I, the military god of the Tang Dynasty, have risen since I destroyed the Turks

Chapter 763 Iron Wall Encirclement
The north wind howled, blowing up the fine sand from the Gobi Desert, which made a crackling sound when hitting the armor. Li Zheng stood on the makeshift observation tower, squinting his eyes and looking into the distance. On the horizon, Mongolian cavalry pressed in like a black cloud, and the sound of horse hooves was like thunder, shaking the earth slightly.

"Your Majesty, the scouts reported that Genghis Khan led 30,000 cavalrymen and is less than ten miles away from our army." Li Kan quickly stepped onto the high platform and reported with a fist. The young general's eyes flashed with excitement, and his fingers unconsciously stroked the hilt of the sword.

Li Zheng did not respond immediately. He raised his hand and felt the wind direction - northwest wind, which was good for bow and arrow shooting. This detail made the corners of his mouth slightly raised. Turning around and looking down at his own position, the 30,000 Tang troops had already arranged their formations as planned, with a heavy infantry phalanx in the center and elite cavalry on both wings, forming a huge "concave" shape as a whole.

"Where is Hou Junji?" Li Zheng asked, his voice so calm that no emotion could be heard.

"Your Majesty, General Hou has already ambushed behind the hill on the left wing as planned, just waiting for the Mongols to fall into the trap." Li Kan replied, and then couldn't help but add: "Your Majesty, I would like to lead a light cavalry to attack and dampen the enemy's spirit first!"

Li Zheng glanced at the hot-blooded young general and shook his head: "No hurry. Let Mengge first taste the hospitality of our Tang Dynasty."

The Mongolian army in the distance was getting closer and closer, and the flags of the vanguard troops could be seen clearly. The Mongolian cavalry wore leather armor, held scimitars, and had composite bows on their horses. They were aggressive. The leader was none other than Mongke Khan, who was tall and strong, wearing a wolfskin hat and with a thick beard fluttering in the wind.

"Khan, the Tang army's formation is weird, and there might be a conspiracy." An elderly Mongolian general rode forward and reminded in a low voice.

Mengge laughed loudly, his voice like a bell: "The Han people can only play tricks! My Mongolian cavalry is invincible in the world, and a mere infantry phalanx can be crushed with a single charge!" He raised his scimitar and shouted in Mongolian: "Warriors, follow me to kill the enemy! Whoever takes the head of the Tang Emperor will be rewarded with a thousand gold coins and be granted a fiefdom of ten thousand households!"

The Mongolian cavalry let out earth-shaking shouts and rushed towards the Tang army like a tide.

Li Zheng calmly observed all this from the observation tower. When he saw the Mongolian army attacking, a gleam of light flashed in his eyes. "Pass the order down, proceed according to the original plan. The central formation should fight and retreat, and the two wings should not move rashly."

The drums of war sounded, and the Tang army's central infantry square began to slowly retreat, seemingly intimidated by the momentum of the Mongolian cavalry. Mengge was even more proud of this, and personally led his guards to the front.

"Your Majesty, the Mongols have all entered the designated area!" a messenger came running to report.

Li Zheng nodded, raised his right hand, and then swung it downwards. With this signal, the Tang army's formation suddenly changed. The central phalanx that had been retreating stopped retreating, and the cavalry on both wings quickly closed in. At the same time, the ambushes hidden behind the hillsides on both sides came out together, instantly surrounding the Mongolian cavalry in a gradually shrinking area.

"What's going on?" Mengge reined in his horse and was surprised to find that countless Tang soldiers suddenly appeared around him. What was even more terrifying was that the Tang army used the terrain and vehicles to set up a large number of obstacles, turning the originally open battlefield into a criss-crossing narrow passage, making it impossible for the Mongolian cavalry to charge.

"Khan, we've fallen into a trap!" the deputy general shouted in horror, "The Tang army was well prepared, this is a trap!"

Mengge's face turned pale, but he quickly calmed down: "Why panic? Order all the troops to move closer to me and focus on one breakthrough point!"

However, after the order was passed down, the Mongolian cavalry found that it was impossible to execute it. The obstacles set up by the Tang army and the constantly moving formations made the Mongolian army divided into countless small pieces, making it difficult for them to respond to each other.

