Datang: Rebirth of Li Chengqian, the beginning of the treason interrogation

Chapter 219 Li Shimin personally arranges the troops

The cavalry in front roared past, raising a cloud of dust that formed a dim yellow mist.

In the midst of this chaotic dust, suddenly dozens of hemp ropes as thick as giant pythons suddenly jumped up from the ground as if they had life.

They accurately separated the fleeing Tang army from the pursuing Xueyantuo cavalry.

These Xueyantuo cavalrymen were only a few feet away from the sudden rope, even though they were all excellent riders.

However, within such a short distance, it is impossible to adjust the huge inertia caused by the horse's high-speed charge.

Some knights who were slower to react didn't even have time to take any countermeasures before they were tripped to the ground by the strong hemp rope along with their horses.

In an instant, there were bursts of loud noises, people and horses fell down one after another, and billowing smoke and dust rose up, filling the air.

The originally neat and orderly cavalry team suddenly fell into chaos, with people and horses falling to the ground. The tragic scene was unbearable to watch.

Dadushe, who was in the midst of chaos, was suddenly startled and an ominous premonition came to his mind.

His face was pale and cold sweat dripped down his forehead. He knew that he had fallen into the enemy's trap.

At the same time, the scorching sun hanging high in the sky seemed to feel the tense atmosphere on the battlefield, and its light suddenly dimmed.

All the Xueyantuo knights looked up at the sky at the same time, their eyes filled with confusion and puzzlement.

However, when they saw the scene above their heads clearly, their eyes quickly changed from confusion to deep despair.

Above their heads was not the dark, gloomy clouds, but an overwhelming rain of arrows, as dense as a swarm of locusts.

Sharp arrows flashed with cold light and were shooting towards them at an incredibly fast speed.

In their terrified pupils, the rapidly flying arrows continued to grow larger, as if they were going to devour them completely.

In the blink of an eye, a sharp and piercing sound of breaking through the air rang in my ears, followed by all kinds of noisy and chaotic sounds intertwined together.

There were the dull sounds of arrows hitting iron objects, the painful wails of wounded soldiers, and the neighing and galloping of frightened war horses.

The Xueyantuo cavalry fell into extreme chaos and bloodshed.

Outside the two wings of the Xueyantuo army, countless Tang army flags were seen surging one after another.

"All troops retreat!"

Dadushe's voice was a little anxious and decisive.

Although he was not clear about the exact situation of the enemy, just from the marching formation of the Tang army in front of him, it was obvious that the other side intended to catch them all in one fell swoop.

However, all this is just his own judgment.

The tactics that Li Shimin was good at were never simple head-on confrontation or direct encirclement.

He was always able to skillfully use various strategies to allow his troops to find opportunities in the movement, eroding and destroying the enemy bit by bit.

Like a seasoned cheetah, patiently waiting for the best moment to deliver a fatal blow.

At this moment, the Tang army on both wings suddenly separated out two elite cavalry teams.

They rushed towards the Xueyantuo cavalry, who were dressed in shining armor and holding sharp spears, and were full of vigor.

There was a burst of shouting and screaming that shook the earth. The two Tang cavalry units were like two indestructible swords, cutting into the Xueyantuo's ranks with the force of thunder.

In an instant, the already chaotic Xueyantuo cavalry formation was torn into three parts.

The two Tang cavalry units did not continue to pursue, but quickly adjusted their direction and began to detour to the rear.

They launched a ruthless encirclement and suppression against the Xueyantuo cavalry whose retreat routes were cut off.

At the same time, other Tang cavalry on the two wings also imitated the previous tactics, attacking the chaotic Xueyantuo team in the middle again and again, gradually splitting them up and then annihilating them one by one.

Faced with such fierce offensive and sophisticated tactical coordination, the Xueyantuo cavalry seemed completely powerless to fight back.

Although they tried to resist, the huge gap in numbers and armaments made their efforts ultimately futile.

Soon, except for the cavalry in the front who managed to escape, most of the other cavalry were all caught up by the Tang army.

"Pass the order down, those who surrender will not be killed!"

Li Shimin stood majestically on the hill, his figure as straight as a pine tree, overlooking the entire battlefield from a high vantage point.

The battlefield was filled with smoke and dust, and the shouts of killing were deafening, but all of this could not escape his eagle-like eyes, and he took in all the scenes.

At this moment, he was like the supreme king in this world, and every step of the battle seemed to be under his control.

