Tiger Guards

Chapter 44 Clean and neat
On the other side, two miles away from the camp.

Li Le stopped and started feeding the horses to rest their energy.

He sat on a mat and listened to Li Feng's story.

Li Feng was on duty at Zijin Mountain in the second half of the night, so he naturally saw a cavalry team entering the Huben camp from the southeast after daybreak.

This is consistent with Wang Zhi's words. This is a team going to hunt down the escaped prisoners.

Li Feng recounted the story in detail: "Most of the thatch in the barracks has burned down, and less than half of it has been repaired. The Tiger Guards in the camp are tired and do not welcome us. Wang Zhi has lost his courage and is considering taking off his armor."

There were more than 800 horses. Li Feng was very tempted, and Li Le was also very tempted.

If they were to seize it by force, most of the Tiger Guards would disperse, and that would be it.

With these horses and the young men and women from the towns and villages on the south bank of the Fen River, he would have the money to go to Xihe.

He would go to Shangjun via Xihe, then surrender to Li Jue and ask for the position of Shangjun prefect, or Beidi or Anding prefect, and he would have broken the impasse.

As for the dispute in Hedong, what does it have to do with him?
With troops in hand, there will still be opportunities to serve the king and join in the pursuit in the future.

Li Le had already made up his mind. He smiled at Zhao Yan beside him and said, "Lord Zhao, nearly half of the wounded soldiers in the Huben Camp are heroes and loyal men from Hedong. It's just that there's a misunderstanding in Jiangyi. Could you go to Jiangyi to ask for some medicinal herbs on my behalf?"

Zhao Yan was silent. Seeing Li Le's smile gradually fade, he immediately said, "Then I will make a trip. I only hope that the General of the Western Expedition will show some mercy to the Tiger Guards for their loyalty to the country."

"Lord Zhao has given me honor, so I will not let him down."

Li Le raised his head and sighed softly, "Now that things have come to this, Lord Zhao, do you think there is any other way out for me?"

Zhao Yan said nothing, but stood up and bowed deeply to Li Le.

Li Le also stood up. The personal guard beside him brought his horse. He mounted the horse nimbly and turned around to shout, "Mount!"

The accompanying guards mounted their horses one after another. They were all smiling and in high spirits.

With more than 800 horses and young and strong men and women, everyone can become a key military officer and have people to serve under them.

Good days are beckoning to them, and they can't help but be excited.

The sound of horse hooves gradually faded away. Zhao Yan stood up and watched the more than a hundred riders walking away in the smoke and dust.

Behind them were more than 200 of Li Le's infantry troops, and behind them were more than 300 county soldiers.

More than a hundred Tiger Guards from the two counties south of Zhongtiao Mountain stayed nearby, and most of them had horses.

The two county officials who were responsible for escorting them north came before Zhao Yan and bowed, "Lord Zhao, shall we go to Jiangyi together?"

"Alright, wait until Li Le leaves, and then help me collect the Tiger Guards."

Zhao Yan agreed, and the cavalry brought the horse. With the help of the cavalry, he mounted the horse and looked at the tiger guards who came over: "Let's go."

It’s not a bad thing that Li Le ran away.

By gathering the remaining Tiger Guards, there would be one less obstacle to heading south to Anyi.

Han Xian, on the other hand, is a man who is easy to talk to, unlike Yang Feng and Hu Cai.

With this group of brave soldiers joining the imperial guards, the emperor would be able to break free from Yang Feng's control and gain greater autonomy.

But the most difficult thing is the indifferent attitude of the big families and powerful people in Hedong.

If it weren't for Yang Feng's gang of professional bandits, Zhao Yan suspected that the Hedong tyrants would organize bandits and expel the emperor from the country.

In this way, more than a hundred Tiger Guards and Cavalry surrounded Zhao Yan and headed north along the road.

Li Le rode his horse at full speed and marched straight into the camp.

As soon as he came in, he saw the wounded Tiger Soldiers basking in the sun. Just as Li Feng said, they were all tired. Some were lying on the hay, some were leaning against the wall, and they ignored them completely.

Some of the Tiger Guards just looked at them indifferently. It was obvious that the recent battles and casualties had already hit these good family boys hard.

Li Le did not demand that these warriors show any respect, as he also came from this group.

Some of these Hu Ben may be related to each other in terms of blood relationship.

He walked straight into the training ground, followed by two battle flags. With the resources in Hedong, he was unable to make a large banner suitable for his official position.

There are two battle flags, one is the "Liangzhou Governor" and the other is the "General of the Western Expedition".

They are all made of ordinary cloth, and the embroidery workmanship is rough, so they can barely be used.

He reined in his horse and examined the several Tiger Guard leaders standing in front of him, his eyes falling on Wang Zhi's face, whose left foot was injured and had a very recognizable feature.

He had met Wang Zhi a few times, and when he saw Wang Zhi trying to bow with a sad face, he waved his whip and said, "Since you are injured, there is no need to bow."

"I would like to thank General Zhengxi."

