The ten-day period agreed between Li Heng and Ye Hu was getting closer. Ye Hu sent someone to ask Li Heng about his strategy, but received a somewhat unexpected answer, saying that the messenger from the West Road had not returned yet, so he had to wait.
.
"Why is he so troubled?" After hearing the report, Ye Hu was a little dissatisfied.
Although he didn't understand the situation, he intuitively knew that the longer it dragged on, the worse it would be for his side. In fact, the king guarding Chang'an City rarely saw Xue Bai capture Fengxiang, so he sent troops to support it.
However, this was fighting for someone else. No matter how anxious Ye Hu was, he could not die for Li Heng.
After waiting for another two days, Li Heng finally sent someone again, saying that they were ready, and agreed to annihilate the rebels together on July 15th.
"Has Your Majesty arranged all the troops?" Ye Hu asked, "What happened to the West Route Army before?"
The messenger replied: "It doesn't matter, it's just that the road is blocked by Xue Ni's cavalry. Now that the military order has been issued, the generals will arrive on time."
"good!"
Ye Hu had already become impatient and took the initiative to fight. He wanted to fight decisively in the wild, but was worried that Xue Bai would hold on to the city and drag him here. So he sent a small group of rangers to harass outside the city every day.
, and robbed the people in front of Xue Tui's rebels.
Sure enough, the opponent soon lost his composure and was lured out of the city and drove back the soldiers.
Ye Hu seemed to be straightforward and simple, but in fact he was quite cunning. He ordered his troops not to attack Xue Tui's rebels, but led them further away each time, and deliberately exposed his camp to the prying eyes of his sentry horses.
The defense of the camp was not very tight. The food and grass that the Uighur soldiers had captured and some of the cloth were placed by the fence. From a distance, the cries of the prisoners locked up in the camp could be heard.
Every time a soldier of Xue's rebel army couldn't help but want to get closer and shoot the Uighur cavalry guarding the gate, they were pulled back by their colleagues. They all knew that the Uighur people were very good at archery and the terrain was higher.
Shoot farther.
Ye Hu knew that Xue Bai would soon be unable to resist attacking him. He could feel it, just like when two beasts confront each other, they would inevitably be aware of the other's movements before they pounce.
On the Hungry Ghost Festival, the 15th day of the seventh lunar month, few people were seen coming out to worship their ancestors in Qizhou, because even if the people were not killed and captured by the Huihe people, they were still scared and hid.
The night before, Ye Hu deliberately ordered a banquet for the soldiers to make it appear that the soldiers were drunk. He hoped that by doing so, Xue Bai would send troops to attack him.
In the early morning, the Huihe camp was loose on the outside and tight on the inside. Drunk men were leaning against the camp fence. In fact, the warriors had already fed their horses and were resting in the tent while wearing armor.
After waiting all night, no enemy came to attack. Ye Huzheng felt a little disappointed, but he heard the report again.
"Report, Xue Ni has sent troops."
From this point of view, Xue Bai might have seen through his ambush, and wanted to take advantage of his soldiers to wait all night to no avail, so he suddenly rushed out and caught him off guard.
Ye Hu was not surprised but overjoyed, and immediately ordered his soldiers to prepare for battle.
He raised his head and looked at the sky. It was a cloudy day, but the clouds were high and it didn't look like it was going to rain. The weather was finally no longer hot and a little cold, which was very beneficial to the Uighur and Northwest Army.
It seems God is on their side.
According to the agreement, Li Heng's men and horses have already arrived twenty miles north of the Uighur camp. So, as long as Xue Ni's rebels come over, the Uighur cavalry can take advantage of their speed to retreat, and after entering the predetermined battlefield, they will fight with Li Heng.
Join forces to attack him fiercely. As for the northwest army, they will surround him from the rear, cutting off Xue Ni's retreat, and not giving Chang'an a chance to support him.
The plan was decided, and then came the execution. Huihe's sentry horses came and went like the wind, and they had a natural advantage in controlling the battlefield. They quickly found out Xue Ni's marching movements clearly and reported every piece of news.
Came over.
"Report, there are two groups of enemy soldiers coming here. The west group leads from Fengxiang Mansion and is led by Xue Ni himself. There are four thousand cavalry and thousands of additional troops, more than 20 miles away from the camp; the east group leads from Jincheng County
We are leaving, with Wang Jin in charge, the number of people has not yet been determined, and we are still more than ninety miles away from the camp."
"Report, Xue Ni is still more than ten miles away from the camp. Stop and organize your formation."
