The night in Wuzhou is so quiet that it is almost deathly silent.
Occasionally, a lonely wolf howl casts an eerie color on the empty mountain and cold moon.
Ye Lihua panted and sat leaning on a willow tree. Behind the tree was a small stream, winding towards the Calabash River. Ye Lihua had been here before. It was a very shallow river, and you could wade across it at this time of year.
The subordinates brought him some water. Ye Lihua took the water bag and spit it out as soon as he took a sip.
"What does it smell like?" Ye Lihua kicked his subordinate and said angrily.
The men were confused and a little trembling.
"It smells of blood." Ye Lihua threw down the water bag, his voice trembling.
"Ten thousand households, there are corpses floating down." The river had thawed and the water was gurgling. Some sharp-eyed subordinates saw corpses floating down the river. One after another, there seemed to be no end.
"Alas." Ye Lihua sighed heavily and sat on the wet grass again.
Shui Lingbu died, being pursued by Tang cavalry. He also died with hundreds of warriors from two tribes. They were chopped down one by one like trees. The screams before the break are still remembered.
There were even those who couldn't bear the fear and jumped into the river. It had rained before, the water level had surged, and it was bitingly cold. If you jumped into the river in this weather, the possibility of survival was very low.
"It should be someone from the Shui Ling Bu tribe."
"There are also people from our tribe."
"I didn't die by the swords and guns of the Tang Dynasty. I jumped into the river and died by myself."
"How dare you jump into the river in such a cold weather and such cold water? There are Tang cavalry on both sides of the river, so what if you escape to the other side?"
"If I were chased by Tang cavalry, I might jump into the river. I could hide in the river for a while and maybe I could escape."
"Stupid. After getting into the water, I was trembling with cold for a moment and dead."
The people below started chatting. After suffering such a huge defeat, everyone's enemies were a little resentful. The usually strict military discipline could no longer restrain them. Some people even looked at Ye Lihua while talking, and they didn't know.
What's your idea?
Wilderness turns a deaf ear to this.
He wanted to take care of it, but he vaguely felt that it might not have any effect. He now realized that he had made a big mistake before, that is, he did not imprison the defeated soldiers who escaped from the Kangnu family as soon as possible, or simply kill them.
As for the leakage of the news, it shook the morale of the army and caused some tribes to slip away in advance.
But it's too late to say anything now!
Ye Lihua didn't know how many people were left now. Anyway, there were only a few dozen people following him. Too many people were nowhere to be found. They might have died or escaped, or of course they might have been captured by the Tang people.
What would happen if he was captured? He didn't know. He would either be beheaded or live a worse life than death. There was no third possibility.
"Is there anything to eat?" Ye Lihua felt a pang of hunger in his belly.
The subordinate handed over a suspicious piece of bread. Half of it was soaked by the rain, and the other half was stained with blood. It was unclear which corpse it had been pulled from.
Ye Lihua took it and wolfed it down. His hands swallowed. He was also hungry, but he was defeated so miserably and was driven around all day long. Where could he find something to eat?
"We're not far from Wuzhou. When we get to Wuzhou, Yangzhu will definitely kill cattle and sheep to entertain us, and he will bear with us for a while." Ye Lihua noticed the expressions of his men and comforted him, but he did not give up the noodles at all.
It means to go out.
The Yangzhu clan is all armed and can pull out four thousand cavalry. This small number of people may not be able to defend Wuzhou City, whose city walls are also severely damaged, but it is still possible to resist a little and let them breathe. Now everyone
What he needs most is to eat something and have a good sleep before he has the strength to escape to Huizhou.
Yes, if Ye Lihua still had the confidence to fight with the Tang people half a month ago, after all, he had gathered more than 13,000 strong men, the Kang Nu clan in Baiquan also had 6,000 soldiers, and Wuzhou had
With four thousand men and many horses, Cheng Zongchu, who had no cavalry, could not be easily captured?
But the Kangnu clan was already finished. Six thousand people were defeated in the first battle. After the defeated soldiers fled, they clamored that the Tang people had 50,000 to 60,000 soldiers and were very capable of fighting. They spoke vividly. Then the Jingyuan Army and the Pingning Army appeared in the south.
, it is said that there were 30,000 people, and they defeated 3,000 people from the Bagou tribe in one battle, and looted all their cattle, sheep, and property.
Everyone said that the emperor of the Tang Dynasty must have sent a large army to conquer. This time at least 100,000 elite soldiers were sent out, and they were not able to resist the enemy. Ye Lihua was so angry that he directly killed the defeated soldiers and tribesmen who spread the news, but
To no avail, the Bai family and other tribesmen ran away that night, taking with them the old and the weak, their cattle and sheep, and fled west towards Huizhou.
Under such circumstances, how can we fight? Even the most hardcore Shui Ling Bu troops collapsed, and their corpses floated down the river. The army had no fighting spirit, and defeat was certain.
"There's a fire over there!" After eating the noodles, he was about to greet someone and continue on his way, when someone suddenly screamed.
