Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 51: Battle in the Hall
"drive!"

"What..."

On the Shandan grassland, when more than 10,000 Uighurs drove their herds to retreat, Liu Jilian also returned to his camp, turned his horse around, and watched the Uighurs retreat.

Once there are more than ten thousand people, there is no limit.

Even though most of the people brought by Pontell and Harley were elderly people and women, there were still nearly 10,000 men in the team.

If our own soldiers did not outnumber them by far, this confrontation would probably have turned into a war if we showed our weakness.

The situation in Hexi is indeed very dangerous...

At the same time, in the team marching towards this place, Suo Xun's face was still solemn.

"Guo Yi, this Liu Jilong is really courageous."

A captain next to Suo Xun couldn't help but express his surprise. Suo Xun glanced at him, and although he didn't say anything, one could feel his discomfort.

The captain also realized that he had said something wrong, so he quickly made amends: "It's a pity that he is only a talent of a hundred, not as talented as you, Ru Yi, who is a talent of a thousand."

"Yeah..." Suo Xun agreed, and they were getting closer and closer to Liu Jilong and the others.

As the two sides joined together, Zhang Huairong, who was at the front of the team, rode his horse to Liu Jilong and glanced in the direction of the Uighurs. After confirming that the Uighurs had really retreated, he complained:

"You are too impulsive this time!"

"The barbarians fear power but not virtue. If we don't show some toughness, they will certainly look down on Ganzhou!"

On horseback, Liu Jilong responded stubbornly.

Seeing him like this, Zhang Huairong couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and turned his horse's head to look in the direction of the Uighurs' retreat.

He could not be as calm as Liu Jilong who ignored the crowd. Even though he had thousands of soldiers under his command, he was still very nervous facing the huge Uighur army.

Suo Xun rode over, his eyes stayed on Liu Jilong for a moment, and then looked at the Uighurs.

"This Uighur general is not here to fight. No one would bring a group of old, weak, women and children with him to fight."

"If they had made an unwise move just now, I could have led my soldiers to charge three times and repelled them!"

He spoke loudly, fearing that the others could not hear him clearly, and Li Ji in the team could not help but whispered: "What a good talker! I didn't see him riding his horse to help just now."

"Stop talking." Ma Cheng glared at him, and Li Ji shut up.

Fortunately, the two were far enough away from Suo Xun, otherwise if Suo Xun heard what they said, they might be targeted.

However, Suo Xun could not hear it, but Jiu Juyan, Chen Jingchong, Zhang Chang and others heard it.

They shared Li Ji's idea and felt that Suo Xun was bragging.

Compared with them, Liu Jilong did not think that Suo Xun was bragging. After all, Suo Xun had shown corresponding bravery and wisdom in history. Although the ending was not good, there were few people who could leave their names in history books because of their incompetence.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong bowed to Zhang Huairong:

"These Uighurs should be here to spy on Ganzhou and Shandan. Now that they have been forced back by us, they will not invade the grassland again in the short term."

"However, just in case, please ask Sima Zhang to send people to build a beacon tower on Longshou Mountain so that Shandan can observe the situation of Longshou Mountain at any time."

"Okay!" Zhang Huairong agreed, his eyes never leaving the Uighurs.

Only when the Uighurs completely disappeared over the horizon did he raise his whip and say, "The army returns to the city!"

Under his military order, more than 800 armored soldiers began to retreat in an orderly manner.

Zhang Huairong did not take everyone out of the city. He was far away just now, so Pontell misjudged the number of people. But even so, more than 800 armored soldiers were not easy to mess with.

On the way back, Zhang Huairong discussed the affairs of the Uighurs with Liu Jilian.

Liu Jilong first mentioned that the Huihe people were renamed as Uighur by the Tang emperor, and then continued:

"The Uighurs were defeated by the Khitans and lost many craftsmen, so both iron and armor were rare trade commodities for them."

"After this incident, I guess the Uighur Khan will re-evaluate the strength of Ganzhou and will most likely send people to Zhangye to seek trade."

After Liu Jilong finished speaking, Zhang Huairong nodded repeatedly to show his approval: "You are right. When I return, I will send a handwritten letter to Zhangye to remind the governor to treat you well."

After he finished speaking, Zhang Huairong pondered again, "But do you think our army should trade with them?"

Faced with the question, Liu Jilian subconsciously wanted to refuse. After all, in history, the Ganzhou Uighurs had staged a vivid drama of "the cuckoo occupying the magpie's nest".

But Liu Jilong reacted and realized that he did not think that Zhang Yichao and Zhang Huaishen would allow the Ganzhou Uighurs to restore their strength.

In addition, the Tang court supported Emu, Long family and Uighurs to balance the Guiyi Army in the later period. He felt that the rise of Ganzhou Uighurs was more likely the result of the support of the Tang court.

After all, the Tang Dynasty after the Anshi Rebellion was not afraid of foreign races. They were more afraid of the military governors who had become powerful in local areas, especially those like Zhang Yichao who started from scratch.

The reason why the Zhang family was able to restore the throne several times was because Zhang Yichao had left enough reputation in the hearts of the Han people in Hexi.

If Zhang Yichao had not gone to Chang'an, the Zhang family would most likely have become a similar existence as Former Liang.

It’s a pity that what Zhang Yichao was thinking about in his heart was always the Tang Dynasty that he had always yearned for, the Tang Dynasty that existed in books.

"We can trade with each other. I believe the governor and his men will impose reasonable restrictions, which will both appease the Ganzhou Uighurs and establish an ally."

Liu Jilong answered Zhang Huairong's question. Zhang Huairong nodded and stopped talking, immersing himself in his own thoughts.

In less than two quarters of an hour, the three of them led the army back to Shandan, and at this moment, thunderous cheers broke out from the top of Shandan City.

"it is good!"

"Sima Zhang is mighty!"

"The Tang army is mighty!"

Nearly a thousand men who were mobilized to defend the city on the city wall cheered loudly, and the cheers brought smiles to everyone's faces.

Even the ordinary soldiers who were marching back on foot couldn't help but straighten their chests at this moment.

After retaking Shandan, this was the first time they successfully defended their homeland.

Liu Jilong was riding on his horse, looking at the people cheering happily on the city wall, and he felt proud in his heart.

When the city gates were opened, they rode back to the government office. As soon as they sat down, they saw Suo Xun bowing and saying:
"Sir Zhang, the Ganzhou Uighurs are mainly here to test our strength. But even if their army comes in force, we at Ganzhou are confident that we can repel them, because they don't have complete armor and are running low on food and grass."

"But compared to them, the enemy that poses a greater threat to us is still Tibet."

"Whether it is the Liangzhou Tubo or the Helong Tubo, they both have the potential to threaten Shandan."

"Qi Lian City must be built, and beacon towers must also be built on the road that must be taken in the direction of Yanzhi Mountain."

He stood in the hall and explained his ideas, and the two captains in the hall nodded in agreement.

But he never considered that everything he said would be difficult to take into account at the same time with Shandan's strength.

(End of this chapter)