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

Chapter 666 Xue Rengui, the God of Slaughter (Third Update)

Under the bright sun, the east bank of the Awat River at the foot of the Tianshan Mountains was shrouded in a somber atmosphere.

The soldiers stood densely packed about three hundred paces from the riverbank.

At the very front were countless sharp spears stuck upside down in the ground.

A forest of spears; one who gets hit is dead.

Behind them, a large number of crossbows, including extended crossbows, taut crossbows, and hand crossbows, were placed on the ground in an orderly fashion.

There were even more than a dozen ballistae and three catapults at the very back.

Guo Xiaoke stood in the center of the army, his gaze fixed on the Awat River ahead.

Although the Awati River, which is thirty zhang wide, is frozen, countless pits, thin layers, and a large amount of caltrops have been dug out on it overnight.

Even if the Turks launched an attack with tens of thousands of troops, they would not be able to break through without paying a heavy price.

Guo Xiaoke raised his gaze and looked towards the vast Tianshan Mountains in the northwest. The Tianshan Mountains stretched out in all directions, and he didn't know which road a large number of cavalry would come out from.

Further south lies the Tarim River, hundreds of feet wide. If the Turks dared to cross the river from that side, they would be courting death.

This is the only route they can take to reach Kucha.

Guo Xiaoke led 20,000 infantrymen to guard the east bank.

In the Tianshan Mountains on the west bank, Xue Wanbei and Xue Wanche each led 20,000 cavalrymen, hiding deep in the vast mountains, ready to launch an attack at any time.

Behind Guo Xiaoke on either side were 20,000 cavalrymen each led by Guo Daizhao and Wang Fangyi.

On the opposite side, scouts had already appeared among the Western Turkic cavalry.

……

The thunderous sound of hooves came from the opposite bank, as countless Turkic cavalrymen climbed mountains and forded rivers from Kucha.

A Turkic general looked at the five military formations arranged downstream along the Awat River, and his expression became completely solemn.

The irritable warhorse had already told him that the enemy's preparations were far more complex than they thought.

Soon, the Turkic general had already turned and left.

Five miles away, the vanguard commander of the Turkic army had already arrived.

Zhu Xie, the Khan of the Western Turkic Chuyue tribe, made a desperate move and stopped at the foot of Mount Daolang. Gazing at the Awat River in the distance, his expression became solemn.

Even unaware that Dieyun was dead, Zhu Xie had to be much more cautious in this desperate situation.

In particular, he knew that Dieyun's downfall was due to his failure to anticipate that the Tang people would use the Ice River as the core of their strategy, which led to his utter defeat and eventual death.

Zhu Xie turned to look at the vast Tianshan Mountains to the north, making a desperate move.

He knew that the Tang army must have a large army lying in ambush in the Tianshan Mountains, but the Tianshan Mountains were vast, and who knew which valley they were hiding in.

Zhu Xie now has few options: either stop on the west bank and wait while clearing out the Tang cavalry in the mountains, or wait for the main force of the central army to come over.

However, Zhu Xie fixed his gaze on the distance behind the Tang army.

A few days later, 20,000 Tang infantrymen will arrive as reinforcements, and even more Tang troops will follow behind them.

In particular, the Uyghurs have also arrived.

Once the Tang army is fully assembled, winning this battle will not be easy for them.

"Kill!" Zhu Xie suddenly looked up and said, "We rushed here from Shule in less than two days. They came from Kucha to set up their formation, and they didn't have much time either. The formation they face seems meticulous, but they don't have many arrows. As long as we break through the first layer, we will win the rest."

"Yes, sir!" The soldiers immediately bowed and accepted the order.

Zhu Xie turned to look behind him and said, "Send a message to the Great Khan and ask him to come immediately."

"Yes, sir!" A scout had already frantically headed towards Shule.

……

Countless arrows soared into the sky, finally striking the river surface with a thunderous crash, instantly killing the Turkic soldiers who were trying to spread straw bags and mud on the river.

But soon, more Turkic soldiers charged forward, trying to pave roads across Awat.

Guo Xiaoke calmly observed everything.

