Others may not know where the border guards went, but the people of Pyu State in the border areas know it very well.
When the Tang army came, the border guards did not think of resisting. Instead, they looted all the villages in the border area first.
According to them, instead of letting the Tang army rob you all, it would be better for us to rob you in advance. At least these things will not fall into the hands of the Tang army.
These people simply chose to turn a blind eye to the complaints of the people. They had not received their military salaries for three months. If they did not take advantage of the chaos to get some money at this time, they would not know how to live after running back.
The local people had lived in the border area for a long time, and many of them were hunters in the mountains and had some martial arts skills, so when these defeated soldiers came to rob, they took out their weapons without saying a word.
When the Tang army arrived, they discovered this strange scene. We didn't need to take action at all. The border residents and border guards were fighting each other, and every move was fatal.
"If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would have thought I was seeing a ghost."
The troops under Chang Sun Chong rushed the fastest. When he saw dozens of corpses at the entrance of the village, he really didn't know what to say. These people were the original border guards, and some of them were local villagers.
"General, what about us?"
Since there are no strong men left in the village, shouldn't we implement the strategy of fighting to support the war?
"Don't be blinded by these petty gains. Our mission is to get all the soldiers in some border cities to give up entering the villages and continue to mount their horses."
Chang Sun Chong's strategy was very simple. If the villagers did not attack us, we might as well let them go. The most important thing was to occupy the city first. Compared with the wealth in the city, these places were too poor and had little oil and water. It was not worth our effort and time.
Everyone in the village was trembling. What they feared most was that the Tang army would rush in. Just now, when they were watching the battle of the Pyu army by the river, many young and strong people in the village had died. Unexpectedly, the Tang soldiers did not rob, but instead went away.
"What's going on? The Tang army didn't do anything to us, but it was our own army that killed so many people."
Many people in the village started crying. Their sons and husbands had died in the previous conflict, and the entire village would be at the mercy of others from now on.
This situation is not uncommon in a few border areas. There are still nearly 20,000 defenders. When Li Xiang and his men came, they did not see a large group of troops at all. Except for more than a thousand prisoners, the rest must have run away.
From the warehouse at the border, it seems that these people did not take anything with them when they left. If they want to survive, they probably have no other choice but to rob the people in the border areas.
The common people are not fools. They have saved so much time to come up with such a small thing. If you take it all away, how can they live? The conflict between the two sides has not been mediated from the beginning. The room for survival is naturally to kill.
The prefect of Wa City was standing on the city wall at this moment, looking at the thick smoke rising in the distance, he knew that the army must be coming.
The Tang Dynasty Guild Hall hadn't been taken yet, and the entire city had less than 7,000 combatants...
The imperial court of Pyu Kingdom also ordered him to take 4,000 men to support the border and keep the Tang army out. He looked at the imperial order helplessly. "You are so reckless in the south. Don't you know that the Tang army is coming? Why are you keeping them out? Are you just because your men are old, weak, and sick these days?"
When attacking the Tang Dynasty Guild Hall, he saw that some of the Tang Dynasty soldiers inside were retired, and they beat us badly. If we really encountered the real Tang Dynasty army, how could we withstand it?
The Tang army...
When the prefect of Wacheng saw the big flag with the word "Tang" clearly in the distance, he knew that their doom had come. He thought it was the army running back from the border, but who knew that it was actually the Tang army. This army was the two thousand cavalry under Chang Sun Ze.
"How is this possible? We have so many troops at the border. Even if they were to escape, they should be ahead of the Tang army."
It was not known whether the prefect's words were directed at himself or others. At this moment, he had no strength left in his body and could only stand up with the support of his hands.
Not to mention the people around us, seeing the powerful Tang Dynasty cavalry in the distance, and they were pulling some strange things, coming from the border in such a short time, and in such a good spirit, why should we fight them?
Look at us, our faces are pale and we are so skinny, we are really not in the same league.
The most important thing is that a large amount of supplies are outside the city. Even if you want to defend the city, it is not an easy task.
"What are they doing?"
The prefect said in confusion that he had originally thought that after the army arrived, they should set up camp outside the city and rest for a day or two before attacking the city tomorrow. However, he did not expect that the army did not have any rest at all and took down the strange thing pulled by the warhorse, which seemed to be a crossbow.
"Catapult."
The soldiers on the city wall shouted loudly. Although the catapults could not hit them at this distance, they had to show their presence, otherwise the army below the city would really think that they could not do anything.
"Yes, yes, throw the stone quickly."
The prefect also thought that this might be their only means of counterattack. There was not even a commander in the entire city, and he, a civil servant, was asked to command. He felt like crying to death. He really didn't know how the Pyu court would arrange it.
Before the catapults on the city wall were ready, the crossbows outside had already started attacking.
Although the Tang army already had real artillery, it moved too slowly, so the generals still preferred to use this kind of crossbow.
More than a dozen crossbows tied with explosives flew out, and there was black smoke behind them. The soldiers of the Pyu Kingdom knew that this thing was not good for Xiang Yu, but when it really exploded on the city wall, they realized how powerful it was.
As soon as the two catapults were pushed out, they were blown to pieces. The soldiers on the city wall, including several soldiers nearby, were all dumbfounded...
