A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Starting from the Village Chief

Chapter 312 Abandoning the City and Fleeing

"Immediately send a urgent report to Chang'an!"

The thing he feared finally happened, but Li Yi didn't panic. Instead, he felt a sense of relief, as if the other shoe had finally dropped.

What's meant to happen will happen, and all the necessary preparations have been made. Now, all we can do is face it calmly.

"Duke Rong, please lead your troops immediately to save the situation and regroup for another battle."

Li Yi turned his head and saw that it was Liu Zhan who had said this. He really wanted to curse him, "You...you bastard!"

"Supervisor Zhao, could you please lead a thousand infantry and cavalry to reinforce Ling Shi City? I'll give you another thousand men. You and Deputy Chief Steward Li can go. As long as you hold Ling Shi, you can also gather the defeated troops and stabilize the situation," Li Yi said to Zhao Wenge.

The Director of Water Conservancy, one of the seventeen meritorious officials of Taiyuan Yuanmou, stroked his chin and said, "When I came here, I was ordered by the Prince of Qi to assist in the defense of Haozhou."

He refused outright.

Li Yi then looked at Li Zhongwen.

"Alright, I'll go. Please ask the steward to lend me some troops."

Li Yi shook his head, "I only have four thousand soldiers under my command in the city right now. As long as we hold onto the spirit stones, we can gather the defeated troops."

Li Zhongwen no longer hesitated; after two defeats, he had to do something.

Leading a hundred light cavalry,
Wearing the armor that Li Yi had given him, he headed to Ling Shi City once again.

But Li Zhongwen returned when it got dark.
The armor is gone again.
They were even more disheveled than before, with two arrows stuck in their backs as they fled back. They had gone with a hundred riders, but returned with more than two thousand, mostly cavalry, and some infantry riding horses and mules.

Almost all of those who managed to escape were soldiers from the government office.

"The spirit stone has been lost."

Li Zhongwen's eyes were lifeless, and he disregarded the arrows on his back, painfully reporting the new situation on the battlefield.

Pei Ji not only abandoned his six banners and fled at the gates of Jiexiu, but after escaping back to Lingshi City on light cavalry, instead of immediately organizing defenses, gathering his defeated troops, and regrouping, he continued southward.

He even ordered the abandonment of the spirit stone and took away the few remaining guards.

Upon hearing this, Li Yi was speechless.

"Zhang Wansui now occupies the spirit stone, and many defeated soldiers are blocked and are scattering in all directions,"

However, he did bring back some good news.
"After his defeat, Fan Botong retreated to Zhangnan Fort, where he gathered several thousand defeated soldiers. Zhang Dezheng retreated to Zhangbi Fort, where he also gathered some defeated soldiers."

"Perhaps Prime Minister Pei felt that Ling Shi City was too small and had too few soldiers, so he retreated to Huo Yi to organize defenses." He was still explaining for Pei Ji.

Li Yi already felt utterly contemptuous of Pei Ji.

Although Ling Shi City is a small town, it holds a strategic position. In particular, while the three passes of Sparrow Rat Valley are still in Li Yi's hands, Ling Shi is located at the entrance to Sparrow Rat Valley. If this county town falls...

Even if the three passes of Sparrow Valley are not lost, Sparrow Valley will no longer be safe.

What can Li Yin say?
It can only be said that Pei Ji is not even as good as a pig.

"Deputy Chief Steward Li, go and have the doctor remove the arrow and treat your wound. You should rest and recuperate in the fort."

Li Yi arranged for the more than two thousand soldiers he brought back to eat and rest first, which could be considered as adding some troops to Haozhou.

"Send light cavalry to patrol in all directions, and if there are any defeated soldiers, bring them back."

Night came,

Li Yi, however, had no desire to sleep. He believed that the soldiers and civilians of Haozhou City would also be sleepless tonight.

That night, several light cavalry units of Wu Zhou were spotted. Hao Zhou's scouts gave chase to them, and the men quickly withdrew.

By daybreak,

Haozhou City has successively gathered more than a thousand people.

Yong'an Fort and Lengquan Pass also reported that they had gathered two to three thousand men.
Zhang Nanbao and Zhang Bibao were both successfully defended. Fan Botong was originally assigned by Li Yi to defend Zhang Nanbao, but he immediately ran back after the defeat. Zhang Manzheng, on the other hand, headed towards Zhang Bibao, the closest fortress to the battlefield.

Yu Yun, Wang Xingmin, and others fled to Lingshi, and then followed them south.

noon,

More bad news arrived: after abandoning Ling Shi City, Pei Ji fled to Huo Yi via Que Shu Valley, but did not stay there and instead abandoned the Huo Yi defense line.

