Li Yunze put away his crossbow and left with the scouts.
The panic and shouting on the other side didn't appeal to him at all, and he didn't know to take a second look.
Since crossing the river is no longer possible, the only option is to find another entrance.
The Karakoram Mountains, which run east-west, and the Hindu Kush Mountains, which run west-east, almost completely cut off the possibility of going south.
There are Tibetan soldiers and horses stationed at every steep mountain pass. Attacking such a steep and steep mountain pass is almost like suicide.
Looking through the map that had already come into his mind, Li Yunze made a decision in the shortest possible time.
The army quickly galloped toward the southeast along the Karakoram Mountains.
Along the way, if they encountered miscellaneous tribes or Tubo people who were sporadically moving, they would kill them as soon as they went up, and then looted the supplies. The cattle and sheep were disposed of for food, and the horses were taken away as pack horses.
The Karakoram Mountains are so majestic and majestic. The white-capped glaciers and snow above the snow line stunned many soldiers who came from Datang, Hebei and other places.
In Xue Rengui's words, 'I have never seen such a high mountain in my life! '
It is indeed high, it is not an exaggeration to say that it reaches straight into the sky.
Especially under the highest peak, Li Yunze said to the soldiers, "This is K2, which should be said to be the prototype of Mount Buzhou." '
The soldiers looked up and saw that under the blue sky, a white-capped snow-capped mountain reached into the sky, which was particularly conspicuous among the tall mountains.
"Is this Mount Buzhou?"
"West Kunlun, Queen Mother of the West. This is West Kunlun~~~"
"Do you want to worship the gods?"
"Buzhou Mountain is so high, who can climb it?"
"You're stupid, all gods fly."
"..."
Except for K2, almost every mountain in West Kunlun is a high mountain. One-third of the dozen or so highest-ranked peaks in the world are here.
There are four of them above 8,000 meters above sea level.
The reason why K2 is so special is that in addition to the altitude, the pure height of the mountain is over 4,000 meters!
A mountain with a height of four kilometers was right in front of them, and it was vaguely the Buzhou Mountain that was said to connect heaven and earth. The excitement of the soldiers of the Tang Army was understandable.
Just like what is said in the Classic of Mountains and Seas, the environment here is really too desolate.
I dare not say that there is no grass growing, but it is definitely not suitable for human habitation.
This is a real plateau, and the soldiers of the Tang Army often undercooked their meals.
As for the physical reaction, it relies on rhodiola and saffron to suppress it.
If that doesn't work, I'll return to Shule early.
The biggest advantage of taking such a route is that no one knows where they are or where they are going.
Li Yunze knew where he was going and continued south to the Karakoram Pass.
The previous Salechuan River was crossed by the Xiaobolu Kingdom. If nothing else, Cheng Yaojin's headquarters was there.
The Karakoram Pass we are taking now leads to the Great Bolulu Kingdom.
Walking northwest along the Great Bolü Kingdom, you can reach Little Bolü by walking on the other side of the Karakoram Mountains.
Compared to other places, the Karakoram Pass is spacious enough.
When I arrived here, as expected, there were Tubo troops stationed here.
Li Yunze also wanted to laugh. The Tubo people really spent a lot of money this time, and they can be seen almost everywhere.
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The Karakoram Pass is very spacious. Although the Tubo people had the advantage of the plateau terrain, the Tang army's altitude sickness was far less severe than imagined with the help of medicine and food.
Of course, this is called miasma in this era.
Thousands of Tang Army cavalry defeated opponents of similar numbers in a single charge, and then passed through the mountain pass to the other side of the Karakoram Mountains.
When we came here, it was completely different from the other side of the mountain.
There is a large river meandering among the high mountains here.
The name of this river is Shiquan River, and in later generations it was called Indus River.
The water of Shiquan River is extremely clear, pure and cold. After all, it comes from the melting of mountain glaciers and snow water.
Once you find this river, the rest of the journey is much simpler. Just walk upstream along the river.
The road in the river valley was relatively flat. Along the way, the villages, towns and cities of Dabolü Kingdom were shocked and surrendered when facing the Tang army.
Those who really chose to resist were those where the Tibetans were stationed.
From here we can see a weakness of the Tubo people's operation, that is, their troops were too dispersed.
Putting a few thousand here and a few hundred there, when the combat effectiveness is far inferior to that of the Tang army, it's basically all for nothing.
Li Yunze did not attack the villages and towns along the way, but only asked for some supplies.
Daboluguo was very obedient and basically gave him whatever he asked for.
After more than half a month of rapid march, they finally arrived at Niduo City in Xiaobolu Kingdom.
A hundred years later in history, during the Tianbao period, the Anxi Protectorate set up the Tianbao Guiren Army here, which became one of the military towns under the Tang Dynasty.
Now, this is the capital of Xiao Bolu.
The little Bolu Kingdom also wanted to cry but had no tears. The Tang Dynasty came and beat them violently, and even the kingdom was robbed.
The Tubo people came again and beat them violently. They fought back and forth with the Tang army in Xiaobolu. The unlucky ones were the locals.
Now that the reinforcements of the Tang Army have arrived, the outside of Niduo City has really become a place like purgatory on earth.
