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

Chapter 333 Liu Wuzhou's Defeat and Escape to Jiexiu

Liu Wuzhou's army suffered a crushing defeat.
He fled all the way to Jiexiu City, seventy miles to the east. The young Prince Li Daoxuan was unstoppable and led three thousand infantry and cavalry in hot pursuit, finally catching up with him at the foot of Jiexiu City.

The city gates of Jiexiu were tightly closed.

Ding Yangjun was still in shock.
As the sun rises,

The Han soldiers on the city wall watched in fear as the Tang army, like a persistent leech, relentlessly pursued them.

"Is this even human? He chased me for half a day and a night, isn't he afraid of dying?"

But no one paid attention to the captain's words. Why should anyone be afraid of death? The Emperor of Han was so focused on fleeing that he didn't even care about his wolf-head banner; who would turn back to fight?
Li Daoxuan rode his horse to the foot of Jiexiu City.
He shouted towards the city wall: "Listen up, traitor Liu Wuzhou! I am Li Daoxuan, the Prince of Huaiyang and Commander-in-Chief of the Great Tang Dynasty. Open the city gates and surrender immediately!"

The shouts echoed in the wind, but no one responded.

Silence fell over the city walls.

Li Daoxuan shouted again, "If you won't surrender, then let's fight!"

"Fight, fight, fight!"

Behind him were the Tang soldiers, who were extremely excited.

On the city wall,

"I think they only have two or three thousand men, yet they're so arrogant. Why don't we go out of the city and wipe them out!"

No one paid any attention to the captain.

The bearded captain seemed a bit dim-witted. "Are we just going to stand by and watch them act so arrogantly?"

A cold wind blew, and the city walls remained silent.

In the city,

After entering the city, Liu Wuzhou fell asleep immediately, ignoring everything else.

At this time, less than 10,000 people had retreated into Jiexiu City, while a large number of troops were still outside, but Liu Wuzhou actually went to sleep.

He let out a thunderous snoring.

The Grand Secretary Yuan Junzhang, the Right Vice Minister Yang Funian, the Palace Attendant Guo Jing, the Grand Secretary Xue Shen, and others looked at each other in bewilderment.

Yuan Junzhang waved his hand, leading everyone to leave.

"Your Majesty is tired,"

Guo Jing asked worriedly, "But what about the current situation?"

Yang Funian, the Right Minister, was an old comrade of Liu Wuzhou and had once been the captain of his personal guards. Although he was now the Right Minister, he was at a loss in the face of this great defeat.

All they could do was bitterly curse Liu Jizhen for his fickleness, Li Yi for his cunning, and the Turkic Nibushe for his utter lack of integrity.

A guard reported that Li Daoxuan had led two or three thousand men to the city gates and was currently provoking and hurling insults at the city.

Yang Funian was about to lead his troops to fight when Yuan Junzhang, the emperor's brother-in-law, stopped him.

"The situation is unclear now, and the soldiers are demoralized. It would be unwise to leave the city. Let's not fall for the Tang traitors' tricks again. Let them shout as they please, just guard the four gates."

A sign of truce was hung high above the city of Jiexiu.
Li Daoxuan, with less than three thousand exhausted infantry and cavalry, managed to surround the tens of thousands of troops in Jiexiu City, trapping the Han emperor inside the city.

Because this army was blocking the city from the outside,

This resulted in many of the slower-moving Wu Zhou soldiers, who, despite fleeing for a day and a night, followed the emperor to Jiexiu, only to find the Tang banners in the distance.
But instead of going forward, they turned around and ran away.

"That's Li Daoxuan!"

"Is that Li Daoxuan, the one who broke through the formation naked in the snow?"

"Yes, it's that Li Silang,"

"I heard that Li Yi of Haozhou has four princes from the royal family under his command, among whom Li Daoxuan is the youngest but the most powerful."

"No matter how fierce Li Daoxuan is, can he be more fierce than Li Yi? I've heard that Li Yi is a genius in military strategy and also knows Taoist magic."

"The Daoist arts?"

"Of course, it is said that he knows the Five Thunder Orthodox Technique, can use the Palm Thunder and Thunder Palm techniques, and can also summon wind and rain."

Another person added, "I've also heard that he can turn beans into soldiers. Otherwise, how could so many Tang soldiers suddenly surround Haozhou City from all sides?"

