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

Chapter 564 Wang Junkuo Refuses to Help Those in Die

The sun shines on the Sanggan River.

The light also shone on the young Prince of Huaiyang, Li Daoxuan, gilding his armor with a layer of gold.

In the howling wind, banners fluttered as five thousand Tang cavalry surged forward in an overwhelming wave.

Li Daoxuan took the lead, his black lacquered spear pointing directly at Yuan Junzhang.

The enemy army of 50,000, arrayed against the backdrop of Yunzhong City, formed a vast, imposing formation. They arranged themselves in a goose-wing formation, with Bulishe, the brother of Jieli Khan, leading 20,000 Turkic light cavalry in the center and rear, while the Grand Chancellor Yuan Junzhang divided his forces into three formations: left, center, and right.

It was clear that the Turks had Yuan Jun at the front, while they flanked him from behind.

Yuan Junzhang led 30,000 men in three formations, spreading out like wild geese.

The formation is fairly standard.

They never expected the Tang army to be so ruthless.
Five thousand cavalry charged straight toward Yuan Junzhang's central army, the banner of the Grand General's headquarters standing out conspicuously in the wind.

"Was that flag raised by Li Daoxuan, who was leading the charge?"

Clad in fine armor, Yuan Junzhang frowned as he watched the Tang cavalry charging towards him. "What kind of fighting style is this?"

Beneath his white wolf-head banner, a cavalry general wielding a long-handled sword said, "I've heard that Li Daoxuan is young and fierce, extremely brave and valiant. Several years ago, he followed Li Yi to defend Haozhou, and once led three thousand light soldiers in a surprise attack on the Han King's tens of thousands of troops while naked in the snow."
It seems he's leading the charge today, intending to break through our lines directly, then have his infantry follow up with a wave of attacks.

“I have heard that General Xiao served Emperor Daye in his youth and was able to wield the Mo Dao (a type of long-handled sword) with unparalleled skill on horseback, earning him the title of ‘General Mo Dao’,” Yuan Junzhang said, looking at this member of Empress Xiao’s family. “Does General Xiao have a way to defeat Li Daoxuan?”

Xiao Siye, riding a white horse, clad in silver armor, and wielding a long-handled sword, gazed at the Tang cavalry. "Defeating Li Daoxuan is not difficult; his only reliance is on sheer willpower."
Therefore, we cannot confront him head-on. I observe that Li Daoxuan intends to charge straight at the Grand Secretariat, aiming to kill the generals and seize the banner. Let's set a trap then.
The 20,000 cavalrymen of Lishe were allowed to spread out to both flanks.

Our flanks will spread out to allow Li Daoxuan's several thousand cavalry to enter as the enemy approaches.

The Grand Marshal led his troops in a fighting retreat, luring the enemy deep into his territory.

As the saying goes, one can muster the strength in one go, but the strength will decline in the second and be exhausted in the third.

Even if Li Daoxuan is incredibly powerful, he can only field a maximum of five thousand cavalry, while we have fifty thousand.

Once Li Daoxuan's five thousand cavalry charge in, we pull him back, then encircle him from both flanks, separating Li Daoxuan and his ten thousand-plus rear guard infantry.

Grand Secretariat,
You said, "Five thousand light cavalry are surrounded by fifty thousand soldiers. What will happen when they can no longer break through?"

Yuan Junzhang stroked his beard.
He came from a powerful family in Mayi. In his youth, he was fond of chivalry and making friends. He met Liu Wuzhou, and they became friends. He even married Liu Wuzhou's sister, and together they killed officials and rebelled.

He was skilled in archery and horsemanship, and also knew some military strategy.

When Liu Wuzhou insisted on heading south to contend for supremacy, Yuan Junzhang advised him to rely on the Turks and establish a separatist regime in Daibei. Unfortunately, Liu Wuzhou did not listen to Song Jingang, and as a result, he was soon defeated and killed.

Now he is allied with the Turks and controls the former territory of Liu Wuzhou in Yunshuo. He still has tens of thousands of troops, but Daibei is ultimately remote and sparsely populated. After Liu Wuzhou's defeat, Daibei's strength was greatly diminished.

He had no choice but to obey the Turks' orders, and he submitted to Yang Zhengdao, the Prince of Sui in Dingxiang, and became his Grand Chancellor.

But he also knew that Prince Yang Zhengdao of Sui was just a child, a puppet of the Turks.

Yuan Junzhang did not have the same lofty ambitions as Liu Wuzhou. He never thought of becoming emperor. He was content to be able to establish his own independent territory and live in peace in a corner of the country, even if he had to rely on the Turks.

