Chapter 183: Fierce Battle to West Fort (Part 2)

In the early morning, the Hehuang army unexpectedly did not launch an attack. They retreated nearly ten miles away to set up the camp. In the camp, Ma Chongying walked back and forth in the tent with his hands behind his back. His face was extremely gloomy and his eyes were faintly flashing with anger.

The reason that angered him was not the failure last night and the arrival of reinforcements from Huixibao, but a letter from his commander's case, which was written by Zanpu, and was just sent this morning. The letter rejected his suggestion to Zhangye send troops to Wuwei and attack Zhang Huan from both sides, and asked him to return to Hehuang immediately, so as not to hinder the Tubo's upcoming alliance with the Tang Dynasty.

At the end of the letter, he implicitly told him that Tubo has now fought on two fronts, taking advantage of the Uighur civil strife to fight for Beiting, while the other side is fighting in the south to Tianzhu, and has reached the north bank of the Ganges River and is no longer able to undertake the battle on the third front. He hopes that he can protect Tubo's Hehuang granary, the implication is that he does not agree with his use of troops to the east.

Ma Chongying also knew the difficulties faced by Tubo, which was short of population and wanted to occupy thousands of miles. In fact, in addition to going south to Tianzhu and taking Beiting to the north, because Tubo used troops to Tianzhu and Dashi also stepped up the deployment of troops in the Tochari area. The conflict between Tubo and Dashi was about to break out. He could no longer use troops to the Tang Dynasty, which was gradually regaining strength, so it was indeed a wise political choice to join the Tang Dynasty. However, before the alliance, Ma Chongying hoped to win the strategic commanding heights of Huixi Fort.

Ma Chongying could understand the current situation in Tubo, but it was not this that he was annoyed, but the letter was not actually what Zanpu himself meant, but the suggestion of his political enemy, Dajin Shangshi Dongzan.

After the death of Zampo Chide Zuzan of the former Tubo, the new Zampo Chisong Dezan was only thirteen years old when he ascended the throne. Tubo's internal affairs and diplomacy were jointly established by the Three Shangs and One Theory. Among them, the theory refers to Ma Chongying (Ma Chongying's Tubo name Lun Xinuo), who served as the prime minister with Shang Xidongzan of the Three Shangs. Originally, the two got along very well and cooperated with each other in several battles of attacking the Tang Dynasty. However, as Zampo grew up, the two began to conflict in order to gain Zampo's trust. Finally, they had differences on the introduction of Padmasambhava, the esoteric master of the Indian esoteric religion, and since then the two were disagreements.

Because Shang Xidongzan was supported by another major Tubo nobleman, Na Nang, and gradually gained the upper hand, five years ago, Ma Chongying was dismissed by Shang Xidongzan for opposing the alliance with the Tang Dynasty and was renamed the governor of Hehuang.

Ma Chongying knew that behind this letter was Shang Xidongzan's selfishness. He didn't want to let himself intervene in Hexi, nor did he want to get the 20,000 elite Tubo troops stationed in Hexi. Otherwise, the attack of a small Wuwei County would not affect the overall strategic layout of Tubo.

But he had to ignore Zamp's orders. Fortunately, Zamp did not have a limited time, which means he still had at least three or five days to buffer.

Ma Chongying's pace in the big tent slowly slowed down. He frowned and began to re-evaluate the feasibility of seizing the West Fort. According to the original plan, he will launch a large-scale attack on both sides of the north and south today, pressing all his troops up, completely overwhelming the opponent in momentum and winning.

But last night the sudden arrival of Tang army reinforcements disrupted his deployment. The opponent's reinforcements were not many, only four or five thousand, but their combat effectiveness was very sharp, which forced him to reconsider the Battle of West Fort this time.

He didn't know who came last night, but he knew that Zhang Huan had a very elite cavalry. Judging from the performance of reinforcements last night, this was very likely Zhang Huan's cavalry, which means that the Tang army commander Zhang Huan arrived.

