Bodies floated by on the Hutuo River from time to time.
The Tang army and the Yan army had been fighting fiercely here for three days, dyeing the muddy ground by the river red.
On the surface, Shi Siming's command was very good this time. Facing the offensives of the two famous generals Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi, he not only did not fail, but also often forced the Tang army to take the initiative to withdraw its troops.
If the Tang army had not deployed a lot of gunpowder on the front line and severely defeated the Yan army several times, it is unknown that he might have won a great victory.
But in fact, news of Feng Changqing's attack on Xiongwu City had already arrived. Shi Siming knew in his heart that although the Tang army was ready for a decisive battle, it was not willing to pay casualties at all. The purpose was to deliberately contain his main force here and wait for both sides.
pincer attack.
He was already very anxious in his heart, but he remained calm on the surface.
The situation is bad, but it's not completely impossible.
You can make a time difference.
The generals of the Tang army were now thinking that their plan was successful and were waiting for Feng Changqing to come and attack them from both sides. But if Shi Siming had given the Tang army a fatal blow before that, they would have been caught off guard and survived.
His ultimate move is Khitan reinforcements.
This is an unexpected force of soldiers and horses of the Tang army, which has crossed the lower reaches of the Hutuo River.
"——"
On the south bank of the Hutuo River, Li Huaixiu reined in his horse and waited for the sentry horse in front to report back.
He actually hated being called "Li Huaixiu" by his Chinese name. His real name was Di Nian Zuli, and his Chinese name was just a temporary compromise to cater to the emperor of the Tang Dynasty.
Later, he killed the princess and rebelled against the Tang Dynasty. He fought with Anlu Mountain many times and won and lost each other. Later, he defeated Anlu Mountain at the Tuhuzhen River and killed the Tang army.
In his opinion, a mediocre general like An Lushan could capture Luoyang and almost destroy the Tang Dynasty. Then he should be able to do it, but the Khitan is still weak now and needs to find opportunities to grow.
It is a good strategy to accept Shi Siming's generous gift and help him weaken Tang Ting.
The Khitan will surely rise, which is his lifelong ambition.
"Khan!"
A sentry horse in front ran back and reported: "The Tang Army's camp is ten miles away. The flag of 'King Yong' has been erected in the camp. The Tang Army's sentry horse has also discovered us."
Li Huaixiu asked: "How is the war between Tang and Yan?"
"Still fighting on the Hutuo River, the main force will be used!"
After the information was gathered, Li Huaixiu immediately ordered the attack.
The Khitan cavalry did not bring any baggage along the way. They were first provided by Shi Siming and then robbed of supplies with the bows and knives in their hands. However, they brought a lot of horses, almost one man and four horses, and they marched at full speed at an extremely fast speed.
The strategic purpose is also very simple, either to storm the main force of the Tang Army, or to break through the Tang Army's camp, capture King Yong, and burn its supplies. No matter what, the main force will collapse.
The horses galloped wildly, and the earth trembled.
~~
The Tang Army now has two camps, one on the south bank of the Hutuo River, called the Nanda Camp, and across the pontoon, there is the North Camp.
This is an unfavorable terrain. Every day we attack and withdraw troops, we need to cross the river. It is easy to be attacked halfway across the river, and the transportation of materials is also troublesome.
However, the two camps controlled the Hutuo River, cutting off the battlefield, limiting Fan Yang's cavalry's many tactical uses, and attracting Shi Siming to fight them every day. Each time they withdrew their troops, the rebels could not outflank them from both sides.
If the rebels wanted to wade into the water to attack, they would have to dismount and be attacked by the Tang army in the camp with stone cannons and arrows.
Shi Siming actually tried to use terrain to win. He ordered people to go upstream to block the Hutuo River and tried to release water to the Tang army's camp. However, before they arrived, they encountered an ambush.
He also ordered people to build many small boats, filled them with straw, lit them, and sailed down the river, hoping to crash the Tang army's pontoon bridge and cut off the mutual support between the two camps. As a result, Li Guangbi led his troops to build a boat with a hundred-foot-long pole. The iron fork withstood the rebel fireships.
This day, Nan Daying.
Xue Bai did not follow him to take command on the battlefield. Instead, he stayed in the camp to arrange logistics and condolences to the wounded soldiers.
Although he did not suck the wounds of the wounded like Wu Qi, what he did during the Northern Expedition also won the hearts of many in the army.
This can only be done so far. Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi are not willing to let him make greater military exploits, lest his reputation cannot be shaken, and Xue Bai also knows how to give up when he is good.
