At two o'clock in the morning on October 22nd of the fifteenth year of Zhenguan, the sun was already setting in the west. The originally weak winter had already become dim by this time. Even if it shone on the body, it could not bring much warmth. However, Hou Guozhong was not very
He didn't mind, but he had just repelled a fierce attack from Ba Ye Gubu. At this moment, his body was dripping with sweat and he was very hot. He wished he could have a little coolness to cool down. This tired winter day was just right for him.
I mean, no, Hou Guozhong, who was already exhausted, sat down on the top of the city. He didn't care about the blood flowing everywhere under him, he just leaned on the battlements and panted heavily.
"General Hou, are you okay? Uh-huh!" Liu Tietao, who was also out of breath, slowly walked up to Hou Guozhong, sat down heavily on the ground, and accidentally hit the wall with his bandaged hand.
, and suddenly took a breath of cold air.
"It's okay, he's not dead yet, but you should take it easy, Old Liu. The Lord of Hell is looking for a son-in-law recently." Hou Guozhong was in a good mood and teased Liu Tietao with a smile.
"Hey, we are still young. I'm afraid it will take another seventy or eighty years for the Prince of Hell to call us as his son-in-law." Liu Tietao is fighting side by side with Hou Guozhong these days, but he is showing off his feelings and speaks much more casually, laughing.
Hehehe said: "General Hou, we are fighting so hard here, and His Highness the King of Yue still doesn't know what kind of virtue he will fight. Alas, why haven't the commander's reinforcements arrived yet?"
As soon as he mentioned Li Zhen, the smile on Hou Guozhong's face immediately disappeared. He squinted at the dim sky and sighed: "Your Highness, the lucky person has his own destiny, so he should be fine. That's all. Let's not talk about this anymore."
, No matter when the commander's reinforcements arrive, this tiger's mouth cannot be lost from someone's hands." He paused and then continued: "Old Liu, how are the casualties among the brothers?"
"It's not good." Liu Tietao smiled bitterly, shook his head and said: "Brothers are all cavalry, not good at defending the city. From yesterday to now, the Japanese barbarians have attacked seven times, and there are only four hundred brothers at most.
If there are more, there are still more than a hundred people with minor injuries. Not counting the seriously injured ones, the number of combat-ready soldiers is only over five hundred."
"Well, it's hard for me to wait, but it's even harder for the barbarians. The corpses of the barbarian soldiers lying under the lock are in their early 1000s. Now it's up to us who can grit their teeth and persevere."
"Yes." Liu Tietao responded lightly, raised his head and looked at the sky without saying a word.
Disappointed! Extremely disappointed! Qu Lishu's eyes were already red. At this moment, he had long lost the spirit he had when he conquered Kaiyang City, and also lost the heroic spirit of guiding the country when he faced the Killing Tiger's Pass a day ago.
Some were just deeply disappointed. Facing a group of generals with no morale at all, he even lost interest in his temper. He stormed seven times in one day, with each unit taking turns, day and night, such intense attacks.
This has never happened before in the history of the ancient Banye tribe, but the cruel reality is just before our eyes. More than 1,800 string control warriors were lost in vain, but Guancheng still failed to be captured.
"High Priest, what should we do now?" Qu Lisi wandered around in place for a few times, then suddenly raised his head and looked at Nalong with blood-red eyes.
What should I do? Looking at the guy in front of him who was obviously not a wise leader, Nalong felt helpless in his heart. He smiled bitterly and said calmly: "There are only two ways for our troops to go now: One is to attack again as soon as possible.
To capture Guancheng, our troops have suffered heavy casualties now, and the Tang army is not much better. Maybe we can capture it if we attack again. The second is to hide, hide outside the battlefield, and then look for opportunities to move."
"Attack again?" Qu Lishi glanced at the dejected generals, shook his head and said: "High Priest, we can't afford to attack. If there are more casualties, even if we can return to the grassland with our belongings, we will not be able to attack again."
If you can’t defend it, how can you hide it?”
Now is the time to consider the survival of the entire tribe, but Quli is still thinking about those belongings. This makes Nalong really don't know what to say. He was silent for a long time before he said: "Commander, if I have guessed well,
, Now that the main force of the Tang Army has been dispatched, the eldest prince is probably in crisis. Shenwu and Shuozhou are absolutely out of bounds. The Tang Army is guarding Shahukou, and there will be no omissions from the Tang Army at Yungang.
You can't go in the direction of Datong either. At this moment, the only place our unit can go is back to Kaiyang."
"Kaiyang?" Qu Lishi muttered unconfidently, frowning and saying nothing.
Although he felt extremely disappointed at Qu Li's incompetence, for the sake of the survival of the entire tribe, Nalong still advised him: "General, I thought that the prince's troops were in doom this time. Even if they could barely escape,
Only one out of ten can really return to the grassland. Xue Yantuo's dominance in the grassland is about to be lost. If our army can retain its strength, we may not have the chance to replace Xue Yantuo. The premise is that our army can return to the grassland.
The direct way is to capture the killing tiger's mouth and open a bloody road. The second is to return to Kaiyang, and then look at the progress of the war to find a suitable opportunity to rely on the Tang army and jointly attack the Xue Yantuo tribe. In this way, our tribe will have a glimmer of hope.
"
"Ah?" Qu Lishi was so surprised that he uttered an ah sound, his eyes bulging out of his head. It took him a long time to come back to his senses and asked doubtfully: "How can this be possible?"
