Su Dingfang arrived in a very embarrassed state. He was over 60 years old and ran wildly all the way. Relying on the guidance of the beacon fire from the fleeing people along the way, he arrived at the last critical moment.
He only had 10,000 soldiers and horses under his command, but each man had two horses. They changed horses without changing men along the way. They traveled hundreds of miles without any rest. From the moment they received Xu Yanbo's message, Su Dingfang's army rushed here like lightning. Outside an unknown mountain.
Ten thousand cavalrymen were armed with brand-new three-eyed guns. They formed a formation as soon as the horses stopped. The entire army dismounted and advanced on foot in three stages.
The Tubo rear army was in chaos. Unexpectedly, at this critical moment when Li Qinzai's troops were about to be completely annihilated, Su Dingfang's army came so quickly.
Based on Lu Dongzan's estimation, Su Dingfang's troops should arrive at least six hours later. Within these six hours, Lu Dongzan was completely confident that Li Qinzai's entire army would be annihilated.
However, Su Dingfang finally came, arriving earlier than everyone expected.
Ten thousand Tang troops holding three-eyed muskets advanced step by step. The Tibetan army retreated in panic. With each salvo, thousands of Tibetan troops fell. This scene was like harvesting wheat in a village. Lu Dongzan could only watch. The warriors under his command were harvested piece by piece like waves of wheat.
Su Dingfang was riding on his horse, panting heavily while looking up, and said viciously: "The rear army mobilized five thousand soldiers and horses to go around the front line of the Tibetan army and cut off their retreat. My good nephew and grandson didn't know that he was beaten to pieces by these dogs. You are so bullied, don’t let anyone go, kill them all!”
"And that Tibetan prime minister, bah! It's better to catch him alive, tie him to a pillar, and let my good nephew cut him up piece by piece for fun."
As Su Dingfang's military orders were issued one after another, the 10,000 Tang army soldiers immediately changed their formations.
Five thousand soldiers still maintained their formation and advanced towards the Tibetan rear army. The other five thousand soldiers turned their horses and bypassed the battlefield where the two armies were fighting. They rushed towards the front line of the Tibetan army on both sides.
Outside the Tubo army commander's tent, Lu Dongzan's expression changed. He had never experienced such a dangerous situation in his life. He originally had the initiative to kill Li Qinzai, but in the blink of an eye, the situation suddenly reversed and he was surrounded by the Tang army. .
The Tubo army has been chasing Li Qinzai's troops everywhere in the past few days. In order to plan for the total annihilation of Li Qinzai, Lu Dongzan, the main force of tens of thousands of Tibetan soldiers, traveled almost day and night.
In order to completely encircle Li Qinzai, today they fought a hard and bloody battle with Li Qinzai's troops under this unknown mountain.
It can be said that the Tibetan army at this moment is at the end of its strength in terms of morale, physical strength and spirit.
Although the Tang army came flying from afar, it has not yet fought a battle since leaving Chang'an. Today is the first battle. It is the time when morale is as high as a rainbow. Coupled with the invincible three-eyed gun, it is even more powerful and unstoppable. .
One or two thousand three-eyed muskets may not have much impact on the entire war, but ten thousand three-eyed muskets are different. This is a quantitative change leading to a qualitative change.
Ten thousand three-eyed muskets were deployed in a formation. No army in the world could break through, and no one could get within a hundred steps of the formation.
"Retreat to the west! Quick!" Lu Dongzan ordered decisively.
As soon as Su Dingfang's army appeared, Lu Dongzan realized that today was a inevitable defeat and there was no suspense.
Although there are still more than 30,000 soldiers under his command at this moment, the 30,000 Tibetan troops are nothing in front of 10,000 three-eyed muskets.
After being defeated like a mountain, Lu Dongzan knew very well what would happen if an army lost morale and morale.
The collapse of one person can completely affect the entire army, leading to a complete collapse.
At this time, there is no way to save the situation except retreat.
As for the besieged Li Qinzai, Lu Dongzan couldn't care less. With the stubborn resistance of Li Qinzai's men, it was impossible to strangle him for a while, but it delayed his retreat.
There were still thousands of soldiers and horses in the Tibetan rear army who bravely launched a suicidal charge towards the Tang army. However, amid bursts of smoke and loud noises, thousands of soldiers and horses were like pebbles thrown into the lake, causing slight ripples. Calmness soon returned without any impact on the calm lake surface.
Not caring about the Tibetan rear troops who were risking their lives and charging, Lu Dongzan mounted his horse with the support of his bodyguards and fled towards the west without looking back.
In front of the rear army formation, Su Dingfang, who had arranged everything, squinted his eyes and stared at the smoking mountain in the distance, and said in a deep voice: "It's easy to defend but difficult to attack there. Jing Chu is determined to lead his troops to hold on there. Where are the personal guards?"
Several guards jumped out of their horses and saluted with clasped fists.
Su Dingfang said: "Go, five hundred personal guards will come out, rush into the formation to kill the enemy, meet up with Li Jingchu, and protect him."
The guards responded loudly, and the five hundred guards rushed towards the top of the mountain together.
At this time, the Tibetan army had completely collapsed, and the Tibetan army surrounding Li Qinzai also gave up the attack, turned around and fled towards the west.
Li Qinzai and the remaining few hundred soldiers gathered together, still maintaining a defensive formation, and did not dare to relax at all.
Seeing the Tibetan army retreating like a tide, Li Qinzai gritted his teeth: "I'm afraid I won't be able to capture Lu Dongzan alive this time, what a pity!"
Zi Nu hugged his waist tightly, as if she was afraid that he would disappear suddenly.
Li Qinzai patted her hand tiredly and said with a smile: "You can let go now, our reinforcements are here, we are saved, we don't have to say goodbye..."
"No!" Zi Nu buried her head in his back and cried.
"Let go, you're choking me so much that I can't breathe."
"No!"
"Now is the time for a happy ending. Don't artificially create a bloody tragedy..."
"No!"
Zi Nu's cheek was pressed against his cold armor, and every armor leaf on her back was stained with her tears.
"Li Qinzai, you're not going to die, are you?"
"Reinforcements are coming, I won't die."
Zi Nu still hugged his waist and suddenly burst into tears.
There was only a moment between life and death. Thinking about it now, Zi Nu couldn't help but feel scared.
After holding his waist and crying for a long time, Zi Nu sobbed and said, "Li Qinzai, it's so good to be alive."
…………
The army was defeated like a mountain, and in an instant, the Tibetan army ran away like an ebbing tide.
It was only at this moment that the soldiers formed around Li Qinzai breathed a sigh of relief, slowly put down their swords, then hugged each other, yelled at the top of their lungs, venting their long-suppressed emotions, and finally squatted on the ground and covered their faces with their hands, sobbing.
Of the more than five thousand soldiers, only a few hundred survived.
The robes who died in the battle will sleep forever in this strange land.
Li Qinzai also wanted to cry. He had faced death several times in his life, but this time, he had almost stepped into the gate of hell. During the final charge, he could even smell the blood on the enemy's sword.
Thousands of Tang troops gathered around and watched Li Qinzai and the soldiers squatting on the ground to vent their emotions. Everyone looked at them with understanding.
Anyone who has been on the battlefield knows very well the emotions that need to be vented after a war. If this anger is not completely released, people will get sick.
Su Dingfang came running on horseback, and the soldiers moved out of the way.
Looking at Li Qinzai squatting on the ground, Su Dingfang dismounted and stepped forward, pulled Li Qinzai up, looked him up and down, nodded and said: "Not bad, no arms or legs are missing. This battle was done well, worthy of the Li family." kind!"
