"Ming Gong, let me escort you back to the city first! We have horses, and the Tubo people can't catch up!" Yijilianbode rode his horse and came closer. Lightning pierced the sky, illuminating his face. There was a scar and blood. It's flowing out of the wound.
"Escape at this time?" Wang Wenzuo wiped his face. The sweat and rain mixed together, making it impossible for him to distinguish: "There are only two of us? Crossing that wilderness at night? Rather than doing this, it is better to stay and give it a try. The Tubo people don't Knowing how many troops we have, the outcome is still uncertain!”
Ijilianbod opened his mouth and found that he could not convince the other party. It was at least a day's journey from Songzhou City, and there were large meadows and mountains on the way. If Wang Wenzuo and him escaped like this, anything could happen on the way. , and the guards left here are leaderless, and they will most likely lose. Instead of doing this, it would be better to stay and fight. No one can tell who is victorious at night, and the outcome is still a 50-50 decision.
"That's fine, but your status is valuable and you must not act rashly. I will wait for a while, wait for the next lightning, and see the situation clearly before making a decision!" Yiji Lianbod said.
Thunder rumbled, but no lightning flashed. Wang Wenzuo stroked his horse to make sure it was not injured. In the next battle, the horse was his second life. After confirming that everything was correct, he got on the horse and waited. The arrival of lightning.
But before the lightning arrived, they heard the sound of horse hoofbeats. Wang Wenzuo and Ijilianbode exchanged glances in surprise. Just now, they did not find that the Tubo people had cavalry. Could it be that their own side had been defeated and was this a broken army that had escaped?
"Captain, Governor!"
"I'm here!" Wang Wenzuo already recognized Acton's voice and responded loudly.
"The Governor is here!" Acton jumped off his horse in surprise and kowtowed to Wang Wenzuo: "The villain just got separated from the Governor in a panic. His crime deserves death, please punish him!"
"Get up, now is not the time to talk about this!" Wang Wenzuo frowned: "Where are the others?"
"Half of the people retreated to the stone building by the swamp to hold on, and the remaining half rushed out with the villain to look for you!" Acton whistled, and several whistles were heard in the distance, and then a burst of horse hoofs was heard. There were about twenty or thirty riders, and the look on Wang Wenzuo's face looked much better.
"Captain, let's escort you back to the city first!" Aktun said: "As for the remaining half, the stone tower is very solid and condescending. The Tubo people will definitely not be able to attack it in a short time. We will send troops after escorting you back to the city. It’s not too late to come to the rescue!”
"Is there food, water, and arrows in the stone tower?" Wang Wenzuo asked.
"Don't worry, Governor. When the villain ordered him to retreat to the stone tower, he brought four mules with him. There were arrows and dry food on the mules. Even if the dry food was not enough, he could survive for several days by killing the mules and horses and eating raw meat. As for drinking water, the stone tower is there. It’s not difficult to get water by the swamp! As long as reinforcements arrive in time, nothing will happen to that half of the people!”
"That's good!" Wang Wenzuo saw that the bodyguards approaching had more than thirty horses, enough to escort him back to the city, so he nodded: "Acton, you handled it well this time. I will reward you with fifty bolts of silk when I get back." , everyone traveling together this time will be rewarded with a piece of silk, double the amount for those who kill the thief, and double the amount for those who are injured or killed!"
Under the escort of his personal guards, Wang Wenzuo rushed back to Songzhou City overnight. After returning to the city, he immediately sent troops to respond. When the responders arrived, they found that the Tibetan soldiers were not surrounding them. After questioning, they learned that the Tibetans had conducted two tests after dawn and found that the stone tower was steep and difficult to attack, so they withdrew their troops and retreated. So the group returned to Songzhou City.
This unexpected encounter gave Wang Wenzuo a warning - as winter gets closer and closer, the activities of the Tubo people become more frequent, and he must take corresponding actions to protect the Qiang and Hu in this vast land. The tribe proved that the Tang Dynasty was still strong and capable of protecting them, otherwise they would have made their own choice between Tubo and the Tang Dynasty.
"Ask Cui Hongdu to bring my gang to Songzhou as soon as possible!" Wang Wenzuo stamped his official seal at the end of the letter: "The sooner the better, time is precious to us!"
"Yes, I will send the messenger out immediately!" Yijilianbod took the letter: "But aren't there many garrison soldiers in Songzhou?"
