Tang Dynasty: A Guide to Avoiding Pitfalls for Li Er at the Start

Chapter 159 Jieli Khan is going to Chang'an to see your emperor.

Before Wen He could react, Li Jing, Jing Junhong, and Li Daozong all stood up.

He quickly stood up, and then heard Jing Junhong beside him laugh and say, "It seems the Turks have retreated."

"Ah."

Li Jing responded faintly, his expression revealing neither joy nor sorrow.

Soon after, a scout came down from the city wall, passed through the army formation, and came to Li Jing and the others.

"Reporting to the Grand Commander, the Turks have retreated, leaving behind approximately two thousand corpses."

Upon hearing this, Wen He's throat bobbed slightly.

In such a short time, more than two thousand people have died.

"Have our troops suffered any casualties?"

"More than twenty people were killed in action, all by Turkic archers."

The scout replied calmly.

Two thousand to twenty!
If such a record were achieved by any other general, they would have been laughing and boasting about it long ago.

But Li Jing nodded calmly and said, "Record the names."

"promise."

"Looks like they're not elite troops." Jing Junhong frowned.

“No, they must be elites, otherwise they wouldn’t have been able to escape so quickly.” Li Jing said, looking at Wen He: “Thanks to your divine crossbow.”

Li Jing had witnessed the power of the Divine Arm Crossbow; it could still pierce armor at two hundred paces.

Now, they are defending the city from a superior position, and their crossbows can shoot at a distance of 250 paces, or even 300 paces.

The Turkic archers had to rush within a hundred paces to hit their targets.

At that distance, even if they reached it, they would never be able to turn back under the barrage of crossbow bolts.

Wen He felt embarrassed; he was standing on the shoulders of giants.

It's a pity that a certain dynasty, despite possessing such a powerful weapon, still suffered defeat after defeat.

In the end, they couldn't even defend the capital, and the emperor was captured, which was euphemistically called "the Northern Hunt."

Take a look at the Tang Dynasty.

The first time the Divine Arm Crossbow was used, it was enough to leave a psychological scar on the Turks.

Even if they knew, they probably wouldn't feel ashamed.

After all, they only have eyes for their colleagues.

"Are these Turks crazy, willing to trade lives for lives? But won't that make them afraid?"

Li Daozong was somewhat worried.

After all, their current strategy is to appear weak.

Before the war even started, the Turks had already suffered such heavy losses.

He worried that Jieli would hesitate because of this.

Jing Junhong shook his head.

"No, Jieli is all bark and no bite. Moreover, he has gathered other tribes together. As long as he doesn't know that our Great Tang is prepared, he will have no choice but to attack Huizhou."

"Judging by the time, the Turkic reinforcements should be arriving soon. Once they receive the battle report, they will definitely speed up their march!"

Li Jing looked up at the sky and then ordered, "Have the cooks prepare food. Today, the entire army must not remove their armor or drink alcohol!"

"promise!"

This order was no different from the highest level of combat readiness in the military in later generations.

Everyone must be on high alert.

Just as Li Jing had guessed, not long after, when the battle report from Huizhou was delivered to Jieli, he was furious and killed the scout who had brought the news.

"Two thousand warriors have already been lost before the battle has even officially begun. When did the Tang army in Huizhou become so formidable?"

Not only did Jieli not believe the battle report, but all the Turkic leaders and Yabghu in the military tent also did not believe it.

This wasn't the first time they'd come to loot this place.

Although the Tang army fought tenaciously in the past, they had never suffered such heavy losses before even meeting them.

"Something seems amiss here. Could it be that the Tang army already knew?" someone exclaimed in alarm.

"Impossible. Bolu and Aibar are still in Chang'an. If the Tang army makes any unusual moves, they will definitely send a message back."

Jieli snorted, interrupting the man's suspicions.

That's what he was thinking too, after all, they had lost two thousand men in one fell swoop.

Fortunately, these people were not just his subordinates, but a vanguard elite temporarily assembled from various tribes.

Therefore, the loss was not significant for him.

Upon hearing this, the people inside the military tent felt somewhat relieved.

"The Khan is wise indeed, sending an envoy to deceive the Tang King in Chang'an. Li Yuan and Li Shimin probably still don't know we're here."

One of Jieli's confidants deliberately steered the conversation toward this topic.

The atmosphere inside the military tent immediately eased considerably.

Jieli nodded with a hint of smugness.

However, this idea wasn't his, but rather that of Liang Shidu.

