Chapter 596 Desperate Situation and Life and Death
Victory was clearly in front of him, but Li Qinzai felt a strong uneasiness.
Just like Lao Wei's problem of itching his ears when he was in danger, Li Qinzai's uneasy feeling was also unreasonable, but Li Qinzai believed in his intuition.
There must be some kind of crisis quietly lurking somewhere in the near future, giving him a fatal blow.
That's why Li Qinzai unexpectedly sent troops to investigate in four directions when the Tang army was victorious and chasing the enemy.
He was not dazzled by victory. Once he felt complacent on the battlefield, it meant a greater defeat was waiting for him. At this time, he and his fellow soldiers were still surrounded by the enemy, and he was not yet the winner with the last laugh.
.
"Send the order to withdraw the troops. There is no need to chase the enemy," Li Qinzai said solemnly: "Let's change the direction. Instead of going east, we will change our route to the south."
More than a hundred miles south of Shanzhou are Hezhou and Taozhou, which are also border towns. They are said to be two cities, but in fact they are smaller than the county town. Therefore, the Tang Dynasty's garrison in the two states was less than a thousand people.
Li Qinzai chose to change the route because he realized that Lu Dongzan would not be able to leave a loophole so rashly and let him escape the encirclement.
Going east to Lanzhou is the place he must pass through. Only more than 10,000 people cannot stop him. In other words, if he continues to go east, there will be more ambushes ahead.
Therefore, changing the route to the south is the most sensible thing to do.
Lu Dongzan was resourceful, but Li Qinzai was not stupid either. The old fox and the young fox were fighting each other, calculating each other's hearts, and it was still unclear who would win and who would lose.
Sun Congdong and Song Jintu's troops quickly withdrew. The Tibetan army fled north after being defeated. Li Qinzai decided to ignore it.
The Tubo army fled for their lives, and Li Qinzai even more wanted to flee for his life. Everyone fled to their own ends, each to his own end.
It is better to leave the brave to chase the poor bandits, this is not the time to do it.
The soldiers and horses regrouped, and Li Qinzai ordered an inventory of the losses. This battle was still an encounter. Due to the rapid engagement and the beheading of the enemy general, the enemy army was defeated quickly. The losses in this battle were not much, only 200.
Remaining casualties.
After cleaning up the aftermath, cleaning the battlefield, and burying Paoze's body, Li Qinzai ordered the army to march south immediately.
Horse hooves rumble, looking south and north.
There are only more than 3,000 soldiers left, and every encounter is a life-or-death farewell with Pao Ze.
Li Qinzai felt heavy in his heart, but he did not dare to show it on his face for fear of affecting the morale of the army.
The biting cold wind whizzed past my face, and I could only hear the whistling of the cold wind. The whole world seemed to have stopped amidst the sound of the wind, with only a single soldier and horse running wildly alone on the vast and desolate plain.
After traveling for dozens of miles, Li Qin's horse speed did not slow down and suddenly shouted: "Five miles later, the entire army changed its route again and headed southeast."
Sun Congdong and Song Jintu took the order. They did not understand why Li Qinzai's face was so solemn, nor why he temporarily changed the route during the march.
However, since Li Qinzai entered Tuyuhun, he has always made every calculation. His decisions have their own reasons. Sun Congdong and Song Jintu chose to obey them unconditionally.
Five miles later, the entire army changed its route to the southeast. The soldiers had no time to rest and eat. They were all galloping on their horses, taking out dry food in a hurry to satisfy their hunger.
As for the war horses, they were even more exhausted. Many of the horses were running so hard that they were foaming at the mouth, and their breathing became louder. Li Qinzai became more and more anxious, and the uneasiness in his heart became more and more intense.
In response to the song of later generations, "It's not that simple".
Yes, Li Qinzai was almost certain that Lu Dongzan was not that simple.
After running a few miles to the southeast, a scout hurried towards him, and Li Qinzai could see the panic on his face from a distance.
