A few days later, under Dingxiang City, the Tang army camped.
"Report, Marshal, we caught a craftsman who was sneaking around and pretending to be a shepherd. We found him and captured him."
Li Jing put down the military newspaper in his hand, stood up and walked over, carefully observing this fine man dressed as a shepherd. He had a strong and Turkic appearance. Although he was wearing the clothes of the common people of the Tang Dynasty, his temperament could not be deceived.
Any soldier of the Tang army could see through such a crude scouting technique. Is Jieli not stupid enough to use such a person?
"You are not a scout. You must have come here to find me on purpose. Tell me, why did Jieli ask you to find me?" Li Jing stared at the other person majestically and asked.
The other party trembled with fright and quickly kowtowed and explained: "Hui, Hui, Marshal, I am not a subordinate of Jie Li. I was sent by the leader of the Tuli clan."
Sudden profit? Li Jing was a little curious, and the war was about to begin. Why did Tuli send people here?
At this time, the craftsman reached into his arms to take out something, but was held down by the guards on both sides. "Be honest! Don't move... Be careful, Commander, he may be an assassin."
"The villain is not an assassin, he is a messenger. He was ordered by the leader of the Tuli clan to deliver a letter to the Tang army commander. The letter is in his arms and sewn into his clothes."
Soon, a piece of sheepskin with Chinese characters written on it was found.
After Li Jing read it, he ignored the content of the letter and asked the man with great interest: "Tell me, it's been ten days since Jieli arrived in Dingxiang. How many troops have you gathered? What is the battle plan?"
The man hesitated for a moment and then replied: "The northernmost Uighur tribe has not yet arrived, and other Turkic subordinates have arrived, with 170,000 troops. As for the battle plan, I don't know, let alone a guard. , even our Tuli clan leader doesn’t know, Jieli is on guard at all times, no, he is running against our clan leader at every turn, and does not allow us to have access to military secrets at all.”
Li Jing was surprised and said: "Really? But I heard that Jieli and Tuli are uncle-nephew, and they are close. When the Tuli tribe invaded Youzhou in the Tang Dynasty, Jieli also raised troops to help the battle. How could he be so close to each other? What about defense?"
"Commander, this person must have evil intentions, why not kill him!" Sima, the commander in the army next to him, suggested.
Li Jing waved his hand, "Yes, let's kill him."
The man was so frightened that he became weak and shouted loudly: "Commander, everything you say is true. Jieli is jealous of our clan leader and is afraid that our Tuli clan will seize the throne. The day before yesterday, he whipped our clan leader in public. I was beaten so hard that I couldn't get out of bed for three days, and I even wanted to take away the military power of our clan leader..."
"Commander, our Tuli clan is sincere in joining the Tang Dynasty. You must believe it..."
Wait!
Li Jing waved people to stop, walked into the scout, and said jokingly: "Go back and tell you Tuli Clan Chief, if you want me to believe him, just submit a letter of surrender. I can't believe him if you make empty promises."
ah?
The scout said in his heart, our Tuli clan leader was beaten so hard that he dared not touch the ground. Can’t you still believe it?
"Commander, I'm sorry. I'm not familiar with Tang. I don't know. I don't know what a surrender certificate is?"
Li Jing was almost amused. He thought for a moment and said, "Ask Tuli to send over a detailed defense plan of the Turks. I will believe that he is sincerely surrendering to the Tang Dynasty."
"If not, let's fight together. Don't blame me for being ruthless. I will also deal with your Tuli clan! Get out!"
The man fled in panic, and Sima of the Chinese army whispered: "Commander, Tuli is the main tribe of the Turks, with a strength of fifty or sixty thousand. If Tuli surrenders, Jieli will be defeated. But my subordinates always feel that something is wrong. , Tuli and Jieli are just fighting for the throne, is it worth forcing Tuli to surrender to the Tang Dynasty?"
Li Jing smiled, "Do you think I will believe it? Let's see what tricks they want to play?"
Sima asked: "What if Tu Li really got the defense map?"
Li Jing pondered for a moment and said: "Send someone to inquire about the situation in Dingxiang City. If Tu Li really breaks up with Jie Li, the timing is just right and it is not impossible to take advantage of it."
"Got the order!"
