White Horse, Silver Spear, Grand Commandant Gao

That night, Gao Huaiyuan stayed on the city tower, and Gao Huaide did not return to the garrison commander's mansion, but stayed with his cousin.

Knowing that his cousin was experiencing an enemy siege for the first time, Gao Huaiyuan comforted him, saying, "It's true that you can't sleep soundly at first, but you'll get used to it."

"It's best not to get used to being trapped in a city."

Gao Huaide made a witty remark, which amused Gao Huaiyuan, who patted him on the shoulder: "You still have the energy to joke, not bad."

A gentle night breeze swept across the mountain city, and the battlefield, which had been bustling all day, finally returned to tranquility.

"More than twenty years ago, I was your age."

Gao Huaiyuan gazed into the distance and slowly recounted a past event: "At that time, Yuan Xingqin led seven thousand cavalry to besiege Wuzhou. I was in Huairong Army and was captured and taken hostage."

Gao Huaide had heard his father tell the story of how Yuan Xingqin besieged the city, and how he went alone to Hedong to seek help, and from then on became a disciple of Li Siyuan. At this moment, he suddenly realized that his cousin was also a firsthand witness to that time.

"Yuan Xingqin threatened my father that if he did not surrender, he would kill me."

Gao Xinggui held out for over a month, until his strength and supplies were exhausted, before finally sending Gao Xingzhou to surrender to Jin. Gao Huaide already had his answer in mind, but still asked, "How did Uncle respond?"

Gao Huaiyuan smiled bitterly and said, "Father said I should become a member of the Liu family, so why should he care about his son?" (Note 1)

Even though he had already guessed the outcome, Gao Huaide was still shocked when he heard the news.

What would his cousin, who was the same age as him, have thought when he heard this? Putting himself in his shoes, Gao Huaide was speechless.

After Gao Huaiyuan finished speaking, he fell silent for a long while before saying, "Since we were born father and son, what is there to resent? He has been gone for more than four years, why still hold onto these things?"

Seeing his cousin's depressed appearance, Gao Huaide, being rather naive in social interactions, couldn't tell whether he harbored resentment or missed his uncle.

Gao Huaide couldn't help but think of his father.

"If I were in that dangerous situation, what choice would my father make between reason and family affection?"

……

By the fifth day of the siege, Gao Huaide had lost his initial enthusiasm and became listless.

No wonder I tossed and turned every night, unable to fall asleep. Even the slightest sound would disturb my peace of mind. I would only manage a few moments of drowsiness when I was so exhausted that I couldn't bear it any longer. After several days of this, it's no wonder I felt so tired.

The Dingnan Army once took advantage of the darkness of night to send out a small detachment to launch a sneak attack. They sneaked up to the city walls and threw out grappling hooks. It wasn't until several men climbed up the walls that the soldiers on night duty discovered them.

Unexpectedly, this was a trap deliberately set by Gao Huaiyuan. The ambush troops immediately sprang out and annihilated the invading enemy forces.

The next day, several severed heads were hung on the city wall to demoralize the enemy.

However, Gao Huaide's morale was not high either; his mentality could be described as "longing for something".

When will Father's reinforcements arrive?

"Young master, when will the general's reinforcements arrive?"

When a wounded soldier asked, Gao Huaide forced a stiff smile: "Soon, in the next couple of days."

Although the Tanguts have not launched a major attack on the city in recent days, they have been harassing and ambushing it constantly. Over time, the sporadic attacks have resulted in nearly a hundred casualties among the defending soldiers.

Gao Huaiyuan assigned Gao Huaide a task: to comfort the wounded soldiers. It was a good idea to make the best use of his talents.

Most of the soldiers were simple and honest farm boys. Even though Gao Huaide was young and not good with words, they were often so grateful that they didn't know what to do when a nobleman comforted them.

A courtyard was set aside in the city to house wounded soldiers, separated from the usual barracks, to facilitate their recuperation—this was the official explanation, but in reality, it was also to avoid affecting the morale of the other garrison troops.

