A thousand-year-old family begins with one fighting against ten thousand.

Chang'an City.

"Where are the reinforcements?"

Li Shimin asked Fang Xuanling.

"The imperial army of one million is almost at Tongguan."

Fang Xuanling stepped forward and answered.

"very good!"

Li Shimin, with a stern expression, declared, "Once this million-strong army arrives, we will encircle and annihilate the enemy in one fell swoop!"

"Your Highness, the Xia army seems to be showing signs of retreating."

Li Jing stepped forward and said, "The intensity of the Xia army's attacks has decreased in recent days. This decrease is different from normal losses, and it should be that the Xia army is intentionally preserving its strength."

"After fighting us for so long, Xia Jun should have realized that our reinforcements are arriving soon and he won't stay here indefinitely."

Li Shimin naturally trusted Li Jing's assessment, as he had also felt that the Xia army's attack intensity was not very high in the past few days.

"You think you can just run away after fighting us for so long?"

"Dream on!"

Li Shimin glared at him and said, "Pharmacist, you will be in charge of the defense from now on. Let the army rest as much as possible."

"If the Xia army dares to retreat, then we must hold them fast."

"Xuanling, order the reinforcements to speed up their advance. We must stop the Xia army before they can escape!"

"promise!"

Li Jing and Fang Xuanling accepted the order.

Three days later, before the sounds of battle could be heard at dawn, Li Jing and Li Shimin immediately guessed that the Xia army was about to flee!

They hurried to the city wall and saw a steady stream of troops departing from the Xia army camp, but instead of attacking Chang'an, they were slowly marching towards the outside of the pass.

Xia Ping did not arrange for all troops to withdraw, as that would only allow the Tang army to hold them off. Instead, he left 30 troops to cover the rear and block the main force from pursuing them in Chang'an.

"Chase!"

"We absolutely cannot let them get away!"

Li Shimin left Qin Qiong with 50,000 troops to guard Chang'an, and also sent Li Jing with 50,000 troops to contain the Xia army in the main camp. He personally led over 100,000 troops to bypass the camp and pursue the hundreds of thousands of troops led by Xia Ping.

The scout quickly reported the situation to Xia Ping, who responded with a hum.

Anyone who dares to charge his million-strong army with 100,000 troops will definitely attack at this moment, and Li Shimin's decision was not unexpected.

He also prepared a generous gift for Li Shimin, hoping that Li Shimin would like it.

"Accelerate the advance and quickly retreat to Yumen Pass."

Xia Ping gave the order that he was prepared to abandon Liangzhou, which he had finally managed to conquer, and lead his troops back to the Western Regions.

However, he was not prepared to relinquish Yumen Pass. It was the gateway to the Nine Provinces, and by controlling Yumen Pass, he could attack the Nine Provinces at any time, which had extremely important strategic significance.

As early as when he entered Kyushu, Xia Ping had already prepared for defeat and left a group of men to repair the city walls at Yumen Pass.

Li Shimin led his troops around the camp and finally approached Xia Ping's army.

A cavalry unit was detached from the Xia army to confront Li Shimin head-on.

"This army..."

Li Shimin narrowed his eyes, his heart filled with extreme solemnity.

Because the cavalry in front of him consisted of more than 10,000 men and horses, all fully armored, a terrifying suppressive force emanated from the opposite side.

Li Shimin grinned, feeling the chilling atmosphere in the air, and became extremely excited.

"Black Armored Cavalry!"

"Invincible!"

Li Shimin's Xuanjia personal guards shouted hoarsely. They were also a heavily armored cavalry force, following Li Shimin in his campaigns in the south and north. Each of them was an elite warrior who had fought their way out of mountains of corpses and seas of corpses.

Even when facing heavily armored cavalry like themselves, they remained confident that they could win, and that they would definitely win!

Because they are the invincible Xuanjia Iron Cavalry!

The narrow road meets the brave to win!

The generals of both sides led their cavalry in a fierce collision, the powerful impact sending the heavily armored cavalrymen flying.

However, the armor that allowed them to turn around provided them with great protection. Even if they were knocked away, they were not seriously injured and could turn their horses around to continue into the battlefield.

After several rounds of fighting, Li Shimin became somewhat serious. The fighting power of this heavy cavalry was no less than theirs. If this heavy cavalry had appeared on the battlefield that day, with them holding them back, he would probably have been killed by the Xia army.

Fortunately, the Xia army was in the midst of a siege and did not need heavy cavalry. Xia Ping ordered the cavalry to rest in their tents.

Li Shimin felt as if he had been given a second chance at life, but his heart was still heavy.

Because his goal was not to eliminate this heavy cavalry, but Xia Ping's army.

But this heavily armored cavalry held him firmly in place, like a leech, impossible to shake off.

If he can't shake off this cavalry, he won't be able to pursue them wholeheartedly unless he abandons the main force!

Li Shimin looked hesitant, not out of fear, but because he felt that everything he was doing was within Xia Ping's calculations. Xia Ping was waiting for the moment when he pursued with light troops. He wanted to try one last time before retreating to eliminate him!

After annihilating themselves, their morale plummeted, and they then seized Chang'an in one fell swoop.

Want to gamble?

Li Shimin chuckled slightly. Who doesn't have a backup plan?

Zhijie, my life is now in your hands!

Li Shimin left behind his Xuanjia Iron Cavalry and a portion of his cavalry, leading only 30,000 light cavalry away from there.

With the Xuanjia Iron Cavalry and some cavalry holding them back here, it was enough for Li Shimin to withdraw these 30,000 light cavalry.

The general of the Great Xia heavy cavalry watched Li Shimin lead 30,000 light cavalry to retreat without any expression on his face.

His orders were to keep as many Tang troops as possible tied down here. If any small groups of soldiers escaped, they were to be ignored.

When Li Shimin turned around and saw this scene, a look of madness flashed in his eyes.

Come on, Xia Ping, let me see who wins and who loses this war!

Leading his cavalry, and with no more obstacles in sight, Li Shimin quickly caught up with the Xia Dynasty army that was waiting for him.

Xia Ping, leading the generals who surrounded him, rode his horse to the front of the formation and saw some black dots emerging from the distance.

As these black dots drew closer, it became clear that they were cavalry led by Li Shimin.

"With just a few tens of thousands of troops, do they really think they've got us cornered?!"

Yan Kai said angrily.

The other generals were also extremely angry. The fact that they had been broken through by Li Shimin's tens of thousands of troops before had already made them a laughing stock in military history. If they were to be broken through by a mere tens of thousands of troops again this time, they would be ashamed to face anyone.

"The day has come to prove yourselves. If you do not wish to become a disgrace to the empire, to be forever etched in the annals of history as a symbol of shame, then destroy him and use his blood to reclaim your glory!"

At Xia Ping's command, Yan Kai and others led their troops to attack Li Shimin.

Li Shimin was equally unyielding, leading tens of thousands of cavalrymen to charge towards the enemy.

In just one encounter, many corpses were left behind.

Outnumbered and outgunned, and with the enemy well-prepared and not launching a surprise attack, Li Shimin was at a disadvantage in this battle.

But Li Shimin did not give up. He had fought many battles where he was at a disadvantage, so one more wouldn't make a difference!

Moreover, he's waiting for his backup plan!