"Feng Changqing, the governor of the Anxi Army of the Tang Army, sent people to report. They have passed through Qianyang and can reach Fengxiang in half a day to attack Xue Ni's rear formation."
"King Guangping has marched five miles north of the camp. Pugu Huai'en is resting his formation and can rush to kill Xue Ni's flank at any time."
"Report, Xue Ni is still five miles away from our camp..."
Ye Hu didn't need a map, he naturally had the situation of the entire battlefield in his mind.
There are tens of thousands of soldiers on each side of the enemy and ours. It is extremely difficult to get so many soldiers to arrive at the scheduled battlefield as planned. Even the most powerful generals often cannot fully achieve their wishes before the war begins.
He can predict and adjust as much as possible. But Ye Hu is very smooth, and all the troops seem to be controlled by his thoughts. If there is divine help.
Today is not a siege battle, but a field battle. Due to the simple terrain, both sides do not have many strategies and both have the urge to confront each other directly. It is rare that this will be a battle won purely by hand-to-hand combat.
Ye Hu liked this, and he was already excited when he saw Xue Bai's flag, and wished he could immediately order a charge to kill him. Unfortunately, he was just a reinforcement, and there was no need to pay such a heavy loss for Li Heng.
So he ordered: "When the battle begins, we will feign defeat and retreat, allowing the Tang army to fight with them for casualties."
"Don't be reluctant to part with those children of gold and silk. When the battle is won, Lord Tang will give us as much as we want!"
Finally, Xue Bai's flag was erected in front of the Huihe cavalry formation. He took a short rest and sounded the horn, as if there were heavy armored cavalry charging over.
They were holding heavy and long spears, and after picking up speed, they were as powerful as thunder. The Uighur cavalry here seemed to be flustered because of a hangover, and they were still hurriedly forming formations. They all started to charge and kill.
Chaos before war.
Like a stone hitting the hive, the bees dispersed in an instant.
But the stone may break the hive and kill a few bees beside the hive, but it is difficult to cause major damage to these light flying bees.
The Uighur cavalry were very skilled in riding, and easily escaped before the heavy cavalry came. Some even hung themselves on the stirrups of their horses in a dazzling display of skill, and barely managed to get back on the horse before falling, uttering a fearful cry. The scream attracted Xue Tui's rebels to chase him.
~~
Even though they knew that the Uighur cavalry was feigning defeat, Xue Bai's soldiers still easily felt like a great victory.
After killing the He people in one round, Gao Shen rushed into the Huihe camp on horseback. Looking around, he saw that everywhere was gold, silk, money and grain, as well as captured women and children.
"Help!"
Most of the prisoners were tied with ropes and stripped of their clothes. They tried their best to hide themselves while looking at them with pitiful eyes asking for help.
Gao Shen couldn't help but glance around, trying to find Shen Pearl inside.
"It's a trap, don't miss it!"
The generals shouted loudly, and Fan Lao even stepped forward to give Gao Shen a whip and angrily shouted: "Why are you running around?! Follow the military orders!"
Gao Shen was in pain, but his heart was bleeding. He knew rationally that at this moment, defeating the enemy was the most important thing. At the same time, he was worried that something had happened to Shen Pearl before that, so he had to endure the pain. Then he went to see the prisoners, reined in the reins, and followed Fan Lao to continue killing the Huihe cavalry.
As a result, their front line was also in chaos.
Everyone in the Uighur cavalry is good at bows and horses, so they don't need to follow the formation. It doesn't matter if they get into chaos. But if they get into chaos, their biggest advantage will be lost.
The two sides chased and fought, and soldiers died and fell from time to time, dotting the battlefield with blood. Most of the morning passed, and Li Heng's soldiers and horses finally appeared in front.
"Woo——"
The long trumpet sound resounded throughout the world, and Pugu Huaien's big flag swayed and roared fiercely in the wind, guiding the soldiers and horses who were waiting for work to come forward.
The situation at this time was that Xue Bai's troops were attracted to the predetermined battlefield by Ye Hu's feigned defeat and fell into an ambush.
Normally, Xue Bai would be taken aback and ordered to retreat. After that, the West Route Army deployed by Li Heng surrounded Xue Bai.
However, Xue Bai did not retreat, but also ordered an attack, so their horns sounded loudly, one after another, as if they were responding to the enemy.
"Attack!"
When they were ready, Fan Lao gave the signal, and Gao Shen immediately mounted his horse and charged.
He even wanted to kill the Uighur cavalry, but the Uighur cavalry did not want to engage in a head-on battle, so they accelerated their horses and ran to both sides, revealing the fully-equipped Pugu Huai'en tribe.