Ye Lihua looked up and saw the blazing fire in the north, which reflected half of the sky.
"Wuzhou!" He bit his lips tightly, his heart as cold as ice.
He didn't need to send anyone to check, he already knew in his heart that it was the Yangzhu clan who abandoned the city and ran away. Preventing the fire before leaving would firstly force the Tang people in the city to put out the fire and not have time to follow their escape direction, and secondly, it would also prevent the next attack.
A little more convenient.
"Yangzhushi ran away!"
"Isn't it too late to set the fire now? It will drag us down the wrong path."
"They must have run away a long time ago. The last group of people who will stay to prevent the fire will run away after setting the fire."
"She must have fled to Huizhou."
"What a shame, you don't even have the courage to defend the city!"
Military discipline was really broken, and the soldiers started talking all over again.
"Let's go!" Ye Lihua stood up and shouted loudly.
"Headman, where are you going?"
"Go west to Huizhou and seek the protection of the Qu clan." Ye Lihua said firmly.
For asylum, it is more likely to be annexation. Ye Lihua is well aware of the consequences of escaping to Huizhou in the west, but he has no choice now but to try his luck there. I hope that for the sake of the Tang army chasing after him, the Qu family
, if we can unite sincerely and show mercy to them. The descendants of King Mi Yao can no longer kill each other!
The horse had already fallen down and died in the middle of the journey. Ye Lihua, with what seemed to be a dozen less men, roughly figured out the direction and disappeared into the vast night.
******
Twenty miles south of Wuzhou City, Zhe Siyu looked at the fire that was blazing into the sky, swung his horse whip bitterly, and said: "Let the men of the Jingyuan Army go to Wuzhou, and we will pursue them westward. One hundred riders will pull.
Keep your distance and intercept and kill every Tubo you see."
"Follow your orders!" The ten generals and lieutenants of each battalion who gathered around took orders one after another.
After the defeat of Tubo in Yuanzhou, the Yangzhu clan in Wuzhou was not a concern at all. Their retreat was expected. Considering the current situation, this group of people probably did not have the courage to run to Qingzhou, so they fled westward
Huizhou became the most likely thing.
If you don’t chase now, when will you wait?
On February 26, Li Shaorong, who had been promoted to deputy general, led a hundred cavalry to catch up with a group of Tibetans fleeing westward.
Those people were carrying tents, household items, and driving cattle and sheep in large and small carts. As soon as they saw this heavily armed Tang cavalry, the men guarding the surrounding area rushed out, and dozens more got on their horses, howling and screaming.
, looking like a fight to the death.
Li Shaorong took the lead, waving the horse in his hand repeatedly, stabbing and pushing, knocking down several people in a row.
The sergeants who followed him laughed loudly, obviously not taking these Tibetan herdsmen seriously. They held sharp spears, formed a tight formation, and broke through the oncoming Tibetan herdsmen in one stroke.
After going around in circles, he charged again and killed again, just like an adult playing with a child, killing these people down one after another.
I believe we already have the answer as to which one is stronger, the elite cavalry who have been trained off-duty all year round, or the ordinary herdsmen who are entangled in farm work.
The sound of horse hooves sounded again from the southwest.
Li Shaorong's expression changed slightly, and when he looked closer, he saw that he was one of his own.
"Lieutenant Xu, you came just in time, we caught the fat sheep!" Li Shaorong said with a loud laugh as he picked off a Tibetan infantry with his spear.
"Vice-General Li has good luck. Just ten miles into Huizhou, he caught a big fish." Vice-General Xu galloped over and said with a smile.
"What? Already rushed to Huizhou?" Li Shaorong's horse's spear seemed to be stuck in the human skeleton. He deftly released the handle of the horse's handle, pulled out the iron mace, and smashed the head of a Tibetan soldier with a stick in his mouth.
I had a question and answer session with Vice General Xu, and he seemed to be at ease.
"Yes, I also learned this from the captives." General Xu Fu tied a rope behind his horse. After stabbing it into the enemy's body, he let go. The horse dragged the body on the ground for a few steps and then got rid of it.
At this time, Lieutenant General Xu had already drawn a saber and swiped it across the body of a Tibetan soldier. The knife was not very sharp, but it still made a horrific wound on the enemy's body, and blood spurted out.
"Huizhou, we finally reached Huizhou! After this battle, go back home!" Li Shaorong gasped and knocked three times before knocking off a difficult opponent. It seemed to be a
Chieftain?
"If the Dingyuan army goes down the Yellow River and attacks Ulan, the battle will be fought faster. There are more than 7,000 people, but I don't know if the commander has any arrangements."
"The commander-in-chief uses his troops like a god. He must have made arrangements in advance." Li Shaorong replied.
Where two hundred cavalrymen were standing, corpses lay everywhere, and blood flowed all over the ground. Hundreds of old and weak Tibetan women and children were trembling, waiting for their fate to be judged.
