readx; Located between the Altun Mountains and the Kunlun Mountains, Sabitze is a plateau lake, surrounded by endless alpine meadows, with mountains in the distance, covered with snow, the climate here is warm, there is abundant fresh water, there are flat and covered with thick meadows, there are high mountains to block the cold current from roaring south, for the Tibetan people who live on the plateau all year round, it is a high-quality pasture that is very suitable for grazing. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

On the map of the Tang Dynasty, Kunlun Mountain is the dividing line of Tang Fan, so this basin grassland sandwiched between the two mountain ranges should be the territory of the Tang Dynasty, it belongs to the jurisdiction of Shazhou, but in fact, since the Tang army recovered Anxi in the era of Wu Zetian, this basin has not been able to be recovered, the Tubo people have stationed heavy troops here, decades have passed, the center of gravity of the Tang and Tibetan wars has been in the east, the two countries are basically safe in Anxi, and the Tang Dynasty has acquiesced in the occupation of this basin by the Tubo people.

However, with the victory of the Tang army in Shibao City on the eastern front, the strategic advantages of the Tang and Tibetan countries continued to tilt towards the Tang Dynasty. In the Jiannan battlefield, Gao Xianzhi defeated the Tubo Nanzhao coalition army, drove the Tubo forces out of Nanzhao, and recovered the lands occupied by Tubo such as Song, Dang, Gong, and Ya to the west, and the large and small Bolu on the western front won a big victory, and the forces of the Tubo people were driven out of Tocharo.

It was this strategic advantage that enabled the Tang Dynasty to launch the Tubo Campaign again, occupying Jiuqu and Baihai in the east; In the west, it is necessary to recover the Sabitize Basin, which the Tibetans have entrenched for nearly 50 years, and completely drive the Tibetans back to the south of the Kunlun Mountains.

June is the hottest season of the year, in Anxi has been all over the fire, blazing hot, but in the Sabitze basin is mild as autumn, there is a hint of chill in the morning and evening, this morning, a white fog shrouded in the plateau, a large forest is filled with white gas, occasionally there are antelope flocks from the vast primeval forest, flocks come to the end of the river to drink, here is about 100 miles away from Sabize, people are rare.

At this moment, a fierce sound of horses' hooves came from afar, alarming the herds of antelopes and deer drinking by the river, and they were so frightened that they rushed into the primeval forest, and looked curiously into the distance at the edge of the forest.

I saw a team of cavalry galloping towards us, this is the Tang Army's nearly 100 scout cavalry, equipped with double horses, the leader is Qin Haiyang, he divided the 300 scouts into five teams, respectively to explore everywhere, his team is the largest number, mainly along the end of the river to find the traces of the Tubo.

Yesterday evening, they had already discovered a group of Tibetan patrol posts, judging from the horseshoe prints, it should be between fifteen and twenty people, they tracked all the way, and in this area, lost the trace of the Tibetan patrol post.

Qin Haiyang reined in his war horse, and looked around, in the distance was a large area of heavy green alpine grassland, with hair-like pasture grass spread out layer by layer, the dense forest was endless, the shiny and end river flowed through the middle of the forest like a jade belt, and the field was quiet and abnormal, without any traces of people.

Qin Haiyang is currently the highest-ranking general in the Anxi scout army, his scout experience is extremely rich, judging from common sense, the river flows through the middle of the forest on both banks, so that the enemy's ambush is very likely to be in the forest, but Qin Haiyang looked deeper, judging from the distance between the river and the forest, the general ambush will not have an impact on the Tang army, the distance from the river to the forest is about 100 steps, and the range of the Tubo bow and arrow is not enough, the only worry is that the Tubo people are using the Tang army crossbow arrows, if that is the case, there is still a certain danger.

Qin Haiyang pondered for a moment, then said to the two subordinates: "You go and take a look, pay attention to protection!" ”

The two men agreed, and galloped forward along the river, running to the edge of the forest, the two looked into the forest for a while, and together they opened their bows and arrows, and shot into the depths of the forest, they shot a kind of screaming arrow, which was also made of gunpowder, and the lack of oxygen on the plateau greatly affected the burning and explosion of gunpowder, but this kind of screaming arrow was not affected by the lack of medicine, and it could emit a sharp whistling sound after shooting, which played the role of striking grass and startling snakes, and was a powerful detector for the scout army.

