Tibet

A raging fire was also lit on top of the city to burn the corpses of Tibetan soldiers. Inside the barbican, hundreds of Tang army soldiers wore masks and used shovels to clean up the scorched corpses, pile them up, and burn them again until they were completely burned. The ashes are then transported by large truck to the outside of the city for deep burial.

Many years later, when people passed by Wengcheng, they could still feel the gloomy wind, as if countless resentful souls were crying, and five thousand Tubo soldiers were burned alive in Wengcheng.

In this battle, the Tubo army lost more than 14,000 people and the Tang army suffered more than 2,000 casualties. It achieved a great victory in the first defensive battle.

"Does Your Highness think the Tibetan army will attack again?" Xin Yunjing asked at the top of the city.

Li Ye shook his head, "Although I prefer that they retreat, we need to be prepared on both sides!"

Xin Yunjing smiled and said: "If there is a pursuit, I am looking forward to leading a cavalry even though I am humble!"

Li Ye nodded and said: "General Xin will lead the fifth cavalry army!"

Xin Yunjing was overjoyed, clasping his fists and saying, "I humbly obey my orders!"

The Helong Tang Army had a total of 50,000 cavalry, of which 10,000 cavalry in the Third Army were brought to Hexi by Pei Xiu. The First Cavalry Army was personally led by Li Ye, the Second Cavalry Army was led by Nan Jiyun, and the Fourth Cavalry Army was led by Lei Wan Commander Chun, the Fifth Cavalry Corps was handed over to Xin Yunjing.

The 40,000 cavalry did not participate in the fierce battle in the morning. They were gearing up and eager to try.

Sure enough, as Li Ye expected, that night, the Tubo army began to quietly withdraw.

Ma Chongying brought 70,000 troops, including 10,000 logistics troops. Among them, the important generals of the Tibetan army who supported him in attacking Jincheng included the deputy general Lun Mangre and three 10,000-man captains. At a ratio of 5 to 3, the opinion of attacking outweighed the opinion of retreat.

The 30,000 troops sent out today were exactly the three captains of ten thousand who supported him in sending troops. However, the disastrous defeat in the morning caused the three captains of ten thousand who supported him to defect. Ma Chongying was unprecedentedly isolated, with only the deputy general Lun Mangre left to support him. he.

This voting system is different from that of the Tubo Army in the past. In the past, the commander of the Tubo Army had the final say, because it was the army of the imperial court, and the commander represented Zamp.

This time it was an army of various nobles. The captains were appointed by the nobles. Previously, Shang Jiexi served as the commander. It was a consensus among everyone. However, in order to gain military power, Tubo Zampu used Shang Jiexi to prevent the Emperor of Tang Dynasty from intercepting the army. For reasons, he was dismissed from his post and replaced by Ma Chongying as the coach.

The current conflicts between Ma Chongying and the various captains represent the conflicts between Tubo Zampu and various nobles.

Because the interests of Hexi and Shuofang were not obtained, the nobles became dissatisfied.

In desperation, Ma Chongying had no choice but to agree to the overwhelming request of the generals and withdraw his troops back to Shanzhou.

Lieutenant General Lun Mangre walked into the tent and saw that the commander was worried, so he comforted him: "Commander, the Tang army has fire weapons. We can't fight this battle and we can't win it. It is absolutely wise to retreat."

Ma Chongying sneered and said: "I know I can't defeat the Tang Army, but is it necessarily wise to retreat? Do you think the Tang Army will let us go?"

Lun Mangre was stunned, "What can we do?"

Ma Chongying shook his head and said: "The correct approach is to retreat step by step, but I have proposed a plan and they don't listen. What can I do?"

"The key is Zabu Reli. The other captains of ten thousand all listen to him. It's better to let the lowly officials persuade him and let him obey the commander-in-chief's arrangements."

Ma Chongying showed a look of embarrassment on his face and sighed: "I actually want your baggage team to leave first, but I guess they won't agree."

"The humble position is willing to take the overall situation into consideration and let them go first, while the humble position will stay and postpone."

"You could be wiped out!"

Lun Mangre also fell silent. Of course he did not want the entire army to be destroyed.

The 10,000 logistics army commanded by Mang Re was the only army directly under the imperial court, and Ma Chongying did not want this army to be destroyed.

He pondered for a moment and said: "Then we'd better go together. Your logistics army will be held back, but listen to me. When you are held back, go to the north bank of the Yellow River. Walk from the north bank of the Yellow River. Once the Tang army comes to pursue you, you should immediately abandon the baggage." Lead the soldiers to flee."

"Abandon the baggage and run for your life?" Lun Mangre suspected that he heard wrongly.

Ma Chongying nodded, "Yes! Run as fast as you can to escape. This will at least save the lives of the soldiers. The main force of the Tang army must be the soldiers chasing the south bank. Since Zabu Reli refuses to listen to my arrangement, then let him Let him deal with the Tang army’s pursuit!”

