In the third year of Shengwu, it was late July, and the Central Plains region was still in the hot dog days. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau had been swept by a sudden snowstorm, and the white snow covered the Doma area. Although it was praised by the locals as Litian

The closest place, but from the time when the Tibetan forces moved north to now, it can no longer be considered a pure land on earth.

They have been fighting for many years. At first, Tubo and Tuyuhun fought against each other. Then the Silk Road Allied Forces came to fight against Tuyuhun. After the coalition forces left, Tubo and Tuyuhun began to fight each other, but halfway through the fight, Tubo and Tuyuhun reconciled again, and then they

The Sui army was provoked.

The continuous war has caused great suffering to the herdsmen living on this land. No one dares to graze in the lush pastures on both sides of the Yellow River, for fear of crossing the border or being stabbed by an unknown army, but they do not graze.

, what can they do? Learn how to farm the land like in the Central Plains? But who can? And even if they can, there seems to be no peaceful place for them to settle down.

But on this day, an old shepherd in Dangxiang could no longer care about so much. Because the snowstorm suddenly arrived, he had not prepared any fodder for the winter. If he did not go out to graze, his cattle and sheep would starve to death. Seeing that it was rare to feel more stable these days,

Then he and several other old herdsmen drove their cattle and sheep out of the mountains to graze.

Looking at the cattle and sheep happily munching on the tips of the grass under the snow, an old shepherd sighed: "This place has not been this messy for a long time, but this mess is huge, and I don't know when it will end."

An old shepherd held an injured lamb in his arms and fed it with a handful of grass as if he were serving his own child. Without raising his head, he sighed: "Who knows? It's all the damn Tibetan people's fault. If they hadn't

If we attack from the south, this place won't be so chaotic."

An old man said: "Two months ago, when the Tibetan soldiers came to seize cattle and sheep? They said that after Langri Zampu unified the plateau, they moved from the Qiongjie and Zedang areas in Shannan to Luoxue. From now on, it will be the Tubo

The imperial capital? With the migration of Tubo Zampu, many tribes living on the mountains have also moved to the Jiqu River Valley to live. The Tubo soldiers also said that if we go, we can also be allocated pasture. "

Although the Qiongjie and Zedang areas in Shannan are the birthplace of Tubo, where are the tombs of ancestors? But Langri Zamp always thinks that compared with the small and narrow Yalong River Valley, the Jiqu River Valley is wider, and Luoche is located in the Jiqu River.

Downstream, there is Nyenchen Tanglha Mountain as a barrier to the north, Nyangpo, Gongbu and other places to the east? It is adjacent to Shangxiong to the west and the Yalong Valley to the south. The location is moderate. The logic of moving the capital is not only conducive to controlling the Supi system here, but also to

Beware of Xiangzhong in the west, Sui Dynasty in the north, and Tuyuhun in the east.

In view of the above considerations, Langri Zampu and his civil and military officials considered the situation and decided to move the capital to Luozhe and use it as the center of Tubo. This gradually transformed Tubo from a loose tribal alliance into a territory and system, and unified people's hearts. In order to

Filling the population of the Jiqu River Valley? Forming the permanent center of Tubo, he continued to move the population of large and small tribes into it? After Dangxiang was divided up by the two Tubos, many people were forcibly relocated by him in this way? Of course, some small tribes became

'Fish that slipped through the net'? For example, the tribe these old people belong to is one of them? It's just that these small tribes with no fixed settlements are difficult to catch. If there are few soldiers, they can't defeat their tribes. If there are more soldiers,

, they had fled long ago, so we targeted these small tribes and used them to lure soldiers who occasionally encountered them.

"I won't go..." The old shepherd holding the lamb looked up and murmured: "I don't think the Jiqu Valley will be better than here. As long as the damn war is over, this place will be better than before.

"

When people live in a place for a long time, they will always have feelings that are hard to leave. These old shepherds who have lived in the Doma area for a long time naturally have a nostalgia for their hometown. Who would want to live in a completely unfamiliar place if they have a happy life?

Suddenly! The earth trembled slightly. The cattle and sheep stopped grazing, raised their ears, and looked around anxiously.

"Go, go quickly."

Several old shepherds were shocked and wanted to drive their cattle and sheep away. They knew that this was the movement that would only occur when a large army was marching. In the far east, a black line appeared where the sky and the earth met. As they approached,

A powerful evil spirit rushed towards his face.