Only two shrill whistlings were heard, and there were no fluttering birds and finches in the sky above the forest, nor antelopes and deer rushing out of the forest in terror, but a few neighing of war horses were faintly heard, and then a dozen Tibetan cavalry rushed out of the forest in panic and ran downstream along the river.

"Eighteen cavalry!"

Qin Haiyang immediately ordered, "Rush up, and you can't let anyone go." ”

Two hundred war horses like thunder on the ground, galloping along the river, the war horses of the Tang army scouts are all Arab horses, and they have been trained for a long time on the plateau, and have been able to adapt to the plateau climate, although they can not travel long distances on the plateau, but the short-distance sprint has no problem at all, more importantly, they are extremely fast, like the clouds and fog, and the war horses of the Tubo people are generally shorter, can withstand the cold of the plateau, and can also travel long distances, but the speed is not fast, after a while, the Tubo cavalry was gradually caught up by the Tang army.

The Tang army formed a crescent shape, the two sides gradually closed to the middle, there were still fifty steps away, the Tang army released the arrows, a hundred arrows shot to the Tubo cavalry from all directions, the double-layer chain mail of the Tubo cavalry was difficult to resist the Tang army's special slender armor arrows, and the worse thing was that the war horse could not dodge, in an instant, a group of people turned on their backs, and most of the eighteen Tibetan patrol posts were shot down, only five people were still running wildly, but they could not avoid the intensive cavalry of the Tang army, in an instant, the last five people were shot over, the Tubo army was fierce and abnormal, although they were shot down, But he still got up and pulled out his long sword and fought to the death with the Tang army.

"Kill!"

Qin Haiyang shouted the order, he vibrated the horse and rushed obliquely, a knife slashed, blood splashed, a Tubo soldier who tried to stab his war horse was cut off his neck, the head rolled out more than two zhang away, the Tang army was absolutely merciless, the knife split arrows, eighteen Tubo patrol posts were killed seventeen people, leaving only one alive to ask about the military situation.

Soon, the survivors successively explained some of the situation, this Tubo patrol post is to go to Boxian Town to investigate the situation of the Tang army, because of the discovery of the Tang army scouts and returned, at present, there are about 20,000 Tubo troops in the Sabitze Basin, and tens of thousands of herdsmen who accompany the army as logistics, these are basically the information that the Tang army has learned, but Qin Haiyang still has a harvest, that is, the Tubo patrol post went to Boxian Town to investigate, this is something that has not happened before, and it is very likely to smell it.

There was also information that also caught Qin Haiyang's attention, three days ago, about 6,000 Tubo troops and 30,000 herdsmen with the army left Sabize and headed west, for unknown reasons.

If the Tubo army found Feng Changqing's army, it would be an emergency, and it would not carry the sheep and the herdsmen with the army, but would rush to intercept it, and they brought the sheep to replenish, so that the daily march was only dozens of miles, this is not a pursuit, it should not be aimed at the Tang army, so where are they going? Could it be to go to Little Boru?

Qin Haiyang pondered for a moment, no matter whether the Tubo army went to the big or small Bolu or not, it was likely to encounter Feng Changqing's army, and this information must be taken seriously.

He immediately divided his troops into three routes, all the way back to report to Li Qing'an, and continued eastward to investigate the situation in the Sabize Basin, while he led twenty scouts to turn their horses and chase them southwest.

．．．．．．．．． Just when Qin Haiyang found a little clue of the Tubo army, the Tang army in Dunhuang had been completed, 30,000 main forces in Anxi and 4,000 Doulu troops stationed in Shazhou, Doulu Army is one of the eight armies in Hexi, its establishment is 4,000 people, half of Hu and Han, it has never been full, but it has never been short of personnel before, it is full of soldiers in the imperial court like all border armies, and the imperial court will also pay food and salary to the Doulu army every year, but in fact, Doulu only has more than 2,000 people, and Hu Qi will not serve in the army with peace of mind. They need to graze and live with their families, so driven by some interests, the Hu cavalry are basically in name only, but in fact they are not in the army, as for their food and salary, most of them go into the private pockets of the officers, and no one comes to check on them, even if they can't find anything, then the Hu cavalry came back, which is why there is an army mixed in the horse bandits.

But the sudden arrival of the Anxi army, but destroyed the chaotic system of the Doulu army, the governor of Shazhou Wang Yan did not have time to recall Hu Cai, and so that his corruption was exposed, Li Qing'an beat a hundred military sticks to escort the imperial court, and on the book to expose the fact that he embezzled tens of thousands of grains and wages, Wang Zhan committed suicide in the cage soon after the road, the Doulu army was all incorporated into the Anxi army, Li Qing'an ordered Shi Binggui, a general from the army, to be the commander of the Qingwang guards, and led 3,000 troops and horses to be stationed in Shazhou.

