning of the northern invasion of Tubo in the southwest of Anxi.

As the anticipation of the northern invasion of Tibet continued to strengthen, the Anxi army also continued to strengthen the defense of the southwestern part of Anxi, and the soldiers and horses of the four towns made Heba Yu Runqin lead 5,000 troops from Qiuzi to Jimo City, and at the same time increased the defenders of Sabite to 1,000 men, and withdrew the herdsmen of Jimo City.

At noon that day, a patrol force of 50 Tang troops patrolled the hilly terrain south of Sabize, which was about 120 miles from the newly built city of Sabi, and was inaccessible to people, and everywhere you could see dense primeval forests, mainly pine and fir trees, and on the gentle slopes were thick meadows, and a herd of frightened antelopes ran over the meadows and fled into the forest.

At this time, not far away, the Tang army patrol rushed to stop in front of a stream, led by the Tang army is a twenty-five or sixteen-year-old young man, named Lin Mu, who was a Gaochang Han man who joined the army five years ago, he has a bronze face, burly, dark skin, handsome appearance, his hands are surprisingly big, he has a bow and arrows on his back, a spear in his hand, and his eyes are deep looking at the snow-capped Altun Mountain in the distance, only to see a gray mist shrouded the snow peak, this is a harbinger of rain, Lin Mu pointed at the woods with a spear and said:" Take a break in the woods! ”

The Tang army turned the horse's head and ran towards a primeval pine forest, and in a moment, the Tang army ran into the woods, the shade in the pine forest was dense, the light was dim, the ground was covered with thick pine needles, there was no trace of people, and a few squirrels looked at them curiously on the branches.

The Tang soldiers found a dry and flat place, turned over from their horses, took water bags, poured a few sips of water into their horses, and then each found a big tree to sit down, drink water and eat dry food.

A slender young soldier leaned up to Lin Mu's side and said with a saliva smile: "Team Zheng, is there any news from above that you can reveal to us?" ”

"I'm a small team, what news can I know, don't be curious, go and rest." Lin Mu said impatiently while drinking water.

"But you're the team, you know a little more than us!"

"Yes! Team, just say a little! I heard that there was going to be a war, is it true? Another veteran next to him also asked with a smile.

"Team up, just talk about it!"

Lin Mu saw that everyone asked him, so he had to say: "I don't know much, I heard that Tubo has begun to attack Longyou, then our side should be fast, General He Lou led 5,000 troops to support the end of the city, I estimate that the Tubo people will also start attacking Anxi." ”

All the soldiers gathered around and talked about it, and a veteran said: "And there were only 2,000 defenders in the last city, and only 7,000 with 5,000 people, in my impression, the Tubo people did not come, and there were tens of thousands of people, how could we beat the Tubo army?" ”

"Are the Tibetans very powerful?" The young soldier just now asked.

"Of course, although the Tubo people are not very tall, they are very strong, have great strength, and they are very fierce, they refuse to retreat in a fight to the death, and they will be defeated and retreat if they have to kill more than sixty percent, which is more powerful than the Great Food Army."

"What about weapons? Are they also better armed than us? ”

"Bows and arrows are not as good as ours, they use swords, and they are not as sharp as our horizontal knives, and they are not good siege weapons, but their chain mail is good, weighing dozens of catties, and it is made of pig iron, and our needle-type armor-piercing arrows are aimed at the chain mail of the Tubo people."

The veteran portrayed the Tubo people as fierce and vicious, which made the eyes of many young soldiers flash a trace of worry, at this time, Lin Mu waved his hand and smiled: "In fact, the Tubo people are not so terrible, in Shibao City, didn't our general lead the three thousand Tang army to fight nearly 100,000 Tubo troops?" And three years ago, I participated in the battle of Sabitze, didn't I kill Tubo so much that I cried my father and called my mother? In fact, our Anxi Army is the strongest army in the world, whether it is the Tubo people or the big cannibals, they are not our opponents, and more importantly, only by starting a war can we have the opportunity to be rewarded for meritorious service, do you understand? If we don't fight, we won't have the opportunity to make meritorious contributions and be promoted, and we will always be small soldiers. ”

Suddenly, the soldier who was standing guard outside the woods rushed in, carrying a small antelope in his hand, and said urgently: "Team Zheng, look at this antelope." ”

Lin Mu saw that the antelope had a short arrow stuck in it, so he smiled and said, "You kid don't keep guard and run to hunt?" ”

"But I didn't shoot this arrow."

"What!" The soldiers were all taken aback and couldn't help but look at each other, what was going on?