"The commander-in-chief should know that I have traveled to Chang'an for several years and I know a little about the affairs of the Tang people. Although the Tang army is strong, the grassland is vast and cannot be completely controlled by the Tang army. In the end, the people of the grassland have the final say on matters in the grassland. Every time in the Tang Dynasty,
They all used restrictive measures to deal with various tribes in our grasslands. The previous Eastern Turks, Tuyuhun, and now Xue Yantuo were all tabooed by the Tang Dynasty because of their excessive power, so they introduced restrictive measures. Xue Yantuo was actually a last resort to rebel against the Tang Dynasty.
And this is just to protect himself. Now it is inevitable that Xue Yantuo will be unlucky. However, the centipede insect is dead but not stiff. Even if this defeat causes Xue Yantuo's strength to be greatly damaged, he is still the overlord on the grassland.
The Tang Dynasty needs someone who can contain the Xue Yantuo tribe. If our tribe surrenders to the Tang Dynasty, attacks the Xue Yantuo tribe and achieves great success, it is not impossible to get the support of the Tang Dynasty. Once this happens, our tribe will definitely take this opportunity to grow stronger, and one day
To be able to replace the Xue Yantuo tribe and become the new overlord of the grassland, this opportunity must not be missed, the time will never come again, the commander-in-chief should think twice." Nalong suppressed his dissatisfaction with Qu Li and lost, and analyzed it carefully.
Mud can never hold up a wall. Although Nalong's words were clear and logical, Qu Lishi hesitated for a long time and finally said: "Rest where you are and try again tomorrow." As soon as he finished speaking, he said:
He turned back to the big tent without any care.
"Alas!" Seeing that Qu Lishi didn't listen to his advice at all, Nalong was disheartened and sighed. He ignored the group of generals who were dumbfounded and turned around to walk to the small chain.
In front of the horse on the tree, he stood silently for a long time. He suddenly gritted his teeth, got on his horse, and was about to ride away. Ba Yetuo, who was standing beside him, reacted very quickly, grabbed Nalong's horse rein, and hurried away.
He asked: "High Priest, where are you going?"
There was a wry smile on Nalong's face, and he sighed and said: "I have gone to find a way out for my Tuye Gu tribe. I hope it can work. Tu Ye Tuo, I will try my best to restrain the tribe and not surrender during the war.
Don't be reckless, go away!" As soon as he finished speaking, he shook the reins, knocked Ba Yetuo aside, and rode Juechen away alone...
At three o'clock in the morning, in the Tang army's camp more than ten miles before Yanmen Pass, the Tang army's commander-in-chief Li Jizheng was sitting silently in front of the sand table, listening to the army commanders' analysis of the battle situation at hand.
He knew well in his heart that Li Zhen was in danger. If possible, he would not have the guts to let Li Zhen risk his life and death. Unfortunately, under the current situation, even if he wanted to, he would not be able to do so. Not to mention the current right-leg army Li Xiyu
The troops have not yet arrived at the battle assembly area. Even if all the troops have arrived at the designated destination, the Tang army will be unable to attack for a while. Without him, after two days and two nights of rapid march, the Tang army is now at the end of its war effort, and its combat effectiveness is very low.
, without adequate rest, how could they defeat Xue Yantuo's army, which was nearly twice as strong as his own? Therefore, as soon as the Tang army left Yanmen Pass, it achieved the strategic purpose of deliberately exposing itself to attract the attention of Xue Yantuo's troops - to cover the right route army's roundabout actions.
After that, Li Ji ordered the central and left armies to set up camp and stop moving forward. Of course, he also knew that this move would inevitably lead to a strong attack by Xue Yantuo's tribe on Shenwu. He was just worried that Li Ji would not be able to risk the safety of the entire army.
Taking risks, he had no choice but to pray to God for Li Zhen's safety.
"Report!" Just as Li Ji was deep in thought, a sweaty detective rushed into the tent, kneeled down on one knee and reported loudly: "Commander, it has been confirmed that there is an ambush on Niutou Ridge. The enemy
The number of soldiers is unknown."
"Huh?" Li Ji stood up suddenly and stared at the sand table for a long time. He reached out and planted a small flag beside the sand table on Niutou Ridge, thinking silently.
Li Wanling, the lieutenant general of the Jinwu Guard, reported excitedly: "Commander, the situation has become clear. It is just as His Highness the King of Yue expected. The enemy chief has deployed heavy troops in Niutou Ridge and Dancaoling to try to ambush our army. These two
Although the terrain here is complex, it is not invulnerable. Our army used most of its troops to attract the enemy's ambush, and used a partial division to take the narrow path. Under attack from both front and rear, the enemy's army would undoubtedly be defeated. Moreover, both of these areas are mountainous, and the enemy's troops are all cavalry.
It cannot be highly maneuverable, so it is suitable for our infantry to be used. If the general attacks, if we don't fight, once the divine force is lost, His Royal Highness the King of Yue will be in danger."
Huo Yi, who joined the army of the Knight Cavalry Guards, also stood up and said: "Commander, I am willing to lead my troops to attack. Please give me the order."
"Commander, give me an order. I am willing to obey the commander's order." The generals under the tent came out one after another to ask for battle. For a time, the whole tent was full of fighting spirit, and everyone's morale was high.
"Stand where you are. All armies should rest and recuperate quickly. All troops will retreat the next morning!" Li Ji's expression changed, and he calmly issued the combat order of rest and recuperation. The generals looked at each other for a long time, but they did not dare to disobey the order.
, each of them retreated sadly without mentioning it.
"Hey!" After Li Ji stood blankly in the tent for a while, he looked at the sky outside the tent, turned around silently and walked back to the back tent... dd