Li Tai watched the back of the man in black disappear into the darkness, and couldn't help but feel a burst of pride and joy in his heart. He knew this was his chance. He needs to seize this opportunity, get rid of Li Ke, and make himself the next emperor of the Tang Dynasty.
At the same time, in the military camp of Lingzhou Guard.
Li Ke was discussing the next action with Xu Canghai. They already knew someone was sabotaging their grain supply chain, but they had yet to find evidence. They need to figure out a way to solve this problem.
Li Ke and Xu Canghai discussed countermeasures. They both knew that time was running out and the enemy was insidious and cunning, so they must act cautiously.
Xu Canghai said: "Li Ke, I think we should start with the supply chain of grain and grass. Start investigating from the source to see where there may be problems."
Li Ke nodded and agreed. He said to Xu Canghai: "General Xu, please start investigating. We must get to the bottom of the problem in the grain and grass supply chain."
Xu Canghai responded and immediately arranged for manpower to investigate.
At the same time, Li Tai was also intensively planning his next move. He knew that if he wanted to get rid of Li Ke, he must first cut off his supply of food and grass. Only in this way can his army lose its combat effectiveness and be annihilated in one fell swoop.
So, he secretly sent someone to contact Hei Lang, the bandit leader, and promised him a large sum of money to attack Li Ke's army while transporting food.
In the den of the sand bandit Black Wolf.
"Go back and tell King Wei that this matter will be taken care of by me, Hei Lang."
Three days later, Black Wolf led a group of bandits and ambush the road where the grain transport team must pass. They waited quietly for the arrival of Li Ke's army.
Soon, the sound of horse hooves and wheels was heard in the distance. Black Wolf immediately gave the order to attack. The bandits jumped up and launched a fierce attack on the grain transport team.
The food transport team suddenly fell into chaos, and the soldiers took up arms to fight back. However, because the bandits were familiar with the terrain and continued to use the terrain to carry out guerrilla warfare, the grain transport team fell into a passive position.
After Li Ke and Xu Canghai learned the news, they immediately led their troops to support.
After arriving at the scene, the troops transporting grain and grass were fighting with Black Wolf's subordinates.
"Hei Lang, if I don't go looking for trouble with you, how dare you take the initiative to cause trouble with me?"
Li Ke also saw Hei Lang's figure, his face suddenly sank, and he said coldly.
Hei Lang raised his brows, relying on the fact that he was cooperating with King Wei behind his back, and said as if he didn't take Li Ke seriously at all: "You just suffered a defeat a few days ago, and the brothers came to ask you for some food. Isn’t it okay to have food and grass?”
Li Ke was filled with anger. He did not expect that Black Wolf would attack at this time. However, he did not lose his calm, but quickly thought of countermeasures.
Xu Canghai also saw Hei Lang's intentions. He sneered: "Hei Lang, you are indeed a bad wolf. Let's see if I don't tear you into pieces."
After saying that, he patted his horse and rushed towards the black wolf. On the way to charge, he took out a rocket from the leather pouch next to the saddle, lit it and threw it towards the black wolf.
When the black wolf saw this, he was shocked. He wanted to escape, but it was too late. The rocket hit its target accurately and exploded the black wolf's chest.
When the bandits saw that their leader was dead, they were immediately in chaos. Li Ke and Xu Canghai led their troops to counterattack quickly. The bandits could not resist and fled in all directions.
Li Ke did not let these sand bandits go. He ordered a pursuit to eliminate them all.
The bandits fled in all directions, and Li Ke and Xu Canghai led their troops to pursue them. They must destroy all their enemies before they escape deep into the desert.
During the pursuit, Li Ke and Xu Canghai continued to issue orders for the soldiers to divide into small teams and search in different directions. They knew that if the bandits were allowed to escape deep into the desert, it would be extremely difficult to find them again.
At this time, the sky was gradually getting dark. Li Ke and Xu Canghai were considering whether they should temporarily stop the pursuit and wait for dawn before continuing. Suddenly, there was a sound of horse hooves in the distance.
The two men immediately looked into the distance warily and saw a group of bandits rushing towards them. It turned out that these bandits did not flee into the depths of the desert, but wanted to sneak attack Li Ke's army at night.
When Li Ke and Xu Canghai saw this, they were filled with anger. They immediately led their troops to launch a fierce attack on the sand bandits.
The battle lasted until late at night. Finally, the bandits could no longer hold on and were all wiped out by Li Ke's army.
After the battle, Li Ke and Xu Canghai immediately sent soldiers to search to see if there were any survivors. They need to get more information about the enemy from the living mouths for the next battle.
After some searching, the soldiers finally found a living person. He was a young bandit who survived by hiding in corners.
Li Ke and Xu Canghai immediately interrogated him.
"Who asked you to attack my food and grass road? And the food and grass road is not something that ordinary people can know. Who revealed this news to you?"
Xu Canghai opened his mouth and asked, playing with a dagger in his hand, as if he was going to cut off the flesh on his body in the next second.
"Yes, it was King Wei's people who told us that your food transport team would pass through here, so, that's why we came to rob. We really don't know why King Wei lied to us?"
The young bandit trembled with fear and stammered.
Li Ke and Xu Canghai looked at each other and saw the solemnity in each other's eyes. They did not expect that this matter was secretly controlled by King Wei. What is his purpose? Could it be that he wanted to use the Black Wolf to get rid of Li Ke's army, thereby weakening the strength of the Tang Dynasty?
Thinking of this, both of them felt a chill. They know that not everyone in this world can believe it. Especially people like King Wei, who can do anything for their own interests.
Li Ke said coldly: "Go back and tell King Wei that this matter is over. If he dares to do anything secretly again, don't blame me for being rude."
Hearing this, the young bandit immediately nodded and said, "I will convey your warning properly when I get back, but, you can't kill me to silence me."
Xu Canghai smiled and said, "Don't worry, we won't kill you. However, you have to remember that if you dare to do anything detrimental to Datang again, don't blame us for being rude."
When the young bandit heard this, he immediately said repeatedly: "Don't dare, don't dare."
When Li Ke and Xu Canghai saw this, they both breathed a sigh of relief. They knew that the young bandit would definitely convey their warning to King Wei after he returned. And King Wei will also know that their actions have been exposed, and it will not be easy to harm Datang again.
