Chapter 222: The sudden change of the situation

Zhangye County is the ruling center of Tubo in Hexi and the bridgehead for Tubo to attack the Tang Dynasty. There have always been heavy troops stationed. However, since the 13th year of Qingzhi, Tubo's strategic focus gradually moved to Anxi. In the tug-of-war against the Uighurs for Beiting, the Tubo army in Hexi was basically concentrated on the front line of Dunhuang County, and cooperated with the Tubo army in Anxi to attack the north. At this time, Zhangye County had only 20,000 troops.

However, at the end of the second year of Xuanren of the Tang Dynasty, just when Zhang Huan of Wuwei County attacked Longyou, the Tubo troops in Zhangye quietly changed. The 50,000 Tubo troops in Anxi and 30,000 Tubo troops in Dunhuang County arrived in Zhangye. The Tubo troops in Zhangye County had reached 100,000. All of this was carried out in extreme confidentiality, and even the Tubo governor who managed Zhangye's government affairs did not know.

Shortly after the New Year of Xuanren in the third year, the same day that the Tubo envoy Shang Zanpo entered Beijing and officially established an alliance with the Tang Dynasty, Tubo Zanpu Chisong Dezan quietly arrived in Zhangye County.

Unlike the Uighur strategic focus shifting westward, Tubo's desire for the Tang Dynasty for a hundred years has never weakened.

Ten years ago, Chisong Dezan decided to fight against Tianzhu and Tocharo in the west, and temporarily relaxed his attack on the Tang Dynasty. However, with the unsuccessful Tubo's southern expedition to Tianzhu and the Dashi sent troops to obstruct Tubo's conquest of Tocharo, Chisong Dezan's eyes turned to the east again. But at this moment, Tubo and the Uighurs broke out again in a war for Beiting, which made Chisong Dezan's plan to attack the east again. It was at this time that Zhang Huan occupied Wuwei County.

However, as the domestic political situation of the Uighurs changed, Tubo and Uighurs stopped their troops, and Chisong Dezan once again raised the sword that slashed towards the Tang Dynasty.

In order to paralyze the other party, Chisong Dezan planned a conspiracy for nearly a year. He proposed an alliance with the Tang Dynasty. It seemed that Tubo was unable to fight on the third line. During this period, Ma Chongying, the governor of Hehuang, sent troops to meet Xibao without authorization, almost broke Chisong Dezan's plan, but was recalled and scolded him severely.

While joining the Tang Dynasty, he secretly dispatched troops to Zhangye to prepare. Chisong Dezan himself arrived in Zhangye County. He wanted to personally direct the war to capture Longyou.

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There is a castle ten miles west of Tianbao County, Wuwei County, called Jiao Castle. It is the westernmost castle at the Tang Dynasty. It is far away from the steep peak of Yanzhi Mountain, a branch of the Qilian Mountains. It is connected with the snow-capped Qilian Mountains. There is only a two-mile wide canyon on the southern foot of the mountain range. Jiao Castle is guarded at the southernmost end of this canyon.

On March 15th, on the night of the fifteenth day of the Hehuang Battle, it was the night of full moon, but it was covered with dark clouds, and the stars and moon were dull. The dark mountains seemed like a sleeping dragon. Most of the 800 garrisons in the castle were sleeping. Only a dozen sentries on duty were looking at the dark clouds in the sky bored. Indeed, the peaceful days had been several years. An ordinary night was insignificant compared to the years of calm. The soldiers had already become numb. No one would have thought that a three thousand Tubo army, with the protection of the night and the shape of the mountain, was quietly snorting towards the castle. It had reached a hundred steps away. On the other side of the canyon several miles away, a hundred thousand Tubo army was lined up, endless, and flags were covered, as if it was their murderous aura in the sky that covered the stars and moon.

Chisong Dezan is almost forty years old this year. His body has the noblest bloodline of half of the Han people. His mother is the Princess of Jincheng, the Tang Dynasty. He is not tall and speaks lightly, and even looks a little weak. However, he is the Supreme Master of Tubo. He can determine the life and death of millions of people in the world with just one word.

He was the most outstanding Zanpu in Tubo after Songtsen Gampo. In order to wipe out the old nobles and consolidate his absolute rule, Chisong Dezan introduced Buddhism and finally determined Buddhism as the Tubo state religion, which changed the situation where the old nobles controlled the people's beliefs.

In his hands, Tubo's national strength once reached the strongest peak, but he was ambitious and very happy to achieve success. His invasion of the Tang Dynasty was also the most violent in a century. It was precisely because of his constant wars in all directions over the years that Tubo's national strength gradually declined.

