Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 163: Bloody Battle in East Valley

"Those above the captain's rank step out!"

"Those who have brothers and descendants, please step out!"

The sun is shining brightly, and the ravines and valleys...

While the catapults were still throwing stones, Liu Jilian had already gathered his troops and prepared to launch a strong attack on the Donggu Pass.

Under his military order, more than fifty middle and high-level generals stepped out, followed by thirteen more.

These thirteen people are headed by Shang Duoluo, and they are all middle and senior generals with brothers and children.

"You will be the leaders, and I will lead the army in echelons and depth."

"The first person to capture the flag will be promoted three levels, his team will be promoted two levels, and his regiment will be promoted one level!"

"If there are casualties in this battle, compensation will be given of 100 mu of cultivated land, 5 cows, and 50 dan of grain!"

"The troops attack at the sound of a whistle, chase at the sound of a call, and stop at the sound of a bell..."

"Anyone who disobeys orders will be punished by military law!"

Before the siege began, Liu Jilian stood on a steep slope and glanced at the soldiers below him.

In the distance, the area in front of the Donggu Pass was almost filled with fallen rocks, and the soldiers could easily step on the fallen rocks to rush up to the pass horse trail.

Now, Liu Jilong only needs to give an order and the catapults will stop attacking and be dismantled to make way for the army.

There was no chaos among the Longxi army. Even though they were all very nervous, their eyes were all on Liu Jilong.

It seemed that as long as his figure was there, the soldiers would have no worries.

Feeling their gazes, Liu Jilong took a deep breath and said, "Pull back the catapults, and the army will attack upon hearing the whistle!"

Following his order, after the six catapults launched a round of stones, the soldiers immediately stepped forward to dismantle the catapults, and this scene was also seen by the foreign soldiers at the pass.

They silently brought the wooden whistles to their mouths and carefully lay behind the stone wall to observe the actions of the Longxi army.

Some foreign soldiers were clearing fallen rocks and corpses from the road, vomiting as they did so.

"Beep--"

A quarter of an hour later, a whistle was first sounded in the valley, and the team headed by Shang Duoluo and others took the lead in launching the attack, while Zhang Chang, Hu Siguang, Li Ji and others also each led a group of soldiers and launched the attack in echelons.

"Beep--"

"The Tang army is coming!!"

At the pass, the foreign soldiers blew the wooden whistle, their faces flushed red.

They shouted and waved flags towards the rear, and General Lin Ruzhen, who was more than a hundred steps behind the pass, saw the signal immediately.

"The Tang army is attacking, soldiers are rushing to the pass, civilians are clearing the fallen rocks immediately!!"

Lin Ruzhen drew the scimitar from his waist and gave an order.

In an instant, more than 800 armored soldiers galloped towards the pass, and more than 1,800 civilians came forward to clean up the fallen rocks.

The sun was high in the sky, and the warm sunlight was shining on everyone, but they could not feel a trace of warmth.

The most pitiful people on the entire battlefield were the new soldiers who had never experienced fighting, and most of them were soldiers of the Longxi Army.

At the moment of the charge, their minds went blank, and by the time they reacted, they had already rushed to a place not far from the pass.

At first they followed the flags and the generals and rushed forward, climbing over the fallen rocks and rushing onto the horse trail.

The enemy's face was close at hand, and his features were not much different from theirs, not as ferocious as imagined.

But by the time they reacted, both sides drew their swords and swung their hammers to hack and smash at each other.

After being hit, his body felt pain and he subconsciously wanted to run, but he couldn't run because he was afraid of being embarrassed and even more afraid of being supervised.

They gritted their teeth and began to fight, their minds were blank, their calves were cramping, and some even wet their pants, but this did not stop them from swinging their hammers.

Despite training for more than a year, they hesitated when they were asked to swing the hammer into the enemy's face.

Just as he was hesitating, his comrade over there was hit on the head by a foreign soldier's hammer, and his face was covered with blood.

The living person who had eaten together and lived in the same tent yesterday collapsed.

Before they knew it, their eyes had turned red, and they felt like they were drunk, their whole bodies numb.

He didn't feel any pain from being hit by a blunt weapon, and he didn't feel tired after swinging the hammer at several people. He no longer thought about anything, and didn't care about what he felt sorry for. He just kept swinging the hammer.

"kill!!"

The breath in his chest was roared out, and soldiers and foreign troops of the Longxi Army continued to pour in from the front and back of the Donggu Pass.

Shang Duoluo led a team of 400 soldiers to rush up the pass, and with just one charge, he drove the foreign soldiers down the pass.

But before they could expand their victory, General Lin Ruzhen rushed up with more than 800 armored soldiers.