Having experienced it firsthand, Gao Huaide quickly understood the significance of his cousin's arrangement.

The air was thick with wails, groans, and curses, permeated with the stench of blood and the pungent smell of medicinal ointments, along with an atmosphere of dejection and despair. Spending too much time in such an environment inevitably affected one's state of mind.

"Ouch, you damned Western thief, it hurts like hell!"

The Dingnan Army was located west of Yanzhou, and was known as the "Western Bandits" among the wounded soldiers.

A scream rang out as the physician cut open the wound, pulled out an arrowhead, and casually tossed it to the ground.

Most of the wounded soldiers were hit by stray arrows, and cutting flesh to remove the arrows became the most common scene for Gao Huaide.

He picked up the bloodstained arrow and examined it. The arrow's fletching, shaft, and arrowhead were roughly the same length, and the arrowhead had three edges and two wings with a sharp tip.

"Young master, this is a three-section arrow. Because its shaft is short, it is not easy to remove once it enters the limb. Therefore, it is necessary to make an incision. Forcibly pulling it out will cause a lot of blood loss."

Gao Huaiyuan had the clerk of the garrison commander's office accompany his cousin and explained, "The Li family has occupied Xia Prefecture for many years and is skilled in iron forging and weapon manufacturing. They cannot be regarded as nomads with stone spears and bone arrowheads."

Gao Huaide recalled the few Tibetans he had met in Bao'an Town. It seemed that the gap between the rich and poor among the various Tangut tribes was still quite large.

If the Dingnan Army alone possessed such strength, then the Khitan, who established their own state and declared themselves emperors, must have far surpassed it.

Thinking of this, Gao Huaide couldn't help but worry about Yang Chonggui: Could the newly appointed military governor of Zhenwu Army lead the Yang family and the Zhe family to repel the Khitans?

On second thought, he couldn't help but smile wryly. He was in dire straits, so he should think more about his current situation.

After visiting the wounded soldiers, Gao Huaide climbed the watchtower to look out.

As far as the eye could see, there were enemy cavalry like ants and bees, a dense, dark mass that made one dizzy and irritable after a while.

At first, he tried to count the number of enemy troops, but gave up after several failures. Anyway, there must have been several thousand cavalry.

But today was quite strange. Gao Huaide, standing on high ground, could see clearly that the enemy cavalry scattered in all directions were moving and gradually converging in one place.

He turned his gaze in that direction, but saw nothing. He knew there must be a reason for the enemy's troop movements.

The most likely reason is that the father's reinforcements have arrived!

He suddenly became excited and couldn't help but want to jump for joy.

This guess was quickly confirmed when Gao Xingzhou led 4,500 Zhangwu soldiers to relieve the siege.

Gao Huaide felt much more at ease.

……

The general leading the Dingnan army had no idea what he was planning. He had no intention of fighting Gao Xingzhou to the death. Instead, he lifted the encirclement, gathered his troops, and set up his battle formation.

After several days of stalemate, the Dingnan army suddenly retreated overnight, and the siege of Qingjian City was lifted.

Is that all?

Gao Huaide was a little confused. How could the enemy retreat before the battle even started? Was it really because they were afraid of his father's reputation?

"Battlefield confrontations do not necessarily have to take place in the open."

Gao Huaiyuan didn't understand the reason either, but it was always a good thing to be able to repel the enemy: "Let's go, let's go and welcome Uncle into the city together."

Gao Huaide shrank back, knowing that he would inevitably be scolded for going out on his own.

Upon meeting, Gao Huaiyuan clasped his hands and bowed, saying, "Thank you for your assistance, General."

Gao Xingzhou seemed oblivious to Gao Huaide hiding behind his nephew: "Huaiyuan, you did a great job."

Gao Huaiyuan laughed and said, "I thought we would have to wait for ten or fifteen days, but I didn't expect the general to arrive so quickly."

Gao Xingzhou was not pleased by the enemy's retreat: "I didn't expect it to happen so quickly. We'll know the reason in a day or two."

Gao Huaide could not avoid it in the end, so he stepped forward with a stiff upper lip and said, "Your son greets Father."

