Li Yu's worries were not unfounded. As this most elite division had very few men and horses, their main combat strength was only one hundred iron armored artillery carriages. There were also only two drivers for the various transport carriages. They really couldn't spare any manpower to take care of these captives.
After the previous victory, they mobilized the cavalry from Min Province overnight to help. This time, it was not realistic to mobilize forces from Min Province in a short period of time. This would seriously hinder the next operation of this elite division.
Ang Lee had already considered the issue of taking care of the captives. However, he already had a plan to solve this problem.
"Gwangbyeong Of Gojoseon is worrying too much. Now, our division has already used up a lot of supplies. One hundred transport carriages are empty. It is most suitable to let these empty carriages transport the Tibetan captives to Min Province. In addition, most of our supplies are concentrated in Min Province. After these carriages transporting the Tibetan captives arrive at Min Province, they still have to return here with all kinds of supplies to replenish the army's needs."
Ang Lee explained.
"Assistant Minister Li is right. Instead of letting these empty carriages return in vain, why not let them be responsible for transporting the captives? This is a good idea. However, with so many captives, will they cause trouble along the way? If they cause trouble, I'm afraid that the soldiers driving the carriages won't be able to control them. "
Li Yu had another layer of worry. He was worried that the Tibetan captives would cause trouble along the way and threaten the lives of the drivers.
Ang Lee smiled and said, "The Tibetan captives may cause trouble. However, before we depart, I will give the order to tie up the hands and feet of these captives with ropes. In addition, after the captives enter the carriages, lock all the carriages. This way, they won't be able to cause trouble."
"Let these one hundred transport carriages return to Min Province. Do we need to send guards?"
Ang Lee shook his head and said, "No need. There are no Tibetan soldiers along the way. We don't need to be so careful. Next, we need to focus on how to stop the Tibetan main force."
"Haha! There's no need for Assistant Minister Li to persuade them to surrender. Stone Castle City has already raised the white flag. The Tibetan barbarians can't hold on any longer. "
Li Yu said with a smile as he noticed the white flag on Stone Castle City through his high-powered telescope.
"Pass down my orders. The armored cannons are to stop firing immediately. Tell the captives to leave Stone Castle City, throw away all their weapons, and gather outside the city."
Ang Lee also saw the Tubo soldiers raising the white flag, so he decisively gave the order to stop the bombardment.
The bombardment stopped very quickly. The armored scout vehicle that was in charge of relaying orders immediately went forward and ordered the Tibetan soldiers to throw away their weapons and surrender. Otherwise, the bombardment would continue until Stone Castle City was completely destroyed.
This time, it was the Tibetan soldiers who took the initiative to raise the white flag to surrender. Therefore, the shouting was very effective. A few Tibetan generals led the wounded soldiers under their command and walked out of Stone Castle City while supporting each other. One after another, they walked toward the positions arranged by the Tang Army.
"There are only five hundred of them. Are the rest all dead?"
Li Yu looked at the surrendered Tibetan soldiers walking out and felt that there were too few of them. Stone Castle City was a very important strategic location. Li Yu was very clear about this. However, why would the Tibetans deploy so few soldiers in such an important strategic location? This was somewhat strange.
Li An observed for a long time and said, "Stone Castle City is not very big. There is still a large area to store rolling stones and various kinds of oil and firewood. As such, there is very little space for people to live in. I estimate that only a thousand soldiers can be stationed here. After our previous round of bombardment, it would be good if there are still five hundred people left with good legs. Therefore, five hundred people is not a small number. There are probably no living people left with good legs. However, we still cannot let our guard down and have to be vigilant at all times."
"Assistant Minister Li, the Tibetan soldiers have all come out to surrender. Should we let them enter Stone Castle City immediately?"
Guo Qiang ordered a portion of the soldiers to guard the surrendered Tibetan soldiers. He also planned to lead a portion of the soldiers into the city to clean up the battlefield.
"Stone Castle City is too steep. It's difficult for the armored artillery carts and armored command vehicles to climb up. You will lead three hundred soldiers into the city on foot. Remember, you must be extremely careful. If the situation doesn't seem right, you must retreat immediately. Also, the three hundred soldiers must not be too scattered. You must understand the situation in Stone Castle City.
You must not miss anything, "Ang Lee said.
"Yes, Assistant Minister Li. I understand."
