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

Chapter 54: King of Qin vs. Emperor of Qin

"Generals, listen!"

Everyone stood up.

"Warfare is the art of deception; it is to surprise the enemy and attack them when they are least prepared. Tonight, we must fight to the death and win this battle.
burn one's boats,

A last-ditch battle."

Li Shimin did not make this bold decision on a whim, but after observing the enemy for a day, he repeatedly thought about the plan in his mind and finally made the decision.

Bold and careful.

Well planned.

Li Shimin began to deploy the battle plan.
Despite his illness not yet recovered, he still went into battle himself.

No one can persuade me.

We must lead this battle.

"The defeat at Qianshuiyuan was caused by my incompetence in commanding the troops. I bear the primary responsibility. I must personally win this victory."

The generals were all inspired by Li Shimin and wanted to avenge their previous humiliation.

"Everyone, mobilize the soldiers and tell them that this is their chance for revenge. If we win tonight, I will personally seek the credit and reward for them!"

All the generals went to prepare.

Li Shimin took a long breath and broke out in a cold sweat.

Hou Junji said worriedly, "Your Highness, you haven't recovered from malaria yet, how can you go into battle?"

"On the battlefield, fighting to the death, how many soldiers have fought on despite being shot by arrows, how many soldiers have their intestines stabbed out, yet they still continue to hack and kill?
Tonight we will attack the enemy camp. I must personally lead the charge. We must all fight to the death. I, Li Shimin, have never suffered such a tragic defeat in my entire career. I must win this battle."

"But His Highness is ill."

"It's okay. Thanks to the pill Li Yi gave me, I'm almost fully recovered now. I'm just a little weak. Once we win this battle, I'll be all right again."

Li Shimin took out the medicine gourd, took out the anti-malarial medicine given by Li Yi, and ate two more tablets.

"Thanks to the medicine Li Yi gave me, I was able to recover so quickly. Otherwise, I would have been nailed to the pillar of shame this time."

Li Yi gave him a chance to turn the tables.

Although this opportunity is very dangerous, he must give it a try.

Early morning, Chou hour.

The enemy camp outside the city had fallen silent.

The 20,000 Tang troops, filled with the fire of revenge, led by Li Shimin, with their mouths sealed and their horses bound, quietly rushed out of Changwu City and headed straight for the enemy camp.

Hou Junji, with a hundred light cavalry guards, went straight to the rear of the enemy camp and set fire to it under the cover of night and with the wind.

The night wind howled and the fire spread rapidly.

It seemed as if heaven was also helping Li Shimin.

One by one, the Tang generals led their elite cavalry units, charging towards the enemy camp, setting fire with the help of the wind, shouting loudly and creating chaos.

Someone shouted that the King of Qin was here.

Someone shouted that the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty would lead the army in person.

Some people even shouted that Xue Ju had been beheaded.

Some people shouted that they would surrender and not be killed.

The Western Qin army was just as Li Shimin said, with arrogant soldiers and lazy generals. Xue Ju was even more arrogant and underestimated the enemy. He never thought that the defeated army would dare to come out of the city to attack.

Last night, they slaughtered cattle and sheep, gave meat and wine as rewards, and made a fuss until midnight.

I'm sleeping soundly this morning.

Unexpectedly, there was a surprise attack.

The Western Qin army had no time to organize and prepare for battle and was caught off guard.

In the chaos,
The Western Qin army responded hastily.
The two sides fought at night, and soon after the battle,

The Tang army seemed to be short of manpower and gradually lost to the enemy and retreated. Xue Ju was still drunk, with red eyes and roaring as he chased after them.

They threatened not to let a single Tang person go and would chop off all their heads and pile them up in a Jingguan.

The Tang army retreated.

The Western Qin army pursued,
Seeing that the Tang army was about to be defeated again,

suddenly,

Li Shimin personally led 5,000 elite death-defying soldiers to attack from the rear.

To give the enemy a taste of his own medicine, Li Shimin also used a tactic of outflanking from behind tonight. The Qin army divided its troops and returned to resist.

Li Shimin rode on Shaluzi and led dozens of brave cavalry to charge directly into the enemy army.
As a result, thousands of soldiers behind him all rose up to attack, marching forward bravely, their shouts shaking the earth like a landslide or tsunami.

Countless Western Qin soldiers who were barely wearing armor could not withstand the attack of the Tang army.
The rear of the Western Qin army began to collapse, and then the entire army was defeated, with thousands of casualties.

Countless Western Qin troops began to flee in panic in the dark night, no longer caring about anything else.

Li Shimin gritted his teeth and held on, leading more than 2,000 cavalrymen, chasing them all the way to the city of Gaoqiong.

Xue Ju fled in panic, not even daring to enter Gaocheng City, and continued to escape to the northwest.

There were only a few of Xue Ju's troops in Gaoqiong City. At dawn, they realized that the city's defenders were doomed, so they opened the city and surrendered.

All the 20,000 Tang soldiers captured in the battle of Qianshuiyuan who were imprisoned in the city were rescued.

