On the east bank of Qinghai Lake in the West Sea, a group of soldiers and horses are moving south along the lake shore.
The cold wind howling from time to time on the lake is blowing the faces of all the soldiers like knives, and the heavy snow on their faces is still falling. .
In order to hide their tracks in the snow in the wild, everyone was wearing a white cloak.
Zhao Ziliang, who was riding at the front, was already covered with a thick layer of snowflakes, and even the red tassel on his helmet was covered with snowflakes.
Snow white.
Feeling a little thirsty, Zhao Ziliang rode his horse to the side and asked the people behind him to continue moving forward.
He got off the horse and reached out to grab a handful of snow on the ground, stuffed it into his mouth and chewed it.
His short, inch-long beard was already covered with frost.
Long white vapors kept coming out of the mouth and nostrils.
The knee-deep snow made the march of the army extremely difficult, and the marching speed was slowed down by at least half.
The captain of the guard, Bulhan, was the deputy general this time.
He rode up from behind the team, jumped off his horse and squatted on the ground to chew.
Zhao Ziliang from Xueshui said: "General, the marching speed is too slow.
Even if you want to go faster, you can't go faster.
If this continues, we are afraid that we will not be able to reach the Chiling Pass late at night.
Moreover, the wind and snow are so strong that many soldiers have exhausted a lot of energy and slowly started to distance themselves.
Sooner or later, we will fall behind.
If we fall behind in the heavy snow and wind here, In the wilderness, there is only a dead end.
Should we let the soldiers take a rest?"
Zhao Ziliang stood up and shook his head and sighed: "No, I can't rest.
In this situation, I will never get up again if I lie down.
I can only grit my teeth and persist.
When we reach the leeward place, we will boil some hot soup and make some hot food for the soldiers.
Warm yourself up, definitely not at this time.”
Zhao Ziliang stopped without saying anything.
Brahan was surprised and asked: "General, what's the matter?"
Zhao Ziliang looked at the thick ice on the lake on the right, then turned to look at the shields carried behind the soldiers, the spears held in their hands, and the horizontal swords slung around their waists.
His eyes lit up, and he immediately clapped his hands: " Got it” Brahan didn't know why, "General, what's going on?"
Zhao Ziliang immediately said: "Bolehan, send the order and let all the soldiers get on the ice of the lake."
After hearing this, the muscles on Bo Lehan's face trembled, and he said with a sad face: "General, there are not many people in the army who can slide on the ice, and they can't stand firmly.
How can we march?"
Zhao Ziliang waved his hand: "This is easy to do.
Let everyone put their shields on the ice.
People sit on the shields and slide forward with spears or knives.
In order to prevent falling behind, take out the ropes and let the soldiers We are all tied together.
If we encounter an enemy, we will immediately cut off the ropes and fight."
The ice layer on the lake is at least thirty centimeters.
With such a thick ice layer, even tanks and planes can move forward without any problem.
Brahan's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he quickly said: "No, I will give the order right now."
After the order was given, everyone moved from the edge of the lake to the ice in the lake.
The soldiers spread their shields on the ice.
The people sat on them and supported them with their hands.
The shields slid forward a short distance carrying the people. , which made everyone cheer.
When the school captain, brigade commander and team leaders saw that it was indeed feasible, they immediately began to organize their soldiers to line up in formation.
The soldiers each took out ropes to tie themselves to the soldiers in front and behind them, so as to prevent falling behind and also to prevent them from falling behind during encounters.
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When you reach the enemy, quickly cut off the rope and find your own team and commander, so that you will not be unable to find the soldiers and the soldiers cannot find the general when attacked.
Under Zhao Ziliang's guidance, the mounted officers and scouts wrapped their horses' hooves in cloth so that they could trot on the ice.
As long as they didn't gallop, there wouldn't be much of a problem.
The speed of marching like this is indeed greatly increased, and it is even faster than the normal marching speed.
This section of the lake can completely make up for the previous delay.
The infantry team of one thousand people lined up in a neat rectangle on the lake and slid quickly towards the south bank of the West Sea.
The friction between their shields and the ice made a dull sound.
The entire team moved forward quickly like a white torrent without any confusion.
Zhao Ziliang and his army The lieutenants and generals rode at a trot on one side of the procession.
After running for a while, Zhao Ziliang reined up his horse and stopped, waving to Brahan behind him.
When he reined up his horse and stopped, he ordered: "Send some scouts to go out ten miles to investigate.
In addition to detecting the enemy's situation, we must also find the Daotang River.
At the intersection with the West Sea, we will turn eastward there.
After turning, let the sentry find a mountain depression for the army to rest and eat."
Brahan cupped his hands and said, "I understand."
The Daotang River does not flow into the West Sea, but into the Zihu Erhai in the West Sea.
If the scouts had not been lucky and caught a Qiang man digging through the ice by the lake to fish, otherwise he would have been in this vast place.
It is not easy to find the intersection of Daotang River and Xihai in heavy snow.
The Daotang River is also covered with a thick layer of ice, and the river's trend is not very different.
It can be used by the army to glide on the ice.
The scouts found a place on the north bank of the Daotang River near Riyue Mountain.
