The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 284: Thunderstorm in Guanzhong
The army marched towards Yanqi, and Xue Wanbei could only follow with his troops.

The sunset in the Western Regions is very beautiful, and the marching army seems to be covered with a golden armor.

When the Tang army passed a low slope, they encountered an ambush.

Guo Xiaoke stood at the front with a sword in hand, Liu Renyuan guarding on the side, and the army rushed out of an ambush.

Liu Renyuan, who was over thirty years old, was wearing armor under the starry night. He had just killed three ambushes from Yanqi while riding on horseback.

On the battlefield, Liu Renyuan's expression was calm, and he calmly chopped people down as if he was chopping down trees.

Xue Wanbei was not familiar with the general Liu Renyuan. He only knew that this man's ancestors were a powerful family in the Northern Wei Dynasty. When Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty moved west to the Great Wall, it was Liu Renyuan's family that guarded the north. They had been a powerful family in the north for hundreds of years.

Xue Wanbei had no idea why he became General Guo's deputy general.

"General Guo, is there anything wrong?"

Hearing Liu Renyuan's words, Guo Xiaoke stretched his shoulders and said, "It's okay, it's just a superficial wound. Follow me and continue the march."

But this time Liu Renyuan did not obey. He said in a deep voice: "Give me three thousand soldiers and go around to raid Yanqi's rear."

"Okay, let's split into two groups."

Xue Wanbei did not like this team. There were three generals in total including himself, including the stubborn General Guo and the unclear-minded Liu Renyuan.

In fact, it is not difficult to capture a small earthen-walled city like Yanqi, but the difficult part is the arduous march.

The night sky in the Western Regions was bright and very cool. The night wind blew up a cloud of yellow sand and passed through the low poplar forest on one side.

The army arrived at the city of Yanqi.

Guo Xiaoke rode forward and shouted towards Yanqi City: "By the order of Heavenly Khan! The King of Yanqi will quickly leave the city and surrender, and go to Chang'an City to meet Heavenly Khan and apologize!"

The voice was shouted three times, but there was no response from inside Yanqi City.

The old king of Yanqi passed away, and the new king of Yanqi rebelled against the Tang Dynasty and joined Yugushe.

There was silence for half an hour, and only one arrow flew towards the Tang army and landed on the ground five steps away from the front of the Tang army.

Taking a deep breath, Guo Xiaoke shouted angrily: "Attack the city!"

"kill!"

The army headed towards Yanqi City.

As expected, the gate of this small earth-walled city was breached in less than an hour. The Tang army entered through the gate, and many people climbed over the city wall to kill the enemy.

Xue Wanbei followed the army into the city of Yanqi.

In the dark night, Xue Wanbei's armor had already been soaked with blood.

Looking back, I saw that the road leading to the palace under the moonlight was littered with corpses.

Liu Renyuan came from the other side of Yanqi. He did not show the excitement of killing the enemy, but said calmly: "The King of Yanqi fled to Qiuci. I heard that the Prime Minister of Qiuci, Nali, also invited some Western Turks to resist us."

Guo Xiaoke cleaned the skin wounds on his body and spat, saying, "Rest for three days and then take down Qiuci."

"Here!"

Xue Wanbei was already writing a military report and asked his lieutenant generals to report it to General Zhang Shigui who was still in Tingzhou, informing the general that the danger on the south side of Tianshan Mountain had been eliminated. After Yanqi was captured, there was no threat to the rear of Xizhou.

Several military reports were sent to Xizhou, Tingzhou and Chang'an in the rear.

The Tang army rested here for three days, leaving 3,000 men to garrison. The three generals each led their army to Qiuci to attack the Qiuci King Bushi.

One night, the Tang army besieged the city of Qiuci. The battle went smoothly again, and the Qiuci King Bushibisi escaped.

Liu Renyuan led his troops to chase after them.

And right here, the Tang army that had invaded the city of Qiuci was gathering up its remnants.

Xue Wanbei was counting food and military equipment outside the city when he suddenly heard the shouting of people from the Western Regions outside the city.

Realizing that something was wrong, Xue Wanbei jumped on his horse.

A general from General Guo came forward and shouted, "The Prime Minister of Kucha, Nali, has brought the Western Turks here. General Xue, hurry up and help them..."

Before the man could finish speaking, Xue Wanbei had already mounted his horse and headed in the direction he came from.

To the north of Qiuci City, Guo Xiaoke was shot by several arrows, but he still stood in front of the Western Turkic warhorse with a large Mo knife in his hand.

The Prime Minister of Kucha, Nali, and the Western Turks were surrounding him.

"General Guo!" Xue Wanbei shouted and led his men over.

Just as the Western Turkic man was about to swing his scimitar towards Guo Xiaoke, an arrow whistled over and shot down the scimitar that was about to pierce General Guo.

Suddenly, a cavalry unit came from another direction. The leading general was tall and strong, holding an eight-foot long spear.

