Chapter 136: The Battle of Stone Castle (III)

In front of the mountain, Geshuhan's army failed to attack. Geshuhan once analyzed the details of several battles in Shibao City. Shibao City faces mountains on three sides, reaching a thousand feet high. The top of the mountain covers an area of ​​150 acres, and the permanent force is 600, but there will be 1,000 troops stationed in wartime. This is the limit that the Shibao City can accommodate soldiers.

These Geshuhan considered that there were not many people in a thousand, and the Tubo army would continue to be killed. As long as Li Qing'an could intercept reinforcements for him, the Tubo army would be less and less. He had 60,000 strong soldiers and countless valuable experiences summarized by his predecessors. He was fully confident that he would capture Shibao City within four hours.

But Geshuhan was secretly secreted, and he still ignored a key issue. He did not consider the influence of the weather. He forgot that it was the season when water turned into ice. Like Yinglong Fort, the Tubo army poured a lot of water on the mountain road, so that the mountain road became an ice wall, and had nowhere to start. It was the screams of several Tang soldiers falling off the cliff that alarmed the Tubo army.

On the stone fort city, huge rocks and rolling wood fell like raindrops. Nearly two thousand Tang troops had difficulty climbing less than 300 steps from the fort, but the rolling rocks smashed the Tang army into blood and flesh, and large areas rolled down the cliff, screaming endlessly. The Tang army squeezed into a group on the narrow mountain road, with nowhere to dodge. Countless Tang troops turned around and fled, but in a panic, a large number of soldiers rolled down the cliff. In a moment, two thousand Tang army pioneers died tragically under the cliff, and only more than 30 people fled back.

A soldier rushed to Gao Xiuyan and cried: "General Gao, the mountain road is full of ice and cannot be climbed. Yang Duwei and his brothers were all killed!"

Gao Xiuyan sat heavily on the big rock, staring at the ground in a daze. He had only 5,000 vanguard troops in total, and now he lost 40% of the battle at the beginning. Can this battle continue?

After a while, he sighed, stood up and said, "Prepare the horse, I want to report to the Grand Marshal!"

Geshuhan's face was extremely gloomy and he was defeated in the first battle. He didn't even touch a hair from the Tubo army. How could Gao Xiuyan have the nerve to report to him?

Geshuhan restrained the anger in his heart and said coldly to Gao Xiuyan: "You have participated in the battle between Dong Yanguang to attack Shibao City. There are many meaningless deaths, you can avoid them. I will add 10,000 more people to you. If you still can't conquer, don't blame our military law for being ruthless!"

Gao Xiuyan lowered his head timidly and said, "Master, it's already dawn, and he will definitely not be able to conquer before noon. I beg the Master to give me another half a day and I will definitely take the Shibao City."

"No!" Ge Shuhan flatly refused, "Li Qing'an has only three thousand troops. It is not easy for him to support him until noon. How could he support him until night?"

At this time, a staff member of Geshuhan advised: "Master General, although Li Qing'an has a small number of people, the main force of the Tubo army was dragged down by Dong Yanguang, so they would not have too many reinforcements, and at most ten thousand people were assigned. As long as he guarded the territorial position, he should be able to hold on until the evening."

Ge Shuhan pondered for a moment, then nodded to Gao Xiuyan and said, "Okay! Tonight, if you and Zhang Shouyu can't get the Shibao City, I will wait for your head, go!"

Gao Xiuyan was so scared that he ran away quickly. Geshuhan stared at the continuous and high mountains of Chiling. He was full of worries. Can Li Qing'an stop the reinforcements of the Tubo army?

The night has passed, the sky is covered with clouds, and to the west of Chiling, the main force of the 80,000 Tubo army has arrived at the foot of the mountain. At this moment, it is no longer Dazhalugong who is commanding the overall battle, but Tubo Zamp Chizudezan. Dazhalugong has become a general who executes the order. The urgent attack suggestion he proposed by Chizudezan did not accept it.

The Tubo army did not rush to attack, but instead set up camp tents at the foot of Chiling Mountain. The 80,000 troops and thousands of camp tents were densely packed and ignorant at a glance.

Dazha Lugong stood in front of the tent, looking at Chuse Mountain Rock in a complicated mood. There were still smoke from the stone fort city in the distance. He sighed deeply. When he should pay attention to Li Qing'an's surprise soldiers last night, Zanpu said that there were only two or three thousand people, which was not worth mentioning. He must go to the northern line to fight against the main force of the Tang army.

