Chapter 130: The Battle of Island Seizing (I)

Two hours later, two Tubo ships appeared on the sea. These were two medium-sized grain transport ships. They did not come directly opposite the island, but passed slowly five miles west of the island. At this time, all the Tang troops on the island entered the unbuilt castle. Hundreds of Tang soldiers stood on a completed section of the city wall, placing bows and arrows, waiting for the battle.

Li Qing'an held a curtain and stared at the Tubo ships in the distance. The casualness of the Tubo ships seemed to be unhonest, and the two ships could not carry many soldiers.

Bai Yuanguang looked at it for a while and said, "Qilang, these two ships do not seem to be targeting our island."

"uncertain!"

Li Qing'an shook his head and said, "It's neither transporting troops nor grain. These two ships are most likely to be here to reconnaise our island."

As expected by Li Qingan, the two ships turned around and came east after reaching the northwest direction. The ship speed increased, obviously walking around the island.

"Damn it, go and kill them!" Li Fei Yuanli cursed angrily.

"I can't catch up with them."

Li Fei Shouyu sighed softly and said, "It seems that our existence makes the Tubo army restless."

Li Qingan stared at him for a moment, and suddenly he ordered: "He Yingchuan!"

"The last one will be here!"

He Yingchuan walked out in one step and bowed.

"You bring two hundred brothers from Jiangdu camp to intercept them in five ships and sank these two ships for me."

"Abide by the order!"

He Yingchuan waved his hand and led several teams of Jiangdu camp soldiers to the bottom of the mountain.

These two Tubo ships came from the south bank of Qinghai. There were not many troops on the ship, less than one hundred people, but there was a senior general of the Tubo army, the former commander of the Tubo army, Dabo State Grand Reign, and Dafeichuan Governor Dazha Lugong.

Dazhalu Gong was famous in the Han Dynasty, Ma Chongying, and was one of the four important officials of Tubo and a famous general of Tubo. He acted ruthlessly and was extremely strategic. In the first year of Zhide, he led a large Tubo army to attack Chang'an and massacred and looted, which brought serious disasters to the Tang Dynasty.

This time, Ma Chongying was appointed as the commander of the former army, commanding 150,000 troops to confront the Tang army. He made careful arrangements. Thirty thousand troops were deployed on the front line of Datongshan in the north, 20,000 Tubo troops were deployed on Chiling, while Dafeichuan stationed 100,000 troops, blocking all the roads to the west of the Tang army. Despite this, Ma Chongying made a small strategic mistake. He only stationed 3,000 troops in Fuqi City, Haixi. He did not consider that the Tang army would attack from the Western Front. In fact, he considered that he thought that the Western Front could not establish a supply line, and the Tang army brigade could not come from the Western Front.

But Fuqi City was attacked by a Tang army, hundreds of thousands of military rations were burned down, the general Shang Xi Dongzan was killed, and the Tubo army was forced to withdraw 40,000 troops back to Wuhai, reducing the strength of the Tubo army's front army to 110,000. His negligence caused serious consequences.

The Prime Minister Shang Jiexi took the opportunity to impeach Zanpu, causing him to be removed from the post of Da Lun, but Zanpu Chisong Dezan was unwilling to change his generals temporarily, so he still ordered him to command the battle between Tang and Tibet.

Ma Chongying learned from his lessons, adjusted his troops deployment, and dispatched 10,000 troops from Datong Valley to garrison Fuqicheng, and strengthened patrols along the Qinghai coast. This time he received news from the Tubo army in the northern section of Chiling, and a Tubo scout discovered that the Tang army's ships entered the sea.

Based on the lessons of Fuqi City, he personally took a boat to inspect the sea. The situation worried him that the Tang army actually built a castle on Longju Island.

Ma Chongying looked at the towering castle on the top of the mountain, and felt particularly heavy. Judging from the size of the castle, at least two thousand people can be stationed. Although there are not many two thousand people, it is like a sharp knife, pressing against the back of Chiling, seriously threatening the supply line of the Chiling Tubo Army.

At this time, the general beside him, Chizang whispered: "Governor, it's winter now. In another half a month, the sea will freeze. It will not be too late for us to lead the army to attack again."

Ma Chongying didn't say anything. He pondered for a moment: "When we came here in the morning, we seemed to see thick smoke rising on the Sanjiu Islands. That should be their beacon!"

"It must be! Otherwise, let's kill the beacon tower first."

"No! It's useful to keep it."

