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

Chapter 565 Li Sikong's Divine Soldiers Descend from the Sky

The setting sun is like blood.

The area below Mount Bai has become a grinding stone of flesh and blood.

Five thousand Tang Dynasty cavalrymen from Youzhou were surrounded by a combined force of fifty thousand Daibei and Turks, squeezed tightly into a narrow area between the Baideng River beach and gentle slope.

The riverbank was wet and muddy.

The cavalry of Youzhou were packed tightly together, men and horses jostling each other, many horses' hooves stuck deep in the mud and unable to move forward.

The momentum had long since been exhausted.

All that remained was a desperate, trapped struggle.

The cavalry, no longer able to charge or maneuver, were now even less effective than the infantry.

Enemies were everywhere, swarming in from all directions.

The Turks kept shooting arrows at us.

The spears of the Daibei army kept thrusting.
Li Daoxuan shook his head and stood up from the blood and mud.
The crisp sound of a spear shaft breaking, the dull thud of a blade slicing into flesh.

And there was the neighing of dying warhorses.
And the piercing screams of the wounded soldiers,

Amidst the excited cheers and shouts of the Turks and the rebel army from the north,
It created a reverberation that gave him a splitting headache.

The young prince's magnificent and sturdy imperial armor, crafted by the Shangfang, was now completely covered in blood, mud, and bits of flesh.

Several arrows were still stuck in the ground.
There wasn't time to pull out the arrow, so they simply broke the shaft.

His steed from Dayuan had been pierced by several spears, with a broken spear still stuck in its belly. The warhorse lay on the ground, still panting heavily, but it was already dead.

His personal guard cavalry

Most of them have already fallen.
The rest of them, all wounded, still fought desperately to protect him.

Li Daoxuan shook his head, which was still spinning.

His eyes were bloodshot as he stared intently at the white wolf-head banner that was so close yet so far away!
The captain of the personal guard raised his shield to block a rapidly flying arrow for him.
He turned to Li Daoxuan and shouted, "Your Majesty, that damned Wang Junkuo has run away! He abandoned us with 15,000 men!"

"That damn guy, they got away."

The tall captain was now covered in blood, with several arrows stuck in his armor. He was both anxious and furious. "My lord, let's break through!"

Li Daoxuan had also noticed something was wrong long ago.

He discovered that Yuan Junzhang had set up an ambush, but he still rushed in. He turned his back to Wang Junkuo, trusting that Wang Junkuo could keep up.

But as he held fast to the wolf's head banner,

Wang Junkuo, however, remained inactive.
He had assumed that Wang Junkuo was simply waiting for the right opportunity.

Who knew that when they were completely surrounded, Wang Junkuo did not lead his troops to attack, but instead immediately retreated eastward.

They are still fighting, still risking their lives.
Wang Junkuo still had 15,000 men under his command. Not counting the few thousand auxiliary soldiers, he still had tens of thousands of combat soldiers, but he withdrew without firing a single arrow.

Abandon them.

They even used them to delay the enemy, allowing themselves to escape more quickly.

Li Daoxuan had fought alongside Li Yi before, but he had never had a teammate like this before.

It's too late to regret it.

They became an isolated army, heavily surrounded.

If he had recognized Wang Junkuo's true colors earlier, he wouldn't have led five thousand cavalry straight into the enemy's central army.

Even when Yuan Junzhang changed tactics, they did not continue to charge.

But what's the point of saying all this now?

He wiped the blood from his face.
Li Daoxuan gritted his teeth and gripped his spear tightly. "Today, I will fight to the death!"

"Kill one to get enough money, kill two to earn one!"

Breakout?

Which way should we break through?

Moreover, they are now surrounded by 50,000 people like an iron barrel, squeezed into this narrow riverbank, with no way to break through.

The sun is about to set.

His time as Li Daoxuan is coming to an end.

I'm going to die here.

However, there's still a lingering sense of resentment.

It's not that I'm afraid of death,

I just feel that this death was particularly frustrating.

