Tibet

The Tao River is the second largest tributary in the upper reaches of the Yellow River. It is about 1,300 miles long. It originates from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and meanders through the mountains.

The upper reaches flow through the canyon abyss, and the water flow is rapid. In the middle reaches and lower reaches, the water flow slows down.

The middle and lower reaches of the Tao River are the famous Tao River Valley, with low hills on both sides. Longyou in the Tang Dynasty had a warm and humid climate, dense forests, and fertile land. On the hilly slopes, people built terraces, reclaimed land, and had abundant water resources. , the Taohe River Valley, which is hundreds of miles long, has always been one of the important agricultural areas in Longyou, rich in wheat, second only to the Hehuang Valley.

At present, the Tubo army is still mainly focused on plundering, taking advantage of the empty Tang army in Longyou to plunder Longyou and Hexi. It was not until a few years later that the Tubo court found that the Tang Dynasty was extremely weak and could no longer recapture Longyou and Hexi, and the Tubo dynasty began to change. The strategy changed from plunder to occupation, and began to fully annex Longyou and Hexi.

Therefore, there are plunder points in every important state. There are two plunder points in Lanzhou, one is Didao County and the other is Jincheng County.

A Tibetan army of 5,000 people was marching rapidly southward in the Taoshui River Valley. This Tibetan army was the 5,000-strong army stationed in Didao County. It rushed to support Taozhou on the orders of its commander Ma Chongying.

The Tibetan army was mainly infantry, but there were also a small number of generals on horseback. Their marching speed was very fast, almost equivalent to the trot of ordinary people.

Two days later, the Tubo army arrived at Jiming Mountain. This is the junction of the three states. There is a large canyon. The canyon is more than 20 miles long. There are cliffs on both sides. Only a narrow mountain road on the east side can pass through the canyon. This is also the most dangerous section of the Tao River in Lanzhou.

At this time, the way ahead seemed to be blocked by rocks, and the army had to stop marching. Suddenly, everyone felt something and looked up at the cliff. The cliff in this section was not high, only more than twenty feet.

The soldiers were immediately horrified. They saw countless large rocks rolling down from their heads. The soldiers had nowhere to dodge. For a moment, a large number of rocks smashed into the crowd. Thousands of Tibetan soldiers were hit with bloody heads and rolled over. Falling into the river, he was instantly carried away by the rapids.

The Tubo leader shouted anxiously: "What's going on in front, get out of here!"

A centurion leader shouted anxiously from the front: "General, we can't walk through. The passages are all blocked by big rocks. We have no choice but to turn back!"

"It's strange, why is the road blocked?" The man with thousands of people in Tubo really couldn't figure it out.

At this moment, Tubo screamed again in the north. This time, the rocks rolling down from the top of the mountain were bigger and more, and they were not all at once, but continuous. The Tubo soldiers suffered heavy casualties, and most of them were thrown directly into the water. , swallowed by the rapids.

"No, there's an ambush!"

Chief Qianren yelled, and he finally realized what he was doing. He hit the target with rocks, which could only be an ambush.

"Back off! Back off!"

The Tibetan army had suffered more than 1,300 casualties, and the remaining 3,000 soldiers stumbled and fled north, trying to escape from the canyon.

But they had no chance, and the retreat route to the north was cut off by the Tang army. In fact, there is another path through this section of the Grand Canyon. The woodcutter and the herb collectors all know it, but the Tubo people will not know it, and no one will tell them. , even those who know will be killed by them, this is their fate.

There is a gap more than ten miles north of the canyon. If you walk through the gap, you can go all the way to the top of the mountain. At this time, there are two thousand Tang army soldiers on the top of the mountain throwing big rocks down. The Tang army prepared a large number of stones, enough to smash three Tibetans. More than enough everywhere.

Thousands of Tubo soldiers fled in front, followed by continuous wailing and screaming. There were fewer and fewer soldiers following him. The original number of more than 3,600 people gradually dropped to more than 2,000. After running for five or six miles, they had dropped to less than a thousand soldiers, and no one knew whether the other soldiers were alive or dead.

