Tibet

At this time, Yang Qing had led 10,000 troops to ambush in the mountains and forests on both sides of the White Wolf Valley, and 10,000 bags of kerosene were dumped on the road.

When the crowd rushed towards him, Yang Qing decisively gave the order, "Light the fire!"

Hundreds of torches were thrown onto the road, ‘Boom! ' With a sound, a raging fire ignited on the road and spread rapidly for several miles. Eighteen thousand Khitan soldiers were caught off guard and were instantly engulfed by the fire. The soldiers were suddenly in chaos.

Immediately afterwards, thousands of arrows were fired from the woods on both sides, and the arrows were shot at the Khitan soldiers on the official road like a storm. Countless people were hit by arrows, and screams rang out on the official road.

Many Khitan soldiers were burning with fire, crying and running towards the forests on both sides. However, the Tang army's arrows shot them over, or they were stabbed to death with spears by the Tang army ambushing on both sides.

At this time, the Tang Army engineering soldiers had quickly built a pontoon bridge and began to cross the Bailang River. At the front were two thousand heavy armored infantry. This was Xi Wanli's arrangement. He knew that the Khitan soldiers would inevitably flee.

Two thousand heavy armored infantrymen of the Tang Army rushed through the White Wolf River and went directly to the White Wolf Valley. They happened to encounter countless Khitan soldiers who were fleeing back. The heavy armored infantry lined up in formation, brandishing Mo Dao, and swung their swords at the frightened Khitan soldiers. go.

The day gradually dawned, and the fierce battle also ended. Twenty thousand Khitan soldiers were killed in succession, and 17,000 of them were killed. However, about 3,000 people still fled into the forest and took a detour back to Liucheng.

The soldiers of the Tang army burned the corpses of all enemy soldiers who died in the battle to ashes and dug deep pits to bury them.

It was almost noon when everything was done. By this time, the Tang army had built three pontoon bridges, and the main force of more than 100,000 people had also arrived.

Guo Ziyi was overjoyed when he heard that Xi Wanli had advanced from the front and retreated from behind, annihilating nearly 20,000 Khitan troops. He recorded the achievements of Xi Wanli, Yang Qing and others, and ordered the army to continue going north and surround Liucheng County.

Liucheng County was the headquarters of the Tang Dynasty in Liaodong and the seat of the Andong Protectorate that governed Liaodong during the Tang Dynasty. Tens of thousands of Han people lived here, mostly military family members. During the An-Shi Rebellion, the Khitan took advantage of the lack of troops in Yingzhou and occupied the entire camp. The state also occupied Liucheng.

At this time, the number of Han people in Liucheng was very small, and the number dropped sharply from tens of thousands to thousands. Most of them fled to Youzhou, and some fled to Bohai Kingdom.

It was not that the Khitans immediately occupied Liucheng after the Tang army withdrew. They also observed it for nearly a year and took advantage of the civil war in Youzhou to occupy Yingzhou.

It was this window period of one year that gave the Han people in the city the opportunity to flee. 90% of the Han people were able to escape one after another. The remaining Han people basically married the Khitan or Xi people and were not afraid of being persecuted by the Khitan.

At present, there are about 150,000 people in Liucheng, half of whom are Khitans, the others are Xi people, Goguryeo people and Mohe people. Han people are the least, with only a few thousand people.

In terms of scale, Liucheng is a large county town, with a city perimeter of about 25 miles and tall and strong walls. The Khitan army began preparing for war in Liucheng last year, building and strengthening the city, replacing all the city gates, and stocking up in the city. Lots of food.

Die Cifeng learned from the soldiers who escaped that almost all of the 20,000 troops he sent were destroyed, and his brother Die Cizhen also died in the fire of the Tang army's ambush. He was furious and immediately ordered the whole city to prepare for war.

On the one hand, he sent people to the Songmo Royal Court for emergency help, and on the other hand, he mobilized the entire city's residents to participate in the defense of the city.

Liucheng was not only important to the Tang Dynasty, but also to the Khitan. It was the southern gate of the Khitan. Once Liucheng was occupied by the Tang army, the Khitan's Songmo Governor's Mansion would be exposed to the Tang army.

It can be said that the Tang Dynasty established the strategic city of Liucheng to monitor the Khitan and Xi people.

Khitan Su Khan had already issued a death order to protect Liucheng at all costs.

Guo Ziyi led an army of 170,000 to Liucheng. He was not in a hurry to attack the city, but set up a camp ten miles away from the city. Guo Ziyi certainly knew the importance of Liucheng to the Khitan, and he also knew that the Khitan would definitely send a large army to rescue.

Besieging the city for reinforcements became the first tactic adopted by Guo Ziyi.

The Tang Army's logistical supplies were not located in distant Pingzhou, but on Juehua Island. The Tang Army had already established a large warehouse camp on Juehua Island, storing 500,000 shi of grain and a large amount of other supplies.

The food supplies were shipped from Juehua Island and directly arrived at Liucheng via water transportation, which was very convenient. This was also the strategic intention of the Tang army to pass through Juehua Island to provide water supplies for the attack on Liaodong.