He silently counted in his mind: 50,000 people.

He Lu did not directly charge to the front lines. The commander in charge of the front lines was Zhu Xie Gu Zhu from the Chu Yue tribe.

Zhu Xie is hot-tempered, reckless, and impulsive, and he's willing to take any risks.

Upon arriving at the Awat River, they began crossing it without waiting for reinforcements from behind.

Of course, even with 50,000 people, three thousand corpses can eventually pave a smooth road.

People's hearts are fickle.

At first, as their comrades were shot dead on the ice, most of the Turkic soldiers remained calm.

But as time went on, people's hearts began to stir restlessly.

Without anyone knowing who waved their hand, the next moment, a dense swarm of Turkic cavalrymen surged toward the river.

Guo Xiaoke understood that the other party had abandoned the normal method of paving the river and intended to use human lives to pave a road.

He immediately waved the command flag in his hand.

Military orders are being relayed.

With a "whoosh," a crossbow bolt ten feet long soared into the air, covering a distance of three hundred paces, and finally struck the river surface hard, instantly killing the three cavalrymen who were trying to cross the river.

The entire world suddenly fell silent. The next moment, more Turkic soldiers shouted wildly and rode their horses straight onto the ice.

In an instant, the ice surface was plunged into darkness as countless crossbow bolts rained down.

Interspersed with these attacks were even more crossbow bolts and rolling stones; in a very short time, the Turks had suffered heavy casualties on the ice.

However, even more Turkic cavalrymen recklessly charged onto the ice.

Even behind them, Zhu Xie's desperate Silver Wolf Banner had already appeared.

Guo Xiaoke calmly watched this scene as his men fired their crossbow bolts steadily and systematically.

Even if Turkic cavalry charged onto the east bank, they would be sniped and killed by archers.

After losing more than 5,000 cavalrymen, even more Turks stormed onto the east bank.

At this moment, the Tang soldiers in the eastern bank formation had already raised the crossbows placed at their feet and fired all the crossbow bolts at the charging Turkic cavalry.

The crossbow bolts shot into the sky in a dark cloud. In that instant, Guo Xiaoke and Zhu Xie stared at each other, their eyes both icy cold.

The Turkic cavalry charged very quickly; as soon as one group died from crossbow bolts, another group rushed up behind them.

Zhu Xie was completely disregarding the lives of his men; he had enough resources to exploit them.

Even if the Tang Dynasty's crossbows could fire two rounds, what good would it do? Once they were used up, the infantry would be lambs to the slaughter. Zhu Xie focused his attention more on the side of the Tianshan Mountains, where large numbers of Turkic cavalry patrolled the foothills, and some had even broken into the mountains to search for the location of Tang army ambushes.

Although coming down from the mountain offers a significant speed advantage, this advantage can be deadly if you are prepared in advance.

These are the things that these Turks are best at.

A series of crossbow bolts rang out, but Zhu Xie Guzhu didn't pay much attention. However, soon after, another series of crossbow bolts rang out, and Zhu Xie Guzhu suddenly turned his head to look at the Tang army formation opposite him.

After countless densely packed long spears, more soldiers once again put down their empty crossbows, picked up new, loaded crossbows, and aimed them at the riverbank.

Four.

Zhu Xie was momentarily stunned by the desperate situation. There were four crossbows, each with five arrows.

In the first three volleys of crossbow bolts, 300,000 arrows had already fallen.

Zhu Xie had initially thought that Guo Xiaoke only had 200,000 arrows, and that he could offset this with the sacrifice of 7,000 or 8,000 men. However, he did not expect that the third round of crossbow bolts would be fired again, and more than 10,000 of his men would have died.

Zhu Xie didn't even dare to estimate the exact number of people.

Especially in the third wave, Zhu Xie, having come up with a desperate plan, originally thought that Guo Xiaoke had run out of arrows, and directly led 5,000 men to charge onto the ice.

Suddenly, less than a thousand of the original five thousand remained.

"Charge!" Zhu Xie waved his hand indifferently, and more cavalrymen frantically trampled over the corpses of their comrades and charged up the east bank. Even he himself couldn't help but lean forward slightly.

