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

Chapter 602 The Golden Wolf Banner Falls

In the fifth year of Wude,

Chrysanthemum month, Wuzi day.

The full moon on the fifteenth was big and round. Autumn frost had fallen, and the withered grass in the Taiyuan Basin was covered with white frost, turning a silvery-gray color under the moonlight.

The wind swept across the wilderness,
Five thousand riders galloped swiftly under the moonlight.

Li Yi reined in his horse and stood on the high slope, his black armor gleaming dimly in the moonlight.

Behind him were five thousand sharp blades, the result of the King of Qin emptying his coffers.

"Sikong, it's still twenty li to Jinci."

Li Yi nodded.
Further ahead, they would encounter the Turkic army at any time.

"The entire army rests, changes horses, dons armor, and prepares for battle."

Tonight's battle has a clear objective: to defeat Khagan Jieli.

Therefore, there is no need to get entangled in battles with the external enemies; just keep pushing inwards, and you must be quick, accurate, and ruthless.

"Jieli's Golden Wolf Camp is located in Jinci. Although he has 100,000 followers near Taiyuan, they are scattered throughout the area."

There won't be many soldiers near the Golden Wolf Tent at Jinci Temple.

"As long as we are fast enough, no matter how many troops surround Jieli, they can't save him."

He suddenly waved his hand.

"Tonight, let us tell that wolf king that not an inch of Tang territory will be yielded. Anyone who dares to offend our Tang, no matter how far away or how strong, will be punished!"

Five thousand warriors

Starting from Wenshui, they had already traveled 140 li (approximately 70 kilometers). Everyone was exhausted, but no one complained, and no one gave up.

They are all elites.

They are the elite of the elite.
They were elite troops, battle-hardened and personally trained by the King of Qin.

Everyone was making final preparations, and before donning their armor, they hurried to relieve themselves.

Dried meat and fried rice, eaten dry with water.
Warhorses also drink water and are fed concentrated feed.

Completed, donning armor.

Everything is ready.
The silent torrent has begun anew.
The knights changed horses, but the main warhorses remained vacant; these horses would only be used before the battle began.

The tired horses that were replaced were tethered to their legs and left to rest and graze in this area until the battle was over.

The moonlight was like frost.

The night wind was like a knife.

Li Yi chewed on the last piece of jerky, which was salty, gamey, and tough. He thought that after the victory, he would definitely roast mutton, with lamb leg meat sandwiched with lamb tail fat, roasted until it sizzled and dripped with oil, and sprinkled with cumin, chili, and fine salt.

Yuchi Gong walked over with his towering figure, saying, "Let my armored cavalry lead the charge against the enemy."

Li Yi shook his head. "It was decided before we set off that Luo Shixin and Duan Zhixuan's light cavalry battalion would be at the forefront, using Shenji rockets to launch a surprise attack and create chaos."

Then Shubao and Yaojin's elite Xuanjia cavalry will clear the way for you.

"Your thousand armored cavalry are our most powerful weapon; you must remain hidden."

"The Duke of Tan!"

Luo Shixin was putting on his second layer of armor, turning his small frame into a lump of iron.

"The first blow to break through the camp depends on your Divine Machine Battalion."

The moon is beautiful tonight.

Add some more fireworks, make it loud, bright, and thunderous, enough to burn half the sky!

Luo Shixin shook the two layers of armor on his body and asked his personal guards to tighten the armor straps more securely.

He grinned at Li Yi, revealing a set of white teeth, "Don't worry, Wu Yi, with these good things, we'll definitely give that old bastard Jie Li a big surprise."

"Remember to shoot divine arrows and throw divine grenades into their herds as much as possible."
"A Turk without horses is nothing!"

"Everyone, I wish you a resounding victory and swift success!"

The iron torrent surged again.

The night was cold and quiet.

Jinci Temple, beside the Nanlao Spring
The wolf-head banner of Jieli Khan hung low and motionless under the moonlight.

The campfire at the campsite had long since gone out.
The Turkic soldiers on night duty were dozing off.
The series of victories and the Tang people's initiative to seek peace dulled their vigilance.

Jieli Khan was fast asleep in his tent.
in dreams,

Zheng Yuanzhu and Li Chen agreed to all his requests, and Li Yuan sent a young and beautiful Tang princess to him.

There were also chests of gold and cartloads of silk.

He took the Tang princess's hand and entered the blue tent...

While having a sweet dream,

The earth shook.
The vibrations are getting stronger.

Jieli awoke from his dream with a start. Through the exquisite Persian carpet, he felt the vibrations—the sound of countless horses' hooves striking the earth.

A large number of horses approached.
It's definitely not a herd of horses; it's cavalry.

"Somebody come!"

Jieli summoned the Wolf Guards on duty outside the tent, "A large force of cavalry is approaching, what's going on?"

Could it be that the tribe that went south to plunder has returned? But why is it returning in the middle of the night?

We didn't receive any advance notice of their arrival.

Could it be that they were intercepted by the Tang army on the way and fled back in defeat?