He yelled, "That's Grandpa Liang Jianfang!"

It seemed that this roar was full of murderous intent, which frightened the Western Turkic people's horses so much that they retreated continuously.

The person who just shot the arrow was Pei Xingjian who was beside Liang Jianfang. He led a team of cavalry and rushed into the enemy army at the fastest speed and rescued Guo Xiaoke.

At this moment, Guo Xiaoke finally fell down.

When Guo Xiaoke woke up again, he found himself in the tent. He wanted to get up but felt dizzy again.

The soldier next to him said, "The general has lost too much blood and needs to rest for a long time."

"The army..."

"General Liang Jianfang, under General Su Lie, has come to help. General Liu Renyuan is now chasing after the fleeing King Bushipi of Kucha."

Guo Xiaoke said weakly: "Yanqi and Qiuci were too easy to capture. I was careless and they turned around and attacked me."

What the soldiers didn't say was that an ordinary person would have died long ago after losing so much blood. Liang Jianfang brought a kind of wine, saying it was given by General Li Zhen.

This wine can heal wounds, and the wound was sutured with a kind of catgut to save his life.

There weren't many of these healing medicines, and there were only a few cans stored in the Hexi Corridor.

The battle in Tianshan did not end so quickly, and the army rested in Qiuci for half a month.

This army of more than 10,000 people had been running around for days because of Guo Xiaoke's personal opinion. They were already exhausted and needed rest.

Guo Xiaoke also rested for half a month. When he wanted to get on his horse again, he found that he had no strength left and could not even pull the bow.

When he exerted more force, he felt a breath stuck in his chest and started coughing violently.

The team doctor said, "The general lost too much blood, and his vitality and internal organs were damaged. It's lucky that he is still alive." Guo Xiaoke didn't believe it. He kept pulling the longbow, but found that he couldn't pull it open. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead. How could his rough hands have no strength?
"Ah!" Guo Xiaoke shouted unwillingly under the city of Kucha.

Liang Jianfang handed half of the pancake in his hand to Pei Xingjian, who burped after eating it.

Guo Xiaoke was breathing heavily, and when he took a deep breath he started coughing again.

Fortunately, this man was rescued. It was a critical moment at the time and everyone is still frightened when they think about it now.

Liang Jianfang stood up and ordered, "General Zhang Shigui has ordered that General Guo led his troops deep into the Western Regions without waiting for military orders, which almost caused a disaster. This is related to the situation in Tianshan. Take him back to Chang'an and hand him over to the Ministry of War for the court to deal with."

Guo Xiaoke felt dizzy again, his vision went dark, and he fell to the ground again.

Liang Jianfang calmed down, patted Pei Xingjian's shoulder heavily, and asked in confusion: "Where did such a powerful little guy like you come from?"

Pei Xingjian said, "I followed General Zhang Shigui to attack Tingzhou."

"I know. Hahaha!" Liang Jianfang grinned and added, "I've seen your skills in Qinghai before."

As he spoke, he patted Pei Xingjian's armor again and said, "Let's make friends in the future! I'm a little old, brother Pei, don't despise me?"

"How dare I despise you, Brother Liang?"

"Hahaha! You kid is to my taste." He laughed happily.

Carts of food and fodder were sent from Yanqi to Qiuci. The soldiers transporting the food reported: "Twenty carts of fodder, thirty thousand pieces of naan bread, and five thousand kilograms of salted meat have arrived. Please check, General."

"It's a good time! The food and grass for the army arrived really quickly this year." Liang Jianfang pulled himself together and roared again: "Organize the army! Go with General Zhang Shigui to chop off Yu Gushe!"

The whole army said in unison: "Yes."

Pei Xingjian was riding on horseback. He was a little worried about Brother Xue in Tianshan. When he saw Liu Renyuan coming back, he asked, "Did you catch Bushipi?"

Liu Renyuan shook his head and said, "We didn't catch him. He ran to the west. If we pursue him further, we might encounter an ambush. We took people to investigate. The Yili River is full of soldiers and horses set up by Yugu. We can see more than 30,000 people. We don't know how many troops are in the north, and we don't know how Qibi Heli and his men are fighting in the north."

Pei Xingjian said solemnly: "It will be a tough battle in the heart of Tianshan Mountain."

"Yes." Liu Renyuan agreed: "After winter comes, it will be more difficult to fight."

After resting in Qiuci for half a month, the Tang army marched towards the heart of the Tianshan Mountains.

On a summer night in Guanzhong, thunder continued to explode in the sky. Mingda sat in front of the window, looking at the night sky filled with lightning. Because the thunder was too frequent, she could no longer tell which thunder belonged to which lightning.

Another flash of lightning appeared in the night sky before my eyes, and a long, thin bolt of lightning pierced through the sky and earth.

Two breaths later, an explosion tearing the sky apart was heard.

Li Chengqian closed the window to block the rain that was about to drift into the hall, and said, "Don't stand by the window during a thunderstorm."