Ma Chongying smiled faintly and said, "If I guessed correctly, the Tang army should have a beacon tower on the sand island. In this way, the reason why there is a Tang army beacon tower on the coastal mountains on the Beichiling can be explained. This castle on the Tang army's Longju Island passes the beacon tower, which echoes the Shenwei City in Beichiling."

"What the governor means is that you won't hit Longju Island for the time being?"

"Have I said not to fight?" Ma Chongying snorted, "The Tang army stationed troops on Longju Island make me unable to sleep or eat. If I don't fight for a day, I will not get rid of my heart. I will cry and hide my tears. After the sea water freezes, you will attack Longju Island and implement my strategy."

As soon as Ma Chongying finished speaking, someone suddenly shouted on the boat: "Governor, a ship from the Tang army behind him has come out."

Ma Chongying was shocked. He quickly turned around and looked at the island. Sure enough, he saw several large ships sailing out of a bay. These large ships were their lost grain transport ships. Ma Chongying looked up suddenly. Could it be that the garrison on this island was the Tang army that attacked Fuqi City and caused him to be punished by Zanpu?

This must be true! Ma Chongying gritted his teeth and immediately ordered: "Start up and get rid of the Tang army's ships."

All the sails on the Tubo ship were pulled up, and with the strong west wind, they rushed east like arrows.

On the castle, Li Qing'an looked at the whereabouts of two Tubo ships from afar. The two ships were extremely fast and the Tang army could not catch up. He looked up at the sky, and a trace of worry flashed in his eyes, and turned around and said, "Please come here two monks."

After a moment, two old monks hurried over. Although Li Qing'an demolished their temple, he also promised to rebuild a wider temple for them after the war in the Tang and Tibet, or let them go to the Central Plains Temple to serve as the presidency. Especially the latter one made the two monks overjoyed. No matter how big the temple on Longju Island was built, what's the use of without pilgrims?

The two old monks walked up to Li Qing'an, clasped their hands and bowed: "What's the matter with us, the general?"

"I'll ask you, when is the ice age in Qinghai?"

"Report to the general, Qinghai's ice age is very punctual. At the end of October every year, the seaside will first extend slowly to the center of the sea. At most half a month, the entire sea surface will be covered with thick ice."

"Can troops be marching on the ice?"

"It's totally OK. The ice layer is half a foot thick, and both people can be used. Three years ago, I saw a Tubo army of 20,000 people traveling from the south bank to the north bank, carrying a large amount of food and supplies, passing by our island, with a huge momentum."

Li Qing'an nodded and said to Luo Han again: "The city wall is thicker by one foot."

"The last one will obey the order!"

At this moment, the Tang army shouted, and saw a Tubo ship turning heads on the sea. Nearly a hundred Tubo troops were on the ship, and arrows were shooting towards the main ship of the Tang army. Another Tubo ship was moving faster and faster, and did not turn south, but rushed directly eastward. The three other Tang army ships saw that they had no hope of chasing, surrounded the Tubo ships that turned heads and shot arrows from all sides. More than a dozen Tang troops with excellent water were already in the water. The two armies were arrows coming and going on the sea, shouting like thunder, and people kept falling into the sea. Four Tang army ships surrounded the Tubo ships in the middle. At this moment, a shout from the Tubo ship, the Tubo ship began to tilt and sink, and the Tubo army on the ship was in chaos. In just a moment, the Tubo ship disappeared into the vast sea.

Dozens of Tubo troops who fell into the water were either captured or killed. Li Qing'an stared at the Tubo ship running away and shook his head with regret. There was a ship that protected it desperately. There might be a high-ranking Tubo official on the ship, but it was a pity! He let it run away.

The weather was as cold as one day. After another heavy snow on October 23, Qinghai entered the ice age, and Longju Island was also covered with ice and snow. However, the craze for the preparations for war in the Tang army was rising day by day. Yinglong City had been completed ahead of schedule, and most of the war horses were sent back to Shanzhou, leaving the Tang army without any worries.

On the tenth day of November, Qinghai was completely frozen. The vast and blue sea surface was frozen in jade and covered with silver, like a huge treasure mirror, shining in the sun, radiating dazzling light all day long. Several Tang soldiers conducted an ice chiseling test, and the sea surface was as thick as five feet thick. Not only could people be feasible, but large baggage sleds could also transport military funds. The time for the Tubo army to attack the island was ripe.

