Tian Chengsi was woken up from his sleep. When he heard that Xindu City had been captured by his nephew and that Li Na had been beheaded, he was stunned. During the day, he just agreed casually, but he did not expect that it would actually succeed.
Astonished, Tian Chengsi couldn't help but be overjoyed, and hurriedly put on his armor and came to Xindu City.
All the 14,000 cavalrymen in the city surrendered, which made Tian Chengsi smile from ear to ear with joy. He got an elite cavalry for nothing.
After Tian Chengsi entered the city, he ordered to stop the massacre and looting of the people. Although Li Na was targeting him, Wudu County was not his territory, but Li Baochen's. The wanton slaughter of Li Baochen's subjects would probably offend Li Baochen.
Tian Chengsi immediately appeased Li Zaixi, promised to honor the one hundred thousand taels of silver given to him, and made him a general, making him the deputy general of his nephew Tian Yue.
Now Tian Chengsi faced the problem of whether to attack the Tang army or retreat to Cangzhou. He was unable to decide for a while, so he sent a spies to Beizhou to find out the news.
In Weizhou, an army of ten thousand people was marching rapidly towards Mingzhou in the northwest direction. They were basically infantry, but they brought with them three thousand strong mules, each of which was carrying two large boxes.
This army was exactly the 10,000 troops commanded by Tian Wei. He had already learned that a Tang army of more than 50,000 people was coming from Bozhou, which immediately made him panic. At this critical moment, Tian Wei received the order sent by his father.
An urgent order was sent to him, ordering him to immediately evacuate to Jizhou via Mingzhou and Xingzhou.
This order came in time. Tian Wei immediately packed up the gold, silver and silk in the warehouse, led 10,000 troops to withdraw overnight, and hurried along the northwest official road with 3,000 healthy mules.
In fact, it is not far from Yuancheng to Mingzhou, only about 150 miles. Ten thousand troops can enter Mingzhou in three days, and the whole road is plain, and the endless plains can be seen at a glance.
This is the famous North China Plain. Except for residential buildings and trees, there is no obstruction on the plain.
If the weather is clear, you can even see thirty or forty miles away at a glance.
However, spring has arrived in the Hebei Plain these days. It often rains thinly and densely in the sky, and the air is warm and humid.
At noon the next day, 10,000 troops were resting by a small river next to the woods. Tian Wei was sitting on a big rock, holding a pancake roll with mutton in sauce, eating and drinking water.
At this moment, the sentry on a big tree suddenly shouted, "There is an enemy situation to the west!"
Tian Wei was so shocked that he didn't even bother to eat. He hurriedly asked: "What kind of enemy situation? How far away is it?"
The soldier ran to inquire and came back after a while to report, "It's the cavalry. There are about ten thousand people. They seem to have spotted us twenty miles away and are running towards us!"
There were actually 10,000 cavalry. Tian Wei suddenly became anxious and ordered: "The whole army must march quickly!"
He got on his horse, urged the horse and fled. The soldiers did not bother to get their things and urged the mules to follow him.
The army they encountered was Lei Wanchun's 40,000-strong army who came from Xiangzhou. Lei Wanchun, who originally fought against the Hezong Army, found that Xiangzhou was empty and the Hezong Army was missing. He immediately sent troops to occupy Xiangzhou, and then obtained
Weizhou only had 10,000 people under the command of Tian Wei.
Lei Wanchun could not sit still and left 10,000 people to guard Xiangzhou. He immediately led an army of 40,000 to attack Weizhou.
Just an hour ago, Lei Wanchun received a report from a scout that a Wei Bo army, numbering about 10,000 people, was spotted thirty miles ahead, marching northwest.
Lei Wanchun immediately realized that this meant Tian Wei's 10,000 troops, and Lei Wanchun decisively ordered to surround and intercept this army.
Tian Wei ran wildly along the official road for more than ten miles, when suddenly a dark army appeared in front of him.
