Tibet

Chapter 231 The Country of Mountains
The Tang army continued to march south, passed through the Dora Valley Road, and entered the back of the Daxue Mountain. This area is the confluence of the Hindu Kush Mountains and the Karakoram Mountains. , flash floods are prone to occur, and the tops of the mountains are all covered with white snow.

The weather is getting colder day by day, thin snowflakes are falling in the sky, and Feng Changqing's face is becoming more and more gloomy. They are planning according to last year's weather. Could it be that this year will be colder earlier than last year?

On the ninth day after capturing the Golden Fort, the Tang army arrived at the Yasin River Valley, which was also a strategically important place and already belonged to the border of the Shi Kingdom. Passing through this valley, the army arrived at Shangmi City, the royal city of the Shi Kingdom.

The river valley is a sloping terrain. The difference in terrain makes the river water form large and small waterfalls in the valley. There is a path beside it for horses and camels, but the Tubo army built fortifications above the path, forming a natural pass.

The hillside is about ten feet high, but there is a soft mudslide under the feet. It is estimated that there has been a flash flood and the road has been washed away.

Li Ye looked at it for a while, and then proposed a plan to Feng Changqing, "Chang Shi, I see that the surrounding trees are lush and there are many straight fir trees. We can cut down fir or pine trees to make plank roads and pave a road."

"But there are Tubo people on it. They will shoot arrows and smash down rolling logs and stones. How can we resist?"

Li Ye thought for a while and said: "There are two solutions. The first is to make a large shuttle-shaped shield with a sharp tip. Even if a rolling log or stone falls down, it will hit the side and disperse the force. We built plank roads under the protection of the army, and secondly, we used bows and crossbows to cover and suppress the Tubo army. At most, only a small amount of rolling logs and rocks fell, which had little impact."

Don't tell Duan Xiushi: "It's better to spread the big tree directly on the slope, without removing the branches, and the soldiers will climb up the big tree."

Li Ye shook his head, "The branches are flammable, and they will definitely be attacked by Tubo soldiers, or instead of the large shuttle-shaped shield, just spread the tree trunk with the branches removed on it, fix it with wooden stakes on both sides, and the elite soldiers will climb up with the large shield in their hands. "

Li Siye smiled and said: "Chang Shi, Li Jianjun's plan is practical and feasible, just like the wooden rafts we used to conquer Lianyun Castle back then. I suggest adopting it. I will send heavy armored infantry into battle!"

Feng Changqing nodded, and immediately ordered the soldiers to cut wood. Soon, the soldiers felled hundreds of fir and pine logs, nailed them together with big nails, and tied them firmly with leather ropes, making more than a dozen super-large wooden rafts , as long as you use two solitaires, you can climb to the broken top.

Feng Changqing ordered Li Feiyuanli and Li Feishouyu to lead a thousand crossbowmen each to suppress the Tubo army on the top of the mountain.

At this moment, Ding Sheng approached Li Siye and said, "General, leave this battle to the humble officer and the brothers!"

Li Siye nodded, "I'll leave it to your third battalion!"

"Fire the arrow!" Feng Changqing ordered sharply.

Two thousand soldiers shot arrows at the top of the hillside together. The arrows were like rain, and the powerful arrows were thrown. The Tubo soldiers on the top of the mountain were caught off guard, and dozens of people were shot down immediately.

The chief general, Lun Po Ruoxi, shouted anxiously: "Get down, get down!"

The remaining [-] or so Tubo soldiers got down one after another. With the help of bows and arrows, the soldiers of the Tang army rushed up with huge rafts and spread them on the hillside. , As long as two wooden rafts can be laid on the top of the slope.

There are many logs on the raft that can be stepped on, like ladders.

Ding Sheng shouted, "Follow me!"

He led thirty heavy armored Modao soldiers along the raft to climb to the top of the mountain. Ding Sheng and each soldier held a pointed shield in one hand and a Modao in the other. This kind of pointed shield is also called a bamboo hat shield, which is similar to Li Ye's original plan , not a flat shield, but a triangular shield inclined at [-] degrees like a roof, which can dissipate the power of the boulder.

Li Ye was a little worried, and urged his horse to go forward, watching the movement on the mountain with a bow and arrow in his hand.

