Tibet

At dawn the next day, the rumble of war drums sounded outside the city. The tranquility of the morning was broken. Teams of Tang troops rushed to the top of the city. The top of the city was already filled with Tang soldiers. Everyone stood on their own. In the position, bows and arrows are drawn, and the formation is ready.

Craftsmen also built more than fifty medium-sized trebuchets at the top of the city. This is a very simple trebuchet that can throw fifty kilograms of iron fire mines 150 steps away. Although it has poor accuracy, it is Accuracy is also not required for dense crowds.

Twenty thousand Tibetan troops were already lined up, waiting for the final siege order. They were arranged into two large square formations. The dark soldiers held daggers and shields and were filled with murderous intent.

Huichuan City is actually not difficult to attack. It had a moat in the early days, but it was later filled in by the Tibetan army. Only two rivers flowed out of Shuicheng Gate.

Of course, the Tubo army made it easier for them to attack the city. The Tang army occupied Huichuan City twice, but in the end it was captured by the Tubo army, cutting off the Tang army's supply and retreat.

The Tubo army and the Nanzhao army had a well-organized cooperation. Once the Tang army attacked, the Nanzhao army would retreat with only a slight resistance, and then surrender Sichuan City to the Tang army. When the Tang army entered the hinterland of Nanzhao, the Tubo army would kill them with swords. out.

The city is not very high, only about three feet, which is equivalent to a three-story building. The Tibetan army can quickly attack it by climbing the siege ladder.

"Woo--Woo--"

A deep horn sounded, and ten thousand Tibetan soldiers shouted in unison, holding their shields high and charging toward the west wall like a tide.

Qu Huan ordered coldly: "Shoot!"

On the top of the city, ten thousand soldiers fired arrows at the bottom of the city. The overwhelming arrows shot at the crowd like a tide. The arrows were so sharp that even shields could not stop the crossbow arrows falling from the sky. The shields were shot through one after another, and pieces of Tibetan soldiers were killed. Shot down, thousands of soldiers were lost in the first round of arrows.

But they still couldn't stop the running steps of the Tibetan soldiers. At this time, the trumpet sounded again, and the second phalanx also ran towards the west wall.

This is the characteristic of the Tubo army. They put in a high density of soldiers at once, and all of them were fearless of death. Even if they suffered heavy casualties, they could still attack the city and seize it.

They actually exchanged a large number of soldiers for victory.

The nomadic cavalry cannot do this. As long as more than 30 of them are killed, the nomadic cavalry will collapse.

But if the Tibetan army did not blow the retreat horn, whoever dared to retreat without permission would not only be executed personally, but his whole family would also be implicated and become slaves.

On the contrary, if a soldier is killed in action, the whole family receives various benefits.

It was this joint severe punishment and incentive mechanism that contributed to the Tibetan army's fighting style of fighting to the death, which brought huge pressure on the Tang army and the court for a hundred years. By the end of the Tang Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty was always suppressed by the Tibetans, and even the capital Chang'an was suppressed by the Tibetans. The army fell, and the entire Longyou, Hexi, and Anxi returned to Tubo.

Until the end of the Tang Dynasty, with the arrival of the Little Ice Age, the climate became colder, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau turned into a frozen world, various resources decreased sharply, and internal competition became fierce. Tubo began to decline, and the Tang Dynasty also perished.

At this time, the Tang army on the top of the city also saw this terrifying scene with their own eyes. The crowd rushed towards the city, and the dense arrows shot down seemed to have no effect.

Qu Huan calmly ordered: "The trebuchet is launched, and the kerosene is thrown in advance!"

The trebuchet opened with a creak, and more than fifty black iron fire mines were thrown into the crowd. They exploded one after another in the crowd. The iron fire mines were extremely lethal. When one iron fire mine exploded, dozens of people were killed. A Tubo soldier was blown to pieces, and dense pieces of poisoned iron fragments were shot around. Dozens more soldiers were hit by the fragments, causing screams and wails.

Countless soldiers were frightened. Is this the wrath of God descending on the world?

The Tibetan leader Qi Zang Zhezhe had been watching the battle from behind. He suddenly saw black objects thrown from the top of the city exploding violently in the crowd, like thunder falling from the sky. Qi Zang Zhezhe was shocked.