Ahead was the entrance to the Grand Canyon, an open space. When the Tubo leader rushed out of the canyon with hundreds of his men, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

At this moment, I heard a rapid bang sound, "Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Immediately afterwards, arrows shot out from the woods on the hillside like a storm. The Tubo army was unable to dodge and fell to the ground screaming. Thousands of Tubo soldiers were hit by more than a hundred arrows and died tragically on the spot.

Hundreds of Tibetan soldiers all fell to the ground and died, and no one survived.

Thousands of Tang Army soldiers rushed over and blocked the exit of the canyon with crossbow arrows.

Li Ye appeared on horseback. He ordered all the enemy corpses to be thrown into the river, and asked: "Are there any enemy soldiers in the canyon?"

Yu Changyang stepped forward to report: "Your Highness, there are still a small number of Tibetan soldiers in the canyon. They cling to the stone wall and were not hit by the stones."

Li Ye nodded, "Let the people above stop smashing rocks and give the enemy a chance to come over and kill them all without leaving any prisoners. General Yu, I'll leave the rest to you!"

"I humbly obey my orders!"

Yu Changyang led 5,000 men to deal with the funeral affairs, while Li Ye led an army of 15,000 to continue running north.

Li Ye also attacked from all sides in this battle, fully blossoming, and maximizing the dividends of poor information. His goals were also very clear. First, use the Taoshui River as the boundary to drive the Tibetan army to the west of the Taoshui River; second, Open the channel to Hexi.

Li Ye's army was basically on horseback and marched very fast. There were abandoned villages along the way. All the people had fled, leaving only devastation, which was very sad.

Two days later, the army arrived in Didao County.

Didao County is the most important county in the Tao River Valley, with a population of tens of thousands. However, it is now a dilapidated city with a population of less than 10,000. Most of them are old and weak, and the young and strong have all fled to Qinzhou. .

The army entered Didao County, and dozens of trembling old men came to see Li Ye.

The old people knelt down and cried bitterly, "We looked forward to the stars and the moon, and finally the imperial army came."

Li Ye asked his soldiers to help them up and asked: "Dear father-in-law, are there any officials in the city?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the soldiers hurried over with a middle-aged man. The middle-aged man stepped forward and bowed: "Hu Zhenlin, a humble official, was originally the chief registrar of Didao County. Please see His Highness King Qi!"

Only then did all the elders know that Li Ye was King Qi, and they immediately started talking secretly.

Li Ye asked lightly: "What about you now?"

"I work in a humble position to open up some land outside the city and make a living by farming. It's hard to make a living!"

Li Ye nodded secretly. He would rather stay in poverty than be loyal to a foreign race. This is rare!

"Are there any Tibetan officials in the city?"

Hu Zhenlin shook his head, "They implement military control and have no civilian officials!"

Li Ye smiled slightly and said: "From now on, you will be the magistrate of Didao County. I will give you money and food, and you can support the county government again."

Hu Zhenlin was moved and saluted again, "I am willing to serve His Majesty in my humble position!"

The Tang army captured more than a hundred Tibetan soldiers staying behind in the county. They were unable to escape and were blocked in the city. They took off their armor and dressed up as ordinary Tang Dynasty people. However, they were immediately reported and exposed by the people in other counties, and they were all arrested. .

Li Ye immediately ordered them all to be beheaded in public.

Then he cleaned up the warehouse and obtained more than 80,000 shi of grain, more than 100,000 guan of money, thousands of pieces of armor, and other various supplies.

Li Ye allocated some money, food and supplies to the county government, and appointed a county captain, who was the original Hucao of Didao County, surnamed Jiang. The two recruited more than a dozen old government officials, and the county government started running again.

Li Ye immediately ordered a general to lead two thousand soldiers to guard Didao County.

He then led the army and continued northward.