This night attack was a desperate counterattack against the odds, and Xue Ju retreated all the way to Zhecheng City.

More than 10,000 Western Qin soldiers surrendered or were captured, and 20,000 captured soldiers and more than 30,000 civilians were rescued.

Li Shimin won.
A huge victory was achieved.

And when he turned defeat into victory,
The news of the defeat at Qianshuiyuan was just spreading back to Chang'an.
The capital was shaken.

The people panicked.

Some officials even submitted a petition proposing to move the capital to temporarily avoid the attack of the Western Qin army.

The emperor was furious and ordered Liu Wenjing and Yin Kaishan to be stripped of their posts and demoted to commoners.

Although Liu Hongji, Li Anyuan, Liu Shirang and others were captured, they fought hard and remained unyielding in the face of difficulties. Their families were each given money and silk as consolation.

The generals Murong Luohou and Lin Xingcan who died in battle were posthumously awarded official titles, and the families of the soldiers who died in battle were given grain and silk as compensation.

He sent General Zuo Yiwei and Commandant of the Imperial Concubine Chai Shao to lead troops to Changwu, Bin Prefecture, to reinforce.

Summon Prince of Qin Li Shimin back to the capital.

Some officials wrote to the emperor, arguing that the responsibility for this defeat lay entirely with Qin Wang Li Shimin and that he should be held accountable.

Li Yuan ignored it and urgently summoned the prime ministers to discuss the matter and work out countermeasures.

"Erlang's illness came at a terrible time. Liu Wenjing and Yin Kaishan have failed Erlang's trust and my expectations. I have already dismissed them from their posts, but now our most important task is to discuss how to defeat Xue Ju."

"I intend to ally with Li Gui of Hexi to jointly deal with Xue Ju. I will immediately send a secret envoy to Hexi to enthrone Li Gui as the King of Liang and Governor of Liang Province, recognize him as my cousin, and grant him the Yubao drum and instrument."

Just as Li Yuan was anxiously discussing with his ministers how to resist Xue Ju's offensive,
Li Shimin's victory report was sent to the capital at an expedited speed of 800 miles.

"Your Majesty, great victory,"

"Great victory, His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin won a great victory at Changwu, the Prince of Qin announced the victory."

The eunuch excitedly ran into the hall holding the notice, and even fell down due to his excitement, but the emperor didn't bother to blame him for his impoliteness.

"Bring up the Lubu quickly."

In Li Shimin's victory report, the entire process of the counterattack was reported in detail. Even when he was seriously ill with malaria, he was fortunate to receive the elixir given by Li Yi, which enabled him to stand up at the critical moment, fight a desperate battle, and counterattack.

"Hahaha!"

Li Yuan laughed so hard that tears came out of his eyes. "God really helps our Tang Dynasty! Erlang won. We beheaded thousands of people, captured over ten thousand enemies, recaptured Gaocheng City, and rescued 20,000 captured soldiers and over 30,000 civilians. Xue Ju fled in panic to Zhecheng City.

Even Erlang captured over 10,000 war horses."

"Hahaha, I knew Erlang wouldn't disappoint me. Even though Liu Wenjing and Yin Kaishan caused a disaster, he still turned the situation around."

"I didn't expect to see Li Yi's name again," Li Yuan held the brochure, and the more he read, the happier he became. Finally, he talked about Li Yi, "Erlang said he had malaria, and the imperial doctors I sent to accompany him couldn't find a good prescription. He was running hot and cold, vomiting constantly, and had a terrible headache. He took the doctor's medicine, but vomited even more.

But after taking the pills Li Yi gave me, I was almost fully recovered in just two days."

"It's really a panacea. This Li Yi is really a lucky star sent by my Li family's ancestors. He deserves a reward, a big reward, a huge reward." Li Yuan stood up and walked around excitedly.

The news of the defeat reached Chang'an.

Li Yuan felt both guilty and frightened. He knew that Liu Wenjing and his men were defeated because Shi Min suddenly fell ill and was unable to lead the troops, and also because he repeatedly urged them to attack.

The defeat at Qianshuiyuan was a great one.
Xue Ju could invade the Guanzhong Plain at any time.
Li Yuan couldn't mobilize a decent army to stop the enemy for the time being, so it was really possible that he would be killed by Xue Ju and reach the gates of Chang'an.

Can anyone think of,

The reversal came so quickly.

Well done to Shimin,
But Li Yi also made great contributions.

Previously, he was granted the ninth-rank title of Prince Zhengzi, but this fellow refused the position due to illness because he thought it was too low, so he was granted a title.

"Daya, please draft an edict for me, conferring the title of Baron of Qianshui County on Li Yi, and granting him a gold urn, a pair of silver bottles, two good horses, 300 pieces of silk, 100 acres of land, and granting him the rank of Grand Commander, a third-rank official." The emperor said to Wen Daya.

When Crown Prince Li Jiancheng heard the name Li Yi, his brows furrowed slightly.

(End of this chapter)