The battle of Shibao City encountered great resistance, and it was planned to complete the task at noon, but until dusk, the Tang army was still unable to capture Shibao City, and the Tang army was full of dead corpses under the cliff of Shibao City, and more than 5,000 soldiers died.

The drums of the attack beat again, and more than 3,000 Tang troops shouted and launched an assault on Shibao City, the ice road had been melted by the flesh and blood of the Tang army, and the road to attack was relatively smooth, but the defense of the Tubo people was even more crazy, there were no bows and arrows, no trebuchets, and the only path up the mountain was blocked with boulders and rolling logs, so that groups of Tang troops fell down the cliff in wailing.

But the Tang army also found a glimmer of hope in despair, this attack, by three hundred burly Tang troops to play the forward, they made a hundred huge oblique umbrellas, supported by a three-zhang long wooden frame, the wooden frame stretched five layers of raw cowhide, coated with grease, in the shape of a triangular diamond, dozens of Tang troops hid under an umbrella, so that no matter the Tubo army's boulder rolling wood smashed from the front or the top of the head, it will be tilted smooth cowhide to remove its strength and roll down the cliff.

This is the Tang army after being hit hard again and again to come up with a method, so that the Tang army's casualties greatly reduced, has rushed to the stone crevice mountain road one hundred and twenty steps away from the stone castle city, here into the range of crossbow arrows, the Tang army thousands of arrows in unison, dense crossbow arrows from the umbrella hole to the head of the city, the Tubo army finally appeared casualties, the stone castle city began to have a continuous scream.

But the Tang army couldn't rush up one step further, the stones could not be removed from the stone cracks, a large number of stones were accumulated in the roadway, and the huge stones of the Tubo army were still falling from the top of the mountain, 'Bang! Bang! The ground smashed on the cowhide frame, making a huge sound, the improvised umbrella could not withstand the huge impact, more than 30 umbrella frames were smashed, nearly a thousand Tang troops lost their barriers, and were smashed by the rolling stones that came to the cliff, the flesh and blood were blurred, and the screams were endless, the Tang army suffered heavy casualties again, and the giant umbrella began to slowly retreat down the mountain.

In any case, the Tang army finally found a stupid way to deal with the Tubo army in Shibao City, the only drawback was that the progress was slow, and it needed to be attacked again and again, and the living force of the Tubo army in Shibao City was slowly consumed with crossbow arrows.

At this time, Li Qing'an led the army to intercept the Tibetan reinforcements in the back mountains, which became the key to the success or failure of the entire campaign.

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In the mountains behind Chiling, the Tubo army began the third crazy attack, because the beacon fire of Shibao City for help was once again blazing, so that the Tubo Zanpu Chizu Dezan realized the severity of the situation, this time, he invested 20,000 heavy troops, trying to capture the second line of defense of the Tang army in one fell swoop.

The first line of defense has been occupied by the Tibetan army, becoming their base for attacking the second line of defense, the straight-line distance between the two lines of defense is 700 steps, but the mountain wall is steep, most of the stone walls can not be climbed, only three ravines about ten zhang wide each, distributed on the rock face as long as three miles, the mountain road is difficult, so that the second attack of the Tibetan army also failed miserably, and now it is the third attack, and it is also the one that they put the most troops in.

At this moment, the Tang army has suffered more than 500 casualties, and the remaining 2,400 people are divided into three teams, each holding a ravine, and every Tang army knows in their hearts that if the second line of defense is lost, then the third line of defense will be in no danger to defend, that is, when their entire army is annihilated.

The defense of the second line of defense became a life-and-death battle for them.

The Tibetan army all over the mountains began to attack frantically, the huge drums that shook the heart beat intensively, five hundred Zampu guards held swords to supervise the battle, and those who retreated were immediately beheaded, and more than 100 beheaded heads were hung on several bare trees, which was a warning to all the Tubo troops.

But the mountain road is narrow, no matter how many troops the Tibetan army invests, they can only attack in turns, in the three ravines full of thorns and bushes, more than 4,000 black pressure of the Tibetan army each pushed ten sides of the giant shield two zhang high, one zhang wide, slowly advancing upward, the giant shields are side by side, forming a shield wall, and the Tubo army behind is holding high the round shield, effectively blocking the attack of the Tang army's arrow rain.

The oil was gone, and the sharpest weapon left was the gunpowder brought by the Tang Army, and ten small trebuchets had been installed, which were condescendingly capable of shooting ten pounds of gunpowder bags more than 400 steps away.