But now, when Li Qing'an's little force should not be taken seriously, he should fight quickly and decide quickly, Zanpu took action step by step and made steady progress, saying that he should prevent Li Qing'an's sneak attack.

Dazhalugong couldn't help but smile bitterly. Li Qing'an had only three thousand people at most. Even if he had a sneak attack, he would hit the stone with eggs in front of 80,000 people. Could it be that the 3,000 Tang army could still kill 80,000 people and fail to escape?

Dazhalugong was in a very bad mood. Zanpu was not in a hurry to attack. Isn’t this just giving Li Qing'an time to prepare for the war? If it were him, he would send five thousand vanguards to rush back and attack the first wave first, without giving Li Qing'an a chance to breathe.

This is Zamp! He clearly doesn't know how to fight, but he insists on taking everything over.

At this time, a guard hurriedly ran over and said, "General, Zanpu, please go to the big tent to discuss military information immediately."

Dazalugong sighed softly, what's the point of discussing this? Since you don't listen to yourself, what's the point of asking yourself to go?

"I get it, go now!"

In the magnificent tent, Chizu Dezan was listening to the report of the general's reign of the cries. The Tang army discovered a powerful thunder, which is the thunder on Longju Island.

"Zanpu, the explosion of the thunder thunder was deafening. It fell from the air. In an instant, the flames burst out, and the black smoke boiled. Everyone close to it was so scary. What kind of thing it was, my subordinates didn't know, but once this kind of thing exploded, it made the soldiers extremely scared and their morale was disintegrating. Zanpu could not even shout, and almost half of the five thousand soldiers trampled on each other and died!"

"Half of them trampled on each other and died, you're too exaggerating!"

Dazalugong walked away from the tent with a gloomy face and snorted coldly, "I'll ask you, the Tang army has touched you, why didn't you find it in time? I have repeatedly ordered that you not be allowed to take off your armor and sleep, and that you are not allowed to stay in the valley. Why didn't you do it? Now that the five thousand soldiers are completely wiped out, you are trampling on each other. Very good, you have no responsibility!"

"Dazarugong, Zanpu asks questions, don't let you be presumptuous!"

Shang Jiexi shouted angrily, interrupting Dazhalugong's questioning. Chi Zudezan waved his hand and said lightly: "Now is not the time to hold people accountable. More importantly, Luzangqi has brought us an extremely important information. Tang Jun has developed a new weapon, which is even more powerful than their tincture oil. Dazhalugong, this is the key point."

Dazhalugong didn't dare to say anything more, so he could only glar at Lunzang with hatred and cry, and bowed and said, "I don't dare, please Zanpu's order."

"Well! I called you here to discuss with you how to attack the mountain at the lowest price, and to meet the soldiers of Shibao City, you are good soldiers, let's talk about it!"

Dazhalugong sighed in his heart. He had just fought now, so there would be no smallest price. He could only say: "Zanpu, what his subordinates meant is to suppress the Tang army with more people. In this way, even if there are casualties, the Tang army will not have many opportunities. Please consider it."

At this time, Lunzang, who was kneeling on the ground, said, "Zanpu, the mountain road is narrow and cannot accommodate the army, so he can only take turns to fight."

Chizu Dezan nodded and said, "Then, how many troops can you join at most?"

"A maximum of five thousand troops."

"Okay! You will fight in the first round, and I will personally press the formation for you."

Chizu Dezan stood up, without looking at Dazhalugong, and then shouted loudly: "Tell me my order, the army will start to attack the mountain!"

The sound of the attacking drums suddenly rang in the Tubo camp.

The hesitation of the Tubo army gave Li Qing'an time to prepare for war. The current location of the Tang army is in the middle of Chiling. The mountains in this area are like steps, with high mountains and steep slopes, but there is a gentle slope every two or three hundred feet, giving the attacking side a breathing place and is suitable for step-by-step attacks. However, this also gives the Tang army an opportunity to establish a hierarchical defense system and establish multiple defense lines.

To this end, Li Qing'an seized the time to formulate a complete defense plan and establish three defense lines. The first line of defense was set up in the deer lips about five hundred feet from the foot of the mountain. This place was named because the appearance of the two giant rocks looked very similar to deer lips. The mountain was broken and behind it was a gully half a mile deep.

Three thousand Tang troops were busy building fortifications. They brought stones of all sizes from nearby and built them into a one-mile-long bunker.

No one spoke, everyone's heart was heavy. Three thousand Tang troops resisted the attacks of nearly 100,000 Tubo troops. It was unheard of, and the result was self-evident. There was only one result waiting for them, that is, death, and the only difference was how to die.

"Everyone put down the stones and listen to me!"

