Chapter 625: Chapter 88: Stepping onto the Divine Mirror, Crossing the High Mountains

The sudden change caught everyone by surprise.

However, for the Tang Army, this was not an unacceptable bad news, even though they couldn’t deplete the opponent’s elite forces at Long Mountain.

At least, in terms of morale, the Tang Army had already gained the upper hand completely.

First year of the Zhide era, June.

After all preparations were completed, the army finally set out.

For this battle, Gu Yi had made exhaustive preparations. He not only mobilized all the knowledge he had accumulated but also gathered all the resources of the Gu Clan without sparing any effort.

The foremost among these were the professional physicians accompanying the army.

In fields other than this, it can be set aside for now, but at least regarding medicine, the Gu Clan can absolutely be considered the pinnacle of the world today.

Every time Gu Yi took charge, he would systematically help guide the family members, using his accumulated knowledge to clear the family’s direction.

On one hand, he himself was not fully proficient in medicine;

But more importantly, the path of medicine is different from other arts; it requires a steady pace and gradual accumulation.

Forcing advancement will only ruin these talents.

Yet even so, it was enough to establish the Gu Clan’s capabilities in this area.

For instance, to face the altitude sickness of today.

Historically, the Great Tang had very limited understanding of altitude sickness, mainly relying on experience and some rudimentary theories.

This indirectly led to several defeats in battles against Tubo.

But the present Gu Clan is entirely different.

Starting from Gu Jing’s generation, due to Gu Yi making Gu Jing aware of altitude sickness through the Spirit Communication Jade, the Gu Clan has begun specialized research on altitude sickness.

Over the years, they have recorded the different reactions of the human body at various altitudes,

and attempted various methods to alleviate these symptoms.

Of course —

From a modern perspective, these experiments are indeed relatively simple, but for the current era, it’s already quite remarkable.

After decades of research,

The Gu Clan now has a detailed understanding of altitude sickness and has even pre-stocked ’Rhodiola’, a herb that promotes blood circulation, relieves fatigue, and enhances physical resistance.

This is why Gu Yi aimed to penetrate directly into the heart of Tubo.

This is acting in line with the circumstances rather than reversing fate.

With these preparations by the Gu Clan, coupled with the knowledge stored in his mind, at least advancing to the plateau again was no longer a dead end.

The speed of the army was not fast.

This was also a direct order from Gu Yi; he first selected a group of physically strong soldiers to transport provisions in advance.

This could minimize the strain on the soldiers as much as possible.

But the routes must be strictly controlled to prevent the Tubo army from burning the supplies. All of this must be under strict surveillance.

In addition to that —

This also included the marching speed of the soldiers.

Gu Yi was not in a hurry to march; he wanted to give the soldiers’ bodies time to adapt.

Some people are physically fit while others are not.

Altitude sickness is like this; it does not affect everyone, and as the commander of the three armies, he must establish strict regulations.

It’s worth mentioning that the resources of the Gu Clan are indeed overwhelming.

The military doctors accompanying this expedition were already acclimatized to the plateau, and they were numerous, with a corresponding doctor in each camp.

These individuals were not subject to control by anyone else but connected directly with Gu Xuan.

Moreover, Gu Yi had set very strict standards for them.

That is, whenever potentially fatal "altitude sickness" occurred, the affected person must be immediately evacuated, even if it were Guo Ziyi or Gao Xianzhi.

Of course, this also included Gu Xuan, the commander.

However, with the "Cure-All Talisman" around, altitude sickness wouldn’t manifest in Gu Xuan.

Under such circumstances, it was naturally impossible for the speed of the Tang Army’s march to be anything but slow.

.....

Luoxie City.

As the seat of the Tubo royal court, this place holds a strategically excellent position on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Located in the central part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, on the northern bank of the Lhasa River, a tributary of the Yarlung Zangbo River, in the valley plain of the middle reaches of the Lhasa River, surrounded by mountains, with the Nyainqentanglha Mountains to the north as a natural barrier, and surrounded by the Budala Mountain, Medicine King Mountain, and Mopan Mountain.

Easy to defend and hard to attack—

It can be said to be a gift from the heavens.

Tubo had long received news of the Tang Army entering the territory, and the entire Tubo was greatly astonished at this news.

Whether it was the nobles of any tribe or Tsri Songtsen Gampo, the Zanpu, their first thought was that the Tang Army was insane.

People who do not revere the mountains dared to march so grandly through them.

If that’s not madness, what could it be?

Amidst this sentiment, Tsri Songtsen Gampo also sensed an unprecedented opportunity arising.

Red Mountain Palace.

This was the residence of the Tubo Zanpu, and its architecture was extraordinarily magnificent, not imitating the buildings of the Central Plains like other foreign races, but rather retaining its own characteristics.

At this moment, inside the Red Mountain Palace.

Tsri Songtsen Gampo stood atop the high platform of the Red Mountain Palace, his eagle-like gaze sweeping over the various clan leaders and nobles standing solemnly below, his voice as sharp and cold as the mountain winds:

"The Tang people recklessly invading the Divine Realm is sheer arrogance and ignorance, a desecration of the mountain spirits!"

"They disregard the protectors of the snow mountains, fearless of the Celestial God’s might, to dare set foot on our Tubo sacred land; such rebellious actions clearly show their utmost arrogance, leading to their self-destruction!"