"kill!"
"Kill! Kill! Kill!"
Pugu Huai'en himself was a fierce general, and his soldiers and horses also inherited his brave style. With the three calls for formation, the shields in front were densely raised, and the long swords of Ru Lin were raised high, and the cavalry on both wings drove their horses to greet them. Go up.
After several rounds of arrows, the two sides engaged in battle. Gao Shen rushed to the front and slashed the opposing shield twice with his sword, but failed to disrupt the enemy formation. Their physical exertion was already greater, and Pu Guhuai En obviously wants to catch their weak point.
After two more chops, Gao Shen's blade became chipped and was no longer sharp for cutting people. Such small details actually affected his life and death on the battlefield, but he didn't care at all. All he could think about was "win"
, he wants to win, he wants to rescue Shen Zhenzhu.
Large drops of sweat spread like mist on his face. As he struck with all his strength, the jaws of his palms burst. At the same time, the enemy soldier holding the shield fell to the ground because he could not block his force.
Gao Shen then rushed forward, jumped on the shield, slashed down with his broadsword, and cut down the unprepared soldier behind the enemy's shield hand.
"Destroy the enemy!"
His will to kill the enemy comes from a ridiculous emotion that he doesn't know where to start, and his personal will is very small among tens of thousands of people. But behind him are more angry Guanzhong soldiers, who have gathered into a powerful fighting spirit
.
They completely forgot that they were not actually facing Uighur cavalry, but fellow Tang soldiers like them.
Therefore, personal dignity, emotions, and the pride of defending the home and country seemed to have been teased, or even trampled upon, by power and the times in this battle...
Li Chu, who was standing on a high platform in the distance and looking at the formation, slightly raised his proud head, with determination flashing in his eyes.
"Xue Ni is about to be defeated." Li Chu said: "He attacks more with less, and attacks more with weakness. Even if the king rarely arrives on the battlefield in time, I still have reinforcements."
Standing behind him was Yu Chaoen, the envoy appointed by Li Heng to watch the military appearance of the world. He asked puzzledly: "King Guangping, if this is the case, why does Xue Ni take the initiative to attack?"
"You can't just look at the battlefield in front of you." Li Chu said, "You have to focus on the overall situation. In accordance with the orthodox principles, my father ordered Guo Ziyi to leave Hedong. Chang'an has become an isolated city. Xue Ni can only have a chance of survival after a battle, otherwise he will just sit back and wait for death."
??????55.??????
"That's it." Yu Chao'en said, "This slave's vision is narrow-minded."
Subsequently, the situation was as Li Chu expected, and the defeat of Xue Ni's rebel army gradually became apparent. Unfortunately, Wang Nan arrived in time and entered the battlefield from the right wing.
From this point of view, Xue Ni made a desperate move.
Li Chu then sent a message to Ye Hu, saying that it was time for Huihe to help. Now that the king has come from afar, his footing is not stable, and his strength is exhausted, please return to Hexiang to help defeat the enemy. After the victory, he will certainly not hesitate to reward him.
Ye Hu was a straightforward person, and even when he got a promise, he immediately led his troops to kill him.
He was full of confidence and believed that with the fighting power of the Uighur warriors, the Tang army could be defeated in a few rounds.
However, the Uighur cavalry were skilled in bows and horses, but Wang Nan's troops were also fierce and unstoppable. As soon as the two sides fought, the battle was more intense than Ye Hu expected. Even the explosives, crossbows and other weapons that Xue Ni occasionally used were returned to the Uighurs.
The people brought some casualties, so Ye Hu had to face it seriously.
At this point, both sides have invested all their forces on the frontal battlefield.
Xue Bai was lacking in military strength and combat power, and was slightly defeated, but he persisted tenaciously, and the victory or defeat was still unknown.
But Li Chu is not in a hurry because he still has backup plans.
Every fallen soldier on the battlefield was like an hourglass, and the generals used their lives to measure the progress of the battle... Finally, a cavalry appeared at the junction of heaven and earth.
That was when Feng Changqing led the Anxi army stationed in Longzhou to visit King Qin.
"Here we come!" Li Chu was overjoyed and said, "The victory or defeat has been decided."
In his opinion, this battle was over. He had completely forgotten his worries when Xue Bai captured Fengxiang, Xijing, and the impact it had on people's hearts at that time.
"Okay, okay." Yu Chaoen clapped his hands and said, "This battle is a great victory. King Guangping and General Pugu commanded it well. But in the final analysis, the strategy customized by the saint is sound."
