A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Starting from the Village Chief

Chapter 53: All the Generals Head South, and You Go North Alone

The drums roared,

Smoke and dust were everywhere.

Xue Ju personally led the troops out of the camp and advanced.
Crown Prince Xue Rengao led his elite cavalry and quietly left the rear camp, taking a detour.

Xue Ju remembered He Yuan's instructions.
Deliberately moving slowly out of camp and into battle array,
It took more than an hour before the two armies finally approached each other.

The sun was setting by then.

Hao Yuan looked at the sky, estimated the time, and said to Xue Ju, who was wearing golden armor, "Your Majesty, the time has come."

"Hahaha, chop them down, kill them."

This time, Xue Jujun did not hesitate any longer.

The army rushed forward like a tiger out of its cage, and pounced on the Tang army like a tide.

Xue Ju lived in Longyou, where there were a lot of pastures during the Sui Dynasty, and there were also many elite frontier troops with a large number of cavalry.
In contrast, Li Yuan started his career in Hedong, but Liu Wuzhou occupied the land outside Yanmen Pass and had mostly infantry under his command. Although he also bought a lot of horses from the Turks in recent years, he was ultimately no match for Xue Ju, who had a large number of pastured horses and border cavalry.

The two armies faced off.

Xue Ju's army was several times larger than the Tang army and was very powerful.

Liu Wenjing and Yin Kaishan both went out of the city in person to command the troops. With eight generals under their command, 40,000 troops were deployed on the plains, with dense spears and countless archers.

Facing the attack of the Qin army in Longyou,
The Tang army was not afraid.

One spear array after another, one shield wall after another,

Bowstring thunderbolt,

The crossbowmen fired volley after volley,

After the Tang army shot the third arrow,

The Longyou cavalry had already rushed to the front of the battle. The fierce Longyou army was half Hu and half Han. Facing the forest of spears and the wall of shields, the heavy cavalry charged directly into the battle, while the light cavalry quickly circled around and shot arrows.
The archers in the rear also provide support by lob shooting.

Arrows rained down all of a sudden, and people on both sides kept falling.

Liu Wenjing, standing under the banner in the middle of the battle, watched the Qin army's attack and sneered, "They are indeed fierce, but unfortunately, this kind of fighting method cannot break through the 40,000-strong Tang army. It is nothing but a suicide mission."

"Hahaha, Prime Minister Liu is right. Xue Ju is just a reckless man. I told you before, nothing more than that." Yin Kaishan was also full of confidence.

Xue Ju's army rushed forward like a tide, wave after wave.

But the Tang army withstood the attack like a rock.
The Qin army suffered much higher casualties than the Tang army. If they continued to fight like this, it wouldn't be long before the Qin army could no longer advance.

Just when the Tang army was very optimistic,
Suddenly, a horn sounded behind me.
At sunset,
To the northeast behind him, a rider appeared, holding high the Qin flag of Longyou.

Immediately afterwards, a black tide appeared.

"It's the Qin army!" someone shouted in horror.

At some point, a group of elite Qin cavalrymen circled around and came up behind them.

Xue Rengao, the enemy of ten thousand men, came with ten thousand cavalrymen.
The army of Xue Ju in the front suddenly erupted in loud sounds of war drums and ox horns in response to Xue Rengao.

"Wan Sheng!"

Xue Ju jumped on his horse, raised his lance, and charged forward with a roar.

His elite guards cavalry also roared like thunder,

The Tang army on the battlefield panicked.

They were trapped in a double-team by the Qin army, which was several times larger than their own.
On the vast plain, Gaocheng City, which once made them feel safe, has been cut off.

The cavalry led by Xue Rengao came like a gust of wind.

They quickly rushed to the back of the Tang army and were caught off guard and suffered a fierce attack.

In less than a cup of tea,
The 40,000 Tang troops collapsed.

The eight general managers could only fight on their own and flee in all directions.

Gaocheng City was right behind them, but they couldn't go back to the city.

The battle lasted from dusk till dark.

General Murong Luohou and Lin Xingcan were killed in battle, Li Anyuan and Liu Hongji were captured.

Liu Wenjing, Yin Kaishan, Dou Gui, Tang Jian, Qiu Xinggong and others fled hastily to Changwu City in Bin Prefecture.
The Tang army was defeated, and most of them were infantry. How could they escape from the elite cavalry of Longyou? They pursued them all the way, and 30,000 of the 40,000 Tang army were killed. The next day, Gaocheng City fell, and Liu Shirang and his brothers, who had retreated back to the city yesterday, were also captured. Changwu City,
After Li Shimin took Li Yi's white medicine pills for two days, he finally stopped having malaria and vomiting.
Although I am still very weak, I am finally getting better.