The terrain is relatively flat and there are many trees in the mountain depression.
The key is the leeward direction.
Zhao Ziliang ordered the army to rest here for an hour and make a fire to cook.
It was already late in the afternoon, and the army was resting in this mountain depression.
The cooks stared at the severe cold and cooked food for the soldiers, making broth.
In order to ward off the cold, a lot of ginger was added to the broth.
After a full meal, the soldiers were warm and gathered together to sleep and rest to replenish their physical strength.
An hour later, the army continued to set off.
Most of the soldiers had eaten and drank enough and slept again.
Although the quality of sleep in this ice and snow was not very good, they at least regained most of their energy.
There are many bends in the Daotang River, which makes the army's march longer, but this is not a problem.
The soldiers can slide much faster on the ice than on flat ground.
At nightfall, the army stopped at a small village and went ashore.
Zhao Ziliang ordered the army not to enter the village.
Instead, they passed directly by the village and turned north on the Tang-Tibet Ancient Road.
Although the herdsmen in the village felt that There was a large group of people outside the village, but when they saw that this group of people did not enter the village, but headed north, and they couldn't see clearly at night, they ignored it.
On the left is the Daotang River and on the right is the vast prairie.
Zhao Ziliang led the army on the ancient Tang-Tibet road.
The captured guide did not lead the way randomly because he was afraid.
There was a crunching sound under the feet as they stepped on the thick white snow.
No one in the team spoke, only the sound of heavy breathing and the friction of weapons and armor.
The captured local guide was walking next to Zhao Ziliang.
At this time, he pointed to the hills on the left and right in the distance in front and said: "Sir, that is Chiling.
You see, between the two slightly higher hills is the Chiling Pass. " Zhao Ziliang looked at the blurry shadows of mountains in the distance in the night, nodded and said: "Okay, you will stay with us for the next two days.
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When the war is over, we will naturally let you go and give you money, but Don’t even think about escaping, otherwise you will die, do you understand?”
The guide nodded repeatedly and said: "I understand, I understand, adults and villains don't run away, don't run away."
After walking for a while, we finally arrived at the foot of Chiling Mountain an hour earlier than scheduled.
After crossing the Chiling Mountain Pass and walking twenty miles further, we will reach Shibao City.
However, Zhao Ziliang was not prepared to rush all night to attack Shibao City.
The march would take such a long time.
The soldiers have long been exhausted, and they must be given a certain amount of time to rest and replenish their physical strength.
Zhao Ziliang ordered to set up camp and rest at the foot of Chiling Mountain, and asked the cooks to make some hot food for the soldiers to replenish their calories and physical fitness.
He also sent out sentries to guard the surroundings.
This place was located behind the sight of Stone Castle, so even lighting a fire at the foot of the mountain would be difficult.
They would not be discovered, and the Tubo people would never have thought that the Tang army would appear behind them.
The soldiers were eating and resting in the camp.
Zhao Ziliang and Bulhan walked to the Chiling Pass.
If the weather is clear during the day, they can see the Shibao City twenty miles away.
Zhao Ziliang turned his head and looked at the hills on the left and right, and sighed to Brahan: "It was here that Princess Wencheng and Princess Jincheng went to Tubo to get married.
As powerful as the Tang Dynasty, they could not avoid using women to exchange for peace.
With one or two Is it right or wrong for the emperor and the court to exchange a woman's body and lifelong happiness for a country's peace and prosperity for several years or even decades?"
After hearing this, Bo Lehan touched his head and said: "General, I don't understand the truth, but if you are a subordinate, I will never sacrifice your own woman in exchange for your own survival."
Zhao Ziliang sighed: "A person's position determines his vision and angle of looking at things.
For the emperor and the court, if a woman can be used to exchange for the peace of the country, in their opinion, it is worth sacrificing a person's lifelong happiness. , in exchange for peace in the world, this deal is Forget it, they didn’t look at whether the sacrificed person was willing.
Princess Wencheng was only sixteen years old when she married Tubo.
In fact, our dynasty had already defeated Tubo militarily at that time.
After Tubo was defeated, Songtsan Qian Bu sent an envoy to Chang'an to ask for an audience with Emperor Taizong, and asked for the princess of our court to be with him.
Although our court won the battle, it suffered a lot of losses.
The court was eager to stop the war, and Tubo happened to surrender and propose marriage.
The emperor and the court gained face, and the lifelong happiness of a woman who was just a member of the clan was restored.
What does it matter?
I don’t know what happened to Princess Wencheng and Duke Jincheng back then.
Whether the master was voluntary or not, but regardless of whether they were voluntary or not, at least after they married to Tubo, the two countries did not have a war for decades.
In our Chinese history, such extraordinary women as Princess Wencheng and Princess Jincheng are few and far between.
But Bo Han, do you think they are worthy of our respect?"
Brahan nodded heavily and said nothing.
"Well, after we capture Shibao City and the surrounding Wubao, we will find craftsmen to carve the statues of the two princesses out of stone and set them up on both sides of the Chiling Pass for future generations to admire."
Zhao Ziliang said with a flick of his eye.
Cloak turned and walked down the pass.
"No," Brahan agreed and quickly followed
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