He had just spoken to a wounded soldier. He turned around and found a sneer on Hun Yao's face. After leaving the camp, he asked: "What? Why are you laughing?"
"The last general, King Xiaoyong, went too far in seeking power." Hun Yao was sincere.
Xue Bai did not feel dissatisfied and said: "I am not hypocritical, and I am worthy of heaven and earth."
"But if King Yong wants to be loyal and filial, he should repay the favor of the emperor." Hun Yao said: "The saint vindicated your injustice and raised you as an adopted son. How can you bear to take away the crown prince's throne? Isn't it unfaithful and unfilial?"
It's rare to find someone as straightforward as him.
Xue Bai then laughed at him for being too ignorant.
To deal with such a stupid nineteen-year-old, Xue Bai didn't bother to explain the truth, but asked: "I was just condolences to the wounded soldiers, and you were framed by you. You doubted my loyalty without any evidence. Isn't it the work of a traitor?" .”
Hun Yao said: "But King Yong came from Luoyang to Xiangzhou and even killed the envoy. Sima Zhao's intentions are known to everyone on the road."
It turned out that he hadn't figured it out yet because of Huo Xianliang.
Xue Bai then said: "It turns out that you, like Huo Xianliang, like to wrongly accuse loyal ministers and good generals. It is because there are too many people like you surrounding the saint to slander me that I am known as a usurper."
"I'm not!" Hun Yao said: "You are 'progressing' all day long. You know exactly what you are planning in your heart!"
"Moving forward is not a high position. You keep saying that I have committed a treasonous crime. Is there any real evidence?"
Hun Yao couldn't win this rhetorical argument, so he said: "There is no real evidence. The general is just dissatisfied and trying to persuade King Yong."
"Report!"
At this moment, a scout horse ran wildly back from outside the camp.
"Report! Ten miles east, we found a large group of enemy cavalry! Tens of thousands of horses!"
Although Hun Yao had just questioned Xue Bai, he immediately stepped forward and assumed a protective posture.
"King Yong, there are few soldiers in the camp. Do you want to ask the Commander-in-Chief to withdraw his troops immediately and come back for reinforcements?"
"Give the news to Guo Situ and ask him to make a decision."
Xue Bai was not anxious and just put his safety in Guo Ziyi's hands.
If Guo Ziyi can send troops, he can send them. If the war is urgent, Xue Bai will have to resist it alone.
~~
On that day, the Yan army's offensive was particularly fierce on the battlefield.
Shi Siming took advantage of his large number of troops and horses and sent out cavalry to attack the flanks of the Tang army at the first moment of the war, so that the Tang army could only shrink its formation and was unable to change its formation in time.
At the beginning, this purpose was not obvious.
But when the Khitan cavalry suddenly arrived, the Tang army quickly deployed its rear troops to form a formation to resist, and a gap appeared in the formation.
"kill!"
On the battlefield, Shi Siming saw an opportunity and beat the drum himself.
The banner of the Yan army waved rapidly, and all the elite troops came out, vowing to decide the victory today.
The Tang army originally wanted to postpone the battle for a few more days, waiting until Feng Changqing captured Fan Yang before coming to support. Tactically, they were more conservative, but suddenly faced with the Yan army's full attack, they were at a loss.
Looking from a distance, the Hutuo River stretches like a belt, and the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty gathered on the north bank like ants, completely surrounded by the Yan army.
There was a fatal danger in the tactics of the Tang army, which was to fight with their backs against the water. Once they lost, there would be no retreat and they would be thrown into the river one by one, causing huge panic and resulting in heavy casualties.
It was at this time that the Khitan soldiers arrived.
They made sharp whistling sounds and filled the sky with dust and smoke, deliberately creating a huge momentum.
On the battlefield, Xue Xin, whose face was covered with blood, looked back and was shocked. He quickly shouted in the direction of Li Siye: "General!"
"No noise!"
Li Siye glanced back and saw the dust and smoke behind him.
But the drumbeat of the Chinese army became more intense, and Li Guangbi ordered the flags to wave, urging them to move forward.
The most feared thing in a war is a change in the morale of the troops, so he immediately stopped Xue Xin's shouting and shouted: "Reinforcements are coming, follow me to kill the enemy!"
Xue Xin was not afraid, but worried that the enemy would ride and attack the Bennan camp, which would be detrimental to Xue Bai, so he rushed to Li Siye in the melee to express his worries.
However, Li Siye moved further and further forward, dismounted and stood at the front of the array.
"General."
Xue Xin had no choice but to squeeze through his fellow comrades, get close to Li Siye, and said in the midst of the chaos: "General, I have military information..."