"They are useless!" Wang Wenzuo shook his head: "I know them too well. These garrison soldiers have been here for more than two years, and if we follow the rules, they should be replaced after a year at most. They are now I just want to go back to my hometown. This kind of garrison can be used to defend the city. Taking them out to fight in the field is not much different from committing suicide!"
"But when you were in Baekje, your soldiers stayed there for three full years!"
"How can that be the case! Baekje is a place of death. The soldiers will die if they don't fight hard, so they can't help but work hard!" Wang Wenzuo sighed: "And they and I were both in Baekje at the time. We shared the joys and sorrows, so naturally we can get the death force. How can it be like now? In the eyes of those garrison soldiers, I am just a noble son from Chang'an, how could I risk my life!"
"Young master from Chang'an?" Yijilianbode couldn't help laughing after hearing this; "The emperor is so kind to you, and you are a young man. It's not surprising that the soldiers think so!"
"Anyway, we must act as soon as possible!" Wang Wenzuo said: "The more our cavalry and flags fly as much as possible on this land, the more those Qiang and Hu tribes will stand on our side. Without their support, Datang It’s impossible to stand on this plateau!”
Matsushige said.
"What the hell, what's blowing here isn't the wind, it's the knife! It's stuck in the throat and stirred so hard that the lungs are frozen to a block!" He Bayong complained in a low voice.
"There's no way!" Cui Hongdu's beard was already covered with hoarfrost: "I heard Sanlang say that the terrain of Songzhou is higher than the Five Mountains, so the climate will be colder!"
"Higher than the Five Mountains?" He Bayong's eyes widened: "How is this possible? The Five Mountains are as high as the sky and higher than the Five Mountains. So isn't Songzhou in the sky?"
"Yes!" Cui Hongdu nodded: "That's what I thought at the time, but has Saburo ever made false claims over the years? Since he said that Songzhou is higher than the Five Mountains, he certainly has his reason!"
"That's true!" He Bayong nodded: "But like this, Sanlang is recruiting Xuanrun crossbowmen, Danyang Tengpai soldiers, Baekje, Waguo, and the Mohe Lang party. Who cares so much about the Tubo people?" First time!"
"Yeah!" Cui Hongdu turned around and saw flags of various colors fluttering in the cold wind behind him. They all had strong expressions and thick beards on their faces. The hair from the forehead to the top of the head was shaved clean, and the hair on both sides was clean. His hair was braided and spread loosely, and the cloak on his back was made of wolf, bear or deer skin. He looked more like a beast than a human.
He knew that these Mohe people were all first-class good shooters, but war was different from hunting after all. These Mohe people came from several tribes that did not rule each other. There were even blood feuds between them. If he wanted to form a group of these tough and brave warriors, An army is no simple thing. Not to mention those Baekje and Japanese Langdang. They don’t even speak the same language. Why did Wang Wenzuo choose these people? There was no answer in his mind.
"Captain Cui, the scout said there is someone in front of us!"
"Scout? Is it Hei Te Changzhi?" Cui Hongdu perked up: "Have you seen clearly who he is?"
"Colonel Blacktooth said the fog was too thick and he couldn't see clearly!"
"He Ba, I'll leave this to you, I'll go and have a look in front!" Cui Hongdu said. He spurred his horse forward and ran about half a mile when he saw Hei Te Changzhi looking forward with a solemn expression.
Due to the distance, Cui Hongdu couldn't see the pattern on the flag clearly, but through the mist, he could still tell that it was a white flag, with the darker color in the middle making it difficult to see the pattern. He looked around and saw that the scouts at the front were lazily preparing their bows and arrows, without any sense of nervousness about the upcoming hard battle. Now Cui Hongdu understood why Wang Wenzuo chose these barbarians.
As the distance approached, Hei Te Changzhi gradually saw the person coming clearly. It was Actun, one of the first Mohe soldiers to join Wang Wenzuo's command. He breathed a sigh of relief and said to Cui Hongdu: "It should be right, it's Sanlang. Sent to pick us up!"
"Sent by Sanlang? That's great!" Cui Hongdu breathed a sigh of relief obviously. He flicked his riding whip and said with a smile: "It's finally over, you can breathe a sigh of relief!"