The two sides fought on the horse path and on the stairs leading to the pass. General Lin Ruzhen stood at the foot of the pass, and it was unknown at some point he had switched to a bow in his hand.

He brought dozens of sharpshooters with him and kept shooting arrows at the faces of the Longxi soldiers, and dozens of them were hit by arrows.

Shang Duo Luo sensed that someone was shooting a sneak attack and quickly spotted Lin Ruzhen and their location.

"Follow me and kill them first! Get rid of their sharpshooter!"

Shang Duoluo roared, and with his old brothers brought from Shanzhou, he withstood the pressure and charged forward from a high position.

The foreign soldiers were short and strong, but how could they compare to the Longxi soldiers carefully trained by Liu Jilian.

After the new soldiers adapted to the battlefield, they quickly used their strong body to counterattack the foreign soldiers.

General Lin Ruzhen was right. As the gap in the pass was filled, the Donggu Pass didn't even last for a cup of tea before it was captured by the Longxi Army.

The battle spread from the top of the pass to the river valley, and General Lin Ruzhen also hurriedly gave orders:

"Hold your ground...form a formation and prepare for the enemy!"

At his call, more than 800 soldiers withdrew from the fight and began to form a battle formation to prepare for the enemy.

Not only them, Shang Duoluo also began to wave flags, form battle formations, and blow whistles to prepare for the enemy when the foreign soldiers withdrew from the fight.

At the pass, the soldiers of the Longxi army climbed up fearlessly and jumped into the horse path, walked down the stairs to the pass and joined the formation.

The front is mainly composed of light shield soldiers, followed by spearmen, and then the garrison troops.

Shang Duoluo led more than 300 shield-armored soldiers and cooperated with more than 200 spearmen brought by Zhang Chang to advance.

Li Ji took more than a hundred armored soldiers stationed in the garrison, took off their shoulder pads, put bowstrings on their hard bows, and then began to draw the bows and shoot arrows to interfere with the foreign army.

Hu Siguang finally gathered the armored soldiers who had crossed the pass and continued to join the garrison, constantly interfering with the foreign army by shooting with hard bows.

For a time, the quality of the two armies was exposed to the sun.

Before General Lin Ruzhen had sorted out the vanguard, central army and garrison troops, the well-trained Longxi army had already begun its advance.

Once the advancement began, it was unstoppable.

General Lin Ruzhen could only retreat with his armored soldiers and civilians, while Liu Jilian also led the follow-up armored soldiers across the pass at this time.

The laborers began to clear the fallen rocks from the pass, while Liu Jilian took over the command of the army.

Due to the obstruction of the pass, the cavalry could only serve as infantry, pressing forward step by step, forcing the Linwei Fan army to retreat step by step.

"The front army will turn to the rear army, and the rear army will turn to the front army. The army will retreat and let the civilians escape on their own!"

Seeing that the situation was irreversible, General Lin Ruzhen decisively issued an order to retreat.

Under his military order, less than 800 foreign soldiers began to retreat in turns towards the horse stable at the rear.

Due to the infrequent training, many problems were exposed in the quality of the army at this moment.

On the way of retreat, the foreign soldiers began to panic and their troops were no longer dense.

Seeing this, Liu Jilian, who had just taken over the army, immediately took off the horn from his waist and issued military orders.

"Uuuuuu——"

The sound of the horn echoed in the river valley. Upon hearing the sound, more than a thousand soldiers of the Longxi army immediately changed their formation, abandoned their strong bows and wooden shields, took out their blunt weapons and began to charge.

"withdraw!!"

General Lin Ruzhen didn't even need to look back, he knew that this was the clarion call for the Longxi army to launch a general attack. His face suddenly changed and he shouted to retreat.

As he shouted to retreat, the Linxia foreign soldiers, whose formation had already been weakened, immediately dispersed and rushed towards Malan to escape.

The two armies were not far apart. For example, Lin Ruzhen and other foreign soldiers from the front and central armies quickly grabbed the horses. Without even putting on the saddles, they put their legs on the horses' bellies and began to flee.

Some foreign soldiers in the rear army were too slow and after being caught up by the Longxi army, they either surrendered or were pinned down and captured. Others tried to resist but were knocked to the ground by Shang Duoluo, Hu Siguang, Zhang Chang and others, and died of convulsions and bleeding.

Some of the new recruits, who were blinded by bloodshed, tried to chase and kill the civilians, but the sound of the golden gong soon awakened them.

"Those who surrender will not be killed!"

"Those who surrender will not be killed!!"

The experienced old soldiers rushed into the stables, and whether they were military horses or draft horses, they all jumped on their horses and rushed along the official road, shouting. As for the surrendered Tibetan civilians, the old soldiers ordered the new soldiers to watch over them.