She nodded and said, "Well, Mingda will listen to my brother."

He took his sister and sat down beside the Xingqing Palace, listening to his father, General Yuchi, and Prime Minister Fang discussing the war.

My father had just finished the sacrifice ceremony at the Yu Temple today and was thinking of taking little Sizi back to the East Palace when the military report arrived.

It happened to be a thunderstorm, so I waited here for the rain to stop and listened to the military report.

The military report said that Guo Xiaoke successively conquered Yanqi and Qiuci, eliminating the hidden dangers south of the Tianshan Mountains. However, because he was eager to make achievements, he was almost ambushed by Nali, the prime minister of Qiuci.

Fortunately, General Su Lie sent troops to rescue Guo Xiaoke.

Li Chengqian listened quietly. During the conversation between his father and Prime Minister Fang, he decided that Guo Xiaoke would no longer be allowed to lead the army.

The cost of the Tang army's expedition was huge, and it would be unjustified if they did not destroy a few small countries.

For this reason, the emperor was very angry at Guo Xiaoke's behavior of leading his troops alone.

Li Chengqian drank tea and looked at the rain outside the palace and the occasional flashes of lightning. The rain came at the right time and the fields were irrigated. The grain would be ripe in another half month, and the pressure on food and grass in Guanzhong would be alleviated a lot by then.

Little Sizi sat aside, his hands on the table, his arms resting on his head, and he fell into a deep sleep.

There was also night wind carrying rain, blowing into the hall from outside.

Li Chengqian covered her with his coat to prevent her from catching a cold.

My father is still arguing with Yuchi Gong about how to deal with Guo Xiaoke. In the end, the conclusion would most likely be to reduce his military power and keep him in Chang'an City.

I heard that Guo Xiaoke was seriously injured this time.

Li Chengqian picked up the military report beside him. Fortunately, the battle between Yanqi and Qiuci did not result in too many casualties.

After conquering these two small countries, Chongwenguan can be built there. With Anxi Protectorate as the center, Chongwenguan can be spread out throughout the Western Regions.

The Tang army's pre-war deployment was still very sufficient. Zhang Shigui went to the Western Regions twice, and this time he trained troops in Tingzhou for more than half a year. The soldiers got used to the climate of the Western Regions and stockpiled enough food and grass.

Qibi Heli and Ashina She'er fought their way into the territory of the Western Turks from the Altai Mountains and had now invaded the territories of the Helu tribes. They engaged in a fierce battle with the Five Surnames tribes under Ashina Helu, 1,500 miles north of Tingzhou. For a time, Qibi Heli was held back by Helu's troops and could not immediately attack the Tianshan Mountains.

Zhang Shigui ordered Xue Rengui to lead 3,000 soldiers and cavalry to rescue Qibi Heli.

Now the area east of the Tianshan Mountains is in the midst of continuous war.

General Zhang Shigui recruited many Tuyuhun people to fight against the Uighurs.

The Tuyuhun people had already become familiar with the Tang army's combat methods as early as the conquest of Gaochang, and the two sides had reached a tacit understanding.

The Uighurs' riding skills could play a great advantage in the wilderness at the foot of the Tianshan Mountains. Two thousand Uighur cavalrymen were under the command of General Zhang Shigui.

General Zhang Shigui was stationed at the foot of the Tianshan Mountains, waiting for Qibi Heli to capture Ashina Helu before heading straight into the heart of the Tianshan Mountains.

Su Dingfang and the army in the rear have taken over the defense of Tingzhou, waiting for an opportunity to take action and join forces to eliminate Yu Gushe at any time.

In this battle, those who participated included the Tuyuhun people who had followed the Tang army in the past, the Tiele people under Qibi Heli, the Turks under Ashina She'er, and the Uighurs.

The people from the Western Regions who surrendered in Gaochang that year also followed the Tang army into the expedition.

In other words, the Tang army had a total of 70,000 troops deployed. Although the actual number of troops under Qibi Heli and Ashina She'er was less than 80,000, there were at least 30,000 to 50,000. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for them to fight Helu for so long in the Doros River.

Including the tribes from all over the country who were loyal to the Heavenly Khan and obeyed his orders, the number of mobilized troops was nearly 200,000.

So, in that chaotic era when heroes and great men emerged from all over the world, those who survived from that time were all selected.

Now in this world, there is a Tang emperor who has unique personal charm and heroic spirit. Since Jie Li bowed down and submitted to him, this emperor has become the respected Khan of Heaven.

Now the prestige of this Heavenly Khan is at its peak.

My father was very confident in this battle, so he had been devoting all his energy to arranging the war strategy for the past six months. This war involved not only the main force of the Tang army, but also the special forces composed of Qibi Heli and Ashina She'er.

Letting Qibi Heli cross the Altai Mountains and march directly into the enemy's heartland was a very bold marching strategy. The benefit was that it shortened the marching distance of Qibi Heli and Ashina She'er several times.

(End of this chapter)