From Qingluoyuan near Dafeichuan, advancing all the way to the northwest, with every step they took, the Tang army officers and soldiers felt as if they were one step closer to hell.
The thin air was like the yin fire of purgatory, torturing every Tang army soldier, including Qin Mubai.
Therefore, the army had to stop and go to allow everyone to gradually adapt to the geographical environment. Qin Mubai even had the idea of staying on this plateau for a year or two to train all the soldiers into authentic "locals" before going to the decisive battle with Gar Qinling.
But this is obviously unrealistic. The soldiers are very fast. The Tubo dynasty, which had just been severely damaged by Hou Junji, is desperately gathering its last strength. Garqin Ling is doing its best to increase the number of troops and recruit generals.
Along the way, the Kansai Army encountered little resistance. Almost all the Tubo tribe's people, livestock, soldiers and horses along the way were withdrawn, and there was not a single particle left in the granary. Therefore, the further you go to the plateau, the harder it will be for the Kansai Army to provide follow-up supplies.
Furthermore, winter on the plateau is always extremely long and fierce. Although it is now the middle of summer, the storm and snow may be coming in less than two months.
If it is delayed until then, it will definitely be a disaster for the Kansai Army!
There is no turning back when the bow is fired. Even if there are all kinds of difficulties and dangers, Qin Mubai and the Guanxi Army can only bite the bullet and advance towards Luoxe City.
A month and a half later, the sun shone fiercely on the plateau and the weather was unbearably hot.
Xue Rengui took the lead and led his troops to the Pamoli Grassland, the place where the battle between Hou Junji and Gar Qinling was fought in the past.
Here, it is only more than ten miles away from Luoche King City.
Xue Rengui quickly set up a defensive position to prevent Gar Qinling from sneaking in while the Tang army was still on its feet. At the same time, the news was reported to Qin Mubai, the main force in the rear, to inform him of the situation here.
At night, the temperature dropped sharply again. Compared to the scorching heat during the day, it was like a world of ice and fire. The exhausted Xue Rengui and his soldiers did not dare to relax their vigilance. The Xula camp was set up in ambush outside to prevent the Tibetans from attacking at night.
Sure enough, the second watch of fighting broke out in the army. Countless cavalry came from the northwest, rockets flew in the sky, and fireworks suddenly shot into the sky in the Tang army camp.
Just as the Tubo people who were sneaking in the attack had just reached the front of the camp, Xue Rengui led his troops to fight out and launched a counter-siege against the Tubo people. The Tubo people were caught off guard and defeated. After a fierce battle in the middle of the night, Xue Rengui not only repelled the enemy army, but also led his army to behead more than 3,000 people and achieved a complete victory.
From then on, the Tubo people did not dare to rob the camp again.
Seven days later, Qin Mubai led a main army of 70,000 composed entirely of Yifu elite cavalry to arrive at Pamoli. Although his military achievements are meager, let me remember Xue Rengui's meritorious service.
Qin Mubai ordered the troops to reorganize their troops and put them on the defensive first, waiting for news from the other six groups of troops.
At the same time, Pang Fei's logistics troops stationed in the Mesopotamia are waiting to deliver the most important combat equipment—Shenwu cannon!
Gar Qin Ling is really calm. Long before the Tang army came, he imitated the city defense tactics in the ancient military art of the Central Plains, sent a large number of civilians and troops, dug a large chasm more than ten feet wide in front of Luoxue City, and introduced water from melted icebergs and snow as a moat. This moat is extremely difficult to cross unless you use a boat or a drawbridge from the Royal Castle.
Between the city wall and the moat, the Galqin Mausoleum built more than 300 sentry towers, arrow towers, and beacon towers using the method of "piling stones and covering them with iron shields." There were almost no blind spots in the royal city. At the same time, these military buildings have also become the strongest fortress of the royal city.
It can be seen from the distance between the moat and the royal city wall and these iron and stone sentry towers that the Garqin Mausoleum has taken into account the Tang army's siege weapon-Shenwu cannon. These sentinel towers are both strong and fireproof, and are not afraid of the traditional long-range fire arrows of the Tang army. Even the Shenwu Cannon, fired from such a long distance, would be greatly reduced in power. Moreover, even if all the artillery shells were fired regardless of the cost, it would be difficult to destroy this circle of turtle-shell-like arrow tower defenses, let alone bombard the city gates.
The defense of the Royal City of Luozhe is so strict that it can be worthy of the words "impregnable".
Garqin Ling is indeed a master of military strategism capable of both offense and defense.
Having robbed a camp before, it seemed that Garqin Ling was just trying to test the strength of the Kansai Army after a long journey. Now seeing the army approaching the city, he remained unmoved. It seemed that like Qin Mubai, he was waiting for other soldiers and horses from all walks of life to gather together for a simple decisive battle.
The two armies each guarded the camp and the city. They faced each other for half a month without moving a single soldier.
Soon, other people from all walks of life sent military intelligence reports to Qin Mubai. Except for Pang Fei's troops who stayed behind in the two river basins, the other five groups of troops successfully conquered the strategic military areas designated for them by Qin Mubai, and all led their troops to advance towards Luoche King's City.
