Bang!

A huge stone smashed into the courtyard where Fang Chongyong lived, splashing a puff of dust.

This is already the fifth boulder to fall within the scope of the government! A big hole was smashed on the roof of Fang Chongyong's bedroom.

Since the first day of siege, the Tibetans besieged the small city without fighting, and then with their follow-up baggage troops in place, and made use of the wood and stone found from Shouchang County. Outside the small city, the Tibetans built 17 stone-throwing machines that looked magnificent.

The Tibetans named it "Throwing the Building"!

The main structure of this thing is to install a very thick horizontal shaft on a wooden frame, and then in the middle of the shaft is a long wooden pole with toughness, one end of the rod is connected to one, made of leather, dozens of ropes connected to the leather hole, which can be filled with stones.

Finally, when it was used, using the principle of levers, dozens of people listened to the command and pulled together to throw the stones in the leather hole into the city.

In the study of the mansion, Anaya made tea for Fang Chongyong as if nothing had happened, as if the big stone in the courtyard would not have fallen into the study just now.

"The Tibetans know that we are not easy to deal with, and many people will die in the siege. So right now, they're using this method to intimidate us and make us give in. ”

Fang Chongyong said as he took a sip of tea and almost vomited.

Anaye's family conditions have been average since she was a child, and she doesn't pay much attention to the details that only nobles pay attention to, and the tea she brews is indeed not as delicious as Zheng Shuqing's maids.

And it's no wonder that the Tang people have to add salt to make tea, this tea-making process is not at home, and it is indeed not delicious if it is not fresh without adding salt.

"Knowing that's the case, why don't Lang Jun move to a safer place? Those damn Tibetans are aiming at the government and fighting! ”

Anaye said angrily.

After hearing Fang Chongyong describe what treatment would be given to a slave girl who became a Tibetan slave, she didn't have any good thoughts about Tibet.

"If I hide, the city will be in chaos. It is precisely because I am still working in the government that the big families in the city, the common people, and the Hu merchants all know that I have not given up on this city.

So before I die, they won't be persuaded by the Tibetans to surrender! ”

Fang Chongyong pointed to the stack of persuasion letters on the table and said.

Of course, he said this to comfort Anaye, but in fact, the Tibetan people have evil intentions and great intentions. There is no need to talk to Anaye about such a complicated and brain-burning thing.

The conditions that the Tubo army has now offered are indeed very generous.

The residents of the city are allowed to migrate to Longyou, and the Tubo army along the Hexi Corridor will not attack, they only need the city.

Recently, every time the conditions are opened, the treatment given will be a little more generous. In that way, it was as if Fang Chongyong would definitely agree.

Obviously, the Tubo people are very strategic in fighting wars and know the principle of attacking the heart. Since the Tang army in the small city has shown the "united front value", they will also adopt a two-handed strategy, not blindly brute.

This kind of small routine, Fang Chongyong has long been aware of the fire, and he will coax the brainless Qiu Ba.

If the Tubo people really want to let them go, then it's just a pity, but it's a pity that Fang Chongyong feels that the purpose of the Tubo people is not for the "united front" at all.

Suddenly, Fang Dafu hurriedly walked in, and the other party with a worried face said Chongyong: "Lang Jun, as you expected, the real goal of the Tubo people is the entrance to the karez in the city!" ”

"That's nature."

Fang Chongyong said indifferently.

It is clearly written in the Tibetan military law that when fighting the enemy, the destruction of its water sources and grain routes is the first priority. Take this as a great achievement, and award the Tiger Flag Commendation! The reward for the slave of the field house is not counted.

Do you need to say much about the little flower intestines of the Tibetan people?

Karez is a great invention of the Chinese people in ancient times, specially designed for drought resistance in desert areas. Lots of shafts were drilled in the settlement, covered with stones and clay, huts were built to block the sun, and small doors were opened on the sides for users to enter and exit to fetch water.

The qanats do not exist alone, but use a single qanats as nodes to dig ditches underground to divert water, so that these qanats are connected to each other.

Therefore, in the Western Regions, all the qanats in the same city are connected by underground ditches, forming an artificial "underground river".

According to the map provided by the early spies, the Tibetans tried to block the entrance to the qanats with stones, preferably destroying them.

As long as the entrances to all the qanats in the city are blocked, then the small city of Dunhuang will inevitably be in a state of water shortage.

There is no water source, and they are still guarding a ghost city, and when the time comes, they will die of thirst.

No matter how bad it is, it can shake the will of the soldiers and civilians defending the city! This is the heart first!

From the moment the Tubo people began to throw stones, Fang Chongyong was doubting whether the other party's purpose was pure intimidation. And the fact that the Tubo people continue to persuade them to surrender and raise the conditions for persuasion shows that they have evil intentions and have other plans.

The large-scale siege had not yet begun, and the Tibetans could not be convinced, and everything was a ploy to hide from the world.

On the first day that the Tubo people began to throw stones, Fang Chongyong made a topographical map of the small city, and marked and counted every stone thrown in by the Tubo people on the same day.

He found that the direction of the Tibetan people throwing stones was not irregular, but the distribution was very close to the entrances of the qanats in various places in the city.

