Zhutian: Starting from the Space-Time Merchant

Chapter 594 Collapse and Pursuit

The wind is howling, the horses are neighing, and the cattle, sheep, and camels are roaring.

Rapid temperature changes lead to changes in airflow.

To put it simply, the wind picked up.

The night wind howled, fanning the flames as they raged.

Even a single spark blown off a tent can ignite a fire.

Countless cattle, horses, and camels released from the forest ran wildly within the main camp.

These creatures are inherently timid, and being surrounded by flames at night only intensifies their fear and madness.

Collisions and trampling engulfed everything in their path.

Now, within the main camp of the Tibetans, there is only one character.

chaos!
Seeing this, Lin Dao took out a signal gun and pointed it at the sky.

Three bright signal flares soared into the sky, extremely conspicuous.

The white-haired soldiers inside and outside the camps all saw it.

They were all professional soldiers and quickly acted according to the previous plan.

Carry the wounded and, if possible, take the remains of fallen comrades with you during the retreat.

When they left, they used up all the remaining wooden-handled grenades and the remaining fuel in the canisters without reservation.

These things were originally intended for use in attacking enemy forces.

Of course, there's no need to take it back now.

Amidst the endless chaos, the various white-haired soldier squads withdrew from their respective camps, regrouped at the agreed location, and quickly returned to the distant hillside.

Behind them lay a terrifying inferno, raging inferno.
Lin Dao walked backwards, his eyes fixed on the camp in the distance, which was engulfed in chaos.

It wasn't just one camp, but a series of large camps.

After all, it involved tens of thousands of people and an even larger number of livestock.

There are no multi-story buildings here; everything is laid out flat on the ground, making it extremely large in scale.

For this reason, Lin Dao led eight hundred warriors and focused their main target on the Tibetan camp.

At this moment, more than ten Tibetan camps of various sizes had transformed into fire dragons, with large flames shooting straight into the sky.

Amidst the light and shadow, the figures of people and livestock could be vaguely seen swaying back and forth.

Such a commotion naturally shook the nearby auxiliary troops and mixed barbarian camps.

The clamor and shouts from all directions were quite deafening.

"It is impolite not to reciprocate."

The ancients were right!

"I hope you will be satisfied with this return gift."

I'm not just satisfied, I'm absolutely thrilled.

As dawn broke, thick clouds rolled across the sky, and a light drizzle began to fall.

The drizzling rain fell on the messy Tibetan camp.

When the raindrops met the sparks, they sizzled and dissipated into white smoke.

Heavy rain follows a large fire; this is related to meteorological factors such as hot and cold air masses.

The increasing rain gradually extinguished the already few remaining flames.

The rising steam enveloped the campsites, creating a spectacular, hazy scene.

In fact, the fire had already begun to gradually die down at dawn.

After all, everything that could burn had already burned, and without fuel, the fire naturally couldn't continue.

Outside the camp, Dazhalugong, looking disheveled and with his face blackened by soot, knelt on the ground and wailed.

It's quite rare for someone his age to lose his composure like this.

Of course, that's understandable.

After all, tens of thousands of soldiers, as well as even more livestock and countless grain and supplies, were all devoured by the flames of last night.

For Tibet, this wasn't just a minor injury, it was a complete rip-off!
They claimed to have an army of hundreds of thousands, and perhaps that was indeed the case in terms of numbers, but the majority of them were servants accompanying the army, that is, slave soldiers.

Their true core fighting force numbers less than 100,000.

Last night's fire wiped out at least one-third of Tibet's fighting force.

Such losses, if transferred to the Central Plains, would be roughly equivalent to the loss of 70,000 armored soldiers in World War I.
Dazhalugong only wailed and cried, but did not go crazy because of it, which shows that he has a strong mentality.

The Tibetan soldiers around them were also in a sorry state.

They looked grief-stricken, tears streaming down their faces.

There was nothing they could do; what was consumed by the fire was all their own property.

That was the rule in Tibet; warriors were not only warriors, but also nobles.

The property of nobles naturally belongs to the nobles themselves.

They brought their slaves and property with them when they went to war; they were after the spoils of war.

But now~
The scene was filled with sorrow, which deeply touched the hearts of the surrounding servants and various non-Han people.

This is normal; the auxiliary troops and the mixed Hu people are inherently opportunists.

Back when the Tang Dynasty was powerful, everyone was willing to risk their lives for it. When they didn't have the chance to do so, they would cry and make a scene.

Nowadays, they only betrayed the Tang Dynasty and served the Tibetans because they saw that Tibet was powerful.

But now, looking at these wailing Tibetans before them, these barbarian barbarians must have other thoughts in their hearts.

If you're no longer capable, then of course I won't be with you anymore!

It's the same principle as how later generations complain about their girlfriends: when they have money, they're all sweet and affectionate, but when they're broke, they turn to someone else without hesitation.

If you run out of money, who will be with you?

I'm with you to live a good life, not to experience the bitterness of life.

That's exactly what the barbarian tribes are thinking now.

"Great Treatise (Great Appearance)!"

A scout came galloping up at breakneck speed. The rider dismounted and shouted to Dazha Lugong, "The Tang army is attacking!"

