Chapter 3529 Military Intelligence
The tribal leader's face was earth-colored, his lips murmured a few times, and he looked at the majestic and murderous Tang Army cavalry in front of him. He hesitated for a long time and said tentatively: "This... the weather is cold now, the road is difficult to travel, and our tribe has been living here for hundreds of years. In the year, the whole family suddenly moved, and I am afraid that death and injury are inevitable..."
Before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by the Tang Army general who raised his hand.
The words of the general of the Tang army were colder than the heavy snow: "You are all under the rule of the Tang Dynasty, but now you collude with the bandits and support them, which is an unforgivable crime. I have the virtue of a good life, and I don't want your whole family to suffer. I want to give you a way to survive, but you are still pushing back and forth like this. You don’t know what’s good or bad! Come, form a formation, and massacre this clan within a stick of incense, and burn the house without leaving a trace!”
"Here!"
The soldiers on the left and right responded to the order with a bang, and then the cavalry was clanging, and the troops were dispatched. In a moment, they were in formation, and they just waited for the general to give the order before they started to charge.
The tribal leader knelt on the ground, horrified, and hurriedly took a few steps forward on his knees, shouting: "General, don't be upset! You can't do it!"
Just looking at the equipment of this cavalry, you can tell that they must be the elite of the Anxi Army and there are many of them. Under a single charge, my tribe of more than a thousand people will probably be wiped out...
The general asked: "For the last chance, would you like to move your entire family to Gongyue City?"
With the steel knife on the neck and the meat on the chopping board, what else can the tribal leader say? I can only nod helplessly: "Yes, yes!"
The general snorted coldly: "If you don't eat the toast, you will have to drink wine as a penalty! Gather your people here immediately, and take out all the food at the same time."
"This..."
The tribal leader's expression changed again. It was acceptable to move to Gongyue City, but if all the remaining food in the clan was handed over, where would there be a way to survive in this ice and snow?
The general of the Tang Army stopped talking nonsense and raised a hand: "Get ready!"
"Crash!" The cavalrymen on both sides unsheathed their swords and were full of murderous intent. The horses' hooves scratched the ice and snow on the ground. They were extremely violent. They just waited for an order and began to charge.
"Hand, hand, hand!"
The tribal leader shouted loudly and turned around to shout several times to the tribe. After a while, more than ten young men came out carrying bags of food and placed them on the snow.
The tribal leader said: "Yesterday, the cannibals and soldiers looted and robbed most of the food. The old man hid it here in advance. There is only so much."
The general of the Tang army did not ask any more questions and ordered: "If you pass the order, your tribe will immediately set off to move to Gongyue City. Half an hour later, a certain general will send troops into your tribe to investigate, but no one will be left alive."
After saying this, he turned around, rode his horse and went to the rear, dismounted and rested.
The tribal leader was full of bitterness. In this kind of weather, it would be better for the young and strong to travel hundreds of miles to Gongyue City, but how could the old, weak, women and children be able to bear it? He knew that it was impossible not to move, and just wanted to buy some time, but the general of the Tang Army left alone, and the soldiers on the left and right just shook their heads: "The commander-in-chief obeys his words, and there is no room for discussion. I advise you to move quickly, otherwise Disaster is coming.”
The tribal leader stamped his feet and sighed, feeling regretful. How could he be so obsessed with giving the grain to the cannibal? Now that the Tang army came to the door, it would be considered tolerant not to massacre them all. If he continued to be verbose, he would really annoy the general, and he was afraid that his tribe would be slaughtered with just one order.
He had no choice but to return to the tribe, appease the tribesmen, and then drag his family with them, carrying simple gifts and clothes, and walk out of the tribe shivering in the wind and snow.
A Tang military captain came forward and ordered the soldiers on the left and right: "Each person will be given five days of rations, and the rest will be confiscated."
He also said to the tribal leader: "Go to Gongyue City to report, and someone will distribute food for rations. The Tang Dynasty is a kingdom of heaven, and the people under its rule will never starve to death. If you escape halfway, you will be killed in the future." We can no longer stay in this land of the Western Regions, otherwise every soldier of the Tang army will be responsible for killing, and everyone in your clan will be punished with death!”
Then, without waiting for the tribal leader to reply, with a wave of his hand, hundreds of cavalry launched a charge and rushed straight into the tribe. They did not search at all, but set fires everywhere. After a while, fires shot up into the sky. The tribe had lived in a place where they had been living for hundreds of years, just because of the attack on the tribe. The great cannibals provided food and fodder, which was burned to the ground.
These tribesmen looked at their homes with fireworks in the sky with trepidation, and they dared not speak out in anger. The leader of the tribe was even more pale. Naturally, he would not hand over all the food honestly. That was the fate of the entire clan. However, the fire at the moment had completely burned the hidden food. He felt no longer in his heart. Without any luck, I had no choice but to move with my clan members and their families, full of sorrow and regret, through the thick snow towards Gongyue City hundreds of miles away in the east...