Lin Mu jumped up from the ground, walked quickly to the antelope, and pulled out the arrow on its body. Placed on the palm of his hand, the length of the arrow was only one foot and five inches, which was much shorter than the standard arrow of the Tang Army, and a veteran next to him blurted out: "The arrows of the Tubo people!" ”

Lin Mu nodded, and whispered to everyone: "Don't worry, everyone, control the horses, don't let the horses bark, we are in the dark now, and the Tubo people should not have discovered us yet." ”

Everyone took off their bows and arrows from their backs, stretched their bows and arrows, and formed a semicircle around, these soldiers, whether they were veterans or recruits, had received extremely strict training, and they all knew that a high degree of unity must be maintained at a critical time, Lin Mu and two veterans ran to the edge of the forest, just arrived at the edge of the forest, they immediately dodged and hid behind two big trees, only to see about two hundred steps away by the stream, there was a group of Tibetan soldiers washing their faces and drinking water, about thirty or forty people, each of whom had horses, and it seemed that they were also the outposts of the Tubo army.

"Team up, what should I do?"

Lin Mu pondered for a moment, then whispered a few words in the ear of a veteran, and the veteran grinned, "This method is good!" That kid looks more feminine than a woman, and he will definitely be able to attract the Tibetan army. ”

．．．．．．．．． This Tibetan sentinel was the former army of the Tibetan army, and they were ordered to investigate the situation of Sabize, and they ran for a morning, and at noon, when they saw a small stream here, they came to drink water and rest, and they filled the water bladder with them, and were about to leave, when suddenly, from a distance, there was a sound of horses' hooves.

The vigilance of the Tibetan sentinels was quite high, they immediately drew their swords and spears, and looked towards the sound of the horse's hooves, judging from the sound of the horse's hooves, it seemed that there was only one person, at this time, I saw a young woman in a red dress running from the edge of the forest, and the bright red color strongly stimulated the ** of the Tubo sentinels, they were overjoyed, and they got on their horses one after another, ready to intercept the woman.

When the woman ran to the creek, she suddenly saw the Tibetan soldiers, she screamed, turned her horse's head and fled to the forest, where would the Tibetan soldiers let her go, all like wolves and tigers, screaming excitedly, chasing into the forest, each soldier's eyes were fixed on the red that was beating up and down in the forest.

In the forest, the Tang army was ready, they opened their bows and arrows, quietly hid behind the trees and waited for the fish to enter the net, at this time, the red 'woman' ran quickly, and scolded in the voice of the woman: "You bastards, Lao Tzu was almost caught by the Tubo people!" ”

The sound of hurried horses' hooves drowned out his scolding, and he hurried past the ambush, and in just a moment, the Tibetan soldiers rushed after him, shouting excitedly, and the men's ** lowered their vigilance, making them forget the danger for a while.

Just when they rushed into the ambush circle, the Tang army in ambush suddenly launched, they fired bows and arrows together, nearly fifty arrows shot at the same time towards this group of Tubo troops, the Tubo soldiers were caught off guard, and were immediately shot down more than a dozen people, screaming and falling off their horses.

The sudden change stunned the Tubo soldiers, they were so frightened that they turned around and fled, the Tang army that moved quickly was a rain of arrows, and more than a dozen people were hit by arrows, screaming and falling off their horses, and finally only seven or eight people remained, fleeing to the forest, the Tang army patrol immediately divided the troops into two ways, fifteen Tang soldiers left, killed the Tubo people who fell off the horse by the arrow, and the rest of the Tang army chased after the Tubo army.

Lin Mu took the lead, his archery skills were excellent, and he shot three Tibetan soldiers to the ground with three arrows in a row, and then swung his spear and stabbed the fallen Tibetan people to the ground.

The Tang army pursued them to the south for more than 20 miles, and finally killed the last two Tubo soldiers, a total of 37 Tubo outposts were killed by the Tang army, and one was captured alive, ready to torture the intelligence.

Mu Lin breathed a long sigh of relief and was about to return, but at this moment, a low horn suddenly sounded in the distance, and the Tang army was taken aback, and turned back one after another, only to see a black and oppressive Tubo cavalry appeared on the gentle hill two miles away, with thousands of people, and the black flag was flying in the air.

The Tang army was so shocked that they retreated again and again, and they were a little at a loss, Lin Mu immediately made a decision, killed the captured Tubo captives with a knife, and then shouted: "Tell the brothers to run quickly and return to Sabi City to report that the Tubo army is coming." ”

The cavalry of the Tang army turned around and rushed to the north, at this time, the Tubo army collapsed like an iceberg, and split a cavalry of hundreds of people, one left and one right, outflanked and chased after the Tang army sentry.

This Tang army patrol to the edge of life and death, but the usual well-trained at this time full of revealed, they did not escape, but formed a whole cavalry team, from the original way back, at this time, a Tang army war horse stepped in the rat hole, the leg was broken, neighed, fell to the ground heavily, the Tang cavalry on the back was thrown out three zhang away, the Tang soldiers did not leave him alone, they took off the quiver and shield from the horse, and helped the fallen brothers onto the war horse, and continued to gallop forward.

With the passage of time, the fear of the first encounter with the Tibetan army gradually disappeared, and the Tang army patrol soldiers also discovered their absolute superiority, and they relied on their excellent Dawan war horses to gallop on the endless plateau meadows, pulling the low Tubo horses farther and farther.