Jieli's face was gloomy.
Send someone to investigate.

Remembering his interrupted dream, Jieli could no longer fall asleep.

The sent-out imperial guards have yet to report back.

Suddenly, a deep, rumbling thunderclap ripped through the night.

boom!
Then came the second sound.

The third tone,
The sounds rose and fell, one after another, without ceasing.

It didn't come from the horizon, but rather from the outskirts of the camp.

Jieli's expression changed drastically.

He thought of something.

Li Yi,
He thought of the several times the Turks had encountered such thunderclaps.

He quickly left the Golden Wolf tent.
really,

From the outer perimeter of the camp, not only were there loud noises, but also flashes of fire.

"Li Yi is leading his army to attack!" Jieli muttered to himself.

The saying goes that when the Eternal Heaven is angry, it sends down thunder and fire rain. Jieli had already sent people to investigate this matter carefully; it was a secret weapon in Li Yi's possession.
"Quickly, blow the horn! The Tang army is attacking! Wake everyone up!" Jieli was both shocked and furious.

Li Yi is still in Fenzhou, more than 200 miles away. How could he possibly be here?

Didn't Li Yuan take the initiative to cease hostilities and seek peace?
Why is Li Yi attacking again?

This inevitably reminded him of the Battle of Huanghualing, where Li Yi instigated a rebellion in Mayi and then ambushed the 50,000-strong army of Yuan Junzhang and Bu Lishe who were heading south to retake Mayi.

"The Eternal Heaven is enraged!"

In the camp,
A Turkic soldier screamed in terror, spreading fear.

No one expected the Tang army's surprise attack.

Jieli did not expect that,
The Turkic soldiers hadn't expected this either.

But they just showed up like that.
Divine soldiers descended from the heavens, bringing thunder and heavenly fire.

Luo Shixin and Duan Zhixuan's two thousand light cavalry suddenly pounced out of the darkness, scattering the divine rockets that trailed blinding flames.
Shot into the Turkic camp

The rocket fuse burned out, exploded with a loud bang like rolling thunder, and sparks flew everywhere, igniting tents and terrifying soldiers.

The tent was set on fire.
The haystack was set on fire.

Even more terrifying was that after the Tang cavalry fired countless divine rockets, they quickly hooked open the first palisade, and then they threw out divine thunderbolts with all their might.

These crudely made explosive packages,
When it explodes, its power is anything but simple, far exceeding that of the Divine Arrow.

These divine mines were hurled into the herd of horses and into the dense ranks of soldiers, and with a deafening roar, fireballs rolled and rose.

The warhorses panicked and galloped wildly in all directions.
Some warhorses charged wildly with flaming embers, setting fire to more tents and haystacks, and frightening even more horses.

The mournful bugle call has sounded.
They could be drowned out by those explosions.

After tearing open the barn fence,
Luo Shixin and Duan Zhixuan's two thousand light cavalry did not venture any deeper, but instead continued to circle the camp, firing gunpowder arrows and throwing gunpowder packets.
Two thousand people were setting fires in a frenzy.
They are constantly creating fear.

Qin Shubao and Cheng Yaojin, this old duo, led two thousand elite Xuanjia cavalry, plunging straight into the enemy camp like sharp blades. Behind them...

It was Yuchi Gong's thousand heavily armored cavalry who donned their armor just moments before the attack.

Both men and horses were armored.

The most elite armored cavalry,
At this moment, they were still hidden behind the Xuanjia light cavalry, preparing to launch the most fatal attack.

Jieli's cavalry, the wolf riders, kept running around the camp.

It conveyed Jieli's orders one after another.

In a panic, the Turkic soldiers gathered around Jieli's Golden Wolf tent.

Qin Qiong and Cheng Yaojin's two thousand cavalrymen broke through the scattered Turkic soldiers along the way, fighting their way through.
When they reached the vicinity of the camp's center, they saw a densely packed enemy force gathered ahead.
Many Turkic soldiers were not even wearing armor or riding horses.

They instinctively gathered towards the Golden Wolf's tent.

"Armored cavalry, break through the enemy lines!"

Yuchi Gong roared like thunder. He put down the hideous iron mask and pointed his eighteen-foot-long spear straight at the Golden Wolf tent.

One thousand armored cavalry,
Start speeding up.

Two thousand cavalrymen, led by Qin Qiong and Cheng Yaojin, cleared a path for them, allowing them to rush straight to the main tent.

Two thousand Xuanjia cavalrymen spread out to the left and right.

The final blow will be delivered to them.

In front of Jieli's tent,
The place was packed with people, layer upon layer, numbering in the thousands, and more were constantly gathering.

But in Yuchi Gong's eyes,
It was as if nothing existed.

A thousand armored cavalrymen, just like the molten iron poured from the furnace and crucible when he was forging iron.

Under his leadership, it became the sharpest spear.

The heavy hooves rolled over,
Unstoppable.

The Turks kept firing arrows at them.