For example, it is appropriate for the Tubo people to bombard the government office, which can explain that they want to win without a fight, and even want to stone the Honshu assassin to death, so that the dragons here are leaderless.

But it is a bit unreasonable for them to throw stones into the homes of large local families.

The only explanation is that a large local family like the Zhang family has a qanats at home!

These people should have been the objects that the Tubo army could fight for. Only by fighting the government and not the local large households can we divide and conquer and break each one.

This is the essence of the art of war!

Moreover, when they couldn't know the specific situation in the city, how did they know that Fang Yanei would definitely stay in the palace? If not, wouldn't it be a waste of resources?

Therefore, the target of the Tubo people's stone-throwing attack should actually be the karez near the kitchen in the palace! And not the bureaucrats at all levels within the government.

As long as the karez collapsed, Fang Chongyong had to go elsewhere to get water, and the purpose of the Tubo people was partially achieved.

If the karez in all parts of the city collapsed, then the purpose of the Tibetan people would have been fully achieved.

Given that the number of karez in the city did not exceed ten, it seems that the Tibetan conspiracy was not a fool's errand, and the possibility of success was also there, and it was not small. I don't know that there are also spies of the Tibetan people in the city, who are helping them to show their directions.

The Tibetans didn't want to accept Fang Chongyong's surrender at all. The idea of these people is to repair the plank road in the dark, and want to cut off the water source of Shazhou without knowing it!

"Lang Jun, I know what the Tubo people want to do, I have to find a way to stop them. Today, the qanats have been destroyed, and the whole has collapsed. After cleaning up, it's hard to say whether it can be used. ”

Fang Dafu said in a low voice.

The goal of the Tibetan people is the karez, and this kind of thing cannot be hidden. Once known by the people in the city, people's hearts will inevitably fluctuate, which may be exactly what the Tubo people want to see.

As the name suggests, the area of the small city is indeed much smaller than that of Luo City. The Tubo people are also experienced in using throwing buildings. Don't say where to fight, the basic accuracy is still reliable. The entrance to the qanats in the city was all blocked or collapsed, and in Fang Chongyong's opinion, it was only a matter of time.

The annual evaporation here in Dunhuang can reach more than 2,000 milliliters, and it is meaningless to mobilize local people to store water at home, and it will be evaporated in vain. The Tubo people outside the city camped by the Ganquan water, and there was no shortage of water, at least for a few months in Shazhou, and there was no problem in staying outside the city until the time of the interruption of the flow of water.

"The qanats themselves are not destroyed, but the houses built on them are destroyed or the entrances are blocked. If the Tibetan people fight, we will repair it!

We will repair as much as the Tibetan people smash. I'll personally lead the team to do this! ”

Fang Chongyong said categorically, with no intention of backing down and surrendering at all.

Fang Dafu was slightly moved, then nodded and said:

"Very good, Lang Jun can do this, at least for two months. The total number of local soldiers and horses in Shazhou is not more than 10,000, and they are divided into two, guarding two cities respectively, and blindly counterattacking will only fall into the hands of the Tubo people.

The Tibetan army came from afar and did not carry much grain and grass. This year, the local harvest in Shazhou was destroyed, and they did not reap any benefits. Want to come ......."

Before Fang Dafu finished speaking, Zhang Guangsheng hurriedly walked in, and the other party bowed his hand and saluted: "Envoy, Wang Jun is an urgent military situation, please make sure to come to the city tower." ”

Hearing this, Fang Chongyong had no choice but to put down what he was doing and go to the small city.

……

"What are these Tibetan people doing?"

At the head of the small city, Fang Chongyong looked at the local people who were watering wheat seedlings in the fields on the edge of the canal in the distance and asked. They are being watched over and toiling by the Tibetans.

Because of the suddenness of the war, many of the people living outside the city were captured by the Tibetans. However, the Tibetans did not let them be "death squads" to attack the city, nor did they kill them at will, but organized these peasant households and let them work in the fields.

This situation, if you look at it from the perspective of the aggressor, is very unusual!

"The Tubo people are showing us that they are determined to win Shazhou, so they don't want to delay the agricultural season and be cocooned."

Wang Sili said in a deep voice, worried.

Shazhou has a special climate, and irrigation is a must. If you don't water during the season when you need to water, the year's harvest will be lost. When the Tubo people actually took care of the local farmers in Shazhou, they gathered the people of Shazhou and cultivated them in the farmland outside the city.

This scene is indeed shocking.

By the time the autumn harvest comes, they will harvest the wheat and corn in the fields as military rations, and they will probably be able to support them for a few more months, and there will be no pressure to besiege the city until next spring!

As long as you can get a stable source of water.

"What is General Wang's best strategy to break the enemy?"

Fang Chongyong asked in a deep voice.

The Tibetan people are quite good at taking advantage of the situation, and fighting a war is not blindly brutal, which is really not to be underestimated. Now, although the Tibetans have not attacked the city, the psychological offensive has not stopped for a moment!

The truth of surrendering without a fight is not only understood by Han Chinese.

