The remnants of the Shengtang Army who were in shock and covered in blood were all the lucky ones who escaped from death on the Crescent Bay battlefield. Li Jiangyao was bleeding in his heart while listening to their sad and dejected descriptions.
At this moment, he felt an indescribable and overwhelming resentment.
Li Jiangyao hated the Western Xinjiang rebels, the Turks, and Zhang Sanpi. He didn't understand why the dignified Deputy Protector Zhang could be so hasty and underestimated the enemy, and ended up ruining hundreds of thousands of soldiers in vain.
In such an important strategic decisive battle, why not wait for the Pegasus Scout Battalion to conduct careful investigation before launching an operation? Why not wait for the Grand Protector He Jingming to take charge of the overall situation?
When he thought of his teacher, Li Jiangyao's heart suddenly beat a few times inexplicably.
From a certain perspective, this is also an ominous premonition.
He forced himself to temporarily suppress his irritability, get rid of all the confusing suspicions in his mind, and began to seriously think about his next move.
Currently, the main force of Shengtang in the Ghost Desert of Western Xinjiang has been completely destroyed by the enemy. Next, the Turks and various rebels are bound to continue to clear out the remaining Zhenjiang Protectorate troops in various places, thereby consolidating their results.
The small Metasequoia City is now one of the few Shengtang fortresses. It is like a small boat in the angry sea, swaying and turbulent, and it can capsize at any time.
Even if they move quickly, it will probably take several months for the imperial court's reinforcements to be fully prepared and ready to launch a counterattack.
Before that, he and his comrades must do everything possible to keep the important base of Metasequoia City and maintain the power to regain the lost territory.
Li Jiangyao cheered up and ordered his men to take care of the brothers who had escaped from the battlefield. At the same time, he mobilized 300 soldiers and divided them into dozens of teams to search and rescue the surviving remnants of the Shengtang Army in Crescent Bay.
The rest of the troops followed him back to Metasequoia City and began to prepare for war with all their strength.
Due to the urgent situation at the moment, Li Jiangyao no longer cared about hiding his whereabouts, so the two hundred cavalrymen galloped hard along the Silk Road in Western Xinjiang.
On the way back, they encountered small groups of Turkic cavalry who were chasing the Shengtang Army many times, and fought several small-scale encounters in succession. Although Li Jiangyao only had about 200 men left at this time, these warriors were all tough and brave elites, so they completely occupied the upper hand when fighting against the Turkic pursuers. By the time they reached Yue Ya Zi City, there were already two thousand remnants of the defeated army gathering around to rescue them.
However, due to lack of medical treatment, medicine, and food, the exhausted remnants continued to fall behind, and the death toll continued to increase. With no choice, Li Jiangyao had no choice but to decide that the team would temporarily stay in Yueyazi City for a short rest, and then set off again after finding some supplies.
Yueyazi is located in Shanshan State and is a small town.
During this rebellion in the Western Regions, Yueyuezi City was looted twice by the Iron Pigeon Army and the Loulan Army. Especially the second time, the cruel Loulan soldiers actually carried out a massacre here, and almost all the residents who stayed in the city were killed.
The crescent moon in front of me was full of ruins burned by the fire. Wild dogs roamed the streets, gnawing listlessly at the charred corpses, their eyes were blood red.
Li Jiangyao and others rode slowly in the ghost-like city, all feeling heavy.
Who could have imagined that just a few months ago, this was a prosperous, peaceful, and densely populated city in Western Xinjiang.
After the soldiers entered Yueyuezi, they found a spacious open space to stop, and one after another took off their saddles to rest. But just as everyone was preparing to bury the pot and make rice, they suddenly heard the sound of horse hooves coming from the north gate of the town.
The scout soldiers who followed Li Jiangyao showed excellent military qualities. They reacted very quickly, immediately displayed their weapons, each seized advantageous terrain, bent their bows and prepared arrows for battle.
With little effort, a cavalry team quickly approached from the north. When it was about to enter the shooting range of the scouting archers, the cavalry team hurriedly stopped and looked at Li Jiangyao and the others with full vigilance.
Li Jiangyao stood on a high place and watched carefully, and found that the people who came were not Turkic soldiers or rebels from Western Xinjiang, but four to five hundred Shanshan soldiers wearing mud-yellow leather armor. He ordered his men not to move for the time being, while he walked closer and asked the other party's identity and purpose.
The Shanshan soldiers still looked a little nervous. The leader, an old officer in his fifties, sat upright on his horse and saluted Li Jiangyao respectfully: "Sir, we are the Royal Guards of the Shanshan Kingdom. We happen to be passing through here and we are extremely respectful to your troops." No harm done. My lord, did you withdraw from Crescent Bay? Please leave quickly, there are a large number of Turkic ghosts behind us, coming this way!"
Li Jiangyao frowned: "How many are there?"
"About two to three thousand people." The old officer replied seriously. Immediately afterwards, a girl dressed in military uniform beside him said seriously: "Those people are regular Turkic troops. They cannot fight forcefully. You should withdraw as soon as possible."
Li Jiangyao wanted to withdraw, but at this time, he was surrounded by either remnants or wounded. Unless he grew wings, he would not be able to outrun the Turks' fast horses. He thought for a moment and said in a deep voice: "You go, I'm going to look for bad luck on those Turks!"