With the guide sent by Wang Wenzuo, Cui Hongdu and his party moved much faster. Two days later, they arrived in Songzhou. This was also the last support force Wang Wenzuo received in 669 AD (the second year of the General Chapter). A few days later , a heavy snow fell, sealing the most dangerous mountain passes on Songmao Road.
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Songzhou.
"The movements of the Tubo people are unpredictable!" Wang Wenzuo tapped the map on the table with a wooden stick. There are no contour lines, no scale, only some rather abstract symbols. This is the most detailed map in Wang Wenzuo's hand. , at least it marked the main mountains, rivers, and even most of the residential areas around Songzhou: "There are two possibilities, either the Tubo people have wings and can fly, or there are many people who give us False information, that’s why the Tibetan people’s whereabouts are so weird! No matter how tough and resistant they are, they still have to eat and sleep, so the Tubo people must have supply storage locations and supporters that we don’t know about! So the first step we need to take Just find that supply center and destroy it!"
Wang Wenzuo's words immediately aroused a murmur. Yijilianbode hesitated and said: "Captain, my subordinates heard from the Tibetan prisoner Tenzin that the Tibetan army is divided into main ding and auxiliary ding. The main ding fights in armor, and the main ding fights in armor. Fu Ding is responsible for plundering grain and feeding Zheng Ding. If this is the case, the Tubo people can spread their troops and rely on Fu Ding's robbery to support Zheng Ding!"
"If that's the case, then the Tubo army is either constantly moving, scattered, or both." Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "If that's the case, that would be great, as long as a heavy snow falls , the Tubo people will be wiped out without a single blow or a single shot!"
Everyone burst out in agreement. Just as Wang Wenzuo said, if the Tibetan army used the method of plundering and supporting the main soldiers to maintain the army, it would either be moving at a high speed or the troops would be very dispersed, because the population density of this plateau is relatively high. The Central Plains is much lower, and plundering can only obtain very little food and resources. The Tibetans must either spread their troops over a wide enough area, or leave one area before clearing it and go to another area, otherwise they will not be able to sustain themselves.
"Find where the Tibetans store their supplies and burn them. Victory will be ours!"
In order to achieve his goal, Wang Wenzuo sent more and more scouts, including Tang people and local Qiang and Hu people. In order to obtain as much information as possible, he promised a heavy reward of fifty pieces of silk - anyone who discovered the traces of the Tibetan army could receive fifty pieces of Shu silk after the information was confirmed. After this news was confirmed, it immediately caused excitement among the locals. These locals are absolute utilitarians. Even if they have planned to side with the Tubo people, they will not refuse to use the Tibetan people's information to make extra money. Who would be at odds with Shu Juan? All kinds of information, whether true or false, flowed to Songzhou like water.
"You mean yesterday afternoon, you saw a group of Tibetan soldiers crossing the river and heading south?" Yijilianbod asked while recording the other party's report: "Do you still remember the specific time? And the Tibetan soldiers The number of soldiers? Which river to cross?" He recorded the informer's answer clearly, marked an approximate location on the map, and signaled the other party to retreat.
"Reward, reward!" the informer shouted loudly in Tang dialect with a strong accent.
"What you said has not yet been confirmed. I don't know whether it is true or not! Only when it is confirmed to be true will rewards be given out!" Igilian Bod said tiredly. He had said this answer countless times today. , and the other party’s reaction was the same as before.
"I told the truth. You lied. You clearly said that as long as I reported the Tibetan people's traces, I would be rewarded with fifty bolts of silk!"
Igillenbod waved his hand and signaled his subordinates to drive this annoying guy out, then pinched his eyebrows, and then said: "Next!"
When Yijirenbod repelled the last person who betrayed the intelligence, it was already completely dark. He looked at the map in his hand, which was covered with dozens of black dots. Each black dot represented what an informer said. He shook his head in disappointment, picked up the album and walked towards the back room.
"These Qiang and Hu people are all liars! They just want to try their luck here and see if they can cheat fifty bolts of silk!"
When Ijilenbode stood at the door, he heard the angry scolding coming from inside. It was Cui Hongdu's voice. It was obvious that the other party was about to collapse due to those difficult guys, which relieved his originally depressed mood. After a while, he decided to wait at the door for a while until Cui Hongdu finished venting before entering.
"Don't be angry, be patient!" Wang Wenzuo's voice was still as usual: "If we want to bleed less, we have to be more patient at this time."
(End of chapter)