As Wang Zhi reluctantly bent down, Li Le also jumped off his horse and was about to advance, whip in hand. At this moment, he caught a glimpse of Zhao Ji walking out of the barracks, drawing his bow to form a full moon. Li Le's face changed drastically.

A few quick-witted knights were about to ride forward, while most of the knights were dismounting.

In a flash, Zhao Ji released the bowstring, and the arrow flashed a shadow and directly pierced Li Le's throat.

It penetrated him instantly, and Li Le's strong body fell backwards suddenly, his eyes widened, and he made a hoarse sound.

Almost at the same time, the Tiger Guards standing behind the low wall raised their crossbows and aimed. A cavalryman rode forward by inertia, raised his iron halberd in his right hand and was about to stab Wang Zhi.

In an instant, more than fifty powerful crossbows were fired, and seven or eight knights who were still on horseback were all hit by arrows, and their horses neighed in pain.

Some of the dismounted knights wanted to jump back on their horses, while others stood back to back with spears and halberds. They were surrounded by Tiger Guards holding spears and halberds, and some stood on the low wall with bows.

"Follow the Emperor's secret decree to suppress the enemy!"

Zhao Ji stepped forward, the imperial edict held high in his left hand, past Wang Zhi, and stared at the dozen or so Li Le's followers before him. "Li Le is dead, the rest will be ignored! Anyone who resists with weapons will be considered a traitor and will be executed immediately!"

Jia Tong came forward with a spear and shouted, "Drop your weapons!"

"Don't give up your weapons yet!"

The guards around him shouted in unison, and several of Li Le's troops retreated half a step and looked at each other.

In a long breath, the tiger guards behind the low wall had already drawn their bows and aimed their powerful crossbows at them.

Li Feng glanced around and shouted angrily: "You cunning thief, how could you possibly forgive us!"

Zhao Ji pointed the sword in his right hand at Li Feng, and immediately the powerful crossbow was activated. A row of people were shot back several steps and staggered to the ground.

There were also soldiers and horses in the rear who were shot, causing further chaos.

Li Feng was given special care. He was hit by seven or eight arrows and fell backward without a sound.

Zhao Ji took three steps forward: "Abandon your weapons and I will not kill you!"

At this time, a man named Li Lebuqu in the crowd grabbed the crossbow on the harness and shot at him.

Zhao Ji glanced at it and swung his sword. With a crisp sound, the crossbow arrow was deflected.

In an instant, he heard many people gasping for breath, and many of Li Le's followers widened their eyes in disbelief.

At this time, a shadow fell into the crowd, and Li Lebu, who was holding a crossbow, was shot in the face and fell in the crowd.

Jia Kui held his bow and shouted angrily, "If you don't lay down your weapons now, don't blame me for not remembering our friendship!"

Finally, after more than fifty powerful crossbows were strung, one of Li Le's troops could not bear the pressure, dropped the iron halberd in his hand, and knelt on the ground.

Then the sounds of various spears, halberds, swords and knives being thrown to the ground could be heard continuously.

Zhao Ji pointed his sword to one side and said, "Step out and wait for instructions!"

Under the pressure of the crossbow, these people had no choice but to stand up and slowly walk towards an open space on the side.

At this time, auxiliary soldiers rushed out of the barracks, holding ropes and tying up these soldiers who had abandoned their weapons.

After laying down their weapons, they accepted their fate and stopped resisting.

Jia Tong stepped forward quickly and cut off Li Le's head with a heavy blow. He held it with his spear. His companion brought a horse, and he quickly mounted it and led the other knights out of the camp.

Zhao Ji did the same thing and quickly led his men out of the camp.

Outside the camp, Li Le's troops and the county soldiers were still marching in a column when they saw Jia Tong leading the way, carrying the head of Li Le wearing a golden helmet.

Jia Tong rushed to the front of the troops, reined in his horse, and shouted, "I am ordered to punish the traitor Li Le! Li Le's head is here, and the rest will not be pursued!"

Several of Li Le's close associates who led the team looked horrified and turned their horses around to run away. The Huben knights on both sides of Jia Tong rushed forward, either stabbing them with spears or shooting them with bows and crossbows.

The county soldiers in the rear stopped where they were. County Sima Fan Zheng reined in his horse and stood in front of the team with his spear across his chest. More than 300 county soldiers also quickly formed a formation, changing from a marching column to a small square formation spreading out to the left and right.

Fan Zheng narrowed his eyes and looked at Li Le's troops who had surrendered a few dozen steps ahead. He felt something was wrong and was about to send someone to inform Wang Yi, but he saw another group of knights with a larger number rushing towards him, so he had to give up.

If he couldn't figure out the other party's attitude and acted rashly, it would be difficult for him to escape without enough momentum.

At this time, the Huben of Naner County and Zhao Yan were still on the road, only about two miles apart.

Zhao Yan was delighted when he saw the Huben's counterattack: "Follow me and help the Huben fight the enemy!"

Fan Zheng caught a glimpse of it and felt relieved and grateful.

If someone is really sent to report the news, there is a high possibility that Zhao Yan will intercept and kill the envoy.

It would be better if the cavalry was killed on the spot, but if he was captured, it would be difficult for him to explain.

(End of this chapter)