He expected his father to give him a severe scolding, but Gao Xingzhou simply snorted and said, "This day would come sooner or later. It's good to learn from this experience sooner. As for apologizing, go back and tell your mother and sister. They've been worried sick these past few days, all because of you."

Gao Huaide felt a little guilty, but then felt relieved: his father's words meant that he was letting him off the hook and not holding a grudge.

He caught sight of someone behind Gao Xingzhou and was both surprised and delighted: "Brother Gui, you're here too?"

Yang Chonggui also looked delighted: "The military commander said that I would be able to see my father this time, so he brought me along."

Sure enough, in just one day, Zhe Congyuan and Yang Hongxin led more than 4,000 troops from their two allied forces to join forces in Qingjian City.

As soon as Yang Chonggui saw his father, he threw himself into his arms.

Yang Hongxin reached out his big hand and rubbed his son's head, making Gao Huaide somewhat envious.

While comforting his son, Yang Hongxin said, "The Dingnan Army discovered our southward advance and fled faster than rabbits. Li Renyan of Yinzhou also retreated."

So that's how it is. Fearing their retreat would be cut off, the Dingnan Army did not choose to fight under unfavorable circumstances, abandoned their plan to besiege Suizhou and Qingjian, and decisively withdrew their troops.

"Too fast."

Gao Xingzhou showed no joy and brought up another matter unrelated to the current battle situation: "You arrived ten days or half a month earlier than expected. Even if the Khitan raids come and go like the wind, they shouldn't have withdrawn their troops so quickly."

"Ugh, I'm still furious about this."

Yang Hongxin complained, "That leader Yang summoned both our families, mobilizing a large force in the hopes of a major battle, but we only encountered a few scattered Khitan troops, who were utterly defeated, truly utterly defeated."

"They were certainly not the elite Khitan troops."

Zhe Congyuan added: "They retreated after a brief engagement; the entire process, from the attack to the withdrawal, took no more than two days." (Note 2)

"That Yang fellow was gleefully boasting to the imperial court that he had done his job. Now that we've finally shaken him off, we're leading our troops south to come and help you, Brother Gao."

"The Khitan ruler has personally led a large army here. How could he possibly retreat so easily? I fear this is a feint attack."

The same principle applies to Li Yichao.

Gao Xingzhou sighed softly, "Those who are not in a position should not concern themselves with its affairs. The military affairs in the north are being handled by Grand Commandant Shi. Let's discuss the current battle situation instead."

"What's there to hesitate about? Just give chase and annihilate them."

Yang Hongxin, with his fierce and uninhibited personality, said it in a very casual way.

The Dingnan army did not spare a single arrow and fled without engaging in a single battle, heading westward.

Qingjian is located at a three-way intersection. To the north lies Suizhou, which was the route taken by the Dingnan Army. To the south is Yanchuan, and to the west is Zichang.

"The commander is coming from the south, while Xiao Zhe and Yang are coming from the north. Dingnan's army is attacked from both sides and dares not fight us to the death. It is normal for them to retreat to the west. By going around in circles, they can still retreat back to their old base."

"Well……"

Gao Xingzhou remained silent, pondering the matter. With over thirty years of battlefield experience, he instinctively felt that there must be something fishy going on.

"If Brother Gao is worried that the Dingnan Army has ulterior motives, why don't you just chase after them and find out?"

Yang Hongxin's suggestion was in line with military strategy: the enemy retreated, and our army pursued. It was obvious what Li Yichao was up to.

Gao Xingzhou nodded: "Alright, but be careful during the pursuit and watch out for enemy ambushes."

The three armies joined forces, totaling eight thousand men, and marched along the Xiuyan River to pursue the retreating Dingnan army.

Although they were within the territory of this state, the enemy had already invaded and a battle could break out at any time. Gao Huaide and Yang Chonggui felt both excited and somewhat nervous.

How will Li Yichao, who has never met the enemy commander, play his cards?

The mystery was soon solved when Li Jidu and his remaining troops brought the bad news of the fall of Jinming Town.