After his arrival in Yunzhong, he didn't really want to fight the Youzhou army to the death; he just wanted to drive the Tang army away.

If they were to fight the Tang army head-on, they would suffer heavy losses and inevitably suffer the same fate as Liu Wuzhou and Gao Kaidao.

After Liu Wuzhou's defeat, he went to the Turks to borrow troops, but his head was cut off by the Turkic Khan and sent to Chang'an.

Yuan Junzhang wanted to refuse Xiao Siye's suggestion.

He wasn't afraid of Li Daoxuan, but rather he didn't want to fight the Tang army head-on.

"General Xiao, how about we retreat directly to the walls of Yunzhong City?"

Xiao Siye remained expressionless. "Grand Commander, retreating now would demoralize us and play right into Li Daoxuan's hands. If he launches a rapid advance, he might actually overwhelm us."
Either confront Li Daoxuan head-on.

Either lure the enemy deep into your territory,
Retreat is not advisable at this time.

Yuan Junzhang was still hesitating.

"If the Grand General does not defeat Li Daoxuan today, I fear that Li Daoxuan will think that the Grand General is weak and easy to bully, and will take advantage of the situation. Then Yun Shuo will never have a peaceful day."

"Then let's do as General Xiao says."

More than ten messengers rode off to deliver orders to various places.

The 50,000 troops began to change formation.

The left and right armies of Daibei moved outwards.

The Turkic army in the central and rear areas also split into two parts, moving to the left and right respectively.

Only Yuan Junzhang's 10,000-strong central army remained in the middle.
The great banner slowly retreated.

Dust and smoke rose from the flat Baideng River plain.

Li Daoxuan led from the front.
The cavalrymen were accelerating.

He didn't see the enemies scattering to the left and right.
Only the white wolf-head banner remained, a gift from the Turkic Khaganate to Yuan Junzhang. Yuan Junzhang was clearly the Grand Chancellor of the Sui Dynasty in Dingxiang, yet his banner was white and bore the Turkic wolf-head design.

Every moment, they are proclaiming to the people that they are vassals of the Turks.

To shoot a man, first shoot his horse; to capture a thief, first capture his king.
Li Daoxuan had only one goal: to kill generals and seize the imperial banner.

He didn't care whether the enemy changed their formation or not.

Five thousand cavalry,
It was already a powerful force capable of tearing apart the enemy's formation, not to mention the 15,000 men led by Wang Junkuo behind it.

As long as their five thousand cavalry break through the enemy's formation, Wang Junkuo will lead his troops to follow, and they will be able to crush the enemy in one fell swoop.

He lay prone on the horse's back, the wind whistling past his ears.

near,

near,

Getting closer and closer.

The white banner with the wolf's head became clearer and clearer, the wolf's head appearing ferocious.

Li Daoxuan wished he could immediately cut off this wolf-head banner. Yuan Junzhang deserved to die, yet the Han people were willing to be lackeys of the Turks, leading them into the invasion.

Back in Hedong, Yuan Junzhang was stationed in Shuozhou, so we didn't have a chance to meet. Otherwise, we would have executed him then.

The white-headed wolf banner is moving backward.
Is Yuan Junzhang afraid?

forward,

forward,

Forge ahead bravely!

East of the battlefield,

Wang Junkuo stood on the high hill, gazing at the battlefield to the west. From this vantage point, he could have a clear view of the situation on that side of the battlefield.

Five thousand cavalry charged forward.

Instead of directly intercepting and resisting, the enemy troops dispersed.

The wolf-headed banner was even retreating.

Wang Junkuo frowned.

Beside him, Wang Jun, the governor of Beiyan Prefecture, exclaimed in astonishment, "Five thousand men scared away fifty thousand soldiers?"

"wrong,"

Wang Junkuo, who was initially frowning in disappointment, discovered that the situation had changed.

The wolf-head banner is retreating.

However, the left and right wings simply spread out to the sides without retreating.

This is?

This is an open pocket.

Wang Junkuo's heart warmed, and he was secretly delighted. Yes, Yuan Junzhang and Bu Lishe were setting up an ambush.

Not only were the left and right wings in front opened,
The Turkic cavalry, originally positioned in the rear, were now spreading out to the left and right flanks.

The central army where the white-headed wolf banner was located,

It seemed as if he were fighting alone, retreating in fear, but from where he stood, he could clearly see that this was a trap to lure the enemy in.

Wang Jun'e finally realized it too.

"Brother, the situation has changed. The enemy is setting up an ambush. We must lead our troops to follow immediately, otherwise the enemy will trap us."
The Prince of Huaiyang's five thousand cavalry are about to be surrounded.

Wang Junkuo gazed at the battlefield.
Just as Wang Jun'e said, it was a trap.

