Li Na urgently ordered Wu Yuanji to lead 5,000 cavalry to fight. In just a moment, more than half of the 5,000 cavalry were killed and wounded. One of his subordinates came to report, "My lord, the casualties among our brothers exceeded 40%. Unfortunately, General Wu was killed in battle. We can't stand it anymore."
!”
Looking at the overwhelming cavalry, Li Na was suddenly frightened. Only then did he understand that Guo Ziyi's intention of leading an army of 50,000 to Qizhou was to lure him out of the city.
At this time, tens of thousands of Tang army cavalry were fighting one mile away, and there was no time for him to think carefully. At this time, he had to make an immediate decision, either to increase his troops and fight to the death, or to withdraw immediately to preserve his strength.
Li Na decisively ordered, "The entire army retreats northward!"
"Woo——"
The retreat horn sounded, and 16,000 cavalry left the battlefield like wind and clouds, quickly running northward.
These cavalrymen all had experience. When they saw the arrival of tens of thousands of reinforcements from the Tang Army, they knew that the situation was over. When the retreat horn sounded, each of them escaped faster than the other.
The retreat of the cavalry also caused the infantry to flee. The morale of the Ziqing army collapsed and they were defeated like a mountain.
Guo Ziyi ordered: "The whole army is chasing us. Those who surrender will be spared, but those who resist will be killed without mercy!"
A spectacular scene appeared in the wilderness. Countless soldiers abandoned their helmets and fled for their lives. Behind them were the cavalry who chased them. When they caught up, they cut off the carotid artery with a knife and fell to the ground to death.
The soldiers who reacted raised their hands and knelt down to surrender. The cavalry galloped past the surrenderers, and the infantry behind them came to accept the surrender.
The army chased him for more than 40 miles, killing corpses everywhere and rivers of blood.
Of the 80,000 enemy troops, except for 15,000 cavalry who fled north with Li Na, the other 65,000 were either killed in battle or surrendered, and none of them escaped.
Guo Ziyi immediately led a large army to Licheng County. There were only 5,000 troops in the city, led by military counselor Jia Shen. Jia Shen knew that he could not defend the city, so he ordered Kaicheng to surrender.
Guo Ziyi appeased Jia Shen and ordered the army to enter the city. The largest city in Shandong Peninsula fell into the hands of the Tang army, including a large amount of grain and grass supplies.
Yidu County was surrounded by 80,000 Tang troops. The leader was Nan Jiyun and the deputy general was Li Fei Yuanli.
According to Li Ye's thinking, it would be best for Yidu to surrender voluntarily, which would play an exemplary role in solving the Hebei feudal society.
Of course, Li Ye's surrender and the imperial court's surrender are not the same thing. Historically, these feudal towns have repeatedly surrendered to the imperial court, but this kind of surrender is just a strategy of the feudal towns. In name, they surrendered to the imperial court, but in fact they continued to support their own troops, and the territory
It is also getting bigger and bigger.
The surrender Li Ye demanded was a true surrender, handing over the army and all territory, and sparing their lives.
At this time, the Ziqing army inside the city and the Tang army outside the city received the news that Li Na's army was defeated and fled at the same time, and the entire 80,000-strong army was destroyed.
What Li Zheng had received was a pigeon letter. The news immediately made him feel heartbroken. He said three times in a row, "Okay! Good! Good!"
Immediately he spurted blood and fell to the ground and fainted.
The eldest son Li Jing urgently ordered a famous doctor to rescue his father, but his father had not woken up at night, making Li Jing extremely anxious.
Li Jingnian was about thirty years old. He was completely different from his brother Li Na who was strong and fierce. He was fat, had good women and good food, and was relatively generous. Li Zheng had already left the government affairs to him.
He lowered agricultural taxes and tried not to disturb the people. At the same time, he vigorously developed commerce and improved the treatment of merchants. Business prospered, and the Jiedu government also received generous tax revenue. At the same time, he vigorously promoted salt production. Their salt was supplied to Hebei and all parts of the Central Plains, and the salt profits were extremely high.
In turn, excess grain was purchased from farmers, thus ensuring military rations.