The Shanshan female general was only around 20 years old, with shiny black hair, healthy wheat-colored skin, and a heroic spirit between her sword-shaped eyebrows and starry eyes. After hearing Li Jiangyao's words, she couldn't help but be stunned, and asked in disbelief: "Going to seek bad luck on the Turks? Just because you have 1,800 wounded soldiers?"
"It's not one thousand eight hundred, but two hundred." Li Jiangyao corrected her seriously, then turned around and shouted angrily: "Brothers, I want to go and seek some justice for the comrades who died in Crescent Bay. What do you think?"
Two hundred armored cavalry did not hesitate and shouted in unison: "Follow your Excellency to the death!"
Li Jiangyao nodded, said nothing more, jumped on his horse, passed by the female general and the Shanshan cavalry like a whirlwind, and galloped in the opposite direction. Two hundred armored warriors got on their horses one after another, followed closely behind Li Jiangyao, and left.
Seeing the Shengtang Army, which was less than half their number, rushing straight to the north, Shanshan's soldiers couldn't help but be a little stunned. They reined in the reins on the spot and turned their attention to the old officer and the girl general.
The girl quietly stared at the backs of Li Jiangyao and the others, feeling a little lost for a moment. The old officer sighed: "Hey, why bother?"
"I think... they have to be like this." The girl said quietly, "The shame of Crescent Bay, the wounded soldiers in front of me, maybe it would be the same if it were me."
The old officer shook his head: "But... two hundred versus two thousand, and they are Turkic elites, this battle is too reckless..."
The girl stopped him and said, "Uncle Hong, in my opinion, let's not leave yet and wait until we see the situation."
"What do you mean?" The old officer was slightly startled: "Is it possible that we still need to..."
The girl smiled miserably: "To be honest, I'm tired of running away, so I might as well fight with them. Uncle Hong, don't worry, I mean, stay and provide a way out for the Lord Shengtang. If the battle situation is unfavorable, it would be good for someone to take care of them, right?"
The old officer hesitated: "But... I mean but, this fighting business is not perfect. Once we get involved, not only will we not be able to deal with the Shengtang people, but we may not be able to escape."
The girl waved her hand: "I'm still saying, I'm tired of running away, so I won't run away! No matter what, this is our Shanshan territory. If you die here, you are worthy of my name! Let's go!"
Shanshan soldiers were all hiding behind the broken city wall, secretly looking at Li Jiangyao who was standing on horseback not far from the city.
At this time, the yellow sand was already rolling further away. Seeing more than two thousand Turkic cavalry rushing closer in the blink of an eye, the old Shanshan officer and the heroic young general couldn't help but clenched the hilts of their swords, feeling in their hearts. Secretly breaking into a cold sweat.
However, what happened next made all the Shanshan soldiers present dumbfounded.
-
Li Jiangyao's mood at the moment was actually both tense and complicated.
He doesn't regret his decision. Firstly, the disastrous defeat at Crescent Bay left him suppressing anger in his heart, with nowhere to vent it. Secondly, as the girl said, with a large number of wounded around him, once discovered by the enemy, there would be no way to escape. If he couldn't win the next battle, he could still lead his men to divert the pursuers, at least to save the lives of his comrades in the city to the greatest extent possible.
He wanted to think so, but after all, the power gap between the two sides was too great, and he didn't have any defenses to rely on. It would be a lie to say that he wasn't nervous in a duel with Turkic cavalry that was ten times his own strength in such an open terrain.
Li Jiangyao couldn't help but secretly laugh in his heart. It was really ridiculous that he, who always boasted that he "never suffered a loss", would do such a thing.
At this moment, the Turkic cavalry brigade also spotted Li Jiangyao and his men from a distance. The Turks, who were experienced in combat, immediately surrounded them in a fan shape without saying a word.
When they came closer, the Turks were surprised to see that this small group of Shengtang soldiers not only did not rush away, but also formed a formation, as if they wanted to compete. Out of a sense of alertness, the Turkic cavalry, under the command of the leading officer, stopped one after another, temporarily staying a hundred steps away from Li Jiangyao and the others, and began to observe carefully.
Suddenly, someone in the Turkic team shouted: "Oh my God! It's the ghost-faced white-robed army from Metasequoia City!"
It didn't matter what he shouted, the entire Turkic cavalry team's hearts immediately tightened.
The Turkic force in front of them that was responsible for chasing the Shengtang Army was none other than the Iron Pigeon Army that had besieged Metasequoia City before and fought against Li Jiangyao and the others.
The two Turkic captains leading the team quickly took a closer look: the opponent was wearing blue clothes, black armor, an iron helmet with an animal face, and a dazzling white cloak on the back... That's right! It's those vicious demons!
And Li Jiangyao, who was immediately at the front, still looked like he did when he led his troops into the camp before. He was wearing chain armor and no helmet. He only had a red hero scarf tied in front of his forehead, and his fair face made him look particularly solemn.
Seeing this, a captain subconsciously touched his right arm.
On that terrifying morning, the young General Shengtang in front of him rode directly in front of him and slashed him with his sword. The commander only felt a flash of white light, and the iron spear in his hand immediately broke into two pieces. If it weren't for the strong armor, one of his arms would have been like a spear, saying goodbye to his body forever.