Ma Chongying is a person who attaches great importance to intelligence. As early as last year's Helong Incident, he closely followed the situation in the Tang Dynasty. He knew very well that the conflict between Zhang Huan and Wei Yan was also the reason why he dared to concentrate the army to suppress it. Wei Yan was so arrogant and brave, and was not afraid of it. However, Zhang Huan dared to seize food from the tiger's mouth, fight thousands of miles, and conquer a foundation. This is the person he should pay attention to. With this person's ambition, he would never be satisfied with the small Wuwei domain.

Ma Chongying stood at the tent and stared at Huixi Fort for a long time. The defenders of Huixi Fort should be seven or eight thousand today. In addition, some militias have reached 10,000 and have such a strong castle support. He has only more than 30,000 people left. In terms of normal offensive and defensive battles, there is no possibility of victory.

But Ma Chongying didn't want to retreat just now. Whether he could capture Xibao was no longer important to him. What he valued was that this would be his first fight with Zhang Huan. From this fight, he could truly feel the chess style of this potential opponent.

He pondered for a moment, and immediately called his general Lun Sasha, and told him: "You lead three thousand infantrymen and carry three ladders to the north to make a big attack. Remember, it is just a gesture, not a real attack, and follow my orders."

After Sasha led his troops, Ma Chongying ordered another general and said, "You lead five thousand Qiang cavalry, stop the flag and drum, and set up a thousand suspects to the dense forest in the east. If the enemy cavalry leaves the city, cut off their retreat for me."

After giving two orders, he raised his white-haired head and shouted loudly: "Beat the drum, prepare to attack!"

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When Zhang Huan looked out from the viewing tower, he could only vaguely see the shadow of the enemy camp. Ma Chongying is a veteran who has experienced many battles. He should know that in the comparison of offensive and defensive forces of three to one, there is also the most powerful city for the Helong area, which is the most powerful city fortress in the Helong area. It is extremely difficult for the attacking side to win.

Judging from his immediate retreat when he saw the opportunity last night, this famous Tubo general has rich combat experience and will never act voluntarily, nor will he not know that Wei Yan may take advantage of the situation to attack Hehuang. So what do he want to do? Zhang Huan narrowed his eyes and laughed slowly. Could it be that Ma Chongying wanted to test himself? If so, wouldn’t he be afraid that he would test him?

He looked up at Wushaoling on Qianzhang Cliff, turned around and asked Li Hengqiu, "Is there any way to connect Huixi Fort and the beacon tower above?"

Li Hengqiu shook his head, "Report to the governor, there is no way to contact us except Fenghuo."

Zhang Huan turned his attention to the Luo County Magistrate. Luo County Magistrate pondered for a moment and said, "Does the governor want to expand the function of the beacon tower, such as spying on the enemy's movements?"

Zhang Huan smiled and did not talk further. He changed the topic and asked him again: "How is the progress of demolishing private houses?"

The face of County Magistrate Luo showed a look of shame. He lowered his head and said, "Nearly three hundred houses made of larger stones have been demolished, and more than 10,000 huge stones can be thrown."

Zhang Huan knew his mood, so he patted his shoulder and comforted him: "This is to kill the enemy. The people will understand your difficulties. After the war is over, they will repair it for them."

"I also told the people this way, and everyone supported it." County Magistrate Luo thought of the active cooperation of the people, and he said with some emotion: "When the war is over, I will immediately repair the house for everyone."

At this moment, a rumbling drum sound suddenly came from the distance, as if the thunder in the depths of the clouds. Zhang Huan stared at the enemy camp ten miles away. He waved his hand and ordered coldly: "Send the flying ape team to set off!"

After conquering Wuwei, Zhang Huan asked Li Pianyu to select some soldiers with some special skills to form a special service battalion of about six or seven hundred people, and then subdivided into five or six teams. For example, those with excellent archery skills are called the Flying Eagle Team, while those with strong figures and strong strength are called the Flying Bear Team. The Flying Ape Team that is about to be dispatched now is naturally the soldiers with strong bodies and climbing over the walls and walking on flat ground.

When they ordered them to go out, they saw more than a hundred soldiers in the same color as the city wall quickly slid down from the city. Each of them carried a large leather bag and ran six hundred steps away from the city wall. They were wearing thick deer-skin gloves and quickly took out small bags from the large leather bags and evenly spread the things in the bags on the grass. They sprinkled them while retreating, and everyone was careful, for fear of stepping on them.

