While Zhang Xiaosong continued to search for Tubo Baggage, Tubo's main force at the front could not hold on any longer.
The soldiers of Ashinaxian and Karolu seemed to have gone crazy. They took the opportunity to charge with grenades.
The key was that Ashinaxian and Karolu's horses were not afraid of the explosion, but Tubo's horses were.
Both sides set up camp, and scouts went back and forth. Both sides wanted to go behind each other to see the enemy's deployment.
No, Ashinaxian and Karolu did not want to see the deployment. They wanted to find a chance to sneak attack.
Because there were hot air balloons in Ashinaxian and Karolu's camps, the deployment of the Tibetan Army could be seen at a glance.
What made Tubo General Bozeke happy was that Ashinaxian and Karolu's troops seemed to only have one hot air balloon.
He hoped that the other side would run out of alcohol, gasoline, or diesel.
He thought that the Tang dynasty did not trust these two tribes, so they did not give so many good things.
Now he was waiting for the provisions to arrive. He wanted to defeat the two tribes in one go.
That way, the two tribes would feel that the Tang dynasty did not value them and did not give them enough things.
What Bozeke did not know was that in normal history, the two tribes were facing Su Lu's Turkic Shi Tribe, Baiyi Abbasid Tribe, and his Tubo Tribe.
The two tribes resisted, and he did not have time to go back. In July, Guo Zhiyun had enough provisions and took the opportunity to attack Jiuqu Land.
He brought out 40,000 soldiers, and 40,000 fewer soldiers in the rear. Including the provisions, it involved even more.
Now, Ashinaxian and Karolu were only facing him, and there were hot air balloons and grenades. He thought he could defeat them in one go.
A hot air balloon was floating in the sky, and there was a rope below it.
Ashinaxian's soldiers looked up and used binoculars to observe the flag signal. There were several big boxes next to it.
These boxes were the same as the ones in the sky. The soldiers felt confident just looking at them.
They had five, and Karolu had three, so there were eight hot air balloons in total.
They put one up because they did not want to use it. In their eyes, it was a gift from God.
The God of Heaven was the Emperor of the Tang dynasty. His Majesty gave him binoculars and hot air balloons, as well as grenades that would explode if they caught fire.
The two divisions were also waiting, waiting for Zhang Xiaosong.
They had already received the news that Zhang Xiaosong had defeated the White-clothed Abbasid Caliphate and Su Lu.
I don't know where he went, but he should be looking for an opportunity.
They were also satisfied with their diet. They didn't have canned food, meat floss, or compressed biscuits.
However, they had oil tea noodles, flour fried with oil, sesame seeds, cooked bean powder, and then mixed with dried onion powder and dried cabbage powder.
You just have to mix it with water and stir it a little before you can drink it. It's also very sweet because you added sugar.
They could see that Tubo was about to launch a large-scale attack, but they were not afraid. They had the advantage in numbers.
As the two sides confronted each other, Zhang Xiaosong searched for him.
Guo Zhiyun launched an attack on the Land of the Nine Bends. The cavalry gathered and the infantry got into formation.
Tubo at the Land of the Nine Bends realized that something was wrong. The flag of the Tang army was not Longyou Jiedushi, but Hexi Jiedushi.
Anyone with a brain for war would understand what this meant.
If they wanted to attack, they would transfer the troops behind them and make preparations to retreat if they lost the battle.
At the same time, if there was a need, the soldiers of Longyou Jiedushi would also attack.
The two Jiedushi together had more than 140,000 soldiers. Was this place worthy of the Tang dynasty's attention?
As the highest commander of the army stationed at the Land of the Nine Bends, Zasykuzé did not dare to be negligent and quickly mobilized his troops.
He had to reorganize his troops. Otherwise, the scattered troops would be swallowed up by the Hexi Jiedushi's army.
Guo Zhiyun waited for the other side to prepare. He was in a hurry to launch the attack today because the wind was blowing from the west, and it was a light breeze.
He wanted to play big this time. He wanted to achieve his tactical goal in one day and set up a good battle for his strategy.
Both sides got into formation. They were not all cavalry. There were also crossbowmen, spearmen, and shield soldiers.
The Tang dynasty had an additional 4,000 soldiers of the Mo Sword Army. They were divided into two formations and faced the enemy's cavalry formation.
Tubo's cavalry would rather fight the Tang dynasty's cavalry than face the Mo Sword Army.
Behind the Mo Sword Army were strong archers. They would not be able to compete with such an army with bows and arrows.
They would either use their speed to dodge or charge head-on.
The Tang dynasty's Mo Sword Army would fight to the death. Charging head-on would be exchanging lives.
If they could pierce through, it would be easy. If they could not, it would be completely over.
So far, they had never been able to pierce through.
Both sides got into formation. They had many people.
At the rear, Guo Zhiyun looked up at the flag and drew his sword.
The messenger gave the order. Behind him, 20 hot air balloons that were ready to take off slowly rose.
The cavalry at the rear started to jog, ready to speed up at any time.
Then, 20 cars were pushed to the empty space between the middle and front of the army. Rows of large skyscrapers were placed on the cars.
The hot air balloons rose to a height of 100 feet and stopped. The people below pulled with all their strength.
Guo Zhiyun looked back and waved his sword.
The soldiers who were pulling the ropes let go. The people on the hot air balloons adjusted the blowtorches. Others quickly retracted the ropes.
The hot air balloons slowly floated towards the other side. The skyscrapers adjusted their angles, and the people behind lit torches.
Not long after, the hot air balloons floated to the middle of the battlefield.
One of the hot air balloons suddenly fell. The people on it quickly increased the firepower and rose again. It was higher than the others.
Then, it fell a little lower. It rose and fell.
None of the soldiers on both sides laughed. They could not laugh.
In the middle of the army behind Tubo, Zasykuzé looked at the hot air balloons in the sky. His face was full of helplessness.
As a great general of Tubo, he had long known how hot air balloons fought. Tubo had even been deceived by Li Yi.
The hot air balloons were built. The alcohol was bought. They had been burning their own balloons.
The alcohol was used up. The hot air balloons still could not rise.
"All military formations, don't move." Zasykuzé passed down the order.
The formation in front of them did not move. The soldiers did not even look at the things in the sky.
Just like when they were not within the range of the enemy's crossbows during the siege, the army formation moved forward. The enemy's catapults and ballistae fired.
Whoever was hit or hit was unlucky. When the people in front fell, the people behind took the place.
When they were within the range of the enemy's crossbows, they began to charge.
Now that the Tubo soldiers knew that they could throw things down from the hot air balloons, they held on. How many things could the hot air balloons hold?
The hot air balloons floated to the top of Tubo's front formation. Tubo's formation did not react at all.
The hot air balloons continued to float. Zasykuzé looked up. His palms were full of sweat.
He did not order the crossbows to shoot into the air. A hundred feet was not enough.
Tubo had tested it with a bigger Kongming lantern. He tied a thin rope to it and put it in the sky. Then, he used the ballistae with the longest range to shoot.
Not to mention a hundred feet, even if it flew up forty feet, it would not have the strength to fly up. It would fall down.
Moreover, when the crossbow arrows flew up, they would all miss.
It seemed that only the hot air balloons could hit the enemy's hot air balloons. The direction of the wind was also troublesome. It depended on which direction to blow and where to blow toward the enemy.
Zasykuzé thought about it. He sighed and ordered, "Middle army, move and dodge."
He had no choice. The other party was obviously coming for him. Should he dodge?
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