Water Margin people

Chapter 1528 Temporary Retreat

Liu Qi, who was gaining the upper hand and preparing to defeat Babur in one fell swoop, suddenly heard the sound of a bugle from behind, and the sword in his hand slowed down a bit.

"what happened?"

Liu Qi was very puzzled. He looked around and realized that he had clearly won a great victory, the enemies were fleeing in all directions, and he was about to kill the enemy general and win a beautiful victory, but why did the battle horn suddenly sound?

"Did something happen in the rear?"

Liu Qi thought quickly in his mind and slowed down his attack.

The pressure on Babur's side was greatly reduced. He also heard the enemy's attack and was delighted. However, he did not rush to attack. Instead, he looked for an opportunity to escape. He had already seen that the enemy was gathering. If all the enemies came over, he would not be able to escape even if he had wings.

Finally Babur found a flaw and fled on his horse.

Liu Qi did not pursue them when he saw them. What he was most worried about now was the rear. If something happened in the rear, he would be defeated even if he killed all the enemies.

Liu Qi gathered his troops and quickly retreated to the rear, but when he looked around he saw that everything was normal and there were no enemies at all.

"What's going on? Why is the gong sounding?"

Liu Qi looked at Wu Jie in confusion. He did not doubt that Wu Jie had any selfish motives, nor did he doubt that Wu Jie was worried that he would steal the credit. If Wu Jie had any thoughts when he was in the Liangshan City army, he would not have submitted the memorial himself.

"I'm afraid you really killed that man!"

Wu Jie said with a smile.

"Wouldn't it be better to kill them? This mob was gathered together by that man. If we kill him, these people will scatter like birds and beasts."

Liu Qi said quickly.

"Then what? A group of unorganized tribes wandering in the mountains, what will they do? They will guard the Qilian Mountains and plunder the trade routes. How can we defend such a long Hexi Corridor? What's more, the Tibetans are eyeing us covetously!"

Wu Jie explained that Babur could not be killed so easily. Once Babur died, those small tribes would become unorganized bandits, which would pose too great a threat. Therefore, Babur must be kept alive.

"That's it!"

Liu Qi seemed to be thinking about something.

"You saw the battle just now. Those rabble were vulnerable and collapsed as soon as they came into contact. They are not good at fighting, but they are good at running away. Moreover, they are already familiar with this highland mountain environment. It is difficult for us to chase them!"

Wu Jie looked at Liu Qi and said.

"What should we do? Although these people are not very strong in combat, there are too many of them. If we keep them, they will be a disaster sooner or later!"

Liu Qi said that these people are not good at dealing with regular troops, but they are good at looting.

"It looks like we still have to use Qing Tang City!"

Wu Jie spoke.

"Qingtang City!"

Liu Qi frowned and thought. Qi Huai'en had always been obsessed with attacking Qingtang City and taking back the Tibetan royal city of Qingtang.

"These rabble have come from afar, so they definitely don't have much food and fodder with them. The tribes nearby have all been gathered together by Qi Huai'en, so there's nothing for them to plunder. If they want supplies, they can only go to Qingtang City!"

Wu Jie said that Qingtang City was the largest city nearby and was now occupied by the Kucheans and Uighurs. These people plundered the surrounding areas of Qingtang City and accumulated a large amount of wealth and food.

"But those Kucha people and Uighur people are very cowardly. They will guard Qingtang City and refuse to come out. Are we going to attack the city?"

Liu Qi was a little worried.

During the Han Dynasty, Qiuci was also a great country in the Western Regions and once controlled the Silk Road, but it was eventually lost in history.

During the Tang Dynasty, the Uighurs established the Uighur Khanate in the Western Regions. However, it later split due to internal strife. The Yellow-headed Uighurs fled to the plateau to survive, while the Gaochang Uighurs went to the Western Regions to establish a country, and successively relied on the Liao Kingdom and the Western Liao Dynasty.

For the two ethnic groups whose countries have been destroyed, cowardice is their label, and this cowardice determines that they dare only to retreat and defend themselves.

"No, we are too few in number. Even with Qi Huai'en and his men, we are not enough to attack the city!"

Wu Jie was also worried. At this moment, Qi Huai'en arrived with a group of soldiers.

"Generals, have you repelled the enemy?"

Qi Huai'en looked at the enemy's discarded flags on the mountains and the Qi army's strict formation and asked with a smile. He had originally wanted to come here to take advantage of any missed opportunities, but he didn't expect the battle was already over.

"It's the Kucha, Yellow-headed Uighurs, Khotan, Qiang, Di, and Jie people in the west!"

Wu Jie looked at Qi Huai'en and said.

"It turns out to be these despicable and shameless people!"

When Qi Huai'en heard this, he became furious. These were the tribes that had originally been dependent on Qingtang Tubo. Later, when Qingtang Tubo became weak, these tribes rebelled and established their own regimes.

"Why are you here? Didn't the Yalong Jue'a royal family come to kill us today?"

Liu Qi looked at Qi Huai'en and asked. He had handed over the area near Jishishan Mountain to Qi Huai'en.

"Well... Generals, the enemy suddenly launched an attack today, and I failed to respond in time, so I lost the position!"

Qi Huai'en said somewhat embarrassedly that he lost the position right after Liu Qi and Wu Jie left, which showed his incompetence no matter how you looked at it.

"You are a real talent!"

Liu Qi was furious. He had ordered Qi Huai'en to retreat and defend, but he actually lost his position. Isn't he a complete waste?

"I am guilty, but I have established a new position on the mountain fifty miles away!"

Qi Huai'en quickly apologized, but his words were completely an excuse for himself.

"Fifty miles? Have you completely given up on the defense of Jishishan Mountain?"

Wu Jie looked at Qi Huai'en and asked. Qi Huai'en had already come down from Jishi Mountain, and if he retreated another fifty miles, he would be out of the range of Jishi Mountain.

Qi Huai'en nodded embarrassedly.

Liu Qi was so angry that he wanted to hit someone. If they gave up the entire Jishishan Mountain, they would no longer be able to restrain the enemy, and they could attack from a high position without any safety once the enemy disappeared.

"The army is heading to Maqu!"

Wu Jie looked at everyone and gave orders. Since the Jishishan position had been lost, there was no point for them to stay here. Maqu controlled the river valley between Jishishan and Dafeichuan, which was the only way to connect to Qingtang.

"Maqu!"

Qi Huai'en was overjoyed when he heard this. He could attack Qingtang City by going to Maqu.

"What are you doing standing still?"

Liu Qi looked at Qi Huai'en unhappily. This guy was actually still stunned.

Babur, who escaped, was breathing heavily. He was puzzled when he saw the retreating Qi army in the distance. Now, he was in a high position and could see the battlefield clearly. There was no problem with the Qi army at all.

"Why did you suddenly withdraw your troops?"

Babur became puzzled. They were almost defeated and the knife was almost at their necks, but the enemy stopped.

"Report! General, the enemy at Jishishan has been repelled!"

A cavalryman came hastily to report.

"Jishishun? Those Tibetans!"

Babur suddenly realized that he finally understood why the enemy withdrew. It turned out that there was a problem in the rear.

"Haha, blow the horn quickly and gather the troops! I want to tell everyone this good news!"

Babur laughed and gave the order, saying that they could not be considered defeated in this battle, after all, they still repelled the enemy.