The crescent moon is like a tooth, and there is a cold silence.
Under the flickering firelight, thousands of Western Tuyuhun cavalry were sleeping.
Silently, black figures sneaked in quickly, and the sharp blades instantly cut off the life of a soldier named Xi Tuyuhun.
"Who is it?" Someone woke up in a panic, and the fire suddenly started.
In an instant, the sound of fighting could be heard throughout the camp.
At this moment, the loud sound of horse hooves sounded, and countless cavalry rushed directly into the camp...
Chaos suddenly arises, but the overall situation is determined.
Li Xuan stood on a hill not far away, looking at the cold slaughter with a calm expression.
He turned sideways and looked back. The streams behind him gathered together and merged into the source of Buha River, and then flowed along the river towards Fuqi City.
More than two hundred miles further south, the fire faintly illuminated half of the sky.
There, Tyuhun Murong Nuohebo and Dayan Mangjiebo, an uncle and nephew, were leading tens of thousands of soldiers to fight against each other.
At this moment, Li Xuan silently came towards the source of the Buha River.
But his goal was not here, but Lake Hala, sixty miles to the northwest.
Hala Lake is the largest salt water lake in Qingbei. There are exposed salt mines beside the lake. As long as we capture Hala Lake, Li Xuan will not lose money on this trip, and Datang will not lose money either.
Not to mention, after taking Hala Lake, Xiangbei can also coordinate with Liu Shenli and Li Dan.
…
The sound of fighting in the camp was rapidly decreasing, and the soldiers on the right guard were calmly finishing their blows, harvesting the remaining heads one by one.
Soon, a figure quickly came to Li Xuan.
Under the firelight, the familiar face was that of the new Youwei Lang General Yan Tao.
Yan Tao quickly came to Li Xuan's side, solemnly raised his hands and said: "Reporting to the prince, everything has been cleaned up."
Clean them all up, which means kill them all.
"Send out scouts to search everyone within ten miles, leaving no one alive. Others will clean up the camp and prepare to make food." Li Xuan said simply, and everything was quickly arranged.
The speed of the Hangzhou Guard soldiers was astonishing. Soon, all the bodies of Xituyuhun were thrown into the distant mountains and forests.
Li Zhu stood silently behind Li Xuan, and he could see Li Xuan nodding with satisfaction.
In today's battle, all they used were their own Hangzhou soldiers, the most trusted ones.
Among the right guards, none of the Yongzhou soldiers, Qianniu guards, and Jinwu guards were transferred.
In this case, they can use their abilities without any scruples.
Jumping out of everyone's sight, he went directly to the source of the Buha River.
As for the Yongzhou soldiers, a thousand Yongzhou soldiers are now led by Qiu Zhenmu, pretending to be Li Xuan, and are in a stalemate with each other in the valley east of Delingha.
Murong Nuohebo led 10,000 Tuguhun cavalry, Qiu Zhenmu led 2,000 Tang army cavalry, pretended to be Li Xuan, and led a group of Jinwu guards and Qianniu guards to secure Dayan Mangjiebo's 15,000 Western Tuguhun cavalry. The containment is there.
In the land of Qingxi, Dayan Mangjiebo had 60,000 Tuyuhun cavalry under his command.
Among them, 20,000 people are guarding Shanshan in the northwest, 10,000 people are guarding Golmud, 10,000 people are guarding Delingha, and 20,000 people are distributed in the Qilian Mountains in northern Qinghai, with two Tubo guards each leading 5,000 people. The Tubo soldiers led the army to resist the Tang offensive from Suzhou and Ganzhou.
There are also 5,000 Tibetan cavalry guarding Golmud.
Therefore, when the news came that Murong Nuohebo had recaptured Fuqi City, Dayan Mangjiebo immediately led 5,000 Tibetan cavalry to support Delingha.
He was not worried that the Tang Dynasty would attack the Qingxi Basin. No matter how strong the Tang Dynasty was, it would still run away if it could not defeat him. But once Murong Nuohebo was allowed to enter the Qingxi Basin, the situation would immediately become critical.
After all, unlike East Tuyuhun which was stolen by Su Hegui, West Tuyuhun has always been under the rule of the Tuyuhun royal family.
Now that another Tuguhun royal family is about to break in, it would be fine if Dayan Mangjiebo can resist it. If he cannot resist it, the local Tuguhun herdsmen will immediately fall into the arms of Murong Nuohebo.
Knowing this, Li Xuan began to exert constant pressure on Delingha ten days ago, which made Dayan Mangjiebo ignore the land of Qingbei.
…
Hala Lake is crystal clear.
Blue sky and white clouds, Cangshan mountains.
Li Xuan turned over and dismounted, stood in front of the white salt grains by the lake, and said with emotion to the wind: "If it weren't for the fact that people here can't welcome people in winter, I'm afraid this area would have gathered into a city long ago."
There is Fuqi City next to Qinghai Lake, but there is nothing next to Hala Lake.
"The water here is cut off when winter comes. It's okay for five hundred people to be stationed temporarily. It's impossible for more people to stay here for a long time." Yan Tao couldn't help but shook his head. Although the blue waves were rippling in front of his eyes, the two The shore of the lake on the side has long been dry and yellow, without any life.
Although the lake water here can moisten the shores on both sides through the mud, the temperature here is too low.
It was only early October, and it was already close to freezing here. Fortunately, they were sergeants and wore thick enough clothes, otherwise they would have shivered from the cold.
The cold temperature killed all the plants, and also caused the salt lake here to automatically precipitate salt particles.
"Let people spread out and search. Where is the nearest Tamsui River?" Li Xuan glanced sideways at Li Zhu, who immediately turned around and made arrangements.
