Li Chengqian of the Tang Dynasty: Please say long live His Majesty

Chapter 664 Battlefield God of Slaughter, Xue Rengui, White Horse and Silver Spear (First Update)
A lingering wind and a cold moon.

The endless sounds of battle, having crossed the Tianshan Mountains, had become much fainter.

On the southern slope of the Tianshan Mountains, east of the pass.

More than nine thousand warhorses, under the care and comfort of their masters, ate the hay brought up from the rear.

Wang Fangyi sat on the ground, his head down, but his ears were fixed on the sounds coming from the darkness deep in the pass.

It was as if he could truly hear the sounds of battle north of the Tianshan Mountains.

Under the watchful eyes of the gaze, he adjusted the armor on his body.

Even though his armor was exceptionally sturdy, it still bore hundreds of dense scratches on the battlefield where tens of thousands of people were fighting, some of which were almost pierced through.

He was a lieutenant general in the army, so his armor was naturally different from that of ordinary soldiers.

Even more so because his cousin Wang Youlan was the emperor's favorite concubine, the armor he wore was a special gift from the emperor.

Such treatment was reserved for the generals and grand generals of the Sixteen Guards, and only for these few who had once gone to Goguryeo.

His armor was like this even in the heat of battle, let alone the armor worn by his soldiers.

In this battle, although they killed tens of thousands of Turkic cavalry, they also suffered more than a thousand casualties themselves, and their warhorses were already exhausted from the constant galloping.

If they were to run into Dieyun's main force head-on, they might all be doomed. Therefore, they need to slow down a bit.

A rapid sound of horses' hooves came from ahead, and Wang Fangyi suddenly looked up.

Guo Daizhao, also heavily wounded in battle, galloped over, dismounted, and bowed to Wang Fangyi, saying, "Brother Wang, Dieyun has already led more than 20,000 cavalry north. Should we pursue them immediately?"

Wang Fangyi looked towards Yanqi to the west, pondered for a moment, and shook his head, saying, "Let's wait a little longer. The commander should send someone soon, and..."

"And what?" Guo Daizhao asked subconsciously.

"Moreover, General Xue probably doesn't want us to interfere with his plans right now." Wang Fangyi couldn't help but smile wryly.

"Does Brother Wang mean that General Xue will lead 10,000 cavalry to directly charge more than 20,000 Turkic cavalry, just like you and me?" Guo Daizhao's voice couldn't help but rise.

"More than that, what I fear most is that he'll charge into battle alone!" Wang Fangyi calmed down and sighed softly, "His archery skills are far superior to yours and mine. It's time for Xue Rengui, the White Horse Silver Spear, to make the entire Western Regions hear of his fame."

……

Twenty thousand cavalrymen swept in from the direction of Yanqi and finally came to a stop with a roar at the mountain pass.

Beneath the great banner stood Cheng Zhijie himself.

Wang Fangyi and Guo Daizhao immediately rode forward, solemnly cupping their hands in salute: "General!"

Cheng Zhijie held a riding whip and looked Wang Fangyi and Guo Daizhao up and down.

His gaze swept over the two men's battered armor, then passed over them to look behind them, and asked, "Where's Luo Hongyi? Why didn't he come?"

Wang Fangyi cupped his hands and said, "Reporting to the commander, Lord Luo is currently leading his troops to guard Gaochang City, fearing that if we are not careful, the Turks will take advantage of the situation."

“He’s still afraid that someone will take advantage of him. Where are there any Turks left?” Cheng Zhijie couldn’t help but feel both angry and amused.

Wang Fangyi and Guo Daizhao could only bow their heads, unsure of what to say.

Taking a deep breath, Cheng Zhijie looked at Wang Fangyi seriously and said, "He doesn't want to be disliked by others because he benefited from your influence, so he simply didn't come at all, you old fox."

Wang Fangyi was slightly taken aback, but then he immediately understood completely.

This time, the two who fought were Wang Fangyi and Guo Daizhao. Although they had made many military achievements, Luo Hongyi, who fully supported them in the battle, also deserved a lot of credit.

But since he didn't actually fight on the battlefield, he was bound to be criticized.

So I simply decided not to come.

Wang Fangyi cupped his hands and said, "Your Excellency has extraordinary courage and strategy. Without your support, I would not have been able to succeed so smoothly."

“Courage?” Cheng Zhijie looked at Wang Fangyi and shook his head with a smile. “You guys are all incredibly bold. I was worried that Luo Hongyi would rashly send troops and give the Turks an opportunity, but I didn’t expect you to be even more eager to send troops than him, and you even sent out your entire force. Fortunately, you won in the end.”

"This humble general was merely fortunate," Wang Fangyi said, bowing slightly.

"Tell me what happened," Cheng Zhijie said, slightly turning his warhorse and heading towards the Tianshan Pass. The entire army immediately followed the banner in an orderly fashion.