As for the civilians who stubbornly tried to escape, the old soldiers rode their horses and swung their swords, chopping them down to the ground.

As for General Lin Ruzhen and others who escaped, the old soldiers did not pursue them, but did as Liu Jilian said before the battle... stop when they heard the sound of gold.

At one time, as many as 200 soldiers under Lin Ruzhen's command were captured, and there were thousands of civilians.

More than a hundred military horses and thousands of draft horses that were not released in the stable were captured. More than a thousand stones of grain and more than a hundred sheep in the camp also became the spoils of the Longxi army. It was a great victory.

"Are all the foreign soldiers in Linwei and Weizhou like this?"

When Liu Jilong saw Shang Duoluo and his men approaching with more than a dozen heads of ten households, he couldn't help but frown slightly.

Although these foreign soldiers were considered short and strong, their faces were somewhat yellow, showing obvious signs of malnutrition.

In comparison, the foreign soldiers under Shang Moling of Liangzhou were in high spirits.

"Your Majesty!"

Shang Duoluo asked the group of people to kneel down, but Liu Jilong raised his hand to signal that it was not necessary.

He walked forward and untied the ten-household head with his own hands.

"How many days do you exercise and how many days do you practice?"

"General, we train every five days and exercise every half a month..."

The head of the ten households answered respectfully, fearing that Liu Jilong would chop him to death if he was unhappy.

"How many troops do you have here, and how many troops does Daxia County have?"

Liu Jilong did not mock the foreign soldiers for their lack of training, but continued to ask questions.

In response, the head of the ten households also told Liu Jilong the information about Donggu Pass and Daxia County.

After learning that Shang Yanxin, Zhe Buhui and Lu Ruyue were all gathered in Daxia County, Liu Jilian not only did not feel bowed, but smiled instead.

"With these three people here, it saves us a lot of effort."

He chuckled and spoke, and Shang Duoluo and others nodded in agreement.

Instead, the head of the ten households spoke cautiously: "General, there is no difference between Daxia County and Guancheng. If you want to bypass Daxia, you can only take a long journey of 400 miles to Changle in the south."

After the head of the ten households finished speaking, Hukusi Guang also spoke up:

"Governor, why don't we take a detour through Changle, capture Changle first, then capture Didao, and cut off their retreat!"

After Hu Siguang finished speaking, Liu Jilong shook his head and said, "If you can think of it, they can think of it too."

"Changle's terrain is no different from Daxia's. It's not realistic to divide our forces to take it."

"Besides, I didn't think of ending the war in one battle. They couldn't defend Daxia, let alone Didao and Changle, so they could only retreat to Weizhou."

"But no matter how they retreat, we will just chase them all the way."

"By attacking Daxia, we can first consume their armor and soldiers, so that we can fight comfortably later."

After he finished speaking, Liu Jilong looked at Shang Duoluo and said, "Slaughter all the captured sheep and use them as a reward for the army and the civilians who followed them."

"Equip the Wuquan civilians with the captured armor and have them guard the more than 1,000 prisoners."

"Tomorrow the army will set out for Daxia again. I want to see how well they manage Daxia and whether they can stop us!"

Liu Jilong showed confidence on his face, and Shang Duoluo and others also bowed one after another: "I will obey your orders!"

As they chanted, the Longxi army began to clear the fallen rocks and dredge the blocked valley road in preparation for the eastern expedition to Daxia County tomorrow.

While they were preparing for the Eastern Expedition, General Lin Ruzhen also fled back to Daxia County with more than 600 remaining soldiers.

They fled back from west to east in a panic, and after a few miles they saw the Daxia County town that lay across the Daxia River Valley.

Trenches were dug outside the Daxia city. These trenches were about a mile long, there were six of them, and each one was more than two zhang wide.

After Lin Ruzhen led them across the trench, he ordered his men to remove the wooden bridge on the trench, and led the civilians and defenders across the three-meter-wide moat. He ordered his men to burn the suspension bridge, and to thicken the sheep horn wall under the base of the wall on the east bank of the moat.

Soon, he walked into the main hall of Daxia County Government in a panic, while Shang Yanxin, Lu Ruyue and Zhe Buhui all looked at him in surprise.

"I was defeated by Liu Jilong and had no choice but to retreat back to Daxia, losing 376 soldiers!"

After entering the hall, Lin Ruzhen bowed and knelt, and Shang Yanxin hurriedly stepped forward to help him up.

"We already know what happened at the Donggu Pass. It's not your fault. It's just that the trebuchets used by Liu Jilong were too powerful."

"He just walked all the way to the government office, so he must have seen our arrangements."

"In your opinion, can a three-meter-high and three-meter-thick wall stop his trebuchet?"

Shang Yanxin's eyes were full of anticipation, and Lu Ruyue and Zhe Buhui also glanced at him.