A group of defeated soldiers turned around and walked away, discussing the Tang generals.

In their words, these Tang soldiers were practically heavenly warriors.

When Li Yi won battle after battle and became complacent, even his enemies began to praise and even reinforce him endlessly.

The routed troops dared not confront Li Daoxuan's army, so they headed north to Pingyao.

"Is there any food? I've been hungry for a whole day and night and I'm dizzy."

"We were being chased all the way here and we wished our parents had given us two more legs, otherwise we would have had nothing to eat." In order to run faster, they even abandoned their armor.

The group was so hungry they couldn't stand it anymore; they had been running away and didn't care about anything else.

"How about we see if there are any villages nearby and get some food?"

"What villages are there to speak of? What food is there to speak of? There are always soldiers coming and going outside Jiexiu City. We've already looted it several times. The Turks have also swept through it, and the Tang army has come to loot as well."

Speaking of Cao Cao, Cao Cao will arrive.

Zhangnan Fort, located on the east bank of Wucheng Lake, is situated west of Wucheng Lake and is located between Pingyao and Jiexiu.

At this time, Zhangnan Fort was garrisoned by General Fan Botong.
He did not participate in the Battle of Haozhou; his mission was to remain at Zhangnan Fort and sweep through the surrounding area. In the snowstorm, a troop of light cavalry from Zhangnan Fort came from the north.

They ran head-on into this group of fleeing soldiers.

"Tang Cavalry!"

The routed soldiers cried out in panic.

The Tang cavalry also spotted them, spurred their horses forward, and kicked up clouds of snow.

The fleeing soldiers, numbering a hundred or so, looked at the opposing force, which, though fewer in number, had faces ashen with despair. "Surrender," they said.

I don't know who said it, but someone said, "I really can't run anymore, let's surrender, damn it."

Another person said, "I just want to drink a bowl of hot water and warm myself by the fire." He was cold and hungry, his hands and feet were almost frozen, and he couldn't run anymore.

The Tang cavalry quickly approached, preparing to charge.

But the enemy on the other side threw down their weapons and knelt down, raising their hands in surrender.

Li Zhongwen led his troops in pursuit to the walls of Pingyao.

A banner bearing the head of a Turkic wolf was erected atop the city wall.
The Turkic leader Ashina Shibobi, from the eastern side of Nibushe, led three thousand wolf cavalrymen and fled all the way into Pingyao City, but Li Zhongwen pursued them relentlessly.

Li Zhongwen ran so fast his head was steaming, grabbed a handful of fried rice and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing as he looked around Pingyao City.

Pingyao City and Wenshui City are about the same size, both with a circumference of eight or nine li, and built on flat ground.

Ren Zhi rubbed the stubble off his beard, his mouth so frozen he could barely speak. “These Turkic wolf cubs really run fast. No wonder they’re a nomadic tribe. Now that they’ve already escaped into the city, let’s retreat.”

Li Zhongwen stared at the wolf-head banner atop Pingyao City for a long time.

“I know the Turkic general Nibushe in this city. His father was Shibi Khan, who passed away earlier this year. This guy is the same age as our Grand Steward, only seventeen years old.” Li Zhongwen pointed at the wolf-head banner with his riding whip and spoke about Shibobi’s background.

"However, Shibobi was not born to Princess Yicheng, the Khatun. Therefore, after his father, Shibi Khan, suddenly passed away, Princess Yicheng did not marry him or make him the new Great Khan. Instead, she supported his uncle as the Great Khan and married his uncle."

This young man was placed in the east by Chuluo Khan, ostensibly to establish a military headquarters, but in reality, he was driven away from the Khan's court.

"What does Zhenxiang Gong mean?" Ren Zhi asked, puzzled.

Li Zhongwen smiled and said, "I have been an envoy to the Turks several times and am familiar with the people in the Turkic Khanate. Shibobi is an ambitious man, but unfortunately, this wolf cub was not yet grown up when his father died, and his uncle and stepmother seized the Khanate that should have been his."
Do you think he wouldn't harbor resentment?
This person is worth trying to win over; perhaps we can start with him to break the alliance between Liu Wuzhou and the Turks.

Ren Zhi was somewhat surprised.

"It wouldn't hurt to give it a try."

Li Zhongwen arrived at the city walls.
"I am Li Zhongwen, the Prefect of Jiezhou and Duke of Zhenxiang of the Great Tang Dynasty. I am an old friend of your Nibushe. Please come and meet me!"

