On Bagong Mountain, Li Yuan was pacing back and forth in the camp restlessly. Logically speaking, in the face of the upcoming battle, as a coach, he should calm down, but Li Yuan's inner uneasiness became stronger at this time.
Since sunrise, Li Yuan has sent several Qingqi down the mountain to investigate, but until the sun was high, no one returned to camp.
At this time, Li Yuan still knew nothing about the movements of the rebels or Liu Renzhan's troops, and his layout and planning for the war was also greatly affected. In fact, not only Li Yuan was anxious, Zhou Tinggou and other Ezhou generals who were concerned about Liu Renzhan's safety had asked Li Yuan for battle several times, and they could no longer hold back.
I don’t know how long it took, but finally there were a few hurried footsteps outside the camp, and Zhou Tinggou was heard shouting urgently: "Marshal Li, the scouts have returned to camp!"
Lin Sichang, who was responsible for protecting Li Yuan outside the tent, quickly stopped him and said: "The commander is resting inside..."
"Sichang, please come in quickly, General Zhou! Send my military order and summon all the generals to discuss matters!"
Li Yuan was impatient to wait, so he quickly jumped up from the bunk, quickly put on his armor, arranged his hair, and sat down to wait for the arrival of the generals.
In the commander's tent, all the generals and generals in the army have gathered. Li Yuanzheng frowned and stared at the messy soldier in front of him. Everyone was listening to his report carefully.
According to the scout named Shen Hong, almost all of the scouts sent by Li Yuan in the morning were killed by the rebel arrows when they passed by the east gate of Shouzhou City. Only he abandoned his horse in time and ran into the dense forest. , and survived. And Shen Hong lived up to his mission and walked straight south along the forest path. It was not until noon that he finally saw Liu Renzhan's camp stationed in the south of Shouzhou City. At that time, the rebels were encircling him from all sides, and Shen Hong had no choice. As we approached the message, we could only quickly return from the original route.
Hearing this, Li Yuan's heart tightened, and then asked: "Can you see clearly, how many soldiers and horses the rebels have at this time?"
"Come back to the commander, there are too many! I can only roughly estimate from the rebel battle flags, at least, at least 60,000 to 70,000..."
Zhou Tinggou scolded without thinking: "Mother, isn't this nonsense! Where did Li Jinquan conjure so many people? Are you afraid and your eyesight is blurry?"
Shen Hong was not timid. He gritted his teeth and said: "General, the war is urgent. How dare you deceive me? I am willing to pledge my head on my neck to guarantee it. You can see clearly! Marshal Liu's troops are surrounded by enemies on all sides at this time. To the north and There are the largest number of rebels in the east, all of whom came out of Shouzhou City, while there are also two groups of troops coming from the west and south for reinforcements, with a total number of about 10,000."
Seeing Shen Hong's seemingly calm expression, Li Yuan's heart felt like it was falling into an ice cellar. He asked with a serious face: "Why are there still two soldiers and horses? Have you ever seen clearly what banner they are flying?"
"Commander, I don't recognize the soldiers and horses to the west, but I can clearly see the soldiers and horses to the south. They are the battle flags of the Baoxin Army."
Zhou Tinggou stood up immediately and shouted angrily: "If it is really the Baoxin Army, it is Li Song, the governor of Luzhou!"
This name was unfamiliar, and Li Yuan couldn't help but wonder: "Who is Li Song?"
Zhou Tinggou gritted his teeth angrily and said, "Just like the traitor Li Jinquan, he was a surrendered general who defected from the Central Plains in the fifth year of Baoda!"
Li Yuan stopped answering, calmed down and thought, after all, Shen Hong was brought by him from Langzhou, so what he said should be true. According to what Zhou Tinggou said, Li Song and Li Jinquan were both surrendered generals, and the soldiers and horses in Luzhou had already rebelled. Coupled with the main force of the rebels in Shouzhou City, Liu Renzhan's troops were now facing an army at least three times his own. Enemies and rebels were encircled, and they were in dire straits.
According to Li Yuan's original plan, he originally wanted to get in touch with Liu Renzhan, and use the Tang Army's camp in Bagong Mountain to coordinate the rescue, or to join forces as soon as possible and plan for it slowly. However, because Shen Hong was unable to approach the camp in the south of the city and lost contact with Liu Renzhan's troops, his plan was obviously disrupted. Shen Hong spent a lot of time walking back and forth. At this time, Liu Renzhan's troops must have been engaged in a bloody battle. In the middle, and in danger.
Li Yuan couldn't help but fell into confusion. At this critical moment, how should he advance to reverse the situation?
At this time, Zhou Tinggou suddenly bowed down and said with a heartfelt expression: "Marshal Li, our marshal is in dire straits at this time. Please send troops to rescue him as soon as possible!"
