Datang: Rebirth of Li Chengqian, the beginning of the treason interrogation

Chapter 214: Su Dingfang Wants to Become a Marquis and Prime Minister
"All troops, seize the horses and follow me to chase and kill the enemy!"

Zhishisi's voice was as loud as a bell, as if he wanted to vent all the anger he had suffered before. His eyes were wide open, blazing with anger, and his whole body exuded an unparalleled mighty aura.

Following Zhishisili's order, the Turkic soldiers acted quickly. He turned his troops abruptly and rushed towards the Xueyantuo soldiers who were guarding the horses.

For a moment, the neighing of war horses on the battlefield rose one after another, resounding through the sky.

The frightened horses rushed around in the chaos, their iron hooves trampled the ground mercilessly, raising clouds of dust. Many Xueyantuo soldiers were knocked to the ground by the horses before they could react, and were trampled by the iron hooves and died.

However, this was just the beginning of the fierce battle.

The three groups of Tang soldiers quickly gathered together to form a powerful force. They worked closely together and echoed each other, and launched a fierce pursuit of the fleeing Xueyantuo army.

The soldiers all bravely took the lead, waving their weapons, and shouts of killing resounded through the world. Now everyone wanted to take advantage of this great opportunity to gain more military merits.

Therefore, when chasing and killing, it is undoubtedly the most exciting and morale-highest time for the entire army.

Their figures shuttled back and forth on the battlefield filled with smoke and fire, and the blood-red scimitars ruthlessly harvested the Xueyantuo soldiers. The blood dyed the earth red, and piled up like mountains on the roadside, stretching for dozens of miles.

As time passed, the physical strength of the horses and personnel was rapidly consumed.

Despite this, the Tang army did not retreat and kept close to the Xueyantuo army until the last moment, when everyone was exhausted and the pursuit slowly stopped.

At this time, Zhang Jian came galloping on a fast horse, with the horse's hooves flying and splashing dust. He quickly arrived at the front and saw the figures of Zhishisili and Su Dingfang. Zhang Jian looked ashamed, turned off his horse, walked quickly to the two of them, clasped his fists and saluted, saying:
"Duke Anguo, General Su, I am sorry for offending you before."

When Zhishisili and Su Dingfang led their troops to attack, Zhang Jian could only regard them as rebels at a time when it was unclear if we were the enemy or not. Without saying a word, he fired a hail of arrows as a warning.

Forced the two to retreat.

"General Zhang cannot be blamed for this! This was all a trick set up by the traitor Zhang Liang. General Zhang has always been a man who performs his duties conscientiously. This time he successfully resisted the aggressive and large-scale attack of the Xueyantuo. His response strategy was ingenious and just right."

Zhishisili and Su Dingfang dismounted from their horses, saluted Zhang Jian with respect, and spoke politely.

"Alas, it really makes me ashamed! If the two generals had not led their troops deep into the enemy camp and directly broke through the defense line of the Xueyantuo army with thunderous force, how could we have achieved such a hard-won victory today? Maybe even Lingzhou City would be difficult to defend."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Jian's face showed shame, and his words were full of self-humility.

He knew very well that if the Turkic cavalry had not suddenly appeared like a force descending from the sky and disrupted the Xueyantuo's originally strict military deployment, the battle situation today would have been disastrous and Lingzhou City would most likely have fallen into the hands of the enemy.

"Although we have repelled the Xueyantuo army, it is probably too early to declare a complete victory."

"After all, the main force of Xueyantuo is still alive and well, and has not suffered any fundamental damage. After this setback, they will definitely be alert and strengthen their preventive measures. In this way, it will be even more difficult to defeat them in the future."

Su Dingfang looked far ahead, his eyes closely following the Xueyantuo soldiers who were gradually moving away.

Although these defeated troops were fleeing in a panic, they still maintained a relatively neat formation.

With just a short rest, they will be able to regroup and fight back again.

Moreover, although it seemed that countless enemies were killed along the way today, in fact only more than 10,000 enemy troops were annihilated. For the entire Xueyantuo army, this loss was just a drop in the bucket.

However, it would be impossible for the Tang army to find such an opportunity again and to catch the enemy by surprise.

"That's fine! After successfully repelling the Xueyantuo's attack, I'm sure the reinforcements led by your majesty will arrive soon."

Zhang Jian spoke calmly, his words revealing full confidence and assurance.