……
In the battle outside Gongyue City, Dashi's army was severely defeated and forced to retreat dozens of miles. They set up camp at the foot of Tianshan Mountain to confront the Tang army.
At that time, the morale of Dashi's army was low, and the Tang army was at a numerical disadvantage. The strength of both sides was about the same. No one could do anything against the other, and neither dared to act rashly. There was a stalemate for a while.
However, the advantage of the Tang army lies in the advantage of the home field, especially when Xue Rengui retreated all the way and transported all the ordnance and baggage of several cities backwards. What could not be transported was burned, resulting in that the Tang army had sufficient food and ammunition, but the food army was exhausted. Losing the purpose of supporting war through war, they fell into the predicament of lack of food and fodder.
Unable to sit still and wait for death, the Dashi army could only plunder, buy or rob, and confiscate grain and fodder from the surrounding Hu tribes under the orders of Ye Zide. Although this move made some Hu tribes who originally welcomed the cannibals complain, more tribes tried their best to support them and provided food and fodder for the cannibals' army. They just wanted to drive the Tang army out of the Western Regions so that everyone could share the wealth of the Silk Road.
Naturally, the Tang army would not sit idly by. Fang Jun ordered and personally led an army to go out of the city and detour behind enemy lines to launch a surprise attack and annihilate the "food collection team" of the Dashi army...
This worked very well.
The Dashi army had just arrived in the Western Regions and was unfamiliar with the terrain. Although many Hu people secretly supported the Dashi people, they were afraid of the Tang army's combat power and would not dare to have anything to do with it openly. They would just fund some supplies and food. If they were sent The tribesmen led the way for the big cannibals. Once the Tang army knew about it, the consequences would be disastrous. Therefore, the Tang army's light cavalry came out in all directions and wiped out the "food collection teams" of the Dashi people one after another, making the already difficult situation of the food supplies of the Dashi army even worse.
The morale of the army was getting lower and lower day by day. Ye Qide was so anxious that his mouth was full of tears, but he couldn't think of anything else.
He still couldn't figure out why he led an army of 200,000 to the Western Regions. The strength was several times that of the Anxi Army and was enough to crush any armed force in the Western Regions. However, he fell into passivity from the beginning and was led by the Tang Army. Not only did he want to They failed to seek a decisive battle, but were exhausted by the Tang army's fighting and retreating style. Until the Anxi army received strong reinforcements, they suddenly gave the Dashi army a blow.
In the current situation, the advantage on our side no longer exists, and we even have to struggle for food for our soldiers and horses...
This battle was really frustrating.
*****
Two days later, Fang Jun led his cavalry back to Gongyue City, and Pei Xingjian personally went outside the city to greet him. Jumping off his horse, Fang Jun glanced at the flags rustling in the wind at the top of the city, and then at Pei Xingjian's stern expression, but he couldn't bear to ask any questions.
When they returned to the government office in the city, the soldiers brought hot water to Fang Jun to wash his face, made a pot of hot tea and left. Fang Jun and Pei Xingjian were the only two people left in the hall. Fang Jun then asked: "What happened?"
He knew that Pei Xingjian had always been deeply involved in the city and could express his emotions and anger, so anything that could make him lose control of his expression would definitely not be a trivial matter.
It's just that the Dashi army is currently struggling to raise food and fodder, and there should be no spare capacity to carry out military operations against Gongyue City for the time being, so the incident must have come from Chang'an.
Sure enough, Pei Xingjian escaped from his arms with a letter, handed it to Fang Jun, and sighed: "News came from Chang'an that His Majesty was injured in a fall from his horse in the Liaodong Army. The Eastern Expedition ended hastily, and hundreds of thousands of troops returned day and night. Guanzhong. At the same time, Chang Sun Wuji broke away from the Liaodong army and sneaked back to Chang'an. He secretly presided over the rebellion of the Guanlong clan and wanted to depose the East Palace. The imperial city has been besieged for a month. The imperial city is in danger and will fall if not careful. "< br>
When he received this letter, Pei Xingjian was so shocked that he was speechless.
Hundreds of thousands of troops marched eastward to conquer Goguryeo with great momentum. Of course, the lessons from the Sui Dynasty and Yin Dynasty are not far away. There is never a sure-win war. It would be acceptable if the Eastern Expedition failed. However, His Majesty Li Er fell from his horse and was seriously injured in the army. He was unconscious. This is really shocking.
In particular, the Guanlong clan actually dared to raise troops at this time and besieged the imperial city in an attempt to depose the prince. How is this any different from treason? (End of chapter)