"No chaos in the queue!" Li Siye yelled angrily, with foam flying at the mouth. He picked up the Mo Dao and said, "Kill!"
"kill!"
At the front of the array, Li Siye ran a few steps forward and slashed with his sword, cutting off both the man and the horse of a rebel.
Before Xue Xin had time to talk about what was going on outside the battlefield, he had already moved forward and charged towards the enemy. He seemed to be in a raging river and could only move forward along with the river.
This is morale, this is the military formation. There is no room for anyone to be distracted, and there is no time for distraction. A strong general leads the army, and can only move forward without hesitation and crush everything.
When Xue Xin struck several people in succession and felt that his jaw was about to burst, he was moved to the back row by his colleagues. He turned around and found that he had advanced nearly a hundred steps without knowing it.
Across the military formation, he couldn't see what was happening on the other side, so he focused on the enemy in front of him.
~~
"King Yong!"
The messenger rushed to Xue Bai and said: "Guo Situ tells King Yong that if the bandits rush to the camp and the army is defeated, the consequences will be disastrous."
"knew."
When the war went smoothly before, Guo Ziyi deliberately did not give Xue Bai a chance to make meritorious deeds. Now that the war is not going well, Xue Bai has to bear the pressure.
Anyone else would inevitably have complaints.
Xue Bai knew, however, that the more you want to achieve greatness, the greater your responsibility must be.
At this time, the enemy cavalry had approached five miles away, and the sentry horse reported that it was the Khitan cavalry.
Xue Bai thought for a moment and immediately ordered: "Raise my flag and go out to fight!"
"King Yong." Hun Yao quickly dissuaded him, "The troops in the camp cannot rush to respond to the enemy. Please ask King Yong to defend the camp."
This is treating Xue Bai as someone who has never been on the battlefield and acts impulsively.
"Execute my military orders!"
Xue Bai shouted sternly and then said: "The people here are the Khitans. We didn't know their whereabouts before, so they can't find out the intelligence of our army. If I guard the camp, he will know the strength of my troops. The only way to teach him is to go out to fight."
Guilty."
Only then did Hun Yao realize that Xue Bai had some considerations and was not just a hothead.
"The main force of the army today is at the critical moment of the decisive battle. Once the Khitan soldiers attack the floating bridge, our army will be defeated. Only by going out to fight can we prevent the army from being defeated."
Come on, the tougher I am, the weaker he will be, so how can there be any reason to avoid fighting?!"
He walked as he talked, and after finishing his words, he arrived at the stable, put on his helmet, and got on the horse.
Soon, a flag was half-rolled out of the camp gate.
More than a thousand Tang troops who were hastily summoned met the Khitan cavalry in the distance.
~~
"boom!"
Suddenly an explosion sounded in front.
Many galloping horses were frightened and raised their front hooves high.
If it weren't for the Khitan people on horseback who were very skilled in riding horses, they would have been thrown off and thrown to death.
But even if these knights managed to stabilize their horses, their comrades running behind them still bumped into them.
"What's going on?"
"The one in front was struck to death by lightning..."
The Khitan cavalry finally stopped their attack.
Li Huaixiu reined in the reins and listened to the reports from the cavalry coming back from the front, and quickly understood what was going on.
Before he went on the expedition, he heard Shi Siming say that there was gunpowder in the Tang army, which was very powerful. It was made by Xue Bai. Xue Bai used a lot of it when An Lushan raised his army. Afterwards, wars continued and water transportation was blocked, so more was used but less raw materials.
, and everyone in the world is familiar with it. Even if the sound is loud, the casualties caused are limited, so there is no need to be afraid.
But it is one thing for Shi Siming to say that there is no need to be afraid, but this is the first time that Li Huaixiu's Khitan soldiers have encountered them. How can he say that he is not afraid if he is not afraid?
Some people are already praying to heaven, asking for forgiveness.
Li Huaixiu was squinting hard, trying to see clearly what was happening in front of him.
He saw dust and smoke billowing, and then he saw a big flag coming towards him. That person was Xue Bai, who was very famous in the Tang Dynasty, and even he had heard of his reputation for a long time.
He thought it was him who made a surprise attack on the Tang Army's camp, but instead the Tang Army came to kill him. He was a little stunned, and he immediately thought, could he have been ambushed?
At the same time, Xue Bai was scanning the Khitan array with a telescope. In fact, there was no array. Due to the explosives suddenly thrown by the Tang army, the Khitan army was now in a somewhat chaotic state.
Moreover, almost none of these Khitan cavalry were wearing iron armor, only a small amount of leather armor.