"If we go out of the city to raid in this battle, we will fall into the hands of the Tubo people, and it is not advisable.

The grain stored in the city is still enough to support a year, so it is better to wait and see what happens......"

Before Wang Sili finished speaking, Fang Chongyong raised his hand to interrupt his words, and asked in a cold tone: "But the forage in the city, the white thorns and tamarix used for the fire, shouldn't be able to support it for that long, right?" ”

Hearing this, Wang Sili was stunned for a moment, and then his face darkened.

The situation in Shazhou is worse than that of the city in the Central Plains.

Because it is not firewood that is used for cooking here, but desert shrubs, which are even less resistant to burning.

"This official has already calculated before, if you don't gather all the stocks in the homes of the people in the city. It is estimated that in less than a month, Shazhou will be cut off. There must still be food, but you can only eat it raw, don't think about cooked food.

From now on, the whole city will eat in a big pot of rice, and the forage in everyone's house will be handed in, and they will be gathered to make dry cakes that are easy to store.

Rationed daily. The magistrate has already instructed someone to do this. ”

Fang Chongyong's composure greatly surprised Wang Sili's expectations.

"Envoy, in fact, it is still okay for you to return to the Central Plains, there is no need to do this."

Wang Sili pulled Fang Chongyong aside and muttered in a low voice.

The Tibetans were not very interested in killing the high-ranking generals of the Tang Dynasty. In principle, the princess of the Tang Dynasty married to Tibet, and the two parties were still "relatives". A series of high-ranking generals of the Tang Army who were captured in the previous defeat in the Battle of Dafeichuan were later redeemed by the Tang Dynasty.

As far as Fang Chongyong is concerned, it doesn't take much to make a deal with the Tubo people and leave Shazhou.

The Tibetan people embarrassed a ten-year-old child, and it was really impossible to spread it to damage the prestige of Zampu (the king of Tibet).

"Can't General Wang see that this is a plan for the Tubo people to encircle and send reinforcements?"

Fang Chongyong asked helplessly.

In this situation, can he pat his ass and leave if he wants to?

At this time, Wang Sili had nothing to say, so he could only nod slightly. He had to admit that he underestimated this Fang Yanei.

The world-famous Fang Jieshuai, will his son be a fool? It's impossible to think about!

Obviously, it doesn't take too much resourcefulness to guess that the Tubo people are surrounding the point to send reinforcements, and a senior general with a little military knowledge can guess it.

Of course, it's not easy for a teenager to be able to say it.

After the Tubo people tried to attack the city, they besieged Shazhou but did not fight, in fact, they were preparing to fight the Tang army's ambush, hoping to fight the Tang army in the narrow passage of the Hexi Corridor...... Heavy infantry vs. cavalry decisive battle!

The Tubo people sent out heavy infantry, and the Tang army sent out cavalry, which seems to have exchanged identities between the two sides, but in fact it is in line with the national conditions of the two.

Although the Tibetans raised horses, the level of cavalry was really quite average, far inferior to the Turks, and they were repeatedly complained about by the Tang Dynasty border generals, especially the riding and archery skills, which were at the bottom of the surrounding ethnic groups. Wang Xuance asked Tubo to borrow troops to destroy Tianzhu and the country, but he only borrowed heavy infantry and not cavalry.

Because it's not easy to use if you borrow it.

The heavy infantry of the Tibetan army was dressed in thick armor and was unstoppable, and was generally served by the small Tibetan nobles, with high morale. Even among the generals of the Tang Army, they are talking about tiger color change.

In the decisive battle in Shazhou, the open terrain was not beneficial to the Tibetans. Only by choosing the decisive battle site in the Hexi Corridor, which has a limited width, and the terrain that greatly restricts the movement of cavalry, is the most beneficial to the Tibetans.

Attacking the enemy must be saved, which is the essence of the art of war! It's no surprise that they chose to encircle the point to send reinforcements!

Fang Chongyong speculated with his dark thoughts that the Tubo people probably wanted to destroy the main force of the Tang army in Hexi in a battle, and then go all the way to the east, and after conquering Liangzhou, they would stick to it and wait for reinforcements, so that the domestic Tubo army would come to Liangzhou in a steady stream.

For Shazhou and other places in the west, it is best to besiege but not attack, and it is best to surrender. If you really want to fight, there is no need to attack, just kill the soldiers and civilians in Shazhou City.

Encircled the point to send reinforcements, if the reinforcements did not come, they would storm the remaining two cities in Shazhou, and the calculation of the Tubo people was very loud.

"General Wang, the Tibetans are pouring in, and this battle will not end soon. It is true to restrain the soldiers and generals and help each other in the same boat. The more we last, the more chance we have of winning. ”

Fang Chongyong sighed and said.

Seeing that Wang Sili seemed to be a little disapproving, he added another sentence and said:

"There are more than ten kinds of siege equipment of the Tibetan people, to say the least. Now they're just using ladders and throwing buildings, and there's a whole lot they haven't tried. ”

A gust of hot wind blew, Wang Sili couldn't help but shiver, and beads of sweat the size of beans flowed down his forehead.

(End of chapter)