Tiantang Splendid

Chapter 4799 Raid on Nuanquan
[You must know that when I was young, I had the ambition to reach the top of the world. I wish all the readers who are taking the college entrance examination success! ]

Nuanquan is located at the southern foot of Mount Eola, one south of Naluyi and the other north of it, guarding the Pass of Mount Eola, and has the strategic role of being ready to reinforce Naluyi at any time and overlooking the Dafei River. However, compared with Naluyi, which would face the enemy head-on, Nuanquan is much safer. It only needs to cross the Mount Eola to reinforce Naluyi when it is about to fall. If Naluyi has already fallen, Nuanquan will not be able to resist when the enemy crosses the Mount Eola and swoops down.

Therefore, Nuanquan only has a circle of rammed earth walls to resist the charge of war horses. The wall is no more than ten feet high and less than two miles long and wide. There are three thousand soldiers stationed in the post station, who are usually neglected in training and most of the time are used to collect taxes from merchants.

Although Tubo seemed powerful, it actually had many factions within it. Countless tribes formed a country under the prestige and sword of the Zamp, but each tribe had its own interests, which were difficult to reconcile most of the time.

For example, Nuanquan is the property of Chisang Yangdun's family. Only a small half of the taxes collected are paid to the national treasury, and most of them go into their own pockets.

This was the real intention of sending Lebujie to Naluyi to defend Dafeichuan because he saw that the situation in the northern border was unstable and urgently needed to defend against the Tang army and the Gar family.

The interests of the tribe must not be harmed, so Lebujie brought thousands of the tribe's most valiant and combative warriors with him to guard Naluyi...

……

Mazhu, the garrison commander of Nuanquanyi, is also a member of Chisang Yangdun's tribe. He has a full understanding of the combat effectiveness of the warriors of his tribe. Therefore, even though he knows that the Tang-Tibet border in the north is unstable and the Gar family is ready to make a move, he still doesn't care. He eats and drinks as usual. Today, he met a group of Kucha merchants who came from the Western Regions to Hexi and then to Tubo to do business. He exploited them severely. Not only did he collect one-third of their goods as tax, he also abducted a blonde and blue-eyed Hu girl who was sold to the city of Lhasa. After a lot of tossing, he let her go and went to bed drunkenly when it got dark.

Extortion and exploitation of traveling merchants were the norm. In Tubo, except for the top group of people, who believed in "getting rich through business", the lower-level tribes did not agree with this and would exploit traveling merchants whenever they encountered them. After all, the money that went into their pockets was their own money. What did the money that went into the national treasury have to do with them?
The only time they followed the rules was when they sold barley wine to the Tang people and bought grain from them...

After enjoying the wonderful taste of Hu Ji, Ma Zhu became addicted in his sleep. He rolled over on the kang unconsciously, clamping the quilt tightly. The moist and tender touch seemed to still remain on his fingertips. The door was kicked open with a "bang" and a loud roar woke him up.

"General, something terrible is happening! The enemy is attacking!"

A guard rushed in to report the news. He probably knew that his general was drunk and sleeping soundly and could not be woken up, so he rushed in directly.

Ma Zhu turned over and got up, his head was dizzy, he grabbed the scimitar beside him and threw it at him, cursing: "What nonsense are you talking about? If you dare to make a noise again, I will kill you with one knife!"

"Ouch!"

The guard was caught off guard, and although he tried his best to dodge, he was still cut on the shoulder by the flying scimitar. The sharp blade cut through his clothes and left a gash on his shoulder, and blood immediately gushed out.

But he didn't dare to cry out in pain, kneeling on the ground and shouting, "The scouts reported that cavalry are galloping along the Orla Mountains from the west, and they will be here soon!"

Cavalry has great mobility on the battlefield. Even if the scouts here discover the enemy's whereabouts and report it quickly, by the time the news comes back, the enemy has basically arrived, and there will be basically no time to redeploy.

"really?"

Ma Zhu was frightened and broke out in a cold sweat. He sobered up instantly, climbed up and ignored the wound on the guard's shoulder. He grabbed the leather armor and put it on while striding out of the room. The guards waiting at the door surrounded him and ran straight to the city gate.

It was already late at night and the entire Nuanquan Posthouse was in silence. The caravan's pack horses and goods found an open space in the posthouse to settle down, and with the addition of thousands of troops stationed there, the posthouse seemed very crowded.

At this time, the news of the enemy's attack had spread, and the soldiers got up in groups of three or four and waited for orders.

Mazhu arrived at the city gate.

The so-called city gate is just a doorway built with stones on the rammed earth wall, with two heavy wooden doors installed. This kind of city gate has no defensive capabilities, so many stones are placed in net bags on the walls on both sides. In case of an emergency, the net bags will be opened to let the stones fall into the doorway, completely sealing the gate. Although I can't get out, the enemy can't get in either...

When Maju climbed up the wall, he looked out and saw nothing but darkness, but he could already hear a dull sound like thunder coming from afar. As a veteran fighter, he knew that this must be the sound of cavalry charging, and the number of enemies must be at least over 2,000, because even the wall beneath his feet was shaking slightly.

Although he couldn't see, he knew the enemy was close at hand!

There was no time to think about where the enemy was coming from. Ma Zhu's eyes were red with anger and he shouted, "Everyone, get on the city wall. Archers, get ready. Block the city gate!"

