Jiang Shuo said: "I heard that the people of Goguryeo are very brave and good at fighting. Today I saw Gao Bingcao's skill. It's really impressive."
Gao Xiuyan was always willing to take the easy way out, but when he saw Jiang Shuo being polite to him, he crossed his hands respectfully and said, "Thank you, little brother. You are truly skilled and formidable."
Zhang Shouyu also stepped forward and crossed his hands and said, "I haven't even asked you my brother's name yet. Shouyu admires these two for being so skilled at such a young age."
His words praised both Jiang Shuo and Dugu Xiang, and he was obviously better at talking than Gao Xiuyan.
Jiang Shuo hurriedly returned the greeting and said, "My name is Jiang Shuo, and my surname is Su. This girl from Xiang'er has her surname Dugu."
Zhang Shouyu and Gao Xiuyan both said "long admirers" to Jiang Shuo, but they both looked at Dugu Xiang in a different light. Zhang Shouyu asked, "Are they the Dugu family in Longyou? What do you call the young lady and Dugu Ming?"
The two of them had been in the Lintao army in Longxi for a long time and had no information. They didn't know anything about Jiang Shuo, a figure who shocked the martial arts community in the Central Plains. They only knew very little about the Dugu family, a powerful family in Longyou. Zhang Shouyu said that Dugu Ming was the current patriarch of the Dugu family. .
Dugu Xiang smiled and said: "Dugu Ming is my uncle, and my grandfather is 'Chasing Clouds and Moons' Dugu Wen."
The two looked at each other and exclaimed: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm the descendant of Dugu Daxia. No wonder his kung fu is so good."
Their "long admiration" just now was false, but the "disrespect" now is a real disrespect. Fortunately, Jiang Shuo is not a petty person, and he doesn't care about it at all, saying: "Brother Zhang, we were racing horses on the road earlier, why did you Are you suddenly chasing us?"
Zhang Shouyu said: "Hey... I haven't asked you yet, brother Suzhi, although I don't know your training, but I see that your kung fu skills are also authentic in the Central Plains martial arts, but you went straight to the Tubo territory with the Xiang Qiang people of the Xihai Party, but... Why?"
Jiang Shuo then understood that they had just passed through the Tang Army's station like this, which was very rude in the eyes of the Tang Army. Zhang Shouyu said: "I only thought it was the thieves who were provoking me, and I saw that your mount was very handsome, little brother, so I moved to seize it." Horse’s mind.”
Jiang Shuo said apologetically: "We were in a hurry, but we forgot this section."
Gao Xiuyan asked: "Brother Su, why are you in such a hurry to go to Tubo? Although the two armies have not yet started a full-scale war, small battles continue every day. Su, although you are excellent in martial arts, when the rebellion breaks out, it is also dangerous. extremely."
Zhang Shouyu said: "Yes, I heard that Tubo has assembled hundreds of thousands of troops. If they really attack, they will all be destroyed."
Jiang Shuo couldn't help but think of the scene when he was trapped in military formations twice in Fanyang Longhuo City and Songmo Yu. There were only a thousand people there, and he already felt a deep sense of powerlessness. Now there are hundreds of thousands of people in Tubo. Da Jun couldn't help but feel his heart sinking.
Gao Xiuyan spat and said: "Bah...how big is Shibao City? The plateau is bitterly cold and the roads are even more difficult to travel. With a hundred thousand troops...how can we continue to supply military supplies? I think it's probably just a boast."
At this time Tuoba Qimei came up and said: "You two must not underestimate Tubo. The garrison is not to mention hundreds of thousands, but there are probably hundreds of thousands. I heard that the chief official in Shibao City, Ma Xiangzhong Bajie, is very resourceful. , he is cruel and easy to kill, and the general who defends the city, Iron Blade Xenoro, is also indestructible, but they are not easy to deal with."
Jiang Shuo thought to himself: It turns out that the two disciples of Master Gu Xin actually have such a lofty status in the Tubo army. He originally thought that the Tubo people were all masters like Master Gu Xin and his disciples. If this was true, the Tang army would be in danger. Now that I know that they are also top-notch people in Tubo, I feel a little more reassured.
Dugu Xiang said: "So the black iron tower is the guard of Shibao City? Don't worry, you two, these two people are defeated by Brother Shuo. Uncle Ma Guo's martial arts is just ordinary, but he has a lot of tricks. Although Black Iron Tower has the skills to practice the golden bell, he is very stupid."
