Tibet

Early the next morning, a carrier pigeon took off from the backyard of the restaurant, circled in the air several times, and flew south. On top of the city, two soldiers witnessed the carrier pigeon flying away, and monitored a clerk at a Longyou leather goods shop as if nothing had happened. He walked out of the restaurant and returned to the leather goods shop.

The Tubo army also attached great importance to intelligence collection. They also had many Han spies. They were all Han people from Longyou who were taken captive to the Tubo. After being gradually transformed by the Tubo, many of them were trained as Tubo spies and went deep into the states and counties of the Tang Dynasty to collect intelligence. .

At noon, the Tubo army general Lun Xipo received information from Jinchang County spy Fei Ge.

The intelligence showed that the general of the Tang Army was called Li Ye, the grandson of King Ning of the Tang Dynasty and the son of King Si Ning, who was named the county king.

In fact, Li Ye was a little worried. Even if he used his real name, Li Ye, and even if he admitted that he was Li Linfu's grandson, the Tubo army might not know who he was?

Although Li Ye was famous in Chang'an, on the grasslands, and in the Western Regions, the Tubo army was unfamiliar with Li Ye, and Li Ye had not yet gone to Anxi to take office. The Tubo army also believed that the Jiedushi envoy of Anxi was Feng Changqing.

This is normal, just like the Tang army did not know the internal situation of Tubo. Although Tubo sent Han spies to collect intelligence, the intelligence collected was mainly about Longyou, Hexi, Jiannan and Anxi. It was impossible for them to go to the river to collect intelligence.

Of course, Li Ye's use of a false identity was more effective. There was an information gap problem. The senior generals of the Tang Army knew who he was, but the people of Jinchang County did not.

Lun Xipo, the leader of the Tubo army, had never heard of the name Li Ye, but since the other party was the prince of the county, and because Gao Xianzhi supported the prince, the emperor of the Tang Dynasty sent him to replace Gao Xianzhi as the Hexi military envoy.

This was an internal struggle for imperial power in the Tang Dynasty, and it also existed in Tubo, which is reasonable.

Lun Xipo immediately realized that this was an opportunity. A young man who had only read the Art of War for a few days and had no actual combat experience reminded him of a Han idiom: talking about war on paper.

Lun Xipo immediately called his deputy general Zaderenci to discuss countermeasures. Zaderenci had also never heard of the name Li Ye, but this was not important. What was important was that the other party was a royal prince of the Tang Dynasty, a young man. The royal family has no experience.

Zaderenci sneered and said: "The Emperor of the Tang Dynasty did not allow Gao Xianzhi to be the general, and even Pei Fang was not allowed to do so. He actually sent a young royal family member. What ability and experience does he have, can he fight against our Tubo army?" ?”

Lun Xi pondered for a moment and said, "Perhaps this young prince is very talented!"

Zaderenci snorted disdainfully, "Having talent but no experience is the most harmful thing. They will think that they are very smart and will not listen to other people's suggestions. The general can see that he came to Hexi not for war, but for politics." When it comes to seizing power, for their emperor, it doesn't matter whether he can fight or not, what matters is his own people."

Lun Xipo nodded, "What you said is very reasonable. Under normal circumstances, we should not rush to send troops to fight. Instead, we should train for a month, become familiar with the army and soldiers, and understand their combat capabilities. This is what famous generals do. I guess This prince is eager for success and will lead his troops to go out in three days at most. If this is the case, this is our opportunity!"

Zaderenci sneered and said: "Wrestling in the same place is the most interesting. Since he has read military books, he will definitely think that it is impossible for us to ambush in the same place. We might as well ambush again in Daliujing."

Lun Xi took a few steps with his hands clasped behind his back, feeling a little embarrassed: "But the commander-in-chief asked us to defend the city and not go into battle!"

Zaderenci advised: "The general thought that the commander of the Tang army was Gao Xianzhi, so he asked the general to defend the city. However, the opponent's commander was not Gao Xianzhi, but an inexperienced prince. When such an opportunity arises, we should not If you are stuck in a rut, you should take action!”

Lun Xipo nodded slowly, Zhaderenci was right, he couldn't stick to the rules and should take action.

However, ambush in Daliujing is a bit risky and unnecessary. There is another better place for ambush.

