Li Shimin couldn't help but murmured:
"The name Qiangduan is very familiar, but I can't remember what's important about it..."
When the scout saw that His Majesty was thinking about how to deal with it, he was not in a hurry. He just bowed in front of His Majesty and waited for orders.
At this time, Wu Ban woke up leisurely and saw that His Majesty was fine, with a smile on his lips.
When Chen Zhong saw Wu Ban waking up, he hurriedly reported to His Majesty.
Li Shimin couldn't help but feel happy when he heard the news, and hurried to check Wu Ban's injury.
I saw many wounds on Wu Ban's body, some of which even penetrated the armor and turned out the flesh.
Such a shocking situation made Li Shimin blame himself, but he just silently wiped the blood on Wu Ban's face.
When Wu Ban saw that His Majesty cared so much for him, he couldn't help but feel excited, and he immediately stood up to thank him.
As soon as I moved, I felt a piercing pain all over my body!
"Hiss!" Wu Ban subconsciously gritted his teeth and stopped shouting.
Li Shimin was originally searching for records about strong ends in his mind, hoping to find information about strong ends in historical materials, and then deal with the strong ends as appropriate.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he had a clue, his thoughts were disrupted by Wu Ban's injury.
Li Shimin saw that although Wu Ban was seriously injured, his life was not in danger for the time being, and then he remembered that the scouts were still waiting for him to make a decision.
On the battlefield, everything is changing rapidly. At this time, the strong end is temporarily begging to surrender, just because there is no better countermeasure for the moment.
Li Shimin also knew the connection, and did not bother to continue searching for historical materials, so he hurriedly said to the scout:
"Since Qiang Duan is a Di tribe, he must be like Yinping Leiding, Wudu Yang Wanwan and other Qiang Di who all respect the reputation of Ma Mengqi as the mighty general.
Although Ma Chao is not here today, his son Ma Cheng is still here. I decided to accept the surrender and let Ma Cheng intimidate and appease him, then let him return to his territory! "
The scout received the order and was about to leave, when Li Shimin added:
"After the Qiang Duan matter is properly dealt with, I will ask Ma Cheng to come see me. I need to reorganize the army here and take a short rest."
The scout bowed to accept the order, got on his horse and rode away.
At this time, Li Shimin was only thinking about Wu Ban's injuries and the loss of the flying cavalry guards, so he did not pursue the identity of the strong leader too much. In short, it was better to intimidate foreigners and win over them.
How Ma Cheng used kindness and power to appease and force him will not be shown for the time being.
It is only said that after Li Shimin handed over Wu Ban to the army doctor, and was about to count the battlefield and count the casualties, the young white horse general in the valley arrived.
The young general was built with a strong back and strong waist, and his whole body seemed to have the strength of a thousand pounds. However, his skin was fair, his appearance was handsome, and he had the temperament of a wealthy young man.
The young general came to Li Shimin, jumped off his horse neatly, knelt down on one knee and worshiped Li Shimin:
"General Liu Lin, please see your Majesty!"
Li Shimin couldn't help but feel happy when he saw it was Liu Lin.
Li Shimin couldn't hide his joy when he saw that the descendants of the elders he had personally promoted were all outstanding.
"Ah! I have just seen your heroic appearance, and your martial arts prowess is still superior to your father's! With the help of your direct relatives and confidants, I will be able to revive the Han Dynasty just around the corner!"
Liu Lin didn't show any pretense, he smiled boldly, thanked His Majesty generously for the compliment, then stood up and said:
“The enemies who ambush Your Majesty today are barbarians scattered in the Canling area.
They were all invited by King Ma Yao, the leader of Ranganyi in Pingkang, and wanted to take advantage of the new mourning of Prime Minister Zhuge and the chaos in the court to rebel against the court and seek benefits.
Following the order of General Zhang Yi, we intend to circle to the east of Pingkang and intercept the reinforcements.
