Tibet

At night, on the east bank of the Taoshui River, a thousand Tang troops were concentrating on the situation on the river.

This is the Tao River about fifty miles southwest of Jincheng. The Tao River flows into the Yellow River here. Like the upper reaches, not every place here can be used as a place to cross the river.

It needs to be connected to the official road, it needs to be able to carry large vehicles, and it needs to be convenient for crossing the river. There are very few places that meet all the conditions. In fact, the most suitable section of the Tao River for crossing the river is in Didao County. This section is about a hundred miles long, and the terrain is a basin. , is also the essence of the entire Tao River, and the agricultural area of ​​​​Tao River is here.

After arriving at Kanglang Mountain, the river narrowed again, with cliffs on both sides. It was not until near the mouth of the river that an excellent ferry appeared. The terrain on both sides was flat, just connected to the official road. This is the Tang-Tibo Ancient Road. The Tao River ferry.

The ferry is about one mile long, and you can cross the river within one mile. Moreover, it is very close to the mouth of the river. The river is very wide, almost a mile long. The water is very gentle, so it is very suitable to use a raft to cross the river.

Although the two sides acquiesced to the Tao River as the boundary, it was only acquiescence and there was no written agreement. Therefore, this acquiescence was also dynamic. When it was unfavorable, they would acquiesce, and when it was favorable, they would directly cross the river and kill them.

The Tao River Ferry can also be said to be the west gate of Jincheng County. Li Ye built a river mouth city here and deployed 10,000 troops near the ferry to strictly guard the Tao River Ferry.

Of course, the opponent can also cross the river in the Didao County area. Although the heavy baggage vehicles cannot cross the river, they can cross the river lightly, and then fight back to seize the east bank of the Tao River crossing.

It's just that the other party wanted it, and the Tang army also wanted it. The Tianlang Fort and Chang Castle in Kanglang Mountain were both fortresses built by the army. The purpose was to cut off the north and south passages of the Taoshui River Valley. The Tang Army stationed hundreds of troops in each of the two castles and established Beacon.

Once the enemy army comes, the beacons on Kanglang Mountain will be lit to notify Didao County and Hekou City. They are blocked at both ends. The Tibetan army has no food and supplies. It cannot last for a few days and cannot cross the river. In the end, there is only a dead end. .

The Tubo army also knew this, so the Tubo army basically would not adopt this risky strategy of near death.

"They are coming!" The soldier suddenly pointed at the river and shouted.

The moonlight was bright, and the waves on the river were sparkling. I could see them very clearly. Hundreds of small black spots appeared on the surface of the river.

The day before yesterday afternoon, Tang Army scouts discovered that thousands of Tibetan troops were coming from the west, carrying a large number of rafts, and immediately rushed back to report.

For two days in a row, the general Zuo Dazhi sent troops to guard the river in turns. Each batch sent a thousand men to monitor the river day and night. Finally, on the night of the third day, they arrived at the enemy.

Facts have proved that the strategy of stationing scouts on the west bank of the river is very correct. Otherwise, if the enemy army comes, the Tang army on the east bank will not know about it and it will be easy to be attacked by surprise.

Zuo Dazhi received the news and immediately came with five thousand troops. A total of six thousand troops quickly deployed on the one-mile-long ferry on the east bank. They raised their crossbows and prepared for battle. The first batch of fifty water ghosts also entered the water. .

This was the fourth sneak attack by the Tang Army against the Tubo Army since August. It was already very handy. They sent water ghosts from a long distance and used crossbows at close range. The Tubo Army basically would not succeed.

On the river, the first batch of 1,000 Tibetan soldiers were paddling quietly toward the east bank on 200 rafts.

The raft had already reached the center of the river. At this time, a raft suddenly capsized and all five soldiers fell into the water. Only the raft was left floating quietly on the water. The five soldiers never came up again, as if they were killed by a giant beast in the water. Swallowing.

Soon, another raft also capsized. Five Tibetan soldiers screamed and fell into the water. They also disappeared without any sound, followed by the third and fourth rafts.

A dozen or so rafts were in trouble. Even a fool would know that there was something wrong in the water. The Tibetan soldiers stared at the water with their spears raised.

