Chapter 25: Linked Fates (5)

The next day, Zhang Shouyu recommended over twenty veterans from the Hexi Army to help at the Tongwu Camp. Li Kuo accepted them with deep gratitude and appointed them to lower-ranking positions such as team leaders, deputy leaders, clerks, and military advisors, based on their skills and strengths. Li Kuo felt a sense of gratitude toward Zhang Shouyu, who was both a mentor and a friend. Although Zhang Shouyu held great prestige in the Hexi Army, he never used his influence to oppress others; instead, he always offered help when Li Kuo was in trouble.

Only after becoming this Commandant did Li Kuo realize that the greater the position, the more responsibilities one had, and thus the more troubles one would encounter. Unlike his comrades from the Shence Army, who had fought side by side through life and death, the soldiers of the Longyou Garrison were mostly unruly and arrogant scoundrels. These veteran ruffians paid no attention to the sixteen-year-old commandant at all, maintaining only the most basic order out of respect for hierarchy.

Li Kuo did not react immediately. He quietly promoted comrades from the Shence Army to key positions in the army and watched the situation unfold. These scoundrels were easy to deal with—under the leadership of a few troublemakers, they took the initiative to provoke trouble, attempting to stage a rebellion to drive away the new commandant. But just as these ruffians were inciting chaos, the Shence Army comrades, who had been waiting in ambush, rushed out from all sides, overpowered them, and captured them on the spot. After a brief interrogation, the commandant handed these troublemakers over to the military judge. Following the Tang Dynasty’s military regulations, the judge sentenced each of them to seventy lashes for charges of “disrespecting superiors and causing trouble.” After being whipped, these seemingly tough men cried out for mercy and pleaded with the commandant.

Seeing the commandant’s ruthless actions, the rest of the unruly soldiers put down their complaints and began training seriously. Their commandant was a prominent figure from Chang’an, the capital of the Western Capital, with broad insights. After observing the lazy attitude of the Longyou veterans, he ordered the entire camp to improve its military discipline. Under the leadership of Brigade Commander Zhang Yanji, Brigade Commander Zhou Wucui, and several newly promoted Longyou veterans, the soldiers ran twenty laps around the training ground every day, regardless of weather. Most impressively, the commandant led by example, running at the front. This made it impossible for those who wanted to slacker off by claiming illness. If their own commandant, who was so important, could keep up with everyone, there was no reason for them to be lazy!

Li Kuo’s strict self-discipline won the respect of all soldiers in the Tongwu Camp. Under the leadership of their own commander, the camp’s discipline improved significantly, and miraculously, every soldier was present for ten consecutive days of roll calls. Before the New Year, General Geshu Han held a parade at the military training ground, and almost all soldiers from Longyou were inspected. The newly formed Tongwu Camp impressed General Geshu Han with their uniform steps and highly disciplined behavior. As a reward, they received thirty Iron Turk lambs and a hundred jars of aged wine. The soldiers gathered around the campfire, enjoying the meat, wine, and lively conversations about women. There was no greater joy in life than this. All of this was thanks to their commander, General Li. Though only sixteen years old, he was a talent in both literature and martial arts. He was skilled in military strategy, an excellent archer, and proficient in wielding a spear. He also had a thorough knowledge of classic military texts like The Art of War by Sun Tzu. With such an outstanding general leading them, it was hard for anyone not to stand out! (Note 1) As for Li Sheng, whom General Li brought back in an exceptional manner, everyone called him the “God Who Shoots the Sun.” At first, they thought he was just a relative of General Li who got into the camp through connections. But when he shot three arrows from a hundred paces away and hit the target each time, everyone admired him and gave him thumbs up. The border troops in Longyou were different from the central army; although they sometimes joked too much, they truly respected those with real skills. Li Sheng’s miracle of shooting down two pigeons with one arrow during General Geshu Han’s inspection brought great honor to the camp, so why wouldn’t they treat him differently? As for the envious looks from soldiers in other camps, they simply ignored them. After all, those soldiers didn’t have a good commander like theirs—so be it! General Li ate and lived with them, never treating them differently. They truly admired him. In these times, serving under a commander who cared for his soldiers was better than anything else.

Under the leadership of their own commander, the troops practiced formations and tactics, then coordinated their movements. Finally, with the guidance of the military instructor, they focused on training in areas such as archery coverage and light cavalry maneuvers. It should be noted that although they numbered only six hundred, they formed a separate scout battalion. Scout battalions were highly valued in the army—whether it was armor, horses, or weapons, their equipment was by far the best among the forces in Longyou. As the saying goes, scouts are the eyes and ears of an army. If you become blind or deaf, no matter how skilled you are in combat, there’s no way to use those skills, right? (Note 2) Besides the daily drills, Li Kuo, the commander of the Tongwu Battalion, would often lock himself in a room to discuss military strategies with his close friends from Chang’an. His uncle Gao gave him a notebook containing his own years of battlefield observations. Though not as elaborate as other military treatises, it was detailed and realistic.