There was strong hatred in Ma Zhongying's voice. These bastards had ignored him, so let them bear the consequences. What did it have to do with him?

At this time, a general of the Tibetan army walked in. It was none other than Zabu Reli, the chief of ten thousand men. He was the chief general of the Na Nang family, the first noble of Tubo, and commanded ten thousand private troops.

The Na Nang clan belongs to the Shang clan, which is a family that is married to the royal family, and belongs to the noble family. Ma Chongying's Tibetan name is Dazalugong. He belongs to the Lun clan, which is an ordinary minister who is not married to the royal family.

The Anlushan Rebellion broke out, and the Tang Dynasty mobilized troops from Longyou, Hexi, Shuofang, and Anxi. These lands that Tubo had coveted for many years but could not obtain, suddenly had no troops to guard them.

How could Tubo let go of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity? But Tubo is now at its weakest. The court has no army, the old army has almost been wiped out, and the new men have not yet grown up.

Tubo Zanpu had no choice but to borrow troops from the Shang clan, but he wanted to keep these borrowed Tubo troops as his own, so he dismissed Shang Jiexi and appointed the famous Lun clan general Dazalugong as his commander-in-chief.

But how could the dignitaries of the Shang clan lend out their elite troops? The ones they borrowed were basically old and weak troops.

As a result, Ma Chongying suffered repeated defeats within half a year and lost all his prestige.

Zabrel and other captains knew that he was about to be dismissed, and they began to disobey his orders.

"Commander, we will withdraw our troops tonight. I also estimate that the Tang Army will pursue us. I have a plan. Commander, will you see if it is feasible?"

The tone was very arrogant, and they said they were asking for opinions. In fact, they had already decided in private, and they were just here to report in name.

At night, the Tubo army began to retreat. In order to paralyze the Tang army, they did not dismantle the tent. The lights in the camp were still bright. Team after team quickly retreated westward along the official road on the south bank of the Yellow River. Their target was of course Tao, seventy miles away. Camp on the west bank of the water, rest there for a few days, and then withdraw to Shanzhou.

The baggage team also began to retreat, and they continued to use yaks to pull sleds and transport large amounts of food and supplies. Since the tents were not dismantled, they lost half of the baggage and felt much more relaxed.

Following Ma Chongying's suggestion, Lun Mangre directly led the baggage team to the other side of the Yellow River.

An hour later, the gate of Jincheng County opened, and Li Ye led 40,000 cavalry to rush out of Jincheng County towards the Tibetan army camp.

He received information from Zhang Dian, the scout general, that the Tibetan army had retreated, and the logistics team among them had retreated to the north bank of the Yellow River.

The Tang army rushed into the Tubo camp. Thousands of leather tents were still there, but they were empty.

Li Ye then said to Xin Yunjing: "General Xin is going to pursue the Tibetan logistics baggage on the other side. If the enemy abandons the baggage and flees for his life, you can chase and retreat for fifteen miles."

"I humbly obey my orders!"

Xin Yun waved his hand and shouted: "Fifth Army, follow me!"

He led ten thousand cavalry towards the Yellow River. Xin Yunjing was from Jincheng County and was very familiar with the situation on this side of the Yellow River.

Li Ye led 30,000 cavalry to chase the Tibetan army on the official road on the south bank.

The moon was bright and there were few stars, and a bright half-moon hung in the night sky. The ground was covered with snow, reflecting the moonlight. Although it was already the third watch, it was as bright as day.

After running for more than ten miles, Zhang Dian came up to meet him and said urgently: "I have an enemy report for my humble position!"

Li Ye waved his hand, and the cavalry behind him slowly stopped.

"What kind of hostility!"

"There is an ambush of a Tibetan army five miles ahead. There are about ten thousand people. It is very likely that they will ambush my army."

Li Ye smiled and said: "It's such a cold day and they still have an ambush. Aren't they afraid of being frozen?"

Nan Jiyun said in a deep voice: "Your Highness, they probably want to attack our rear army. Why don't they go around the Yellow River and attack this army from east to west."

Li Ye looked at Lei Wanchun again, and Lei Wanchun immediately said: "Beizhi has the same opinion as General Nan, but Beizhi suggests bypassing two armies, and one army to resist the Tibetan army that may come back from the west."

Li Ye nodded, Lei Wanchun's plan was more complete.

He immediately said: "You two each lead 10,000 cavalry and go around to the south. General Lei will cover you, and General Nan will make a surprise attack. When you are ready, shoot three rockets and let me know!"

"Follow the order!"

The two men immediately agreed and led 20,000 cavalry up the Yellow River and detoured through the Yellow River.

Less than half an hour later, three gunpowder arrows appeared in the southern sky, and the bright red arrows shot straight into the sky.

Li Ye immediately ordered: "Send out the army and shoot the opponent with rockets!"