At this time, the supreme ruler of Tubo was sitting in a cart pulled by fifty majestic horses. The semicircular white tent behind him looked like a bright moon. He stared at the entrance of the valley, waiting for the news to come with a thousand years of patience.

Suddenly, the sound of horse hooves shattered the quiet night. A centurion rushed over and fell to Chisong Dezan, "Report to Zanpu, Jiao Castle has been taken down."

Chisong Dezan nodded slightly, and he turned around and whispered to the great remarks of the army, Nangerer, "You should take the lead and tell the military and civilians of Wuwei that those who surrender to me can be subjects of Tubo. I will not offend you at all, but if there is any resistance, even an ant from Wuwei County will be cut into pieces."

After saying that, he closed his eyes tightly and said nothing. After a while, his eyes slightly opened and he still whispered: "Tell the army to advance to Wuwei."

The 100,000 Tubo army slowly started, accompanied by the striking and low footsteps, they were like a demon army from the region, pointing to the east, killing everything and devouring everything!

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Along the Yellow River 50 miles north of Jincheng County, He Lou Wuji, the deputy governor who stayed in Longyou, was inspecting the beacon tower. The governor had been in the west for half a month and had won consecutive victories all the way. It was very smooth. The latest information was that the army had captured Huangshui City. At this point, most of the Hehuang had returned to the Tang Dynasty. Although he had won a great victory, He Lou Wuji always felt a little uneasy, perhaps because it was a little smoother.

He Lou Wuji stood on a hill and looked towards Wuwei County with a hint of worry. He was not worried about the battle situation in Hehuang. There should be no problem with sufficient scouts to explore in advance. He was a little worried about Hexi. Before Zhang Huan sent troops to Hehuang, he had always been the chief general of Hexi. He always had a special concern for Wuwei. He couldn't help but remember what Pei Mingyuan said when he opposed the troops to Hehuang, "We don't know the situation in Zhangye County."

It should be said that the governor also considered this possibility, so no soldiers or soldiers from Wuwei County went to Hehuang. There were 20,000 troops and a strong city. It should be enough to deal with the 20,000 Tubo troops in Zhangye County. However, He Lou Wuji still had an inexplicable worry. He shook his head and smiled with a ridiculous look. Could it be that he wanted to return to Wuwei again?

Suddenly, a personal soldier behind him pointed at the distance and shouted, "General, beacon!"

He Lou Wuji turned his head suddenly, and his heart seemed to fall into the abyss. He saw two straight wolf smokes soaring into the sky for dozens of miles away. This was an alarm from Hexi. Tubo attacked Hexi!

Without thinking, he turned his horse's head and rushed down the hill, "Reorganize the army and return to Wuwei immediately!"

"But General, what should I do with the governor?" The personal soldiers' words were like a basin of water on the head, and immediately woke him up. Yes, before the governor left, he handed over the entire Longyou to him, rather than just letting him be responsible for the Wuwei territory.

He Lou Wuji pondered for a moment and resolutely ordered: "I ordered the troops of the four counties of Shuhua, Yan'an, Pingliang and Suide to all rushed to Huijun, and then ordered the ships of Huijun to approach the west to pick up the fugitives to cross the river."

After saying that, he turned his horse and ran towards Jincheng County.

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The battle in Wuwei City was extremely fierce. Inside and outside the city, corpses were everywhere, and blood dyed the earth red. In front of the city wall, the fires soared into the sky, howlings and screams were endless. Arrows were densely shot towards the city head like rainstorms. The moat had already filled up. Hundreds of cloud ladders were laid on the city head. On the city wall, soldiers cut arrows and fought bloody battles with the Tubo soldiers who were rushing up the city head.

Not only were soldiers, but tens of thousands of people also spontaneously joined the battle. The elderly old man struggled to lift stones and smashed them down. The woman disheveled her hair and swung her wooden stick to hit the Tubo soldiers who rushed to the city. The young man was shot to death on the battlements. More than half of the 10,000 Tang soldiers were killed or injured, but they had no way out. Facing the overwhelming Tubo army, they had to fight to the end.

The most intense battle was in the west of the city. A city wall collapsed a large hole under the violent impact of the siege. Thousands of Tubo troops rushed towards the collapsed place like an ant colony. More than a thousand Tang troops, led by Lin Delong, were fighting to the death.

Lin Delong rushed from Kaiyang County to Wuwei to treat an epidemic in Guzang County, but he happened to be attacked by the Tubo people. At this time, Li Hengqiu, the general guarding Wuwei County, had already been killed in the battle to defend Tianbao County, and the five thousand Tang troops were wiped out. Lin Delong resolutely stepped forward and shouldered the burden of defending Wuwei City.

