Tibet

Li Ye reacted immediately. This must be the Asan Kunlun slave. This is also a Tubo tradition. The vassal troops who serve as cannon fodder in the first battle are from the vassal army. The real Tubo army is behind and will not go into battle easily. This is what millions of Tubo soldiers can do. The real reason why the war with 40 million people in the Tang Dynasty lasted for hundreds of years was to die for fellow Taoists but not for poor Taoists.

So much so that the Tuyuhun people who were able to compete with the Sui army were tortured by the Tubo people to the point of almost annihilating their country.

Of course, Tubo did not raise idle people, and there was no need to consider defending against the Tang army. The natural plateau was the best defense. The Tang army could not climb up at all, and even if it did, it would not be able to stay for long.

Therefore, the appearance of Ah San in the Tubo army only means one thing: Tubo is about to launch a counterattack against the Tang army.

Thinking of this, Li Ye quickly asked: "Where are our frontline troops?"

Xin Yunjing pointed forward, "Keep going, and you'll see it if you walk a hundred miles!"

The Tang Army's camp was the former Tubo military camp. It was expanded by the Tang Army. There were 3,000 troops stationed there. The altitude here is relatively low, only about 3,000 meters. Although the lake is a salt lake, it has fresh water flowing into it. The military camp is close to a small river and has food. Storage, as well as the army's flocks, and a more important reason. There is a hot spring in the military camp, which can supply hot water to soldiers all year round.

Therefore, both the Tubo Army and the Tang Army chose to camp here. In the distance are the snow-capped mountains. After passing the snow-capped mountains, the altitude suddenly reaches five or six thousand meters.

When Li Ye came to the military camp, he first enjoyed the characteristics of the military camp. He relaxed and soaked in the hot hot springs, took a hot spring bath and had lunch, and then summoned the generals to discuss matters.

Li Ye spread out the map on the table, pointed to a military camp hundreds of miles away to the south and said, "Can our scouts go to this military camp?"

Ying Yanglang General Wang Fuling shook his head and said: "Reporting to Your Highness, we only know that there is a military camp over there, but our scouts can't go there. It's too high. It takes twenty days to go back and forth. None of our soldiers can come back safely."

"Not even the Tuyuhun people?" Li Ye asked.

Xin Yunjing smiled bitterly and said: "Your Highness, although we have reconciled with the Tuyuhun people, we are still far from reaching this level of trust. There are currently no Tuyuhun people in the army."

Li Ye said slowly: "General Xin told me before that Kunlun slaves appeared on the Tubo patrol. I can deduce that the Tibetan army will soon go to war with us, and will attack us sneakily. It is already late March, and the plateau is covered with ice and snow. It has basically melted. I suspect that the Tibetan army will launch a sneak attack on the military camp in the past few days. The military camp must be prepared at night. Soldiers cannot take off their clothes when sleeping. Weapons should be always around, and patrols and sentries must be strengthened."

"I humbly obey the orders!" Wang Fuling agreed decisively.

At this time, Xin Yunjing was a little worried and said: "Did the Tibetan troops your Highness mentioned be a large-scale counterattack, or a harassing attack?"

Li Ye shook his head, "It should be somewhere in between. The Tibetan army will pull out our military camps south of Chiling one by one, so it is not a good thing to disperse our troops at this time."

Xin Yunjing immediately said: "I will gather the troops immediately!"

Li Ye smiled, but he didn't expect Xin Yunjing to be more impatient than him. He did not answer directly, but asked Wang Fuling: "How much food does the Salt Lake Military Camp have?"

"Currently there are 20,000 shi of food stored and 70,000 sheep."

Li Ye nodded and asked Xin Yunjing: "How many troops are there south of Chiling?"

"Nine thousand people are distributed in the three military camps of Jiuqu, Salt Lake and Xihai. Each has 3,000 people. Does His Highness want to gather them in the Salt Lake military camp?"