Guo Qiang replied. He then led three hundred fully armed soldiers to take over Stone Castle City.
According to Ang Lee's observation, there shouldn't be any more Tibetan soldiers in Stone Castle City. After all, after the round of bombardment just now, Stone Castle City had suffered great damage. The Tibetan soldiers must have been scared out of their wits. Those who came out to surrender should be the main force. The rest were either dead or seriously injured, or secretly hiding. In short, there shouldn't be any Tibetan soldiers in the city. He asked Guo Qiang to be careful just in case.
In addition, the main force of the Tang Army was gathered outside the city and was constantly on alert. Therefore, even if something unexpected happened, it wouldn't change the fact that the Tang Army had won.
"Assistant Minister Li, are we not going to Stone Castle City?"
Li Yu asked.
Ang Lee shook his head and said, "There's no hurry. Let Colonel Guo enter the city first to check out the situation. Then, we will enter the city to take a look. However, the city is already in ruins and can't be inhabited. We will still be staying in the wilderness tonight."
The fire in Stone Castle City continued to burn. Guo Qiang led three hundred soldiers into Stone Castle City in a neat formation. They split into three groups and carefully checked the city to make sure that all the Tibetan soldiers in Stone Castle City had come out to surrender.
"Assistant Minister Li, Stone Castle City is empty. There are no Tibetan soldiers lying in ambush. There are only some Tibetan soldiers who are seriously injured and can't move or dead."
Guo Qiang asked the soldiers to check the inside of Stone Castle City, which wasn't very big, to make sure that there were no problems.
"Okay, let's go to Stone Castle City to take a look."
Ang Lee led the main generals to Stone Castle City. He stood on the city gate tower and looked around.
When he stood at the bottom of Stone Castle City, he didn't feel that Stone Castle City was very dangerous. However, when he stood on the city gate tower, he realized that Stone Castle City was very dangerous.
In the era of cold weapons, as long as one occupied a position in Stone Castle City, they could control the passage below. Any army that passed through the passage couldn't ignore the existence of Stone Castle City. Otherwise, they would be attacked by rolling logs and rocks and all sorts of fireballs, resulting in heavy losses.
After a careful inspection, Li An confirmed his conjecture. Stone Castle City had indeed accumulated a large amount of rolling wood and flying stones. This amount was enough to annihilate an army of tens of thousands. Furthermore, Stone Castle City was built on a mountain. When there was a shortage of defensive materials, they could mine the stones at any time to defend against the enemy's attack.
Luckily, Ang Lee had invented the artillery and used the mobility of the armored artillery vehicles to launch a sneak attack on Stone Castle City from behind. Thus, they were able to take it down easily. If they had used the infantry to attack Stone Castle City, they would have suffered heavy losses.
Stone Castle City was now a sea of fire and the living conditions were quite bad. Therefore, after admiring the city gate tower for a while, Ang Lee returned to the ground and found a higher ground to set up a central military tent.
"Assistant Minister Li, the armored artillery vehicles have discovered a Tibetan supply convoy coming from the southwest. There are about two thousand soldiers and horses. They are escorting rations and live livestock."
The soldier reported loudly.
"The Tibetan supply convoy is coming over openly. This is great. We can improve our meals. Order the first and second brigades of armored artillery vehicles to prepare to meet the enemy and capture the entire Tibetan supply convoy."
Ang Lee gave the military order in a domineering manner.
Along the way, Ang Lee realized that things were going too smoothly for him. He won the battle in minutes and there were no casualties on his side. They had just taken down Stone Castle City and the Tibetans came to deliver food. This was too considerate.
The result of the battle was obvious. How could the two thousand Tibetan logistics troops be a match for the armored artillery vehicles of the Tang Army? They were quickly surrounded. Under the persuasion of the defenders of Stone Castle City who had surrendered earlier, they obediently surrendered. The various supplies they brought naturally became the spoils of war for the Tang Army.
Yak meat was very delicious. This time, the Tang Army captured two thousand Tibetan logistics troops and seized several thousand yaks. In order to reward the soldiers, they let the Tibetan captives slaughter fifty yaks on the spot. In this way, all the troops of the Tang Army, including the logistics troops, could eat yak meat. Even the Tibetan captives could drink a cup of soup.
