Chapter 485: First Signs of the Enemy

The highland grasslands in September were filled with a stronger autumn atmosphere. The north wind blew strongly, causing the long grass to wither as it gradually turned dry. Along the shores of Lake Sabize, south of the Altun Mountains, after three years of peace, the atmosphere once again became grim.

Lake Sabize had originally been a grazing area for the Tubo people and also served as a logistical base for their attacks on Anxi. Three years ago, after the Tubo troops stationed here were completely annihilated by the Anxi forces, the area was placed under the jurisdiction of Qiemo. Both military and civilian populations used it—herders from Qiemo City grazed here, and a 200-strong Tang army was stationed there as well. The Tang army built a castle on a high ridge by Lake Sabize that could accommodate a thousand people and constructed beacon towers along the route, linking them to those in Qiemo City. This made it the frontline for detecting Tubo invasions from the north in southwestern Anxi.

As fears of a Tubo invasion from the north grew, the Anxi military strengthened defenses in southwestern Anxi. He Ba Yu Run, the commander of the four garrisons, led 5,000 troops from Kucha to Qiemo City. At the same time, the defending force at Lake Sabize was increased to 1,000, and the herders from Qiemo City were withdrawn.

That noon, a 50-member Tang patrol team was patrolling the hilly areas south of Lake Sabize. This place was about 120 li away from the newly built City of Sabize. It was sparsely populated, with dense primeval forests everywhere, mainly composed of pine and fir trees. On the gentle slopes lay thick meadows. A group of startled antelopes ran across the meadows and fled into the forest.

At that moment, the Tang patrol team rushed over from a distance and stopped by a small stream. The leader of the team was a young man in his twenties or thirties named Lin Mu. He was a Han man from Gaochang who had joined the army five years ago. He had a bronze-colored face, a robust build, dark skin, and a handsome appearance. His hands were unusually large. He carried a bow on his back and a spear in hand, gazing deeply at the snow-capped Altun Mountains in the distance. A gray mist covered the snow-capped peaks, a sign that rain was coming. Lin Mu pointed his spear at the forest and ordered, “Go rest in the forest!”

The Tang soldiers turned their horses and rushed into a primeval pine forest. Soon, they entered the forest, where the shade was thick, the light dim, and the ground covered with thick pine needles. There were no signs of anyone having been there, and a few squirrels watched them curiously from the tree branches.

The Tang soldiers found a dry and flat spot, dismounted from their horses, took out water bags to give their horses some water, then sat down under large trees to drink water and eat rations.

A slender young soldier approached Lin Mu, smiling slyly and saying, “Captain, is there any news from above? Can you share a little with us?”
“I’m just a lowly captain—what news could I possibly know? Stop being curious and go rest,” Lin Mu replied impatiently while drinking water.
“But you’re the captain—you must know more than us!”
“That’s right! Captain, please tell us a bit! I heard there’s going to be a war—is it true?” asked another veteran nearby with a smile.
“Captain, please speak up!”
Seeing that everyone was asking him, Lin Mu said, “I don’t know much either. I heard that Tubo has already started attacking Longyou, so it should be time for us too. General Helou has led 5,000 troops to support Qiemo City. I guess Tubo will soon start attacking Anxi as well.”
All the soldiers gathered around, discussing eagerly. One veteran said, “Qiemo City originally only had 2,000 defenders. With another 5,000, that’s only 7,000 in total. As far as I remember, Tubo sends tens of thousands of soldiers whenever they attack. How can we possibly defeat them?”
“Are Tubo people that strong?” asked the young soldier earlier.
“Of course. Although they’re not very tall, they’re very robust, strong, and fierce. They fight to the death and won’t retreat until they’ve killed over 60% of their opponents. They’re even stronger than the Abbasid troops.”
“What about their weapons? Are they better than ours?”
“They’re not as good as our bows and arrows. They use swords, which aren’t as sharp as our broadswords. Their siege weapons aren’t great either, but their chainmail is quite good—weighing dozens of pounds and made of cast iron. Our needle-shaped piercing arrows are designed specifically to counter their chainmail.”
The veteran painted a terrifying picture of the Tubo people, causing concern in the eyes of many young soldiers. At that moment, Lin Mu waved his hand and said with a smile, “Actually, the Tubo people aren’t that scary. Back in Shibao City, didn’t our general lead 3,000 Tang troops to fight against nearly 100,000 Tubo troops? And three years ago, I participated in the Sabize Battle—didn’t we drive the Tubo people into despair? In fact, our Anxi army is the strongest in the world. Neither the Tubo nor the Abbasid troops can match us. More importantly, only by going to war do we have a chance to earn merits and promotions. Do you understand? Without fighting, we won’t have any chance to advance or get promoted. We’ll always remain ordinary soldiers.”
Suddenly, a soldier on patrol outside the forest rushed in, holding a small antelope in his hands. He said urgently, “Captain, look at this antelope!”

