On September 21st, Li Shan sat in the Chinese army tent with a sullen look on his face. Dou Gui and Wen Yanbo on both sides also looked solemn. It was already the eighth day of the war, and the Turks still had not retreated.
On the first day, Li Shan sent heavy cavalry to break the formation and the Turks suffered heavy casualties. From Li Shan, Dou Gui, Li Daoxuan to the generals below, they all felt that the Turks would choose to retreat. After all, the Turks' organizational structure was different from that of the Tang Dynasty, so it was difficult to To bear such a huge loss for a long time.
Therefore, Li Shan did not continue to send heavy troops to attack fiercely, but slowed down, only testing again and again or small-scale cavalry battles to urge the Turks to retreat as soon as possible.
But Li Shan did not expect that the Turks did not choose to retreat. Instead, they fought against Tang Qi again and again, and sent out partial divisions to attack the left and right army's chariot formations again and again.
It is said that the Turks cannot last long, but they did not expect to be so difficult to deal with. They are as good as the Tunguska savages of later generations... Li Shan has various speculations in his heart. The direction of the war may develop in the direction of the plan that he has almost given up, but It may also develop in the direction you least want to see.
If the Turks refuse to give up the main road at the border, then Li Shan has no choice but to attack with all his strength to open the main road and seize the initiative... But in this way, if the Turks still want to fight to the death, the loss of troops will be very large.
In fact, Li Shan had tried it out yesterday and ordered Su Dingfang to lead the cavalry forward. They fought for an hour and killed more than 2,000 Turkic cavalry. However, the Turks still had no intention of retreating. The heavy cavalry who acted as the vanguard lost nearly 400 more. Riding, Li Shanxin is bleeding.
In a short period of time, one of the heavy cavalrymen died, and there was no way to replenish them.
It is already late September, and there is not much time. If the Turks cannot be driven away, it means that the Tang army will probably build a stronghold at the current station and wait for the Turks to retreat... Judging from the current trends of the Turks, even if they retreat, It is also very likely that heavy troops will be used to control the main roads, and perhaps even Master Liang will be asked to take over.
To be honest, Li Shan hopes to face the Turks here more than Liang Jun... Liang divisions all occupy Shuofang County, with the famous Tongwan City in the center, and they are very good at defense.
The main reason why Li Shan was worried was that he couldn't make a choice. He couldn't guess what Ashina Sheer and Tuli Khan on the opposite side were thinking. Do they really want to fight to the death with the Tang army?
is this necessary?
Perhaps, the Turks suffered several major defeats last year, which had shaken their dominance on the grasslands. What could be more convincing than defeating the Tang army?
Or maybe they want to organize people to return the plundered food, property, and people to the grassland?
"Huairen, try again today?" Li Daoxuan suggested: "If someone comes to lead the troops, it is not necessary to use heavy cavalry to break the formation."
Dou Gui nodded in agreement and said: "Let the left and right armies move north to lure the Turks to attack. We will use crossbowmen to cover them and then use cavalry to make a surprise attack."
Zhang Zhongjian added: "The heavy cavalry and Modao troops will follow, and the Turks may choose to retreat."
Li Shan was silent for a moment and sighed: "Is there any other choice?"
No matter how distressed he was about the casualties, Li Shan would not allow the current situation to continue forever. If he did not control the main road in his hands, he would turn a blind eye at night.
Taking a deep breath, Li Shan was about to issue an order when suddenly a guard shouted loudly from outside, "Your Highness, the Deputy Chief of the Daizhou Cavalry, Nanyang County Duke and Wu'an County Duke, please see me."
"You're here just in time." Li Shan chuckled and stood up to greet him personally.
Zhang Shigui and Xue Wanche, who had not seen each other for a long time, strode over and prostrated themselves on the ground, "Meet the King of Handan."
"Brother Wu'an and Brother Wanche are fine." Li Shan held up the two sworn brothers who were sworn to Jinlan one by one, and said with a smile: "There is a big war coming, and we need generals to lead the troops."