Thirty miles later, the Tibetan pursuers gradually pulled from the initial gap of less than two miles to five or six miles away, and the Tibetan pursuers had turned into a group of small black dots, gradually disappearing at the end.

At this moment, a gust of wind blew, and the raindrops were overwhelming, and the rain was mixed with hail the size of an egg, and the white and bright hail hit the ground all over the ground, and the Tang soldiers rushed into the forest where they ambushed the Tubo sentinels at the moment of the raindrops.

Autumn in Anxi rarely has this extreme climate of sleet and hail, but it is not uncommon in the area of Sabize, which is sandwiched between the Altun Mountains to the north and the Kunlun Mountains to the south, like a huge valley, and the unique topography makes the climate here very different from the plateau and Anxi, where both spring and autumn are very prone to heavy rain and hail.

The sudden change in weather finally saved the Tang army, and the Tubo army stopped the pursuit, and they also hid in a forest, this Tubo army was the Tubo West Route Army that had traveled from Luo, and they were only the front army, consisting of 30,000 troops, while the Tang army outpost only saw a few thousand people.

The commander of this Tubo army is Shang Jiasu, the deputy commander of the Western Expeditionary Army, which is also a veteran of Tubo with rich experience, the battle of Xiao Bolu of the Tang Army, Shang Jiasu is the main general of the Tubo army of Xiao Bolu, when he led 20,000 Tubo heavy troops stationed on the other side of the Suoyi River, it was Li Qingan who led the scout battalion to cut off the rattan bridge on the Suoyi River, so that they were blocked on the opposite bank, unable to support Xiao Bolu, Shang Jiasu watched Princess Zhangxiong was shot by Li Qing'an and fell into the abyss.

Afterwards he was heavily punished by the old Zampu Chizu Dezan, and was sent to the city of Pibo to build a temple, until the new Zampu ascended the throne, he was reused, this time he and the monk Xi Dongzan Xi expedition to Anxi, he was the commander of the former army.

Looking at the sudden hail rain, Shang Jiasu frowned, he was worried about the changeable weather, the Tubo soldiers came from a long journey, if they did not adapt to the climate here, once they fell ill, the consequences were very serious, disease was one of the biggest threats to the plateau war, not only for the Tang army, but also for the Tubo army, the Tang army was prone to altitude sickness on the plateau, while the Tubo people were the opposite, from the plateau to the low altitude area, they were also easy to get sick.

At this time, the army that was pursuing the Tang army's outpost returned, and the commander of the commander reported to Shang Jia Suyu: "General, our army failed to catch up with the Tang army, and their horses were too fast. ”

"A bunch of!"

Shang Jiasu scolded fiercely, but another worry rose in his heart, the speed of the Tang army's horses was extremely fast, did it mean that their cavalry might not be the opponent of the Tang army's cavalry, he was a little upset, so he waved his hand and said: "Pass my military order, the army will be stationed on the spot and rest for a day." ”

．．．．．．．．．． The Tang sentry cavalry rushed into the forest, and met fifteen other brothers who were waiting for them, and except for one war horse, all the soldiers were not a lot, and they also captured a lot of goods and more than two dozen war horses.

The soldiers of the Tang Army patrol team temporarily sheltered from the rain in the forest, while the two captains and the five fire chiefs gathered for a brief meeting.

Team Zheng Lin Mu said to everyone: "Everyone, we also saw it just now, there are thousands of Tibetan troops, but unfortunately, we are in a low place, and the Tibetan army is on a high slope, we don't see the whole picture of the Tibetan army, how many troops they have, how many troops will come in the future, we don't know anything, so we can't explain to General Luo when we go back, so we decided to divide into three, thirty brothers go back to report the news first, and the other two teams each have ten brothers, one staring at the Tubo army in front of us, The other continued southward to find out if there was a follow-up army, and I and the deputy of the royal team were sure to leave with one army each, and the brothers who remained, according to the old rules, everyone drew lots. ”

It is the tradition of the Anxi Army to draw lots to decide life and death, and when Li Qingan was a small scout brigade commander, he and his subordinates often drew lots to decide tasks.

The method of drawing lots is very simple, Lin Mu found five branches, three long and two short, he pinched them in his hands, and those exposed were all the same, and whoever drew a short lot stayed and continued to perform dangerous tasks.

This is a very fair choice, Lin Mu turned his back, straightened out the five branches, and stretched out his hand: "Let's start!" Whoever comes first. ”

The five fire chiefs stepped forward in turn to draw lots, and it was a coincidence that the second fire and the fourth fire were drawn, both of them were even numbers, Lin Mu patted them on the shoulder and smiled: "Go ahead!" Tell the brethren that the rain is about to stop and that it is time to go. ”

Winning and not winning are extremely common things, the winners have no complaints, and those who have not won have no joy, they turned over and got on their horses, divided into three teams, and galloped in three directions, this is, the sleet and hail have gradually stopped, the sun comes out, and the snowy peaks of the Altun Mountains in the distance are shining with magnificent golden light in the sunlight.

(To be continued)