Chapter 1819: Gongsun Yan burns Hangu Pass (Part 2)
"My lord, the corpses of the two military advisors and generals have been buried." Hou Junji said to Li Shimin with a sad face.
Hearing this, Li Shimin turned around tremblingly and glanced at the rows of stretchers behind him.
Those familiar faces from the past came into view, but now they have turned into cold corpses.
Li Shimin walked to the stretcher where the bodies of Li Ru and Du Ruhui were placed. His eyes were full of self-blame and pain, and tears kept flowing down from the corners of his eyes.
The king of a generation actually cried silently.
In the Battle of Nanxiang, Li Shimin fought only Nanxiang City in Nanxiang County. No general was killed or injured from the beginning to the end. Although the military strength was greatly reduced, it was replenished by the Qin army's surrender. Overall, the casualties were
Not too big.
But he didn't expect that the battle at Hangu Pass, no, the battle with Li Cunxiao, would result in such heavy losses.
Li Ru and Du Ruhui fell one after another, and half of the four great military advisors were killed directly in battle.
The Guards were almost crippled, and the Guards generals Chai Shao and Hu Cheer were killed in the battle.
Clan general: Li Hu died in battle.
In addition, there are: Zuo Tiancheng, Guo Bang, Niu Fu, Zhang Ji, Hu Chi'er, Zhao Gui and other generals.
Later statistics showed that a total of sixty-four military generals died in the hands of Li Cunxiao, which accounted for a quarter of Li Tang's total number of generals.
In addition to the generals who died in battle, there were countless others who were injured.
Twenty-one generals including Zhang Xiu, Kang Anyu, Li Jue, Hua Xiong, Li Keyong, and Yang Jian were seriously injured, and Li Yuanba, the most powerful general of the Li Tang Dynasty, had his left arm cut off.
Let's put it this way, after the battle with Li Cunxiao, the Tang army's high-level combat power has been reduced by more than half.
Li Cunxiao defeated more than half of the Tang army with his own strength. This achievement was simply formidable. It is not an exaggeration to say that one person is against an entire country.
"Lord, our army suffered nearly 10,000 casualties in this battle, of which nearly 2,000 were at the hands of Li Cunxiao alone. A total of 64 generals died in the battle, and 21 generals were seriously injured and unable to go to the battlefield."
Li Kui Se Shenghui reported that he was very aware of how severe a blow this battle would have on his lord and the entire army.
Regardless of the fact that so many generals were killed in the battle, the king of Tang was forced to abandon the army and flee for his life by just one person. This was a fatal blow to the morale of the army.
At this time, the Tang army still numbered nearly 400,000, and its total strength was still strong, but its morale was very low and it was no longer suitable to continue the campaign.
But what if we just retreat like this?
Looking at Li Shimin's eyes full of hatred, Li Kui knew that it was absolutely impossible for his lord to give up and retreat after suffering such a heavy loss.
Regardless of the morale problem of the entire army, the arrow in Luoyang is already on the string, and there is no turning back when the bow is fired.
At this time, although Li Kui knew that the front line of the Tang Army was in dire straits, under the pressure of the general situation, he could only bite the bullet and continue on.
"Transport the bodies of all the generals who died in the battle back to Chang'an for a good burial, give all the injured generals the best treatment, and then send troops to protect them and return to Chang'an to recuperate." Li Shimin said while holding back his grief.
"promise."
At this time, Taoist Cihang came over and said: "Prince Tang, Pindao has already treated Junior Brother Yang Jian's injury. Although it is not fatal, I'm afraid he will need to recover for half a year.
As for General Yuanba’s external injuries, they have also been bandaged up, but the broken arm has been reattached? Please forgive me for being unable to do so.”
Hearing this, Li Shimin suddenly became anxious: "Taoist Priest, if even you can't save Yuanba, I'm afraid no one in this world can save Yuanba."
Taoist Cihang gave a wry smile. It was true that she was a dual practitioner of medicine, but as far as she knew, not even a few doctors could repair a broken arm.
"If General Yuanba's left hand was cut off by conventional methods and treated immediately, Pindao would be sure to reattach it, but he would definitely not be able to recover to the same condition as before it was cut off, and it would be even less possible to pick up the drum-beating golden hammer.
"This is better than being disabled," Li Shimin said.
Seeing that Li Shimin did not understand what he meant, Master Cihang quickly explained: "The King of Tang did not know that the injury to General Yuanba's broken arm was not a conventional injury."
Li Shimin was stunned and confused: "What's the difference?"
"The biggest difference is that the person who cut off General Yuanba's arm was Li Cunxiao who was in a state of burning internal energy.