As early as when the Xueyantuo army was approaching the city, Zhang Jian sent several urgent letters in succession to Chang'an.

He knew very well that the war situation was urgent and that there was no time to lose, so these letters must have been delivered as quickly as possible.

After receiving the news, the reinforcements will naturally speed up and rush here without stopping. I believe it won’t take long for them to reach Lingzhou City.

By then, the military strength of Lingzhou City will surely increase greatly. Not only will Lingzhou City be able to firmly hold its defense line, but it will even be able to turn the passive situation into the active one and launch a powerful counterattack against the Xueyantuo army.

Hearing Zhang Jian's words, Zhishisili, who was standing beside him, immediately showed joy on his face and shouted excitedly, "General Zhang Jian, are you saying that His Majesty the Heavenly Khan is personally leading the army to support us this time?"

Zhishi Sili worshipped Li Shimin to the extreme and regarded him as a god.

Relying on his extraordinary personal charm and outstanding leadership skills, Li Shimin successfully conquered the hearts of many foreign generals like Zhishisili.

They were willing to serve the Tang Dynasty and were willing to sacrifice their lives for it. Zhishisili was one of the most loyal generals among them.

Later, when Li Shimin passed away, Zhi Shisi was so heartbroken that he resolutely asked Emperor Gaozong to allow him to be buried with him.

However, Emperor Gaozong of Tang, Li Zhi, did not agree to this request on the grounds that Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin, was benevolent and would not allow living people to be buried with the deceased.

In the end, Zhishisili had no choice but to shave his head to show his determination, in order to express his endless grief and loyalty to Emperor Taizong of Tang.

"Could it be that Tian Khan's illness has been cured?"

"That's right. Tian Khan is a man favored by heaven and has great fortune. Good times are coming."

Zhishisi continued talking to himself, and finally clasped his hands together and prayed silently to Changshengtian.

"Your Majesty is able to lead the army in person, so he must have recovered."

Zhang Jian also said this in a firm tone.

This was undoubtedly exciting news for the Tang army.

General Tian Ce has returned again, and any enemy will collapse in front of him.

In terms of prestige in the army, Li Shimin's position is irreplaceable.

Even the great military god Li Yaoshi cannot compare to him.

Li Er was an emperor on horseback, and he spent the first half of his life in wars.

He conquered half of the Tang Dynasty.

Hearing this, an imperceptible gleam flashed in Su Dingfang's eyes.

Perhaps this is also an opportunity for him.

This opportunity is to defeat the Xueyantuo army and make a great contribution in front of Li Shimin.

Before this, he was recommended by Li Chengqian to serve as the commander-in-chief of the northern defense of Xueyantuo, but this was an official position.

In fact, his authority was far less than that of Zhishisili and Zhang Jian.

Both of them are more or less related to Li Shimin, and have made great achievements before. Now they are among the people Li Shimin trusts the most.

On the contrary, Su Dingfang was different. He had no remarkable achievements.

The defeat of the Eastern Turks was also due to Li Jing's contribution. Even if it weren't for Tang Jian's incident, he would only have been able to get a little bit of the soup.

If he could seize the opportunity now and destroy the Eastern Turkic army, he would surely be able to enter Li Shimin's vision and be reused.

Li Shimin was famous for his ability to use talents well, and Su Dingfang also rose to fame during the turmoil at the end of the Sui Dynasty. Logically, Su Dingfang would not have been buried forever, and would have been reused during the reign of Li Zhi.

Could it be that Li Shimin didn't know Su Dingfang's talents?

Of course not.

First, before Su Dingfang defected to Li Tang, he was a general under Dou Jiande and had been opposing Li Shimin until the end.

The empire that was established before the Tang Dynasty had nothing to do with him, which means that he had no merit.

The second reason is that there were too many outstanding people in the early Tang Dynasty. Who was he to be worthy of Li Shimin's concern?

During the reign of Emperor Gaozong of Tang, Li Zhi also looked around and felt that there were few people who were good at fighting, so he had no choice but to appoint Su Dingfang.

He was then carried into the Temple of Martial Arts.

Thirdly, he did not participate in the Xuanwu Gate Incident and did not become what Li Shimin considered to be his own person, so he was excluded in many aspects.

Unless there is no suitable person among the twenty-four Lingyan Pavilion heroes, they will consider people other than their own people.

But in front of him, there was still a huge mountain blocking his way, and that was Li Jing, the Duke of Weiguo, who also did not participate in the Xuanwu Gate Incident.