"Fortunately, Li Yi gave me this pill, otherwise I would have been half dead this time." Li Shimin held the stewing cup, ate mutton, wolfberry and millet porridge, and said to Hou Junji and Xu Luoren, the two captains of the guards, with a smile. The two were not only his closest guard captains, but also his childhood friends who grew up with him in Wugong County.

"This pill is really magical. Such a small pill has such a great medicinal effect," Hou Junji also exclaimed.

Xu Luoren said, "The most amazing thing is that other doctors treat malaria with medicine that makes people vomit violently and takes months to recover. But Li Yi's medicine works immediately, without any nausea or vomiting. His Highness even said that the pills taste sweet."

The three of them were talking and laughing.

Suddenly the guards reported that Liu Xiang and Yin Sima had returned.

"Didn't you just go to Gaoqiong City? Why are you back again?" Li Shimin was wondering, and then he saw Liu Yin and the other two in a miserable state. As soon as they saw Li Shimin, they knelt down and apologized.

"Your Highness, we are incompetent and have been defeated in Gaocheng City. We have lost many soldiers and generals and have lost Gaocheng City."

Li Shimin was stunned.
"what are you saying?"

"Your Highness, we disobeyed the commander's orders and marched out of the city to fight. As a result, Xue Ju sent his elite cavalry to circumvent us and attack us from both sides. Our army was defeated and Gaocheng City was lost."

Li Shimin's face turned pale and the folding steel spoon in his hand fell to the ground.

"Say that again?"

More than 40,000 Tang troops in Gaoqiong City, as well as a lot of stored food, fodder and equipment, were all lost in one day.

Less than 10,000 people retreated back to Changwu.

Two of the eight generals died and three were captured. In this battle, the Qin army killed more than 10,000 people and captured more than 20,000.

The most hateful thing is that after Xue Ju defeated the Tang army and captured Gaoqiong City, he used the corpses of more than 10,000 Tang soldiers to build a Jingguan on the shallow water plateau outside Gaoqiong City.

Li Shimin was so angry that he was shaking all over.
Almost vomited blood,

He repeatedly instructed that they must not underestimate the enemy when fighting, must hold their ground and not retreat, and must wear down Xue Ju until he runs out of food and supplies. Only then would they attack.

"Hurry out of the city and gather the defeated soldiers back to the city."

"The entire army must prepare for defense. Changwu cannot be lost again. Behind us is the Guanzhong Plain and Chang'an City."

Although the malaria had not yet healed, Li Shimin could no longer rest and recuperate.
Despite his sick body, he climbed up to the Changwu Tower and asked Hou Junji and Xu Luoren to put armor on him. He then stood there holding his lance.
The defeated Tang army finally felt relieved when they saw the heroic figure of His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin on the top of the city wall.

The defeated soldiers gradually retreated to Changwu to rest and recuperate.

But the loss is too great,

Not only did they lose more than 30,000 elite soldiers, but they also lost more than 10,000 civilians and the entire city's population.

Xue Ju's vanguard finally appeared outside Changwu City.

But no matter how they provoke,
Li Shimin was standing on the top of the city wall, and I remained motionless.
The next day, Xue Ju arrived with his troops.

The King of Qin to the Emperor of Qin,
Xue Ju urged the siege to begin, but he had no siege equipment, and his cavalry could only fire arrows at the city walls.

At night, Xue Ju ordered the slaughter of cattle and sheep to reward the troops.

The Western Qin army ate and drank without restraint until midnight.

midnight,

Li Shimin summoned all the generals,
Looking at the dusty Liu Wenjing, Yin Kaishan and other generals,

Li Shimin, still very pale, forced himself to cheer up, "Don't be arrogant when you win, and don't be discouraged when you lose. Don't be dejected when you lose."

I have observed the Western Qin army for a long time. Their soldiers are arrogant and their generals are lazy. Xue Ju is even more arrogant and does not take us seriously at all.

This is our chance to fight back.”

Liu Wenjing was shocked after hearing this. Before, Li Shimin had always asked them to defend the city and not fight, but now after the defeat, he wanted to attack?
"Your Highness, our army has just suffered a defeat and morale is low. There are less than 20,000 soldiers and horses in Changwu City. The enemy outnumbers us several times. How can we fight?"

Li Shimin unscrewed the lid of the stewing cup and drank two mouthfuls of the meat porridge first.

"Xue Ju and the others share your thoughts. They never expected us to attack at this moment. This is our chance, our only chance to turn the tables."

"Don't you want to avenge your previous humiliation? Don't you want to retake Gaocheng City?"

Liu Wenjing, Yin Kaishan and other generals finally showed an unwilling look on their faces.

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(End of this chapter)