This was the mobilization of the main general Li Qing'an before the war. Each soldier put down his work, gathered up, and silently stared at their main general.

Li Qing'an's eyes slowly swept across the faces of every soldier. He stared at the eyes of every soldier. Every pair of eyes he saw was full of determination to die, full of desolate tragedy. He took a deep breath and said, "I promise you that every soldier who died, I will send your ashes back to my hometown. If I am killed, please ask the living brothers to bury my ashes in the mountain pass of Anxiboda Ridge. However, we will never die lightly. We still have a chance. As long as the Tang army captures Shibao City, it will be the moment of our victory. Now, everyone begins to check their equipment and prepare to welcome the first attack of the Tubo people."

As soon as he finished speaking, a huge leather drum sound of "dong!dong!" came from the foot of the mountain. The Tubo people's unique trombone sounded low. Li Qingan suddenly turned around and saw the black Tubo army beginning to gather, like a huge black belt, spreading long on the grassland.

Among the Tubo army, Li Qingan suddenly saw a huge wooden chariot, carried by hundreds of people. On the wooden chariot was an oval white tent, and around the tent, there was a huge golden umbrella in front.

Li Qing'an felt extremely surprised. The golden Luo umbrella was a symbol of Tubo Zamp. Is Tubo Zamp also in the army?

Accompanied by the sound of the attack, the first round of attacks of the Tubo army began. Overwhelming soldiers flocked in. They quickly narrowed and climbed the mountain in groups along a five-meter-wide shallow ditch. They were wearing blue chain mail, some people held spears, some people held swords and shields. The ferocious faces were full of excitement and desire. Lun Zang cried in the team and waved his sword and shouted: "There are only three thousand people in the Tang army. Kill them up and grab the credit!"

The Tubo army climbed more bravely and rushed towards the Tang army's position with screams. It was getting closer and closer. When it was still seven hundred steps away from the Tang army's position, groups of Tubo army rushed out of the trumpet-shaped pass, and the slope began to ease from here, and the soldiers scattered dozens of feet wide.

The Tubo army shouted and accelerated its speed. At this moment, a bell rang at the Tang army's position, and a hundred Tang army pried the rolling stones together. Suddenly, three huge stones rolled down, each of which weighed thousands of kilograms, smashing towards the dense Tubo army along the hillside.

The Tubo army rushed to the front and turned around to escape. The huge rocks roared down, and screams and cracks sounded. The pieces of Tubo people were smashed to pieces and blood. The stones quickly turned red, and the sticky pieces rolled in the crowd and howled everywhere. The Tubo soldiers desperately dodged to both sides, and many people were squeezed off the cliff and rolled down.

Three huge rocks killed thousands of people, but the number of Tubo people was too large. When the huge rocks rolled over, thousands of Tubo soldiers jumped up and continued to rush towards the Tang army's positions. While climbing and firing arrows, the Tang army's stones on the mountains were smashed like hail, and the arrows were like dense rain. A tragic blocking battle officially kicked off.

At the foot of the mountain, Tubo Zanpu Chizu Dezan looked at the battlefield on the mountain from afar. The Tang army actually used stones to defend against bows and arrows, and did not appear as the legendary thunder. This shows that the arrows and thunder in the hands of the Tang army were not sufficient. Chizu Dezan showed a smug smile on his face. He immediately ordered: "If you invest another 10,000 troops to attack and order the three armies to obtain the head of Li Qing'an of the Tang army, you will be promoted to the third level, rewarding 100,000 sheep and 1,000 slaves."

The rewards made by Tubo Zanpu personally made the Tubo army crazy. The hillside was covered with dense Tubo army, each of whom was fearless of death, charging upwards like a black frenzy. Without retreating, either died or rushed to the enemy formation.

The Tang army's arrows were like locusts and as fast as rain. The sharp new armor-transparent arrow shot into the Tubo chain mail. The arrow poison quickly broke out in the accelerated blood, causing many soldiers running with arrows to fall to the ground.

The Tubo army invested 15,000 people in the first round of attacks, and the entire mountain turned almost black. They charged forward on their own bodies and flesh, as if they were wild beasts who were not afraid of death. They screamed, howled, and charged upward regardless of everything.

The Tubo army, a hundred steps away, began to shoot arrows, and the arrows shot into the air formed an arrow net, and the Tang army began to suffer casualties. One Tang army was shot into the throat and rolled down the hillside. Another Tang army, who was holding a stone to smash, was shot into the head by a scrambled arrow, screaming and rolling into the enemy formation, and was instantly chopped into meat paste.