Li Chu then sent a messenger to urge Feng Changqing to quickly join the battlefield.
However, at this moment, Feng Changqing's messenger arrived and handed over a memorial. When Li Chu opened it, his face instantly turned as pale as a dead fish's belly.
"How dare he do this? How dare he do this?!"
~~
Ye Hu glanced across the battlefield and noticed that Feng Changqing was already marching towards Xue Bai's troops, so he turned his attention to the battlefield where he and Wang Rao had this force.
Victory is imminent. As soon as Feng Changqing defeats Xue Ni, the Tang army will attack Wang Nanlan with him.
However, when Ye Hu suddenly turned back to look at Xue Bai's formation, he was surprised to find that Xue Bai's flag was still standing there firmly, and he did not retreat in panic because of being flanked. This was very strange, unless
It was Xue Bai who didn't see the enemy coming from behind.
"What a tough guy."
As unruly as Ye Hu was, he had to admit that Xue Bai's toughness on the battlefield made him somewhat regretful about chewing this hard nut. All he could say was that he finally swallowed it hard.
Then, a scene that made Ye Hu feel even more strange happened. Feng Changqing's troops did not attack Xue Bai, but cut diagonally from Xue Bai's array and headed towards... his own side.
"What is he doing?!" Ye Hu was shocked and angry.
The scene in front of him reminded him of a story he had heard two years ago. The general of the Tang army, Gao Xianzhi, met Dashi's soldiers and horses in Talas City. The Geluolu tribe under his command betrayed him and attacked the Tang army with Dashi. Gao Xianzhi was defeated and his soldiers
All dead.
The reason why Ye Hu knew this very well was because the Geluolu tribe was a tribe subordinate to the Uighurs.
This incident was almost exactly the same as the current situation, except that this time the betrayal was replaced by Gao Xianzhi's deputy general Feng Changqing.
At this moment, Ye Hu had two choices. One was to abandon Li Heng and immediately retreat back to the grassland. If Li Heng was defeated, his troops would inevitably defect to Xue Ni, and the civil strife in the Tang court would be over, and they would inevitably not fulfill their obligations.
His promise, and even the gold and silk he had previously looted, were difficult to bring back; the second option was to grit his teeth and continue fighting.
"Dong dong dong!"
The drums sounded loudly. It was Pugu Huaien who ordered the drums to be played to encourage Ye Hu.
Faced with the sudden change, ordinary soldiers and horses would probably have been defeated when Feng Changqing's troops were diverted, but Pugu Huai'en actually committed suicide in Xue Bai's formation with the sound of drums as a sign of victory.
Determined not to retreat. Anyway, Feng Changqing was not mainly attacking him. He believed that with Huihe's military strength and combat power, he could withstand Feng Changqing's offensive.
Ye Hu quickly made a mental assessment amidst the sound of the drums. He had nearly 8,000 cavalry, while Wang Baolan and Feng Changqingdu each only had more than 4,000 cavalry. The two sides had similar strength, but he was more powerful.
This arrogant mentality made him hesitate and did not immediately order the withdrawal. However, Feng Changqing's troops had already arrived.
Feng Changqing was not willing to attack Li Heng's troops. To him, those were his comrades in Shuofang, Longxi, and Hexi. But Xue Bai said something that touched him very much, that is, the Uighur cavalry could not be allowed to plunder Guanzhong.
"It would be a shame for us if the Uighurs kidnapped my people of the Tang Dynasty and used them as slaves because of the struggle for the throne."
In this matter, persuasion could not solve the problem. Even if Feng Changqing tried to persuade him, he could not persuade Ye Hu not to have children of gold and silk.
The only way is to kill, and to break the opponent's courage.
Therefore, all the arrangements made by Xue Bai today were to severely defeat Ye Hu.
Although this enthusiastic Uighur prince only came to support Li Heng, he became the party facing the greatest pressure on the entire battlefield.
"How dare you?!"
Ye Hu was furious, drove his horse forward a few steps, and shouted with a thunderous voice to where Feng Changqing's flag was: "I came back to Hehe to help the Tang Dynasty. The Tang army dares to attack me. Aren't they afraid of breaking the trust of all nations?!"
In the noisy battlefield, I don't know if his voice reached Feng Changqing's ears, but there was no response.
Ye Hu continued to curse: "The majesty of Tian Khan has been destroyed by you!"
The curse finally reached Feng Changqing's ears.
He thought of the stone tablet of Emperor Taizong that he saw when he was in Lingwu. It was precisely because of the three words "Tian Khan" that he strengthened his determination.