These old shepherds who were chatting and laughing got on their horses one after another, waving their whips desperately, and yelled at the cattle and sheep to get away.

However, sheep are an extremely loose organization. They usually bump into each other when they are together. The only way to make them obedient is to control the leader, so that the other sheep will rush forward without thinking.

No matter whether there is an abyss or a pack of wild wolves ahead.

Several old people quickly found the leader and successfully took away their cattle and sheep. However, the old shepherd who was only looking after the lambs could not find his leader. Only after being reminded by his companions did he find his leader.

He actually led more than a dozen sheep on a cliff, leisurely licking the salt on the stone wall.

The old shepherd had no choice but to give up the sheep. However, he was a little slow in reacting and did not mount the horse immediately. Of course, when he found the horse, the army galloping from the east was already in front of him.

"Boom~"

At this time, it was obviously too late to give up and deviate from the right path. The old shepherd was like a drop in the ocean in front of the mighty iron cavalry sweeping in.

"Pfft~"

An arrow that shot through the air pierced his chest, and red blood spurted out. The old shepherd stiffened, and fell weakly from the horse. The high-speed galloping horse stepped over his body without stopping for a moment.

, turned into a pool of bright red on the snow.

On the vast land, 60,000 Tubo cavalry were as dense as locusts. From a distance, it looked like a sandstorm was sweeping over them.

"Damn you bastard, are you rushing to die?"

"Almighty gods, curse these evil Tibetans!"

"They must not die well."

"The Tubo people must die a good death..."

Several old shepherds who were lucky enough to escape the disaster ran back to the right road. When they saw the corpse of the old man with only his beard and hair stained with mud, they started crying and cursing.

However, no matter how they howl, it is obvious that no one will pay attention to these humble ants.

On the cliff not far from the head sheep, a Sui army scout was crawling on the snow, using a telescope to watch the scene from a high position. However, his focus was not on the old shepherd shouting at the sky and grabbing the earth, but on the Tibetan army roaring westward. He saw

Behind the mighty army were more than two thousand cattle, followed by an endless stream of sheep. After careful observation for a while, he suddenly discovered something and immediately said: "There is something wrong with the cattle of the Tubo army. The more than two thousand cattle are actually there."

It was guarded by two thousand cavalry, and these soldiers also carried hay tied in bundles."

There are nine scouts on the left and right sides of this scout. This is one of the twenty scout teams sent by Yang Tong. Their mission is to observe every move of the Tibetan army and report any abnormalities in time.

Hearing what their companions said, everyone immediately paid attention. The fire chief of the scout team took the telescope and looked at it carefully. Sure enough, he found that each of the two thousand Tibetan soldiers was carrying a long and light cloth bag. They looked very special.

Be careful, most people put the cloth bag on the other side of the horse, blocking the real appearance with the horse's body. It is true that the naked eye cannot see what is inside, but with the help of the telescope, Huo Chang can still see clearly.

When some hay was exposed from the cloth bag, it seemed that they were traveling at a long distance. Due to the bumps on the horse's back, the long and light cloth bag was staggered and the contents inside were exposed.

"Don't be careless, you guys should take a look too." The fire chief handed the telescope to several other subordinates.

Everyone watched one by one and finally came to a conclusion. One person expressed the common sentiment of everyone: "The cow guard soldiers carried hay and wrapped it in cloth as if it were precious. They should be planning to launch a fire bull charge against our army."

Huo Chang was overjoyed. They discovered this secret that could change the outcome of the war. It must be a great achievement. He immediately wrote an eagle letter and quickly sent it to the west where the army was.

........

Yang Tong personally led more than 70,000 soldiers out of the camp and slowly marched toward the wilderness ten miles away. This team included 50,000 soldiers of the First Army, 10,000 soldiers of the Ninth Army, and 5,000 Qiang soldiers.

, eight thousand Xiangxiong soldiers. In terms of military strength, it exceeded Ludongzan by more than 10,000.

In addition to the fatigue of the Xiangxiong soldiers who unexpectedly came to the rescue, the 65,000 officers and soldiers of the Sui army were all full of energy and high in fighting spirit. The Sui army was divided into military units, including corps, divisions, guards, regiments, and

Brigades, teams, and fires lined up one by one. Although the whole army was mounted, there were also infantry on horseback, such as heavy crossbowmen, swordsmen, and spearmen. The cavalry was divided into crossbow cavalry, light cavalry, and heavy cavalry.

cavalry.