Seeing a short arrow stuck in the antelope, Lin Mu laughed and said, “You brat didn’t keep watch and went hunting instead?”
“It wasn’t me who shot this arrow.”
“What!” The soldiers were shocked and looked at each other in confusion—what was going on?
Lin Mu jumped up from the ground, walked quickly to the antelope, and pulled out the arrow. Holding it in his palm, he saw that the arrow was only one foot and five inches long—much shorter than the standard arrows of the Tang army. An old soldier beside him blurted out, “It’s a Tubo arrow!”
Lin Mu nodded and whispered to the others, “Don’t panic. Keep control of your horses and make sure they don’t make noise. We’re in hiding now; the Tubo people probably haven’t noticed us yet.”
The soldiers took out their bows and arrows from their backs, nocked them, and formed a semicircle around them.
Whether old or new recruits, these soldiers had received extremely strict training and knew they had to maintain strict unity at critical moments. Lin Mu, along with two old soldiers, rushed toward the edge of the forest. As soon as they reached it, they quickly hid behind two large trees. About two hundred paces away, by a stream, there was a group of Tubo soldiers washing their faces and drinking water—around thirty or forty of them, each with a horse. It was clearly also a Tubo army patrol.
“Commander, what should we do?”
Lin Mu pondered for a moment before whispering a few words in the ear of one of the old soldiers. The old soldier grinned and said, “This is a good idea! That kid looks even more feminine than a woman—she’ll definitely lure the Tubo army here.”
……
These Tubo sentries were part of the vanguard of the Tubo army, sent to scout the area around Sabizhe. After traveling all morning, they arrived at a stream at noon and came here to drink water and rest. After filling their water bags, they were about to leave when suddenly, the sound of horse hooves came from afar.
The Tubo sentries were highly alert. They immediately drew their swords and spears and looked in the direction of the horse hooves. Judging from the sound, it seemed there was only one person. Then, a young woman in a red dress rushed out from the edge of the forest. The bright red color strongly stimulated the desires of the Tubo sentries. Overjoyed, they mounted their horses, ready to intercept the woman.
As the woman neared the stream, she suddenly saw the Tubo soldiers. She screamed, turned her horse around, and fled back into the forest. The Tubo soldiers weren’t willing to let her go. Like wolves and tigers, they shouted excitedly and chased after her into the forest, their eyes fixed on the flicker of red moving up and down in the trees.

Inside the forest, the Tang army was already ready. They nocked their arrows and hid quietly behind the trees, waiting for the Tibetans to fall into their trap. Suddenly, a red-clothed “woman” rushed over and cursed in a woman’s voice, “You bastards! I almost got caught by the Tibetans!” The sound of rapid horse hooves drowned out her curses as she rushed past the ambush site. In just a moment, Tibetan soldiers rushed after them, shouting excitedly. Their lust reduced their vigilance, causing them to temporarily forget the danger. The moment they rushed into the ambush zone, the Tang army launched an attack. They fired their arrows in unison—nearly fifty arrows shot at the group of Tibetan soldiers at once. Caught off guard, more than a dozen of them were knocked off their horses, screaming in pain. The sudden turn of events stunned the Tibetan soldiers, who fled in panic. The swift Tang army unleashed another barrage of arrows, killing another dozen men who fell off their horses, screaming. In the end, only seven or eight of them managed to escape into the forest. The Tang patrol immediately split into two groups: fifteen soldiers stayed behind to kill the wounded Tibetan soldiers, while the rest pursued the main Tibetan force. Lin Mu led the charge. His archery skills were excellent—he knocked down three Tibetan soldiers with three arrows in a row, then used his spear to kill those who had fallen from their horses. The Tang army pursued relentlessly, traveling over twenty miles south before finally killing the last two Tibetan soldiers. A total of thirty-seven Tibetan scouts were killed by the Tang army, with one captured to be interrogated for information. Lin Mu let out a long sigh of relief and was about to return when suddenly, a deep horn sound came from afar. The Tang soldiers were shocked and turned around to see a massive force of Tibetan cavalry on the low hills about two miles away—thousands of men with black flags fluttering in the air. The Tang soldiers retreated in panic, at a loss as to what to do. Lin Mu acted quickly, killing the captured Tibetan prisoner with his sword, then shouting, “Tell the others to run fast and return to Sabi City to report that the Tibetan army is coming!” The Tang cavalry turned and rushed north. At that moment, the Tibetan army split into a group of several hundred cavalrymen who flanked the Tang patrol from both sides, closing in on them.

The Tang patrol troops came to the brink of death, but their rigorous training proved invaluable at this moment. Instead of trying to escape on their own, they formed a cohesive cavalry unit and returned the same way. At that point, one of the Tang warhorses stepped into a mouse hole, breaking its leg. With a pained cry, it fell heavily to the ground, throwing the rider three zhang away. The Tang soldiers did not abandon him; they removed their quivers and shields from their horses, helped their fallen comrade back onto the horse, and continued charging forward.