But Jieli also understood that Liang Shidu was not doing this for the sake of the Turks, but to take advantage of the situation for personal gain.

Liang Shidu had suffered several disastrous defeats in his previous attacks on Lingzhou, and now his forces were insufficient. He was eager for the Turks and the Tang Dynasty to fight each other so that he could have time to regroup. Jieli knew very well that the Turks were also a fierce wolf.

If he could capture Chang'an, his next step would be to deal with Liang Shidu.

But that's all for the future.

"The vanguard's failure to capture Huizhou has already alarmed the Tang army. We must speed things up and take Huizhou before the Jingzhou troops can react!"

Immediately, Jieli ordered the entire army to set off and accelerate their march towards Huizhou.

Little did Jieli know that just as they set off, a cavalry force of two hundred men was watching them from behind a mile-long forest.

"This telescope is really useful."

Su Dingfang smiled and put down the binoculars with satisfaction.

"Jieli has suddenly accelerated his march, which means things are going very well in Huizhou. However, at this rate, they will arrive at the city of Huizhou by tonight at the earliest and tomorrow at the latest."

Liang Jianfang, standing to the side, was not as optimistic as him.

"That's good."

Su Dingfang then picked up his binoculars and looked at the baggage train behind the Turkic army formation.

Although they were the vanguard, Li Jing's task for them was to circle around to the rear of the Turks and act according to the situation.

Su Dingfang has now set his sights on the Turks' logistical supplies.

When the Turkic cavalry went to war, only a few elite soldiers would carry mare's milk and dried meat, and even then, the quantity was limited to only seven days' worth.

The other soldiers ate beans with cheese.

Therefore, they also have logistical support and supplies.

Liang Jianfang seemed to see through Su Dingfang's thoughts, and he couldn't help but feel anxious, advising, "Captain Su, don't be impulsive, let's wait until Jieli and the others arrive in Huizhou..."

"I am aware of this."

Su Dingfang waved his hand, interrupting him.

Although he has a quick temper, he is not an impulsive person.

He knew very well that if he cut off the Turks' supplies now, Jieli would realize that he had fallen into a trap.

"Keep following."

The next day!

The morning glow shone on the city walls of Huizhou.

Wen He, who had secretly followed Li Junxian up, finally saw what a seemingly endless army formation looked like.

In the past, when watching TV dramas, it was already quite spectacular to see a few thousand people being used as if they were tens of thousands.

But standing here now, looking at the neatly arranged military formation in front of him, he felt his scalp tingle.

“Wenxianzi, it looks like the Turks will attack the city in no more than half an hour. You should go down now.”

If Wen He hadn't pleaded with him to let him come up and meet the crowd, it would have been a different story.

Li Junxian really didn't want Wen He to be on top.

If a stray arrow were to accidentally strike Wen He, he feared he wouldn't be able to explain himself to His Majesty upon his return.

"Okay, I'll go down now."

Wen He felt it was a pity that there were no cell phones in this era, otherwise she really wanted to film this scene.

"call!"

Just as Wen He was about to descend from the city wall, a long horn sounded from outside the city.

Li Junxian's expression changed. He disregarded Wen He and hurriedly ran towards the center of the city wall.

"Quickly, go tell the Grand Steward that the Turks seem to be about to attack the city!"

He immediately gave orders to the messenger, then picked up his binoculars and looked towards the Turkic army formation.

Ahead, a burly general dressed in Turkic armor rode up on horseback.

But he stopped three hundred paces away and did not go any further.

"Han people in the city, listen up! I, the Great Turkic Khagan, am on my way to Chang'an to see your emperor. If you want to live, lay down your weapons and come out!"

"If we wait for you to break in, not a single person in your city will survive!"

The general laughed arrogantly.

The Turkic troops immediately began to demonstrate by shouting in Turkic.

Seeing no reaction from within the city, the general boldly stepped forward several dozen paces and loudly mocked, "You bunch of pigs and dogs, why don't you surrender at once!"

Wen He on the city wall watched as Li Junxian's face turned red, his eyes seemingly spitting out fury.

"Bring me the bow!"

He shouted.

Upon seeing this, his adjutant behind him immediately took out a crossbow.

"One aircraft isn't enough; a hail of arrows would be best!"

Wen He squinted and came up behind Li Junxian to speak.

at the same time.

The Turkic general below the city suddenly accelerated and charged forward. He drew his bow and aimed an arrow at the Tang Dynasty banners on the city wall.

"Bombardment!"

(End of this chapter)