The burning Gang Qi was so violent that when General Yuanba's left arm was cut off, the arm and its meridians had been damaged by the Gang Qi.
The biggest difficulty in reattaching a severed arm is to connect the meridians, and if the meridians are all different, even if the arm is reattached, it will be nothing more than a piece of dead flesh."
As soon as Master Cihang said this, Li Shimin's face suddenly turned pale.
"Taoist Priest, is there really no other way? He is Li Yuanba, the once invincible General Shenwei Tian. He cannot be treated as a useless person."
Li Shimin held Taoist Cihang's hand in prayer: "Taoist Master, as long as it can cure Yuanba, I will do it at any cost, even if I cut off my left arm and reattach it to Yuanba."
"If it wasn't my own handwriting, it would be even more impossible for me to take over. King Tang is eager to protect his younger brother, and Pindao can understand it, but this request is really beyond Pindao's ability. Please don't embarrass Pindao." Ci.
Hang smiled bitterly.
Hearing this, Li Shimin was completely desperate. He covered his face and cried bitterly: "Yuanba, it was the second brother who harmed you..."
Seeing Li Shimin crying so sadly, Master Cihang hesitated for a moment and said: "Actually, there is one last way, but the chance of success is very small, and there is also the risk of death. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is a narrow escape, and even if it is successful,
General Yuanba still could not recover.
Prince Tang, is it worth risking your life for an arm that is still unable to use force even after it recovers?"
Li Shimin was silent. He felt owed to his brother, so he had to treat him no matter the cost. But for a left hand that could not be recovered, he had to risk his life and fight for the chance of a narrow escape.
It doesn't seem like a cost-effective thing.
Li Shimin hoped that Li Yuanba could be alive. Even if his arm was broken, at least he was still alive.
Just when Li Shimin was hesitating, Li Yuanba walked in with a cane and said, "Taoist Priest, I want treatment."
Li Shimin's expression changed: "Yuanba, it's too dangerous. Besides, even if it succeeds, your left arm will... Yuanba, don't take this risk."
"Second brother, I owe my body and skin to my parents. Even if my left arm is disabled, I still hope it is still with me."
Li Shimin tried to persuade him for a long time, but Li Yuanba still looked determined. Li Shimin sighed helplessly and said: "Taoist Priest, let's treat it."
Master Cihang nodded and said: "This time the treatment will take a long time, I'm afraid it will take several months. I'm afraid I won't be able to help His Highness Prince Tang during this time."
"It's okay. A hand that can cure Yuan Ba is the greatest help to me."
After saying this, Li Shimin looked at Li Yuanba and said, "Yuanba, don't worry, my second brother will definitely avenge you."
"Second brother, actually you don't have to..."
Li Yuanba originally wanted to say that there was no need to blame himself, but before he could finish his words, Li Shimin had already strode away.
Li Yuanba sighed helplessly when he saw this. He felt that his second brother had become a little irrational. Was he being carried away by anger and hatred?
"Report, Lord, Gongsun Yan led the army to withdraw from Hangu Pass. Now Hangu Pass is an empty city."
After hearing the report, Li Shimin's eyes flashed with a ruthless look, and he said coldly: "Want to run away? It's not that easy. Send the order and immediately station at Hangu Pass, and then send the cavalry to pursue Gongsun Yan. I want to see
Let’s see how he escapes back to Wild King City.”
"promise."
Following Li Shimin's order, Li and Tang's army began to garrison Hangu Pass and broke open the sealed east gate, preparing to send troops to pursue the Qin army.
After the Qin army passed the Gu Pass, in addition to burning all the ordnance, they also completely sealed the east gate with stones. The Tang army moved for half an hour but could not completely clear the road.
Just when the stones were about to be evacuated, to everyone's surprise, a fire suddenly broke out in the pass. The fire was so powerful that it could not be extinguished.
In the end, the fire lasted for three days and three nights, and Hangu Pass was completely burned down.
The Tang army discovered the fire in time, but due to the large number of soldiers entering the pass, in the end, although most of the soldiers escaped from Hangu Pass, nearly 5,000 were still burned to death.
East of Hangu Pass, ten miles away.
Gongsun Yan looked at the night sky behind him that was lit red by the fire, gritted his teeth and said: "General Li Cunxiao, your sacrifice will never be in vain. Even if the general dies, he must defend Yewang City."
"Report...to the general, a flying pigeon message has been sent from Luoyang."
Gongsun Yan immediately smiled bitterly after taking it. If this flying pigeon letter had come one day earlier, General Li Cunxiao would not have been sacrificed.