As time passed, the initial fear of encountering the Tibetan army faded, and the Tang patrol soldiers realized their overwhelming advantage. Relying on their superior Dayuan warhorses, they raced across the vast plateau grasslands, pulling further and further ahead of the shorter Tibetan horses.

Thirty li later, the Tibetan pursuers narrowed the gap from initially less than two li to five or six li. The Tibetan troops appeared as small black dots, gradually disappearing into the distance.

Just then, a fierce wind blew, bringing down torrential rain mixed with hailstones the size of eggs. The bright white hailstones bounced everywhere. The moment the rain hit, the Tang soldiers rushed into the forest where they had ambushed the Tibetan sentries.

Such extreme weather with rain and hail was rare in Anxi in autumn, but it was not uncommon in the Sabize area. To the north of Sabize lay the Altun Mountains, and to the south were the Kunlun Mountains, enclosing it like a huge valley. Its unique terrain gave it a climate very different from that of the plateau and Anxi, with heavy rain and hail being common in spring and autumn.

The sudden change in weather ultimately saved the Tang patrol troops. The Tibetan army stopped pursuing them, and they took shelter in a forest. This Tibetan army was the Western Route Army that had traveled a long distance from Loze. They were only the vanguard of a force of 30,000 troops, while the Tang patrol had only seen a few thousand of them.

The commander of this Tibetan army was Shang Jiasu, the deputy commander of the western expeditionary force. He was also an experienced Tibetan general. During the Battle of Xiaobo Li, Shang Jiasu had been the commander of the Tibetan forces there. At that time, he led 20,000 Tibetan troops stationed across the Suyi River. It was Li Qingan who cut down the rope bridge over the Suyi River, preventing them from crossing to support Xiaobo Li. Shang Jiasu watched helplessly as the Princess of Xiangxiong was shot down into the abyss by Li Qingan.

Afterward, he was severely punished by the old king Chizudezan and forced to build temples in Pibao City. It was not until a new king ascended the throne that he was reinstated. This time, he served as the commander of the vanguard in the expedition to Anxi alongside Shang Xidongzan.

Watching the sudden hailstorm, Shang Jiasu frowned deeply, worried about the unpredictable weather. The Tubo soldiers had traveled a long distance; if they couldn’t adapt to the local climate and fell ill, the consequences would be severe. Disease was one of the biggest threats in high-altitude warfare, affecting not only the Tang army but also the Tubo army. The Tang soldiers were prone to high-altitude sickness when going to high altitudes, while the Tubo people, on the other hand, became sick easily when moving from high altitudes to lower elevations.

At that moment, the troops chasing the Tang army’s scouts returned. The leading centurion reported to Shang Jiasu, “General, we failed to catch up with the Tang army. Their horses are too fast.”

“A bunch of idiots!” Shang Jiasu cursed harshly. Yet another concern arose in his mind: if the Tang army’s horses were so fast, did it mean their cavalry might not be a match for the Tang cavalry? Disturbed, he waved his hand and ordered, “Pass my order—the main force shall camp here and rest for a day.”

……

The Tang army’s scouting cavalry rushed into the forest and encountered fifteen of their comrades waiting there. Aside from losing one warhorse, all the soldiers were safe, and they captured many supplies and over twenty warhorses.

The Tang army’s patrol soldiers took shelter in the forest from the rain, while the two team leaders and five fire commanders gathered to hold a brief meeting.

Team leader Lin Mu said to everyone, “As we saw just now, there are thousands of Tubo troops. Unfortunately, we were in a lower position while the Tubo army was on the high slopes. We couldn’t see the full extent of their forces—how many they have or how many more will arrive. We have no idea. If we go back like this, we won’t be able to report to General Luo. So we’ve decided to divide into three groups. Thirty of us will go back first to report, while the other two groups of ten each will keep an eye on the Tubo army here and continue south to check for any follow-up troops. Myself and Deputy Team Leader Wang will definitely stay with one group each. As for who will stay with the other group, we’ll decide by drawing lots, as per tradition.”

Drawing lots to decide fate was a tradition of the Anxi army. Back when Li Qing’an was still a junior scout commander, he often used lot draws to assign tasks to his subordinates. The method was simple: Lin Mu picked five branches, three long and two short, holding them so that the exposed parts were even in length. Whoever drew the shorter branch would stay behind to carry out the dangerous mission. It was a fair way to decide. Lin Mu turned his back, aligned the five branches, and said, “Let’s begin! Who wants to go first?”

Five fire chiefs stepped forward one after another to draw lots. Coincidentally, the second and fourth fire chiefs drew the lots, both even numbers. Lin Mu patted their shoulders and said with a smile, “Go! Tell the others that the rain will stop soon, and we should set off now.”
It was entirely normal for some to draw the lots and others not. Those who drew them had no complaints, and those who didn’t were not overjoyed. They mounted their horses, divided into three groups, and rushed in different directions. By then, the heavy rain mixed with hail had gradually stopped, and the sun came out. The snow-capped peaks of the Altun Mountains in the distance shone with magnificent golden light under the sunlight.