But the rain of arrows couldn't slow them down in the slightest, nor could they even cause them much harm.

Faced with the densely packed, layered Turkic army,

Yuchi Gong led a thousand armored cavalrymen and charged headlong into the enemy lines.
Men and horses fell over, and blood splattered everywhere.

Flesh and blood are utterly incapable of stopping this torrent of steel.

Those Turkic soldiers were like grain flowers hitting a reef, instantly reduced to dust.

They painstakingly carved out several bloody paths.

They charged straight into the Golden Wolf's tent.

Qin Qiong and Cheng Yaojin led their left and right Xuanjia cavalry to attack from both flanks.

The defeated Turkic army,
They became their targets.

At Jinci, the camp at Nanlaoquan was guarded by 20,000 of Jieli's followers.

However, they could not withstand the sudden attack of five thousand Tang cavalry.

"Hold them off!"

Jieli howled,

His eyes were bloodshot.
I stared in disbelief at what was happening before my eyes.

Armored cavalry

Were all the surrounding Turkic tribes dead?
The Tang army even sent their heavily armored cavalry to his Khan's tent.

From Fenzhou to Taiyuan, a distance of over two hundred li, not a single person discovered the movement of the Tang army, allowing them to sneak up on the Khan's camp.

He roared,

They were angry, but also terrified.

Caught off guard, the Turkic army could not withstand the armored cavalry.

Even more terrifying was that the Tang army not only brought their armored cavalry here, but also the thunder and fire rain that terrified countless Turkic soldiers, turning their faces pale with fear.

Every explosion, every flash of light
All of this made the hearts of the Turkic people tremble.

After circling the camp and bombing it once, Luo Shixin and Duan Zhixuan led two thousand light cavalrymen deep into the camp.

Looking at the Turkic soldiers surrounding Jieli's tent,

They began to unleash their divine arrows and divine thunderbolts at them.

Instantly, the densely packed Turkic tribesmen fell to their deaths, screaming in agony.

The first hint of dawn appeared in the east.

It's getting daylight.

The Jieli camp at Jinci was in complete disarray. Li Daoxuan, holding a helmet in his hands, came to see Li Yi.
"We searched the entire camp but didn't find that old man Jieli. He must have escaped in the chaos,"

"However, we did manage to capture the Turkic Khagan. That old woman disguised herself as a female slave, hoping to slip through our fingers."

Li Yi chewed on the dried meat.

He appeared calm, but was actually very excited inside.

This 160-mile raid was ultimately successful.

Although everyone was exhausted, they were all incredibly excited.

Jieli's 100,000 troops
But that didn't stop their full-force attack from the five thousand cavalry.

They truly wrote history.

"I have already sent men to chase after that old man Jieli, and we will make sure he doesn't escape."

Li Yi remained calm, saying, "It doesn't matter if they run away. After this battle, will Jieli'an dare to think that our Great Tang has no one to rely on?"

"Quickly clean up the battlefield, let's enter Taiyuan City."

After the battle began last night, Li Yi actually sent someone to Taiyuan City, and also took Li Shimin and his order, hoping that Li Shenfu would send troops to provide support.

But Li Shenfu held firm at the city gate.

He ignored the soldiers he sent.

This behavior could be described as cautious, but it could also be said to be somewhat deliberate.

Li Yi ignored all of that.
But now that it was dawn, Li Yi had personally led his troops to the walls of Taiyuan, leaving Li Shenfu with no possibility of refusing.

He not only had to enter Taiyuan City, but also had to formally take over the Bingzhou Grand General's Office.

He is now the Grand General of Bingzhou and the Military Commander of Bingzhou Road.

According to Feng Deyi, the emperor intended to wait until the peace treaty was reached before transferring Li Shimin south to serve as the Grand Marshal of the Jiangzhou Army, while Li Yi would be transferred to serve as the Grand General of Youzhou.

But peace talks have not yet been completed.
The emperor's arrangements have not yet been announced.

Li Shimin's 20,000 men were still on their way.
Li Yi's five thousand cavalrymen had traveled 160 li in a day and night and were now exhausted. They needed to hurry into Taiyuan City to rest.

If Jieli were to launch a surprise attack, they might be surrounded and annihilated.

Last night, we only caught them off guard; it doesn't mean we had the ability to sweep away Jieli's 100,000 cavalry.

"Oh, by the way, that old woman is insisting on seeing you."

"I don't have time right now. Let's talk about it when we get back to Taiyuan City." Li Yi didn't have time to chat with Princess Yicheng right now, even though he did want to meet this legendary woman.

A red sun rises,
Ten thousand golden rays shone down

Around the Jinci Nanlao Spring, corpses lay strewn everywhere, and blood flowed like a river.

The golden wolf banner was cut down and confiscated by the Tang army in the morning breeze.

Countless Tang soldiers cheered and applauded as the wolf banner fell.

Li Daoxuan laughed loudly, "Brother Wang, Jieli is nothing special!"

"Yeah, that's all!"

(End of this chapter)