In order to facilitate soldiers to assemble for combat, the Sui army set up eight guard flags on the guard: lion, tiger, leopard, wolf, eagle, suan, bear, elephant, etc. There were also fifteen colors, making each guard flag different and convenient for soldiers.

In a war, quickly identify and follow your own battle flag. This is the combat experience summed up by our ancestors and is very valuable.

In addition to these arms, the Sui army also dispatched a thousand honeycomb crossbows this time. This was a big killer weapon prepared by the Sui army for the Tibetan army. This kind of crossbow was actually improved by craftsmen on the basis of the broken army crossbow, using labor-saving

The pulley increased the power of the winch, making it have a longer range and stronger power. In addition, the large arrows were changed into slender small iron arrows, which could shoot thirty at a time, making them a powerful weapon against dense cavalry.

The skilled craftsmen of Kaitianyuan also creatively invented the arrow clip. One arrow clip holds thirty iron arrows. After shooting the arrows, a new arrow clip can be directly installed on the crossbow machine, and then it can be fired immediately, saving arrow loading.

A lot of time spent.

There are two types of honeycomb crossbows. The large honeycomb crossbow is one foot long, six feet wide and weighs hundreds of kilograms. It is generally used to defend the city; the small one is one-third smaller in length and width and is placed in a special carriage and horse.

It is no different from a carriage. You can adjust the height according to the terrain difference by opening the door, and then launch. The key is that it is not affected by the weather. This small honeycomb drone is operated by three people, one person winds the string, one person loads the arrow, and one person drives the vehicle. When the carriage drives,

When arriving at the designated position, the soldier driving the vehicle is responsible for watching the flag.

This kind of crossbow has a long range, dense arrows, strong lethality, and a wide range of damage. It can be called a rocket launcher in the cold weapon era. Its shortcoming is that it is not accurate, but it is undoubtedly quite suitable for dealing with dense lineups.

At this time, the army had occupied the pre-set battlefield as scheduled. Following Yang Dong's order, the sound of the horn, and the waving of the flag, the army quickly stopped advancing and quickly lined up the front army, the left and right wings, and the rear army in four square formations.

.

The front army formation was three miles wide, with flags fluttering and a huge momentum. At the front were two thousand sword and shield soldiers, followed by six thousand Mo swordsmen. The Mo swords shone coldly in the snow light, and the six thousand Mo swordsmen were

The sword hands are arranged in three rows, forming an unstoppable and indestructible wall of swords.

There are three thousand light cavalry on each side of Mo Daoshou. They are guarding the left and right sides of Mo Daoshou. There are 2,500 heavy cavalry hidden behind the light cavalry. And behind Mo Daoshou are the thousand honeycomb crossbows.

car.

In addition, there were 6,000 crossbowmen behind the honeycomb crossbow vehicle. They and the honeycomb crossbow formed a double blow from both a distance and a distance.

As soon as the military formation was set up, a Shura guard rushed over from a distance, "Your Majesty, the scouts have discovered an emergency!"

In order to ensure the confidentiality of the Sui army as much as possible and not let Xiang Xiong know about it, the sending and receiving eagle point was set up on a hill several miles away, and Shura guards sent messages back and forth.

"Tell me." Yang Tong glanced at Li Mixia, King Xiangxiong beside him, and said with a smile.

"Your Majesty, our army's scouts discovered that Tubo had brought more than two thousand cattle, each guarded by a soldier. These soldiers were carrying a bundle of hay. The scouts suspected that the enemy planned to use the Fire Ox Formation to deal with our army," Shura Wei said.

When he got here, he added: "Eight scouts in a row saw it and made the same judgment."

"The discovery of the scouts is indeed very important. They did a very good job!" Yang Tong was generous with his praise and told the Shura Guard: "Remember the numbers of these eight scouts, and after the war, each team will be rewarded with a thousand copper coins!"

"I humbly take the place of scout brother to thank the Holy Master for the reward." Shura Guard saluted quickly.

"Keep going to inquire, and report any news as soon as possible."

"I humble my duty and obey my orders."

After the Shura guards left, Yang Tong ordered to the left and right: "Please invite Du Shangshu and Prefect Xue to come and discuss matters."
To be continued...