But facing their expectations, General Lin Ruzhen couldn't help but say, "It depends on how many catapults he has in his army."

"If there are dozens of catapults, even Daxia may not be able to hold out for too long..."

"Can't hold on? Are you kidding me?"

Shang Yanxin's smile froze. He couldn't believe that the city defense he had prepared for more than half a month could not stop Liu Jilong.

"If the city walls were made of stone bricks, they might be able to hold out for a few months, but the walls outside the city are just made of stone, not bricks..."

"Based on what I have seen, it is already good enough that Daxia City can hold out for half a month."

"Besides, Liu Jilong has many soldiers under his command. There's no guarantee that they will reach the top of the city first."

Lin Ruzhen was struggling to explain his judgment. Lu Ruyue stood up after hearing it and said, "Even if we can't defend it, we have to kill some of his people to teach him that we are not easy to bully!"

Zhe Buhui also echoed the words: "If we can't defend Daxia, then Changle and Didao may not be able to be defended either."

He looked at Shang Yanxin and reminded him, "By then, I'm afraid we will have no choice but to retreat to Weizhou."

"Weizhou..." Shang Yanxin's face darkened. He didn't expect that after retreating again and again, he still couldn't defend Linzhou.

Judging from the speed of Liu Jilian's army and the force of the siege, it is estimated that Weizhou will not be able to hold out for long.

"I should have retreated to Duomai..."

Shang Yanxin was regretting, but it was no use regretting now.

Those guys in Minzhou and Taozhou will not let them go to Duomai, and even if they do, they will probably ask for an exorbitant amount of money.

"Damn it, why does this damn Liu Jilong always go against me!!"

Shang Yanxin yelled out of control, and Lu Ruyue clenched his fists upon hearing that. He was worried that his Weizhou would also be lost later.

Rather than losing Weizhou in vain, it is better to sell it for a good price.

Thinking of this, Lu Ruyue's eyes turned and said, "This Liu Jilong doesn't let us live an easy life, so we won't let him live an easy life either."

"The two states of Qin and Yuan can both rely on the Tang court and gain wealth and honor, so why can't we do the same?"

"You want to surrender the whole state to Tang?!" Shang Yanxin was stunned, but he reacted after a moment.

Now they hold the two states of Lin and Wei. If they can really surrender to the Tang court, they can undoubtedly sell the two states for a good price.

After all, after Qiliben of Qin and Yuan states sold the two states, he received a reward of 150,000 pieces of silk.

Although most of these silks were divided up by the military governors of Lingwu, Bining, Fengxiang, Jingyuan and other places, quite a bit was left for Qiliben and the military and civilians in the two states.

If Linwei and other states really cannot be defended, then we might as well sell them at a good price.

Thinking of this, Shang Yanxin said hurriedly: "I once met Xue Kui, the governor of Qinzhou. If I write a letter by hand, Xue Kui will definitely be moved!"

"That's the best!" Lu Ruyue's eyes lit up, and then she looked at Zhe Buhui.

Zhe Buhui did not want to surrender to the Tang court, but seeing that Shang Yanxin and Lu Ruyue were both tempted, he could not refuse, so he nodded to express his support.

Seeing this, Shang Yanxin hurried to the main seat and picked up a pen to write a letter.

Soon, Shang Yanxin sent more than ten light cavalrymen to escort the letter to Qinzhou, asking them to hand it over to Qinzhou Governor Xue Kui in person.

Seeing the letter being sent out, Shang Yanxin finally felt relieved, but then he spoke again:

"Although the letter has been sent, Daxia County is more than 800 miles away from Shanggui, the seat of Qinzhou. Even if we ride light horses at full speed, it will take at least five days."

"Besides, it's just a letter. Xue Kui may not trust us. We will have to issue a military order afterwards to let all cities accept Xue Kui's troops into the city."

"After all the calculations, it will take at least half a month..."

"Humph!" Lu Ruyue snorted coldly upon hearing this: "We have already surrendered to Qinzhou, so even if Liu Jilong comes, he can't do anything to us."

"If he insists on attacking, it would be disrespectful to the Tang court, and the Tang emperor will definitely blame him!"

After hearing what Lu Ruyue said, Zhe Buhui breathed a sigh of relief, but Shang Yanxin was still nervous.

Although he had only fought Liu Jilong once, the battle of Qilian City was still fresh in his memory, and he naturally felt uneasy:
"If that's the case, that would be great, but I'm worried that Liu Jilong won't give up easily."

"I think you've been scared out of your wits by him!" Lu Ruyue snorted coldly:
"Even if Liu Jilong has great abilities, I don't believe he dares to ignore the rules of the Tang court!"

(End of this chapter)