The main force of the reinforcements was defeated a few days ago. General Ma Cheng and I were ordered to divide our troops into two groups to pursue the defeated troops.
Today, I happened to chase them here, and encountered the Qiang Duan who came for reinforcements at the last step, as well as the Canling barbarians who had regrouped after being broken up. "
After everyone heard this, they couldn't help but feel scared for a while. If Zhang Yi had been more merciful and had not ordered Ma Cheng and Liu Lin to pursue the defeated army, I am afraid that today would be a disaster for His Majesty and his party...
When Li Shimin heard this, he curled his lips and said:
"Zhang Yan has a good saying. I am the king of a country and the lord of the Nine-Five-Year Plan. I am destined by heaven. I have God's blessing. How can it be fulfilled by a mere outsider's technique?"
When Zhang Yan saw His Majesty praising her, she couldn't help but said proudly:
"Brother Adou is not only blessed by God, but you are also protected by an invincible personal bodyguard like this heroine. How can you easily accept the words of those evil spirits and gods?"
Everyone laughed heartily when they heard this, and the previous fear of being in a desperate situation was gradually diluted by laughter.
While everyone was laughing and talking, the military chief of the Flying Cavalry Guard came to His Majesty and reported:
"Your Majesty, the specific statistics of this battle have been calculated. Do you want to listen now?"
Li Shimin first glanced at Ma Cheng's side. Seeing that Ma Cheng was still negotiating with Qiang Duan and others, he nodded and said:
"Thank you for your hard work. It just so happens that there is nothing important at this time, so you will read out the statistics of the battle situation in front of everyone, so that everyone can listen."
After the chief clerk bowed to accept the order, he stood up and read out:
"In November of the twelfth year of the Jianxing reign of the Han Dynasty, my lord led 300 flying cavalry guards and 200 Buqu personal guards, and was ambushed by a large group of barbarians in Fenghuang Ridge within the territory of Canling.
Our lord led his troops to fight hard, and finally repelled the enemy with the combined efforts of Zhang Yi's reinforcements, including Ma Cheng and Liu Lin.
In this battle, 39 members of the Flying Guards were killed, 91 were slightly injured, and 22 were seriously injured. There were a total of 152 casualties, and there were still 239 combatable soldiers.
11 members of the Guards were killed, 20 were slightly injured, and none were seriously injured. There were a total of 31 casualties, and there were still 189 combatable soldiers.
In addition, there were a total of 15 people from various tribes, ranging from generals to dubo and above. No one was killed and 6 were slightly injured. The following commanders, corps commanders, etc. who were killed or seriously injured were promoted on the spot to fill their vacancies.
One of the generals in the army, Wu Ban, was seriously injured, but the rest suffered no casualties.
There are 310 war horses in total..."
Li Shimin couldn't help but secretly feel sad when he heard the casualty statistics read out by the army chief.
The soldiers following him today were all his direct bodyguards, and nearly half of them were lost in just one battle.
The source of the flying cavalry guards has not yet been determined. If there is a war in the future, and I have no trustworthy soldiers, how will I be able to strategize the Chinese army?
Thinking of this, Li Shimin raised his head and looked at Ma Chengchu, his eyes full of hope.
I was still hesitant, but now it seems that I have no choice but to ask Ma Cheng to do something for me.
Everyone has finished cleaning the battlefield, and Li Shimin is directing Chen Zhong and others to reorganize the army and bury the fallen soldiers. While they are busy, Ma Cheng arrives.
After Ma Cheng finished dealing with the situation, he saw His Majesty reorganizing his troops at the entrance of Fenghuangling Valley, so he rode his horse to meet His Majesty.
As soon as he reached His Majesty, Ma Cheng quickly got off his horse, knelt down on one knee and said:
"General Ma Cheng, please see your Majesty!"
When Li Shimin saw Ma Cheng arriving, he helped Ma Cheng up with a smile and kept looking at the young general in front of him.