The dragnet is slowly tightening.
At this moment, the Galqin Mausoleum was like a tiger shark that had fallen into a trap. Not only was it unhurried or struggling, but it was motionless. It was as if they were waiting for the fishermen to collect their nets before launching a fatal counterattack.
More than 300,000 Tibetan soldiers and horses were all stationed in three large camps inside and outside the royal city, forming an iron triangle defense system. There are also nearly 400,000 civilians in the royal city. The entire city of Luoxue was filled with the last remaining strength of Tubo.
Qin Mubai summoned all the generals to discuss strategies to break the city.
"There are very few people who can be as calm as Gar Qinling." Old General Li Daliang said, "I have to admit that this guy has a bit of a general style. He is now adapting to all changes by remaining unchanged, and moving by remaining still. Defending instead of attacking, they just want to kill us!"
"He is waiting for the arrival of winter." Qin Mubai said, "Although it is not yet the end of summer or the beginning of autumn, we can already feel that the weather is getting cooler. On this plateau with a weird climate, in a day or two There is a chance of snowfall every month. By then, our army will be at a great disadvantage!"
"If it were a regular battle, we could completely encircle them without attacking them. We could wait until they were in internal chaos or had no food or water, and then we could catch turtles in the urn." Li Junxian shook his head, "But the situation in front of us is just the opposite. Tubo has concentrated all the people in the country. The troops and grain are stationed in the royal city, and there is no need to worry about the supply being cut off in a short period of time. On the contrary, if it continues to be depleted, it will be us who will be cut off from the supply. In addition, our army will be completely unable to adapt to the winter snow. By then, Galqin will be depleted. If Ling fights back...he is indeed a cunning and ruthless opponent, taking full advantage of the right time and place!"
"Then, we can only forcefully attack the city?" the generals said together.
Qin Mubai frowned and thought for a moment, "Wait for another ten days!—The last ten days!"
"What are you waiting for, young marshal?" the generals asked in confusion.
The scene in front of me, even for one day, is very precious. Not to mention anything else, just one day is enough to provide food and fodder for 400,000 horses, which is an astronomical figure. The rear had to transport grain and grass to Luoxue City, and the price was more than three times higher than in the past for supplies!
"You will know when the time comes." Qin Mubai took a deep breath, exhaled it slowly, with a strange smile on his face, and said to the generals, "Our army has come from afar and is quite exhausted. Ten days During this time, the generals should reorganize their troops and recharge their batteries in preparation for the decisive battle. During this period, our army must not move any soldiers rashly, and at the same time, we must be careful to prevent the enemy from hijacking the camp. "
"No! -" Although he didn't understand why Qin Mubai did this, the general order had been issued, and the generals had no choice but to receive the order and then return to their camps.
Being able to get a few days of rest is very valuable for the current Kansai Army. Many soldiers who had severe altitude sickness gradually recovered and adapted. Still not a single soldier from Galqin Mausoleum left the royal city.
The remaining five armies have advanced to the vicinity of Luoche King's City. The distance between each army is only a few miles. The sound of trumpets can be heard from each other, and the beacon smoke can be heard by everyone.
Seven days later, the divine cannon and more than seventy carts of five-finger divine thunder that Qin Mubai was so eager to see finally arrived in Pamoli!
Qin Shi, the "dog slave" who was most trusted by Qin Mubai, was once again ordered to face danger. Together with many Tiegu craftsmen, he accepted a mysterious mission from Qin Mubai.
In two days, more than a hundred craftsmen made more than 600 flying kites according to the drawings given by Qin Mubai!
That’s a kite!
It's just that this kind of kite is different from the kites used by ordinary people for fun. It has three strong armor-piercing arrows as the main body, tough wood as the dividing bones, and the vine cloth of the marching tent as the body. Its wings are more than one foot (three meters) wide, and the whole body is in the shape of a streamlined swallow.
After the completion, Qin Mubai invited the generals to the wilderness more than thirty miles behind the camp to test it in public.
The generals didn't know what the use of these things was. Qin Mubai smiled and said: "Gar Qin Ling acted like a tortoise uncharacteristically, which is beyond my expectation. Luozhu City is impregnable, and it is impossible to attack it by force. Even if we manage to capture it, our army's losses will be extremely serious. Then, we have to blow out the Garqin Ling and fight with it again!"
"What's the logic?" The generals asked in confusion, "Just based on these - Fei Yuan?"
"Of course." Qin Mubai smiled mysteriously, "Actually, I designed these things a long time ago and have tried them several times. I think they are okay. In the past few days, I asked the military craftsmen to rush out a batch. , I hope it can come in handy—Qin Shi!”
"The villain is here!" Qin Shi came out to answer the order.
"Try to see it with the generals."
"yes!"
Qin Shi and several craftsmen and soldiers immediately started to carry out a specially made "bed artillery crossbow" made by Tiegu - this was modified by Qin Mubai based on the bed crossbow of the Song Dynasty that he had seen in history books.