The Tubo soldiers who were lying on their stomachs pushed down dozens of big rocks and logs, and all the soldiers exclaimed.

Ding Sheng saw it clearly and shouted: "Squat down!"

Thirty soldiers squatted down together, and a boulder weighing dozens of kilograms rolled down. Several boulders hit the shield, which was cracked, but Ding Sheng gritted his teeth and resisted.

The soldiers lined up in a long line. If Ding Sheng resisted, the soldiers behind would not be hit. In fact, Ding Sheng used his body to cover his subordinates.

At this time, Li Ye shouted: "Old Hei, go to the far left!"

There is no boulder above the far left. To move a boulder, Tubo soldiers must stand up and destroy it with arrows.

Ding Sheng felt his arm was about to break, he changed a shield, turned around and shouted: "Follow me!"

The soldiers followed him and moved to the left. There were no big rocks above their heads. At this moment, one after another, the logs rolled towards their heads. It was much easier to deal with the logs. With four or two strokes of a thousand catties, the log rolled over the shield and fell into the nearby water.

Dozens of rolling logs did not play any role, and the Tang army climbed another five or six feet. At this time, a Tubo soldier couldn't help it, got up and picked up a big stone, walked a few steps quickly, and was about to throw it on the head of the Tang army soldier.

Li Ye was waiting for this opportunity, and shot out an arrow like lightning, 'Puff! ’ An arrow hit the forehead, and the Tubo soldiers screamed, and fell down the hillside with stones.

"Good arrow skills!" Bai Xiaode praised with a thumbs up.

He simply took down his bow and arrow, urged his horse to gallop, stretched his bow and shot an arrow up the mountain, a Tubo soldier happened to poke his head and said, 'Puff! 'The same arrow hit the opponent's forehead, the arrow pierced through the head, and he was killed immediately.

Li Ye also gave a thumbs up. I have heard for a long time that Bai Xiaode is one of the two great arrows in Anxi, and he really deserves his reputation. The other is Li Feishouyu.

Feng Changqing didn't have time to pay attention to the sympathy between the two of them, he immediately ordered: "Go to the second raft!"

Dozens of soldiers rushed up the hill carrying the second wooden raft. Suddenly, dozens of boulders were pushed down from the hillside and hit the wooden raft heavily.

The second raft could not be sent up. At this moment, Ding Sheng threw away his shield, yelled, jumped up, and ran up the hillside with Mo Dao in his hand.

Seeing that his body was shaking and about to fall, Ding Sheng stuck his knife into the soil, supported his body, and stabilized his body. He roared again, ran a few steps with all his strength, rushed up the hillside, and swung his knife to kill the Tubo soldiers.

Encouraged by the [-] subordinates behind, they also threw away their shields one after another and climbed bravely. One by one, they rushed up the hillside and fought with the Tubo soldiers.

Thousands of Tang soldiers applauded. Li Ye shook his head secretly. He was very energetic, but not smart enough. The top of the shield is pointed. Insert the shield into the soil and step on the shield to go up. Why throw the shield away?

However, going up with a strong attack, although a little clumsy, is more contagious, and it can be regarded as a way to boost morale.

Li Siye shouted, "Follow me!"

They led more than 100 heavy-armored Modao fighters, carried Modao in hand, and rushed up the hillside with a wooden raft on their shoulders. They got on the second wooden raft, and hundreds of soldiers rushed up the hillside with him.

The corpses of Tubo soldiers were strewn all over the hillside. After two rounds of fierce fighting between Lunpo Ruoxi and Ding Sheng, Ding Sheng cut him in half.

There were less than forty Tubo soldiers left, fighting fiercely with thirty heavy-armored Mo Dao fighters. As hundreds of heavy-armored Mo Dao hands rushed up the hillside, the last Tubo soldiers were killed by chaotic blades. It took only half a day to overcome this dangerous pass.

The army passed through the Yasin River Valley, and a high mountain pasture surrounded by mountains suddenly appeared in front of them. Going up the road, all kinds of stone houses are integrated with the mountains. Below is an arc-shaped tall city wall, which encloses the whole mountain city like a half moon.

This is Shangmi City, the royal city of Qushi Kingdom.

　In history, Feng Changqing led the Tang army to attack Pingshiguo, it was February in the ninth year of Tianbao, not autumn, and Lao Gao needed to modify the plot.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)