"Report! Uncle Li County, there are traces of enemy troops ahead. There are about 20,000 soldiers and horses in a dark formation, arrayed twenty miles away."
Li Qinzai's heart sank, and just as he was about to order another route change, another scout came running from the rear.
"Report! Uncle Li County, there are enemy troops chasing from the northwest. There are about 10,000 soldiers and horses, all cavalry. The enemy troops are coming with great force. They are only more than ten miles away from our army."
Li Qinzai sighed. In order to annihilate his troops, Lu Dongzan really did not care about anything. He estimated that all the Tibetan troops in Tuyuhun were transferred over and used Shanzhou City as a conspiracy to lay a dragnet for him.
Although I am angry, I understand.
The existence of Li Qinzai's troops is the biggest variable in this war. If he were replaced by Lu Dongzan, he would be annihilated at all costs.
Su Dingfang's frontal battlefield is not scary. What is scary is that his unpredictable guerrilla army will change the outcome of the war once it shows a slight flaw and is caught by Li Qinzai.
Riding on his horse, Li Qinzai looked around the wasteland, sighed bitterly, and said, "If nothing else happens, there should be Tibetan troops in all four directions."
Sun Congdong clasped his fists and said sternly: "Uncle Li, the general is willing to lead a group of troops to fight to the death and cover County Uncle Li to break out of the encirclement!"
The taciturn Song Jintu also said: "The cavalry led by the last general is more suitable for covering Li Xianbo's breakout and fighting to the death."
Li Qinzai sneered: "You are so great, sacrificing yourselves to help others, and I have become a green leaf that sets off your bravery, right? You are all heroes who died bravely, but I have become a deserter, ha!"
His expression gradually became stern, and Li Qinzai increased his tone and said: "Although I, Li Qinzai, am a little greedy for life and afraid of death, but if you ask me to leave my brother Paoze and run away alone, I can't do such an unethical thing, and I won't be able to escape back to Chang'an."
The emperor has no face to see my grandfather, wife and children."
"Stop talking nonsense, if you want to fight to the death, then fight to the death!"
Li Qinzai looked around and saw a high mountain a few miles away, so he pointed in the direction of the mountain and said: "Let's not run away. We will stay on this mountain. If we are lucky, we may be able to wait for reinforcements. If not, we may be able to wait for reinforcements."
, all the brothers Paoze are here, keeping company with each other on the road to Huangquan, and you are not alone!"
Liu Asi next to him had red eyes, and Old Wei also showed a look of determination, and laughed boldly: "Fifth Young Master, I am not sure whether I can survive this time. I can only guarantee that the old man's head will be chopped off by the enemy."
Before, Fifth Young Master was still intact, without a single injury."
Sun Congdong drew his sword and pointed it at the top of the mountain, and said sadly: "Occupy that mountain top, prepare the entire army for war... fight to the death!"
The soldiers raised their fists one after another and shouted in unison: "Fight to the death! Fight to the death!"
The morale of the army, which should have collapsed in the desperate situation, was unexpectedly high at this moment, as if a spark splashed into a powder keg and exploded instantly.
Li Qinzai clearly felt the blazing heat wave coming towards him.
His eyes couldn't help but turn red, and he sighed: "They are all athletes of the Tang Dynasty, and they are all good men. I am really sorry for your parents, wives and children..."
When Li Qinzai led the soldiers to occupy the hilltop, the scouts sent from all directions also returned one after another.
When Sun Congdong saw the scouts returning from the east, he was so angry that he kicked them one by one. After kicking, he pointed at the scouts' noses and yelled curses.
Others may not be able to escape, but the scouts clearly had a chance to escape the encirclement, but they foolishly ran back.
A scout who was staggered by the kick frowned and looked directly at Sun Congdong. This time he was not afraid of the general.
"Brothers Pao Ze live and die together, why should the villain be left alone?"