Tibet

In early June, the Helong Tang army divided into three groups and sent 130,000 troops to march towards Shanzhou.

Li Ye was the main force and led 80,000 troops along the Yellow River into Shanzhou. From the south, Xin Yunjing led 30,000 troops from Hezhou into Kuozhou, which was controlled by Tubo, and marched towards Dahua County where 5,000 Tubo troops were garrisoned.

Li Baozhen led 20,000 troops out of Dadou City and marched along the Datong River towards the West Sea. A hundred miles ahead of them was the new city garrisoned by 3,000 Tuyuhun troops. By capturing the new city, the road to the West Sea was opened.

That morning, a mighty team was marching on the official road. A scout captain rushed over, clasped his fists and saluted Li Ye and said: "Your Highness, in front is where the Yellow River turns, and the Huangshui River also joins in front. , scouts have repeatedly proven that there are no enemy troops within fifty miles of the west bank of the Yellow River."

Li Ye asked again: "Can the pontoon bridge be built?"

"Reporting to Your Highness, we have reached the end and the construction is about to be completed!"

Li Ye nodded, "Continue to investigate. If there is any movement, please notify me immediately!"

"Follow the order!"

The scout captain turned his horse and galloped away with a team of scouts.

The army continued to march west. Half an hour later, Li Ye led the army to the turning point of the Yellow River. The Yellow River turned south here. Of course, it should be said that the Yellow River flows from the south and turned east here.

This is also where the Huangshui River flows into the Yellow River. The river surface is wide and gentle, making it very suitable for crossing the river.

The river was full of vehicles and ships loaded with grain, grass and supplies, as many as five or six hundred. They were also anchored in the Yellow River and did not enter the Huangshui River. They had to keep pace with the main force of the Tang army.

After all, this section of the Yellow River is the upper reaches. It is not very wide, about three miles wide, and the water is gentle. The two floating bridges on the river have been built. They are large rafts connected in series and covered with wooden boards.

Three thousand front troops were crossing the river quickly. Li Ye took out his clairvoyance and looked at the other side for a moment. He found nothing unusual. He immediately ordered: "The army begins to cross the river!"

Eighty thousand troops together with 30,000 camels began to march onto the pontoon bridge and marched to the other side of the Yellow River. The fleet also set off with a rumble and entered Huangshui.

Only after crossing the Yellow River can we officially enter the territory of Shanzhou.

Li Ye's choice to enter Shanzhou at this time was not decided by patting his head on his head, but because the Tang Army's intelligence agency received important information from a businessman.

A rebellion broke out in Subi, a vassal state of Tubo. Tubo Zanpu Chidaizhudan was unfortunately killed due to a noble rebellion on the way to quell the rebellion. New Zanpu Trisong Detsen came to the throne, and turmoil broke out within Tubo.

It is understandable that there was internal turmoil in Tubo. A large number of nobles paid for and sent troops to occupy Longyou and Hexi. In the end, instead of reaping any benefits, they suffered heavy losses. Of course, these nobles were extremely dissatisfied.

Some nobles vented their anger on Zampu and assassinated Tubo Zampu, triggering civil strife in Tubo.

Li Ye received news again that the Tubo general Shang Jiezan led a part of the Tubo army back to the country to quell the rebellion. There were less than 50,000 troops left in Shanzhou, mainly Tuyuhun and Tubo Han people, led by the commander Lun Bu. Commander Zaren.

How could Li Ye miss this opportunity? Although he originally planned to send troops in August, after discovering the fighter plane, he sent troops to Shanzhou two months in advance.

Of course, there is another important reason for sending troops, that is, the wheat in the Hehuang Valley has just matured, and a large number of soldiers have gone to harvest wheat. Sending troops at this time will definitely catch the enemy by surprise.

At this time, Shanzhou City was in chaos, and the Tubo Army was still unable to establish an intelligence system in Jincheng County. This was due to the powerful internal guards of the Helong Tang Army, and the assassination of Zampu. The people within the Tubo Army were panicked and had completely withdrawn from Tao The troops on the west bank of the river were withdrawn, and the defenses were obviously relaxed.

So when the main force of the Tang army began to build a pontoon bridge on the Yellow River, they were discovered by patrols on the edge of the Yellow River, and they hurried back to Huangshui County, two hundred miles away, to report.

Lun Buzaren was also horrified. Most of his troops had been sent to harvest wheat. There were only more than 10,000 people in Huangshui City. At this time, the Tang army came to kill him, didn't they want his life?

Bu Zharen had no choice but to immediately send people to the Hehuang Valley, notify the wheat harvesting troops in various places to stop harvesting wheat, and immediately return to Huangshui County.