In the afternoon, Yang Li's men escorted several prisoners back, but Yang Li did not come back. He continued to lead dozens of cavalry in Shazhou to monitor the main force of the Tibetan army in Dunhuang City.

In the large tent, Li Ye said to more than a dozen generals and Zhonglang generals: "According to the information obtained during the interrogation, the 10,000 Tibetan troops in Dunhuang are composed of three races: Tubo, Tuyuhun, and Qiang. The ratio of strength is five to four to one.

The Tibetan commander who set up an ambush to defeat the Tang army was the famous general Ma Chongying, but he had left Dunhuang ten days ago. The current commander of the Tubo army in Dunhuang is Lun Xipo. He is from a well-known family and is Ma Chongying's deputy general. It is said that this man is very good at defense. Ma Chongying Leaving him as the main general would inevitably mean letting him defend Dunhuang City. "

Liu Yong, the military commander of the Han Navy, raised his hand and said, "Please introduce the equipment of the Tibetan army."

"The weapons of the Tubo army mainly include three types, bows and arrows, broad-backed daggers and spears. Their bows and arrows do not have a far range as ours, but if it is a close siege, they are no less than our bows and arrows. The armor of the Tubo army It is a pointed leather armor. The Tubo people's armor is made of yak leather, which is very hard. The Tuyuhun army's armor is made of oxhide and horsehide, and its defensive capabilities are slightly worse. They have two branches, one is the sword and shield army, and the other is the sword and shield army. It is a spear army, but no matter which branch of the army they are, they will fight to the death. Unless the general leads them to retreat, they will fight to the end. Their fighting will is not ordinary tenacity."

All the generals of the Tang army were in a heavy mood. They all knew that the Tubo army was notoriously difficult to deal with and had strong combat effectiveness. Fortunately, half of the troops in the city were not Tubo people, so it would be better.

Li Ye then said slowly: "In this battle with the Tubo Army, I hope that both the Beiting Army and the Hexi Army must obey my orders unconditionally and carry out my orders to the letter, even if you think the orders are wrong." Yes, it must also be carried out. I have said ugly words in front of you. Anyone who disobeys my military orders will be executed without mercy!"

In the tent, Li Ye pointed to an abandoned official road in the sand table and asked Li Kairan, "Can this road still be walked?"

Li Kairan nodded, "It has been covered by the wind and sand, but you can leave!"

"How long will it take for you to lead 3,000 Shazhou troops to Dunhuang County from here?"

"If we march in a hurry, we will arrive in two days and one night, and we will be able to reach Dunhuang the day after tomorrow!"

"Is two days and one night enough? It's a two-hundred-mile journey!"

"I've been through a humble job, I'm sure of myself!"

Li Ye shook his head, "Don't be too hasty, make sure the soldiers have sufficient physical strength. After arriving at Dunhuang, Yang Li will contact you. You must be sure that you can attack Dunhuang City!"

Li Kairan smiled bitterly and said: "Please rest assured, I have been in Dunhuang City for four years, and I know very well how to sneak attack Dunhuang City."

Late at night, a hurried knock on the door woke up shopkeeper Ma. He quickly came out to open the door. Yang An jumped in and said urgently: "I just got urgent information. The Tang army will set off tomorrow morning!"

Shopkeeper Ma was startled, "It's only been three days, are we going to send out troops?"

Yang An nodded, "I don't know the reason, but the news is accurate. Several of my old drinkers are from the army. They came over for a drink just now and told me clearly that they will leave early tomorrow morning. They all said that the new coach has no experience and does not pay attention to training. , and is eager to make meritorious deeds, and generally does not think highly of him."

Shopkeeper Ma nodded, "We must send out the news before dawn tomorrow, otherwise it will be too late!"

At the same moment when Yang An told Shopkeeper Ma the news, an army of 3,000 people, led by Li Kairan, the governor of Shazhou, left the camp and rushed toward Dunhuang under night cover.

Li Kairan was very familiar with the road. He did not take the official road, but another abandoned old road, which was very hidden.

Early the next morning, Li Ye left two thousand troops to guard Jinchang County, and he personally led the army to kill Shazhou.

Half an hour before Li Ye sent out troops, a flying pigeon conveyed the information to Dunhuang County.