Chapter 130: The Battle to Seize the Island (Part 1)

Two hours later, two Tubo ships appeared on the sea. They were two medium-sized grain transport ships that did not head straight for the island but slowly passed by it, five li to the west. By then, all the Tang troops on the island had retreated into the unfinished castle, with hundreds of them standing on the completed section of the wall, drawing bows and arrows, ready for battle.

Li Qing’an watched the distant Tubo ships through the curtain. Their casual demeanor seemed non-hostile, and the ships could not carry many soldiers.

Bai Yuanguang observed for a while before saying, “Qilang, these two ships don’t seem to be targeting our island.”
“Not necessarily!”
Li Qing’an shook his head. “Since they’re not transporting troops or grain, they’re likely here to scout our island.”

As Li Qing’an predicted, after reaching five li to the northwest, the two ships turned eastward, accelerating their speed as if planning to circle the island.

“Damn it! Kill them!” Li Fei Yuanli cursed angrily.
“We can’t catch up to them.”
Li Shouyu sighed softly. “It seems our presence is troubling the Tubo army.”

Li Qing’an stared for another moment before suddenly ordering, “He Yingchuan!”
“Your servant!”
He Yingchuan stepped forward and bowed.
“Take two hundred soldiers from the Jiangdu Camp and five ships to intercept them. Sink those two ships.”
“As ordered!”
He Yingchuan waved his hand, leading several groups of Jiangdu Camp soldiers downhill.

…

These two Tubo ships came from the southern coast of Qinghai, with fewer than a hundred soldiers aboard. However, among them was a high-ranking Tubo general—the commander of the front army, Dazhalugong, also known in Chinese as Ma Chongying. One of the four top officials in Tubo and a famous general, Ma Chongying was ruthless and highly strategic. In the first year of Zhide, he led Tubo’s army to attack Chang’an, committing massacres and plundering, bringing severe disaster to the Tang Dynasty.

This time, Ma Chongying was appointed as the front army commander to lead 150,000 troops against the Tang army. He made thorough preparations: 30,000 troops were stationed along the Datong Mountains in the north, 20,000 Tubo troops were deployed at Chiling, and 100,000 troops were stationed in Dafichuan, blocking all western routes for the Tang army. Yet, Ma Chongying made a minor strategic mistake—he left only 3,000 troops in the Hexi Fusi City. He failed to consider that the Tang army might attack from the west. In fact, he had considered it, but believed it impossible for the Tang army to advance from there due to the lack of supply lines.

But Fusi City was attacked and captured by a Tang army force; hundreds of thousands of troops’ rations were burned, and the general Shangxi Dongzan was killed. The Tubo army was forced to withdraw 40,000 troops back to Wuhai, reducing the strength of their vanguard to 110,000. His negligence led to serious consequences.

The chief minister Shangjie Xi took the opportunity to accuse him to the king, resulting in his removal from his position as grand advisor. However, King Trisong Detsen did not want to replace the general hastily and still ordered him to command the Tang-Tubo battle.

Ma Chongying learned from this experience and adjusted his troop deployment. He sent 10,000 troops from Datong Valley to garrison Fusi City and strengthened patrols along the Qinghai coast. This time, he received news about the Tubo army in the northern section of Chiling—Tubo scouts had spotted large Tang ships entering the sea.

Given the previous failure at Fusi City, he personally went to sea by boat to inspect the situation. What he saw worried him greatly—the Tang army had built a castle on Longju Island.

Gazing at the towering castle on the mountain top, Ma Chongying felt extremely troubled. Judging from its size, it could accommodate at least 2,000 troops. Though 2,000 wasn’t a large number, it was like a sharp knife pointed at the back of Chiling, severely threatening the supply lines of the Tubo army there.

At that moment, the general Lun Qicang beside him whispered, “Commander, it’s already winter. In half a month, the sea will freeze over. We can bring in a large army to attack then.”

Ma Chongying remained silent for a while before saying, “When we arrived this morning, it seemed we saw thick smoke rising from three reefs. That must be their beacon fires!”

“Surely! Otherwise, we should destroy those beacon towers first.”

“No! Keeping them is useful.”

Ma Chongying smiled faintly and said, “If I’m not mistaken, the Tang army must also have a beacon tower on the sand islands. That would explain why there’s a Tang beacon tower on the coastal mountains north of Chiling. The castle on Longju Island is connected to that beacon tower, coordinating with Shenwei City on Chiling from afar.”