The five hundred water ghosts from Jingxiang have all been brought to the northwest. There are a hundred water ghosts stationed at the ferry. Tonight, the first batch of fifty people will go into battle. In groups of two, they will dive to the bottom of the raft, overturn the raft, and then start together. , slit the throats of five Tibetan soldiers who fell into the water. In fact, there was a lot of blood floating on the water, but it was invisible at night.

These water ghosts all come from the Han River and the Yangtze River. They are all white stripes in the waves, just like fish. They swim underwater, and the water surface is sparkling, so you can't see them anywhere.

In just a moment, more than 70 rafts were overturned. The rafts behind them saw that the situation was not good, so they turned around and paddled back desperately. However, rafts continued to be overturned and soldiers fell into the water. Two hundred rafts were not able to return to the west bank in the end. Fifty ships.

More than 700 Tibetan soldiers were buried underwater

Seeing that the sneak attack failed, the Tibetan army commander knew that the Tang army was prepared, so he had no choice but to sigh and ordered to camp on the spot, waiting for the next opportunity.

After the crisis was resolved, the Tang army immediately withdrew its troops and entered normal defense. The riverside sentry towers and patrol soldiers continued to monitor the river.

Longyou has entered September, midsummer has passed, and the short autumn period has also ended. Longyou has entered the golden autumn season with clear skies and clear air. In another half month, the corn will be harvested. Longyou has three crops in two years and two crops in two months. Two seasons of winter wheat are planted each year, and one season of corn is planted in between.

The Lingzhou Hetao area in the north can only grow one season of wheat every year, and does not have the warm and humid climate of Longyou.

This year's corn is extremely important. After millions of refugees returned home, they caught up with the autumn grain corn planting. They only waited for the autumn harvest to get rid of the crisis of food shortage.

Of course Li Ye has his own plan. He does not plan to attack Hexi or Shuofang this year. He needs to consolidate his territory, train the army, resettle millions of refugees, defend against the Tubo army's counterattack, and more importantly, he needs to complete He rules the center, which is Jincheng County.

At present, the second batch of officials has arrived in Qinzhou and is on the way to Jincheng County. The third batch is some soldiers' family members. This year will end, and next year the migration of soldiers' family members will continue. The migration will not be completed until the year after next.

Jincheng County has become a lot more lively due to the arrival of the first batch of officials and family members. Helong Jiedu Mansion has been officially opened. There are also two Changshi Mansion that have just been completed. The left Changshi Mansion refers to the Longyou Changshi Mansion, and the right Changshi Mansion. Changshi Mansion refers to Hexi Changshi Mansion, and the jurisdiction of Hexi Changshi Mansion actually includes Lingzhou and Fengzhou.

The three government offices are distributed in a pin-shaped pattern. Helong Prefecture is the military office and is in charge of the Helong Army. Changshi Prefecture is the government affairs office. Although the functions and powers are clear, the staffing is confusing. For example, Li Ye has his own official office in the three offices. .

Li Mi was Li Ye's staff and military advisor and had an official office in the Helong Jiedu Prefecture. However, he was also the chief historian of the Longyou Jiedu Prefecture, so he also had an official office in the Longyou Changshi Prefecture.

In fact, there are still several government offices missing, such as the Helong Du Transfer Office, the Observation Division Office, the Neiwei Prefecture Office, etc. The Observation Division is the first-level government office in charge of justice in the middle and late Tang Dynasty. The chief officer is the Fangzhen Observation Envoy, and Li Ye will The supervisory envoy and the observation envoy are combined into one, and they are in charge of both official supervision and judicial review.

These government offices have not yet been built, so they are temporarily integrated into the three mansions.

In the official room of the Jiedushi Envoy, Li Yezheng was discussing the military situation with Li Mi and Liu Yan. Liu Yan was also the deputy military adviser on the staff. Of course, he also had to participate in major military situation discussions.

Li Ye pointed to the Taoshui Ferry on the sand table and said: "This is the fourth sneak attack in two months. This kind of harassing sneak attack has caused the Tubo army to lose troops every time. The cumulative losses have exceeded 3,000 people, but there are no substantive meaning.

What can they do even if they occupy the ferry? There are Hekou City and Huilong Pass behind. I just can’t figure out why Ma Chongying carried out such a meaningless sneak attack. He could have waited until the river froze in winter and the army directly killed Taoshui. Tell me, what did Ma Chongying do? considerate? "