Finally, it was the turn of gunpowder to play, this is a weapon that Li Qing'an is unwilling to use as a last resort, the number is limited, they brought a total of three hundred gunpowder packs, and more than one hundred and thirty packs were used in the attack on the wolf's tooth horn, plus fragmentation and special use, they only have one hundred and fifty packs of gunpowder left in their hands, in the face of thousands of Tubo troops, in the face of the distant battle of Shibao City, can this one hundred and fifty packs of gunpowder bring them hope for life?

The huge shield of the Tibetan army had rendered their bows and arrows ineffective, Li Qing'an looked at the sky, the sky was still gloomy, it was almost dusk, but the clouds in the north had turned black, which indicated that a snowstorm was coming.

Maybe there's a respite tonight!

"Prepare to throw gunpowder!" Li Qingan finally gave the order.

The trebuchet creaked open, the soldier placed the ten-pound gunpowder bag in his pocket, and one soldier carefully untied the bound lead reel and tore off the tarpaulin outside, 'Woo! The fire fold ignited the fuse, a puff of black smoke rose, and the ignition soldier quickly dodged, and there was a red mark on the lead, five hundred steps, four hundred steps, three hundred steps, at this time, the black pressure of the Tibetan soldiers had attacked more than three hundred steps away, and the huge shield was followed by more than four thousand enemy troops, stretching for hundreds of steps, looking from afar, as if a black carpet was spread on the mountain cliff.

When the black smoke of the lead burns to a position of four hundred paces, 'Boom! With a sound, ten trebuchets were launched almost at the same time, the gunpowder bag was thrown high, drawing an oval arc, and smashed towards the dense Tubo army, all the Tang troops held their breath, nervously looking at the ten gunpowder bags burning with black smoke in the air, at the same time, the Tubo army also found a different phase, everyone looked up at the gunpowder bag and smashed it towards themselves, almost instinctively covered their heads with their hands, dodged to both sides, only on the Tibetan cry was shocked, and roared: "Get down!" Get down! ”

As soon as he finished speaking, the gunpowder bag exploded violently one after another among the Tibetan crowd, and each huge wave of air lifted dozens of soldiers high, and the stumps and broken arms flew horizontally, and the iron beads and iron pieces mixed with the poison quenched in the gunpowder bag flew in all directions, forming a killing circle of dozens of steps, and suddenly the screams and wails resounded through the mountains......

Wave after wave of gunpowder packets, red flames burst out, black smoke rose, and exploded in the dense crowd, the Tibetan army suffered heavy casualties, and when six rounds of gunpowder were fired, the Tang army stopped projecting.

The black smoke gradually dissipated, the huge shield no longer existed, the mountain road was a mess, blood was flowing everywhere, there were scattered human organs everywhere, twisted chain mail, the eyes of every Tubo soldier who died were full of horror, and a large number of Tubo soldiers who were shot by shrenching fell to the ground, groaning in extreme pain.

The thousands of Tibetan troops behind them woke up like a dream, and the extreme horror made them desperately turn around and flee for their lives, shouting wildly, "Heavenly thunder! Thunder erupts! ”

The scene was crowded and chaotic, the Tibetan army trampled on each other, and the hundreds of Zampu guards who were supervising the battle in the rear desperately pushed and pushed, but the Tibetan army was out of control, and killing people was useless.

The violent explosion made Tubo Zampu Chizu Dezanhuo stand up, he looked at the red flames on the mountain in disbelief, and a trace of horror flashed in his eyes, is this the thunderbolt of the Tang Army? Oh, my God! So what is it exactly? Chizu Dezan felt timidity in his heart.

The hundreds of Tibetan generals who gathered around him were also dumbfounded, and after a long time, Dazarugong sighed in his heart and stepped forward and said, "Zampu, the soldiers are frightened, it is better to suspend the attack." ”

Trizu Dezan nodded, "Alright! Mingjin withdraws his troops. “

While! While! The bell rang, the Tibetan soldiers retreated like a tide, more than 1,000 people guarded the first line of defense, the rest of the soldiers retreated down the mountain, the battlefield suddenly became as silent as death, hundreds of Tang soldiers jumped down with sharp blades in their hands, they mercilessly killed all the wounded Tubo soldiers, and collected arrows.