“Gaochang is difficult to conquer. Dieyun must be using the attack on Gaochang as a pretext to turn around and attack the various reinforcements. Kucha and Yanqi are almost on the same side, so it is easy for trouble to happen on the other side. So only Tingzhou is left.” Wang Fangyi said briefly.

"anything else?"

"Another strategy is to take advantage of the terrain: high mountains, glaciers, sunsets, and then attack while the enemy is crossing." Wang Fangyi paused slightly and added, "As long as my cavalry is faster than the Turkic cavalry, the Turks will never have a chance to counterattack."

Cheng Zhijie stopped his horse and turned to the side, asking in confusion, "You haven't been in Gaochang for very long, have you? How come you're so familiar with this place?"

Wang Fangyi looked up with a somewhat blank expression and said, "Shouldn't a general have a thorough understanding of the local climate and terrain whenever he arrives in a new place?"

"Li Ji taught you that?" Cheng Zhijie couldn't help but frown.

"I don't think so," Wang Fangyi quickly waved his hand and said, "I once fought alongside the Duke of Ying, so I saw a lot and learned a little in private."

“What do you mean by learning in private?” Cheng Zhijie shook his head directly and said, “His Majesty sent you to Goguryeo to learn from Li Ji and Su Dingfang… At first glance, what you said does sound quite like the style of Duke Wei and Su Dingfang, but upon closer inspection, I realize that you actually learned from Li Ji.”

"General!" Wang Fangyi said, somewhat bewildered.

"It's nothing." Cheng Zhijie waved his hand and said, "The methods of Duke Wei and Su Dingfang are too dependent on talent. Although Li Ji also learned from Duke Wei, he incorporated more of his own ideas, which makes him more suitable for others to learn."

"Yes!" Wang Fangyi suddenly calmed down.

Cheng Zhijie suddenly laughed, shook his head and said, "Look at you now, you look just like that guy Li Ji."

"Ah!" Wang Fangyi was a little stunned.

"Alright, alright, let's go see how Xue Rengui is doing. He's an incredibly audacious fellow." Cheng Zhijie couldn't help but chuckle, urging his horse forward as he said, "This battle is going to be interesting!"

"Yes!" Wang Fangyi regained his composure and followed closely.

The others all slowly began to accelerate forward, but the overall movement was steady and without any disorder.

They seemed completely unconcerned and unconcerned.

Xue Rengui fought with 10,000 against 20,000.

They weren't worried at all that Xue Rengui would lose; on the contrary, they were worried that if they arrived too early, it would affect Xue Rengui.

……

Horse hooves thundered.

The world was desolate and bleak.

Countless cavalrymen charged back and forth, fighting fiercely for their lives.

Dressed in white robes and silver armor, Xue Rengui charged alone into the deepest part of the 20,000 Turkic cavalry.

As the warhorses galloped, Ashina Dieyun, who was slightly behind, appeared to be constantly retreating because he had slowed down his horse.

As ten thousand cavalry charged forward, Xue Rengui, clad in white robes and silver armor, charged alone under the waning moon, directly towards the Turkic army, leaving his tens of thousands of Tang cavalry far behind.

Ashina Dieyun initially thought Xue Rengui had gone mad. For a moment, he even considered capturing Xue Rengui alive so he could easily defeat the tens of thousands of Tang cavalry behind him.

So he directly ordered that no arrows be used against Xue Rengui, and then let Xue Rengui charge directly into the Turkic army.

It is not easy for a charging cavalryman to hold back, however, the Turkic cavalry would soon no longer need to think that way.

Wielding his halberd, Xue Rengui charged into the army and immediately began a frenzied battle.

In the blink of an eye, the galloping horse flashed by, and Xue Rengui had already deeply charged into the army.

All the Turkic cavalrymen along the way, whether generals or soldiers, fell off their horses with a crash, creating a long, deserted trail.

The Turks then realized that a killing machine had stormed into their ranks.

No one who got close to Xue Rengui survived.

Many people disregarded Dieyun's order not to use bows and arrows, and began to grab their bows and arrows, aiming at the two Xue Rengui.

At that moment, Xue Rengui suddenly lowered his body and disappeared beside the horse.

The next moment, he put down the halberd in his hand, picked up a longbow, and fired three arrows into the distance.

Three sharp arrows pierced through a hundred paces in an instant, each embedding itself in the chest of a Turkic cavalryman. But with a "boom," the chests of these three Turkic cavalrymen seemed to explode, instantly pierced through. The arrows pierced through, striking nine more men before finally embedding themselves in the chests of the last three, trembling slightly.

This scene, which resembled something out of a myth, left everyone who saw it in awe.