I saw that Ma Cheng was tall and strong, with ape-like arms and wasp waist, slightly dark skin, eyes like torches, and power like a tiger.
Seeing Ma Cheng's extraordinary bravery, Li Shimin couldn't help but praise:
"The late emperor has the mighty general Ma Mengqi to intimidate the Qiang and Di. I have the mighty little general Ma Cheng at my side. I will definitely be invincible in the future!"
Ma Cheng felt a little shy when he heard His Majesty's praise. After thanking Your Majesty, he bowed and said:
"Your Majesty, I will order Qiang Duan to leave some of his cattle and sheep as an apology, and then order him to lead his troops back.
Qiang Duan knew that the heavenly army was difficult to resist, so he promised never to rebel. After leaving his cattle and sheep behind, he led his people back on foot.
Now that all the barbarian reinforcements have been defeated, we should return to meet General Zhang Yi and strive to surrender the barbarians before the heavy snow closes the mountains at the end of the year. "
At this time Liu Lin answered:
"The barbarians in Wenshan County are different from the barbarians in Nanzhong. Wenshan County has dangerous mountains and rivers, and it is extremely cold in winter.
The Qiang and Hu people here, some of whom have become kings, often migrate to Shu before the end of the year to avoid the cold winter.
It is now November, and in just a few days, it will be time for the Qiang and Hu to move south.
The final general thought that if he could not surrender the Yi tribe before then, in order to avoid the cold winter, he would definitely attack the imperial army's defense line with all his strength to save himself.
Since your Majesty is here in person, you may be able to make a fuss about this and speed up the surrender process. "
Hearing this, Li Shimin nodded slightly and said:
"What you have said is true. Ma Cheng's method of dealing with strong men is reasonable and reasonable. I have also remembered what Liu Lin said.
For our current plan, we need to take a short rest and then move forward at full speed to meet General Zhang Yi. "
Ma Cheng and Liu Lin received the order and went to make preparations separately.
Seeing that the sky was still bright, Li Shimin called Zhang Yan and Chen Zhong to accompany him, intending to go to Fenghuang Ridge to find the "Eight Stone Soldiers Formation" set up by Prime Minister Jiang Wei
After all, Li Shimin had rarely seen this mysterious formation in person in his previous life. Driven by curiosity, Li Shimin couldn't wait to lead Zhang Yan, Chen Zhong and several female secret guards there.
Arriving at the entrance of the valley on the other side of Fenghuangling, Li Shimin saw a "pile of rocks" lying in front of him between the exit of the valley and the exit of the canyon ahead.
Seeing this scene, Li Shimin couldn't help but wonder:
"Could this be the 'Eight Formations of Stone Soldiers'?"
Seeing His Majesty's confusion, Chen Zhong bowed and replied:
"Your Majesty, this is where the general will be looking."
After a brief pause, Chen Zhong pointed to the canyon ahead and continued:
“There are cliffs to the north and south here, and only the river channel between the canyons and the entrance of Fenghuangling Valley are passable.
This formation happens to occupy two places. There are many strange rocks and gloomy winds in the middle, and it seems that thousands of troops and horses are hiding inside.
If the barbarians want to take a shortcut south to attack Guangyang, Wenshan and other counties, they must first be afraid when encountering this formation.
Moreover, the barbarian tribes all worship ghosts and gods. Seeing this hidden place, they would not dare to move forward rashly, so they had to take a detour.
Zhuge Cheng responded in order to prevent the rebellious Qiang in Yongliang from sneaking into Shu, so he ordered Jiang Wei to set up the "Eight Formations of Stone Soldiers" here to defend against them. "
When Li Shimin heard this, he felt that it was reasonable. He couldn't help but sigh at the erudition and talent of Prime Minister Zhuge.
After watching in front of the formation for a while, Li Shimin felt that the soldiers in the camp were almost rested, so he turned around and returned to the camp.