The reason given was that there were no soldiers there to begin with; they had all been transferred to Jiexiu. Now that the enemy was pursuing them, Huoyi City was small and had no soldiers, so it was indefensible.

He directly ordered the soldiers and civilians of Huoyi, Fenxi, Zhaocheng and other cities to retreat to Jinzhou City.

He intends to organize a new defense in Jinzhou.

Fortunately, Pei Ji wasn't completely foolish. At this moment, he issued a military order to Li Yi, instructing him to defend Haozhou City and hold the three passes of Queshu Valley to preserve the passage to Bingzhou for the imperial court.

Perhaps Pei Ji simply wanted Li Yi to keep Song Jingang's pursuers at bay in Haozhou.

But anyway,
Suodu's original camp collapsed, and the situation wasn't so bad at first. However, Pei Ji's abandonment of the Ling Shi and Huo Yi defense lines made the situation uncontrollable.

Even because he rushed to Huozhou in one day and night, tens of thousands of defeated soldiers were scattered and many were trapped or captured.

Li Yi will never forget this day.
On September 12, Pei Jisuo suffered a major defeat at the Yuanyuan, his army was routed, he lost six banners, and abandoned his troops to flee.

On the night of the 13th,

Li Yi, who had just fallen asleep, was woken up.

"Steward, something terrible has happened! Zhao Wenge has abandoned the city and fled."

"what?"

"Zhao Wenge has run away."

Li Yi was somewhat incredulous upon hearing this news. Zhao Wenge was no low-ranking official; he was the Director of the Waterways, one of the Nine Temples and Five Directorates, and was granted the title of Duke of Xinxing. He was also a key figure in the emperor's campaign and had been granted an iron certificate of immunity from death.

“He really ran away. He secretly took his horses and a lot of money and silk with him.”

"Then it seems they really ran away."

Li Yi rubbed his face. He knew that Zhao Wenge had gone to Taiyuan on the emperor's orders to negotiate peace with the Turks and to buy horses from them. Then Liu Wuzhou invaded, and the emperor ordered him to stay and assist Yuanji in defending the area.

Li Yi was quite surprised when Yuanji sent him with a thousand men to Haozhou.

However, Zhao Wenge later refused to obey Li Yi's orders in Haozhou, and his thousand men were also unmobilizable. His actions in Haozhou, ostensibly for defense, were more like transporting supplies for Li Yuanji.

Cartloads of money and silk, camelloads of furs, and herds of fine horses. Batch after batch, transporting countless supplies south for Li Yuanji, an endless stream.

“He can run away, but he can’t hide. He’s deserting his post,” Li Yi cursed, and immediately wrote a memorial to the emperor, impeaching Zhao Wenge for deserting his post.

On the fourth day after Pei Ji's defeat,

Li Yi encountered an unexpected guest in Haozhou City.

Prince Qi, Li Yuanji, along with his wives and concubines, and escorted by General Yuwen Xin of the Left Guard and Minister Dou Dan of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, leading several thousand cavalry, surprisingly appeared in Haozhou.

However, after Li Yuanji arrived in Haozhou, he only ordered Li Yi to prepare food and water for them and change their horses, but did not enter the city.

Li Yi arrived at the city gate.

Looking at this hastily assembled army,

"What is this, Your Majesty?"

"I must return to Chang'an."

"Back to Chang'an? Or Taiyuan?"

"Liu Dewei and Liu Zhenghui will remain in Taiyuan."

Upon hearing that Taiyuan had not fallen, Li Yi breathed a sigh of relief, but then a nameless anger rose within him. Li Yuanji had abandoned the city and fled, just like Zhao Wenge.

The reality was even worse than Li Yi had imagined.

After hearing that Pei Ji's 80,000-strong army had been defeated at Suoduyuan in Jiexiu, Li Yuanji shamelessly told Sima Liu Dewei, "You defend the city with the old and weak, while I will send out strong troops to fight."

Liu Dewei actually believed his nonsense.
Then Li Yuanji led 20,000 elite troops to protect him and his wives and concubines, and also took a large amount of money and horses with him when he fled.

They escaped under cover of night.

But Liu Wuzhou had anticipated that the boy would run away, so he personally waited outside Taiyuan.

Li Yuanji was attacked halfway through his escape.
He was just like Pei Ji; he immediately abandoned the main force and fled with only elite cavalry as escorts.

They rode all the way to Haozhou, where they asked Li Yi to provide them with three thousand cavalrymen with food, water, and horses.

Liu Dewei and Liu Zhenghui were both tricked, leaving them with less than 10,000 old and weak soldiers.

Li Yi quickly considered the matter in his mind.

Li Yuanji was the governor of Bingzhou and the Prince of Qi, a prince. He irresponsibly fled, but Li Yi was neither his superior nor even his subordinate.