Li Daoxuan roared like a wild beast, his voice carrying a hint of sweet, metallic blood. He thrust his spear forward, forcefully deflecting several incoming spears, and then with a sudden, powerful thrust, pierced one of the Daibei spearmen.

The man fell down.

Someone else immediately filled in the gap.

There are too many enemies, densely packed together.

A burly enemy swung a spiked club at him, but Li Daoxuan raised his spear to block it. A huge impact knocked him to the ground, which was covered in mud and blood.

The phoenix-winged helmet rolled off.
His young face was revealed, along with eyes burning with resentment.

His personal guards stepped forward with their shields to block several thrusts for him. One guard was pierced through the waist and abdomen, vomited blood, and collapsed to the ground dead.

Li Daoxuan got up from the ground.

He picked up the lance and thrust it out fiercely, killing another enemy.

But the enemies are endless.
Abandoned, their complete annihilation was only a matter of time.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu"

A bugle call could be heard in the distance.

The powerful sound of the horn, like a sharp arrow piercing through the dark clouds, came from the southwest of the battlefield.

The bugle call was stirring.

Even Li Daoxuan, who was blinded by rage, was startled and turned to look southwest. Unfortunately, all he could see were Youzhou cavalry crammed together, as well as the banners of the Daibei Army and the Turks on all sides.

But that sound still gave people hope.

"The bugle call coming from the southwest may mean that reinforcements have arrived."

Li Daoxuan murmured, "Although it's impossible for reinforcements to appear in the southwest at this time, it's still somewhat encouraging."

Under the wolf-head banner,

Yuan Junzhang was sitting on a small stool, drinking milk tea.

He couldn't believe that the battlefield situation would change so quickly today. He had originally thought that he would be satisfied if he could defeat the Youzhou army and lift the siege of Yunzhou.

Who would have thought that in the end, a big fish would be caught in the net?
The Grand General of Youzhou, Prince Huaiyang Li Daoxuan, and 5,000 light cavalry from Youzhou were surrounded by them, while the remaining 15,000 Youzhou soldiers actually ran away.

This was something even Yuan Junzhang found hard to believe.

But seeing that Tang army was quickly retreating to the northeast, Yuan Junzhang did not order anyone to pursue them.

Even the Turkic Bulishe had no intention of pursuing them.

Ten birds in the forest are worth less than one bird in the hand.

It is better to cut off one finger than to injure all ten.

Annihilating the five thousand cavalrymen they surrounded would be more than enough.

Victory came so suddenly. Yuan Junzhang drank the freshly brewed milk tea and felt incredibly refreshed.

The sudden sound of a bugle interrupted his thoughts.

He subconsciously looked southwest.

then,

Yuan Junzhang was stunned.

His eyes were wide open like saucers, and his mouth was agape.

All that could be seen was the low hills in the southwest.
The smoke and dust billowed like a rolling earthen dragon.
It is sweeping towards the battlefield at an alarming speed.

In that plume of yellow smoke,
A huge battle banner, as red as blood, fluttered high in the afterglow of the setting sun.
Like a raging fire, it burned Yuan Junzhang's eyes.

"red flag,"

"It's the Tang army's red flag,"

Beside Yuan Junzhang, a tall bodyguard couldn't help but shout.

Yuan Junzhang recognized it as a red Tang flag.

But how could Tang banners appear in the southwest?

Mingming Wang Junkuo led more than 10,000 Youzhou troops and retreated to the northeast.

The mournful sound of the bugle still echoed throughout the heavens and earth.

Within the encirclement,

A soldier from Youzhou shouted, "Reinforcements! Reinforcements have arrived!"

He roared at the top of his lungs, his voice filled with the ecstatic joy of escaping a desperate situation.

Red flags fluttered in the breeze.

A cavalry unit charged forward at breakneck speed.
Under the red flag, a general stood at the forefront, clad in gleaming armor, wielding a long, eighteen-foot-long spear whose blade gleamed coldly in the setting sun. Behind him stood a thousand light cavalry from Hebei.

Like a tornado, it swept in and rushed straight into the encirclement of the Daibei army.