But he stroked his beard and said, "Second brother, don't be anxious. The Prince of Huaiyang is the bravest in the army. Everyone in the army calls him the Little Prince of Qin. Even Li Sikong praised him for his unparalleled bravery."

The Prince of Huaiyang had repeatedly distinguished himself in battle in Hedong, and the Daibei army had suffered several defeats at his hands. How could he not know Yuan Junzhang's background?

How could he not see through Yuan Junzhang's trap?

But look at how the Prince of Huaiyang is still advancing bravely and aggressively. What does that tell us?
This demonstrates that the Prince of Huaiyang was confident of victory; his five thousand cavalry could break through Yuan Junzhang's central army. While the enemy had set up an ambush, this would thin out their forces, making them vulnerable to attack.

"Brother, shouldn't we hurry and send troops to catch up?"

Wang Junkuo shook his head, "With the Prince of Huaiyang using five thousand cavalry to engage Yuan Junzhang's central army, the enemy will inevitably encircle them, which seems to be disadvantageous to the Prince of Huaiyang."
But by then, it will be impossible to change the formation.
The most opportune time for us to strike then is to wait until then. If we follow up now, we will only end up being surrounded as well.

We must wait until the enemy has encircled us before launching an attack, so that one side is inside and the other outside…”

Wang Jun'e felt that his sworn brother's words made some sense.

"Brother, isn't this too risky? What if something happens to the Prince of Huaiyang?"

"Hehe, this is a battlefield. The Prince of Huaiyang may be young, but he is a commander-in-chief and this isn't his first time on the battlefield."

He understood the danger when he chose to lead the cavalry into the vanguard.

"On the battlefield, one must have a comprehensive plan and not disregard the safety of the entire army for the sake of personal safety."

Amid the sound of horns

Li Daoxuan led his cavalry straight toward Yuan Junzhang's wolf-head banner, and the two sides had already begun to fight.

Amidst the billowing dust,
The wolf-head banner, appearing and disappearing intermittently, continued to move backward.
One charged forward fiercely, while the other fought and retreated simultaneously.

And so they continued westward.

"Brother, look, the enemy has surrounded us."

Yuan Junzhang's central army was retreating continuously, and Li Daoxuan's five thousand cavalry were following closely behind.

The Daibei army on both flanks finally began to completely encircle and cut off the Tang cavalry's retreat.

"Brother, should we order the entire army to attack?"

"hold on."

"What are you waiting for?"

"When the Prince of Huaiyang and the rebel army are locked in combat, when they are exhausted, that will be the time for us to launch a fatal attack." Wang Junkuo, his hand on the saddle, watched the five thousand Youzhou cavalrymen gradually being surrounded.

His eyes were cold and ruthless.

Half an hour passed,

Several generals rushed to Wang Junkuo to request orders.

"Chief Secretary Wang, the Prince of Huaiyang's five thousand cavalry are completely surrounded by the enemy. They are exhausted and can no longer charge. It's our turn to move in."

"Peng Guoling, please order an immediate attack."

"Wait a little longer, the time is not right yet," Wang Junkuo said in a deep, resonant voice.

After a while,
More generals requested permission to send troops.

Standing on the high ground, one can see the Youzhou cavalry, who are surrounded by the enemy like an iron barrel, and the encirclement is getting smaller and smaller.
The Youzhou cavalry could no longer advance.

People kept falling.

Wang Junkuo sighed deeply.
I didn't expect that.

The Prince of Huaiyang had previously boasted that he could rout the enemy in one charge, and that our infantry would follow up and together annihilate the enemy forces.

But now,

He charged headlong into the enemy's ambush. I had thought the Prince of Huaiyang was confident he could break through the enemy's encirclement.
I never expected this,"

"Duke Peng, send out troops immediately."

Wang Junkuo shook his head.
"It's too late. Look, the cavalry are all crammed together and can't move. We have 15,000 men, plus 4,000 auxiliary soldiers, and the rest are infantry."

"Is there any hope of saving him?"

As soon as this word comes out,
All the generals were stunned.

After dragging it out, they ended up just watching their five thousand cavalrymen get surrounded and annihilated.
"Gentlemen, the Prince of Huaiyang underestimated the enemy, and we also trusted him too much. Now, not only are the Prince of Huaiyang's five thousand cavalry in danger, but our fifteen thousand men are also in danger."

The most urgent task now is to save as many as possible. While the Prince of Huaiyang is still drawing the enemy's attention, we must retreat immediately. If we don't leave now, I fear none of us will escape, and our entire army will be wiped out here.”

The generals looked at each other in disbelief.

(End of this chapter)