“Do you mean we shouldn’t attack Longju Island for now?”

“Did I say not to?” Ma Chongying snorted. “The Tang troops stationed on Longju Island keep me awake at night. As long as I don’t attack them, I’ll remain troubled. Lun Qicang, once the sea freezes over, you’ll attack Longju Island and carry out my strategy.”

As soon as Ma Chongying finished speaking, someone on the boat suddenly shouted, “Commander, there are Tang ships coming from behind!”

Ma Chongying was shocked. He quickly turned to look at the island and indeed saw several large ships emerging from a bay—those were their lost supply ships. Ma Chongying raised his head in surprise. Could the troops stationed on this island be the very Tang army that had captured Fusi City and gotten him punished by the king?

It must be like this! Ma Chongying gritted his teeth and immediately ordered, “Speed up and get away from the Tang army’s ships.” The sails on the Tubo ships were fully raised, and with the strong westerly wind, they sped eastward like arrows. On the castle, Li Qingan watched from afar as the two Tubo ships moved swiftly—too fast for the Tang army to catch up. He looked up at the sky, a hint of concern in his eyes, then turned and said, “Bring two monks here.” Moments later, two old monks hurried over. Although Li Qingan had destroyed their temple, he had promised to rebuild a larger one for them after the Tang-Tubo war, or allow them to become abbots in a large temple in the Central Plains. The latter option delighted the two monks even more—what use was a large temple on Longju Island if there were no pilgrims? The two old monks approached Li Qingan and bowed, asking, “General, what do you need from us?” “I want to ask you—when does the freezing period begin in Qinghai?” “General, the freezing period in Qinghai starts on time every year at the end of October. It begins at the coast and gradually spreads inward, covering the entire sea with a thick layer of ice within half a month.” “Can troops march on that ice?” “Absolutely. The ice is half a zhang thick, allowing both men and horses to move. Three years ago, I saw with my own eyes a 20,000-strong Tubo army march from the south shore to the north shore, carrying large amounts of supplies. They passed by our island, an extremely impressive sight.” Li Qingan nodded and then said to Luo Han, “Thicken the city walls by another foot.” “I shall obey!” Just then, the Tang army shouted, and a Tubo ship turned around to face them. There were nearly a hundred Tubo soldiers on board, shooting arrows like rain at the Tang army’s main ship. The other Tubo ship continued to speed eastward without turning south. Seeing no hope of catching up, the three other Tang ships surrounded the turning Tubo ship, firing arrows from all sides. Dozens of Tang soldiers who were excellent swimmers jumped into the water. Arrows flew back and forth across the sea, with cries of battle echoing everywhere. People kept falling into the sea after being hit by arrows. The four Tang ships surrounded the Tubo ship in the middle. At that moment, a loud cry came from the Tubo ship, which began to tilt and sink. The soldiers on board became chaotic. In just a moment, the Tubo ship disappeared into the vast ocean. Dozens of Tubo soldiers who fell into the water were captured or killed. Li Qingan stared at the distant Tubo ship, shaking his head in regret. Some ship must have risked everything to protect it—there might have been high-ranking Tubo officials on that ship. What a pity it got away.

The weather grew colder by the day. After another heavy snowfall on October 23, Qinghai entered an ice age, and Longju Island was also covered in ice and snow. Yet the enthusiasm for preparing for battle among the Tang army grew day by day. Yinglong City had been completed ahead of schedule, and most of the warhorses had been sent back to Shanzhou, eliminating any worries for the Tang army.

By early November, Qinghai was completely frozen over. The vast, clear sea surface was covered in ice, looking like a huge mirror that shone brightly in the sunlight, emitting a dazzling glow all day long. A few Tang soldiers conducted an experiment on the thickness of the ice, finding it to be as thick as five feet. Not only could people and horses traverse it, but large sleds could also be used to transport military supplies. The time for the Tubo army to attack the island had arrived.

At noon that day, Li Qingan, as usual, inspected the Tang army’s preparations in the castle. In the southwest corner of the castle was the weapons workshop, where nearly a hundred Tang blacksmiths were busy improving the armor-piercing arrows and crafting trebuchets. The castle’s defensive position was advantageous, with long-range trebuchets being the most effective.

“General, this is the latest model of trebuchet. It has a special winch, and just twenty men are needed to throw a 50-jin boulder 800 steps away. Moreover, all the joints are connected by iron shafts, making it more durable,” one of the Tang generals introduced to Li Qingan. Li Qingan nodded and asked, “How many can be made per day?”