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In the big tent, Chizu Dezan paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, very upset, he witnessed the power of the Tang army's thunderbolts, and his heart was full of worry, this is still a small army of the Tang army, if the Longyou army uses this kind of weapon, then wouldn't they sweep through Tibet?

Chizu Dezan suddenly slammed his fist on the table, no! In any case, they are going to get this thunderbolt.

At this moment, Dazarugon's voice came from the door, 'I want to see Zamp immediately, I have important information.' ’

Dazarugon's hurried voice made Chizu Dezan stunned, what happened? He immediately said, "Let him in!" ”

Dazarugon hurriedly walked in, he carefully held a large yellow paper bag in his hand, and said excitedly: "Zampu, we got the thunderbolt of the Tang Army. ”

Chizu Dezan was overjoyed, he took two steps in a row, took the heavy paper bag, and asked urgently, "How did you get it?" ”

"There was a thunderbolt that didn't explode, but it was picked up by a soldier in the confusion, and he took it down the mountain."

"Good! The order went down, and the soldier was named a commander of a thousand soldiers, and a reward of 10,000 sheep and 300 slaves. ”

Chizu Dezan was ecstatic, as long as they got a thunderbolt, they could make it the same, and then they would not be afraid of the Tang army.

He put the paper bag on the table, looked at it carefully, the paper bag was tied tightly by several ropes, the outermost layer was parchment, they also had it in Tibet, and a black hole was burned in the upper right corner of the paper bag, and some black powder was sprinkled from it.

Dazarugon was just about to untie the rope, but Trizu Dezan stopped him, shook his head and said, "Don't untie it!" Give it to the craftsman in its entirety. ”

At this time, a little black powder flowed out of the black hole on the gunpowder pack, and Trizu Dezan carefully took it into the palm of his hand, put it on his nose and smelled it, and said with a smile: "I smell sulfur." ”

"Zampu, sulfur is flammable,."

"Hmmm! Sulfur fuels combustion, no wonder it's so violent. ”

Chizu Dezan thought for a while and said: "I will bring this powder back for those Han craftsmen to identify, no matter who it is, as long as he makes this thunderbolt for me, then he will be a great hero of my Tubo." ”

Trizu Dezan was in a better mood, he glanced at Dazarukon, Dazarukon offered a thunderbolt to make the dissatisfaction in his heart dilute a lot, he smiled and asked, "General Dazarukon, what do you say we should fight next?" ”

Dazaru Gong immediately bowed down and said: "Wei Chen thinks that the Tang army does not have many thunderbolts, otherwise they would not have delayed until now, since we have to face it, then don't be afraid of death, give full play to the advantage of our large number of people, press on it in a big way, and destroy the Tang army in one fell swoop." ”

"But we've already suffered more than 10,000 casualties."

"Zampu, how can there be no dead in a war, even if more than half of the casualties are killed, they must be fought, and they can't be given a chance to breathe, after all, they only have three thousand, and now there are less than three thousand, so they can't be calmly arranged."

At this moment, there was a faint sound of a roaring explosion on the mountain, and Dazaru said hurriedly: "Zampu, this must be their use of thunderbolts to blow up the mountain to take stones, Zampu, give the order!" Night battles are in our favor. ”

This time, Trizu Dezan finally took Dazarukon's suggestion, and he nodded, "Good! Ordered the army to prepare for a night attack on Chiling. ”

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As Dazaru Gong guessed, the Tang army is indeed using gunpowder to blow up the mountain and take stones, after a day of fierce fighting, there are not many arrows in their hands, this time to intercept the Tibetan reinforcements, Ge Shuhan gave them 300,000 arrows, a bloody day, the arrows have been used more than half, in order to save arrows to the greatest extent, in addition to sending people to the hillside to recover some of the arrows, Li Qingan ordered to use gunpowder to blow up the mountain and take stones.

In the night, the soldiers of the Tang Army were hurrying to rest, they were staggering, although they were extremely tired, but the cold of the night made it difficult for many people to sleep.

More than a dozen soldiers of the Jiangdu battalion wrapped in military blankets were huddled together talking about their hometown, Lin San had been promoted to brigade commander because of his combat bravery, he felt out the wine jug, drank two sips of spirits, smacked his lips and smiled: "In two days it will be Chinese New Year's Eve, my wife will definitely kill chickens and pickled fish at home, this year's family is rich for the New Year, and the stinky boy at home can have a good meal." ”

He touched his partner next to him with his elbow again and smiled: "Sun Mazi, how are you celebrating the New Year in Runzhou?" ”

"How else can we live, aren't we all the same? Beat rice cakes, smoked bacon, paste door charms, eat a big meal on Chinese New Year's Eve, and worship ancestors on the first day of the first lunar month, hey! It's a pity that I can't worship my ancestors this year. ”

"Me too, I can't worship my ancestors, I don't know if the ancestors can forgive me, an unfilial descendant."