There were tens of thousands of Tibetan troops besieging Niduo City, but Cheng Yaojin's troops suffered a lot of losses when they crossed the Congling Mountains. After fighting all the way to Xingxing, only eight or nine thousand men who lacked supplies were left to garrison. In Niduo City.
The most important thing here is the river valleys and mountains.
The road was difficult to travel, and it was difficult to take advantage of the equipment advantages of the Tang army.
On the contrary, here in Tubo, not only are they good at fighting in mountains, they don't suffer from miasma.
But things changed after the reinforcements arrived.
Li Yunze, who marched along the river valley, penetrated directly from the Tibetan people's least defensive back. Thousands of cavalry galloped and charged, destroying the Tibetan military camp.
Naturally, Cheng Yaojin was not idle either. He opened the city gate and attacked to cooperate, which could be regarded as relieving the siege of Niduo City.
"You are finally here!"
Cheng Yaojin, who looked very sad, let out a long sigh of relief when he saw Li Yunze.
"I have been trapped here for several months, and all the dogs in the city have been eaten. If you had come half a month later..."
There is no need to go into too much detail in what follows. Li Yunze gestured to enter the city to speak.
After entering the city, there were not many locals in the city. Cheng Yaojin on the side explained, "I knew something was wrong when I learned that the bridge was broken. I immediately drove away all the people in the city, leaving only food and some food." We collected a wave of people outside the city, so we can hold on until now."
As for how those city dwellers would survive after being driven away, Cheng Yaojin didn't say, and Li Yunze didn't ask.
"It's not that they can't be defeated." Cheng Yaojin was still explaining, "Although there are many Tubo people, I am not afraid. It's just that the epidemic is rampant in the army, and many soldiers are weak due to miasma, so they can only hold on to the city reluctantly. Waiting for rescue.”
The average altitude here in the Big and Small Bolu Kingdom is above six thousand meters. Even in the river valleys, the average altitude is above four thousand meters.
For these Tang troops, most of whom came from the Guanzhong Plain, the impact of miasma was very serious.
"Didn't you take the pill developed by Master Sun?"
"Of course I ate it." Cheng Yaojin shook his head repeatedly, "I just didn't expect it to be so high here, and it has always been so high! I ate a lot when we were crossing Congling, and even more after we got here."
This is for cognitive reasons.
At this time, Xuanzang had not returned to the Tang Dynasty, and the information he had collected in the Western Regions and various places in Tianzhu had not yet been made known to the Tang Dynasty.
Before Cheng Yaojin set out, he learned that the Big and Small Bolu Kingdoms were all high mountains, and he also brought the medicine used by Sun Shenxian to treat qi miasma.
But he didn't expect that there would be such a high place in the world, nor did he expect that the logistics line would be cut off.
Once the medicine is gone, we can only barely defend the city.
"Repair for a few days." Li Yunze said, "The soldiers will set off back as soon as they regain their strength."
"go back?"
Cheng Yaojin looked gloomy and uncertain, "Thousands of soldiers sacrificed their lives for this place, and then left like this?"
"You can come back after you leave." Li Yunze warned, "The main battlefield this time is not here. The main battle determines the fate of the country. This is just a remote branch line. Originally, I didn't plan to waste time to save you."
Li Yunze looked at the listless sergeants not far away, "I came here for them."
"I can't make the decision on this matter."
Cheng Yaojin simply shook his head: "It is His Majesty's will to attack the Great and Small Bolü Kingdom. I have to ask Your Majesty for permission."
This is another side effect of the advent of the telegraph.
In the past, the battle situation on the front line was naturally decided by the generals who commanded the troops.
But when the telegram came, Li Er's hand stretched out across thousands of miles.
This is because Li Er has outstanding abilities and is an outstanding emperor on horseback.
It would be unimaginable if he were an emperor who was better at handling women in the palace...
But Li Yunze didn't care. He only did what he wanted to do. As for whether the emperors after the Tang Dynasty would become masters of micro-management like a certain diary expert, he was too lazy to care.
Li Er's reply to the telegram was very fast, concise and clear.
The message clearly requested Cheng Yaojin to abandon his previous order to attack the Great and Small Bolu Kingdoms and follow Li Yunze's reinforcements back to Anxi.
Li Er also specially asked Cheng Yaojin to discuss things with Li Yunze more often.
This is a euphemistic way of saying, essentially, 'I will listen to Li Yunze on everything. '
It saves face for Cheng Yaojin, so he naturally understands.
Li Yunze brought supplies, especially a large amount of rhodiola saffron and other medicines that are effective against altitude sickness.
After receiving supplies, Cheng Yaojin's troops gradually regained their strength.
A few days later, the two Tang armies began to pack their bags and set off for their return journey.
This time, there was no need to detour thousands of miles back from the Karakoram Pass. They went directly north to the Salse River, dispersed the Tibetans here, and drove the prisoners to rebuild a temporary bridge.
Crossing the Solese River is Congling. Crossing Congling and going several hundred miles north is Shule.
Cheng Yaojin's expedition to the Big and Little Bolu Kingdom was considered fruitless, but before he left, he captured the king of the Little Bolu Kingdom.
In his words, after traveling so far and losing so many soldiers, we cannot return without success.
Li Yunze had no objection to the kidnapping of the king, and regarded it as adding a new member to Li Er's King Khan Chorus.