He was so frightened that he reined in his horse and trembled all over. There was an army in front of him. What should he do?
The military commander said decisively: "Lord, change your clothes!"
A word reminded Tian Wei, and he quickly took off the golden helmet on his head.
The soldiers scrambled to change him into a soldier's clothes, painted his face black and thickened his eyebrows. The frail scholar suddenly turned into a rough soldier, and then replaced him with an ordinary horse.
Thousands of soldiers came running from behind. They also saw the Tang army several miles ahead and stopped one after another.
"Everyone, please run for your lives!"
Tian Wei shouted, and his horse rushed down the field ridge and ran towards the endless wheat fields to the west.
His 10,000 soldiers were like a flood that broke a dike. They jumped out of the wheat field and ran for their lives to the east and west. The 3,000 healthy mules were also thrown away on the official road. The soldiers threw away their helmets and armor, threw away their weapons and hindered their escape.
of burden.
But it was no use. Forty thousand Tang troops surrounded them from all directions.
"Woo——"
The trumpet sounded continuously, and the Tang army went into action. They came from all directions and killed anyone who did not surrender.
The soldiers of Wei Bojun were so frightened that they knelt down and surrendered.
Tian Wei was a civil servant and had no idea of breaking out of the encirclement. He just wanted to escape. Seeing that he could no longer escape, he dismounted and turned into an ordinary soldier. Only a few personal soldiers followed him.
After running less than a mile, a group of hundreds of Tang Army cavalry rushed over, blocking the way of the deserters, and shouted for the first captain: "Those who surrender will be spared death, and those who resist will not be shot!"
More than 300 Wei Bo soldiers knelt down and surrendered. Tian Wei was also among them. He knelt on the ground and lowered his head. He was of medium stature and not tall enough. His appearance had completely changed. Except for a few soldiers who followed him, the others
Don't know him either.
None of the ten thousand people escaped or resisted, and all became prisoners of the Tang army. At this time, Lei Wanchun had already learned that this army was Tian Wei's ten thousand people, and Tian Wei was among them.
But the soldiers of the Tang Army only found his horse, but no one.
"damn it!"
Lei Wanchun cursed fiercely. Needless to say, Tian Wei must be among the surrendered troops. There are ten thousand people! How can he find them?
Lieutenant General Zhang Yun rushed forward and said: "General, we have captured three thousand mules and six thousand large boxes, all of which are gold, silver, silk, satin and other fine materials."
Zhang Yun was no longer the leader of the scouts. He was granted the title of County Duke, General Yunhui, and became the general of the capital. This time he went on the expedition as Lei Wanchun's deputy general.
Lei Wanchun looked at the surrender and said: "Tian Wei is hiding among the surrender. General Zhang is a scout. Is there any way to find him?"
Zhang Yun smiled slightly and said: "This is easy, leave it to the humble position!"
Tian Wei was about 1.7 meters tall, with a long face and a thin build, so the tall and strong soldiers were picked out first and moved aside, leaving only 5,000 soldiers.
Among the five thousand people, the stronger soldiers were picked away, leaving three thousand people.
Zhang Yun continued to investigate from the 3,000 people, picking out round and square faces, and finally there were only less than 1,000 soldiers with long faces, medium builds, and thin bodies.
These thousand people lined up, and everyone walked past Zhang Yun with their hands raised. Those with thin white palms and no calluses all pulled them out.
Suddenly there were only thirty people left.
Zhang Yun smiled and said: "Who is Tian Wei? Come forward yourself! We will not kill you."
At this time, a lean man stood up and sighed: "I am Tian Wei!"
Zhang Yun stepped forward, but pulled out another young man next to him and sneered: "If I guessed correctly, you are Tian Wei!"
The man's legs went weak and he sat down on the ground with a 'Plop!'
Zhang Yun caught it very accurately. The man was Tian Wei, and the man who just stepped forward and admitted that he was his personal soldier.