Eating the delicious yak meat, Ang Lee felt that this battle was not interesting at all. As long as the Tang Army attacked, the Tibetan army would be defeated until they wet their pants. It was really a lonely feeling.
Of course, feelings were just feelings. When it was time to fight, he still had to command seriously and cautiously. He could not be careless. After all, Ang Lee pursued zero casualties, which was higher than any Tang Dynasty general's pursuit.
When the fire broke out in Stone Castle City, there was also a lot of thick smoke. Therefore, the main force of the Tibetan army at the front found out that something had happened in Stone Castle City. They immediately sent a cavalry of ten thousand men and rushed toward Stone Castle City.
Of course, Li An had long been prepared for this. Hence, he arranged for the armored cannons to line up in two rows and block the path that the Tibetan army would definitely pass through. He was prepared to face the Tibetan cavalry head-on.
The Tibetans had ten thousand cavalry, but the flesh and blood of the cavalry could not be compared to the armored artillery vehicles. Therefore, there was no doubt that the Tang Army would eventually achieve a complete victory.
In order to be prepared in advance to prevent a sneak attack by the Tibetan army, Ang Lee sent out all the armored reconnaissance vehicles to investigate and alert within a radius of fifteen miles. At the same time, he also sent out many sentries to further increase the security.
After some preparations, all the captives were tied up and escorted to the transport vehicles to Min Province of the Tang Dynasty. In order to prevent them from escaping, all the carriages were sealed. Moreover, after this meal, they would not get much food along the way. At most, they would get a small piece of meat and a bowl of water every day to prevent the captives from having enough energy to resist. Of course, it was also to allow them to return to Min Province as soon as possible to prevent too long of a delay on the road.
The ten thousand Tibetan cavalry moved relatively quickly, but it still took them a whole night to reach Stone Castle City. Their speed was much slower than the armored artillery vehicles.
"Assistant Minister Li, the Tibetan cavalry is here. There are ten thousand of them."
Early in the morning, before Ang Lee woke up, Guo Qiang ran over excitedly to report the situation.
"Only ten thousand cavalry? It's not enough for you, Colonel Guo. The Tibetans are too mean. Stone Castle City is covered in thick smoke, but they only sent ten thousand cavalry back. How is it? Are you confident that you can wipe them out?"
Ang Lee asked with a smile.
"I can't guarantee that I can wipe them out, but I'm confident that I can inflict heavy damage and defeat them."
Guo Qiang grinned. He appeared to be very confident, but also very sinister.
"Good, go and fight! Make it quick and wipe out the ten thousand Tibetan cavalry. "
Ang Lee ordered casually.
"Yes, I understand."
After going through two tough battles, Guo Qiang didn't think much of the Tubo soldiers anymore. After all, the difference in weapons was too great. The Tubo soldiers were completely unable to stand up against the advanced armored cannons of Great Tang. They were just fodder for a beating.
After returning to his armored command vehicle, Guo Qiang gave the order to launch an all-out attack.
The armored artillery vehicles of the two brigades lined up in two straight lines and pressed down on the Tibetan cavalry. The power of the machines caused the ground to tremble.
The Tibetan cavalry had never seen such powerful armor before. They were at a loss of what to do. However, Guo Qiang would not give them time to prepare and adapt. When the distance was close enough, he gave the order to fire.
"Boom, boom, boom …"
One hundred cannons fired one after another. A large number of cannons exploded among the Tibetan cavalry, causing the Tibetan cavalry to fall into chaos. The casualties instantly became very high.
While the Tibetan cavalry was still panicking, the cannons of the armored artillery brigade continued to fire, causing even greater losses to the Tibetan cavalry.
Looking at the Tibetan cavalry in the distance, Li Yu seemed to be enjoying it. On the other hand, Li An put down his binoculars, feeling extremely bored. There wasn't much to see in this kind of confrontation between equipment from different eras. When the armored cannons and chariots fought against the cavalry, it was a complete suppression. It was even more exaggerated than cheating.
After the armored artillery vehicles bombarded the Tibetan cavalry for a while, they immediately drove the Tibetan cavalry forward. This was because in the usual tactical training, other than bombarding the enemy with cannons, the armored artillery vehicles could also use the tactic of charging and crushing the enemy to death. Moreover, this tactic was more reliable and cheap. It could cause more psychological fear to the enemy.
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