"Hunyao, do you dare to charge?"
Xue Bai then asked, this was not a military order, this was a sudden encounter, and he was also assessing the strength of both the enemy and us.
"Here!"
Hun Yao, however, directly accepted the order, recruited his two hundred cavalry, and went straight to kill the Khitan soldiers.
He was very fast, and it didn't take long for him to rush into the distance of a stone's throw from the Khitans. Arrows were shot from ahead. He was wearing iron armor, lowered his head, and protected his horse with a shield. He could hear the clanging sound.
.
At this time, he couldn't care about anything else. He lowered his body, clamped the horse, held the spear tightly with his other hand, and quickly rushed into the Khitan army formation.
The Khitan people didn't dare to collide with him at all, and relied on their good riding skills to disperse one after another. The two hundred horsemen drove straight in like sharp arrows, and their long weapons thrust out violently, stabbing to death every Khitan person who had no time to escape.
In the blink of an eye, Hun Yao had already rushed dozens of steps into the enemy formation. A Khitan general did not expect that the warrior standing in front of him suddenly disappeared. Before he could even drive his horse to escape, he was hit by the shield thrown by Hun Yao.
Confused, he was caught on horseback.
"good!"
Hun Yao held down the enemy general like a sheep, and immediately jumped back on his horse, attracting cheers from the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty.
Thousands of Khitan warriors who were good at riding and shooting had not yet realized that such a young general was allowed to capture the general alive in their formation.
Even Li Huaixiu was stunned and asked: "Who is that?"
He couldn't help but drive his horse forward to look at Hun Yao's flag with his own eyes, and was surprised that the figure under the flag was so young.
This gave him a feeling of powerlessness that was close to despair. He felt that God was blessing the Tang Dynasty, with capable ministers and famous generals coming from generation to generation without interruption. Guo Ziyi, Li Guangbi were still young, Feng Changqing, Li Siye were in their prime, and there were young people like Hun Yao.
People become famous in one battle today.
"Invincible! Invincible!"
Amidst the cheers of the Tang army, Hun Yao sat on the horse and swayed slightly, threw the Khitan general in front of Xue Baima, and said loudly: "Fortunately, the last general has lived up to his command!"
He never felt that he belonged to King Yong.
But when he made great achievements that attracted worldwide attention under the command of King Yong, his gratitude and closeness were indescribable. He even grinned, showing the respect and love he only had for his father and brother.
"Drumming!"
Without a moment's hesitation, Xue Bai seized the opportunity that Hun Yao created for him and ordered: "Charge."
The drums were beating loudly, and a thousand Tang troops launched an attack before the Khitans could clearly see how many troops they had.
Listening to the sound of the drum, Li Huaixiu's expression became cloudy.
Because Shi Siming borrowed troops from him and promised generous rewards, he came to lead his troops into the territory of the Tang Dynasty. He also wanted to take this opportunity to plunder, but unexpectedly he encountered a tough fight just after crossing the river.
So...is it a war? A retreat?
~~
On the high battlefield, Shi Siming squinted his eyes and tried hard to see the situation on the other side of the Qinghe River.
Unfortunately, he couldn't see it with his naked eyes, so he could only keep urging the sentry horse to bring back the news.
"Quick, quick."
He rubbed his hands unconsciously, thinking to himself, "Li Huaixiu is such a waste, why can't we hit him in the back now?"
From time to time, his eyes would fall on the main battlefield, where fighting was going on. It was already dusk today, and the Tang army had not retreated yet because they did not dare.
Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi both knew that withdrawing troops now might lead to a rout.
But if the fight continues like this, it’s still unclear who will win...
"His Majesty."
Shi Siming heard the shouting, turned around, and saw a dusty messenger running onto the battlefield, and immediately knelt down.
The soft "bang" sound was the sound of his knees hitting the ground, and it also seemed to knock on Shi Siming's heart.
This kneeling probably brought bad news.
"Your Majesty, Yanjing has been lost."
"What?"
"Yanjing has been lost, Feng Changqing..."
"You are a spy sent by Guo Ziyi to disrupt my military morale."
Before the messenger could finish speaking, Shi Siming grabbed his throat and strangled him hard.
The messenger was speechless and struggled hard. His face turned purple and his pupils were widened. Reflecting Shi Siming's ferocious face, it became more and more ferocious.
On the battlefield, many people fell in a pool of blood with every breath, but on the battlefield, it took Shi Siming several breaths to strangle one person to death.
He let go of his hand, but his eyelids were twitching unconsciously, very violently.