"Su!"

The character "Su" on the flag is very eye-catching.

"Break through the encirclement!" Su Dingfang's roar was like thunder. A thousand cavalrymen simultaneously picked up their horn bows, drew their arrows, and fired.
After quickly advancing on the Northern Army, he launched a barrage of arrows from his horse.

Su Dingfang's arrows flew like shooting stars, his hands moving in unison as he fired them in rapid succession.

After firing six or seven arrows in succession,

He switched to a horse lance, brandished it, and charged at the enemy with unstoppable force.

Just as the two armies clashed,

Rumble,
A dull but powerful tremor came from the earth, and another cloud of dust, like a rushing torrent, swept in from another direction.

Ahead of this plume of smoke,

Red flags were waving everywhere.

There was also a banner bearing the character "Liu" fluttering in the wind.

One of his generals, as imposing as an iron tower, clad in black armor and wielding a horse spear, charged forward at breakneck speed. He was none other than Liu Heita, the Swift General of Hebei.

Behind him was also a thousand Hebei light cavalry.

Liu Heita was very dissatisfied that he had arrived at the battlefield a step later than Su Dingfang, and roared, "Follow me to break the formation and crush them!"

This cavalry force, arriving only a step later than Su Dingfang, was even more formidable.

Under the wolf-head banner,
Yuan Junzhang didn't even notice that the milk tea in his hand had spilled out of the cup.

At this moment, he looked at the two Tang cavalry units that had descended like divine soldiers, his face filled with disbelief.

Where did they come from?

This is Yunzhou.

If these were pre-arranged Tang reinforcements, then why did Wang Junkuo lead the Youzhou army away?
Why leave five thousand Youzhou cavalrymen to be surrounded and slaughtered?

I can't figure it out for the moment.

But he had already roughly guessed the origin of this army from the banners of Liu and Su, as well as the direction they came from.

It should be the Yingzhou Army stationed on the banks of the Hun River north of Hengshan.

That damned Li Yi, disregarding the peace agreement, stubbornly clung to that land. It originally belonged to his Shuozhou, but Li Yi seized it during the previous war by sending troops from Fanzhi and established a new Yingzhou.

Even after the war, they refused to withdraw their troops.

"Liu Heita and Su Dingfang, they took the opportunity to attack Mayi before, those damned guys, they're here again now."

Yuan Junzhang breathed a slight sigh of relief when he saw that the two Tang armies that came to his aid each had only a thousand cavalry.

Immediately issue an order to divide forces and intercept them.

"Today is a good day to settle both old and new scores."

"Since you're here, don't leave. Keep Li Daoxuan company on his journey to the Yellow Springs!"

Within the encirclement,

The Youzhou cavalry erupted in a deafening roar, "Reinforcements! Our Hebei reinforcements have arrived! Li Sikong's Dingzhou army! Li Sikong has come!"

The morale, which had been on the verge of collapse, was immediately boosted.

A trapped beast in a desperate situation

It erupted with a frenzy that wanted to tear everything apart.

Li Sikong
Who among the Youzhou cavalry doesn't know this name?
That was the invincible and undefeated general, Wang.

Li Daoxuan's eyes suddenly lit up.

He, who had been exhausted, suddenly became energetic again. He grabbed the sword of his fallen personal guard and roared, "The Prince of Wu'an has arrived with reinforcements. Follow me and fight our way out!"

I thought I was going to die.
But now there is still a glimmer of hope.

Even though only a small number of light cavalry reinforcements arrived, they still gave everyone great hope and courage.

In that roar like a landslide and a tsunami,
On the southern horizon of the battlefield, an even larger and more imposing banner appeared.

As the sun sets in the west, it dyes the sky a blood red.

The Tang army's great banner appeared.

Behind the main banner, there were many other banners, inscribed with the commander-in-chief's rank and title.

"Prince Wu'an!"

"Sikong!"

"Your Excellency!"

"Shangzhu Kingdom!"

"Right Guard General!"

"General Canqi!"

"Chief Secretary of the Hedong Military Camp!"