Li Ye shook his head, "This place is too close to the plateau. It is easy for the Tubo army to advance and retreat. Concentrate the army at the West Navy Camp, and then mobilize the army at Chiling Pass. The garrison at Jiuqu and Chiling Pass must take action immediately!"

Xin Yunjing immediately bowed and said: "I am humble enough to send someone to deliver the order immediately!"

Wang Fuling hesitated and said, "Excuse me, Your Highness, do you have to retreat to the West Sea immediately even if you are in a humble position?"

Li Ye asked calmly: "Then how do you plan to transport the grain?"

Only then did Xin Yunjing understand what His Highness meant by asking about food stocks, yes! How could three thousand people transport twenty thousand shi of grain?

He also looked at Wang Fuling. Wang Fuling's face suddenly turned red. He didn't consider the food at all. In his opinion, if he couldn't take it away, he would just destroy it.

He lowered his head and whispered: "I can't take away 20,000 shi of food despite my humble position. I originally wanted to burn it with a fire."

Li Ye nodded. Wang Fuling at least never thought of giving the food to the Tibetan people.

He asked Xin Yunjing again: "How is the food transported here?"

"Reporting to your highness, we use big ox carts. Each cart can pull fifty stones. Four hundred ox carts can pull it all."

“Where is the nearest bullock cart?”

"There's one in the Western Navy Camp. I'm sending someone to deliver the letter now. It will take about ten days to get here."

Li Ye thought for a while and pointed to the Tubo military camp on the map: "How long does it take to get here from the Tubo military camp?"

"Reporting to Your Highness, the Tibetan army is all on foot and it will take about ten days."

Li Ye knew what he was doing, and he smiled slightly and said, "Then I'll stay a few more days and try the Asan Army's sneak attack."

Xin Yunjing and Wang Fuling looked at each other, what does Ah Sanjun mean?

Xin Yunjing immediately issued more than a dozen orders and sent messengers to various places to deliver letters. He accompanied Li Ye to the Salt Lake Military Camp with a thousand elite cavalry, plus Li Ye's own thousand cavalry guards and the Salt Lake Military Camp garrison. There are currently five thousand Tang troops in the military camp, and they are all cavalry.

That night, the Tang army slaughtered sheep and barbecued them, and the five thousand soldiers had a hearty meal.

The next day, the Tang Army scouts discovered something unusual. The other party actually sent three outposts, each with about 20 people, to monitor the Tang Army camp from three directions. This was a precursor signal for the Tibetan army to dispatch.

At the same time, the scouts sent by Li Ye finally discovered the assembled enemy army at the foot of the snow-capped mountains fifty miles away. There were about 10,000 people, and they were all the Asan Army that Li Ye was expecting.

No one knows why His Highness calls this Kunlun slave army Asan Army, but since the Lord calls it that, everyone follows suit. It is at least more smooth than the Kunlun slave army.

The scouts immediately rushed back to the military camp to report their findings. At dusk, a group of scouts rushed back to the military camp in a roundabout way. In the eyes of the other side's spies, they came from the north.

Li Ye stood on the high tower and looked at the grassland in the distance with his clairvoyance. The setting sun shone on the grassland, dyeing it a layer of gold. He saw three enemy patrols, and also faintly saw a crowd of enemy soldiers looming twenty miles away. , on the carpet-like grassland, the groups of small black dots are still too conspicuous to be easily captured by clairvoyants.

Xin Yunjing also saw it. His face was full of surprise and a bit proud. He loved to stroke the calfskin clairvoyant in his hand. The Tubo army was gathering and waiting twenty miles away. They also knew that the Tang army could not see them. Indeed, they could not be seen with the naked eye. To the Tibetan army, but the generals of the Tang army had clairvoyance in their hands, which was different.

Clairvoyance indeed subverted traditional conventions, but unfortunately the Tibetan army did not know this.

The last trace of sunset disappeared, night fell quietly, and the temperature on the grassland suddenly became cold.