After the completion of the arrangements in Shazhou, the Anxi army turned to the southwest again, and set off along the northern foot of the Altun Mountain, and in the evening of that day, the Anxi army marched day and night for three days and nights, and finally arrived at Qitun City, one of the four northern cities of the Altun Mountain, and the army was exhausted, so it was stationed.

The dense camp tents are stacked on top of each other, extending outward in a circle, like a huge spiral, there is no camp fence, nearly a thousand patrol posts are scattered dozens of miles away, the middle of this huge spiral is all kinds of military supplies, and then in the middle is the big tent of the Chinese army.

After dinner, the night fell quietly, the stars in the sky were scattered in the sky, spread out in the boundless mysterious universe, making people feel that time is short and life is small, just under this bright starlight, the Tang army camp is silent, the camp light is dim, the tired soldiers have fallen asleep, only the Chinese army tent is still brightly lit.

The scouts sent back by Qin Haiyang had just arrived, and they were reporting to Li Qing'an in the tent about the Tubo military situation discovered by the scouts.

"We found the Tibetan patrol post about eighty miles south of Boxian Town, and they also discovered us, and after two days of pursuit, we caught up with this patrol a hundred miles away from Sabize, and annihilated them, and got a news from the prisoners of war that about six thousand people of the Tubo army had left Sabize three days ago and headed southwest, and they brought 30,000 herdsmen and a large number of sheep, and General Qin deduced that their march was not fast, but it was likely that they encountered General Feng's team, and General Qin had chased to the southwest."

Li Qing'an listened to the report while making a mark on the map, he still had no time to make the sand table of Tibet, which made him feel a little regretful, on the map, Sabize is located in a basin with a radius of hundreds of miles, surrounded by the Altun Mountains and the Kunlun Mountains, and then to the south is the Qiangtang of Tibet, that is, the famous Hoh Xil Mountains in later generations, several large mountain ranges are east-west, forming a huge canyon between the mountain ranges.

Li Qing'an knew that at this time, the Tubo campaign in the east had already begun, and Geshuhan had launched a campaign for the Jiuqu region, if the Tubo army of Sabize got the news and rushed to support, it should be from the east, enter the Qaidam Basin, and go straight to help, but the Tubo army is going west, and it is even more impossible to make a detour, and when it bypasses the Kunlun Mountains and then goes east, it will be thousands of miles away, if it is not to support the east, then where will it go?

If it is to attack the big and small Bolu, the six thousand military horses seem to be a little less, and attacking the big and small Bolu is a strategic national policy, which is related to the decision-making of the upper level of Tubo, of course, the Tubo people are at a strategic disadvantage in the east, and it is indeed possible to develop to the west, lay down the big and small Bolu, and open the door to Tocharo and Tianzhu, but in any case, this major military action will never suddenly originate from Sabize.

If you don't go to Big and Small Buryu, then where will you go? At this time, Li Qing'an's eyes fell on Anxi Khotan, and a bold thought jumped out of his mind, could it be to attack Khotan or Qiuzi?

This thought frightened Li Qingan himself, will the Tubo army attack Anxi? This is an assumption that he is a little afraid to face, in other words, if it is him Li Qing'an, will he attack Anxi? The answer is yes, he will definitely fight, this is the most difficult point of the two-front battle, the hinterland is empty, he mobilized 50,000 troops to launch the Tubo campaign, and on the Beiting side, there are at least 40,000 Hu troops in the three tribes of Gelulu, Tongluo, and Shatuo to deal with the Hui Hui, as well as the 9,000 Han army in Beiting, nearly half of his army is involved in these two battles, although there are more than 10,000 people in Anxi, but the distribution is too scattered to quickly concentrate, only 2,000 troops defend in Qiuzi, and Shule is slightly more, and there are only 5,000 people, Like other major military towns such as Yanqi, Khotan, and Bahuancheng, there are only 1,000 people, and the local Hu army has also been pulled by him to use it for logistics, even if he does not come, his combat effectiveness is too weak and vulnerable.

Li Qing'an suddenly realized the seriousness of the problem, this Hu army is very likely to sneak attack the hinterland of Anxi, the so-called herdsmen with the army are just a confusion, indicating that the Tubo commander has realized that the Tang army is going to attack Sabize, and this Tubo commander is really not ordinary.