"General Commander of the Hebei Circuit!"

"Grand Commander of Dingzhou!"

"The Prefect of Dingzhou!"

······
Banners like clouds,

The numerous official titles highlight the extraordinary nature of the newcomer.

Li Yi, clad in a suit of armor emblazoned with mountain patterns, sat astride a fine horse bestowed upon him by the emperor, his face ashen.

Behind him,

It was 10,000 soldiers from Dingzhou.

Further away, smoke and dust filled the air, with countless flags appearing and disappearing in the smoke and dust. The sound of drums and horns was overwhelming, as if a hundred thousand troops were rolling in.

"hiss!"

Under the wolf-head banner,

Yuan Junzhang craned his neck, his face grave as he examined the Tang army banner and the tall figure beneath it.

"Li Yi, why is he here?"

There was a hint of unease in Yuan Junzhang's voice.

They had assumed it was only Liu Heita and Su Dingfang, stationed in Yingzhou, leading a light cavalry force to provide reinforcements, but unexpectedly, Li Yi also arrived.

And look at the smoke and dust behind it.
It's possible that Liu Shirang from Daizhou, Li Gaoqian from Xinzhou, and even Li Shenfu from Bingzhou also came.

At the foot of Baideng Mountain in the distance,

The Turkic army was resting and reorganizing.
While enjoying a whole roasted lamb, Bu Lishe was so frightened by the news that Li Yi had led a large army to attack that he dropped his knife to the ground.

He swallowed hard. "Li Yi has arrived in person. How many troops did he bring?"

"Smoke and dust billowed, and banners blocked out the sky; it looked like there were at least tens of thousands of troops."

Bu Lishe couldn't help but curse.

Panic and unease spread among the Daibei army and the Turkic army.
In their hearts, Li Yi was a name that symbolized invincibility.

Beneath the walls of Weizhou, in front of the Bottle-Shaped Pass, along the Hutuo River,
The repeated defeats and countless deaths and injuries made them terrified of Li Yi.

"Eternal Heaven, why has that person come?"

Bu Lishe frowned, feeling a great headache.

“Bu Lishe, Yuan Junzhang’s army’s morale is wavering. They are about to be unable to withstand the Tang army’s attack from both inside and outside.”

Bu Lishe also saw it.
When Su Dingfang and Liu Heita arrived, Yuan Junzhang even sent troops to intercept them, but when Li Yi's banner appeared...

And behind them, banners like clouds,
This has already begun to shake the morale of the Daibei army.

Bu Lishe kept his eyes fixed on the south, where the smoke and dust billowed and the banners were like clouds, making him ponder incessantly.

Could it be that Li Yi has really led tens of thousands of troops to attack?
"It's moving! Li Yi's banner has moved and is pressing this way!" a Turkic general shouted, his voice filled with tension.

Bu Lishe stood up and said, "Bring me my horse, and the entire army will retreat back to Yunzhou City."

"Huh?" someone exclaimed in surprise. "But Yuan Junzhang is still besieging the Youzhou army."

Bu Lishe sighed, "What a pity, Li Yi arrived too quickly, otherwise he could have annihilated all five thousand Youzhou cavalry."

"go!"

Bulishe was Jieli's younger brother. This time, he was ordered by Jieli Khan to lead 20,000 Turkic troops to assist Yuan Junzhang in relieving the siege of Yunzhou.
I never thought I'd get myself involved.

Bu Lishe was not afraid of Li Daoxuan and Wang Junkuo, but he had to think carefully before facing Li Yi.

Bu Lishe left decisively. His 20,000 troops were already resting on the side, and the dirty work of surrounding and killing the Youzhou cavalry was handed over to the Daibei army.

Seeing that the situation was not good, they turned tail and retreated.
He left as decisively as Wang Junkuo.

"Grand Master, something terrible has happened! Tulishe has escaped! The Turks have fled!"

Under the wolf-head banner,
Yuan Junzhang watched helplessly as Li Yi's banner pressed forward.
Then Tulisa fled with 20,000 Turkic cavalry.

(End of this chapter)