Snow and ice, hidden sharpness, close at hand, thousands of hidden soldiers, gritting their teeth to endure the cold. Take off their clothes, bare their chests, engage in close combat, bravely advance, unstoppable in their pursuit.
Wang Juan did not expect that after the Tubo army went over, what followed was not the reserve soldiers who were there to reinforce the key points, but the grain escort team.
If this was the case, she would be as stupid as Guo Tu. In fact, even Guo Tu knew that he had to fight now. Ten thousand people against four thousand people, if he did not dare to fight, then there was no need for him to lead an army.
After discovering the Tubo people escorting the grain ahead of time, Wang Juan immediately started to make arrangements. Everyone drank the last bit of wine, took off their clothes and put them under their bodies. They lay on their stomachs and waited for the four thousand people to come over.
The people who took off their clothes were Guo Tu's original men. The people from the logistics camp were still wearing their clothes. They could not take them off as they would be the vanguard later.
From the time the scouts discovered the four thousand Tubo people until the Tubo people came, they waited for a full hour. In just one hour, more than ten thousand people lay on their stomachs, gritting their teeth and enduring the cold, all for the sake of launching a surprise attack.
"Listen to my orders, the logistics camp will attack first. The crossbowmen will follow and suppress them immediately. When the sword-spear team charges, the crossbowmen will attack and push forward. If we win, we will have everything. Get ready."
Wang Juan passed down the order one by one. She nervously took out her musket and tried to take a deep breath. This could be said to be the first real battle she commanded in this era. She could only succeed. Failure was not an option.
The Tubo people who were escorting the provisions were also very careful along the way. They knew that the ones who were most vulnerable to attack were their own troops. Along the way, they looked around vigilantly as if there were enemies everywhere.
There were even some people who would shoot arrows at places where people might be hiding every once in a while, as if they were beating the grass to scare the snake.
When the four thousand people were about to reach the ambush site, a few people in the team shot their arrows at the mountain. The others missed, but one arrow pierced into the shoulder of a Tang soldier.
Puff! The soldier who was shot opened his mouth and bit his own arm. He opened his eyes wide and swallowed the scream that was about to come out. He let the arrow pierce into his body and did not make any extra movements.
From Zhang Xiaobao's position, he could see the soldier. He secretly praised him and prepared to reward him when this matter was over.
At this time, Guo Tu also held a saber. He knew that he had no chance to command, so he had to fight. No matter what, he had to kill a few people to absolve himself of the blame. Even if he died in battle, he had to fight.
The Tubo archers' ears were not at the level where they could hear what the arrow hit from dozens of steps away. After they finished their routine shooting, they no longer paid attention to that area and followed the group to continue forward.
"Kill!"
Seeing that the enemy had already arrived at the preset location, Wang Juan pulled the trigger, and the flint ignited. With a shout, she fired a shot at the enemy below.
With the sound of the command, countless disposable 'rocket launchers' with long trails of smoke flew down from the mountain and exploded in the crowd. Amidst the rumbling sounds, bows and crossbows were fired at the same time, catching the people who had been vigilant.
"Kill!" The people with sabers and spears rushed over under the leadership of the logistics camp.
The Tubo people who were frightened by the explosion quickly divided into groups and wanted to organize people to face the enemy.
The people from the logistics camp were the first to come into contact with the enemy. When they were twenty steps away, they took out their guns and shot randomly. The Tubo people who wanted to face the enemy immediately fell. When they were ten steps away, another group of people was killed. The people from the protection team held a slow match in one hand and threw grenades into the crowd with the other.
The Tubo people were not lacking in bravery, but they had never seen such a weapon before. They were beaten silly in just a single exchange. The rumbling sounds were like thunder. Countless topless people ran down from the mountain, holding broadswords or spears in their hands. They were shouting loudly as they charged towards the Tubo people.
In just a short moment, five to six hundred Tubo people were killed. When they realized that it was the Tang army, it was too late to fight back. The Tang soldiers who did not have anything to protect themselves had already lost the idea of dodging and fighting back. There was only one thought in their mind, which was to attack, and attack again.
Zhang Xiaobao held a gun and stood beside Wang Juan to protect her. He vigilantly observed the situation on the battlefield to prevent Wang Juan from being hit by the stray arrows. "Blow the signal to the logistics camp.
The first camp to the left, the second camp to penetrate the enemy. The crossbowmen are free to scatter. The strong archers are ready. The scouts are to look for the enemy commander and kill him. The seventh camp, move out. Don't care about the battle, go to the back of the enemy. Quick, start running. The eighth camp, the eighth camp, support the middle. Don't fight too long, quickly split up and surround the enemy.
Fire the remaining ten camps. Fire the remaining ten camps. "As Wang Juan passed down her orders, all kinds of bugles sounded in the sky above the battlefield. Other than the ninth camp that stayed by Wang Juan's side, the remaining nine camps had all entered the battlefield.