The one who stayed behind in Fan Yang was his prince, his favorite son, and he liked Shi Chaoqing the most because Shi Chaoqing was like him, good at riding and shooting, and decisive and ruthless in his actions.
Those who can achieve great things must be ruthless, so he believed that Shi Chaoqing would be his most promising son.
How could Fan Yang lose it?
"Your Majesty, another messenger is coming from the north."
Shi Siming turned his back and did not respond to the question. He seemed to be observing the formation very seriously. In fact, his eyes were not focused at all, and he could not see the tens of thousands of ants who were fighting bloody battles for him.
He was thinking, what should he do?
Today's battle can be lost, but Fan Yang must not lose it... If Fan Yang has already lost it, then Pingzhou and Yingzhou must not be lost.
Shi Siming started his career as a Pinglu soldier and horseman, and he knew that the Pinglu army was his foundation. Assuming that the fall of Yanjing was true, he could rush back to Yingzhou with the cavalry as quickly as possible and wait for an opportunity to make a comeback.
The person guarding Yingzhou now is Zhang Zhizhong, who is loyal to Anlu Mountain. Shi Siming only used it temporarily. He originally planned to deal with it after taking Chang'an, but now it has become a legacy. If Zhang Zhizhong also surrenders, the Tang army will be in trouble.
.
"His Majesty."
Ashina Chengqing stepped onto the battlefield and whispered: "It's been confirmed. Yanjing has been captured. Will Your Majesty see a few more messengers?"
"Summoned." Shi Siming had calmed down, at least on the surface.
He no longer expected to win today, he only hoped to block the news, hold out until dark, win or lose a small amount, and then withdraw his troops overnight.
Soon, messengers came one after another to report to Shi Siming what happened in Fanyang City.
Finally, someone said: "Before I escaped from Yanjing, I heard one more thing."
"explain."
"The crown prince and several princes have all been poisoned by the Tang army, I heard."
Shi Siming was in a trance for a moment, and asked himself in his mind, "Have you given up your descendants?"
He suddenly thought that his only daughter had been captured by the Tang army before.
In order to raise an army, he really paid too much. He went from being a humble Hu man to becoming a prince and the king of Guiyi. He raised an army to rebel against the Tang Dynasty, and he ended up like this?
Do you regret it?
"I don't regret it." Shi Siming murmured to himself.
The children can be regenerated even if they are all dead, and the troops can be recruited again after the army is exhausted, as long as the others are still there.
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!"
The rapid whistle once again shattered Shi Siming's ambition.
Worse news fell into his ears like thunder, but he should have thought of it just now.
"From the north...the Tang army is coming from the north!"
~~
A pair of angry eyes looked down at the approaching army ahead.
The expression on Shi Chaoqing's face was as ferocious as a ghost.
He shook his head, which was a hundred feet above the ground, and floated over the bloody battlefield. The corners of his twisted mouth seemed to be cursing something.
In other words, he was hung on a high pole, held by a Tang cavalry, and kept running wildly.
"Fan Yang has been defeated! Shi Chaoqing is dead!"
Then the military music of the Tang army sounded, letting the rebels know from a distance that Wang Shi was coming from the north.
Feng Changqing was afraid that he would not be able to defeat the rebels' morale immediately, so he ordered his soldiers to beat them all the way.
So this vanguard army looked extremely strange, with its head hanging high like a flag and impassioned music. It rushed to the Yan army's rear line within a stone's throw.
It seemed that Shi Chaoqing's glare caused the Yan army to collapse.
Suddenly, the Yan army dispersed to the north like water.
"call--"
Li Siye's Mo Dao slashed down, and for the first time, it was all empty.
He raised his head and saw the backs of many enemies.
Immediately afterwards, a rapid trumpet sounded, and the Chinese army's flag waved again, urging the army to pursue.
Their coach knew that Feng Changqing was blocking the way from the north. If Shi Siming was allowed to escape again, no matter how many people were killed, it would not be considered a complete victory.
"Chasing! All in one battle!"
"Send the order, Shi Siming must not leave!"
Xue Xin was already exhausted, but when he heard this, he got a new energy from nowhere and rushed forward without hesitation.
He was so envious of Hun Yao's military exploits. They were both the same age, and he must catch up with Hun Yao.
"Chase!"
At the same time, Hun Yao had also changed into a war horse and was galloping, chasing the banner of the Khitan Khan.
His armor was too heavy and he gradually fell behind, watching helplessly as the Khitans fled through the water.
However, when there was a shocking noise from the north bank, he turned around and couldn't help being overjoyed and shouted quickly.