Thinking of this, Li Qingan immediately recruited a young general, Zhang Yongqing, who was also born in his own soldiers, and accumulated merit as a lieutenant general.

"If the Tibetan army sneaks into the hinterland of Anxi, it will inevitably pass through Khotan, where there are 1,000 garrisons, but the number is not enough, you rate 3,000 Bahuan cavalry to rush, bring more bows and arrows, together with 1,000 people in Khotan, a total of 4,000 people, under your full command, desperately to guard the gate of Anxi for me, be vigilant at night, and don't be careless!"

Zhang Yongqing took the arrow and responded with his fists clenched: "The humble post must be desperately held in Khotan, and the Tubo army will never be allowed to succeed!" ”

After a while, there was the sound of soldiers and horses moving outside the tent, the horses' hooves were running like thunder, and the cavalry of the 3,000 Bahuan battalion under the leadership of Zhang Yongqing went west in the direction of Khotan Town, Li Qing'an stood at the door of the tent and watched them go away, this trip to Khotan, at least ten days away, I don't know if they can arrive in time?

．．．．．．．．． At the same time when Li Qing'an was worried about the safety of Khotan, the Tubo commander of Sabize was also deeply worried about the fate of the Tubo country, and the Tubo commander of Sabize was also one of the powerful figures in Tubo, he was the Tubo general Shangxi Dongzan, when Tubo Zampu was killed by Li Qing'an in Shibao City, Tubo's strength fell into a low ebb for a while, mainly in the new Zampu is young, only eleven years old, Dalun Nang Xiedazan and the minister of Tuogu Dazaru Gong have a discordant relationship, which led to the poor internal decree of Tubo, and last year there was an outbreak of Minister Ba? Jisang Dongzan and Lang? The conspiracy and rebellion of the two Misu, although the rebellion was suppressed, involved many people, and Shang Xi Dongzan was one of them.

Shang Xi Dong Zan and Lang? Misu's personal relationship is good, Lang? After Misu was killed, Nangxie Dazan, who had always been attached to Shang Xi Dongzan, took the opportunity to attack, accusing him of secretly supporting the rebellion, and in the end the evidence was insufficient, Shang Xi Dongzan was not convicted, but was also relegated to the west, far from the center of power, and became the governor of Qiangtang, in charge of the 20,000 Tibetan army of Sabize.

Shang Xi Dongzan deserves to be a famous general of Tubo, after the Tang army attacked the Jiuqu area several times last year, he guessed that the Tang army was likely to launch a campaign on the western front to prevent the Tubo army of Sabize from aiding the east, for which he wrote to Zampu several times, asking to increase the Tubo army of Sabize, but was reprimanded by Sabize Dazan for his ill intentions, although there were no reinforcements, but Shang Xi Dongzan still actively responded, he sent more patrols and spies to listen to the news of the Tang army, seven days ago, one of his spies went deep into Anxi, after hearing that the merchants said that the Tang army had signs of a large-scale march to the east, Shang Xi Dongzan realized that the Tang army was going to attack Sabize, and he immediately made two preparations, on the one hand, he ordered the general Jiazha Sanji to lead 6,000 Tibetan troops to Khotan, preparing to take advantage of the emptiness of the hinterland of Anxi to force the Tang army to retreat with the strategy of encircling Wei to save Zhao, if the Tang army was defeated by him, maybe he could still take advantage of the situation to sweep Anxi.

Of course, Shang Xi Dongzan also knew that this kind of possible surname was not big, he had heard Dazaru Gong talk about Li Qing'an's strength, and he also remembered very well that in the battle of Stone Fort City, his brother Shang Xi Dezan died under Li Qing'an's arrows in Fu Qi City.

So Shang Xi Dongzan also made second-hand preparations, he ordered 30,000 shepherds to drive a million cattle and sheep to the south of Ulan Ula Lake, if Sabize could not hold it, he would retreat south to Ulan Ula Lake, 30,000 herdsmen and 6,000 Tubo cavalry set off on the same day, which gave the Tang army scouts a false impression, thinking that the Tubo army was with the herdsmen.

In the afternoon, Shang Xi Dongzan suddenly received a report from the spies, about 30,000 Tang troops left Boxian Town, along the end of the river, towards the direction of Sabize, Shang Xi Dongzan knew that the war was about to break out.

(To be continued)