But he was surprised, and he was worried that the soldiers would run away in fear, so he shouted loudly: "Bang the drum of attack!"

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Fierce war drums beat, urging the army to attack.

The frightened Tibetan soldiers heard the sound of war drums and had to muster the courage to continue the attack. Even if many soldiers were hit by quenched iron pieces, they could not retreat and had to endure the pain to continue the attack.

The first round of iron fire mines killed more than 2,000 Tibetan soldiers, but for the 20,000 troops, the death accounted for only 10% and had little impact.

However, the Tang army's iron fire mines did not have only one round. The second and third rounds of fire mines exploded in the crowd. The Tibetan soldiers suffered extremely heavy casualties, with the cumulative casualties exceeding 6,000.

At the same time, the Tang army had poured thousands of barrels of kerosene under the city, turning the entire city into black mud.

Tubo soldiers rushed to the city, and siege ladders were set up on the top of the city. The soldiers jumped on the ladders, shouting and killed towards the top of the city.

"Throw fuel!"

Following Qu Huan's order, thousands of soldiers threw lit kerosene cans at the Tibetan soldiers who were climbing the siege ladder.

Burning kerosene poured on the Tibetan soldiers, and the few soldiers climbing at the front were set on fire. They screamed and jumped downwards, and the siege ladder turned into a fire ladder.

At this time, the ground beneath the feet of the nearly 10,000 Tibetan soldiers under the city burst into flames, and the kerosene poured in advance began to burn rapidly. At five o'clock in the morning, the Tang army poured 2,000 barrels of kerosene in advance and covered it with a thin layer of soil.

So once it burns, it will not only burn under the city, but also within a hundred steps from the city wall.

The Tang army then threw thousands of bundles of dry straw down, and the city immediately turned into a sea of ​​fire.

More than 10,000 Tibetan soldiers were trapped in the sea of ​​fire, crying and screaming in fear as they ran back. The Tang soldiers on the top of the city shot thousands of arrows at once. Without shields to protect them, the Tibetan soldiers were shot and fell to the ground one by one, and the flames soon engulfed them.

"Retreat! Retreat!"

The Tibetan commander Qi Zang Zhazha shouted anxiously.

"Dang! Dang! Dang! Dang!" The retreat bell sounded quickly.

Thousands of Tibetan soldiers who had not yet attacked turned around and fled.

The siege had just begun, and the Tang army used powerful firearms to hit the Tibetan soldiers head-on. Of the 20,000 soldiers who attacked, only 3,400 retreated, and the remaining 16,000 were all killed in the rain of arrows, explosions and flames.

Qizang Zhazha was completely stunned. This was something he had never encountered in his more than 20 years of leading troops. The Tang army could actually kill nearly 20,000 of his soldiers in such a short time.

He was scared out of his wits. If he attacked the city again, his remaining 30,000 soldiers would be completely killed.

Since it was impossible to attack the city, Qizang Zhazha ordered the entire army to retreat back to Jianchuan without hesitation. The life and death of Nanzhao had nothing to do with him. He had to keep the remaining 30,000 troops, otherwise the Zamp would never forgive him.

Qizang Zhazha issued an order to withdraw the troops. The Tubo soldiers were also terrified. They didn't even bother to pack up their tents and turned around to flee in the direction of Jianchuan Prefecture.

Soon, a Tang scout came galloping on horseback from the city. He passed through a pile of charred corpses, endured the stench, and ran to the city and shouted: "There is military information to report to Governor Qu!"

Qu Huan was on the top of the city wall. He poked his head and asked: "What's the matter?"

"General, the Tubo army has retreated!"

"Where are they retreating?"

"Towards Jianchuan!"

Liu Jing, the deputy general, whispered: "Is there a trick in the Tubo army's retreat?"

Qu Huan pondered for a moment and said: "The enemy army is already scared, and it is unlikely to be a trick, but whether it is a trick or not, I will send troops to pursue. You are responsible for cleaning up the corpses outside the city and strictly guarding the city!"

"I obey your order!"

Qu Huan immediately led 10,000 troops, carrying a large amount of kerosene and firearms, to chase in the direction of Tubo's retreat.

Qu Huan had sent 2,000 troops to ambush in front of the dangerous mountain road in advance. If the 2,000 soldiers can hold on, it is really possible to wipe out the Tubo army this time.