When everyone heard the words, they hurriedly followed the order.
When Li Shimin saw the crowd moving, he also pulled out the sword from his waist, took the shield from a pass, dismounted and held the sword and shield on guard.
Not long after, Chen Zhong had led the rear troops to withdraw from the valley mouth, and Li Shimin ordered the Chinese army to take their horses and follow the rear troops to retreat.
"General Yuanxiong, after seeing us withdraw, you will lead the front army to withdraw from the valley mouth."
Wu Ban heard His Majesty's order and waved to His Majesty from a distance, which was regarded as accepting the order.
Just as the Chinese army was retreating, the shouts from the steep slopes on both sides of the valley gradually approached.
At this time, a group of secret guards were returning from the investigation and saw that His Majesty was leading the team to retreat towards the mouth of the valley. Several secret guards quickly came to His Majesty and reported:
"Your Majesty, a large number of barbarians have been found on the cliffs on both sides of Fenghuang Ridge. It seems that they are composed of multiple tribes. Their number is about seven to eight hundred people."
"Do you know whether the other party is an enemy or a friend?"
"Our observation shows that they are enemies rather than friends, and it seems that these seven or eight hundred people are not all."
Li Shimin was shocked when he heard this. He remembered what was said in the hexagram, and he was in danger of a sword attack. Could it be today?
Just when Li Shimin was shocked and suspicious, another wave of secret guards came to report.
Li Shimin led the Chinese army to quickly withdraw from the valley entrance, while signaling the secret guard to report.
The secret guard followed His Majesty's footsteps and reported back:
"Your Majesty, at the intersection of the three forks outside the valley, we found a large number of barbarian soldiers riding yaks, antelopes and other animals. It seems that they should be soldiers of the northern Qianghu tribe."
"How many people do they have? Do you know whether they are enemies or friends?"
"They were either riding one or two horses abreast, marching in a file along the narrow path between the mountains. Their tails were not visible behind them, and we could not tell the number of people on the other side.
The opponents came glaring at the entrance of Fenghuangling Valley, echoing the barbarians on the cliffs of Fenghuangling. They were most likely enemies! "
At this moment, a shout of killing was heard from the front of the valley. Upon hearing the sound, Wu Ban immediately organized the soldiers in the front line to form a formation to meet the enemy.
When Li Shimin saw this, he did not dare to neglect, and hurriedly ordered a part of the Chinese army to move forward to assist Wu Ban in its defense.
After they sent someone to assist Wu Ban, Chen Zhong heard shouts of killing behind him.
When Li Shimin looked closely, he saw outside the mouth of the valley, Chen Zhong led a hundred flying cavalry guards, fighting with the enemies riding animals.
Without thinking too much, Li Shimin quickened his pace, and under the protection of Zhang Yan and others, rushed out of the valley and joined forces with Chen Zhong.
When Chen Zhong saw His Majesty leaving the valley entrance, he hurriedly protected His Majesty. While commanding the flying cavalry guards to form formations on three sides to resist the enemy troops, Chen Zhong protected His Majesty's retreat along the way.
At this time, Wu Ban was leading the remaining troops to fight and retreat, and was about to exit the valley mouth.
When he was approaching the mouth of the valley, arrows suddenly rained down from the cliffs on both sides of the valley. Wu Ban had to give up the idea of retreating to the mouth of the valley and hurriedly hid under the steep slopes on both sides to avoid the arrows.
At this time, Li Shimin and others gradually couldn't resist the enemy and had no choice but to let the valley entrance out.
The barbarian soldiers took the opportunity to occupy the entrance of the valley. They attacked from inside and outside the valley, and arrows intersected on the cliffs, trapping Wu Ban in the valley.
When Li Shimin saw this, he was worried and wanted to lead his troops to recapture the mouth of the valley and rescue Wu Ban.