The entire military formation began to lean forward.

With a "whoosh," the last batch of crossbow bolts was fired, and the first half of the soldiers began to stride forward, one hand gripping the long spear nailed to the ground, the other hand holding the shield, and their feet pressing down on the spear.

In an instant, countless Turkic cavalrymen charged fiercely onto the long spears.

Close combat, a life-or-death struggle.

Countless Tang soldiers were thrown into the air, and a large number of Turkic cavalrymen were also impaled.

Blood flowed down the spear and onto the ground.

Behind them, a large number of archers began to draw their bows and shoot at the Turkic cavalry on horseback.

Crossbows do not consume sharp weapons, while longbows can only take ten arrows to kill an ordinary soldier.

Guo Xiaoke couldn't help but look up at Zhu Xie Guzhu across the river. At this moment, Zhu Xie Guzhu had gradually arrived at the west bank of the Awati River.

Guo Xiaoke raised his hand and whispered, "Poison Smoke Ball!"

“Yes!” Wang Xuance turned around.

Soon, all the catapults had fired countless poison smoke balls.

The poisonous smoke ball crossed the Awat River and landed on the west bank.

In an instant, the toxic smoke shot straight upwards.

Zhu Xie instinctively took a step back, but at that very moment, the sound of countless hooves came from the mountains several miles to the northwest.

Zhu Xie suddenly turned around, staring intently at something several miles behind him.

The Tang army's ambush was not hidden on the banks of the Awat River, but rather in the more distant Tianshan Mountains.

Moreover, two equally fierce cavalry units charged out from behind Guo Xiaoke.

One was Wang Fangyi, and the other was Guo Daizhao.

Forty thousand cavalrymen charged directly at the remaining forty thousand Turkic cavalrymen.

In an instant, nearly 100,000 people were locked in a fierce battle.

At this moment, Guo Xiaoke picked up the spear on the ground, stood with countless soldiers, and strode forward, roaring through gritted teeth.

"kill!"

"kill!"

"kill!"

……

Zhu Xie stared intently at the battlefield where the fighting had raged, his breathing becoming increasingly rapid.

The entire Awat River, stretching for ten miles, was a chaotic battlefield.

No, it's not chaos, it's the Tang army's superior armor gradually becoming apparent. The Tang army is now crossing the Awat River, stepping over the corpses of the Turkic cavalry!
Zhu Xie couldn't help but look back. He was in the vanguard, and He Lu was leading 50,000 central troops who were rushing over at top speed. As long as he could hold off this Tang army, He Lu would be able to completely annihilate these tens of thousands of Tang soldiers here once he arrived.

The heavy sound of horns could be heard from dozens of miles away, and Zhu Xie couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

coming.

The Great Khan arrived with his men.

However, before Zhu Xie could completely relax after his desperate attempt, a surge of battle cries suddenly rang out from the direction of the desert, followed by an attack on the central army behind them.

Zhu Xie was stunned for a moment.

What's going on here?
Were they ambushed by the Tang army?

Did the Tang people also have an ambush force hidden in the desert?

How did they get there?

Khan...

Before Zhu Xie could worry about Ashina Helu, a Tang general dressed in white robes and silver armor, wielding a halberd, rode out from the endless battlefield.

The next moment, the other party had already charged towards him.

Their icy gazes met, and Zhu Xie felt as if he had been plunged into an ice cellar.

Xue Rengui.

Xue Rengui, who killed Dieyun, was killed.

However, no one could stop Xue Rengui.

In the blink of an eye, Xue Rengui had already arrived close.

Zhu Xie gritted his teeth and, in a desperate move, charged at Xue Rengui with his long sword.

The moment the longsword and the halberd collided, Xue Rengui's powerful force sent Zhu Xie's desperate longsword flying.

The next moment, the halberd was gently pushed forward.

The halberd blade had already sliced ​​through Zhu Xie's desperate throat.

Zhu Xie, in a desperate gamble, caused a head to fly off.

In mid-air, his eyes involuntarily turned westward, and with his last ounce of strength, he shouted two words: "Khan!"

(End of this chapter)