In Dingxiang City, Tuli lay on the bed and cursed Jieli bitterly. The scout came back and told him about the surrender.
Tu Li spat: "Li Jing of the Tang Dynasty is not a good person. I once had a close friendship with the current emperor of the Tang Dynasty. He is a thorn in his tongue, but he doesn't trust him? If it wasn't for his lack of strength, how could he invest in him? Name? If this king is the Great Khan of the Turks..."
Speaking of this, Tuli felt his heart hurt. Now and then, people have to bow their heads under the low eaves.
It is impossible to survive in Dingxiang. Jieli is crowded with people everywhere. If he stays, he will obviously be sent to the front to die by Jieli.
"The defense plan of Dingxiang City? So, Li Jing wants to attack the city? Huh, it is rumored that Li Jing is the military god of the Tang Dynasty. Now it seems that it is nothing more than that. Although we Turks are not good at defending the city, we have many soldiers and horses. The Tang army With less than 100,000 men, how about a forceful attack on Dingxiang? Can it be captured?"
The subordinate asked in a low voice: "Clan leader, what about the defense map of the name-dropping certificate? Do you want to give it back?"
Tu Li smiled, "Give it, of course I have to give it. He thinks this thing is important, but what if he actually knows the defenses in the city? What's the use of having a plan if you can't attack it?"
"Then if the Tang army is defeated by then, wouldn't we..." the subordinate said worriedly.
Tu Li nodded: "So, we can't stay in Xiangcheng for a long time. We need to find a reason in these two days to hide out with our people and let Jie Li and Li Jing fight to the death. It's best for both sides to lose. Our Tuli tribe retreated unscathed..."
The subordinates praised: "The patriarch is wise. When the time comes, we can destroy Jieli. Then we will be the largest force in the grassland, and you will be the Khan of the Turks!"
The two of them looked at each other and smiled. Tu Li asked someone to draw a picture, while he sent another close associate to keep an eye on the military reports to see if there was any suitable opportunity to sneak out.
Coincidentally, perhaps due to sudden luck, information from Shanxi was sent over, saying that Xiao Rui and the Xuanjia Army had joined Li Ji, the governor of Bingzhou, and were preparing to send troops from Yunzhou to invade the Turkic rear.
The Tang Dynasty troops were divided into two groups, so we Turks also had to divide our troops to deal with it. So Jieli held a meeting to discuss who would resist the Bingzhou Army and the Xuanjia Army.
Xiao Rui?
Upon hearing Xiao Rui's name, the generals and clan leaders on the Turkic side all shrank back, no one wanted to face Xiao Rui head-on.
Zhao Deyan explained: "According to intelligence, Li Ji's Bingzhou Army is insufficient in strength, with only 30,000 main troops."
Qibi Heli said with a mournful face: "Commander, why don't you talk about the Xuanjia Army led by Xiao Rui? No one is afraid of Li Ji, we just don't want to fight Xiao Rui. That person is too, too..."
This guy is also very lucky. Last time he acted as a dead soldier to recapture Dingxiang and rescued the Turkic Prince. He survived by luck, and Jieli spared his life. Today is a good day, do you have a bad mouth? No one is going to point it out, why don't you speak first?
Jie Li scolded: "What is Tai Tai? Idiot, a dead man scared you like this?"
"Dead person?" Everyone was puzzled.
Zhao Deyan quickly explained that it was still the same substitute's rhetoric. Among them, the main force in the royal court did not believe it. Last time they saw Xiao Rui leading the Xuanjia Army. The other tribes believed it and barely gained a glimmer of confidence.
But the Xuanjia Army of the Tang Dynasty is not easy to chew. Legend has it that three thousand can break through one hundred thousand. None of us can defeat it alone, right?
At this time, the injured little Khan Tuli stood up and said, "Great Khan, if Tuli is willing to go, isn't it the 30,000 Bingzhou Army and 3,000 Xuanjia Army? Tuli promises to stop them and never let them enter." Half a step to the grassland!”
Everyone looked at this person and cast admiring glances. He is a fierce man. Are you not afraid of Xiao Rui?
Tu Li wants to explain to everyone that compared to facing Xiao Rui, I may be more afraid of staying in Dingxiang and being tricked to death by Jie Li.