Haozhou City.

Good news kept coming in from all directions.

Fifty thousand troops were routed.

The Tang army is pursuing and expanding their gains.

"Liu Wuzhou has retreated into Jiexiu City. Li Daoxuan led three thousand infantry and cavalry in pursuit to the city walls. The Turkic Nibushe led three thousand wolf riders to Pingyao City, and Li Zhongwen also pursued them to the city walls..."

"Battle reports were coming back from all directions,"

According to our statistics, we have beheaded over 4,000 people and captured more than 10,000 others, though most of the prisoners were laborers and able-bodied men.

We captured a considerable amount of supplies, provisions, and siege equipment. Liu Wuzhou's camp had only been set up for two days, and now we have almost completely taken it over.”

Lu Chengqing reported these victories, his face flushed with excitement.

However, Liu Zhan, the governor of Haozhou, was not entirely satisfied with the results. "Only four thousand heads have been taken?"

"It's already pretty good, considering it was a chase," Li Yi said, quite satisfied.

Liu Wuzhou was timid; upon seeing several armies closing in, he immediately fled. Had he actually rallied his troops to meet the attack head-on, he might not have suffered a major defeat, though he could have been completely annihilated.

In open field battles, once a battle formation is lost, the enemy becomes the slaughtered party.

"Duke Rongguo, shall we take advantage of our victory and march on Jiexiu, capture it in one fell swoop, and kill Liu Wuzhou?" Liu Zhan excitedly suggested.

Li Yi shook his head.

Although the temptation to capture Jiexiu and kill Liu Wuzhou was great, he also knew the principle of a cornered beast fighting to the death.

"Duke Rong, this is an opportunity not to be missed!"

Li Yi looked at the sand table in front of him.

"Gentlemen, I have a plan,"

Liu Wuzhou ran too fast yesterday, and many of his subordinates couldn't keep up. Li Daoxuan was also in hot pursuit, so now only about 10,000 people have retreated into Jiexiu City.

Of Liu Wu's 50,000-strong army, more than 4,000 were beheaded and 10,000 were captured. This means that at least 20,000 men are still in the wilderness of Jiehao or have retreated into Han army fortresses such as Lingshi.

Liu Wuzhou's forces are now very scattered.

This is a rare opportunity.

"I plan to use Zhangnan Fort to the north, Yong'an Fort to the west, and Zhangbi Fort to the south of Jiexiu to blockade and besiege Jiexiu."

They surrounded the area without attacking, only intercepting and sweeping away the defeated troops trying to retreat into Jiexiu, and preventing Liu Wuzhou from leaving Jiexiu.

He pointed to Ling Shi City and said, “Ling Shi City is currently very vulnerable, with only two or three thousand defenders. We can concentrate our forces and use the captured siege equipment to attack Ling Shi.”

"Spirit-Attack Stones?"

"Of course, it's not a real attack, but a feint, a show of force, and the commotion must be big. Ling Shi City is related to Song Jingang's supply line to the south. If we take Ling Shi, Han Hou Ling will also be cut off, and Song Jingang and his men will no longer be able to get supplies from Taiyuan."

Therefore, Liu Wuzhou was determined to save Ling Shi.

Liu Zhan had already figured it out and excitedly said, "Does the Duke of Rong intend to attack where the enemy must defend, and then besiege the city to lure out reinforcements?"

"That's right. Whether it's attacking Jiexiu or Lingshi, besieging a city is not easy, so we besiege the city and attack the reinforcements."

Surround Jiexiu and Lingshi.
Either the Wu Zhou army comes to the rescue of the emperor and goes to aid Jiexiu City, in which case we will intercept them. Or they go to rescue Lingshi, in which case we will continue to besiege the city and attack the reinforcements.

Instead of attacking directly, they should rely on the surrounding fortifications and the ample troops Li Yi currently commands to fight the Dingyang Army in open battle.

"What if they don't come out?"

"Haha, not coming out? Then they can just wait to die. There are still about 20,000 Wu Zhou army soldiers and auxiliary troops outside. If they don't come out, we can wipe them all out. At that time, Liu Wu Zhou of Jiexiu City has 10,000 soldiers, and Ling Shi City has 2,000 to 3,000 men. What will they use to fight?" Li Yi said domineeringly.

(End of this chapter)