"Hey! Feed! Don't say that, none of us here can worship our ancestors and fight! How could the ancestors blame us, I only think about my son and my mother now. ”

Thinking of his son, Lin San couldn't help sighing, and said with a smile: "My son is ten years old, but he is thin and small, and he is always bullied by other boys in the village. ”

Lin San's words made all the soldiers laugh, and Lin San waved his hand again and smiled: "When the battle is over, I will bring my lady and son to Anxi, and invite everyone to my house to drink at that time, so that you can taste my lady's cooking." ”

"That is, I didn't eat the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner, and I must make up for it."

The soldiers of the Jiangdu battalion were all excited, and they each talked about the special dishes of their hometown.

Li Qing'an sat on a big rock, but looked a little worried, just now Nan Jiyun reported to him, a total of 60 gunpowder packets were fired, but only 53 exploded, seven did not explode, but just now the soldiers touched down and searched around, only found five unexploded medicine bags, and two could not be found, most likely taken away by the retreating Tubo army.

Li Qing'an was extremely reluctant to use gunpowder, on the one hand, although the quantity was insufficient, but he also had another worry, gunpowder was used in the military at the end of the Tang Dynasty, and now it was more than 100 years ahead of him, which will inevitably profoundly affect the development of history, although he was forced by the situation, he had to use it, but this worry has always haunted his heart.

And now, the thing that worries him the most has happened, the Tubo people are very likely to have obtained the gunpowder bag, if the Tubo people also learn to use gunpowder, what kind of disaster will this be for the Tang Dynasty? Li Qingan sighed secretly, more importantly, if they were wiped out this time, then who would tell the Tang Dynasty that they had used gunpowder? The court didn't know, but Tubo learned it, so wouldn't he Li Qingan be a sinner in the Tang Dynasty.

Li Qing'an took out an oiled paper bag from his arms, which contained two formulas of gunpowder, one was explosive and the other was lead medicine, he pondered for a moment, and then said to Nan Jiyun beside him: "Nanba, I have an important task to hand over to you." ”

"General, please command!"

Li Qingan handed him the oil-paper bag and a jade plate, and said: "This oil-paper bag is the formula of gunpowder, you take another gunpowder bag away, go back to the capital and give it to Gao Lishi, and tell him the situation of the gunpowder one by one, and the jade plate can prove that I sent you here." ”

Nan Jiyun was just about to speak, but Li Qingan stopped him with a wave of his hand, "This is my order, this matter is very important, you must hand it over to Gao Lishi with your own hands, and tell him that it is very likely that the Tubo people will also learn to use gunpowder soon." ”

Nan Jiyun silently took the oil paper bag and the jade plate, put the things away, and asked again: "Which direction do I break through?" ”

Li Qingan thought for a while and said, "In this way, you take two scouts with strong martial arts, and you find a way to cross the Chiling." ”

"I see, I'll go."

Nan Jiyun stood up, he glanced at Li Qing'an deeply, "General, I hope we can meet again in Chang'an!" ”

Li Qingan smiled and patted him on the shoulder, "It will definitely be, go ahead!" ”

Nan Jiyun turned around and ran into the night, and in a moment, he called two scouts, and the three of them quickly left the station with ropes and other tools, and climbed along the ridge to the top of Chiling Mountain.

Li Qing'an kept looking at his figure and walked away, and suddenly, the drum at the foot of the mountain suddenly sounded, and the Tubo army launched a night battle.

"Everyone, get up! The Tibetans came. ”

The officers of the Tang Army woke up the soldiers one by one, and the Tang Army position was busy, and everyone entered the position one after another, checked the bows and crossbows, and prepared stones and arrows.

Li Qing'an looked at the number of torches gathered under the mountain, and quickly calculated in his heart, his heart suddenly tightened, this time, the Tubo army invested at least 40,000 people, and the Tubo people finally realized their advantage.

At this moment, Li Qingan's nose was cold, he looked up, and saw that snowflakes with goose feathers were fluttering in the sky, more and more, and the wind began to increase, whistling in the valley.

A blizzard is coming.

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(To be continued)