The Hehuang Valley is a triangle between the Huangshui River and the Yellow River. The Yellow River turns south and the Huangshui comes from the west and flows into the Yellow River at the turn. A triangle is formed between the Huangshui River and the Yellow River. In fact, It is also the alluvial plain of Huangshui River. This is the famous Hehuang Valley in history. It covers an area of ​​about 26,000 square kilometers and is the essence of the entire Longyou.

The Hehuang Valley is also a treasure land for grain production that the Tubo people dream of. The Hundred Years War between Tubo and the Tang Dynasty basically revolved around the competition for the Hehuang Valley.

At this time, if Li Ye is willing to give up Shanzhou, Tubo will be happy and will immediately sign a peace agreement with him to ensure that they will be in peace for twenty years.

But Li Ye would never give up on the Hehuang Valley. He had been waiting for the opportunity, and now the opportunity finally came.

There are many water channels in the Hehuang Valley, and there are endless wheat fields everywhere. The Han people in Shanzhou died, were caught, and fled. There were no Han people who could plant and harvest wheat. The Tubo army had no choice but to Let the Tubo and Han troops plant and harvest wheat.

Groups of Tubo and Han soldiers were ordered to retreat and were hurriedly rushing towards Hehuang City.

A Tubo and Han army of 2,000 people rushed across a river, rushed up a small road, and ran in formation towards Huangshui City, thirty miles away. They also received news that the main force of the Tang Army was coming. The soldiers were frightened and rushed to the Tang Army. Rush back to Huangshui City before the killing comes.

But what you are afraid of often comes. Less than a few miles away, a Tang Army cavalry force suddenly appeared in front of them. There were more than two thousand people. The Tang Army cavalry also discovered them and were rushing towards them at a high speed, causing the dust to billow. .

"Line up and charge!"

The leader of the thousand Tubo captains shouted loudly, and the two thousand Tubo and Han soldiers shouted, raised their spears and charged towards the Tang soldiers.

According to Tubo's military order, if the soldiers were killed while escaping, their families would never have a chance to stand up again and would be slaves for generations. However, if they died fighting against the Tang army, their families could become civilians. Escape from slavery.

Therefore, when life and death were at stake, the Tubo and Han soldiers chose to fight tooth and nail.

The two sides fought fiercely in the vast wheat fields. If the collective strength of the legions was used, the infantry could compete with the cavalry. However, the Tubo army did not have legions and could only fight with individual soldiers.

However, the Tang army formed a team of a hundred people. In just a moment, they cut the Tibetan soldiers into pieces and then began to kill them mercilessly.

In less than half an hour, the fierce battle was over. All two thousand Tubo soldiers, including the Tubo captain, were wiped out by the Tang army, and no one survived.

The Tang army also paid the price of more than 300 casualties.

This scene happened everywhere in the Hehuang Valley. Twenty Tang army cavalry and about 40,000 people were everywhere in the Hehuang Valley to eliminate Tibetan soldiers who were harvesting wheat.

More than 20,000 Tibetan soldiers were annihilated by the Tang army, and more than 10,000 people in the south fled to the plateau in panic.

Just as the main force of 80,000 Tang troops entered Shanzhou, the 30,000 Tang troops led by Xin Yunjing also captured Dahua County, annihilated 5,000 Tibetan troops, and occupied Kuozhou.

Xin Yunjing also led the army from Kuozhou into Shanzhou, and marched from the south to Huangzhou.

Li Baozhen led 20,000 troops to the gate of the Xincheng Army Fort. The 3,000 Tuyuhun troops defending the city were so war-weary that they killed the Tibetan general and Kaicheng surrendered to the Tang army.

Li Baozhen released all three thousand Tuyuhun soldiers home, and he continued to lead an army of 20,000 toward the West Sea.

On the tenth day of June, Xin Yun's army took the lead to join Li Ye's main army outside Huangshui County. An army of 110,000 troops surrounded Huangshui County tightly.

At the same time, the Helong Jiedu Mansion organized 50,000 people to rush to the Hehuang Valley to harvest wheat. The land of Hehuang was full of people harvesting wheat in full swing.

Huangshui City is a large city with a circumference of forty miles. The city walls are tall and strong, easy to defend and difficult to attack. However, the morale of the Tuyuhun soldiers in the city is low and they are war-weary. They have gradually become unable to bear the oppression of the Tibetans.

On the top of the city, Lun Buzaren looked worriedly at the overwhelming tents outside the city. He only had 18,000 troops in the city. How could he defeat more than 100,000 Tang troops?