Even if there is a military operation, he is just a lackey. No matter how fiercely he charges, he can only drink soup.

But now it is different. He now has the title of commander-in-chief of the northern defense, and he issued orders before Li Shimin arrived.

He has independent marching authority.

"Two generals, your majesty's arrival will surely terrify the Xueyantuo and make them unable to withstand a fight."

"However, right now, the Xueyantuo army is unstable, which is still an opportunity. I think we should seize the opportunity to pursue and kill them."

Su Dingfang then said that he must seize this opportunity.

Only by defeating the Xueyantuo alone, with such a great achievement and the feat of destroying a country, could he offset the merits of other generals who followed him.

"Now I'm afraid we have the will but not the strength. The soldiers and horses are exhausted after fighting for so long."

Zhishisili also knew that this was an opportunity to continue expanding the results of the battle, but when he looked up, what he saw was a tired army.

Killing is more tiring than escaping.

Escape, just escape.

If there is a chase, it means there will be fighting in the process.

Almost all of the people left behind in the hunt had experienced several battles.

As for those who survived after escaping, it means that they did not encounter any pursuers during the escape and thus survived.

For the same distance, the one who is fleeing will definitely save more energy.

"If you get more tired now, you will shed less blood when you fight Xueyantuo in the future."

Su Dingfang still insisted on his own ideas.

"However, I will lead some soldiers to continue to follow the Xueyantuo army, while you, Duke Anguo, and General Zhang will wait for His Majesty's reinforcements, so as not to lose sight of the Xueyantuo's movements and lose the initiative in the battle."

Seeing that both of them had the same concerns, Su Dingfang spoke again.

Now, for Zhang Jian, it was already a great victory. As long as he could defend Lingzhou City and wait for Li Shimin's reinforcements, it would be a great achievement.

There is no need to go any deeper and put yourself in danger.

If the Xueyantuo set an ambush on the way, the great victory would likely turn into a great defeat.

The military situation is unpredictable.

"Okay, that's settled. However, General Su, you have to be careful and don't rush ahead."

The three men each had their own ideas. Seeing that Su Dingfang was so determined, Zhishisili did not try to persuade him any further.

Soon after, the three of them split into two groups.

Deacon Sili and Zhang Jian led the group back along the same route.

Three thousand soldiers were left behind to camp with Su Dingfang at the original location.

……

"Boom! Boom! Boom..."

In the second half of the night when everything was quiet, a burst of intense and rapid gong and drum sounds suddenly rang out in the temporary camp.

This sudden sound, like a thunderbolt breaking through the night sky, instantly broke the tranquility of the night.

The soldiers who were already exhausted and deeply immersed in dreams were suddenly awakened.

Some of them were rubbing their sleepy eyes, and some were still half asleep and half awake, but when they heard the urgent sound of gongs and drums, their bodies reacted quickly as if they were under a spell.

The urgent assembly order was like a death warrant, causing these soldiers to jump up from their beds like springs.

They had no time to tidy their clothes or even get their equipment, as they hurriedly rushed out of their tents and ran towards the assembly point.

At this time, the camp was brightly lit, just like daytime. Su Dingfang stood upright on the platform.

His figure looked particularly tall and majestic in the light of the fire. He glanced at the soldiers who were rushing over from the stage with his sharp eyes and nodded slightly to show his satisfaction.

"I know that you brothers have been fighting for days and are exhausted both physically and mentally. But please believe me, the enemy is more tired than us at this moment!"

Su Dingfang's voice was loud and powerful, echoing in the quiet training ground, as if it could penetrate everyone's heart.

"Why did you join the army and leave your homeland? Isn't it to establish a glorious military exploit, bring honor to your family, and accomplish great deeds?"

He paused and continued, "What lies before us now is a perfect opportunity! Xueyantuo has already been defeated and fled. These merits are like treasures scattered on the ground, just waiting for us to pick them up!"

At this point, Su Dingfang became more and more excited, and his voice became louder and louder.

"I would like to ask you a question here. Do you want to obtain this merit, and from now on be promoted to a higher position, have your wife and children be honored?"

As soon as the voice fell, the next second, the deafening shouts of the soldiers echoed on the parade ground:
"Think! Think! Think!"

These roars gathered into a powerful torrent that seemed to break through the sky.

At this moment, all the previous fatigue was thrown behind the mind, replaced by full of passion and ambition.

(End of this chapter)