In the south of Shouzhou City, as three short trumpets suddenly sounded from behind the rebels, countless sun, moon and star flags suddenly turned their direction. The most conspicuous commander's flag with the word "Li" was among the remaining cavalry of the rebels. Under cover, take the lead in withdrawing to the north. Then the scattered rebel infantrymen turned around and ran away without hesitation, as if they had been granted amnesty.
The situation reversed unexpectedly. The soldiers of the Tang army who had experienced brutal fighting were already red-eyed, especially the soldiers under Liu Renzhan. They were full of anger and were about to explode. How could they let the enemy troops leave the battlefield at this time? Seeing this, everyone became more energetic and continued to wave their weapons vigorously, sticking behind the enemy's buttocks to pursue them. Many rebel soldiers did not even dare to turn around, and just followed the large troops and fled in a hurry.
Li Yuan, sweating profusely, rode his horse forward a few steps. He stared at the rebels retreating desperately towards Shouzhou City like a flood. He suddenly realized something in his heart and quickly jumped on his horse and shouted: "The rebels have retreated." , the whole army obeys the order, don’t chase the poor bandits!”
Not far away, a deputy general was wielding a long knife and cutting the heads of two rebel soldiers into the sky. After hearing Li Yuan's order, he quickly tightened the reins and ran over and asked: "Commander! Why don't you chase?" The rebels are fleeing and their formation is in chaos, now is a good time to chase them!"
Seeing that the general's eyes were red, and he was obviously killing happily, Li Yuan just raised his finger and pointed in the distance, and said solemnly: "The rebels still numbered no less than 20,000, and they took the initiative to withdraw from the city. At this moment, there is no Defeated! Now that most of our soldiers are exhausted, how many of them can we kill? Are we going to pursue them into Shouzhou City? Don’t be reckless!"
Xu was emotionally excited. Liu Renzhan coughed violently and slammed his sword into the ground. He managed to support it with his hands and said, "You must not act impulsively! Marshal Li said it very well..." ..."
Seeing Liu Renzhan's turbid eyes cast towards him, as if he had not yet finished his words, Li Yuan quickly took the initiative and said: "Commander Liu, this is not the place to talk! It is already dark, and we need to evacuate the battlefield as soon as possible!" Hearing this Liu Renzhan said Renzhan naturally understood and immediately nodded in agreement.
Immediately after the two commanders gave the order at the same time, all the Tang army officers quickly cleaned the battlefield, piled up the dead, regardless of whether they were enemies or friends, as well as human and horse corpses, and burned them. The sky was already dark, and there were countless piles of corpses in the camp. Pillars of black smoke rose straight into the sky, and soon the entire wilderness was filled with the pungent smell of burning.
The fire was raging into the sky, but the Tang army officers had no time to watch and had already begun to line up. Each battalion immediately counted the casualties, quickly inspected the weapons and armor, and then gathered all the captured horses and trophies.
After a while, several generals trotted to Li Yuan's side and reported in a low voice with respectful faces.
The Tang army suffered heavy casualties in today's battle! In Liu Renzhan's department alone, the 20,000 Wuchang Army now has less than 3,000 people left after excluding the severely and lightly wounded. These newly surrendered Qing Huai Army troops have indeed served as cannon fodder for Li Jinquan. A total of 30,000 troops were killed. Went halfway. As for the 4,000 cavalry brought by Li Yuan, they also lost more than 800, half of which were soldiers and horses from Langzhou. Li Yuan suddenly felt a little painful when he heard this.
Li Yuan sighed deeply, and then added: "Take as much of the food and luggage left in the camp as you can. If you really can't take it away, just burn it on the spot! It's getting late now, so order the whole army to immediately Set off, the infantry clears the way, the cavalry takes the rear, and heads from the dense forest trail to the Bagong Mountain camp!"
All the generals obeyed the order in unison.
Soon the Southern Tang army set off, retreated south into the dense forest, and then headed northeast.
Due to the battle and the night march, the soldiers were physically exhausted, but fortunately they were in good spirits. No matter how heavy the casualties were today, at least they defeated the rebels and greatly improved the morale of the army.
Most of the soldiers, including Liu Renzhan's troops and the Qing Huai army, have been deeply impressed by Li Yuantian's feat of subduing the magic soldiers and his exquisite and brave marksmanship. This awe will probably be difficult to erase after today's battle.