Li Zheng was very satisfied with his eldest son, but he was still undecided about his successor. The eldest son was generous and managed the country well, but the second son was brave and good at fighting and opened up new territories for himself.
Intellectually, Li Zheng knew that he should choose the eldest son, but emotionally he preferred the second son.
It was Li Zheng who had been unable to make up his mind, which led to the two brothers fighting openly and secretly. Because Li Na had military advisor Jia Shen to help him, Li Jing was completely unable to defeat Li Na.
Therefore, Li Zheng had decided to let Li Na inherit his career, but he did not expect that Li Na would lead his army out of the city to attack without permission, falling into Guo Ziyi's trick of luring the snake out of its cave, and the entire 80,000-strong army was destroyed.
What made Li Zhengji particularly distressed was that his second son did not withdraw to Yidu, but fled to Hebei. Li Zhengji suddenly saw his second son's intention. At the critical moment, his second son Li Na betrayed him.
Regret mixed with each other, Li Zheng had been induced to suffer from cerebral hemorrhage, his condition was very critical, and his life was on the verge of death.
Li Jing was standing in the courtyard when Chen Fang, known as the most famous doctor in Yidu, came out of the room.
Li Jing hurriedly stepped forward and asked, "Excuse me, sir, how is my father?"
Chen Fang sighed and said: "I was lucky enough to recover from my fainting three years ago. This time I vomited blood, probably a massive brain hemorrhage. I can only do my best."
"Ah! Is my father's life in danger?"
Chen Fang nodded, "I don't want to say it, but it's impossible not to say it. Young master, please prepare the funeral arrangements for the prince!"
Although he was mentally prepared, Li Jing felt heartbroken and asked, "How long can my father live?"
"I don't know. If I can wake up, I might be able to live for a few months. If I can't wake up, it will only be these two days."
After saying that, Chen Fang shook his head and left worriedly.
Li Jing stood stunned for a moment and then walked into the ward. In the ward, four of his father's concubines sat beside him wiping tears.
Li Jing touched his father's nose and found that his breath was very weak and his pulse was intermittent. He was indeed dying.
Li Jing sighed and said to the four concubines: "Each of you will be given a thousand taels of silver. You can go back to your parents' homes!"
"Young master, is this the master?"
Li Jing shook his head, "That's not the problem, it's that the city will soon be undefeated. Don't get implicated and go back to your parents' home!"
"Then where is the prince?"
"As long as I take care of him, you don't have to worry!"
The four concubines were grateful and quickly stood up to salute. Li Jing gave each of them a token to withdraw money, and they hurried away.
Li Jing stared at his unconscious father for a while, sighed, left his father to be taken care of by a few of his soldiers, turned around and left quickly.
At the second watch, two large trebuchets were slowly approaching the west city wall. A soldier put a wooden shell ball the size of a basketball into his hurling bag. A soldier lit the match, and there was a muffled sound.
The round wooden shell was thrown high over the city head, and 'pop!' The porcelain thunder inside the wooden shell exploded over the city head. The wooden shell was blown to pieces, and a large number of pieces of paper appeared in the sky, flying and falling like snow flakes.
The soldiers on the top of the city grabbed pieces of paper with a letter printed on them. Some literate people read loudly to the soldiers around them: "A letter to the soldiers and civilians of Yidu County!
Qizhou has been captured by the imperial army, the entire 80,000 Ziqing army has been destroyed, and Yidu has become an isolated city. An army of 150,000 is about to surround Yidu. The Tang army has the most powerful firearms, and it will be easy to capture Yidu County.
However, thinking of the innocent people of Yidu and the innocent soldiers, the imperial court could not bear to attack the city. It also hoped that the officers and soldiers of the three armies would take the overall situation into consideration and launch an uprising in the city. None of the officers and soldiers in the city would be held accountable.
If he remains stubborn and refuses to surrender, when the city is destroyed, all soldiers, generals and family members will be made official slaves and sent to Lingnan to open up wasteland.
Li Ye, Regent of the Tang Dynasty"
After the soldier finished reading, everyone fell silent.