Seeing the strength of the barbarian troops, Chen Zhong grabbed His Majesty tightly and begged:
"Your Majesty, your holy body, must not act out of emotion.
We are a small group of people, and we are ambushed by barbarians. At this time, we have to fight desperately to break out, and we must not enter the tiger's den again! "
When Li Shimin saw that the flying cavalry guards in front were gradually unable to withstand the attack of the barbarians, and that Wu Ban's life and death were uncertain in the valley, he became furious.
"The barbarians are so arrogant, how can I show weakness so easily?
Chen Zhong, I order you to lead your team in the reverse direction, ignore the barbarians on both sides, and only fight a bloody path from the middle to save Wu Ban.
Zhang Yan, leading the female secret guards who returned from the investigation, and my tribe, resisted the surrounding barbarians here and cut off Chen Zhong's rear. "
After saying this, Li Shimin threw Chen Zhong away with all his strength and wanted to fight with his sword.
Chen Zhong saw that His Majesty had made up his mind and did not dare to persuade him any more. He immediately led his one hundred flying cavalry guards to form an arrow formation and charged straight into the front of the barbarians.
When Zhang Yan saw Chen Zhong leading troops to attack the barbarians, she immediately ordered the female secret guards to guard his majesty. She led the remaining personal guards to follow Chen Zhong and clear out the barbarians besieging him on the left and right.
At this time, in the mountain road that was not very wide, the government troops and several groups of barbarians were fighting together in three places.
Although the officers and soldiers were all elite and fought to the death, there were still many barbarian soldiers, and they formed a tendency to divide and encircle them. The situation became increasingly unfavorable for the officers and soldiers.
Wu Ban was caught between two sides in the valley and fought hard. From time to time, he had to guard against arrows on the cliff. Even though he was experienced and capable, he was unable to break through the blockade and get out of the valley for a while. He even almost got shot by hidden arrows several times. injured.
Chen Zhong carried out His Majesty's order and led his troops to charge towards the mouth of the valley. However, due to the narrow road and the barbarian soldiers advancing one after another, they were unable to take a step forward.
Li Shimin was constantly thinking about countermeasures at this time, and from time to time he would be distracted and use his shield to block a few hidden arrows.
Seeing that the flying horse guards he had just formed fell one by one and refused to retreat, Li Shimin's heart was as sharp as a knife.
"Could it be that I should die by the sword today? Could it be that my ambition to change my destiny for Shu Han has become a luxury? Shouldn't I really go north to Wenshan County at this time?"
Li Shimin couldn't help but question himself, his eyes filled with regret and despair.
Just as Li Shimin and others were engaged in a bitter battle, the barbarian soldiers on the cliff suddenly scattered and fled.
Li Shimin looked intently and saw a group of men and horses appearing on Fenghuang Ridge. The leading general was leaping on his horse with his spear drawn, clashing back and forth on the mountain ridge to kill the fleeing barbarians.
Soon after, on the bank of black water to the west of Sanchakou, a group of men and horses were quickly attacking the flanks of the barbarian soldiers riding beasts.
Zhang Yan saw this and said excitedly:
"Brother Adou, our Han officers and soldiers are coming. At this time, we are moving forward bravely. We are taking advantage of the situation to surround and kill the barbarians!"
Li Shimin was also extremely excited at this time, at least today he could not live up to the prophecy of "death by sword".
Thinking of this, Li Shimin cheered up and stepped forward with his sword. While helping Zhang Yan kill the barbarian soldiers in front of him, he shouted:
"The enemy troops scattered and fled on the cliff, and reinforcements arrived from the front. We only need to push forward to join up with the reinforcements and repel the barbarians!
Everyone, rally to me and follow me to kill the enemy soldiers in one go! "
Those Qiang and Hu who were riding beasts were first frightened by the officers and soldiers coming from the west, and then were attacked from the front by Li Shimin's army. Unable to control his momentum, he immediately divided his troops to attack the western army.
