After receiving the news that the enemy troops were retreating across the board, Li Ye did not rush to pursue the enemy troops. Instead, he followed the enemy troops in a leisurely manner, always maintaining a distance of eighty to one hundred miles.
The only thing Li Ye was worried about was that Li Baochen and Tian Chengsi were heartbroken and would destroy what they couldn't get and burn Li Yangcang.
So he sent 25,000 men to defend Liyangcang, believing that Lei Wanchun would not let him down.
The siege of Ji County had been lifted. Xue Song began to think that the other party was deceiving him and deliberately pretended to retreat to lure him out of the city.
Until the scouts sent word that tens of thousands of imperial cavalry had arrived, the enemy troops were indeed withdrawing northward.
Xue Songcai was surprised and happy, but at the same time he was also very confused. How could the imperial court send tens of thousands of cavalry?
But no matter what, he must welcome the arrival of the imperial army.
Xue Song led hundreds of personal guards out of the city to welcome the arrival of the Tang army. At this time, scouts came to report again.
"Your Majesty, it's not the imperial army, it's the King of Qi who led 50,000 cavalry to bring it!"
Xue Song suddenly realized that it was King Li Ye of Qi who had arrived. No wonder there were tens of thousands of cavalry. No wonder Li Baochen and Tian Chengsi's troops fled in the face of the wind.
He hurriedly led his men to welcome the arrival of Qi King Li Ye.
Xue Song was about fifty years old, tall and strong, with very strong martial arts skills. He had a wide face and a dark and shiny face, which made him even more majestic.
He is the grandson of Xue Rengui. In the late Tianbao period, he was repeatedly suppressed by Yang Guozhong and was full of resentment towards the court. Anlushan rebelled and raised troops. He immediately surrendered to Anlushan and was highly valued by Anlushan.
In the later period, with the defeats of An Lushan and Shi Siming, he also realized that something was wrong and led his army to surrender to the court. At this time, the court was unable to hold the feudal generals accountable, so it was lucky to surrender.
Li Heng immediately appointed Xue Song as the military governor of Zhaoyi Army, leading the four prefectures of Xiang, Wei, Ming, and Xing. He also worshiped the three divisions of Yitong in Kaifu, inspected the right servant, and was a censor. He was also conferred the title of Prince of Pingyang County.
Although Xue Song was also a vassal town, he was the kind of vassal town that the imperial court liked. Officials from the four states were appointed by the imperial court, taxes were handed over to the imperial court, and then returned to him by the imperial court. The army also obeyed the imperial court's command, and the army also maintained a size of 20,000.
He did not resort to violence and cruelty to the people.
At this time, Li Ye's army came from the front in a mighty manner. Soon they came to the foot of Ji County City and stopped slowly. Xue Song quickly stepped forward and saluted, "I am the envoy of the Zhaoyi Army, and I am here to see His Highness the King of Qi!"
Li Ye smiled slightly and said: "General Xue, no courtesy. The enemy has retreated. I will continue to pursue the enemy and regain the lost ground. I will ask the general to handle the follow-up matters."
"This is a matter within my duties, but I am a little worried about Li Yangcang, I am afraid that it will be set on fire by the enemy!"
Li Ye waved his hand, "I have sent 20,000 troops to protect Liyangcang. It will be safe and sound!"
Xue Song was stunned for a moment, and then he realized that Li Yangcang was already on King Qi's plate.
He smiled bitterly and said: "There are still 400,000 shi of grain in the Liyang warehouse. After the war, the people in the four states are in poverty. Can you kindly ask your highness to take care of it?"
Li Ye said calmly: "I am only interested in the supplies in Liyangcang. The food is left to General Xue to help the civilians!"
Xue Song was overjoyed and quickly bowed and said: "On behalf of the people of the four states, I would like to thank His Highness for his kindness!"
Li Ye nodded, "Please ask the general to handle the enemy's camp. I will continue to lead the army to chase the enemy."
"Your Highness, please!"
Li Ye immediately ordered the army to continue heading north to pursue the enemy, and 50,000 cavalry headed north in a mighty manner.
Several generals under Xue Song felt strange and asked in a low voice: "Your Majesty, His Highness the King of Qi is chasing the enemy so slowly, can he catch up with him?"
Xue Song smiled bitterly, "We are lucky that he is willing to drive back Xue and Li's troops. Don't expect too much, otherwise we will be disappointed!"
Li Baochen and Xue Wei led their respective armies to flee north. Tian Wei was more kind than his father. He told Li Baochen that Liyangcang had been captured by the Tang army and that there were more than 20,000 Tang troops there.
This alerted Li Baochen, who was about to send troops to Liyangcang to rob a batch of grain, and sent spies to investigate.
The team was exhausted, and 40,000 troops lay in the field, too tired to move. There was a small river to the west, and many soldiers ran to fetch water.
Li Baochen sat on a big rock, drinking water and eating dry biscuits, but his eyes were thoughtful. What did he think of?
At this time, Tian Wei hurried over and asked, "Brother, are you looking for me?"
Tian Wei's sister married Li Baochen's brother, and they were considered in-laws.
"I'm just a little surprised. We ran more than a hundred miles, but the opponent was a cavalry. Logically, they should have caught up with us long ago, but now they are gone. Also, we passed Qilin Valley in the afternoon, so it should be the best way to intercept us.
The good thing is, since there are more than 20,000 people in Liyangcang, troops should be sent to intercept us and cut off our retreat, but nothing happened? I really can’t figure it out?"
Tian Wei hesitated and said: "This needs to be discussed with my father, I don't understand!"
"Forget it, wait for the news from Li Yangcang!"
Not long after, the spies who went to investigate Liyangcang came back, and they brought definite news.
"Prince Qi, there are indeed more than 20,000 Tang troops in Liyangcang. We saw with our own eyes that the opponent's general seems to be Lei Wanchun!"
Li Baochen knew that Lei Wanchun, the most powerful general under Li Ye, led more than 20,000 people and did not intercept him, which really puzzled him.
He sighed and stood up and said, "Let's rest for another hour before setting off!"
Three days later, Li Baochen and Tian Wei's 40,000-strong army retreated to Anyang County in Xiangzhou, but they received clear news that Li Ye's army was still following a hundred miles away, but it was no longer 50,000 cavalry, but an army of 70,000.
Li Yangcang's army also joined the pursuit team.
Li Baochen met Tian Chengsi in Anyang County. Tian Chengsi was also surprised that they were able to escape unscathed when pursued by fifty thousand cavalry.
At this time, Tian Chengsi had already vaguely understood Li Ye's strategic intentions.
"If I'm not wrong, Li Ye doesn't want to fight with us."
Tian Chengsi took two steps with his hands behind his back, then turned back to Li Baochen and said: "He wants to keep us to contain the imperial court, but if he kills us too hard, we will not be able to contain the imperial court.
Tian Wei lost face and said bitterly: "We have an army of 60,000 even if we gather all our troops, why should we be afraid?"
Tian Chengsi was furious and glared at him fiercely, "You are such a fool. Do you think Li Ye only has 70,000 people? His 400,000-strong army is coming, how can we resist it?"
Seeing that his father was angry, Tian Wei lowered his head and did not dare to say a word. Li Baochen admired Tian Chengsi's judgment and asked again: "In the opinion of the old prince, what should we do next?"
Tian Chengsi thought for a moment and said: "Since he is willing to declare a challenge, it means that he is still willing to communicate. We might as well send someone to talk to him."