He looked calm and confident, and his every move showed the demeanor of an emperor.

"Your Majesty is merciful, but Xueyantuo has gone back on his word. I think we should take advantage of the current situation to slaughter all the young soldiers in their army, so as to prevent them from making a comeback in a few years and continue to cause trouble on the border of our Great Tang."

Yuchi Jingde, who was standing by, said with his eyes wide open and murderous intent on his face. He held a spear in his hand, with the tip of the spear flashing coldly, as if ready to stab the enemy at any time.

The love-hate relationship between the Tang Dynasty and the Xueyantuo has lasted for many years.

The two sides fought back and forth, with both sides winning and losing. This fight was like a nightmare with no end.

Only when one of the parties is completely destroyed can this long-standing dispute be settled.

However, Li Shimin shook his head slightly, his eyes deep and far away, looking towards the north, as if he could penetrate the thick fog and the long distance and directly reach the heart of the Xueyantuo royal court. He slowly said:

"The first step is to attack their plans, the second is to attack their alliances, and the third is to attack their troops. Even if we destroy the entire Xueyantuo army today, if we cannot solve the problem fundamentally, other tribes will rise up in the future and continue to threaten the peace of our Tang border."

"Looking back, it was only a dozen years ago that the great Tang army wiped out the Eastern Turks. However, times have changed, and now it is the Xueyantuo tribe that has taken over and dominated the area."

"Even if we can annihilate all the Xueyantuo soldiers now, so what? The forces such as the Huihe, Khitan and even the Shatuo are very likely to take advantage of this opportunity to rise. The killing will never stop, and the enemies will never be killed."

"Only by practicing benevolence and using virtue to influence the barbarians can we ease the sharp contradictions between the Tang people and those nomadic peoples. The more wantonly we kill them, the easier it will be to provoke them to unite and form an alliance to fight against our dynasty."

The Tang Dynasty has always shown an open and inclusive spirit to its neighboring countries.

As the Khan who commands all the barbarians, he must not easily raise the bloody butcher knife.

Moreover, if they simply attacked without adopting a strategy of persuading the enemy to surrender, the Tang army itself would certainly suffer considerable casualties in the fierce fighting.

This practice is simply harmful to others and not beneficial to oneself.

In this chaotic battlefield where the shouts and cries of killing shook the earth, Yuchi Jingde stood majestically on a high place, gathering all his strength and roaring loudly:
"The Khan is here, how dare you disobey me? Put down your weapons and kneel down in surrender!"

Its sound is as loud as a bell, and even in such a noisy and chaotic environment, it can still be heard far away.

"Here is the Heavenly Khan. Surrender immediately!"

The voices of the Tang army knights rose one after another, and gradually, these voices merged into surging waves, as if to drown the entire world.

Those shouts were like thousands of horses galloping, majestic and rushing straight into the sky.

Every word contains endless majesty and power, which makes people tremble with fear.

The title of Tian Khan seemed to have a magical power, which made the Xueyantuo cavalry, who were still fighting desperately, stunned involuntarily.

Their eyes widened with looks of astonishment, and the weapons they were waving in their hands unconsciously stopped in mid-air.

Afterwards, everyone subconsciously turned their heads to look at the Tang army's flag flying high on the distant hill.

Li Shimin sat upright on the horse's back with an upright posture, and his whole body exuded the powerful aura of a superior who was intimidating without even getting angry.

His sharp eyes slowly swept across the room, as if he could see through everyone's thoughts.

Everyone who was touched by this gaze felt an invisible pressure, and no one dared to look him in the eye.

Everyone involuntarily lowered their heads, which were originally held high, and dared not show the slightest disrespect.

At this moment, a crisp metallic collision sound was heard. "Ding! Ding!"

Many Xueyantuo knights dropped their weapons without hesitation, quickly dismounted from their horses, knelt down reverently in the direction of Li Shimin, and performed a great salute.

In the hearts of the nomadic peoples of the grasslands, the title of "Sky Khan" is not just a symbolic title, it represents the truly supreme leadership position.

In the eyes of these nomadic peoples, Duomi Khan was the Little Khan, and Li Shimin was the Big Khan.

But the symbolic meaning of "Sky Khan" is limited to the nomadic peoples in the north.

This is not the case for many foreign countries coming from other directions.

In their minds, Li Shimin was merely the Emperor of the Celestial Tang Dynasty, not their Khan.