He was just passing through; Li Yi couldn't stop him.

"Your Majesty, Prime Minister Pei has already abandoned Lingshi and Huoyi. Now, Queshu Valley is full of Liu Wuzhou's troops. It is not safe for you to go south now. You might as well stay in Haozhou."

"No, I have to get back to Chang'an immediately. Stop talking nonsense and get me some horses right away."

“If Your Majesty were to lead these three thousand cavalry south now, even with different horses, it would easily attract attention and make you more vulnerable to being pursued and intercepted by Liu Wu. This would be even more dangerous, especially since Haozhou City doesn’t have that many warhorses. I suggest that you bring fewer people and disguise yourselves as a horse trading caravan. A hundred or eighty people would be more discreet and safer, and with each person carrying three horses, you could travel much faster.”

Li Yuanji looked up and sized up Li Yi a few times.

"Also, if Your Majesty is in a hurry to return to Chang'an, do not bring those mules, horses, or camels, and especially do not bring money, silk, or valuables. Please also try not to bring any servants or maids."

"Or it would be better to go south in batches."

Li Yuanji sneered, "You want to detain my three thousand elite cavalry?"

"I was only thinking of Your Majesty. Prime Minister Pei rushed to Jinzhou in one day and night, but he didn't bring anything with him, not even his six banners."

Li Yuanji couldn't help but laugh, "You're mocking Pei Ji, aren't you?"

"Don't dare."

After finishing a simple meal, Li Yuanji thought about it for a while and felt that Li Yi's words made sense.

"Alright, then I'll take two hundred cavalry and a thousand horses, along with only the Queen and a few concubines. The rest will stay with you. Please take good care of them for me."

Ignoring his exhaustion, Li Yuanji changed his clothes and horses in Haozhou City and, along with Dou Dan and Yuwen Xin, disguised themselves as a Sogdian merchant group selling horses and hurriedly headed south.

Li Yi looked at the mules, horses, camels, money, silk, and even the many concubines and servants he had left behind; he didn't care about any of it.

He was more concerned about the three thousand elite cavalry.

Although I'm exhausted and weary now, a little rest will make me energetic again.

“From now on, you are under the jurisdiction of the General Administration of Luzhou and under my command, Li Yi. Anyone who dares to run away is a deserter and will be executed without mercy.”

To prevent them from escaping as well, Li Yi distributed these three thousand elite cavalrymen among the various camps below.

As Li Yi expected,
After Li Yuanji abandoned Taiyuan and fled...
Liu Dewei and Liu Zhenghui, along with the elderly and weak, failed to hold Taiyuan. Liu Wuzhou defeated Li Yuanji's troops at night and arrived at the gates of Taiyuan at dawn to persuade them to surrender. He informed them that Pei Ji had suffered a great defeat and that Li Yuanji had fled, leading the soldiers and civilians in Jinyang to surrender.

Originally, Li Yuanji was stationed in Taiyuan and did many bad things, which made the people angry but dare not speak out. Now that he has run away, many people in Taiyuan, and even powerful clans, are secretly happy.

On the same day,

Xue Shen, a powerful figure in Taiyuan, led his men to open the city gates and welcome Liu Wuzhou into the city.

Liu Dewei, the Sima of Bingzhou General Administration and General of the Left Martial Guard, and Liu Zhenghui, the meritorious official of Taiyuan and Junior Minister of the Imperial Guard, were both captured.

Liu Wuzhou's army swept through Hedong with unstoppable momentum.
On September 12th, Pei Ji was defeated at Suoduyuan; on the 13th, Zhao Wenge abandoned Haozhou and fled; on the 16th, Li Yuanji abandoned Taiyuan and fled.

Over the next few days, the entire Taiyuan Basin, including the sixteen counties of Bingzhou, plus the nine counties of Haozhou, Jiezhou, and Lüzhou, except for Haozhou City, as well as Lengquan Pass, Yindi Pass, Fenshui Pass, and the three passes and four forts of Yong'an Fort, Zhangbi Fort, Zhangnan Fort, and Jiahu Fort, were still holding out.

The remaining twenty-five cities all fell.

Haozhou still exists, and Sparrow Valley still exists, but Taiyuan is gone.

Song Jingang, the vanguard general, marched south through Hanhou Ridge and occupied Huoyi. The other two counties of Lüzhou, Zhaocheng and Fenxi, also fell soon after.

Warfare broke out in Hedong.

From September 12th onwards, the smoke of battle never stopped.

Almost every day they were losing cities and territories, and suffering heavy losses.

Urgent messages pleading for help flew into the Taiji Palace in Chang'an like snowflakes.

(End of this chapter)