Two hours later, the army finally arrived at the Bagong Mountain camp. Zhou Tinggou and Lin Sichang had already led their troops to wait anxiously at the mountain pass. At this time, they saw Li Yuan and Liu Renzhan walking side by side, exhausted, and looking at the long queue behind them, The number of Long's Tang army officers and soldiers was far greater than the four thousand before they came down the mountain, and everyone was even more excited beyond words.
After all the army entered the camp to rest, except for the soldiers on guard and patrol, there was a roar of joy everywhere. All the soldiers of the Tang Army rested in twos and threes around the bonfires. This broad mountaintop camp, these many Paoze brothers, It brings everyone a long-lost sense of security, and is filled with the joy and sadness of surviving the disaster.
When Liu Renzhan and the generals came to Li Yuan's handsome tent, Li Yuan was drinking hot tea from the cup, making soft smacking sounds from his mouth, looking very satisfied. After all, after a hard battle, it’s so refreshing to be able to drink a cup of hot tea, which tastes bitter but sweet after all!
But Li Yuan felt a little helpless. He had specially brought these fine teas with him to drink with Emperor Zhou E on the way to the wedding. Who would have thought that it would be in the military camp? He was obviously rushing to welcome his bride, but the war started again for no reason. He only hoped that the war would end soon and he could see Emperor Zhou E as soon as possible. After all, this was his life-long event...
After the generals sat down in greeting, they all started talking about Li Yuan's injury. After thanking them one by one, Li Yuan just smiled naturally. At this time, all the wounds on Li Yuan's body have been bandaged. Although the injuries are not serious, he can still clearly feel the faint stinging sensation. But on the battlefield, there are always no eyes for weapons and weapons. Now that he has saved his life and returned safely, what else can he complain about? Just thinking about this, Li Yuan didn't care anymore.
Immediately, Liu Renzhan, the main target of today's rescue, hurriedly led his generals to express his gratitude to Li Yuan very sincerely, and continued to express his grateful words.
I saw Liu Renzhan getting more and more excited as he spoke, and kept sighing: "...His Majesty once said that Marshal Li is the king of the world! I think that Marshal Li deserves it! Today's battle is enough to prove his reputation! This journey is thousands of miles away. I will remember your great kindness for coming to your aid forever!"
Seeing that Liu Renzhan, the most senior man, actually bowed and saluted him, Li Yuan quickly stood up and supported him, saying with a wry smile: "Shuai Liu, you are too flattering! You are the pillar of the country, with high morals and high respect. I am still young, but you can't afford to be like this." Such a great gift! Now that the country is in trouble, Marshal Liu lives up to His Majesty's kindness and takes the lead in leading the army to suppress the rebellion. He does not care about life and death. He is so loyal and brave! I am both a deprived person and a leader of the army, how can I stand idly by?"
These extremely humble and loyal and patriotic words made Liu Renzhan burst into tears. All the generals present were moved, but in fact they all knew in their hearts that Marshal Li fully deserved such praise! If Li Yuan hadn't decided to divert northward to rush for reinforcements that day, and then devised clever plans one after another, and took the lead in defeating the enemy, Liu Renzhan's troops would have been wiped out by now!
Zhou Tinggou, who was sitting aside, looked depressed at this time. He wanted to express his feelings several times, but he was afraid of ruining the scenery, so he had to hold back.
He was really feeling aggrieved. He could vividly remember the scene in Ezhou City that day until now. How arrogant and ruthless Liu Chongjian was as the son of Liu Renzhan, but Li Yuan would rather delay the wedding and resolutely go north to rescue him. , the two instantly formed a huge and strong contrast.
The most ironic thing is that when Liu Renzhan saw Zhou Tinggou leading the army here today, he obviously mistakenly thought that they were sent by his good son Liu Chongjian, and even praised him constantly. Li Yuan knew it well, but he cooperated tacitly and did not reveal the truth.
Secretly sighing, Zhou Tinggou was very worried. Everyone in Ezhou City knew that Liu Renzhan had always doted on his young son and would definitely entrust his military power and family property to him in the future. But this person is headstrong and ruthless, and I'm afraid even greater disaster is yet to come...
"General Zhou, today the rebels took the initiative to withdraw their troops and returned to the city. You have done a great job! Can you tell me about the situation in Shouzhou City today?"
Looking up and meeting Li Yuan's earnest gaze, Zhou Tinggou quickly collected himself and began to speak.