When the barbarians were in chaos, Li Shimin seized the opportunity, held his sword in front, and rushed straight to the entrance of Fenghuang Ridge.
Zhang Yan and Chen Zhong saw that His Majesty was desperately moving forward, so they did not dare to neglect, and hurriedly rushed to His Majesty's side. The three of them formed a cornering position and moved forward together.
While he was killing, he suddenly heard someone in the enemy formation shouting in barbaric language:
"Warriors, don't get entangled at the mouth of the valley. The troops on the west side are powerful. We must repel the troops on the west side first!"
After this shout, all the barbarians gathered at the entrance of the valley turned from attack to defense. Only a small number of barbarians were left to contain Li Shimin and others. Most of the other barbarians turned around and killed the officers and soldiers on the west road.
Although he did not know the content of the enemy's shouting, Li Shimin felt that the pressure was greatly reduced when he saw the changes in the tactics of the barbarians. At this time, we also have the opportunity to check the situation of reinforcements on the west route.
When Li Shimin looked closely, he saw a young general rushing forward in the enemy formation to the west, holding spears in both hands to kill the barbarians in the enemy formation.
Although he couldn't see the general's face clearly, Li Shimin recognized his figure and attire and recognized that the general was Ma Cheng, the son of Ma Chao.
At this time, Ma Cheng held the horse's belly firmly between his legs, allowing the sweaty and bloody horse to clash with the enemy at will.
He himself would stab with a spear in one hand, or stab with a spear in both hands, killing all the barbarian soldiers in fear.
Not long after, a vacuum was created in the enemy formation.
Li Shimin couldn't help but sigh with emotion when he saw this:
"In the past, General Shenweitian of Xiliang was really a tiger father with no dog sons. Ma Cheng is no less brave than his father!"
After a short time, the barbarian soldiers on horseback retreated to the pass where they came from, not daring to fight forward again.
Li Shimin saw that all the barbarian soldiers were retreating to the main road, so he hurried to the valley to see the situation of Wu Ban.
As soon as they entered the valley entrance, they saw that Wu Ban's armor was stained scarlet with blood. He was dragging his left arm that was still bleeding, directing the soldiers to fight with the barbarians in the valley.
Upon seeing this, Li Shimin couldn't help but worry about Wu Ban, and quickly organized the remaining flying cavalry guards around him to step forward to help in the battle.
"Chen Zhong, please quickly return to Wu Ban and let him come to me to heal his injuries."
Chen Zhong took the order and left. As soon as he arrived near Wu Ban, he saw all the barbarians in the valley kneeling down and begging for surrender.
Chen Zhong and Wu Ban were puzzled. When they looked up, they saw a young general on a white horse leaping down from the gentle slope on the side of the valley, shouting something in barbarian language.
Wu Ban knew a thing or two about the language of the barbarians, and he heard what the young general was shouting: "The leader of the thieves has been killed, and the rest will surrender their weapons without killing them!"
Now that the barbarian soldiers in the valley had surrendered, Wu Ban relaxed. Unexpectedly, this relaxation did not matter. Wu Ban felt that the world was spinning, his vision went dark, and he fainted in Chen Zhong's arms.
Seeing this, Chen Zhong didn't bother to inform the young general. He only ordered the flying cavalry guards around him to help capture the barbarians, while he carried Wu Ban on his back and headed towards His Majesty.
As soon as I arrived at His Majesty's side, I saw an official scout coming from the mouth of the valley. When the scout saw Your Majesty, he dismounted and bowed.
"Your Majesty! General Ma Cheng has trapped the Di tribe's strong end rebels in a mountain stream. They cannot attack the strong end, and they are afraid that they will be chased by officers and soldiers before they can retreat, so they begged for surrender from General Ma Cheng.
General Ma knew that Your Majesty was here and did not dare to make any decisions, so he ordered the villain to come and ask Your Majesty to make a decision! "
