Chapter 1581: If you want to see a person alive, you want to see a corpse if you die
"Zhao Chen?" Late at night, Li Ruoshuang woke up from a nightmare.
He dreamed of Zhao Chen's back surrounded by Tibetan troops on a hillside, with only a few dozen people left around him.
The Tubo army fired arrows at Zhao Chen, and Zhao Chen was finally forced to jump off the cliff.
"Mother?" Xiaopingan was awakened by Li Ruoshuang. He rubbed his eyes and looked at Li Ruoshuang in confusion.
"It's okay, you can continue to sleep." Li Ruoshuang comforted Xiao Ping'an, but there was worry that could not be wiped off his face.
It has been more than half a month since he separated from Zhao Chen, and he now has no news about Zhao Chen.
Moreover, Wu Xu also said that he would join forces with Tubo to deal with the Tang Dynasty, which made Li Ruoshuang feel even more dangerous.
Today's nightmare filled him with worry. At this moment, he desperately wanted to see Zhao Chen, but dozens of Gao Changguo guards were guarding the door, and he had no chance to leave.
It was not until dawn that Li Ruoshuang saw Wu Xu coming in from outside the hall.
"What else are you doing here?" This is the first time Wu Xu has come here in these days.
Li Ruoshuang both cherishes and hates Wu Xu.
If it weren't for the alliance between Wu Xu and Tubo, how could Niu Jinda's 30,000 defenders be trapped in the capital of Gaochang?
If there were these 30,000 troops, Tibet probably wouldn't have to expend so much effort.
But now...
"I came over to see if Sister Ruoshuang is doing well. If you need anything, just tell me..."
"No, I don't want to see you!" Li Ruoshuang interrupted Wu Xu.
Wu Xu was stunned, and nodded slightly with a wry smile: "Niu Jinda and the others have food and drink in the city, you don't have to worry."
Li Ruoshuang didn't speak, but when he heard that nothing happened to Niu Jinda, he felt relieved a lot.
Then there was a long silence in the hall, and Wu Xu opened his mouth.
He seemed to want to say something, but in the end he let out a long sigh, saluted Li Ruoshuang, and turned to leave.
The door of the main hall was closed again, and a few dim lights shone on Li Ruoshuang's face, making it difficult to see any expression.
…
"General where should we go now?"
To the west of Yanmen Pavilion, the Tubo general looked at Luoxi in front of him with confusion in his eyes.
After chasing for a whole day, they failed to catch Zhao Chen, the king of Han Dynasty in the Tang Dynasty.
At present, there are only a few dozen war horses left on the hillside, and there is no trace of half of the Tang Dynasty cavalry.
No one would have thought that the cavalry of the Tang Dynasty would be so decisive. Faced with the rain of arrows behind them, they jumped down the hillside without hesitation.
There were no more people visible under the rushing river, and they didn't know whether Zhao Chen's people were dead or alive.
Luo Xi also felt very confused at this moment. Now that the army's granary was burned down, it was impossible for the 100,000 troops to stay here any longer. WeChat himself had no choice but to withdraw his troops immediately and meet up with Songtsan's cadre headquarters.
But he failed to catch Zhao Chen and the army granary was burned. Will Songtsen Gampo let him go?
Losey was a little worried, but he had to make a choice after all.
"How many more troops do we have?" Losey asked the general on the side.
"Reporting to the general, we have only about 30,000 people gathered at the moment, but there is not much food and grass left in the army. If we want to return to His Majesty's headquarters, we have to find a way to raise food and grass, otherwise many people may starve to death on the road." The general.
Replying to Losey's words.
They lost their granary and originally came to pursue Zhao Chen, so they brought almost no food and grass.
And they are now at least hundreds of miles away from Songtsen Gampo's headquarters, and this is the Gobi desert, so they can't get there in seven or eight days.
The remaining soldiers of Luoxi's army all looked worried, how could they go back without food.
Looking at the leader, Luo Xi, many people had angry looks on their faces.
One hundred thousand of them were killed by the Tang Dynasty's 10,000 cavalry, and even the granaries were burned down.
There were only 30,000 people left in the 100,000-strong army. Even the Prime Minister Ludongzan sent by Songtsan's cadres was killed by the Tang cavalry. If Luo Xi had not listened to dissuasion, how could such a thing have happened?
Losi also clearly noticed that something was wrong with the way the soldiers looked at him. He also knew that this time it was all because of his own mistakes in decision-making that led to the army's defeat.
He was the one who caught Zhao Chen. Songtsen Gampo would definitely not say anything. But the problem is, Zhao Chen didn't catch him either. He didn't even catch a Tang cavalry person.
If Songtsen Gampo knew this, wouldn't he have killed Luo Xi alive?
"Second order, Zhao Chen, chased by our army, had jumped off a cliff and committed suicide. Zhao Chen's body was found under the cliff. It had been broken into pieces. Therefore, the body was not brought back to lead Zhao Chen's bloody horses.
Go back and hand it over to Your Majesty!" Luo Xi turned around and said to the general beside him.
At the moment, he had only one way. If he didn't tell Songtsen Gampo that he had killed Zhao Chen when he returned home, then it would definitely be him, Luo Xi, who died.
Although Zhao Chen's body was not found, and he was not even sure whether Zhao Chen was dead or not, Luo Xi thought to himself, is it possible to survive after jumping from such a height?
Moreover, Songtsen Gampo himself didn’t know whether Zhao Chen was dead or not. He even brought Zhao Chen’s bloody horse back. How could Zhao Chen survive?
The plan for now is to save your own life first.
The general beside him immediately understood Luo Xi's intention and nodded repeatedly: "The general said it, my subordinates understand!"
After leading dozens of Tang Dynasty war horses away, the mighty Luoxi army slowly returned the way they came.
…
"General, there is no trace of His Highness the King of Han!"
"Only on a hillside, traces of a large number of cavalry were found. Behind the hillside is a fast-flowing river. We suspect..."
Li Jing was sitting in the central military tent, listening to the reports of his generals, his heart thumped again, and his face immediately fell.
He understood what the general meant, it must be that Zhao Chen was chased to the hillside by Luoxi's army, and then, with no way out, he jumped into the river.
"Send people to search. No matter what, we must find His Highness the King of Han."
"General, the river is very fast, and it is very steep on this side. The soldiers cannot get down at all. There are also high mountains on the other side of the river, and there is no way to get down to the river!"
"I don't care. If you want to see people alive or dead, you must find His Highness the King of Han." Li Jing's irritable voice came from the Chinese army tent.
Not caring about anything else, the generals under his command sent a large number of soldiers to search for the place where the Tang cavalry last disappeared.
But ten days later, they still couldn't find any trace of Zhao Chen. They only found several corpses of Tang Dynasty cavalry that fell on the edge of the cliff.
Li Jing's face was full of sorrow. He had no idea how he should report this matter to Chang'an now.
Zhao Chen was neither alive nor dead, so if the emperor knew about it, how could he not be angry?
But even if the emperor was angry, Li Jing still had to send the news back to Chang'an.
"Your Majesty, Li Jing, is unworthy of His grace. In the battle of Yanmen Pavilion, His Highness the King of Han led 10,000 cavalry to defeat the 100,000 defenders of Luoxi, burned their granaries, and beheaded tens of thousands. However, God failed to catch him, and His Highness the King of Han was pursued by the Luoxi army..."