Tang Dynasty Bandits

Chapter 285 Side Story: Awakening Fragrance Seven

Li Keyong struggled to sit up and said with a sigh, "The injury is not serious."

"But, don't I look pretty useless right now?"

Xingxiang was slightly taken aback.

She doesn't have a habit of belittling others, but the other person seems to want to be blamed.

So she nodded: "Yes."

Li Keyong laughed somewhat sadly: "It's always like this at crucial moments."

“I want to do everything well, but I always mess up at the crucial moment. When I went with my grandfather to attack Pang Xun, I was portrayed as the bravest of all the generals, but in reality, we were surrounded and had to rely on my grandfather to save us.”

“Many people think I look like a woman. Many times, I even feel that I am not as good as a girl.”

As Xingxiang listened to Li Keyong's dejected outpouring, she wondered whether she should comfort him.

A confused, cowardly, and escapist person naturally hopes to receive comfort.

Comforting words do not make people stronger.

But what responsibility does she have to make him stronger? Is he someone very important to her?
It's impossible for a person to be wholeheartedly devoted to everyone; doing so would be irresponsible to those who are truly important.

Xingxiang began to formulate a set of platitudes in her mind that sounded like she understood the situation but were actually of no help in solving the problem.

Many things are best left to their own devices; overthinking only makes you hesitant and indecisive.

Is that enough?
Unexpectedly, Li Keyong suddenly grabbed the knife at his waist, used the blade to support himself on the ground, and stood up unsteadily.

His voice was still weak, but it had become quite firm.

“A lost battle must be won by my own hands. My younger brothers want my position as the eldest son, and I cannot let them laugh at me.”

"I will definitely avenge myself when I get back."

He was blind in one eye, but his remaining right eye shone with a fierce determination, like lightning.

Xingxiang was stunned, not expecting that Li Keyong could cheer himself up in an instant.

She underestimated the other party's ambition.

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"No need. You have to get up on your own after you fall. I want to rely on myself for everything this time."

Beneath the surface of her cowardice and inferiority complex, there was also a hint of pride and stubbornness.

Xingxiang was deeply moved.

She knew perfectly well that Li Keyong was looking in the wrong direction.

But she didn't need to try to dissuade her.

For a boy to grow into a man, it is necessary to do something according to his own ideas at least once.

"Then let us wish you, young master, great success in your military endeavors."

Xingxiang said solemnly.

After the blizzard stopped, the scattered Zhenwu cavalry found the two men.

After his successful surprise attack, Bodonchar attempted to press his advantage and capture Zhenwu City, but failed. He then looted the city and withdrew his troops.

Clearly, the other Tatar tribal leaders had not yet recovered their fighting spirit from the failed siege of Dingxiang. Only Bodonchar's main force participated in this attack.

Every wrong has its perpetrator, and every debt its debtor. Li Keyong already harbored deep hatred for this Tatar chieftain who had gathered a group of barbarians to besiege Dingxiang, nearly killing his close friend Shi Jingsi, and then launched a surprise attack on him during a snowstorm, causing him great suffering.

Braving the winter's chill, he personally led scouts deep into the grasslands to gather intelligence on the enemy. He also bribed merchants to investigate their background.

What had previously appeared as a hazy grassland gradually connected into lines and then unfolded into a surface, making the enemy's situation crystal clear in Li Keyong's single eye.

In the bitter cold of midwinter, when even water freezes instantly, Li Keyong's time for revenge had arrived. At this time of year, the grasslands, withered and yellowed withered grass, were covered by a thin layer of snow, and the north wind occasionally stirred up fine snow dust. Even the cold-resistant herders and warriors huddled inside their felt tents, warming themselves by the fire, unwilling to venture out.

As the last rays of sunlight fell upon the desolate snowfield, a group of knights silently appeared. They wrapped their warhorses' hooves in soft cloth, draped white armor over their helmets, and blended into the snow-covered landscape.

Their actions were only discovered when they were less than a mile from Bodonchar's tent. The warriors spat out the grenades in their mouths, untied the bridles from their horses, and the shouts of men and the neighing of horses filled the air with the deafening sounds of battle.

Bundles of torches were tossed onto the felt tents, the flames spreading with the winter wind, the wind fueling the fire, and the fire carrying the power of the wind.

Li Keyong, wielding a horse spear, moved through the enemy camp with eyes as sharp as lightning, as if he were in an empty field.

Bodonchar's tent collapsed amidst a roar, and the Tatar herders, terrified, scattered and fled.

"We haven't captured the enemy chieftain," the guard reported. "That coward, he probably ran away as soon as he saw us coming!"

"Our forces are insufficient, and we should not linger. Now that we have won, let's withdraw our troops."

Li Keyong issued his orders calmly, his handsome face already displaying the composure of a great general.

Li Keyong's father, Li Guochang, was still suppressing the Khitans in Lulong Town. This time, he led a small force deep into the grasslands for a surprise attack, with only a hundred cavalrymen with him.

It was precisely because there were so few of them that they were not discovered by the Tatars.

The enemy launched a surprise attack on him with 800 cavalry under the cover of snow. He retaliated with a raid on the camp with 100 cavalry. Although he failed to behead the enemy chieftain, he at least avenged the humiliation he had suffered.

With this in mind, Li Keyong led his soldiers back in triumph.

The arrogant generals who had previously looked at Li Keyong now had more respect in their eyes.

Xingxiang also congratulated Li Keyong.

Although she knew that what was about to happen would surely discourage Li Keyong.

Not long after, General Li Guochang returned victorious from his campaign against the Khitans.

When he heard about his son's performance, he remained indifferent, merely nodding slightly to indicate that he had done alright.

Less than a month later, Li Keyong saw the head of the arrogant Hu chieftain Boduancha'er, placed on a golden platter, brought before him.

His expression was ferocious, and he died with his eyes wide open in disbelief.

His ambition to unify the grasslands could only be fulfilled many years later by his tenth-generation descendant, Temujin.

Unlike his son, Li Guochang did not directly attack Bodonchar's tribe.

He also sent troops to raid the enemy's strongholds, but they only attacked weak points, targeting the elderly, weak, women and children of the Tatars, killing people everywhere.

Attacking Bodonchar's allies was far easier than dealing with this cunning wolf.

Instead of hating Feng Shuai, the angry allies arranged a trap for him when Bodonchar sought another alliance.

Bodonchar discovered the danger and led his attendants out to fight their way out.

During the breakout, one of his attendants suddenly swung his knife and beheaded Bodonchar.

The chieftains of the grasslands often maintain their oppressive power through cruelty and tyranny, but when faced with stronger violence, their confidants, who are subdued by fear, often waver and betray them.

Subsequently, the severed head appeared in Feng Shuai's military headquarters.

"This kind of trash has no value as a tribute to Chang'an. Just burn it at the city gate." After Bodonchar's head, preserved in lime, circled the tents of his former allies and returned to Zhenwu City, Li Guochang gave the order.

In the blazing firewood pile, the severed head was burned to charcoal and scattered into the surging Yellow River along with the ashes.

Defeating the enemy is not the same as solving the problem. In Li Guochang's view, both Bodonchar's surprise attack on his son and Li Keyong's revenge were merely impulsive battles with limited results.

Feng Shuai, on the other hand, is someone who excels at solving problems.

When dealing with Pang Xun, he not only led the Shatuo cavalry in a long and unstoppable advance, but also realized that the real breakthrough to solve the problem was to persuade Ming Shiyin to surrender.

This time, he also went to find the key to solving the problem.

(End of this chapter)