"Kill!" Feng Changqing shouted.
Ye Hu finally stopped thinking about whether to retreat. With his status and strength, he could not be defeated faster than Pugu Huai'en.
It's nothing more than pressing all the troops forward to get a result as soon as possible.
The Uighur soldiers could not recognize the direction of the Tang army that rushed to the battlefield from the beginning. Therefore, the sudden change did not cause a huge blow to their morale, but the killing was very fierce.
~~
Feng Changqing also hoped to win as soon as possible. By defeating the Uighurs, he would make Li Heng and Li Chu admit defeat, so as to prevent more soldiers of the Tang Dynasty from dying in unnecessary internal fighting.
At the same time, he also knew that if this procrastination continued, Huihe would be severely damaged and his strategic intention of breaking his courage would not be realized.
"Li Siye!"
"exist!"
"You lead the front army to defeat the enemy!"
"Here!"
Following the roar, the tall and muscular Li Siye took the order and led his troops into the Huihe formation.
During this Hungry Ghost Festival, the weather is getting colder and colder. The wind blows from the west. It was light at first, but gradually it turned into a dark wind, blowing sand and soil into the eyes of people and horses.
Ye Hu, who was staring at the battlefield with wide eyes, was also confused by the wind and sand. Instead, he calmed down and planned to take advantage of this opportunity to retreat.
He didn't think this was the time when people in the Tang Dynasty sacrificed ghosts, but thought it was a revelation from God.
As long as he can successfully escape from the battlefield, he can continue to observe and restore his original aloof status.
The problem is that there are still too many Uighur warriors on the battlefield who are trapped in a fight, and many war horses have sand in their eyes and are restless and agitated.
At the same time, on the other side, Li Siye also felt that there was less and less time left for him to defeat the enemy.
"Dismount and fight on foot!"
Li Siye made a prompt decision, dismounted from his horse first, and rushed towards the enemy's formation with his Mo Dao in hand.
He is tall, and the short distance of a few steps does not make much difference whether he is riding a horse or not, but he is much more flexible.
Since it was decided to fight on foot, Li Siye held his Mo Dao.
The knife was extremely long, as tall as him when standing up, and weighed thirty-five pounds. It was half blade and half handle.
He held the knife in both hands, raised it at an angle, and chopped it off, using not the strength of his barrel-sized arms, but the strength of his waist.
"Bang!"
Unlike the previous situation where Gao Shen could not break the enemy's shield with his sword, Li Siye actually chopped the Uighur soldier's shield into pieces with one strike.
Broken wood and dust flew everywhere.
Also chopped into pieces were the Uighur soldiers behind the shield.
Everyone around was stunned, but Li Siye had raised his knife again and cut it down. He chopped another enemy soldier into pieces gently and deftly, like chopping vegetables.
The opportunity on the battlefield lies in the most critical moment. When Ye Hu was still hesitating whether to withdraw, Li Siye decided to dismount and fight on foot, and killed several people in succession. The Mo Dao generals under Li Siye were greatly shocked.
Get excited, line up and kill in the strong wind.
"puff."
"Puff puff puff..."
This crisp sound of killing finally frightened the Uighur cavalry. They began to ignore the wind and sand and retreated without waiting for Ye Hu's order. As a result, the cavalry in front collided with the cavalry in the rear.
Horses are easily frightened animals. When bumped by another horse, some will lift their hoofs and kick violently.
"Hey!"
The scene became even more chaotic.
In today's battle, the first ones to collapse were not Xue Bai's tribe, Pugu Huai'en's tribe, and Wang Nannan's tribe, but the strongest troop - the Uighur cavalry.
The sharp sound of ringing gold suddenly filled the entire battlefield, and Gu Huai'en, who was as brave as a servant and risked his life, finally gave the order to withdraw his troops.
"kill!"
Xue Bai and Feng Changqing issued orders one after another. When Wang was rare, Li Siye rushed to lead his troops to pursue Ye Hu's banner.
This Hungry Ghost Festival, I don’t know how many new ghosts will be added.
Xue Bai stood under the banner and held up a telescope to look out. In the wind, he could faintly see Li Siye's tall and eye-catching figure.
"Anyone who blocks Siye's sword will be killed."
With these words in his mind, Xue Bai felt that today's battle was less tragic for Li Siye, and more like a small test.
What Xue Bai hopes is that Li Siye's sword will not be killed in unnecessary civil strife. There will be more shining times in the future. One day he should go back to the Western Regions and go farther away.