On the observation tower, Li Kan's face flushed with excitement: "Your Majesty, your foresight is brilliant! The Mongols are trapped! Please let me lead the army to attack and I will definitely take Mengge's head!"

Li Zheng remained calm: "No hurry. Hou Junji has his own arrangements."

"But..." Li Kan wanted to argue, but was stopped by Li Zheng's eyes.

"General Li, a general should have a holistic view. Although Mongke is in our trap, he will still fight. A rash attack at this time will only increase casualties." Li Zheng pointed to the battlefield, "You see, Hou Junji is gradually tightening the encirclement, and the Mongolian cavalry has less and less room to move. When they completely lose their mobility advantage, it will be time for our army to reap the rewards." Li Kan clenched his fist unwillingly, but dared not say anything more. He noticed that the two deputy generals beside him exchanged a meaningful look, and they were obviously dissatisfied with the emperor's favoritism towards Hou Junji.

On the battlefield, Hou Junji stood on a small hill, calmly directing the movement of the troops. The middle-aged general had a resolute face and eyes as sharp as an eagle. He kept issuing orders, and the Tang army's formation changed accordingly, like a sophisticated machine, forcing the Mongolian cavalry into a desperate situation step by step.

"Archers get ready - shoot!" With Hou Junji's order, thousands of arrows whizzed out and fell into the densely packed area of ​​​​Mongol cavalry, causing people and horses to fall to the ground.

Mengge swung his scimitar to block the arrow, but was still hit by an arrow in the shoulder. He gritted his teeth and broke the arrow shaft, looked around, and found that his army was in chaos. In the narrow space, the advantage of cavalry disappeared, and many warriors had to dismount and fight on foot, which was what they were least good at.

"Khan, we must break out! If we continue like this, our army will be wiped out!" A blood-covered general knelt on the ground and begged.

A trace of pain and reluctance flashed across Mengge's eyes, but it was soon replaced by determination: "Pass the order, abandon the front army, and break out to the northwest! Take as many as you can!"

The Mongolian cavalry began to concentrate their attack on the Tang army's defense line in the northwest corner, trying to fight their way out. Hou Junji had already anticipated this and immediately mobilized a large number of troops to block them, while ordering the archers to fire a final round of volleys.

"put!"

Arrows rained down, and the Mongolian cavalry fell like wheat being cut. Under the desperate protection of his personal guards, Mengge barely broke out of the encirclement, but there were less than a thousand people left with him. There were 30,000 cavalrymen when they came, but less than 10% of them returned, which was a disastrous defeat.

On the observation tower, Li Kan saw the remnants of the Mongolian army break through and stamped his feet anxiously: "Your Majesty! Mengge is trying to escape! Please let me chase him!"

Li Zheng shook his head and said, "Don't chase after a desperate enemy. The Gobi Desert is the territory of the Mongols. If you rush in, you may encounter unexpected events." He turned to the messenger and said, "Sound the horn to call back the troops and count the results of the battle."

"Your Majesty! This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!" Li Kan shouted unwillingly, "Mongke's army is in disarray. If we don't chase him now, when will we?"

Li Zheng's face darkened: "General Li, I said, don't pursue the desperate enemy. Are you questioning my decision?"

Li Kan then realized that he had lost his composure and quickly knelt on one knee: "I dare not! It's just..."

"You just feel that all the credit has been taken away by Hou Junji, right?" Li Zheng revealed Li Kan's thoughts, making the young general blush.

At this time, the other two deputy generals also stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, what General Li said is not without reason. The defeat of Mengge is a great opportunity to annihilate him in one fell swoop. Although General Hou has made great contributions, he cannot..."

"Enough!" Li Zheng shouted, and the three generals were immediately silenced. The emperor's eyes were like lightning, and he swept over the three people: "Do you think I am favoring Hou Junji? Ridiculous! What I am worried about is the safety of the entire army and the fate of the Tang Dynasty!"

He pointed to the remnant Mongolian soldiers that were gradually disappearing in the distance and said: "You only saw Mengge's defeat, but have you ever thought that there might be ambushes deep in the Gobi Desert? If our army pursues them rashly, once they are ambushed, today's great victory will turn into a great defeat!"

The three generals lowered their heads and dared not say anything more.

(End of this chapter)