"Boom!" The net bags on the walls on both sides of the city gate opened and stones poured down to block the gate. Nuanquanyi became a dead end. Either the enemy captured and the entire army was destroyed, or the city was defended and the enemy was defeated. There was no third way.

However, although the walls of Nuanquanyi were not high, they were enough to resist the charge of war horses. The enemy cavalry could not drive straight in. Relying on the walls, the enemy's side was in a commanding position. Even if the number of enemies was several times greater, they could only become targets under the city.

Following Mazhu's order, the entire post station was in chaos, especially the merchant caravans staying here who were frightened and uneasy when they heard that an enemy was attacking. Who could have thought that there would be a war in a place far away from the Tubo border?
Once this battle starts, it's hard to say who will win or lose, but the unlucky ones will definitely be these caravans...

The roar became louder and clearer. Ma Zhu wiped his face on the wall and shouted, "The number of enemy cavalry is about 2,000. We just need to hold the city firmly. They can't rush in! Reinforcements will arrive at dawn. There is no need to panic!"

After all, he was a man with many years of experience in battles, and he could still analyze things calmly when the enemy attacked. The soldiers on both sides quieted down after hearing his words. As long as the enemy cavalry could not rush in, how could more than 2,000 people capture Nuanquan Posthouse?
Morale is stable.

Then, in the next moment, more than ten war horses suddenly jumped out from the darkness, both men and horses were in armor, and they rushed forward at full speed.

Mazhu: “…”

What tactic is this?
Does a cavalry assault still require a vanguard?

More than two thousand cavalrymen delayed at the back, allowing more than ten war horses to conduct a trial attack?
He couldn't figure out the enemy's tactics, so he simply stopped thinking about it. With a wave of his hand, a wave of arrows instantly rose from the top of the wall, covering the dozen riders with a rain of arrows. The arrows fell on the horses and men with clanking sounds, but a few arrows still hit the enemy.

No matter how tight the armor is, it has to take into account the soldiers' flexibility, so the joints are inevitably insufficiently defended and leave gaps. In theory, as long as the density of arrows is high enough and the luck is good enough, the armored cavalry cannot be invulnerable to swords and spears.

However, even though these ten or so riders were hit by arrows, their speed did not slow down. It took only a blink of an eye for them to rush from the point within sight to the front. The top of the wall only had time to pour down a wave of arrows, and the ten or so riders rushed to the bottom of the wall at once...

Mazhu: “…”

Why does it feel like the experience accumulated from half a lifetime of fighting is completely useless today?

The rammed earth wall is more than ten feet high, and it is impossible for a war horse to cross it. If you can't cross it, what's the point of crawling under the wall?

Even if both the man and the horse are in armor, they can't be so arrogant, right?
"Stone them to death!"

Mazhu yelled, the arrows could only hit the joints of the armored cavalry and it was difficult to kill them, but the enemy was stupid enough to run under the wall, which was just within the attack range of the stones. No matter how hard the armor was, it could not withstand the impact of the stones...

However, I saw more than a dozen cavalrymen rushing to the wall and jumping off their horses, gathering together and doing something unknown, while rocks rained down from the top of the wall. I saw several cavalrymen being hit on the head by rocks and falling to the ground, obviously not surviving.

Ma Zhu's eyes widened. Is this a death warrior in the army?

But there are very few death warriors in the army and they must be used at the critical moment, either to break into the enemy line or to climb the wall first. What's the point of rushing to the wall and waiting to die?

As soon as the doubts arose in my mind, a flash of light appeared in my eyes.

Is that a fire?

These more than ten enemies rushed to the wall and set fire?

Mazhu wanted to laugh but couldn't, because the rammed earth wall under his feet suddenly shook and tilted left and right like a dragon turning over. Then he heard a dull roar and watched the solid wall on the other side of the gate collapse like tofu dregs in an instant. A section of the wall more than ten feet long collapsed, and rubble was everywhere, with smoke and dust rising.

The section of the wall under Mazhu's feet did not collapse, but he stood there with his eyes wide open in surprise. It took him a while to react. He felt difficulty breathing and his legs went weak. This was not a thunderbolt or an earth dragon turning over... Could it be the Tang army's firearms?
However, he was not given time to think. Amidst the smoke and dust, a large number of enemy cavalry troops followed and rushed in through the gap in the wall.

……

When they were more than a hundred feet away from Nuanquan Post Station, Lun Qinling ordered the cavalry to wave flags and order the entire army to slow down. Then more than ten "vanguards" continued to advance without slowing down, and buried gunpowder under the wall of Nuanquan Post Station to blow it up.

With a loud bang, the wall collapsed in an instant. Lun Qinling shouted, spurred his horse and brandished his sword to accelerate suddenly. In just a few jumps, he reached the gap created by the gunpowder explosion. Behind him, two thousand elite soldiers followed closely and poured into the post station like a tide.

This was so sudden that the guards had no time to figure out why the solid wall collapsed. They were so shocked by the devastating power that they lost their minds. Lun Qinling had already led his troops into the post station. The cavalry were charging and swords were wielding. They didn't care who were the soldiers, merchants or civilians. They killed and hacked anyone they saw. The whole post station was like a whirlwind, sweeping up the confused guards and terrified merchants.