They sprinkled more than four hundred steps before they finished the things in their skin, turned around and ran towards the city wall, flew over more than a dozen deep trenches, and quickly climbed up the city wall.

If we enlarge the lens and find below the grassroots, we will find that under the grassroots, there is an iron spherical object lying quietly, about the size of a thumb. What is terrible is that this small iron ball has three half an inch-long spikes symmetrically, with blue light shining on the spikes.

This was originally a caltrop to deal with cavalry, but after improvement, it could also deal with enemy soldiers. Its existence would cause great psychological fear to the storm soldiers and effectively hinder the soldiers' running speed. This is an extremely cruel way to kill the enemy.

The drums were getting closer and closer, and louder. First, a long black line appeared five miles away, and then a magnificent black brocade was spread out. The low and strange horn sounded constantly in the team.

When the team reached three miles away, the formation of the Hehuang Alliance began to become clear. The black soldiers were elusive at first sight and exuded murderous aura. Each soldier was equipped with the same equipment, holding thick swords and round shields in his hands, some were wearing helmets, while most of them were directly disguised with hair or painted on their faces, looking ferocious. Nearly a hundred ladders and dozens of city-striking hammers were mixed in, and they walked slowly. Tens of thousands of people suddenly shouted a shocking slogan, as if a thunder roar was roaring on the ground.

Ma Chongying was in the central army. He rode on his horse and shook his body left and right as the horse moved. He squinted his eyes and looked at the defenders on the city wall. There were obviously more defenders today than yesterday. They were densely packed with walls, with mighty momentum. Flags were waving on the top of the city, and armor and crossbows were shining in the sun. From time to time, some figures could be seen running behind the battlements.

Ma Chongying's eyes fell on the westernmost viewing tower. There were obviously more soldiers on both sides of the viewing tower than elsewhere. There were also faint figures flashing in the viewing tower. He smiled slightly. Could it be that Zhang Huan was also looking for himself?

At this time, a war horse rushed over, and the soldiers immediately reported to Ma Chongying: "Report to the Grand Marshal, General Sasha has led his army to the south city, please let the Grand Marshal make clear his next move."

"He ordered him not to camp, assemble ladders on the spot and prepare for siege!"

Another cavalryman came to report, "The five thousand Qiang cavalry have been deployed, and we will report it to the commander."

"Okay!" Ma Chongying shook his white hair. He stared at Weiweihuixi Fort and shouted wildly: "First attack!"

The drums were loud, and the earth-shaking drums were stirring under Wushao Ridge. The first nearly five thousand Tuhun Valley infantry rushed towards the city wall like a rushing tide. Their main task was to fill the ravines for the ladder to advance.

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Zhang Huan was not in the viewing tower like Ma Chongying guessed. He stood on the city wall and looked at the whistling attacking frenzy below with expressionless face.

In offensive and defensive wars, morale often determines the outcome of a battle. It should be said that the two armies are equal now, the Hehuang coalition forces have the advantage in number, and there are hundreds of powerful siege weapons, which are as morale as rainbow. The Tang army reinforcements have arrived, and the governor personally suppresses the formation, which has a stable morale and high morale.

The first two thousand crossbowmen in the city were ready to take shape. They set their bows and arrows, waiting for the enemy to enter the range, thousands of steps.

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Eight hundred steps.

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Six hundred steps.

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A cold smile began to appear on the corner of Zhang Huan's lips. A sudden movement occurred in the rushing enemy wave. One after another, the soldiers fell suddenly, as if there were cracks on the road through which the wave passed. The sound of attacking drums was mixed with shrill wails. Countless people rolled on the ground with their feet in their arms, and their faces became dark for a moment and they died quickly.

The sudden change made the attacking soldiers extremely frightened. They didn't know what was terrible on the ground. The hormone ran wildly and suddenly became cautious and lifted their feet. Someone finally discovered the poison-hardening weapon on the ground and shouted loudly. As more and more people fell, the speed of the attack slowed down significantly.