“Reporting to the general, five per day. We have already made nearly a hundred so far.”

“General!”

Lieutenant Luo Han rushed over with a soldier. Pointing at the soldier, he said, “This soldier has a good idea for defense.”

“What idea?”

The soldier stepped forward and saluted. “General, while grinding bluestone today, we found a thick layer of ice on it. The chisels slipped, making it impossible to apply force. I thought, if there were also a thick layer of ice on our city walls…”

Before he could finish, Li Qingan interjected with a smile, “Then the Tubo army wouldn’t be able to climb the walls, right?”

“That’s right! Not only would they be unable to climb, but even if they used trebuchets to attack, the stones would slip. Moreover, the ice can be repaired at any time.”

A blacksmith nearby laughed and said, “General, if we pour ice water on the walls, we can make it thicker at the top and thinner at the bottom, creating a downward slope. Trebuchets generally don’t fire in a straight line but from above downward, which helps reduce the force of the stones hitting the walls.”

“General, I also have a suggestion. The mountain paths can be made icy in the same way, preventing the Tubo army from climbing up.”

One after another, everyone offered their opinions, quickly coming up with over twenty highly constructive suggestions. Li Qingan was overjoyed and said to them, “I will reward generously those who come up with good suggestions.”

He turned around and ordered again, “Send orders down—immediately start building the Ice City!”
……
Two days later, the urgent ringing of bells echoed across the island. Two thousand Tang soldiers rushed to the city walls. Thick smoke rose from three reef islands in the south, and three columns of black smoke also emerged from the beacon towers on the unnamed rocks in the east. This indicated that an army of over ten thousand Tibetans was advancing from both the east and south, cutting off the Tang soldiers’ retreat routes.
The city walls immediately became bustling. The Tang soldiers methodically transported stones, adjusted catapults, prepared arrows, and set up pots to boil water. By then, the city walls had been thickened by three feet with ice, appearing covered in silver under the sunlight, shining brightly and dazzlingly.
Yet Li Qing’an continued to stare at the distant smoke signals, his brows furrowed in concern.
“Qilang, what have you noticed?” Li Fei Shouyu stepped forward and asked.
“Don’t you find it strange? Why do the smoke signals keep burning?”
Li Qing’an turned to him and asked, “Shouyu, if you were the Tibetan commander, would you light the beacon towers?”
Li Fei Shouyu’s expression grew serious as he shook his head. “Never! I would choose a snowy night to launch a night attack on the beacon towers first, blinding us, then launch a sudden assault to catch us off guard.”
“You’re right. If I’m not mistaken, the beacon towers have already fallen into the hands of the Tibetans.”
“But then why do they still light the signals? Is it to deceive us?” Li Fei Shouyu asked in confusion.
“It’s not just about deceiving us.”
Li Qing’an slowly narrowed his eyes and said slowly, “I’ve figured out a Tibetan plot.”
Suddenly, he turned around and ordered, “Where is Nan Jiyun?”
……
An hour after Nan Jiyun led three hundred cavalrymen away from Longju Island, a long black line appeared simultaneously to the east and south of the island. Nearly twenty thousand Tibetan soldiers were marching in force.
The Tibetan army did not move quickly. They used heavy sleds to carry large amounts of food and supplies. These heavy sleds were made of cast iron, with two iron rails about thirty feet long welded together in the middle. A single sled could carry thousands of pounds of goods, and each sled was pulled by three horses.
Among these military supplies were tents, food, meat, arrows, weapons, as well as heavy catapults and siege ladders—everything needed to attack an island fortress.
The Tibetan army grew closer and closer. What had started as a black line turned into a vast black carpet covering the land. Their formation was orderly, with mountain-sized heavy sleds mixed among them.

The Tibetan army stopped on the ice field two li away from the island. Instead of rushing to attack, they began setting up tents. Half an hour later, thousands of gray tents appeared on the ice field, surrounding the island completely. The five massive stores of provisions, piled up like small mountains, were covered with a huge curtain. These provisions would be enough to feed 20,000 Tibetan soldiers until next spring. Clearly, the Tibetan army was preparing for a protracted war. Strangely, the beacon fires in the south had gone out, but the beacon towers in the east still emitted three columns of black smoke into the sky, with the flames growing stronger.