The bed crossbow is the pinnacle of crossbow weapons. At first glance, it looks like a loom, but instead of a weaving machine, the wooden frame has three hard bows with iron tires!
This kind of bed crossbow requires ten people to turn the two axles on both sides to open it. The range can reach a terrifying 1,500 meters! On the eve of the Song-Liao Tanyuan Alliance, Khitan general Xiao Dalan was hit by a crossbow arrow and died in battle, which greatly demoralized the Khitan.
However, the bed crossbow of the Song Dynasty fired an iron-tipped crossbow arrow, while the bed artillery crossbow made by Qin Mubai by Tiegu shot a powerful gunpowder blasting arrow with a five-finger divine thunder on the arrowhead!
Now that this crossbow has been modified again, even Qin Mubai doesn't know whether it can exert its due power.
Qin Shi has already taken action.
The huge flying kite replaced the thick cannon crossbow and was mounted on the crossbow stand. According to Qin Mubai's own experiments and design optimization, these bed crossbows used to use three-sided iron tire bows as strings, but now only use two-sided horny hybrid bows with reduced elasticity. Otherwise, the flying kite will be torn into pieces by the powerful air backlash when it is ejected. fragments.
Loading completed. Qin Shi looked at Qin Mubai, who nodded.
"emission!
The strings ring!
The big flying kite shaped like a barn swallow flew up into the sky like lightning, then slid forward smoothly and landed several miles away!
This distance is already far beyond the effective range of the Shenwu cannon. Compared with the current distance between the Kansai Army's garrison camp and the Tubo King's City, it is roughly the same!
"Success!!!" Qin Mubai clapped his hands and laughed!
"We understand!" The generals also suddenly realized and laughed, "If these flying kites are tied with five-finger divine thunder, they can be allowed to fly into the Tubo King's City from the Kansai Army camp several miles away! By then , No matter how impregnable the walls, towers and fortifications outside the royal city are, let’s dig out his heart first!”
Qin Mubai nodded and said: "But there is another question. Is this divine thunder detonated by impact or by lighting a fuse first? If a fuse is used, how long should it be? - Qin Shi, this I leave the big trouble to you!"
"The villain accepts the order! The villain will immediately start testing a hundred times and report to the master within three days!" Qin Shi solemnly promised.
"Okay!" Qin Mubai shouted, "Three days later, the six battalions will launch an attack at the same time. But it's not soldiers and horses attacking the city - it's magic soldiers descending from the sky and fire phoenixes burning the city!"
"Haha, okay!!" All the generals laughed together!
Qin Mubai breathed a sigh of relief and said secretly: "Gar Qinling, you are indeed the pinnacle military master of this era. I know that if I practice for another ten or eight years, I will not be able to match you. You have also seen my martial arts before. Cannons, but - if I am not a little bit better than you, and it is not in vain that I come from more than a thousand years later? ... The power and range of these divine cannons alone are indeed far from enough to knock down your fortress castle. It is impossible to build any Scud missiles in a short period of time. However, I always know how to use ejection and gliding to increase the range of air-drop bombings. - Our Eighth Route Army once killed the Japanese and puppet troops in this way. Bunker, when I was in the military academy, I watched so many patriotic Anti-Japanese War movies in vain!”
"Gaer Qinling, consider yourself unlucky!"
Three days later, late at night.
Suddenly, gunfire orders were sounded continuously in the Tang Army's camp, alarming the night sky on the plateau.
The sentry tower of Luozhe City, which was already ready for battle, instantly lit up with countless lights and wentngs rang all the time!
"The Tang army is attacking the city!!!"
The entire royal city was in an uproar and woke up from a deep sleep in an instant!
The strange thing is that the Tubo people did not see a single soldier of the Tang army, but those with sharp eyes saw countless "UFOs" coming from the night sky illuminated by torches.
"Then... what is that?" The Tubo soldiers pointed in the air and shouted in fear.
Large swaths of "UFOs", like demons and ghosts traveling in the clouds and fog, flew into the sky above the royal city in unison, and then began to fall.
In an instant - "Boom, boom!!"
Flowers bloomed everywhere, explosions and fire shot into the sky!
Genius Qin Shi's lead design is as accurate as a computer!
Luoxue City suddenly became purgatory! !
…
Seeing the city in the distance filled with flames of fire and smoke rising into the sky, and the sounds of frightened people shouting for servants filling the night sky, Qin Mubai's face was as calm as water.
"Mr. Yuan Tiangang, the evil star in your mouth has caused a lot of murders." He said to himself with an indifferent and bitter smile, "More than 200,000 people were buried alive in Huanyue Valley, Dafeichuan, and Golmud. Luo. There are 300,000 troops and 400,000 civilians in these royal cities. I don’t know how many people will die in today’s commotion... Well! It’s over now, and we have to bear the huge sin! War is war, either you die or I live. Er Qinling, I don’t believe you can still hide in a turtle shell! Your iron turtle shell is useless in front of me. Come out and fight to the death!”