The Turks were a nomadic people who placed the highest demands on horsemanship and archery. However, Xue Rengui's archery skills were something they had never seen before.

With one bow and three arrows, each arrow traveled over a hundred paces and killed three people.

This is a bit scary.

Even among the nine people killed, the first three were generals in the Turkic army.

Countless people looked at Xue Rengui with shock in their eyes.

However, at this moment, Xue Rengui had already put down his longbow and picked up his halberd again. His cold gaze swept over everyone and fixed directly on Dieyun.

With just one glance, Dieyun felt as if he had fallen into an endless ice cellar, his body involuntarily leaning back. But in an instant, he recovered, angrily pointing at Xue Rengui and roaring, "Kill him for me..."

With a "whoosh," the sound of Di Yun was interrupted. He looked up and saw a swarm of black crossbow bolts falling from the sky in the distance.

A large number of the Turkic cavalry at the forefront of the army fell instantly.

Some were even pinned to the ground by crossbow bolts and bled to death.

The thunderous sound of hooves startled everyone awake; a large number of Tang cavalrymen were charging towards them at breakneck speed.

Xue Rengui's astonishing charge made many people forget that they were still on the battlefield, facing a massive horde of Tang cavalry charging towards them...

"Kill!" Xue Rengui roared from the middle of the army formation, and the next moment, he charged into battle again.

Caught between internal and external pressures, the Turkic cavalry unexpectedly fell into disarray.

At this moment, Dieyun could no longer care about what was in front of him, because the crazed Xue Rengui had already rushed towards him.

The long spear was swung, and all that could be seen was a flash of silver light. Xue Rengui's appearance was completely obscured. Any Turkic cavalryman who got even slightly close had their chests cut open by the tail blade from who-knows-where and fell to the ground.

Dieyun was, after all, Helu's son and the young Khan of the Turks. At this moment, a large group of people shouted and charged towards Xue Rengui.

The endless, frenzied sounds of battle rang incessantly in his ears, leaving Dieyun momentarily dazed and unable to distinguish between near and far, inside and outside, especially now that more Tang cavalrymen were already engaged in battle with Turkic cavalrymen.

Under the moonlight, from high above, it appeared that, following the opening torn open by Xue Rengui and with wave after wave of crossbow bolts clearing the way, tens of thousands of Tang cavalry had already charged into the Turkic army.

Before the Turks could give orders, they quickly and efficiently split into three groups and launched a rapid attack to plunder and kill.

Both sides were moving very fast, and the speed of the opposing side's charge was astonishing.

Having lost the initiative and command, the Turkic cavalry were quickly and completely cut apart by the Tang cavalry, and for a time they could not even tell which side was which.

Dieyun, caught in the middle, could no longer see the situation clearly.

Especially since Xue Rengui was charging madly towards him, the number of people around him was decreasing as they went to resist Xue Rengui.

Just then, the sound of countless hooves rang out from behind.

It was Cheng Zhijie and his group.

Cheng Zhijie, Xue Wanbei, Wang Xuance, Wang Fangyi, and Guo Daizhao, along with their cavalry, had already appeared outside the pass.

Countless cavalrymen surged out of the mountains like a black tide, charging towards the battlefield where the two armies were locked in combat.

Without a moment to think, Dieyun immediately rushed towards the diagonal position.

Xue Rengui, however, disregarded everything and paid no attention to how many people were in front of him. He fiercely cleaved through the crowd with his halberd and charged straight at Dieyun from behind.

Chaos has broken out on the battlefield.

No, it's the Turks who have already fallen into chaos.

Xue Rengui, clad in white and silver armor, charged forward alone. Due to a single miscalculation, the entire Turkic army was plunged into an absolute disadvantage.

At the beginning, they had more than 20,000 cavalry. Even with Xue Rengui's amazing skills, they still had a chance to turn the tide. But when Cheng Zhijie led 30,000 cavalry to attack, they were in complete chaos.

Each fighting their own battle, they were powerless to reverse the tide.

……

"Charge!" "Charge!" "Charge!"

Dieyun charged forward like a madman.

Behind him, countless people tried to block Xue Rengui, but they were all killed by Xue Rengui with a single halberd thrust.

Dieyun could only rush forward frantically; he didn't even have time to look back.

Finally, he broke free from the fierce battle, his horse galloping at full speed towards the dark distance.

At this point, the panic that filled Dieyun's heart finally eased a little.

Only then did he finally take a look back, but...

A sharp, silver halberd instantly filled his vision, then plunged deep into his chest, drawing forth endless blood.

Blood droplets even fell below Dieyun's eyes, reflecting his slowly fading gaze.

Riding a white horse and wielding a silver spear, Xue Rengui, covered in blood, passed by Dieyun, raising his halberd high above Dieyun's body.

It stood out conspicuously under the cold wind and waning moon.

(End of this chapter)