At this moment, the corpses at the entrance of the collapsed cave had accumulated more than one meter high. Lin Delong was hit by three arrows and covered in blood. However, he was still extremely strong and fought with the enemy troops like wild animals. Under his big sword, more than 200 enemies had been killed. However, there were too many Tubo troops coming up. The collapsed cave entrance had changed hands three times, and there were only more than 400 Tang troops left for more than a thousand Tang troops, but none of them escaped. Even Lin Delong's weak son and his daughter Pingping fought to the death with his father.

"Dad!" Lin Zhiyu suddenly cried out, and a wolf-toothed arrow shot through his chest. He looked at his father with great nostalgia, his body softened, and he fell to the ground and died.

"Brother!" Lin Pingping was crazy. She waved her knife and killed three Tubo soldiers. She turned around and rushed to the elder brother's side, picked up his soft body and shook it desperately, but Lin Zhiyu was dead. Lin Pingping couldn't help crying, "Brother, you can't die. Don't you still have to participate in the imperial examination next year?"

Lin Delong stared blankly at the death of his eldest son. At this moment, his heart was gone, and his body was full of hatred. At this time, he saw dozens of Tubo troops break through the defense line and raised their swords to chop at their daughter with a ferocious look. He roared wildly, rushed forward a few steps, swung the knife and slashed hard, and suddenly the heads rolled and flesh and blood flew everywhere.

Lin Pingping screamed and jumped up and fought with his father to fight the Tubo army to the death. Inspired by their father and daughter, the four hundred Tang soldiers also burst out with their last potential and fought a thousand Tubo soldiers out of the cave.

Two miles away, Chisong Dezan looked at the offensive and defensive battle between the two armies for Wuwei City without expression. He had already invested 40,000 troops and fought for half a day. Nearly 10,000 people were killed or injured, but the city was still not taken down. He turned his head and glanced at the general Shang Xidongzan and said coldly: "I will give you another 20,000 troops. I will give you another hour. If you can't take Wuwei, come and see you."

Shang Xidongzan's face was flushed and he knelt down and said, "The Tang army has no way to retreat, so they fight to the death. I beg Zanpu to agree to let go of the east gate. If the enemy has a way out, they will not fight to the death. If I chase them with cavalry, they will still not escape."

"It's your business that you fight. I'll only give you an hour." Chisong Dezan closed his eyes and said nothing.

Shang Xi Dongzan suddenly stood up and roared, "I ordered the East Gate to withdraw the siege and pass on my military orders. I will not be able to take the city within half an hour, and all the centurion and above will be killed!"

The Tubo army invested another 20,000 new forces, with drums rumbling and shouting and killing sounds shook the sky. The Tubo army pushed forward with all its might. As the siege of the East Gate was evacuated, a large number of people began to flee from the East Gate, and the defense line of Wuwei City gradually collapsed.

The Tubo army at the collapse of the West Gate was the most fierce attack. Nearly 10,000 Tubo army attacked frantically. The last 400 Tang soldiers used their flesh and blood to form a human wall, and carried out their final resistance to defend the dignity of the Tang soldiers.

Lin Delong knew that the situation was hopeless, and the news of the unblocking of the East Gate also reached him. Looking at his daughter's stubborn and lonely back, he suddenly remembered that when she was a child, she always fought with the boys with a pan. The father's love for the last time filled his heart.

He grabbed Pingping's arm and ordered: "You go to Jincheng County to report the news quickly and tell them that this is not an ordinary Tubo attack. It was Tubo Zanpu who personally led his troops to attack Tang and asked them to ask the court for help."

Lin Pingping shook his head stubbornly, "Dad, if you ask others to report the news, I will fight to the death today."

"Barewell!" Lin Delong was furious and slapped his daughter hard, "It's okay for us father and son to sacrifice our lives for the country. If you die, who will take care of your mother? Do you want me to die with your eyes open?"

"Dad!" Lin Pingping kowtowed to her father with tears in her eyes. She turned her back and ran towards the east of the city.

Lin Delong looked at his daughter and walked away. He raised his head and whistled, "Brothers, come the time to be loyal to the country, follow me to fight out!"

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A few miles away, Lin Pingping immediately stood on a high hill. She stared at Wuwei City blankly. Suddenly, a dull sound of "boom" was heard, and a thick smoke rose into the sky. This was the explosion of the gunpowder depot in Wuwei City, which meant that the Tubo army had already invaded the city.

A crystal tears slid down Lin Pingping's face. She turned her horse's head, whipped hard, and ran eastward.
Chapter completed!