Zhang Shouyu and Gao Xiuyanhu looked at each other and thought that this little girl from the Dugu family had such a strong tone.
Jiang Shuo hurriedly stopped Dugu Xiang and said: "Xiang'er, you are going too far. Uncle Ma Guo's kung fu is not weak. As for General Iron Blade, I only forced him back. If we fight again, there will be no full strength." Defeat him."
Zhang and Gao heard the meaning of Jiang Shuo's words and did not deny that Dugu Xiang said that he had defeated the horse and iron respectively. They couldn't help being surprised and suspicious, and couldn't help but look at each other again.
While they were talking, they suddenly heard the sound of horns coming and going. Zhang and Gao both changed their expressions slightly and said in unison: "Here we come."
Dugu Xiang asked curiously: "What's coming?"
Tuoba Qimei knew what was going on and said, "It's the Tubo cavalry!"
Zhang Shouyu saw that the soldiers were still surrounding him and said, "Why are you still standing there? Get back to your position quickly!"
Gao Xiuyan also raised his horse again and said: "Little brother, it's dangerous here, you just follow me."
Jiang Shuo was about to say that he would stay here with Zhang Shouyu, but Tuoba Qimei had already mounted his horse, and Dugu Xiang also tugged on his sleeve, indicating that he would listen to Gao Xiuyan's arrangement.
Jiang Shuo had no choice but to mount his horse with Dugu Xiang and follow Gao Xiuyan to the north.
About two or three miles away from the main road, I turned around a ridge and saw a small piece of flat land hiding dozens of knights. These knights were all lightly-armed knights. The horses were not armored, and the men only wore a pair of armor.
The weapons of all the cavalry were long poles, but they all raised the poles and carried them on their shoulders at this moment.
Shuo and Xiang followed Gao Xiuyan up the mountain ridge. Looking around, they saw smoke and dust billowing in the distance, and the Tang army on both sides of the road was in chaos. This Tang army was stationed several miles away from Linfan City, including Zhang Shouyu's men. , there were about a thousand people, but they were scattered into a dozen groups, or dozens, or hundreds of people gathered together.
The Tang army seemed to be disorganized, and this was a wilderness. The Tang army was completely defenseless and exposed to the impact of the cavalry. The situation seemed very critical.
Gao Xiuyan looked at the smoke and dust on the horizon for a long time, snorted in his nose, and said: "At least three thousand people. It seems that the Tubo people are determined to drive us back to Linbo City."
Jiang Shuo couldn't help but become worried when he saw that the Tang troops were slovenly and disheveled. Not only did their armor and weapons look shabby, but they were also in low spirits, as if they were about to leap forward in a rush.
At this time, the rising sun in the east rose through the clouds and illuminated the direction of the Tibetan army from the west quite brightly. There was a shimmering silver in the smoke, and the figures of the Tibetan cavalry were revealed. Although their horses were not very tall, they were all Equipment - men and horses are all wearing armor,
Different from the chaos of the Tang army, the Tubo cavalry was arranged neatly and formed a dense formation to attack, which looked very scary.
Jiang Shuo and Tuoba Qimei both had bad thoughts, but Gu Xiang said it bluntly: "Gao Bingcao, I think the infantry below is going to be bad. They look so lazy, how can they withstand the attack of the Tibetan knights?"
Gao Xiuyan set up the pergola with his hands and looked down without saying anything.
Jiang Shuo couldn't help but persuade: "Gao Bingcao, time waits for me. As long as you give the order, I will go down the mountain with you to rescue the infantry brothers!"
Gao Xiuyan glanced gratefully at Jiang Shuo and said nothing further. His eyes were still fixed on the neatly arranged Tibetan cavalry in the distance, but he had no intention of dispatching.
At this time, the Tang army at the foot of the mountain became more and more confused. They kicked over the stoves and pushed down the tents. It seemed that they could not get into formation before the Tibetan cavalry arrived.
Jiang Shuo couldn't help but feel a little annoyed when he saw that Gao Xiuyan had no intention of helping the unilateral massacre that was about to take place at the foot of the mountain. Holding the seven-star sword in his hand, he wanted to jump down the mountain ridge and return to the infantry formation. One person saved is one person.
But Dugu Xiang grabbed his arm and said, "Brother Shuo, don't worry, I think Gao Bingcao has his own plan to deal with it."
Jiang Shuo said anxiously: "Xianger, I'm not worried about Gao Bingcao, but the Tang army's infantry at the foot of the mountain may have been used as bait..."