Strategic planning, ambushes, siege tactics, cavalry harassment, and formation adjustments—these seemingly simple concepts became utterly confusing when put into practice. Li Kuo used the notes recorded by Gao Shi, combined with the characteristics of the Tongwu Battalion, to guide the troops in repeated drills, thus elevating their understanding of military strategy to a new level.

On the tenth day of the first month in the seventh year of Tianbao, Chang’an sent a special envoy to the Longyou army to convey the emperor’s greetings and encourage the troops to drive out the Tibetans and serve the Tang Dynasty. Everyone cheered enthusiastically, and the atmosphere was extremely lively. In their eyes, the tiny Tibetans were insignificant compared to the Tang Dynasty; they believed they could easily force these unruly highland barbarians to kneel.

By the end of March, the Tang Dynasty’s war machine began to move. The emperor appointed Ge Shu Han, the governor of Longyou, as the commander-in-chief, mobilized 30,000 troops from Hexi and Shuofang regions, and ordered the Abusi tribe of the Turks to provide support for Longyou.

By late April, nearly 150,000 Tang troops had gathered in the Hehuang region. At the same time, grain was transported from Guanzhong and Bashu to Longyou. The court conscripted 300,000 able-bodied men from five provinces—Shan, Lan, Yuan, Jing, and Long—as reinforcements, along with nearly a million ox carts and horse carts to supply the army.

For hundreds of miles along the ancient Tang-Tibet road, caravans of horses, sheep, and carts carried grain, military equipment, tents, and other supplies to Longyou.

The war greatly affected rice prices in Guanzhong. Due to the large amount of grain sent to Shanzhou, rice prices soared from 10 wen per dou at the end of the Kaiyuan era to 100 wen per dou. The emperor ordered the Ministry of Revenue to release grain from the imperial granaries to stabilize prices. Yang Zhao, the vice minister of the Ministry of Revenue, cried out that there were less than 500,000 dan of grain left in the granaries, not enough to sustain the army for even three months. Enraged, the emperor ordered grain to be transported from Hedong to Guanzhong.

Meanwhile, the Tubo forces also made comprehensive preparations for the battle in the Hehuang region under the command of their new king, Trisong Detsen. On one hand, he contacted the new ruler of Nanzhao, Ge Lufeng, to draw the Tang forces’ attention from the south, while on the other hand, he urgently dispatched 100,000 troops from Tubo, Tuyuhun, and Qiang tribes from areas such as Wuhai and Jiuku, along with 200,000 slaves and women for logistical support, and 300,000 sheep and horses from the plateau to the Dafei River region. Together with the 40,000 troops already stationed at Chiling, this amounted to a total of 140,000 soldiers and hundreds of thousands of slaves, who confronted the Tang forces on the south side of Chiling.

General Dazhalugong took on the command of this campaign in a time of crisis. The defeated general Tieren Xiluoluo was pardoned by the king and was given 3,000 troops to lead, stationed in Shibao City. Tubo committed its entire national strength to this battle in Hehuang, as it was also crucial to the fate of their kingdom.

For both the Tang Dynasty and Tubo, this battle was one they could neither afford to lose nor lose at all.

“This battle must end in victory—defeat is not an option. I order you to capture Shibao City before autumn; otherwise, I will hold you accountable!”

The emperor issued an ultimatum to General Geshu Han, and the great battle in Hehuang was on the verge of breaking out.

“Of course we must win! Not only must we win, but we must do so decisively, avenging all past grievances against those barbarian Tubo people!”

This was what Li Kuo, the commander of the Tongwu Camp, said during the mobilization for war.

The young man clenched his fists, his cold eyes showing a determination that didn’t match his youthful appearance.

Note 1: I won’t go into details about the first one. 《The Art of War》 was written by Li Jing, the military genius of the Tang Dynasty. In Liuyun’s view, although the Tang Dynasty had many famous generals, only Li Yaoshi could truly be considered a master strategist.

Note 2: Under the Tang Dynasty’s military system, one Zhechongfu unit consisted of 1,200 soldiers, led by a Zhechong Duwei, with Left and Right Guoyi Duweis under him. Here, the 600 soldiers of the Tongwu Camp were made into an independent unit because 1,200 soldiers seemed too many for a reconnaissance unit.