At noon that day, Li Qing'an inspected the Tang army's combat preparations in the castle as usual. The southwest corner of the castle was a weapon factory. Nearly 100 Tang army blacksmiths were busy improving the Tang army's armored arrows and making trolling machines. The castle defense was condescending, and the long-range trolling machine was the best.

"General, this is the latest trencher. It has a special winch. It only takes twenty people to throw a 50 kilogram of boulders to 800 steps away. Moreover, iron shafts are used at the joints, which are more durable."

A Tang general introduced the trencher to Li Qing'an. Li Qing'an nodded and asked, "How many frames can you make every day now?"

"Report to the general, we have made nearly a hundred of them every day."

"General!"

Captain Rohan hurried over with a soldier, pointing at the soldier and said, "This soldier has a good way to defend."

"What's the best way?"

The soldier stepped forward and bowed: "General, when we polished the bluestone today, we found a thick layer of ice on the bluestone. The chisel slipped and there was no way to exert force. My subordinates thought that if there was a thick layer of ice on our city walls, we also had a thick layer of ice on our city walls."

Before he could finish speaking, Li Qingan smiled and said, "The Tubo army will have no way to climb the city, right!"

"Yes! Not only can't climb the city, but even if the Tubo army uses a catapult to attack the city, the stones will slip and can be repaired at any time."

A blacksmith next to him smiled and said, "General, when we use ice water to pour the city, we can make a downward inclination. The trencher usually does not hit it in a straight line, but hit it from top to bottom, just unloading the stones to hit the city wall."

"General, I also have a suggestion that mountain roads can also be imitated and poured into ice, so that Tubo mountains cannot climb up."

Everyone said and said something, and soon put forward more than twenty extremely constructive opinions. Li Qing'an was overjoyed and said to everyone: "I will all give good advice."

He turned around and ordered: "Send the order and pour the ice city immediately!"

Two days later, the rapid bell rang throughout the island, and two thousand Tang troops rushed to the city. Thick smoke from the three reefs in the south soared into the sky, and three pillars of black smoke were also rising on the beacon tower of the nameless reefs in the east, which meant that more than 10,000 Tubo troops came from the east and south, and cut off the Tang army's retreat.

The city was immediately busy, and the Tang soldiers carried stones in an orderly manner, adjusted the catapult, prepared arrows, and set up pots to boil water. At this time, the city wall had been thickened by the ice layer. From a distance, it seemed to be covered in silver, and it was extremely white and dazzling in the sun.

But Li Qingan still stared at the wolf smoke in the distance, and their brows frowned.

"Qilang, what did you find?" Li Fei Shouyu walked up to him and asked.

"Don't you find it strange? Why does the beacon fire and wolf smoke continue to stop?"

Li Qingan turned around and asked him, "Shouyu, if you were the Tubo commander, would you let the beacon tower ignite?"

Li Fei Shouyu's face became solemn, and he shook his head and said, "No! I will choose a snowy night, first attack the beacon tower, blind our eyes, and then the army suddenly attacked and caught us off guard."

"You said it well. If I guess correctly, the beacon tower has been successfully won by the Tubo army."

"But why do they still light the beacon fire? Is it to confuse us?" Li Fei Shouyu asked in confusion.

“It’s not just as simple as confusing us.”

Li Qingan slowly narrowed his eyes and said slowly: "I thought of a Tubo person's conspiracy."

He suddenly turned around and ordered, "Where is Nan Jiyun?"

When Nan Jiyun led 300 cavalrymen to leave Longju Island for an hour, a long black line appeared on the east and south sides of Longju Island at the same time, and nearly 20,000 Tubo troops came in a mighty battle.

The Tubo army was not marching fast, so they used heavy sleds to carry a large amount of food and supplies. The heavy sleds were made of pig iron, two rails about three meters long, and were welded with iron bars in the middle. One sled could transport thousands of kilograms of supplies, and each sled was pulled by three horses.

Among these military supplies, tents, food, meat, arrows, weapons, heavy catapults, ladders, etc., all the supplies to attack island castles are available.

The Tubo army was getting closer and closer, and they turned from a black line to a covered black carpet, with neat teams, mixed with heavy sleds like hills.

The Tubo army stopped on the ice two miles away from the island. Instead of rushing to attack, they began to tent. Half an hour later, thousands of gray mushrooms appeared on the ice, surrounding the island. The five grain and grass warehouses piled up like small hills were covered with a huge curtain, which was enough for 20,000 Tubo troops to eat until next spring.
Chapter completed!