Wang Juan held the binoculars and gave orders from time to time. She was in charge of the overall situation.
"Order the fourth camp to retreat. The fifth camp to the right. The crossbowmen are to abandon their bows and engage in close combat. Reinforce the fourth camp. The scouts are to coordinate with the strong archers to kill the enemy's valiant soldiers. The first, second, and third teams of the ninth camp are to press forward with their spears. Pull the formation horizontally and stabilize."
The Tibetan soldiers on the battlefield had already lost their commander and were fighting for themselves. As Wang Juan passed down her orders, the three teams of the ninth camp, which had close to 600 people, pulled the formation horizontally and stepped forward with their spears. They allowed the people who wanted to be the last to fight to the death to charge forward without breaking the formation. They gave people the feeling that they were as immovable as a mountain, suppressing the enemy in terms of momentum.
Under Wang Juan's command from above, the Tubo soldiers were quickly separated and surrounded in panic. The Tubo soldiers, who were already small in number, were ambushed and could only run around randomly. It was as if they were surrounded by enemies. For the first time, those who were wearing armor realized that armor was a burden in a battle in the mountains and jungles.
The people who were standing on the flat ground were better off. The Tibetan soldiers who were fighting on the slanted ground had to maintain their balance. There were people attacking them from all directions, making it impossible for them to coordinate with their own people.
"Those who can speak the Tibetan language, shout out. Those who surrender will be spared." Seeing that the battle had become one-sided, Wang Juan heaved a sigh of relief.
Following the shouts, the Tibetan soldiers who had already lost their will to fight threw away the weapons in their hands and knelt down to surrender. The remaining people were also killed one after another under the siege of the Tibetan soldiers.
The ambush lasted for more than half an hour from the beginning to the end. All of the Tibetan commanders were shot to death. After counting the number of people, out of the 4,000 Tibetan soldiers, 1,000 had surrendered.
There were also more than 600 Tang soldiers who had sacrificed their precious lives and could not return to their homeland.
"Those who are injured, bandage your wounds and bring your clothes back to wear. Take ten days' worth of food from the Tibetan army provisions and burn the rest. Tie up the surrendered Tibetan soldiers and listen to my orders. Kill them!"
After the battle, Wang Juan began to prepare. When most of the things were done, he started to kill the 1,000 Tibetan soldiers who had surrendered. He did not take any prisoners.
The Tibetan soldiers who knew their fate began to curse the Tang soldiers who did not keep their words. When they surrendered, they said that they would not kill them. In the end, they were unable to escape death.
The Tang soldiers did not care about how the Tibetan soldiers scolded them. Once the military order was given, they swung their swords and chopped. They allowed the enemy's blood to spray on their bodies as they felt warm.
"Remember the names of the soldiers who died in the battle and retreat with me." It was impossible for Wang Juan to take the prisoners, let alone the corpses of the dead soldiers. He could only leave them on the mountain and become food for the wild beasts or the target of the Tibetan soldiers to vent their anger on.
The soldiers in the army that had less than 10,000 people put on their clothes and took ten days' worth of food before disappearing into the mountain. They only left behind a ground full of blood and corpses, as well as thick smoke from the burning of the provisions.
The soldiers who were tired from winning the battle retreated at lightning speed. They were willing to obey Wang Juan's orders from the bottom of their hearts. Whoever could lead them to victory would be able to gain their respect.
Guo Tu and the other officers were also watched as they moved with the army. They were quite lucky as none of them died. They even killed quite a number of Tibetan soldiers. This might have something to do with their usual practice of martial arts. Guo Tu might have made a mistake in his previous command, but his fighting skills were not weak. He alone killed six Tibetan soldiers.
His sword was broken and his body was covered in blood. He did not know who stabbed him on the right side of his chest. The tip of the spear went in by more than an inch. He casually bandaged the wound and did not complain even when the blood soaked the bandage.
He was very quiet as he moved with the army. Occasionally, he would look at Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan with a different gaze. Some of the officers finally knew that the real commander of the logistics camp was the little girl, Wang Juan. All the orders came from her mouth.
The evaluation they gave her in their hearts was that she was ruthless, decisive, and flawless in her command. Her grasp of the situation on the battlefield had reached an unbelievable level. When the battle was at its most chaotic, she was actually able to command the troops in groups. Each group in the reinforced camp had close to 200 people, and each group had four groups.
In other words, this little girl was able to command a small group of 50 people to attack, defend, divide, weave, cover, and surround. She was able to make countless soldiers in groups work together on the battlefield. The sound of horns, drums, and the constantly changing flags never stopped during the battle just now.
When the officers were frightened by Wang Juan, they could not help but think, where did this little girl come from? Who taught her? To be able to command a group of 10,000 people to such a level, normal people would not even dare to think about it.
Wang Juan did not feel any sense of accomplishment. What was the point of commanding troops in groups? Powerful people were able to command troops in groups. On the battlefield, the strength of every group would be unearthed. A group had close to 50 people, but a group only had a few people.
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