At this moment, the sound of "Kong Kong!" was ejected from the city wall, and dense huge rocks roared at the Hehuang army that entered the range. With the grim smile of death, flesh and blood flew everywhere in an instant, smashing the pieces of Hehuang army into meat sauce and meat pie.

The stone cannon is powerful, but its weakness is also obvious. Its range has a certain range. Experienced siege troops will definitely run desperately within this range to reduce casualties. Generally speaking, it will lose about 20%, which means that 5,000 siege troops will suffer one thousand casualties. However, during this siege, Zhang Huan sprinkled a large amount of poisonous caltrops on the grass, the speed of the attacking army has been slowed down more than twice. However, this running became slow, causing the number of casualties of the Hehuang army to rise in a geometric multiple. In addition, this round of bombardment and smashing at all costs. In just one incense stick, the Hehuang army suffered more than 3,000 casualties, and the remaining soldiers were scattered and turned around and fled out of the range.

The drums were silent, and the stone cannons on the city stopped shooting. The city was silent, and the air was filled with a strong smell of blood. In the short distance from the city wall, five hundred steps to six hundred steps, the ground was already filled with blood, and only some people who had not yet died of smashing bones moaned and wriggled in the pool of blood.

Sometimes a small rivet can change the course of a large ship. Compared with yesterday, today is the first round of attacks of 5,000 people and also uses stone cannons. Zhang Huan made only a small preparation than Li Hengqiu, and the ending is completely different. These small inconspicuous caltrops changed the entire battle situation.

This is the details determine success or failure. Li Hengqiu is only a slight difference between Zhang Huan and lost a thousand miles.

Zhang Huan smiled coldly. Enough, he knew that Ma Chongying would not attack again, his morale was already drained, and this battle had no meaning to continue.

"Governor, what should we do with the enemy troops in the north?" County Magistrate Luo asked carefully.

Zhang Huan glanced at him, smiled and asked, "How should we deal with it according to your wishes?"

County Magistrate Luo glanced at Li Hengqiu with a gloomy face and sighed slightly in his heart. From the several conversations today, he had already understood Zhang Huan's intention. Zhang Huan wanted to replace Li Hengqiu and be fully responsible for the military and political affairs of Xibao.

County Magistrate Luo was right. Although Zhang Huan did not punish Li Hengqiu, he also found that Li Hengqiu was indeed not suitable for commanding large-scale operations. When it comes to matters involving principles, Zhang Huan would not be polite or procrastinate. Although County Magistrate Luo had never led troops, he was clear-headed and cautious in his work and could entrust with important tasks.

At this time, Li Hengqiu said in a muffled voice: "Ma Chongying sent 3,000 people to attack the north to disperse our troops. If we send heavy troops to defend the north, he will not attack; if we ignore him, he will definitely take the opportunity to attack the city and put us in a dilemma, so I suggest going out of the city to kill the enemy and using the easiest way to deal with the enemy in the north city."

"Then aren't you worried about the cavalry in the woods east?" Zhang Huan asked calmly.

Li Hengqiu was not stupid either. He also felt the governor’s dissatisfaction with him, but he was not convinced. It was true that he had made some mistakes, but he was not as good as a weak young scholar!

"After observing carefully, there were only more than a thousand people in the woods. Since they were intentionally exposed, it means that their intention was not to ambush us. On the contrary, they wanted to make us doubt and dare not leave the city."

Ma Chongying's plan and Li Fanyun's attempt to get outside the Miao Manor in Taiyuan were both evacuated. How could Zhang Huan not see it? But he didn't want to attack Li Hengqiu too much. He looked at the enemy formation for a moment, and then smiled faintly: "Maybe you are right, but Ma Chongying likes to use fraud very much. We might as well wait and see the changes."

In the enemy's formation, Ma Chongying's face was as deep as water. As Zhang Huan expected, he knew that the situation was hopeless and there was no need to make unnecessary sacrifices. He was defeated in the Battle of West Fort this time.

But he could retreat with decent excuses that he could not disobey Zanpu's order, but he still wanted to know whether Zhang Huan would go out of the city to chase him, and this might be his last chance to turn the tables.

Time passed by little by little, and the two armies were quietly confronting on the battlefield, without any action. This was actually a silent contest between the two coaches, to see who could last until the end.
To be continued...