Li Qingan bit his lips tightly and observed the battle situation. The Tubo army had rushed to eighty steps away. Although there were many casualties, there were still no signs of retreating. The Tubo army in the north, closest to the Tang army's position, was less than forty steps.

Bai Yuanguang rushed to Li Qing'an and shouted, "Click the gunpowder pack quickly! If we don't shoot, we can't retreat."

Li Qingan's lips were bleeding, but he still shook his head firmly, "No!"

Nearly a thousand Tubo troops on the northern line finally rushed into the Tang army's position. Li Fei Yuanli roared wildly, "Brothers, kill!"

He swung his sword and rushed into the enemy group and slashed hard, like a crazy tiger. More than 400 Tang soldiers rushed in with the wind. In an instant, people's heads rolled, flesh and blood splattered, and cried screams suddenly started.

At this time, the Tubo heavy army on the middle line and the troops on the southern line rushed to the front of the Tang army less than thirty steps, and a violent and bloody aura came to the face.

Li Qingan finally issued an order, "Light!"

Several rockets shot twenty steps away, and a dull sound of "boom!" The ground suddenly ignited on the thirty-foot-wide hillside. The fire swept down rapidly. Within 150 steps, it was instantly engulfed by the surging fire. More than 3,000 Tubo soldiers were densely crowded in this sea of ​​fire. The Tang army suddenly became a hell on earth. Countless people wailed in the fire and screamed desperately, which was unbearable.

Li Qingan sighed softly and ordered: "Retreat to the second line of defense!"

The most tragic fire in hell finally caused the Tubo army to retreat. The first charge lasted for nearly two hours, ending with more than 6,000 people killed and injured by the Tubo army. The Tang army also killed and injured more than 300 people, and most of them were killed and injured in hand-to-hand combat with the Tubo army.

The battlefield was temporarily quiet. In a small valley, more than 20 female guards were extremely busy. They skillfully disinfected more than 100 injured Tang soldiers, stopped bleeding, carefully cut out arrows from bones with their knives, and encouraged the wounded soldiers to cheer up with their female tenderness and comfort.

Li Fei Yuanli was hit by three or two arrows, and the ring finger and little finger of his left hand were cut off. Shi Sanniang was busy bandaging him. The disinfectant and salt water made his face deformed, but his mouth still had difficulty changing.

"Sanniang, Lao Li's fingers are gone. Do you think you will feel it when you touch a woman in the future?"

"Why don't you feel it? Just touch it with your right hand?"

"Hehe! Sanniang, can you touch Lao Li? Let Lao Li feel it, or you touch me, just like the last time at the beach, let Lao Li have a good time before he dies."

Shi Sanniang's face was flushed, and she had no choice but to reach out and rub it randomly in his crotch, and said angrily: "It's OK!"

Li Fei Yuanli breathed a long sigh, with a fascinated expression on her face, and she grinned and said, "Diet under the pomegranate skirt, you can be romantic even if you are a ghost."

"You won't die, like a bull in heat, be obedient! Stop thinking about it anymore."

After Shi Sanniang bandaged him the wound, she smiled and knocked on his forehead, and then went to take care of other wounded soldiers.

Li Feiyuanli turned his eyes and raised his head to Miao Cui'er and shouted: "Cui'er, can you come here? Lao Li is about to die. I want to say a few words to you before he dies."

In the only tent in the valley, Li Qing'an and Li Fei Shouyu carefully assembled a sand table. The sand table was the terrain of Qinghai area, Qinghai, Longju Island, Datong Mountain, Chiling, etc., made of mud, rice noodles covered with snow mountains, and there was also military camps, beacon towers, and there was even turmeric oil on the beacon towers. They were made very realistic. The sand table was about one zhang long and five feet wide. The base was made of iron, and the middle was made of wooden mezzanine. It was usually carried in four parts. When used, it was then put into a whole piece and buckled with iron buckle.

"Qiro, is this OK?"

"I'm not sure, but I have to give it a try. I think the Tubo people will be interested in it."

"That's true. The Tubo people must have never seen such a map."

Li Qing'an buckled the last iron buckle. He stood up, looked at the sky outside, and suddenly frowned and asked, "When is it now?"

A personal soldier reported: "General, you are still a quarter of an hour away from noon."

Li Qing'an quickly walked out of the tent and looked at the Shibao City in the distance. He saw that the beacon smoke was still rising on the Shibao City, obviously still in the hands of the Tubo people. He couldn't help but shake his head gently and made an appointment to capture Shibao City at noon. It seemed that it was impossible.
Chapter completed!