The generals nodded after hearing Li Ke's words.
They knew that what Li Ke said was true.
Now they also have torches, which they can use to drive away wolves.
The weakness of the wolves is that they are large in number, but not strong in strength. As long as they concentrate their forces, they can still resist.
So the Tang soldiers began to light torches and threw them towards the wolves.
The torch drew arcs in the air and landed among the wolves.
In an instant, the entire wolf pack was surrounded by flames.
The fire light illuminated the entire valley, and the wolves howled in the sea of fire. The charred wolf skins were particularly dazzling in the fire light.
However, although the wolves were frightened by the torches and fled in all directions, they did not give up their attack on the Tang army.
Some wolves were wandering on the edge of the sea of fire, looking for weaknesses in the Tang army, while more wolves were swarming towards the Tang army from all directions, trying to attack from the side or behind.
When Li Ke saw this, his heart tightened.
He knew he had underestimated the power of the wolves.
Although these wolves were not strong individually, their large numbers and tacit cooperation made the Tang army fall into a bitter battle.
At this time, Li Ke suddenly saw a huge stone not far away. His heart moved and he said to the soldiers behind him: "Go and move that stone over here!"
The soldier was stunned for a moment, but quickly came to his senses and immediately ran towards the boulder.
After Li Ke saw his soldiers lifting the boulder, he shouted loudly: "Soldiers, throw all the torches into the wolves!"
After hearing Li Ke's order, the Tang soldiers immediately threw their torches at the wolves.
The boulder was also moved to the edge of the wolves by the soldiers, and then it was smashed towards the wolves.
The boulder drew an arc in mid-air and hit the middle of the wolves hard.
In an instant, the wolves were covered by boulders. The wolf whose head was smashed and bloody was struggling under the boulder, while other wolves were frightened and fled in all directions.
Li Ke was relieved when he saw this.
At this time, the battle in the valley was coming to an end.
The wolves were smashed to pieces under the attack of boulders, and not many wolves were left alive.
Under the command of Li Ke, the Tang army quickly cleaned up the battlefield and piled the corpses of the wolves together to prevent them from pretending to be corpses.
Li Ke looked at the tragic situation in the valley and felt a little scared.
He was very aware of the attack power of these wolves. If there had not been torches and boulders just now, they would have been eaten by the wolves without leaving any bones.
However, now is not the time to think about this.
They need to leave this place quickly and head to the Great Wall Pass.
Li Ke asked his soldiers to count the number of people, and found that although the wolves attacked for a while, the losses were not great. Only a dozen people were scratched by the wolves, and the others were unharmed.
So Li Ke continued to move forward with the Tang army.
After leaving the valley, they walked for a while and finally saw the shadow of the Great Wall Pass.
However, when they arrived at the pass, they found that it had become a mess.
On the city wall, human corpses were everywhere, and the city gate was tightly closed, as if someone was defending inside.
When Li Ke saw this, his heart tightened.
He didn't know who the people in the city were, or whether the people inside were friends or enemies.
However, he knew he couldn't go in hastily.
So he asked his soldiers to go and inquire about the situation, while he led the Tang army to wait outside the pass.
In this case, Li Ke's expression was very serious. When this happened again and again, it was difficult not to make him feel that there was a conspiracy behind it, or that the nobles in Chang'an were causing trouble with the grassland tribes.
Otherwise, why would this happen and he had no information at all on the front lines?
Why is there no movement on the arrangements made by Lingzhou Guard?
"Xu Canghai, what do you think of this matter?"
When Li Ke waited for the soldiers to report back, he also asked Xu Canghai next to him to see what he thought.
Xu Canghai pondered for a moment, and then said: "Sir, from the opinion of my subordinates, I am afraid that someone did this deliberately."
"Did you do it on purpose?"
"Yes, sir, think about it. We are fighting with the grassland tribes on the front line. Logically speaking, it should be beneficial to us. However, these two attacks were both aimed at us, and both were at the rear. This has to be surprising. Suspect."
After hearing Xu Canghai's words, Li Ke also fell into deep thought.
Xu Canghai continued: "Besides, don't we still have reinforcements that haven't arrived? Now everyone is wondering whether that army has also been instigated to rebel."
"incite defection?"
Li Ke was stunned for a moment.
He really ignored this aspect.
If, as Xu Canghai said, that army was instigated to rebel, their situation would be even more dangerous.
Now they are in the light and the enemy is in the dark. If that army stabs them in the back, they will definitely be unable to defend themselves.
However, when Li Ke thought about it again, he felt something was wrong.
That army came to support them. If they were instigated to rebel, then their target should be the grassland tribes, not them.
Seeing Li Ke's confused look, Xu Canghai continued: "Sir, I think these people are here for you."
"Are you coming for me?"
Li Ke was stunned for a moment.
He didn't understand why Xu Canghai said that.
After he came to the border, he had no contact with anyone, let alone offended anyone. Why did these people come to him?
However, Xu Canghai did not explain why he said this.
He just took a look inside the pass, and then said: "Sir, now we are not sure whether the people inside are enemies or friends, and we can't stay here forever, so I think we should go back first."
Li Ke nodded. He felt that what Xu Canghai said made sense.
Now they are not sure whether the people inside are friends or foes. If they enter rashly, they may fall into the enemy's trap.
Moreover, they still have part of the army behind them, and they can come to support them if necessary.
So Li Ke decided to retreat first, and after investigating the situation clearly, it would not be too late to attack again.
Li Ke asked his soldiers to pass on the order and let the army prepare to retreat.
And he himself stood outside the pass, looking at the corpses on the city wall, feeling a little heavy in his heart.
He didn't know what all this was for, or what would happen next.
However, he knows one thing, that is, he must protect himself first in order to better face what comes next.
Li Ke led the Tang army to leave the pass quickly and headed to the rear.
After they left, the people inside the pass opened the city gate and walked out.