The first and most important point is that under the governance of Li Shimin, the Tang Dynasty was extremely strong and powerful.

The grassland tribes, who have always worshipped the strong, were filled with admiration.

However, this was not the main reason why they knelt down and submitted.

Because the grassland tribes are also notoriously unruly.

It is good to worship the strong, but they also have their own pride. How can they easily surrender and kneel down to just anyone?

This has to be discussed from another point of view.

That is the origin of the Li family.

Li Shimin was not a true Han Chinese, at least half of his blood was Xianbei.

From his mother Dou to Changsun, they were all Xianbei people.

The political power group of the Sui Dynasty was mostly composed of northern nobles, whose bloodlines could be traced back to the previous three generations.

Except for the paternal line which is Han, the maternal lines are all from minority nomadic ethnic groups in the north.

The Five Barbarians' Invasion of China was not just about five clans, but many nomadic peoples invading from the south.

During this period, the Han people had no choice but to move south.

The nobles who remained in the north and were active in the political center were no longer simply of Han descent.

They were able to gain a foothold more or less through marriage.

In the eyes of the Han people who inherit through the paternal line, Li Shimin is a Han Chinese.

However, in the eyes of the northern nomadic peoples, the current Tang Dynasty Li royal family is just one of their many tribes.

Among the northern nomadic peoples, the relationship of affiliation has changed.

The northern tribes united to form the Xueyantuo Khanate.

The Xueyantuo was a tribe under the rule of Li Shimin.

The relationship is: tribe - Xueyantuo - Tang Dynasty.

Although this was the relationship of subordination in their eyes, it did not affect their invasion and plunder of the Tang Dynasty.

What they respected was Li Shimin, not the Tang Dynasty.

This is equivalent to the infighting and plundering among their tribes.

The Tang Dynasty is the Tang Dynasty, and the Xueyantuo is the Xueyantuo.

Li Shimin was the joint ruler of Xueyantuo and the Tang Dynasty.

There is also a third point, that is, Li Shimin was relatively kind to the nomadic peoples in the north and did not kill them on a large scale, which is why he was still supported by many tribes as the "Heavenly Khan".

Therefore, we saw the scene where the knights of various Xueyantuo tribes laid down their weapons and knelt down in surrender.

These three points are indispensable.

However, the reason why Li Shimin did not carry out a large-scale massacre of the Xueyantuo may be because of their blood flowing in his veins.

Maybe something else, that's possible.

Only he knows best.

The battle did not last long before the Tang army won a great victory.

"Your Majesty's grace and majesty are so great that they can shock all directions. Just the name alone is more powerful than thousands of troops!"

Su Dingfang stared blankly at the Xueyantuo knights kneeling in surrender in front of him, muttering to himself.

It is an incredible shock to anyone.

This was not due to military strategy, but entirely to Li Shimin's personal charm.

It took quite a while.

Su Ding just came to his senses, rode his horse forward and headed towards the direction of the general flag where Li Shimin was.

"Your Majesty, the commander-in-chief of the Guannei Road, Su Dingfang, is outside seeking an audience."

Not long after, Yuchi Jingde whispered to Li Shimin.

"Xuan!"

Li Shimin spoke calmly without dismounting or looking back.

"The guilty general Su Dingfang pays homage to His Majesty the Saint."

Su Dingfang, feeling uneasy, walked to a place several feet away from Li Shimin and bowed.

He had very few opportunities to meet Li Shimin.

This was also the first time he met her alone.

Although he defeated the Eastern Turks, he was only awarded the title of General of the Left Guard for his merits.

Such an official position does not require participation in court meetings.

Later, thanks to Li Chengqian's advice, he was able to transform himself and become the commander-in-chief of the Guannei Road.

"What are you guilty of?"

Li Shimin did not turn around, but replied indifferently.

It is impossible to tell whether he is happy or angry; the emperor’s heart is as deep as the sea and cannot be guessed.

Accompanying you is like accompanying a tiger.

The last moment, the wind was light and the clouds were clear.

The next moment, there could be the wrath of thunder.

"I led the troops to attack the Xueyantuo camp without permission, causing heavy casualties. Your Majesty, please punish me."

Su Dingfang would never dare to boast about his achievements in front of Li Shimin.

If the emperor says you have made a contribution, then it is a contribution.

Otherwise, even if it is a great achievement, it is the duty of a general or a minister.

(End of this chapter)