All the generals in Ezhou were also gearing up and clamoring, demanding support for Liu Renzhan as soon as possible.
Just when Li Yuan was confused, his eyes were fixed on the map on the table, and a bold idea suddenly came into his mind. Then he waved his hands to stop the generals' noise, and asked Zhou Tinggou in a deep voice: "General Zhou, what about Shouzhou City?" Are you familiar with it?"
Zhou Tinggou responded decisively: "Three generations of the Liu family were all born in Shouzhou, and the wife of the last general is also from Shouzhou, so naturally she is familiar with her!"
Li Yuan immediately stood up and spoke: "Okay, now that most of the rebels are gathering in the south of the city, I predict that the defenders in Shouzhou City will be weak. If I order you to lead an army to attack Shouzhou City from the east gate, are you willing to go?" "
Zhou Tinggou was stunned for a moment, then he cupped his hands and replied: "General Li, I am willing to go!"
An Ezhou general hurriedly interjected: "Commander Li, our army is small, and we have not brought any siege equipment with us on this trip. Even though there are not many defenders in Shouzhou City, the city wall is tall and strong, how can we attack it?"
"No." Li Yuan waved his hand and said: "I made it very clear that it is just a harassment, not an siege. General Zhou, I will give you two thousand infantry. All you need to do is pretend to be in an siege formation a hundred steps away." ! If the rebels attack, you are allowed to act accordingly. Remember, if you are defeated, you must not stop fighting, and you must try your best to lead them to Bagong Mountain!"
Seeing Li Yuan's calm face, Zhou Tinggou immediately nodded and said: "I will obey your order!"
"Sichang, I order you to lead the remaining two thousand infantry troops and hold the Bagong Mountain camp, ready to respond to General Zhou at any time! Our army set up camp on the mountain last night and set up many flags to bluff. If the enemy invades, , you will not dare to advance rashly if you don’t know the reality. When the time comes, you must order the sergeants to take cover, and only need to fire their bows and crossbows to resist. Remember, you must try your best to protect the Bagong Mountain camp! Otherwise, our army will lose its retreat!"
Lin Sichang patted his chest and responded loudly: "Please don't worry, Commander! I will defend the camp to the death!"
Li Yuan nodded with satisfaction. After looking around for a week, he said solemnly: "In the end, I will lead all the cavalry to rescue the camp in the south of the city! In this battle, Marshal Liu must be rescued no matter the cost!"
When the generals heard that Li Yuan was going to lead the attack in person, they all looked shocked. Little did they know that if they went forward with just four thousand cavalry, they might just be feeding the tiger with their own bodies! Especially the Ezhou generals, when they heard that Li Yuan could sacrifice his life to save Liu Renzhan, they suddenly felt inexplicable respect.
Lin Sichang was always worried about the safety of his commander, and he urgently advised: "Commander, you can't do it! Please let the last general lead the army..."
"I have made up my mind, there is no need to persuade me any more!" Li Yuan shook his head decisively and refused, then looked directly at Shen Hong aside, and said calmly: "This time, I want to march through the dense forest path, so you will lead the way. stop......"
After a while, the generals focused their attention on the two lines circled on the map. They all seemed to gradually understand Li Yuan's intention. Then they obeyed the order in unison, and then quickly ran out of the camp and began to summon the sergeants. Suddenly, people were shouting from all over the camp. The horses crow in a hurry.
The sun gradually sets in the west, and with a few crows, the Tang army in the Bagong Mountain camp has been assembled.
Li Yuan had put on the dazzling Kirin Mingguang gold armor, and steadily took the spear handed by Lin Sichang in his hand. He was sitting majestically on the war horse, with piercing eyes looking at the man in front of him who was ready to go. Tang army soldiers. Today's battle was almost a gamble, with his life at stake, and Li Yuan felt unprecedentedly nervous in his heart.
A fierce battle was imminent, and the soldiers were equally nervous, knowing that their life or death was uncertain. However, being able to fight side by side with Marshal Li, the famous Tang general in front of them, seemed to make them feel more courageous and confident.
Seeing Zhou Tinggou bowing towards him, Li Yuan took a deep breath, and then swiped the spear in his hand, instantly breaking the tranquility under the sunset: "We, the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty, will fight today. I swear to fight with you." We live and die together! The Tang Dynasty will win!!"
Then Lin Sichang raised his arms hoarsely and shouted: "The Tang Dynasty will win!"
This roar of thunder made the blood of the soldiers of the Tang Army boil instantly. They raised their swords high and shouted in unison with all their strength: "We must win! We must win!"
The red shirt on his body whistled in the wind. Li Yuan suddenly clamped his horse's belly and shouted: "The whole army goes out!"