In summer, the snow on the surrounding mountains melts and turns into rivers, flowing into Lake Hala.
Tuyuhun herdsmen migrated from the northwest, settled here, set up camp, and grazed their livestock.
When winter comes, the snow freezes, the snow water is cut off, the lake surface begins to shrink, and the salt particles on the shore are immediately precipitated, and then taken away by the Tubo cavalry guarding here.
The Tubo people collected the salt and sold some to Southern Tianzhu, some to the Western Regions, and some were used internally to lower the price of salt.
There are several salt ponds in Tuyuhun. They don't care too much about the current one, but as each salt lake is taken over by the Tang Dynasty, the life of the Tubo people will become increasingly difficult.
In the camp by the lake, Li Xuan stood in front of the unfolded map, considering it carefully with a solemn expression.
To the north of Lake Zhaha, the hundred-mile-long Shulenan Mountain intersects with the equally long Tuolai Nan Mountain, blocking the Tang army's route from the Qilian Mountains into Tuyuhun.
"The Tubo people probably never imagined that we would come out from behind them." Li Xuan lightly traced his fingers on the map.
"Last year, the Tubo people crossed the Qilian Mountains and entered Ganzhou four times and entered Suzhou three times. Now that we have come back with revenge, they should be able to think of it." Yan Tao looked at Li Xuan and whispered: "Now we are here. Let’s see if the prince plans to bury all 30,000 people here, or..."
It was very easy for Yan Tao to say that all 20,000 Tuyuhun cavalry and 10,000 Tubo cavalry were buried in the Qilian Mountains and Nanshan and Shulenan Mountains were entrusted.
In his opinion, Li Xuan seemed to be omnipotent, and this was the consensus of almost all the right guards.
"That's unrealistic." Li Xuan shook his head slightly and sighed: "Didn't you notice that as we came all the way from the source of the Buha River, there was more and more snow on the peaks on both sides, and the terrain became more and more difficult. Gao, it won’t be long before our soldiers are out of breath.”
Li Xuan turned to look south in the direction of Tubo and said softly: "If I feel good, this place should be at the same height as Wuhai."
"Wu Hai?" Yan Tao's expression changed slightly.
These soldiers from the south of the Yangtze River came to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The reason why they were able to adapt stably to the environment here was due to their three months of arduous training climbing mountains and entering the sea. But even so, many people still fell. Down.
If they let them climb Wuhai again, the drastic changes in their bodies would completely destroy many people.
"Send an order to send all the scouts out to the south, forcing Dayanmangjiebo to retreat to Delingha, and then ask Murong Nuohebo to mobilize two thousand Tuyuhun cavalry. Now we want to have a stable presence in this area To move forward, we need to rely on the strength of the Tuyuhun people." Li Xuan looked solemn.
The Tuyuhun people stay on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau all year round and are more adaptable to the local terrain and climate than they are.
"Also, Qiu Zhenmu was ordered to find a way to quickly break through Delingha and enter Golmud. The weather is getting colder and colder, and the army must stop advancing in November." Li Xuan said decisively, and the DPRK The food and grass allocated to Fuqi City is only for one month, until the end of October.
"Here!" Yan Tao cupped his hands and immediately turned around and went out to make arrangements.
It is now early October, and the weather is getting colder, especially in places like Buha Lake, where some places on the lake have frozen.
Li Xuan's eyes fell on the map.
Outside the tent, above the blue lake, in the endless clear sky, a goshawk was flying at high speed, quickly flying towards the vast mountains to the west.
Deep in the staggered mountains, one can faintly see the appearance of Tuyuhun camps.
Most of these camps were built based on the camps of herdsmen who had moved away, but more often than not, they deliberately gave up the Qilian Mountain Pass and gathered on the east and west sides of Shulenan Mountain and Tuolai Nan Mountain. Once the Tang army came up with more than hundreds of people, they would be killed. Countless cavalry will immediately swarm over and kill them.
After finally climbing to the top of the mountain, the exhausted Tang soldiers were massacred before they even had time to deploy their military formations.
Li Xuan looked at the location on the map and said softly: "It's time, it's time to act."
…
Entrusted to the Dashu Valley on the north side of Nanshan Mountain, three thousand cavalry moved forward slowly in the dark night. The hidden sentries in the valleys on both sides had been completely cleared long ago.
Li Xuan walked in the front, and following him was Murong Nuohebo's nephew Murong Zhi.
Murong Zhi followed Li Xuan and moved forward slowly. Three miles away in front of him was the garrison camp of 5,000 Western Tuyuhun soldiers.
But now, Li Xuan has led three thousand cavalry to kill them, but the people over there still don't know anything.
Suddenly, Li Xuan raised his right arm, and instantly all the cavalry stopped.
"Light the fire and charge." Li Xuan gave the order, and the next moment, countless torches were lit.
Immediately afterwards, Li Xuan waved his right arm, and in an instant, countless roaring hoofbeats were already heading towards the Xituyuhun camp in front of them.
The cavalrymen who had just noticed it had not yet reacted. In the next moment, countless torches and rockets were being thrown over crazily.
Then after a frantic charge, the cavalry of Datang and Dongtuyuhun began to quickly spread towards both sides.
The Xituyuhun cavalry who was deliberately let go in the center subconsciously rushed towards the west.
As soon as they ran, the voices of the Tang Army cavalry behind them rang out, making them even more anxious.
Countless figures began to rush towards the west exit of Daduo Bagu in a frantic manner.
Before the Xituyuhun cavalry on the west side of Dashu Bago Valley could react, their companions had already taken the lead in messing up their camp.
Immediately afterwards, Tang Jun came in.
Flames shot into the sky.
(End of chapter)