Zhang Shigui's eyes turned to Li Daoxuan and Li Keshi, and he said in a deep voice: "I came here with orders, and all of them are assigned by His Highness."
"About 7,000 troops." Xue Wanche explained: "Originally there were only 5,000 troops. Later, Bingzhou mobilized troops to help. Among them, King Rencheng sent the Marquis of Bishui County to lead 2,000 cavalry to accompany him."
Li Shan turned around and laughed and said: "Zhang Baoxiang is the lucky general of the lonely king. In the battle of Yanmen, it was he who led his troops north to help him defeat the enemy. In the battle of Jizhen, it was Zhang Baoxiang who pursued him so hard that Jie Li was defeated. It is difficult for the Khan to gather his troops, and the Turks will collapse."
Among the people, Su Dingfang, Zhang Zhongjian, Wang Junhao and others were all generals from last year's war. The first two were taciturn, but the latter was a talker, talking endlessly about Zhang Baoxiang's luck.
Indeed, Zhang Baoxiang is indeed a blessed general. Otherwise, when the five armies in space and time destroyed the Eastern Turks, why did he capture Jieli Khan alive?
After thinking for a moment, Li Shan asked: "Do you need to rest?"
Zhang Shigui was startled, are you in such a hurry?
The reinforcements came all the way from Bingzhou and even Daizhou, and they arrived in just seven or eight days. They must be exhausted, and logically they should rest for at least one day.
Xue Wanche patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, Your Highness, we will go to battle immediately and we will definitely break the formation!"
Several generals on the side sneered inwardly. This boast is a bit exaggerated. This time the Turks will not retreat until they fight to the death. So what if you can break the formation?
These days, the heavy cavalry was used as the vanguard to break the formation once or twice. Each time, in the end, the Turks were forced back with superior force.
"Take a rest for the time being, and the Duke of Xihe will make proper arrangements." Li Shan shook his head and said slowly: "Seven thousand troops... will be transferred to the right army with two thousand, the left army with two thousand, and four thousand left in the center army."
"yes."
"Su Dingfang." Li Shan ordered: "Choose two thousand cavalry."
"yes."
Li Shan turned to look at Xue Wanche, "This time we will rely on brother Wanche's bravery to invite battle before the formation."
Dou Gui nodded slightly. He was one of the few people who knew Li Shan's overall plan. When the war had developed to this point, he didn't think there were any loopholes in Li Shan's plan. It was just that Dubu Khan and Tuli Ke were on the opposite side. Khan is probably still hesitating.
There's no harm in trying it again, it'll just be a heavy attack at most.
When the arrangements were complete and thousands of infantry poured out from the Tang army's central and rear armies, there was a commotion among the Turkic army on the opposite side. Ashina Sheer and Tuli Khan on the hill squinted their eyes and looked closely, but they saw that Before the Tang army could attack, thousands of Tang soldiers divided into two groups, and swarmed towards the left and right sides under the cover of cavalry.
"This is..." Tuli Khan felt a little baffled. The battlefield was narrow. The Tang army had actually completely controlled the left and right wings of the battlefield. Is it necessary to replenish troops?
Ashina Sheer nodded slightly, "Reinforcements should have arrived."
Not long after, two thousand Tang cavalry came rolling in. A general drove his horse out of the battle, waving the horse spear in his hand. There were also warriors in the Turkic army who stepped forward to challenge, but they were stabbed down by the Tang general in two or three rounds. After seven or eight consecutive , no Turks dared to challenge him anymore.
Ashina She'er's face was livid, and he pointed his halberd in the distance, "Who is that?"
A quarter of an hour later, the guard's report made Ashina She'er look extremely complicated. While gritting his teeth, the corners of his mouth were slightly raised. It looked quite strange. It turned out to be Xue Wanche, who guarded Guji Town with Li Huairen last year.
(End of chapter)