Therefore, even if the Khitan army sent troops to attack the Liaoxi Corridor, it would be meaningless. The Tang army did not supply supplies through the Liaoxi Corridor at all, and the Khitan army had no ships to go to sea, making it difficult to attack Juehua Island.

In the morning of the next day, Ma Lin hurriedly walked into the Chinese army's tent and said: "Commander, I just got the news that a Xi army of 3,000 people captured Ruluo last night and guarded it!"

Ruluo Shouchuo is located a hundred miles away, just at the end of the Liaoxi Corridor. From here, the roads branch off, heading northwest to Liucheng and northeast to Liaohe River, which just cuts off the Liaoxi Corridor.

Although the capture of Ruluo Guards did not affect the Tang Army's logistical supplies, it was still very important. First, it cut off the Tang Army's connection with Pingzhou. Secondly, it meant that the Xi tribe and the Khitan had joined forces.

Ma Lin whispered: "Could this be a trick to lure troops? We sent troops to rescue, but their main force was ambushed halfway?"

Guo Ziyi nodded, "It's very possible. If that's the case, we can use it to our advantage."

Ma Lin quickly said: "Let me do the work!"

Guo Ziyi said happily: "I will give you 50,000 troops. I hope General Ma can bring me good news!"

It is only about a hundred miles from Liucheng to Ruluo Shouchu, and the cavalry can arrive there in one day. However, the terrain along the way is very complicated, with more than 20 hills of various sizes, as well as plains. The key is that there are sparsely populated people and lush trees. Easily ambushed.

If you want to avoid being ambushed, or even counter-ambush, the most important thing is intelligence, know yourself and the enemy, and you can fight without danger.

Ma Lin first sent out five scout teams to look for traces of Xi Jun.

One of the scout teams was led by a school captain named Guo Qingyun, a native of Chang'an. In five years, he rose from being a soldier to a school captain and had rich experience.

He led a group of twenty men and went south along a trail.

They went all the way south from Liucheng, and by night they had walked about sixty miles. It was already dark. Guo Qingyun pointed to the pine forest on a hill in front of him and said, "Go and spend the night in the pine forest!"

Everyone speeded up their horses and rushed directly up the hill from the gentle slope and entered the pine forest. A group of birds were frightened and flew away.

The pine forest was covered with thick pine needles, which were very soft. Everyone found an open place, each found a big tree to sit down, drank water and ate dry food. A sentinel climbed up the tallest pine tree and kept sentry with a clairvoyant eye.

Now the wartime rations of the Tang Army are also different from those in the past. In order to ensure morale, the Tang Army invested a lot in military rations. In fact, not only the current Tang Army, but also any army in the past dynasties will do everything possible to keep the fighting soldiers well fed. No soldier will fight for you when you are hungry.

Tang Jun’s current dry food is divided into soft and hard cakes, both of which are mutton pies. The meat is thick and juicy. One cake weighs at least half a catty and is very thick and delicious. If the march only lasts a day or two, then soft cakes are provided. It can be eaten directly. If you march for more than two days, it will be a hard cake and needs to be softened and heated in a marching pot before eating.

Now everyone eats soft cakes, and everyone drinks water and chats while eating.

"Captain Guo, I heard that we are still going to fight the Japanese army?" a soldier asked.

Guo Qingyun nodded, "It should be so. Bohai Country was destroyed by the Japanese army. If we want to recover Bohai Country, we must kill all the Japanese troops."

"What does it mean to regain the Bohai Kingdom? Let them regain the country?" Another soldier was puzzled.

"How is it possible to restore the country?"

Guo Qingyun smiled and said: "Actually, it is the Bohai Mansion of the Tang Dynasty. The imperial court appoints the governor and county magistrate, and it is a part of the Tang Dynasty."

Everyone laughed, and another person asked: "What does the Japanese army look like? Are they tall and fierce?"

"Tall ass!"

Guo Qingyun laughed and scolded, and said to everyone: "Let me tell you, when I was a boy, I saw the envoys to Tang Dynasty who came to Chang'an. There were hundreds of them. They were basically the children of nobles, and there were also some Japanese soldiers. They looked like us in height. There are not just one or two nine-year-old children, but basically all of them. If you see a group of adults who look like nine-year-old children on Chang'an Avenue, they are most likely Japanese, and they are easy to identify. "

Everyone laughed and said, "That's not like fighting a child. You won't win without force!"

Guo Qingyun shook his head, "This gang was small, but extremely cruel. They killed hundreds of thousands of people in Shangjing of the Bohai Kingdom, even the children. All the women were tortured to death by them, so the emperor's order is Kill all the Japanese troops and leave no prisoners!”

"What a bastard, so bad!" Several soldiers couldn't help but curse.

At this moment, the sentry rushed over and reported, "Captain Qi, I saw a fire!"

Guo Qingyun was overjoyed, "Take me to see it!"

Guo Qingyun quickly ran to the edge of the forest, climbed up a big tree, took out his clairvoyance, and looked in the direction of the sentry's finger.

I saw that there were indeed flashes of fire in the valley more than ten miles away in the southwest.

He immediately came back and ordered: "Don't rest, everyone, set out immediately, we may have caught a big fish!"

Everyone immediately packed up their blankets, got up, and led their horses down the mountain.