Upon hearing this, the surrounding weeping immediately ceased.

Dazhalu Gong stood up and roared fiercely, "Everyone prepare for battle! We must annihilate the Tang army!"

"Turn them into military rations!"

Many years ago, when he attacked Liangzhou, he turned the local Tang people into military rations.

Over the years, it has long become a habit.

On paper, the combined forces of the nomadic tribes were still far stronger than the Tang army.

They were still able to muster a force of about fifty to sixty thousand men.

They had at least a tenfold numerical advantage over the Tang army on the other side.

However, the battlefield is not just about numbers.

Morale is of utmost importance.

Thousands of white-haired soldiers from the Anxi and Beiting armies rode horses and pulled camels, charging forward in a mighty procession.

Located in the center of the formation was a Maxim machine gun mounted on a large cart and pulled by camels and horses.

Also sitting on the large vehicle were the flamethrower soldiers who had made great contributions.

The white-haired soldiers on the mountain, as well as the two Grand Protectors, all witnessed the burning of the camp last night.

I was so overjoyed at the time, I even cried.

As dawn broke, the allied forces, having eaten energy bars and biscuits and drunk coffee and juice, were in high spirits and marched down the mountain to attack.

The morale was incredibly high; even the white-haired soldiers believed they could take on ten men!

The order for Dazhalugong to assemble his troops became a dead letter.

The first to flee were those with unkempt, scruffy hair.

In fact, when the fire broke out last night, some of the miscellaneous tribes stationed far away began to flee.

Now, the morale of the Hu people has collapsed, and they have completely abandoned the orders of the Tibetans, running away faster than gazelles.

Following closely behind were large-scale vassal armies such as the Three Clans Karluks, the White-Clothed Turks, and the Shatuo Turks.

Their morale also suffered a devastating blow, and they lacked the confidence to confront the white-haired soldiers head-on.

The escape of the miscellaneous barbarians greatly stimulated these large tribes.

To put it bluntly, they were herdsmen, not well-trained professional soldiers.

When they're winning, they're all incredibly brave and fierce.

Even under the supervision of a powerful force, one can still grit one's teeth and proceed.

But now, in their eyes, the white-haired soldiers on the other side are monsters capable of using divine power.

The powerful Tibetan Empire, which was supposed to oversee them, had its backbone broken.

Why send them to the battlefield at this time?

After some discussion, the leaders of each tribe led their respective followers to disperse in different directions.

The escape of tens of thousands of people was an enormous undertaking.

Guo Xin and Yang Xigu, who were on horseback, immediately flattered Lin Dao upon seeing this scene.

"Master Lin is a master strategist!"

"Having defeated the Tibetans, these vassals are not worth mentioning."

Lin Dao touched his nose.

That's what he said, but his original intention was to leave all the Hu people behind.

Unexpectedly, these barbarian tribesmen were not stupid; as soon as they saw the situation was turning against them, they immediately fled.

Now, the only option is to seize upon the Tibetans and give them a good thrashing.

"Don't worry about them."

Lin Dao called out, "The Tibetans are running away too! Catch them and chase them to death!"

He was right; the Tibetans were indeed also fleeing.

The desertion of the mixed barbarian cannon fodder and auxiliary troops not only led to a sudden decrease in numbers, but also greatly affected the morale of the Tibetan army.

The same applies not only in the era of cold weapons, but also in the era of firearms.

There have been countless instances where people fled, triggering a chain reaction of defeats.

"Oh~~~"

Having finally calmed down, Dazhalugong sighed and said, "Withdraw the troops!"

With the current morale of the army, fighting against the Tang army would be impossible unless those white-haired soldiers on the other side were so old that they would pant after walking two steps and die of exhaustion after walking a dozen steps.

Otherwise, failure is inevitable!
Withdrawing troops is not an easy task.

At first, Dazhalu Gong wanted to organize his troops for a planned retreat and even arranged for a rearguard force.

Once the retreat began, the Tibetans, who had already suffered heavy losses, fled uncontrollably.

Even the rearguard was the fastest to run.

Because the white-haired soldiers behind them were already galloping after them.

The vast geographical environment of the Western Regions dictated that the region could only be dominated by cavalry.

Both the Anxi Army and the Beiting Army had powerful cavalry units.

Especially the Beiting army, which followed Yang Xigu to Xizhou, were mostly cavalry.

Now that enemies meet, their eyes are filled with hatred, and the pursuit is incredibly frenzied.

The battlefield stretched out in a blur of corpses and wailing wounded soldiers who had fallen from their horses.

On the way, Dazhalugong also went on a desperate spree, gathering a group of men who could still be controlled and obeyed military orders, attempting to launch a counterattack.

At first, they did catch the Tang army's pursuers off guard, and even forced them to retreat.

Soon, Maxim machine guns carried by horses and camels arrived on the battlefield.

When the Tibetan cavalry charged, these heavy machine guns spat out terrifying tongues of fire, sending greetings from the King of Hell.

Under the fire of the Maxim machine guns, the Tibetan counterattack was completely crushed.

After that, it was a race against time, a matter of life and death.

This pursuit even extended all the way to the capital of Tingzhou.

The county seat of Jinman County!

(End of this chapter)