Dugu Xiang said: "Brother Shuo, look carefully. What do the infantry at the foot of the mountain look like?"
This is a rare plain among the mountains and canyons. Jiang Shuo had previously only thought that the Lintao army was scattered in disorder on the plain. Now after Dugu Xiang pointed it out, he took a closer look at the arrangement of the soldiers, and he immediately saw the clues. .
Jiang Shuo said: "It's Ziweiyuan! Eight on the left and seven on the right, there are a total of fifteen teams. Although it seems chaotic, after these infantry have occupied the star positions, they have actually been acting according to the star map.
While they were talking, the Tibetan cavalry had crashed into the scattered formation of the Tang army. However, they saw that the Tubo cavalry were like a sea wave hitting a rock, and like fingers gliding across quicksand, they all slipped past both sides of the Fifteen Star Palace.
It turned out that the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty took the initiative to show weakness. When the Tubo people attacked in overwhelming numbers, they suddenly pulled up the road bank hidden in the ground in front of the Tibetan cavalry. The road wall was made of thick wood, with one end sharpened and the other end sharp. Buried in the earth, the cavalryman bumped into deer wood, and someone was immediately stabbed through by the sharp end of the wood...
I also saw a cavalry suddenly sinking into the ground. It turned out that the Tang army dug a trap on the ground first, then covered it with thin wooden boards, sprinkled loose soil, and equipped the cavalry with stepping on the wooden boards, and immediately fell into the pit. There was sharp wood at the bottom of the pit. If you fall in, you will be seriously injured even if you don't die.
Therefore, the Tibetan cavalry seemed to pass through the Tang army's positions in unison, but in fact they left dozens of corpses on the road and in the pits. There were wailing sounds in the valley, and it seemed that the losses were quite heavy.
The Tubo cavalry were furious and divided up to surround the Tang army's infantry. There were three thousand Tubo cavalrymen, while the Tang army's only one thousand. However, the Tang army's formations were far apart. They relied on trenches and strongholds to resist, and the three thousand Tubo cavalrymen dispersed unconsciously. Come, you can't charge back and forth, you can only get closer and chop. Now the advantage of the cavalry's speed is eliminated.
However, the Tubo cavalry were all armored cavalry. They wore armor and hoods on their heads, and were quite well protected. Even the horses' bodies and heads were covered with body armor and face armor. It is still extremely advantageous to fight against the Tang army's infantry.
At this time, the horn sounded again, and Gao Xiuyan suddenly became energetic and said: "It's our turn to fight!"
As he spoke, he urged the white hoofed crow under his crotch to carry the horse and go around the ridge. The knights followed closely and rushed towards the river valley together.
Jiang Shuo said: "Gao Bingcao, I'll go with you!"
Gao Xiuyan immediately nodded and said: "Brother Jiang, follow closely!"
At this time, the cavalry had already galloped out of the mountain ridge, but they saw that the mountain here was as rough as wrinkles, and dozens of cavalry squads rushed out from their hiding places. The strange thing was that the Tang cavalry did not rush towards the Tibetan cavalry. Instead, they bypassed the main battlefield and rushed towards the path of the Tibetan cavalry.
Jiang Shuo was puzzled when he suddenly heard the sound of bowstrings. The Tibetan archers actually fired arrows at the main battlefield. At this moment, the Tibetan cavalry and the Tang infantry were intertwined on the battlefield. How could one distinguish between ourselves and the enemy? Wouldn't archery at this time be a strategy of mutual destruction?
Soon Jiang Shuo discovered that something was wrong. It turned out that the Tubo men and horses were all wearing armor. Even if the bows were shot on the armor leaves, they would not be able to pierce. However, the Tang army did not wear heavy armor. Once the arrow was hit, they would be killed or injured. The Tubo long archers shot arrows like this, which seemed to be The strategy of "burning both jade and stone" was actually a strategy specifically targeted at the Tang army.
At this moment, Jiang Shuo also knew the purpose of the Tang army's cavalry rushing towards the rear of the Tibetan army.
Sure enough, after 300 steps, black heads were exposed in the morning mist. They were groups of Tibetan archers. The archers were completely exposed to the attack route of the Tang army's cavalry at this moment. There were no fortifications to delay, no roads, and no fortresses. trap……
Gao Xiuying shouted while running: "Ma Shan shoulder...clamp...punch...attack! Attack!! Attack!!!"
Some people died, but not completely...
