Xie Gui led a group of personal guards and rushed to the front camp after hearing the news. The messy scene in front of him immediately made him feel cold all over. While constantly walking around the smoke-filled and messy field, Xie Gui kept spouting the most filthy words from his mouth. In his desperation, he no longer cared about the general's demeanor.
Shao Tingxuan, who was also in a depressed mood, was following Xie Gui step by step. Tonight, the two of them were actually in the same embarrassing situation. How could they comfort others when they were already depressed? It wasn't until Xie Gui frowned and stopped in front of the remains of a blazing fire that Shao Tingqi thought about it, leaned over and coughed: "Xie Dutong..."
"Shut up!" Unexpectedly, Xie Gui burst out suddenly and turned around immediately, his face full of gloom and indignation: "Shao Tingxuan, is this how you guard the siege equipment? There are tens of thousands of elite soldiers in front of you. Under your nose, let Li Yuan's soldiers and horses calmly deploy trebuchets in front of the formation? At this moment, all our army's siege equipment is destroyed, how will we fight the next battle?"
Shao Tingqian's face darkened when he heard this. After all, he was an envoy appointed by the emperor to watch the army. Usually, even old commanders like Pan Chongche had to give Xie Gui a thumbs up. Now he was scolded by Xie Gui in public. , regardless of whether he did it intentionally or not, he couldn't keep his face anymore.
But seeing Shao Tingxuan's brows suddenly furrowed, he tried his best to suppress the anger in his heart and replied coldly: "Xie Dutong, who could have imagined that Li Yuan would be so bold in using troops? How dare he attack hundreds of steps away from my front camp. This is true. I was derelict in my duty, but thank you, Dutong——"
Xie Gui seemed to deliberately not let the other party finish his words, and interrupted angrily: "Shao Tingxuan, since I know it is your dereliction of duty, it's good! Military law is like a mountain. Our army has suffered such losses tonight. How can we enforce military discipline without punishing you?" However, this capital thinks that you are an envoy watching the army, so it is up to you to judge the crime yourself!"
Shao Tingqi was stunned for a moment, almost unable to believe his ears. Could it be that you, Xie Gui, were distracted? How could even Pan Chongche, the upright leader of the capital, be able to cure the supervisor of the crime? Then he smiled and said: "Xie Dutong, since you know that I am an envoy to observe the army and come to supervise the army on behalf of His Majesty, how dare you slander me? Is this matter tonight just my fault? Let me tell you, I’m not at fault at all.”
"What? You still dare to say that you are not at fault. This is simply unreasonable." Xie Gui became furious and shouted loudly.
Shao Tingchu said calmly: "Xie Dutong, even if this matter comes before His Majesty, I dare to report it like this. Don't forget, I lead the elite troops of the front camp, not the logistics troops. My 10,000 former The army is working hard to siege the city, how can it be used to guard the siege equipment? This is not my scope of responsibility! Tonight Li Yuan used the strategy of attacking the east and attacking the west. If it weren't for your incompetent clan brother in the back camp, they would have How can we succeed?"
Xie Gui's face turned red suddenly, and he hurriedly gathered all his strength and shouted louder: "Shut up... In short, the siege equipment was attacked by the Tang army under your nose, Shao Tingxuan, so it's your fault! You cannot escape this guilt no matter what!"
Shao Tingjuan sneered and said: "Guilty? If we were to investigate the culprit, I'm afraid you are not Xie Dutong as the culprit! Although I have only been in the army for a short time, I also know that before the army attacks the city, it is necessary to properly protect the siege equipment. Who ordered these things to be used?" Gather them all and show them to the Tang army? If you, Xie Dutong, had not insisted on showing off your power to Li Yuanyao and deliberately placed these weapons in the front camp to scare them, how could such a thing have happened?
Pan Dutong entrusted the army to you, but I didn't expect you to have this ridiculous idea. Now that something went wrong, you blame me... That's all, Xie Dutong, why don't we go back to Prince Xing's Mansion to let His Majesty Comment and find out who made the mistake. "
"You..." At the mention of the moody Majesty in the capital, Xie Gui was trembling with anger but helpless. If he really argued with Shao Tingxuan, a famous person who had served him personally for many years, he would probably lose his mind.
But after calming down a little, Xie Gui had to admit that Shao Tingxuan's words were reasonable. If he hadn't wanted to show off his power and scare his opponents, how could he have suffered the consequences? It’s just that he never expected that a brave guy like Li Yuan would dare to attack the rear camp from east to west and bomb the front camp at night with only more than 10,000 troops in his hands. And the person guarding the rear camp was none other than that good-for-nothing Xie Chong...
In fact, Xie Gui kept trying to blame Shao Tingqian at this moment, but he was just taking the opportunity to express his extreme anger. One person's defeat tonight was equivalent to being slapped in the face instead of showing off, which was really humiliating.
Between the two, Xie Gui was secretly thinking about Shao Tingxuan, a newly rising general. Although he had not publicly clashed with him before, there were rumors in the army about the comparison of talents between Xie and Shao. In the eyes of generals like Xie Gui, who relied solely on solid military achievements for promotion, they originally looked down upon Shao Tingqian, who was born in a palace and was an eunuch. However, this Shao Junrong, who had a smooth official career, showed extraordinary performance. How can one not be jealous of someone with his ordinary ability to lead an army?
Seeing Xie Gui gradually falling into silence, Shao Tingzhen took the initiative to soften his expression, cupped his hands and whispered: "Xie Dutong, the matter has come to this, why should we blame each other when the enemy is now? It's just that Li Yuan is too cunning, after all who I didn't expect that just the Tang army would dare to attack openly, right?
However, even if Li Yuan has some means, it cannot fundamentally change the overall situation. Although our army has lost its siege equipment, its military strength is still at an absolute advantage, and the Tang army still cannot defend Yiyang City! "
"Shao Junrong said it lightly! Previously, our army could not attack Yiyang City with these rams and crossbows. Now there are not many siege equipment left. How can we attack it after tomorrow? Is it just relying on the strength of troops? Don't forget As our troops penetrated deeper into enemy territory, one less person was killed or injured, and there was no backup..." Xie Gui's face softened slightly, but he still frowned and said.
Shao Tingxuan shook his head and said: "Xie Dutong, if the siege equipment is destroyed, it will be destroyed. The worst thing is to let the craftsmen accompanying the army repair and build it again. The mountains and forests behind are lush and it won't take a few days. We also have enough food and grass!"
"What if we wait a few more days and Tang army soldiers and horses arrive to support us? Li Yuan is the envoy of a town. Do you really think that his soldiers and horses only have more than 10,000 people? Now we do have the superior force. , but the opportunity is fleeting and things may change!"
Shao Tingqi sneered and said: "Then eat these more than 10,000 Tang troops first! Let's solve Li Yuan's scourge in one fell swoop. Once the head coach of the Tang army dies, they can march forward without any hindrance."
Xie Gui's eyes widened, and he swallowed suddenly. Perhaps this proposal was very tempting, or he was motivated by revenge. Then he nodded and said solemnly: "Well, it seems that this is the only way! After sunrise, Ponti The commander-in-chief will personally lead an army of 20,000 to annihilate the enemy on the opposite hilltop! After the commander-in-chief captures Li Yuan, he will then march directly to Yiyang!
As for Shao Jun, you will stay in the camp and be responsible for arranging troops and horses to build siege equipment. The Pontifical Commander will only give you three days. You must build 500 rams within three days, otherwise the Pontifical Commander will not agree! "
After saying that, Xie Gui walked away, and Shao Tingxuan stood there. After Xie Gui's back gradually faded away, he finally couldn't help but spat, and his face was distorted for a moment, but soon returned to normal.
…
